#he has finally seen his own future... and it squawks

[crystaltoa]

If the rest of the Turaga meet their past selves, I imagine the Mataus are having an even worse time.

Toa Matau: BUT YOU'RE OLDCRUSTY! How did my life go so sorrywrong?

Turaga Matau: Happens to all Toa who longlive enough, my friend. We don't all get to die as young, cutehandsome Toaheroes, you know. And trust me, you'll go through looking much awfulworse than this before you get to my age!

Toa Matau: Awfulworse than THAT???

Turaga Matau: Mata Nui, how did Iruini go so everlong without murderkilling me?

Onewa strikes me as much too grounded and pragmatic to waste time regretting his past behavior. But I do think that if there was ever some sort of timey-wimey shenanigans that led to him meeting his Toa self, he would not hesitate to whack past!Onewa on the mask with that hammer and give himself a stern talking-to.

[genshin-impacted]

liquid courage // Kaeya x Reader

Word Count: ~3k

Notes: gender-neutral reader, Kaeya/Reader; cw alcohol, established friendship; friends to lovers (real quick); tons of flirting/bantering (and kissing), PDA, third-person POV of relationship

Summary: And there it is again-- another chance to back away. You wonder how many times there have been close calls like this when the flirting feels all too real and your feelings almost bubble to the surface. Tonight, the two of you are a little tipsy, a little braver, and more reckless-- and you do not back down from Kaeya when he looks like he wants to kiss you.

.

.

Kaeya is an intelligent, well-to-do charming individual and the whole of Mondstadt knows it. As far as the citizens know, he’s the captain of utmost chivalry (especially to the elderly population), and to the Knights, he’s a thinker who, despite his status and position, keeps people at arm’s length.

Except for you.

For most of the people in Mondstadt, they take a look at you and Kaeya and there is no doubt you are the closest of friends. When you buy dinner at The Good Hunters, you always order skewers for Kaeya, and when you are late for your nightly drinking, Kaeya subtly slides his drink to the side to save a seat for you. In both daylight and nighttime, the two of you exchange words in a fast-paced banter that makes it easy for either of you to get along. Or so the common folk assume; they certainly do not converse with Kaeya the way you do, which has always, in some way or another, included some back-and-forth-- some more flirty than others.

"The bed was lonely without you," Kaeya croons when you finally get back from a week-long journey. You choke on your spit when he gives you his best sultry stare. Before, this statement would have turned heads, but the Knights and citizens of Mondstadt are far too used to hearing these snippets of your conversation-- not that it makes it any less interesting to listen to. (And if people take notes on the flirty comments for future use, that is neither here nor there.)

"The feeling is mutual," you coo, recovering quickly as you grasp your hands in prayer. "I spent every night looking at the stars and thinking how much they reminded me of your eyes."

"Oho, thinking of me before you sleep, huh?"

"Every night--"

God forbid a child hears the two of you, but for the most part, you keep it friendly. A jab here-- “I didn’t know you were such a… slacker”-- a flirty remark here-- “Kaeya, just who are you trying to show off to with that outfit”-- whatever makes the other's lips upturn and whatever comes to mind first almost like a battle of wits. However facetious your comments are to each other, the people do not question your friendship for the times you bump shoulders after coming home from an expedition in varying levels of wear and tear with a grin on your faces.

(“I’m just glad Kaeya has someone to look after him,” Jean answers when someone asks about the two of you. She pauses and sighs. “...And the other way around.”)

For whatever reason, no one has ever taken your flirty remarks to each other seriously despite how long they’ve been going for. Nothing has made them question your friendship for how long it has stood or how real the flirty remarks are (if they ever have been in the first place).

The problem with joking about something or doing something ironically is that oftentimes it ends up being quite real.

"Sir Kaeya," you say dramatically one day when Kaeya comes back from an expedition that takes twice as long. You place your hand over your heart, ignoring the way it beats rapidly at the sight of him safe and sound. "Oh, how I have missed you."

"And I, too, my dear heart," Kaeya replies back without a beat in between. And it seems you cannot hide the relief on your face because he drops his flirty grin to settle into a soft smile. "Worried about me?"

Without a flirty remark to hide behind, you can only nod.

(If not for the fact that sometimes you actually feel your face warm from Kaeya’s comments or praises-- and more so when they are actually genuine-- you would have been otherwise ignorant to your own growing feelings for a certain cavalry captain.)

Kaeya always ruffles your hair then, even if you squawk at him and jab at his non-injured side, and those feelings are placed in the back burner to brew later.

The tender moments come and go, and neither of you is the type to sit in it, for how easy it is to clear the air and go back to bantering. You don't mind either way if you were honest. You're the only one who Kaeya shamelessly flirts with and you're the only one privy to the thoughts he holds (especially when drunk). You hold a special position as his friend and he has a special place in your heart as well.

You would be lying to say that everything between the two of you was platonic, not when sometimes you catch yourself staring at Kaeya when he's not looking or wondering briefly what his hair would feel like through your fingers. (You attempt to run your hands through it once but he's much too quick and tall for you to catch him unawares, and now it has become a game that usually ends up with your hair looking like a nest gone wrong.) The thoughts come and go, and you are content with being Kaeya’s friend, for now.

"Another, please!" You wave your hand in the air as you grin, Diona huffing even as she provides two new drinks for you to bring back to your table. "Thank you," you sing, walking with a sort of sway that makes you spill some of the drink on your hands. You're buzzed, that much is certain; you lick at your hand to save what you can before you slam the drinks down in front of Kaeya.

"Bottoms up," you cheer, clinking glasses with Kaeya who laughs a little more freely now that he has a few drinks in him.

"Are you sure you can handle any more?" Kaeya asks, swirling his drink with an amused smile. "No use in pushing yourself. If you're trying to drink as much as Rosaria, you might as well stop now."

"Friends that drink together stay together-- or however that phrase is supposed to go," you say, waving your hand flippantly as Kaeya snorts in his drink. "Something, something, I can drink more. Trust."

"Stop," Kaeya laughs, putting down his drink and throwing his head back. You grin up at him when he throws his arm over your shoulder. "You didn't even give me a real reason."

"You didn't give me a reason when I caught you day drinking the other day," you retort playfully, and Kaeya snickers again, putting his hands in the air.

"What, can't a guy enjoy a Death After Noon... after noon?"

"You're terrible."

"I'm terrific."

You're warm from the drink pouring down your throat and the arm comfortably hooked around your shoulder. If Kaeya notices you lean into him more, he does not say a word, but you joke again, not straying an inch from his side as though you're addicted to his warmth. And aren't you, in a way? With how you keep coming back to the thought that your best friend is one of the most attractive men in Mondstadt, that his eyelashes are unfairly long, and that sometimes you wish you could kiss his eyepatch-- just to see if you can fluster him like he always does to you with you.

Ah, you think, feeling the heady pull of intoxication, there are those thoughts again.

You laugh lightly at something he says under his breath about one of the other customers in Cat's Tail and take the moment to push the thoughts away when Kaeya suddenly cups your face. You would complain about the way he maneuvers your face to his pleasure, turning your head this way and that, but you laugh instead, inwardly pleased by the attention.

"What is it?"

"Lipgloss," he says, and you blame the alcohol for dulling your senses when you only stare blankly at him, wondering if you accidentally missed a piece of the conversation. He snorts when he sees the evident confusion and explains, "Lipgloss-- are you wearing them right now?"

"No?" You ask back, laughing as you shyly swat his hands away to no avail, "I don't think so?" When Kaeya only hums, you reply back almost instinctively, spurred on by your thoughts and-- well, your remarks have always been on the cusp of being real. You press your lips together as your heart races. "Why, they look kissable?"

"Very," he says teasingly, and you smile widely at him as though the two of you were not in an intimate position.

There's always a way out, you realize, at every step of the way-- to deescalate, to redirect the conversation, and treat it as a joke. You could have changed the subject and talked about how dry the weather has been; Kaeya could have replied back as sultry as ever and dropped his hands from your face.

But he doesn't.

Instead, his thumb surreptitiously brushes over your bottom lip, and you look up at him and wonder what your eyes look like to him at the moment.

It would be easy to playfully push him away and call him a flirt. But you don't.

You meet his eyes and say, "Why don't you find out for yourself?"

There is a pause, then-- "Alright." And you can feel Kaeya close the distance between the two of you, his free hand wrapped around the arm you placed onto the table. Your breath hitches when Kaeya stops with his lips an inch from yours and looks at you searchingly.

And there it is again-- another chance to back away. You wonder how many times there have been close calls like this when the flirting feels all too real and your feelings almost bubble to the surface. Tonight, the two of you are a little tipsy, a little braver, and more reckless-- and you do not back down from Kaeya when he looks like he wants to kiss you.

Your eyes flutter closed, and that is the last thing Kaeya needs to close the distance completely.

It is a kiss that is all too chaste-- something that, when people think of Kaeya, is not what they would associate him with. But this is a Kaeya you're familiar with, have seen a glimpse of-- and you are warm everywhere when Kaeya gently slides his lips over yours and tilts his head to fit with you better. Everything is hazy, and you think it's the alcohol, but you're hyper-aware of the softness of his lips on yours, the way your hand reaches out to hold onto the front of his shirt, and the way he holds you so tenderly.

You think you can kiss him forever.

(Neither of you takes note, but the bar has quieted down considerably as the table next to you stares, gaping as the two of you kiss. And with their heads turned, others turn with them as the two of you inadvertently pull the rug from under all of them. The two of you are dating? Since when? Was the flirting never just a joke? What was happening?!

I need a drink, someone says, and the rest of them nod in agreement, much to Diona’s dismay.)

Kaeya is the one that pulls away first, laughing under his breath. “Are you even breathing?” He asks you teasingly, his hand still cupping your face. “I know I take your breath away, but you can’t faint on me.”

You snort, your hand raising up to cover your smile. “Sorry,” you drawl, watching as his hand falls to your thigh. “You were just so breathtaking I forgot how to do anything.”

“Well,” Kaeya says, his voice low enough to be a purr. “You sure knew how to kiss, though.”

You laugh, waving your hand flippantly. “Why, thank you,” you simper, doing a mock-bow. “Same to you. Excellent skills, Sir Kaeya; my heart skipped a few beats there.”

Kaeya lets out another laugh as you pick up your drink and smile into it. And like that, you two are where you first started-- almost.

The two of you talk about whatever comes to mind, bantering ever so often. But for the rest of the night, Kaeya’s hand stays on your wrist, his thumb rubbing over your hand absently, and you catch yourself staring down at his lips as he talks. If you end up in his space again, you stay a little longer, even as you start to sober up and feel your eyes grow heavy.

“Aw, is it your bedtime?” You hear Kaeya say from the temporary darkness you placed yourself in as you bury your face into your arms on the table.

“Shut up, Kaeya.” You snicker, swatting away his hands when they poke at your cheek. “It’s been a long day.”

“Well, I suppose I’ll just have to walk you home now, don’t I?”

This time you are the one looking up at him searchingly, watching for signs of whether he’s joking or not. Your eyes stop at his lips and you turn your head into your arms again. “...Sure,” you say. “Thanks.”

You aren’t sure if you can ever flirt with Kaeya in the same way again, with how your heart skips at the thought of him, but you will manage if that’s what you have to do. You push your stool under the table and throw Kaeya a smile when he opens the door for you to exit first. (You don’t know why Diona glares at the two of you when you wave goodbye, but judging by the cat-nipped smile on Kaeya’s face, you can probably ask him later.)

You’re surprised from your thoughts when you feel a weight on your shoulders, and when your hands reach up to touch it, you feel fur wrapped around your neck. It smells like Kaeya.

“You looked cold,” Kaeya says when you look at his cardigan wrapped around you before glancing back at him. He does not let you provide a response when he starts walking ahead of you. When you make a noise of displeasure, running to catch up to him, he laughs, quietly slowing down his pace until the two of you are walking synchronously.

For once, the two of you are silent.

Every so often your hands brush over his, and your thoughts are loud when they tell you how much you want to hold his hand. You think you will dream of that kiss you shared with him tonight, and then tomorrow the day will begin as normal, teetering on the edge of platonic and romantic. The more you think about the less fine you feel about leaving everything as it is. You don’t want to overcomplicate things but there are so many questions that you want to be answered. Did that kiss mean anything? Does Kaeya have feelings for you? Does he know you like him?

The walk to your home is much too quick this time around, and you are already shedding the cardigan Kaeya has given you as the two of you reach your doorstep. Wordlessly, Kaeya takes back his jacket and you open your mouth without anything to say.

Of all the time for you to be speechless in front of your best friend, it had to be now.

“Kaeya--”

“Good night then,” he says, a second faster than you. With the moon behind him, it’s hard to see his face, but you can imagine how his lips quirk up into a soft smile with how he speaks to you-- and your heart tightens. “Be sure to drink some more water. Can’t have you waking up with a hangover now, can we?”    

You nod, lowering your head. “Yeah,” you say. “Same to you.”

The silence is deafening.

Without another word, you hear Kaeya’s boots shift the gravel underneath his feet, and though there is no more liquid courage coursing through your veins, you tell yourself to be reckless anyways. Your relationship will survive, you tell yourself. Whatever happens, Kaeya will be important to you.

You call out his name.

When he turns around, you ask him to kiss you again.

It’s hard to imagine what sort of expression he has on his face when you’re in uncharted territory, and the slow response has you sweating bullets. But then you hear a quiet “Alright,” and Kaeya is in front of you, putting his hands onto the wall behind you.

You are ready when he dips his head down to kiss you again.

It is just as good as it was the first time.

You wrap your arms around him, a hand buried into his head (finally!) and another clasped behind his neck as he pulls you closer to him with a hand on your waist. Those with Cryo Visions run cold but Kaeya’s lips are nothing but warm as they nip at you and press onto yours over and over again. You bite back a pleasant gasp when you allow him entry, his tongue sliding across yours that has you hazy.

You break away first, and you note vaguely that you are not the only one breathing heavily.

“On a scale from one to ten,” Kaeya says, holding you close to him with a grin, “would you say that was better than what we did in the tavern?”

You roll your eyes even though your face warms at the comment. “Bold of you to assume I would kiss and tell.”

“I do well with constructive feedback, you know,” he quips, making you laugh. “What? Are you saying I don’t?”

“No,” you say, breathless from the kiss and from the elation that everything was okay. “No, I’m just thinking how I would write an evaluation for you with strengths, weaknesses, and improvements--”

Kaeya kisses you again and you forget what you wanted to say.

“...Is this all I have to do to win an argument against you?” He says teasingly, and you headbutt into his chest, much to his amusement.

“It’ll stop working eventually,” you say, settling your hands behind his back as you rest your face onto him. He hums as he holds you close, and you look up at him again and grin. “Guess you’ll have to see how many times it’ll work though.”

And Kaeya laughs into the kiss as you pull him down for another one.

[savethelastdan]

Sesskagu Week Day Six: Future (White)

CW: child death, grief

DISCLAIMER: This was written weeks ago but no one outside a Discord has seen it, and I thought it fit the prompt. 

When he is fourteen, Sesshomaru’s son, Akinori, goes to see a fortune teller.

His mother advises against it; claiming to have killed many witches in her time, she declares that, with a sweep of her fan, “all they tell you is what you want to hear.”

Akinori laughs, but in the end can neither agree nor disagree; for when he arrives, the woman bars the doors and refuses to give him answers.

When will the panther king fall from power - this year, or the next? ​(Sesshomaru hides a smile, recalling the sword that awaits his son’s birthday to be claimed.)

Will my parents give me siblings, or have I already achieved the height of perfection in their eyes? ​(Kagura laughs boldly, but her smile is as soft as a feather as she runs a hand through her son’s hair.)

Which will be greater -- my father’s legacy, or my own? ​(The fortune teller cuts him off, her voice shaking as she tells him to please, please go away.)

-

It is not the first time that he has lost a child. But Sesshomaru could never say that the experience prepared him for the sight of the broken body stretched before them.

The panther king has shown little care in his work; Akinori’s limbs bend at competing angles, like a tree ravaged in a storm. His mokomoko lies limp in the grass, drenched with blood. Pink replaces the gold in his lifeless eyes.

The youth’s expression is peaceful; not that such a thing could bring comfort in this moment.

“​Do something!”​ Kagura screams; the side of her fist connects with his shoulder. Her other arm drapes over their son’s mangled body, as though to shield the heart that sits still beneath the tattered ribs. “​Bring him back!”

Jaken’s eyes meet Sesshomaru’s, frozen with horror. He knows exactly the memory playing in the kappa’s mind: The night of Akinori’s birth, where the child had come from Kagura’s body blue-faced and still. He hadn’t thought twice of wielding Tenseiga in that moment, while his wife was still lost in the throes of a final bloody contraction.

They had never told her -- had never thought it would matter.

“​Sesshomaru!​ ” The raw desperation in her voice - that which she’s always managed to shield from him, before, even when begging for her own rescue - he can not bear it.

He stands, the blood and poison pouring from his own wounds forgotten. Jaken’s head bows at his silent command - ​stay with them.

-

The panther king’s demise is neither swift, nor merciful. 

-

“Happy birthday, little brother.” Rin bends before the memorial stone, hands pressed flat together. The surface of the rock is not yet wind-worn, and it’s nice to finally have a place in the village where she can go to remember him.

Akinori’s true grave is at the peak of a tall mountain, chosen by his mother. Lord Sesshomaru searched for weeks to find it, and Rin has never felt comfortable asking him to take her.

She hasn’t seen Kagura or Jaken in years. Somehow, she believes they are together.

A breeze rustles against the back of Rin’s bare neck, tickling the strands of closely-cut hair at her nape. She hunches her shoulders in response, wondering not for the first time if Lady Kagura stays away because of her - knowing that Rin has escaped death twice, a prize that cannot be given to anyone else.

Could I trade one of my lives for yours, Akinori? To see you smile again?

She doesn’t want to judge; Rin has no children of her own, as much as she likes them.

Both hands fall to her side as she stands. Tonight, Lord Sesshomaru will arrive to sit with her. When Kohaku gets home, the three of them will drink, and talk about anything other than what is the only thing they can truly think about.

Rin’s ​glad ​he comes, instead of wandering the woods alone.

-

On the dark night of the winter solstice, something calls him to Akinori’s mountaintop.

Part of him (the ​weak p​art, the one that pulled him through the Meido in search of a lost wind goddess’ soul and made him want to smile when his brother pulled a girl out of the Bone-eater’s Well) doesn’t want to go. It’s easier to grieve on the ground, where he can walk a mere ten yards to find some creature to tear apart in order to calm his racing heart.

But he’s long past the days when he would ignore his instincts. When his boots settle in the snow atop the grave’s peak, he sees that he is not alone.

“Lord Sesshomaru!” Tears flood Jaken’s eyes. He trips over the edge of the memorial stone in his hurry to bow. “How I’ve missed you!”

Kagura hunches her back and refuses to acknowledge him. Sesshomaru stands frozen - stunned that she and Jaken have remained together for this long without his servant’s demise, and at how little she has changed in the years since their last meeting.

“How is Rin? And Ah-Un? And Kohaku - oh, I’ve practically forgotten their foolish little faces!” Jaken continues to wail, waving the staff of two heads to emphasize the enormity of his struggles. Kagura clicks her tongue loudly, but the kappa soundly ignores her, and she tosses her head with a dramatic huff.

Sesshomaru resists the almost overpowering urge to embrace her. To do so would be foolish. The rejection would be swift and violent - most likely in the form of throwing him off the mountain. And why not? This particular failure of his has been the ultimate betrayal, far worse than simply allowing Naraku to destroy her. This had been a life she’d nurtured, suffered to bear - one she had ​cherished.

She swears under her breath in exhaustion, curling herself even tighter against his chest. Their newborn son is pressed safe between them, drooling against her collarbone. “I wish he looked more like me,” she mumbles. “Ah, well. Spoiled little prince...”

“Lord Sesshomaru, forgive me for my impertinence, but...” Jaken steps back slowly, in preparation to avoid punishment. “Are you well?”

He supposes he is not. Food and rest seem rather pointless; times when he can slow down enough to breathe, are also opportunities for memories of his loss to seep in. Other than a few visits to his human wards, and one to his mother (which ended quickly enough, when she used the meeting to make an offer of condolences that he does not wish to accept), Sesshomaru has not engaged socially with another creature since that terrible day. Much of his time is spent as it was in his adolescence - wandering the earth, searching for beings to challenge.

It is not as fulfilling as it once was.

“Oi.”

He blinks slowly in surprise, before turning his gaze to Kagura. Arms crossed over her chest, his wife (if she can still be called that, several years after having abandoned each other) appraises him with a cold stare.

“It’s going to snow tonight.” She nods towards the graying clouds. “We have a cave nearby, if you want to spend the night.”

Jaken squawks, vocalizing the disbelief that Sesshomaru himself feels. Kagura’s face reddens.

“Only because you look like shit,” she spits, words cracking in the air like glass. “What would it do to your reputation, to keel over from a little storm?”

The insult smarts, as though she’s taken Bakusaiga in hand and thoroughly tenderized him with it. Sesshomaru used to be strong, ​proud. T​he kind of being that others would come to for help, long ago, only to be dismissed for his own purposes.

Now, he is simply a father with two children who have grown up, and one who never got the chance to.

Now, Kagura is the one who curls her lip and turns away. 

-

Jaken fusses over him. It is a strangely welcome reminder of the old days. Kagura acts as though she doesn’t care, but it’s clear the two have developed a routine of sorts on their own - Jaken’s staff has place beside her fan, and they set up a small fire within the depth of the cave together without a single pause in their bickering.

The sense of unbelonging is uncomfortable. Sesshomaru sits as close to the entrance as he can, cold wind bearing against his back, to mute it.

“Eat this, my Lord!” Jaken bows his head, holding out a hunk of steaming meat. “There are tons of tasty creatures roaming around the mountains. It would be my pleasure to prepare as many as you’d like!”

He eats silently, ignoring the nausea that simmers under Kagura’s gaze. He does not know how to diffuse the unbearable tension between them, and so he will not try.

But when Jaken heads to the rear of the cave to sleep, there is no one else to put between them as a makeshift shield. And, despite his fervent prayers, Kagura does not leave her place on the opposite side of the fire.

It feels like centuries pass before she speaks.

“You left us.”

It’s three little words, but he knows exactly the moment of which she speaks. “I did.”

Outside, the wind screams as it drags snow from one side of the mountain and piles it against the other. Kagura pulls her kimonos tighter around her body, glaring into the fire.

He clears his throat. “I destroyed the panther king that day. Eradicated his tribe and his allies.” 

She nods stiffly.

“And I have not known peace for a single moment in the past three years.”

Her eyes flick up. “Do you think that’s what I want to hear?”

“It is the truth.”

Fingers crush the edge of her sleeve in a fist. In one swift moment, she stands and marches over to his side of the fire. Sesshomaru braces himself in expectation for a fighting blow.

Her palms slide against the side of his face, thumbs resting against the spot where his skin purples. Up this close, he can see lines of grief darken under her eyes, as the fire’s shadows bounce against them. The purple crescent moon on the side of her neck, tattooed during their wedding ceremony, has turned blood-red in the light.

“This doesn’t mean I forgive you,” she murmurs.

Then, she wraps him in a tight embrace. Her heartbeat thuds loudly in his ears, drowning out the roar of the snowstorm outside.

He doesn’t know it yet, but for the first time in years, Kagura sleeps soundly through the night. 

-

This doesn’t mean I forgive you.

S​he is wounded while razing a village, and does not object when Jaken calls him for aid.

This doesn’t mean I forgive you. 

S​esshomaru travels to meet Kohaku on a slayer’s trip, and a gust of wind floats by his side the entire way.

This doesn’t mean I forgive you. 

O​n the anniversary of the day Kagura lived again, they meet one another in an overgrown forest and don’t part ways until half a week later.

-

“Please?” Rin begs, tugging on Kagura’s arm. Though she’s well past the appropriate age for such childish actions, no one objects when she spends her parents’ visits practically glued to the wind witch’s side. “Lord Sesshomaru won’t tell me.”

“Ah.” Kagura glances over to where he stands in the corner, inspecting a weapon that Kohaku has mounted on the wall. “So you​ were l​istening to me, for once.”

“You said you wanted to keep it a secret,” he drones, carefully obscuring the relief that still arises in him that they can speak like this to one another, again. Things have progressed between them more than he could have ever imagined in the past few months; some days, he can almost believe that things will be like they were before.

Rin sighs in a long, guttural motion that sounds too much like his brother for Sesshomaru’s liking. “​Please?​ Jaken said it was good news.”

“Oh, of course that stupid frog would be the one to--”

“​Kaguraaaa​.” “Okay, fine.” The witch’s hand travels up to her hair, picking nervously at the feathers twisted into the base of her bun. “You’re going to have a sister by the time it’s autumn.”

Rin’s mouth drops; her head snaps over to where Lord Sesshomaru is trying very hard to look too busy to participate in the conversation. “What? But I thought you two were still--how did this even--” Her hands grip Kagura’s shoulders tightly. “Are you ​okay​?”

He’s apprehensive about the same thing. When everything on Earth still reminds them of Akinori, would another child only bring fear and resentment into the picture? Only by some strange miracle had they salvaged what tragedy had broken - the stress of another birth could easily rupture the wound again.

“I’m okay.” Kagura shrugs in a poor attempt to hide her discomfort. “Definitely didn’t miss the morning sickness, though.”

Rin sticks to her even more closely after that.

-

Mirai is born during a storm, a week and two days earlier than she is supposed to arrive. Despite the timing, she is red-faced and lively, screaming from her mother’s arms the moment she can breathe.

When she is old enough, her parents will take her to meet her older sister, and the grave of her older brother. Her grandfather’s sword and her mother’s fan will be her sixteenth birthday gifts.

But for now, she rests in the crook of her mother’s arm, lulled asleep by the wind.

“She sure is loud,” Kagura mumbles, tracing a tiny ear with one finger. “Guess we should prepare for a sleepless winter.”

Sesshomaru hums wordlessly in agreement. As he shifts, to shield them both from the cold seeping through the nearby window, Kagura grabs his arm with her free hand.

“I don’t blame you anymore, by the way.” Her words slur with fatigue. “I haven’t for a long time.”

He could tell her that her forgiveness is not necessary to keep them together. That, regardless of what she does, he will always blame himself first and foremost.

Instead, Sesshomaru leans over to rest his chin atop her head. “Sleep, now.”

“Right, right.” Her eyes close, lips turning up in what is unmistakably a smile. “You better stay where you are, or else...”

He would not be able to step away if he wanted to.

[dancingthesambaa]

The Smell of Plum Blossom Tea Ch 8

Summary: Just like a butterfly wing, a single act of kindness can change the course of the future, it certainly did for MK as a black-furred monkey put out a hand towards him

Rating: Teen and up

Chapter 8: One By One

It’s been over a few weeks since the whole Bull King invasion and things have been pretty peaceful. The city has slowly begun to rebuild itself and people have steadily begun to go back to their day to day lives.

If there's one thing he can appreciate about society is that they always will keep going even when everything around them has been destroyed.

Macaque's own workload has finally eased up, the hospital didn’t anticipate that many wounded in that short span and wasn’t able to gather the materials. So, he has gotten calls from both Yanyu and some of the higher ups in the field for his assistance.

“This has been a pain in the ass,” he grumbled as he sat down on the couch with his cup of tea. “I really shouldn’t have let them off so easily for the fuckton of work they put on me.” His was then twitched as he heard a familiar/strange set of feet dashing their way towards him.

“Dad!” He sees his son, who had his jacket tied around his waist and staff nowhere in sight, smiles widely as he leaps to him and gives him a big hug, “it’s been so long!”

“Hey kiddo,” he was taken momentarily off guard by the hug, but smiled down at him as he petted his hair. “How was work?”

“Oh I didn’t go, someone is taking care of that,” he happily stated as he still held on tight.

Macaque blinked for a moment before he gave a small chuckle, “oh, is that so, well I was about to read and relax, you want to join?”

“Can you read out loud?” He cheerfully asked as he got himself comfortable on the couch as he laid down.

“Of course.”

“Yay!”

So Macaque began to tell the story of a blind girl and how she stood strong in the face of adversity and ridicule. He was in the middle of the part where the girl denies the deity gift of giving her sight when he heard the door slam open wide.

“Stay away from my Dad!/Don't worry old man, we're here!” MK and Mei respectively shouted out as they both held staff and sword out to fight the battle ahead, only to falter as they took in the scene of Mac sitting quite comfortably on the couch, while another MK laid on his lap with a content smile. “Uhhhh.”

“Took you long enough,” he said with amusement, “I was almost about to send a clone out to you myself.”

“Huh?”

“What? You don’t think I can’t tell a clone apart from my son?” He smirked as he patted the clone ahead, the only response was cuddling closer to him.

“You know?!” MK yelled out as he walked forward, still a bit cautious after his encounters with the rest of his clones.

He only raised an eyebrow as he showed off his shadow clone.

“Oooh, yeah that makes sense.”

“How come he didn’t attack you!” Mei threw her hands up in frustration. “I mean, come on! I had to deal with Portay MK and you have Mr. Cuddle Bug?!”

“Attack, Pfft yeah that's what usually happens during the first duplicate trials,” he said as he laid his book down.

“I’m sorry what?” MK has put away the staff at this point as he tried to sit next to his Dad, only to forget that the space was currently occupied by another him. He stared down at the clone laying in his spot then the clone looked up at him and just turned around and faced away from him.

“No,” was all he said as the next moment the clone disappeared and there sat the real MK with a wide grin, “so what was that about the trials?”

The six eared monkey raised an eyebrow at his son's actions as Mei wheezed in the background, “well usually when someone is learning the clone technique most of the time the clones would try to attack the user to prove their authority or their sense of identity.”

“That is actually terrifying,” he deadpanned.

“I thought you already knew this?” He questioned his son, who suddenly blushed.

“Well I may have accidentally learned I can do this,” he scratched the back of his neck as he laid on his Dad's lap.

“And you decided to test it out despite not knowing the consequences,” he sighed as he examined his son hair which was now sporting some very uneven ends and patches, “you even messed up your hair cause of this, I thought I taught you to not mess with magic unless you have me or someone competent in the arts.”

“I know, I know, but I just wanted some sleep and quiet!” He moaned out as he let the furry hands caress the knots and tangles in his hair, “I didn’t think it would lead up to this.”

“That’s how they all start,” he snorted as he felt Mei sit on his other side and lay on his shoulder, “so why don’t you tell me how this all began and tell me a bit more about your training with Wukong. I haven’t heard back on how that’s been going.”

“Training with the Monkey King is amazing!” He lit up as he talked all about his sessions.

Macaque silently listened to his son ramble on about his training sessions with Wukong and boy did that still send him reeling.

He still can’t believe that this is happening, that in all of these strange currents of events, Wukong actually made his son his successor. He still doesn't know how to feel about that cause, on one hand, damn straight his child can lift the staff no one has ever been able to before, he is so proud that he accomplished the impossible that mere words still can’t explain it. But on the other hand, Wukong recklessly decided to choose his son to be his successor despite his many enemies, does that idiot not comprehend the target he just placed on his back.

‘I swear I have half the mind to go up there and knock him silly for his complete ignorance…though how everything goes after that is the only thing that’s stopping me,’ Mac internally thought. ‘Who knows how he would react if I show up unannounced…probably would be just the sequel of our last fight,’ he bitterly thought. He has long accepted that his former friend probably wanted nothing to do with him anymore if they ever saw each other again.

“And then he goes on about how one must never- are you even paying attention?!” MK's voice broke out of his thoughts.

“Yeah I am, you were just talking about how your swings are easily blockable.”

“They are not that bad,” he huffed.

“You swing too wide comet/You hit like it’s a baseball bat,” both demon and teenager said.

“Okay, I may have a small issue.”

“And that’s why you're training,” he said as he took his hands out of his hair when he began to yawn.

“Yeah I know,” he sleepily said as he closed his eyes.

‘At least he is enjoying himself,’ he then focused his attention on Mei, who was also dozing off and began to groom her hair as well.

“Is that the best you got flame brain,” Daiyu cackled out as she flew higher in the air and dodged the fireball, “I met imps who were stronger than that-shit!” She felt a sharp pain explode from her back.

“Don’t you dare think you can outmatch me, little bird!” Red Son cockily stated as he twisted one of her wings and the two began to a downward spiral. “I have fought monsters thrice the size of you and remained victorious!”

“Not today's string bean!” She squawked out as she flips on her back as the two were falling so that the fire demon could break her fall.

It was a tense stand off as neither side gave in even when they were free falling, it was only when they were ten feet away from the ground did he jump off her. He hoped that this would have worked and broken a few of her bones, but alas it didn’t as she caught herself just before and stopped herself.

“Tch,” he clicked his tongue in agitation as he went in for another strike for her wings, only to get batted off.

“Ha, ain’t fooling me again Flicker! Or maybe that candle on your head is finally reaching its end!” She went for his neck only to get buffed by his hand grabbing her beak.

“I’ll show you who's reaching their end once I burn you into a fiery crisp that not even your brethren would want to feast upon!” He tried to keep her in his hold as he lit up, but she managed to kick free of his grasp.

“Ha! I like to see you try! My shithead brothers and sisters would eat everything and I’m not even counting the chicks that just hatched!” She flew up high and prepared for a dive bomb.

“Let’s find out!” His entire body began to lit up in flames as his eyes bore into her.

“They seem to be having fun,” Bohai said as he lazily watched them.

“Two people who like the thrill of the battle going at it, of course, they like this shit,” Minsheng scoffed as they laid down, “at least they're not doing battles to the death anymore, that usually gets bloody way too fast.”

“And leaves me having to deal with their injured asses,” Macaque grumbled as he petted the infant monkey's head.

“Your friends,” the jellyfish pointed out.

“I was forced into this,” he stated.

“And we’re still here,” the rabbit demon grinned.

“Unfortunately.”

MK and Mei, on the other hand, still couldn’t believe their eyes as they continued to see the arrogant demon that was trying to kill them happily fighting. Well the fight part not really, but the happy thing was a bit out of left field. They had walked into the sounds of fighting and, while still being very cautious as they remembered Mac and Ahmed's last fight, quietly tried to investigate what was happening. So to see this scene was a little jarring once they realized that the two were simply sparring with each other.

“Huh, I have to say this is the quickest redemption arc I have ever seen,” Mei mused, “not even a month ago he was trying to kill us and now he is all buddy buddy with Dad and his friends.”

“To be fair, I think they mentioned him before,” MK said.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” the said monkey popped in, “I have. I actually have known him longer than the both of you. His family sometimes would stop by for some items from time to time.”

“Huh, well that’s honestly not that big of a shock,” Mei pouted as they watched Red Son finally pin the vulture demon down.

“I told you, you can’t beat me! For I am Red Son, prince to the esteemed Demon Bull King and the mighty Princess Iron Fan!” He maniacally laughed.

“You're a prince!” He was startled out of it when two voices reached over to him.

“Indeed I am! Who dares step forward and-,” he stops himself mid sentence when he sees noodle boy and biker girl familiar faces. His face drops, “oh it’s you two.”

“Like I knew DBK was your dad and all, but it never occurred to me that you would be a prince with, well you know,” Mei hummed out.

“With what?” He growled the last bit out.

“With you being a reckless, two-bit side character that likes to leap before they walk,” she bluntly said.

“I am no mere Side Character!” He bowled out as his hair flame intensified.

“Aren’t you though?”

“I’m not”

“But you can be, like how I can totally be one as well.”

“I am no mere side character,” he spat out, “I am the antagonist that stands against the hero path! I am the flame of destruction that threatens to consume all! I am the prince of the feared and mighty who takes pride in oneself and all that they do!”

“…okay but aren’t some villains side characters?” She couldn’t help it, she was having way too much fun at this point.

“I AM NOT A SIDE CHARACTER!”

“I feel like we have gotten meta somewhere,” MK muttered out and then walked forward before Mei could say anything that would trigger the raging flame demon anymore. “Hi! I know we didn’t really introduce ourselves after…that, but I’m MK and she's Mei.”

“…Red Son,” he eyed the smiling boy in front of him, “and I already knew who you are, your father talks much about the two of you.”

“Awwww, fluffy head does,” Mei cooed as she turned to face Macaque, who was resolutely not looking in their direction.

“Wait, if you knew who we were, why did you attack?” The Monkie Kid couldn’t help but ask.

Surprising the both of them, the prince blushed a bit out of embarrassment as he muttered out, “I didn’t know it was the two of you in the first place.”

“How?!” Mei sputtered out. “Like we were probably screaming each other's names so many times?!”

“No! You peasants were just screaming! Nothing short of a name has ever come up in the middle of it all!”

“Wait-so that’s why you called me Noodle boy?”

“Noodle boy?” She snorted.

“Your biker girl,” he hissed out.

“Biker girl…hmm not that bad actually,” she put her hand under her chin, “though did you seriously just come up with that because of what we were doing?”

“Yes,” the demon unashamedly said.

Both humans looked at one another before they both laughed wildly.

“Hahaha! Holy shit, you are such a dork,” the dragon girl clutched her stomach.

“By the Gods, that is kinda adorable,” the monkey's successor was pounding his fist on the ground.

“I am neither a dork nor adorable!” The Bull prince roared out as he marched over to them in fury. “Take that back!”

“NEVER!”

“And thus the start of a beautiful friendship,” Macaque couldn’t help but say as the demon began to chase the two around.

“Yeah, I worked my back off for it,” Daiyu grumbled as she finally got off the ground from where Red Son was pinning her down. “That whole time I just wanted to throttle him at them just so I could feel my wings again.”

“Don’t worry, your wings have some use finally,” Minsheng couldn’t help but say.

Daiyu promptly smacked her wings against their head.

“What do you mean disappeared?” Mei asked MK when he rushed inside their super secret base.

“All I know is that they were shopping and now I can’t contact nor find either one of them!” MK freaked out as he gripped his staff. “What if they're in trouble?”

“Take a deep breath MK,” Sandy rubbed the human back, “we don’t know that, their phones could simply be out of batteries or they got lost talking to each other.”

“Even though they’ll never admit it,” he said.

“Exactly, but the shop isn’t open!”

That drew out sharp gasps as now they began to panic.

“He has never not opened his store before!” Sandy shouted as he gripped his hair.

“I think he’s been kidnapped!” MK screamed in agreement.

“I immediately fear the worst!”

Mei rushed over to one of the screens and began to type in a few things and up on the screen appeared both people talking to a lady.

“They haven’t been carted away to treacherous territories,” the giant sighed in relief.

“Oh thank god they're still shopping,” MK sagged in relief as he saw this, “wait Mei what is this?”

“I had cameras placed on all of you and you said this was creepy,” she has already lost her brother once, that was not about to happen again.

“That still is.”

“Oh look now they're following that nice lady, see they're just fine,” Sandy inputted as they watched the two slowly follow the woman shrouded in black when suddenly there was a trap that opened underneath them, “AH! I was wrong! I was wrong! This is bad! This is very bad!”

“Nightmare hole!” The twenty year old screamed out as Mei's eyes widened in shock, “what happened?”

“It looks like?” She began to enhance and zoom into the blurred picture and when it became clear it showed an eight legged spider lady standing above them all.

“A spider demon! Come on! No! Ew! Yuck! I do not want to mess with spiders of any kind! I hate spiders! Hate, hate, hate spiders! With their beady eyes and their creepy wiggly legs and their gross butt!”

“MK, right now that spider demon has our friends so you know what that means,” Sandy pumped them up. “It’s Operation save Pigsy and Tang from the Nightmare Hole!”

“Yeah!” Both teens pumped their fists in the air along with the cat.

“Should we call Macaque for backup,” Sandy asked as he started up the engine.

“Nope!” MK quickly said before Mei could, “we can do this on our own!”

MK slowly began to back away as the Spider demon loomed over him menacingly. She had managed to capture Sandy and Mei as well and only he was the last one standing. “I regret everything I said.”

“Aww, don’t tell me you're scared of spiders!” She said as she stepped into the light then that faint tickling in the back of his head finally eased up at the full reveal.

“Wait? I know you!” His jaw dropped as he saw just exactly who was standing in front of him.

“What?” They all shouted even Spider Queen who was stunned out of sheer confusion.

“No wonder you look familiar! Daiyu talks about you all the time,” MK stated as he lost some of his fear at the relief of finally knowing why she seemed so familiar.

Though as his fear was momentarily suppressed the Spider Queen was not as she blanched at the name, “you know Daiyu!”

“Oh yeah, she has a bone to pick with you after you ripped her off, she said something about wanting to pluck the meat off of your corpse after she gets done beating you to a pulp or something like that.”

“I am now concerned by that statement,” Pigsy said.

“Oh don’t worry, she’s a vulture demon,” Mei happily responded.

“That does not make it better.”

“Does for me sweetheart,” Tang smiled, “it makes sense for a vulture to go for a corpse because they are cartoons. It’s actually quite fascinating-,”

“Tang I love you, but please don’t say that as we’re currently being tied up like a lamb ready for the slaughter,” Pigsy begged.

“…what?”

The pig and human eyes widened at what both said, but luckily they didn’t have to say anything as the Spider Queen roared in rage.

“I may be a slicker, but I ain’t no sham when it comes to my silk! Tell that chicken legged, deep fried coward that I will personally send her down under if she even instigates that I would do that!” She roared in rage as she stood tall in MK, who promptly got scared once more as he realized what he just said.

“MK run!” Pigsy yelled out.

“Don’t need to tell me twice!” MK slid between the Spider Queen legs and he began to book it.

“Get back here little monkey boy!”

“I feel like I should tell Daiyu where Spider Queen has been hiding,” MK mused as they floated along the ocean.

“As long as I’m there, I really want to see her explode in fury before the bloodbath happens,” Mei snorted as she laid across the top.

“You know, I sometimes worry about you,” Pigsy looked at the young lady at that statement.

“Fuzz butt says that too.”

“Shouldn’t you listen to your doctor?”

“Shouldn’t you listen to what you said back at the cave, don’t you think just because we were tied up doesn’t mean I don’t have ears,” she teased as Sandy nodded.

“Wait, what happened?” MK looked at both of them in confusion.

Sandy leaned over and whispered what happened and the boy's eyes widened and sparkled with glee. “Ohohoho!”

“It was the slip of a tongue,” Tang said as he pushed up his glasses in nervousness. “Nothing more.”

“Yeah, what he said, just a slip of the tongue,” Pigsy twisted his hands.

“Some slip, some would say that it almost sounded like,” the twenty year old girl leaned in with a mischievous glint in her eyes, “an old married couple would say to one another.”

“WE ARE NOT A COUPLE!” They both shouted and they shared glances at each other only to catch a view of their red faces and promptly turn to face away from them.

“If you say so,” she backed off with her hands up.

“And we say so,” the pig crossed his arms.

“Very much so,” Tang copied.

Both Sandy and MK were in the background holding back their laughs as they could barely keep it together.

MK woke up to the shake of an earthquake and his whole world feeling off balance.

At first, he wrote this off as the aftermath of the earthquake as he quickly got ready for work as he prayed Pigsy doesn’t fire him. But as he walked down the street with his drink in hand he still couldn't help, but felt his whole world was just off balance, like everything was just missing a beat or so, it was the weirdest feeling.

“Maybe I just banged my head too hard, should probably ask Dad to check in case,” he muttered in his straw as he was about to yell out when he saw Mei standing in the middle of the road. “Mei, I’m glad you’re here!”

“Yes I am right here,” she grinned widely, “and what’s this about calling your Dad?”

“I don’t know if I have a concussion or something else, but something seems really off and I can’t put my finger on what,” he groaned.

“It’s nothing, just relax. Today is all about you.”

“Aren’t you usually the one who usually tells me to call him if things are getting too sticky to handle?” MK questioned as that off balance feeling was coming in full force.

“I am?” He could almost see her face contort for a brief moment before going back to her previous creepy grin, “I mean I am! But he’s probably busy doing stuff sweetie.”

“Sweetie,” he looked at her in pure disgust.

“I mean dear friend,” he never thought someone could grin that wide.

“Even when he’s in the middle of making medicine he always answers,” at this point he has begun to back up from Mei. He did not like just how off this whole thing was and it wasn’t helping that the crowd was just watching them.

“Don’t worry,” she ominously said, “I’m sure…”

“Macaque,” he supplied as he quickly got into position to bolt out of there as soon as he had the chance. This was definitely not Mei!

“Right Macaque will be just-!” Not just Mei, but the entire crowd of people's heads snapped towards MK.

“Did you just say Macaque!” They all yelled out.

“Yeah?!?” He was now more than freaking out as he looked for possible exits, he was not about to stay here a moment longer if he could. But then his whole world began to fade away as he saw the people just shake their heads and arms as they seem to glitch out.

“Nope, nuh uh, F this! Plan is officially done! Do not collect after Go! Finish!” He blinked his eyes as he saw that he was now in a shack and standing in front of him was a blue and orange demon. The blue one was just holding a jar of some kind, while the orange one was speaking.

“Done! Capital D.O.N.E! Done!”

“I think he gets it Jin,” the blue demon said.

“Well excuse me for being freaked out about this! Why aren’t you freaking out about this?!”

“Oh I am, one moment,” he said as he carefully put down the jar, “there we go….We freaking messed up so bad!” The demon began to panic, “like this is going to the top thirty bad.”

“Fucckkk!” Jin said as he gripped his hair.

“What is going on?!” MK yelled out his frustration as he collected the staff and kept a tight grip on it. “Who are you?!”

The two demons paused their freak out as they both dramatically posed.

“I am Jin!” The orange demon jumped up.

“And I am Yin!” The blue demon bowed low.

“And together,” they both said in sync as Jin landed on top of Yin back, “we are the Gold/Silver and Silver/Gold demons!”

There was a silence as both parties looked at each other before both brothers then began to fight over the name.

“It’s Gold and Silver nitwit!”

“No, it's Silver and Gold half bake!”

“Seriously, what is going on and why am I here?” He reiterated his point as that got the two to stop fighting.

“We heard about the great Monkie kid and knew he would be a worthy adversary,” Yin stated as he crossed his arms.

“Yes, so after our cunning plan we called out to you and you foolishly,” they both pointed to him, “answered.”

“…I was delivering noodles of course I was gonna answer,” his eyes twitched at the sheer ridiculousness of this.

“But you still answered and fell right into our plan to use you for our nefarious purposes!” Gin dramatically laughed.

“Until we knew that you were the Six Eared Macaque kid,” Yin added.

“Yeah before that,” he stopped his laughter, “we know we’re certifiably insane, but we ain’t stupid.”

“Yeah, we know better than to try to mess with what’s Macaque, I heard the last demon who tried that was tormented by him for a hundred days,” the blue demon shivered.

“I heard he once pulled the inside out of another demon just because he was having a bad day.”

“Well I heard he took on and defeated an entire army so that he could pass by.”

“I heard that he can suck some demon body and soul into a cursed item and make them fight for him.”

“Oh that one’s true,” MK butted in as at this point he sat down as he realized that they were not even a threat, just very amusing.

Both of them shivered as they looked at him in horror, “wait really!?”

“Yep!”

“Check that rumor off as being real,” Jin groaned as Yin held out a rather large book.

“Already on it.”

“What’s that?” MK asked.

“Oh it’s just a book with basically any rumors we happen to come across,” Yin proudly showed off, “most of them are probably not true, but it is amusing to hear. Like this one, it’s rumored that the Demon Bull King lost his horn after he insulted a deity and it broke off from sheer embarrassment after she had slapped him silly for a couple of hours.”

“Snrk!” He let out a sputter at the sheer ridiculousness.

“The Celestial Heavens is actually a conspiracy used to hide the good alcohol, cause if that shit was freely given the whole world would be gone.”

“Pffffft!”

“That we are actually all standing on a hand right now, but we just can’t see it.”

“Hahahaha!” MK let it out as he clutched his stomach. “These sound so stupid!”

“I know right!” Jin grinned, “that’s why we record them, cause they sound just so dumb!”

“They really do,” the Monkie kid said as he got his laughter back in control and sat back up, “so you're not gonna try to capture me again?”

“Like we said before, Monkey King is one thing, but we ain’t messing with Macaque. If you think Monkey King has a grudge, you should see that trickster when he really has time to think and plan on revenge,” the orange demon said.

“Ain’t nobody gonna get in his way,” the blue demon finished.

“Good!” He should probably ask about all his Dad’s revenge stories sometimes, he knows they would be good ones then a thought occurred to him as he scrunched up his nose. “So, why did you have Mei call me sweetie?”

“Ask Jin,” he pointed to his brother.

“Well, I thought since you guys are childhood friends and all you have feelings for one another, you know, like in the books and all that,” he shrugged his shoulders.

“Crush?! On Mei?! Grosss!” He yelled out as he can almost feel himself puke at the thought, “Yuck! No! God no! She is basically my sister!”

“I told ya.”

“You didn’t tell me shit.”

“Don’t fucking cuss around kids,” Yin hissed out.

“Well you should shut your damn trap!” Jin snarled back.

“Least threatening villains ever,” MK muttered to himself, “Wait? Did you seriously try to invoke the childhood friends trope? Like in romance novels?”

“Yeah!” Jin proudly stated.

“You read romance books?”

“You don’t? They are the best kinds of books with all the drama that surrounds them, the clashing of emotions, the tightly packed metaphors that can be placed in one paragraph to describe someone’s eyes. It's simply awesome! Have you read them?”

“Not really,” he admitted.

“I can give you some recommendations! Then we can-”

“Nope,” Yin drew his brother back, “we are not about to have a repeat of last time. Remember how you burned down the bookstore?”

“They deserve it for saying Ballad of the Desert was overrated,” he growled out.

“True, but we were supposed to be on the down low after nicking off with some bastard goods, I did not like having to run around with the gang on our asses, so we are leaving,” he deadpanned.

“Fineee!” He groaned out as the two suddenly stood upright and raised their hands. “We will meet again one day, Monkie Kid!” Then they threw down what was in their hands and a plume of smoke appeared in their spots.

“Bleh,” he waved the air around him as he heard a laugh and turned around to see them in the street.

“Hahaha! We’re the greatest tricksters!” Gin said with his arms crossed once more.

“Ever! Also please don’t tell Macaque about us trying to capture you! Thank you, bye!” Yin finished as the two disappeared in a flash of smoke for the final time.

MK could only stare at the empty space in pure shock as he tried to process just what happened.

“…I’m just gonna go back to the shop,” he gave up as he begrudgingly walked back to his car.

[miraculous-ninjabird]

This is my half of a collaboration I did with @ezlikessharks as a gift for our mutual friend @enbyjaywalker

You can find their half here

the fic is also on Ao3 here

I hope you like it!

Title: An Acceptable Proposal

Words: 2209

Warnings: None. Just self-indulgent fluff

Samuraishipping + background Oppositeshipping

“Zane! I need your assistance!” Pixel bursts into the room. He lets out an undignified squawking sound, dropping the dish he had been holding. Feeling just the tiniest bit guilty about that, she picks it up and hands it back to him.

“Pixal! You startled me! What can I do for you?” He pauses putting away the dishes to look at her.

“I am planning to propose to Nya when we go out tonight, remember? I need you to help me make sure all the preparations are in place.”

“Is tonight the night? Pixal that’s wonderful! It completely slipped my mind. How can I help?”

“I have a number of things that need to be confirmed and some things that need to be collected while Kai and I go to pick up the ring, along with a few other things,” Pixal hands him a list. “It would be very beneficial if you could meet us at the park when you are finished to help set things up.”

Zane takes the list, scanning the contents.

“This seems reasonable. I will get started on it just as soon as I am finished here. When should I plan to meet you?”

“Thank you so much! We will be there around 5pm or so. Jay should be meeting us there also. I have to leave around 5:30 to get ready to meet her, so the three of you will have to finish setting up without me. Can you make sure it’s all ready by the time we come through at 7:30?”

Zane salutes her “Your wish is my command.”

Pixal thanks him profusely once again before rushing off. Not a single moment to waste! Tonight had to be perfect.

“So tell me again why you need me here?” Kai asks as he pulls open the door to the jewelry store. Pixal steps inside, clutching the pick up slip for the ring tight to her chest.

“You’re the only other person who knows Nya as well as I do. I want you to do the final check on the ring to make sure it is something she will like. And I haven’t forgotten you telling me you wanted to do something similar for Zane in the near future. We can’t have that double wedding you and Nya are so heartset on if you don’t get a ring yourself.” She gives him a pointed look, and his face flushes a deep red.

“Touche,”

Kai wanders off to browse the cases, and Pixal makes her way up to the counter.

“Good afternoon! How can I help you today?” The clerk greets cheerfully.

“I have a pick up for Pixal Borg, please,” She hands the slip over. The clerk takes it, reading it carefully.

“Your timing is perfect Miss Borg! This shipment just came in yesterday. Give me a moment to get it ready.” He takes the receipt and hurries away, leaving Pixal to join Kai in his browsing. She finds him staring hard at one of the cases.

“Find something you like?” She inquires.

“Actually, I think so,” He points to a specific ring. “Do you think Zane would like something like that?”

The ring in question has a twisted silver band set with two sapphires, one pink and one blue. It’s beautiful, and simplistic in a way Zane would like.

“That would be a good choice. Though I think Zane would be happy with just about anything you chose for him.” She offers. It was true. Zane loved him so much it wouldn’t take any real effort on Kai’s part to impress him. Kai could propose with a ring of paperclips and the nindroid would be overjoyed.

Pixal doesn’t get to hear Kai’s thoughts on things though, as the clerk calls her back over.

“Here you are! One custom engagement ring, ready to go!” He hands the box over to her. Hesitantly, Pixal opens it. This will be her first time seeing the final product in real life. Inside sits one of the most stunning pieces of jewelry she has ever seen. Nya’s phoenix symbol is carved into it, set with a sapphire eye. The carving is flanked on either side by two small diamonds. Without a word, she shows the contents to Kai. He lets out a low whistle.

“She’s gonna love that, Pix.”

The approval helps to relieve a little of the worried knot that was forming in her stomach. That was a relief. She turns back to the clerk, and Kai wanders back over to the ring from earlier.

“Can I set up a payment plan for the remainder that I still owe on it?”

“Sure thing! I’ll just need some information from you first…”

Once that is sorted out, she collects Kai and they head out. She doesn’t miss the fact that he is now clutching a little pick-up slip of his own. Seems Nya was going to get her double wedding afterall...

The jewelry store had taken longer than she was anticipating, so by the time she and Kai finished up with the rest of the things on their list they were running a little behind. When they finally reach the park, Pixal only has a few minutes before she has to leave. Zane is already there, and so is Jay.

“Pixal! Kai! Over here!” Zane calls out. Once they are a little closer, he continues. “I was able to complete everything on your list. The photographer is confirmed, I got the approval from the city to change the lights in the fountain and hang the lights in the trees, and I dropped your dress for tonight off at home for you. Did you get the ring?”

“Yes, and Kai has the rest of the lights. I appreciate your help in all of this. I wish I could stay, but I really have to be going if I want to be on time.”

“Yes. Go, go. I can handle directing these two here,” Zane makes a shooing motion with his hand. “You go have fun and I promise things will be ready for you when you return.”

Pixal shouts more thank-yous at them as she walks away. She would be eternally grateful, as this was not something she would have been able to do on her own. The only things left to do now were get herself ready, meet Nya, and then...ask her the big question. Simple enough. She could do this.

Maybe asking Nya to meet her at the restaurant was a bad idea. Originally Pixal was thinking it would give her extra time to compose herself, but honestly? It was just making things worse. It didn’t help that she had gotten there early, and that Nya was now running late. What if something had happened to her on the way here? What if there had been an emergency team summons and Pixal had somehow missed it? How long should she sit here by herself? Maybe she should call Nya? Just to make sure she was okay?

Just as that thought occurs to her, the door chimes. It wasn’t the first time it had happened since she’d gotten here, but she whips around to see who it is regardless. A visible weight lifts off her shoulders when she sees that this time, it is Nya. The host leads her over to the table, and Pixal is able to get a good look at her.

It’s a good thing Pixal doesn’t need to breathe.

“I’m so sorry I’m late! Cole took me to a painting workshop today and it ran over. I didn’t want to show up in paint clothes so I ran home first.” She gasps. She must have walked because she doesn’t have that windblown look that comes from riding her motorcycle. She has on a midnight blue tunic dress, paired with dark leggings and a sparkly belt. Instead of her usual ponytail, her hair is pulled into a low braid across her shoulders.

“Nya, you look positively radiant.”

“Thank you. You look pretty good yourself. The butterfly clip is a nice touch,” She winks as she sits down. “This place is pretty fancy. What’s the special occasion?”

Pixal’s brain momentarily stutters, trying to come up with a reasonable answer. She reaches a hand into her dress pocket, clutching the ring box.

“Do I need a special occasion to be able to treat my partner to a night out?” She questions. Nya laughs.

“No, I guess not. I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t forgotten something.”

“Well in that case, don’t worry. There is no special significance to tonight you should be aware of,” Pixal smiles softly. At least not any that Nya was aware of. “So tell me about your day. You mentioned Cole took you to an art class?”

“Yeah! I wasn’t expecting that at all but it was actually really fun…” Nya starts rambling about her day. Pixal listens intently, focusing all attention on Nya. The way her eyes light up when she gets excited was always enchanting. First Master, she was so in love.

The rest of their evening at the restaurant passes without incident. They talk about how busy they’ve been lately, about all the upgrades Pixal is planning to do to her samurai X mech, and about how nice it was to be able to finally have a night to themselves. Nothing out of the ordinary for them, other than the massive ball of nerves that was weighing heavily in her stomach.

It only got worse as they settled the bill and left.

“So do you have anything else fun planned for tonight?”

“I was hoping you would accompany me on a walk through the park?” Pixal offers an arm out to her. Nya takes it, linking them together.

“Of course! I would love too. Lead the way.” She gives Pixal a peck on the cheek for good measure.

Making their way to the park, she hopes against all hope that the three she had left behind had been successful in getting things ready. The park soon comes into view, and she breathes a miniscule sigh of relief when she can make out the lights glittering in the distance against the setting sun.

“Hey, what’s that over there?” Nya asks, pointing.

“Would you like to go and take a look?” Nya nods, and Pixal leads her in that direction. Even though she had planned this whole thing out, she is taken by surprise at just how good things had turned out. Delicate lights are strung through the trees, warm and inviting. The fountain in the center of the plaza she’d picked was lit up with soft blues and purples. She can’t identify where it was coming from, but someone was playing soft music. That was a nice touch. She was forever going to be in Zane’s debt for making sure things went off without a hitch.

“This is beautiful!” Nya whispers, releasing Pixal’s arm. She steps forward, taking it all in. The way Nya looks around in wonder makes her think that all the work that went into planning was worth it. “But what’s it for?”

Taking a deep breath, Pixal fishes the ring out of her pocket. This was it.

“Well, my dear...this is all for you.”

“All for me? What do you mean by that-” she turns around in confusion. Pixal takes that moment to drop to one knee, and Nya’s eyes go wide.

“Nya, you are my everything. You’ve done so much for me. You helped build me a body, gave me freedom. You gave up your mantle as Samurai X to me when you didn’t even know who I was. You taught me what it really means to love, and I love you with every fiber of my being. Every moment I spend with you feels like an eternity. There isn’t a single other person I could imagine spending my life with. So, would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”

She opens the box, heart thundering in her chest. Nya’s mouth is open in a gasp. With one shaky hand, she reaches out and takes the ring. The sapphire eye of the phoenix symbol engraved on it glints in the light as she studies it.

“Oh Pixal…” Her eyes fill tears, and she launches herself at Pixal.

The heavy weight that had been following her all was lifted as she welcomed Nya with open arms. She had no words to describe the pure elation that was filling her. In one swift move, she bends down and catches Nya’s lips in a fierce kiss. Nya kisses back just as fiercely. When they part, they both collapse into a fit of giggles.

“I take it that you find my proposal acceptable then?” She whispers.

“Yes. Yes I do.” Nya whispers back, pressing their foreheads together. She is grinning wildly, and her eyes shone. Pixal imagines she looks much the same.

“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you so much.”

“However much you love me, I love you more.”

Pixal pulls her into another kiss, this one softer. As long as she had Nya by her side, the two of them would be unstoppable.

[jeanandthedreamofhorses]

Freedom of the Raven, Freedom of the Gull: The Ideologies of Eren and Armin

squawk

So, birds represent freedom. Towards the start and end of this chapter, we see two different kinds of birds, and therefore two different kinds of freedom. Eren brings about ravens, black-feathered birds who feast upon death; whereas Armin encounters a seagull, the bird of Armin’s beloved ocean, coloured white like the symbol of peace.

Between these two birds of opposite colours (matching Eren’s dark and Armin’s fair hair, no less) we see the difference between Eren and Armin’s opposite ideals of freedom.

The ocean wasn’t disillusioning for Armin like it was for Eren. Even knowing there are enemies beyond the sea, Armin still believed freedom possible. He always had faith in the potential for peace. It makes sense, then, that he’d still have faith in such a bird as the seagull - a bird indicative of the ocean and all the freedom it promised.

Annie accuses Armin’s optimism in this regard as a desire to run away from conflict. Bullied as he was as a child, it makes sense for the sensitive Armin to avoid violence when possible. 

But Armin refutes this - after all, he chose to fling himself into a living hell fighting against the titans. He acknowledges that this world isn’t what he wanted or expected, but still holds out hope in spite of that. Rather than running away from conflict, peace is something Armin is running towards.

Fear does not guide his actions, but a great hope - hope for the peaceful idyll that was once in his dreams. That is the nature of Armin’s freedom. 

But as Armin speaks these words, Eren’s eyes are closed. He cannot see the optimistic future Armin envisions. Perhaps because, having seen the future, he knows that such a world could never come to pass.

Eren’s conception of freedom is very different from Armin’s. It has revealed itself to him as an ugly truth - in a dog-eat-dog world, freedom is the right of the strong. The conflict of the world will never end, and freedom for all is nothing more than a fairy tale. Freedom for one and one’s own, at the expense of everyone else, is the best one can hope for.

So, when Eren finally sees the vast expanses of his accomplished freedom, it is inevitably mingled with a scene of abominable bloodshed.

Eren, who has remained true to his longing for freedom from the start - who, from the very beginning, was willing to murder the slavers who stood in the way of his friend’s freedom - fulfils the dream of his child self in that very form. His freedom is the freedom of ravens and crows, those birds that live by feasting on the dead. Only through the destruction of his enemies can his freedom come about.

And so, with this ultimate act of destruction, he breaks through all walls and stands atop the sky - a symbol of freedom he has found far more promising, far more fulfilling, than the empty promises of the sea.

(It is also worth noting that the Norse god Odin kept two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, and were considered messengers of the god. This aligns well with other parallels between Eren and Odin. Odin was a war god, and, like Eren, was ruthless in the pursuit of his desires.)

Eren’s conception of freedom is much more morbid than Armin’s, but it is also much more grounded in fact and experience. The history of the world of SNK, along with Eren’s foreknowledge of the future, serves to support Eren’s hypothesis far more than Armin’s. But the nature of faith is precisely that which goes beyond knowledge. Armin has seen his fair share of brutality as well, but his optimism remains stalwart.

Eren and Armin both know they are monsters, not an inch better than Reiner or Annie.

The difference between them is that Eren accepts that as who he is and how the world works. He feels sorrow at this, disgust and self-hatred; but with all his Titan’s powers he cannot foresee a future where the world stops operating in this way. Eren sees it as the world’s eternal curse, and so sees no reason not to play along in the hope that his loved ones might actually come out on top this time. That is why he adopts the ways of Reiner, and commits his sin on an even greater scale.

Armin, meanwhile, without thinking himself any better than the likes of Annie, still fights for a future free from that vicious cycle. As he says in the final panel, he still believes such a world is out there, and so will not play the game like Eren does. Even if he is being driven by nothing but faith alone, he cannot accept the reality that Eren lives in - and so optimistic faith determines his course of action.

Of course, this could also be turned on its head. One could equally say that Armin is living in reality for accepting the existence of others outside the Walls, whereas Eren is trying to change reality in line with his ideals - in line with what Armin’s book had promised him.

This flexibility of interpretation is all part of SNK’s deliberate vertigo of morals. Trying to determine rightness in this moral morass is liable to make one’s stomach plunge with anxiety. It is opined often enough that good and evil is simply a matter of perspective, but this is the nightmare that phenomenon looks like in practice. Nevertheless, the two sides must battle.

The two halves of this chapter were dedicated to these duelling concepts of freedom. We see two very different reactions to the revelation that the world is not the same as it was in Armin’s book - disappointment for Eren, and hope for Armin. The latter’s spirits are lifted by the appearance of the bird that symbolises his idea of freedom.

The transition point of the chapter is marked by a momentary link between them. A brief moment of contact between these two opposing ideals, in the metaphysical sphere.

Does the child Eren represent immaturity in contrast to Armin’s stance - a refusal to accept reality, and so knock down the sandcastle in frustration? Does Armin’s continued faith make him more mature than the jaded Eren? Or does Eren’s child form speak to his purity and consistency of character; an existence more akin to Nietzsche’s understanding of the child as the state of man where they are most free - where they can play with the world as if with building blocks?

Perhaps time will tell. But most likely it is the right of strength, one’s ability to overpower the other, that will deliver the final verdict - not logical force, but sheer physical power will determine right and wrong, as it always has before.

[apiratewhopines]

Thanks to @teamhook for the the eye candy :)

In the Offing

Chapter 16 — Heart of Darkness

Summary: In which our heroine buries multiple hatchets

Notes: This one gets a little gruesome!

Chapter 16 on AO3

“Some mistakes get made

That’s alright, that’s okay

In the end it’s better for me

That’s the moral of the story babe”

-Moral of the Story, Ashe

In the dead of night, her phone started ringing. Looking at the clock, she tried to shake off the fog that threatened to pull her back under. Reaching blindly for her cell and seeing the ID, she groggily answered, “What do you want, Killian?”

“Bloody hell, Swan! If I had known you would get in trouble the second I walked out, I never would have left,” he swore, words breaking with stress. She imagined his hair looked wild at this point if his voice was any indication. “Are you alright?”

“Finally got around to reading the paper, I see,” she replied without emotion as she shifted to sit up in bed. Unable to keep an accusation from seeping into her tone, she continued, “Yes, I’ve had a day to get used to the idea that I’m the most hated person in town but it’s nice of you to join the party. Better late than never I suppose.”

“Liam and I went out on the sailboat, we didn’t get back until a couple of minutes ago. Surely you don’t think I would have left you to fend for yourself if I had known,” he rebuked. When she didn’t say anything, he said grimly, “Or maybe that’s exactly what you thought. Love, you’ll not get rid of me that easily. Can I come over? As a friend.”

She hated that he felt like he had to clarify his intentions. Hated even more that she craved his presence. “No, I’m okay. I need to sleep. I...I’m glad you called though,” she confessed, too tired to maintain the facade that she didn’t care.

“Emma, please—”

“I’ll talk to you later,” she cut him off and hung up before she could change her mind. As much as it hurt, the lines between them were blurred enough without him holding her while she slept which is exactly what would happen if he showed up in the middle of the night. She was beginning to realize that a platonic friendship with him would be impossible. For them it would be all or nothing.

She drifted back to sleep and dreamed of the cottage. The sunshine softly illuminating the porch in the early morning, tiny feet running barefoot across the wood floors, laughter filling every corner of the home. She awoke hours later with a deep sense of peace that was foreign to her.

—

The seagulls squawked longingly as they flew back and forth across the marina docks in search of food left behind by visitors. Emma sat on the bench looking out at the ocean, the heat of the day warming the metal in a pleasant way. While she didn’t want to admit it, she knew she had come to this place in search of Killian.

Instead someone found her.

“I was hoping I would run into you soon,” Liam greeted her as he settled on the bench. As was his norm, he didn’t crowd or even look in her direction. His gaze was fixed out on the distant waves. The stony countenance that always graced his face, the one that used to irritate her so, had somehow changed into a soothing kind of companionship that she had missed.

“Well, you did and here we are. Two grumpy Bostonians stuck in a picturesque nightmare,” she commented, only half joking. She realized that even before their fight, she hadn’t really spent time with him in weeks. Sneaking a look out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the gash on his head was healing nicely, only a thin red line marking the place where the injury occurred. His arm was still in a sling and probably would be for a couple more weeks but he wasn’t as stiff as he had been. Still stiff of course, this was Liam Jones after all, but pompously so instead of painfully.

“Too right,” he agreed. “Although I think you might have gotten the worst of it.”

“Trip’s not over yet. Don’t jinx yourself,” Emma pointed out with a grimace. “Thank you for the transfer. I wasn’t sure you’d come through.”

“Have I ever not lived up to my end of the bargain, Emma? You did what you said you would, you found half the missing persons on our list, doing it admirably and with your normal tenaciousness. If I ever made you think I doubted your abilities or didn’t count you as important, I regret it. I didn’t bring you along as a...what did you call it? A pretty blonde distraction.”

“I haven’t given up, you know. I still want to help you. It’s only that my priorities have to shift for a while,” she told him. Saying that she needed to save her own skin first would have been too melodramatic but she trusted he understood what she meant. He usually did.

“What they printed in the paper was out of line,” he said heatedly. “It was a smear job and it means nothing. You aren’t alone, Emma. You have friends and we will sort this out. It is a fine tangle though.”

“I’m sure it was a shock to read about my past in the Storybrooke Daily Mirror. At least it was for me. There is a reason I like keeping to myself.”

“I knew about your past the second time I talked with Henry, lass,” he laughed. “I think he was feeling me out as a potential suitor. The hope of youth is vast and diabolical.”

Chuckling because that sounded exactly like something Henry would do, she reached out and lightly slapped his shoulder. “Don’t get any ideas. I’m too good for the likes of you, even with a criminal history and fresh charges pending.”

“Aye, you’ll get no argument from me,” he agreed. Clearing his throat uncomfortably, he muttered, “Speaking of women who are too good for me, Elsa and I are getting married this Saturday.”

Eyes wide, she gaped at him in surprise. The tips of his ears were a faint pink and his lips had softened into a satisfied grin. “I don’t know what to say. Congratulations! That’s really fast.”

“Or really slow depending on how you look at it,” he responded. “I’ve loved her for years and I don’t want to wait another minute. Her sister will be in town on a short break for the holiday so we decided it was the perfect time. We want you to be there. After all if it weren’t for you, I’d still have my head stuck up my ass.”

Snorting, she nodded. “That’s probably true. Honestly, I thought you were an incurable case so I guess you deserve some credit too. But Liam, I’m not sure it’s a good idea. I have this shooting hanging over my head and people will talk. I don’t want to detract from your day.”

“Hang them. Have I ever cared what people thought? The whole town will be there whether they are invited or not so what better way to show our solidarity.”

Forcing herself to be truthful, she added, “Things between me and Killian are...unsettled. He might be uncomfortable if I show up.”

Looking at her for the first time, his eyes crinkled in a way that was reminiscent of his brother. “No kidding. His moping around the house and general state of sullenness were my first clues. Trust me, he won’t mind.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he’s smitten with you. Has been since the moment we stepped foot in town,” he said in a voice that made it clear he thought it was obvious. Smiling out at the horizon, he explained, “Killian has taken to you in a way I’ve never seen before. In the interest of fulfilling my role of wing man, I have to confess that he was on me to tell you about the map and treasure from the minute we made it back to the cottage after the accident, long before you had formed an attachment. I’m sure he’ll give you plenty of reasons to be angry with him in the future but place the blame for this one where it belongs. Squarely on me.”

“I think I may have already burned that bridge,” Emma declared, her smile a sad answer to his.

“Good that my little brother is an excellent swimmer then,” Liam countered, standing up and facing her. “Come to the wedding. Then we’ll get back to work.”

—

Emma walked into the loft several hours later discouraged and annoyed. Having spent a good part of the afternoon at the docks, she decided to stop off at the hospital on the way home to check on August. It was there that the full import of her situation hit her. The ICU staff followed her every move, never leaving her alone with her friend as if they were afraid she would rip out his heart with her bare hands as soon as their backs were turned.

So much for innocent until proven guilty.

Mary Margaret’s sunny smile welcomed her as she stepped across the threshold. “Emma, you just missed Killian. He’d been waiting for you for hours.”

“Hmm” was her only reply. As much as she might want to see him, after her chat with Liam she wasn’t sure she was ready to. There were things she needed to settle in her own mind before she interacted with him again. It wasn’t fair to keep jerking him around. She was going to have to pick a path and stick to it. The problem was her mind was set on one direction and her heart was urging her in another.

“Uh oh, I know that look,” Mary Margaret commented. “You’re reverting.”

Amused in spite of the dark turn of her thoughts, Emma asked, “Reverting? What do you mean?”

“You’re pulling on that armor of yours and you’re readying for battle. Am I right?”

“I’m tired. That’s all. The hospital staff clearly believes everything they read,” she explained while moving into the kitchen to get something to drink. “It’s one thing to think someone capable of murder but it’s another to think they would be stupid enough to do it in broad daylight in a well monitored hospital room.”

“Most people are too wrapped up in their own lives to question the things that people present to them as facts,” she observed sagely. “Regardless, I know what you need to get out of this funk.”

“Do you? And what would that be?”

“We’re going out for a girl’s night. I’ll call Elsa and Ruby. We’ll get dressed up and we’ll show the town that they are wrong about you.”

“I’m not sure there is enough makeup in the world to change their opinions now,” Emma joked, not completely averse to proposal. “I’m also not sure I’m ready to see another story in the paper about how I callously partied my way through Storybrooke while August is on his deathbed.”

“It’s Storybrooke, Emma. How much trouble do you think we could get into? I’m not suggesting an orgy. It’s dinner with people who care about you. Maybe a few drinks.”

Nearly spitting out her orange juice when the word orgy slipped from Mary Margaret’s mouth, Emma shook her head in disbelief and teased, “What in the world has David been doing these last couple of days? You know when I met you, I would have sworn that you didn’t know any four-letter words.”

“Well now I know all of them,” she joked back, her cheeks flushing and eyes dancing with the deep emotion that only comes from being in love and being loved thoroughly and repeatedly. “Get changed. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

Hours later, Emma had to admit she was glad she didn’t put up too much of a fight. Elsa and Ruby rounded out their merry little band quite nicely, the cool elegance of the former a stark contrast to the vivid earthiness of the latter. Overall they were a nice blend of independent, intelligent women who, for whatever reason, seemed to have her back.

She also appreciated that they were giving the topic of her brief arrest a wide berth. There was no better way to kill a buzz than to give into harsh realities. They kept the conversation light, discussing Elsa’s imminent wedding and Mary Margaret’s newfound saltiness. Ruby sighed and said, “Everyone is pairing up. It’s about to be nothing but babies and boringness. Then Emma will leave and nothing exciting will ever happen again.”

“That’s me, the bringer of excitement,” Emma commented dryly as her phone vibrated. Seeing that Henry was calling, she excused herself and went to stand outside so she could hear him. She watched a steady stream of people make their way into the bar as Henry begged to fly into town for Liam’s wedding. Figuring her son’s well-informed status must have come from the man himself, she laughed at his logical arguments for the last minute trip. Starting with the ability to celebrate the holiday with her and ending with meeting her new friends, he laid out his reasons as if he were forty instead of ten.

She hadn’t realized the individuals she had met since her arrival had trickled into their conversations so much but the casual way he referred to half a dozen people he had never met drove the point home. Tempted as she was to give in to his earnest and well-thought out pleas, she did not think it was a good time for a visit. She needed to clear her name first. Explaining that there would be time to meet everyone later and promising to send pictures of the ceremony, which effectively made the decision for her about attending, she ended the call and leaned back against the outer wall.

She heard gravel crunching under footsteps before she heard his voice. “Fancy meeting you here,” Graham said as he approached her.

“This is where all the cool kids hang out apparently,” she remarked, turning toward him. “How are you doing, Sheriff?”

“I’ve been better,” he admitted, stopping a couple of feet away and taking up a similar position against the wall. They stood there in silence for several minutes, neither one sure what to say now that they were alone and not interrogating each other. “The forensics came back. The gun was wiped clean. No prints.”

“Dead end then,” she observed, not particularly surprised. If it had been that easy, the guy would have already been caught.

“Not quite. You’d be surprised at the number of criminals who wipe the weapon and completely forget about the bullets. We pulled a partial off one. No hits yet but it definitely doesn’t match Liam’s or yours. They are also analyzing an unusual substance they found on the rags. We may still get lucky.”

“So, what does that mean?”

“It means you are no longer my prime suspect, Emma,” Graham explained with a small smile. “You can go back to hating me with a clear conscience.”

“I never hated you,” Emma argued, sheepishly looking at him from under her lashes. “I just didn’t trust you.”

Laughing softly, his lilting voice carried to her with a hint of delight. “I do love how direct you are.” Gazing into her eyes searchingly, he asked with a quirked brow, “Why is that? What did I do within minutes of meeting you to put you off me so completely?”

“You lied,” she said simply. Returning his searching glance, she took in his handsome face and lean body. In another time or place, if things had been different, she wondered if there would have been something between them. The odd tension stretched around them, forming a little bubble where the outside world didn’t exist. Deciding she had nothing to lose, she asked, “What were you really doing in the woods the night of our accident?”

“Clever girl,” he complimented her with a wink that showed he was teasing rather than patronizing her. With a shrewd look, he asked her, “Do you trust me now?”

“I think you’ve earned a little faith from me,” she replied, curious about the sudden shift in his demeanor. “Why?”

“It might be better if I show you,” he said mysteriously. A second later, her hand was clasped in his and he was pulling her toward his cruiser. “Let’s go.”

Sending a text to her friends to let them know something had come up and she wouldn’t be rejoining them, she buckled herself into the passenger seat and questioned humorously, “Are you taking me to the wolf’s den?”

“There really have been complaints about wolves,” he defended. “Although they are more likely to be coyotes in this area. But you’re right. I wasn’t being honest because I wasn’t sure what I had found. This town has a violent history and this particular investigation I’ve been keeping under wraps. I haven’t even told Nolan about it.”

“So why me? Why now?”

“I don’t know, Emma,” Graham responded truthfully. “There’s something about you. I’ve always been on your side, you just didn’t want to see it. I have a feeling you’re going to be the one to solve everything.”

“Everything is a tall order,” she groused. “I’d settle for finding who shot August.”

They fell into silence as the buildings gave way to trees. In no time, they were approaching the to town line. They emerged from the cruiser at nearly the exact point Liam’s SUV had left the road. With a dubious look at her sandals, he said, “You going to be okay for a walk?”

Mimicking his doubtful glance, she countered, “Are you offering to carry me the whole time?” Before he could say anything, she stepped off the pavement and ordered, “Lead the way.”

Even with the high-powered police flashlights, it was slow going in the inky darkness of the night with the overgrown forest floor threatening to trip them with every footfall. They had probably been hiking arm-in-arm for about thirty minutes, Emma having given up the pretense of making it on her own shortly after they started. “Are you taking me to our crash site?”

“I’m taking you to a crash site,” he corrected. Huffing a bit and wishing she had gone with jeans rather than a dress, she nodded. Then, there was a break in the trees and she could barely make out the charred remains of a sedan.

Pulling away, she carefully circled the burned out car. The light bounced eerily off the blackened metal and with only a slight hesitation, she flooded the front seat with the beam. Letting go of a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, she was relieved that it was empty. She really hadn’t been looking forward to finding any more skeletons in Storybrooke. “Who do you think it belonged to?”

“I don’t have to think, I know,” he assured her. “The car was registered to the city. It was reported stolen about twenty-eight years ago.”

“Someone stole city property, took it for a joyride, crashed it, and burned the car to hide the evidence?”

“Perhaps.”

“There’s something you haven’t told me, isn’t there?”

“You do have a knack for ferreting out the truth, Emma,” he respectfully observed. “It would be nice to have you around to help out the department from time to time.”

“Don’t get attached,” she warned seriously. “I’m merely passing through. What else have you found?”

“Follow me,” he directed, taking her arm lightly in his grasp to steady her as they moved deeper into the woods. Less than a quarter mile away from the car, they came upon an abandoned cabin. Flashing her light through the grimy windows, she detected no sign of movement.

Graham entered the one room cabin first and flicked on the light switch. A couple of the bulbs were still working and a dingy, yellow glow filled the room. It was then that she saw the blood stains on the small bed pushed against one wall. Her flashlight continued to trail around the room, illuminating several more bloody rags strewn on the floor. “What the hell happened here?”

“I can’t be sure,” he answered, steadying her again as her knees buckled a little at the overwhelming sight. “If it’s too much, we can go outside. You’ve seen everything there is to see now.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” she told him, taking slow breaths in through her nose. “What do you think happened?”

“I think someone had a baby.” He watched her reaction as if concerned she might pass out. Honestly, his fears weren’t totally unfounded. “I’ll spare you from reviewing the evidence that led me to that conclusion since you’re white as a sheet and look like you could double over at any moment.”

“Why haven’t you processed the scene?”

“I’m waiting for the state lab to come. Emma, something happened in Storybrooke decades ago, something that is having a ripple effect to this day. I don’t trust that we’ll find answers locally. I’ve been doing what I can to comb through records regarding pregnancies around that time but it’s slow going with the privacy laws and the fact that I doubt there was a birth announcement for this particular baby.”

“I think I can help you there.” Exhaling shakily, she hurried outside. She heard him come up behind her and didn’t resist when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders as if to funnel some of his strength to her. “I’m positive that Eva Blanchard had her baby in that cabin, Graham. I’m also sure that if we continue searching, we’ll find her and Leo’s body somewhere around here. Maybe the baby’s as well.”

Feeling sick, she didn’t protest as he pulled her closer and began the trek out of this grisly corner of the forest. He didn’t question how she knew the things she knew and didn’t pressure her to talk, merely nodding at her in thanks when he dropped her off outside the loft.

That night, her dreams were anything but peaceful.

[ninjastormhawkkat]

Morally Gray Wordgirl Au: Characters Part 1

Here are how some other characters are affected by my Morally Gray Wordgirl Au. 

Captain Huggy Face (Bob)

Poor Bob had no idea what he had gotten himself into. He had just crash landed on Earth with a baby stowaway and now he was tired, lost, and hungry. Bob new he had to find food and shelter (especially food) for him and the little girl (but especially food for him.) While wondering around desperately for hours, he heads into an alley and accidentally runs into someone. This strange person did not look like the other humans that had passed him by. This man had shock, white hair, whiskers on his face, red/pink eyes, and some type of exposed organ attached to his head, but he was still human looking enough. The man and Huggy stared at each other in surprise and confusion for a while and Huggy was contemplating on just leaving and moving on( he should have listened to his gut). Then his nose caught the whiff of an aromatic scent coming from one of the bags the man was holding. Huggy began to subconsciously drool at the scent and his eyes started to tear up at the chance for finally getting food. The man must have seen the expression of hunger mixed with joy on Huggy’s face. The man gave a nervous, contemplative look, then slowly pulled out the source of the smell and showed it to the monkey space pilot. “You want a bite of cheese?” the man asked sheepishly. Huggy eagerly nodded. Then he remembered the little girl he was holding and knew he couldn’t hold her and eat at the same time. So while taking the cheese, he handed the baby over to the man who gave small  squawks and words of protest of having to hold some random child. These were ignored by the starving Captain Huggy Face as he began to devour the slice of cheese. After he was finished, Huggy looked up and was surprised to see the same man now doting and cooing over the girl as if she were his own. Huggy gave a forlorn sigh. He figured that he and the little girl would be stuck on this planet for a while, and he had no idea where this little girl came from back on Lexicon. Huggy knew that this little girl needed a temporary caretaker until they got help. Well it seemed this man was ready to step up to the position. Huggy figured that this man was probably a part of a minority species that lived on Earth. After a while of doting and cooing, the man took a good long look and the little girl and then at Huggy. At this point his face held a somber look. With a small, sad smile he asked/stated to Huggy, “Something tells me you two are alone. Aren’t you?” Huggy gives a sad chirp in response. The man looked back at Becky, with at first another contemplative look, then a genuine smile. He look back at the monkey and said, “Well why don’t I take you two home with me.” At this, Huggy gave a happy chirp and the little girl gave a baby giggle which made the man smile in familial love. Huggy followed the man, and thought that he found a good life for him and the little girl with a kind, generous, and overall good, law-abiding person. (Oh how wrong he was.)  

Hours later, Huggy, now Bob, paced his new warehouse/home in frantic worry. Huggy’s older brother always said his appetite always would get him into trouble. He was definitely right as now thanks to Huggy’s appetite, he put an alien girl in the hands of one of the city’s most dangerous villains. In Bob’s defense, he had no idea that man was a villain. He just thought that man was a part of the minority species that inhabited this planet. Huggy quickly became clued into the man’s career when he was introduced to people that were called henchmen, and how the man said they would have to hold off on committing a heist until they get proper arrangements for the little baby girl. The man, that Bob would later know him as Dr. Two Brains, had called the child Becky and told the other two inhabitants that he adopted this child as his now. Now Bob was not fully familiar with earth-terms yet, but he new very well that heist had something to do with crime. The name Dr. Two Brains, according to Bob, even sounds villainous. Huggy stopped his pacing and gave a deep sigh. He knew he messed up big time in finding Becky a temporary family. He had to get her out of this situation immediately and find a proper, law-abiding, host family and make sure the little girl is not raised in a villainous atmosphere. As Huggy was planning on how to get Becky out of here and hide from Two Brains, he heard crying from upstairs. Huggy also saw Two Brains hurry upstairs and to the room where Becky was placed and where the crying was coming from. With about a million worst case scenarios running through his head, Bob immediately raced up the stairs to the room. He was about to smash through the door and drop-kick Two Brains when he heard the crying quiet down, followed by baby gurgling. Confused, Bob slowly opened the door and saw Dr. Two Brains comforting the little girl. “Shhhhh. It’s alright. Your fine. Daddy’s here, don’t cry. Shhhh.” Two Brains said with a comforting expression, not aware of the alien monkey in the doorway. Becky gave a giggle and big smile at her new, human dad. Bob, with a stunned expression, saw this villain comforting Becky as if she was his own flesh in blood. This villain, who had a menacing smile and laugh when discussing with his henchman about future, cheese-stealing crimes, had the same soft expression Bob saw earlier when Two Brains was first holding Becky. In another stunning change of events for Bob, Two Brains started singing a lullaby. His voice was a bit raspy, but melodious enough that Becky began to doze off until she fell asleep, cuddled up to her new father. Bob silently closed the door and proceeded to walk back downstairs. Bob gave a long sigh in surrender. Bob knew that having an alien girl, with possible superpowers, being raised by a genius super villain is one of the worst things to happen. But Bob was a good-hearted monkey. He could see how Dr. Two Brains loved Becky as his own, and that Becky felt the same way. It would be the right thing to do, but it would also be heartless to take Becky away now. (Let’s face it, Huggy has a soft spot for good families, no matter what affiliation.) A soft smile grew on Huggy’s face, and with one more monkey sigh, Huggy decided to let Two Brains raise Becky, He just had to make sure to implement some good morals along with the villainous morals that Dr. Two Brains would teach her. Bob just hoped he could help raise her right. 

Outline:

Bob has definitely implemented good law-abiding morals into Becky that affected her personality and her actions as Wordgirl. These teachings also affected Becky’s decision to become Wordgirl in the first place. Bob is a little frustrated and sometimes disappointed when Becky acts on her father’s teachings. (He loves the kid, but he gives her a headache sometimes.) He freaked out a few times when Becky mimicked her dad such has making an evil laugh when she was a baby. (Two Brains was proud, Bob was worried.)

Bob is definitely a monkey’s uncle in this au. (Both literally and figuratively.😂)

He was named Bob by Mac (my name for the unnamed henchmen.) He gets along well with the henchmen. The three of them always play cards together. 

Bob definitely tries to hide evidence of Becky’s superpowers from the henchmen and Two Brains. Bob trust Two Brains as a dad for Becky, he doesn’t trust him as a villain. 

Bob is basically more or less the same in this au. He tries to get Becky to be more active in stopping her dad’s crimes. He knows Becky loves her dad, but Two Brains is still a criminal. He begrudgingly goes along with Becky’s methods just because it makes her happy that she doesn’t have to place her dad in jail often, and she still stops crime (not as often as canon self). Bob is a big coffee uncle and needs a break. He is still supportive of Becky if and when the city turns on her. Still loves food.  

[emersonfreepress]

New Year's Eve 2000 @ the Emersons'

"Is he here? Have you seen him?!"

The laughter in Heidi's clique fades abruptly and the queen herself scowls at her brother for his interruption.

"Seen who?" Jessie asks in such a sweet tone Heidi's forced to wipe that sneer off her face. Good ol' Jess. Curt can always count on her to diffuse the H-bomb before it even gets going.

"Gabe." Curt does another cursory glance around the room and still doesn't see him. Then he checks his watch and groans. "It's like five minutes to midnight, where the hell is he??"

"I'm pretty sure he isn't coming," Madison says. She crosses her legs and looks up for a second in contemplation. "Is he even in town still?"

"What do you need him for?" Brooke whines with a pout and a subtle toss of blonde hair. "Come sit with us, the countdown's starting soon."

"Brooke," Curt starts. "You're beautiful."

Brooke quits pouting and preens under the unexpected compliment, batting her lashes with a small smile. "Curtis..."

"But I see you all the time."

She deflates just as quickly.

"Cortés said he would be here, he wouldn't just..."

The girls all stare at him. Madison fails to hold back a laugh.

"Oh." Madison covers her mouth slightly. "Sorry."

"He wouldn't just lie to you?" Heidi asks, voice dripping with sarcasm. Her eyes add, 'Are you stupid?'

Curt just groans again and walks away. He can't explain himself to them. Jessie might know what he's talking about but he's only got four minutes left to find Gabe and he's already got his answer: they haven't seen him.

Is it possible he really didn't show? Curt doesn't know how to feel about that. He's not an idiot, that was sort of what he expected. Gabe has skipped the holidays in Emerson for two years straight and it was pure dumb luck that Curt even spotted him at all downtown last weekend. He didn’t seem all that different, busy as ever somehow, but he'd at least had enough time for Curt to invite him to his parents' New Year's Eve bash and to give a polite yes.

Curt sighs. Maybe that was the sign. The politeness. Since when has Gabe ever been polite to him?

It's only ever hostile neutrality or whining with that guy...

Three minutes.

Curt is being stopped by a former classmate/future nobody or some family acquaintance every few seconds now. Even if Gabe is here, there's no way he's going to find him before the clock strikes twelve. Sighing forlornly, he decides to make his way back to Heidi and her friends. At least Brooke is reliable for a kiss.

- - -

"Oh!" Jessie beams and jumps up from her seat. "There you are!"

Gabe gives her half a genuine smile before settling into a more careful one for Heidi and the Madisons—um, Brooke and Madison. He should probably stop thinking of them like that.

"Hey, Jess." The two hug and Gabe shuts his eyes for a quick second as he gives her an affectionate squeeze. They part and he greets the other girls. Heidi shoots him a nod of acknowledgment and a raised glass while Madison gives him a short wave. And Brooke... crosses her arms and ignores him.

Okay...

"Curt's been looking for you," Heidi says, holding an empty champagne flute out to him before standing to grab their table's bottle of Dom. "Apparently you promised him you'd come."

"Ah, yeah. I wouldn't call it a promise, though. " Gabe almost passes on the champagne but Jessie's bright smile leads him to accept the glass and the alcohol that follows. "More like..."

"Placating a child?" Heidi asks, amused.

Both Gabe and Madison laugh at that.

"Sure, that."

"One minute, everyone!" someone shouts.

"Here we go..." Madison gets to her feet, nearly reaching Gabe's height in her heels.

Brooke jumps up, perplexed. "What, already? Who the heck am I supposed to kiss??"

"Aw, I'll give you a kiss, Bee."

Brooke's arms uncross just to rest on her hips alongside another pout. "That won't count, Mads."

Madison just laughs in response and teases Brooke some more. Meanwhile, the remaining empty hands around the room quickly fill with glasses while more and more people begin joining the countdown. Heidi makes sure their group's glasses are filled before swapping the bottle in her hand for a tumbler of whiskey and downing it. Gabe also notices her shoes are off and to the side—someone's had a long night.

Jessie lightly nudges him in the side with her elbow, breaking him from his observations.

"So are you leaving tomorrow, after all?" The soft smile on her face is hopeful so Gabe sighs, regretful to disappoint her.

"Yeah." He rubs the back of his neck. "I just... This town is..."

"'Stifling?'" They both wince a little, Jess in her attempt to keep a smile on despite her disappointment and Gabe at hearing his exact word quoted back at him.

"Right. It's not the people—"

Jess giggles and pats him on the arm. "Oh come on, Gabe. It's the people."

He rolls his eyes with a light laugh. "Okay, yeah. Even just being here right now..."

Jessie sighs. "Yeah, I know. It's always weird coming back just after a few months out of state. I can't imagine after two years."

Gabe nods, the thin glass stem in his hand suddenly feeling a little too brittle for how tense he is. How tense this environment makes him. He shrugs, though.

"Well, I'm glad I got to see you, at least."

"Ten seconds! Ten! Nine!"

Jessie hits him with the full brightness of her smile and one of her tiny bounces of joy.

"Yeah! Me, too."

- - -

Just as the entire party begins counting down from ten, Curt finally gains sight of his sister and her friends again. Brooke catches sight of him too and smiles, knowing exactly why he's returned. He smiles back at her for a second before he falters when he sees...

Ha! I knew he meant it!

He's never wrong about these things. Curt smirks hard and licks his lips, unable to keep from internally gloating. Gabe showing up at all is a victory in and of itself.

"Eight! Seven!"

Oh, wait. No, it's not. Curt speeds up his approach.

"Six! FIVE!"

It's only really a victory if he reaches him at midnight!

- - -

"I have a good feeling about 2001!" Gabe rolls his eyes, cynical as always, but Jessie cheerfully insists. "Just watch, this year is going to be perfect and—oh! Three! Two!"

Gabe refrains from counting but turns with everyone else to face the giant screen displaying the Times Square Ball Drop.

“ONE! Happy New Year!”

The room they’re in, and the rest of the house, erupts in raucous cheers, shouts, and champagne glasses chiming. Jessie nearly crushes Gabe with a giant hug as she shouts “Happy New Year!” and that manages to pull a real smile from him, even as they almost spill both of their drinks. They both laugh and clink glasses instead.

“Happy New Year, Jess.” He turns to the other girls, who are just toasting each other. “Happy New Year, Heidi. Madison.”

Heidi wears a polite smile and nods as she raises her glass to him and Madison enthusiastically clinks her glass against his with a breathless “Happy New Year!”

Gabe turns to Brooke, who’s turned away from him and is fluffing her hair. Should he bother? Eh... might as well. “Happy New Year, Br—”

- - -

Curt is vaguely aware of Brooke leaning into him as he walks up to Gabe, but his tunnel vision forces him to sidestep her with a smile. Everything’s fallen into place: it’s a bangin’ party, it’s midnight, Auld Lang Syne’s just started, and the belle of the ball has finally arrived. He doesn’t wait for the boy to finish whatever he was saying and just goes for it.

Gabe’s eyes widen just a bit before Curt plants a kiss fully on his mouth, placing one hand lightly at his lower back for support as he leans into him. Gabe lets out a stuttered breath and clasps at the lapels of Curt’s suit jacket to keep upright. That brings a cocky grin to Curt’s lips and he raises his other hand to brush his thumb along the bottom of Gabe’s jaw, just as lightly.

"Mm." Curt darts his tongue out to savor his old classmate for just a moment longer before finally drawing back. With a boyish smile and a slight bite to his own lip he says, "Happy New Year, Cortés."

Madison makes a strangled noise somewhere between a gasp and a shriek.

“God—DAMN it! I told you I needed my camera, Jessie!” The girl darts away in a flash of jet black hair and spilled champagne, presumably to go find it. Brooke has gone pale. Heidi rolls her eyes and takes a sip of her champagne.

Gabe is frozen, gobsmacked. After he starts to feel others’ eyes on them, though, his expression finally breaks into one of angered incredulity and he shoves Curt away from him.

"What is your fucking problem, Emerson?!" He wipes his mouth on his sleeve as his face breaks into a subtle yet violent blush. "Is—" Gabe’s expression clouds, the brief panic that was there gone in an instant. "Is that why you invited me?!"

Curt frowns, confused.

"Of course! I said I couldn’t wait to kiss you at midnight!”

Brooke, completely forgotten, makes an indignant sort of squawking sound.

Gabe's hands curl into fists and the look he throws him is venomous. "Curt."

“And I’ve said kissing you's on my bucket list?” Curt blinks, lost. “Like, a thousand times at this point, Gabe."

Gabe’s fists curl tighter and Jessie steps between them, her glass waved between the boys like a penalty flag and a deceptively natural smile plastered on.

“Oookay! Curt, I think you just startled Gabe. I’m positive he didn’t think you were being serious, right?”

“No, I fucking didn’t,” Gabe growls.

Curt has the gall to look even more confused.

“For six years?”

Gabe shuts his eyes, his anger in danger of rising faster than he’s able to suppress it.

“Jesus, Curt. Just apologize.” Heidi looks more annoyed than anything else. But at least Curt finally catches on to the huge party foul he’s committed.

“Sorry! Sorry, man. I thought you knew what I meant.” Curt is, for whatever it’s worth, blushing now, seeming actually embarrassed for once. When Gabe doesn’t reply, he raises his hands in a placating manner, then brings them together at his chin with a truly pleading look in his eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. I’d take it back if I could, don’t be mad!”

Gabe rubs a hand over his face and lets out a long, hard sigh. Then his other hand rakes through his hair briefly as he looks away from the blond idiot.

“Fine. Fine.”

Curt sighs in relief.

Then, because it’s very important to him, he asks, “It was good, though, right?“

Heidi barks a laugh, flopping back down into her seat. Jessie winces and pleads, “Curt, no...” Brooke, of course, seethes and plops into her own chair, quietly downing the contents of her flute.

And even though the anger has dissipated, Gabe’s annoyance surges to new heights. But before he can even voice his disdain, Curt’s looking around the immediate area as if something’s just dawned on him.

“Oh, wait a minute.” Curt huffs, dissatisfied. “I’m the only one without champagne!”

[jenonctcity]

NCT Dream Reaction - Girlfriend has baby fever and tells them she wants a big family. 

OT6 - Fluff.

Request: Requested by anon – Girlfriend has baby fever and knows she wants a big family.

 Renjun:

Shopping with Renjun was always an enjoyable experience for you. He would happily follow you around all the shops you wanted to go in, even if he was scrolling on his phone most of the time and just grunting a subtle yes or no when you’d ask him for his opinion on something. You would do the same for him when it was his turn to lead you around shops, but in your opinion, he looked good in everything so he would often whine about you constantly telling him you liked what he’d picked. He held your hand tightly as you strolled towards the exit of a giant clothes store that you’d just spent a reasonable amount of your time and money in. Your bags were in his free hand where he’d insisted on being a gentleman and carrying them for you. A very tiny pair of converse caught you eye, sitting beside an adult pair making the infant size look even smaller in comparison.

“Renjun look!” You gasped, going off track from the exit and dragging him over to the shoes. He followed you quietly, used to you getting distracted by things on the way out of stores. “They’re so cute!” You dropped his hand, opting to take the one of baby shoes in your grasp instead. He rolled his eyes and huffed a soft laugh, plucking it from your hand and placing it back on the display shelf where it belonged.

“Very adorable.” His voice dripped sarcasm, clearly not that bothered about the shoes but finding your infatuation of the shoes more adorable than the actual shoes. “When you have a baby then you can get excited about baby shoes.” He took your hand in his again, gently tugging you back towards the exit. You had a bounce in your step as you trailed alongside him, it going noticed by him immediately.

“I can’t wait to start a family.” You leaned into his touch as you walked, your fingers gripping his own firmly. He nervously laughed, keeping his eyes on his feet as you walked out of the store finally.

“One day my love, not for a while though.” He wanted his words to be clear to you so that you didn’t get the wrong idea. Him not having any interest in starting a family yet.

“Obviously.” You nodded in agreement but felt slightly let down by his immediate dismissal of the idea. Curious to see his reaction, you decided to add fuel to the fire. “I want a big family, probably about 3 kids and 2 dogs, maybe a cat.” You stared up at him, watching his face intently and waiting for his reaction.

“Me too.” He bumped his shoulder into your own softly, finally making eye contact with you and giving you a fond smile. He knew 100% though that you were the one he wanted to start his family with.

Jeno:

Jeno’s strong arms gave you the highest sense of security you think you cold ever feel. The way they wrapped around your frame in a tight embrace gave you peace of mind, knowing he wouldn’t willingly let anything hurt you while you were tucked into his chest. Your back was pressed to his chest, his face pushed not the crook of your neck from behind, and his eyes half open and filled with the lull of sleep. He absentmindedly watched Netflix, not paying any attention to it as a yawned stretched across his mouth. You were scrolling through the explore page on Instagram, content with the warmth you shared with your sleepy boyfriend when you came across a video of a toddler clapping his small hands with excitement sparkling in his big brown eyes. You smiled to yourself, mumbling subconsciously.

“I want a baby so bad.” You double tapped the screen to like the post, re—watching the video once more and not noticing Jeno’s reaction behind you. His eyes widened to the size of the moon and his mouth popped open in surprise. He cleared his throat in his uncomfortableness, tightening his group on your middle, not sure whether to speak his thoughts or not.

“Jeno our babies will be so cute.” You turned your head to gaze at his beautiful features, imagining a miniature version of him joining in on your cuddles. He timidly smiled at you, gulping down nerves and rubbing his thumb against your hip bone.

“When you say you want a baby…when do you mean?” His voice was raspy and deep from his near sleep state.

“Whenever.” You shrug as if your words meant nothing.

“Oh…” He cleared his throat once more and chuckled anxiously. “How about a cat?” He tried to deter you from the idea of a baby, his stomach feeling weird at the thought. You noticed his hesitancy at the talk of baby’s, so you decided to tone it down to make him feel comfortable again.

“How many cats? I want a big family, so we need to get lots of cats!” He couldn’t help but think your enthusiasm was cute and endearing despite his fear of you want.

“Erm…we’ll discuss this another time baby.” He hoped you’d forget about the topic and not bring it up for a while.

 Haechan:

“You’ve got cream on your lip, messy baby.” Haechan chuckled at you after you pulled the mug away from your lips, the remnants of fluffy cream sitting on your top lip. Before you could wipe it away, he’d already reached across the table and used his thumb to remove the cream from your top lip.

“Thanks.” You blushed with a giggle, placing your mug back on the table you sat at in the busy cafe. He opened his mouth ready to speak but was cut off by the dainty cries of the new-born baby at the table beside yours. You both turned your attention to the squawking infant that had a surprising amount of pitch-black hair fluffed up on her head. Her mother cradled her to her chest, bouncing her gently to try and soothe her. To turned to look at Haechan, smiling fondly at how he was still watching the baby with soft eyes. The feeling of being smitten was warming your heart as your boyfriend smiled widely when the baby stopped her shrieks. He turned back to look at you, the smile not dropping or faltering in anyway.

“Do you want kids?” You bit the bullet and asked with a curious glint in your eyes. Despite being in a relationship with him for what many people would call a long time, you hadn’t ever talked about the topic of babies. He nodded his head, picking up his drink and sipping it quickly.

“Yeah I do, do you?” He held his breath as he waited for your answer, letting out a sigh of relief when you giggled and nodded your head, the words leaving your mouth quickly.

“I want 4!”

“I want 4 too!” He matched your excitement and reached across the table to capture your hands in his own, letting his thumbs guide across the backs of your hands. “You’re perfect for me.” He muttered under his breath, assuming you didn’t hear him but by the way you blushed and grinned widely told him you’d heard him clear as day.

 Jaemin:

Jaemin watched your reaction with bated breath. Your eyes glued to the screen of your phone as you watched a fancam of him performing ‘boom’. No matter how many times he’s seen you watch his performances, he still got nervous for your reaction, even if he knew you’d love it no matter how good he thought it was. What he wasn’t expecting was for you to bite your bottom lip and give the phone screen a sultry gaze. He also wasn’t prepared for the words you moaned out in a whisper.

“Oh my god Na Jaemin impregnate me.” His eyes bulged out of their sockets and his jaw slacked, making his mouth pop open with an ‘o’ shape. You hadn’t yet realised you’d thought out loud, continuing to watch the fancam of him without noticing the damage your words had caused. After the video ended, you locked your phone and turned to face Jaemin, raising an eyebrow at his still shocked expression. He snatched your phone from your grip and put it down on the bed beside you.

“Okay.” He smirked with a wink, pushing you onto your back and crawling over you. You raised your eyebrows, surprise written on your face when you noticed him start to unzip his jeans.

“Jaemin what are you doing?” You placed your palms on his chest to halt his movements as he leaned in to connect your lips together. He furrowed his eyebrows at you, confusion as to why you stopped him evident on your face.

“You told me to impregnant you…”

“I said that out loud?” You gasped, your cheeks heating up in embarrassment. He broke out in a cheeky grin, pecking your lips with his own and moving to sit beside you.

“I guess you don’t want me to put a baby in you then?” He pulled you into his embrace, cuddling into you closely.

“Well I do, but not just yet.” You laced your own fingers together, something you tended to do as a nervous habit. He noticed, pulling your hands into the confines of his.

“I want to get married and have a big house out of the city. Somewhere with a big garden so all our kids can run around.” He smiled softly as you told him your hopes for the future.

“Sounds good to me princess.” Pulling out of your warm cuddle, he stood up. Running a hand through his fluffy pink hair, he walked to the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Well you don’t want a baby yet, so I was going to get a condom…” You paused as you sat up, ready to follow him but changing your mind and relaxing back on his bed.

“Okay I’ll just wait here.” You grinned as he shot you a flirty wink, exiting the room quickly.

 Chenle:

You couldn’t help the gentle coos that left you lips as you sat beside Chenle on the floor of the practice room at the sm building. The boys were currently taking a break from their gruelling practice, so Chenle had came to sit with you for the duration of his rest. He’d been scrolling through the photo album on his phone he had of his nephew, making sure you could see every single picture he had. There was a picture of him holding his nephew in his arms when he was a new-born, which is what made you start to coo at him.

A sudden thought crossed your mind. Due to you both being teenagers still it never occurred to you to ask Chenle if he wanted to have kids in the future. You knew that you wanted a big family eventually, but you’d never wondered if he wanted the same until now.

“Do you want kids?” You just went ahead and blurted it out, wanting to get the question over with. He took his attention off of his phone and focused on you instead, his eyes looking deep into your own. He shrugged as his lips settled into a soft smile. “I guess so, not for a long time though. Do you?”

“One day.” You nodded, happy with his answer and moving to lean your head on his shoulder.

“Cool.” He said in English, leaning his head on the top of your own.

 Jisung:

Ramen dates with Jisung were one of your favourite things to do late at night. The two of you would find a convenience store and just eat loads of ramen without the worry of having people take pictures of the two of you together. Even dispatch had yet to find out about your late-night trips. He happily ate the noodles, sat opposite you wearing a black adidas tracksuit with a matching black cap covering up his newly dyed black hair. You looked up when someone sat at the table beside you, noticing they had a baby asleep in a pram, all cosied up underneath an abundance of blankets. You tapped Jisungs hand and motioned with your head towards the baby after you’d gained his attention. He looked at the baby, smiling cutely before turning back to his noodles. He was mid mouthful when you piped up.

“I want one of those.” This must have caught him off guard, because he suddenly choked on the mouthful of noodles he was about to swallow. He started to cough, swallowing what he could and hurrying to sip on his drink. “You want a baby?!” He gasped out after he’d controlled his coughing.

“Yeah…don’t you?” You tilted your head like a confused puppy.

“I’m still a baby!” He choked out and took another sip of his drink, going red in the face with his eyes still wide. You burst into a fit of laughter, smacking his hand with a roll of your eyes.

“I didn’t mean now you fool! I meant in like 10 years!” He realised a long sigh, relaxing and letting out a laugh.

“Oh thank god!”

[i-like-plan-m]

Rules and Regulations

Lan Qiren disapproves of Wei Wuxian, and makes sure everyone in Cloud Recesses knows it. 

Lan Wangji makes a stand.

[Also on Ao3] 

“Wei Wuxian!” 

The outraged cry was a familiar one by now, carrying across the peaceful grounds of the Cloud Recesses. Lan Wangji set his calligraphy brush down and slid cool golden eyes to the door, attention effectively drawn away from his Chief Cultivator duties. 

Wei Ying was teaching a class of juniors, he knew, after one of the Lan teachers fell ill last week. He’d seemed as enthusiastic as the children about it, all of them young enough to idolize the energetic Senior Wei. 

Lan Wangji heard his uncle sputtering angrily outside. He would ignore it, except he had no desire to abandon his husband to Lan Qiren’s ire. Rising smoothly from his desk, Lan Wangji exited the pavilion, Bichen in hand and expression wiped clean of any emotion. 

It wouldn’t do to let his own irritation show. 

He was growing tired of Lan Qiren’s constant scolding, though, always aimed at Wei Ying for one inconsequential reason or another. Wei Ying insisted he didn’t mind, was used to it, but-- that was unacceptable. 

Lan Wangji knew he was used to it after years spent under Madam Yu’s shadow. But that shadow could not touch Wei Ying when Lan Wangji was close, could not reach him through the clear, pure light of the Cloud Recesses… except when Lan Qiren was shouting him down, tempering Wei Ying’s cheerful brightness. 

As expected, Wei Ying had taken the class of little juniors, all young enough to have started forming their golden cores, and outside of the library where their class was normally held. He studied his husband’s casual stance, the deliberately unconcerned expression on his face when the juniors peered anxiously up at him, gathered behind him like ducklings. 

“-supposed to be in the library!” Lan Qiren lectured in a volume just shy of a yell. “Why are you out here?” 

“Practicing talismans, of course!” Wei Ying said, waving a stack in the air. “I thought we should take it outside, in case someone accidentally sets the library on fire.” Lan Wangji noted the singed targets behind the group, the used talismans on the ground. He approved. 

Lan Qiren did not. “They aren't supposed to be practicing,” he hissed. “They do not practice talismans for months!” 

“Months?” Wei Ying asked, astonished. “But how else will they learn before they’re tested?” 

“From thorough lectures by competent teachers. Since you obviously can’t be trusted-” 

Wei Ying’s face fell, just the slightest bit, unnoticeable to everyone but Lan Wangji. He continued down the path towards them, annoyance only shown through his tight grip on Bichen. 

“Wei Ying is capable,” he said evenly, interrupting his uncle. Lan Qiren spun around, scowling. 

His husband perked up. “Hi, Lan Zhan!” He said excitedly, though they’d seen each other at breakfast and before this class. Lan Wangji’s grip relaxed with the surge of fondness for him. 

He nodded in response, then returned the polite bow that the juniors offered, wanting to smile as Wei Ying suppressed a squeal. He’d informed Lan Wangji at length of how the Lan Sect children were incomparably adorable, in their “tiny little robes with their serious little faces.” 

“Wei Wuxian is not following the curriculum set forth,” Lan Qiren said heatedly. “He is disrupting their learning with- with... tricks! And distractions!”

Lan Wangji glanced at the talismans in Wei Ying’s hands. “Fire talismans are an established cultivation method, Uncle. Not tricks.” Lan Qiren’s eyes bulged at the correction, but Lan Wangji was already tired of the argument. 

He turned to the children. “Class is over for today. It is time for lunch.” They bowed again to him, then Lan Qiren, and finally Wei Ying before filing off in perfect formation to the dining hall. 

Lan Wangji turned to Wei Ying, hoping he would join him for lunch in the jingshi. But Wei Ying was looking between Lan Wangji and Lan Qiren, inching away. “I need to clean up the library, Lan Zhan! I’ll meet you at home.” 

Lan Wangji watched him skip off, something nagging at him. He tried to follow, only to be stopped by his uncle’s voice. 

“I do not want him teaching the junior classes any longer,” Lan Qiren said tightly. 

Lan Wangji turned his head three degrees to the left, giving his uncle the absolute minimum of his attention. “Xichen and Lan-laoshi approved Wei Ying to teach,” he said simply, and went to fetch his husband. 

He paused just outside the door, preparing to call to Wei Ying, and then stopped at the sight of Wei Ying in the library, back to the door and half hidden behind one of the columns. He watched as Wei Ying took a shaky breath, heard his tired sigh. Watched his shoulders slump, and Lan Wangji ached at the exhaustion and defeat in every line of his husband’s body. 

These things that Wei Ying had hidden from him, no doubt wanting to prevent any further conflict between Lan Wangji and his uncle. 

Lan Wangji stepped away from the door, silent and careful even as fury sparked. The constant negativity, the beratement, the disapproval made abundantly clear-- these things would bring anyone down, no matter how bright their personality. 

His husband had been made to feel unwelcome in his home, scorned by the elders of the sect despite now being a member by marriage.

Wei Ying showed no signs of his weariness when he returned to the jingshi, all bright smiles and excitable chattering about the students’ success with the talisman practice. But now that he’d seen it once, Lan Wangji noticed the smiles that didn’t quite reach Wei Ying’s eyes, the subtle hunch to his shoulders like he expected Lan Qiren to appear and scold him again.

Lan Wangji would not stand for this. 

~*~ 

Lan Wangji waited patiently for the next opportunity to make his point. He did not have to wait long. 

He sat at a desk behind Wei Ying as his husband stood and patiently listened to Lan Qiren lecture him furiously on exhibiting appropriate behavior and an impressive list of other Lan Sect rules that Wei Ying apparently broke just by existing. 

Lan Wangji continued to write calmly, even as Wei Ying’s uncharacteristic silence grated on his nerves, made him want to stand and whisk him away to pile him with bunnies until he smiled again and meant it. 

He finished his work long before Lan Qiren’s criticism abated. Lan Wangji stood abruptly, took two long strides to stand before his uncle, and slapped the paper down on his desk, shocking him into silence. 

“Wangji, don’t interrupt!” Lan Qiren snapped, snatching up the paper. “What is this?” 

Lan Wangji stared his uncle down. “Sect rules Uncle has broken today.” 

Wei Ying choked. 

Lan Qiren stared at the list in absolute silence, not even appearing to breathe. Lan Wangji could see the rules written in his own flawless calligraphy, filling the page from top to bottom. 

Have courtesy and integrity.

Do not hold grudges.

Do not succumb to rage.

Do not disrespect the younger.

Do not take advantage of your position to oppress others.

Do not make assumptions about others.

Do not insult people.

Be careful with your words.

Be easy on others.

Be generous.

Appreciate the good people.

Talking behind other people's back is prohibited.

On and on the list went, just as extensive as the one Lan Qiren had for Wei Ying. 

Satisfied, Lan Wangji calmly took Wei Ying’s hand in his own. “We will leave you to reflect.” Without another word, he pulled Wei Ying out of the room. 

“Lan Zhan!” He squawked. “Are you crazy?!” 

Lan Wangji didn’t answer, just led his husband back to the jingshi. Only when the door was closed did he turn and look Wei Ying in the eye. 

“Are you possessed?” Wei Ying asked, patting Lan Wangji’s chest and shoulders like it would do anything but make him want to strip them both to bare skin and drag him to the floor. “You’ve been possessed, haven’t you?” 

Lan Wangji heroically did not roll his eyes. “Not possessed.” 

“Hm, sounds like something a possessed person would say,” Wei Ying said skeptically, poking at him. 

Lan Wangji caught his hand and held it. “Wei Ying.” 

Wei Ying avoided his eyes. “Ah, Lan Zhan. You shouldn’t have done that. I told you, I can handle it. It’s-” 

“Unacceptable,” Lan Wangji bit out. Wei Ying looked up, startled at the anger in his voice. 

“This is your home,” he said, only slightly calmer. “Uncle will treat you with respect.” This much was non-negotiable, and something he would make very clear in the future.

Wei Ying’s eyes were bright and adoring. “So fierce, Lan Zhan, coming to my rescue.” He trailed a finger down Lan Wangji’s chest, pausing at his belt and watching him from beneath his eyelashes. 

Lan Wangji hummed in response, pulled helplessly into Wei Ying’s orbit, following his husband all too willingly. Wei Ying backed slowly towards the bed, Lan Wangji in step with him, head ducked low so their foreheads touched and their breaths mingled. 

Their lips brushed as Wei Ying spoke. “How should I thank such a hero, hmm?” 

He spanned a hand across Wei Ying’s small waist, heat curling low in his belly when his husband shivered at the tight grip and yanked Lan Wangji’s outer robe off. 

“I have a few suggestions,” he said solemnly, and dragged Wei Ying into the bed. 

[treatian]

The Chronicles of the Dark One: Magical Loopholes

Chapter 75:  Good Verses Dark Ones

He released Archie immediately and moved down the dock. He was a fool. A bloody, ignorant fool. When logic was lacking from a situation, the answer in their world and now in Storybrooke was almost always magic! He'd been unable to find Hook, the way the man had snuck in and out of his store, how he'd known exactly what to take, how his ship remained hidden. It was magic! And, fortunately, magic was a thing he knew.

He'd glanced down this dock but stayed off it, far away. He'd been desperate to find Hook but hadn't dared to search where his eyes saw nothing. Fool! Ignorant Fool! Even the Dark Ones thought so. Now he just had to hope that he hadn't risked Belle's life as well, that it wasn't too late!

He could feel it now; the closer he got to the dock, he could feel the magic in the air. It called to him, to his other senses, dared him to look for what he had too easily dismissed: Birds perched on the air, the break of the ocean below against an invisible hull, the creak and groan of old wood, and a smell he recognized. Magic. It was here. The ship was here but hidden from all eyes. But how to get onto it, how to get to where Belle was, how to find a gangplank or a bridge or a rope or whatever godsforsaken thing pirates used to get aboard their ships he wasn't-

He didn't need to find it. He had magic. He expanded his senses, teased and tested the magic he felt. It was strong magic, familiar in a way, but he hadn't the time to concern himself with how he knew the magic or where a plain and ordinary pirate had gotten it for himself. All that mattered was that his magic was stronger than it was. He closed his eyes, letting his senses guide him, letting them paint a picture for him in his mind's eye. The invisibility was like a fabric, a cloak of magic woven over the ship. Every fabric was made of the same thing…string, yarn, wool, spun and strung together in just such a way. No one knew more about that than he did. And so, he plucked and pulled at the strings of the magical blanket he felt, cut and tore away each until he felt the magic begin to unravel, and when he opened his eyes…

It was there. The ship was before him. The ship that he hadn't seen in centuries, the one that he'd seen carrying Milah away. There wasn't a chance he was going to let it take his Belle away too!

His heart hitched as voices reached out to him, two that he knew.

Belle.

"How-how'd you-"

"Oh, I know this ship like the back of my ha…well, you know…"

Hook.

His magic drew him onto the ship without giving himself command, and before he knew it, he was standing on the ship looking out over the waters.

"I suggest you give that back to me now," Hook's voice growled from behind him.

"Give that back"…the shawl…he knew she had it before he even turned to look at them.

"Or what?" he growled, turning to step up to him.

He caught only a glimpse of Belle out of the corner of his eye before focusing his attention on the real threat, the real problem here, the one he should have taken care of centuries ago. Hook. He looked as he always had as if the last twenty-eight years hadn't passed, as if he'd just sailed into Storybrooke from their world yesterday. He was a shadow in black; black duster, pants, boots, and that annoying black eye make-up he'd worn before but was now thicker under his eyes. He had that infamous hook now in place of a hand he'd taken, the very same hook, if memories recalled, that he'd last seen buried in his own chest. But the worst part of his ensemble was the blade. He had a sword on her, raised in threat against his Belle. No more.

"You look different in this world crocodile…like the coward that I met so long ago…limp and old," Hook sneered, throwing out taunting words that he supposed were to intimidate him or make him shrink from the insults. But the fire in his chest only burned brighter with anger. And his eyes only grew bigger with revelation. The dagger was still in the tower… which made that all very tough talk with little action behind it.

"Yet…you still can't kill me!"

"Let's have it, Dark One. What magic are you going to hide behind today?"

Why use magic when he carried a weapon that had faired him rather well in this world.

"Oh no," he chuckled, changing the grip on his cane, "not magic."

He swung it so hard against his skull that the sound of it drowned out Belle's screams beside him. It felt good to do that, to watch the pirate fall to the ground to see him suffer and struggle after all the suffering and struggling that he and Baelfire had gone through on account of the lowlife in front of him. And the power…the power of doing it this way was exquisite.

"Let's go!" Belle was urging by his side. Over and over and over again, she was saying it. And over and over and over again, he couldn't bring himself to abandon this.

"Not yet, Belle," he breathed before bringing his cane back up and then bringing it down on him again, harder, hard enough that this time Hook squawked in pain, and it was…lovely. Freeing. Glorious.

The Dark Ones cheered him on, and he felt as though he'd been unlocked from his cage, that he was finally freer than he had been since the Curse broke, since he'd brought back magic! This was why he'd done it. For power like this! For safety and the ability to protect his family. To stand over those who would dare to make him kiss their boots and see them squirm and weep and writhe in agony. To-

"This!" Something brown flashed in the corner of his eye as Belle's voice pierced his thoughts, cut through the roar of the Dark Ones, the pain of the past. Bae's shawl in her hands. "This is what you came for! This is what's going to get you back to Bae!"

Bae…not Hook but Bae…

The temper that had been boiling over a moment ago was suddenly simmering.

Baelfire…that was why he'd brought magic, that was why he'd done all of this, for the chance to get back to Bae, for the opportunity to see him again and tell him he was sorry. And Belle… a chance with her he hadn't known he'd ever had before all this had happened. An opportunity to have both her and his son by his side, his family, to cherish them both before any boy became his undoing-

"Oh, you're wasting your breath, love," the pirate screeched out, daring to talk to the person he'd just threatened. "He can't resist. He has to prove he's not a coward!"

In a flash, he was back to a boil.

"You might want to turn away, Belle. This isn't going to be pretty!"

Rage poured out of him, channeled through him and into his cane, and he pommeled his enemy. He had to prove he wasn't a coward. After Hook had stolen his wife, taken Bae's mother, after he'd rocked and torn and disintegrated the foundation of the life he had built for his family that ultimately left them all torn apart. Milah, gone. Baelfire, gone! Belle-

"Do it!" Jones yelled at him between blows, giving him pause to look at his bloodied nose, at the welts that would no doubt be bruised in the next few hours. "Do it! Kill me! He has to show you how powerful he is!"

He had to show…Belle. For a moment, he'd forgotten she was there, onboard, watching him. Was that what this was? A show for her?

"No!" Belle yelled out. "Rumple, this…this is what he wants! To destroy every bit of good in you."

Good? Nimue taunted in his head. Hasn't this child spent enough time with us yet to know? What good is there in a Dark One? What good is there in any of us?

"And what good is there in this one, Rumpelstiltskin?" Zoso hissed in a hushed voice over his shoulder as he stared down at Hook.

"Rip my heart out," Hook urged, touching his chest. "Kill me like you did Milah, and I'll finally be reunited with her!"

Zoso laughed. "That's the first thing any of you have said that makes sense! Give one good reason why this lowlife, the creature who destroyed your life, shouldn't die?! Because of that girl beside you? What does she know of it?! He's already threatened her today, twice! He'll come after her next if you don't!"

He was right. There was no reason. There was not one single reason he shouldn't die here and now. It was the only way to protect those he loved, the only way to ensure this ended! He dropped his cane and turned to Belle, hoping to find understanding in her eyes but not surprised when he didn't.

"He has to die, Belle!"

And then he flung himself upon Hook, placed his hand precariously over his chest so that Hook ceased up and closed his eyes, preparing for his imminent death!

"Yes…" Zoso hissed.

"NO!" Belle shouted. "No, he doesn't!"

"Ignore her!" his old mentor growled in his ear. His hand shook, poised to obey until he realized…

Zoso was there…not just a voice in his head, but there. In front of him, beside him…

He hadn't had a visit, physically, from one of the Dark One's, not one that he himself hadn't commanded since-

Nimue. When Belle had been in his castle. When he'd brought the book back to his tower with the hope it might someday free him, and she'd said, she'd admitted…"we only appear when you are filled with doubt."

Doubt.

Doubt about his future, about who he was, about what he was doing. They only ever showed up to preserve themselves. Zoso…he wasn't there, not really, not physically. The only one who could see him was him.

But Belle…she was there. She was there, and she was real. She wanted for him what the Dark Ones didn't…

"There's still good in you," she whispered, her voice harsh as if she were on the verge of tears. "I see it. I've always seen it. Please. Please show me I'm not wrong!"

He glanced up at her only to find that Zoso had moved, that he stood over her shoulder, sneering at her as though she were the infection, not the cure. An odd thing, considering how grotesque Zoso looked beside her.

"She will destroy you. She will destroy us…show her the part of you that is strongest. Show her who we were."

He glanced back at Hook, at the hand he held over his heart, and realized…this was their plan. They'd been so quiet when Belle was around, so much more than last time. Part of it he'd assumed was her, but now…he saw it. This had been their plan. It wasn't to tempt him away from her slowly. It was to bide their time. It was to break them at the most opportune of times.

Hook was that opportune time. Hook would break them. Not the same way he'd broken his family before, no. But to kill him now, to obey the voices in his head, to let his desire for revenge take over in front of the one person he had in this world, the one person truly here and on his side…it would break them.

No more dinners. No more weekend excursions. No more secrets shared in the back of the shop, or stories, or laughter, or sex, or joy, or kisses, and embraces. No future.

He wanted to break Hook. He wanted to rip his heart from his chest and squeeze it until it was dust and his body was nothing but a rotting corpse.

He wanted that!

But he wanted to go home with Belle more.

He shook as he withdrew his hand from Hook's chest.

She will destroy us in the end, Zoso whispered inside his head.

"You take your little ship and sail until you fall off the edge of the world," he commanded of the pirate through clenched teeth. "I never want to see you again."

The shaking ceased as he slapped his palm against his jaw, one final release of energy before he found the ability to cobble together the courage to push himself away, reach down to pick up his cane and hold out his hand for Belle.

"Let's go," he requested, noting that Zoso had gone and the voices in his head were quiet again. There was only Belle again. The one constant he might not always want but certainly needed in his life. She was unhappy with him; that much was clear from the look on her face. She was disappointed with the entire situation. But still, she stepped forward, took his hand, and led him back to shore.

[brooklynislandgirl]

How would your muse react to being handed a baby? {Keni}

Soft, Silent, Sweet || Accepting

 "Wait. W-w-what....what are you doing?"

The young Jedi stands surrounded by a group of village women. All of them seem to be petting and pawing at her. In the fading dusk the blood and filth of battle drying on her face looks like a primitive mask even as cooling breezes begin to tease her hair into ribbons the hue of dark wood flowing down her back after escaping their confining ties. For now her sabre is sheathed though for just a split second it looked like it was going to see further use with the way her fingers flex near its hilt on her belt.  One of the bolder women offers her a gap-toothed smile, and murmurs in the local tongue, too softly to be heard. She takes hold of Melakeni's arms and pulls them away from her body. Into them is deposited an infant. It squirms and squawks. Gurgles spit bubbles on its lips. Keni’s stomach, no bigger than her fist, lurches at the sight. Tries to shrink into itself as much as the rest of her wants the very same. The Force becomes immediately awash with a deeply abiding sense of disgust, a shudder that could potentially if not so thoroughly repressed shake the ground and make the collection of huts around them collapse. This is one of those mammalian things that Keni has never quite gotten her head around. Certainly she has treated younglings by the score in the Temple, every kind of imaginable illness from the contagious poxes to scrapes and bruises and wobbly tummies. Almost to the last they have wanted for a small word of kindness, a kiss on the head. A promise that she can make them well again, but the younglings she treats are capable of speech, of independent thought. She has nothing to do with the creches where those too young to be sorted into clan are kept, tended like plants. Except most plants do not drool and do not defecate in their own clothes. They neither screech nor wail ~at least as far as most sentients are concerned~ with their little faces scrunched up and turning hues. They do not have that indescribable smell like old milk and crusty skin that particularly female humans seem so entranced with. She has often in the past teased Anakin that Zelosian nurseries are full of large jars full of nutrient rich soil and its own little watering apparatus, and sometimes, especially rare children of her species require an aquatic environment. None of that is true. As far as she knows, she doesn't remember that far back, after all, her people are born and raised in the same way. She just has no experience to mark the occasion and she is absolutely certain she'd never made a mess of herself or smelled like that. What's more is she doesn't understand the biological imperative of breeding. Her eyes turn toward Anakin. A human. And he is the depth and breadth of her soul. She has absolutely no doubt that the Force had made them for one another. And Melakeni has dreams. Some of them do involve him and the requisite acts that would be required to produce tiny offspring. All beautiful lines and commingled breath. The feel of his skin burning against her own. Tender kisses and every pleasure that is forbidden to them. Unbidden, others come along with those fever-dreams. She has at least once imagined what one would look like with his hair and long limbs, her eyes and teeth. But that was only once. The reality of it is, even if they were to ever desire such a thing, it would be impossible. They are genetically incompatible, mammalian and viridiphyta respectively. She could never imagine wanting a child of her own, she doesn’t even really want a padawan. And of those children she doesn’t fantasise about, the only possible source for one would be from Anakin. For all that some people might think otherwise, and to no shame, Anakin is not the kind of man who would make for a good father. He would want to be, he would love any child to the very depth of his soul, but therein lies madness. Anyone who has seen him with his droids and his Clones could predict a future where only tragedy could unfold. He would be unable to separate himself from his fears. They would become mania. She has seen what happens when Anakin loves too much. And she knows, much to her own regret, that sometimes, love is not enough. It would kill him as surely as poison. Children are not their future. They will both be content with that.  The infant latches onto her hair and gives it a yank, a hideous little sound coming out of it that she soon enough realises is a laugh. Melakeni flashes Anakin a look that can be felt like direct shot from one of the blaster rifles carried by a nearby handful of Clones who immediately proceed to look away although one looks like he’s overcome with a fit of amusement that his brothers are now trying to save him from. As politely as possible Keni pries the little thing’s fingers apart and rescues herself from the situation. She turns to the translator who accompanied the women and murmurs platitudes. Yes, yes. Adorable child. Many blessings on the family, thank you. Excuse me please. She means none of these things but if she has one ability to surpass all others it is emotional mimicry. She hands the creature back to its parent. Hands come up in a peaceful gesture which she half nods-half bows over. Begins to extricate herself from the group.  The translator asks if they need anything. Keni asks for a tub and as much hot water as the village can muster. They have already been offered food, and a few dozen spare huts at the far edges of the camp. It is all they have to give for their salvation. She tells them that everything is fine, and that they ~Anakin, herself, and their Troops~ will make as little trouble as possible. When they are finally alone, she allows herself to shudder all of her natural revulsion. “The Living Force spare me, it was so gross.” Her face screws up tightly, which pulls the corners of her mouth down, as if she’s having trouble trying not to retch on the spot. “And so...grabby. And squishy. Honestly, Anakin. I’d much prefer dealing with slugs.” There’s meaning in that declaration the likes of which only he can understand. After all, he’s been the one to rescue her from them for years now.  She flings her tunic at him, and lets the rest of her uniform flutter and fall to the ground. She slips over the edge of the wooden tub and sinks into the water, disappearing beneath the surface for a few seconds before rising back up. She can still feel all the infant’s various fluids on her skin. “Next time, you hold the babies and get fondled by the civilians and I’ll stay with the boys.” Anakin laughs and agrees with her before he climbs into the bath opposite of her and she can almost hear his bones shriek in gratitude.

~*~

The twin suns of this dying world bake the sand beneath her boots. There is little shade to be found anywhere and the air feels as if it is scorching her lungs from the inside out. She could never have imagined a time in all of her life where she misses the cold dark of space, nor that she would be counting the seconds before she could return to her ship and erase the memory of sunlight on her skin. She’s done her best to blend in with the locals. To survey her target at every opportunity while remaining out of sight. Until now.

She beckons the boy with a delicate, airy hand. Curiosity draws him near, of course it does. And something she does not possess cracks in her chest leaving a space awash with grief and love and a thousand different yearnings still. Though he’s approaching his tenth Empire Day, he is small for his age. Wind-whipped, carved out by the vast nothingness of his little kingdom. The same suns that sear down have bleached his hair pale gold and in places there are certain cowlicks that will never be tamed, no matter how gentle but unforgiving the hand is that attempts it. His eyes are painfully blue. More so than the sky above them, more than shimmer of sea that does not exist here. The shy grin he offers her harks back to another era that seems like lifetimes ago. If she ever had a doubt, it evaporates here and now. And this is how perhaps the most feared and loved woman in the galaxy comes to kneel before a child. Fixes the boy with a softly-shaped smile, one that hides the fine points of her teeth but that gives warmth to emerald eyes. From some secret pocket, perhaps from the force itself, a gloved hand produces not one but two crystallised honey-sticks, tinted by berries and juices into a chaos of colour. He is cautious. Does not immediately reach for them as one might expect. This pleases her immensely, he has inherited his father’s great wisdom. She continues to hold them out, and inclines her head. Nods a little. He takes them. But then his aunt calls for him, and he looks back toward her over one scrawny shoulder before returning his gaze to his mysterious benefactor. She lifts a finger to her lips.  A secret it is to be. She is gone before Beru comes looking for him.

[mikauzoran]

Lila Fake-Dating/Emotional Blackmail Adrienette: Betting Against the House: Chapter Four

Read it on AO3: Betting Against the House: Chapter Four: The Worst Date Ever

“…So…” Lila finally spoke up on their short stroll to Assa Café just down the street from the school. “Nino’s going to fail Physics?” she carefully sounded him out, trying to determine if Nino’s excuse to pull Adrien aside held water.

Adrien made a thoughtful noise. “Maybe not fail outright, but he’s certainly not going to do well.” He cast her a sidelong glance and then pretended to come clean. “The Physics project isn’t actually what Nino and I talked about.”

Her grip on his arm tightened until it was almost painful. “Oh? Then what did you two talk about? Surely you’re not spreading slander about me.”

Adrien scoffed. “Lila, do you think I’d risk Marinette’s safety like that?”

It wasn’t a lie. He was simply leaving it up to her to decide what the truth was.

She seemed to come to the conclusion that he wouldn’t play around when it came to protecting Marinette because her hold on his arm started to loosen.

“Besides,” he sighed, “what would be the point of telling anyone? It’s not like they’d believe me. You’ve got the wool pulled too far down over their eyes.”

Lila hummed softly as she contemplated the merits of his statements.

“Nino’s planning a surprise for Alya,” Adrien volunteered to throw her off the scent. “He’s been consulting me because I’m a hopeless romantic and good at giving gifts and orchestrating surprises.”

“Is that so?” Lila chuckled, a sly grin beginning to form at the corners of her lips. “Prove it. I expect a romantic gift from you promptly.”

Adrien shrugged, pretending that it was of no consequence.

On the inside, he heaved an enormous sigh of relief because it appeared that he had outfoxed her and that she believed he hadn’t said anything to Nino about the blackmail.

“Anything for you, Ma Fleur,” he replied obediently.

 They arrived at the café—small and intimate with counter service and only a few seats—a couple minutes later.

Lila did not look impressed as she glanced over the menu. “I guess I could get one of their detox juices. What do you usually get here?”

“Typically, I order the salmon or tofu bentou,” he informed, getting out his wallet. “Their ingredients are really fresh, and the chef is fantastic, so you can’t actually go wrong.”

“The lunchboxes do look good,” she granted reservedly, not wanting to appear too excited. “But rice has so many carbs.”

“So just eat the meat and the vegetables,” Adrien suggested with a shrug. “It’s not like you have to eat everything.”

She pursed her lips, debating. “Which is better: the miso pork or the teriyaki chicken?”

“I don’t know, actually,” he sheepishly admitted. “I’ve never had them. I’m a pescatarian.”

She stood there for almost twenty full seconds gawking at him. “No, you’re not.”

“I’m pretty sure I am,” he snorted lightly, not appreciating her dictating tone. “And I think I would be the best person to ask about my eating habits.”

“I’ve seen you eat chicken before,” she accused, acting like this was some kind of personal betrayal. “I saw you when your father invited me over to dine with you.”

“I’ll eat it if it’s put in front of me,” he confessed, “but, when I have any say about what I eat, I’m pescatarian, so I’ve never ordered the miso pork or the teriyaki chicken here.”

She blew out an indignant little huff, crossing her arms over her chest. “You don’t have to be such a jerk about it.”

Adrien physically bit his tongue to hold in a snarky response.

“…I guess I’ll get the miso pork,” she eventually decided. “Evian to drink and a matcha tiramisu. It really did sound good when I heard you talking to Elise about it the other day.”

“Perfect. Sounds good.” He gave a nod of approval as he moved down the counter to the register to pay.

“I’m going to take a seat,” she apprised, turning in a way so that her hair whipped around behind her sharply.

Seating was extremely limited—a bench seat along the wall opposite the counter and a handful of tables with individual chairs on the other side—and the restaurant was very small, so Lila didn’t have far to go. She could hear Adrien exchanging pleasantries with the cashier, but she couldn’t understand what they were saying because they were holding their conversation in Japanese.

This irritated her for a reason she couldn’t quite pinpoint, and it only got more intense as the cashier laughed and smiled at something Adrien had said.

Lila took a deep breath and forced herself to stay calm as she watched Adrien finish at the counter and bring over their trays.

She hated his charm, his irresistibility, his boyish handsomeness, and the way he was so nice to everyone who wasn’t her.

 Conversation was sparse as they consumed their food.

They’d never really talked in the years that they’d known one another. Adrien was civil and polite but didn’t make an effort to initiate chitchat, and Lila hadn’t bothered to get to know him either.

He was just a pretty face and a bleeding heart whom she was more than willing to use and step on in order to climb her way up. Besides, she was more than half certain that he hated her, despite his “moral high ground”, “patience of a saint” act. She had never seen the point in truly getting to know him. It wasn’t like he really cared about getting to know her, despite his pretended amicability.

“You’re acting awfully sullen,” she observed when five minutes passed without either saying anything to the other.

He shrugged.

He did that a lot, and it annoyed her. It was like he couldn’t be bothered to give her a proper answer. She didn’t like him dismissing her like that.

“You should smile,” she advised. “The point of this date is for you to make a show of how in love you are with me and how happy we are together. I’m dating you for the media exposure, so stop sulking and look like you’re excited to be with me or something.”

“Sorry,” he chuckled darkly. “It’s a little difficult to act cheerful when you’re upset.”

“What do you have to be upset about?” she challenged.

He eyed her with a dangerously bland look, cocking an eyebrow as if daring her to say it again. “You took something important from me, Lila,” he explained flatly. “My father is a little stingy with my schedule, so I had to plan tonight’s game night with my friends almost a month in advance, but, now, here I am wasting an evening with you. I was looking forward to game night, but you ruined that for me, so, yeah. I think most people would say I had something to be upset about.”

She gave a little snort and tossed her head. “Well, be upset later. Right now, you’re on the clock, so make a good show of being in love with me.”

He sighed, closing his eyes and taking a couple deep breaths to defuse his temper. When he opened them, he smiled brightly, looking for all the world like he was enjoying their outing. “Is this better?”

“Perfect.” She decreed, satisfied…until he reached across the table and stole a bite of her matcha tiramisu. “Hey! Thief! I didn’t say you could have any!” she squawked in protest.

He smirked at her around his spoon. “Sorry, Ma Fleur. I didn’t think you’d mind. I mean…don’t you love me enough to share?”

Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Come on,” he teasingly whispered. “If I have to put on an act, so do you. No one’s going to believe I love someone who bosses me around and treats me like garbage. You have to at least pretend to be worthy of love; otherwise, everyone’s going to see through this sham.”

Her lip curled back into a scowl as she hissed, “I don’t know, Adrien. You seem to love your father, even though he treats you like dirt. Maybe people will just assume you’re a masochist.”

Adrien recoiled, the fake smile dropping clear off his face. He gazed at Lila with contempt but didn’t voice a response.

Her sneer phased into a discontented frown. “You’re going to have to do better at this fake dating thing in the future when we’re in public; otherwise, Marinette might find that there are some unfortunate rumors circulating about her.”

Adrien rolled his eyes. “There are literally two or three other people in this restaurant right now, and they’re all around back. No one’s watching our shameful little display, and I did just fine all day at school. Back off, Lila.”

It was a gamble confronting her like that, but, for once, it payed off.

Lila shrugged and sat back in her seat, returning to her dessert disinterestedly. “You did do well at school today. …Make sure you keep up the good work, and maybe we won’t have a problem.”

Adrien nodded, scooping up some rice with his chopsticks and bringing it up to his mouth to keep himself busy so that he wouldn’t press her any further and accidentally push her over the edge.

Things were quiet again for a stretch, each of them lost in their own reverie.

Several minutes later, Lila spoke in a soft, defensive voice, asking out of seemingly nowhere, “What do you like about Marinette so much, anyway?”

Adrien looked up and blinked at her in surprise, unsure if she had actually said anything and whether he had heard her right.

She arched an eyebrow at him challengingly. “Well? What do you like about her?”

Normally, this would be the point where Adrien went off on a bullet-pointed lecture about how amazing and wonderful Marinette was, but, always wary of Lila, he reined in his kneejerk response and formulated a more reserved reply.

“Her selflessness, mostly,” he confessed, cautiously elaborating. “She’s kind, even when she doesn’t have to be, and she’s always willing to take on more work on top of her already overwhelming load in order to help a friend. She’s just a good person like that. She doesn’t do it to get anything out of it…she’s just good,” he finished with a shrug.

Lila snorted, casting her eyes back down at her tiramisu. “Figures you’d go for that goody-goody martyr act. You’re so gullible.”

“…May I ask what you hate about her so much?” Adrien inquired, attempting to foster a genuine conversation.

If he could figure out what made Lila tick, maybe he could come up with a way to gain the upper hand and declaw her. He knew from studying history that some people really were just evil, but he couldn’t help but think that there was some reason why Lila acted the way she did. If he could figure her out, maybe she wouldn’t turn out to be such a lost cause after all.

Lila tossed her head, heat rising on the back of her neck and staining the tips of her ears crimson. “What I hate most is that everyone loves her so much,” she spat with venom. “She doesn’t even have to try, and everybody loves her. She’s so obnoxious with her ‘holier than thou’ attitude. She acts like she’s better than me, but she’s not, and she doesn’t deserve everybody fawning over her all the time.”

Adrien nodded, taking a long sip of his houjicha.

She was jealous, no different than Chloé. The only difference was how Lila went about expressing her jealousy.

Chloé was just a brat and a bully. (He meant that in the nicest, most loving way possible because Chloé was like a sister to him, but that didn’t stop him from seeing her less attractive sides.)

Lila was insidious. She wasn’t outwardly vicious or vindictive like Chloé. Instead, she spun intricate plans like a spider lying in wait to capture unsuspecting victims in her web of silver-tongued lies.

“Have you ever considered that it’s okay for Marinette to get attention?” he tentatively suggested. “It’s not a zero-sum game. Just because people are paying attention to her, that doesn’t take anything away from you, does it?”

“Any time people are fussing over her, they’re not lavishing me with attention; therefore, I do lose out if people pay attention to her,” Lila argued hotly. “You can forget about any delusions you have of making us get along and be friends. She has things that I want, and I’m prepared and willing to take them from her. There are some things that aren’t shareable.”

Adrien’s brow slid into a soft frown. “Like what?”

“Like you,” she replied airily, not letting him see the weight she placed on or the importance of this acquisition. “For starters, anyway.”

“I see,” he replied neutrally, taking another sip of his tea.

What he wanted to say was, “You’ll never have me”.

“Well…have you ever considered that maybe people would like you, even if you were just yourself around them?” he tried from a different angle.

She rolled her eyes. “You’re gullible and naïve. I’m my true self around you, and you despise me, don’t you?”

He bit the inside of his cheek. “Despise is a little strong,” he hedged.

She laughed mockingly at that. “Please. I’m the bane of your existence.”

“That would be Papillon,” he corrected. “I don’t necessarily hate you, Lila. You make me really angry sometimes, and I want to wring your neck when you hurt my friends, but, most of the time, I don’t hate you,” he explained, trying to convince her.

She cocked an eyebrow at him in suspicion, not taking his word for it.

“Most of the time, you’re an annoyance, and I resent you for being a crappy person,” he summarized. “But I don’t hate you.”

She nodded slowly, analyzing his words. “…I see…. So…how do your personal experiences with me lead you to believe that others would still fawn over me if I dropped the act and stopped telling them what they wanted to hear?”

Adrien pursed his lips as he came up with nothing.

“Mmhm.” She kept nodding. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. Well. Thanks for the suggestion, but I think I like things the way they are at present, so I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing. Seriously, thanks, though,” she replied, voice dripping with irony.

“Doesn’t it ever get to you, though?” he pressed, showing his hand a little. “Not being able to be authentically yourself and accepted as you are by anyone?”

She tipped her head to the side, taking a slow sip of her Evian water as she pondered the earnestness of his tone. “Not really. Why? Is this a personal problem you’re having?”

He pulled the shutters down over his emotions, carefully composing his face into a neutral expression.

Like hell he was going to get into the complexities of the lies he had to tell the people he loved in order to protect them and his secret identity with Lila. She didn’t get to know how it tore him apart sometimes not being able to share aspects of his life as Adrien with Ladybug and how he longed to confide in Nino or Marinette about life as Chat Noir.

“If it were, I wouldn’t be talking about it with you,” he informed levelly keeping the ire out of his voice.

A quirky smile slowly turned up the corners of her lips as she chuckled, “Then why did you think I’d open up and be all vulnerable with you when you asked me?”

He blinked, surprised by the question.

He found himself hard pressed to answer her.

“Because you’re such a nice, sweet guy that everyone spills their guts to you?” she snickered. “Don’t try to psychoanalyze me, Adrien. I’m not a problem for you to fix, and I don’t need you to save me. I’m perfectly happy the way that I am.”

“Are you actually?” He really had to wonder. “How can you be? You don’t have any real friends…I mean…unless you count my father, and I don’t think he actually counts.”

She shrugged, unconcerned. “I don’t need friends. Friends are for mushy, weak people like you. You band together to protect yourselves because you’re stronger that way, but I don’t need other people like that. I’m tough enough to make it on my own.”

Adrien thought she was way off the mark, but it was obvious that he wouldn’t be convincing her about the benefits of friends at this time, let alone anytime soon.

“…Have you ever had friends?” he asked while she was in a divulging mood.

Even though she’d said not to analyze her, he couldn’t help but be curious. He had to believe that if he could just figure her out, he could help her stop hurting others and herself.

She paused to think for a moment, little trenches burrowing their way across her forehead as she did so. “…Maybe when I was little,” she finally answered. “I remember there were some kids around my age where we were living at the time, and we played together. I don’t remember their names. My family never stayed in one place long enough for me to really get to know anyone, so there was never any point in making friends in the way that you mean. These past three years is the longest I’ve ever been in one country, let alone one city. It’s kind of weird being stuck with the same people for so long.”

“That must have been hard, not feeling like there was any point in getting attached to anyone because you knew it wouldn’t be permanent,” he responded thoughtfully.

She rolled her eyes, balled up her napkin, and tossed it at him. “Oh, stop. I don’t need or want your pity. Stop trying to find explanations for why I am the way I am,” she commanded wearily. “I’m not some tragic romance novel antihero with deep reasons for acting the way I do. There’s no trauma for you to uncover and heal in order to make me a ‘good’ person. You don’t get to play hero this time.”

He held up his hands in surrender, backing down.

He didn’t think she was telling the truth exactly, but she was very clear about her wishes for him to drop it.

“Okay. Sorry,” he bowed out demurely, scooping the napkin she had thrown up off the floor and depositing it onto his tray with his own rubbish.

She snorted softly, crossing her arms. “Real people aren’t so black and white,” she grumbled. “We’re all grey on the inside.”

“Yeah. Maybe,” he agreed halfheartedly, still thinking that maybe there was something he could do to get through to her and make her want to change for the better.

“Give up,” she groaned, seeing the gears in his head moving. “You’re such a goody-goody. Just like Marinette. I’d say you two deserved each other if I didn’t want you for myself.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he chuckled, a faint smile coming back to his lips.

“This date is over,” she announced abruptly, sounding tired as she rose to her feet. “I didn’t come here for you to turn me into your next do-gooder project. I came here so that people would see me acting all lovey-dovey with Adrien Agreste. Since that’s not happening, you might as well take me home and go hang out with your loser friends like you wanted.”

Adrien hurriedly drained the rest of his tea and got together the rubbish to take over to the waste disposal bin.

“Sorry I’m such poor company,” he apologized, not bothering to put any feeling behind the words as he picked up her school bag to carry for her and held out his arm for her to take hold of.

“You’d better be,” she huffed, taking his arm and letting him escort her out of the restaurant to where his driver was waiting for them, parked on the street outside. “This is the worst date I’ve ever been on.”

“Have you been on many dates?” he wondered aloud without thinking.

“Plenty,” she retorted defensively. “Usually, the boys I date shower me with compliments and can’t take their eyes off of me the whole evening.”

“I must be defective,” he snickered, opening the car door for her. “Sorry. I promise I’ll do better at school tomorrow in front of our audience.”

“You’d better,” she grumbled, climbing in and crossing her arms sulkily.

 Adrien made a show of walking Lila to her door and giving her a parting kiss on the cheek in case any paparazzi were watching. “See you tomorrow, Ma Fleur.”

“I’ll miss you, My Prince,” she giggled, delighting in his compliance.

He slumped in the seat as soon as he got back into the car, feeling like all of the energy had been sucked out of him. He looked up to find Victor, his bodyguard, sneaking glances at him in the rearview mirror, trying to assess whether he was okay.

“Rough day,” he sighed, summoning up a tired smile. “I’m actually supposed to be over at Marinette’s playing video games right now, though, so…you don’t think you could drive me over there, do you?”

Victor gave a grunt and turned the car in the direction of Tom and Sabine’s.

[mystical-flute]

Changing Fate (Part 1 of The Road Not Taken)

In another lifetime, Kozuki Oden asks for help.

Or, a series of one-shots about what the world might be like if the Kozuki clan reclaimed power in Wano.

AO3 || Buy me a Ko-fi

Kozuki Oden was troubled.

He stared out at the calm, dark ocean, the breeze gently tickling his hair and skin as he forced himself not to pace along the deck of the Oro Jackson.

He had said he wouldn’t need help opening Wano’s borders to the rest of the world. He had said that he and his samurai would be able to handle it.

And yet…

Something hadn’t felt right on Wano when he had dropped Toki, Momo and Hiyori off. His retainers’ pleas had fallen on deaf ears, Oden hadn’t been able to bear to look at his country, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that something had been going terribly, horribly wrong on Wano.

Maybe to the point where he would need outside help.

Who better than the King of the Pirates and his crew?

Roger was dying. They all knew that. But still, Roger and the rest of the crew… they were powerful. They had defied every odd that had been thrown their way.

And if Oden’s sense of dread was wrong, if his mind was simply playing tricks on him, then at the very least, Roger would be able to see Toki, Momo and Hiyori one last time before his death.

Oden would be able to make peace with that.

He wouldn’t be able to make peace with Wano falling apart.

Despite his resistance to it in his youth, Oden knew what he had to do. He knew what his fate was.

He had to become the shogun of Wano Kuni.

Turning on his heels, Oden made his way to Roger’s cabin and knocked on the door.

There was a violent coughing fit before Roger allowed him entry.

“Oden! What’s on your mind at this hour?” Roger’s eyes were twinkling with curiosity, of an itch for adventure, but Oden could see the heaviness in them, the strain the disease was taking.

“I have been thinking long and hard about this, Roger,” Oden started slowly. “I think I will need your help opening Wano’s borders. Is it too late to accept your offer?”

Roger didn’t hesitate, grabbing the den den he kept next to his bed. “Gabban! Set course for Wano! We’re going to open it with Oden!”

A part of Oden’s dread dissipated.

Everything would be okay.

Oden grasped the railing of the Oro Jackson, his face set in a firm, yet grim line as the ship was pulled up the waterfall. Buggy was screaming in terror, Shanks yelling out in excitement, but Oden paid no mind to it.

The sense of dread had gotten worse the closer they’d gotten to Wano, and he knew with each leap of the koi fish, he had made the right choice in asking the Roger Pirates for help.

“Oden,” Roger’s gruff voice said, cutting him from his thoughts. “What is your plan?”

Roger, despite his wild and expressive personality, had been unusually serious during this mission, and Oden couldn’t have been more grateful.

“Figure out how bad it is. Then go from there. I figure we can all handle any enemies that might cross our path,” Oden mused, stroking his chin. “My first priority is making sure Toki and the kids are safe.”

“Of course.”

“Lord Oden!” a panicked female voice said. Shinobu appeared with a pop on the deck before the Oro Jackson even hit the top of the falls.

“A kunoichi!” Roger exclaimed, his eyes lit up with curiosity.

On the other hand, Oden felt dread in his bones. “Shinobu, what’s wrong?” She was holding something in her hands that was making noise and moving around, and he frowned. “What is that?”

Slowly, carefully, Shinobu moved her top hand to reveal a bird.

“Oden is coming! Oden is coming!” the bird squawked.

“I - I’m afraid we have a traitor in our midst, Lord Oden,” she said quietly, her eyes wet with tears.

“Who - who would do such a thing? What is this bird?” Oden asked.

Shinobu blinked back the tears, reaching onto her belt with her free hand and withdrawing one of her kunais and slicing the bird along the spine, only instead of blood, Shinobu’s hands were stained with…

“Ink,” Oden gasped, before his eyes narrowed. “Kanjuro! But why?”

“I don’t know, Lord Oden,” Shinobu said. “He has given us no reason to believe he would ever betray you… but this bird is not the first that has been intercepted by me.”

“What else has been said?”

“Intelligence, mostly, about the status of your family. But strangely enough… Kanjuro always protected Lady Toki, Lady Hiyori, and Lord Momonoskue. Orochi is shogun now… your father apparently named him successor while you were gone. He made a deal with a pirate called Kaido. They’ve built factories all over Wano. Weapons factories!”

Oden sucked in a breath as the ship reached the top of the falls, and even Roger appeared shocked.

“Do you know this ‘Kaido’?” Shinobu asked, looking at Roger skeptically.

“Aye. he was an apprentice on a dangerous crew. The Rocks Pirates. Whitebeard and Big Mom were members of it as well,” Roger explained. “Garp and I took down their crew together. They say he isn’t a human, but no one knows what he really is.”

Oden recalled Whitebeard mentioning being on another crew prior to starting his own, but hadn’t said anything else about it.

“He’s a dragon,” Shinobu explained, shuddering. “Big and blue. Like a deity.”

Roger stroked his beard thoughtfully. “That… is a new update. But we’ve beaten plenty of Devil Fruit users in the past. I’m sure one more won’t kill us.”

“‘Devil Fruits’?” Shinobu questioned.

Oden waved his hand. “Another time, Shinobu, I promise. Wash that ink off your hands and get back to land before someone notices you’ve disappeared.”

“Yes, Lord Oden,” Shinobu said, vanishing.

He didn’t miss that her hands were clean by the time she’d disappeared. Damn kunoichi.

Oden wanted to pass out. Kanjuro. His loyal retainer for decades, someone he had trusted his wife and children’s lives with… was a traitor. But why? He didn’t understand.

He especially didn’t understand why Kanjuro didn’t want to strike down Toki or his children while Oden was gone.

“We have to be rational about this,” Crocus said. “I know that’s not usually your strong suit, Oden - ”

“No. You’re right,” Oden finally said. “I want to speak to Kanjuro alone after I’ve spoken with Toki. Make sure no one else interrupts us.” He grimaced, looking at Roger. “If… that’s okay, captain.”

“This is your fight, Oden,” Roger replied. “We’re merely extra hands for you.”

“Lord Oden!” he heard from the shore. There stood his wife and children, and his nine loyal retainers.

Or maybe it was only eight. He hated that it needed to be a question.

Still, Oden gave them a confident smile, leaping off the ship and onto the shore, scooping Momonoskue and Hiyori into his arms. “I’ve missed you all so terribly! Look how big you two are now! And Toki, my beautiful wife… I’m sorry it took so long to get home.”

Toki hummed. “It’s okay Oden, what you had to do was important.” She glanced at Roger and smiled. “I see Buggy and Shanks have grown quite a lot as well! I imagine they’ll leave long shadows in the future.”

“You think so, Lady Toki?!” Buggy gasped, before composing himself. “I mean, of course I will!”

“Come inside, you all must be tired from the journey. I’m sure you have stories for the children, don’t you?”

Shanks raised his arms into the air. “Do we ever. I’ll go first!”

“You always go first, Shanks!” Buggy whined as the group moved toward the castle.

“Kanjuro, a word?” Oden asked, guiding his retainer toward his office. He could feel the sea stone in his pocket, and hoped it wouldn’t be needed.

He wanted this all to be a misunderstanding, so they could guide Wano into a new age together.

He sensed Gabban outside the room as he as Kanjuro settled down.

“Is there something wrong, Lord Oden?” Kanjuro asked with a small frown.

“A misunderstanding, I’m hoping. I received some troubling news that you were a spy, and that you had passed information about my wife and children to Orochi and Kaido,” Oden said slowly.

Kanjuro spluttered. “I don’t know why someone would say such a horrible thing about me! I am your loyal retainer, you saved me, and I kept your family safe while you were gone!”

Oden nodded. “I know, which is why I would like to resolve this matter. I want Wano to be free, you know that. But I don’t feel safe doing that if someone is out to get my retainers.”

“Of course, Lord Oden.”

“What I’m curious, is why someone would want to blame you, Kanjuro. Of all my retainers, why would they paint you as a traitor?” Oden leaned back. “I mean, it isn’t like someone is trying to attack your family name, right?”

Something shifted in the air, and Kanjuro looked away. “Kakaka… no, Lord Oden. I have no family name anymore.”

“'Anymore'? What do you mean?”

“Your family destroyed them, Lord Oden.”

Dread turned to horror as he stared at Kanjuro. He couldn’t possibly mean -

“I am Kurozumi Kanjuro. Ka. Ka. Ka . I suppose you’ll have to kill me now, right? And then you’ll rush off to the Flower Capital and finish Orochi and the others there. After all, that’s what you Kozukis are known for.” The name was spat with a venom Oden didn’t realize Kanjuro had.

Oden should kill him. He knew that.

But there’s a voice inside him that tells him no.

“I will not kill you, Kanjuro.”

“Y-you won’t?”

“No. Despite being a traitor, you have served and protected my family, even when it would have suited you better to kill them,” Oden said. “I know I cannot undo what has been done to the Kurozumi clan, but I will clear the names of the innocent ones. I will make sure you are seen as a hero. But I cannot do that without defeating Kaido and Orochi. You understand this, yes?”

Kanjuro appeared to be overwhelmed, but nodded in agreement. “Yes, Lord Oden. You… will really clear my name?”

“You will live a long, safe life. You will have a chance to rebuild your clan. Evening Shower Kurozumi Kanjuro, a hero of Wano,” Oden said.

Kanjuro prostrated himself on the ground, sobbing. “All I have ever wanted to do was die, but now - now I want to live. Thank you, Lord Oden. I have a reason to live .”

A plan was devised that night. For extra security, Kanjuro’s devil fruit was nullified with sea stone Roger had stolen from the Marines.

Toki, Momo and Hiyori were smuggled onto the Oro Jackson with Crocus, Shanks, and Buggy, making it appear that the Roger Pirates were leaving Wano. Oden wasn’t a fool, he knew word likely would have spread of their being in Wano, with or without Kanjuro.

Meanwhile, Rayleigh, Gabban and a handful of others went in a smaller boat to the island now named Onigashima to ambush the Beast Pirates. While they did that, Roger, Oden, the scabbards, and the rest of Roger’s crew made their way to the Flower Capital.

Oden barely gave it a glance as he heard the joyful exclamations of his people cheering him on, heading straight for the palace with nothing but fury in his gaze.

People were counting on him to vanquish this evil. They were counting on him to set Wano back on the right path.

And he would win.

“OROCHI!” he roared, barging into the palace. He felt a burst of haki, and knew Roger must have subdued some of the guards.

“O-Oden! Y-you’re back from your travels!” Orochi exclaimed. “I - I hadn’t received any news of that!”

Oden’s eyes narrowed. “I understand you were shogun until I returned. I appreciate you taking on the responsibility, but the position is mine now.”

Orochi let out the worst sounding laugh Oden had ever heard. “You think so, Oden? Well, you’re wrong. The Kurozumi clan has now finally taken its rightful place at the top, and we will ensure you and the other Kozuki clan members, and this whole damned country, suffer like we had to. You want the throne? Take it by force. And even if you manage to beat me, and my guards, there’s no way to stop Kaido.”

Calmly, Oden withdrew his swords, the sounds of battle beginning to rage outside.

“Very well, Orochi."

He didn’t see the old man or the old woman until they began shouting, the old man raising his hands -

And he was ambushed by Kanjuro, who snapped his own seas tone cuffs on his wrists.

The word “traitor!” was shouted, but Oden paid no mind as he rushed Orochi.

Kiku restrained the woman with another pair of cuffs.

Oden slammed Orochi through the window and into a freefall.

Orochi laughed again. “I will kill you, Oden, and if I don’t, Kaido will!” His face became distorted, more heads growing from his body.

A Devil Fruit. Of course. But at least it was one that gave him more of a target. He didn’t know what sort of animal it was, and he didn’t know which head he was supposed to slice…

So he sliced off every single one.

“EVERYONE GET TO SAFETY!” he heard Hyogoro shout as the heads began to rain down upon the Capital.

Oden landed with a heavy breath as he faced the yakuza boss.

“Oden… you’ve done it. You’ve defeated Orochi!” Hyogoro breathed. “What now?”

He glanced around as Roger stepped up. “Aye, Orochi may no longer be an issue, but there is a bigger threat on Wano, is there not? And two of my strongest men are there, Oden.”

“Indeed, Roger. Boss Hyogoro, can I count on you to subdue any of Orochi’s loyalists?”

Hyogoro squinted suspiciously at Roger, but nodded. “Of course, Lord Oden. Defeat Kaido and drive those pirates out of our country!”

“Samurai! With me!” Oden yelled, before he and Roger charged off in the direction of Onigashima.

They had to do it. They had to win. Oden would not allow any more damage to be wrought on his country or his people. Wano’s borders needed to be open, his people needed to taste the same freedom he had.

And, perhaps more importantly, he needed to make good on his promise to Kanjuro.

“Worororo. That was a dirty trick, Roger.”

Roger merely grinned, gazing up at the azure dragon flying toward them. “We’re all pirates here, aren’t we, Kaido? What’s life without playing dirty once in a while? Isn’t that why you took over this country?”

Kaido gave them a rueful grin, showing his large teeth. “I was welcomed here by the shogun.”

“The shogun is requesting you leave,” Oden spat. “If you and your crew leave this nation peacefully, we won’t alert the Marines what you’ve done here.”

“And why should Orochi want to kick me out now?”

“Orochi is no longer the shogun. I am.”

Kaido appeared to be confused for a moment, but burst into laughter. “Oh are you now? Where’s Orochi then?”

“Dead. Strewn about the Flower Capital.”

Kaido’s head reared back, more laughter escaping him. “Is that so? I can’t say I’m surprised. He never seemed to be much of a leader. That’s where I came in.”

Oden had never heard a less-surprising thing. “Then your services are no longer required. Get out of Wano and never return.”

“No. I quite like Wano and its isolation. It keeps the World Government off my back. I think I’ll stay.”

Oden gripped his swords tighter, Orochi’s blood dripping on the grass. “You’ll have to kill me if you wish to stay in this country.”

“That can be arranged. Boro Breath!”

“Fox-Fire Style!”

Kinemon jumped into the fray, splitting Kaido’s attack with one slice of his sword. For a moment, the battlefield was awash in the glowing flames.

With a glance at Roger and then at his scabbards, Oden jumped into action.

“Paradise Waterfall!”

“Divine Departure!”

“Ukiyo Portrait: Evening Shower!”

“Fallen Snow Scythes!”

All around him, Oden heard his allies attacking Kaido with everything they had. The battle was long, and as it continued, onlookers began to appear from every direction. He hated it, wanted his people to get to safety, but he also wanted them to have hope for the first time in years, so he let them watch.

Kaido felt invincible, the damage that had been inflicted would have killed lesser men, and just when Oden thought he had nothing more to give, Toki, Momo, and Hiyori flashed through his mind, and he rose to his feet as Nekomamushi sailed by him, a large gash over his face.

“Oden two sword style,” he huffed, readying himself before leaping at the dragon. “Paradise Waterfall!”

He put everything into the attack, pushing further into a wound that had already been started by Kiku and Ashura.

He cut straight through.

Witnesses to the final attack would call it reminiscent of the Mountain God incident when Oden had only been a teenager.

Kaido fell back into the water.

There were a few moments of tense, stunned silence, but Kaido did not resurface.

“Wano is free!” someone shouted, and the crowd erupted into cheers as his men pulled themselves to their feet and looked around.

“Well done, Oden,” Roger said, clapping him on the shoulder. “I’m going to that island to make sure Rayleigh, Gabban, and the rest are safe.”

Oden nodded, giving Roger a grateful smile. “Of course. Do you want me to send some of my men with you?”

“No. This is a pirate’s battle, and you need to be with your men and your family.”

“You’re just itching for another fight, aren’t you?”

Roger grinned. “It’s not like I’ll have many more left in me!”

Before Oden could respond, Roger was gone, leaving a small dirt cloud in his wake.

“Lord Oden, what did he mean by that?” Denjiro asked.

“The world will be entering a new age soon, Denjiro,” Oden said, glancing at his retainers as they gathered around him. “And we will need to be prepared for when it does. For now, let’s head back to the Flower Capital. See to it that our audience makes it back too.”

“Yes, Lord Oden.”

“Kanjuro,” Oden said. “A word?”

Kanjuro stepped back from the other scabbards, swallowing.

“We put sea stone on you so you couldn’t use your Devil Fruit. What happened?”

“Semimaru blocked the first attempt at restraining him. I had Denjiro unlock me and put my cuffs on him instead.”

That explained why someone had yelled out ‘traitor’, and Oden nodded. “Very well. Come, let’s clear your name.”

Orochi’s corpse had been cleared away, but blood was still splattered along the streets and buildings. He didn’t want to think about how long it would take to get the Flower Capital repaired, not to mention dismantle the factors that were still destroying Wano’s beauty.

“Oden!”

Toki rushed forward, Momo and Hiyori in her arms. Buggy and Shanks followed, and Crocus was a few paces behind them, his harpoon still drawn, just in case.

“Toki! My children! You’re safe?” he asked.

“We kept ‘em safe just like we promised!” Shanks said.

“Yeah! And we watched you take down Kaido! That was so cool Oden!” Buggy added. Oden could almost see the stars in his eyes.

Oden laughed, patting each of them on the head. “Thank you both, it’s much appreciated. Roger went to the island to take care of the rest of Kaido’s crew. You’re welcome to join him, or you can stay here with us.”

“We better go help Captain Roger!” Shanks said.

Crocus shrugged. “Then I suppose we’ll make sure Roger hasn’t gotten into something he shouldn’t.”

Oden laughed, watching them go. After so long with the Roger Pirates, it felt strange not having any of them around him. But perhaps it was for the best, for now. The people of Wano were - understandably - wary of pirates, and it was pirates that were still the major issue in the country. It should be up to the Roger Pirates to negate the threat.

“Lord Oden, would you like to address the country?” Kinemon asked as he approached. He was bandaged up, as were the rest of his retainers. “Hyogoro and his men have set up a platform for you, and a broadcast signal.”

Damn, Hyogoro worked fast, but Oden nodded. “All of you, with me, please.”

It felt wrong, in a way, standing before his nation like his father had before him. His nine retainers fanned out behind him, with Toki, Momo, and Hiyori at his side. It didn’t feel like it should be his responsibility.

If he had never left Wano, this would never have happened.

He took a deep breath and began to speak. “People of Wano… I apologize for how long it took me to return home. You all have suffered so terribly under Orochi and Kaido’s reign. I cannot take away that pain, but I hope you will forgive me.” He paused, letting the words hang in the air. “Orochi and Kaido are dead. They will no longer harm us.”

Cheers erupted from the Flower Capital. He could only imagine it was the same in the other regions.

“But there is something else I must repent for. Yesterday, a reliable source confirmed that Orochi was a member of the Kurozumi clan, as were his two associates,” Oden began, murmurs spiking through the crowd. Hyogoro’s hand immediately went to the hilt of his sword. “I know what the fate of the clan members has been for decades, but I ask that this stop! The persecution of the Kurozumi clan, due to the actions of one man, is reprehensible. Rest assured, Semimaru and Higuarashi will be tried for their crimes, but no one else, and not for the crime of what family they were born into.” Oden paused, taking a deep breath. “It was due to a Kurozumi clan member, risking everything to bring me the news, that we were able to overpower Orochi and his men. My loyal retainer, Kurozumi Kanjuro, renounced what his clan members were doing, and instead protected my wife and children in my absence.”

There was a stunned silence from the crowd, and from his retainers, but then -

“Thank you Kanjuro!” Shinobu shouted. “You saved Wano!”

Cheers and applause erupted again, a chant of Kanjuro’s name starting from the younger crowd members.

“The persecution of the Kurozumi clan is over !” Oden shouted over the crowd. “Wano is entering a new era. A better one!”

More cheers from the crowd, and Oden raised his fists.

“We will rebuild, and we will show this world just what Wano is made of!”

That night, as the Flower Capital continued the wild celebrations, Oden took stock of where the country was when it came to taking out the Beast Pirates. It turned out, aside from a handful of devoted higher ranks, most of the Beast Pirates surrendered easily once Roger’s crew arrived on the scene.

Many had been strong-armed into allying with Kaido, due to his sheer strength and brutality. Many no longer had a place to go, which was leaving Oden with quite a conundrum.

“They could be useful in teaching our people about the outside world,” Oden said to Nekomamushi and Inuarashi. “The three of us cannot do it alone.”

Inuarashi was frowning. “Indeed, Lord Oden, but are you certain we can trust them? After everything the country has already gone through… they are still pirates.”

“Can we call them pirates though? It seemed like most of them were relieved to be free from Kaido, according to Roger,” Nekomamushi pointed out with a frown. “If some of them start to cause trouble, we can always do to them what Lord Oden did to Kaido and Orochi.”

“Let’s not go that far, Nekomamushi,” Oden replied. “Very well. If they would like to stay, they can stay in Wano. We can put them to work and see how it goes. If they want to leave, they must leave tomorrow with the Oro Jackson.”

“What about Kaido’s executives?” Inuarashi asked.

“Roger said he got in touch with a Marine Vice-Admiral. He’ll be coming to Wano to collect them and take them to Impel Down. Until then, they’re still chained up on the island?”

“The Yakuza bosses are taking shifts guarding them,” Nekomamushi confirmed.

“Good. Get some rest, you two. We’ll start the reconstruction in the morning.”

It was early, but the Kozuki family was wide awake, standing at the coast of the Flower Capital as the Roger Pirates loaded up their ship for what would be the last time.

“Oden,” Roger said, grinning. “I can’t thank you enough for coming with me on that last voyage. For helping me solve all those riddles that plagued this world.”

“It was an honor, Roger. I just wish you could be around to see it all come true,” Oden said.

Roger’s eyes sparkled with that trademark mischief. “Who says I won’t be around?”

Oden could only chuckle before turning to Buggy and Shanks, who were making faces at Hiyori and Momonoskue. “Oi, you two!”

The two started, slowly turning to him. “Yeah?”

Oden grinned. “You two are welcome back here anytime. Just make sure you become great pirates first!”

“Even if it hasn’t been twenty years?”

“Of course,” Toki replied with a smile. “That goes for the rest of the crew as well. Wano will always be open to the Roger Pirates, and the Whitebeard crew.”

“Speaking of old Whitebeard, I plan to meet up with him. Should I tell Izo to come back here, Oden?” Roger asked.

Oden shook his head. “If he comes back, we’ll welcome him with open arms. But I want it to be his choice.”

“Understood.”

“Look, children,” Toki’s soft voice said, the sun rising just as the ship disappeared over the waterfall. “A new dawn has risen on Wano.”

[hereticpriest]

Bakugo KatsukixOCxSero Hanta

Also on AO3. Ties in with my Amplify series but can be read on its own.

Bakugo Katsuki and his girlfriend Mochizuki Keiko, and their adventures with their friends. In bed.

“Hey Keiko, you ever think about clouds?”

“Mm?” Keiko rolled her head lazily to the side to look at Sero, her eyes heavy-lidded. He snickered, kicking his feet in the air while staring at the ceiling, though a twitch from Keiko drew his attention. He looked over at her, knocking his temple against hers as she leaned back against the seat of the sofa.

“Get outta my space, Tapeface.” The pastel pink-haired girl protested, but pressed her temple into him and gave him a little nuzzle. They both sat in silence for several minutes, staring at the ceiling together and letting their high settle in.

“What was I saying?” Sero asked, and Keiko snorted.

“Fuck if I know. Sorry babe, I’m a pretty face, not a brilliant mind.”

“You’re telling me.” Sero retorted, taking a drag from the joint they were sharing.

“Pass it, Tapeface.” Keiko demanded, making grabby hands at her classmate. Sero snorted, leaning across the couch to press the joint against her lips and nearly falling into her. She may have licked his fingertip in taking the joint from him, but aside from a light flush to his cheeks that may have already been there, there was no obvious sign. She only knew for sure because she tasted the salt of his skin and the stark contrast to her boyfriend’s sweet and bitter sweat felt like a kick in the teeth through the fog of her high. She took a deep drag then blew the smoke out a moment later, directly into Sero’s face. He snickered, batting at her and reaching for the joint, only to have it snatched from them both by Keiko’s boyfriend.

“Bakubro! Come to join us, finally?” Sero asked, collapsing in Keiko’s lap when the angry blond shoved him. Keiko immediately began to braid Sero’s hair without giving him a chance to get up, the chunky braid coming out so messy that there was no chance it would stay. Not that the dark-haired man seemed to care, since he was melting into her hands like putty. The angry future-hero hadn’t even pushed Sero’s legs out of his lap. Bakugo kicked his feet up on the coffee table, his hand skimming briefly over Sero’s shoulder as he reached for his girlfriend’s hand.

“Woah Bakubro, you trying to smash?” Sero asked while nuzzling his cheek into Keiko’s strong thighs.

“Shut the fuck up, idiot. And stop getting all touchy with my fucking girl.” Bakugo snapped, his cheeks pink. Both of them ignored him completely.. He took another long drag from the joint to catch up with the idiots, watching Keiko’s small hands trace through their friend’s hair. The other man was arching a little under Keiko’s ministrations, and if Bakugo were any higher, he wouldn’t have noticed. He felt the typical spike of jealousy, but it was quickly mellowed out by a trickle of curiosity. He couldn’t deny that he’d thought about watching someone fuck his girlfriend, and instructing them on how to make her beg. Sero’s quirk made him an interesting prospect, but he also knew that Keiko felt at ease with him and that made the whole thing seem like an easier proposal. He couldn’t imagine Sero having any complaints; Keiko was absolutely gorgeous and Bakugo knew he was nothing to sneeze at. He also knew Sero was at very least bicurious. He wet his lips, then flipped Sero over onto his back like it was nothing. Keiko’s eyes darkened, and a series of flustered noises left the black-haired man when she simply helped him settle the upper half of his body in her lap.

“Want some, princess?” Bakugo asked, eyeing her pretty pink mouth while she nodded. He took another drag. Sero watched them thoughtfully, and maybe a little hungrily as the blond leaned over him to kiss his girlfriend, sharing the smoke with her. Watching them tongue-fuck eachother’s mouths from their laps was not exactly where he thought he’d be spending his night, but there wasn’t a fucking chance of him complaining. Not if it was Keiko and Bakugo.

“You comfy, Tapeface?” The aggressive blond interrupted his daydreaming, and he blinked for a moment before nodding.

“Never been comfier.” Sero replied, his eyes nearly rolling back in his head when Keiko seemingly accidentally pulled his hair. Bakugo snorted at the sight, reaching over to offer the joint to Sero, shamelessly pressing his fingers against the other man’s lips. The tape hero took a long drag, letting his eyes roll back in his head while Keiko snatched the joint the moment he stopped pulling from it. Sero exhaled through his nose, flicking his tongue over Bakugo’s fingers while locking eyes with the grouchy blond. Keiko giggled as Bakugo pushed his fingers shamelessly into Sero’s mouth to press down on his tongue, his eyes nearly black with lust.

“You down?” Bakugo asked, his gaze moving from Sero to Keiko while he slid his fingers out to trace his friend’s mouth. The pink haired girl licked her lips, then nodded, which drew a strangled noise from Sero.

“Yep. Very down. All the way down. Subterranean.” The black-haired hero replied, his voice a tiny bit higher than normal.

“Fucking idiot.” Bakugo rolled his eyes, shoving his fingers back into Sero’s mouth to shut him up while he pulled his girlfriend into a deep kiss. Sero took the opportunity to run his hands up over Keiko’s stomach under her shirt while sucking on Bakugo’s fingers.

“We should move this to a dorm room, sugar.” Keiko purred, a laugh trailing off into a soft moan as Sero released her boyfriend’s fingers to cup her tit through her shirt and latch his mouth around her nipple. Bakugo obligingly pulled her shirt up for him, and Sero openly moaned at the tit drop before latching on again.

“Give him a second, princess. Tapeface’s gotta take a second to appreciate these beautiful tits. He’s never gonna see anything of the same quality again.” Bakugo teased.

“I dunno, Katsu, he’s gonna be seeing your tits soon.” Keiko retorted, earning her a snort from Sero and a pinch to the other nipple from her boyfriend.

“I’ve seen Bakubro’s tits, Kei. They’re great, but he’s got nothing on you.” Sero hummed while savagely pinching her pink nipples. The tape hero soon found himself launched onto the carpet when Bakugo got sick of restraint, lifting Keiko over his shoulder as he marched towards Sero’s room. A smack on the ass had her squawking, and Sero jumped up to chase them. A door in the hall opened and Shouto popped his head out, brow rising at the excitement on Sero’s face. He stole a glance at Bakugo carrying Keiko, locking gazes with her and looking rather confused by the fierce blush on her cheeks. His expression only grew more confused when Bakugo opened Sero’s door and headed inside. Sero offered him a sheepish shrug, then disappeared into his room with them, hanging a sock on the door and locking it behind them.

“We should discuss limits.” Keiko hummed, laughing when Bakugo tossed her onto Sero’s bed. Sero crawled on after her, then leaned back to pull his shirt over his head.

“I mean, I’m down for whatever. Not much into the pain game, but I’m down with a lot.” Sero hummed, his eyes tracing over the now nearly naked Bakugo.

“Katsu?”

“I’m not taking a dick, but I’ll fuck your pansy ass if you’re desperate for it, Tapeface.” Bakugo hummed, nonchalant despite his words. Keiko snorted, getting onto her knees on the edge of the bed to pull her boyfriend in for a kiss.

“Babe, do you mind if Sero fucks me?” Keiko asked. He drew a hiss from her by biting down on her neck.

“I wanna watch you get fucked. And then we’re going to see if you can take both of us.” Bakugo replied. Sero choked on his own spit.

“Eager, Hanta?” Keiko purred teasingly, licking her lips. Her pupils were blown so wide from the lust and the weed that Sero couldn’t even tell their colour anymore.

“Fuck, I like when you say my name.” Sero murmured, tugging her into a messy kiss. They came together slowly, Keiko clearly used to kissing Bakugo, while Sero was used to his own way of kissing. There was a brief war of wills, but Keiko inevitably gave in, letting her friend tongue-fuck her mouth like he wanted her tastebuds to memorize him. Small hands traced along Sero’s arms to his elbows, and he made a soft questioning noise into the kiss when Keiko gave him a gentle tug.

“Gimme a bit.”

“Uh, kay, sure.” Sero obliged, and Keiko giggled, tackling Bakugo from where he was resting at the end of the bed with his hand around his thick cock, naked save for his boxers around his thighs.

“Hey, what the fuck are you doing?” The blond growled, only to have a piece of tape slapped over his mouth. He fought, but Keiko had the drop on him, taping his hands together while grinding down on his lap.

“Ha, man, didn’t think Bakubro’d be the one tied up, but I can’t say I’m complaining.” Sero teased, offering her another piece of tape that she used to secure him to the headboard. Bakugo squirmed wildly, but Sero traced his hands up the other man’s thighs to yank his boxers down, and that made him freeze. Sero looked up into Bakugo’s eyes to check in, and the red-eyed hero offered him a firm nod, arching into his hands. The moan that Bakugo let out when Sero palmed his cock was pure filth, drawing an answering moan from the tape hero. A couple of strokes had the blond’s back arching, hips thrusting to meet Sero’s hand.

“He’s complaining, but don’t worry about it. He’s just whining for show. He’s loving every second of it.” Keiko promised, pulling Sero away from her boyfriend and into an eager kiss. Hanta obligingly helped her strip him while they kissed, only breaking away to pull Keiko’s shirt off. He slapped her butt, then squeezed firmly, nearly tearing her leggings off to get at her. No underwear, thank god.

“God, you’ve got such a great ass. Nice and thick, and these strong fucking thighs. I love how strong you are, Kei. I’m sure Bakugo’s caught me staring in the gym, though I know I’m not the only one.” Sero hummed, snickering at the tied-up blond’s muffled grumbling, “When you were doing chin-ups yesterday in Todoroki’s sauna boot camp, I wanted to lick the sweat off your arms. Mina and I were talking about your abs on our water break. Wanna trace ‘em with my tongue, suck your tits, devour your sweet little-”

“Oh my god, Hanta, shut the fuck up.” Keiko groaned, flipping them over like it was nothing and sitting her bare pussy on his face, “Put your mouth to good use for once.”

“Itadakimasu!” Sero crooned happily, wrapping his arms around her thighs to hold her down against his mouth and swipe his tongue over her cunt. Bakugo moaned against the tape over his mouth, staring at his girlfriend’s back and fat ass, watching for the occasional flash of pink of Sero’s tongue as he devoured her. Keiko looked back at him over her shoulder, eyes half-lidded and mouth dropping open. She moaned loudly, her hands closing around Sero’s, giving her some sort of grounding through the onslaught of his wicked tongue. Bakugo growled through the tape over his mouth, hips bucking up into nothing, digging his feet into the mattress to feel more stable.

“Fuck, Hanta. Knew your mouth was good for something other than talking nonstop. Do you like the taste of my cunt? Katsuki came in me a couple of hours ago, can you taste it?” Keiko asked, eyes rolling back in her head when Sero moaned in response. She gave a little roll of her hips, moving one hand to grasp his hair and tug at it.

“Katsuki likes when I talk dirty, how about you? Did you know we’ve only been with eachother? Hasn’t stopped Katsu from being a dirty little bastard. The amount of times he’s railed me so hard I couldn’t walk properly the next day, just so he could watch me struggle during training and know it was his fault.” The pink haired girl practically purred, shuddering when Sero gave her clit a strong suck. Keiko whimpered, gripping his hair a little tighter as he continued to lick and suck at her puffy pussy, treating her like the tastiest thing he’d ever had. He kept moaning into her cunt, shameless about the amount of noise he was making. Clearly, Bakugo was enjoying it since he was trembling and bucking and tugging at his restraints.

Keiko’s orgasm hit her like a freight train, completely out of nowhere, and her back snapped into a gorgeous arch. Sero slid his hands up her spine to feel out the curve and hold her against his mouth, slowing down as she began to calm down from her climax. He didn’t stop, however, until she forced him to. Keiko collapsed against her boyfriend, finally letting him free from the tape. Sero joined them, shamelessly laying against Bakugo’s chest with her, taking the moment to steal a rather aggressive kiss from the blond while Keiko was recovering. Bakugo indulged him, giving Sero’s ass a firm squeeze despite having not too much to grab.

“Hey, Katsu, do you think someone could fuck your tits? Like a boob job?” Keiko asked, nuzzling her cheek against her boyfriend’s pec.

“The fuck are you on about? My pecs aren’t that big, dumbass.”

“I mean, they kinda are though.” Sero mused, smirking at the pure annoyance on Bakugo’s face.

“Shut the fuck up.” The blond rolled his eyes at them, leaning down to kiss his girlfriend, biting her lower lip rather hard. Sero pulled Keiko up onto her knees by her hips, helping her settle overtop of Bakugo. Her hands traced up to her boyfriend’s shoulders and she was lucky she grabbed on quickly enough, as Sero thrust into her with little to no warning.

“Fuuuuuuck.” Sero moaned lowly, locking gazes with Bakugo, who offered him a smirk.

“Good, right?”

“Jesus fuck, Kei, your pussy is fucking perfect. So fucking wet, and the peffect grip.” Sero growled near her ear, taking a second to adjust before beginning to thrust. His pace was slow at first, but so deep Keiko was sure Bakugo must have been able to see the shape of Sero’s cock through her belly. He wasn’t going easy on her, each thrust jolting Keiko forwards into her boyfriend’s chest, whimpers escaping her so often she was grateful that the walls were so thick. Bakugo dragged her in for a kiss, then shoved her down roughly, barely giving her a moment to take a breathe before shoving her mouth down to his cock. She opened her mouth on instinct, dropping her jaw and taking him in. She wiggled her head with every inch to angle him better, until her nose met his white-blond pubic hair. Sero and Bakugo groaned in unison, filling the pastel pink-haired girl from both sides until she felt fit to burst. Keiko slid back slowly, opening her eyes to look up at Bakugo as she took him in again and swirled her tongue around him.

“Fuck, this is like a goddamn porno.” Sero murmured from behind her, giving her thick ass a firm slap, smirking when that jolted her forwards onto Bakugo’s dick and gagged her.

“Is she starting to loosen up?” Bakugo asked, an evil smirk on his face. Sero snickered but nodded, pulling her back on his cock and bracing an arm under her tits, holding her back against his chest. Bakugo shifted a little beneath them, getting situated, then pulled them both down via a firm grip on Sero’s hair. He kissed the dark haired man rather thoroughly, his hand wrapped around the base of his cock to help guide his cock. Keiko reached down to help out, spreading herself open and trying to relax her muscles. It took a bit of effort, and Sero moaned like he was being murdered the entire time, hips stuttering as Keiko’s already tight cunt got even tighter. By the time Bakugo was inside of her, Keiko was a wreck, her face pressed into her boyfriend’s shoulder, drool leaking from her mouth with every gut-wrenching moan driven from her body. Sero dug his fingers into Keiko’s hips so tightly he was sure to bruise her, his thrusts gentler than before simply because she was so tight that he struggled to move.

“Fuck, this is fucking perfect. So fucking tight. So wet. You enjoying this baby? You gonna come?” Bakugo growled, his voice deep and gravelly with lust.

“Hey, does Keiko make that ahegao face when she comes?” Sero asked, gritting his teeth but still grinning away.

“Sometimes. Depends on how hard she comes.” Keiko clenched around them, squeezing her eyes shut, only to have her face slapped and her jaw grasped in Bakugo’s hand.

“Don’t you dare close your eyes, Kei. You look at me.”

“Suki, please, can’t. Too much.” Keiko begged, though she wasn’t sure what she was begging for. All she knew was that she was coming apart at the seams. Bakugo’s fingers found her clit, and she wailed as she came, nearly headbutting Sero when she threw her head back. Her cunt squeezed, and Sero came next, biting down on Keiko’s shoulder to keep from screaming. Those last couple of thrusts drove Bakugo on, and he took over, bucking up into his girlfriend’s pussy as another man’s cum leaked out. It only took a couple of firm thrusts before he came as well, holding Keiko by her hips so the head of his cock was kissing her cervix.

Sero pulled out when it started to hurt, the flood of cum making him grin, but the arousal at the sight made his dick twitch and deepened the ache. Keiko collapsed bonelessly atop her boyfriend, nuzzling her nose into his sweaty neck and trying to steady herself against him. Sero laid down beside them both, running his hand over Keiko’s back while letting his head loll to the side to rest against Bakugo’s shoulder. They laid in silence for several minutes before Bakugo gently moved Keiko off of him and stood up. He got dressed again, after tossing Keiko’s clothes to Sero. Sero redressed Keiko delicately, smothering her in kisses as he went, while she blinked blearily at him and tried to snuggle closer, making his job even more difficult. He paused to use his shirt to clean up Keiko’s cum-soaked pussy, being as gentle as he could be so as to not hurt her while she was feeling delicate. Once she was dressed, Bakugo picked her up and held her against him, then leaned down to steal a final kiss from Sero.

“This was fun. Maybe we’ll do this again. Keep it to yourself, and don’t be fucking weird. Keep in mind that if you want anything again, you have to ask both of us. We won’t do this on our own.” Bakugo said rather simply, without his usual grumpy tone. Sero laughed, shrugging his shoulders.

“Yeah man, I know. I gotchu. Thanks for having me. If you guys get an itch, I’m fairly sure I’ll always be down.”

“Down? Like, subterranean?” Keiko asked blearily, offering Sero a sleepy smile that had him clutching his heart.

“Jesus, get outta here before I try and keep you both. Goodnight.” Sero hummed, tossing his dirty shirt into his laundry basket. Bakugo offered him a simple nod, then carried his exhausted girlfriend back towards their dorm room. The only reason he didn’t notice Shouto’s open door and bi-coloured head peeking out to watch them was because he was dead on his feet.