#he was too busy pointing his sword at her half the time while they were all exploring

[anarkhebringer]

My wol isn't from tural but he has good evil-person detection And Also A Brain In General so the from the moment he met sphene he was begging wuk to stop trying to be friends with her 🤝

I mean when you had to deal with Garleans for so long and get such a wide scope on Allagan nonsense, you get real good at smelling bullshit from miles away sjuuhbdjifb

[aashi-heartfilia]

What MaoMao feels for Jinshi...

(Vol 5 epilogue discussion)

Love, duh. She wouldn't let just anyone choke her to death. Isn't it obvious? She just doesn't realise it yet because of her repressed emotions. I've seen a lot of bad takes and people hating on the Vol 5 epilogue, saying it's one heck of a disaster but honestly, it's not. Here's why:

I think it does a very good job of humanizing Jinshi, the imperial brother. Before this point, we were always given a picture perfect image of Jinshi, in his most angelic form...but after seeing this, it looks like he's very much capable of murder, lol. No seriously!

Previously, Jinshi was always all sunshine and roses and this is the first time we see a pinnacle of his anger and frustration taking a form.

Honestly, anyone would be angry. Jinshi has done so much for MaoMao and almost everyone close to him knows that he has eyes on her and only her from pretty early on in the series and only MaoMao is the one person who seems to be in the dark. Or more precisely pretending to be in the dark.

She is literally running away from her own feelings and that's what made Jinshi so frustrated.

It was the same thing in the 'Frogging chapter' (yeah, that's what we're calling it). She was "playing the role of an ignorant maid who's in the dark as to what her supiriors are upto". Jinshi was trying to tell MaoMao that he is the imperial brother and he does in fact like her but that never happened because MaoMao kept pretending that it was a frog.

Same here, even if he didn't say it outright, he was dropping so many hints! Who else could have gifted MaoMao a Moon hairpin? Who would have given her beautiful dresses to wear in the banquet?

Jinshi is called the Moon Prince for a reason and that hairpin had a moon and opium poppy. even other people recognised that it was given by him to MaoMao like Rishu's half sister, so a smartass person like Mao should be able to guess that this was all from Jinshi.

The same person who's busy day and night made preparations for her, only to see some unknown random person dancing with her and kissing her hand.

He was jealous and it's only human.

In fact, I'm glad that he's not a complete saint.

He was mad at MaoMao for pretending to be in the dark when he has gone to great lengths to take care of her, and he was hurt that the same person would even suggest him to marry someone else, i.e. consort Rishu.

He was trying to tell her how he feels, and she wasn't even willing to acknowledge anything that is between them.

Adding to the fact, she knew the thing between Basen and Rishu and yet she chose to turn a blind eye, to the love that could blossom between them and suggested her name to Jinshi. It was wrong on so many levels because MaoMao knew everything and yet chose to give the most political suggestion she could think of.

Maybe because of her repressed emotions, she herself has become heartless while making decisions but just like a double edged sword, it has consequences.

So it was a mixture of anger, hurt and jealousy for Jinshi.

And he wanted MaoMao to feel the same.

The same amount of frustration he has felt as MaoMao keeps running away, just because it would be a little troublesome.

Yeah, he's shitty just like that, and so is she.

(and we love them for it ❤️)

Does it justify what he did? No. But it seems like MaoMao herself doesn't even mind it that much. She looked like well within her comfort zone. Otherwise, we know how capable she is of defending herself. But she was there, pretty much sitting with Jinshi until she dominated him completely and made her escape.

Guess they're both far from the vanilla couple that are usually expected in these kinds of series and I absolutely love it.

She was just mad he didn't poison her instead, like he promised her, to which he replied he would NEVER let her poison herself (because he also loves her a lot too, duh)

This entire scene looks more like a battle for sexual dominance, which MaoMao won.

She always has, since the very first day he saw the real her ❤️

[piss-pumpkin]

Bad dreams (Percy x reader)

Child of Hypnos reader, ~4.5k words, set ambiguously after pjo, the request was enemies to lovers so I sincerely apologize. Masterlist

Capture the flag. It was a game of epic highs and lows, winner and losers, all to decide who wore the crown. Until next week, that is. And nobody took it more seriously than Annabeth, determined to win and keep her indestructible reputation as the best strategist around. She was in the war room, taking this very seriously, and discussing with her right hand man before the team.

Percy groaned, dramatically dropping his head on the table, half pushing off the map. “Annabeth, why?” He complained, hand waving in the air to communicate the distain that she couldn’t see in his face. 

Annabeth sighed, taking her head in her hands. “I know you don’t like them,” she started calmly, crossing the floor to Percy to pat his back gently. “But the Hypnos cabin is an asset, between all of them, we can have half the enemy team asleep,” she said, ever pragmatic.

Percy was not a fan of her reasoning, as sound as it was. Unfortunately for him, the head counsellor of the Hypnos cabin was you. And You and Percy? He didn’t even want to think about. No idea why you decided not to like him upon meeting, even less of an idea how it’s escalated as far as it has. “Wise girl, have mercy,” he whined, standing up straight again. “Putting me in a room with them is a sure fire way to lose.”

Annabeth pursed her lips. “That might be true,” she started, circling the table, eyes the pieces she set dramatically to represent each of her forces. One or two Hypnos campers per squad to weaken the enemy. “But they’re essential to the plan, just… you’ll be in different areas, if all goes well.”

Percy grumbled. Things never went well. 

As the battle drew closer, the allied cabins assembled to hear the more polished version of Annebeths plan. And of course, that meant you at the table, front and centre, your forces being an essential part of the strategy. Great. You always listened to Annabeth, even though she was always sticking up for him. And she managed to get you on the same team, even when you knew that guy you hated would be there. 

You nodded along with the details, assigning siblings you thought best for each task. You seemed a lot nicer with them. 

You conferred with your cabin, and offered another plan to Annabeth. Percy wasn’t completing focused, because when you were done, he had no idea what you’d said. Annabeth seemed to be a fan though. She nodded along, and adjusted the prices on her map while you have people notes and alternate delegations.

An order to each cabin head. All except him. He glanced around at each counsellor telling their cabin mates what they should do, and he cringed. You’d instructed everyone else. “Uh,” he started looking to you because Annabeth was busy talking to the Apollo counsellor. “Does my job change at all?” 

You pursed your lips, smiling just slightly. “No, I guess I didn’t have anything for you,” you said slyly. “But isn’t jumping in without thinking kind of your whole thing? Just roll with that, yeah?” 

Percy’s face flattened as he sighed. He needed somebody else, “Annabeth?” He asked.

She turned to him, and thought for a moment. “They might have a point,” she said curiously, much to his detest. Percy grumbled as she continued. “Using you as a wild card might be beneficial, especially because you can take large groups of them at once.”

Great. No job, and more work, somehow. And you were smiling, a bit too satisfied with yourself and his annoyance. Why was it always like this? 

                                             …

There was one time when Percy was sparring with Clarisse, and they got a little too heated, and it ended up with Clarisse on Pegasus cleanup duty, and Percy teaching sword classes for a week. Definitely the lighter punishment, considering he liked the job. Chiron always went a little easy on him. But there were layers to this punishment. Primarily: you.

When Percy was approaching, he saw you, and sighed. You were there first, already talking to the younger campers, wide smile on your face and holding a weapon. Ugh. Of course he had the misfortune of fucking up the same time as you. Okay. This week was actually going to be terrible. 

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” he said, jogging up to you and the campers. You’d just finished some sort of introduction, it was the perfect time to slide in. The youngest kid looked maybe ten, and had a dagger in her hand. She was little small for the real swords. The kids were looking up at him, faces blank or curious, and you were side eyeing him, brow raised, completely unimpressed. Yeah, he should probably do something interesting.

“Yeah, you sure were,” you laughed sarcastically, sounding just nice enough for the kids not to pick up on your distain. 

Percy grimaced. Great start. With a deep breath, he did  his best to recover, running his hands through his hair nervously. “Well, I’m here now, so,” he said, looking at the younger campers. Grinning, and ignoring your cold stare, he uncapped Riptide, and a few kids gasped. “How about we get to the fun stuff?”

He spared you a glance, catching you roll your eyes at him. This was not going to be a good week. Quite possibly the worst punishment Chiron could’ve given him. 

It’s hard to teach as a team when you can’t get along  for a second. And all the kids noticed, and did their best to egg you on. Percy was fighting for his life harder than he had on several quests, until the very last minutes of the time slot. Thank the gods it was only like, an hour. Even if it was one of the longest hours of his life.

And he wasn’t even spared when it was over.

“Of course we fucked up on the same week” you sighed, picking up a carelessly discarded sword. “Let me guess, something boring…” you started, walking idly toward the weapons rack with a handful of blades. “Like what, blowing up the bathroom again? Or sneaking out of camp for a quest?”

Hmm. Low blow. Though not completely unwarranted. “No, much cooler than that,” Percy sighed, rolling his eyes as he kicked up some dust from the arena floor. “Beating up Clarisse.”

You scoffed, “somehow I doubt that.”

And you weren’t exactly wrong. It was more of a mutual beating up, in a sort of frenemy way, Percy was the first to admit. But not to you. “Hey, you should see her,” he chided. “There’s cold hard proof.”

You bumped his shoulder on the way out of the arena, sighing. “Maybe I will, I could get some tips on kicking your ass,” you said, raising your brow. 

By the time he thought of a good-ish response, you were too far away to hear, and he was kicking himself for letting you get the last word. He glanced around the empty arena dumbly. It looked like you finished the cleanup while he just stood there, another point you had on him now. The punishment may not have been a competition, but you seemed to be winning thus far. Shit. 

And it only gets worse from there. 

He managed to come early the second day, a full fifteen minutes to get warmed up, and think about what could be good to teach the newbies. And he had the arena all to himself to slash dummies in the exact way he’d instruct them to do later. 

“Clarisse told me Chiron intervening is all that saved you from getting sent to the infirmary,” you said.

Percy jumped, Riptide nearly falling out of his hand. When the fuck did you get here? He hadn’t heard you at all. Sneaky bitch. He turned to face you when he recovered from his shock, “yeah, well, she couldn’t admit she lost a fight if there was a gun to her head.”

You didn’t look sold. You raised your brow, “could you?”

He pursed his lips. He wanted to say something like, yes, duh! But quickly realized it might be a lie. To most people he could, but admitting defeat to you felt much worse. Like it would confirm all your doubts or apprehensions about him, or whatever your grudge was. He decided a little lie wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. “I could,” he said casually, slashing a combat dummies head. 

He didn’t see your face as you hummed lowly with disapproval. Probably for the better. 

Or so he thought, because as you were walking towards the dummy beside his, he started to feel drowsy. His slashes got slower as his arms felt heavier, like they were weighing him down. He looked at you, and immediately wanted to lie down and pass out. Ugh.  Your subtle smirk told him you knew exactly what you were doing. And it only escalated when the kids started to arrive. 

You started the lesson off assertively. While he was struggling to blink with his heavy eyelids. “If you have any cool demigod abilities, you should totally use them literally whenever you can,” you said, pointing your weapon enthusiastically at the campers. 

Percy couldn’t help but watch in slight awe as you engrossed them all. You narrowed in on a son of Apollo,  your blade staring him down as you told him he should get comfortable using healing abilities in a fight. You seemed to have a suggestion for everyone; the daughter of Hectate should use the mist, a Demeter kid should try and use vines, your Hypnos brother should use… sleep powers. Percy knew about those all too well. 

Percy had to admit he was jealous of the way they seemed excited about your ideas. Did they really like you more than him? It wasn’t that he felt bad not being liked, he was plenty used to that in all the schools he went to. It was more that it was you. The way you showed a nicer side to seemingly everyone but him. His body still felt like it was made of lead. 

You had some blind spots though. Not everyone had powers, Percy guessed, watching a couple Athena kids rolling their eyes or looking at the ground. “I hate to interject,” Percy started, stealing your and the kids attention again. “But this is weapons training, there are other classes for using abilities.” Plus, maybe you’d stop using yours if they got back on focus. 

”Hey, I’m teaching them how to fight better, isn’t that the goal?” You shot back. You seemed to catch the way his eyes were lingering on the kids without abilities. “Even if you don’t have any specific powers,” you said, turning back to the campers, “if we start using them, you’ll learn how to counter them, and kick our asses better.”

Percy sighed. You seemed pretty stuck on this. He tiredly uncapped Riptide, and pointed at it. “Weapons class, Y/n. Let’s focus on using weapons,” he said. 

You shifted your lips around, maybe chewing on them, and then seemed to have a thought. Unfortunately. You smiled at the kids, “yeah, well, Percy doesn’t always use his abilities to the fullest when he fights,” you said. “Maybe don’t take his lead too much.”

Ugh. “Well, it’s not always as easy as some people make it look,” he said, gesturing at you. “Not everyone has powers, and some people get drained easily by theirs. For me, I can’t always rely on there being water around me.”

You crossed your arms, raising your brow, and actually looked at him this time. “You know what people are made of, right?”

The kids were listening intently, some snickering and smirking to themselves. A couple seemed annoyed that the training was paused just so the teachers could bitch at each other. Percy sighed, “yeah, no, I don’t want to do that. I think that was an episode of Avatar: the last airbender.”

You rolled your eyes, scoffing. “Well you might win more fights if you did,” you said snidely. Your eyes lowered a moment as you lowered your voice with a bitter tone, “I hate the idea of you going easy on me.” 

Before Percy could respond with a retort of his own, you’d dropped the mean act and completely focused on the kids, upbeat and happy. You clapped your hands together, and shot them a wide smile, “how about a demonstration, guys?” 

Aw shit. The kids lit up, nodding along as you continued. “How about me and Percy have a little match, and we see who wins, yeah?” You said, grinning at him. Ugh. It wasn’t a secret that people said he was the best swordsman at camp, but you were a head counsellor too. And even if he could stab you, he probably shouldn’t in front of the kids anyway. 

He had started to tune you out, but got snapped back to reality when he heard his name. “Percy, are you down?” You asked with faux sweetness. Ugh. Percy sucked a breath in through his teeth, and sighed. “Uh-Sure,” he said cautiously. 

You grinned, and the kids stepped back and whispered to each other. Yeah, they definitely picked up on your rivalry. They waited restlessly, probably excited to see the climax of your mutual dislike. Like the fight was inevitable. He uncapped Riptide with a sigh, and raised the blade as you shooed the kids to step further back. He took a fighting stance, raising his blade at the ready.��Just great. Your aura of tiredness or whatever was affecting him seemed to get worse. Yeah, he might be fucked without water. 

You smirked, twirling a weapon of your own between your fingers and glancing at your audience happily, chest puffed out in self satisfaction. “Do you want to count us down?” you asked the kids, grinning. 

They nodded along, three, and Percy sighed, eying the water bottle he had off to the side. If he could get it then maybe... whatever. Maybe if he beat you, you’d lay off. Two. Or, if you won, you could get ten times worse. One. There was no good outcome. And it’s not like either of you could maim each other with the kids watching. 

Ugh. Still weighed down by an impossible spell of drowsiness, Percy started to lunge forward, sword ready to slash in an arc above his head. But then he looked at you. And you looked at him. And you were shooting him a finger gun, and Percy was out cold, without enough time to grumble or complain about it. Well shit. 

Like most times he slept, he was dreaming. Nightmares, specifically. At least he felt no godly presence, or anything sinister. Today, it was Annabeth and Grover dead on the floor, with Kronos in Luke’s body glaring at him from the sidelines. And then it was just Luke, looking at him sadly, approaching him, and then asking why he let his sister die. Percy didn’t have an answer. 

Nightmare Luke wasn’t a fan of that. Suddenly he was turning back into Kronos and raising Backbiter, and Percy was completely unable to move, paralyzed by fear, sadness, and bitter anger. Great. Just great. 

But Luke didn’t swing. He stopped, eyes cloudy and blank, and the bodies faded away. Was his subconscious being nice today? Luke stepped back, and his sword has vanished, and the scene was fading fast. 

Percy was awake. He grumbled, not wanting to open his eyes. His head was in the dirt, body completely weighed down by his own exhaustion. The arena floor wasn’t the worst place he could’ve fallen, at least. He grumbled, sat up, and rubbed his eyes until they opened.

You were still there, Percy’s eyes flew open, shaking any lingering tiredness. He scooted back just slightly. You were sitting beside him, head rested in hands and lips pursed. “Uhh,” he stuttered, scooting back further. “You’re uh, still hanging out here?” A quick glance showed the kids were gone, and the lesson had been over for a while. 

”You have some of the worst nightmares I’ve seen, dude,” you said simply, shifting your head from hands to hand. “I’m… sorry, I didn’t- I didn’t mean to snoop.”

Percys brow furrowed. What? You looked apprehensive, but your words didn’t seem malicious in the slightest. He stopped scooting back, but he held his arm up defensively between you, unsure why. You didn’t have a weapon. “It’s… fine. Was it you that… ended it?” He asked tentatively.

You nodded. “It didn’t seem fun,” you said quietly. You looked away, hiding your face in a palm, “Sorry for putting you in there, I guess,” you said. “I’ll try to avoid sleeping you, if you want.”

Percy looked at you quizzically, jaw hung slightly open, more than confused. You were being nice. That’s crazy. He wasn’t sure how to act. Every word he said was laced with hesitation and the slightest bit of a stutter. “Thanks, I guess,” he mumbled, scratching the back of his neck. “Appreciate it.”

You nodded, and a slightly sealed silence fell over the woods as you refused to look at him. But you didn’t stand up to leave yet either. 

“Hey, Y/n, can I ask,” he started, sitting up straighter and crossing his legs. “Usually you hate me…” he said, almost wincing. “Do you… not, today?”

That got your attention, and your eyes were burning through him. Your brow furrowed, and softened, your mouth opened and then closed, you looked away, then back at him, and then sighed. “I don’t hate you, Percy,” you admitted, sounding abjectly defeated. 

That got an involuntary “huh?” Out of him. You totally hated him. That was just a fact. 

You sighed, and shook your head, turning back away from him. You tone was far lighter this time, “no, I don’t hate you, I just- I don’t know,” you said.

”Then why-“ Percy started dumbly, but quickly trailed off, unsure how to make his question less rude. There didn’t seem to be an obvious answer. “Why are you like this,” he asked, cringing at his own callousness.

You snickered, looking at him with a slight and awkward smile. You shrugged, and looked back at the woods. Percy didn’t speak, he barely breathed, waiting for any sort of a signal from you. Somehow, it worked. You sighed , and stretched your legs in front of you and said, “I don’t know.” You paused, probably thinking. “It just comes naturally, I guess.”

Percy hummed. 

“That came out mean, didn’t it,” you laughed softly. 

“Like most things you say,” he laughed, but quickly trailed off. “Sorry.”

You smiled hesitantly, looking over at him with softer eyes than he usually sees on you. “No, that was deserved,” you said.

Percy smiled, and then raised his brow, surprising himself. That didn’t happen when he talked to you, this was fresh territory. Before he could respond, you were standing, and for the first time, offering him a hand up. And for the first time, he took it. 

You pulled him to his feet, but didn’t look at him, curtly turning your head away as he stood in front of you. Percy couldn’t help but snicker under his breath. You seemed intent on staring at a tree.

”Hey,” Percy started, brushing his hair out of his face. “Do you wanna go get on the same page about what we’re teaching them tomorrow so we don’t have a repeat of today?” He asked. He got a little scared when you finally looked at him, but you didn’t seem angry. And if anybody knew your angry face it was him. “We’ll probably be better teachers if we actually work together on it.”

You hesitated, raising your brow. “Uh, really?” You stuttered, crossing your arms and shrinking into yourself. 

Percy sighed. He was doing this, he’d committed now. For better or worse. “Yeah,” he nodded, with a friendly smile. “Why not? Let’s go get lunch or something.”

Percy wasn’t sure how well his olive branch was working. Your lips were pursed and arms still crossed, but.. the ever so familiar scowl you often showed him was absent from your lips. That could be good. You looked at the ground, then back to him, “yeah, okay.”

And here he was braced for rejection and an insult. Small victories. Percy grinned, nodding his head in the general direction of the dining pavilion, “then let’s go.” 

You nodded, and walked quietly beside him as he started for the path. Okay, a little awkward silence was nothing, that was still a win. Miles better than where he was this morning. Or even like, an hour ago. So Percy was inclined to try and bridge the gap. “The kids are gonna be really surprised when we actually work together, tomorrow,” he laughed. Careful words, when, not if.

He caught in his peripheral the tug of your lips upward into the slightest of smiles. “They’ll never see it coming,” you said. Maybe like a joke. Wow, was this actually working? You let out a small laugh, “neither did I.”

Percy but the inside of his cheek to suppress a smile. That made two of you, because this was the last thing Percy expected too. “Yeah,” he started. “Not bad though.”

For the first time in a good minute, you met his eyes, and his attention was drawn. You didn’t normally look at him like that. It was a… nice change pace. You sighed, “No, not the worst.” You swished your cheeks around a moment as you paused, but didn’t say more. And Percy would be lying to himself if he tried thinking he wasn’t a little disappointed. It almost looked like you were gonna say something nice. Well, maybe not the worst was nice enough. For you, at least.

”Percy, I’m really sorry about those nightmares,” you said finally, looking at the ground. 

Ah. That. Percy didn’t tell all that many people about his shit dreams. It was kind of a given that most people at camp got them, in some capacity at least. But he did his best to project a lighthearted image, especially when he was with the younger campers. “Oh,” he said dumbly. 

“If you want, I can help with those,” you offered quietly. 

Now that caught Percy’s attention. He raised his brow, “You can do that?” And he didn’t ask his other question: you would do that? Like, for him? 

You looked up at him, then back to the ground as the two of you approached the dining pavilion. “Yeah, Hypnos stuff,” you mumbled. “I do it for some other people too.”

Oh gods, you felt bad for him. That was a weird thought. “Oh- you don’t have to do that,” he started, suddenly far more embarrassed. So that’s why you were being nice. Suddenly it didn’t feel as good as before.

You looked up at him with wider eyes now, and bit the inside of your cheek. “Well, if you ever change your mind.”

Something about your pity didn’t sit right with him, even if was glad you didn’t look like you wanted to bite his head off. This look, the feeling sorry for him face, was somehow worse. “I won’t,” he snapped, sounding meaner than he meant. Or maybe he did mean it, in his bitterness he couldn’t tell. “You don’t need to pretend to like me now that you feel bad.”

You brow furrowed, and that pity look was gone in an instant. “Hey asshole, I was just offering to help,” you spat. Now this was more familiar. You crossed your arms at your chest as you walked. “Thought about being nice for once.”

”Yeah, for once,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Because now you feel bad.”

”Oh shut up,” you said, shaking your head with a glare. You stopped just short of the pavilion. “You aren’t special because you get nightmares, idiot, half the camp does,” you said, stepping closer to him. He was inclined to back away. “I’ve seen worse.”

Percy took another step back. There was a few stray campers sitting in the pavilion watching curiously, now. 

“But sure, go ahead,” you said, hands animating with your words. He flinched a moment as you halfway gripped the air. “Keep having your shit dreams, I don’t care.”

“Then why did you offer,” he spat back.

You looked at him like he was an idiot, shaking your head. “Because nightmares suck, nobody deserves that shit,” you said, like it was obvious. “Not even a stuck up asshole who thinks he’s better then everyone.”

What? Percy stood dumbly for a moment while your sharp glare subsided into a duller scowl. Did he really come off like that? “I’m not-“ he started, but quickly gave up. As much as he wanted to insult you back, half the things you said were genuinely pretty nice. You were right, nobody deserved that.

You scoffed, “sure you’re not,” you said bitterly. 

The two do you stood silently for a moment. And a few moments more. The couple of campers watching awkwardly tried to go back to eating. The lunch plans the two of you made seemed so far in the past now. Same with the idea of getting in the same page.

Percy spoke first. “I don’t- I don’t think like that,” he said lamely.

”No, you’re just the hero of Olympus, who goes on all the quests, who the gods tried to give immortality too,” you said. But the malice was gone. “You’re the reason I even have a cabin here,” you said quietly. 

Percy winced. How do you explain to somebody that going on all those quests… wasn’t always great. It stopped being amazing when more lives were at risk, the stakes got higher, people died. A lot of the time all the glory kind of sucked. “Well it’s… not all it’s cracked up to be,” Percy managed. “I mean, you saw the aftermath.”

”Yeah,” you said, looking at the ground. “That’s why I thought.. you might not be how I thought.” You looked up, expression made of stone. “But at least you’re… I don’t know,” you trailed off, “I think I’d still rather be somebody, even if it sucks.”

Percy half heartedly laughed through his nose, “Usually I feel the opposite, it would’ve been easier to be a kid of some minor god.”

”Grass is always greener, I guess,” you sighed. 

“You are somebody, though,” Percy said, realizing he should probably address that. The idea that you were insecure seemed so alien. The way you insulted him always seemed so confident. “You don’t need a ton of quests or fights to prove that.”

You rolled your eyes, a weak smile was forming on your lips, “well, that’s easy for you to say. I’m only here, and claimed, and in a cabin because you made the gods pay their child support.”

Percy smiled softly, gesturing his head to the tables at the pavilion. He started to walk as he spoke, “that’s the gods, that’s their problem,” he said, grabbing a plate to fill with the magic food with you behind him. “You’re more then the gods approval.”

He had to look back to see if you were still there, the way you went quiet. You grabbed a plate, and followed him to a table, all with that stone faced look. Not pity or malice, this time. When you sat down beside him, you finally cracked. “Thanks,” you managed, staring ruefully at your food. 

“It’s true,” Percy said. 

You looked up at him, a slight smile on your lips this time. “Thanks,” you said, more confidently. 

“Are you still up for helping me with the nightmares?”

This request haunted me for like over a month cuz I couldn’t get anything out of it for a while. I wasn’t gonna post here but I ended up happier with it then I thought tho. Can you tell I never write enemies to lovers? I usually hate that trope lmao. Anyway part 2 coming maybe.

[wiltedreamofbaldursgate]

Steady Hands, Frame My Love

characters: Astarion x race/class neutral fem!Tav/reader word count: +3.2k Rating: M trigger warning: mild-ish sexual content. bad eyebrows. This hasn't been beta-read nor am I a native speaker. read on ao3 read more BG3 one shots

Entrusting you with his face isn’t easy for Astarion, which is exactly why you’re so nervous about the whole thing to begin with. You want to do your very best—make him look his very best so that Astarion can feel good about himself. You couldn’t bear anyone making a bad comment on his appearance when he trusts you to be his mirror.

“Come out, spawn. There is no use in hiding.”

You know there is trouble when you spot Lae'zel in front of Astarion’s tent. Her tiny nose is scrunched up in a way that would be cute if it didn’t mean she wants to skin someone alive. The perfectly sharpened blade twitching in her hand is just another hint that she’s out for blood. You almost can’t blame Astarion for hiding from the Githyanki warrior’s wrath—almost, because it’s within every reason to assume he’s brought her wrath upon himself. 

Taking a quick look around camp, you find that everybody is suspiciously busy minding their own business for once, skillfully ignoring the one-sided commotion in front of your lover’s tent. You can’t really blame them either; it’s been a very long day, and everybody wants to get some rest before dinner. You have half the mind to do the very same when Lae'zel’s intense gaze suddenly locks with yours—an honest rookie mistake.

There’s no use pretending you haven’t noticed her now, so you put your journal aside and approach the red tent with long strides and a smile that you can only hope will have a calming effect on her. Unsurprisingly, your hopes are shattered instantly. 

Lae'zel doesn’t wait for you to friendly inquire about what the fuck the matter is this time; before you can even open your mouth, she’s all the way in your face.

“The spawn does as he pleases!”

Lae'zel would need to get a great deal more specific when it comes to Astarion, but you refrain from telling her so, opting for a questioning look instead. 

The young warrior shakes her head, annoyed that her explanation isn’t sufficient enough for your small istik brain to comprehend.

“It is the spawn’s turn to fetch water from the stream. Thus is his duty,” Lae'zel explains slowly, accentuating every word with a well-placed hiss to get her point across. “A duty he fails to perform.” 

You think it is progress that she isn’t waving her sword at you, although she does glare at you as if you were the offending party, which—since your relationship with the pale elf has become common knowledge around camp—you somewhat are.

“Where I am from, we make sure to keep our mates in check, however pleasing they might be. You might want to do the same.” 

Maybe not so much progress, after all.

“Haven't I made myself quite clear on that before, Lae'zel?”

Holding her intense glare, you stare the warrior down. You have made yourself clear on occasion—you aren’t Astarion’s keeper. 

It takes a moment, but Lae'zel is the first to break eye contact, eventually taking a step back. Not lowering your gaze, you wait patiently for her to continue.

“The spawn would better honour his word, or else…” She spits, not at you, but at Astarion’s firmly closed tent flap. 

“I will remind him,” you assure her, not unkindly.

Lae'zel looks you up and down before she inclines her head ever so slightly.

“I trust you will,” she drawls, glaring at the tent one last time before she stalks away.

Left to take care of the issue at hand, you frown at the closed tent flap. As much as Astarion bitches about pulling his weight in camp, it’s unlike him to not do his chores one way or the other. And now that you think about it, he’s set up his tent uncharacteristically fast earlier, too, not even trying to rope anyone in to help him do his work. The realisation that you haven’t seen him since he vanished into said tent quite a while ago settles unpleasantly in your stomach. 

“Astarion?”

You step closer to the heavy fabric closing off the tent’s entrance, listening. There’s no answer, although you do hear some hurried movement from within the tent. It’s a good sign, you suppose.

“You good in there?”

The silence stretches for another moment before Astarion finally lets out an exaggerated sigh. Going by the sound of it, he, too, must be standing rather close to the entrance.

“Truth be told, darling, I have been better.”

“Are you hurt?” You ask, not bothering to hide the obvious worry lacing your voice. 

When could he have even gotten hurt? Haven’t you checked up on everyone after your earlier fight with some overly pesky, giant spiders? Or is he just messing with you—trying to avoid his laborious chore after all?

It takes yet another moment for Astarion to mumble something incomprehensible in reply. With raised eyebrows, you repeat your question, which earns you another sigh from him, this time more exasperated than theatrical. 

“I just so happened to get some acid in my face when we took care of those cursed spiders and—”

“And?” You press, alarmed.

“It’s nothing, darling, really; it’s just—well…”

“Astarion!”

The vampire curses, and you can hear him step even closer to the tent’s opening, closer to you. You’re almost sure that if you pressed your hand against the fabric shielding him from you, you would be able to touch him. 

“They're gone,” he says, his voice so low you have to strain your ears to hear him. 

Your frown deepens. “What is?” 

More mumbling reaches your ear, and Astarion has to repeat himself twice before you can eventually make any sense of his words. You stare at the tent flap in disbelief. You can't have heard right.

“Your eyebrows are gone?”

Astarion inhales sharply. “Must you scream it around for everyone to hear? Come in, come in!”

Not knowing what to expect, you enter the tent. 

Astarion has retreated to the shadows; his hand is firmly pressed against his forehead. You stare up at him, trying to assess the situation. He looks pained alright, although you have an inkling it’s more from wounded vanity than actual injury. As you step closer to him, you give him a reassuring smile.

“So, acid, huh? I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

He is not convinced. At all. Wordlessly, he’s staring back at you, his jaw set. Your smile fades.

“Let me take a look?” You try again, feeling your already shaky optimism dwindle further.  

He thinks it over for a couple of heartbeats before he slowly drags his hand to his hairline, pushing up the stands of white hair that usually fall so gracefully in his face… 

Astarion must’ve drunk a healing potion because the presumably once-angry burns on his skin have already faded into pale red blotches sprinkled all over his forehead. By morning, nobody would even be able to tell the acid burns were ever there—were it not for Astarion’s eyebrows, or what’s left of them, that is.

You instantly force your face into a mask of neutrality. You have to approach this very delicately.

“It’s… salvageable. Really,” is all you can blurt out, though. 

Astarion’s crimson eyes grow comically round, accentuated by the lack of eyebrows; he doesn’t believe a word you say, which you can’t really hold against him. You’re talking shit. It’s bad, and you wonder how in the nine hells you haven’t noticed this before.

“You can redraw them here and…there,” you go on for lack of anything better to say—Gods, you really should shut up. “Fill them back in, you know…?” 

Astarion wets his lips while you're evading his piercing gaze.

“Why, what a grand idea,” he breathes, shakily. “I never would’ve thought of that myself. If only there wasn’t this one peculiar little thing. What was it again, my dear?”

You cringe. Of course. Of course… How could you forget?

“Ah, right…” You only notice the delicate hand mirror Astarion was holding when it flies across the tent, shattering somewhere on the bare ground farthest from you. “I can’t fucking see my face!” 

As if all strength has left his body, Astarion sinks to the ground, where he lets himself fall back into his pile of blankets, arms draped over his eyes. It’s all rather dramatic, but you guess you can’t have one without the other. 

Grimacing, because you’re sorry for him, you sink to your knees next to him, gently tugging at his sleeve. 

“Do you want me to do it? Redraw them, I mean.”

You can tell by the way Astarion sits up as if struck by lightning that he was only waiting for your offer. Suddenly very close, he considers you with narrowed eyes.

“I suppose you could,” he muses, tracing the shape of your left eyebrow with his index finger. “You usually look presentable enough.” 

You let the comment slide, but not without rolling your eyes at him. It’s just show, though, a way to suppress a smile. Astarion thinks he’s sly about it, but you catch him often enough looking at you as if you were the sun at dawn. 

Of course, you would never dare mention that to him.

“Give me a minute,” you say instead, already rising to your feet, were it not for the cold fingers curling around your wrist.

Astarion gives you a stern look as he's holding you in place, his nose nearly brushing against yours. “Not a word to anyone about this.” 

You give him a solemn look in return as you comb your fingers through his hair, gently guiding some stray locks back into place. “I’ll take your secret to the grave.”

Your hand is trembling just a little—enough for Astarion to notice. Enough for that damn smirk to find its way to his lips. You hold your breath. 

“Nervous, love?” 

Yes, and it’s stupid because you’ve done this often enough—daily, even. It’s just easier to apply cosmetics on yourself, sitting in front of a mirror and not kneeling in front of him, trying to evade his piercing gaze. 

“Why would I be?” You scowl, readjusting the hold on your charred willow stick that has yet to make contact with Astarion’s skin. “Aren’t my eyebrows, are they?”

You shift closer to him, brushing against his leg with your knee, which doesn’t help your case at all. You can’t help feeling a little shaky when he’s this close—and he knows it. 

“No need to tremble like a virgin, then, my sweet.” 

Giving him a sharp look, you draw back a little, although you don’t make it far. 

“Maybe you just need to come a little closer still,” he purrs as his hand takes hold of the back of your knee, pulling you onto his lap in one swift motion. “Might be less distracting for you…”

For someone close to having a meltdown less than fifteen minutes ago, he’s surely having lots of fun now. Biting your lower lip, you adjust your weight, straddling Astarion properly. Trying to ignore the hard body pressing against yours, you assess the natural growth of his eyebrows again, eventually setting the tip of the charred willow stick down on his skin, only to remove it again. This won’t work like this. 

“Honestly, can you please just close your eyes?” 

Astarion scoffs. “Should I blow out the candles, too, while I’m at it? Leave the nightdress on?” 

“Shut up, or you’ll end up looking like a clown.” 

That eventually does the trick. He gives you one last look that is somewhere between peeved and wary before he closes his eyes. 

Entrusting you with his face isn’t easy for Astarion, which is exactly why you’re so nervous about the whole thing, to begin with. You want to do your very best—make him look his very best so that Astarion can feel good about himself. You couldn’t bear anyone making a bad comment on his appearance when he trusts you to be his mirror. The thought alone makes you shudder.

Astarion’s hand wanders up from your knee to your hip, giving it a gentle squeeze; this time, his touch is more encouragement than teasing. 

After taking a deep breath, you lean back in. 

With steady hands, you begin to redraw the missing parts of his eyebrows. Taking your time, you make sure to follow the natural shape of them; to blend out the colour where the charcoal comes off as too stark a contrast to his white hair. 

While you’re working, Astarion doesn’t move one bit, eager—for once—to not fluster you. It’s not until you lean back to consider the fruits of your labour that he opens his eyes again. 

“And?”

“Well,” you muse, “you look presentable enough.” 

He scowls as you throw his own words back at him; you suppress a laugh before you take his face between your hands.

“If I could see the stars right now, I could not tell them apart from you,” you proclaim, mimicking his dramatics once again. It’s not as funny when you do it, so you’re quick to add, “You’re as beautiful as ever.”

You mean it, and Astarion knows it; trusts that you do. He leans forward to brush a kiss against your lips, hugging you to him, which is as much thanks as you expected to receive. 

“Will you do it again tomorrow? And the day after,” he mumbles into the crook of your neck, “please?”  

“Of course,” you assure him, deepening the embrace, “until they’ve grown back.”  

Astarion hums in agreement and you remain like this for a moment before you pull back to look into his eyes, which are once again framed by a pair of sharp eyebrows accentuating his perfect features. 

“I should’ve noticed earlier,” you say, at last. “I’m sorry. I’m not a very good mirror, it seems.” 

Astarion frowns at you, the intensity of his gaze taking you aback as it is wont to do. 

“Don’t be,” he urges, gently taking your dominant hand in his. He runs his fingers along the back of it, careful not to put too much pressure on your still-raw skin. His touch stings nonetheless, reminding you of your own acid burns that have yet to heal—those spiders really are a menace. “You should be more careful, too, you know? You’re the only working mirror I have.”

You’re lying flat on your back before you can even gasp in surprise. To your embarrassment, your legs have already wrapped around Astarion’s waist; all you can see is that damn smirk on his lips as he’s towering over you, his face barely a finger width away from yours. Your breath hitches as you take him in; nobody has any right to be this beautiful. 

“It would be a shame if I lost it, my precious little mirror,” he sighs before pressing his lips to yours. 

It’s a far cry from his earlier kiss—heated, needy. Knowing you don’t stand a chance against his tongue gliding over your lower lip, you open your mouth to him, slowly losing yourself in him. There’s really nothing easier than that.

Your hand moves to the back of his neck, pulling him even closer as your fingers dig through his locks, eliciting a low moan from him. This is a lot more thanks for your service than you’ve expected, but you find yourself unable to complain. Your mouth is far too occupied for that anyway.

It’s almost obscene how easily Astarion can undo your stays and by the time his hand finds its way underneath your thin shirt, your mind is long clouded by lust. Leaving goosebumps in its wake, his hand glides over your belly up to your sternum before it firmly cups your breast. The lazy pace of his thumb drawing circles around your hardened nipple has you aching your back, trying to ease the wet heat gathering between your legs. 

Wet.

Somewhere very far in the back of your mind, you remember that you had a reason for coming to him earlier—way before you ended up on his lap, let alone underneath him. Let alone this damn wet. What was it again? 

You break loose from Astarion to take a quick breath. Not wasting any time away from you, his lips begin to trace along your jaw, your throat, your collarbone; his wicked grin is painfully obvious against your skin. By the time you realise Astarion is scheming something, he’s already pushing his knee under your ass, repositioning you so that you can feel his hardness pressing against your core. You hiss at the sudden contact. 

Ah, right—hiss! Lae'zel.

You throw your head back with a sigh as Astarion begins to grind his hips against you, making any thought of the Githyanki warrior evaporate quickly. Fuck Lae'zel and her sense of duty and honour. You can just sit out her wrath with Astarion right here, right now, however long it may take. It doesn’t really matter that you’re not sitting much, either.

But then again, maybe this is why your companions take offence at you the moment Astarion is stepping out of line, although you’re sure they would be biassed, too, if they knew how positively divine he feels—especially when he’s teasing the waistband of your trousers with his long fingers as he does now. Your hips move in answer to his touch, and yet…Fuck.

You groan. Not with pleasure but from your own sense of duty. The others trust you as much as Astarion does; that’s why they somehow thought it wise to make you their leader. Almost annoyed with yourself, you prop yourself up on one elbow, pressing your hand against Astarion’s chest, telling him to stop before you’re way past the point of no return. 

He raises an eyebrow at you. His hair is messy and his lips are red and swollen from your kisses and by the Gods you want him to fuck you. It takes you a very long moment to gather yourself.

“Now that we took care of your issue,” you pant, tracing the shape of his left eyebrow with your index finger, “you might wanna go fetch water if you don’t want Lae'zel to wipe them off right away.” 

Tilting his head, Astarion gives you a long look. His fingers keep digging into your thigh which has you grinding your teeth to suppress another sigh. He doesn’t buy your attempt at keeping order and peace, not when he can undoubtedly feel you trembling with need for him. You’re not even protesting when he leans back over you, one arm next to your head to support his weight. 

“So, what?” he breathes against your shoulder before planting a hot kiss against your skin. And another. And another, as he is slowly kissing his way down your body. “You said you would redo them over and over and over again, didn’t you, darling?” 

Holding your breath, you watch your shirt being pushed up the lower he’s moving down on you, gasping only when the crisp evening air caresses your exposed chest. 

Astarion’s trail of kisses comes to a halt right below your belly button. His crimson eyes are looking at you expectantly but you’re too preoccupied with his fingers slowly undoing your trousers to make any sense of his wordless question. You swallow. 

“You did say that, didn’t you?” He repeats, the amusement evident in his voice.

“Yes,” you nod rather enthusiastically. “No problem. Not at all.” 

“That’s what I thought,” Astarion grins, finally freeing you of your trousers to see how pathetically ready you already are for him.

Duty can wait a little longer, you decide as you give yourself over to the pale elf. You only promised Lae'zel to remind Astarion of his chores, not that you would make him do them, you reason. 

You’re not his keeper, after all. 

[nocasdatsgay]

Happiness is a Foreign Concept

Day 2: Legacy @erisweekofficial

Word Count: 1637 | Rating: T | Genre: Gen.

Characters: Eris, LOA, Male OC (Rowen), Elain, Lucien, Elain/Lucien’s children

Warnings: Contemplating the future, feelings of melancholy, talk of marriage and children | Read on AO3 | Masterlist 2024

Summary: Eris is feeling the pressures to marry and have an heir.

A/N: I fully admit I projected onto Eris in this. This fic about the struggle of uncertainty and the pressure to fit into expectations. Emotions are complex, and while a lot of people find peace quickly in choices they make, sometimes others don’t.

Gen Tag: @hieragalbatorixdottir @mybestfriendmademe @ninthcircleofprythian dividers by @tsunami-of-tears

The invitation laid in front of him on his desk unopened. Eris knew what it was at first glance. Elain’s famous loopy handwriting was on top, addressing the letter to him. Yet he couldn’t stomach the thought of opening it. It was no doubt another invitation to meet his new niece, Elain and Lucien’s third youngling but first girl. He should be happy for them. Instead he got up and poured himself a drink.

His whole life, all nearly seven hundred years of it, he told himself he was fine without a spouse, or a mate, or younglings. A spouse was a liability during his father’s reign. A mate was a death sentence. Younglings were out of the question. And his mother- he loved her dearly. But now with father gone and her newfound happiness in Day Court, she would not stop asking him if he had found someone. Or if, by luck, there was a babe on the way.

“I’m only asking because your brothers are so happy. I want that for you.”

He walked over to the window and nursed the glass of fire whiskey in his hand, shoving down his feelings. He was High Lord. He didn’t have time for romance. He was too busy fixing the wrongs of his father. His duty was to the court. And yet… He stared out into the jewel-toned leaves in the trees, his mind wandering. If his life had been different, if his father was kinder, would he have a spouse and younglings by now?

Melancholy settled in him and he shoved it down. He didn’t have time for ‘what ifs’. They only slowed him down though it didn’t help his mood. Later when he was sword fighting with Rowen, his mood had not changed. And it was showing. Rowen nicked his side, tearing his shirt. Eris stumbled and Rowen grabbed him by his arm.

“Are you ill or something? You never let me get that close to you,” his eyes dropped to the tear in Eris’s shirt.

“I’m fine.” He pulled his arm back. “Just having a hard time focusing.”

“Finally get yourself a lady friend?” Rowen grinned, his deep brown eyes looking his friend over and wiggling his brows.

“No,” Eris glared and he could feel the heat rise up in his body.

“Sorry,” Rowen threw his hands up. “I just haven’t seen you. Governors been talking and-“

“What did they say?” Eris held back his power enough to not command him, but his rage was increasing.

Rowen studied his friend again, frowning. “You’ve been High Lord now for a few decades. Things have settled. They talked like you were looking for a Lady.”

“Well I’m not.” Eris gripped his sword tightly.

“A Lord then?” Rowen asked softly.

Eris let out a growl. Eris had male and female lovers- a secret only Rowen knew as he was his look out for half of them. And while the governors would simply have to deal with it if he chose a male as his partner- it wasn’t the point.

“I’m not looking for anyone. Next time you hear talk, you tell me who it is and I will deal with them accordingly.” Rowen nodded, still eyeing him cautiously. Eris ignored the twist in his gut and put himself into a stance. “Let’s go again.”

A week later his mother came to the Forest house under the guise of spending tea time together. He should have known she only came to pester him. The moment she sat down she began to babble about Elain and Lucien’s newest youngling.

“Azalea is starting to crawl. Oh Eris, she’s so precious. First girl in a millenia. She reminds me of you when you were little. Curious about everything.” She looked off to the window, a whimsy glaze to her eyes. “The boys adore her. You should really come and-“

“I do not have time, mother.” Eris said sternly.

She was silent for a moment. “Surely High Lord duties are not so strenuous now. Unless you have other reasons-“

“Enough!” His mother froze and guilt washed over him. He sighed. “Mother. Please do not start with me.”

She finally exhaled heavily. “I just want you to be happy.”

“I am happy, mother.” Eris retorted, not looking at her.

“Are you?”

He truly didn’t know. Happiness was a foreign concept to someone who lived and breathed torment for centuries.

“I am.” A slight lie. “If this is about me not going to see Azalea, I will make plans this afternoon.”

He finally looked his mother in the eyes again. She knew he wasn’t being fully truthful, he could see it in the way she stared right through him.

“You should stay for dinner.” He added. “Piran is coming. Asher, Rowen, Claudia, and Celeste will also be there.”

His mother smiled. “I would enjoy that.”

Visiting the Day Court was always a tumultuous affair. Helion still gave him a weary look when he was present, despite having warmed up to him more over the decades. Thankfully it was his brother who greeted him, clad in his Day Court attire.

“I’ll never get used to seeing you in this.” Eris wrinkled his nose, looking his brother over. Day Court was always too simple for his tastes.

“Says the male buttoned up to his neck in this heat,” Lucien shot back. “Come meet the babe before I change my mind and send you home.”

On the way to their chambers, Lucien lamented that once Azalea was old enough, they would go back to the border of Spring and the Human Lands. Eris wrinkled his nose again but kept his mouth shut. He knew they stayed in Day so Elain could be close to her sisters and Lucien, to mother. He never understood their love of living so close to a land with no magic.

Eris’s expression softened once they entered the sitting area where Elain was holding up her new babe in her lap. She was already old enough to sit up without much help. Eris ignored the twinge of regret for waiting so long.

“Elain, beautiful as ever.” He walked up to her. “Motherhood has been much kinder to you than fatherhood has my brother.”

“Good to see you Eris,” Elain laughed and Eris could hear his brother grumbling behind him.

“You must be Azalea. Hello, sweet girl,” he crouched so he was eye level with the babe sitting in her mothers lap.

She was beautiful. Unlike her brothers, she inherited the Autumn red hair from Lucien. Her eyes were like her mother’s, wide and the color of a fawn. She was adorable in her little white floral dress. She grinned at him and when he smiled back, she waved her arms about.

“I think she likes you,” Elain said, watching her daughter.

“All babies love me. May I?” He stood and held out his hands questionably.

Elain didn’t hesitate to hand off Azalea. Eris ignored the ache in his heart as he took her, that momentary thought of how he didn’t have one of these to hold and cherish. He instead proceeded to coo at her and make her giggle. When the door opened, she squealed. He looked over to see two younglings rushing to him.

“Uncle Eris!” The two boys yelled in unison.

Eris braced himself and let them both run into him for a hug.

“Boys. My goodness you’ve gotten taller.”

The eldest, Andre, was at his waist before and now came up to his elbows. The middle boy, Apollo, was now up to his waist. He noted the boys' hair was lighter, more akin to the golden brown of their mothers than the darker locks they were born with originally.

“We want to show you the puzzles Aunt Nesta gave us.”

“I’ve got her,” Elain appeared behind him, taking the babe. She leaned in and whispered, “the boys have been looking forward to seeing you.”

He nodded. “Show me the way.”

With yells they dragged him out of the sitting room and into their rooms. Eris spent the rest of the afternoon putting together puzzles, play fighting, and Eris purposely letting Lucien win while fencing. Lucien finally took the boys to wash up and Eris was left to sit with Elain and Azalea in peace for a moment.

“She is beautiful, Elain.” He held Azalea in his lap, cooing at her and making her giggle. “She’s so happy.”

”She is a lot calmer than the boys were at that age. I fear once she starts crawling and walking, she will catch up to them.” Eris’s face must have faltered. “You seem troubled.”

Eris sighed heavily, gently adjusting the babe in his lap. “Mother is pestering me to marry and have younglings. Which is nothing new, but now the governors are talking. It’s just tiresome.”

Talking with Elain was always easy. He used to hate how loose his lips were around her but now it was a blessing. He didn’t have to mince words. She nodded.

“Is that what you want?”

”I don’t know.” He replied truthfully.

She hummed. “You can always take the boys if you get bored. I’m certain Azalea will also want to spend time with her uncle Eris when she’s older.”

“Thank you.”

The door opened and Apollo appeared around it. “Mama, papa said dinner is ready.”

“Tell him we are on our way.” Elain smiled and he disappeared back into the hall. She turned and took Azalea from Eris. “Happiness comes in all forms, Eris. Never feel like you have to fit into a mold.”

Eris laughed, a sour twinge in his tone. “My whole existence is nothing but fitting into a mold.”

“Then maybe,” She whispered as she stood. “You should break it and make your own.”

Eris gave her a soft smile. Maybe he should.

[princessamahle]

Yandere rengoku x pregnant reader oneshot (rengoku ai audio added)

ooooo boy I don’t know what state of mind I was in when writing this. But I’m proud of it. Anyways it’s a oneshot so this won’t be continued by any means necessary enjoy!

He put you through hell. But he finally made you his. And all it took was getting you pregnant. He knew that would keep you from trying to get away. At your most vulnerable moment. And he knew you loved kids. So you aborting the baby was just no option for you at this point. However you did tried to recollect what brought you here in the first place. You weren’t a demon slayer. Or even a nurse at the butterfly mansion. You weren’t even a kakushi. Your main purpose for being part of the corp was because rengoku saved you once from a demon. You were heading home and when you got there you saw your father already dead and half eaten by a demon. And your mother injured on the floor telling you to run. You were frozen stiff and the demon smiled at you. “Don’t worry my dear…I’ll come for you next after I finish your mommy and daddy, so you better get a head start on running…it’s much fun and tastier for me that way….” You couldn’t even get a scream out of you because you were so petrified. But you did feel your body in need to move. Slowly but surely your legs came close to your mother.  But before you could get near her the demon body slammed you across the room and you were injured. You blacked out for a second but when your eyes started to rise you saw the demon on the floor with his head decapitated. And you saw a man with a white fiery haori.

He was near your mother. Your mother was saying “please don’t kill me….my…my daughter!” The man turned around to take a glance at you. His eyes widen. He looked at you for sometime, like you were someone important. Very important. When he finally snapped back to reality he turned back to look at your mother. The man smiled at the woman gently “don’t worry she’ll be in good hands. I promise you that she’ll be well taken care of.” He said this while raising his sword up. And eventually, he stabbed the woman to death. You kind of saw it but couldn’t hear what was happening. You were too weak.

When you awoken you were cared at the butterfly mansion. Everyone smiled and nursed you back to health. You couldn’t remember much  except the demon that was attacking your parents. And shinobu offered therapy to you if needed. But you just wanted to go home. Shinobu looked blanked at you. “I’m sorry but your parents….didn’t make it according to one of our pillars.” She explained to you as gentle and slow for you to understand. And yet you still couldn’t believe it. It made you want to scream and throw something. But instead you just sobbed. Kyojuro Rengoku finally walked in and told shinobu if he could interrupt to introduce himself. As he watched you cry he took a knee and  held you hand. “I was the one that stopped that horrid demon from attacking you and your parents. I only wish I I could’ve came sooner. But your parents pain has stopped and they are at peace. I do believe they want you to live your life. So please , continue to live your life and know I’ll be here to protect you.” You still sobbed but you were listening to the young swordsman. He seemed genuinely honest to you. He took your hand and kissed it. You blushed not knowing why that was necessary. And neither did shinobu who eyebrowed rengoku the entire time.  After a short talk with shinobu, rengoku felt it was safe for you to go live with him until you were ready to go back to your village. And for awhile you felt safe. You did have nightmares from time to time but after keeping yourself busy with doing chores with senjuro, (who loved your company) or help cook for shinjuro who you didn’t see as much but did admire him atleast being a gentleman to you and always said good morning to you. You’ve notice he didn’t seem to like his son kyojuro as much but you knew it was none of your business. At this point you did seemed comfortable there but you knew at some point you had to go back and take care of your parents home. Maybe start over and make new memories there. You did miss your friends and you did have a young man in the village you really like and your parents actually blessed you both.

You actually told the rengoku family about this during dinner time. Senjuro smiled and so did shinjuro who at this point liked your company. “Well we’re glad your happy again y/n! Just promise us you’ll write and visit us!” Senjuro replied. Shinjuro gave you a respectable nod as well hoping good fortune for you. You smiled at them both but then you notice kyojuro being unusually quiet.

But still loudly saying tasty at the table. Like he didn’t even here the conversation. Not one bit. You finally smiled at him and said his name gently “kyojuro-san? Isn’t it great?” He was chewing slowly. Very slowly. And when he finally gulped and put down his rice bowl he folded his hands and looked at you.

“That’s wonderful news…however you have no way of protecting yourself…” you blinked at his response but let him continue “you need someone like me to train you before you can go home. Who’s to say it will happen again to you or your friends or even your…fiancé?” He tremble his words a bit using that word. But he wanted to make you understand how weak you actually were in having a chance of living your life without another occurrence like this happening again. His father finally stepped in “since when did you ever care for anyone who isn’t a slayer to be your apprentice? You’ll never have time to train her properly! Your too busy in those little missions that I told you are a waste of time! Leave her be and let her lead her life in peace!” Shinjuro who hadn’t spoken up for you before did make a valuable point. It was your life and decision whether or not you chose to get training. But kyojuro also had a point. After everything you witness and endured you were still frightened of what may come if the slayers aren’t there. Senjuro just stayed quiet knowing very well this conversation may not end well between kyo and his father. But finally you said something before you let them continue. “You may have a point….I should get some training. It may be a good learning experience to learn about your corp and how you serve the country. I do want to protect my home.” Kyojuro smiled “that’s the spirit my little blaze!” Kyojuro was in high spirits again. Senjuro was relieved, and shinjuro scoffed and left the table angry. “Do what you want…it’s all a waste of time…and y/n…” he looked at you one last time before leaving “make your own damn choices next time….” He didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable he just wanted you to go home happy with your decisions. But it’s all changed now since you decided to get training.

For 6 months you did follow on kyojuro’s training and for the most part it seemed you were learning fast with the basics. When you were finally ready to use a real sword he told you that you weren’t qualified. This confused you greatly as you showed so much progress using a sword stick. “You may have learned the basics my little blaze, but I don’t think your quite qualified.” After all those months, after all that progress, he tells you your not qualified. “What do you mean? I did everything you told me to do! I even dodge all your attacks! I’ve even attack you a few times and you said I had burning passion in me! It’s almost time for final selection and I haven’t even used a sword yet!and your trying to say I’m not ready!? What was the point of all of this kyojuro-san!?” Kyojuro finally put his hands on your shoulder and looked deep in your eyes this time not smiling. This time it seemed intense but concerned at the same time.

“You aren’t fit to be a slayer I just wanted you to realize that.” Your eyes widen “excuse me?”you questioned “I thought if I kept you here with us you’d realize how much safe you were from the rest of the world. You weren’t met to be a slayer. I just wanted you to understand how much I’m willing to protect you from here on out.” You pushed his hands away from your shoulders “well who the hell gives you the right to tell me where I should and should not be!? I lost my parents from a demon and had to take therapy. I was able to gain the courage to live again thanks to your father and brother…and I thought your training would give me a secure living in defending my self and my village… are you trying to say all this time you wanted to keep me here for yourself!?”

Kyojuro was now silent he couldn’t give you a straight answer. He didn’t know how else to tell you this so he just yelled out “I’m in love with you!” You were in shock by his response. In fact he said it so loud his father and senjuro heard it in the house. They finally came out to see what the commotion was.

“From the first time I saw you…something set my heart ablaze before I could even attend your wounds. You were just so…so…radiant…” this was now creeping you out because you only saw kyojuro as a friend and a teacher. I mean you were 19 years old so you weren’t exactly too young for him. But it was obvious he had planned for you to be here from the very beginning. It seemed from here on he’d never intended to let you leave his estate. You just walked away from him no longer wanting to here him out anymore. You went into your guest room you used for the past 7 months you’ve been here. You started to send letters to your fiancé about where you had been for the past few months. He was glad to here from you and was sending you letters to come live with him and his family until you two were wedded.

You were about to pack your things. But you didn’t want to leave senjuro and shinjuro in the dark about your plans. So you told senjuro first who was sad at first because his brother was heart broken by your rejection. But senjuro loved you enough to know this will make you happy to go back home. You told shinjuro privately in his room. You bowed and even thanked him for his hospitality. He looked at you, walked up, and finally gave you a hug. But his hug seemed tighter and more intense. He whispered to you.  “Y/n, my son is not well. He has been acting strange ever since he brought you here, and even more strange since you’ve rejected him. You must not tell him you are leaving this evening. I will send a carriage to take you, as much as I would’ve loved you as a daughter in law, my son doesn’t deserve someone as sweet and devoted as you. He would just leave you alone all the time. He’ll keep you trapped here. He will never retire as a hashira.” Tears started to stream down your face as this broke your heart knowing you were about to leave them. But you knew you needed to go for the sake of your freedom and independence. Kyojuro wasn’t home yet as he had a pillar meeting that day. But he got off early due to the master needing to rest a bit sooner. When he returned he saw you were just about to leave, and his eyes widen. “Y/n…y/n! Y/n!!!! Get off that carriage! Get off that carriage now!!!! Y/n!” Shinjuro grabbed his son by the arm and slammed him down to the ground. He was now protesting his father to let him go! “Father your letting her leave!! She needs to stay here with us!!!! She will die if we let her go!!” His father held him down tighter “shut up! You were gonna ruin that girls life with your ideal lifestyle you had planned for her! She doesn’t need  a husband that’ll risk his life everyday and coming  home with wounds and bruises. She doesn’t need to bare children to continue the family line!” Kyojuro was now in shock by his fathers words and shinjuro just smirked and chuckled. “Heh…you didn’t think I knew what you were up to? Your just as diabolical as me… the only difference is I was Betrothed to your mother. So she had no choice in the matter.” Kyojuro gritted his teeth he hated the words his father was saying. “But seriously Kyojuro, she wasn’t even interested. She has a fiancé back at home. She’s going to be wedded soon enough. Your better off son. Besides this is the price you pay for being a slayer. And for the record I will never betrothed you to any woman knowing what you do for a living. Our family traditions are over for line of slayers. She will never bare your children to carry on our family tree.”

And that was the final straw. When he told Kyojuro that you wouldn’t bare his children. He knew he had to hurt anyone that got in his way. Finally with all of kyojuro’s strength, he was able to break his fathers grip and punch shinjuro into a tree. He chased after the carriage. You looked from far away and saw him coming. Before you could tell the rider to step on it the carriage was destroyed in just seconds. Everything flew out including you and your luggage. You fell to the ground and scraped your knee pretty bad. When you were able to lift up a bit you looked at the carnage that unfold. The carriage was destroyed the horse ran off. The man who rode the carriage was unconscious. And your luggage with your clothes in it was spread all over the ground. Kyojuro was right behind you and picked you up before you could react. You tried kicking scratching and biting him. But it didn’t make him wince once. He realized staying at his home estate wouldn’t do any good knowing his father would try to protect you from him. As he took you away senjuro called out for his brother to comeback. But it was too late he abandoned his family for you.

You both ended up back at your home. It was still messy including the blood smell you remembered when your parents were attack. You were gaining those feelings again and you were about to cry because this all seemed unreal that the man you trusted was kidnapping you and bringing you to your old home. “Why did you bring me back here?” He finally put you down on the bed. And you stared at him waiting for an answer. “Look at this place y/n…. Did you really wanted to comeback here and remember all of this?” You looked down but responded “I could make new memories. My parents may have been murder but I can still make their home stand and feel wonderful to live in again.” It took rengoku a moment. You looked at him wondering what he could be thinking based on your decision. And then, he smiled. And then….he laughed. Finally he spoke…. “You have a valid point my little blaze! I will support your decision!” He creeped up to you and said

“and I will be the most loyal…(takes off haori) most dedicated….(takes off his belt) deserving husband you will ever desire….(takes off all his clothes) he comes near your neck and kisses you passionately. You gasped in discomfort and try to push him off. But you pushing him away only pulls him in closer. He grabs both your wrists with one hand, and holds them up to restrain you from fighting back. Once he finally holds you still. You’d had no choice but to just take it and hopefully not let it get the best of you.

After he molested you. You bared his child. You had been pregnant for 8 months now. He had kept you at your parents home like you wanted. But you were not aloud to tell anyone you were there. Not the people of your village. Not your now ex fiancé. Not even shinjuro or senjuro. Because if they found where Kyojuro had hidden you, shinjuro would’ve message the master to find you and send you off to an unknown district where Kyojuro couldn’t find you for your safety. And Kyojuro would’ve been stripped from his title. But from what you understood Kyojuro still went on missions normally. He still went home to his family like nothing was wrong. And because he didn’t have you at the house, senjuro and his father assumed he let you go. And at night when everyone was sleeping he would come check up on you and sleep with you. You always had dinner ready because even though he had dinner with his family. Shinjuro wasn’t always in the mood to eat with the boys and senjuro would eat with him sometimes. So most of the time he sneaked off without anyone noticing. Your village was always atleast 2 hours away from the rengoku estate. But he didn’t mind. He was very fast and he would travel the distance just to see you. No matter how it seemed. It was always worth it to see you in his arms. You made him dinner around 10:00 pm because you knew if you didn’t he would cook and force feed you as he assume you didn’t eat all day and didn’t want anything to happen to you or the baby inside your tummy. He bought all your groceries because he didn’t want you to shop. He wanted to make sure you were in perfect health.

So for the most part you did what you thought would keep him happy. You decided to become his little wife until you could figure out what your next plan was. You cleaned your parents home, you did laundry even doing regular clothing when Kyojuro had no missions. You gardened, as it helped kept you sane during your captivity. He even forced you to practice the rengoku family tradition in staring at fire for 2 hours. As this is why the family has fiery hair and eyes. It seemed you had no choice in the matter.And When you both slept together he would always keep you and your tummy close to his arms.he would rubbed your stomach. He would hum to you. And sometimes even whisper sweet nothings in your ear. He would tell you how much he loved you and how he’ll always protect you and your child. It seemed impossible to escape, knowing he’d eventually find you. And in your fragile condition running was no option.

But then it occurred to you. You were almost due. You had to eventually tell kyo that you were in labor. And that he would take you to the butterfly mansion. So you brought it up to him. He was reading his books outside smiling to himself. You tapped his shoulder “Um….dear?” He turned his head so fast, and stared at you dead on. It was very creepy. But you had his full attention.

“Yes darling? Did you want some more kisses on your tummy?” You we’re now cringing a bit but politely you said “No dear. I was just wondering when your out on missions who’s going to care for me when I go into labor?” That smile that Kyojuro made was now a frown. He really didn’t think that through. But he took your hand and said “Do you love me?” You hesitated with that question but you went along with it and told him yes. He then asked “Do you trust me to take you to the butterfly mansion for care?” You smiled now feeling you were getting somewhere with this conversation. You nodded to him. He smiled and said “then I will stay with you until the baby comes. We’ve been together for this long Im going to let the master know about you and me being together. And father…..he’ll have to accept us together at this point! Because my plans had already been complete!” You smiled uncontrollably. And you knew why. Was Kyojuro really that stupid? No matter, this was your chance to call for help. But you decided to wait till after the baby was born.

When the time came you were in labor you were taken to the butterfly mansion immediately and shinobu was notified about you coming since kagaya had given her the news a month ago. So she had your bed already prepared. She did questioned you on when you and kyo were a thing. But you had to keep it secret atleast until the baby was born. So you played it off as saying you fell in love with him. The other hashira were shocked because kyo had never spoken of you up to this point. Tengen wanted to celebrate by drinking. Obanai seemed confused on how all this even happen, mitsuuri cheered believing love conquered all, Gyomei cried wondering if he could bless the child later,muichiro looked at the clouds, and giyu smiled just a little. Sanemi didn’t say anything but he did stare at rengoku a long time wondering why things had to be kept a secret.  Master kagaya as usual congratulated rengoku and hoped to hold the child soon as a warm welcome. Finally after a day or two. You’ve given birth to a beautiful baby boy. Shinobu handed your son to you. And you were about to speak up and tell her the truth. As you didn’t want Kyojuro to come in and see you and your son. This was your chance. To tell her everything. To finally put a stop to this madness. To finally get back at him for keeping you away from your fiancé.from telling you that you were weak. From taking advantage of you when you were forced on your parents bed. But then suddenly your son sucked on your thumb. Shinobu smiled “uh oh…seems the little guy is hungry already…He sure has an appetite like his father doesn’t he?” You looked down and said “yeah..I guess he does…” shinobu was about to walk out and said “he will make a great father. Even though I’m surprised by all of this…you both seem very happy. Your son will grow very happy and healthy. Even if his father is a slayer. It does run in the rengoku family I suppose… Congratulations I’ll go get rengoku for you.” and shinobu took her leave.

While she close the door. You stayed silent. You couldn’t believe you let her go. And that’s when you remembered what rengoku said. It was all part of his plan. He knew you wouldn’t have the heart to take your son away from his father. After all he was a good man to many. He saved many lives and he would protect you and your child from danger especially demons. What could all this mean. Were you falling in love with him? Was it just manipulation? Or did you pity the child knowing he must live a lie for a better upbringing? All you knew was that rengoku’s plan worked. He had you wrapped around his finger and he wasn’t going to let you pull away. Rengoku came in and kissed you for a job well done. The kiss seemed force but not suffocating. He just loved you so much. He held his child. And you couldn’t help but smile on how gentle he was. Mitsuuri came in next with tons of gifts because she considered herself an auntie now. And finally senjuro and shinjuro came in. After telling his father his dirty little secret. Kyojuro didn’t even cared he told him the whole truth. Because in a weird way he was like his father. He wanted someone, he was going to show how much he wanted them. Shinjuro was not happy that you were put through so much. but at this point all he saw was you as his daughter in law he can protect in case Kyojuro went too far with you. He also saw his grandson. Which he already adored.so he decided to make the best of it. Senjuro on the other hand was just happy he got to share a moment with his whole family. Nothing else matter.

When everyone left, you were with Kyojuro and he finally saw you sleep after feeling worn out all day. He held your son while you slept and finally leaned in and whispered to you “we’re going home tomorrow. To my home. Your not going back to your parents home my dear. Because you’ve made new memories now. I promise you’ll be happy. There’s nothing left back at that village for you. Don’t worry, I gave the home to a couple in need to raise their children there. So there’s no need to go back. Because someone is already filling new memories there. Your mine…and mine alone. And I’ll be…..the only memory you’ll cherish most….” He kissed you gently as you slept, fidgeting just a little from the touch of his lips. A tear slid down your cheek gently. You were asleep, but somewhere in your dreams, you heard him. You heard everything and in your dreams all you felt was this force holding you down. You were afraid to wake up knowing he will be there, everyday for the rest of your life…… rengoku smiled “rest easy my love…”

[justpoliteconversations]

Harvest Season [Reader + BOTW!Link]

You have a rather odd encounter that leads to an empty pantry. You don't regret it.

One of the fic requests from this Post.  Another to feed the ever expanding trash heap.

Masterlist

TW: None.

Disclaimer: Don't own The Legend of Zelda franchise.

---

You were not expecting today to be different from any other day. The sun was shining, the wind held a cool edge that spoke of an early fall, the air saturated with moisture and the scent of wet soil. And your workers were busy tending to the harvest, covered in dirt and the greasy shine of sweat despite the breeze (and Johnny was complaining, as usual).

You, of course, had already started sorting and crating the product. Shifting through the seemingly neverending mountains of foodstuff as Jessy brought it over in great bag fulls.

A day like any other for this time of the season. Until it wasn't. And the oddity took the shape of a small hyrulian man with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes and a rather horrendous knot of scars on the side of his face. And a sword. Glowing and more fierce looking than any sword had a right to be, no matter it's intended purpose.

He'd paused at the border of your gated property, keen eyes scanning over the half harvested fields and your workers attending to them. One of your workers even returned the stare (Jessy, the fearless cutthroat), while some (namely Billy, but Johnny too) was visibly discomforted by the sight of such a scarred warrior casting his gaze upon them with unknown purpose. You too, felt unease.

Bandits were not unknown in these parts, particularly during the harvesting seasons when the fruits of your (and others like you and your workers) labor were freshly picked and awaiting the merchant's festival in town. And now just happened to be that time, and that man (innocent though his eyes looked) was armed to the teeth.

Only a fool wouldn't be cautious. Even if just a little bit.

But you couldn't ignore him either, as it would be both impolite and potentially dangerous. If you were lucky, he was merely a traveling mercenary or particularly armed traveler that'd just happened upon your little farm. It wouldn't have been the first time such an occurrence had happened.

Though it wouldn't have been the first time a bandit tried to threaten you into handing over your hard earned harvest either. The unmarked plot at the very edge of your property told a very somber story as to how that ended (for him).

You approached the small man with caution and a friendly smile nonetheless. "Hello, friend. What brings you to these parts?" You began, a nice, simple way to scope out the measure of this man. And a distraction, so your workers could ready themselves to pounce if the man proved dangerous (you could already imagine Johnny and Billy shifting their grips on their hoes, Jessy leaning down to pull the dagger from her boot holster).

His eyes never left yours as he brought his hands up, and said in a distinctively grating rasp. "I'm a traveler. But I'm looking for a place to rest for the night." He shifted, casting a glance over the half-harvested field with those wide, blue eyes of his. "I thought I could help in exchange. It'd be nice to not sleep in the rain." His voice had rapidly gotten worse as he spoke, nearly cracking at the end.

You glanced up at the sky, doubtful. "Rain? I don't see a cloud in the sky, sir." You pointed out, skeptical of his words, but not untrusting of them. You knew some folk who could read the weather like a map. Your dear belated mentor being one such person. Could call a snowfall to the hour weeks in advance. Unnatural, that one, but sweet as apple pie.

He opened his mouth to speak, but you held up your hand and stopped him before he could strain himself any further. "No need to push yourself, sir. Just point and I'll have my girl check." He blinked in confusion at your words (had no one truly had the courtesy to accommodate this man's difficulties?) but pointed north nonetheless. And you simply turned your head and called out. "Jessy! North! Check for storm clouds."

"Got it, boss!" She yelled back, and you saw the glint of her dagger sliding back into its holster before off she went, straight to the tallest tree of the lot not far off and up it with squirrel-like grace.

The man looked at you in question, and you kept your body language relaxed and open as you said. "If it is gonna rain, it's gonna storm. It always does in these parts, being so close to the mountains. And I'd like my crops in before then."

The noisiest of your workers (Johnny) groaned, but Billy pushed him with his shoulder and whispered about overtime paid. And it was enough to shut the other up, because of course that'd be the one thing to keep Johnny's mouth shut. Not the potential threat. Not his boss standing just a meter away from an unknown man armed like he's about to go to war. Just the notion of extra pay.

At least he did good work, even if he was a fickle little bastard.

The man nodded, shifting uncomfortably under your stare. And you felt yourself soften at his uncertainty (he just looked so young and lost right then). "Hey. Ya said you wanted to help, right? Just grab a hoe and start hacking. It's the last harvest of summer until we replant for fall, so no need to be a worn hand at it. Just join the boys over there and do what they do." He nodded again, and without another word headed over towards the fence and grabbed one the mentioned tools (putting his sword and shield against the fence in its place. and you felt yourself relax completely. grateful you'd seemed to have made the right choice).

By the time Billy had given him a brief explanation as to what they were doing and how it was done, Jessy had returned with confirmation that the very beginning of storm clouds were just cresting over the mountaintops. And that they'd be on you all by sundown. Just like the man had said.

Well, damn.

---

You'd expected to be working well into the beginnings of the rain (hopeful not into the storm itself, but you'd do it even if your workers decided they didn't want to risk it and left for the night). Maybe, if you were lucky, the storm would slow its progression and you'd have another hour or so to get everything properly picked and sorted before working became too dangerous. Hell, maybe it wouldn't rain at all and the storm had veered off course to somewhere else.

Well, the rain showed up early. Unfortunately. And it was a real doozy of a thunder storm to boot. So much so you and the boys had moved the (metal) equipment as far away from the house as possible to prevent any wayward lightning from roasting you all in your sleep.

However, none of you had been out in the rain when it originally started up a few hours before sun down. Instead, you were all huddled in your house (the triplets had decided to stay the night then risk getting caught in the storm), cooking dinner while Billy praised the man's (Link's) incredible (and it really was incredible) work ethic and Johnny nodded along with an encouraging smile (blessedly silent, thank the Goddesses). Jessy rolling her eyes and listening fondly from her seat on the bed (your bed, thank you very much).

Why? Because as mentioned before, Link was an absolute work horse out there (don't know what his mama fed him as a babe, but you wanted to know something fierce). The man had worked the fields so quickly and so thoroughly the boys had had to step back lest they get in his way anymore than they already had been. And when Jessy (with the help of her brothers) had been unable to pick fast enough to stay ahead of the man, Link had begun picking himself. By which point the triplets had begun hoeing, until the monster of a man had finished the picking and then your poor workers had had to move to sorting to stay out of his way.

He'd finished hoeing not long after, sitting down beside the boys immediately after to start sorting (despite your repeated assurance that he'd done more than enough. to which he'd just smiled impishly and kept his hands moving). Surprisingly, he was slower with the sorting. Though maybe not that surprising. But only because Jessy had whispered to him that you allowed them to eat the misshapen and colored product and he seemed to have taken that as a challenge (that boy can eat. it's kind of scary how much he put away in that one sitting).

The end result of it all was an early day (so Johnny did not get that overtime no matter how much he pouted, the jerk) and a celebratory dinner for Link for a job well done. To which the man had blushed from ear to ear when told as such, trying to deny with gestures you realized was a type of sign language (one you didn't fully recognize. it was as though he had taken standard and added unnecessary motions between words). But he was easily won over with the promise of food.

And that was how you ended up here, cooking a feast enough for ten men (it probably wouldn't be enough, from what you'd seen of the small man. may the golden three preserve you and your pantry) and watching just as fondly as Jessy as her brothers tried to pry out the secrets of Link's inhuman abilities.

You had your suspicions, but you kept that to yourself. It wouldn't be wise to let such information out into the world so irresponsibly. Especially with the likes of the Yiga still prowling these parts (one of the main sources of the bandits) in greater numbers than is normal (it was the season, after all). And especially not when the (potential) object of their attention (and murderous ire) was sitting at your table trying his level best to eat you out of house and home.

But if you cooked a few extra (attack and defense boosting) dishes for him to take with him (leftovers, of course. since he's just got such a ferocious appetite). Forced him to accept the entirety of your savings (as payment, of course, for doing such a great job the day before. not that he knew those were your savings). And extracted (with much guilt tripping) the promise to return if he ever needed a place to rest (or hide or heal).

Well. No one had to know the reason why. It was your business after all (except for Jessy, who had slipped a few bundles of arrows into the bag you'd used to pack his food despite your side-eye. which she'd returned with a meaner one).

And if your hand had lingered on his shoulder a little longer than necessary as you said your goodbyes. And your eyes held more sadness and respect than would be deemed normal for the situation. No one had to know why.

But you think he understood. Because he'd looked you in the eyes, put his hand on yours (calloused. just like yours, but burdened with scars you hoped to never bare yourself), and told you thank you. With so much feeling. With so much conviction. With such strength that your heart ached with the hope it inspired.

After he left, you didn't see him again until some time later. When the blood moons had stopped rising and the roads had cleared and word of Calamity Ganon's demise had spread far and wide to all reaches of Hyrule.

He came to you during a cool summer's evening (just turning to fall. the same time as before when you brought the last summer harvest in) with a sheepish smile on his lips and mirthful eyes. You'd smiled back, just as mirthful (and relieved. so relieved he was okay) as you said. "Come to clear my pantry again, have you?" And he laughed, crackling and rasping, before nodding and picking up a hoe from the fence without being asked.

As he walked past you, you said, grinning. "The others already left for the day. I can't promise overtime, ya hear?"

He snorted. "Won't take long." And you laughed too, before taking up a hoe yourself and following after.

Might as well work up an appetite if you're going to be eaten out of house and home. After all, it's not everyday the Hero of Hyrule comes to raid your pantry.

Might as well join him.

And if you declare a celebration for his hard work once more. Well. No one has to know you weren't talking about your fields.

But by the shine in his lashes as you put your arm around his shoulders and ruffled his hair. You were pretty sure he knew, even if it remained unspoken.

---

I retreat for a brief time to the shadows.

[demonslayedher]

Things that went through my head while watching this episode: --"it's so nice to be able to get wrapped up in this and know about I'm about to get new content" was certainly something that went through my head by the end of the episode, but I was also reminded of how it felt a little too drawn out and over saccharine, and how the extra long length of this episode did not feel it served it fully well. I've come to be more forgiving of the excess happy fluff at the end of this season, and I will defend it as follows, but I still would have preferred they reign it in a little so we don't forget about how hard-won that battle was with how chipper and energetic everyone is.

--But you know what? They deserve it. They are functioning on the rush of relief, and it took a while for them all to gather down there on the grass. Like, it's kind of sweet that the people who first got to celebrate this victory with the Kamado siblings were a trio of swordsmiths who would have felt awful if Nezuko had to die on their accord. These weren't even swordsmiths whom Tanjiro hung out with much, but their lives were just as worthy.

--It was nice to see the group celebration expanded on a bit, but I think what got me feeling like it was overdone was seeing Mitsuri be overwhelmed with gratitude specifically on Nezuko's behalf too, since she was the one not to witness the peril Nezuko was in. I feel it was enough to have have Mitsuri be relieved on everyone's behalf, and to have her be shocked that Nezuko is there in sunlight, which is cute and funny. No need to quite rehash what Tanjiro has just momentously been through. And this is coming from some who really, really loves Mitsuri & Nezuko interaction. It would have been totally in-character to have left Mitsuri blissfully unaware of how awful Nezuko's experience was unless someone point-blank tells her that Nezuko almost didn't make it. Then the extra gratitude specifically for Nezuko would feel earned.

--And my gosh, Ufotable, you sure sold Nezuko's pain. I am still so impressed.

--I also initially did not like just how playful it is to have Nezuko and Tanjiro running away from Haganezuka, because it takes me out of how much peril they were just in. But hey, if there are two characters who are totally fine, it is Nezuko (the being the point that she is way more than fine) and Haganezuka (who will always have energy for enacting sword justice).

--But hey, besides that? Sure, it's pleasant to see them be so happily relieved. This isn't even "we defeated two Upper Moons" triumph, it's just "we're alive, Nezuko is in the sun, Muichiro remembers things, we're alive, we're alive, we're alive." Like, a littttle bit more "WHOA, THOSE WERE UPPER MOONS" like after defeating Gyutaro & Daki would have been nice.

--And like........ that whole final scene... it has its very cute points, just getting to see the swordsmiths interact more since this was their season to have some well-deserved spotlight, both for the work they do and as characters. But it played that "everyone loves Kamado Tanjiro (but he never takes the credit)" note a little too loud. Some things play more nicely with subtlety, but hey, Ufotable wanted to go out with a triumphant statement. I want to be forgiving of that, but... those villagers were busy trying to hurry out of that village. : / And I really hope that Genya, Muichiro, and Mitsuri got the same treatment, but I doubt anybody went collecting confetti each time.

--So anyway, setting those grievances aside!!

--MUZAN MONOLOGUE. Like, it was good, but it always give me flashbacks to Nomura Mansai's Muzan monologue in the Noh rendition, which was chilling. Still, this anime version was great, and I love me all those extra touches they expanded his Heian life with. Muzan isn't all that complicated of a villain. He was always spiteful human who wanted to take out his frustration by destroying other people. Then he got power, but spending half of his time on the brink of death for a thousand years is like being spit in the face. Sure, you're powerful, buddy, until somebody opens a window. And I like that Muzan is uncomplicated. It's his utter disregard for others that made him a villain in the first place, and he has never and will never change.

--And that is why one of my favorite Muzan moments ever is how he doesn't even both to pick his feet up or step around the two corpses on the floor as he exits the room. Other people really are nothing but furniture to him, and that little action--or lack of action, rather-- speaks so loudly about his character.

--Imagine how different the rest of the series would have been if Hantengu's head didn't spin in Nezuko's direction?

--Nezuko's victory over the sun deserves how much it got milked, because in the context of the series, she had in fact made the greatest achievement of any character in this series. Sure, Tanjiro has just killed Upper Moon Four, but it only took the Corp a little over a hundred years to accomplish killing an Upper Moon. Nezuko, within three years of being turned into a demon, has accomplished what Muzan has failed to do for over a thousand years. What's more, this is entirely through Nezuko's own power; there was no one who could have helped her accomplish this. Tamayo could only observe with wonder.

--Truly, Nezuko has "prioritized" this over, say, reattaining her sense of self. I see Nezuko's demon development as being a bit infantile. When she was first "born," so to speak, she was not aware of herself as an individual being, only that she hungered, and that she had just undergone some terrible loss, and that Tanjiro was all she had left. After a little sleep it got easily to process that Tanjiro was someone who she understood, and even as she started to gain some sense of self, it revolved around Tanjiro and his welfare. Listening to Urokodaki and Tanjiro as she slept, and perhaps seeing memories of her family as she dreamed probably put together something more basic, but she probably did not remember anything more than her family's faces and how deeply she cares about them. I think little by little as she started gaining more of an awareness of others as individuals and appreciating that there is more in the world she enjoys than just her brother's wellbeing, she probably gained more and more of an understanding of being someone named Nezuko and having a mission to fight demons with everyone else she has come to care about, and with, a high level of ability to understand language, but because she had the muzzle this whole time, she had no need to try to use words herself, so she didn't prioritize this either.

--I bring that all up just to say that she might have (without words) been thinking, "oh, I know what this is called. This is 'morning.' People are supposed to say something, what it is? Oh, right! Gu--gOoD mOrnNinG~"

--And then it's like, "OH, I CAN COMMUNICATE!!! THIS IS FUN!!!!! NEW POWER!!!"

--So proud of you, Nezuko

--I like that Ufotable stressed her daytime eyes still looking very inhuman. It stresses how something is still very off about her existence. Nobody is used to seeing a daytime demon. (I prefer her nighttime eyes, though.)

--But also that is such Kimetsu Logic to do a thing and then explain the thing without spoiling it. Thank you for your letter, Tamayo-san.

--Now, Tanjiro, though. You know that he's making it harder and harder to uphold Corp rules about what makes a Pillar. Haha, no, Tanjiro is no Pillar! He only cut the heads off those Twelve Moon demons because he had Pillars helping him! Haha, somehow he is still the same rank as Zenitsu and Inosuke after chopping the head off Upper Moon Four! (Zenitsu and Inosuke, what the fresh hell have you two been up to in order to match rank with Tanjiro???)

--But also, it is wicked cool how Tanjiro is just turns the Mark on now like a lightswitch, and that Ufotable switches up in the animation in a way that shows he's going at full throttle. (Meanwhile, our Marked Pillar friends looked just a little more blithe than their usual blithe selves.)

--I find it totally legit that he could suddenly use Thunder Breath, since Sun Breath is the source of all of them, so the concepts would be the same anyway.

--Those last hits Tanjiro gets in on Hantengu too, very cool. I love how many tries it takes to get that hit, too! Hantengu is full of surprises and I have come to appreciate him a lot more over the course of this rewatch. If I ever, say, get a skiddish hamster, maybe I'll name it Hante or something.

--Love the sound design on the mountain setting, especially when Muichiro calls out to Tanjiro from up on the cliff. That sounded SO GOOD in the theater.

--Also, just, a huge shout out to all of Ufotable's construction of settings. Really, really, wonderful.

--And the sounds on SUCH A REALISTIC PANIC ATTACK, and movements, right now to how Tanjiro's fingers shake. Man, way to stress me out. I sort of what to speed it all up to see how quick this all went down as Tanjiro was panicking, but the only parts that were really slowed down were watching Hantengu run. It was all so painfully slow and was all happening too fast. What an awful moment.

--and I can't wait for Tanjiro to reflect back on that when talking with Himejima

--This episode was Nezuko's biggest triumph, but at least for a few moments, it was also Tanjiro's biggest loss.

[modelbus]

hi!!!!! im new but ive read a lot of your work and its amazing!!

anyway, i was wondering if you could write a either hurt comfort or childhood friends to lovers, as a cc!tommy x fem!reader ?

it would mean a lot thank you !!! 🩷🩷

Why not both? Cue evil grin, mwahaha ;) ALSO! I’m back with that mcyt stuff!!

Pairing: Cc!Tommyinnit x Fem!Reader

Fighting Friends

You’ve known Tommy for as long as you can remember. Apparently memory formation starts when you’re about 6, so you knew there was a time before him, but it certainly didn’t feel like it.

There’s a photo on your desk, framed with a cheap plastic frame. Both of you as kids, him wearing sunglasses and holding a Nerf gun up to your head as you’re caught in the act of stabbing him with a foam sword (he shot you in the forehead after the photo). The picture just about sums up your guys’ relationship. It doesn’t need to be worth a thousand words, just two: fucking chaos.

Or, that’s what you two normally were.

It was a stupid argument, even you knew that. A silly remark you took too hard, something that stung too deep. He said it during a vlog, too. A quip about rather dying than dancing with you. And with those few words, you stupid crush-addled heart shriveled up and was shot through.

So you had retaliated with a poor jab, and he didn't get it, and it all blew up in your faces. To the point where your messages have sat empty for three whole days. There's no "GET ON MC" message from him, no impromptu "Movie now." Just pure radio silence.

And you hate it.

You loved Tommy. Adored the hell out of him, unfortunately for you. And not just because you had a traitorous little crush. He's your best friend. The type of person you always knew would be there.

Right up until he wasn't.

It’s funny how much colder it seems to be now that he’s gone. Winter’s blowing in, like it was just waiting for him to vanish from your life before taking over. It leaves piles of snow that you dredge through to get to your favorite cafe, braving the wind chill just for a semblance of comfort.

You used to go here nearly daily with Tommy, making you dependent on the warm atmosphere that you haven’t been in since five days ago. Have you mentioned how much you hate fighting with Tommy? The disruption to routine, the fucking ache in your heart…

It’s a bit pathetic, honestly. But that’s simply what you are without him. One half of a soul.

The bell chimes, and you drag yourself over to your normal table and pull out your laptop. Even when your world stops, the actual world keeps spinning, meaning you have work to do.

“Hey sweetheart. No shadow?” Your head jerks up, instinctively smiling at Laura, the aged worker who always serves you.

“Not today.” You sigh. “He’s… busy.”

“Too busy for you?” Her eyebrows raise. “That boy will show up eventually for you.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Oh, trust me, hon. He’s got those eyes when he looks at you.”

Hell if you know what that means, but you smile at her anyway.

“Want your usual?” She asks.

“Just a water.” You shake your head, the idea of a hot chocolate without Tommy seeming just sad.

Laura nods then heads off as you turn your attention back to your laptop. In the bottom right corner a Discord notification pops up from Wilbur, but you ignore it without even reading the message. You can respond to him later, which you’ll probably do at night while in bed. Procrastinating sleep, per usual.

A mug is set in front of you—definitely not water—making you look up at Laura in confusion. Hot chocolate, complete with your usual whipped cream.

“I—“

“Someone else ordered it for you.” She answers before you can even ask, a sparkle in her eye. Before she steps away, she leans closer and whispers, “I told you that boy adores you.”

Your eyes scan the surrounding area, seeing Tommy almost instantly. Blond hair messed up, his favorite hoodie and jeans on. He makes his way to you, looking sheepish.

“I’m sorry.” He blurts out the second he’s close enough. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Laura step away. “I was an idiot, and I shouldn’t have said half the fucking things I did—“

“At least sit down.” You interrupt, knowing damn well he’d stand there and apologize all day.

Almost instantly, he drops into the chair across from you. You quietly close your laptop, leaving the two of you staring at each other in awkward silence.

“You ordered me hot chocolate.” You say just to break the quiet.

He ducks his head. “You always get it.”

The acknowledgment that you didn’t want to get it without him hangs in the air.

“What’ve you been up to?” You ask politely. Small talk is strained and stupid; you’ve never had to do this with him before.

“Recording and shit. Made a mod video with Schlatt and Wil and Jack. You?”

You drink your hot chocolate while the two of you talk, the argument hanging heavy over your heads like a storm cloud. When you finish the drink, there’s some unspoken consensus that you’ll leave together, him stepping ahead to hold the door for you.

“I scrapped that vlog, by the way.” He’s saying, referencing the one you had filmed with him. “Wasn’t enough content to put in a video.”

“I’m sorry.” You say, frowning, knowing that it was your argument that had made it such a short filming session.

“Why the fuck are you sorry?” He asks, staring at you like you’re an alien. “I’m the one who made that argument a whole fucking thing.”

“You?” You echo. “That was definitely on me, I was so snappish!”

“Bullshit, I started it!”

“In what fucking world did you start it? That was me, Tom, I acted like a little bitch about that one—“

You’re silenced by something, warmth covering your lips before it’s gone as quick as it was there. It’s not until he’s four steps back that you realize what just happened.

He kissed you. He fucking kissed you.

“Fuck— I didn’t— I didn’t meant to do that!” He exclaims, eyes wide. “I mean— Wil told me to just go for it, but I told him he was fucking insane man, I didn’t— I keep fucking this up, don’t I?”

“…so that was an apology kiss?” You ask, confused.

“What? No! I meant I was sorry for kissing you without, Y’know, asking.” His cheeks flush, and it’s not until someone shoves past you that you realize you’ve both stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

“It’s… it’s fine. Okay, I mean.” You say, almost positive your cheeks are the same shade as his.

Tommy nods. “So I didn’t totally fuck this up?”

“I think you fucked it up a long time ago, Tom. I’m doing charity work sticking around you.”

He laughs, elbowing you as you start walking. “I’m the one doing charity work! I’m a fucking millionaire, you should be paying to be in my presence!”

“Oh, yeah, you kissed me for charity too, huh?”

“Wha— well I— that—“

You laugh loudly, having to look away from him to catch your breath. This was your Tommy, this was what you missed.

“Oh, you asshole!” He groans. “Fine! It was fucking charity, how about that?”

Shrugging, you can’t help your grin. “Just don’t make it charity next time.”

His steps falter, but when you look over at him he’s beaming. “Deal.” He announces, but doesn’t make a move to kiss you again.

“…are you not going to—“

“I have to surprise you. That way it’s fun.”

Oh boy.

[twistedstoryteller]

Linked Universe Headcanons I have

I’ve been in the fandom for awhile now, and I got a couple headcanons formed cause of it(might add more to it if I remember/think of more to add here)

————————————————————————

Four and Wind are related being each other’s ancestor and descendant respectively. Four is very fond of both Wind and Aryll. He’s slightly protective of them too.

Wind and Tetra’s great great granddaughter is Spirit Tracks Zelda while Aryll’s great great grandson is Spirit or Spirit Tracks Link.

Fable and Legend are twins(therefore Legend part of family tree), though they were separated at birth due to a very unfair law regarding about natural born princes that formed in the downfall timeline(Do not worry Legend and Fable obviously got rid of that law when Fable became queen). The Hylia “bastards” became a thing in that timeline.

Ravio and Hilda are twins as well. It’s just Ravio status as prince of Lorule never actually came up(heck none of the citizens of Lorule realize that Ravio is well “Ravio”, not just because he wore that bunny mask. Mostly due to Ravio as prince behave cold and detached. He cares for Lorule just as much, but well. He is very cunning for a reason)

Four has a dad. It’s just said dad was very busy with his knight duties and wasn’t very home often thus making things very awkward between both father and son, especially when Four was part of the knights of Hyrule for sometime(FSA Manga beginning) but later switch back to being a blacksmith. Four and his dad are getting along slightly better since FSA. It still can be awkward at times.

Sky very fond of his great great great whatever how many greats granddaughters aka the other Zeldas(after he actually got through the process of being embarrassed he and Sun basically created the entire royal bloodline). He’s a hugger too, and he also hugs Legend upon finding out the other is his great great great whatever how many greats grandson.

Twilight is actually Legend’s and Fable’s uncle in another life. Dusk is also Legend’s and Fable’s mother in another life. Maybe?(I’m on the fence on this one but I really like it :D)

Hyrule’s mom from another life is Tatl. It was pretty interesting when he ran into her in Time’s era. Especially considering Hyrule is technically half fairy 🧚🏼‍♂️(based on my headcanon on him)

Let’s just say in the time where all the timelines merge back into one aka Warriors’s era. Legend, Hyrule, Twilight, and Wind own spirits that dwell will get the most interesting experience of having two other lifetime of memories shoved into their heads(the timeline they were heroes in being the most prominent or more present in their psyche. At least the ones they personally chose to identify themselves as, aka it’s filtered to be the one they remember immediately, they have to actually try to think to remember the other two timelines. Both Twilight and Legend were pretty awkward around each other cause of it). Time got lucky cause it was only two timelines worth of memories, the one he lived and the fallen(got the most awkward experience of remembering himself dying in the fallen timeline), Four though. Oh boy, all three set of memories from three different timelines cause well. Remember the palace of the four sword and he was sealed in the sword somehow. Yeah all three sets of memories of three different timelines shoved into his head does not sit pretty well in his head for him. Pretty sure he fainted at least four seconds later after that(and does not have the same type of filter as the others contributed to that as his own lifetime was before the split by Time), at least he was with Sky(Sky got lucky |:[).

Warriors, Time/Mask, and Wind both knew each other during the war. They bonded pretty well to the point they actually saw each other’s as brothers(heck Wind actually tackled hug Warriors when seeing him again).

Time may not exactly behave like it but he still has a mischievous gremlin streak. He just hides it way better than he did when he was younger. Hyrule is Legend’s descendant. Therefore technically related to the royal family but very distantly.

Twilight knows the Lon Lon family song, even if he doesn’t exactly remember where it came from since he was very little when he had wandered into the forest of Ordon. Rusl and Uli were his adoptive parents in a way cause of it(bless them, they were very kind and sweet for him. Colin and his younger sister adore Twilight just as much)

all the Links are all canonically very attractive and beautiful. Unfortunately Four and Legend have this feminine look and feel to them that sometimes get them mistaken for being fair maidens more than once. Legend gets it worse off as at least the way Four presents himself helps(when split as the colors, it’s Red and Vio that get mistaken as girls out of the four). Of course that doesn’t mean Four and Legend don’t take advantage of it when seeing/spotting a good opportunity to use the ability of being mistaken for being female(doesn’t help both have scary talent in being able to mimic a female voice very well).

Four has a dogish cat named “Wolfie”. Who unlike normal cats, actually recognized Four and protected him from other cats(Wolfie happened to love the Minish just as much as Four does). Wolfie the only cat Four actually adores, cause in Four’s words “Wolfie is an exception, he isn’t like any regular cat!” just like Legend would feel about Pyoko since Pyoko’s a cucco, and cuccos are something all the chain(except for Sky) would fear and rather keep away from at all times.(also yes Four is well aware the fact his cat named “Wolfie” and there’s a wolf named “Wolfie” too)

Four, Time, and Legend have one of the most beautiful singing voices out of all the chain. All of them have great singing voices however Four, Time, and Legend have the most beautiful in that order(of course Legend doesn’t show that talent of singing off either as slightly open as the others due to well, everything he been through, especially what happened with Marin, she was the last person he had sung his whole heart for, Ravio has actually helped Legend slowly open up with his singing. Time doesn’t sing as much either however Warriors and Wind remember how beautiful and soothing sounding Mask’s own singing was, and Time is slowly getting more willing to sing the more time he spent with the chain. Four actually was the most comfortable and okay singing in front of others regarding out of the three. Also, they technically have Disney Princess quality singing, heck maybe even better.)

Time/Mask used to love singing often back in the Kokiri Forest. Even though he had his status as a no fairy boy back than, not even Mido can deny Link had the most beautiful singing voice out of the Kokiri. Every creature in the forest loved hearing Link’s singing. Time/Mask later stopped because of his journey especially after Navi left and his time in Termina(the only person he was even willing to sing for at the time was Malon, Epona was an already guaranteed). He slowly did get comfortable singing privately for Warriors, Artemis, and Wind. Later it would extend to the rest of the chain especially Twilight and Wild.

Out of all the colors, Green actually got to keep the soft soothing singing voice Four is practically known for. Of course they(Green, Red, Blue, and Vio) all technically have Four’s beautiful singing voice, it’s just Green has the most beautiful singing when it comes to gentle and soft songs(like Zelda’s Lullaby) The other colors got the other parts of Four’s singing voice aka they sing the other parts of Four’s singing very well(I will answer which parts of it another time). Random side note but Shadow really good at singing too to the point he and Four can do a duet with each other(He and Vio already did one together once, but only that one time back when Vio had pretended to be working for the villains)

Zeffa is very important to Four and not just because I see Zeffa as Four’s loftwing. Zeffa and Four are partners the same way as Sky and Crimson are. Not only that but Zeffa actually loves to listen to Four’s singing voice, especially when Zeffa flying Four around. Also Zeffa is very fond of Green, Red, Blue, and Vio(the four are in a way Four after all)

Wild may not be able to easily recoil the memories as his own. He still feels some remnant of attachment and love for Mipha. Especially since Mipha had always seen Wild, as himself not just “the hero”. Mipha’s spirit stayed with Wild even if she had a chance to pass on. She didn’t.

Warriors is Spirit or Spirit Track Link. He and Artemis(whose Spirit Track Zelda) experienced the timeline merging when they were around they were the ages of 16-17, and they woke up one morning not only seeing that new Hyrule freaking changed! That not only that the country now called Hyrule again, both Warriors and Artemis literally woke up with two other set of memories they clearly know were not there the night before. It was not the most enjoyable experience for either of them(Will not always use this type of headcanon but I do really liked it and might use it in some works of mine)

Legend experience at the palace of the four sword was traumatizing to say the very least. Especially when he later realized he killed Four in that time as he didn’t recognize Four at first(just a sense of dread he can’t explain). He only realized upon seeing Four split for the first time his mind clicked that yeah. He killed an older Four there. Legend couldn’t exactly look Four properly in the eye for awhile

Remember that Ocarina of Time manga where Time had befriended a certain boss dragon monster but had to kill his that dragon when he got older aka Volvagia. Well technically in the child timeline that dragon, never became evil cause of Ganon right? So technically that means that dragon alive but never was under ganondorf’s influence. That just means the dragon living off peacefully somewhere with a happy dragon family(possibly still visit Time somehow). Hmmm, should we still call that dragon “Volvagia” or should we call the fellow something else. Hmmm “Volga” maybe?(totally not tempted to make this dragon the same one from Hyrule Warriors for some random yet potentially angst inducing reason 😶💧, ha ha ha where would you ever get that idea 😅 he he he). Side note the little dragon has heard Time sing before, both in the adult and child timeline.

Four became a sword spirit after LU(No I will not elaborate how exactly. Let’s just say “Palace of the Four Sword”). That random and potentially angst idea aside, Four can still see the Minish as he is interacted with them long enough to still be able to see them possibly all the way till he is very old and grey.

The Chain do reunite once more after their adventure together. How? That part is up for debate. Very up to debate.

Also I really like the headcanon that the Hero of Men(one that Four looked up to a lot just as much as he did with the hero of skies) was actually a minish. A forest minish to be exact

————————————————————————

And that’s all I can think of for now. Still might add more later, who knows. 😅

[lesbianneopolitan]

˜”*°•.˜”*°• Solo: Pure Imagination (EN) •°*”˜.•°*”˜

TW: Violence; Torture.

The lights of the badly illuminated room flickered- the smell of dry blood apparent for anyone with a good sense of smell, and the Sinner was opening his eye -for his disgrace- in this seedy basement.

He was tied to a chair, with strong ropes and some simple yet efficient plastic handcuffs around his wrists, just in case.

"Shit...don't fuck with me!" He knew why he was here. A moment ago, (or perhaps hours ago) the assassin found the place he was living at, entered the apartment by force, and she didn't take long in putting him to sleep to bring him here.

This wasn't the first time she did this with someone else, but it also wasn't the first time this specific Sinner tried to avoid paying what him and the mute agreed upon.

Leaving her phone on the only table there was, the fallen angel would let a single song play in the background for them both, on loop, not too loud but not too low either.

◸Well, you're finally awake.◿

Her mind invaded the other's to be able to communicate with that voice that resonated with an echo, and for one reason or another, that only managed the poor bastard to let out a small yelp.

It didn't take long for this one to intensify once Neo walked closer, taking the cigarette that rested between her lips, and holding it between index and thumb to press the point against the exposed shoulder of the Sinner.

"AAAAUGH! Fuck!-" The voice of the demon broke a bit with something as simple as that, but the sadism in the ex-Exorcist's face only got fed, apparent in the form of a half-smile.

"Fuck...fuck fuck fuck...I'm sorry! I-I know I'm late with the payment-" The Sinner breathed heavily while trying to look for an excuse, but it was the third time, and that meant that the patience of the assassin reached its limit.

Walking in circles around the chair while the clicking of her heels resonated around the room, -like if she was some kind of predator- Neo only stopped once behind the chair, leaning a bit from behind while breathing calmly, and with the smile still being present before she picked the round chin of the demon from behind, with one of her gloved hands.

◸I gave you options to pay for making me wait, but I need the money. Now. It's nothing personal, only business. And you know well what were the conditions when you decided to hire me. Third time's the charm, love. I also need to survive.◿

Honestly, Neo wouldn't like to be in the place of these fuckers, without power, or talent, and at this point, with no family or friends.

◸You offered me the life of your only friends and the only family you had left. What a little bastard you are. Everything only to save your ass, but was it worth it?◿

Letting the chin go, the mute took a step back to have more room, and then kicked the chair so it could fall to the front, managing for the Sinner to hit his face against the hard and cold floor, and with him letting out another painful sob.

Before he could even try to move to fall on his side, the ex-Exorcist manifested her Angelic weapon in one hand, and then unsheathed the hidden blade of the parasol to make a fast and clean cut behind the knees of the demon.

"A-AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" From the pain itself, the Sinner tried to move however he could, well tied to the seat and finally moving enough to get on his side; tears apparent on his only eye.

The smell of fresh blood had Neo smiling a little more, to the point her teeth could be seen slightly, and inevitably, the fallen angel let her tongue pass over her lips.

◸Shhh...tsch, tsch, tsch...◿ Getting closer, the assassin got down on one knee, tightening her fist around the handle of her sword, and getting the bloodied blade closer to her mouth to clean it with her tongue.

After letting a soft chuckle escape her defective throat, the woman let the point of her sword rest mere centimeters away from the Sinner's face.

◸You can survive being crippled if you're witty, but it will be your choice. You either tell me where you hide the money in that shitty apartment of yours, or I will kill you here and now.◿ After making a small pause, Neo couldn't help but rejoice in the absolute terror that she could read on the face of the demon, who was having difficulty to answer, with how much he was crying.

◸Well?◿ Tilting her head to the side, the ex-Exorcist smiled with false kindness. It always helped to present herself to the Sinners with her more humanoid form. It helped to remind them she was closer to being an Exorcist than a demon, or that's what she thought, but it was efficient.

"The...the...the closet of my room has a double floor- please, I swear...I swear!...you can find all the money I have in there, take it all- but please...let me live...I beg of you!" Between sob and sob, the Sinner closed his eye and avoided looking directly to the other, whom let her own expression to soften a little.

◸See? It wasn't all that hard in the end!◿ While she communicated so, she let her free hand pat the poor bastard's cheek, and then, Neo got back up and got closer to the table where her phone was, taking it, and keeping it in one of her pockets.

"A-Aren't you going to free me? Please- I said I wasn't lying...p-please...don't leave me here-"

Biting her bottom lip, and laughing softly again, the assassin looked over her shoulder and then turned around, sheathing her sword back to the other piece of her parasol, and letting this one rest over her shoulder after.

◸You can figure out how to get out, but I don't want you to get too far in case you're lying to me. You can't even trust your own shadow in a place like this, eh?◿

She was half-smiling, confidently. She was disgusting, but it's not like the demon could do much in a situation like this.

Turning around again, the mute let the profound sounds of her throat hum the song that the phone has been playing, and then, she got on her way to get out by the main exit.

Instead of communicating anything via telepathy, she looked behind for a last time, and waved her goodbyes with the free hand before going out, closing the door behind her, and leaving the Sinner in complete silence. Alone in the dark.

[pure-garbage]

The Perplexing Heart Of The Matter Past

"You've been thinking for a long time now."

Zoro opened a single eye, following Lana's every move as she settled down on the deck beside him.

"I was napping. Why'd you wake me up?" he grumbled.

"Don't lie, you can't fool me. You woke up over an hour ago. You've just been laying here."

"I could have been trying to meditate for all you know."

"If you were, you would have had your swords in your lap," she observed. "You're just being lazy."

'She knows me too well,' Zoro noted. The thought should have perturbed him, but strangely, against his killer instincts, Zoro realized it was satisfying instead.

"Hmph. Nothing wrong with a little laziness after a good workout," he griped half-heartedly.

"Want me to scram?"

"No point. My peace is already disturbed. May as well tell me what you want."

"Who says I want anything?"

"You always want something."

"Heh. Can't deny that, I guess," Lana admitted. "And... there is something I'm curious about."

"Yeah?"

"That marine woman yesterday..." Lana didn't miss the way Zoro tensed up at the mention of Tashigi. "Why wouldn't you face her? Who is she to you?"

"Her? No one, really," Zoro sighed. "I've run into her a few times. She's on a personal mission to reclaim all the legendary swords held by pirates and outlaws."

"Hm. Okay, I get it now. That's why she was only interested in targeting you, not Luffy or the rest of the crew. But then... why did you refuse to fight her? I thought your swordsman code or whatever demands you accept any challenger carrying a blade?"

"There's no code, I just enjoy fighting," Zoro corrected her. "And since I aim to be the best at what I do, it would be unbecoming to turn away challengers. But... that woman is the exception."

"But why?"

Zoro grunted softly, carefully considering his next words. Kuina, his past, his conviction... these weren't things he spoke of lightly, and yet...

Lana's perplexed, hopeful gaze filled him with a strange sensation, countering his usual solitary tendencies. He was surprised to realize that he wanted her to know.

While Zoro grappled with his own mixed emotions, the silence stretched on for so long that Lana gave up on getting an answer.

"It's fine," she sighed. "I'm.. sorry I pried. It's not my business."

"Tashigi... she reminds me of someone I used to know. Someone who was... she was..."

Zoro couldn't settle on any words that did Kuina justice. Lana understood anyway.

"She must have been important to you."

Zoro sighed lightly in accord, a rare, sweet smile tugging at the corners of his lips at the perfect summary.

"Yeah. She was."

"Will you... tell me about her?"

No one had ever asked him that before.

"Yeah, I... I think I'd like that," he realized. "But only on one condition."

"Condition?"

Zoro stretched and sat up, matching Lana's cross-legged pose.

"I want you to tell me about where you're from too."

"What, like the town I'm from?"

"I'm interested in knowing why you left."

"Well, I was kidnapped by pirates because I was really good at picking locks," Lana explained.

"Sure. And I could say Kuina was just a girl from my dojo I always sparred with," Zoro illustrated with a roll of his eyes.

"I know, I get what you mean," Lana grumbled, rubbing the back of her neck as she considered the trade at hand. The issue was more complex than the devils that lived in their details. The heart of the matter past would lay bare their motives, the intentions driving them. "I've just... never really told anyone about that part of my life before."

"Good. It'll be a fair trade then."

Lana considered the offer for a moment. If she agreed, the exchange would be highly personal, but if Zoro was ready for it...

"Fine, it's a deal," Lana agreed.

Her fingers played idly over the sash adorning her wrist, tracing the gilding that wove through the braided silk. It was a habit Zoro had noticed before.

"You always go to that sash when you're uneasy," he noted. "It's important?"

"Very important," Lana agreed, bringing her wrist up to her chest reflexively. She realized a second too late that the defensive gesture was hardly conducive to the spirit of sharing. With a sigh of self-beration, she extended her arm instead, letting Zoro see the talisman. "It was a gift from my parents. A long time ago, when our family was still..."

Zoro leaned forward, resting his elbows on the deck while he waited.

"... It was the last gift I got from my father," she managed. "Before he died. Everything changed after his accident. Mama got so paranoid, she never let us leave the house willingly after that. Me and my brother, that is. I guess he'd be about Chopper's age by now. Huh. It's weird to think about. It's ben so long since I last saw him."

"Why haven't you gone back home?" Zoro probed, confusion tinting the words.

"I didn't leave on the best of terms. I was actually in the process of running away when Corrin took me... I was angry, and I... I don't regret leaving home, but I wish I would have done it... better."

"Don't tell me you're scared."

"A little, actually," Lana admitted. "My Mama wanted to keep us safe after we lost my father, but she took it way too far. I taught myself pick locks so I could get out of that house, kept getting better at it because she wouldn't stop buying better ones. I know she was just afraid of losing us the way she lost Papa, but I hated her for it and I let her know that when I was leaving. I'm not sorry. If I ever go back, it won't be to apologize. I've spent my whole life running from one jailer to the next and there's no way I'll ever aplogize for chasing freedom."

Lana caught herself, realizing she'd gotten carried away with her brief story. Zoro's gaze was still fixed to her, burning up at her and mooring her to the moment. She cleared her throat, remembering that she'd originally approached him with questions.

"Anyway, my sash is my good luck charm. It's the most precious thing I have... my treasure, I guess you could say. It makes me feel like my Papa's still with me, watching over me."

Lana studied Zoro's expression, gut churning nervously as he remained typically stoic.

"I guess that's gotta sound pretty silly to a guy who doesn't put stock in sappy crap like that," she sighed, wondering if she'd made a mistake. Would her superstitious idiosyncrasies chip at the respect that had been slowly building between them?

"Tokens can be powerful things," he said instead, surprising her. He straightened and reached around to pull his white sword into his lap, presenting it for her consideration just as she'd done with her sash. "Even if it seems silly to people who don't know any better... they can serve as reminders."

"Your third sword."

"It belonged to Kuina. It reminds me of the promise we made together, that someday one of us would become the greatest swordsman this world has ever known. She had an accident, too, like your father. I was always driven to be the best, but she was always a step ahead of me. No matter how hard I trained or how many new techniques I mastered, our duels always ended the same way. I never defeated her."

"So... that's why Tashigi reminds you of her? You can't beat her either?"

"Tsh! Not by a long shot! Tashigi can't hold a candle to me, let alone... no, it's not that. She actually looks exactly like Kuina. The first time I met her, I felt like I was seeing a ghost. I could take her in a fight, I have before, but..."

Once again, Zoro found himself struggling to distill his emotions into words. Once again, Lana understood well enough without him having to finish.

"Beating her feels wrong because you could never beat Kuina," Lana sighed. "It must feel like a slight to her memory, besting a doppleganger who can't match her skill."

Zoro accepted her articulation with a long, grateful sigh. Lana was perceptive and intuitive. Her way of getting inside his head could feel intrusive at times, but in this instance, at least, he was glad for it.

"Sometimes," he admitted, "... I wonder if I would ever have been able to win against her. If she was still here, I want to believe I would have surpassed her by now. But she's not here. So I have to be the best in the world. I'll take the title of the world's greatest and I'll hold it for both of us. And Kuina will always be the only opponent I was never able to defeat."

Lana and Zoro let silence have them, settling comfortably side by side into its embrace as they both considered the pasts that had been brought to light. They watched the stars that peppered the night sky of the grand line, each lost in their own contemplation of what might come next.

________________________________________

<== Previous Chapter

Next Chapter ==>

== First Chapter ==

[itsclydebitches]

Anyone else find it odd that we got this whole table of the dead deal when, really, just Penny would have sufficed? Putting aside the fact that Neo shouldn't know half of what happened to these characters (she's reading from the same script that let Oscar know the wording of Weiss' wish), more than half of this group means nothing to Ruby:

Lionheart she met twice, the second time when he was trying to kill her and her friends. Ruby didn't even fight him personally. He dies in another room, out of sight, and last we hear of him it's through Yang's fury that Ozpin didn't rat him out as a traitor to the whole world - an anger Ruby isn't shown to disagree with.

Roman is an enemy from six Volumes ago. Though Ruby was (understandably) shocked when he was eaten in front of her, the trauma of that has had zero impact on her and, as she points out to Neo in this very scene, she recognizes that she wasn't at fault for his death.

Ruby never had a relationship with Clover. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. They might have as team leaders, but they didn't. Ruby sat with him in a truck once, not talking to him, and then she didn't fight him at the end of the Volume because he was busy dying off in the tundra. Does Ruby know he was killed pre-Fall of Atlas? She shouldn't.

Ozpin, technically speaking, isn't dead. Or rather, I should say Ozma isn't. I'd better understand the choice to have him here if we'd learned anything about Ozpin himself - meaning, Ozma's host pre-Oscar - but we haven't. More importantly, I likewise would have bought his presence if Ruby had maintained her wholesome student-teacher relationship with him (RIP I miss those days. Oh my god I miss them!! I might have to write some moreRWBY fic just to have that again 😭), but now Ozpin is just the lying manipulator she only speaks to for exposition.

Ironwood is, you know... the villain? The guy we were supposed to despise by Volume's end because he was a crazy dictator hell-bent on bombing a city? The scene even keeps his ~evil~ prosthetic arm, emphasizing that this is villain!Ironwood, not ally!Ironwood. Ruby lied to him the second they landed, said 'fuck you' over the call to Penny, sent her friends to jump him while she made a wish, and didn't look back as she dropped a city on top of him. Oh, and then Yang reminded her that only #bad people re-think their choices. So, why is he someone whose death she'd feel guilt over?

The ONLY people who make sense here are Penny and Pyrrha, with Penny taking center stage as the death Ruby just found out about. She alone would have been enough: a magical, semblance Penny who reams Ruby out for letting her die, again, too busy getting her ass kicked by Cinder to be of any use. We might have even done something interesting with Penny's sword. You know, the real one Ruby had for all of ten episode minutes before she let a bratty Prince throw it away? Give me Ruby wielding her dead friend's weapon - because clearly the show wasn't willing to commit to a Crescent Rose aversion. Just have it be lost all Volume. Why was this armorer introduced again? Shouldn't she have done something with a lost weapon?? - until fake!Penny horrifically calls her out on it. How dare you use that? How dare you use it against me? Give me an actual battle where Ruby is torn between defending herself against something she knows isn't real and flinching from hurting the friend she just lost, taking hits she would have been able to block if she was putting forth her all, a bloody, Maiden battle that goes on long enough that it makes sense when her semblance breaks.

Then, suddenly, Penny grows kind... it's okay, Ruby... if you just let go, drink the tea, we can be together again. Wouldn't that be nice?

The issue of this suicide metaphor aside, we could have gotten something legitimately impactful. Instead I'm scratching my head over this suddenly using Crescent Rose again, fiery "If you're looking for an apology, you've wasted your time!" still a prodigy, didn't fight in the last battle, didn't even walk very far Ruby collapsing because she fell from a chandelier. Meanwhile, the emotional kicker is that she's getting beat up by... people she hates? Who she barely knew? Who aren't even technically dead? Oh no, I've slashed Oscar, who I KNOW is back in Remnant, presumably safe in Vacuo. I know Ruby is at her breaking point, but the combination of 'Come fight me, Neo, I'm perfectly able to see that I'm not responsible for Roman's death!' and the lack of connection between her and 5/7s of the guilt crew really falls flat. Either give me a Ruby who illogically, but honestly believes that her presence makes everything worse - 'You're right, Neo... I could have saved Torchwick... done something, but I just sat there...' - or a Ruby who is still able to distinguish between reality and guilt... up until the copy of her newly dead friend drags her to emotional hell and back. Now that I've been able to think about it for a bit, what we got feels downright weird to me - an excuse to bring back characters/get them in the new engine, rather than any compelling reasons for why they're there.

[the-fiction-witch]

Forgive Me

Media IRL X High Fantasy

Character Thomas Brodie Sangster

Couple Thomas X Reader

Rating Dark + Sexy

Concept 'You Will Give Me Y/n'

Warnings Violence / mentions of rape / sexy (Not explicit smut but sexy times are mentioned)

I woke as usual to the sound of the birds tweeting their morning song, the sound of rain battering all that lay upon this earth. I sat up and pushed my warm cotton covers and furs off me climbing out of bed and adjusting my cotton nightie as I did. I stepped across the dark stone over to the sculpted steps of the tub I filled it with water from the large tap and climbed in making sure to scrub up and down my body all while listening to the rain battering the windows of the castle. Once I was done with my bath I climbed out to be met but the handmaid's they greeted me with quiet smiles and helped me dress for the day into my new impressive emerald dress it was comfortable and beautiful having been made only days before for the occasion and they sat me at my vanity mirror brushing my hair and doing what little makeup was needed. They pulled my hair back into a long four-strand braid down my back the end wrapped with a green thislewick flower. They took my usual half-moon tiara of brushed gold ivy shapes and green amazonite, malachite and bloodstone. Once done I headed out of my room and thought the dark castle halls and corridors often seeing the harsh rain attack the windows mercilessly, the garden taking the worst of it. 

I arrived in the throne room causing silence as I often did the court split down the throne room floor leading a perfect path for me to the throne where my father sat sword in hand. 

I smiled and made my way to the throne's steps bowing low as I arrived there.

He offered his hand so I happily took it and he gave my hand a little kiss 

"It's time like this. I am reminded just how blessed you are. Your mother gave you every morsel of her beauty. Come stand with me while we wait for your sister"

I nodded and moved to stand beside the throne as we waited soon enough my sister arrived in her own new dress of deep blue she gave me an evil look but I did my best to ignore her as father delt with the business at hand I listened where I needed too but mostly watching at the rain died down out the windows. I couldn't help noticing my sister often glaring at me, well my half-sister we shared a father but different mothers, her mother a royal from the south my father's first marriage for the politics of the kingdom, my mother his second wife a princess of the north that he married for love. We had both lost our mothers but she seemed to never lose her distaste for me, as we had aged it had only grown worse. I had always done my best to be civil with her which only seemed to enrage her more that I refused to react. 

Soon after all the business had been attended to a guard came through

"He has arrived your grace" 

"AHH perfect. Come along girls let's go and greet our guest" he says getting up so I tried to follow behind him with my sister but she stood on my foot forcing me to hang back and walk behind her I didn't react there sad no point so I followed them both out of the Thorne room down the corridor out the entryway and onto the grey stone steps of the castle. The cobblestone street stretching out from the castle steps lined by the small brick houses had all been rebuilt hundred times so all had the sharp strangeness of rescued bricks the streets were lined with the city folk all being held back by the guards but all of them eager to get a look. As the army arrived. The army and king arriving today was the heir to the king of the west, we had long been at war with the western kingdom as it was the only one not yet unified under my father the king we had long been at war with them even if there had been times of peace however brief. But soon there would be peace. It had been agreed long before this moment that my sister would marry the heir to the Throne, she had been of age for four years now so long I had become of age since. But there were dealings being struck. At last, he was to come to our castle, spend a year with her and marry her once the year was up, a common custom in our kingdoms.

His army marched in on high alert and making a show of it making sure flags were flown high, drums beat loud and the army looked as strong and intimidating as possible. They filled through the streets in an organized fashion making sure not to leave a stone un marched on. Until I saw him.

He sat atop his jet-black horse, riding amongst but above his men. No guards around him to protect him.

It had been years since I saw him, the last insane him was his visit years ago with his father when the deal was first stuck I was merely a girl of nine then even if then he was old enough to marry. But he had changed so much aged like fine tamlend wine. He sat on his horse in tall riding boots, black pants that hugged him tightly, a leather belt and waist harness with a large leather strap around his waist buckled tightly and straps that went up and over his shoulders and across his upper back each dyed red, with his black slightly billowy shirt that only reached his elbows and was untied at his chest revealing a light chain of gold, it all very much reflected the colours of his kingdom's flag. Sword at his side dagger on his thigh and a cape of red hung from his shoulders and down to his horse. He controlled the horse one-handed and confidently held his head high without even looking to the ground below once his attention was utterly on the castle before him. He stopped his horse at the steps and climbed down leaving his Cape on the horse's saddle before sauntering his way up the steps to my father. 

"Your grace" he bowed with a slight cocky smile 

"Prince Thomas, I presume? Grown since I last saw you"

"Haven't we all" 

"True. Your men are impressive"

"They are trained to be. No point having an army of there not impressive" he says "My father begs your forgiveness he isn't well though it best to remain" 

"Understandable it's a long trip at his age. Well welcome to Helios. I'll make sure the staff begin unpacking your things into your suite"

"Thank you. It's a pleasure to return."

"If I may present my eldest daughter Ilisya" he smiled taking my sister by the hand to introduce them to one another

"Your grace" she bowed 

"It's a pleasure my dear. I'm sure we'll have ample time to spend together once in settled" he told her keeping a fair space between them 

My father let go of my sister's hand as she was very much silently cooing over our guest and my father took my hand gently "And if I may present my youngest daughter Y/n" he smiled bringing me forward I smiled gently and bowed slightly

"Your grace"

"Y/n?" He chuckled

"Yes your grace"

"Hu. You uhh you have certainly changed since last I was here"

"As have you, your grace"

"Forgive me, my lady" 

"It's quite alright"

"I'm sure we'll be able to catch up while I'm here" he smiled

"That sounds lovely" I smiled 

My father ushered him inside and my sister quickly followed so I made my way behind them the men went to discuss business as always and my sister and I went our own way but the moment we were inside the castle and out of sight she grabbed my hair hard 

"Oww!" 

"What was that?"

"What?"

"What was that? Smiling at him"

"Would you rather I be rude?"

"He's my betrothal. Not yours. You don't even have a betrothal because your father knows you're worthless. Eyes off my husband" she demanded before she marched off to the drawing room with her ladies. I simply fixed myself up and went to the library as usual spending my day buried in the mountains of books. 

I had mostly stayed in the library I didn't want to get in my sister's way, so I sat in the large chair by the fire book in hand when I heard the door I looked and saw it was Thomas and he was alone.

"Oh excuse me I don't mean to disturb you, my lady"

"It's alright, the library is more than big enough for the both of us" 

"If it's alright with you"

"Of course." I smiled he went and chose himself a book coming and sitting in the chair across from me still close to the fire 

"You've grown. Since last, I was here"

"It was a long time ago"

"It was. You were just a little girl then, you’re a lady now" he says "Forgive me. Too forward I know"

"It's alright. You’re to be my brother In law, your family. You've changed too nothing like I remember you"

"Situations change. With my father getting weaker I've had to…pick up the slack as it were. It changes you to have power no matter how small"

"I can imagine it weighs heavily"

"Heavier than you can imagine" 

"Still it'll be nice for you to have some time away"

"Will it?" He sighed "I've been here a week and frankly I'm already bored of spending time with your sister"

"How so?" I giggled

"Oh my god, she doesn't shut up does she?"

"She has a habit of running her mouth longer than she should"

"I wouldn't mind so much if she had something to say. Yesterday I spend twenty-five minutes listening to her talk about fabric."

"It's what thrills her"

"Ummm"

"What do you think of her?"

"I've only known her a week. But… she seems very much like an heiress"

"How so?" 

"Like a princess who's always been an heir. Always had her life decided so never bothered to build a personality. She didn't need personality or relationships or intelligence. She was heir from birth and never bothered making anything else"

"I'd say that's true." I nodded "Weren't you born an heir?"

"It's different for boys, especially in our kingdom. Heir or not you still have to raise an army of your own. Still have to learn your way same as anyone else. Girls, you’re born into the world as heirs with one purpose to be married off and bear children some of you don't see beyond that."

"Guess I never cared much not an heir, it gives a quiet freedom"

"I can imagine so" he nods "You know she's already named our children?"

"Has she?"

"Yep. Petrov and Marcela" 

"Ohh" 

"I hate it too" he laughed making me break and giggle too

"She's prepared and waited her whole life for this"

"I hope she mellows a little before our wedding god knows I won't be able to put up with her if she doesn't" 

"Well if you need time away the library is always open"

"Thank you y/n." 

I sat on the small stone bench under the ivy-covered arch in the garden watching the rain fall on the flowers, trees and statues of the castle garden. Slightly humming a tune to myself.

I heard quick footsteps on the grass and soon enough saw Thomas, 

"My lady" he smiled using his coat to protect himself from the rain "may I?"

"Of course" I smiled

So he happily ducked under and sat with me "What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same question"

"I had intended to take your sister on a riding date."

"Sounds romantic"

"It might have been, she blew me off because of the rain" 

"Sorry about that, she doesn't like rain, or really riding,"

"I can tell. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find common ground with her. Like fighting for bed space with a hibernating bear" he explained making me giggle

"How so?"

"I keep trying desperately for a little bit of common space but she seems to refuse to move a single inch. Just last week she was talking about her sewing so I offered a date together where I helped her do some embroidery. No, she doesn't want me in the drawing room with her that's her time with her girls. I offered a date up to the tower to stargaze but no she wants to be in bed by nine, I offered a date down to the beach she said no it was too hot." 

"Sorry to hear that, did she at least suggest an alternative?"

"She said she likes modelling her dresses. I swear I have to look at another blue dress and hear about its beautiful double stitching again. They can shove This whole arrangement" he says "Forgive me. I shouldn't be bad-mouthing your sister"

"She pulls my hair when she knows we've been talking"

"She does?"

"Umm, my sister and I don't have much common ground either. I have been in your position I spent half my childhood trying to find common ground with her in the end I gave up."

"Understandable. She doesn't like you she often speaks of it"

"That's her choice at least she has an opinion"

"True" he chuckled "You didn't answer? Why are you out here?"

"I like the rain. I like the garden. I like seeing it all together"

"Me too" he smiled "It's a beautiful place, I see why you like it here." He says we talked about the garden for a good while about the trees and flowers and all the care that goes into the garden honestly we'd had a lot of chats like this at dinner and in the library we always found something to discuss "can I tell you a secret?"

"Of course, it'll be between us and the flowers"

He chuckled a moment before he slightly moved on the bench closer to me "Somedays, I wish I was marrying you." 

"You - you do?"

"I Do. Very much. Even last night I dreamt of it." He says "that I was marrying you, and we'd be spending our days snuggled in the library by the fire with a good book between us, going for walks in the gardens and knitting together in the parlour"

"I uhh I didn't know you saw me there"

"I always see you there," he says his voice slightly hushed “I dream of it often these cold nights”

“Should be careful of your grace, you dream of something more than once it's destined to become true.”

“I wish it was” he says "it goes against everything I swore, all the duties I promised I'd adhere to, against my father's wishes. But it seems I'm falling in love with you, and that is something I simply cannot deny" 

"May I tell you a secret?"

"Of course my lady"

"I fear I may feel the same," I told him "Perhaps if things were different, we'd be a very perfect and happy couple"

"I'm sure we would be" he smiled

"I should get back, besides my sister will do far more than pull my hair she knew we were alone together" 

"Of course, enjoy the rest of your day y/n"

"You too Thomas" I smiled getting up from the bench and heading out into the rainy garden but I barely got beyond the roses before he grabbed my arm forcing me to face him in the rain thunder cracking across the grey sky 

"Forgive me my lady" he says leaning down and kissing me so softly yet so passionately I immediately melted into the kiss which he took as his sign to continue pulling me close cradling me in his arms as we gently kissed, I was the first to pull away even if I merely pulled back from his lips and little else 

"You have no need to apologize," I whispered against his cracked lips "I have to go." I quickly reminded taking a step back

"Of course, don't let me keep you' he nods turning slightly red "Perhaps I'll see you later?"

"Perhaps" I smiled, giving him a quick kiss before I rushed inside to my room. 

I laid so very comfortably on the long sofa in the library, I laid on my stomach but slightly sat up, Thomas below me leant up with his back completely against the high side of the sofa his arms around me so softly, the fire burning sweetly all that lit the library at all, his hands playing with my hair as our slow sensual kisses continued often forcing small pleasurable groans from his lips the only sound I could hear other then the fires crackling was our sweet kisses. 

I pulled back slightly breathless as our kiss had gotten a little more intense "We shouldn't" I reminded him 

"I know. I know" he cooes running his finger down my nose then stroking across my lips "I should go back. But I can't bare to leave you angel" he Cooes giving me soft little kisses, soon enough our little kisses turned back into our slow and seductive kisses from moments ago 

"You need to go or you'll get in trouble"

"I'm already in trouble." He chuckled trying to kiss me again

"What for?" 

"I dared question the princess's dress choice."

"Ooohh why?"

"Because I had planned for us to go riding through the olonox caves and she picked a ball gown"

"That doesn't seem practical."

"That's what I said. But she got mad and we didn't go at all." He sighed "It's fine though at least I get the afternoon snuggled on here with you" 

"I suppose but you should go and apologize you know what she gets like"

"No, she can apologize to me for once. Till then I'm sure I know something to do to occupy my time" he smirked "hummm?" He suggested rubbing his nose on my own 

"Just don't blame me if she's still grumpy with you tomorrow" I smiled giving him a soft kiss

“I won’t” He smirked pulling me closer 

I stood in my room utterly red and flustered as he held me in his arms, we had been meeting in the library and the gardens regularly finding privet spots were we couild cuddle and kiss but tonight was different, a harsh storm attacked the castle walls and most had hunkered down and locked themselves away with meer candlelight to keep them sane, At a time like this it would be assumed betrothals would snuggle together to keep one another safe but Thomas had gone to my sister and found her with her sewing girls in no need or want of his protection, so he had come to my room "we shouldn't. You shouldn't even be in here" I told him

'I know, tell me to go. Ask me to go angel"

"Why?"

"Because you know I'll stay of you don't" 

"We can't, you're even forbidden from… being in my sister's room and you're engaged to her. Let alone my room"

"I know. We could get in so much trouble if someone found us… here together" he smirked "Tell me go to. Before I beg you to let me stay," he says stroking across my dress 

"We shouldn't, things have gone far enough" 

"I'm not sure I can stop myself" 

"I'm not sure I can ask you to stop"

"Say the word my angel. And you can have me" he whispered against my lips 

"I- i-" I stuttered "Yes" I whispered

The moment I did he pulled me tightly to his body gripping my body through my thin dress and kissing me intensely I tightened my grip on him too before he picked me up and carried me to my bed dropping me there and crawling between my legs to continue our kisses till he pulled back gasping fast 

"Ummm I want to. So badly angel. But we really can't."

"You want to?" I blushed 

"Uummmm so badly angel. I want to. I want you. But there's far more we can do that won't risk my lady's reputation at court" he smirked, that was the first night we spent together utterly in each others arms like never before, and it was far from our last, we did everything we could often what was called the betrothal snuggle as it was often done by those engaged but not yet married, everything but the main event as to keep pure for the wedding night. This became our regular days we’d spend the days together cuddled and snuggled in hidden spots in the castle then under cover of darkness he’d sneak through the castle halls to my chamber and we’d be in each other's arms all night, often waking up together and having to watch him get dressed and scamper off to meet with my sister for breakfast. 

I sat in the library my book in my hand my head against thomas' chest as he read his own book his arm around me, I smiled a little and nuzzled a little closer to keep warm he smiled moving the blanket closer over us and kissing my head "shouldn't you be with my sister?"

"Hummm I am"

"How so?"

"She thinks we're playing hide and seek in the castle. She thinks I'm really good at it"

"What if she finds us?"

"She never checks here." He chuckled "We'll be fine angel"

Suddenly there was a knock at the door he sighed and give me a kiss before we separated putting a fair bit of space between us him moving to a completely different part of the library by the window

"Come in" I called and the door opened to a messenger

"What is it?" Thomas asked 

"Your father sir." He says handing over the letter and scampering away I quickly put my book down and got up going over but giving him space as he read 

"My father is dead."

"Ohh Thomas I'm so sorry" 

"It's okay. Been expecting this for a while" he says 

"I suppose that… makes you king now"

"I suppose it does." He smiled "and I can think of my first order of business as King” he says setting the letter on the table, he locked the library door and quickly took me in his arms I assumed for one of our usual snuggles or perhaps even our bed chamber sessions but no he laid me on the rug in front of the fire and slowly but passionately we kissed, and our kisses turned to touching, our touching far more intense until nothing and no secrets remained between us, as we made love on the library rug “Forgive me my angel”

“Its alright Thomas. Not quite the reaction to grief one expects” I giggled making him laugh too 

“No, But If I am king now I want the first thing I do to be to make love to the women I love. Regardless of the betrothals arranged this moment, I want it with you” he cooes “I am very happy my first act as king was to…take your innocence, and give you my own” 

“You could hadly tell” I smiled giving him a kiss

“Well somebodies let me have lots of practice” he smirked 

I did my best to hide my blush I stood in my usual green dress besides my father and his throne, My sister on his other side with Thomas beside her as we all dealt with court business I couldn’t help my glances at him and he too couldn’t help his own at me which only made it harder not to blush given my sister whenever possible mentioning her upcoming wedding, which only amused us both given I had spent last night and most of this morning bouncing on his cock in my bed chamber. 

When two men came to the court to give their grievances,

“My king” One bowed

“State your business”

“It’s about Mondlay bridge your grace.”

Immediately I held my breath 

“Mondaly bridge? That’s under the western land” Thomas remind my father given Thomas’ father was gone he was now king of the west meaning Mondlay Bridge was his land, not my father's but this had been a point of contention for many years one of the spots had been thought over for decades 

“That’s why I am here your grace” the second man spoke up and they explained what the issue was, and it was just as I had suspected. 

The Mondlay bridge was always a spot on the map that we fought over as it went across the Mondlay river that separated the west and the rest of the land, The bridge the only way to cross it, the river was essential water supply for both kingdoms and the bridge essential for trade between the kingdoms one mans farm was pushing too close to the bridge a neutral agreed area and the other man was blaming the other’s house for also being to close. It seems so trivial but what it meant was that both our lands now approached a neutral area which could be seen by either side as an act of movement and there for the potential for the stealing of land which would be classed as an act of war. 

It started as a debate between the two farmers and my father broke it up 

“I’m sure we can come to an understanding, perhaps for simplicity one simply takes on the bridge” My father suggested

“They can’t just take on the bridge the bridge is a neutral map point if one takes it, it’ll create an unfair balance”

“Well, we’ll all soon be the same kingdom anyway what does it matter?”

“It matters because that bridge is the edge of our borders. I don’t have the power to give him the bridge and neither do you, you give either that bridge its neutral movement”

“Well the river belongs to us”

“Like hell it does!”

“Don’t raise your voice to me boy!”

“Boy! I am the king of the western kingdom!”

“Then be a king and be diplomatic”

“Oh forgive me never was my strong point being diplomatic over illegal land hand outs what are close to war!”

“You want a war? A real war? I’ll give you a war, all of the kingdoms under my rule against you. You think you’d last a week”

“You think you would?” he asked “You want a war. I’ll give you one. Winner takes all and bends the knee to the king” 

“Thomas-” My sister tried to interfere 

“You already swore to me the moment you agreed to wed my daughter”

“Like hell, I did! Keep your daughter and the bridge. I’ll see you on the battlefield” he says My sister did try and stop him but he pushed her away and marched off into the castle 

“Go on go! We’ll see who bends first you little shit!” my father yelled 

My sister ran off angrily given father basically just sent her husband away with the threats of war.  

I too left not wanting to deal with the madness to follow and sheepishly I went to his chamber already his guards blocked the door 

“Get lost princess” one told me 

“Please just let me see him”

“Wait that’s y/n?” he asked from within

“Yes sir.”

“Let her in”

“Sir-”

“I said let her in!” the guards moved and let me inside seeing him angrily directing his staff to pack up the room 

“Its true your really going?”

“I have to. I imagine it hard for you-”

“I understand, I think my father was wrong to simply assume he could handle it so simply”

He smiled giving my forehead a kiss “You’re such a clever girl” 

I blushed a little “You’re really going?”

“Men of the West don’t let their men fight their wars my angel, if we go to war we sit at the front always” he says “I was a fool, I said things I shouldn’t have. In the heat of it all”

“Until one bends the knee was a bit intense Thomas.”

“Well, at least we’ll get it sorted. One way or another” he says as many of his staff took his things to prepare to leave, leaving us alone in his chamber “Come with me.”

“What?”

“Come with me, I can have the staff back your things within the hour we can be on the road by sunset. You can stay in the Vantis castle with me, the royal bed chamber might just be big enough for the two of us” he cooes holding my hand “I promise I’ll keep my best fighters behind to protect you”

“....I want to Thomas, really I do”

“Then come with me.”

“I can’t. It would break my father's heart. I’m sorryThomas but I have to stay here”

“If that’s really what you want”

“It's not. But I have no choice.”

He nods giving my lips a soft kiss “When we come for the castle, I promise no harm will come to you. So long as you’ll wait for me?”

“I promise” I smiled giving him a gentle kiss he pulled back and wiped my tear struggling to hide his own before he went to the bag he was to take with him the last of them in the room 

“Here,” he says offering me a small red velvet box I took it and carefully opened it, it was a beautiful silver ring no gems but sculpted so intricately it was beyond beautiful “it was my mothers, I was suppose to give it to Ilisya apon my arrival. Instead, I saved it. wear it until I return”

“I can’t-”

“Please, Ilisya doesn't know about it neither does your father you won’t get into any trouble, please” 

“I will wear it always, and think of you” I smiled he had to wipe a tear away before taking it from the box and slipping it on my finger 

“I pray it won’t be long before I see you again. And when I do I swear I’ll make you my bride” he says giving my lips one final kiss before he took his bag and headed out to join his men. 

I did as he asked and wore the ring always, no one ever asked about it far too much was going on. We had been at war for a good six months now and casualties were high on both sides, I was fearful but did my best to smile for my father as it always gave him hope. I don’t know really what I wanted if my father won, Thomas would have to bend the knee unifying the kingdom but he’d surely be imprisoned if not worse. If Thomas won my father would have to bend the knee giving up all our controlled lands in the north, south and east giving us again a unified king but I don’t know what would happen then to my father, Perhaps the best case was for thomas to win atleast then i’d see him again and perhaps he’d be merciful on my father for me. Even though I hadn’t seen Thomas I still spoke to him regularly, at first it was a secret messenger now a black raven who would come to my window with small parchment scrolls that we’d send back and forth to each other writing the sweetest of letters about how we missed each other and all the things we’d do once the war was over all of which of course I kept secret. 

I had hidden myself away as best I could the city was under attack and our men were being slaughtered I knew it would only be a matter of time before they reached the castle and I wasn’t sure of the fate that awaited me, My sister had already hidden herself down in the dungeons with her sewing girls in hope the strong walls and bars would protect them, I had hidden myself in the upper part of the throne room as I wanted to know if anything would happen as soon as it did, even if I had a dagger in hand just incase. As I remember the fate of the princesses of the east when we arrived to take their castle. The three younger girls were slaughtered and the two elder princesses were chained, stripped and raped by the whole army. I know Thomas said I’d be safe but that was a while ago and honestly, if his men broke the castle who would be here to stop them. I saw my father standing protecting the throne with a few of his men when I heard the door being busted though and the western men rushed in swords in hand, I held my dagger closely incase I was to need it. And I saw him, thomas came in stepping confidently onto the stone floor much like how I first saw him but more rugged and strained from his time at war and of course having just fought his way in with his men.

“You little shit” my father complained drawing his sword

“Miss me?” Thomas smirked, 

My father sent his guards after him but it was nothing to Thomas like trampling a daisy in his wake, leaving him and my father at ends of the throne room floor.

I had to look away as men rushed up the corridor egar to attack it was hard given they had long swords and I had a dagger but I kept them at bay even if it cost me a cut on the arm until they saw my hand and moved back rushing past seeming to now utterly ignore me. By the time I looked back thomas and my father were both bloody fighting in the centre of the room below the iron chandelier shouting at each other. 

“You war moungering little shit! You’ve taken everything from me! You’ve destroyed my kingdom! And my home! Is that not enough for you”

“No. you expected me to bow like a damn dog to your power, I have sown you all your alligences, all the power you thought you had is worthless against me!”

“What more do you want from me? I opened my home to you, I gave you my daughter”

“I defiled your daughter!”

“y-You WHAT!” he screamed attacking him so much he knocked him to the floor but he held his ground 

“I defiled your daughter! I took her innocence”

“Before you’d even married her. You sick little shit!”

“Hummm wrong daughter!” he smirked knocking my father off his feet

“No… no! Not my y/n! Tell me you did not touch her!” “I did far more than touch her.” “She is an angel!”

“She’s my angel. I fucked her innocence away”

“YOU BASTARD!” He screamed attacking him again “You defiled my daughter! Not only are you a traitor. A murderer. You're a rapist too”

“She welcomed it. Let me take her willingly and opened her legs far more after that too”

“Say it isn’t true. Not my little girl”

“She’s my angel. And she took me to heaven and back a thousand times. I never so much as touched Ilisya” 

“You only say this to hurt me! It will not work. You will never have this throne! I’d see it burn before I saw you sit there”

“You won’t have to see it.” he says forcing my father to his feet bleeding heavily “I offer you a deal. Give your life here and now and I will unify the kingdom by sitting on that throne and the world will remember you as the king who tried to prevent peace.”

“Or what?”

“Or I can let you live.”

“What price do you put on my life?”

“I will take the throne after you are dead, and our kingdoms will unify”

“But?”

“But. you will give me y/n” 

“To what end?”

“I will take her. As my bride. And as future queen” 

“And if I don’t agree?”

“Then I will kill you. Right here, right now and I will wed her anyway. The choice I’m giving you is simply your blessing for your life.” he says “A chance to live out the rest of your miserable life, to see your daughters again, and to meet your grandchildren. Or die. And watch it all from above” 

“I’d rather die.”

“Suit yourself”

“No!” I shouted scurrying down to them 

“Y/n!” Thomas smiled immediately taking me into his arms and kissing me “I’ve missed you so much”

“I’ve missed you too, but please If you love me grant him mercy” 

“For you. Of course” he nods “You may have mercy if that’s what you want.” he asked him 

“You really love him?” my father asked me

“More then anything” I smiled nuzzling into his neck

“You love her?” he asks 

“With all my heart” he smiled “I’d die for her.”

“As would I.” he nods “Do not let me linger as a relic of the past. You have my blessing let the kingdom be born anew under this king and queen” 

“If that is your wish” he nods he was merciful making it quick so my father wouldn’t suffer I hid myself away in Thomas’ neck so I didn’t watch and he moved me away so I wouldn’t see his body “You wore it?” he asks looking at my hand 

“Always” I nodded 

“My sweet little angel,” he cooes “My queen” he smiled giving me a soft kiss “There is knowone on this earth I want beside me more then you” He smiled holding my hand tightly as we ascended the steps and he took his seat on the throne. 

[ask-uts-earthspark-au]

To Autobots and Decepticons (not Maltobots this time):

Which Star Wars Movie and Trilogy is your favorite?

Bumblebee: Uhhh, I think I saw one of the movies a long time ago, but it’s been so long I don’t really remember… sorry…

Bumblebee: but I do remember Arcee’s showed me some of clone wars here and there! Not too bad.

Optimus: Arcee got into it at some point, and now it’s basically the only thing I know her to have as a serious interest even remotely akin to being fandom.

Optimus: Please don’t ask her about it, we’ll be here all year, and I’d like to actually make it to my video call with Rodimus at lunch.

Arcee: hey! D:<

Elita: I’ve… seen a little… doesn’t really float my boat, but hey, whatever floats someone else’s.

Megatron: I’m not going to talk because I’ll only piss people off from only seeing one movie and having strong opinions. /neg

Breakdown: Saw a movie at a drive-in theater with Drag, Wild, and ‘End once when me, Drag, and Wild were little.

Breakdown: Dead End took us to see it. Though I’m pretty sure it was just to keep us busy while he kept us out of the house while Motor was… busy… with his conjux…

Breakdown: anyway, uh, don’t really remember which, and not really my thing, but I do know that it did inspire a Star Wars phase for Dragstrip and Wildrider.

Optimus: eh. the laser swords are kind of cool. but I still prefer my energy axe, and Megatron���s energy mace. And I still think Meg’s sword is cooler.

Arcee: Well, I think Star Wars rocks. It absolutely fucks. Fantastic, the only ones that have gone down hill was the last three kinda, but still not half bad. Love it, there’s so much to cov-

Optimus: yes Arcee honey, we know. Now please, go lose your shit about it on the phone with your older brother.

Bumblebee: I mean, Clone Wars is pretty decent, I’ve gotta say. The Terrans might like it.

Megatron:

Megatron: you bring anything of that garbage franchise near my godchildren I will turn you into a nice little bumblebee peach crumble.

Bumblebee: *surrender*

Tarantulas has opted not to answer, as he does not know Star Wars, and does not care. The others also opted out, as they didn’t particularly care to comment on the topic, or didn’t even know anyway.

Arcee is now available to ask!

[theseusernamesarehard]

Stuck on the puzzle: Chapter four

previous | next | masterlist

pairing: Luke Castellan x Olivia Messer (daughter of Apollo oc)

word count: 2k

summary: A year before the quest, Luke and Olivia go for kleos.

It was finally time for the first capture the flag game of the summer. Luke and Olivia had paired their cabins together for as long as they could remember, but they had ended last summer with two losses in a row. Which meant that they had spent the entire winter figuring out how to win this year. The key step had been realizing they both suck at strategy and leaving it to the Athena cabin, aka Luke's found little sister Annabeth Chase. The 10 year old was tiny, but she had a brilliant mind like her siblings and could figure out the best positions for each soldier, depending on their weapon of choice. Everyone trusted her to make sure she brought a much needed victory for the blue team.

She was the one who came up with their brilliant little attack plan. A bigger group of soldiers would approach the flag head on and keep most of the defense on bay, while the actual attack was made from the side. Simple yet effective. It required quite a bit of manpower, but Annabeth compensated for that by guarding their flag with a fleet of archers and soldiers scattered around within hearing distance, ready to gather at any sight or sound of attack from every direction.

Luke was attacking the flag from the right, walking casually with his sword in hand. He was hearing distant yells and swords clashing, which meant that the front line had clearly reached the red teams defense. Still, Luke wasn't shocked to see red when he was just a few feet away from the flag. What he didn't expect was to see Bryce and Lily, two Ares kids with vicious glints in their eyes.

"I really did think you guys would be on attack. But I suppose that's on me for stereotyping."

"We were hoping Messer would be on your heels like always, but I suppose we'll just have to deal with you", Bryce sighed. "Too bad, would've loved to send her to her own infirmary."

"And since we'll be punished for maiming, I was hoping we'd at least be able to get a package deal", Lily finished.

"Man you two are really starting to sound like cartoon movie villains. How long did you practice that?"

"Shut it, Castellan."

Luke was getting a tiny bit nervous. Sure, he was good with a sword, but two-on-one was never fair and both his opponents had spears, which meant that they could probably just ward him off. But he wasn't left with much choice when the two soldiers charged and all he could do was focus on the fight. Luckily, swordfighting felt like it was what his body was made to do. Sidestep, stab and block came to him very easily, but there was no way he could do any proper damage.

Just as he was starting to think 'where the fuck is she?', the red helmets flew off the Ares kids. They looked around, confused and before the knew it, two arrows were shot so precisely that the edges just barely scraped their knuckles, leaving friction burns on them and making them yelp and drop their spears. Luke wasn't as dumbfounded as the two so he managed to pick up one spear and point it at Bryces throat while his sword found Lilys.

Olivia, who had a habit of making an entrance, dropped down from a nearby tree with her bow on her back.

"Well, Bryce. I'm here, as you hoped, but it looks like we might have to leave the maiming for next time. We're a little busy."

They started tying their enemies to trees with the rope that Olivia brought.

"You were there to hear that? Why didn't you come help me sooner?" Luke questioned.

"I was enjoying the show. And I half expected Bryce to trip and take care of himself."

Bryce scoffed at that, but it was hard to keep your dignity when being tied to a tree.

"Fair enough. And it was partially to show off your shooting skills, wasn't it", Luke smirked.

"Well we didn't practice all winter for nothing, did we?"

"All right. All done here", Luke said, finishing up the last knot. "Should we go get our flag?"

"Let's go."

They didn't have much trouble finding the flag atop a tree branch and with a quick climb from Olivia, they were making a run for it. They came out of left field for the troop of fighters defending the flag on the front line and managed to slip through. According to Annabeth's plan, the blue team's attack team switched into defense and started holding off the red team so Olivia and Luke could make their escape. They crossed the river gloriously and the entire blue team erupted into cheers.

Luke and Olivia were lifted onto the team's shoulders and walked to the pavilion's for dinner. They laughed their entire way there. In the pavilion they started a cheer for Annabeth Chase for the brilliant strategy and the entire team was overjoyed. That high lasted for the entire evening into the bonfire and not even the grumpiest members of the red team were able to resist the contagious joy of the Apollo cabin as they led the sing-along. Bryce was obviously an exception, but he'd get over it. Although Olivia did stick her tongue out at him, which made him sulk in his seat for the rest of the night. After the crowd favorite, an ancient greek song about packing to travel to Olympus, Olivia turned around to see Luke looking at her and smiling.

"What?", she asked, a slow smile spreading to her face as well.

Along with the tiniest bit of blushing when she was Luke's feature's, illuminated by the fire, staring so intently at her own.

"It's just...You really suck at singing."

"Shut up!"

"It's just weird. I mean aren't all of you Apollo kids supposed to be gifted with musicality?"

"I am!"

"You sound like a harpy."

"That's so mean!"

"I'm just being honest!" Luke laughed.

"My archery skills saved your ass today and you still choose to make fun of me?"

"I would've handled it."

"Two spears? You can barely fight against one."

"Bullshit."

"I've beat you more times than I can count with a spear."

"I've beaten you more times than I can count."

"Well you can't count very high, then."

"Okay, tomorrow morning after breakfast, we ditch the kids off to make friendship bracelets or whatever and settle this once and for all."

"Better start stretching, Castellan."

They shook on it.

Despite the hectic day, at night Luke just kept tossing and turning, not able to fall asleep. Although that might’ve been because he didn’t want to sleep, not really. Sleep meant nightmares and he honestly would rather just be tired tomorrow. He pondered going to the Apollo cabin, but he didn’t want to risk waking up Olivia in case she’d actually been able to fall asleep this time. After the party, the first full night either of them had been able to sleep peacefully, it had become more of a routine for them to spend the nights in each others cabins.

But then again Luke also didn’t feel like explaining to everyone (specifically Travis and Connor) that it was actually 100% platonic and they just couldn’t sleep with each other. He’d infact told Travis that if he would like to snuggle Luke to sleep that would probably work. To which Travis said no, but if Olivia needed help he'd be happy to oblige.

Which annoyed Luke so much, even in retrospect that he decided to go to the pier, in case the lake would help him sleep. He smiled when he approached the pier with his blanket to see someone already sitting on the wooden surface.

"Can't sleep?" he smiled as he sat down next to her.

"Didn't want to wake you up incase you'd actually gotten some sleep finally."

"Same."

"Wishful thinking."

"Do you think the others have it this bad?"

"They're not here, so clearly not."

"I don't now why we're so plagued. Or I guess why you are. I suppose I'm meant to have these weird prophetic dreams that I can't make any sense of."

"Being a demigod really is a curse", Luke sighed, moving down so he was now lying on the pier and looking at the stars.

"You know what's crazy? I wouldn't change it", Olivia replied, joining him. "Like if I could start everything over and have my dad be some other deadbeat and not a god I would say no."

Luke turned to face her, she kept her eyes on the stars.

"Because it brought me to you", she continued. "Despite all the monsters and the fights and the dreams, I couldn't imagine a world where I didn't meet you. Where we don't spend every day together.

Luke was quiet.

"You don't have to say it back", now she turned back to him.

They were looking each other in the eyes, faces inches apart.

"I know it's different for you", she almost whispered.

"Different. Meaning my mom might be fine if not for everything", Luke said, eyes glimmering with tears.

"While mine would've still gotten cancer", Olivia responded.

"Imagine if we didn't have to go through all this though", Luke sighed.

"Then we wouldn't be us."

"But it's not fair. It's not fucking fair."

Tears were now running down Luke's face. Olivia reached out a hand to wipe them away.

"We can't get stuck on what would've been, what should've been."

"My mom went crazy because she saw my fate, my fate that's been predetermined that I can't for some reason change. What should've been is all I have Liv."

Tears were now brimming Olivia's eyes as well.

"All those years on the run so I can find this place and my dad still won't talk to me. Again because of my goddamn fate. What kind of bullshit even is that?"

Olivia turned back to look at the stars.

"I'm sorry Liv, I just don't know what to think and I get so worked up and on nights like these where I can't sleep it's tough to find the silver lining like you. I try to be positive, but sometimes I can't."

"Every time I heal someone the first thing I think is could I have healed her."

"What?"

"If I knew then what I know now, would my mom still be alive? Every time I give blood I think if I'd known what it could do then would she still be here?"

She was blinking hard to avoid the tears, but a few strays managed to escape and disappear into her hair.

"And then that thought strays into the fact that my father, who she loved and who presumably loved her, is the literal god of healing and he couldn't bother to heal her."

"Gods are assholes, Liv."

"But then I think, if I had his power, what would I do? Especially since for some part I do. I sometimes think if I should just spend every moment I can donating blood to blood banks so I could save every possible person on the planet, but I can't do that, can I? And the gods can't either Luke. You can't expect them to be able to fix everything."

"Shouldn't be too much effort to claim their children. Maybe even talk to them every once in a while."

"Maybe. Or maybe it is. But I don't really think of them as parents you know? I've thought of myself as an orphan ever since my mom died and finding out I have an omnipotent 'father' didn't really change that. He's like my distant uncle who sometimes sends cards."

"Cards?"

"With lazy poems. Every birthday."

"It's nice he remembers your birthday."

"I guess."

There was another pause. They looked up at the blissful night sky.

"I've been thinking about going to the city", Luke admitted.

"Oh", was Olivia's response.

"I kind of feel like I need a little break. Just a normal day."

"With Sheila."

"With Sheila. And the others too, probably. I'll try to email them from Chiron's computer."

"Sounds nice."

"You could come too."

"I don't really know your friends."

"I'd feel a lot better with you there."

Olivia looked back at Luke.

"In case there's a monster attack or anything", he said.

She turned back on her back.

"Right", was her reply.

"We could look out for each other."

"I don't think I'll come."

"You can meet up with Callie and Meredith too if that's what you want. We can go our separate ways and meet up for ice cream afterwards."

"I don't know, I need to be training Lee in healing and I've already been slacking off with that."

"Just promise you'll think about it."

"I'll think about it."

"Pinky promise?"

Olivia chuckled at that.

"Haven't done one of those since I was like twelve."

"Well might as well do one now", Luke said and grabbed her pinky in his own.

They went silent for a while and when they woke up the next morning, their pinkies were still intertwined.