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mynamesaplant · 9 months ago

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Morning Light at the End of the Line

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Summary: Elesa is woken up way too early for an excursion into the train yard, but Emmet and Ingo drag her along anyway. Their adventure leads to a revelation for the twins.

I want to say thank you to @critterbitter for all their amazing takes on SUBMAS (you keep doing you, champ) and to @ingo-ingoing-ingone for beta reading my work (thanks for all the encouragement, Blue). You're both amazing and I cannot thank you enough.

Slight disclaimer: I have a character using neopronouns, my first one ever, and while I'm familiar with them, I've never used them in a fanfic before. If I used them incorrectly, let me know in the reblogs or comments.

Don't like to read on Tumblr? Read it here on AO3!

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The day that Emmet and Ingo learned that Elesa had never been to the railyard, they were almost insulted. Frankly, this knowledge was unacceptable to the twins. Between their uncle and all the adults working in the yard, everyone had begged them to remain on the platform to spot trains. However, they were at the yard almost daily, a small notebook shared between them that cataloged every train they had seen down to the make, model, and specs of the trains they would watch with dreamy-eyed wonder.

Although neither twin would be willing to admit it aloud, they had their favorites. Ingo was a lover of the classics; he found all the moving mechanisms and billowing white smoke from steam engines to be the pinnacle of train design. Heisler locomotives were his personal favorite – they just had so much more personality in his humble opinion, their movement so musical between the clanging bell and the tack-tack-tack of the wheels and coupling rods, and the iconic star on the nose. Although they appeared much more infrequently than Emmet’s personal favorite, the Gensis models, Ingo never failed to emit a longing sigh when those steam locomotives sat in the yard. So close, and yet so far.

The Gensis locomotives were designed with passengers in mind, smooth and aerodynamic to get the occupants to their destinations with ease and comfort (well, more aerodynamic than earlier styles of locomotives, but not nearly as efficient as the bullet trains of Kanto and Johto). Their sleek metallic shells accented with different colors were frequently dotting the yard as they arrived from all over Unova for repair. Emmet thought it was a slick-looking engine and, although he respected his brother’s (wrong) opinions, nothing could hold a candle to the power and beauty of the Genesis models.

Elesa was completely oblivious to the wonderful world of trains and that was a fact that had to be rectified quickly. That was why they had her up so early, dragging a bleary-eyed Elesa by the wrists through the sleepy streets of a pre-dawn Anville Town. They were going to introduce her to their second love: trains.

“How are you even awaaaaaake?”

Elesa whined, Blitzle nudging his shoulder into her hip to keep her balance while the trio walked to parts unknown. This must have been what a zombie felt like; all of Elesa’s post-apocalypse books always described them as driven around by forces beyond anyone’s reckoning. That was essentially the twins to her. Her question was directed to Ingo, who looked about as bright-eyed and bushy tailed as an Emolga.

Ingo was not a morning person in any sense of the word. The whole region could be in mortal peril and Ingo could (and would) sleep right through it if it was early enough. There were only two things that could get him out of bed this early: Pokémon and trains.

“Who’s to say that I even went to bed?”

“Yep yep. Can confirm. He did not go to sleep.”

There was a fine line between early-early morning and late-late night; it was almost indistinguishable, but very important. Ingo knew he was going to feel awful that evening and would still end up staying awake until three or four in the morning because he was like a Noctowl and he just couldn’t help himself. He knew it drove Drayden a little crazy; that and his newly developing caffeine habits that his uncle had to curb by changing all the coffee in the house to decaf, so Ingo didn’t find himself cripplingly addicted to coffee at the tender age of eleven.

“Where are we going?”

Elesa failed to suppress a yawn, dragging one eye open to get a sense of direction only to find it too dark to really make such a determination.

“Our destination is a secret. You even saved us the trouble of blindfolding you to ensure confidentiality.”

Their friend’s groan was drawn out and miserable, but she allowed them to tow her to the train yard with the full confidence that they would not allow anything to happen to her. Elesa couldn’t find herself in safer hands.

Once the threshold between town and yard had been crossed, two things happened: first, was the heat radiating off the trains like they were so many massive Fire-types, and the second, was the immediate uptick in volume that seemed to hit the trio like a wall of bricks. Perhaps because they lived in Anville Town, they had grown accustomed to the ambient noise, that it only stood out to them once they got within distance.

People and Pokémon bustled to and fro, the screech of steel as the trains began to move along the maze of tracks, conductors yelling confirmations to one another, shrill whistles and booming horns that signaled that the day was starting.

One engineer and conductor duo instantly spotted them, and the conductor was quick to bustle over and try to shoo them away. The engineer was soon to join him.

“Boys, please, I’m begging you to go to the concourse and watch the trains from there.”

“Salutations Mr. Rinehart,” Ingo chirped, no malicious or devious intent in his tone. “Unfortunately, we must decline your request. We shall exhibit the utmost caution while traversing the yard if that is your concern.”

Mr. Rhinehart, a tall, lanky man in his mid-forties, looked visibly pained as he attempted to impede their progress. He, like all the other rail yard workers, really liked Emmet and Ingo. Their enthusiasm for trains was so refreshing after a long day. Mr. Rhinehart and his husband, his engineer who was grinning at the two boys with an amused glitter in his eyes, could personally attest to that, because they had been on the receiving end of the twins fanatical cheering and adoration after a long day on the job. It was truly a wonderful experience to be so admired by young people.

“Micha,” his spouse hissed to him, Mr. Rhinehart having to crane his neck to look down at the love of his life, and immediately regretted his choice because his husband was looking up at him with those gorgeous Lillipup eyes that he could never deny. “Let them explore. They’re good kids, they’re going to be careful – right?”

The emphatic nods did not soothe Mr. Rhinehart.

“Mr. Emerson is right! Yup! I am Emmet, we promise to be verrrry careful.”

Micha Rhinehart wanted to believe them, but he could also imagine Drayden Gray’s meaty arms placing him in a triangle chokehold if a single thing happened to his nephews and he found out that he had allowed them to wander the yard unattended. Not that Eli would allow that to happen to him, but he couldn’t banish the image from his eyes.

Eli gestured for his husband to turn and lean down so he could whisper in his ear,

“They’re old enough. I trust them to be careful. You trust me, right?”

“But Drayden-”

“Drayden doesn’t put enough faith in them.” Micha’s spouse scoffs, rolling his eyes with exacerbation. “Remember when Dakota started taking the trains to Castelia for school? Remember how worried we were for them in that big city? We had to trust them, and they came out a more independent person for it.” The harsher tone softened at the mention of their child.

“Dakota is significantly older than them.”

Micha folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his dark eyes down at Eli. That earned a contemplative scratch of the purple-hued scruff that shaded Eli’s broad cheeks, he glanced over his shoulder at the trio.

“I have a compromise.” Eli did not even confer with his husband before turning on his heel. “You’ve all met our Dakota, right?” This earned more nods. “Dakota has class today, so they’ll be here soon to catch the train to Castelia. I’m going to ask them if they’ll escort you around the more er… Child-unfriendly part of the yard. By that time, it’ll be light out, so me and Mr. Rhinehart are going to trust you to move around the yard.”

The sparkle in the two boys’ eyes was so endearing, the girl tried to look just as enthusiastic, but Eli could tell she was tired. Micha was quick to interject his own two cents before the kids retreated.

“I want you all to promise that you’ll stick close together, and that you’ll be respectful of all the rail workers and that you’ll stay out of their way as they work.”

Emmet and Ingo looked horrified at the mere suggestion that they interrupt the important work going on in the yard. They looked at each other, then to Elesa (who just offered a yawn and a promise to Mr. Rhinehart), before returning their gray eyes to the conductor and engineer.

“We would not dream of it, Mr. Rhinehart. We promise to be on our very best behavior!”

“Yup! Verrrrrry best behavior!”

His twin reiterated with the bobbling nod that looked more like those novelty big-headed figurines you would get from the sports arenas in Nimbasa. Micha had to stifle a little laugh at the sight.

“Good.” He seemed satisfied with their responses. “Now, please, for the love of Kyurem, please go up to the concourse and wait there.”

The two boys offered a salute, something that felt very reminiscent of both their training in Gear Station, and they were about to drag their friend off, before Mr. Emerson called them back. The engineer not so surreptitiously stuffed a few crumpled dollars into their hands. He told them to get some breakfast before sending them off and smiling as they scampered away.

“You’re such a softie.”

Micha said behind him, shaking his head at Eli as he turned around to offer his husband a sheepish smile.

“I can be. Would you be a dear and call our offspring to tell them to get here a little earlier?”

“Oh no,” Micha said, reflexively averting his gaze from Eli before he got the Lillipup look full on, “This was your idea. You can call Dakota.”

“So cruel to me.”

The engineer whined but accepted his fate with a reedy cackle.

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Dakota was half asleep taking the call from their dad, but they said they would be there early to take the kids around the yard. They tried not to grumble about it; Emmet and Ingo had been rather helpful to them recently when Dakota had caught quite the unruly Purrloin that had been following after them in Castelia The Pokémon kept singling them out to steal their possessions and Dakota had become fed up with it. Although they were not so adept with Pokémon, the twins had been invaluable resources to them as they trained Lin.

Why Lin?

Emmet had referred to the Purrloin as a “little delinquent” under his breath when she had pilfered a not so insignificant number of shiny coins from his bag that constituted the last of his allowance. The utterance had made Dakota snort with laughter, draped over the counter, and wheezing out an apology for the small menace they called their very own Pokémon.

The kids were in the concourse waiting for Dakota at a table in front of a 24-hour café that was mandatory for a place like this, if not for the occasional passengers, then for all the yard workers. Coffee was a ubiquitous need here in the yard, but Dakota could not say the same for eleven-year-old Ingo who was nursing a pale cup of joe that smelled more of hazelnut than coffee beans. Their poor friend Elesa looked just as tired as Dakota felt, a half-eaten bagel with lox and a small cup of green tea in front of her as she slowly tipped toward the table. Emmet was sneering at her sandwich across the table, probably because of the raw fish Dakota figured, and munched on his own torn-to-shreds bagel, dipping and swirling the chunk in a small container of butter before popping it into his mouth.

“Ah! Salutations, Dakota!”

Ingo leapt from his seat upon spotting them, lurching toward Dakota to interrogate them about their Pokémon, their schooling, their train commute, their job at the Poké Mart, and about the routes Dakota intended to take them on for their adventure through the yard. They tried to round out their shoulders as they were currently residing closer to Dakota’s ears than their natural resting position and they took a deep, clarifying breath. They had to remember that Ingo was just an excited child and not a judgy extended-family member.

Dakota offered him a smile, hands tucked into the pockets of their jacket while chatting. Lin was good, but still stealing – although that was in her nature. School was fine, CCA (Castelia College of the Arts) was a cramped campus, but the programs were amazing. The commute was okay, Dakota was always a little stressed about missing the connection in Gear Station running from the Brown to Pink line. The idea of crossing a desert to make it on time to pottery class if they missed their train did not sound too appealing to them. Work was the same. The route was already preplanned for them; their dads had given them a strict map and Dakota did not plan on deviating from the path.

They decided that it was worth waking up so early when they saw the twins’ eyes brimming with fascination and wonder. They were mere inches from the engines, studying every contour and detail with such intensity that Dakota had to gently pull them away and lead them to the turntable where a worker that they knew was waiting.

Parker and zer agile partner, Mienshao, were in the operating booth, pulling levers to usher each engine into the roundhouse after a long day of operation, just like a Wooloo herder. A pink-streaked engine was idling as the table was occupied by a similar engine that was streaked red. Dakota’s arm extended and the kids obediently stopped, waiting patiently alongside their tour guide so they could speak to Parker. Ze had definitely taken notice of the little group, peering at them curiously, zer Mienshao copying his trainer.

With the red line train slotted into its usual spot, Dakota watched zem pick up a radio, zer eyes flitting to the engine to let the engineer that ze needed a moment. A moment later, Parker was strolling out with Mienshao by zer side and zer hands tucked into the pockets of zer overalls.

“Dakota! Don’t usually see you out and about this early. Looking for your folks?” Whatever interest that Parker had for the gaggle of children in their wake, ze waited until Dakota explained rather than diving into an interrogation. Scratching the patchy facial hair that adorned zer face, ze listened to first Dakota’s then the kids’ stories. “Cool. We love trains, too… Say, we have to put a few more trains into the house, wanna watch from the booth with us?”

The eyes of the two boys, Emmet and Ingo as ze had come to find out, somehow grew larger and neither seemed able to verbalize, just offering emphatic nods that made Parker chuckle.

“Thanks, Parker.”

Dakota said in an undertone, offering a half-smile to zem as Emmet and Ingo bolted inside, mentally photographing every centimeter of the booth as if they were going to be tested on it later. Parker winked in reply, offering zer own smile as ze ushered the gaggle of young people inside. The two boys watched over the console, shifting their eyes between Parker and the smudgy outline of the engineer in the cab.

They seemed to know every call that Parker made over their radio and each motion performed by the engineer. Elesa seemed more interested in Parker’s eccentric jewelry and hair beads; she complimented zem quietly when the engine started rolling into the house. With a flick of zer head just to show off the colorful beads, Parker thanked Elesa, flashing her a warm smile before turning zer attention to Emmet and Ingo, who stood by anxiously, near bursting with questions.

Parker had only ever heard about the twins through the grapevine; ze found the brothers enthusiastic and answered all their questions with the kind of patience developed over the lifetime of someone who had dealt with many children who were chock full of questions. They reminded zem of zer kids, all six of whom were displayed in a photo worn by sun and dust that was taped to the bottom corner of the glass windowpane along with pictures of all the other operator’s families.

Ingo’s second question was actually about the row of photos, Parker swiveling in zer chair to point at each of zer kids in turn.

“Tasha, Stavon, Dominique – we call her NeNe for short – Dion, Jalin, and Kamer – Oh, wait, Kiara. We’re still getting used to Kiara’s name change.”

“Oh! She settled on ‘Kiara’, then. I knew she was trying out a bunch of different ones.”

Dakota slid their phone from their pocket, tapping on the contacts as Parker confirmed that indeed Kiara seemed quite happy with her name. They changed the contact and sent their friend a few Drifloon and streamer emojis in celebration. She must have made her decision last night, after agonizing about it for three weeks.

“We don’t think it was an easy decision, she wanted it to be right for her.” Parker replied sagely. Ze knew from experience that being certain was important for someone as they wrestled with identity. “Would you guys be okay with us taking a picture? We don’t get many visitors, especially none as enthusiastic as you two, and we want to commemorate it.”

“Oh, yes! It would be quite the honor!”

Ingo beamed, his hands flapping in front of him in his excitement just before he felt Emmet tap his shoulder. His twin was nervously tugging on his pant leg and fiddling with the hinge on Tynamo’s ball – Dakota had asked them to stow their Pokémon away in the busy yard, which all three kids complied with. Ingo leaned close to Emmet, his voice soft and restraining the hope of the request that he was too nervous to ask Parker himself.

“Um, Parker,” ze had asked the kids to forgo any particular title and to just call zem ‘Parker’. “May we… May Emmet-” Ingo felt an elbow connect with his ribs and he shot a disapproving look to his twin, who looked at him pointedly. He could tell Ingo wanted to sit up there too, but he also knew his brother didn’t want to press his luck by asking if they both could. “Ahem – may we sit in your chair?”

For Parker’s part, ze arose from the operator’s chair and crouched down before them, zer expression gentle as ze looked first to Ingo and then more directly at Emmet. Ze did not take offense when neither made direct eye contact, they reminded Parker of zer NeNe, and ze knew to take it slowly and carefully with them.

“You may, but may we hear it from both of you? We know it can be hard to talk to new people, but we promise to patient, so there’s no need to be nervous, okay?”

Emmet shifted on his feet, toeing the stained laminate they stood on, and plucking his pant leg uneasily. He offered Parker a stiff nod. Swallowing hard and raising his eyes to a point just over zer head, the commitment of actually locking gaze was a little too overwhelming to consider at the moment.

“Ca-Can we…” He trailed off before taking a deep breath and saying far too fast, “Canwesitupthere?” Another breath. “Can we sit?”

He indicated where with a jerk of his head and he breathed a sigh of relief when Parker nodded. The boys clambered up onto the chair, their eyes reflecting all the glowing lights on the panel before them. Emmet’s fingers delicately caressed a worn handle of a switch, exhibiting excessive care to make sure the machine remained undamaged by his novice hands. Beside him, Ingo looked just as reverent, tracing the bumps and ridges that were each flashing diode like it was intricate braille that only he could understand by mere touch.

“Thank you,” Emmet murmured, the burn of tears stinging his eyes as all his emotions began to consume him.

He was so happy, but so overwhelmed. He swiped at his eyes with his sleeve, sniffling to prevent the trickle of snot from getting on the panel.

Dakota was glad they snapped a picture of the duo at the panel before Emmet started crying.

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When Emmet had calmed down, his brother taking him to the side and murmuring in his ear with Emmet taking in gasping breaths, Parker offered them the opportunity to board a train that would be heading out within the hour.

“Finn should be starting her checklist, but we’re sure she wouldn’t mind showing you the inside.”

“F-Finn?” Dakota squeaked, their calm and collected demeanor vaporizing at the mention of the name, but only Elesa seemed to notice. “I, uh, didn’t realize that she was promoted.”

Parker nodded, shooting a squirming Dakota a knowing smile.

“Ms. O’Finnegan got promoted a few weeks ago.”

“That’s… C-Cool!”

Dakota, unable to take Parker’s look, quickly ushered the three kids out and towards the parked trains in the house. Finn was not hard to find, her shock of curly, red hair stood out in the dingy interior of the roundhouse, and she had a smile as bright as the sun that was directed at a flustered Dakota.

“Kota!” She bound toward them and scooped them up into a tight Bewear hug, this earned a squeak from them. “It’s been an age!”

“I-I’ve been busy with school.”

The kids temporarily forgotten about, Dakota tried to avoid her eyes, a mossy, amused hazel color that Dakota frequently found themself sketching in the margins of notebooks. Finn’s expressions were just so big and exaggerated that she made the perfect subject to use as reference – or at least, Dakota tried to tell themself that.

With a brief catch-up out of the way, Dakota introduced Emmet, Ingo, and Elesa to Finn, who beamed at them and was quick to assist them into the cab of the train. She asked them not to touch anything as she was still going over her checklist. If Emmet and Ingo were excited before, they looked moments away from exploding as they watched Finn’s every move with laser focus. Their intensity was almost visible in the very air around them – that’s how focused they were.

“This is spectacular,” Ingo was forcing his voice to be lower in the small interior of the cab. Although the dashboard wasn’t nearly as complex as that of a steam engine, Ingo had to admire the sleek, minimalist look of the glossy screens and polished buttons. Ms. O’Finnegan took very good care of her cab. “Elesa, observe!”

Although she tried to do as Ingo asked, she found she just couldn’t keep up with the in-depth explanation that he launched into. She registered the words ‘throttle’ and ‘brakes,’ but admittedly not much else.

Emmet nodding along and extending his hands in a fashion that reminded Elesa of those infomercials that she saw on the nights she found she couldn’t sleep. The ones where the jewelry always looked so sparkly and the women had even, unremarkable voices.

“What’s your route?”

Elesa asked, mildly impressed with the engine, but not nearly much as her friends.

“I’m taking her out toward Driftveil. Nice and easy for a newbie like me.”

Finn self-consciously scratched the back of her head and sheepishly laughed, sparing the young girl from the two boys who were looking at her dashboard bug-eyed. Dakota watched on with a fond smile, tucking a lock of their purple hair behind their ear while the engineer patiently listened to the lecture on her own equipment.

“She’s pretty.”

Elesa said, almost completely unprompted. Dakota’s face flushed a deep red and quickly turned away, but they couldn’t help but agree with her. They’ve had a crush on Finn for ages, and they were pretty sure the feelings were mutual, but they were too nervous to ask outright.

“Mmm,” was Dakota’s noncommittal hum as they felt a buzzing in their pocket.

Shit. Was it already that time?

“Well, this has been fun, but I’ve got a train to catch. Let’s go everyone. Say goodbye to Finn.”

“Thank you very much for letting us into the cab. This experience has been a dream of ours. Not only that, but it’s been a rather enlightening one!”

“Yep! Thank you verrrrrry much!”

“My pleasure. Oh, uh, Kota?

Dakota was already on the ground and helping Elesa down, trying not to look at their phone for the time.

“Yeah? Ow!”

For their part, they were too distracted to notice what Elesa clearly had �� hence the sharp elbow to the side. Finn looked quite nervous as she stammered out her request. Lunch in Striaton. Clove’s restaurant and gym was delicious, or so she had heard, and she wanted Dakota to go with her to see if the rumors were true.

How could they say no?

They were glad they didn’t because Dakota wouldn’t have wanted to miss that expression for anything. The wrinkle of her freckle spattered nose, the glitter in her eyes like a brilliant diamond on a bed of moss, the small curve that shaped her lips in a clear indication of equal parts happiness and relief…

“I’ll see you on Saturday!”

Although they heard Elesa snickering, Emmet and Ingo were completely oblivious to their older companion’s stupefied expression, tottering back in the direction of the station with the three kids in tow. They appreciated Dakota’s patience and time this morning, they would not forget it when Lin was attempting to claw their eyes out when her trainer asked for help bathing her from whatever eventual trouble she would find herself in.

Last time she ended up in the roaming cart of the Casteliacone vendor, who was not too happy with the Purrloin trying to make off with his coin purse. The dried ice cream had ended up drying in clumps on her fur and Dakota had already been scored with their fair share of claw marks.

On the platform, they offered a wave before ducking into the train, the conductors on either end swiftly performed their final safety check before disappearing into the interior. The doors closed with a hiss, a bell rang out sharply, and the serpentine train jerked forward on its journey to the south.

Emmet and Ingo waved as it disappeared into the distance, both grinning in their own respective ways just as Elesa released a loud yawn that she had been attempting to hold back all morning. She loved to hang out with the twins, they were the only people in the whole region who seemed to understand her, but they woke her up at six in the morning. They woke her up even earlier than she had to be up for school. Her full intention was to shut her blinds, clamber back into bed, and sleep until noon since there was no school today.

“I’m headed home, guys.”

Although disappointed, Emmet and Ingo seemed to understand, and even offered to escort her home, but Elesa declined. She loved her friends dearly, but she didn’t think she could absorb any more train facts. They went their separate ways, Emmet and Ingo absolutely unable to contain the excitement of being in different parts of the yard.

The twins had taken many train rides to and from Opelucid, but they had only ever been in the cab when the engine was silent and cold; to feel the rumble – no, the purr – of the engine was a dream come true. Watching the diesel come to life system by system, with the panel lighting up like a Christmas tree to indicate everything was ready and safe for travel… There was nothing like it.

“The turntable-”

“Yes, a little old-fashioned, as is the house, but I find that charming.”

“Yep! Charming!” Emmet said, smiling so much that his cheeks began to hurt while his hands flapped. “Ms. O’Finnegan’s cab was great. Verrrrry clean and well-maintained.”

“I would expect nothing less from an employee of UTrak.”

The standards for the major rail company in Unova were high, but that was because they wanted to offer top-notch services to their customers.

That was their dream – well, it was one of their dreams. Emmet and Ingo wanted to work as engineers with UTrak, but they also wanted to battle professionally. The professions didn’t exactly mesh, which the twins spent hours agonizing over whenever someone asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up.

The question usually ended up being so distressing because they were so torn that Emmet and Ingo became teary eyed with a frustration that they did not know how to verbalize, or at least how to verbalize it without adults minimizing their feelings.

Elesa understood. She had grandiose ideas for the future just like them, but Elesa still ended up being defensive about her hopes and dreams because adults didn’t seem to think they were practical.

It was then those questions arose that they fell back on to a familiar career that they had loved as long as they loved Pokémon battling. They would work for UTrak one day. That was a promise they made to themselves after mother asked them and, once they told her of their ambitions, she laughed. She was quick to stifle it and gently, or as gently as Kaita could manage, told them that she didn’t think her sons were cut out for it.

Well, Drayden had taken personal offense to this statement. Whether it was testament to his faith in his nephews’ abilities as Gray’s or because took it as slight from his sister and he wanted to prove her wrong, Emmet and Ingo were allowed to watch and read all sorts of supplemental information on Pokémon and battling.

It was thanks to Drayden and his pushing that they had their Pokémon so early. Sure, Emmet and Ingo really did want partners, but there were usually restrictions on that sort of thing. Drayden filled out all the necessary paperwork to permit early partners. Drayden always told them that if they put 100% of themselves into anything, he knew they could accomplish anything – just like him.

No matter how outlandish their ambitions – their uncle supported them.

“Ingo?”

“Yes, Emmet?”

“I am Emmet. I think to reach our dual goals, we must rethink our path.”

“You think?” Ingo asked with a tilt of his head, his frown deepening in thought. His brother nodded. Both knew Emmet was not suggesting abandonment of their goals, only a restructuring of how to reach them more efficiently. “I concur. I think its time we invest into research of the requirements to become engineers.”

“More school.”

Emmet said with a groan. Neither were particularly good in the classroom. They liked to learn, but both twins had a tendency to procrastinate on tasks that did not strike them as particularly interesting.

“Yes,” Ingo agreed. “However, I think we will find that schooling more enjoyable than what we are learning at the current moment.”

The older twin couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose in disdain, just at the thought of the teacher who got frustrated with him for using words that were “too advanced” for his age bracket. The other students were snickering when Ingo sank lower in his seat. Meanwhile, Emmet was called out for not being particularly vocal, while also told he was being too blunt when he expressed his opinions. He still flinched when someone brought up the art class incident where he made a girl, one of the popular ones, cry by telling her painting was “ugly” and that he preferred Elesa’s.

He didn’t just say that as her friend either, it was genuinely better, and he felt like he needed to point that out to everyone.

In higher education, they wouldn’t have to worry about all these issues. They could focus on their studies and excel because they weren’t being forced to do subjects that bored them to tears. They wouldn’t have to worry about upsetting anyone.

“Verrrrry enjoyable.”

Emmet agreed.

“Next time we encounter Dakota, we should ask them about their college.”

“Yep! Good idea!”

With that, Emmet and Ingo released Tynamo and Litwick respectively, Emmet lightly scratching the spot between the Electric type’s eyes and Ingo stooping down to scoop up the Fire type.

Took you long enough to take me back out.

Litwick harrumphed, suppressing a wiggle of delight she felt deep in her wax when Ingo drew her closer and gingerly modeled the wax out of her eye.

“Apologies, Litwick. Emmet and I were discussing the future.”

Sounds boring. What are we doing today?

She interrupted before he could get into the rhythm of conversation.

“Training.”

Emmet said, his focus was on the wriggling Pokémon butting into his hands, but his mind was elsewhere. In a future that had yet to be but seemed incredibly bright.

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sayitaliano · 9 days ago

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New Sanremo UPDATE!

Carlo Conti just said on the news that there will be 2 "PREMIO ALLA CARRIERA" (2 career prizes) that will be given during Sanremo's week and they'll be for Iva Zanicchi and Antonello Venditti

Plus, he announced the duets/collabs for the Cover night:

- Annalisa con Giorgia - “Skyfall” (Adele) - Bresh con Cristiano De André - “Crêuza de mä” (Fabrizio De André) - Brunori Sas con Dimartino e Riccardo Sinigallia - “L'anno che verrà” (Lucio Dalla) - Clara con Il Volo - "The sound of silence" (Simon and Garfunkel) - Coma_Cose con Johnson Righeira - “L'estate sta finendo” (Righeira) - Emis Killa con Lazza e Laura Marzadori, primo violino teatro alla Scala - “100 messaggi” (Lazza) - Fedez con Marco Masini - “Bella stronza” (Marco Masini) - Francesco Gabbani con Tricarico - "Io sono Francesco" (Tricarico) - Gaia con Toquinho - “La voglia, la pazzia” (Ornella Vanoni) - Giorgia con Annalisa - “Skyfall” (Adele) - Irama con Arisa - "Say something, i'm giving up on you" (Christina Aguilera) - Joan Thiele con Frah Quintale - “Che cosa c'è” (Gino Paoli) - Lucio Corsi con Topo Gigio - “Nel blu dipinto di blu” (Domenico Modugno) - Marcella Bella con i Twin Violins - “L'emozione non ha voce” (Adriano Celentano) - Massimo Ranieri con i Neri per caso - “Quando” (Pino Daniele) - Modà con Francesco Renga - “Angelo” (Francesco Renga) - Olly con Goran Bregovic e la Wedding & Funeral Band - “Il pescatore” (Fabrizio De André) - Rocco Hunt con Clementino - “Yes, I Know My Way” (Pino Daniele) - Rose Villain con Chiello - “Fiori rosa, fiori di pesco” (Lucio Battisti) - Sarah Toscano con Ofenbach - “Overdrive” - Serena Brancale con Alessandra Amoroso - “If I Ain’t Got You” (Alicia Keys) - Shablo feat. Guè, Joshua e Tormento con Neffa - Mix di “Amor de mi vida” (Sottotono) e “Aspettando il sole” (Neffa) - Simone Cristicchi con Amara - “La cura” (Franco Battiato) - The Kolors con Sal Da Vinci - “Rossetto e caffè” (Sal Da Vinci) - Willie Peyote con Tiromancino (Federico Zampaglione) e Ditonellapiaga - “Un tempo piccolo” (Franco Califano)

A new rule of this year says that artists competing in Sanremo can duet together. The ones who chose this option are:

- Tony Effe con Noemi - “Tutto il resto è noia” (Franco Califano) - Achille Lauro con Elodie - "A mano a mano"(Riccardo Cocciante) e “Folle città” (Loredana Bertè) - Francesca Michielin con Rkomi - “La nuova stella di Broadway” (Cesare Cremonini)

For more and to listen to Carlo's interview, look here

Sanremo will start on February 11th, 2025

#sanremo #sanremo25 #sanremo 2025 #it #italian #langblr #italiano #italian language #italian langblr #languages #music #lingua italiana #musica italiana #italian tv #italian tv show #italian music

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filmbyjy · 2 years ago

Text

BE IN LOVE

PAIRING: park jongseong x fem!reader

SUMMARY: it was quite cheesy that you fell in love with your best friend’s brother. what could you do to prevent it? jay was someone who you knew was out of reach but you couldn’t help but crush on.

WARNINGS: cursing. maybe slight angst (?). other than that, there isn’t much.

WORD COUNT: 3.6K words

taglist[perm]: @ja4hyvn @ahnneyong @milklix @kar0ki @sugarsunoo

a/n: this is a repost of a previous work I did that I loved! well repost from my old account that got deleted but yeah! I have also re-edited it so it’s better to read. I found the previous one a little cringy but idk if its cringy🙃 hope you enjoy it though!

A typical morning spent in your bed. perhaps, a little breakfast in bed because your parents were worried about your bruised eyes. Now, you must be wondering how you obtained this bruised eye?

[last week] It was any normal day at school and any normal day included physical education, or PE for short form. You didn’t particularly enjoy sports, you would rather be cooped up in your room for hours just watching some Netflix or Disney+, but of course, you couldn’t just escape from it since it was a required subject in high school.

“One point for us!” jake yells. Meet jake, the school’s soccer captain and one of the school’s heartthrobs. Right next to him was sunghoon and jay. Sunghoon was the second heartthrob of your school and he played basketball and badminton (on occasions). Finally there was jay, the third heartthrob and also a family friend.

Both of your families were close and you two have played around as kids before. Well i say kids but the only thing both of your parents did was let you play in the crib together and that’s about it. Growing up, the both of you never got to really talk to each other. Both were too shy to do so and plus...you liked to play alone. guess that’s where wanting to stay-in started from. Since then a natural distance came between both you and jay.

“Oh come on, are you really cheating jake?” Mia, your best friend, says.

“And what are you gonna do about it park mia?” jake yells. your dear best friend was also jay’s twin sister. the girl huffs.

“yah, park jongseong! would you care to smack the back of jake’s head?” and so jay does, he smacks the slightly younger boy. jake groans. Whatever Mia wanted, jay would comply because well...he wanted to be the great brother. Mia slings her arm around you.

“Don’t worry (name), jake isn’t going to bother us anymore.” she proudly says.

“WATCH OUT!” you turned around and a dodgeball comes flying onto your face. Your glasses flew across the room and you fell the ground, blacked out. Well at least Mia was right, jake didn’t bother you. rather a ball flew across and hit you.

[current time] Wasn’t a great thing honestly. Your mom popped her head at the door to check up on you. she brings in a plate of fruits for you.

“Here, eat this (name).” you sighed.

“Mom, it’s just a black eye. You’re acting as if i got hit by a car.”

“But sweetie, you’re injured.” she says.

“Mom, i’m fine.”

“Your glasses are broken too, we should get you a new pair.” she points over at your glasses that had shattered on impact.

“can i buy some contact lenses?”

2 years passed by, it was finally the last year of high school. Your class gathered in the classroom to surprise your form teacher, a small gesture to say ‘hey you survived teaching us for 4-5 years of your life. Hope you live well and we will see each other when we do’.

You were in your graduation gown, putting up the balloons. You felt the table shake but you knew you were great at balancing, well you thought before you fell into jay’s arms. Your eyes widened. You quickly got off jay and apologised. Mia smirks, she pulls you away from her twin brother.

“I saw what happened~so you and jay huh.”

you shoved her shoulder, “i don’t like your brother like that. besides, we are strictly just family friends.”

“oh shush, did you know our parents have this bet that you and jay would start dating?” she excitedly says.

“Whatever Mia. I have to go and grab the cake from the front gate, text me when Mr.Smith arrives alright?” Mia nods. While you went out though, Mia walks over to jay.

“Go with (name) now.”

“But-”

“Go and get the girl you’ve been crushing on since we were kids.”

“I don’t have a crush on her.” mia rolls her eyes.

“yeah sure. It’s like saying i don’t have a crush on jake.” mia deadpans.

“You have a crush on jake?” jay tilts his head.

“huh? what? I didn’t hear you.” jay rolls his eyes.

“I will tell mom on you.”

“We aren’t five anymore jay. Just go with (name) and be confident. I’m sure she likes you too!”

“Fine.” jay goes over to where you were. You thanked the person who delivered the cake and went back. Jay walks over to you.

“why are you here?” you say. Jay shrugs and then silence follows after. both you and jay went back to the classroom. where they graduation party really started.

That was the last time you saw the boy before college happened. It had been 3 years since you’ve last seen jay or even Mia. She went to a different department and so you couldn’t always meet up with her since she was extremely busy. It was just about towards the ending of exam season and so plenty of people started planning for parties.

You spot a familiar figure waving for you and so you walked over.

“It’s been too long (name)!” Mia gives you a tight squeeze.

“You’ve changed.” you say. your best friend looked so much more mature. she had made a decision to study business and so she dressed way more sophisticated.

“And so has jay.” she winks. You rolled your eyes.

“Are you seriously still trying to get me and jay together?”

“Has it worked?”

“No, we haven’t seen each other since the last party we held for our high school teacher.”

“What? But jay has to be in your class. You’re both in fashion right?”

“Fashion? I took arts, mia. I told you i had a passion for arts.” she facepalms and groans.

“Is that why jay cut me off. Urgh i’m an idiot.”

you tilt your head, “You haven’t talked to jay in 2 years?”

“Yeah, besides he has his friend group. Oh did you hear? They started a band together.”

“You mean those 3 heartthrobs of Decelis High?”

“Yeah, along with 3 freshmans and a senior.”

“That’s great. What about you and jake?” Mia shows you her ring. Your eyes widened, “He proposed in these 2-3 years we haven’t talked? Why didn’t you even tell me when you two started dating.”

“No, silly. It’s a promise ring. We’ve been dating for 2 years now. Best 2 years ever by the way.”

“Kinda hurt you didn’t tell your best friend about this.” you huffed and folded your arms.

“I’m sorry!” she goes to hug you.

“You had time with your boyfriend but not me. It hurt when you just cut all contacts with me you know.” you pout.

“Sorry (name).” she whines. You giggled. “I’ll buy you tteokbokki. how about that?”

“With cheese?” you say.

“With cheese.”

The both of you made it to a familiar tteokbokki stand, one that you went to everyday after school. You noticed a pretty familiar face. Mia tilts her head and looks over to where you were staring.

“He said he’d be having band practice.” Mia stares at jake. She pulls you over to where the 6 boys were. Then lets go of you before grabbing jake by the ear. “sim jaeyun, didn’t you say you were having band practice?” mia glares at jake.

“ah ah, i’m sorry, babe forgive me. sunghoon suggested to eat at our usual tteokbokki place so we decided to come here but cross my heart, we practiced before coming here.” jake says.

“(name)?” sunghoon says.

“Sunghoon.”

“hyung, who is she?”

“Oh umm, that is (name). (name), this is sunoo, jungwon, ni-ki and heeseung. Our bandmates.”

“Hi.” you waved.

“Where is jay by the way?” Mia asks.

“Bathroom.” Mia nods.

“Well, we shouldn’t disturb all of you. Me and Mia will just go shopping.” you grabbed her arm and quickly left the tteokbokki place. It fell silent between you and her as you walked around the shops.

“Why did you leave? You could’ve seen jay.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve caught up with each other. Come on, let’s go shopping.” you say. Mia could sense you didn’t want to talk about jay so she nods.

It was around 7.30pm when you finished walking around with mia. you decided to get back to your dorm, however as you were arriving, you saw someone familiar. he was walking a girl home. it was jay. He shyly converses with the girl and bid her goodbye. You mustered up the courage and quickly walked past them. The girl walks in first and you silently prayed that jay wouldn’t notice it was you.

“(name).” well...your hope was now crushed. You slowly turned to face jay.

“Jay. a little surprised to see you here.” you gave him the most sincere fake smile you could, “Why are you here?”

“Oh..just sending a close friend of mine to the dorms since it was quite late.”

“Oh. that’s nice of you. She must be a really great friend.” jay blushes slightly.

“a-ah no. We just talk a little.” it hurts to see jay so flustered by a girl. the younger you would’ve cried. You giggled.

“Someone has a crush on her. Well i’ll get going, see you.” you quickly left before jay could say anything. You were heartbroken. You went back to your dorm. Seems like your roommate just arrived too.

“where did you go?” you asked her. She was in a daze, clearly happy something happened to her.

“The fashion heartthrob walked me home today.” she says. You froze, was that girl your roommate?

“Which heartthrob? Our school has a bunch.” you nonchalantly say as you placed your shoes onto the shelves. it was true, your department and practically the whole school had a bunch of heartthrobs.

“jay. God, he’s so good looking. You think he likes me? He was so flustered while talking to me.” she says. You remembered asking him just now. He did look flustered and kinda happy when talking to her.

“Yeah maybe.” your roommate jumps in happiness.

“eekkk, i’m so happy!! I should get some beauty rest to see him tomorrow!”

“Yeah you should.” you say. Your roommate runs to her room and shuts the door. Your phone vibrates. A text from Mia, she asked if you wanted to call so you replied to her with a simple okay. you picked up the call.

“Hey, got to your dorms safely?” mia asks. you shut your bedroom door and placed your purse down on the table.

“Yeah.”

“Great but why do you sound so defeated?”

you sighed, “Do you think jay still likes me?”

“Of course. Even if it has been years. Jay will still look for you. Why?” you fiddled with your little songwriting book you’ve kept since you were 15. the pages were almost filled with inspirations and lyrics.

“i saw him walking a girl home and that girl is my roommate.”

“what? Oh he will get it.” mia says. you could imagine her holding up her fist.

“No, don’t. He will know i told you because i was the only one that knows about it.” you cracked open the book and began writing some lyrics for fun.

“Are you doubting yourself?” mia asks. you paused. did you doubt yourself? absolutely. jay was someone who was out of reach.

“I mean...he can date whoever he wants. I have no control over him. it’s not like i’m his girlfriend.” you quickly continue to scribble.

“(name), listen to me.”

“Go ahead.”

“We will dress up and meet the band tomorrow.” you dropped the pen.

“What?”

“We have to and besides jay blocked me from everything. i just wanna have a word with him.”

“Mia-”

“Whoops sorry, i have to go. Jake is calling me.” mia ends the call. You breathed in. you had to prepare to meet him again tomorrow.

The next day, mia tells you to get ready by 1pm and so you do. You put on a simple short black dress and threw over a leather jacket. to finalise the look, you wore a necklace. maybe this was a little extra but hey who said you couldn’t dress up.

“My god, what special occasion are you going to?” mia says upon seeing you walk out of the door. you rolled your eyes.

“is it wrong to dress up?” you say. Mia smiles.

“oh no, it isn’t wrong but jay would sooo drool over this. maybe if jay didn’t like you, you could go for someone else. like me perhaps.” mia winks. you laughed and smacked her arm.

both you and mia arrived at where the band frequently practices. The school provided a studio for them and they were elated. Their band played at school related shows and once at a prom. They were pretty known in the school. which surprised you since you’ve never seen them before. i mean, you never really go to school events anyways.

“baby!” jake runs up to mia. They hugged, you smiled at them. they were adorable. way different to how they were back then but you knew along the way that mia just liked jake.

“Okay the younger boys and heeseung have met (name) but yeah. She’s here today.” mia says. you waved.

“Your aura seems different today. Do you have a date later on or something?” sunghoon says as he nudges you. You giggled.

“very funny hoon, unfortunately, i am not going out for one.”

“maybe i could take you out to one later on then.” he smirks. you playfully rolled your eyes at sunghoon’s words.

“shut up.”

“then who did you dress up for noona?” sunoo says.

“yeah, for who?” sunghoon smirks, “is it possibly me?”

“In your dreams. I dressed up for myself.” your eyes met with jay’s, he was definitely checking you out and so you shyly looked away.

“hey (name), i just remembered when you showed me a music piece that you wrote in high school.” jake says. You blushed.

“jake, what do you mean? i never showed you anything.” the boys were interested.

“You’re lying. Mia knows about it too.” she nods agreeing with her boyfriend.

“Don’t tell me you still have it.” you say. jake smirks. He pulls out a book, it was your old lyric book that you had for fun since you had a lot of fun writing it. you swore you lost it so why does jake have it?

“Shall we try singing it, miss singer?” jake says.

“what? I can’t sing, jake.” he turns over to mia.

“Don’t hide that beautiful voice of yours, (name).” she comes up to you and whispers, “besides, don’t you want to impress jay so he wouldn’t be swayed by your roommate?” you breathed in. you really haven’t sang in a while and you didn’t want to do it. however, with everyone’s eyes on you…you couldn’t let them down.

“Fine.” you say. jake claps his hands. He grabs his guitar and starts the chords for the chorus since you only wrote for the chorus and then gave up. it was honestly impressive that you came up with guitar chords to go with the chorus you wrote.

You took a deep breath. you were a little nervous but you closed your eyes and pretended no one was there. it was as if you were singing in your bedroom alone.

Be in love, we know

Heart to heart, you feel it too, right?

Hey love, hey love, please wait for a while

We can be together

Say bye-bye to boring days

Feel our energy

Hey love, hey love, baby just stay in love, love

You stopped right there and when you opened your eyes, you instantly met with jay staring at you. You shyly looked away.

“Wahhh noona, that was great. You should’ve join music production or something.” sunoo says.

“I’m not that great. I just made these lyrics up because i had a crus-” you covered your mouth. great you just revealed the one thing you didn’t want the boys to know about.

“You had a crush? Why didn’t we know about this?” sunghoon says. You looked down at your hands.

“Because it’s not important. It’s just a crush. It wasn’t like i dated him or something.”

“Exactly but crushes are equally important as a boyfriend. So miss (name), are you going to spill the tea or not?” sunghoon says. You looked over at jay, he seemed like he wasn’t upset or anything.

“i-i’m not telling!” you say.

“then if she won’t say it...I WILL! IT’S-” you covered jake’s mouth.

“hehe, well i guess it’s a mystery. Well i have to go now, bye!” you grabbed your bag and left. Mia gives jake one look before running off to find you. Jake grabs his phone when he notices it’s ringing, he answers it and places it in speaker mode.

“(name)! Where are you going?”

“hiding in my room! I can’t believe i blurted that out loud in front of jay!”

“Oh come on, (name). It’s not bad.” you stopped and looked at mia.

“Not bad? that song was literally crafted for him because my teen heart loved him so much. If he found out then i’m fucked. I was stupid. he already has a crush on someone else now. what’s the use?” you confessed. Jake looks up at jay, a blush dusting the older boy’s cheeks.

Mia shows her phone and places it in speaker mode.

“Jay, you heard that? Also unblock me, you idiot.” mia says.

“u-umm can you pass the phone to (name).” jay says. your eyes widened. oh hell nah, he heard everything you just said. mia and her devious plans.

“Mia…” you glared at her.

“Talk to him.” she says handing you her phone after turning off the speaker mode. Jay found a place to quietly talk to you, preferably away from the other boys.

“Hey. jay says.

“Hi.”

“Let’s just get to the point. That song was for me?”

“Yes.” your heart was beating 10 times faster.

“So you liked me.”

“Would it be bad if i still like you up till now and i’ve been waiting for you?” you say.

“Meet me outside your dorm at 6pm.” jay says.

“Uh, sure.”

“I’ll tell mia to send my phone number after i unblock her.” you snort.

“Can’t believe you blocked her because she thought i took fashion.”

“Trust me, i was really mad when i couldn’t find you anywhere in the fashion department.”

“Well see you later.” you say.

“See you.” the call ends. You hand mia her phone back.

“Oh he just unblocked me and he asked me to send you his number...wait what happened during the call.”

“Not telling you.” you stick your tongue out.

Later at 6pm, you came downstairs in a hoodie and sweatpants because honestly, it was too comfy. Jay was waiting for you and you sneaked up on him and scared him. He flinches.

“Oh my god, it was just you.” you smiled.

“So why did you want to meet me here?” you asked.

“Well, i wanted to invite you to a party.”

“A party? Couldn’t you have texted me.”

“Umm...i’m inviting you as my date.” your eyes widened, “you don’t have to accept it. umm, if you don’t want to come to the party-”

“Jay?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll come.” you flashed him a smile. He shyly smiles. Before you left to get back to your dorm, you gave jay a peck on the cheek and then ran off quickly. Jay holds the side where you kissed him at, a wide grin forming. Jay texts you the details of the party.

Friday comes in, the day of the party. Jay comes to pick you up. You opened the door and there stood jay. He snuck up to the dorm apartment place just to meet you at the door. You were wearing a similar black dress that hugged your body even more perfectly than the previous one. Jay smiles.

“You look great.”

“Thank you, you too.” jay drives you over to the party. It was a huge party, almost every popular clique was here and they all were in their own fun world. Dancing, drinking alcohol and probably making out. Jay drags you to where his friends were.

“Oh hey, you two came together.” sunghoon says. Mia eyes you up and down.

“Isn’t that the dress i bought for you only specifically when you and jay are dati-WAIT (name)....” you shyly look over to jay and he wraps his arms around your waist protectively.

“Me and (name) are dating.” mia gasps.

“You didn’t ask me.” you whisper to jay.

“Well both you and i know, we have mutual feelings for each other so you’re my girlfriend now.” you hide your face at the crook of jay’s neck. he runs his hands down your back to pat you.

“AYYYYY (name), can’t believe you and jay are finally together.” jake says. Jay could hear you whine softly. He chuckles.

“Alright, she’s shy. Let’s not tease her.” jay says.

“Don’t makeout in front of us alright.” mia says.

“You and jake should take your own advice.” heeseung says. Jake blushes.

[epilogue]

It was still summer holiday so both you and jay went back home to visit your parents and well…

“I always knew you two would get together. A match made in heaven.” your mom says.

“mom~” you whined.

“jongseong-ah, where is your sister?”

“At jake’s house.”

“Oh my, are they dating? I knew something would spark between them, they used to hate each other and now look at them. Mia didn’t even tell me about both of them.” Jay’s mom says. Your mom settles the both of you down on the couch.

“so…(name), jay. When are the both of you planning to get married?” your mom asks.

“MOM!” jay on the other hand was blushing hard.

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sotogalmo · 7 months ago

Note

hi soto ! i hope your fine with me calling you that, but if not, sorry ! !

i just wanted to ask, which alnst ocs do you think flor would get along with in general ?

Oh Im fine with any names !! So I don't mind what you call me!! (I have lots and lots of names,,, soto, Itzusumi, Amy, Audrey, Kellie, Garrett, Satan, Kit/Kitsunami, etc)

Ooughh. Toughie toughie.

Maybe your OC? They seem very-very similar (to me that is tho). Like Siamese twin cats (tho she already has a twin)! Tho Flor would be more of a talker out of the both of them??? imo that is, but who knows- she makes a lot of sounds due to boredom <- random fact. She rlly likes hanging out with Auri: stress relief time!

Solei ( @shakingparadigm ) . Flor is so so fascinated by their knowledge of "animals". What's that called?? Why do they have that,, weird thing?? What's their powers??? What can they eat?? 'Bugs'?? What's that? . Flor is just. So amazed by their knowledge,,, would honestly ask what animal Solei thinks she is. No need to answer! Just a curious gal. Is so amazed by how some of the animals are fuzzy looking. Gets the itch to touch the page (she does it either way). maybe she asks some very weird questions of how the animals taste, but she was raised by an alien that likes food and likes making food. So can ya really blame her with her fascination for food??? Food<3

Khoi ( @junebluues ) . Flor is,, Flor would like to hang out with him! Maybe like. Help with some lyrics?? She writes poems from time to time, and that helps her with making some good songs (real example(s) are of my og song I did not too long ago!)

Lang ( @pwippy ) . Loves her hair. If Lang doesn't mind Flor would love to brush her hair! The black and white is so pretty and cool looking. Lang likes breaking things??? Flor joins in on the chaos!!! Only when her emotions get the best of her, she goes to join Lang and her common breaking things habit. It's really nice to let off some steam (no she's not crying)

Toon ( @nottoonedin ) . Loves her hair x2. Gets the biggest BIGGEST urge to brush it ,,,,, it looks like those "lion's" "manes" that Solei would talk to her about !!!! So prettyb. . ... What if she just shrinks enough to lay in Toon's hair... Small ittybbitty kitty in lion mane....

Stasya ( @billwasnot ) . Flor finds it very comforting that they take a big sibling role (Flor is 17!) ,,, reminds them of her own siblings. So she's very attached to Stas (even gives them a nickname!). Flor likes being round Sta, quiet time! Kinda like how she is with Auri tbh. Just on a more,,,, nicerr??? Scale???? I dunno how to explain it well,,,

Rose ( @rosedeleca ) . Loves their hair x3. Good Lord she's pretty as hell. Flor would just be such a common silent admirer of Rose. If she remembers the name and what it(a flower) looks like (her guardian is also very interested in plants. Not a big fan of animals), she would say “nomen nihil est nisi decorum! (The name is nothing but beautiful!)” (her guardian teaches her in Latin & Latin based languages). Hides behind Rose for fun!

Man. Sorry if some of these are really short (I dunno bout other ocs or if people wanna be tagged here,,, so this is all I have for now -!!) or honestly really predictable-

#ask #apriciticreveries #alien stage #alnst #alien stage oc #alnst oc #alnst oc: flor #to the ones ive tagged.... i rlly hope you dont mind that i tagged y'all... !!!#flor is such a silly clown.....#oughhh

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lenas-oc-chronicles · 22 days ago

Text

Bring the Weight Down

Chapter 2: Awake

Chapter 1

When the sun shone through their windows and assaulted their eyes with its intense rays, nearly all in the Weasley household were awoken. Ginny grumbled and covered her head, curling up into herself. Once she remembered that she wasn't alone, however, she quickly stood to head downstairs. Fred and George each flipped over to avoid the light, determined to remain in bed longer. Harry's eyes opened and he looked around, nostrils flared like a madman. Arthur found Molly's hand in the covers and brought it to his lips, giving it a feather light kiss. That lightened her mood significantly, and she stood for the restroom.

Ron was the last to wake up. He yawned widely, like a lion, and stretched his arms over his head. He'd found sleep an elusive beast; his mind wandering to, by his consideration, their unwelcome house guest.

“You still here, Harry? Didn't get snatched up by Death Eaters, then?”

Harry, after putting on his glasses so that Ron didn't look like a smudged water color painting, shot Ron an unreadable look. He had conflicting feelings about the night before. He wanted to reply sardonically, but his mind was blank. All he could think of was the blood, and the indescribable feeling of seeing the girl who'd joined in on bullying himself and his friends looking to be on the verge of death. He was worried about her, yet angry that she were there at all. “No, no snatching. Unless we're both dreaming right now.”

After wasting as much time as they could, they all trudged lazily downstairs. Molly, her hair in a tangled mess, looked to the twins. “Boys, go ahead and get breakfast going.”

Fred and George, looking the most neat of all, acquiesced and went together into the kitchen. The clanking sound of pots and pans ensued, following by the two jabbering at each other about who would do what.

Meanwhile, Arthur prepared himself to meet with Dumbledore. He changed quickly into a pair of faded gray slacks and an old blue pullover. He had a warm wool jacket around himself, and brown shoes that didn't quite match anything else he had on. His spectacles were neatly on his nose, and he went into the fireplace. “Back by breakfast,” he said cheerfully before he disappeared in a swirl of green smoke.

“Ron, I want you to write to Bill to let him know not to come until Monday.” said Molly.

Ron murmured to himself and marched over to a cabinet, withdrawing a quill, ink bottle, and parchment, then drug himself to the table at the center of the room, plopping down on the floor with his legs spread out far and his shoulders slumped over.

“I'm done,” Ron called after a suspiciously brief time of scribbling. Molly picked up his letter and examined it.

'Bill,

Mum says to come Monday. There's a bloody Death Eater in the house.

Cheers,

Ron'

Molly frowned and looked down at her son. “Ron.”

“What?” he asked grumpily.

“Write it again.”

In a state of dramatics, Ron grabbed a new piece of parchment with fervor and set it down roughly. When he reached for the ink, he did so with too much effort, knocking the bottle over. It lolled back and forth on the table, spilling its contents into a pool that slowly made its way to the edge. It dripped onto Ron's pants, sure to stain both them and his skin.

“Ron, clean it up!” cried Molly.

Ron rolled his head back, staring miserably at the ceiling as he pushed himself off of the ground. He went to the pantry the room over to find a towel. He drug his feet with slouched shoulders, his slippers scratching against the floor. He did the table first, swirling the towel around lazily until it was mostly clean, then knelt down to the floor. He twirled the rag, putting as little effort into the action as possible. It dyed the wood, but he thought it looked good enough. When he was satisfied with his work, Ron went back into the other room, using his backside to open the door, and tossed the rag in the waste basket. After that, he squished himself between the twins to wash the stains from his hands.

“I'm going to change.” said Ron, not to anyone in particular.

He marched pathetically up the stairs and into the room he and Harry shared. He rifled through his drawers to try and find a clean pair of pants, but found nothing. All of his had been wadded up into a corner the day before, and taken down to the laundry bin. He let his head hit the top of the dresser with a thud. “Come on.”

He looked for an alternative, and decided he only had one option; Harry's pajamas. He'd wear them until his were clean. The pair he found were dark plaid and about four inches too short. He felt like Neville, with his matching pants and shirt that were both just a touch too small. Ron hardly even bothered to put all of Harry's things back into his bag. He'd drug everything out to find the garment and laid it all messily onto his friend's bed. He used force shoving everything back in. 'I hate today.' he thought to himself, dropping the bag onto the floor.

As he made his way back to the living room, Ron paused at Ginny's room to take a peak inside. He could see her on Ginny's bed – the witch was still sleeping. He stared at the unmoving lump for a moment. He didn't know what he was waiting for – what he was watching. Maybe for a sign of life? Perhaps he wanted her to attack. He wanted it to be a ruse – an excuse to hex her for the nasty things she'd said and done. No, he knew that wasn't true. He didn't want to harm her. Not right now, anyway. He couldn't bare to think on it any longer, and quickly closed the door. He looked around for something to place in front of it. An alarm system, if you will. He found it in a brown vase covered in flowers of different colors that was held on the wall by a shelf, and placed it as close to the door as he could get it.

When he came back down, Ginny snickered at him. “Nice pajamas.”

Ron glared at her, then went to retrieve a new ink bottle. He plopped down beside Harry and started working on his new letter. The quill scratched the parchment roughly, as if he were in a hurry to send an S.O.S. overseas.

“I'm done!” he called to his mother.

She came and lifted it up from the table, looking down at Ron and shaking her head.

'Bill,

Mum asked me to tell you to wait until Monday to come over. We got a surprise last night. You'll see when you get here.

Cheers,

Ron'

“Better?”

“It'll do.”

Ron sealed up the letter and gave it to Pig, not trusting the older Errol. Bill wasn't set to arrive until late afternoon, so it would most likely reach him in time. Ron stretched his arms over his head and could feel the draft on his lower calves. He tried pulling the borrowed pants down as much as possible, but it didn't help much. They were so low it was almost offensive, and still the skin over his ankles was exposed.

“Are those my pajamas?” asked Harry.

Ron didn't answer, and Harry couldn't stop himself from chuckling.

Satisfied that what was taken care of could be, Molly headed upstairs to check on the girl. She kicked the vase when she opened the door, staring down at it in confusion. “What on earth?” She returned it to its spot on the shelf and headed inside.

Molly didn't want to disturb her too much. She knew that her body would likely need a lot of rest. She was alive, and breathing steadily. Her brow was furrowed in her sleep, and she clutched onto the covers as if they'd float away if she didn't. Molly placed a gentle hand on her head, lightly running it back and forth to soothe her as she'd done so many times with her own children. “There, there. It's only dreams.” Molly watched as her face settled and her grip loosened before she left, closing the door feather-light.

After some time, a call came from the kitchen. “Breakfast is done.”

The children all scurried to grab a plate. The smell inside was... overwhelming, to say the least. Spices, herbs, cooking oil, something burnt, and the sickly sweet scent of something rotten all blended together and assaulted their nostrils.

When Molly got in, they all moved aside to let her get the first serving. Toast, eggs, bacon, and beans were at their disposal and they were all in need of the nourishment. In the sink, there were pans and plates piled high. The things that had been made and discarded, it seemed.

“Should we wait for dad to get back?” asked Ginny.

“No, dear. I don't know when that'll be.”

After their plates were prepared, they sat themselves down at the table and dove in. The only sound that filled the room was the scraping of utensils and the gulping of juice.

When they were done, the dishes washed themselves in the sink while the others covered the remaining foods to keep them fresh until Arthur's return.

While they waited, Molly sat down to knit and listen to the radio, Ginny, Fred, and George went outside so that Ginny could practice some Quidditch moves, and the boys went into their room to have a discussion about the girl sleeping close by.

“Dahlia Archdaen....” began Ron. “I can't believe Ginny slept in the same room as her.”

“I know. She's the one that offered it, too.” said Harry.

“I mean, has she forgotten everything Dahlia's done? Might as well let Malfoy in there.”

Harry was reminded of something he'd been meaning to talk to Ron about. Actually, he meant to speak with a lot of people over the subject. “Speaking of Malfoy....”

“You're sure you heard Snape talking to Malfoy?” asked Ron after Harry had recounted the conversation he'd overheard after Slughorn's party.

“If you ask me that again, Ron, I'll-”

“I'm only checking!”

“Yes, Snape was offering to help Malfoy.” said Harry, dully. “He said he'd promised Malfoy's mother, made an Unbreakable Oath or something.”

“D'you mean an Unbreakable Vow?” asked Ron, stunned. “Nah, it couldn't be.”

“Yes, I'm sure. Why, what's it do?”

“It's just... you can't break an Unbreakable Vow.” said Ron.

“Funnily enough, I'd worked that part out on my own. What happens if you do break it?”

“You die.” Ron said flatly. He then went into a story about how Fred and George had tried to get him to make one when he was very small, and when Arthur had caught them, he'd been “as angry as Mum,” according to Ron.

“Do you think she knows? Dahlia, I mean - what Malfoy's up to?” asked Ron.

“Maybe. I think I need to ask her, anyway.” said Harry.

“Yeah that'll go over smoothly.”

“It's worth trying. She does owe us a lot. I'm going to talk to your dad first and see what he thinks.” Of course, Harry knew that it was likely Arthur would defend Snape, saying that he was offering help as a ruse to get information. But he still had to try.

“Either way, I've got your back, Harry. I'll ask her with you.”

“I don't think that'd be a good idea, Ron.”

“Why not?” asked Ron, offended.

Harry sighed and picked that moment to bathe himself and get dressed, leaving Ron to yell at him as he left the room, “Oh so now you're not gonna answer me, are you?”

Around eleven thirty, Arthur emerged from the fireplace tailed by Dumbeldore, and to Molly's surprise, Snape as well. He carried with him a handsome black leather case that clanked lightly when he walked.

From upstairs, Harry and Ron could hear the arrival of their headmaster and quickly jogged down. Everyone that remained inside throughout the morning had gotten themselves ready for the day; bathing, dressing, brushing their teeth and hair. But when the twins and Ginny came inside, they were dirty and breathing heavily. They'd been outside all morning.

“Good morning, Molly, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Fred, George. Good to see you all.” said Dumbledore, taking a moment to look at each of them, smiling happily.

“Good morning, Professor.” They said in unison, completely on accident.

Harry caught sight of Snape and furrowed his brow. He'd have to wait for him to leave before he could say anything to Arthur; and if he and Dumbledore left at the same time, he'd have no chance of speaking to the Headmaster until he returned to school.

“Professor Snape has brought with him a few potions that should help to coax the young lady awake. Molly, would you take him to see her?”

“Yes, of course.” she sat down her knitting and gestured for Severus to follow her. He kept his eyes forward and marched with straight posture up the stairs.

“While we wait, I hope you don't mind if I have a seat.”

“Of course not. Go ahead.” said Arthur.

“Dad, there's some breakfast in the kitchen.”

“Thank you, Fred.”

“Would you like a cup of tea, Professor?” asked Ginny.

“Why, yes. That'd be delightful. And some sugar, if you please.”

“Do you know what happened to her, Severus?” asked Molly.

“No.”

Snape had sat himself down on the bed and with Molly's help, turned Dahlia onto her back. He worked more gently than Molly expected to ease the potions down her bruised throat. One to restore her blood loss, one for pain, and one to assist the healing.

“Is that it, then?”

“For now.”

“She had... well, she had some wounds on her back and I'm worried she might have some internal issues.”

Severus bent down to dig through his wares, plucking an orange looking vial from the case. He guided that one down, then replaced it back with the others.

“If she isn't internally wounded, she's going to have cotton mouth for the rest of the day.” said Snape blandly. “Anything else will have to wait until she's awake.” Severus was not going to perform a full examination on a sleeping girl. If anything were broken, it would be evident soon enough. He stood, and the two went back downstairs.

“She'll be awake within the hour.” said Snape as they entered the living room.

“What'll we do until then?” asked Arthur.

“You'll have to wait.”

And wait they did. The entire party sat awkwardly quiet together. If it weren't for the radio, they'd be able to hear the grass grow.

After a while, Molly went into the kitchen to make lunch. She even prepared enough for Snape, Dumbeldore, and Dahlia for when she woke. The eating silence was almost worse than the sitting silence, and all except for Snape crowded into the dining room.

“How is your business going, Fred?” asked Dumbledore. “I hope with our recent outbreak of boils, your sales don't suffer, George.” He looked through his glasses at the two, his eyes twinkling knowingly.

The twins grinned. “Yeah, it's going alright.” said Fred.

“And that's too bad about the boils. It's a good thing our dear Ron hasn't suffered form them.”

“Yeah, we don't know anything about them.”

“Nothing at all.

“We sell party gags mostly. Punching telescopes,”

“Spell checking quills,”

“Love potions,”

“Pygmy puffs,”

“Puking pastilles,” added Dumbledore.

“Puking pastilles,” They each went silent, and their cheeks flushed.

“Actually, I've quite enjoyed them. The taste is superb, although the after effect is less than desirable.”

After they were done, Molly set aside two plates of food; one for Dahlia and one for Snape, too, if he happened to change his mind. The mess was cleaned, and they went back to waiting; Molly to her knitting, Fred, George, and Ginny upstairs to clean up, and Harry and Ron to the floor, where they played a game of chess.

Upstairs, Dahlia slowly drifted back into the world. She kept her eyes shut, but she was awake. Somewhere soft, warm, and nice smelling; orchids or lilac - very light but pleasant nonetheless. She knew it wasn't where she'd left the night before. She could see the sun shining through her lids and wondered how long she'd been asleep. Was it through an entire day? Or had she really woken up the next morning? That would only be possible if they'd used strong potions. But that meant she was inside a magical household. If that were true, she'd be incredibly thankful. She was worried she might've ended up with Muggles, and they would discard her wand thinking that it was just a stick.

She opened her eyes slowly, allowing herself time to adjust to the light; and time between being so comfortable to the questions that were soon to come. She stretched her limbs a little at a time so as not to cause herself distress, and sat up slowly while moving the covers aside. Every part of her ached, though it wasn't nearly as bad as she might've thought.

Dahlia looked around the room. Posters hung on the walls, one of the Hollyhead Harpies. She smiled to herself. This was definitely a magical household. But whose was it? By the look of it, the room belonged to a young girl. Possibly around her age. A dark wood dresser with a mirror over it was settled nearly directly across from her, a matching side table beside a bed that sat to her left with a lovely white candelabra resting atop it, knickknacks and jewelry were scattered here and there, and on the dresser was a fluffy pink ball rolling around of its own accord. It was a cute room, much different from her own. She could see the door to a closet to her right. Leaning against it was a broomstick. It was tidy, organized, easy to move around in. Much different from her own room at home; a large and opulent space, filled with sterile elegance. Everything had a place; nothing mismatched. Even her clothing was placed evenly spaced in her closet. This room looked lived in. Though it was clean, it was full of personality.

She turned to the side and set her feet on the floor, resting her hands on the bed and hunching her shoulders forward. They'd changed her clothing. Gone was her navy gown – replaced by a cotton night dress. It was loose enough to be comfortable, but it didn't seem like it were the right size.

Dahlia stood and wobbled uneasily. She waved her arms out to catch herself, took a deep breath, then started to walk. She found that she had a limp to her left leg which didn't come as a surprise. She went to the dresser and the mirror that sat above it. She looked herself over with a grimace. At least she'd been cleaned off a bit. There was still makeup smudged beneath her eyes but she decided to leave it. It wouldn't matter to the darkened skin on the right side, and the left would grow red if she applied pressure and scrubbed the stains off. Her hair was a ratty mess, and she did her best to rake her fingers through to smooth it down.

The fluff ball rolled in front of her, squealing happily. She looked down and studied it, beady eyes meeting her own. A pygmy puff. She couldn't help but smile. It really was cute. And then it rolled too far and fell onto the floor with a squeak.

She took that moment to make her way out. She stopped at the door and held the knob, shutting her eyes. With one last squeal from the pink fluff at her feet, she opened it, slowly, and stuck her head out to get a look. She didn't see anyone coming down the hall, and could plainly hear a radio from the floor below. She tiptoed around the door and shut it even slower than she'd opened it.

She ignored the pictures on the wall. She wanted to see the person, or people, who'd saved her in person first. She walked slowly down the stairs, holding onto the railing firmly for support. Going down the steps hurt much more than walking. Although she'd been bandaged, the skin on her back was burning uncomfortably, and all around the wounded flesh was sore and throbbing. Not to mention the ache at her side that she'd felt from the moment she sat up. But she didn't slow, or turn. She stayed exactly how she was.

Closer she drew, and heard a voice talking. A man, by the sound of it; old and speaking gently. It sounded incredibly familiar and she stopped to listen in. He was telling a story, but it was hard for her to catch. She walked further and heard another voice, a boy, less familiar than the one before but still her mind attempted recognition.

'Is that... Dumbledore? Couldn't be.'

She was a little worried over who she'd face at the bottom. Would it be someone she knew? Someone she went to school with and their family? Her stomach flopped, making her nauseous.

Down to the bottom she went, then turned to see those that had helped her.

“Hey, she's up.” said Fred.

“Hello missus,” said George.

“Ah, hello Miss Archdaen.” It was Dumbledore. And the Weasley family, Harry, Potter and Professor Snape. She tried to hide it, but seeing him immediately caused her to panic.

Harry and Ron looked up and instantly had daggers for her while on the other side of the room Arthur and Molly looked both worried and frightened while the twins and Ginny met her gaze. She kept her face passive and tried to focus solely on the Headmaster.

'Oh, good. A house full of people who hate me, and a man who will likely give my location away. No reason to fret.'

Tagging: @ocappreciationtag

Author's Note: Fuck J.K. Rowling

#harry potter #harry potter fanfic #harry potter fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction #oc fanfic #oc fanfction #harry potter oc #hp oc #harry potter oc fanfic #harry potter oc fanfiction #oc: dahlia archdaen #fandom: harry potter #ocappreciation #ocapp #ocappreciationtag

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irisintheafterglow · 2 months ago

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assassin!sakusa au: the dagger games part 02 of 03. (part 1)

they did not, in fact, have a change of heart overnight.

as was tradition, the games began when both hands on the clock struck 12 midnight, and would last for eight hours or until one team was victorious. you stood beside daichi for the opening ceremony, all the crews gathered in a circle in the clocktower square lit by only the dim gas lamps. there were numerous familiar faces: your allies, the cats and the owls; the castles and barrel-shouldered ushijima; aone and the 'wall keepers' that dwelled in the perimeters of the city; boastful terushima who'd brought confetti poppers to the occasion. at midnight exactly, each crew threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared into the mist, whether to run and find high ground or nab easy points while everyone was disoriented.

"take the first-years and hide out at the top of the paper mill. we'll come get you once we've gathered a good amount of points," daichi instructed you the night prior, before kuroo arrived to give you information (or lack thereof) about sakusa's vial.

you assent wordlessly, carefully filling a thin cotton bag with a cup of thick black paint. the paint inside the bags would serve as a point per color. if your bag was sliced, the enemy's dagger would be stained that color. the number of colors on your blade at the end of the games would determine point values, and bonus points were awarded for the team who was the most elusive.

"what are kuroo and bokuto's plans?"

"no idea. we can't officially work with them, remember?"

"right. formal alliances are prohibited, but they'll never know we crossed each others' paths if we don't fight."

"exactly. just focus on getting the new guys out of the way, and then we'll take turns babysitting them." it was an unspoken tradition that the newbies of each crew were the first to be eliminated because they were the easiest points; they didn't have extensive knowledge of the city, and they were more likely to make mistakes in the excited atmosphere of the competition.

with kageyama, hinata, and yamaguchi following you out of the smoke, your instructions were to stash them somewhere safe before going out to hunt the veterans. the four of you silently climb the outside ladders of the abandoned paper mill and creep through an open window, locking it behind you with a loud CLICK!

"why are we up here, again?" hinata's whisper is barely hidden by the sound of the floorboards creaking beneath your boots.

"we need high ground," you reply patiently, ushering them into a moonlit corner with a window overlooking the streets below.

"but we don't have sniping weapons," the shortest newbie muses. "what's the point of being up so high?"

"from here, we're not looking to attack; we're looking to gather information. look there." you nod out the window toward the sidewalk just across the street, where you barely make out the shadows of two figures swiping at each other. "the dagger games are named for the assassin's primary weapon before firearms. they are the most primal way of killing, and we honor those before us by establishing hierarchy based on knife-fights alone." you watch the glint of the daggers in the lamplight, and briefly catch the paint color in the bags at their waists.

red and teal. a cat and a castle.

"do the foxes ever play the games?" yamaguchi's eyes stay on the fighters below, who keep swinging in a stalemate.

"they usually win," you inform him and his eyes widen. "kita and his right-hand twins have been the highest point earners for the past three games."

"aren't the games held bi-annually? a fall and a spring games?" kageyama asks and you nod in confirmation. "so they've won twice for each year?"

"yeah," you chuckle. "their whole crew are monsters." there's movement in the alleyway next to the two fighters, a figure slipping in the darkness to position behind the castle. during the brief pause for both to catch their breath, the intruder lunges with two quick stabs to the castle's paint bags. two shades of teal coat their dagger, double points for getting both bags. then, the figure disappears back into the alleyway.

"woah!"

"that was terrifyingly quick."

"at least that's one castle out of the games," kageyama smiles evilly. "oikawa and his stupid kingdom will fall."

"yeah, and you're not allowed to be part of it." a melodic, familiar voice echoes through the dusty space and the three boys jump, hinata yelping in surprise. you smile to yourself, knowing full and well that he'd been there for the past three minutes.

"any luck with early points?"

"a few of the party pack," sugawara replies as he steps into the moonlight. he holds up his dagger triumphantly, stained yellow and flecked with pieces of confetti. "they definitely weren't hard to find, by any means."

"did you take out all of them?"

"i tried, only got a few of the newbies." you pat his shoulder sympathetically and he shrugs.

"why would suga need to take out all of them?"

"points are based on the number of team colors, not necessarily number of members," you recall from memories of your first dagger games where you thought it was pointless to take out an entire team. "if you already got one member, it's best to finish off the others so no other team can get their dagger stained that color."

"but that's for your next games," sugawara reminds them. "for now, say bye and tell them 'happy hunting.'"

the boys nod in understanding, bid you 'happy hunting,' and you exchange roles with sugawara before leaping into the night to find your own marks.

part 03.

#sakusa x reader #sakusa x you #sakusa x y/n #sakusa kiyoomi x you #sakusa kiyoomi x reader #sakusa kiyoomi x y/n #haikyuu x you #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x y/n #hq x you #hq x reader #hq x y/n #haikyuu assassin!au #assassin!sakusa

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tickles-in-ficland · 2 years ago

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@alexiskk asketh and you shall receiveith

Care About Me

Summary: After a scare, Ellie realizes Joel does care about her, no matter how much he tries to deny it.

Pairing: Ler!Joel Lee!Ellie

Word Count: 1,613

Warnings: curse words, otherwise all fluff

It had been a long day. Joel and Ellie had been walking for what seemed like forever.

“Joel can we please park it somewhere for the rest of the day?” Ellie whined.

“No.” Joel said firmly as he glanced back at Ellie dragging her feet. “We need to keep moving. You want to deal with more Clickers? Cause I sure as fuck don’t.”

Ellie grumbled as they continued their journey. As night began to fall they were passing a long abandoned neighborhood. It reminded Joel of his friends Bill and Frank, and for a moment, he let himself be sad. He quickly shook off the feeling and kept walking.

“Joel!” Ellie whined again. “Joooooel!”

“Ellie!” Joel scolded. “SHUT UP. You want every infected to hear you? Now come on.”

Ellie looked around. “It’s getting dark anyway, and we’re gonna have to stop somewhere. Wouldn’t you rather sleep in a bed rather than the cold ground?”

Joe huffed. She had a point. They’d have to be stopping soon anyway. He turned to look at the young girl whom he was tasked to keep safe and sighed.

“Fine. But stay behind me until we know it’s safe. Got it?”

Ellie grinned, proud that she finally wore him down. “You got it boss.” she said with a mock salute.

Joel shook his head. “Brat.” he said trying to hide his smile.

With his weapon raised and Ellie trailing behind him, the two approached a house. It was worn down and obviously hadn’t been lived in for decades. Joel kicked down the door before raising his weapon once more. After a thorough search of the house and surrounding area, it was deemed safe and the two sighed in relief.

“Go search for some food. There may be non perishables somewhere.” Joel instructed.

Nodding and disappearing into the kitchen, Ellie came back with a few cans of food.

The meal between them was silent. Once done, Joel plopped himself on the couch and shut his eyes for a moment. This trip was exhausting and dragging a teenager along wasn’t easy.

Ellie announced she was going to go exploring through the rest of the house so Joel shut his eyes for a moment. When he heard a shrill scream come from down the hall, his eyes immediately widened as he grabbed his weapon and flew down the hallway slamming the bathroom door open with his foot.

“ELLIE!” he shouted frantically. “ELLIE!”

Turning his body slightly he saw

Ellie standing in the corner pointing to the ground. A bug. It was a bug.

Joel looked from the bug, to Ellie, back to the bug, and then to Ellie again. He thought this young girl was fearless. Of all the things they’d faced she was scared of a BUG. Joel forgot that underneath that hard exterior and the walls she had built, she was still a kid.

“God DAMNIT Ellie. You can’t scream like that. I thought an infected had gotten in here. It’s a fucking bug. It won’t hurt you.”

Joel said before picking up the creature and tossing it out of the open window.

“I-I’m sorry. It just came out of nowhere and sta-startled me. Sorry I scared you.”

“Whatever. Let’s just settle in for the night.” Joel said setting his weapon back down at his side as he lead the young girl back down the hallway. The house they were in had a few bedrooms but most of the furniture had been ravaged by nature. One bedroom for whatever reason, seemed to be relatively untouched. Two twin beds sat on one side of the wall, with kids toys strewn over the floor. A twang of heartache hit them both, realizing this belonged to a family. A family that was no longer here.

“Get some sleep kid. We have a long day tomorrow.” Joel instructed.

Wordlessly, Ellie nodded before climbing into one of the beds and curled up in the blankets. Laying there for awhile, unable to sleep she turned to Joel who, while had his eyes closed wasn’t fully asleep.

“Joel?” Ellie whispered in the dark, only their small travel lamp illuminating between them.

“Mm?” Joel mumbled.

Ellie bit back a smile. “You know how earlier you came running in when I screamed?”

With an eyebrow raise Joel turned to Ellie, opening his eyes to see the teenager smirking at him.

“And?” he asked.

“Aaaaand.” she said sitting up, now wearing a shit eating grin. “I think you care about me.”

Joel scoffed a laugh. “What?”

“You heard me. You care about me. Or else you wouldn’t have come running in worried.”

Joel shook his head in disagreement. “You’re cargo, kid. If I don’t get you to our destination, I don’t get what I need. Nothing more.”

Truth was, he was becoming attached to this little girl. She was a giant pain in his ass and drove him crazy but something in him felt a need to protect her, to love her in a way he hadn’t since…. well, since Sarah. He never thought he could open his heart again after losing his daughter but this little miscreant of a kid was worming his way into his heart. Damnit.

“Sure kid. Whatever helps you sleep. Now please…. SLEEP.” he grumbled rolling back over.

Hearing the creaking of the wood floor as Ellie climbed out of bed, Joel felt the bed dip at his feet where Ellie had sat.

“Admit it Joel.” she said with a stifled giggle.

“No.” Joel said firmly. “Now leave me alone.”

Ellie sighed, about to admit defeat when she noticed Joel’s foot peeking out from under the blanket. Rising from the bed, she ran her nail along the bottom of his foot. With a jolt, Joel quickly shoved his foot back under the blanket.

“No way.” Ellie laughed. “No fucking WAY! You’re ticklish aren’t you?”

“Ellie.” Joel said in a warning tone. “Do. not.”

“Oh but I gotta.” she said with an evil chuckle as she slid her hand under the blanket and racked her nails once again on Joel’s foot.

Barking out a laugh, Joel quickly jumped out of bed before tackling the teenager to the bed and pinning her arms down.

Taken by surprise, Ellie looked at him nervously. “What the hell man!” she yelled trying to squirm out of Joel’s grip, but he was much stronger than her.

“Joel let me GO!” she huffed in annoyance.

Joel chuckled. “Oh, now that the tables have turned, you suddenly don’t wanna play this game anymore?” he asked a mischievous smirk starting to tug on his lips.

“I wonder if miss tough teenager is ticklish.” Joel smirked as he began to wiggle his fingers towards her.

Ellie’s eyes widened as she squirmed harder. “Noho!” she said a giggle slipping out. “Ihim nohot!”

“Well how will we know if we don’t try it?” he asked rhetorically.

Before Ellie could open her mouth to protest, Joel had began to dig his fingers into the young girls sides, spidering up and down expertly as a dad would.

“JOHOHOEL!” Ellie squealed throwing her head back in a hard belly laugh. She’d never really been tickled before. Life in the QZ wasn’t exactly a magical childhood and so she missed out on a lot. Being born post pandemic, she never got a normal childhood.

Joel’s hands slid up her side as he began to dig into each rib methodically. Ellie’s melodic laughter ringing through the empty house.

“NAHAHAHA!” her back arched, a weak attempt to escape the ticklish agony.

Truthfully she wasn’t hating this. Even if neither would admit, Joel had become like a father figure to her. It was a relationship she was severely lacking. Slowly but surely she was breaking down his walls, as was he with her. And if that meant getting tickled to tears, and forgetting about the shit world they lived in for a few minutes, then so be it.

“Aw. Big tough teenager is ticklish. How sweet.” Joe chuckled as his fingers danced over her.

“FUHUHUCK YOUHUHU!” Ellie cackled, her feet drumming on the bed as tears began pouring down her face.

“Hohow many ribs dohoes Ellie have?” Joel teased, not letting up on his torture also secretly loving this moment where Ellie could just be a kid.

“AHALL OF THEHEM AHAHAHASSHOHOLE!”

“Hey. No need for name calling.” he chastised playfully. “Now hush while I count.”

Ellie squeezed her eyes shut shaking her head back and forth. “NOHOHOHO!” she shrieked in laughter hitting Joel’s shoulder.

“Ohohone. Twhoho.” Joel chuckled as Ellie threw her head back in a hard belly laugh.

“OHOHOKAHAY!” Ellie squealed. “IHIHI GIHIHIHIVE!”

His fingers relenting for a moment but still hovering over the teenager, Joel looked down at Ellie who was panting trying to catch her breath, a few residual giggles escaping.

Joe chuckled as he released the young girl whom he’d grown quite fond of.

“That’ll teach you. Punk.” he smiled ruffling her hair as she sat up giving him a dirty look but a smile threatened her whole facade.

“Asshole.” Ellie mumbled as she gave Joel a gentle shove. “I um- I guess we both needed that laugh.” Ellie sighed playing with her fingers as she looked down at the ground. “Thanks I guess.”

Ellie’s wall had gone back up around her which saddened Joel. But he understood why. It was a harsh and cruel world they were living in but someone her age shouldn’t have to deal with it.

“Anytime kid.” he said giving her a gentle, playful shove back. “Now go to sleep for real. We have a long trip ahead of us.”

Ellie smirked as she got back into her own bed, plotting her revenge.

#tlou tickle #ler!joel #lee!ellie #the last of us tickle #tickle fic #tickle fluff

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fandom-monium · 2 years ago

Text

Sweet Poison - Part 2

Summary: In which Zagreus gives you your first nectar. Along with a gift. “If it’s not to your liking, I can exchange—”

WC: 1k

TW: Zagreus (Hades Video game) x Succubus!Reader, GN!Reader, a succubus AND an artist bc sex is just work and food, au where in game Zag commissions the paintings using gems, what if boons actually affected Zagreus, slow build, strangers to friends to lovers trope, sex work, fluff, fluff and humor, mutual pining, idiots in love, mild angst, pheromones, technically it’s succubi magic aura, Zagreus is at least 6 ft convince me otherwise, eventual smut

AN: I imagine even in the Underworld and Olympus there's disparities between gods, demons, nymphs, etc

—

If there’s one constant about the Underworld, it’s that time works differently than on the surface, so you’ve learned when you first came into existence. It could be days, weeks—or whatever’s the Underworld equivalent to such a concept—before you see the peculiar man again. Which is why you already resign yourself to the fact you’ll never see your food again.

Maybe you should be more disappointed, you think, alone save for the green flames crackling at your hearth, melodic as it echoes across your humble chamber. After all, you did lose a meal, a rarity mind you. But if what he said is true, that Tartarus led him to you, not one of your bosses, then perhaps he doesn’t deserve to be consumed like the others.

Shame. He would’ve been delicious, you sigh, remembering lean muscle and genuine eyes with embarrassing clarity.

You shake yourself. Next time, if there is to be, you’ll get him.

You step back to glance over your piece. The same work in progress you had up when you met the man now stands before you, set on your easel just about finished. In your hand, you fiddle with a small brush, still soaked in gray paint as you ponder whether more final touches are needed. Tartarus stares back at you, layers of stone chambers and tombs descending down and deep into the canvas in black, white, and green in first person: the view from your balcony. You take the canvas in your hands, drinking in every detail as you hold it to the firelight.

With finality, you nod.

And toss it into the fireplace.

“What are you doing?“

Well—try to.

You jump, a flash passing you in a gust of wind as the air crackles around you like thunder. The hairs on your arms and back of your neck stand on end.

Shadows sharply contour his face as he stands before the fireplace, your painting softly clutched in his hands. Red and green eyes gaze at you, incredulous, as if the Goddess of Insanity herself has touched you.

You return his stare, just as baffled, “What am I doing? What are you doing?”

“Saving a masterpiece, apparently,” Brow knitted, he turns the canvas over a few times, checking for any scorch marks, any bits that might have touched the flames. None. It’s unharmed.

You snort, “Please. How long have you been here?”

“I just arrived. Right on time too,” He sighs, setting it back on the easel with something akin to pride before turning back to you. He smirks. You want to smack it right off him.

“What?”

He points to his hair. You bring a hand up to your own, feeling strands sticking up like gravity no longer exists.

And your horns.

You gasp, turning away, but that only further displays your wings and tail as you smooth your hair down, fingers barely grazing your horns before they all disappear in the blink of an eye.

Once you right yourself, you face him again and shoot him a withering glare, vertical slit pupils thinned into twin needles. He only grins back.

"Are you not… bothered?” You grimace, crossing your arms over your chest.

He tilts his head at the question. “What? That you’re a demon? Of course not.”

Demon, not succubus. Still unaware as ever.

You’re not sure why, but you breathe easier.

In the harsh light of the fire, there’s a glow to his form, one that hadn’t been there the first time you met. The atmosphere seems charged around him, almost electric as he stands poise—regal—his posture near perfect, and you faintly wonder if he was a prince in his past life. You can definitely see it; him in a castle, dressed in the best refinery humans could offer. With subjects that’d swoon if he graced them with the same boyish grin he’s giving you now.

You blink, quiet realization rolling over you like a thick fog.

Zeus’s blessing. He’s got boons from the King of the Olympians.

Your eyes narrow. Who the hell is this guy?

… Meh, not your business.

“While I have you here, there’s something I’ve been meaning to give you,” Breaking your train of thought, he offers his hand.

In his calloused palm, a bottle of nectar gleams in the firelight.

Without thinking, you take it in your hands, blinking dumbly as he scratches the back of his neck, abashed. “I know it’s not much of a gift, but I realized how insensitive it was to have barged into your home as I did. Consider it my formal apology and repayment for allowing me to use your fountain.”

When you only stare into your hands, he adds, voice audibly dejected, “If it’s not to your liking, I can exchange—”

“No!” He raises an eyebrow and you flush, cradling the bottle to your chest. “It-it’s not that. I…” Your thumb brushes against the smooth fabric of the ribbon, and you wonder if he’s actually an Elysian warrior who somehow wound up in Tartarus, because no denizen of the lowest rung of the Underworld would just give nectar. It may be contraband, but it’s also a luxury, only meant for the Elysium-bound, for gods, for… people unlike you. Wretches, demons; you’re the last to even think of consuming this liquid gold.

And despite all that, he just hands it to you like a tradeoff between friends.

Your heart expands. Friends.

Or maybe he really is just that unaware and naive.

Still, your voice comes soft as you grin, wide enough that your canines gleam, “Thank you for the gift. Truly.” He grins back, and your eyes dart around the chamber. “But I don’t have anything of value to give in return.”

He shakes his head, the laurels on his crown flickering with the movement. “No, no, gifts aren’t a mutual exchange.”

“I insist.”

He meets your gaze, and in the seconds it takes for him to realize you have no intention of letting him leave empty handed, his shoulders slump in defeat.

You smile, knowing you’ve won as he glances around before his eyes stop. “Then how about your painting?”

You tense, turning to the canvas you tried to burn not even ten minutes ago. “That thing?”

“That thing is a masterpiece,” He shoots you a pointed look before he studies your work. “I don’t understand why you’d try to rid the world of such beauty.”

“It’s not… accurate enough, perfect. It’s still missing something,” You gesture lamely around you, to the works-in-progress to near finished pieces. “Most of my works are.”

“Well, if you still intend to burn such a fine piece, I’ll take it off your hands. Hang it up in my gallery, perhaps.”

You can’t tell if he’s joking.

But you consider him anyway, then sigh, “Fine. Give it here.” When you reach for the painting, he takes a slight step between you and the easel. Protective. You scoff, “Oh, calm down. I promise not to throw it to the fire.”

“Swear on the gods?”

You roll your eyes, “May Lord Hades himself strike me down.”

That seems to satisfy him because he backs off, though he hovers over your shoulder, as if you’ll go back on your word and chuck it into the flames. He’s at least a head taller than you, enough for him to comfortably rest his chin on your shoulder if he felt like it. Despite the sliver of space between you, he’s a furnace, and you ignore the warmth emanating from him, fighting back a shiver and letting him watch as your fine-tip brush curves and loops with your signature lilt. A moment later, you step back with a content nod.

He moves beside you, sounding out the letters slowly. “’(Yo-ur Na-me)’?”

“My name.” When he looks at you, red and green eyes big with wonder, like you’d just unlocked a hidden treasure trove, you raise a brow, “What? I figured if we’re going to see each other more, the least I could do is give you my name. Besides, I’d much rather have my work burnt to ashes than give someone the chance to take credit for it.”

For a split second, he stares at you blankly, but it’s long enough that your stomach drops. Maybe you read him wrong. Maybe he wasn’t looking for a new friend, and he really was simply apologizing for intruding before. Your lips part, an apology on the tip of your tongue—

“Zagreus.”

You blink at him. He’d spoken too fast, not even your sharp hearing caught it. “Huh?”

“My-my name. It’s Zagreus. But my friends call me Zag,” He says, though he glances away, hesitant. When he looks back at you, he studies your expression, almost… afraid. Or perhaps concerned?

You can’t fathom why as you offer him a genuine smile, not a flicker of recognition on your face. “Nice to meet you, Zagreus.”

—

AN: The painting you give Zagreus is the Tartarus painting from the game, if that wasn't obvious 💁🏽

#zagreus x reader #zagreus (hades wideo game) x reader #zagreus & reader #zagreus (hades video game) & reader #hades supergiant #hades video game

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sebbywrites · 2 years ago

Text

Rain (Dirk x gn!Reader)

Summary: Just a cute little one shot of Dirk and a gn reader centered around the monsoon season :)

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was raining again. It had been raining for the past week with almost no break, which was unusual for your desert home. Granted, your neighborhood was a good 30-minute drive from the rest of the city in a more mountainous part of town with no street lights and full of hicks, so your house usually got more rain than the rest of town.

You inherited this property from your parents, your siblings had all moved out of state and had lives of their own, so they were content with you taking care of the house.

You had always liked the rain, given you were raised in a city with very little of it to start with. The smell of the creosote bushes and the sound of the water droplets hitting the desert floor calmed you.

To keep yourself company, aside from the tortoises that you inherited alongside the house (they weren’t very, uh, social) and your two cats, you adopted an Australian Shepard named Strawberry. Kitty and Karma were skeptical at first, but came around eventually.

Right now though, you were sitting on your back patio drinking a cup of warm tea by your propane fireplace. It was nice to finally relax from your day at work. Strawberry was curled up at your feet, too afraid to go out into the yard because of the rain.

Your favorite pair of brothers were supposed to fly in from their Texas apartment next week. As much as you loved the rain, you really hoped the storm system would pass by then.

─── [1 New Message] ───

timaeusTestified Today at 7:27 PM

What are you doing rn?

I Drink Too Much Caffeine lol Today at 7:28 PM

why don’t you ever change your server nickname

i’m on the back porch

why

timaeusTestified Today at 7:28 PM

So you’re home

Good

Can you open up, it’s fucking raining out here.

I Drink Too Much Caffeine lol Today at 7:29 PM

hat

You and Dave are here???

Fucking

Hold on

─── timaeusTestified is typing... ───

You rushed to open the front door, not really caring what his response was because you already knew.

You stared at the two blonds on the covered front porch in absolute disbelief. They were both drenched like they walked over in the rain, which they probably did. Rideshare services only ever went to the end of the paved road, which completely misses your house as your street was just dirt and loose gravel.

“.....What the fuck are you doing here?”

Dave slapped the back of his brother’s head, knocking his triangle shades askew (“Dude!”). The exhaustion and exasperation were clear in his voice as he pointlessly asked Dirk if he remembered to tell you their flight was changed. Obviously, he did not.

“Roxy had to change our flight to an earlier one, and this one-” he glared at his brother pointedly- “was supposed to text you about it.”

The rain had started to pick up just as you ushered the brothers into your house. Strawberry didn’t bark at them, luckily, but because she was still only 3 years old she was excitedly jumping and sniffing around.

“Fuckin idiots, you should’ve called me to pick you up, I’ve been home for hours!” you grumble quietly while trying to push Strawberry away.

Dirk sheepishly while adjusting his sunglasses to sit correctly on the bridge of his nose, “Sorry, (Y/n)...”

“Never mind that, both of you need to go take warm showers. Now.”

“Aye aye, captain!”

You stared blankly as they ran off in different directions. They had both stayed over enough that they might as well have lived here before you did, so they knew their way around.

The younger two Striders’ parents were never around because of work, and their older twin brothers (both were only ever addressed as ‘Bro’ so even now as an adult, you had no idea what their names were) were horrible at guardianship. When they were 8 and 10, their brothers finally got legal guardianship over them and promptly moved to your city for college. The boys became quick friends with you at school and would stay the night a lot before they moved back to Texas at the end of the 8th-grade year.

But enough back story, that isn’t what you’re here for.

Seeing as your boys were taking their sweet ass time in the shower (probably using up all of your favorite soaps, to be honest), and you hadn’t eaten since you got home many hours ago, you got started making a simple chicken noodle soup.

It was suiting since the dry air mixed with rain for the past week just made everyone cold. Especially since your house was solely tile, apart from the occasional accent rug in some of the (rather large) rooms.

Once the vegetables and chicken were done, you added the broth to the pot and turned the heat down. Satisfied with how it was going, you turned your attention to their half-open luggage still sitting in the entryway.

You set their things into each of your guest bedrooms for them- who are you kidding, these were their bedrooms; They both decorated them as they saw fit after the 5th consecutive month-long fly-out to visit you. There was no such thing as a guest bedroom in this house. Unless you decided to convert your office space back into a bedroom, and you really didn’t want to do that. Both rooms were furnished with a full-size bed, a desk with a complete setup, a 50-inch wall-mounted TV, and whatever else the two decided they needed in their rooms.

Dirk and Dave returned to the open living space from their much-needed showers to see you curled up on the couch under a blanket eating your soup and watching something on the TV.

You took notice of them, of course, sending them off to get their soup before they joined you.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Everyone had long since bid each other goodnight, and yet at nearly 2 in the morning, you sat up in bed abruptly, scaring off your cats who lifted their heads in surprise at your movement. You would usually be found asleep by now, but for some reason, you just couldn’t tonight. Not even the gentle pitter-patter of the rain droplets on your windows could lull you to sleep.

This is what I get for forgetting to buy another bottle of melatonin, you thought to yourself as you pulled yourself out of bed to go brew a cup of chamomile tea.

You just set your cast iron teapot on the stove to heat the water when a phone flashlight nearly blinded you. The owner of said light moved it towards the floor once they noticed you squinting at the brightness.

“Sorry... again,” Dirk chuckled. “What are you doing up?”

His iconic triangle shades were left on his bedside table, leaving you to stare into his bright orange eyes.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I came out here to make some tea,” you stated. “What are you doing up Mr. I couldn’t sleep the entire 2-hour plane ride? If anything, you should be, like, in a coma right now.”

You and Dirk broke the beat of silence with hushed chuckles.

“I guess you’re right,” he said. He looked at the ceiling with a smile, thinking about it. “I guess I was just so excited to come back and it hasn’t worn off just yet.”

You rolled your eyes, taking the teapot off the stove after examining the water with your phone flashlight. You put your teabag in to brew, while Dirk just stared at you with a look on his face that you couldn’t place. Content maybe? He did always say that this house felt more like a home to him than quite literally anywhere else he’d lived throughout his life.

Yeah. Content. It couldn’t be anything other than that, you thought to yourself bitterly as well as sadly.

You had no idea when it happened, or how, but you knew that you had been in love with the orange-eyed blond for some time now. Trying to distance yourself from these feelings only made you feel like shit, like you were keeping a secret from your childhood friend, but you could never gather up the courage to confess to him either. Once again, this is because he was your best friend.

“The rain is still going, huh?” Dirk spoke up, bringing yourself out of your thoughts.

You looked out the window on the backdoor, listening and watching as the rain poured down. It was barely noticeable from where you stood, but you could tell that the wash running through your backyard was flowing.

“It’s been like this all week, Dirk,” you smiled. “Did you even read any of my messages?”

He only hummed in response, accompanied by a quite obvious rolling of his eyes.

“So...”

“So...?”

“Um-” Hello? Dirk Strider never in his life started with an um. Is he nervous- “You can totally say no, but... can I.... hang out in your room tonight?”

Pink dusted itself over his freckled cheeks and his eyes started darting around nervously. He was looking anywhere but at you. You stifled a giggle as best as you could (he still heard it and by god, their laugh is gorgeous) before telling him you didn’t see a problem with it.

Your LED lights illuminated the room when you turned them on before you lowered their brightness to a soft glow.

“You can sleep in here, too, if you want,” you said when he noticeably jumped at the sound of thunder reverberating through the house.

“Thanks...”

It was almost 4 in the morning by the time the two of you drifted off to sleep. Half awake, Dirk pulled you close to his chest and tucked your head under his chin as you lay under the covers. Unknowingly, you snuggled into his warm embrace (seriously, he was like a human space heater).

It all felt so natural to him, like he’d been doing it forever.

He absentmindedly feathered a kiss to the crown of your head before he drifted off to sleep himself.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Waking up in Dirk’s arms and the smell of his cologne was a frightening (for 2 seconds while you gathered your bearings) then pleasant experience. It almost pained you to pull yourself out of bed, but given that it was just past 11 am and you had a sleep schedule to keep for work, you had to. You gently removed Dirk’s arms from around your torso and got ready for the day.

You knew that the Striders had planned to be your roomies for a month, and given that your house was beginning to dwindle on supplies you should probably go to the store for groceries. You made a quick list of what you needed to buy before heading out - not without a note stuck on the fridge, of course.

Just as you closed the garage, Dirk woke up to an empty bed. He laid there for a good 20 minutes trying to fight off waking up so he could go back to dreaming, but alas, the morning called.

Dave also staved off his brother’s sleep by making an absolute racket in the kitchen a few feet outside your bedroom door, but I digress.

“G’mornin’....” he groggily stumbled into the kitchen. “Where’s (Y/n)?”

“Shoppin’, if the rain doesn’ make traffic too bad I’d guess they’ll be home pretty soon.”

Kitty circled around Dirk’s legs, rubbing against him and meowing.

“I jus’ fed her and Karma, fuckin’ whore,” Dave said in irritation. Since Dirk knew his brother loved cats, especially these two, he knew there wasn’t any actual malice behind his words.

“Aha!” Dave shouted in glee, almost startling Dirk off his chair at the island. “I finally found where (Y/n) hid the Life!”

Dave made bowls for the two of them and began pestering his brother about being in your room.

“I knew you had a crush on them but I never took you for a snooper,” he teased.

“I wasn’ snoopin’, asshat. (Y/n) let me sleep in their bed last night since we both couldn’t sleep, and the thunder got bad.”

“And yet I slep’ like a baby.”

“Yeah, well, I got attacked by the fridge full of swords more than you did.”

“That’s because you’re an idiot who never learned not to open the fridge.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Dave looked at his brother seriously all of a sudden, his teasing laughter ceasing near immediately. Dirk glanced back at him in surprise.

“What?”

“When are you goin’ to tell them?”

“I-” Dirk was interrupted by the sound of the garage opening, and your car pulling in. He glanced at the garage door for a moment before answering his brother.

“Soon. I think.”

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

That evening, Dave convinced the two of you to have a movie night. Halfway through whatever it was you were watching (Dave picked, it was some indie movie his boyfriend liked), you could feel yourself beginning to feel sleepy. Dirk took notice of you starting to nod off and let you rest your head in his lap; he started to absentmindedly play with your hair, which only made you fall asleep faster.

Not that you could see it, but Dirk was smiling softly with pink dusting his cheeks once more. A few minutes of playing with your hair later, he too began to feel tired. He adjusted the position you were in to where he could lay back on the couch with you held firmly to his chest, your legs tangled together.

By the end of the movie, you and Dirk had fallen asleep cuddling on the couch (Dave was really the only one watching it anyway, so it wasn’t like it was hard not to).

It was late into the night by the time you woke up, still snuggled into Dirk’s chest. Dave had long since turned off the TV and gone to his room to video call Karkat. It was just the two of you.

You inhaled heavily, before gently untangling yourself from the blond’s grasp after a few minutes of soaking in the moment. Your hunger pains trumped cuddling with the man you were deeply in love with.

You had decided to just make dinner for the three of you. The storm started up again as soon as the food was almost ready. You looked out the windows to the back porch, watching the torrent of rainfall onto the desert landscape of your backyard. It was really coming down hard now.

Dirk finally sat up from his spot on the couch to look over at you, unknown to you. He stared at you, completely enamored just at the sight of your bedhead and tired eyes gazing out the window at the rain.

You caught his gaze when you turned around to grab serving dishes from a cabinet.

“Good Morning sleepy head,” you smiled. “Dinner is ready, could you go let Dave know?”

Dirk swallowed thickly, his mouth suddenly tasting like cotton. Should I..?

“Dirk?”

“Can I... talk to you?” The orange-eyed blond flicked his uncovered eyes from you around the room, nervousness practically oozing from his awkwardly stood form against the back of the couch.

“Talk to you...?” you mumbled. “Sure, I’ll, uh, grab my shoes and we’ll go outside.”

Dirk took the lead walking out back. He led you down the stone pathway from the porch and to the gazebo. Why did he want to walk out there when it was raining (well, sprinkling now, desert storms die down quickly), you had no clue.

“What’s up?” You asked. “You seem... weird. Is something wrong?”

Quietly, Dirk lit the oil lamp on the table under the gazebo. Raindrops made a soft pitter-patter, then dribbled down the steel roof.

“I- this is probably a bit blunt, but I wanted to confess to you,” he once again flicked his eyes around.

....

“What did you want to confess?”

You could feel your own nervousness start to bubble up. You tried to observe the man in front of you, wanting an answer from his body language for your question. You took note of the raindrops in his spiked, blond hair, and how the light from the oil lamp made his gorgeous orange eyes shine like neon signs in the dark of the rainy night.

He was gorgeous, meaning he was way out of your league, and in no way meant ‘confess to you’ as in ‘I am in love with you’.

Right? Right!?

“I know you know what I meant, (Y/n),” he deadpanned.

You swallowed the spit that accrued in your long moment of thinking, still nervous.

“You.. You love me?”

“I... Yeah, I love you, (Y/n).”

There were no more words that needed to be said. The two of you simply gave each other a look that confirmed the thoughts both of you had. The feeling was mutual. For years, the two of you had been pinning for each other, and finally, one of you had said something.

Dirk moved to put his hands on your waist, his lips barely brushing past yours. “Will you give me the honor of being yours?” He whispered.

An absolute blushing mess, you whispered back, “Only if you’ll let me be yours.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, my love.”

And so, the two of you kissed under the palely lit gazebo in the soft desert rain.

#dirk strider x reader #homestuck #out of character #very much so #gn y/n

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ttrwritesshit · 1 year ago

Text

A Very very belated secret Santa gift for @flori-doodles that's been sitting in my notes app for far to long. This secret Santa is (was??) brought to you by @song-tam 👏

Merry halfway through February!

Anyways, Keefe and Fitz smool story under the cut.

The're dating. It's a bit gay. Idk what else to tell y'all

(Idk how to label stories and stuff, so nothing more here)

And sorry about the the hearts, they keep moving and changing size and idk. I can't bear the thought of getting rid of them tho.

Keefe and Fitz were close friends, VERY close friends. That was all. There was no other attraction between the two. At least that's what everyone else thought.

Because what would people say, if they were more? The elven world was outraged by people with twins or triplets, what would they say about two boys dating?

So, it stayed a secret.

♡♡♡♡

"Will you be coming over after school today?" Asked Fitz, his brown hair and abnormal teal eyes sparkling in the light glinting off the glass side of the level three wing.

The two sit in an empty corridor, enjoying the little time they have alone together.

Keefe, squashed up next to Fitz, leans over until his head is touching the others shoulder. Sighing softly, he closes his eyes "I wish I could, but father has some important dinner and I have to be there apparently."

"I'm sure we can come up with something. My dad could ask him if you could stay, maybe even for a sleepover" he says, a glint of determination in his eyes.

"Fitz, it's alright. I can deal with one evening of stuffy nobles" Keefe replies warily, glancing up at the boy above him.

"Well, I'm not letting you spend more time in that house than is strictly necessary. I'm gonna ask my dad to ask yours about a sleepover" determination growing, he grabs his imparter from his bag, but is stopped by Keefe’s hand.

"I don't need you to save me from everything, Fitz " Keefe mumbles.

Both of them fall silent.

♡♡♡♡

Keefe and Fitz knew each other well, and they were always said to be 'like brothers'. Which is a lovely compliment, yet they still cringed at the word 'Brothers'. Because no one could know they were more.

If they could tell the world, they would. But the elven world is disgusted by bad matches, what would it say about two boys dating?

so, it stayed a secret.

♡♡♡♡

Before heading home, Fitz approaches Keefe, with the same offer as before.

"Are you sure you don't want to come over? I'm sure my parents would be fine with it" he asks, growing slightly desperate.

"Fitz" Keefe says, gently grabbing Fitz’s hand "I would love to, you know that. But I can't. Not tonight"

"But-" Fitz is cut short by a single finger on his lips, making the 'shhh' sign on his mouth.

"Not today, okay?" Keefe says, with a slight grin, as Fitz's eyes develop a haze of confusion.

"What's this meeting about anyways?" Fitz says, once Keefe finally removes his finger.

"I'm not really sure.” Keefe admits “It's probably just some semi-legal paperwork my dad's doing again," he says, his voice slightly softening.

Fitz fell quite again.

And he stayed quiet on the walk back.

♡♡♡♡

Keefe and Fitz were so close. In fact, the Vackers might even consider Keefe their son. But never for the reason the boys wished.

Maybe they wished it could be 'son in law' instead one day.

And maybe one day it would be, but the elven world was uncomfortable around the talentless, what would they say about two boys dating?

so, it stayed a secret.

♡♡♡♡

That afternoon, over Pathfinder Fitz had finally convinced Keefe.

"I don't wanna be caught up in anything too illegal, you know?" Keefe joked, but it was all to real of a possibility to be funny.

♡♡♡♡

Keefe and Fitz were close, never one without the other. They just balanced each other out so perfectly.

It's funny no one suspected anything, but who would've thought two boys could be more than friends. Because the elven world was distraught around the very thought of humans what would they say about two boys dating?

So, it stayed a secret

♡♡♡♡

Fitz rushes up the Stairs at a Superhuman. speed, almost running smack bang into a slightly visible Della.

'Sorry!" he across yells, still sprinting across the house.

A few minutes later, he reaches his destination, out of breath. Still panting, he enters his bedroom, levitating things out of his way as he goes.

His room was a mess, and that needed to be changed right away.

Because Keefe was coming over.

It wasn't like he hadn't been over before, there'd been endless days of base quest and mallowmelt. But this time things were different. Because Keefe was staying the night.

The very thought of sleepover with him made Fitz heart do silly little flips.

He didn't have time to think about that, when there were only 2 hours until Keefe arrived, and his room looked like it'd been hit with bomb. (As his mum would say)

♡♡♡♡

Keefe’s heart seemed to be attempting to gymnastics as he tried to keep his blushing under control.

clothes and a random assortment of items are spread across his room as he attempts to pack a bag.

the thing is, he'd never been to a sleepover, especially not with someone so- perfect.

He’s so under prepared.

He looks at the clock hanging over his bed.

Frick

He only had an hour left to turn to the explosion in his room into a a neatly packed bag AND find something to wear.

And on top of all that, he needed to do his hair.

♡♡♡♡

Keefe and Fitz were close, to close to be just friends. Whispers of them being something else flitted through foxfire, and it wasn't met with outrage or disgust or discomfort.

It was met with hope.

The elven world was disapproving of anything less than perfect, but what was imperfect about love?

#ttr writes #Fitz #Keefe #fitz vacker #keefe sencen #Kotlc #Kotlc Keefe #Kotlc Fitz #keefitz

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silkendandelion · 10 months ago

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The Real Thing (Final Version)

A Fears to Fathom: Ironbark Lookout Fanfiction

ao3 link

Jack Nelson x Connor Hawkins Words: 2.2k Genre: Fluff, humor, horror elements Summary: A short one-shot to look at Jack and Connor's lives after the events of My Own, Distant Home, and is a short prologue/teaser to the in-progress sequel. Alternative title: Two fools in love have no idea what genre they're in.

Rated: Teen and Up Audiences for sexually suggestive content and mild language, and horror elements.

Tall, bright green trees lined the blacktop road, obscuring the path around the upcoming curves but not able to block out the sun on such a clear, summer day. The RV navigated the winding road with ease in Jack’s hands, most recently passing a green interstate sign, “You are now leaving Idaho”, and then the doubly large sign after it where a cowboy on his horse declared “Welcome to Wyoming: Forever West.”

“I think you were more excited to get your CD collection back than your truck,” said Jack as Connor flipped happily through his shoe-box of albums, whose edges were worn down to the cardboard where it had been slid out and back under the bench seat for years.

“The joy is split, for sure. I let the kids keep all the ones they wanted.”

Jack took his eyes off the road long enough to smile back at him, admiring the childish joy on his face as he hunched over the box, thumbing over track lists like he was a teenager again, in a music store for the first time.

Behind their RV, they towed along said truck, a 2000 Toyota Tacoma in what Connor affectionately called “Stacy’s favorite green”, bought brand new for cash the year he left the army. The truck he only drove for a few months before he became a fire lookout at Ironbark, and since then had been driven almost exclusively by Stacy: Connor’s older sister, another deceptively charming blonde with two children under 10 and no one to rely on besides her brother. Twin fuzzy dice in lucky red bounced beneath the rear-view mirror, bleached almost pink from summers at the lake and catching Jack’s eye in the side mirror.

“That was an incredible thing you did, Connor,” he said. “To buy Stacy a car in exchange for getting the truck back, when it was yours to begin with, and I don’t think she would have fought you on wanting to keep it with us.”

“Nah.” He shooed away Jack’s admiration, flipping over the CD in his hand. “I wasn’t gonna leave her with nothing. And it wasn’t like I got her a Mercedes, just a little something for her to get back and forth to the plant and the kids to school. I should be thanking you actually, you’re the one who looked over the engine and told the guy to change the oxygen sensors before we would paid for it.”

Jack just offered a shrug, though he smiled when Connor reached over to nudge his cheek gently with his knuckles.

“What kind of albums do you have, Jack? I think we’ve listened to nothing but the radio since we left Washington.”

“I like the radio,” he said matter-of-factually. “It’s got NPR, weather, every—THING! Connor, no.” He yelled (squeaked) in alarm when Connor began rummaging through the glove compartment, searching for evidence that he was fibbing. Curse the RV for being so wide, he risked swerving if he reached far enough to slam the lid closed. Meanwhile, smiling and completely unbothered, Connor continued to snoop.

“What do we have here? Oh, Jack. Jackie, baby, what are these?” He grinned in triumph to hold up a handful of CDs: his partner’s most private feelings in rhythm and prose. “Is this what you listened to before you picked me up? Tracy Chapman, Bobby Caldwell—Jackie? Blue-eyed soul?”

Jack’s red cheeks approached their smoking point, hands tight on the steering wheel. If Connor squinted, he might see steam rising from his collar beneath the tight line of his lips. “Don’t make fun of me, Connor, please.”

“I would never, Jack,” he said earnestly, all whiskey and warmth as he popped open one of the cases and began to decipher the RV’s stereo system. Static seemed to be the most common channel in their current neck of the woods, among a brief news transmission: ‘—ark state park in Washington, where the body count is up to 9—’

Stop. Go back.

“What?” He mumbled, so quietly Jack only hummed his vague acknowledgment as Connor flipped the channels back and forth, desperate to return to that station.

“It… it was this one, I’m sure of it,” he said, met with only snowy static from the stereo, and Jack took his eyes off the road for less than a moment.

“What was? I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening.”

His blood chilled, too much like that night when he had descended from the tower to work on his generator in the middle of the night, believing they were safe and leaving Jack to sleep off his episode alone—until he heard the crickets go quiet in the bushes behind him.

Jack had been the one to save him then, and he would not be caught unaware again. Nor would he let himself be weak when Jack trusted him enough to need him.

“It’s not important, I can’t even find the station again.”

The awkward tilt of Jack’s half-smile was reassuring, even as his heart pounded too hard. He reached to press a button with a circular graphic, one Connor hadn’t assumed was supposed to be a CD, and the little orange display flashed ‘INSERT DISC’.

“… Ah.” It was Connor’s turn to blush, though Jack couldn’t hold himself back from a good-natured chuckle.

“Under 30 and still bested by technology.”

“Hey, I spent four years falling behind on the curve. Do you think the army gave us anything more advanced than ping pong paddles and sun dials? It did make me excellent at smoke signals, though.”

Jack’s laugh warmed him, the only thing he had found that could chase away the unease lately. “You’re an old soul even without living mostly analog all that time.”

“We couldn’t even afford all those letters, they just gave us ANAM,” Connor said with his most comically raised eyebrows, just to hear him laugh again.

As he slipped the disc in the slot, a sensual piano filled the cabin, renewing Jack’s embarrassment when a sultry saxophone joined the singer, the iconic croon of a soulful ballad. He burned, resisting the urge to show how much he was enjoy himself, and chanced a quick look at Connor.

To the tune of his fluttering heart, he only found him smiling, no longer looking through his shoe-box or reading the billboards. Smiling at him, all warm brown eyes as he whispered along with the words, as if to say that between them, everything was sacred because nothing could be wrong.

“I want the real thing, or nothing at all. I need someone that I can be sure will catch me if I should fall. Someone who’ll be there when I call, then I’ll know that it’s the real thing.”

“How… do you know all the words?” Jack said, more to himself than aloud.

“Why do you think?” He reached across the console to touch his hand where it loosened it’s grip on the wheel. “You never have to be embarrassed, Jack, not with me. We’re in this together.”

Easy for him to say, when he’s the one playing with the tempo of the poor man’s heart and the temperature in the room. They came to a stop under a light, and Jack busied his hands tapping his thumb on the wheel until he heard Connor’s seat-belt click, saw him rise to walk towards the back of the RV.

“Where are you going?”

“Use your imagination, Jack, I can’t exactly wander far. Although, I suggest you find a place to park soon, or you might miss the good part.”

“The wh—” He kept his foot on the brake, turning to look for him, just to bite down on his words as Connor slowly threaded his belt free, letting it fall to the rug with a quiet thump. Next came his shirt, pulled off by his hand on the back of his collar. Among the slow reveal of his toned back, the moles on his spine, the song urged Jack onward, a different one, something about “Come to me” and “Let me love you, honey”.

“The light’s green, Jack.” Connor smirked at him, and tossed his shirt in the vague direction of the driver’s seat.

Jack snapped his eyes back to the road, pressing the gas a little too hard and hearing Connor’s laugh drift up from where he grabbed the kitchen counter to steady himself. Quietly, lest he be seen through even more than he already was, he vowed that if he didn’t find a place to park in the next few miles, he would pull over to the shoulder and lock the door.

From the bedroom, a quiet moan piqued his hot ears, among the sound of what might have been his name if he could hear better over the stereo.

Shit. All right, 1 mile.

By the grace of somebody, otherworldly or other, the parking lot to a campsite appeared on his right, empty too, all thanks to the heat advisory that was said to last for the rest of the week. Jack was probably the only person in the county grateful for it, if only because it meant leaving the key in the ignition to keep the AC running left the music on too.

He found Connor already splayed across the bed, distracted from his intentions by the toy bear on the windowsill, the little “Get Well Soon” card in his arms beginning to fade from all the sunbathing he did while his dads drove from state to state. His fingertip nudged the bear’s plastic nose, and Jack began to press kisses along the slope of his shoulder, over the old ink of his tattoo.

“Are we staying here for the night? Adrian’s expecting you Monday morning,” he said.

“I won’t be late, I promise.” Connor turned to steal a kiss from his lips, several actually as he coaxed him to lie back against the pillows. “But whether we get there the day before or the morning of—depends on how much you’ll let me do to you.”

He bared his neck in a plain invitation despite his protests, allowing Connor to seek out his favorite places to kiss while Jack ran encouraging hands into his hair, shorter now after his interview, as well as smoothing his palms over the scratch of the day-old stubble on his chin. It had been a telephone interview, of which Jack reminded him he didn’t have to shave, but Connor insisted it was the right thing to do.

“You’ve always been the needier one, but this—,” Jack’s breath hitched when teeth grazed the skin behind his ear. “You’ve been really affectionate lately.”

“It might be awhile before we get the chance again.”

Light and teasing just a moment ago, the quiet melancholy of Connor’s voice against his neck made Jack’s eyes flutter back open. He cupped his face in his palms, warm in the cheeks where his body was still wound up despite himself, and beckoned him to look up.

“Hey.” From so close, he could see all the barely-there freckles across his nose and cheeks, too light to be anything more than a secret to the rest of the world who didn’t get to hold him the way Jack did. He placed another kiss on his lips. “You’re so good to me. Remember that.”

Connor’s brow scrunched, worried still as he let their foreheads touch. “I want to live up to the version of me that’s in your head.”

“He’s real, I’m holding him. I can feel his dick on my leg.”

The sudden sputter of Connor’s laugh puffed warm across both their faces, and Jack grinned back at him with what he hoped was all the adoration he felt in his chest, the swell of his heart when Connor smiled so bright.

“Okay, Jack… You say you’re not funny, but I like funny men.”

“Eh, logical fallacies, something something, cognitive bias.”

“You lost me.”

“No I didn’t, I can still feel—”

Connor shut him up with a deep kiss, coaxing his mouth open with his thumb so he could slide their tongues together until their lungs burned. With a wet sound, he finally relinquished his lips, admiring the daze in his hazel eyes and the berry-red of his mouth until his voice broke the spell.

“Who are you?” Jack quipped.

“Someone who loves you very much.”

The softness of his face disarmed any playfulness left in the air, replaced only by earnest devotion and the looming ache of starting over, bittersweet no matter how wonderful the company is.

They deserved a break.

Neither of them knew the winter was going to be a hard one. That before the end of the year, they would be in danger again. To take comfort now was a gift, to hold each other close before the leviathan resident of those Ironbark woods emerges from the trees and begins to seek out the only survivors who know it’s name.

They couldn’t know it was

was already awake

They cannot know my name.

#fears to fathom #ironbark lookout #fears to fathom ironbark lookout #fears to fathom fanfic #jack nelson #connor hawkins #jack nelson x connor hawkins #ftf jack nelson #ftf connor #horror fanfiction #romance fanfiction #mlm fanfic #ao3 fanfic #fanfiction #silkenspeaks

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aphrodisiac-siren · 2 years ago

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Dynasty of Flames

Aemond Targaryen x Targaryen-Royce Reader

Summary: Being born into the most respected and equally feared houses in the realm made people look up to you as if you were a god and the devil himself, in equal measure. People say that when a Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin; and when news of the birth of Daemon's firstborn- a girl, spread, people could only wait in anticipation to see which side of the coin faced up during her birth.

Warnings: Incest (duh), swearing, mentions of starvation.

Masterlist

Part 11

The day of the feast arrived and Aegon and Helaena too made themselves present at Dragonstone to celebrate; though Aegon was hoping for a betrothal of Y/N to Aemond and not Dalton Greyjoy.

What caught him further off guard was that his younger brother was now more fascinated and obsessed with Alys, someone who he barely acknowledged back at King’s landing.

“I sure have missed out on a lot” Aegon raised a brow as he spoke. He was presently sitting in Aemond’s assigned chambers, interrogating him on what caused such a sudden rift in between him and Y/N “you were so adamant on marrying her, and now I see you waltzing about with that servant girl”

“You will watch how you speak of my lady” Aemond sternly responded, his fists clenched and gaze dangerous “she is to be my wife someday”

“Your- what” Aegon hadn’t had any wine since his arrival but he still felt as though he’d misheard his brother. Did he really just inform him that he intended to wed that low-born girl? Someone he barely even looked at his whole life “What happened to all your talks of Y/N being made for you by the gods? What happened to-“

“You were right, I was a fool to believe that she was mine” Aemond cut him off “I was only a boy then, stupid and naïve. But now I see what was in plain sight all along: Alys is my twin flame”

“Shut up, you sound as though you shat your brains out your arsehole” Aegon groaned, covering his face with his hands as though he was embarrassed to call Aemond his brother “you’ve never spoken more than two words to Alys your entire life and now suddenly you claim she’s your soulmate? How does Y/N feel about this?”

“She seems to be quiet content with lord Greyjoy. And I will not pursue someone who I do not love”

Aegon felt as though he was going to have a stroke.

“What the fuck do you even know about love?” He yelled, catching Aemond off guard “you think this stupid courtship with Alys that you’ve been having for a few days is love? Not you flying out here to win a tourney for Y/N's hand?”

“Leave me” Aemond said with a soft hum and Aegon was in no mood to argue any further. He let out a frustrated sigh before leaving the room, making his way to his own assigned chambers that he shared with Helaena.

“Why is our brother not betrothed to Y/N?” Helaena asked as soon as Aegon closed the doors behind him “I just spoke to Baela and Rhaena and from what they’ve told me, he seems to be rather whipped for Alys, one of mother’s handmaidens”

Aegon was a bit relieved to see that Helaena too found this situation odd and was even more content to know that she too wanted Aemond and Y/N to end up together. The both of them had been hiding behind this cloak of ‘friendship’ for far too long and this lie that they’d convinced themselves of, that they couldn’t possibly be in love with each other was starting to take a horrible turn on their relationship so far.

“I can’t make any sense of it either” Aegon sighed “something feels so off but I can’t- I don’t know what exactly happened”

“Perhaps I could ask her- Alys” Helaena crossed her arms. She always thought that Aemond and Y/N would wed, especially since her younger brother boasted it about it so often, always claiming Y/N to be his ever since he was a boy “I know Y/N never mentioned her desires to marry Aemond as much as he did but she most certainly did not have any opposition”

“Of course she didn’t, she’s been by his side ever since they were babes” the prince agreed to his wife’s statement “did he manage to upset her again? He is rather horrible at communicating”

“That doesn’t explain his sudden fancy with Alys” the girl added, puzzled “and the twins have told me that Y/N was courting Dalton only out of obligation, not because she intends to marry; so she most certainly hasn’t changed her mind about Aemond, I think”

The both of them were silent for a few seconds, trying to think of what might’ve happened. Was Aemond jealous of her false courtship? But it was unlike him to go to such extents, resorting to court a lady just to spite his best friend.

“I’ll talk to him again, at the feast tonight” Aegon told her “and you get as much insight as you possibly can from Y/N. Something tells me she’s just as disappointed as we are with this mess. And if you think Alys will open up to you, might as well ask her too about how all of this came to be”

“Of course” Helaena nodded in approval.

The servants were rather busy with the preparations of the ball, as was Y/N who still wasn’t ready. She was running up and down the hallways in search of the twins to ask them to help her get dressed.

On her way to the east wing, she noticed Aemond approaching from the other end of the long corridor and she decided to ignore him, despite him being alone.

Aemond had his gaze locked on her as he walked closer but he didn’t make any attempts to greet her when he saw that she did not even bother to look his way.

Two can play at this game, he thought.

Just as soon as Y/N walked past him, a sharp pain surged up the left side of his head and he winced loudly, pressing his fingers to his temple while he leaned against the wall. He’d been having such headaches ever since he’d lost his eye but he’d never quite gotten used to the pain.

Y/N heard his wincing and turned, just out of curiosity; not really expecting for him to be halfway crouched against the wall, clutching at his head in pain.

“Aemond?” She immediately rushed to his side, her one hand instinctively reaching up to tenderly cup his right cheek “what is it? What’s wrong?”

“Headache” he simple said through gritted teeth, his eye still shut as tried to suppress the pain by massaging his temple.

“Do you have any medication?” She asked, each word laced with concern. It was as if she’d forgotten for a moment that she was cross with him “I should call for the maesters-“

“No” he winced again, opening his eye “It’ll pass…”

He felt his heart skip a beat when he saw how close she was, her lilac eyes looking up at him with such concern that made the pain he was in just a touch bearable. She sounded so genuinely concerned and he wondered why a pretty girl like her would even care about someone who looked like him.

He continued to curiously eye her, his one hand subconsciously reaching up to graze her cheek with his knuckles.

Was she always this beautiful?

“Aemond?” she called out again, shuddering slightly when he touched her skin. She moved her hand from his face to rest on his leather vest “are you alright?”

Aemond didn’t know why he was suddenly a tinge upset at the absence of her touch against his skin. Why was his heart racing? Why did he want to feel her touch? Why did he all of a sudden forget he fancied Alys?

Wait, Alys.

He cleared his throat and took a step back.

“Yes, princess” he offered a pained smile “I am quiet alright”

And with that he walked away, brows furrowed in confusion.

She has always been this beautiful. Why am I only seeing it now?

Helaena went to go look for Baela and Rhaena once again, hoping to make them aware of her intentions to talk to Alys about her and Aemond’s little affair, before the feast.

She knew the twins weren’t particularly fond of her brother Aemond nor were they rather supportive of his friendship with their older half-sister Y/N, but they loved her, so so much. And they knew how happy Aemond made her; so they too found it just as odd when Aemond suddenly started courting, though not entirely publicly, Alys. They also mentioned how Y/N pretended not to care about it, how her own pride wouldn’t let her admit that she missed Aemond but her eating habits exposed her deep disappointment. Helaena was taken aback by how Aemond, someone so enthralled with the princess, managed to let this detail slip past him. How could he allow his dear friend, his princess, to starve herself?

She wouldn’t allow it; no, she would get to the bottom of this. If not for the sake of the joy of seeing them together then at least for the health of her darling Y/N.

When she arrived at Baela and Rhaena's chambers, the girl’s weren’t in their chambers, so she decided to head toward Y/N’s, hoping that perhaps they would be there. Convenient, she thought. She could talk to Y/N as well about all of this.

On her way there, she passed a few other rooms, most of them being the assigned quarters for the servants and ladies’ maids.

As she passed a certain one, the sweet smell of roses mixed with a hint of peppermint filled the air. For some reason unknown to her, the fragrance of the roses seemed to be rather pleasant even though it was really strong. Curious as ever, she pushed open the door to inspect the flora inside. Though instead of flowers she was welcomed into a small room void of any flowers, only occupied with a large bed that was not made and a table that was nearly covered with a bunch of tiny vials, perhaps perfumes from which the scent wafted through the air.

The princess went closer to examine it and saw that each vial was neatly labelled, clearly indicating what each one held. there were some full to the brim and a few half empty. Helaena picked up the little bowl that was nearest to her and leaned down to smell it. It smelt of roses and peppermint, the same fragrance that she could smell all the way to the corridor. She placed it down gently and then began to look at some of those half empty vials.

Rose extract,

Honey,

Peppermint,

Hair,

Blue eel blood,

What-

Helaena put down the vial, eyes widening with shock. Helaena had read a number of books, enough to recognise that these happened to be ingredients one required while brewing a love potion and it was no coincidence that the vials holding them were the ones half empty.

"Oh by the mother's mercy" Helaena gasped to herself.

Had Aemond been given a love potion? Was his fancy with Alys all influenced by potions and forbidden magic? Was he being pulled further away from the person he was truly meant to be with?

She quickly dashed out the door, making her way back to her room in which she knew Aegon would be.

"Aegon!" she blurted out as soon as she flung open the door, catching the prince by surprise "go find Aemond now and do not leave his side, not even for a moment"

"Why?" Aegon asked, confusion evident in his voice "what’s wrong?"

"I have my doubts" Helaena bit her lip "but do not let him drink anything, especially if handed by Alys"

Taglist: @ladybug0095@sahvlren@bunny24sstuff@dellalyra @ellabellabus07 @champomiel @fan-goddess @lilostif16

#aemond targaryen #ewan mitchell #ewan nation #hotd #house of the dragon #tom bennett #world on fire #aemond #aemond smut #aemond x you #aemond headcanons #aemond x fem!reader #aemond x y/n #daemon targaryen #daemon smut #aegon targaryen #aegon smut

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marinerainbow · 1 year ago

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Hey! So while I was reading your Popshine/JessicaxRoger Switcheroo AU I was listening to that Steven Universe Song- Its Over Isn't It (And just a precurser- i havent seen this show i just like the song and am just taking context clues from it). And I've been stewing on it since, and can't stop thinking about a Shiny x Poppy x Psycho love triangle with this plot! Lots of angst ahead, I warn you 😅

Like, imagine both Psycho and Shiny are in love with Poppy and she cares deeply for the both of them too. Shiny can make a joke of this, playfully argue with Psycho any time he's around and bother him as much as she can- because she doesnt think she'll actually lose Pops to him but his presence does annoy her. Her heart is, inevitably, broken when in the end Poppy chooses him.

I was fine with the men-

Who come into her life now and again.

I was fine, cuz I knew,

That they didn't really matter until you.

I was fine when you came, and we fought like it was all some silly game.

Over her- who she's choose-

After all those years, I never thought I'd lose.

Poppy and Psycho then have the twins, and Shiny fades into the background (as much as she can, I mean. Poppy still loves her and wants to be friends of course)- until Poppy dies. I'm not sure how, considering she is a toon of course, but it was definitely tragic.

Now Shiny has to help Psycho take care of the twins because he can't do it alone (She certainly knows it), and she needs to keep the last bit of Poppy left over, safe.

Of course you're welcome to ignore this if you want! Just thought I should tell you since it's about your OC's 😅

AWSTTHJOLNJTESDU7JHTEDF ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME CRY!?!? WELL YOU SUCCEEDED-

Ok ok ok. Before I get into my response to this, I've got some headcannons for this little AU. So. Poppy is dead. Psycho is not only mourning the sudden loss of his wife, but he's also a father now. He's got two kids he has to figure out how to raise through the depression. This would be hard on anybody. But on someone as mentally unstable as Psycho?? Holy. Shit. He's gonna need a lot of help. Shiny knows this, and although she and Psycho aren't friends thanks to their little love rivalry (I like to imagine she and Psycho could get along on their own. Maybe not be best friends, but it's Shiny's whole damn job description to get along with everyone she meets. If they didn't love the same woman, she could have made an acquaintance with Psycho work), she steps in whenever she can. Being more than just the Godmother Poppy asked her to be for the kids; at this point, the twins are practically her own, too. And she's the closest they have to a mother figure in their lives.

In fact, I think in this storyline, Shiny would have offered to take Psycho's position in the Toon Patrol. Those kids need a parent who won't get pulled away because of a new job. Or could easily be killed on said job either. And Psycho needs to be able to focus on his children full time now that it's just the three of them. Sure, if he does die too, the twins will be under her care, but Shiny isn't going to deprive them of the father they need now. Not to mention that this is around the 60's-70's; burlesque clubs aren't very popular now. Not as much as they were in her time anyway. Shiny needs a new job. And hey, she already had one foot in the criminal life with her moonshine business. Why not kill two birds with one stone? (Sometimes Psycho does have to get called for a job that only he can do, though he is still mostly a stay at home dad.)

So to the twins in this storyline, Shiny is not just their cool aunt. She's involved in so much of their lives. Going to school functions with Psycho to support all three of them, celebrating holidays all the time with them, and just generally making sure he doesn't screw up as a dad. She and Psycho here don't necassarily like each other, but she's short of moving in with them from becoming a complete member of their household. It's partially due to her legal status as a godmother, and she herself has grown an attachment to Poppy's children. And it hurts her so much more because this is the family of the woman she loved, and the other man.

Because she's trying her best to be the stability this family needs, Shiny never got to really mourn Poppy's death and, as such, hasn't been able to truly move on. She feels like she can't truly talk about her position about this to anyone since she has to be strong for the kids. But eventually, bottled emotions have to come out one way or another. Why not let them come out in song?

Also, after our convo, I'm making widower gardener Psycho canon in this AU :)

Warnings for: past character death, angst, plenty of cursing, a lot of crying. Also emotional singing (I don't care if it may come out as cringy- if I can't animatic Shiny singing this song, then I'm gonna write it!)

January 2, 1973

"Goodnight, Shiny."

"G'night, you little rascals. Don't forget to bite the bed bugs back for me!"

The two children giggled, Percival letting out a "That's gross!" around his laughter, before their father gently nose nudged them both towards the hallway. The twins gave him and their godmother one final hug before making their way to the back of the house to do as they were silently told how they could behave so well despite being raised by two hooligans, Shiny had no clue. It must be Poppy's influence. Usually Psycho didn't pay much mind to bedtimes, though it was late on an already long day. They all needed rest...

The grin on Shiny's face finally fell, only after Psycho glanced briefly towards her- telling the old dancer in his own way to go home now, before following his children. Now it was just her alone standing in the seemingly empty living room. It had been a long day for them all. Especially for the kids...

'Another birthday come and gone...'

visiting the grave of a woman that they didn't even know, but were supposed to. That would be scary and thought-provoking for anybody. No matter how old or young they were. Who knew what kind of shit was going through Penny and Percy's heads whenever they saw their mothers name on a tombstone?

But at least, they had as good of a support system they could get. All Penny and Percy needed to worry about now was what story their father would tell them tonight, and how many sheep they'd have to count to fall asleep. But they were getting older, too. And someday, they would lose the innocence that came with childhood...

Shiny's fists clenched, and an ugly frown tugged at her lips, choosing to glare at the floorboards as if they somehow spoke ill about her. Every year, this day was so damn hard for her. At least on the twins' birthday, she could distract herself with Penny and Percy's happy demeanor and what the day is supposed to be about. But on Poppy's birthday, all anybody could think of was how their friend was no longer with them to celebrate with.

The weasel woman growled a little before silently storming towards the front door, trying so hard to ignore the pain in her heart. She had to leave and go home anyway, but she also needed some fresh air. It was the only thing that could help her now- or at least that was what she could hope.

The former dancer's paw hovered over the doorknob in hesitation when she heard the familiar pitter patter of rain drops hitting the roof. Before she even stepped outside, 'Of course. Of course, it's going to be raining tonight.' If she were religious, she would have taken this as a sign that even the universe was sorrowful on this day. didn't bother with thoughts like that. They brought no reassurance or comfort to her despite so many people telling her it would.

Shiny just barely managed to not slam the door behind her before sinking down onto the porch steps. The night air was chilly, causing the rain to feel ice cold on her skin, not that Shiny cared at the moment. And the lamp across the street had gone out again. Shiny hadn't bothered turning on the porch light; it would just draw more attention towards her. More so than a wrech sitting on someone else's porch in the rain in the middle of the neighborhood would. At least the people around here knew to mind their own business.

That was one of the things Poppy liked about this place when they went house hunting; it was a valuable perk for anybody married to unlawful citizens. The perk for Shiny was that her house was just a few blocks away, and she could have visited Poppy and the kids more often...

"Fuck!" She roughly rubbed her eyes, trying desperately to get rid of the now familiar stinging before the floodgates started. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck. Why? Why? Why did it have to be so damn hard just to think of that woman's name? To think about a future that would never be reality now? She knew why, but why!?

Shiny sucked in a long, overdue breath and heaved it out before slumping over in defeat. Her elbows were resting on her knees, but they hardly supported her it felt like, as she hung her head. If she closed her eyes, she knew that Poppy's grave would be all that she'd see, so Shiny settled for just staring into the wet, muddy ground. Her voice was so soft, so fragile, she would have wondered if she actually said anything if she wasn't focusing on other things, "Why did it have to be you?"

God. So much had changed over the years. It was hard to believe they all had come this far. How much they all had changed. Sure, Smartass still had his gang, and the rest of the boys were still in it. But everything was different. And it wasn't just Psycho becoming a father and widower. She was different...

So much had changed. Nothing was the same. Or ever will be again... She couldn't even remember the last time she sang. Singing and dancing used to be one of Shiny's favorite forms of expression; it had been more than just a way to make money to her. But there wasn't a need for it now. She worked in the night under a very different career now. What point was there in singing anymore?

Shiny ran a paw through her hair it had grown longer over the years. She simply hadn't bothered to cut it anymore. She couldn't see the point in it nowadays before tilting her head to the left to look at the poppies lining the house. She was careful, despite her broiling emotions and shaky paw, when she reached towards the one closest to her and grazed her fingers over the petals. It was actually Percy's idea to plant the poppy flowers, 'so mom can be home' he had said. Just more proof that the little kit thought about things a lot more than kids his age should. Of course, planting your mothers namesake to try to keep her close wasn't how it worked, but who would care? Certainly not his father. Or her.

'You always loved my singing.' The thought wormed its way into Shiny's head before she could stop it. But now that it was there, she just... Couldn't fathom the energy to force it away. Not while she was out here alone, on her sweethearts birthday, with the cold rain and breeze as her band for the night, 'And I loved to sing for you... I'd give anything to sing for you again...'

But Poppy wasn't there to hear her sing anymore. It was no longer the same. Shiny had always thought that she sang for herself, which was partially true. But she found out the hard way too that she also needed someone to offer her voice to- something to sing about. But what?

...

"I was fine... With the men... Who would come into her life now and again..." It had been years since she had found it in herself to sing anything. Let alone whatever was on her mind. She somehow already knew what she was going to sing about before the words even left her lips, but right now, she couldn't care less, "I was fine... Cause I knew, that they didn't really matter... Until you." Her eyes narrowed into a spiteful glare, as she thought about that damn weasel inside the house now. She wanted to think of him as a homewrecker in all honesty. Though how could she when Poppy had never loved her the she had hoped she would?

A shaky breath, to try to calm her raging nerves. It was futile, but it was either try or just go all out and bat shit crazy in the rain. Shiny focused back on the flower, thinking back to all the stupid things Psycho and Shiny used to do to compete, "I was fine. When you came, and we fought like it was all some silly game... Over her."

Another crack in her voice. Another breath, "Who'd she choose..."

Shutting her eyes tightly, Shiny managed to tear her gaze away from the flower bed and lift her chin towards the cloudy night sky. Though it wasn't in pride, "After all those years, I never thought I'd lose..."

"It's over, isn't it?" It was, wasn't it? "Isn't it?" Now that she was never coming back, "Isn't it over?" After leaving behind so much, "You won. And she chose you. And she loved you. And she's gone..."

Only one thought crossed her mind as a droplet that wasn't from the current weather slipped down her cheek; if their silly little game was over now... "It's over, isn't it? Why can't I move on?"

Penelope felt restless, sitting upright in her bed and watching the rain pattering against her window intently, rather than laying down and trying to sleep. She always loved the rain. As long as she could remember. She especially loved it when it was a heavy downpour.

Though she was scared that mom's poppies would get ruined. Thankfully, dad was already on it, and had left real quick to make sure the garden had shelter for the night, "Percy?"

She didn't look her brothers way, but she could still hear the sleepy muddle in his voice. She didn't know how he was able to hunker diwn to bed so quickly, "Yeah?"

"Do you think mom liked the rain too?" Dad and unkle Wheezy had mentioned that their mother wasn't too fond of thunder a few times, but thunder and lightning were different... Maybe she had something in common with mom.

Finally tearing her gaze away from the window, Penelope looked over to the other side of the room, where Percival, in his own bed, was. The little weasel rubbed his eyes and blinked them into focus before he shrugged, "Maybe... Dad likes the rain, and they did a lot together. So she probably did."

"Yeah. That's right..."

Penny nodded, though Percival noticed how she looked to be frowning. He sighed, knowing exactly what she was thinking. It was something they both thought about, especially on days like this. How everyone they knew got to know their mother... Except each other.

Wordlessly, the kit crawled out of his bed and walked over to his sisters side of the room. He did hop on the bed with her, but he did reach over to hug her, which she returned silently. Neither of them spoke a word. They were young, but they still knew each other best.

"... I'm gonna get a glass of water." Penny decided after a moment, pulling away from the sibling embrace and sliding off of her bed easily. Percy decided to follow her. It sounded like they could use a drink- as their unkle Smarty would say.

The trip to the kitchen was relatively short. It wasn't even too bad when they had to get creative to reach the glasses in the cupboard; usually, dad got the cups down for them, but he wasn't around. So Penny just climbed onto the counter like she had seen dad do sometimes and passed down her brother the cups. They had done this trick a lot, much to their family's detriment.

Percival could only hear the rain pouring down onto the roof. Though he was reminded that he wasn't the twin that inherited their mothers hearing when Penelopes ears twitched and tilted towards a direction. He followed confusedly after her when she started walking towards the front door, "What is it?"

The rabbit child's ears were pointed toward the door, before her bright blue eyes widened, and she hopped onto the couch closest to the front window. Percy followed suit, searching for whatever it was that she heard. When he saw the familiar figure sitting on the porch, his eyebrows shot up to his forehead, "Shiny?"

"She was supposed to go home, right?"

The two shared a look. Silently asking the other the same question; listen? Or go back to bed?

...

In that secret language only siblings could understand, the two agree to creep back towards the front door and crack it open. Just a tad; not enough for Shiny to hear them, buy enough for them to listen to what she was saying.

Or rather, singing, "Shiny can sing??"

"Shh!"

Lucky for the twins, the rain was loud enough in Shiny's ears to block out any other sound. Honestly it was a wonder she hadn't gone deaf from countless night in the past dancing along loud bands... Her heart ache might have had a hand in her lack of focus now, too.

The weasel gritted her teeth and tugged at some hair strands- which was getting wetter by the minute. Including her clothes and fur. But she just couldn't give a damn now. Besides, it allowed her to pretend that the tears streaming down her cheeks were just raindrops, "Who am I now in this world without her!? Petty and dull with the nerve to doubt her..."

Poppy was always naive; she always wanted and hoped for the best in this wretched world. But that didn't mean she was dumb. Poppy had faced her own suffering in her life, and she always looked out for the people around her, no matter how awful they truly were. The way she treated her criminal friends, how she treated her, was proof of that. Shiny knew that she could always trust the rabbit because of it. And that was what made Poppy stand out to her out of everyone in her life, and what she had loved the most about her.

But nowadays... She still loved Poppy, and she loved the twins. But sometimes, Shiny wondered what would have happened if she had tried to discourage Poppy from more of the choices she had made. Would it have been worth being more controlling if it meant Poppy would be alive now?

The singer shook her head at that, knowing in her heart that that kind of thinking was wrong. Besides, it's not like it would change anything, so what was the point? "What does it matter? It's already done. Now I've got to be there for her kin..."

From the front door, Penny and Perry couldn't believe their ears, and even shared a look. As if they had to verify with the other that what they were hearing was really real. Their aunt had always told them that she and their mother were close, but she never said anything about this. She never looked this sorrowful talking about their mom. She was always so cheery and strong; had she been hiding this from them all along? "Percy...?"

Their shared thoughts stopped in their tracks when Percy noticed Shiny standing up from the porch, and quickly gestured to his sister. The kits ducked behind the door, just in case she had planned on going back inside, or was about to glance behind her. They stayed there, holding their breaths, until they heard their godmother's voice again. Louder, almost yelling, and more strained this time. Like she was cracking under the weight of what she said next, "It's over, isn't it!? Isn't it!? Isn't it over!?"

They both flinched from their hiding spots, feeling the pain that Shiny carried through her voice. They slowly peeked back outside once they deemed it safe, and could see Shiny now stood up from the porch and off the steps, standing fully in the pouring rain now. It was hard to see with how dark it was, but it looked like she was trembling even. All Penny and Percy could do was continue to listen. It was all they knew what to do now.

The weasel felt like she was going to crack under the weight of all her pent-up emotions. Her breath huffing out all shaky and fists clenched so tight by her sides. She felt so weak right now, on her own, but all she wanted was to scream and shout and punch a pillow. Or better yet, a wall. Her vision felt blurry, and not just because of the tears in her eyes, and she wasn't even thinking about all of the painful memories like before. Right now, even though it felt so hard to do, all she could do was take in one long breath, and scream into the sky with all the heartbreak that she had pushed down all these years, "You won, and she chose you! And she loved you! Now she's gone!"

...

That's it. There was no turning back now. She couldn't take it back now. Or fault the ears of anyone who may have been listening. Blinking away raindrops and tears, as if that final scream had taken her voice, all Shiny could manage now was a soft, pained tune, "It's over, isn't it? Why can't I move on...?"

Quiet sobs escaped her lips as her head fell, now staring at the muddy ground. Her shoulders shook with her crying, but that didn't stop her from wrapping her arms around herself, trying to find some way to find warmth and comfort now, "It's over, isn't it? Why can't I move on?"

Letting out everything she had locked away didn't help in the slightest; all it left was cold emptiness. At least, that's what it felt like now. At least no one was here to see her like this...

"Shiny?"

Her eyes grew wide, and a gasp escaped her before she whipped back around towards the doorway. Seeing the two she had hoped would never see this side of her was bad enough, but seeing the utter confusion and worry on the twins' faces, worry they shouldn't have to feel for her, made her heart sink even further than it had. How much did they hear? "O-Oh! Hey, guys... Shouldn't you be asleep...?"

Usually, the kids would have some witty excuse, or at least what they thought was clever, and act innocent. It would make Shiny laugh every time before she called them out on their mischief and sent them back on the right path- doing whatever it was they were supposed to be doing. But now? Stepping fully outside and onto the porch in their pajamas, Penny and Percy didn't answer her. At least not with words. Though the many questions that they didn't ask- or didn't even know where to start- were clear as day in their wide, sad eyes.

They heard it all. Or at least enough. Enough where she couldn't make up a lie to distract them. Not that that would have stopped them. They were persistent little kits.

And now, because she couldn't keep a damn lid on herself, wasn't strong enough to keep it together, Shiny had no choice but to reveal the complete truth, "... I... Kids, I..."

But where does one even start?

I really wanted to add Psycho's reaction as well. But I couldn't figure out how to write it in while making it flow with the story. I'm kinda afraid that adding the twins in this already jumbled the flow of the drabble a bit- but I haven't written them yet, and wanted to try 😅

He is in the backyard, so I don't know if he could even hear her sorrow... Though maybe he came back inside last minute?

But anyways! I hope you like this answer, and I apologize for taking so long XD let me know what you think! ^^

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