#gave him a bit of white hair 😁

[borkb]

still learning how to render 😁

[mtcloudsworld]

Hi, I asked you a few days ago if you take requests I was too scared to bother you by sending an actual request. But would you do a Valentine’s Day smut/fluff for Jason x fem reader. Jason actually being super Sweet and romantic and spoiling her on Valentine’s Day, I know it’s late you don’t have to if you don’t want and thank you for responding to my question a few days ago 🤎🤎🤎

Awe please bother me!! 🥺

I really don't mind if you guys inbox me. If you have a request, wanna say hi or have a question, please don't be afraid to message me! I'm all ears 😁👍🏾

Sorry it took me so long to respond. It took me some time to muster up your request. I hope you didn't think I was ignoring you or anything. I did have something in my drafts and was having a hard time articulating the way I wanted it to go. Luckily your request came in clutch, I appreciate that very much.

I feel like my brain was going into a hundred different directions with this one 😂 please forgive me if it's not exactly what you wanted but believe me when I say I really tried.

I feel with Jason Valentine's Day is an every single day thing with him, I got nothing but love for that man.

Don't be afraid to comment your thoughts, also like and reblog if you want. Ty!! Enjoy lovebugs :) 🩷🦠

(p.s.) do y'all like regular fonts or tiny fonts? Please lmk your preference when it comes to reading. Hopefully everyone is on the same page, I know that'll kind of be hard because everyone reads differently but I'm curious either way.

- ☁️

𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘; 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄

⏜︵♡︵⏜︵୨୧︵⏜︵♡︵⏜⏜︵♡︵⏜︵୨୧︵⏜︵♡⏜

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 | +18, mdni, fem!reader, vigilante/bf! JasonTodd, good ol' missionary, love making, oral (f receiving), lovey dovey, a little bit of masturbation, submissive, pet names: babe, baby, mamas, doll, love, sweetheart. This is a pretty long one, longer than I expected so please forgive me for that. Edited, but in case of any errors, ignore :) ty <3<3<3

𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐉𝐀𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄, hits his nose upon entering your apartment. The sight of your spacious living room made him freeze as it was pristine and polished...not at all clustered with clutter or seen as untidy like it usually does.

Junk mail shredded and thrown to the trash. The floor in every room vacuumed and mopped.

Rose petals along the floor.

Books and vinyls were placed on the bookshelf in alphabetical order. The numerous polyester blankets you loved collecting were placed in the wicker basket near the brown entertainment center.

The lamp beside the couch was dimmed low. A few candles lit around the space. Gentle, slow music played lightly through the record player.

On the coffee table was a box of assortments, chocolate covered fruit with a drizzle of white chocolate on top, two glasses of wine and a red heart shaped gift bag on the side.

The atmosphere was warm and cozy. Intimate and sacred meant for two. Undoubtedly, there was something so perfect and elegant about this space that it had his heart fluttering.

It was subtle and simple, it made him grow impatient wanting nothing more than to see you and hold you. After a day of patrolling, dealing with Bruce and so on, he couldn't wait to get home.

This morning, he gave you breakfast in bed, surprised you with six different banquets of flowers, a diamond necklace with matching studs and ring that had the words "my one and only," engraved around it. He went as far as to give you his debt card.

Now, you never liked to spend his money on anything. You didn't even like the fact that he was spoiling it on you, but because he was as stubborn as a mule, he had cleared out your schedule anyways. He scheduled an appointment at the spa to get your nails done and an appointment at the hair salon. Although you pouted out of appreciation and told him he didn't have to do that, he rebuttal with a kiss on your lips and said, "I would do anything just for you."

After a day of getting pampered, you figured since your schedule was cleared, it was the perfect opportunity to tidy up the place, make it all presentable with rose petals on the floor, some vanilla scented candles, dim lighting-- make it look intimate and homey. Setting a few gifts in line, a box of chocolate covered strawberries and red wine on the table. You wanted it to look perfect before Jason came home.

It had only taken two and a half hours to shower, drench yourself in vanilla scented soap, moisturize your soft skin with Shea butter and spray on some perfume. You applied on some mascara and blood red lip gloss before slipping on a little something something.

And while you got yourself ready and the night began to set, you hear the apartment door shut.

"Baby, I'm home!" Jason feels his body relax when he hears the sound of your soft hums coming from down the hall, "Be right there!" Presumably believing you were in the bathroom since your bedroom light was off.

While he occupied himself with placing his weapons in a nearby safe box and leaned down to untie his boot laces, he hears you emerge from out of the bathroom, down the short hall towards the living room. You find him hunched over by the door placing his shoes to the side.

"How was it tonight?" You ask.

He hears your steps grow slow, pacing around.

"Slow as fuck. Don't know why Bruce called me in when he could've been back home with Selina. There was barely anyone out tonight." He states with slight irritation in his voice.

You nearly giggle as he continues to grumble underneath his breathe. When he stands up straighter, he's taken back by the sight of your appearance.

Suddenly breathless and speechless, his eyes scaled over your gorgeous anatomy moving around the coffee table to grab yourself a chocolate covered strawberry.

Jaw clenched and body slightly tense, a wave of emotions hit him all at once. He watches you approach the end of the sofa and perch yourself up on the armrest of the couch. Your soft, glowing legs crossed one over the other as you take small bites at the sweet fruit.

Flushed and piqued, his eyes grew wide from beneath the helmet. In all your glory, you looked so plushy and soft as your body was snugged in a sexy cherry red two piece lingerie.

It's material hugged around the bust of your tits, giving them an extra lift from the band underneath. Your nipples were hard from the lukewarm air seeping through the vents, causing them to surface through the thin fabric. The delicious sight of the thong hugging around the curves of your hips and richness of your thighs made you look all so yummy.

More yummy than that damn chocolate covered strawberry in your mouth right about now. He thought.

You nodded towards his direction, smiling a little when you noticed he hadn't moved an inch since you made eye contact, but, was just standing there, staring at you. "Need some help taking that off, handsome?" You say teasingly, impressed and aroused by the newly improved suit branded in all black hugged and defined every muscle and thick part of his anatomy. The symbolic red bat emblem placed in the middle of his chest, some pieces of his suit were still kevlar and others were leather.

He chuckles, finding himself stunned by you entirely. He thinks he might go insane just by the way you were looking at him. Ruin you and devour you. He had to take a moment to register your words, finding it hard to focus on anything but you.

"Uh, well....that's if you're up for the challenge, babygirl." He reckons, the modulator within the helmet making his voice ten times deeper than usual. "Otherwise, I'll gladly strip this off for you."

"Mmm, a strip tease? I believe you got me there, baby." You purred, tilting your head to the side curiously. The sound of clicking is heard, hissing from underneath causing pressure to be released. His hands reach up for the red helmet, slipping it off carefully to reveal his head.

"Personally I think that option would be more... sexier." You thought out loud allowing your shiny red lips to wrap seductively around the berry and deliberately suck on the chocolate.

He releases a deep chuckle as he sets the helmet to the side. His short black and white streak hair sexily tousled and curly from the humidity of the helmet.

The sight of his handsome face and those piercing sapphire eyes made you feel a storm brew from within, butterflies swarming in the pit of your stomach, your nerves tingling. You felt a wave of excitement circulate through your system as he glances between you and the living room.

"I love what you did with the place."

He stood tall, glaring over your gorgeous profound frame. He doesnt take his eyes off you as he begins to slip the gloves off, setting them on a nearby shelf. Carefully unzipping the leather jacket, he slips it off and lays it to the side.

"I wanted it to look extra special for tonight."

Your words were sweet, too sweet, to the point, his own teeth were about to rot. Effortlessly, you had him in a chokehold, you lived rent free in his mind. With all your cuteness, your down right innocence and flaws, you had a way of tugging at his heart strings.

Like any other time, you always found yourself swooned at the sight of him. Whether he's in armour, shirtless with grey sweatpants, roaming around here in only boxers or just outright naked, his fine ass could never fail to amaze you.

You fell hard for Gotham's most favorite vigilante.

The way he treats you, cares for you, makes you feel like a queen, practically worshiping the ground you walk on and then some, he would do just about anything to see you smile again and again and again-- he had your heart, and you had his.

"Hm, and this?" He points to the lingerie you were currently settled in, walking up to you with his hands buried in his pockets.

"Oh this? I bought it after I got my hair and nails done. Which thank you by the way, it was very much needed." You stated twinkling your fingers his face. "I figured I'd give it a shot," you shrugged intentionally running your hands over your body, "I wanted to see how it looked on me and honestly I think I made the best decision in my life, don't you agree?"

Purposely wanting his eyes to stay on you at all times, you stood up from your seat to give a little spin. It was slow and cruel as your hands roamed down along your sides to the band of your thong, fingers curling underneath the band to then hear them smack against your skin from the tight restriction. His eyes examined closely with a low hum in satisfaction at the sweet roundness of your ass cheeks.

"So, what do you think?~ You like it?" You chimed in a sing-song tone.

"Hm, I do," He draws you closer, your hands resting at the tops of his shoulders to feel his own squeeze at your sides and slowly draw lower, pressing you possessively against his hard torso. The tip of his nose brushes against your cheek, delicately planting kisses to your skin feeling how your flesh begins to heat up. He whispers into your ear "In fact, I love it on you so much, I just might fuck you in it."

You'd be lying if you said that wasn't your plan from the beginning. However, somewhere in your goofy mind, you didn't think it was gonna be this soon.

He kissing along your cheek and adventuring to ghost over your lips. He feels you lean into his embrace, reaching up on the tops of your tippy toes to place your delicate hands along his face, he engulfed every ounce of you.

With half lidded eyes, Jason watches how your lashes kiss at your cheeks, brows scrunched at the savoring taste of mint and chocolate on each other's tongues made you moan softly. With each peck, the kiss grew deeper and deeper. With needy intent, his fingers began to dig into your flesh, groping at the fat of your sides.

"God, you smell so good." He murmurs between kisses. Burning with desire, your heavenly intoxicated touch made it so hard for him to detach from you. It left him breathless, forgetful and completely immersed in the presence of you.

It was the kind of intoxicated that made things feverish and desperate, lips feeling more like petals as they move in sync with his. Intoxicating to the point you had him grunting lowly, growling a little as he starts to become greedy.

Everything moved so swiftly as he laid you on the couch. His massive body proceeding to loom over you. You giggle as he tries to follow in pursuit, smiling a little while he leaves a trail of kisses up the navel of your torso.

Laid beneath him in a vulnerable state, your hands were above your head feeling breathless and overwhelmed. You couldn't process everything at once as you felt like the predator had caught its prey in one go.

You observe how his large palms effortlessly veiled around the bust of your breasts. Squeezing them with a gentle yet firm grasp, his thumbs graced ever so gently over your nipples in circular motion. Attentive to the shaky exhale, he notices how your buds become swollen and hard. Taking one in his mouth, he sucks on it gracefully while he teases and pinches the other.

Although you were growing anxious, impatient and needy, you found yourself staring at the boxes of fruit.

"Mmph, jason?"

"Mm'yes baby?"

Your nipple pops from out of his mouth, going in to give the other a lick, he proceeds to leave more kisses down your navel. Mentally thanking God for every imperfect perfect flaw he had placed along your body.

"Shouldn't we...ah, shit...put the fruit away before they melt?"

Jason was too enthralled, in his own little world, to worry about that damn fruit. The way you were worrying your pretty little head over the littlest things had him chuckling wholeheartedly.

He was too bothered to say a word as he was preoccupying himself with your cunt. It looked like a beautiful sloppy mess after he pulled the thong to the side. To see your pretty little pussy glisten under the dim lighting, had his dick twitching in his pants.

"I don't want them to melt...if we...don't put them... Oh my god..." You gasp out of surprise when you feel something soaking wet and warm lapping at your cunt. Gripping onto the cushions, your body tenses as you grew a frown on your face. "Ooh Jason" He spots the rise and fall of your chest as your breathing altered and had grown rapidly.

He moans at the taste of you, closing his eyes to concentrate on the way you lingered on his buds. As large as his hands were, you felt comfortable in the warm callous of his palms. Holding your thighs wide open in place, Jason caresses your skin lovingly while he coaxes you in a deep trance, completely wiping your mind clean as you focused on the way his mouth maneuvered.

It left you speechless, surprised, mind blown, mouth gaped open at the wet muscle gliding between your folds and over your clit. You felt frozen in place, gripping at the cushions as you moaned his name in bliss.

"Fuck, you taste so good, baby."

Relentless and quenching for thirst, the more he inhaled your scent and continued to wallow in it, he found himself growing careless while he devours you.

Your arousal messily drips from around your thighs onto the sofa. You nearly clench your legs closed to the weird sensation of smacking, slurping, squelching and gushing from your pretty little hole.

As he latches his mouth around your lower lips, he dips two fingers into your heat. The vibrations of his grunts sends a tickling sensation to your clit. His other hand gripped your thigh steadily in place, feeling a surge of shivers go down your spine when you feel him pull away.

"Mhm, there you go, baby, that's it, just relax for me." He instructs, watching as your head lulls back in the armrest, shoulders slumped as you tug at the cushions.

"Focus on me. Focus on the way I make you feel, feels good now doesn't it?" You nod, humming in response. "Good...you always got your mind wondering about the littlest things, sweetheart." he chuckles observing how your body responds to him, hips bucking for more. "As much as I love you catering to me, tonight I just want it to be all about you. You deserve to relax, to feel good, you deserve to shut your brain off and let me take care of you. Let me treat you to something more soft and sweet. I wanna make sure you're at peace. You deserve to enjoy yourself, mama. You think you can you do that for me?"

You nod but he grunts in disapproval, "use your words, y/n, I wanna hear you say it."

"G-God yes, I can do that." You moaned.

Jason's fingers enter inside your leaking cunt, long and intruding, he thrusts them into your gummy walls. Feeling your sticky walls contract around his digits, he hums pleasing to her sucking him further in, each time getting deeper and deeper. Receiving a glossy shine from your arousal, he smirks moving forward between your thighs.

He takes charge effortlessly controlling and molding your body the way he wants. Massaging at your calves, up around your knees to your thighs where he skims his fingers down and over the inner parts of your thighs and around your hips.

The tips of his fingers reaches towards the curve of your breast, fondling and playing with your hardened nipples, he feels you start to move against him. His tongue thrusting in and out of you, you begin to moan loudly as you swivel your hips to match his pace.

"How does that feel baby? Feels good? Am I doing okay?" His voice grew an octave lower, deeper and raspier than before.

He was near the brink of wanting to ravenously eat you out the more he inhaled your essences. He felt your hands begin to tug at his hair and whine and whimper to the nibbling of teeth at your neck, tasting your perfume along his buds.

"S-So good, you're treating me so well." You stutter.

Groans and moans grew intense, finally giving in and throwing in the towel. Your body submits to the need of yearning, allowing him to stubbornly tend to your aching need.

He took his time appreciating, glorifying, worshiping your body and you as whole. He knew the right words to say, ones that made you feel bubbly inside. He knew how to make a girl feel special.

You always found yourself worrying about something or someone. You could never catch a break. You could never just take a breather for once. But that's what he wanted from you, for you to catch a break. To let someone else take the reins for once and just let you lay back and relax.

At some point you felt so weak and helpless emitting these pathetic whimpers as he slowly took his time to cherish you. But you couldn't help it, that's just how you felt, you were vulnerable underneath his care.

"M'gonna cum, Jay..." You stifled, arching into him.

"Mm, go on baby, cum for me." He instructs benevolently.

Once you release your final shakey exhale, your eyes fluttered close. Your lower abdomen churns and twists as if a knot had become undone, the rushing feeling of liquid exiting from out of your entrance spurts all over his fingers, a creamy substance coating them prettily.

"Mhm, there you go, baby. Such a good girl." He praises, licking your cum from off his fingers and down from your center. "Damn, you taste sweeter and sweeter every time." He murmurs, cleaning the rest of the mess you made before planting a kiss.

"Mm, off...please," you demand eagerly.

"Heh, needy baby?" He puzzles, pecking your lips repeatedly with an amused yet teasing tone to his voice.

"Very." You say trying to search for an opening any where in his suit.

"Okayokayokay! Hold on, love. Patience." He laughs prying your hands away from his body.

You watched as he strips of his suit, when he feels your gaze on him, he turns to you with a mischievous smirk, eyes filled with lust. "How you want it, baby?" He asks voice sultry as he kisses between your jaw and neck.

"Like this," you respond, pouting. "I wanna see your face."

"As if you don't see this face enough, every single day." Brushing his hair from out of his face, he groans to the feeling of his hand wrapped around his dick. Thick and long, precum protruding from his pink mushroom tip, you glimpse at the way his thumb begins to smear it around the tip and along his shaft, collecting salvia halfway, he slowly strokes himself off.

"When we have sex it's different. It's more intimate and sweet, gratifying even." You say seductively, biting on your lip.

Pussy beginning to ache and throb at the sight of him. Your delicate fingers draw south of your body like a magnet, gliding them between your folds, up and down and around your clit, you start to apply more pressure.

He notices you start to work yourself through, twitching in the palm of his hand, he glares over the way you handle yourself with such elegance.

Silky and sultry, he's vigilant to the way you moan his name, persuading him to come closer with just one single look.

Gradually with close and careful precision, the tip of his dick asserts itself inside you. Inch by inch, the girth of him painfully yet pleasing stretches you out.

Immediately groaning at the tightness, you praise him for the way he completes you, fulfilling every inch till he was half way in.

He fitted right on in like a missing puzzle piece clearing the void perfectly with the roll of his hips.

With a blissful sigh, your head goes back.

Welcoming the agonizing warmth through your body, your bottom lip gets caught between your teeth. As you focus on the way he thrusts in and out of you steadily, slowly you try to adjust to his size, cursing underneath your breath, "F-fuck it's been too long. You're so big, baby." You whimper.

"I know, baby, I i know, just relax for me, m'kay?" he coos burying his face into the crook of your neck.

Danity hands running past his shoulders, the rippling effect of his muscles beneath your fingertips to then wrap your arms around him completely, drawing him closer.

Eyes fluttering shut the scent of his heavy cologne and gunpowder overwhelms you, traces of your kisses left on his shoulder and neck, your right hand moves towards the roots of his hair, curling around his silky strands.

Veiny hands brushing between the ends of your thighs to the roundness of your ass, your knees bend and legs open a little bit more for him to bottom out. His cock domineering into the dark enclosed space, he feels you pucker around the base of his dick, sucking him in deeper and deeper till he reached your pillowy cervix.

Your beautiful raunchy melodies grew louder and louder with every passing minute.

"Shit, Jay yes, right there."

Moaning his name repeatedly, his pace accelerates, hips starting to rut in rhythmic motion. Breaths bated, heavy grunts and cursing underneath his breath, he listens to you begin to wail as your nails dig into his skin. Skin slapping skin from the result of his hips pounding into yours, the continuous squelching of your arousal coaxes around your thighs with a fervor.

Nose ghosting over your pulse, he hums at the increase of your heart beat, lips placing a delicate kiss to the inimate space, he hears you start to speak gibberish.

"Fuck... I love you, I love you so much."

Without second thought, your words overflow like a fountain.

Joyously overcame with the idea of being adorned and desired from someone worth loving. You chose him out of all people, you chose him to be the love of your life.

And hearing those three little words slip from out of your mouth, made his movements go slow.

Eyes shot open and wide, he swears his heart just skipped a beat.

Flushed out of shock, his head stayed at the base of your neck. You, however, continued to hold him. Knowing that your words were gonna come off as unexpected and sudden, you didn't want to let him go, you weren't going to allow him to run away from the fact that the moments you've shared together wasn't all for nothing. That feeling that scared the living shit out of both of you was there.

Jason was terrified to say it. Maybe because he didn't ever want to run into the possibility of his lover being taken away from him? How his lifestyle is, he never had the problem of losing anything but when he met you, it was different. There was a chance, a possibility, that you could be gone in a blink of an eye. It was hard to fathom how someone, like you, could be so precious and yet so sweet, live in a world that was all dark and gloomy, his world, specifically. It didn't add up and didn't make any sense why you stayed with him after knowing what he does, after knowing about his messed up past and who his family truly was and what he was all about. How could you have stayed all this time?

There was silence.

You feel his head lift to give you a studied gaze, your hands coming up to cup his cheeks. Your thumbs stroke at his scarred face.

He leans into your embrace, his forehead meeting yours, nose brushing against yours, his breath bated just as much as yours. This unfamiliar emotion growing deep within his chest made him suddenly shy, eyes flickering between yours with swollen gaped lips.

"It's okay, Jay, you can say it." You coerce in a hush tone, glancing between his orbs.

He completely melts into you, his gaze softening with grace and adoration.

"I love you, y/n," He utters, feeling his chest tighten. "I love you so much. I love you with fiber in my body. I love you to the point of living...to the point of death." His jaw clenched, swallowing hard. "Fuck... you make me feel so alive...I couldn't lose you to anything, baby, I can't...you'd be the death of me."

All you could do was smile and reach in to give him a sloppy kiss.

Like countless times before he proves himself right.

Without even telling you, you knew from the way he cared for you time after time again that he's always loved you and vise versa of course. You knew deep down inside he loved you from the start. It was evident in the way he kept engaging with you, there was consistency, constantly making effortless eye contact with you and attentive to you mentally, physically and emotionally. He loved you past your flaws. Equally, you both loved how you two just connected with a snap of a finger.

Even after this moment you were so sure of his promise-- his oath, that you were his one and only.

And after a few rounds of endless love making, intensive fucking and tainting each other's skin, Jason and you were tangled up on the floor with your backs against the couch. While opening the last bit of gifts, a polyester blanket covers your lower halves as you feed each other chocolate covered fruit and sip on some wine.

Aside from the necklace you'd gotten this morning, you received a pair of your favorite shoes. You've been keeping your eyes on them for awhile now. They were expensive as hell and you were just waiting for them to get on sale.

Jason, however, went ahead and bought them without hesitation. He also bought a couple of outfits to even complete the look. You'd receive a goody basket of all your favorite snacks, a big stuffed teddy bear and another vinyl to add to your collection.

For Jason, he was gifted another book from a vintage store, a brand new pair of shoes since the last ones were starting to get a little raggedy, two matching hoodies and sweatpants, and a recipe book that he had been meaning to get but completely forgotten about it.

When the boxes were all empty and red wrapping paper was all over the place, he noticed one more sitting on the coffee table by the half empty bottle of wine.

"I'm assuming this one's for me?" He points, cocking a brow at you.

You frown following his gaze.

"Oh shit, yeah, that's yours alright." You confirm stuffing your mouth with a gummy bear, propping your arm up on the couch and resting your head in your hand.

He chuckles with a shake of his head, reaching for the red heart shape bag and settling back down beside you.

You study carefully as he starts to pull the paper from out of the bag. Expecting to see the present right then and there, he scoffs when he lifts the box in his hand.

"What did you get me, woman?" He grumbles playfully, putting the bag and paper to the side.

"Open it and you shall find out." You state smartly drawing closer to him with anticipation.

The last gift you'd gotten him was a military dog tag, a locket with a picture of you and him inside it. It captured the moment when he had asked you to be his girlfriend in midwinter. Around the falling snow at a nearby park. There was a wide smile on your face when you had said yes. Jason was so nervous that day, he thought he was going to shit his pants.

Beside it was a silver sterling ring with gold edges around it and along the inside of it were the words "forever mine" engraved on it.

Although he wasn't the kind of person to lavish in jewelry, this was something worth showing off... aside from you of course.

He looks to you with gratitude, leaning in to give you a passionate kiss, you move half way. Your noses brush before your lips collide.

The lingering taste of pineapple kiwi from the candy along your tongue evolves in his mouth as he deepens the kiss.

Sucking the sweetness off your lips, his hand wraps around your neck, engulfing every sense of you as your mouths moved leisurely.

"I love you." He whispers once more, after parting from you.

Observing the sparkle in your eyes under the candle lighting, he notices the smile across your face grew wider, nudging your nose against his sweetly.

"I love you too, Jason. Happy Valentine's Day, baby."

𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐃

𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎�� 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐋 ©𝐦𝐭𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓

Masterlist | 𝕾𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋

[wsancho]

Them FF6 Blond Shades

In the spirit of procrastination, I’ve been thinking about hair and eyes. It’s one of those things that I can’t get out of my head until I write it down somewhere (even though I don’t do art and I don’t describe jack shit when writing🤷🏻‍♀️)

In ProJared’s review of FF6, he says the sprites were created first, and that Amano used them as inspiration for his concept art. Regardless, both are canon even if contradictory, and I’d say it’s up to each to choose their preference because reasons 😌

Terra’s fandom wiki says she has green or blonde hair and green or violet eyes. I didn’t know her eye color was debatable too (but look, her hair looks greenish on the first image 😚). I like her being as otherworldly as can be, so I prefer green hair and violet eyes.

Celes and the twins have blond hair and blue eyes. The sprites and concept art gave them the same colors, and they’re so alike that some NPC mistook Celes for Sabin 🤨 (maybe those three have reality-bending levels of sexy. Just saying 🤷🏻‍♀️).

To me Celes seems paper-white-pale with light blond hair and light blue eyes.

Soraya Saga, who created the twins, noted that they have “honey-blond” hair. I was a bit apprehensive about this, but the twins’ regality is pretty heavy-handed and a shade of blond that is more golden goes along those lines. Also in Figaro, blue eyes mean royalty, but I think there’s more to this idea if we ignore that it wasn’t even canon take the parallels from Xenogears Fatima lore to complement the FF6 Figaro lore. It’s not just blue eyes, but a specific shade of blue that runs in the family. I think honey-blond hair goes nicely with a darker shade of blue eyes. So going by this, the twins’ colors would differ from Celes’.

When I learned about the “Figaro blue eyes” I also wondered if Gerad should hide his eye color (especially from Figaroan thieves), and as it turns out, his sprite has brown eyes. This could be just a lazy color swap, but I like how this can add up to the lore 🙃

For Kefka, the wiki specified blond hair and green eyes. There’s no specification for Gau, but his sprite’s eyes are green and his hair looks like Kefka’s, less yellow and more ashy than Celes’.

This Gau art has light blue eyes, so I guess that’s another possibility 🤷🏻‍♀️ There’s also the other Amano arts that show him with green hair. I like to think his hair is blond but not that clean. He’s like a sloth growing algae on his fur 😅

Locke’s colors aren’t in the wiki, but I like dark ash blond for him because it resembles his sprite. His eyes are consistently brown.

Relm and Clyde’s hair look pretty similar, somewhere between Locke’s and Kefka’s colors. I think Taylor Swift’s color could be ok for them too (more like Locke's hair).

Relm’s wiki says she has blond hair and blue eyes. Clyde’s sprite has black eyes but Shadow’s look blue, and I like her having her daddy’s eyes 🥰 (ignore that her sprite has green eyes and one Amano art gave her amber eyes).

There’s no info about Leo’s colors, but many in the fandom make him to be black. Years ago I learned about a group of dark-skinned people with blond hair known as Melanesians. Maybe Leo is one of them 😁

His sprite is white-skinned and has blue eyes, which can also be an option, but I prefer the super rare Melanesian ethnicity for him. It makes me happy 😌

Setzer is said to have silver hair and purple eyes, which probably means he’s albino. I think he uses that purple shampoo to make his yellowish/whiteish hair look silver 😌

[bhaal-battle-beer-bard]

✨The Heart Of The Blade✨

𝐵𝓁𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓈 & 𝐻𝒶𝑔𝓈

➹pairing: Wyll x Auntie Ethel rare pair by @aristenfromwarsaw so this one is totally for you 😄😁 "No Wylls were harmed in the writing of this fic" ➹content/tags: Love, Poetry, Fun, Humor, Sarcasm, so much Party Banters and Bashings, Action, Poetry, Misunderstandings ➹summary: Wyll has a new girlfriend with his heart singing love songs and sonnets, but his friends are not happy about it and doing an intervention. A fanfic full of the funniest party banters. Fan of the group bickering on each other? THIS IS IT! Astarion in full Asstarion mode. ACT I timeline ➹feat. Tav Aristen belongs to @aristenfromwarsaw , my Tav Saulus ➹word count: 18, 345➹ao3 ➹prompt: BG32025 APRIL by @tavyliasin

Something was wrong with Wyll.

The group agreed on this.

For days he had been acting somehow strange, not as they knew him. He seemed to hang with his head in the clouds, almost as if dreaming. Furthermore, he often disappeared for hours with flimsy excuses.

Something was wrong with him, only what it was exactly, the strange travel companions could not yet make out.

"And I'm telling you, it's another alien parasite! So, we'll cut his head open and out with it before it infects us all," Lae'zel hissed vehemently.

"It's not and we don't cut anyone up. So put the knife away, Lae'zel," Gale admonished the Githyanki as she grumbled.

"It's pretty obvious that he's in love. You don't have to be a genius to come up with it. But no wonder none of you recognize the signs," Astarion explained, accompanied by a smooth expression on his face that said it was stupid not to recognize this immediately.

"Chk. Because you're such an expert when it comes to love," the warrior of K'liir scoffed ironically, rolling her eyes a little at the smug vampire, who had the audacity to portray the rest of the group as stupid.

"Oh yes, I am," he breathed in his sonorous voice.

"Astarion, I didn't mean love in the physical sense," Lae'zel pulled a contemptuous face in his direction.

"Oooh... well, then...", the white-haired elf shrugged his shoulders in surprise.

She would have loved to show him how she normally reacted to insolence, but she could already see Gale's raised index finger mentally in front of her. And so she would have to break two fingers, not that she would mind.

But as a good Githyanki, she needed neither her muscles nor her sword, and her tongue silenced opponents. Or allies. Or something like allies. The white-haired elf was a questionable companion.

But he probably thought the same about her.

All about her.

"After all, a better suggestion than looking for parasites in his brain just because he sometimes wants time for himself and sighs dreamily," Shadowheart chimed in appropriately and wrinkled her nose contemptuously without looking at Lae'zel, "don't get me wrong, if he turns out to be a danger, then we can still do this slicing thing and I don't think there's time for dreamy sighing, because we have more important things to do. So we should talk to him about the fact that we lack his sword if he gets distracted."

Karlach's voice sounded almost gentle, which seemed like an incarnate intervention of positivity in the pack of accusations and wild theories: "Guys, he's been through a lot lately. The stupid bitch Mizora who figuratively put horns on him..."

"Literally."

"What?!"

"You mean literally not, figuratively speaking, put on horns. Since he really got horns and not the proverbial horns like a horned husband, for example," it was the Wizard of Waterdeep who interrupted the infernal warrior for a short lesson.

"Anyway...", Karlach continued and her blazing eyes gave Gale for a moment an expression that could have ignited him, "...a lot has changed for Wyll and he has to deal with a lot. It's normal that he's acting a bit off and needs time for himself. Give him the time. We won't grow tentacles tomorrow or a goblin will split our heads because of that. I'm here!"

"Why not curious at all, Karlach? Do I hear some disappointment that you are not the beloved, to whom our folk hero sneaks away?" the vampire grinned venomously like a snake into her world.

"Haha, very funny, fangs. What's that supposed to do?!"

"So, what's the plan now?", Lae'zel's dagger flashed in the middle of the group, ready for action and blood, "do we kill him now or...?" "No, we're not going to kill him!" Gale exclaimed vehemently. "Not yet...", Astarion grinned smugly with a sly sideways glance.

Gale's brown beard was rubbed briefly in a displacement activity of his hand's thoughtfulness, as if they could whisper a solution to him: "But otherwise, Shadowheart does have a point..."

"Of course I do."

"We can just talk to him. Calmly, of course, and ask if something is bothering him, or if there is actually someone who is distracting him from our urgent current mission, as a change in his usual pattern of behavior has not gone unnoticed by us. And that without knives and sharp-tongued comments, as we have already noticed."

"If we want to ask him if he has a lover who keeps him from his sword-wielding task - at least his sword-wracking task to help us - and I can guarantee you that it is because a blind man can recognize this from a spectator petrified; then this should certainly not be the single wizard with a cat who has been left behind and who mentions his ex in every second sentence."

"She's not a cat!"

Could her teeth, which pressed on her lower lip, suppress her giggles? Aristen very much hoped so. The blonde elf - storm sorceress as her mark - knew it wasn't appropriate to laugh at the elf's nasty side blow, but unfortunately it was funny. Because he was so astute.

If it really was a crush that drew Wyll away from them, then he would probably take at least one piece of advice from Gale. His success rate did not draw a good balance, at least from what they had heard. And they had only heard Mystra all the time.

"We will certainly find someone whom Wyll confides in. In the end, we can only ask him. After all, it's his business and he doesn't owe us an explanation," the blonde elf interjected to swallow a laugh and possibly saved Astarion from a fireball from Gale.

"Honestly, fangs. When it comes to honest and upright feelings, you only know as well as..."

„… how far it is described in a cheap three-copper novel," Shadowheart finished Karlach's thoughts and managed to sound snippy and disinterested at the same time.

"Do I sense jealousy in your voice, Karlach? Because I don't spend time with it unnecessarily things, but can take care of the real fun?"

The barbarian's hands were a little to slow, as they reached for Astarion's collar, Karlach's clenched fist pointed menacingly in his direction. Blazing. Burning. "Hey you little..."

"Oh and not to forget to put on the list: No one with a short exploding temper should talk to him," Astarion added coquettishly as he ducked away from Karlach, just for Shadowheart standing in front of him in a second.

"I will talk to him!"

If someone needed to be inquisitioned, she was the right person for the job. She would definitely get Wyll talking.

"Maybe we'll let someone talk to him who is more…sensitively, gently and understandingly on the subject of love, Shadowheart," Saulus the Tiefling Bard smiled in her direction, who had seen the questionable enthusiasm of the Sharan flash in her eyes. "Hmm, I am gentle and understanding," the cleric grumbled and grimaced. "May I suggest something?", it was once again Astarion's voice that wafted playfully through the group like a symphony and that probably only he himself never got tired of hearing. At least this thought pierced the ponytailed head of the black-haired woman when the theatrical pitch sounded again and it must have happened to several of them, after all his pointed, mocking comments of the day.

And all this before noon!

"How about our little bard and very own sorceress?"

 "I don't know, Astarion. Shouldn't Wyll come to us voluntarily with it? I mean, I can ask him if you want to, but that's really none of our business. It's not as if he's putting anyone in danger," Aristen answered him slightly uncertainly, and her choice of words and tone of voice harbored a lot of diplomacy and restraint.

"Of course you just ask. And believe me, the business of our Blade couldn't be less of my interest. But if he's the one who makes such a big secret of it, then he's forcing us as a tight-knit group to find out what's going on with our companion, isn't he? You and Saulus simply listen to him and randomly lead him in the right direction. Come on, you are exactly the right ones for the job."

Seductive like a bottle of sparkling wine by candlelight and the sing song of a succubus, the vampire's arms wrapped around the shoulders of Aristen and Saulus, the lips of the pale elf in the middle of the two women played around his fangs with an encouraging smile that should convince them of his proposal.

"You two are good team. Do the rest of our formidable group agree with me, that this is a task for our two lasses, here? I mean they are a good combo, aren't they?"

"Chk, I'm fine. It can't get worse than the wizard or the cleric."

"While I pull the proverbial dagger out of my back Lae'zel – and put the real one away once and for all, we won't need it – I'm happy to leave this task in the empathetic hands of two ladies."

"I didn't know we needed to be a lady for this, but okay. Fine, let our little soldiers do this. And how did you imagine the non-committal squeezing, star?"

Silver curls swayed a little back and forth between the bard and the sorceress, while his ruby eyes sparkled at the two of them and behind his grin Gods knows what happened.

"Astarion?" Saulus repeated his name instead of an answer from his tongue between his pointed fangs. "Pardon me, I was distracted for a hot second," shook the elf's white head, anointed with moon colors in stars, and tore his hunter's gaze away from the two women.

"How about this...", and again the companions put their heads together as if they were a group of conspirators and possibly, they were.

Conspirators against Wyll?

Conspirators against love? It was yet to become apparent.

Maybe Ravengard just had a stomachache – which Karlach objected again and received an exaggerated disapproving shake of the head.

Perhaps a little gossip was much more interesting for some than they gave it. No matter how the sensitivities of the new travel companions were, secrets and gossip, suddenly made it much more exciting and desirable to find out something about it.

….

"I'm sorry that our promised sword lesson is only taking place now. Somehow I've found my mind very busy lately," Wyll Ravengard's tone alone would have been enough to apologize for everything, no matter what he had said about it. The sincere, gentle gaze of his eyes—as unequal as they might be—made any resistance impossible. Resistance was futile.

"Since I've had those devilish horns on my head, I needed some time to myself and didn't want to scare the Tieflings and children in the grove with them."

"Wyll," as dew slid down from a leaf in the morning hour, a soothing smile rolled over the lips of Saulus the Tiefling Bard, "they have all the horns themselves. None of them should be shocked. You're no less of a hero for them, I'm sure."

"It's nice that at least one of us can be sure about this" The sigh from the lip, the throat of the Blade of Frontiers, came deep from his chest, where his heart and his sorrow sat. But despite all the grief, his shoulders and the horns on his head didn't seem so heavy and somehow... light. At least from the outside.

"And if you need time for yourself to get used to it, then that's absolutely fine, Wyll. No one can expect you to welcome Mizora's punishment with open arms. After all, you have always endured all of this very patiently," Aristen said appreciatively.

"Thank you! And my I add, it is nice that we have you joining us. A pleasant surprise. I thought you were more focused on your magic and less interested in the use of weapons."

"I thought it couldn't hurt to watch you and learn something in the process. You never know when the magic will be blocked and you'll be left with nothing but a blade," the words of Aristen the storm sorceress turned as truthfully as the thorn tendrils around the Emerald Grove itself, "furthermore, you are the best person to contact when it comes to combining powerful spells and weapons."

"Well, you won't have to stop at just watching. When I see how extremely good you are with the knife when you help our Gale cook, then you definitely have hidden talents for the sharp blades," Wyll smiled charmingly and each of his two eyes had its own special shine.

"I also focus more on my hand crossbows, but it can't hurt to deepen the handling of the rapier and longsword. And we've seen you so little in the last few days...", furtively like a thief in the night, her flaming tiefling eyes flitted briefly over to the blue of the blonde high elf, "... maybe we can talk a little afterwards. Especially about the things that occupy you as much as you said earlier..."

…

There they are!

Blowing bugles, drums, shaking gates breaks the silence

Chaos breaks loose through tumult - startled crowd running through each other.

This would have been the equivalent of Aristen coming back to the camp and the traveling companions literally rushing towards her, only less violent. This was replaced with much more curiosity.

"She's back!"

"And? What did you find out?"

"He really seems to have grown fond of someone," Aristen answered calmly in the face of the storm of questioning that descended on her, although the pressing voices flowed over her like a roaring wave of the sea.

"Yes, darling, I already know that. Who, who is it? Does he have a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend? Or," Astarion smiled pointedly and the elf face was a mirror for malice and misfortune, as if he were not a bearer of old elven blood, but of old gods' blood and the reincarnation of the god of mischief, list and evil, "a very grotesque something? Oh, that would be wonderful!"

"He didn't say who it was and whether we knew the person." A twitch of narrow shoulders under blond hair, however, stopped his malicious giggles and visibly darkened his face, at least the two red rubies of his eyes wore dark shadows. The porcelain smile and face quickly wore its usual masquerade again.

"So I know just as much as before," the sigh from Astarion's throat was ready for the stage, as was the hand movement he shook out of his wrist, not to mention the rolling of his eyes.

"You are welcome to ask him yourself if you think he will tell you more," Aristen suggested to him honestly and completely calmly. It was obvious that the other elf didn't seem to respond to his theatricality, which didn't stop Astarion from teasing her any further. But he may not have teased at all. Possibly he answered perfectly normally, but his way of emphasizing things made it difficult to interpret them completely objectively.

"No offense, I just thought you'd be more useful, darling."

"In any case," the blonde seemed to overlook his tone and the content that rolled over his tongue, because like a lie that glided over a blade, you never knew what was meant seriously and what wasn't, "Saulus stayed with him and they wanted to write a little poetry for his crush. I thought it would be best that I leave her alone with him. Maybe he will become more talkative."

…

"I don't think she's the kind of person you can impress with poems and songs," Wyll smiled bashfully and scratched his head, a clearly skipping action, he was nervous to talk to someone about his love and apparently relieved at the same time to be able to share it with someone, "but I would like it so much. Simply because my heart and my head don't stop singing when I think of them."

Embarrassed frustration slipped from his throat and the young Ravengard heir shook his heavier head vehemently and buried his face in his hands, which had already had to bear so much responsibility. In truth, they only wanted to write tender words of love.

"Argh! This may all sound so terribly cheesy to you. I'll make a fool of myself."

"A fool is one who is ashamed of his feelings and hides them. So far, they have only ever been your strength, so let them be the difficulty you lead, the armor that strengthens you and the shield at your side. That's why no one can resist serious poetic words, Wyll. No matter how good or how bad, it's all about sincerity," Saulus had spread her lyre and writing paper in front of her and the Warlock. Her words were a testament to her sincerity and possibly also to digression, distraction and short attention span, because she was no longer really interested in eliciting the secret, but she really wanted to write something with Wyll that he could recite to his beloved.

"At the court of Baldur's Gate, my father actually only ever upheld the practical knightly virtues: Justice, insight, strategy and courage. Before and after the introduction to society at court, it was always the most important concern of my father that I get along on my own and know how to behave in difficult situations with reason and above all with the sword. Although I know exactly which cutlery has to be in which place and which dance steps are performed, so as not to bring the Ravengard name into disrepute at a reception and ball, this was certainly less my father's attention than that of the chamberlain, who seemed to have his dear trouble with us."

Bringing the name Ravengard into disrepute.

The expression on Wyll's face, that slowly found its way on it, like a veil in the wind on a gray, rainy morning, was unmistakable. Even less so was the sparkle it stole from his eyes and replaced with something else.

But like a helping hand, The Blade tore himself out of the thoughts of gloom and continued with a returning smile and the soft sound of his voice close to a poem itself: "Nevertheless, the service of high courtly love is also part of the artistry of a knight and should not be neglected. Even if not, I was happy to dedicate myself to it. As a child, I read books that made me dream of adventures. Later stole books from the adults in which they did not let me stick my nose. Until you could read romance novels as you wanted as a really mature young man. Although I don't know if my reading of poetry books has made me a good poet. But I think it's a beautiful art and I would like to express my feelings in words that are more beautiful than just the common language. Because it's like making a picture, singing a song and an expression of liveliness. Impulsive passion and zeal, not only in the heated fight with the sword and sweating bodies."

A mischievous and slightly embarrassed laugh slipped over Wyll's lips, as if he had something to apologize for. Perhaps this was his secret guilty pleasure. In Keeping Secrets, however, Wyll was only semi-good. At least his own. He kept a lot to himself, like the thing with the son of the current Duke of Baldur's Gate and being a Warlock and hunting Karlach because of it, but it didn't take much convincing to get him to spill the tea. The Warlock with his hellish Mistress was quite a wild card because of her. But probably no more than the rest of the group.

"If you tell me what they look like, I can help you find timed rhymes for a sonnet on it."

If Saulus hadn't been so good at such a thing, you would probably have seen the tension at the tip of the horns and its flickering flames in her eyes. Even if she had to refrain from biting her lower lip, because of how much Wyll blocked off revealing any details so far. He shut off.

Tight as a safe.

Astarion might have been the better choice for the job after all, it pierced the bard's thoughts.

Aristen and she had not learned from him what she looked like, nor her name, nor whether they had seen the lady before. But at least they knew that it was a lady and that there was a lady. To destroy Lae'zel's theory of another parasite.

"The appearance is not important. In no respect. It is not the eye that makes me feel secure and close. For her, too, the pure appearance is a superficiality without meaning and she does not attach any importance to its praises. She's not like our Astarion."

It now took a little more self-control and a sharp tooth on her tongue to prevent the disappointment from entering Saulus’ face from chin to the tip of the horn after Wyll's actually so beautiful execution. Then he could look at her as gently as he wanted, for the bard it meant another failure.

Saulus knew that if she continued to dwell on the subject, she would lose credibility. Consequently, she had to leave it at that for the time being.

Astarion might have stopped his "I'm not really interested" casual scam and started shaking and yelling at Wyll, while Lae'zel shone the brightest lantern in his face and didn't stop hissing questions. Pretty hot and bright, isn't it? Are you thirsty? Yes? There's nothing until you spit out what we want to hear! She didn't even want to start acquiring answers from Shadowheart's methods.

Aware of this, Saulus realized that it could have been far worse than their failed attempts. A quite mild relief that nestled around her mind and heart during this realization.

"What have you already written so far? You meant that you had already started a little," Saulus took up the topic again and dissipated espionage thoughts from her head, but rather got involved with the heart's often the Blade of Frontiers.

Another embarrassed smile with a red glow on his cheeks followed from Wyll, which could not have been more endearing and charming as he stroked the back of his head in embarrassment. He seemed at least as insecure as he was excited to communicate, she recognized that in his eyes. Or the one eye that really belonged to him.

The Warlock was rarely known like this. Ravengard wore his heart on his sleeve. He was always honest and shared his thoughts openly. The only thing he did was that he packaged negative thoughts more benevolently and diplomatically, because he was rhetorically adept.

At least as skillful and proficient as with the sword.

Did he get this from his father or did he have himself to thank?

It was at least not surprising that Wyll could easily win over a woman. Saulus didn't understand why it wasn't easy for him to continue the behavior that had brought him there. But as mischievous as he sat in front of her—more the young nobility who stole and read dreamy books than a fearsome warrior—it was probably his heart and what it did to his mind and his tongue as soon as the chemistry in it began to go crazy.

A tadpole wiggling around in that area was for sure not helpful.

But wait! Who knows, maybe it was. A mindflayer wouldn't have such problems. Butterflies in the stomach. And the madness of love in the brain.

Love sickness.

No doctor could help.

Did it help to call a bard?

Certainly not!

Saulus literally heard the nagging voice of the pale Astarion in her head mocking her.

Imagination or was the worm and thus really Astarion wiggling around in her skull and making fun of her?

"Not so much. Or at least I don't know if it's good," Wyll's voice sounded uncertainly and made the bard focus again, snapping her out of her thoughts, "but that's what I really feel."

"And that's good enough and all that matters." "You say. What if she doesn't like it?" "I thought she didn't care about superficialities? And she likes you. So she likes everything you present to her. Little secret: The gesture counts. So let's hear, Ravengard, Blade of Sonnets!"

"Wherever I look, only vanity and sorrow, but the sight of you struck me with force, it struck me down like lightning, directly into my heart", the breast of its sign swelled with pride or is it much more love? This at least made his whole face and eyes, whether stone or not, shine as Wyll loudly recited the poetic words of his heart. "And: Flowers, meadows, fields, trees remind me of you even.

But I don't really know about the middle part and the end. And I should probably still rhyme it correctly, shouldn't I?", words of true doubt or did the Ravengard son hide his light under a bushel without realizing it? Because the bard smiled enthusiastically at him.

"Wyll, that's just right! Everyone wants to hear something so beautiful," the young Warlock exhaled relief at this statement of the bard and joy conjured it up on his lips. Wyll Ravengard was someone who, when he smiled, he smiled with his whole face and yet he seemed so harmonious and calming. In principle, he was in good contrast to the Tiefling bard who was generally there for every prank without asking for long, simply because "YES and OKAY" was more part of her vocabulary than "NO". But even the reason and calmness of one Ravengard had its limits of competence. Apparently, he reached his limits with Tieflings.

So this moment together with parchment and quill was a special one.

And a particularly beautiful one, as Wyll found.

To find beauty even in the storm, in the dangers and the approaching death and catastrophe of its impending ceremorphosis, was an endeavor of his. It was not for nothing that swamp flowers grew. You just had to look.

HEY!

A snap of the Warlock's fingers tore him out of his thoughts, to tell the bard to write them down, and soon the parchment filled with the outpourings of thoughts of Wyll Ravengard. It was an interesting feeling to see her quill swinging through the air in front of him, the tip scraping across the sheet as his words were written down. His words significant enough to be written down. From someone other than himself.

Wyll couldn't help but smile at the sight of his thoughts turning into written words.

He had tried poetry before and to be honest he would like to perform it. Only the opportunity since he had become the Blade of Frontiers was rather small. But perhaps his speech to the Tiefling children was also a kind of poetry to stir up courage and encouragement.

What was a war speech, a battle cry to motivate men before the fight, but poetry? A bloody sonnet of slaughter and glorious honour and victory, if you had calculated correctly and had enough brave, strong men at your side.

But Wyll didn't want to talk about battles and the fight, didn't want to think of it now, and certainly didn't want to write about fights. It was this irrepressible feeling of warmth, security and happiness that he felt. A feeling that took his breath away, robbed him of his senses, made him dizzy, turned his head. He could not equate it with anything but love.

"How about we bring in a little bit of all the changes you've been through. From the son of a duke, to the Blade, to Warlock looking like the devil he serves because he has refused their orders. You've been through a lot lately. That would leave a bigger mark on most people. In the sense of exhaustion. You, on the other hand, grow with every failure and obstacle without calling a heart of bitterness your own. That's remarkable, Wyll."

"Thank you. It means a lot to me that you say this and see it that way. But too much of an honor. I only act according to what I think is right and feel. Everyone has a moment of sadness and weakness. You can indulge in it, but only for a moment. One evening, perhaps. But not anymore. After that, you have to go ahead again and look up. Open your eyes to what you have and what is there. Otherwise, you miss the beautiful moments, otherwise you miss out on what good you can do, otherwise I would have... missed her." Dreamily, the words rolled from his lips, dreamily all his thoughts and his gaze veiled at the memory of her closeness. Attentive Tiefling eyes could observe this more than well and pondered about his words and especially about how he had spoken the words and then suggested: "How about something like this: The honour of heroic deeds must pass away like a fever dream. Can anyone then survive the game of time? What is all this that we consider delicious? What is it worth?"

Horns and poetic minds continued to stick together for a long time, while the quill continued to dance over the parchment, leaving its trail of ink.

…

"Now spit it out: Who is Wyll dating? Why is he so windy? Does he want to get married and leave the group and we finally stop dragging his useless butt with us like the last few days?", the Inquisition, led by Astarion, pulled the bard aside after her return to the camp.

"Don't make a fool of yourself, fangs. Wyll does not leave the group. He wouldn't just let us down."

"Karlach, we know how much you shy away from the truth from your affection for him, but let go of disillusionment and wake up! Only bare facts help here and if Wyll is not a helpful member of this group, then he is just ballast. Regardless of its entertaining other beautiful sides. And I don't mean that bad at all, Karlach. Then you don't have to waste your time anymore and I would not like to see a tall, cheerful and above all strong girl like you, unwillingly troubled", the way the elf leaned towards the fiery barbarian was a theatrical farce, but whose intention could be at least as true as exaggerated, because he sounded too eager for a lie, "I'll get you someone better. Someone hotter – literally if you want. That blacksmith boy! Yes?! What was his name? Dammon? I'll get him for you. Do you want him?"

Aristen, as an almost unanimous reflection of the other companions, drew a face that clearly said: Astarion, no!

Even if there was a suppressed crooked smirk about his crazy nature underneath and no shocking head-shaking of a Gale or epic eye rolling of a Lae'zel. "Soldier, that's really nice of you – at least I think so – but no thanks. It's not about that. When will it finally go into your curly head? Have you forgotten: No touchy. So all I do and care about is my friends like in my F R I E N D S. And would crush everyone's skull coming near them. Their heart and hurting it, counts as well to it. That's why. So get it into your cloudy head, paley. Counts for you as well if you ever get a heavy heart."

"Well, he is probably more than safe from that. By the black lump of stone, filled with iridescent hot air, what he has instead of a heart", Shadowheart's voice a testament of teasing malice disguised under casualness.

"Tze," the elf hissed only halfway over and almost made a grimace in her direction before his nose stretched almost higher than his forehead in the other direction with his arms crossed.

Gale, meanwhile, blinked in disbelief and wondered where he had taken a wrong turn in life to deserve all of this. Sure, he had done a lot wrong, extremely wrong, and he knew exactly what and when. But this...he really didn't deserve that either. He couldn't even sigh anymore about the behavior of his companions. Would he ever have met such people in Waterdeep?

Lae'zel's eyes would eventually get stuck in the back of her head because of all the roles, even if it amused her a little despite her arrogant, annoyed demeanor. Outdoing the others with her wordplay was as much a victory as doing it with their sword, and another victory for the Githyanki race. Clearly superior Githyanki race.

"Did Wyll tell you who he was meeting with?" asked the calm, soft voice of Aristen and glided through the group as if she were the only one with the last bit of logical sense. Not that she thought so, but any outsider would have assessed it that way at that moment. Because Gale seemed to have given up somewhere along the way or was too busy with Mystra or eating magic boots.

Pardon, consuming magical weave.

"Unfortunately, not," the groans of the group slid almost like a tidal wave of disappointment towards the mainland named Saulus, "and I strongly doubt that his brand-new flame is someone we don't know. After all, we've been together all the time since the crash."

"And again, I don't hear anything that is not clear to me from the beginning. So, you were completely useless, to be exact," no one else but Astarion could have said it so bluntly.

"Hey!", she couldn't think of a better defense on the clear insult of the vampire and if you were honest, it wasn't even a defense, but a lot of surprise that was written all over her face. Was it a verbal sneak attack or more totally front? At least it stung.

"No wonder that he didn't trust you any more than he did with Aristen, after all, you haven't been a cornucopia of love ballads so far, but your display of songs is full of mockery songs, drink songs, dirty limericks and questionable renditions of our experiences."

"HEY!" the Tiefling Bard exclaimed, disarmed, her arms outstretched. But angry and offended, her gaze seemed only for a second. The muzzle she pulled with her mouth under her big eyes made her look much more like a sad fawn, or like a small sad baby goat, if you looked at the nature of her rune horns.

"Yeah, nothing against your songs, darling. If you ignore the fact that you had to mention that I got stuck in a spider's web, Wyll and I emerged like real heroes in the fight against the phase spider. Not that I'm even remotely interested in such a thing. Just as little as in Wyll's talk and if it didn't seem much too exhausting to me, then I would take care of it myself, because apparently you have to do it again yourself if it is to work. As always. Because the rest of you are useless, no offense."

Gale was seriously considering activating the orb right now. Then he wouldn't have to endure all this anymore, it would almost be worth the sacrifice. Lae'zel and Shadowheart sparkled down on the elf and it would have driven them crazy how similar they looked. His theatrical hand gesture and raised chin, however, was followed only by himself, because Saulus had turned her Tiefling eyes to the blonde High elf and only shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head:

"Does he think we just sat around and painted each other's nails?"

"I don't know. But sitting around and only taking care of the nails, that's what he knows best," Aristen answered her in an equally calm tone, but her blue eyes couldn't avoid a mischievous sideways glance at Astarion at the clear verbal elbow smack. "HA! Not bad! You filthy, thorny rose," the sneaky, sharp rogue laughed deliciously amused and then looked at his nails definitely delighted and not offended, "thank you for noticing my well-groomed nails. Care requires work. It's nice if it doesn't go down and is rewarded"

"How about we let Saulus finish talking, maybe there would be a few interesting novelties when writing poetry with Wyll," suggested the sorceress with the blond hair and the blue elf eyes.

"Yes, that's what I wanted to say. Definitely more meaningful than listening to useless vampire ramblings," Lae'zel interjected, arms crossed, her eyes hard and rigid, but close to rolling again.

"I don't like to agree with Lae'zel, so I agree with Aristen," Shadowheart coquettishly gave her voice before Gale also said nodding or probably more digressed again: "Just like our new acquaintance Raphael would say: The devil is in the details. A good poem cannot be written in general. This should be done least of all through love. Thus, in the end, Wyll may have revealed details that could lead us to a conclusion as to which person it could be."

"Gale, didn't we want to let our bard darling Saulus talk?" Astarion reminded him after his two rubies had rolled around in his head.

"I don't want to know who he's meeting with, but I know when he'll meet someone tomorrow," Saulus continued emphatically in Astarion's direction, whose curious nose she could have given this information long ago, if he hadn't constantly interrupted her by insulting comments and putting her down how useless she was.

…

After Lae'zel had reminded them again that there were more important things and that their group could do very well without Wyll (and without Shadowheart), they stocked up on supplies after a fight with a few gnolls and tried to find new clues to the whereabouts and the way to the Githyanki crèche in the Grove. Time was pressing, the warrior said outside her world, protector in a prism or not. There was no guarantee of how long this stasis of non-transformation would last. Furthermore, she would have to learn more about the artifact and its inhabitants. But there was usually not much time to think, because as soon as they were on the road, one unplanned event after the other took place. A butterfly effect like a whole swarm. No moths. Or more like a whole giant moth.

"Where's Wyll?", Dammon's – to his chagrin makeshift forge – lured them with new sharpened steel, the repair of their armor and a short update where they should look for infernal iron, and Aristen's blue eyes couldn't see Wyll anywhere far and wide, even before he had started to talk to Karlach about iron again.

"Hang around over at Auntie's again, maybe he needs another healing potion," Shadowheart just shrugged her shoulders and had way bigger eyes for a light chain mail.

The bard's ears literally flashed crackling to the tip and Saulus followed the elven eyes of Aristen, but unlike her, she watched Wyll meticulously buying healing potions.

The heritarian Avernian flames blazed in her eyes as they wandered back and forth between Ethel and the Blade, back and forth... slowly back and forth during their conversation.

They narrowed into slits before the bard tore them open and exclaimed:

"Oh my gods, Wyll likes Auntie Ethel!"

"He doesn't!"

"Yes!"

"Don't talk nonsense."

Astarion leaned back to have a look at the whole thing and after a second of observation, he casually stated: "Oh yes, he does."

Shadowheart had dropped her chainmail. Just like all the attention gradually went in the direction next to Okta's cooking pot to Auntie Ethel's "Lotions & Potions" booth.

"You're right," the Shar disciple nodded after observing Wyll's gestures a little.

"A bold choice," Gale murmured not only into his proverbial beard before clearing his throat to speak up, "how can you judge that by watching them from a distance for a few seconds? That lacks any logic."

"Oh Gale, poor, sad, cold bedded Gale – that you don't see that doesn't surprise me in the least," neither Astarion's hedonistic facial expression paired with feigned pity, nor his stage-like use of his vocal cords with timed emphasis would have been needed to know that the white-haired elf was speaking.

"I'm sorry to have to agree with Astarion, Gale. Shouldn't you be familiar with the fact that there are non-verbal signs of affection that simple minds can't hide," the dark cleric explained to him and Gale grimaced a bit and was about to interject that Shadowheart herself would probably not be better at hiding her affection from others and should stop throwing stones from the high horse. Along with the vampire. Who sat on a whole parade of horses. But a parade of pirates and criminal vagabonds.

"You're right, you can clearly see that he's flirting with her," Saulus interrupted the pompous pictures of comparisons the Wizard wanted to make and so he could only answer to her:

"Saulus, you also believed that when the Zhentarim offered a drink after the rescue out of polite phrases, he was flirting with you."

Shrugging shoulders and a loud "Tze", Gale got the answer, "pff, prove me wrong!"

"Apparently, the old thrush really has more than we thought," Astarion grinned in Ethel's direction and filigree fingers rubbed over his pointy chin, only with difficulty did his grinning lips cover his sharp fangs, "I wouldn't have expected that. Each his own taste of course. But I didn’t expect this taste from him. But who can blame him? I mean years of experience has the fun and dexterity to offer." A twinkle in his sparkling eyes and a clear wave of his hand over his own body made it clear to everyone that he was talking about his own high vampiric age.

"Astarion, stop trying to make this about yourself and shut up," Lae'zel intervened from the background in a firm voice. Calm as always, but with a firmness that she would make him do so if he didn't follow her "suggestion".

"Maybe he's just polite and nice to her. You know what Wyll is like," Aristen interjected, and Karlach's one-and-a-half-horned head nodded in agreement.

"I know that some of us were against the plan to follow Wyll on his date, but now we definitely have to. We know when it is and also roughly where, so all we have to do later is go after him and then we'll know for sure!" the vampire decided.

Democracy was not dead.

Because now everyone wanted to know if it was true, even if it was only to win a bet on who was right or not.

…

"Wherever I look, only vanity and sorrow,but the sight of you struck me with force,it struck me down like lightning,right into my heart.

From noble blood, to outcast by fate's cruel game,

but the pact I made under the night's stars is my burden and nothing else to blame. The Duke's son fell, yet rose with hellish fire,But in your eyes, I found a new desire.

Yet love ignites what hell could never claim,And lights a new path what was once full of blades and scars.Though horns may sprout and shadow veil my face, the sweet name of love upon my tongue arose.

The honour of heroic deeds must pass away like a fever dream.Can anyone then survive the game of time? In this endless stream?What is all this that we consider delicious? What is it worth?"Gold, wealth and honor? Or even love? Because this would be a treasure true.Flowers, meadows, fields, trees remind me of you.And may they always lead me to you."

"Oh you sweet little, petal. You didn't make yourself all the fuzz to write such beauty for your Ethel?"

"You deserve to be courted, like a maiden. Who if not you? You, who always just want to help all people. You, who are only thought of when someone wants something from her. You who see something beautiful in all things and don't judge anyone. I wanted to find a way to express what I feel for you and how I see you."

"I've never heard more beautiful words. Oh, you're really special, my brave Blade. Something very special."

…

"I can hardly understand anything from over here," murmured Aristen the storm sorceress, crouching in the bush that provided cover for the companions, "and I'm barely have any space, make room, Shadowheart."

"I can't go anywhere, we don't have more space because of Saulus' opulent Tiefling ass."

"Thick ass yourself!" Saulus hissed back on the spot.

"Darling voluptuous glutes is a compliment, it was compliment," Astarion's soft voice defended the cleric in a whisper.

"We can't get any closer, or they'll see us," Gale whispered from the crouch, curiosity won about his stiff, bent knees.

"I could cast a hiding spell, then we can dare to get closer and don't have to eavesdrop so much. Because I think I hear your breaths more than what Wyll says," Aristen suggested.

"A sorcerer spell? I'd rather not. This only ends in a beacon that can be seen for miles or in the end we turn into a cloud of fog. If then I take over the magic, no offense, pure security. But anyway, I think it's too late now, she would notice that if we started doing magic here."

"I have to say it's not going the way you promised me," Lae'zel's voice sounded unimpressed from the background.

"Nobody promised you anything and now shush!"

…

"The last days with you were and are very special, my dear Ethel," Wyll's smile over the tea table on the sunny terrace of the teahouse of the sunlit wetlands, was brighter than all the green of nature and the rays of the sun combined.

For a long time he had not worn a smile after his father had disowned him. But he had found it again, every time he could help someone. Nevertheless, shadows had returned over his head, on the missions of Mizora. These orders had nothing to do with heroism or helpful deeds. Again and again, the Blade had dark moments. Moments of loneliness that he couldn't share with anyone. Possibly not wanted to.

Either to be a burden to no one or because he didn't have anyone and didn't trust anyone strong enough in the end?

But since Auntie Ethel had come into his life, he had really gotten to know her, this had changed. He was no longer lonely. This feeling of being able to share everything with her was overwhelming. Love had found its way into his life and had changed so much.

He had changed.

The young Ravengard put his thoughts into words for Ethel, who looked at him patiently with a slightly wrinkled smile.

„… and that's why I don't want this time to end," Wyll ended his remark.

"But don't they call you The Blade of Frontiers, my sweet son? Is not the whole Swoardcoast your domain to protect and not only this wilderness and my little swamp?"

…

"Eww what did she say?! I can't believe it," Astarion suppressed a rattle.

"She didn't talk about her wetlands you pervert!", Shadowheart corrected the thoughts of his silver curly head and gave him a light slap on it.

"Psst, Wyll is talking!"

…

Wyll looked around: The terrace of Auntie Ethel's Teahouse. A refuge in the countryside. In nature. A place of peace and tranquility. No problems, no fights. Just take a deep breath. Take a deep breath.

A reminiscence of everything that meant peace, goodness, balance and hope.

Just as her hand signified hope, and as if he could show and convey his thoughts to her, he seized her hand and looked resolutely into her eyes:

"Staying here with you is a future I can imagine. Because I can't imagine a future in which I'm separated from you."

"You sweet thing! You'd give up your days as a wandering legend just for your Ethel?"

"I've realized that there's nothing I wouldn't do for you. I'd love to live here with you, it's not a price I have to pay or any sacrifice, my beloved. It's just a win. Besides, I don't give up on myself. I am still the protector of this area. Trouble and quarrels always find their way and as we have seen, this area needs more than just a defender."

The ruined villages in the surrounding area, dead Tieflings, goblins and druids were witnesses to Wyll's true words and there might have been one less house on fire if a savior like him had been on patrol.

"Oh my dear petal, I may have built here a little refugium for my own, but believe me: Auntie Ethel is at home everywhere. So, if your path takes you out into the world, I'm happy to be with you on the journey."

…

"It's definitely too tight here, someone is sitting on my tail," Saulus murmured and desperately tried to push the others a little to the side with her shoulders.

"Chk, you would have even brought Karlach with you, who would have set the whole bush on fire," Lae'zel reproached them.

"You can compensate her afterwards because she wasn't allowed to come with you," Shadowheart only came to mind.

"Guys, when you're watching someone from the bushes, you're supposed to keep your mouth shut," Astarion hissed at the others, his furrowed brow a testament to his growing impatience with the others' poor sneaking and hiding skills.

"Someone has experience crouching and eavesdropping from the bushes," Saulus grinned provocatively in his direction, giggling amusedly at her own joke.

A jabbing elbow from the rogue was the response. "How about you shut your little snout?"

But he hadn't expected the bard's knuckles to nudge back. "Shut your sweet little snout!"

"How about you both shut your mouth?!" Gale interrupted the ensuing scuffle.

"Um, guys...what are you doing here?" Wyll's voice, sounding directly in front of their hiding place, not to mention his stature looming over them, sent a flash of electricity through their limbs without the aid of a lightning spell.

Only Astarion wasn't the only one who remained frozen after the shock had made them flinch; he nudged the Tiefling bard forward: "Saulus wanted to see you! About the poem!"

"Um, yeah, exactly...I was worried you might need some musical accompaniment..." She fumbled with the small flute she almost always kept in her belt as a spare, as she approached Wyll, still a bit uncertain.

"She was so worried about whether you were reciting everything correctly and wanted to rush in as a secret souffleuse. Aristen here wanted to accompany her," he pulled the blonde with the pointy ears onto his shoulder, "and I can't let two ladies wander through this wilderness and some wetlands alone. So I had to accompany them, right? Self-evidently."

Astarion's recital left no room for argument. At the end of it, he casually gestured behind him with his thumb: "Yeah, and Gale and the rest just came along without being asked. You know how it is; you just can't get rid of them."

"So mean," the Wizard of Waterdeep pouted. Made up excuse or not, it sounded seriously.

"So," Saulus the bard waved her short flute, "do you need any musical accompaniment?"

"No, but thank you. I've already recited my prose."

Wyll's wandering glance over the entourage of his questionable friends didn't quite reveal whether he believed Astarion's excuse or not. In the end, it wouldn't make any difference anyway, at least not for the remaining companions.

"Did you bring your friends, petal? Why didn't you say so? They can come in for some tea. But it's more polite to knock on the front door, my dears."

"Apparently, your poem has already caught you in an overripe swamp flower. What interesting company, Wyll," Astarion smirked in his usual manner, his elven eyes wandering over Auntie Ethel, who at first continued to smile at him good-naturedly, but her words that followed sounded quite different:

"Someone should really wash your mouth out with a hard soap, young man! Be careful, cheeky remarks always come back to haunt you."

Her voice retained its usual twangy, sing-song quality, but she still hissed her words to Astarion with such emphasis that it sounded a touch like a threat, or rather an ominous promise.

The vampire's pointed face briefly went through a theatrical drama: on the one hand, amusement at her spiteful reply, on the other, natural indignation and malice at her affront, followed by indecision between rising above it or retorting sarcastically. He seemed to be still considering whether it would be a good idea to seriously take on the old eccentric.

"As usual, Astarion misspoke," Gale intervened soothingly, to which the vampire only gave a disapproving, offended hiss, "and we didn't mean to disturb you. So, we'd best be on our way."

Under the watchful eyes of the warlock and Auntie Ethel, the mage practically urged his companions to leave, as some would have gladly accepted the invitation to tea and asked curious questions. But this seemed to him likely to end in total chaos, especially given Astarion's current mood. He was no longer of any use on a diplomatic mission outside of the bushes. Had he said this out loud, Saulus would surely have found something to laugh about again; now Gale simply wanted to get his companions back to camp so they could reflect on the revelations without becoming childish. Because no matter how extraordinary Wyll's decision was, it was his decision, right? Still, none of their business.

Unless he really wanted to leave them...what would be about Mizora? Would she be happy about that decision?

But what happened next could probably be described as a series of unforeseeable events:

On the way back to the camp, they encountered two men looking for their sister because she had gone to the Wetlands to make a deal with a Hag, as revealed in a letter she had left them.

…

"It was clear to all of us that Auntie Ethel was a crone. But a hag HAG. Like in 'I eat children'-hag, that's a bit more intense," said the vampire—the vampire of all people, echoing everyone's thoughts.

But Aristen thought of something else and said: "Maybe she is more of a Rodzanice than a hag."

"Is this some warlock mission he has to do?" Karlach raised her hands and shoulders almost desperately in disbelief, her face a mask of sheer confusion, "it has to be!"

"Should we contact Mizora? Maybe she's behind this," Aristen the high elf sorceress continued explaining, that way they would have certainty about a theoretical warlock mission.

"We're not talking to Mizora!" Karlach practically hissed.

"Meow, Karlach," Astarion laughed, making a scratching paw movement with his hand.

"Shut up Astarion!" the hellish barbarian scolded him unmoved, earning rolling vampire eyes.

"Gods, calm down," he simply sighed, unable to understand why she couldn't laugh at herself. Something Astarion never could, as long as it didn't concern him. But woe betide anyone who did...

"Maybe he just doesn't know," Aristen shrugged.

"I don't know if that makes things better," Astarion murmured, "and shouldn't he have noticed it at their little meetings, since he's already talking about love and writing sonnets for her at night?"

"Before we spend too much time discussing this, we'll go to him, tell him, and most importantly, get him the hell out of there!" Karlach slammed her hand on the table.

"And if there really are any problems, I'll get us out of there in seconds with a portal," Gale assured confidently.

"Well, I don't really want to rely on Gale and a portal, let alone go anywhere near one. No thanks!" Astarion swaggered.

"No offense, Astarion, but put your sarcasm into your little rogue pocket."

His fanged mouth stood open in piqued, offended shock about Gale’s response.

...

"Look, who's back already! Did you miss your Auntie Ethel and your little friend? I already said that you can join us, even if I really appreciate the time, we have for ourselves."

The look Ethel gave Wyll after greeting the abruptly appeared group was definitely affectionate. Teasing glances between two lovers. This triggered completely different feelings in Shadowheart, and she began to make a dry gagging sound.

"I think I'm going to throw up," she choked from the background.

"What's that brat saying back there?!" Ethel hissed dangerously.

"Friends..." The emphatic tone of Wyll's voice suggested the not-so-unusually famous passive-aggressive Ravengard streak, with which they had occasionally met, and which hit you unexpectedly like lightning on the thunderbox. You were completely defenseless and only noticed it when it was already too late. Saulus, in particular, had fallen victim to it many times before. Wyll's latent passive-aggressiveness, not the lightning.

"...it's kind that you seem to be barely able to stand it without me, but you could certainly grant me a little privacy."

"We encountered two men—Demir and Johl—who showed us a letter from their sister Mayrina," Gale of Waterdeep interjected, trying to speed things up before Lae'zel began to unsheathe her greatsword, "and were on their way to save their sister from the fatal deal with a hag regarding her late husband."

To Gale's surprise, he found no surprise in Wyll's reaction; instead, he simply sighed, his eyes expressing the distress of a topic they were already familiar with and could no longer hear. The wizard wasn't the only one who hadn't expected this.

"Yes, Demir and Johl, I've already spoken to them and told them not to take their worries about their troubled sister out on Ethel. She would never do anything to harm the girl. On the contrary, everyone always seeks help from her, which she offers so generously, and then she's condemned as an evil witch because someone wants to profit from her again? That's not right! And why? Because she lives in the forest and knows about potions? I thought we'd overcome such times."

Astarion's raised index finger was silenced, along with his mouth, which was about to make what one could only assume was a snippy comment. Saulus cautiously reached for his finger and quickly shook her head, wide-eyed and with a twisted mouth.

"The girl was here voluntarily because she was so desperately looking for help, but which she simply couldn't find. Oh, there isn't. I told her about possibilities like a staff that might have had some effect, but she didn't really like any of that. I couldn't really help the poor thing either, but to demonize me because I want to help people in need is quite something."

Neither anger nor annoyance graced Auntie Ethel's face; instead, it was the pure sadness that washed over her eyes, the result of many years of experience and life. Sadness and disappointment that hurt her deeply.

"Fortunately, I was there to point out the men's false accusations, and that you're now making the same accusations really disappoints me, friends. I thought you were better people, and if you didn't trust her, then at least you could trust me and my judgment," the warlock's words hit the group with the full force of his disillusionment.

Step, parry, and the blade stroke again! "Ouch," Saulus grimaced, hurt, and practically felt the blade's sting.

The warlock's arm gently wrapped around Ethel's shoulder, pulling her lovingly and protectively toward him, while his left hand faithfully and firmly clasped hers, her gray-haired head leaning against his shoulder.

"I will never allow anyone to treat her like that again. I won't tolerate any ill-regard for Ethel either!"

"Come on!" Astarion practically burst out, his delicate hand pointing pointedly at the lovers. "You don't really believe this farce, do you?! And you can't seriously expect us to buy into any of it!"

"Wyll..." Aristen's composed voice emerged from the background, and her fine figure moved in front of the vampire, "...if you're happy, that's the most important thing, and no one questions it. But there's an illusion in these wetlands, in this teahouse, that's clearly palpable, and we wonder if you've noticed it too. I think that's what Astarion wanted to say."

"I did not..." muttered the smirking vampire, offended, and seemed unwilling to accept any help from the beautiful elf. Apparently, Astarion wanted to be transformed into a pale frog today.

So it came the illusion began to fade, revealing Ethel’s true face:

Not only was her face more of a grotesque grimace, truly sprung from the horror stories of fairy tales designed to frighten children, but her entire figure, apart from two arms and legs, barely resembled that of a humanoid.

A hunchbacked witch.

Literally and in the flesh before them.

Born from the swamps in which they stood, whose mud seemed to practically pump through her veins and whose meshwork covered her somewhat skin-like skin. A macabre green thing, fused with nature, not in a picturesque way, but only in a grotesque way.

It might be superficial to judge them for their appearance, but her wide mouth with its sharp teeth grinned only too maliciously and screamed "child eater."

That's what they saw.

That was what they all saw, all except Wyll Ravengard.

His eyes, red and stone white-grey, rested with gentle love on the face of Auntie Ethel the hag. His hand gently followed the gaze of his kind, loving eyes. It snuggled against the hag's green cheek, and she snuggled joyfully against it.

"They say love is blind. But I've always seen her true face. No illusion could deceive my eyes and my heart, because I see her for what she is. Because she sees me for what I truly am. We don't want to change each other."

"Why would I ever want to change you, my sweet love bug?" her long finger with a claw of a nail booped playfully on Wyll's nose.

"And that is why you are even more beautiful to me in your true form."

"Oh come on!" the silver-haired vampire sighed, whispering dramatically to himself, and rolled his eyes as if they would never tilt back into his skull.

"She showed me people can change. Not every monster is a monster. Like me. Wouldn't I be not a monster to the most, with my devil horns? But not to her. And I was wrong to judge myself so quickly over other creatures. Seeing through her eyes showed me a whole new beauty and love for the world and all of its inhabitants. Not just those who others decide to be worth. Worth of life. Worth of love. She showed me a new kind of love."

It seemed as if it lifted every burden from young Ravengard's heart to finally no longer have to keep it a secret, but to share his love with his friends. Even if they didn't understand him and he had to put their prejudices aside, you could see how much he was living this moment of truth. Finally, no more hiding.

Auntie Ethel and Wyll looked longingly into each other's eyes, as if the moon would miss the stars and as the sea adored the moon from below.

"I have hidden and bent myself long enough through the pact with Mizora. This love should finally belong to me alone. Come here!"

He invited her closer with a knowing look. Wyll's loving hands, which rested on the hag's cheeks, pulled her face toward him as he pursed his lips.

"Eww, gods no!" the companions cried in near unison and turned their faces away, except for one, whose eyes lit up and who leaned forward with his mouth wide open to get a better look at the "show":

Astarion – whose fangs sparkled with excitement in his large grin.

"I have to see this!" he grinned from ear to ear, watching as Wyll tilted his head and closed his eyes to press his lips to the hag's.

"Okay, no! No, this is too perverted even for me!" cried Astarion, as he hastily covered his face with his hands in a panicked frenzy to avoid having to watch the whole thing. The hag's tongue probably wrapped around Wyll's was something even he didn't want to witness.

In the middle of it, however, the two were torn apart, as Karlach's strong hand suddenly shot forward: "Okay, that's enough!"

She grabbed Wyll and pulled him with her: "Go wizard, do your wizard thing! Let's get the fuck out of here!"

"Give me my warlock baby back!"

Ravengard was pulled along by the collar, then landed under Karlach's arm and she jumped with him in a high arc through Gale's portal as if a whole pack of goblins and imps were chasing them at once, until the portal swallowed them and closed behind the group without so much as a "goodbye."

...

"Guys! What's going on?!" Wyll cursed like a scoundrel back at camp, giving his companions a completely stunned look.

But he also received a look of disbelief thrown back at him from the others' faces, only the warlock couldn't understand it at all. For him, the others' behavior was completely out of line and required an apology.

"If you're worried about me, fine. But now it stops being sweet or annoyingly endearing, it's just annoying! I don't know how I can apologize to Ethel for you, or what I should even think of you when you behave like this."

Shadowheart remained unfazed by his tirade and outright outburst, at least not in the context of the young Ravengard, whom one never really saw angry or anything like that. He never raised his voice or lost his temper. He was always the epitome of calm and poise. That he could get so angry was new, but it left the cleric with no choice but to cross her arms and wrinkle her nose: "Wyll, no offense, but you've definitely taken a blow to the head. Be thankful we're trying to help you and we're not leaving you to die as hag food."

"Why can't you still understand?" And his anger turned into haunting despair; he really wanted to convince them and make them understand.

"Can't you see that I've finally found someone who doesn't judge me or take advantage of me? I was raised to serve the greater good: The Gate, the people – only to end up serving a devil. Fitting, isn't it? Because I can, right? To serve as a soldier for others. Father never really asked what I wanted. So, it has come that the devils and demons came and took my soul in a contract. Again, someone just took. My father cast me away without trusting me. Maybe I forgot along the way what I really want for myself, because I always put the needs of others at first place. I don't know if people ever saw me – really saw me – if I didn't help them, if I didn't fight for them. "

The look of his eyes swept through the group, resting on each of them, and their expression easily cast a feeling of shame and disgrace over each of them. The disgrace, the sadness, the feeling of being lost – everything that Wyll felt. Everything that he was revealing to them here.

"And what did I fight against? What was imposed on me. I was no better, and I didn't question what lay behind the appearance. Devilish, demonic appearance. I wasn't better. If you're not like me, then you must be the enemy, because a book once said that all witches are evil, right? Because everything with horns is a devil and devils must be killed, is that so?”

His eyes laid on the two Tieflings.

“She shows me my faults without mocking me or making me feel stupid. No, but simply enriched...happy. Finally understood and settled. I was so lost after Mizora took my humanity, and yet I don't cry for it, because the decision to spare Karlach was the right one. And I would make it again a hundred times in every lifetime. Just as I hope to meet Auntie Ethel again and again."

While Shadowheart remained untouched, Karlach could no longer. If she hadn't been so warm, and if the tears hadn't immediately evaporated as they rolled down her cheeks, she would have cried tears down her cheeks as she lowered her gaze, stricken and moved.

“Wyll, darling, you just sound completely crazy!" Astarion had no problem saying what he thought, and as usual, he believed he was saying what everyone else was thinking.

"I'm starting to care less about what you think! And I'm going back to her, and either you let me through willingly or I'll make room..." The warlock's tone sharpened, and his hand slid dangerously towards his rapier until, out of nowhere, he toppled forward and, lay down on his belly…snoring.

Surprised eyes wandered to Gale, whose hands were still gently wrapping the weave after casting the sleeping spell.

"I think," he cleared his throat briefly, "it's time we persuade him more forcefully to stay here."

"With the greatest pleasure," Astarion, Shadowheart, and Lae'zel grinned simultaneously, looping a rope around his wrists and ankles.

"Maybe not quite so tightly, Lae'zel," Aristen ventured, seeing the Githyanki binding his feet.

"So what do we do now?" Saulus asked, her gaze instinctively going to Gale.

"The Hag clearly put a spell on Wyll. So how do we break it, wizard?" Astarion nodded, chiming in.

"Hag's magic isn't exactly my specification," Gale admitted sheepishly, while his tone also hinted that they should have been aware of that themselves, because it was a fairly obvious, logical fact. At least to him.

"What a miracle. You're usually the expert on all sorts of magic," Aristen muttered, only loud enough for Gale to hear but could have ignored.

Saulus, however, didn't miss it and absolutely not ignored it.

Her eyes widened, and a loud "HA!" echoed from the back where she stood, "Hahahaha woohoo! She's given it to you, Gale!" she cried, laughing loudly. The wizard from Waterdeep had pointed out to the Sorceress Aristen at every opportunity that sorcery wasn't real magic. He deserved the comeback.

Astarion, of all people, uncharacteristically intervened as the voice of reason, saying in a calm voice: "As much as I like to take every opportunity to harp on about the fact, we have a useless wizard with us..."

"Hey!" protested Gale, not missing the insult beneath the apparent rescue. Friends like Astarion didn't need enemies, and Gale, meanwhile, pulled the proverbial knife out of his back.

"...just as much as we should be looking for a solution to this...problem," the vampire continued undeterred, "not that I care where Wyll puts his blade in his free time, but if it prevents him from concentrating on using it in combat, then I do care. Usually, he's always eager to be on the front lines, solving all the monsters and problems. If he doesn't do that, it all falls on us, and we're stuck in this wilderness for longer. That makes it less of a challenge to free him from that witch."

"Maybe he really does like her," Karlach objected.

"Darling, are you blind or stupid? Have you even looked at her? She's a witch! You don't like them! And even if someone in yours or our bard's vivid imagination did..."

"Hey! Why?!" Saulus protested, looking confused at the unnecessary jab. And she couldn't help but notice Gale grinning in her direction. She planned to straighten the elf’s curls later, for the audacity to confuse her with Alfira or—gods forbid—Volo.

"...WYLL doesn't like them. He slaughters every monster," Astarion finished his thought.

"Neither you, fangs," Kalach emphasized, "suddenly not so stupid anymore, eh, smartass?!"

"Gods, can someone explain to her that they're not the same thing," Astarion shrieked, almost desperately.

"Actually, she has a debatable point, Astarion," Gale objected logically, only making him despair even more.

"Well, as long as she's not a goblin, there's a possibility. At least with those, we can be sure he'd never willingly tolerate them," the bard shrugged.

"Really Saulus, this again?" Shadowheart sighed.

"I'm sorry I can't forget the fact, that he wanted to exterminate all goblins, parents and children, but portrayed me as the morally reprehensible one when I didn't immediately offer condolences to the goblin child talking about his dead parents. What bullshit! I mean, he probably killed his parents. Including that we wanted to sneak up on the goblin leaders incognito, and after all our persuasion, the first thing he did was tell the priestess to her face that we should kill her and make her scream. After he ripped me off outside in front of the goblin kid who tried to grab my horns."

"Saulus, I think you're missing the point," Aristen smiled knowingly. But loving and reassuring.

"But..."

"I understand," she gently touched her arm, "just let it go and get over it."

A familiar sigh rippled through the group, and it was Lae'zel who drew attention. Her face, with its barely existent nose, was twisted in annoyance and anger, her sinewy arms crossed. Anyone who knew her, or Githyanki in general, even slightly, knew that she was tired of this sitting around arguing. The warrior could only take pleasure in action. Well-thought-out and planned, with meaning and understanding, yes, but still action!

Either something was done now, or the topic was ended, and she would have known immediately how to end the topic most quickly.

"I think we've wasted enough time on this already. We should have been looking for my crech in the meantime, or have you forgotten that we have tadpoles in our brains? We should be working on that!"

"Lae'zel Fey magic is truly something not to be underestimated. Bewitchment. Classic enchantment magic. A spell twinned with his essence; but it could also be something totally different. A potion, a talisman – too many options," answered Aristen, the sorceress who definitely didn't want to give up on Wyll so easily. If he had been in love, she would have been the first to congratulate him, but before the whole thing, she had witnessed a hundred times more potential and tension between him and Karlach than between him and the strange aunt. The swamp reeked of rotten magic and illusions, the brothers, her sister… something was wrong.

"What in the nine hells?!" Suddenly, something stirred from Wyll's direction, and after the sleep spell had worn off, the warlock began to realize his situation and pull at his bonds. "Untie me immediately!" He cursed and was about to start tossing and turning, but Saulus was already there, saying in a gentle voice, "Hey buddy...", sitting down on the bound Wyll's backside, "It's okay, we'll take care of you."

It took a few moments for him to calm down and stop fidgeting. So he changed his tactics and smiled sheepishly at his companions: "Guys, seriously? That's not necessary, is it? We're all friends, you don't have to tie me up."

"It seemed different earlier," Lae'zel retorted, provocatively sticking her pointed, bony nose at Ravengard, who was lying prone beneath Saulus.

"If you're really worried about me leaving you, that's not a problem! I've spoken to Ethel about it, and she knows we're looking for a solution to be freed from the tadpoles, and she would accompany us on our journey!" he explained, almost too happily, as if that could settle all the disputes.

"Yes, because that was my biggest concern, that Auntie Ethel wouldn't be able to accompany us," sarcasm dripped from Astarion's mouth. The vampire simply couldn't suppress another roll of his eyes. After this day, his and Lae'zel's eyes would hurt so much from rolling them all.

Meanwhile, Aristen had made a decision: "Before we try any spells on Wyll, I suggest we go to the source that can definitely solve this:

Auntie Ethel."

...

Auntie Ethel's lair, thick with illusion, rot, and glowing fungal light. Reeking of hag's magic, especially now that the illusion around her own person was gone.

The sight of her was still a scary one for the group, and they all agreed: Wyll hadn't lost his heart to her, not willingly.

While one half was convinced based on her looks, the other was convinced based on her fake smile.

The air smelled of weavemoss, autumn crocus, and decay. Nevertheless, the party once again entered Ethel's sanctum.

"You all have some guts to show yourselves here again. I hope you came with an excuse and my darling boy in tow!"

"Cut out the dramatics, we know very well you did something to our friend, and we won't leave without you releasing him from your shady love story!”, Shadowheart snapped with a straight back, just like all the others. They weren't in negotiable mood, that much was clear. The time for peace and negotiations was over, at least as far as Lae'zel was concerned, as she wanted to cut the witch in two immediately. But Gale had taught her better that she shouldn't underestimate the monster.

"Release? I don't know what you're talking about, you feisty little brat," Ethel spat, slowly losing her patience. The loving look faded. In fact, her gentle, loving nature was completely replaced without Wyll at her side.

"Love songs don't usually involve domination charms with whips and chains and rotting mushrooms, Ethel. I'd know—I've written both. Or something like that," said Saulus the Tiefling bard, stopping herself before losing the plot; plucked a few strings of her lyre to activate the weave and cast a spell over her two crossbows before swinging the instrument over her shoulder, already reaching for a bolt to notch.

Gale agreed with sharp disdain to further harass the hag and corner her:

"Your hag's magic is all around this place. But layered with something...older. Foul. Ethel, what have you done?"

Auntie Ethel just grinned, viciously, slyly, and not the least bit worried. Her green skin strangely and suspiciously flickering with its scaled texture.

"Oh, don't be so grim, you wet blankets. The precious Wyll came to me on his free will and behalf, that poor misunderstood lonesome dear. All I offered him was love and attention. Something none of you ever gave him."

“Lies,” Lae’zel hissed with a voice full of fury and stepped forward, her blade already raised, “let him go you crone, or I will cut you down before your next lie slithers free.”

“Be careful petal, before you hurt yourself with that sharp thing”, only mockery escaped the grinning mouth of Ethel

“Undo the spell, hag. Or your next kiss will be from lightning,” threatened Aristen the storm sorceress, her eyes already crackling with arcane energy that was slowly beginning to twitch around the tips of her thin fingers.

“Ha! That was a good one, darling!” Astarion laughed at the on point line of the sorceress, briefly breaking his tense fighting pose with the grim look before immediately slipping back into it.

Ethel's cackles turned into a furious roar, and she spit in the direction of the party, that was ready to defend their companion Wyll:

"Fine! Let's end this farce! You want him? You'll have to take him from my dead, cold claws! But I guess it will be more the dead, cold claws of you all, and you will reek and rot as mud in my swamp, like the shite that you are!"

Spells began to fly, and Gale shouted: "Silence her, Shadowheart!"

But too late, before the cleric could cast the silencing dome over the witch, her bizarre skin began to shimmer a strange green again, and suddenly she disappeared, only to reappear in several places at once.

Mirror Images.

"Damn it, where did she go?!" Shadowheart's voice rang out desperately, her hands ready to form the spell.

"Tsk'va, that pathetic cheating coward!"

“Focus on where she stood!”, Saulus’ voice echoed to her friends. Her eyes hadn't left the Hag for a second, so she exactly pointed to the spot where Ethel had been standing a split second ago. “Just cast Silence in that area anyway, Shadowheart, then she won't be able to try any new tricks. She couldn’t get too far. And Gale, cast something flammable into the area; it'll reveal herself to us.”

The College of Swords Bard found new use for her Bardic Inspiration to perform a Slashing Flourish weapon action with her crossbows to keep the mirror images of Ethel on their toes. This flourish maneuver allowed her to aim and shoot with two bolts at once at each crossbow, which whirred through the tension-charged air.

Doubts held the wizard captive as to whether it was such a good idea and whether the bard was standing far enough away. But there was no time for hesitation and arguing. Immediately after the cleric's silencing dome appeared and seemingly nothing happened except that Ethel's mirror images continued to attack her with claws and poison mist, he cast a raining fireball down.

"Ardē!"

With venomous, malicious hisses, the real Ethel became visible, shaking herself at the very edge of the sea of ​​flames that had fallen from the sky at Gale's command. But her screaming, spitting, and arguing were all in vain; she was still within range of Shadowheart's silencing spell, and thus all her evil gurgling remained stuck silent in her throat. At which point she stretched out her spindly fingers and pointed at the cleric.

Two of her mirror images surrounded her, one slashing with claws, the other casting a spell of confusion to force the half-elf to the edge of a cliff and tumble her down.

Aristen used her storm magic to summon a thunderstorm overhead, the lair crackling with primal energy as the lightning struck the copies of Ethel, freeing Shadowheart from their grasp.

Meanwhile, the real Auntie Ethel dashed out of the area of ​​the silence dome to reclaim the power of her own spells, but in doing so, she ran into the open arms — or rather, short swords — of Astarion. The Rogue had used the time to get into position unseen and completely calmly and silently. As calculated, it paid off, and his two blades descended upon her.

It was a hard, dangerous fight.

Gale cast Counterspell against Ethel's Dominate Person to thwart her plan, confuse someone else, or make them fight against their friends.

The Tiefling bard fired precise bolts that burst into magical chords and drilled with sonic damage into her green flesh. Until she staggered and coughed as one of Ethel's foul green clouds burst at her feet, blinding her vision and sending her staggering from the caustic poison.

The air was charged not only with tension, but also with electricity, and Aristen came to Saulus’ aid, using her storm power to swirl the hag's poison and acid aside before her lightning bolts leaped to the malevolent fey creature like an ominous chain of blazing doom.

Lae'zel unleashed her Great Sword, raining down slashing attacks that would strike down giants, supported by a holy flame from the back and Astarion's bone-breaking and flesh-toring arrows that shot from the string of his longbow with deadly precision, as well as brutal power and speed.

"ENOUGH!"

The growling voice of Auntie Ethel roamed through the place, coughing and spitting as she staggered backward.

"You became quiet an inconvenience for me, you little maggots," she shouted with a tongue as evil as her very own soul and heart. No sign of love left.

"Stop it right there. I swear if you kill me, your warlock friend remains bound. My curse is laced into his very soul. But if you let me go, I'll release him. Willingly."

"Who could trust the words of a hag?!", Shadowheart spat at her.

"You have no choice but to believe me," Ethel grinned broadly, her long claws twitching.

"Can that be true?" Lae'zel's ever-serious gaze shot to the wizard of the group for confirmation of Ethel's words about her magic, but the warrior remembered Gale's "failure" with Fey Magic and turned away to the sorceress. "Aristen?"

Disappointment wasn't even a word for what glittered in Gale's brown eyes, as he had already raised his index finger and opened his mouth to offer Lae'zel an explanation. Losing his trust as the group's #1 Magical Consultant hurt his ego even more than the orb in his chest, evident in the slight pout he pulled as he lowered his finger, completely unnoticed by Lae'zel.

"Normally, the spell disappears with the caster. Unless she did something else. A cursed object or something," replied the blonde high elf with blue eyes. “Right, Gale?”

“Yes, right. To kill would end her power, but to risk Wyll’s life as we don’t know the details is a cost to high”, the wizard enthusiastically nodded, happy to share his thoughts. 

"I thought, with your wormy group, it wouldn't hurt to have someone on my side, just to be on the safe side. And I thought you might be useful to me if you continued your work here. So I asked the well-behaved boy to carry a few potion crates for poor Auntie Ethel, and while I was at it, I secretly put a bracelet around his wrist. All you have to do is take it off and burn it along with this powder."

The hag's long fingernails fished out a leathery pouch that looked as ominous as its contents probably were.

"Swear on your foul magic, that this breaks the curse, or I will break every bone in your disgusting body!" the warrior of K'liir continued. She was in her element — action and not reaction.

"100 percent guaranteed effect. More than your swords and blades," the hag grinned. Strangely scheming.

“It better works, because when it doesn't, I will come back and you will pray that we had killed you. Because I will burn down the entire swamp, and that's just the beginning, and now vanish from our sight. Forever!”

Lae'zel roughly grabbed the leather pouch and ripped it roughly from Ethel's hand to take it for herself.

“You are too loud, girl. You have what you wanted, now leave my swamp and kiss my little petal from me one last time.”

...

"Next time, we shoot first and charm later," Saulus stated while entering the camp, counting her remaining bolts of her crossbows.

Aristen nodded in agreement while sighing: "Let's just hope there isn't a next time."

"Oh my darlings, there is always a next time. But I am sure, something like that will NEVER EVER happen again," Astarion grinned at the two pointy-eared ladies.

"You're back!" Karlach cried joyfully when she heard their voices and ran a little towards them. "Please tell me you've accomplished something!"

"To preempt Gale's long story: Yes. We also found that Mayrina girl later and freed her, but that doesn’t help with our Wyll-problem ", Shadowheart chimed in, and the companions gave Karlach a summary while they immediately went to the still-bound Wyll, so as not to waste any time and to break the curse of the hag immediately.

Gale pushed up the warlock's sleeve, revealing a bracelet made of twisted willow branches.

"By Mystra's nose, indeed," breathed the brown-eyed wizard, amazed with the others' breath on his neck.

He broke the cursed thing, smashed it to the ground, sprinkled the nasty, suffocating powder from the leather pouch over it, and after a brief flame from his fingers, the bracelet burst into flames.

The nightmare was over.

Or was it?

All eyes turned to Wyll Ravengard, who was still lying tied up on the ground.

"Wyll... buddy...how are you doing?" Saulus asked, cautiously approaching him, an uncertain smile on her scarred lips.

"Any...feelings?" Astarion dared to ask, emphasizing the word "feelings" as if he'd never said it before in his life.

"What's with all this impertinent questioning? You were with Ethel, right? How is she? Is she okay? Don't hurt her, or I swear..." He started to thrash around again, but was stopped by Saulus, who squatted on him again. "Whoopsie, let's not do that, shall we, Wyll?"

"Chk, the bitch cheated on us!"

"For fuck's sake, I can't believe it."

"Just untie me and let me go to her!"

"It's not you speaking, Wyll. It's her magic. Fight it," Gale pleaded urgently.

"No, I want to listen to my heart!"

"I've had enough!" Astarion grumbled.

"Me too! Stupid istiks!" Lae'zel hissed, truly fed up.

"Great! Now what?!" Saulus sighed, crouching on Wyll.

"We'll go back to the hag and finish this. No one betrays a Githyanki," Lae'zel was determined, perhaps less for Wyll's sake than for revenge, and the thought that Ethel fooled them, lied them in the face.

"Then on to round two!" the bard jumped up from Ravengard, only to see Astarion waving his hands and shaking his silver head wildly.

"Have fun, but without me! You're welcome to do that, but I'm out! I've had enough! This time I'm keeping watch over our love-struck Sword Coast watchdog," and with these words, Astarion plopped down on Wyll's backside, where Saulus had been squatting.

"Ugh," the air was forced from the Warlock's lungs and throat as the Rogue sat down on him, and Wyll wheezed breathlessly: "Astarion, could you sit somewhere else? You're a little heavier than Saulus."

"Well, beauty weighs," the elf laughed, throwing his head back as he bent his hand.

Saulus just turned around with her arms outstretched and shaking her head, before deciding to let it go and not take it as an insult, but simply as a compliment he'd directed at himself, and set off with the others back to the swamp. Meanwhile, they could still hear Astarion's voice:

"And don't be like that, Wyll, I could have sat on your face. Or would you prefer that?"

...

"Look who is once again my guest: The cat dragged in a pile of knuckle-dragging gobshite! But I didn't invite you, you little snots," Ethel shouted as angry as any existence could be, as the party stood again at her door, her face a grimace of disgust. Or even more so than it already was. Wyll would have been enraged by this comparison!

"Save your breath, hag, your lousy hoax has been exposed. Now bring me the real antidote!" Lae'zel wasted no time, the tip of her blade already aimed at Ethel's pointed, bumpy nose. Which only elicited an unsteady twitch of the witch's green, algae-covered eyebrows before she whistled a laugh between her sharp piranha teeth.

"I have no idea what you're babbling about, you naughty little frog brat," she hissed at the warrior of K'liir, her voice practically screeching as her lip trembled in anger. Ethel had had enough of the group. Her hooked nose was fed up, if you will.

"Bracelet gone up in flames; our friend is still head over heels for you; is something clicking? Now just set him free or we'll have to find out how well witches really burn," Karlach intervened, her hand clenching her axe, but it was the licking flames around her hair and the look in her eyes that seemed really threatening.

"Stop bothering me, afterbirth of a worg! I gave you everything to break my curse. So how dare you to show up here again?!"

The growls, the hag's snarls, and the fury with which she spat out the words was a bit frightening, especially the way she began to rear up with her long arms.

"In fact, it didn't work," Gale stepped in, "the deal was to release him."

"And how is that my problem, hm?", Ethel leaned forward and tilted her head grotesquely, looking more like a strange dog at the moment, "if you're too stupid to do something right? Maybe your little warlock lapdog just loves Auntie Ethel so much, ever thought about that? And now...piss off you nasty naughty petals, you will never bother me again! You will never bother anyone again. Bye bye."

A snapping gesture with her screwy clawed fingers and the figure of the hag dissolved before their eyes, just vanished, just for a bunch of snarling Redcaps to appear and surround them.

"Aaah Redcaps!" screamed Saulus in alarm as she flinched and jumped on one leg as if their were spiders on the ground that she definitely didn't want to touch.

...

"And how did it go?"

Astarion's question would only seem like a farce to someone who saw the rest of the group returning to camp:

Shuffling, dejected, shoulders slumped, disheveled, and some with blood spattered on their cheeks.

Equally important was the way he asked:

Well, it was his usual nonchalant, sing-song voice that he had chosen, but considering the faces looking back, his own chosen smug grin spoke volumes.

"Untie him," Gale simply sighed in surrender, pointing to the flat Wyll on which Astarion was still perched, and whose request he hadn't complied with.

"What?!"

"Untie him," the wizard simply repeated, and the elf reluctantly complied, twisting his full lips slightly crookedly, always containing as many sarcastic remarks as they did seemingly insincere compliments.

"What happened then?", he pressed onward to know.

"Ethel said her hag spell had already been broken and that she had kept her word. There's nothing we can do," Aristen explained the situation to him.

"Outrageous! I may be bewitched; I may be under a spell — the spell of love — but I am not cursed!" Wyll shouted, tearing off the last scraps of rope and rubbing his wrists.

"And then she disappeared forever," Shadowheart added, sighing heavily as she sat down on her stool to rest her feet.

Nothing came of that.

"And she's set a horde of Redcaps on us to tear us apart so-"

"WHAT?!" Wyll's cry interrupted Saulus’ lament, "My Ethel is gone?! No!"

The Blade began to run, lips still murmuring words of adoration. The remaining companions followed him, although Astarion and Shadowheart were only reluctantly chasing after him, Aristen involuntarily staying at their level, and Lae'zel cursing that she couldn't believe the speed the power of love gave him, because she should have caught up with him by now.

"Soldier wait!"

But Wyll was unstoppable, which caused Karlach to grab a solid piece of wood as he ran past, "Sorry, soldier," and hurl it into her friend's path from behind.

The wooden stick got caught between his fast-moving feet, the warlock began to stumble, and Karlach grimaced apologetically and pityingly as he fell to his knees.

That was Lae'zel's moment to intervene before he started sprinting again too quickly, but when she grabbed his shoulder, the feeling of almost like being a hunter who had caught their prey, the triumph vanished and as Wyll began to sob.

"Um, Karlach, can you please help," Lae'zel calling her follower over, pulling Ravengard up.

"Wyll, buddy, what's up? We're here for you."

"You aren't! You scared off my girlfriend. And now I wanted to see if she maybe packed her things at her "Lotions & Potions" stall. And you're even trying to stop me from doing that."

Combined with Gale's heavy panting, which was now catching up with the group, and Astarion, who was definitely strolling up in a more than less relaxed manner, the companions now clearly realized that they had walked to the Emerald Grove. So Ravengard had indeed been drawn there.

"Wyll," Karlach refrained from placing her hand on his shoulder, because the charred spot wouldn't help at all now, "Ethel is gone. She also doesn’t sell no more potions at the grove. But remember why she did it. Because she was a hag. And why is she gone now? Because she was an evil hag who only had evil intentions. Evil. Remember? You hate evil! And you more like nice ladies with a heart of gold."

“Or more like a heart of fire,” Astarion whispered in the background, his hand in front of his mouth, grinning as he nudged Aristen and Saulus with his elbow and waggled his eyebrows, causing the bard to once again suppress a laugh, so she huffed a laugh through her nose.

“Shhh,” Aristen gently poked her elbow back to silence him, so as not to disturb Karlach, but with a big fat grin onto her elven lips.

“How can love be bad or evil, Karlach?” responded The Blade, “just as she is not blind. Since I lost my eye, I've seen more than ever. Happiness, joy, understanding. I've stopped judging and started questioning. Where I first saw only an enemy in a hag, I have found love. A happiness that would otherwise have been forever denied to me, out of sheer stubbornness and blindness.”

Even Gale sighed deeply and laid his head with its thick brown hair and the scattered gray strands — now one could guess whether he owed these to time, Mystra or the orb, or perhaps his mom and Tara — in his hand. As beautiful as he would have found a bard's tale in which a warlock falls in love with a hag and they both overcome the forces of good and evil and all prejudices, he still knew that it wasn't true. Wyll and Ethel could have been happy; at first glance, an unlikely couple, but what others thought should never concern you, Gale respected that to the highest degree.

But he had been with the others at the fight at Ethel's lair and she had enchanted the Duke's son, had admitted it. It couldn't be that she had enchanted him for nothing, surely?

That Wyll was already in love with her and she had gone to all the trouble for nothing.

Or...or was she?

Gale trimmed his chin and rubbed his beard. "Why did Wyll have to trigger the butterfly effect by helping Ethel carry the potion crates? Couldn't he have told her to find someone else to do it for her? Then none of this would probably have happened," the wizard sighed, before shaking his head and answering his own question, "but Wyll is too nice for that."

"Yes, that's right, he's too nice for that”, Saulus nodded in true agreement, because no others words could be truer and at least for that thing, they could be sure at the end of this lunatic day. The bard's nodding agreement turned slowly into a perplexed stare, and the smile on Saulus' lips disappeared. Gale's statement had set in motion a thought process that spread burningly in her flaming eyes beneath her horns.

From the outside, little was discernible from the gears that were loudly turning and squeaking inside her brain, only her twitching expressions and furrowed brows.

"Karlach!" the Tiefling suddenly broke out of her trance, almost startling the rest with her abrupt intervention, since they had, of course, continued their conversation when Saulus had mentally checked out. "Punch Wyll in the stomach!"

"What?!" Karlach hissed in disbelief, her face twisting in confusion. "Fuck, no!"

"You have to punch him in the stomach as hard as you can!" the horned bard continued to insist vehemently.

The remaining companions frowned, no less confused, not understanding what she was getting at or what this was all about. What good would knocking Wyll out do now? Or was she so euphoric that she was taking resentful revenge for the incident in the goblin camp?

"I won't punch Wyll," Karlach shook her head in incomprehension without even a second's hesitation. The opposite of this was Lae'zel, who stepped forward boldly, her practiced and steely Githyanki fist already clenched and raised as a monument, a metonymy of determined hardness and pain:

"I'll do it!"

Only a spell of 'time stop' could have later said which came first: Lae'zel's fist burying itself in Wyll's gut with a dull thud, or the wide-eyed looks of the other companions in completely useless attempts to move, to avert the inevitable. Then Ravengard's full breath, which the Githyanki warrior had punched out of him and which, with a pain-filled choking, then caught halfway in his throat.

Wyll coughed and choked under the force of Lae'zel's fist, which probably wanted to pierce his gut. He spat briefly, and there was a clunking sound from the ground.

"Lae'zel!" Gale and Aristen shouted in unison, supporting poor Wyll, who was almost about to fall forward. The groaning sounds he made, far from the Blade of Frontiers, now reminded him more of a zombie, thanks to the Githyanki warrior.

Sparkling ruby ​​eyes watched the proceedings with undeniable glee.

A throwback to Chaos.

"Lae'zel, didn't you want to know why we should hit Wyll?" Karlach raised an eyebrow as she patted the slowly rising Blade on the back reassuringly.

"Chk, what for?" she hissed, unfazed. "Besides, he took it all right and is still standing. Not everyone can say that after taking a blow from a Githyanki."

"Perhaps you could say that a little less maliciously," Astarion's voice intervened, smugly and unhelpfully.

"Yes, as the right person is saying that," Shadowheart's accusatory wit caught him.

A finger raised in the air interrupted the banter:

"Wyll would like to know why he should be punched," he said, groaning.

"I assume it was about that," Astarion's finger, as treacherously as his swirling tongue, pointed to the ground, "whatever landed on the floor with such a nice 'clank' after Wyll spat it out."

However, his attentive silver-curled head with crimson-red eyes that missed nothing was only the second to bend down, observing.

Hazel eyes of Gale were the first to, along with Saulus, examine the object that had been pried out by the blow to the warlock's stomach, somewhat suspiciously.

"By Mystra's waving robe, what is that?!"

"Why don't you let Astarion hold it? I thought sticky fluids are his thing," Shadowheart's snarky comment was almost missed under the nonchalant, casual tone of her voice. But only almost.

"Um, EXCUSE YOU?!" It wasn't even remotely offended, the way Astarion's voice shot up several octaves as his elven face twisted in a completely unelven inelegant way.

If Shadowheart's comment hadn't been so mean, Aristen would have almost laughed at how much Astarion now looked like an exotic shorthair cat, the way he pulled his nose. Instead, she suppressed a laugh and eyed the round thing with the others, which, "thanks" to Lae'zel's blow, was no longer in Wyll. Because apparently, it definitely had no business being there.

"Is that from Auntie Ethel?" she preferred to concentrate on that.

"That looks like one of her talismans to me," Gale agreed with the blond sorceress, nodding, his brow still furrowed in thoughtful analysis.

"One of her evil hag eye boogaloos. That in the stomach of our warlock, and there she has a deviant, head-over-heels puppy. No offense, Wyll," the Wizard of Waterdeep added afterwards.

"So she lied to us?"

"Big surprise: A hag lied! Quite shocking," Astarion did an act of pure sarcasm with tone and face.

"But why poising him with her spells and her charms? That does not make any sense," Shadowheart interjected logically.

"Because she didn't do it on purpose, just as she didn't lie to us. It was all a stupid coincidence, I think," Saulus the bard spoke again. "I think Wyll swallowed the hag talisman by accident. And didn't notice or think about it, because he's just too nice."

"And how the fuck that, lil pup soldier?"

"Gale pointed it out to me: Okta's cooking pot is right next to Auntie Ethel's potion stand. You remember how she offered us her gray porridge to keep us fed? If one of her cursed hag's eye trinkets accidentally fell into the pot and landed right in Wyll's bowl, he'd never complain about how disgusting it tasted or that he'd bitten into something hard and weird. He'd just swallow it and eat it because he's too polite to tell an old cook that the emergency ration she's sharing with us tastes horrible and inedible."

"In the name of Lady Shar, and that's what you thought of?"

"Like I said: It's Gale who thought of it and brought it to my attention," she smiled appreciatively in Gale's direction, "he knew it was Wyll's decency that triggered the butterfly effect. I just brought up the suggestion for boxing."

The Tiefling let out a short laugh, which was reflected in her eyes and almost to the tips of her horns, if that were possible.

"No wonder this whole love spell or curse — however you might call it — was so powerful and effective with this double enchantment. Truly most interesting. Again, no offense, Wyll," Gale analyzed.

"We can be glad he's doing so well after such a double enchantment. I mean, there could have been a danger that this dose of Fey magic would have blown his brains out," Aristen frowned, glad that The Blade of Frontiers had once again proven itself resilient. Another scar? One that wasn't visible?

"How do you feel, Wyll?" Karlach leaned over to the young Ravengard to check the most important things. Did he remember everything? Was it really all over now?

"Gods...What did she — ?" He shook his horned head vigorously "I am fine, Karlach. Only...only ashamed. I remember. All of it. What happened," he shivered, grimacing over his face, "and especially how I behaved towards you. Disgraceful. You were on my side the whole time. Most of you."

"Yes, especially me! Don't forget that!" the rogue grinned broadly from the background, his fangs bared, to emphasize once again that he didn't like Wyll, even though he, like everyone else, had been on board the whole time. His motives notwithstanding. He might fool himself; it had only been out of curiosity. They wouldn't just leave each other behind like that. None of them, for any reason.

"You're back, my friend. Good we have our blade not hanging loosely on our side, only a shell left of their former self. We need you. For everything to come. And we need you as you are for yourself, Wyll. Your words of courage and balance went missing these days," smiled Gale gently and visibly relieved.

"No! Let's see if this is really over," snapped Astarion and he dragged the slightly protesting Wyll into sight of the old Tiefling cook Okta, where he pointed at her out of hearing reach, "now: Would you do her?"

“Astarion, what?!”

“Answer the question!”

“Well NO!”

“Then everything is fine again,” the elf nodded happily and let go of the warlock, who grumbled about the vampire, adjusting his collar, but the Tiefling bard was already grinning her way into Astarion's world and tilting her head toward him.

"Would you do her?" she asked with a voice that suppressed a joking giggling.

"What?" he snapped offended at her.

"Would you do her then? It seemed like you just wanted to make sure you eliminated any competition," she continued, grinning with her Tiefling fangs over both of her pointed, pierced ears.

"Haha, Saulus, you absolute freak, how dare you," Astarion said, jutting his sharp chin in mock offense, before a grin spread across his lips and his ruby-red eyes squinted back at her amusedly, because he actually always found her humorous comments and jokes quite funny.

"Okay, let's just agree that no one finds out about this," Wyll sighed, putting a hand over his face that he buried and wished would never resurface, and he began to shake his head vigorously in shame, "okay?"

"I don't know, Wyll, you said a few things there, maybe you should stick to those insights. They weren't bad, there's still something to be learned from them," Shadowheart suggested him playfully.

"Guys!"

"We won't say anything," the others reassured him.

"I wish I could forget and burn my eyes out," moaned Ravengard, who, as a self-proclaimed monster hunter with a reputation, clearly had problems with everything that happened. He was traveling with a Tiefling - who should have been killed by him due to his pact  - as well as a vampire spawn. He was getting further and further away from a path...which was probably nothing but meaningless words and smoke and mirrors. Because meaning had virtue in what one gave meaning.

"Our dream visitor could erase our memories," Saulus interjected, completely casually.

"What can they do?! How do you know that?!" Astarion practically jumped up, which made the bard blink uncertainly as if she'd said something she shouldn't.

"What did they delete before? Saulus, answer me!" the vampire shook her, while the Tiefling clenched her teeth.

"I am just glad it is over," the warlock continued seriously, skillfully ignoring the nonsensical commotion of the two pointy-eared, sharp-toothed creatures in the background, "it is so that it seems I am always on a leash. It seems I should be used to it."

A deep sigh escaped his lips and the young Duke’s son cast his gaze to the ground.

What did he learn from this story?

"Ah soldier, don't be sad. We keep an eye on you. Everything will be better, I promise," the barbarian smiled, her big, famous, beautiful Karlach smile on him.

"You deserve better, Wyll. Like we all," Gale nodded at him.

"You really do, Wyll," Aristen smiled gently.

Shrugging shoulders lifted beneath white curls: "Look at it this way, now you have experience and great pick-up lines if you really find someone hot."

"Astarion, I think it would be appropriate if you just kept your mouth shut," Gale said in a pleasant tone, yet pleasant. Already speaking Fireball in his mind.

"Gods, you're all sensitive today."

The vampire's snippy tongue and the rest of the banter were interrupted by the familiar scratching sound of a quill on parchment, absorbing ink.

The bard was writing far too eagerly in her little book.

"Um, Saulus, what are you writing?" Wyll asked, slightly alarmed, and suspicious glances slid in her direction.

With a bright, enthusiastic look, she held out her bard's book:

"My latest song: Hag's Love."

➹a/n:  Like so often, what I did is the fault of Agata 😁 My partner in crime 😉 Love ya my darling 😘 She said write a rare pair.  That is what I made out if it 😄

So it is a bit of the March AU prompt as well, because it as an alternative or parallel camp with two Tavs 😉 But I wanted for my Saulus and her Aristen to get to know each other and have a little adventure together 😁

And because they are both there, there is no flirting with Astarion or mentioning who is with him 😉 For the pansexual polygamous Saulus it would be no problem at all to have a relationship as three 😄😂 But the heterosexual monogamous Aristen would to have some loud words to say about that, so nothing will come of it 😆🤣

Did you hear that, Halsin! This especially applies to you! Get out of bushes! No threesomes for you! 😆😆😆

(I don’t now why it is my headcanon that Halsin lurkes in bushes for couples to jump on threesomes 🤣 He brought this upon himself! 😂)

(P.S.: I imagined Aristen coming to the rescue of Saulus when Astarion shook her at the end.)

I said No Wylls war harmed in the writing of this fic…well maybe a little bit 😅 (*looking at Lae’zel*)

P.S.: Sorry to everyone who expected hardcore hot Wyll x Ethel moments 😆🤣

[allywthsr]

Hii! United fan here who’s still not over the mount signing😁😂Can I request a mason mount x fem!reader where she goes with him to the signing with his family and she’s just there with him throughout the day

Based on this video <3 https://youtu.be/tv_C7cv7wY8

NEW BEGINNINGS | (m.mount)

summary: Mason has his first official day and needs you by his side

wordcount: 2.4k words

pairing: masonmount x fem!reader

warnings: mason and you being horny, but nothing graphic

notes: hope you enjoy! I have no clue how english football works behind the scenes, so I hope it kind of makes sense! Like and comment your thoughts please!

”Mason are you ready? We need to leave in ten minutes.“, you shouted through the still empty house. You hadn’t had time to unpack all of your stuff yet. Too busy settling into the new city and Mason was too busy doing stuff at the Manchester United centre.

A loud ”Yes, just finishing my hair.“, was screamed from upstairs. You chuckled, feeling the butterflies in you stomach, you were probably more nervous than Mason. You just couldn’t help but feel excited for this new chapter while still mourning the move to Manchester. You had loved the house in London and you loved how your friends all lived nearby. Now you had to start over and make new friends, you just hoped the other wags would be nice to you and you wouldn’t have to stand alone during the first game.

When a shaking Mason arrived at the bottom of the stairs, handsome as ever in his black pants, white shirt, and red Manchester utd jacket, you had to hug him, hoping to take some nervousness off of him and just flick it away.

”I‘m just as nervous as you are, baby. It’s going to be fine. I‘ll be there, your whole family will be there and you have us. Whenever you feel like shitting your pants, just squeeze my hand, okay? It’s going to be alright.“

He took your hand and squeezed it real tight. You let out a laugh. ”Not now love, you‘ll be fine, believe me. Later when we‘ll be in bed you‘ll laugh about how easy this day was.“

After that, he came closer to your ear and whispered: ”Later in bed, I‘ll do many things but laugh, babygirl.“

This going straight to your core. Babygirl was a nickname he only used in the bedroom or to rile you up during the day. And well, it worked. You squeezed your legs together to relieve some pressure that build up.

Mason gave you a knowing look and smirked. What a dipshit. He gave you a kiss on your neck where he sucked the skin a little and then loosened the hug. You wanted to kill him for leaving you like that.

With a smack on his bum, you made your way to the car, ready to go.

When you arrived, you first met up with his family. They stood in the car park next to their cars waiting for you and after a round of ’hellos’ and ’heys‘ you were ready to go inside. Mason had a strong grip on your hand and you squeezed it from time to time to show your support.

When you saw the cameras and the crew waiting for Mason, you wanted to go to his family who were walking a few meters behind, so you wouldn’t be in the shot, you weren’t the star of the day after all, but he kept a firm grip on your hand.

”You said you would stay by my side, I can’t do this alone now.“

You whispered a small ”Okay“ before he went a greeted the crew waiting for him. After going in and greeting the lovely desk lady and getting the tour through the halls of the center, it was time to go outside. You were stunned by the big history this club held, while never leaving Mason's side. You felt sorry for the viewers who expected to see Mason but got a free upgrade with you on his side, you also didn’t think it was something the crew imagined as they first looked a bit confused and asked several times if he was ready to film.

When you went outside and saw the set up you gasped, it looked so sweet, and after greeting and shaking hands with everyone you could go and have a better look at it. Seeing his new jersey laying on the stool you felt tingly inside.

You wanted to lose the grip he had on your hand and let him do his thing but he refused and just squeezed your hand, showing he needed the support. So you went together to the backdrop and he finally let got off your hand to inspect his new jersey. While you placed your now empty hand on his back to keep the contact and support for him.

”Pretty cool huh?“, he looked at you after unfolding it and holding it at the top, while you gripped the side to stretch it a little for a better look. You felt the material and looked at it. Mount number 7, also something you had to get used to after he had 19 at Chelsea, but seeing how iconic number 7 was, you just hoped for him to feel as good as the other boys did in it.

After turning it around you said: ”It‘s not bad is it.“ he turned to the camera and said with a little wink: ”You heard the lady, it’s not bad.“

You rolled your eyes playfully.

”Makes me wanna go on the pitch and play“, you smiled at him and started to inspect the background they set up. Seeing the baby picture, you took a closer look. You couldn’t believe how cute your boyfriend was even as a child, with the sweetest little ears and his hair perfectly styled. The fan picture made you excited, to see his new fanbase, hoping they wouldn’t kill him on the pitch, seeing the negative comments people left on his and your Instagram. And the illustrated picture of him in the Manchester Utd kit looked amazing. You hoped that you could take it home afterwards and hang it on the wall. You needed some pictures on the still-empty walls in your new home. After that, it was time to pose for pictures. So you let go of his back and joined his family, who were already talking about the experience and the energy this place radiated.

Little Summer was buzzing with excitement and had a lot of energy, so you ran around the terrace with her for a little to calm her down. Her brother Archie laid in his stroller and the sight of him made your ovaries scream. He looked so small and sweet, you imagined what it would be like to start a family here with Mason. You two always talked about how you wanted to start a family soon, but that was always before the transfer to Manchester started, now you didn’t know where he stood regarding that topic.

But Mason was just as excited as you were. Seeing you with Summer made the butterflies in his stomach fly around even more, he couldn’t wait to have a little Mason or a little Y/N running around your new home.

The pictures and videos he had to do were absolutely gorgeous, seeing him sitting in that chair did mad things to you, you just wanted to hop on his lap and do unholy stuff, but not when his family+his new crew was watching. But you definitely needed to buy a chair for the new house, it made your mind crazy and horny. After he did the media pictures it was time for family pictures for memories. The whole family gathered behind Mason and you. Mason held one of the jersey's shoulders, placing his hand on your back, while you held the other shoulder, placing your other hand also on his back, and posed for the new family picture. Mason also wanted one with only you so you did the same pose as before. And after FaceTiming his sister from Australia he felt way less nervous than this morning when he really got on your nerves. Before the alarm clock even rang, he woke you up by poking his pointer finger in your face because he couldn’t sleep anymore and felt like throwing up. You tried to get him back to sleep but it was impossible.

The video camera documenting every step you guys took made you feel a little intimidated. It wasn’t like Mason and you had a secret relationship or something like that. It was actually pretty open, often posting candids of the other on an Instagram story, or making a post about the other, but getting the official welcome on the YouTube channel was something different.

Standing next to Mason when he gave his first autograph on the new jersey, you let out a surprised sound because of how good it looked.

”Smashed it, Mase“, you told him. It looked fucking good. You wished you could take it home as a memory for later.

After walking on the green ground for the first time, you couldn’t wait to see him on the pitch, where he hopefully gets the treatment he deserved.

The interviews didn’t seem to end, the questions got sillier the longer you walked. Thankfully you had his family next to you, to keep you company. After the interviews you went to the next media station, the official signing picture. While walking to the assigned room, you were stunned again by the big halls and pictures plastered on every wall. After Mason took pictures alone while signing the contract, with his parents and family it was time for the two of you. You stood on his left side and placed your hand proudly on his shoulder while having the biggest grin on your lips, just like Mason. This was a big deal to the both of you, a new club, a new city, a new beginning. You were ready for it, scared, but ready.

”I‘m super thirsty, is there somewhere where we can get a drink?“, Mason asked. He really was thirsty but he knew the rest of you guys could also use a break. Little Archie got fussy throughout the day, not wanting to be any longer in his stroller and also desperate for a drink. So you all settled in the cafeteria, having a coffee or a water and just enjoying the peace. Mason also removed his Manchester United jacket after a: ” It’s pretty warm, innit“. While Mason held your hand under the table and placed them on his thigh, he talked to his parents who sat at the same little table as you two.

”What’s now on the Agenda“, you asked, feeling yourself getting tired after walking around the center all day.

”I think it’s a photoshoot next to the ’The theatre of dreams‘ wall, seeing and shooting in the locker room and seeing and shooting in the stadium. It shouldn’t be that long anymore my love“, he squeezed your hand. With a tired nod, you got up as the press agent, who had shown you around all day, came back from her little break, and told all of you that it was time to continue the tour. Walking to the ’The theatre of dreams‘ wall, you woke up again and got excited to see the holy ground soon. And after he finished the photoshoot, it was time to see the changing room. Passing through the door the room looked huge and you felt the energy of the players. Seeing his jersey hanging on the wall over his new seat made your heart swell. This was his dream. Playing football somewhere where he is appreciated and loved, and you had a good feeling about this place. Sitting on his new space, he got his pictures taken and then it was your turn again with the family as well, he wanted to get as many pictures as possible, needing to fill up the empty spaces on your wall at home. Standing up and walking into the middle of the room more questions were asked.

When they turned the lights red, he took your hand, squeezed it, and gave you a knowing look, which meant dirty thoughts, but played it over with a cool: ”It’s game-time baby“.

Summer was jumping around with the lights dimmed, being super excited over the change of color when Mason took her in his arms and turned around in circles. Her screeching could be heard from miles away, but it made everyone happy to see she also had a good time and wasn’t bored or making a fuss.

Walking on the holy ground of the stadium, gave Mason goosebumps as he walked around and mumbled the word ’special‘ a bunch of times. Looking at you with his big smile, he took you in his arms and just stood like that for a few seconds. Suddenly feeling very grateful that you chose to come with him on this new adventure. After a kiss on your forehead, he let go of you and you joined his family again, not wanting to be in every shot of the video or pictures. While walking through the tunnel to get to the last picture point of the day, you felt Summer taking your hand. The darkness scared her a little and she chose her auntie Y/N to protect her, everyone cooed at the interaction.

After he had his last official picture taken, under the ’The theatre of dreams‘ quote, it was time for family pictures. Everyone turned their back towards the camera and posed so it looked like you were absently staring at the pitch. It turned out to be your favorite picture out of all the ones you took today. But of course, you took one facing the camera, which also looked pretty cute.

Someone shouted: ” It’s a wrap everybody, thank you“, you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. Feeling the pressure flooding out of your body, you looked at Mason and you could see in his eyes how relaxed he was now.

After saying goodbye to everyone, you made your way to the cars, saying goodbye to his family as well, as they made their way to a hotel they found not far from your home. You would have loved to host them in your new house, but you barely had time to put up any furniture so the guest rooms were filled with boxes. They decided to stay in a hotel and help you the following days to make the place a bit more homier faster. After all, Mason had a busy schedule and couldn’t help as much as he wanted to.

But in the end, you were glad they weren’t staying at your place because Mason ended up showing you, how he really wasn’t laughing in bed at the end of the day.

[winchesterwild78]

Chance Meeting pt 8

Part 7

18+ Minors DO NOT interact

This is my first ever fan fiction. I adore Jensen Ackles and have no hate towards his family. In this he’s single. I’m not sure exactly how to do this so any suggestions or feedback is appreciated. Please be kind and all mistakes are my own. All work is mine. Please don’t copy it.

Warnings: fluff, angst, smut, Jensen being a sweetheart

Chapter/ Trigger Warnings: FLUFFY chapter, some sadness but not too bad

A/N: I’m working hard on making sure the chapters get done quickly. I don’t want to leave you hanging for too long. If you have any suggestions please let me know. Reader is older-not trying to alienate anyone, but I wanted the reader close to Jensen’s age and with children. This will make more sense in later chapters. This chapter is a bit shorter but it’s an important one. Not sure how many chapters are left. It’s just flowing. Enjoy 😁

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The morning light broke through the window placing light rays across Jensen’s face. You looked up at him and lightly ran your hand over his freckled cheek. His grip on you got tighter and he groaned a little. “Jensen, baby we need to get up. The movers will be here soon.” You say as you run your hands down his back. He groans and pulls you closer. You let out a little giggle and kiss his full lips. His beautiful green eyes flutter open and he looks into yours. A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth and you smile softly back. “Good morning, sweetheart.” He says with his gruff morning voice. “Good morning to you too, handsome.” He leans his head down and kisses your forehead. A blush forms on your cheeks. You love when he kisses your lips, but there is something about forehead kisses that makes you melt into him.

“Can’t we just stay here for a while longer?” He whispers as he’s leaning over you with a smirk on his face. “No babe we have to get up. You don’t want y/f/n or the movers to walk in and see us in all our glory, do you?” You smirked as you slid out from under him. He groans and falls back on the bed. “No, I guess not.” “Come on grumpy, I’ll make you coffee and breakfast.” You said placing a quick kiss on his pouting lips. You giggle as you walk away and hear him groan again.

You walk into the kitchen and start making the coffee and you feel your boyfriend’s strong arms wrap around you. You lean into him and stand there for a minute before pulling away. You definitely could stay wrapped in his arms forever, but today is moving day and it’s going to be a long and emotional one. You start the coffee and as it’s brewing you start getting breakfast ready. Jensen is leaning against the counter with his arms crossed in front of his chest watching you glide around the kitchen. He has his jogging pants on and a white t shirt that hugs his chest and shows off his biceps. As you spin around and see him you bite your lower lip while looking at his amazing body. He smirks and walks closer to you grabbing your waist. Your breath hitches as he pulls you closer. One hand slides up your back and into your hair. He gently pulls your head up and places a kiss on your lips. His tongue sweeps across your bottom lip asking for entry. Your lips part and your tongues dance around each others while deepening the kiss. You both pull away when your phone started ringing. “Damn it” he said while chuckling. You grabbed your phone and it was the movers. They were about 30 minutes away. When you hung up you stood on your toes and gave Jensen a quick peck. “The movers are about 30 minutes away.” We better get dressed you said as you walked out of the kitchen.

Jensen ran after you causing you to squeal with laughter and he caught you just as you made it to the bedroom. You both fell on the bed where he peppered you with kisses all over your face and down your neck. You squirmed and giggled under him lightly pushing him off. “Babe stop we have to get ready.” You said through giggles. “I am getting ready sweetheart, we have to get undressed in order to get ready.” He said while wiggling his eyebrows. “Jensen Ross Ackles, you better behave. We have a lot to do today and another round with you is not on the To-Do list this morning.” “Maybe not on yours sweetheart, but definitely on mine.” He said as he kissed you. Just as he leaned down to kiss you again, you heard the front door open and y/f/n call out to you. “Y/N, Jensen where are you two?” She said. Jensen groaned and rolled back “In here killjoy.” He said while you laughed. She walked in the bedroom took one look at you both and walked away laughing and shaking her head. “We’ll be out in a minute y/f/n, can you throw the biscuits in the oven please.” “Sure thing, and no funny business you two.” She said as she got into the kitchen. You both got up and got dressed and hurried out to the kitchen. Y/f/n was sitting at the counter with a coffee in her hand. She looked at you both and wiggled her eyebrows. You playfully slapped her arm and grabbed 2 mugs to fill with coffee. Jensen sat down beside her and thanked you for the coffee. “So who wants some breakfast?” You asked as you grabbed the frying pan. “I’ve got eggs and bacon that needs to be cooked.” You said pulling it out of the refrigerator. Jensen and y/f/n sat and chatted while you were cooking. You would glance over and your heart would flutter seeing your best friend and your boyfriend talking like old friends. Just as you finished cooking you turned and saw your boyfriend’s green eyes looking at you and he smiled softly at you. You smiled back and when you glanced at your friend she was looking between the two of you smiling. She knew you loved him and she could see how much he loved you.

“Alright guys time to eat.” You said as you plated breakfast onto three plates. “This looks delicious, y/n. Thanks for cooking” They both said almost in unison. You chuckled and nodded stuffing a forkful of food in your mouth. The conversation over breakfast was flowing easily and pretty soon y’all had finished. You collected the plates and put them in the sink.

The doorbell rang and Jensen said he’d get it. You looked at your friend and she stood up and hugged you. “I love you girl, I’m gonna miss you but that man is so in love with you. I know you’re going to be okay.” She smiled and walked towards the living room. You could hear Jensen talking to some other men about what went and what stayed. You turned to the sink to wash up the breakfast dishes and a single tear slipped out. You were excited about your next chapter, but a little sad to say goodbye. You heard Jensen and the movers walk in the kitchen talking. “Yeah, the furniture in here goes and I think almost everything is boxed up.” You heard him say. “Babe, where do you want them to start?” Jensen asked. As you turned around you tried to wipe away the tear without him noticing but he did. You cleared your throat and said they could start in the living room. The men nodded and Jensen stood in the doorway. He walked over to you, cupped your face and said “are you okay, y/n?” “Yeah, I’m okay. Just a little emotional.” He kissed your lips softly and nodded then walked away. You stood there for a minute and turned to dry the dishes and pack the rest away.

A few hours later the apartment was empty and you were doing your last walkthrough. Jensen and y/f/n stayed in the living room talking and waiting for you. As you walked room to room you reminisced on all the memories you cherished from your years here. Your most recent of those is the first night Jensen spent with you here. You cooked dinner, danced in the living room, made love for hours and finally collapsed in each other’s arms and drifted off to sleep. You felt safe in his arms and it felt like home. You stood in the doorway of your room thinking about that night and every night he’s spent here. You felt his arms wrap around you and a kiss land on your neck. “What are you thinking about pretty lady?” He whispered in your ear. You smiled “just the first night you spent here. So many great memories.” You said. “We have a lifetime of memories to make together.” He smiled and said while turning you around. He placed a sweet kiss on your lips while wiping away a stray tear from your face. “I love you so much, y/n.” “I love you too, Jensen. So very much.” You grabbed his hand and intertwined your fingers. “Let’s go home.” You said to him. “Yeah, let’s go home.” He smiled.

You all went outside and your best friend threw her arms around you squeezing you tight. “I love you and once you get settled in Texas I’m coming to visit.” She said. “You better, and stay out of trouble. I love you too, y/f/n.” She walked over to Jensen who was leaning against your car. “Come here big guy.” She said with a chuckle. You stood there smiling at them as they embraced. “You better take care of our girl and treat her right or I’ll come to Texas and kick your ass, Ackles.” She said playfully slapping his bicep. “I will, you have my word. She deserves so much and I intend to spend the rest of my life making sure she gets it.” He said as he hugged her. Y/f/n stepped back and said “good” while she walked back over to you. “Okay, no tears and no goodbyes, just a see you soon. Jump into your next chapter girl.” She grabbed you and hugged you extra tight and you did the same. She backed away and Jensen opened the passenger door for you. You smiled and waved at her and nodded at Jensen. He climbed into the driver’s seat and started the car. You took one more look back waved and looked over at Jensen. He grabbed your hand and kissed it. “Ready to go sweetheart?” “Yeah Jens, let’s go home.” With that he pulled off and your old life was behind you and your new life with this amazing man was just beginning.

[arcadekitten]

Hello Arcadekitten!!! I read the Stellamb wedding post(s) and it got me wondering about how Stella’s wedding dress would look like… I absolutely love Sweet No Death, so I knew I had to make some artwork of it!! And, because I absolutely suck at explaining things through text, here is my interpretation of Stella’s wedding outfit in traditional art! ✨💫🌟

Materials Used: Mixed Media Paper, Ink Fineliner Pens, Alcohol Markers Gel Pens, Paint Pens, Highlighter and Mechanical Pencil

Time Took: 1 week

I don’t know if you’re okay with people sending fanarts and stuff to you, but I absolutely love your work and well, I’m quite proud of this piece (even if I probably shouldn’t be lol) as I worked extremely hard on this and wanted to share it with you! I hope that’s okay ❤️

A little artist “#Deep Dive tm” because I put WAY too much effort into the tiniest details and I am NOT gonna let them get overlooked 😤 /jk

-Stella’s dress is made with her signature colors rather than white, because I felt that with her being a Star Witch and all, a species that mostly has extravagantly colorful clothes (in my humble opinion) she felt that just going with plain white on what is possibly the most important day of her life would feel… well, a bit redundant, so she opted for a more ‘colored’ ballgown, with lacy gloves and a pearled veil and all. The local tailor and dressmaker is a bit confused, but Lambchop is definitely not complaining! ;) 💕💓

-(Well, that, and I also felt that the color blended WAY too much with her skin tone and changed it, but that’s my little secret hehe 👀😉)

-In my mind, Stella can make her hair look like it has a small galaxy within it! With actual moving stars and little twinkling lights. ✨💫✨⭐️🌟I think that she usually saves it for special, grandiose occasions, buuut since she’s not the kind of person who would THROW a grand, special occasion, she never unveiled it before her wedding day! (Poor Lambchop’s heart nearly gave out on the spot right then and there! 😭❤️)

-I didn’t add her usual Star hair clip because she already has like… 10 stars in her design already lmao /lh ⭐️

-As you can see, her bouquet’s… cloth? Fabric? I’m not sure what to call it… thing? The stuff that her flowers are wrapped in are Lambchop’s colors! Thought that it would be a neat visual detail… also, I can totally imagine Stella requesting that specific color scheme from the local florist! 💐🌷🌸

-Speaking of flowers… I decided to color in one of the moon daisies a little bit… differently hehe ;) It’s a small reference to the beginning of the game, where we see Stella change the color of the one rebellious moon daisy, from orange to lavender, except this time… she keeps it and uses it in her bouquet! 💖💗

-I like to think that it symbolizes Lambchop versus the rest of the townspeople… and Stella’s way of acknowledging him as a “real person”, at least compared to the others… one who is different, one who is unique… the one that she’s going to marry 💍🩷

-(it’s so absolutely sappy when she tells him so that he just couldn’t resist kissing her right then and there)

-And finally… (this is the last one I promise) I cut out the entire drawing to make it look like a potion bottle, partially because Stella is a witch, and partially because I had this cute lil idea that she stores all of her happiest memories into a magical bottle and takes it out whenever she feels sad, so that she can ‘experience’ it again and feel happier. Of course, with Lambchop by her side, she never really has to use it!💞🩷💗

-And yes, I also made the bottle have Lambchop colors as well 🐏 Just a nice little thing tying em together more visually… ❤️

…And I am SO SORRY for ranting!!! I worked incredibly hard on this piece (traditional art is NOT my strong suit, lol) but I wanted to make something special for one of my favorite games and one of my favorite game devs! So here it is, and I hope that you like it! 🤞❤️😁

(P.S: Any ideas for Lambchop’s wedding design?)

Oh my goodness this is BEAUTIFUL!! The artwork itself is just stunning!! You took so much time on it and it really shows, especially with all your attention to detail in it(and I LOVE hearing your explanations for some of the choices you made!! They're just so darling!) Everything about this is stellar and I'm in love with it, thank you so much!! ♡ ♡ ♡

Also I TOTALLY AGREE Stella would not wear white for her wedding!! Color all the way!! ♡

As for Lambchop's outfit...I think I've got it envisioned in my head but I haven't quite drawn anything for it yet! Top hat, definitely. I think his suit isn't black. Probably brown! Bowtie on the neck. His pants are more like shorts and are cut juuuuust above the knee! Still wearing long socks with garters. He looks incredibly dapper--as he should!! It's his wedding!

Hopefully he at least looks good for the photos before he decides to get any mysterious red stains on his outfit. (It's fine. Stella could clean them with the snap of her fingers, but still!)

[f1crecs]

Fic Rec List - Football AUs

if your fic is on this list and you don’t want it to be, please let me know and I will remove it immediately, no questions asked. I have contacted most of the authors on this list, but sometimes people fall through the gaps - just pop me a message🤍

have a pairing you want me to do next? please read the faqs and then head to my inbox.

don’t forget to give the authors featured on this list some love in the form of kudos, bookmarks, and comments!

hi, anon. of course! I hope you enjoy some of these. I am British, so I took this to mean ⚽🥅🏆 ... please let me know if you meant the 🏈📣🤸‍♀️ kind.

the majority of these are Charles/Pierre. I like to try and keep my rec lists fairly evenly balanced, but the truth is that most of the football AU's in fandom feature these two. which, I won't lie, does make me giggle a little bit given Charles' um... you know... his...

enjoy, anon!

Carlos/Lando

I remember when I met you just before September by @wolfiemcwolferson | E | 16.3k Carlos meets someone who changes everything for him. This is such a gorgeous, gorgeous story, with some of my favourite Carlos characterisation ever! One thing that this author always gets right is their dialogue - it flows so beautifully, and is so fun to read. A beautiful story.

And the prettiest boy he’s ever seen in his life is wearing a pink shirt - tight across his chest, dancing against George - who is cackling, head thrown back and looser than Carlos has ever seen him look before.

Charles/Pierre

use every fibre of my being just to keep me at bay by @pinkierre | T | 2.2k Pierre and Charles are on the same course at University. This is such a sweet story! It made me giggle out loud. This author has such perfect comedic timing - it's so fun to read! I also loved the Max and Pierre friendship here, and the Max and Charles rivalry.

Pierre was not staring. However, maybe he was looking into Charles’ general direction a bit... much… Charles was on the other side of the library, in a white hoodie that seemed to be two sizes too big, a dark pair of glasses, a black bandana and a massive pair of headphones. He looked properly adorable, and Pierre might just like seeing him being so into his work.

goal of the century by @yukierres | G | 2.3k Charles joins the team, and has a big impact. This is such a sweet story! The characterisation is fantastic. Charles has this magnetism to him that Pierre just can't resist - and I think that's an experience most of us have been through before. 😁 This author's writing makes me really happy. This was fantastic.

'You can see it in his eyes though, the burning desire to get on the pitch. The intensity in which he follows the ball during play, hands gripped on his thighs, his porcelain skin getting whiter and whiter as the clock ticks. Pierre can't stop watching him in the corner of his eye as he plays. He is completely magnetic, almost hypnotic. He can't draw himself away from Charles however much he tries.'

The Light That Shines Behind Your Eyes by @saintdevote | T | 2.6k Pierre's journey through the world of professional football. This is such a gorgeous AU, that still feels very them. The angst here was hard-hitting, but beautifully done. The last few sentences gave me chills - which isn't something I often say! I really loved this!

'Pierre wishes he could find it in himself to be bitter, to lash out and tell Charles to go away. Even if he did, he’s not entirely one of his oldest friends would do such a thing. Instead, he smiles.'

all the kingdom lights shined (just for me and you) by @chaesonghwas | T | 15.8k (wip) Pierre and Charles and their journey to the World Cup. I am loving this so far! It is such a gorgeous story - so beautifully paced. You can feel the friendship and love and respect blooming between them. I am so excited to see where this goes!

'Charles finally meets Pierre on a sunny day on the pitch, the sun shining down on his golden hair and the ball at his feet. Beautiful, he thinks, and with that he seals his destiny.'

nsfw: you're in my head, you're in my blood by @singsweetmelodies & @boxboxbrioche | E | 15.8k Charles and Pierre work on a project together. Disclaimer - as a standard rule, I do not recommend my own fics! However, this was written with a close friend, who I am a very big fan of, and it seems like a disservice to her and to FootballPlayer!Pierre fans everywhere not to include this. All the best parts were written by her, anyways. ;)

Charles knows Pierre Gasly, is the thing. Well. He knows of Pierre Gasly. He knows that he plays for the university’s football team, and aside from football, obviously, what Pierre loves most in the world is sex.

Charles/Sebastian

nsfw: Pale Fire by @lyonsbutton | E | 37.2k Charles meets Sebastian in his final year of University. This story is incredible - so very bittersweet, and achingly nostalgic. If you have been to a British University, you will probably see parts of your experience reflected here. The humour is delicious. I wish I could read this one again for the first time.

'Charles is made acutely aware of the fact that he'd skipped two practices in a row. If his position in the first team weren't so heavily cemented he would've been a little more worried. That, and the fact that he's technically this year's treasurer, which means whatever. Charles can't remember the last time he opened Excel. This is why student democracy fails, he thinks, as he fails to make a beautiful pass from Lando connect into the goal.'

[shadowredfeline]

Five in One Response Post.

First Response to my Filipino Friend.

Well, I know Sakurai wanted to do something different and even made a few Kirby games. Which is good to know since I do enjoy Kirby Air Ride when I was a kid, especially when I had the first one on my GameCube. And I do own Forgotten Land because once I get the Switch 2 when it comes out and goes on sale, then I might afford one or get it for Christmas. Because I have done the thing before on my PlayStation when you insert a PlayStation 4 game to the PlayStation 5 and people know they have a PlayStation 5 version too, and they gave me a PlayStation 5 version to install. So I hope the Switch 2 will be like that.

Second Response in OC Chat.

Shadow R 😺🗡️: No problem, Riya. It’s cool that you and your mom are doing this weight lifting together. 😉

Caleb 😺🏀🏈: Indeed. And we’ll be rooting for you and your mom while the three of us enjoy some Subs we got at Subway. 😉

Third Response in OC Chat.

Shadow R 😺🗡️: Thank you, Spot. Since we share the same disability as well as for Luna and our creators. Since we all have Autism and we're proud and honest about it. And yes, we are proud of what we are and who we are, that's what matters, Spot. *Keeps giving him and Luna a Hug* 🤗 😊

Fourth Response to three of my friends.

Yeah people always know AI can be a bit of a pain sometimes. And like I said, I do not post AI stuff, but I do enjoy some characters voicing in gameplay and playing the music of their voices recorded in the lyrics of the song. Like whenever I watch Wii Sports or Mario Kart, I would hear random video game characters like the Persona 3 Crew playing it. And normally the Presidents that are playing the video game one which sounds kinda silly, even though I don't usually talk about politics stuff. And with AI Pic, I don't upload them, but I don't mind looking at some.

Fifth Response to both my Filipino Friend and my A-Pal.

I do enjoy playing PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale. My brother and I play that game a lot since I do like playing with my brother where I chose Toro and Sly, while my brother plays as Dante from Devil May Cry. But what sounds confusing is how did Dante have Black hair? Normally in the previous Devil May Cry games, Dante has White Hair. Maybe since 2012 was when PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale was released and DMC Devil May Cry didn't come out until 2013. And yeah I do own the Definitive Edition of DMC Devil May Cry on my Xbox One. But I do enjoy the PlayStation All Stars, and with Modern PlayStation where it involves Astro Bot, it would be fun having Shadow, Lisa, Spot and Vanilla stuck in the PlayStation tag along with some PlayStation characters. Especially if I was wanting to rewrite Demolition Doofus but with PlayStation characters.

[kittylover776]

A Watchful Eye

For @iseltwalds, this is the fic that I wrote back in 2022. You can probably tell my writing skills improved a bit since then, and it’s a bit cringy to say the least. 😅

Nevertheless, this fic is what started all my other DonLuca fics! Enjoy! 😁

The newly-decorated castle of Montenaro bustled with many guests as they each mingled amongst one another. It was Lady Margret’s idea to throw a ball in honor of her future crowning as queen. And while she was hesitant to at first, she luckily had Stacy and the others to give her some encouragement during what could be the most important day of her life. 

Her royal adviser (at least, that’s what she refers to her as), Mrs. Donatelli, viewed the area from the upper balcony of the ball room, keeping watch for any unusual activity. Unlike everyone else, she usually didn’t wear overly fancy attire unless for special occasions (such as Stacy and Edward’s wedding). Her hair was up in it’s usual style while at least wearing a blue formal dress. The outer layer was a jacket-type look, while the underneath was a normal dress. Her flat heels sported a similar color as she continued leaning on the railing with a sigh. Margret would be called out soon, and she needed to be sure nothing was amiss. 

Behind her, she could hear footsteps approach as her eyes snapped to whoever could be approaching. When she saw Frank instead, her body relaxed.    

“Shouldn’t you be downstairs with the royals?” She asked before facing forward again. 

He tilted his head. “I should be asking you the same thing. I would think you would be assisting her highness in getting ready.” 

“The royal dressers are taking care of that.” She said. “Even so, Margret insisted she could do most of the fitting by herself.” 

Frank hummed, carefully approaching the woman and leaned on the railing next to her, though being sure to give some space between them.

The sound of a trumpet suddenly caught the two’s attention as Margret herself strutted out into the ballroom, her dress a mix of grey and white along with some floral design to it. The older woman gave off a small smile as she admired how strong she was despite the challenges thrown at her during the past six months. 

“Well, she certainly is regal.” Frank commented, giving off a proud smile. “She certainly has come a long way.” 

His companion nodded in agreement. “Indeed she has.” 

“I wonder where she’d gotten it from?” He said, looking as though in thought. “You’ve certainly taught her well.”    

Donatelli looked over at Frank for a moment, slightly dumbfounded at the complement as her cheeks gave a slight blush. “I-I didn’t teach her anything.” She responded, not looking him directly in the eyes. “All I did was simply give her the encouragement she needed. That was all her.” She paused for a moment before continuing, feeling confident enough to look back at him.“ Where exactly are you going with this?” She asked intently, raising a brow. 

“I’m merely saying you’ve done so much for her already over the years.“ He replied in defense. “From what I’ve seen, she truly cares for you, as if you were family to her. Rare do I ever see such form of relationship bloom between a monarch and their servant. Or, ‘royal advisor’ in your case.”    

The woman looked at her friend in bewilderment as she slightly tilted her head in confusion. “But you served Edward most of his life, did you not?” She asked. 

“I merely assisted the king and queen. I was never around him as often in his youth. Only as he got older was I assigned to him more regularly.” 

The room then started to fill with classical music, as the patrons below began to ball-dance with their partners, Margret even sharing a dance with Kevin as the two advisors above them looked down at the pair for a moment before back at each other.      

“Are we going to join the others? I wouldn’t let a gorgeous woman such as yourself stand alone with no one to accompany you.” He gave off a sly smirk.  

The woman’s blush returned at full force as she tried turning her head away. 

“P-Please. I can usually handle myself. I’m quite used to it at this point.” 

Frank frowned a bit at that, a pang of sympathy ringing in his chest. “Even so, it wouldn’t be so harmful if you did have someone, would it?” 

Donatelli turned back towards him as she couldn’t help but crack a small smile, letting out an amused sigh as she did so. “No, I suppose not.” She felt her body leaning closer to his, their hands now intertwined. “But…just so you know, this is only for companionship. Nothing more, nothing less.” 

“Right…” The man said, getting lost in the woman’s cyan-blue eyes. “Nothing more…” 

As they started to inch closer, a booming voice suddenly burst through the whole ballroom as the pair above jumped at the sudden interruption. 

“Yo! Let’s get this party started, shall we?” 

The voice seemed to carry an English accent as Frank and Donatelli looked to see who made the sudden announcement. She appeared to be young (possibly around Margret’s age) and had blond hair and stylish clothing. Behind her were appeared to be her lackeys as they followed suit. Donatelli urged to resist an eye-roll in the realization of who it was. 

“Fiona…” She said in a flat voice. “I should have known she would show up eventually.” She muttered. 

Frank looked between the two and blinked. “As in, Fiona Pembroke?“ 

“Yes, that’s her.” His friend rubbed the bridge of her nose in slight irritation. “She and Margret grew up together before being sent off to boarding school by her mother. Seems to me it did her no good.” 

Frank had no response as he watched Fiona take a selfie with her ‘Maggie Moo’, as she called Margret. He thought to himself how and where that nick-name even originated from to begin with.       

“Should we do something about it?” Frank finally asked after a few minutes of awkward silence. He had since then removed himself from her warm embrace, straightening out his clothing a bit as he tried to calm himself after the awkward event.   

Donatelli shook her head reluctantly. “No. Not yet at least. She appears to be harmless enough, but I fear what she could truly be after from coming here.” 

“Of course.” Frank nodded, noticing the advisor’s still-flushed face but said nothing of it. In fact, he actually found her to be quite adorable when not being threatening. At least, towards him. They would usually have their back-and-fourth banter time and again based on the situation, for that’s how they were. 

Whenever Frank would accompany Stacy and Edward’s visits to Montenaro, he would usually greet Donatelli right after Margret, and that would be that. The duo sticking side-by-side as they accompanied the royals to wherever they went. Overtime they began to grow used to one another’s company, even enjoying it on occasions. The past two years showed just that, and Frank couldn’t be happier about it, even he wouldn’t admit it out loud. 

His thoughts were then interrupted as he noticed Donatelli leaving the balcony towards the stairs the lead to the ballroom. Frank quickly dashed to catch up with her as his little legs struggled a bit to keep up. 

“And where are you going, exactly?” Frank asked, impressed, yet curious at how the woman beside him could walk so fast.     

Not looking back, she responded. “Where else? Keeping a closer look-out. And I suggest you do the same thing.” She then stopped for a moment, giving off a gentle smile to him as she nodded. “But, thank you, Frank. For earlier, I mean. I might hold onto your offer in the future.” 

Frank remained speechless as he simply stood there dumbfounded, watching the woman stalk off. He then quickly composed himself as he let out a long breath. 

“Oh…my.” He breathed, his face rising with heat once more. 

[stellawolfearts]

Aight it's been a long hit minute since I sent ya anything (hi hello bye the bye)

Top five favorite facts/bits of lore/ HCs (can be yours or others head canons) of nezha 😁

hihihiiiiiii

ooooh top five facts/bits of lore/ HCs about Nezha. this is gonna be fun~

Powers

youd never guess. but when i first watched through LMK i didnt care for Nezha. not rlly. I always thought he was cool and had a nice design but I didnt really care much for him. But i ALWAYS thought his powers and abilitys were so cool. maybe its my bias for pink characters and powers (i also have a bias for blue) but when i needed a character to do some fighting in my fic i snatched Nezha. and ever since i started writing him i couldnt stop. So honestly i gotta put his cool lookin powers as #1 since its what initially hooked me onto his character. both canon and other power HC's i have.

2. His personality PSA: Im not saying any of this is canon. these are my headcanons.

I love canon Nezha dont get me wrong, but im a little biased to my headcanons. well- more then a little XP. I ADORE sassy traumatized fucked up little guys. LMK Nezha is already sassy as hell, as he should be. he's soooooo traumatized if you read into his mythology. and he's also so POWERFUL.

it's just something about characters who are mainly known for being powerful and unstoppable. a force to be reckoned with. but eventually it's revealed this 'unstopable persona' is actually just a mask they've built. They are no doubt very powerful. but one of the reasons people are so scared of them is bc they've built the reputation so no one hurts them anymore. Nearly always on the defensive and holding their emotions inside so thy don't get hurt anymore. But like we saw in the s3 special with MK can still be gentle and kind.

not only that, but needs that kind of kindness and acceptance in his life. Needs a family that will accept all aspects of him. The good and the bad.

TS Nezha is a hurt kid. Traumatized and honestly kinda lonely. Because there's very few people that know the real him. Even if he trusts other people, there's no guarantee that they will accept the real him without the mask he's created. Kin moment.

that and the fact its very easy to shove him into a found family.

also Autism representation in my HC's. I'm Autistic, and some of his traits are just me projecting my Autism onto him.

3. His white hair.

My favorite lore bit about Nezha is not something a lot of people know about him. In the translation of Investiture of the Gods I own it says he was born with white hair.

Chapter 12 - The birth of Nezha

However, as Yin had a strange dream one night, she suddenly gave birth to this strange child the following morning. With maidens rushing about saying that a demon was present in Yin's chambers, Li Jing immediately rushed forth into her room and cleaved in two a strange fleshy ball that rolled to and fro across the floor. Within the ball emerged a small young child with hair as white as snow with a gleaming golden bracelet on his right wrist.

I have implemented this in my Tangled Star AU but how is spoilers >:3

all im saying is TSNezha and TSMac have something in common~ but thats already saying too much >:3

4. His Design Theres a reason ive only minorly changed his design in my headcanons. Overall i ADORE it. Again im probably biased because of all the pink but I love characters like him. He's got some traditionaly feminine design choices. at least traditionally in the west (Pink, Long hair, the bottom of his armor looks like a skirt). It's very gender. and he's just cute overall. his design is so much fun to draw and my version is even more fun.

Honestly. The guys got my gender. Masc, but confident in wearing some feminine things. He just seems like the kind of guy who'd like wearing dresses and keeping his hair long, but still masc nonetheless. Breaking gender norms as he should.

5. His dynamics with other characters.

I love writing him interacting with other characters. He just clashes so well with the other characters when i write him in my AU's. both positively and negatively. I love writing him in angst, i love writing him in fluff. I just. love putting this guy into situations XD.

his relationship with his found family in tangled star is SO MUCH FUN to write. traumatized little guy who trusts no one but the people he's closest with. and even they are still getting him to open up.

thats...honestly the best way i can describe my top five things about nezha. its hard to explain why i like him and i was just tempted to write

blorbo

blorbo

blorbo

blorbo

blorbo.

So be happy you got that much out of me. sorry it got so long but once i start ranting i cant stop. XD

[melancholiepeufiable]

Hi 😁 for the prompts for Sebchal, n*6 ?

leo!!! hi! thank you for requesting ❤️ i’m OBSSESSED with sanctuary. i loved the one-shot you did as well, thank you for gifting us with your work &lt;3

6. “Please stop trying to hide them from me.”

for some reason, this prompt was hard to think of an idea for without making it angsty, haha. i hope you enjoy!!!

******

If Charles had one wish in life, he’d wish to win the championship. If he had a second, he’d wish for all headbands to disappear off the face of the earth. 

To say he hated them was a severe understatement. 

At first, he liked them. He liked how they framed Seb’s face and kept his curls back. Then it became less about the hair and more about Sebastian choosing to wear them because why not? 

The problem was: Charles really liked Seb’s hair. If he had to name a favourite part of his boyfriend (which he never would because he loved every part of him, from top to bottom, even when Seb was annoying), the hair would compete for the top spot. 

“Emotional support headband” – Charles knew what the internet was calling it. He also knew that Sebastian didn’t care one bit. In fact, the man laughed when Charles told him. 

“Funny people. I like them.” Sebastian had replied, then pulled one on and left the house. 

Charles had no choice. It was time to take matters into his own hands. He waited and watched, as patiently as a predator stalked a prey. He listened when Seb spoke, learning of his plans to visit some friends. 

He wore a cap. 

Charles smiled, all teeth, and gave Seb a passionate kiss that left the man breathless and wanting more. Then he pushed Seb out the door. “See you later.”

—

Sebastian ransacked the house, searching everywhere. He opened cabinets, upturned their closet, checked under the bed. He was in his office, rummaging through the drawers. 

“Where are they?”

Charles shrugged, crossing his arms. “Maybe the cat ate them.”

“We don’t have a cat.”

“Neighbour’s cat.” He laughed, failing to suppress his amusement.  

Seb scowled, sighing in frustration. 

Charles watched as he swallowed his rage, fists balling, then flexing as opened another drawer. 

Calmly, Sebastian said. “Please stop trying to hide them from me.”

He rolled his eyes. “I am not trying, I–” 

A small, proud hum buzzed out of Seb’s throat, interrupting him. Charles’ blood ran cold. 

No. This cannot be happening. 

He stood, a thin, white headband pinched between his fingers. Smugly, he raised his brows, cheeks chubby as he smiled. 

Charles lunged across the desk, making a grab for it. 

Seb took a step back, shielding it with a frown. “What are you doing?”

“Give it to me.” Not a single coherent thought went through his mind, apart from: destroy it. Take it and rip it to bits. Burn it, boil it, put it in the oven. 

“No.”

Charles grabbed the scissors from the wooden pencil holder Seb had gotten from a fan. He’d raved about it for weeks, showing Charles every single detail, from the painted rim to the carved bees, and every time he did, Charles melted. Now, however, Charles didn’t care. 

Seb covered the headband, brows furrowed as he glanced between Charles’ face and the scissors. Genuine fear flickered for a millisecond before it changed to irritation. “Stop it.”

He rounded the desk, following Seb as he stepped closer to the couch. It was easy with Seb – he had always been smaller, lighter, slimmer. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Charles twirled Seb around, careful with the scissors, until he tossed him on the couch, and grabbed Seb’s wrist. He pinned Seb’s free hand with his knee, gentle enough that there was a chance Seb could pull free. 

Cruelly, Charles pulled Seb’s wrist in front of his face. “This thing… this cursed thing must go.”

“No, wait, just–”

He snipped it in half, half-delirious at the joy of having gotten rid of it. He cut it again, gleeful as it dropped on Seb’s stomach. Relief poured out, his shoulders slumping as he took a deep breath. It’d been done. Finally. 

A quiet noise pulled him out of his high, leaving his fingers cold and heart aching. 

Seb pouted, staring at the material on his shirt. He dropped the headband, face drooping in sadness. 

Oh no. What have I done?

Charles tightened the hold on Seb’s wrist, bringing it to his lips to pepper kisses. “Oh– I’m sorry, Seb. I don’t know what got into me. You are very– you don’t need that. I shouldn’t have… I’m sorry.”

If Charles wasn’t so deep in guilt, he might’ve noticed the smile forming on Sebastian’s lips. Instead, he yelped when Seb tugged him down, rolling them over for a cuddle. He placed his head on Charles’ chest, arms wrapped across his waist. 

“Did you really hate them that much?” 

Heat blazed on his cheeks, the admission worse than anything Charles ever confessed to. “Yes.” 

Seb laughed, light and sweet. Charles’ heart grew a thousand times. He’d never bore of hearing it. 

“I am sorry, Seb.” Charles nuzzled his hair, running a hand over Seb’s back. “It was not right of me.”

He looked up, smiling. 

“What?”

Slowly, Seb reached under the couch and lifted a thin, grey headband. “You didn’t think you got all of them, did you?”

[queendeeshorrorimagines]

I hope you're having a wonderful day! Since it's the spooky month I was wondering if you could do something with Wraith, Dwight, Jeff and Knight (if thats too many you can choose who you'd like) with a plus size S/O or crush and matching outfits (Like wraith and Nurse having the Phantom of Opera looking outfits)

Dee.exe has died of cuteness overload. 😁😁

Wraith, Dwight, Jeff, and Knight with a plus sized s/o wearing matching costumes to them:

Warnings: I know this it a bit later than Halloween but when you get my dbd boys involved, anytime is costume time when you don't care about what anyone thinks 😀

Gender neutral, Plus sized reader

Wraith | Philip Ojomo

Given the fact that he has a cosmetic based off of Phantom of the opera, it's not surprising to see his crush or significant other to be wearing an outfit that's also based off of the novel/ movie.

For the more feminine presenting significant other, I could see the Entity "gifting" them a similar gown of Christine Daaé's.

A quite beautiful white gown that perfect frames their body while being being comfortable to wear during trials.

Masculine wise, I could see either something similar to matching him or an suit that's inspired by the Era.

A rather handsome suit with ruffles on the button up (on the chest area) and loose, romantic sleeves that makes their body look elegant. The trousers are well tailored to fit comfortably, matching the whool overcoat.

Philip couldn't help but to stare at his significant other in awe. You looked ethereal as you walked through auto haven to see him in between trials. He most certainly loves the matching costumes that the two of you have.

Dwight Fairfield | Nervous Leader

The entity tends to give Dwight the more humor costumes and cosmetics like Dwelf, where's dwighty, and the Mummy Dwight. It could be the Entity mocking Dwight's nervous nature or using what it knows about Dwight's past to give him a false sense of hope of escaping.

Seeing how you're rather fond of Dwight, the entity decided to give you a costume of your own to match his.

The bandage wrapped around you gave a more sturdy costume than the toilet paper on Dwight's, more coverage as it was clinging to the neutral colors of the clothes you had on underneath.

Another potential costume that could match Dwight's mummy costume was the cliche vampire costume. The red and black cape draping over your suit/ dress as the fake fangs were hanging slightly from your mouth with a bit of fake blood.

When Dwight saw that you were dressed similarly to him, his face burnt with a blush as he could barely form a sentence because of how adorable you looked. He might be more protective over you, getting the killer to focus on him so that they wouldn't ruin how adorable you looked.

Jeff Johansen | Quiet Artist ❤️

I could go a couple routes for Jeff wearing more of a "costume" compared to his normal clothing. He does have a pirate costume, his death metal outfit, and his Greek mythology inspired costume.

I'm gonna go with the pirate costume. It confused you at first why the entity gave you an odd costume of a pirate.

I can imagine an costume that's similar to his. Matching leather coats with a similiar white undershirt as his. Your hair and skin had a soft smell of salt water with hints of rum that was spilled.

If you want to go more feminine presenting, a comfortable fitting white or red dress that's similar in fabric to the shirt Jeff wears with a large leather belt wrapped around your waist. The leather overcoat would still be the same to his, giving you an edge with the soft look.

Jeff couldn't help but to admire how the outfit made your body look. Although, he tends to not go for the pirate costume, he would start wearing it more to see if you noticed why the entity gave you the said costume.

The Knight | Tarhos Kovács

Tarhos wasn't a fan of his newest gift from the entity. He thought that

[the-radio-demon-blog]

Hmm. I'm glad my Krampus experience was better than yours then then.

Oh yes, I'm sure I'd get along well with Husk and Angel Dust. I'll have to share photos of my little Christmas village during the holidays. Hah...I remember I had a dream once that Angel and I were just watching dumb tik toks and giggling like mad...and he kept calling me Shortcake. Now I want someone to call me that irl. 😅

I'm not typically one for parties. I either stick like glue to one or two people I know...or if there's any kind of pet, I will disappear to hang out with it. I found goats and chickens at a cousin's outdoor wedding once. After dinner, no one saw me again. 😂 That being said, Charlie's costume party actually sounds fun! Maybe I could crash it for a bit this year. Idk if you're aware, but Florida absolutely contains portals to hell, which is why I'm able to pop in from time to time. I suppose because I'm super *not* dead, I just sort of get...popped back home after a bit. Lol. I love dressing up. My last Halloween costume, I was Beetlejuice. Wore a black and white striped dress, my friend did my makeup and we spray painted my hair green. 😁

A lottery! Intriguing. Maybe a bit alarming for us over worlders. Hah. Though, things are pretty bad up here. We'd probably barely notice any chaos a demon visitor would cause! Hah!

I'm very curious, what do you think you would do up here if you won this lottery? 🤔

Oh bad Stanley! We need to have a chat. No eating pets. I support Angel Dust's chasing him off with a bat if he tries to eat Fat Nuggets again. Are you not feeding him enough pedophiles, Alastor??

We're opposite ends on The Shining. I've only watched the movie and not read the book. I know King is brilliant, but I think I got halfway through one his books once. Surprisingly not a huge fan of most horror. But it's only bc...none of it scares me, so I usually feel kind of disappointed? I'll like those kinds of movies if they're well written/have some humor/have a good aesthetic. The art school bitch in me is sated by beautiful camera work and colors. Haha. Oh, recommendation, watch Crimson Peak.

Hahah. Don't worry. I won't be calling you Big Al. Was only teasing. I don't like it either. Hah.

No offense taken at the drunk comments. I suppose it hasn't been a bad experience for me since I've never been so drunk I wasn't unaware of what I was doing. I used to go to bars a lot (had a lot of musician friends then...I've been to a frankly obscene number of open mics) so I feel you on being subjected to obnoxious inebriated people. I generally drank a coke...or if I was feeling particularly feisty...a Shirley Temple. 🤣 You'd be amazed the side eye and teasing I'd get for that order. Never cared, those things are tasty!

I promise to not call you the c word again. Though, if you piss me off, I will definitely call you the *other* c-word. Heh. Will just settle on calling you dapper, eh? It's an excellent and underused word in modern times.

Appreciate your discretion and care in the imaginary unwanted drunk cuddle scenario. Lol. That is, dare I say it, rather sweet. You are surprising!

I also quite enjoy our conversations, so thank you! 😊

Work was alright on Friday (I left early for another baseball game so that helped, lol). I was training a new hire all day. He's great; laughs at my jokes (v important), is COMPETENT. He gave me candy! PLEASE DON'T QUIT I scream internally.

Let's see...I have a sort of a joke for you. Hopefully you appreciate a nerdy joke like I do.

oh shit - i was time travelling and accidentally killed an ancient italian. doesn’t matter tho everyone was killing each other, when in Reme do as the Remans

And for today's photo I present this chaos table covered in several dozen Halloween decorations. They're here until I get them all set up nicely, hopefully this weekend.

https://imgur.com/a/GEn1kDX

I really need to think of a song rec again. I haven't seen any on your tumblr for a while...*sad face*

I'm off to pick up a werewolf! I will not be elaborating.

After while, crocodile 🐊

I can imagine Angel Dust doing something of the like. At least he gave you a somehow respectful nickname: Shortcakes. Compared to Smiles.

Hah, well you and I are very different. I would rather spend time with people than pets. However I suppose to each their own. People entertain me far more, pets are simply loving. Oh well, I hope your cousin's did leave some tempting animals to play with. It was on them that you didn't return to dinner. Hah!

Yes, Charlie's costume parties are always fun. Oh well, I would love if you could pay the hotel a visit! Charlie would absolutely not mind if you showed up for a Halloween party! We've had an unfortunate amount of Floridians accidently end up in Hell and it usually ends badly for them. Hah, well, thank goodness you haven't run into our rather lively denizens! Beetlejuice? My, that's a rather fun outfit!

If I won the lottery? I'm sure I would wreck some havoc on New Orleans for the sake of it and take a canoe out on the Bayou. Terrify a few loitering teenagers. I'm not quite sure if I am being honest what I would do.

I am feeding Stanley plenty of pedophiles! It seems he has an insatiable appetite and he seems to crave beloved pets. KeeKee is far smarter than the pig to stay out of Stanley's way. I can arrange a chat between you and him if you so desire.

I am not a big fan of movies but sure, I'll give it a shot when I happen upon a chance. Hmm...none of it scares you? Interesting. I am personally not one to be scared of silly movies or books however I did find myself deeply invested in the fate of the characters. In the Shining book if I recall correctly, the father cared far more about his family in the book than in the movie where he was a raging horrible maniac. I could go on about it but I shall end it here.

Hmm...it wasn't a bad experience to be out of control of your own body? That is personally not something I would enjoy but to each their own, dear. I'm not one for Shirley Temples but I'm sure its tasty for you!

Yes, I would prefer to be called dapper. I've never been one to love cuss words but they surely have their place and time.

Why is it surprising? It's the only rightful thing to do. I know quite a quite a few people that would disgustingly take advantage of a situation like that, unfortunately. Common human decency is truly dead.

Yes, its always important to have a competent coworker. There's a surprising lack of that in the working world. He gave you candy? My, my. Yes, I do hope he doesn't quit either.

Hah! That's an absolutely delightful joke, dear!

Oh my, that is quite a lot of Halloween decorations! My mother would have a stroke if you saw it. Charlie I'm sure would be absolutely ecstatic! I wish you luck.

See you later, my dear, alligator!

PS: As much as I do enjoy our conversations, could you perhaps make your letters a bit shorter?

[lyranova]

Can we have more interactions between Alister and some other next gens? How does he get along with his peers!!

Hiya anon! Of course I can, I’ll admit this ended up focusing on Alistar and a couple of other Next Gen’s and then it turned into an Alikari fic towards the end 😅. So if you have a specific OC Next Gen that you want Alistar to interact with please let me know 🥺💕, and I hope you enjoy! Btw the links below are of the outfits some OC’s wore, and if anyone wants to put what their Next Gen would wear to a ball below please feel free to add them 😁💕!

Leon and Cyra belong to @thoughtfullyrainynightmare , Avalinia and Nymphadora belong to @koneko-pi , Hikari Einar and Hana belong to @eme-eleff , Cory belongs to @hybridanafrost and Vivi Dusk and Sirius belong to @loosesodamarble !

Word Count: 2,676

Warnings: None

Alistar, Hikari, Miku, Kito, Kya, Hana, Einar, Ezio

———

Alistar quietly walked to the ballroom. Earlier that week his father, William Vangeance, had told him that there was going to be a ball for all of the Magic Knight squad children, the Captain’s Children, and for the other royal and noble kids from the Suit kingdoms. Along with Hino. Alistar had scoffed for a moment, knowing there had to be an ulterior motive for this ball, and he was proven right.

The reason for the ball was for the relations between all the kingdoms to be repaired or to begin. If their children got along and made connections with each other, maybe in the future they could become close allies. That was King Augustus’s theory anyway.

Alistar rubbed the back of his neck. He liked being able to catch up with his friends from other squads at events like this, but at the same time he hated having to go to events like this, mostly because of the stares people gave him when he walked into the room. It made him self-conscious

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he stood in front of the oak doors. He cleared his throat, straightened his suit jacket, made sure his normally messy white hair was still parted to the side like it was supposed to be before he opened the doors.

As soon as he opened the door soft, sweet music floated in the air past him. People were laughing, talking, and dancing happily. He had to admit, it had been a while since he had seen everyone look so relaxed and cheerful. Everyone had been stressed out about taking the Magic Knight exams and going on missions that they really hadn’t been able to let loose. Alistar nearly chuckled, maybe he was wrong, maybe the real reason the adults had come up with this ball was just for their kids to have fun.

He quickly looked over and saw the Black Bulls standing around being their usual selves. They were loud, joyous, and of course chaotic. The Faust siblings and Corduroy tried to get the others to calm down, but that wasn’t an easy task.

Alistar walked over to the drinks, grabbed a glass, and moved to lean against the wall beside the table. He noticed all of his friends and peers were there, except for one: Hikari Yami.

She was supposed to be there with her squad and siblings since she was their Vice-Captain and the oldest but she wasn’t. Maybe she was running late? Or maybe she was sick? No, her siblings would have told him she was sick. As he got lost in his thoughts he felt someone come to stand beside him, he turned and smiled.

“ Hello Leon,” Alistar greeted the oldest Vermillion warmly.

“ Hello Alistar,” Leon greeted warmly before he took a sip of his drink. “ Quite the party our parents decided to throw for us isn’t it?”

“ It is. But our parents weren’t the only ones who set this up, there are kids from Heart, Spade, Diamond, and Hino as well.” Alistar pointed out as he saw the Grinberryall and Deomine children standing and talking amongst each other, Leon nodded in agreement.

“ I hear you’re on the short list to become Vice-Captain of the Crimson Lions,” Alistar said after a moment, he noticed a small smile appear on his friend's face and he shrugged a bit.

“ I’ve heard that as well, although I’m not sure how true that is.” Leon admitted softly, and Alistar patted his shoulder.

“ I’m pretty confident that it’s true, and before you say something like ‘I don’t know if I’ve earned it’ or ‘I don’t deserve it, someone else does’ I’m going to tell you right now that you’ve worked hard and that you have earned it.” Alistar said quickly and with his signature smile, Leon scoffed and shook his head.

“ We’ll see, but I think I’ll keep my expectations in check though, just to be safe.” Leon admitted as he took another sip of his drink. “ Where’s Hikari? Shouldn’t she be here with the rest of her squad?”

“ I don’t know, everyone else is here except for her, I’m hoping she’s alright.” He muttered softly, his voice full of worry, Leon patted his friend's shoulder.

“ I’m sure she’s just running late, there’s no need to worry.” Leon said warmly and before Alistar could respond two of their other friends walked up to them.

“ Good evening Alistar, Leon!” Avalinia Silva, daughter of Nozel Silva, said cheerfully as she walked up to the two. They smiled warmly and greeted her happily.

“ Good evening Leon, Alistar.” Nymphadora Silva, daughter of Nozel Silva and sister to Avalinia, said more calmly.

One could easily tell that Nymphadora was here at the ball out of a sense of duty, whereas Ava was here to have fun and because she truly enjoyed these kinds of events.

“ Wow you really look like a Prince Charming tonight Alistar!” Avalinia said with a bright smile, Alistar’s face suddenly went red as Leon chuckled from beside him.

“ O-Oh, thank you Avalinia.” They all turned as Nymphadora scoffed.

“ If father were to hear you say that, he would think you were flirting with Alistar.” She said with a small grin at the mental image of their father glaring at the young men. The two visibly shuddered as they also got a mental image of Nozel glaring at them.

“ I didn’t mean it like that Nymph! I meant it in a general and friendly way, and if you would have let me finish I was going to say the same thing to Leon.” Ava said with a pout, causing her sister to laugh.

Alistar suddenly felt someone pull on the hem of his jacket, he turned and looked down slightly to see the young Vivian Faust standing there. He smiled and bent over a little to be more eye level with the young girl.

“ Good evening Vivi, you look very lovely tonight.” He said warmly and the young girl nodded.

“ Thank you, my Aunt Discordia provided the fabric for the dress and my mother sewed it.” Vivian explained matter of factly as she smoothed out the front of her dress. “ May I ask my flower knight for a favor?” She suddenly asked and he frowned a bit but nodded.

“ Of course you can, Vivi.”

“ Can you make me some Pelargonium peltatum please?” She asked, and Alistar nodded before he looked around, in order to make her those flowers he would need a pot of dirt. When he turned back to face Vivi he saw her holding out a pot for him, he laughed, she was always very well prepared.

Alistar grabbed the pot and used his World Plant Magic to make her the flowers before handing it back to her. Vivian suddenly grabbed a handful of the Ivy Geranium and began to make a small bracelet with it.

“ Here, the flowers mean ‘your hand for the next dance’, so after you dance with Hikari you can dance with me.” Vivian said as she placed the flowers around Alistar’s wrist and the young man blushed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck.

“ Of course Vivi,” He agreed and the young girl tilted her head a bit.

“ Are you burdened by my asking you to dance? Or is it my brothers glaring at you that has you feeling awkward?” She asked and Alistar looked over Vivian’s shoulder and saw Dusk and Sirius glaring at him, he smiled and shook his head before patting her hair.

“ I don’t feel burdened Vivi, and your brothers glaring at me isn’t making me awkward at all.” Alistar said with a small laugh, and Vivian looked at him seriously.

“ You’re a bad liar,” She told him bluntly before a ghost of a smile appeared on her face. “ but that’s what makes you a great knight.” The smile disappeared from her face before she turned around and walked back towards her family and squad. Alistar stood back up and noticed Avalinia and Nymphadora had walked away to go see their other friends, Leon smirked at his friend.

“ And you wonder why you’re so popular amongst people.” Leon said with a chuckle, and Alistar snorted.

“ Last I checked you were the one with the biggest fanclub.” Alistar said with a chuckle, which caused Leon to shake his head.

Suddenly the ballroom doors opened and in walked Hikari Yami, Alistar turned to look and his eyes widened and a bright red blush appeared on his cheeks.

She was wearing a beautiful floor length black dress with a slit on the side, the fabric had beautiful designs of flowers native to Hino printed on it, and the top of the bodice as well as the sleeves were also made to look like leaves and flowers from Hino. She had her dark hair swept to one side of her face and she wore simple yet beautiful jewelry designed with blue gems to look like roses.

She looked absolutely beautiful.

“ Looks like your bodyguard’s arrived, which means I can leave you alone to go mingle and dance with Avalinia and Cyra as I promised.” Leon said before he walked away, Alistar nodded numbly at him but his eyes never left Hikari.

“ Sorry I’m late, my dad was being a pain about the dress. He said it was ‘too revealing’ and that maybe it would be better if I stayed home, luckily my mom set him straight.” Hikari explained as she walked up to Alistar, she frowned when he didn’t respond. “ Hey are you okay? You can’t already be that tired.”

“ O-Oh sorry I was just thinking,” Alistar said quickly as he shook his head to get his thoughts in order. “ Honestly I’m surprised Captain Yami let you out of the Hideout in that dress.”

“ Yeah well he didn’t have much of a choice when my mom told him how it was unfair to let Einar and Hana come to the ball and not me, she also pointed out that I’m not a little kid anymore so I can go out wearing whatever I want, while also pointing out that someone needed to keep the brats in line at this party.” Hikari said with a shake of her head as she watched her squad. “ Speaking of, have they been behaving themselves?”

“ I think so, they’re acting as they normally do.” Alistar explained with a shrug and Hikari nodded before turning back to look at Alistar.

“ You look nice, you know how to dress to impress,” Hikari said with a grin as she looked him up and down. “ Although I’m not a big fan of the hairstyle.”

“ Why? What’s wrong with it?” Alistar asked as his hand reached up towards his hair, he thought he looked nicer with his hair out of his face, it made him look more mature and more like a noble.

“ There isn’t anything wrong with it, it’s just that…I like your messy hair more in your face is all.” She muttered with a grin before grabbing a glass of water and taking a sip. Alistar rubbed the back of his neck a bit awkwardly.

“ You don’t clean up too bad yourself, I half expected you to show up wearing your everyday clothes.” Alistar joked with a chuckle, he didn’t dare tell her his true thoughts, that she was the most beautiful woman in the room and that she looked breathtaking. So instead he decided to joke as he usually did. Hikari rolled her eyes and playfully shoved his shoulder.

“ Believe me I thought about it, but my mom and Hana said I had to look nice in order to give off a good impression to these nobles and royals. But I don’t really care what they think about me, they can like me as I am or just not like me at all.” She said with a shrug before putting her glass down and grabbing Alistar’s hand. “ C’mon let’s go dance!”

“ W-Wait Hikari!” Alistar tried to say but she ignored him and dragged him to the dance floor.

“ What? Scared I’m gonna step all over your toes?” She asked jokingly as the two stood in the center of the dance floor, Alistar snorted and shook his head.

“ Of course I am, the last time you and I danced I think you broke at least two or three of my toes.” Alistar joked, causing the woman to glare at him.

Hikari was as graceful as her mother on the battlefield, but on the dance floor? She was as graceful as her father was when he danced.

She placed her hand in his and her other hand on his shoulder, Alistar held her hand in his before placing his other on the small of her back. He cleared his throat and tried to hide the blush on his cheeks, if the two were any closer he worried that Hikari might be able to hear his heart beating in his chest.

The two moved and glided across the dance floor. This was one of the few times Hikari let him lead, since he was a slightly better dancer and knew more of the steps, but there were times when she would switch things up and take the lead.

Alistar stared at her as she looked down at her feet, concentrating on the steps and movements. The way she was dressed, the way the warm light shone on her face, and the way she smiled in joy as she made the right step. It made his heart melt and oddly made him want to kiss her right there and then but he shook his head, no, now wasn’t the time to get swept away by his feelings for her.

He liked her, and she was oblivious to it. Much like her dad was to her mother’s feelings. And Alistar wanted it to stay that way, at least for a little longer.

Suddenly a loud boom rang out through the room, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and turn their heads in that direction. It was the Black Bulls, as everyone had expected, apparently a few of the kids grew bored and decided to have a sparring match in the middle of the ball.

“ Seriously? Sorry Alistar, you’ll have to excuse me for a moment.” Hikari muttered, and just like that her serious Vice-Captain look appeared on her face as she made her way over to the group.

“ What do you brats think you’re doing? We’re supposed to be on our best behavior right now and you guys are acting up. This is why I can’t take you kids anywhere. Do you really want everyone to think we’re a crazy and chaotic squad?!” Hikari shouted loudly as all the Black Bulls knelt in front of her, just like they would when their dad was scolding them.

Alistar began to suppress his laughter, if no one knew better they would think it was Captain Yami Sukehiro himself standing in front of these kids. When she was serious and wanted the Black Bulls to fall in line she turned into the spitting image of Captain Yami but with the face of her mother Charlotte.

“ Vice-Captain Hikari is a little scary isn’t she?” Corduroy Swing, son of Magna Swing, said with a sheepish laugh as he came to stand beside Alistar, and on his other side stood a pale faced Ezio Roulacase, son of Finral Roulacase.

“ ‘A little scary’? Try a lot scary! When she gets like this I swear it's like she becomes her father!” Ezio said, and suddenly Hikari turned to look at them.

“ Hey Boy Scout, Taxi Jr. Get your asses over here!” Hikari shouted sternly, and both boys instantly nodded and ran over. Hikari began to scold Cory about how he shouldn’t have taken his eyes off of them, and that Ezio needed to control himself and stop flirting with every pretty girl he saw!

As Alistar watched this he suddenly couldn’t help himself, he suddenly burst out laughing, causing everyone to stare at him in confusion.

———

Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

[every-single-day]

What if ponyboy was purple and was a 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 janitor in Harvard

His eyes rolled to the back of his head in the middle of the crowded hallway. He had a vision, just like a prophesy. Sure, it sounds crazy, but he believes it's true. "I see a vision," He whispered to no one in particular. "A celebration throughout Tulsa that has to do with me!"

All of a sudden, his face hit the ground, and he broke his left index finger trying to catch himself. Ponyhorse moaned in pain, but was stepped on by a glittery red heeled 6 inch doc Martin.

"Stfu nerd," an annoyed voice snarled.

He looked up at the voice. It was some old guy in a lab coat. "Doc?" He muttered, stunned.

"YES, it is me." The oldie said.

Hamilhorse was starstruck. "Last time I saw you was when we were doing 'new money' during bows of Back To The Future on Broadway!" He glanced at the boot holding him down. "Wtf are you wearing tho," ponyboy asked while looking like 🤢 emoji (but purple).

The old guy bit his lip and bared his shoulder at him, shaking his fuzzy handcuffs. "These are my Kinky Boots."

Ponyboy froze and grabbed a mop, standing atop a desk. "Hey!" He shouted in the empty classroom. "That's my line, BAKAAAA!" The entire class chuckled and gave a standing ovation as he sang "ohwoaahowwaahh." He cleared his throat as he lotioned his hands with lemon peanut butter flavored lotion. "And now for my piece, Claire de lune." He fixed his fingers over the black and white porcelain keys, "I put my whole Claude Debussy into this."

A cough interrupted his piece. "That piece," He paused, "Is crap." He crossed his arms, shaking his head in disapproval. "You're a slacker Mccurtis. A whole family of slackers." Steam started exiting ALL his holes and he pulled out a can of spinach. He ate the spinach and muscles grew instantly. He pulled out a switchblade, pointing the tip at Hamilhorse. "I thought I told you greaser, this was not your parts of town," he bit out as he teasingly passed a football around with his dropout buddies. "Cut that hair, cut that hair. Cut that greasy greaser's hair!"

Ponyboy's bottom half instinctively turned into the torso and legs of a horse. "No not the hair! My finals are tomorrow!!"

They laughed at him "HAHAHAH ur so stupid!" They kicked up in the eye. Blue and red lights shone in the distance and faint sirens could be heard. "Shartballs! We GYATT to get outa here gang!"

"Phew," ponyboy sighed out in relief. He picked his mop up and started sweeping. Suddenly, a goat trotted up to him.

"We're admitting you into Harvard for multiculturalism." Is baah'd.

"GREAT!" He jumped. "Do you happen to know where Warner Hunington III is?"

"No 🫠" it said as it melted away in the rain.

Ponyboy tried to enter Harvard he next day but was denied entry bcs they HATE the purple rave.

"You better shape up!" He told the guards. "Cause I need a man! Who can keep me satisfied!" He sang as he shrugged off his leather jacket.

The guards gave him a weird look, "sir, this is a wendy's."

Ponyboy left and went to waffle house to cry in the bathroom. Js a thought 😁🎀

Telling my friends about these asks makes me feel like Wonka explaining the concept of the Little Orange Man