#however as of late i feel so bad doing that i just want to crumple it up like paper

[americiumam]

(complaining in the tags)

[temis-de-leon]

Day 21 - Comforting while crying kiss

Characters: Solomon x fem!MC

25 kisses challenge Masterlist

Main Masterlist

CW: college anxiety, memories about bad friends, worried Solomon, established relationship

A/N: not the most relatable because I made it as a continuation for this, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless <3

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Studying in the human real again wasn’t something she ever thought would become a reality, especially when she didn’t want to do it at all, but she should’ve learnt long ago that no thing in life was impossible.

Her best friends, if not her only friends, were demons and angels; she was dating King Solomon the Wise. Going back to college should not feel that weird.

And yet.

There she was, sitting on her ankles in a hidden corner under the staircase of the main entrance. The heat of June burned her hair and made her cupid’s bow sweat, but it was the stress of finals what made her feel feverish. Her backpack laid pathetically near her, the zipper opened enough to let her see some crumpled papers full of scribbles and a couple of pens with no caps.

It was draining. Sitting alone at the table, remembering the presence of those who left her behind laughing at her jokes and helping her study, acting like true friends when God knows what they were saying behind her back. The tiles of the floor and the graffiti on the benches remained the same, but the walls were different and the buildings had gone through some serious renovations. What hurt her the most, surprisingly, was the sight of the brand new cafeteria, which now looked like a hospital ward.

MC’s lips trembled at the thought of change and evolution, of coming so far just to return to the same place that made her feel so lonely.

First periods on Mondays, back when she was eighteen, were hectic. The hallways were cold and the elevator was always occupied because a blind guy with his guide dog had to go to the last floor and whoever decided to be stubborn and wait for the elevator to be free was always late to class. One of the coffee machines forever remained out of service and the other one only had one flavour worth paying: hazelnut. MC didn’t even like coffee and still bought a couple of those every now and then.

The blind guy already graduated, she supposed. Both coffee machines worked and they even had other vending machines filling the empty spaces of the hallways. Warm hallways, that is. The Styrofoam cups didn’t smell like hazelnut anymore, but rather something more generic and impersonal.

MC couldn’t recognize the scent and it made her mad. It made her cry. And the foolishness of the situation made her cry even harder.

Her weeping filled the corner she was hiding in and she felt incredibly grateful that the evening classes had already started, but not much time would pass until anyone inside would open the windows in search of any possible breeze.

Determined to not let the damn building see her cry more than necessary, MC grabbed her things and pitifully walked down the street, looking at the flowers with deep yearning like she too wished she was buried underground and left alone to absorb light and look pretty.

Fortunately for her mood, her phone vibrated in her pocket and showed a very familiar name. She tried to swallow tears and clear her voice before answering.

“Is everything okay, MC?”

She’d never fool him.

Solomon sounded extremely worried. The sheer surprise at his reaction made her stop in her tracks to wonder just how much he knew her. Before she could ponder about it too much, however, someone near her called her name.

There he was, sitting on the hood of a car that MC knew wasn’t his. He called her once more to urge her and, thankfully, by the time she reached him the crying had already stopped. Her skin felt sticky with sweat and fallen tears and she felt an incipient headache threatening to break her mind.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah”

She forced herself to swallow, hating the blockage in her nose, and Solomon looked at her in pity, clearly wanting to console without going too far.

“You know you can trust me, right?”

His eyes turned sad and MC felt the familiar sting in the back of her throat. Although her first impulse was to continue denying her pain and leave the whole thing behind, she knew that if she didn’t ask her boyfriend, of all people, to take care of her, then the turmoil would become much worse.

“I do” she assured him, holding his hand in slow movements. He immediately held her back and her eyes watered again “I’m just really tired, you know?”

There, under the sun, where no one was there to see the scene, Solomon opened his arms and sighed when she rushed towards him. MC tried to ignore the tears staining his white coat, hugging him instead to hide from the rest of the world. There was a gentle pressure on top of her head, a soft kiss that made her shoulders relax and lean into him further.

“Do you want to go back home? Take a nap?”

MC didn’t know what home he was talking about, but she didn’t care. Without letting him go, she nodded against his chest and made herself comfortable. Home was wherever as long as he was there with her.

.

.

Taglist: @ourfinalisation  @owlisbuffering  @chizukimp4  @ravenredwine @darkflowerav  @craftysclown @mehkers

[longtallglasses]

some miwi headcanons just bc ! older ones

i see young mike as kind of loud and not realizing how loud (and annoying) his yelling near people is (ie karen yelling in s1 “mike let’s go!” “COMING!!!”) however he quickly learns not to yell around will, adopting his softer voice for him BUT

in school he’s constantly calling over to will “will come here” “will sit next to me” “will! over here! look at this!” trying to get his attention “will, will, hey will…” other kids are like dude shut up… so many kids know will’s name who’ve never seen him, and mike’s thought of as that kid who’s always calling out for his friend.

i’m an avid rock collector!mike enjoyer. on the playground, in the forest, at the park, at the lake. he’s picking up all the cool ones, storing them away for very important scientific reasons like “this one’s shiny in A Different way!” he sets aside his favorites to show and give to will, very much in the style of a cat bringing a dead rodent to their owner, like “got something special just for you :) a Very Cool Rock :)” will loves how much mike enjoys it and is very excited to receive them, feeling quite special.

will loves stuffed animals (i mean we been knew) when he was younger they all had names and backstories, interpersonal drama and storylines he played out. two stuffed cats he definitely thought of as him and mike subconsciously, as they were best friends. he would act out little dramatic scenes of them running away from some oppressive kingdom, going on an adventure and meeting new friends along the way. … and he may have made them kiss a few times …

obviously small will loved drawing, but i don’t think he was always confident in his skill. after people tell him he’s good he gets caught up in trying to be really good, and gets frustrated when he can’t do something the way he wants. hence crumpled up attempts in the trash mike fishes out. there’s a spell of time where he gives up for a bit and jonathan asks why he hasn’t seen him drawing lately, and will says he doesn’t think he can get any better, it’s too hard. jonathan tells him it doesn’t matter if it’s perfect, he should just draw to make himself happy “draw for the campaigns, your friends think it’s so cool” so will keeps at it focusing on drawing what he thinks him and his friends will appreciate

while watching scary movies in the basement mike and will always held hands under blankets. it started when they were younger and they first got permission to watch a scary movie, they didn’t want to admit they might be getting too scared. during a big jump their hands reached out on instinct and too caught up in the movie they didn’t let go. when it was over they didn’t talk about it, but then it just kept happening every time they got scared. which led to holding hands when upset outside of watching movies. they never really discussed it, it just felt like their little secret thing.

all the boys were nice to holly but will was the only friend who actually liked seeking her out to play w them. (fascinated by a little sister unlike lucas and only-child dustin) mike and will would play games with her sometimes, will thinking she was really cute, and mike thinking it was cute will really liked her. cue karen thinking will is the best influence on her son

i have such a strong image of kindergarten miwi right after they become friends making mud pies together every recess. their teacher scolds them the first few times having to scrub their hands when they come back in. it gets so bad when the recess monitor sees them heading for the dirt they’re yelling “Michael! William! don’t even think about it!” they think it’s so funny to rile them up, they start spreading mud on each others arms “will you need more than that!” they only try to eat it a few times, it does taste really gross. after they’re banned from the dirt, they move to the sand box, it’s only a bit cleaner.

[feathersandfairytales]

Hogwarts Legacy - When they ask you out

Hi! I'm FelixShii, but you can just call me Felix. This is my first time posting anything on Tumblr, so please be gentle! I've had severe Hogwarts Legacy brainrot lately, so here's just a cute little preference for the main 3 companions + Ominis because I love him. I'm open for requests and ideas if you'd like to throw them my way! For now I'm just writing for these 4, but I'll probably be happy to write for some teachers and other students eventually. I can do fics, imagines, oneshots- pretty much anything. I hope you enjoy reading, and since I'm new here, don't be afraid to come and say hi! 💕

Very slight angst in Ominis' section- squint and you'll miss it, though. Reader is gender neutral and can fit into any house in all my works, unless explicitly stated otherwise. They are implied to be muggleborn in Ominis' section, though.

Sebastian Sallow

• On the outside, Sebastian would be just as charming and confident as ever, if not a little more skittish.

• Once out of your view though, Sebastian would stay up late many nights, pondering and overthinking. Dreams of you, anxious thoughts that his feelings would be one-sided.

• Eventually, it was actually Ominis who pushed Sebastian to confess his feelings to you. He told Sebastian it was because he was 'tired of hearing him shake and rock in his bed like a scared puffskein.' Sebastian knew it was really because Ominis wanted him to be happy.

• He'd ask you out to Hogsmeade by owl, inviting you for a butterbeer. Just the two of you.

•He'd start by talking about something mundane- deulling or classes, but you suspected something was up when he was fumbling over his words.

• When you asked him if he was feeling alright, it was like a dam broke. Strings of almost incoherent sentences spewed from his mouth, and he was blushing like a fool.

• Even with him bumbling like an idiot and as red as a beet, you got the message- and the two of you left The Three Broomsticks hand in hand, with lovestruck looks on your faces.

• With his earlier jumpy behaviour you'd expected something to be up with him, anyway- so him asking you out was only a little surprising.

• You hadn't however, expected Sebastian to lean in and kiss away the butterbeer froth from the top of your lip.

• He of course, only smirked at you smugly, pulling you back to the castle by your hand so you weren't late for class. If you were, he'd take the fall for you.

Ominis Gaunt

• At first Ominis really tries to deny his feelings.

• But he can't help the fact that his heart speeds up or his thoughts get cloudy around you.

• When he realises just how down bad for you he is, he pushes you away. Shuts you out. He didn't want you to get hurt. But, he makes sure to use his connections around the castle even if he's not with you- to make sure you're taking care of yourself.

• He knew what the Gaunts would do to a muggleborn like you if they knew he was romantically involved with you.

• You're really confused and hurt when he starts avoiding you in and outside of classes, and Sebastian is just as oblivious to the situation as you.

• One night you enter the undercroft to do some studying, as it's damp quiet was better than the beast chatter and cauldron bubbling of the room of requirement.

• You stop in your tracks when you hear quiet whining, spotting the crumpled heap that was Ominis Gaunt in the corner.

• He hadn't heard you, judging by how high he jumped in fear when you approached him.

• It takes a lot of coaxing and patience to get it out of him, but he eventually tells you what's going on and why he'd been avoiding you.

• All you can do is pull him closer to you, placing a kiss on his forehead and smiling softly. Of course your safety was his top priority. What a sweetheart. You inform him that his feelings for you are not unrequited, to which he responds by smiling brightly at you, pressing a soft kiss to your cheek.

Natsai Onai

• Natsai, being the brave and confident Gryffindor she is, isn't at all shy or embarrassed around you.

• Even with her feelings for you making her palms sweat and her heart race, she is just as friendly and happy around you as she normally would be.

• Actually confides in her mother for advice- not that she's nervous, she just wanted a second opinion on what to do.

• Her mother tries to read her palms, look at tea leaves and all other manner of odd divination tricks to try and help her.

• Natty knows her mother means well, but she wasn't exactly being helpful with any of this.

• So, after a moment of thinking, Natsai decides she doesn't need theatrics, she'll just ask you out when she wants to.

• So, the next morning at breakfast, Natty promptly sits down next to you at your table and beams brightly.

• Her confidence doesn't falter as she confesses her feelings to you while simultaneously piling her plate with food.

• You're just sat there, stunned at her straightforward nature. But, it makes sense- Natty is a Gryffindor after all.

• It takes you a moment to shake out of your surprise, but you eventually return her wide grin, only able to nod your head yes as she asks you to be her partner.

Poppy Sweeting

• Poppy is naturally a somewhat shy, timid and skittish girl, as most who knew her already knew.

• That is only amplified tenfold when she's around you

• You had caught her staring in your direction a few times in class, and she'd always let out a small squeak of surprise and look away, quickly hiding her rapidly reddening face.

• Every time you've tried to approach her about it, she'd practically ran away, spewing a quick excuse. You were starting to think something was wrong. Had you done something?

• One day to your surprise, Poppy stops you in front of your common room, her head down and something in her hands.

• She shoves it to you wordlessly before retreating quickly, her face bright red.

• Inside your palm is a note. Hand-written on parchment. You notice that most of the sentences are scratched out. The only readable part was the bottom. 'Meet me at the black lake, 9pm.'

• Upon arriving at the requested time, you spot a group of lacewing flies illuminating the lake. More importantly, you notice poppy sitting at the waters edge, fidgeting with something in her hand.

• She tries to act calmly upon noticing you've arrived, but her red face gives her away. She hands you the object in her hand. A pheonix feather- you gasp. It must have been hard for her to get this.

• You notice her breath is coming out in cold puffs, and wordlessly offer her your house scarf, which she wraps herself up in. You knew she was far too shy to say anything herself, so you just laughed quietly and told her that you liked her too. The two of you sat huddled together by the lake for so long that Poppy fell asleep on your shoulder.

[notsodailykurudoro]

Day 23

(day 19 continuation)

“Not a problem!” Dororo gleamed, giving the smaller man his space as he stared around the place. 

It was… something. 

“I could help you tidy up this place if you so let me.” He offered.

Kururu already had started eating and boy was he going at it, he took a brief break of trying to feed his starving self to muster a “Suit yourself” between bites.

And I shall, thought the taller man, tying together his long hair to work better on the stinking mess that was now Kururu's room. He swore he'd seen burrows ten times neater than whatever the everloving heck was going on here. 

Luckily, he came prepared. A soft smile drew onto hidden lips as he began tossing visible junk on a big plastic bag. The room was dark, barely lit by three monitors from the ostentatious mumbo-jumbo that shaped together Kururu's rather expensive setup. Sometimes he wonders where he gets the stuff, sometimes he is brave enough to inquire about such, and sometimes he gets a halfhearted answer. Sometimes, he worries.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't actually worried all the time. For him, for them, for everyone. 

Had anyone ever paid him back?

That was also a sometimes. 

He kept working on the task at hand, he had a long way ahead but he’ll manage, he was more than satisfied with just having managed to get the hermit to eat something that wasn't artificially made or not even proper food at all. 

He could tell by all the wrappers and boxes discarded on the sticky floor that he'd spent at least weeks eating garbage, if not more. A pit sank in his stomach, well known worry setting in his limbs, sensitive enough to feel his vacant eyes stinging. He tried not to think too hard about it in order to stop himself from shaking, but he knew Kururu's health was worsening by the second and he couldn't help but feel unfathomably sad about it. 

He steadied his breathing, squatting down to toss what seemed like a bunch of crumpled papers next to the ginger's bed. 

Dororo squinted, stopping in his tracks as he tried to fix his gaze on a single not ruined sheet lying on the floor beneath the disgusting mass of quilts, gadgets, clothes and pillows that was the litter. 

He held it gently between long fingers, glancing quickly at the smaller nerd that was too distracted eating while he pondered at something on whatever in the world those screens were showing him, before returning to try and take a read at the messy handwriting. 

It was, again, very dark, however he was well accustomed to see among shadows.

So he read. 

…

…?

And he read again.

…

…

… It was a suicide note. 

He felt his heart stop for a whole second, eyes wide as could be while trying with every fiber of his being to not freak out audibly at the fatal discovery. He swallowed, dry, debating whether or not it was a good idea to bring it up to his companion. 

This was awful! Why would he think about such atrocity? Had he arrived too late, or just in time? He looked… rather bad, but honestly he could never tell the difference and that made him feel even worse. 

He had to think, read the room, think about his feelings, plan out how he was gonna say it so Kururu didn't felt awkward and decided he didn't want Dororo in his life anymore, think about his tone and words and when and how and

“WERE YOU ACTUALLY GONNA DO IT?” A heavy teary eyed Dororo exclaimed as he held onto the hikikomori with one hand and held the note with the other.

Startled outta his mind, Kururu tried to narrow his own fucked up gaze towards what he was trying to show him, the contact making him uneasy as well as the crying. 

“I- uh- wuh-” He stammered, finally focusing on what he had in his hands and feeling his heart stop for a solid split of a second. 

Unbothered, a strained almost permanent smile kept the snarky bite on his words as he reached for the note. 

“Now where didja find that…?” 

“WERE YOU? KURURU-DONO, PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO TELL ME-”

“Where?"

“Th-T-The bedframe, beneath it…” The martial arts enthusiast sniffed, easing his grasp on the technician as to not keep bothering further. He was honestly kinda surprised he didn't instantly shoved him away. 

The yellow devil remained silent for a few beats, rereading the thing as if having forgotten that he, at some point in his recent life, stood so ridiculously low to write such a pathetic excuse of a letter. 

The flash of a thought came to him, who was ever gonna read it anyway? but after glancing out of the corner of his vision and seen the barely illuminated ninja shed abnormally large tears, he reconsidered. 

He crumpled the note and tossed it away. 

“Don't worry about it.” He lazily elaborated, slumping forward once again to keep scrolling on what seemed to be a shady forum long forgotten by even god himself, stuff that Dororo could not get even if he tried or cared enough. 

“DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT!?” The taller man quickly retorted. “Y-Y-H-HOw am I sure you’re not gonna shorten further y-y-your lifespan!?”

Kururu cringed ever so slightly. 

“And I-I apologize deeply if this is still a sour subject to you, but sir, I hold deep worry towards your well being!”

“I know.”

“I'm serious!”

“... I know.”

“So, please do I beg you… Would you tell me if something greatly bothers you? If there's something straining your chest with anguish?”

Kururu seemed so distant from his spot, even if merely inches away, he always seemed to hide just enough to be unreadable yet clear enough to tell he was going through it™. It didn't helped to ease Dororo's nerves. 

“Please? At least would you try?”

“... ‘k” 

“Thank goodness…” He sighed with relief, wiping away some of his tears with the back of his bandaged hand. “I won't ask about the letter, you’ll know when to reach and I'll assist.”

“Will do my best I s’pose.” Kururu muttered, barely audible. Dororo catched it either way, and felt happy about it. “Y’can go back to whatever you were doin’, ain't going anywhere.” 

Ain't dying soon he would had said instead, but he didn't felt like tormenting the man further. Not today. 

“I shall.” 

The ninja bowed lightly, and that's the last he heard of him as he fixed again on the screens, tired eyes fully hidden under glasses that were hit directly by the blue light. 

He felt arms wrap around his frame and he almost jumped at the sudden touch, the scent of incense and pinetrees giving away the perpetrator if not already painfully obvious. 

“Wh… Why…” Words couldn't leave his mouth properly as he fought with his own weird stoicness and months of being a touchstarved sociopathic freak. 

“I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself, I hope this isn't uncomfortable to you-”

Kururu considered. His smell was awful if not just rotten, had the temperature of an oven on Christmas and not for the reasons anyone thought, and the feeling of someone else touching him was just indescribable pain. 

And yet…

“... I don't mind.”

Maybe that's what the mask was for. 

They remained like that for a short while before the long haired shinobi retreated and kept trying to tidy up the room, and he went back to mess on his computer, none of them said a word afterwards. 

It was nice. 

[zerolostwalks]

wearing the others' clothes so that it can at least feel like they're hugging them, even for just a moment for Julie (clothes thief extraordinaire)/Anyone

(All I Really Want is) Something Beautiful to Say

.

Really, all Alex had been looking for was somewhere quiet, even for just a little bit. A thing that was easier to come by these days. He had so many different places he could choose from, it was late enough there’d be plenty of closed establishments. However, none of them ever worked to help comfort him, always feeling off kilter. 

It’s how he’d ended up in the Molina living room, again. Sure it wasn’t his own home, but it was awfully close. Hell, maybe even better and warmer than his own. 

Given the late hour he didn’t expect to find anyone else there. He’d forever deny how much he was startled by Julie curled into herself on the couch. You’d think he would be accustomed to people already being in a room he teleported into. 

“Geez,” Alex exhaled, gripping his chest to settle the nerves that really shouldn’t be as jumpy as they were. He tried to laugh it off but the attempt died away as he got a better look at Julie. 

She was hugging her knees to her chest, each sleeve a different color from each other and the rest of her slightly baggy hoodie. Though he was more concerned with how she was vacantly staring toward the floor, looking like she’d been crying. 

“Julie?” He quietly asked, then again a little louder when she didn’t immediately answer.

She slowly blinked, barely glancing his way. “Alex?”

“Hey, you ok?”

“Not really.” Her grip on the sleeves of the sweater tightened, as her gaze drifted back to the floor. Her face temporarily twisting into a look of apprehension. “Bad dream.”

“Oh.” He cautiously sat on the couch beside her, just close enough to pull her into a hug if she wanted. “Did you want to talk about it?”

An unsteady exhale and shake of her head was all the answer he got. His nerves uncomfortably coursed through him for different reasons now as Julie continued to just vacantly stare in front of her. Maybe, she was still half-asleep? Though that didn’t seem as likely. 

“I don’t think I’ve seen this hoodie before.” He said, trying to lighten the heaviness of the air around them. “Looks like something I’d wear.”

Julie’s lip trembled with another shaky exhale and Alex’s stomach dropped. That might not have been the right thing to say. 

“It was my mom’s.” She said, and he never would have been able to guess she was on the verge of crying with how steady her voice was. Even if it was distinctly softer than usual. “One of the one’s my Dad keeps in the back of his closet. Smells a little closer to how I remember her.”

Alex grimaced at the revelation, definitely the wrong thing to have said. He was probably making things worse. Maybe should even leave. But…maybe, more than that, should try and do something. 

“You sure you don’t want to talk about it?” He mentally cursed himself when Julie’s face nearly crumpled at his repeated question. He was really just making this worse. “Or maybe I should leave.”

“Please, don’t.” She said, her head turning toward him though she didn’t really move to look at him. 

He folded laced his fingers as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. Silence uncomfortably settled but Alex didn’t really want to be the one to break it. Despite how much it tormented him. 

“I-” Julie eventually broke through the silence, her quiet words still nearly deafening amongst the quiet. “I think I’m a bad friend.”

“What?” Alex nearly shouted, turning to face Julie more fully. “You’re not–”

“Yes, I am.” She nodded, fresh tears cutting across her cheeks. 

“Why would you think that?”

“Because.” She sniffed, hugged herself all the tighter and still refused to look at him. “I-I love you guys. I really do and I really don’t want to lose you, but, but sometimes I just. . .”

Alex swallowed hard as Julie took a few deep breaths trying to collect herself. He barely heard her next words as she sobbed into her knees. “Why couldn’t it have been her?”

Something uncomfortably tightened in his chest. He didn’t even bother with asking when he gently grabbed her by the shoulders trying to guide her to actually look at him. Moving himself instead when that didn’t work. 

“You’re not a bad friend, Julie. You’re a girl who lost someone she really cared about and is very understandably upset about it.”

“But.”

“I wish I could tell you why she couldn’t be the one to come back to you. I barely understand the ghost rules I do know. And even those seem to change every other day.”

Two more hands joined Alex’s on Julie’s shoulders and he had to wonder when Luke and Reggie had even popped into the living room. Knowing their luck, right at the worst moment. 

“You’re not a bad person for missing your mom.” Reggie said, sounding like he was doing some crying of his own. 

“We get it, Jules, it’s rough not having the people you care about like you want.” Luke added, his words breaking whatever mental wall Julie built. 

She all but threw herself at Alex’s chest, using him to try and muffle her cries. Reggie and Luke took no time to find their own spots to join the hug. The three of them exchanged uneasy glances over Julie’s shoulders, lingering around the couch long after Julie had stopped crying and fallen asleep there.

[fumikomiyasaki]

Oneshot

Among the green leaves

To follow up to this drawing I kinda wrote a small fic about Carol and Erenville too to be self indulgent so given my friends encouraged me might as well share it too even if I am emberassed about it. Time to stop being self endulgent and do something for my other friends.

Melody who is mentioned here belongs to @forestwispocs

The dim lit light of the lantern shined upon the paper before her... It was close to midnight as Carol sat down thinking about what to write her mother... she often send her letters since she left Limsa... trying to show her she doesn't have to worry about her.

"To Mum,

I am doing well so far... still continuing my quest as usual... but in regards to your previous questions I might have some good news. Melody and I on different reasons visited the forum in Old Sharlayan... mainly cause I wanted to find a cure for a friend's sickness and we needed more information... and there I met someone very interesting... his name was Erenville and he was a gleaner for the forum, needing help with some specimen... I think I finally found someone who not only on a mental level can keep up with me... no I think-"

She quickly crumpled the paper.

"I can't tell mom such things yet... when I don't even know he likes me back... she will get disappointed if I give her bad news... lets start this letter again."

One sigh and she continued.

"He may have been cold at first but he does have a lot of interesting things to say... he has this pretty smirk as well as his voice sounds really soothing and-"

She sighed again and restarted the letter... one break she took writing down all her feelings on another letter to get a clear head... one she placed in a green envelope... hoping she couldn't stop thinking about him but yet still some things slipped through as she hit her head on the table in frustration and hid her red face with her arms.

"I really do love him but If I say something... I dont want him to sway to leave with me... I will leave in a week... and then-"

She clutched her heart...she didn't know how to handle the whole situation really... and so she focused on work instead...taking a lot of the papers and throwing them into the fire...erasing most of her random thoughts... however that green envelope still on the table as she wanted to clean up everything... untill she heard a voice.

"It's pretty late, shouldn't you go to sleep?"

She shrieked up... Erenville peaked into the room as Carol tried to quickly hide that envelope behind her.

"Y-you're right... I just... wanted to finish that letter for my mother... sorry for using this place like this."

A soft hum came out of his mouth.

"It's fine but do know you need sleep early to be fit for tomorrow... I did plan to take you along to some places."

"I will I promise. " Her face was red, her Heartbeat quick... this was a problem if he got curious about the envelope... so she had to move quickly...

"So goodnight-"

"Wait!"

She stopped in her tracks turning around to look at him... in that dim light his Yellow eyes looked even more pretty glancing at her... she felt weak for it. The small twitch of his ears... she tried to grip the envelope as to not let it go as he spoke up. Putting one hand on her shoulder.

"Carol, you seem like you are always pushing yourself too much for others... try to watch out for yourself too..."

"Eren... I-I... Alright... I will."

Showing him a soft smile back she left but after arriving in her room she put that envelope on the desk and grabbed her pillow hiding her face.

"Each day this feeling grows worse...maybe I should talk with Melody about it... no... maybe I should just be quiet. I don't want to bother others with my problems..."

She joined him the next days on some day trips to find some more things... gathering enough information over time that could help her out not only for their current problem but for the future... however each day also brought them closer... she was genuinely smiling more seeing him looking at frogs in awe or infodump on her... and Melody noticed it as well... eventually a small night feast was held to get everyone to rest as Wuk Lamat said next to Erenville slurping food as he noticed his gaze focused on something.

"You are looking at her again, I can see it."

"Stop annoying me and eat your food."

"Come on... you basically invite her here with how much you look at her... Its obvious you like her."

"She has to leave next week anyway... what's the point?"

"Telling her you like her makes her at least want to come back... and given with how many people admire her do you really want someone to steal her away."

"..."

"Buffet, calls." Wuk lamat left with a smile as Erenville sighed. He noticed meanwhile someone approaching.

"Melody, is there something you need?"

"There is something I wanted to tell you, about Carol... do you have time?"

The Viera gave a nod as the Au ra said across from him.

"Listen... Carol has been traveling with us for a while... as she started her journey she was confident and open to face any challenge but similar to us... we faced many hardships together... and she always mustered up a smile even if she was hurting too... she hid her pain so much from us... and the last days I saw her spend time with you she smiled brighter and more genuine then she ever has... she finally found back that energy when she started the journey with us... so I feel she must care about the time she has with you a lot... and I wanted to tell you that. "

"I see... but why are you telling me this?"

"Its cause... I have seen her look at some in our groups.. those who got partners and are close... she probably yearned for something like that too... but never thought of herself... and recently when I met her at night I saw her with that same pained face... like something is on her mind... so-"

"I understand. I actually have noticed her reactions around me as well so I figured as much and... I do like her as well but... I also know I can't be selfish and ask her to stay here. Its why I haven't spoken about it."

"I think you should tell her... its maybe what she needs and... she can still drop by between missions here."

A light smile from Melody and he let out a sigh holding what he was just drinking.

"Fine... I promise you to tell her the next days, can you keep this a secret?"

"I will. I do have an important mission tomorrow as well so, you might have time alone with her."

As Melody left he he leaned back a little.... processing everything he heard... trying to wrap his head around it... and then he realized too... a feeling he had shaken off the other days by treating Carol moreso as a work partner than something more... hiding a little behind his drink as he realized it... just to hear another voice.

"Erenville?"

"Oh Carol, is there something you need me for?"

"I just wondered... there was this bug I found that got me curious."

He got off his seat and started to follow her... they left the town to a small bit following the floating bug into the woods... as it let them to a small colony of fireflies... as if they were dancing lights in the wind... as if to embrace the warmth of the light Carol opened her arms and spinned with them in harmony... showing a smile looking back at him... one that got his face to blush.

"Hm? Erenville, are you alright? You look so quiet...Didn't you want to study them?"

"Thats not important right now... at least not for now."

She looked at him a little surprised...he was blushing... she wasn't used to such a reaction from him... usually he was more calm... moreso she was cought by surprised as he took her hand and interwined his fingers with hers...

"Eren..." Her face flushed a little seeing how he leaned closer to her. He took her other hand as well... showing a calm smile.

"You really should be more direct about your feelings, they are obvious."

"W-what?!"

With a quick hold on her hands he pulled her closer for a soft kiss... her hands clinged a bit closer onto his... giving into it...although eventually their hands broke contact as he wrapped her arms around him... before letting go.

"So you... knew the whole time?"

"Not the whole time but you were quite obvious about it."

Even if her smile was happy... it quickly shifted to a frown.

"I held back... cause I knew I had to leave eventually... these feelings want me to stay... I want to go on research trips with you every day but-"

He shut her up with one finger to her lips and smiled.

"I can wait... I know you are strong and will come back to me."

"But... what if I don't... this was what I feared the most."

He held her close...

"Then we just have to make the most out of the time you do stay here... Just promise me to watch out for yourself... like I asked you the other night."

She looked back at him, craddling his neck leaning back into another kiss... even if it was under tears... even if the future was uncertain... maybe one day... she could put her journey to rest and stay with him forever.

[drew-mga2022mi6021]

Reflections | Tightening Everything Up

With the completion of my draft animatic, a critical eye was necessary to go over the entire thing and look for any possible plot holes or things that could make the film more confusing to watch.

The office sequence itself has an issue that I need to work around; the working environment looks rather nice. Ideally it should be more cramped up and uncomfortable for Katu. Initially, I wanted to have a less crowded working space to illustrate how toxic work culture doesn't necessarily just come from places that look bad, it can be from anywhere. However, I feel like I can create a much more interesting dynamic in the film by cramping the space up a bit more.

One thing that I should work on is establishing the boss' personality early on, even before they come on screen. Having them say something like "Oi, you're late, you should have been here 3 minutes ago!" would really sell how much of a scumbag this guy is to the audience. This would then gradually pick up as the animation continues along.

I also felt that the addition of the billboard shot could come off as unnecessary, as the audience already knows that the boss is a terrible person. True, it is a nice addition coming up right before the shot where the boss takes credit for everything the studio had done thus far, but I think I can come up with a fix for this. Throughout the beginning part of the film, Katu does not really do anything other than work. To fix this, I could add an element of small acts of rebellion towards the boss throughout the film.

This could come in the form of the very same bus scene, where they crumple up an article of their boss while on the bus and throw it out while getting off the bus. For inspiration, I was thinking of looking towards political posters in my country, which act in a similar way (the above examples being about terrible leaders, so it works out in my favour).

This leaves the billboard to be free real estate. The use of a billboard as a narrative device for this small scene would work very well to exposit on the world that I have created. This could come in the form of advertising to switch to clean energy, or a brand of coffee that capitalises off the exploitative nature of some companies in this world.

Another way to bring my world to the forefront of viewers' minds is in the Tuk-Tuk scene. Here, I can use a radio or some other form of broadcast for more exposition on the world. One thing this animation does not explicitly state is the lifestyle of the world; we only see it from Katu's point of view. While I want the central focus to be Katu, this broadcast could fill in some space between scenes to tell the audience more about the world before Katu jumps into it.

The final gripe that I had story-wise was the quitting sequence. Quitting is a very important element in this story, so it feels almost wasted placing it in the middle of the film. Instead, I could pull from a narrative device that I used earlier within the film; a cell phone. Just before Katu leaves the office, they look at their lock screen, which is a picture of them and their partner. Bringing back this element at the end of the film acts as a parallel to the former scene, but recontextualised. How would this be brought back, and what does this have to do with quitting? At the end of the animation, I could have Katu's phone vibrate just as their mask crumbles. This last tether to the world they left behind would be their boss, who texts them and demands that they come back in to work. Here, Katu would simply reply with a short and sweet, "nope, I quit". This would serve as a pivotal "a-ha!" moment for the audience, who would now have the chance to get back at the boss in a small way.

With the story side of the issues out of the way, I also found a technical problem with my film. The 180 rule comes back to haunt me, this time during the Tuk-Tuk sequence. Ultimately, it doesn't make sense and is even disorienting when the camera cuts from the front of the Tuk to the back of the Tuk. This scene could very easily just be achieved using the front perspective, which would also ease my workload.

Finally, in terms of editing, I need to look at the overall flow of the story. It is a gradual incline, which plateaus towards the middle, picks up the pace and finally rests at the end. The length of each shot should ideally reflect this. This would make the final film much more dynamic and add some more needed tension to the scenes.

[mayxxday]

Get used to it - Bakugou Katski (part II)

“How could things possibly go bad?”

That was Kirishima’s reasoning, pushing the blonde to make a move on his crush to make them notice the boy more. And the answer to that question was given in this situation.

When Katsuki sat the boys together with the warning of ‘blasting their faces off’ if they laughed, he expected a few things including the boys’ jaws dropping to the floor, laughing and forcing him to do things he probably wouldn’t want to do.

“Is this a prank?” Denki said, looking as if waiting for someone to jump out with a camera,

“You- you’re blushing, Kiri hold me I’m seeing things”

“S-shut up, dunce face. I’ll throw you off this building if anyone hears anything about this,”

Kirishima looked like he was ready to shed a tear. Denki ran out of the room to grab all his shoujo manga. Dumping them on Katsuki,

“Read them all,”

Sero, in all the chaos, ripped a page from Kiri’s notepad, writing at a speed which he never thought he could have. Kiri, soon joining onto, as they started scribbling random words on the page.

“Chocolates. Everybody loves chocolate,” Kir said, nudging Sero,

“I do too,” Denki jumped up, from bothering Katsuki with his manga.

“What are you dumbasses doing?” Katsuki said intrigued,

“List of things you could do to impress them,” Sero said as if stating the obvious, eyes never leaving the page.

By the time, Katsuki returned to his room, it was way past his ‘bedtime’, hands full with Denki’s mangas, the list crumpled in one of his palms, phone buzzing in his pocket with the songs and playlist Sero kept sending. Sighing, he thought to himself,

“The things you are making me do,”

Blushing silently, at the thought. He giddily made his way to this bed. Toes wiggling under his blanket as he snuggled deeper into his bed. Tossing, turning, kicking his blanket way, too flustered to go to sleep. That night, he barely slept, happily so.

Spending the week, secretly reading the mangas Denki lent him, which he swore up and down not to read, playing the playlist full of sappy love songs while in bed, adding his own ideas to the badly written list. Never missing the sight of his crush entering the room, blushing as if on a queue to their smile, paying attention to their little habits and choices. And of course the daily meetings in Kiri’s room about his crush, it was embarrassing but Katsuki couldn’t help the warmth that filled him knowing his friends wanted this for him as much as he did.

Katsuki has been tending to this crush from months now until coming out to his friends, so of course, he thought it was better like this. The inevitably nudging on his friends when whenever his crush came close, the knowingly smirks, and the teasing, was all silently welcomed, making him feel like the main character of some shoujo manga, one that probably sat on his desk, pages flipping with the wind that entered his dorm.

So, the last meeting of the boys, ending in the boys finally convincing Katsuki to do something more than just the staring.

“How could things possibly go bad?” Kirishima said, patting the blonde, who huffed in agreement.

When Katsuki bought the pocky sticks of his crush’s favorite flavor, the same sentence rang in his head. Content with his choice, Katsuki sat in the class waiting for his crush. Out of all the days they could be late, it had to be today. Entering the class moments before Aizawa's entry. Forcing the blonde to be in his seat.

However, Katsuki’s eagerness to give the little snack to his gift, left him passing the snack to Kirishima beside him, pointing in his crushing direction with his eyes. Kiri’s excited smile was blinding as he passed the snack to Sero who sat behind him, watching the interaction between the boys, knowingly passing it to Denki. Katsuki’s leg bounced up and down, eyes watching the snack be passed around to reach its receiver, his crush.

“They looked pretty, even with their hair messy,” he thought.

Denki happily passed the snack to Mineta pointing at Katsuki’s crush, you. Mineta turned to pass the snack oblivious, making your eyes widen.

“Like hell am I, taking anything from this little pervert,” you thought.

Glaring the said pervert, you pushed the snack back into his hands. Huffing angrily, before turning your head away.

Katsuki was shocked, eyes open wide, seeing you reject the snack he bought for you. The warmth in his chest fading into a dulling ache, his legs stopped bouncing as the red from his cheeks drained them colorless. The waiting eyes, returning their attention to his teacher, who had passed on his duties to Momo for the day and now slept in his sleeping bag. His friends were just as discouraged watching the scene unfold with sagged shoulders. Kiri’s eyes sadly scanned his best friend, who crouched over his desk.

Katsuki watched seething in anger, as Mineta happily munched on the snack that wasn’t meant for him. The group of boys trying to calm the human furnace among them.

“The nerve of that pervert, did he really think anyone would accept anything from that pervert. He can only wish.” Mina angrily grumbled while placing her lunch tray on the table, making all the boys’ heads shoot up.

“What the fuck, did you just say?” Katsuki said, words rushing out of his mouth, before he could think,

“Didn’t you notice what happened in Aizawa’s lecture?” Mina asked, focusing on her food,

Epiphany washing over the boys, realizing that you probably just rejected the snack believing it was Mineta who gave you that. Denki and Sero cracked up into an obnoxious booming laughter, as Kiri pat Katsuki’s back, as the previously sulky boy took into all that just went down.

“I know right, Mineta can only wish someone would like him,” Mina said, to the laughing boys.

Katsuki looked up seeing you sit beside him, a pout on your lips.

“It was my favorite snack, and I missed breakfast too, I would have really loved it you know, but it was Mineta so..” You sighed, glancing at the boys.

“I’ll buy some after school, stop whining, smidge” Katsuki said nonchalantly, pushing your food towards you, meaning for you to eat. Cheeks full with food, you turned to the boy, happily slurring,

“You will?”

“Yeah, now shut your damn mouth while eating, will you?” Katsuki said, wiping your messy fingertips for you, never looking at your eyes. Seeing the both of you blush, your hand lingering in Katsuki’s for a beat too long, Kirishima thinks he could get used to this Katsuki. Warmth returns to Katsuki’s heart, silent humming in his chest, lips twitching to reach his cheeks. In his room, his borrowed manga, the fluttering pages stop on a page with the illustration of two hands with fingers tangled into each other, fitting perfectly to complete each other.

Third part?? let me know. Also the taglist is open, if you wanna be tagged for the next part. Byee, have a great day 💕💕

First part : Get used to it

Second part: Get used to it

Taglist: @carpediem1219 @jacimari @i-love-stamps-blog @amatamajiki @codename-hiraeth @sammythesussymango

[ayamturd]

late│technoblade

summary: three times you said i love you, and the one time technoblade says it back

prompt: “I’d do anything for you, whether or not you ask me to”

warnings: fluff and major angst, blood and death descriptions, dsmp spoilers

pairing: in-game romantic!technoblade

a/n: this is my entry for @burntcilantro​‘s 500 writing event!! much love and congratulatory to min, they’re an amazing writer and an even better person (they’re so nice, give them the support they deserve)

also i separated some of the dsmp events and spaced them out (so there’s more time between for plot purposes lol)

wc: (2.0k) - m.list

“Why are you so stupid?”

You were sat on top of a chest, holding one leg with your arms while the other was currently being wrapped by Technoblade. While you giggled at his insult, you winced once he tightened the gauze on your ankle with a glare. 

“It’s not funny, y/n.” He leaned down to bite off the rest of the wrapping, finishing the fold as you huffed at his seriousness.

“I told you to watch the house, not climb onto the roof and play a fun game of risk. What were you thinking?”

His stare was heavy and made you feel little as he looked down at you. The tone of the room changed as you lost the humor in the situation, his concern overpowered by the anger laced in his voice.

“I just wanted to help,” you stated, turning your face away, discouraged, with your arms crossed. “You’ve been getting the all the resources lately and haven’t let me even step off the damn property.”

Looking down, you fiddled with your fingers as to avoid his gaze. “I wanted to try and fix the wood panelings that have been leaking, that’s all.” 

The silence was harsh, and you swallowed deeply at how uncomfortably stiff the air became. Technoblade opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it shut with no words to voice.

With a shaky breath, you gripped the edge of the wood and slowly lowered yourself onto your foot; you didn’t plan on staying here just so he couldn’t say anything more. Technoblade was quick to steady his arms around you in case you fell, but you immediately pushed his hand away aggressively and stood with all your weight on your healthy foot.

Arms out to balance, as you tried to take the first step on your bad foot, you crumpled into your self with a yelp from the pain and collapsed. Ready as always, Techno caught you from behind and guided you to the nearest chair. 

You flinched from the small movement but sighed once sitting again. Techno crouched in front of you to check how you physically were, but your eyes were closed shut as you tried to collect your breathing. 

“Y/n,” Techno call out. Calming yourself down, you opened your eyes to meet his; he was much more sincere before, his face soft as he spoke gently to you. 

“Hey, I’m sorry.” Looking down, Technoblade paused as to gather his thoughts before explaining himself further. 

“I know I’ve been overbearing since the attempted execution,” you reached a hand towards his cheek when he mentioned the recent event, which he leaned into as he continued with closed eyes, “but please know it’s from a place of concern. I just- I don’t want anything to happen to you. I can’t let anything happen to you. I-I…”

“I know. Trust me, I know.” You spoke for him as you pulled him into your chest, hugging his large frame as best as you could. He relaxed into your hold with a sigh of relief. 

“I love you, Techno.” You kissed the top of his head, and he only burrowed himself deeper into the hug.

“I’m so sorry, love.”

Technoblade was hunched over on the front lawn, hands on his head while trembling from the overwhelming pain of the voices. He whimpered at your words, indicating he heard you to some extent.

He had come home, alone, and fell to his knees at the sight of you when you opened the door. Immediately, you had rushed over to him and skid to your own knees to comfort him, but he grunted from your attempts to touch him; even when under the influence, he was still conscious enough to fear for your own safety relative to the blind rage of the voices. 

You had tried talking to him, attempted to get him to give you any context to what was causing his anger, which he answered with snarling growls in return. “Tommy… left… betrayed. Chose government.” 

While broken into murmured words, you understood instantly and tried to bring him back in spite needing to quench your own anger from Tommy’s departure. You rested your palms into the snow, lowering your head as much as possible to meet his bowed head. 

You peered up at him despite his own eyes screwed shut from the unbearable chaos that roared within his head, and called out to him as softly as you could. It was a stretch, but you hoped you could soothe him down by talking.

“Hey bubs, just listen to my voice, alright? You hear me now yes? You can understand what I’m saying?” Patiently waiting, you watched him closely until he gave the smallest nod, fists still pushed against his skull and twisting from the ache. 

“That’s good, that’s really good, love. You hear my voice, now listen to my words.” Slowly, you leaned close enough to whisper to him directly. 

“I’m here, okay? I’m so sorry about Tommy, I know how much you cared for him. I still care for him too, and I know it hurts right now, but rest assured I’m still here. I’m here Techno, and I’m never leaving you.”

With clenched teeth, he let out a sob at your declaration and pushed his head against you. You took his permission to touch him promptly, gripping him with as much strength as you could carry so he felt stable and secure. 

You squeezed him, desperate to ground him from slipping further, and rocked the both of you. He released a shuttered breath, and you kissed his skin gently.

“I love you, you know? I will always be here and I’ll always love you, no matter what.”

He clutched you with his entire being, your words and presence more than he could ever ask and want. 

“Why do you have to be too reckless for your own good?”

You grinned widely at his words, smile almost sadistic as you glanced at him with your arms propped on the axe you carried above your shoulders. 

“What ever could you mean?” Despite the roll of his eyes, he did nothing to hide his own amusement to your eagerness to the upcoming destruction you were to bring. He chuckled, his deep laughter making you smile more softly to how genuine he was as you walked besides him. Hand raised to wave his rocket launcher, he focused ahead proud. 

“We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” Turning to look at you again, you stared at him adoringly and smirked slightly while bashful to his confident manner. “We are indeed.”

It became relatively silent as you walked through the layered snow, feet crunching from your steady pace. You continued to take random glances at him, Technoblade doing the same until you both heard a loud groan. 

“My god, you two are insufferable, I can’t deal with this right now.” Dream sneered at you specifically, as if you were the cause for his own discomfort, and walked through you both.

“I’ll meet you guys there instead, but hurry.” Swiftly, he pulled out an ender pearl and threw it a few yards ahead towards the portal, his figure disappearing altogether. 

You stared in disbelief from his actions until a cough interrupted your thoughts once more. “You know what,” Phil avoided looking at you both, his hands tapping together awkwardly as he walked ahead as well but turned to address you while moving backwards. 

“I’ll see you guys there too, just, be sure to be quick?” You both nodded wordlessly, and he took his leave in fast haste. 

Standing there alone, you risked another glance at him and met his eyes, laughing loudly at the circumstances. 

Technoblade held a hand to his face, body shaking from his laughter while you were endlessly giggling, holding your stomach from the pain. Eventually, your fits faded with large smiles, and you faced him with a shake of your head. 

“I didn’t realize we’d be one of those couples.” Technoblade sighed, though you could tell it was for play, and nodded. “A shame really, I never thought this day would come.” 

You giggled again, and chose to move closer, tilting your head upwards at him with a sweet beam while leaning onto your axe. He gave you a small smile in return, however his faded immediately after. 

Lifting his open hand, he cupped your cheek and bent down to kiss your forehead, touching yours together after with his eyes closed. “Promise me you’ll be safe? I trust you to protect yourself, but for me, stay safe when things start to go bad?”

While you knew it was impossible to guarantee you’d stay away from the majority of the danger, you knew better than to leave his concern unanswered and open. 

“I promise,” you murmured, “for you, I promise.”

He pulled you against his chest this time, engulfing you completely and holding the back of your head earnestly to his heart. 

“I love you,” you voiced, your words muffled into his armor and coat. He hummed while looking ahead, his eyes trained on the glowing portal that called towards him. This was a war he refused to leave with mercy, the price of your peaceful lives together on the line. 

“No…”

There was too much blood. The thick liquid stained every surface and soaked through his coat that he pushed against your wound. 

Internally panicking from your tight expressions of discomfort, Technoblade desperately searched through his inventory for something, anything, that could heal or at the very least help you. He was forced to face the reality that he used all his potions during the midst of battle and combat. He couldn’t do anything. 

“Why, why why,” he snarled, his eyes clouding with an outset of tears he couldn’t care for. “Why are you so stupid.” His voice caught in his throat from his conflicted emotions and he tightened his hold on the fabric pushed against your stomach; the pain had faded at this point, and you were numb to the constant pressure he tried to hold. 

“I’m so sorry, love. I lied.” Your voice was light and strained, but Technoblade refused to accept the situation for what it was. He turned to a perched crow, screaming at it to get Phil and scaring it away with a slash of his sword, before tucking his head down in an almost silent plea. 

“Why do you have to be too reckless for your own good?” he whispered. Though he tried to be delicate, he couldn’t help how tight he held your hand. 

“I’d do anything for you, whether or not you ask me to.” You gave a tired grin as your eyes began to droop, hand tightening on his, however incredibly weak in comparison. 

“I asked you to be safe,” he cried, body stricken with grief as he abandoned his hold on your stomach and instead shakily held your face, your own blood smearing against your skin from his callous fingers. “I needed you safe.”

You placed a hand over his, using all your strength to relish in his touch and kissing the inner of his palm. “Yet you needed my love more.” 

He choked out a sob from your admittance, and pulled you into his chest, your body limp, as he rocked you slightly. “I’ll always be there for you, and love you more than I could for my own safety.”

The ruins echoed the wails of a tormented heart on the broken landscape of a haunted battlefield that called for death and devastation. The smoke and clouds of destruction reigned above, and despite the final end to the corrupted nation that was built on nothing but lies and deceit after a helpless man’s death, Technoblade couldn’t bring himself to care. 

“I love you,” he uttered, the words he struggled for oh so long to express finally free from its cage. “I love you, y/n. I love you so much.”

His words fell on deaf ears, and he screamed in agony at the truth that laid before him.

He was too late.

[infernalrevenge]

Hey there😊 I was wondering if I could request some headcanons for house dimitrescu s/o coming out as ftm perhaps reader is nervous to tell them afraid that he'll get kicked out and broken up with. I've been in a really bad funk lately and this would help thanks in advance

Hey bro, I feel you on this one. I hope this helps lifts your spirits in some way, this funk will pass and you'll be groovy once again :P

(CW transphobia in the form of non-acceptance but just as the reader's fears. Spoiler alert: They never materialize hehe.)

Alcina Dimitrescu

You were quite nervous to approach Alcina about this, as much as anyone would be about something this personal.

She always projected this image of an old-fashioned matron, whether she knew it or not. You knew she loved you, but it was still hard to shake the possibility of her not understanding.

You were prepared for the best case scenario to at least be some confusion on her part, and focused on that instead (and not the possibility that she would deem you disgusting and make you leave her presence at once.)

You steeled your nerves and knocked on the door of her office, swearing you felt your heart jump when she invited you in.

As soon as you mentioned wanting to talk about something important, she put her things down and had her full attention directed towards you. You weren't sure if that was worse.

With as calm of a tone as you can muster, you came straight out with it.

You hadn't realized you were looking at the floor the whole time, too afraid to look up and see her live reaction.

However, you didn't really have to wait long for a reply as she leaned down and tipped your chin up to her.

The disdain you feared would be on her face was completely absent, instead her expression was soft and loving. It made your heart skip in a different way than earlier.

"Thank you for telling me this, my love. That must've taken a lot of courage to say. Just know that what I feel for you has not changed -- I love you for the man you have always been, and always will be."

Bela Dimitrescu

Your relationship with Bela was all about "comfortable existence" -- you two count reading different books in the same room as doing something together.

The news you wanted to share with her, however, wasn't something you're sure would fit the "comfortable" atmosphere you two fostered over time.

You didn't want to ruin anything by coming out, but at the same time you knew you couldn't keep it from her forever. You wanted to be yourself around her, and telling her would be the first step to that reality. You just hoped she would understand, or at the very least was willing to understand.

When the time came, the two of you sat back to back while you did your own thing -- you were writing something, and she was drawing.

What she didn't know was that you were basically preparing a whole letter to come out to her and explain your situation as best as you can.

At this point, your parchment was full of crossed out lines and blotches of ink where your pen idled for too long -- you wondered if she noticed the pile of crumpled rejects on the other side of you too.

After a while, Bela was just about to turn around and ask you if something was wrong, she could feel how tense you were against her. But then, you slipped the paper to her and had her read it.

All the while, you had your back turned, knees tucked to your chest as you wished a black hole would swallow you up the longer the silence dragged on. You really wished you had telepathy or something right now, because you couldn't tell what she was thinking.

But all she did was take her place next to you, taking your hand and resting her head on your shoulder. Physical affection was rare from Bela, so this might even be enough of a confirmation of her reaction.

"I still love you, you know? If this is who you are and what makes you happy, then I'm more than okay with it. Thank you for trusting me with this."

Cassandra Dimitrescu

You and Cassandra talk about anything and everything under the sun. She's always been the type to speak her mind, especially when she gets excited.

You felt comfortable discussing anything, but this... well, you didn't really know how to get into it.

You wanted to tell her, of course. You just never found the right opportunity to (possibly because Cassandra led the conversation most of the time.)

But you knew you couldn't avoid this forever, not if you wanted to be with Cassandra for as long as you could. A part of you nagged at the fear that this would be cut short if you did say it, though.

You decided it was best to just be out with it before you could lose your nerve. After spending the night pondering over it, she barely even got to greet you before the words "I'm trans!" came tumbling out of your mouth.

"Uh... what?" (Was that a confused 'what' or an angry 'what'?)

"I'm... transgender...?"

"Oh okay. That's nice, good for you."

"You don't know what that is, do you, Cass?"

".......not exactly."

After some explaining and a crash course on terminology, you get a gentle nudge on your arm as a response -- her way of saying it was more than okay.

And that she wished you weren't so scared of telling her, but even you had to explain that, perhaps if you had any past experiences of coming out situations gone very wrong. She would seethe in anger on your behalf if you told her those stories.

If no one else were around at the time, she would definitely kiss you, just to assure you of how much her feelings for you remained the same. She didn't want any of your worries or insecurities from before this moment to stay in your mind, and she would do anything to make them melt away.

"You didn't have to be scared of telling me, but I'm glad you did. Tell me, not be scared of me. Guess from now on, you can be my handsome little man-thing, huh?"

Daniela Dimitrescu

Daniela is easily the most carefree (and oftentimes, careless) among her sisters. She also doesn't take a lot of things too seriously.

As a consequence though, you feared that it meant she wouldn't know how to handle the news. What if she didn't get it and would be weirded out by you?

Daniela wasn't dumb, you knew that, but you were still prepared to explain things if needed. She had always been curious so you weren't afraid to answer any questions she might have. You wished she would have some tact about them though.

She often drags you into mischief and a lot of the time you would relent, but the one time you stopped her first and mentioned needing to tell her something important, she was the one who tensed up.

Was she in trouble? Did you realize you stopped loving her all of a sudden? Were you going to die?! (She's a bit of a worrier when the words "we need to talk" come out of anyone's mouth.)

You were silent for a little too long and she starts to tear up, her worries getting the better of her before you stepped up to give her a hug. This already wasn't going how you planned.

After you managed to calm her down, you decided it was best to just spit it out already.

Fortunately, the revelation didn't hang in the air for too long. Daniela responded almost unexpectedly.

"Oh... wait, is it male to female, female to male, or something else?"

"Uh, female to male. So I'm a man. A trans man."

"Oh cool!" She takes your hands. "You got a new name picked out? If you're taking suggestions, I think--"

Wait what?

Turned out, she was pretty aware of what being trans meant and had read up on it in books before. She didn't just read for entertainment, she retained other information too.

Still, you couldn't help the sigh (and maybe a quiet sob) of relief when she pulled you close for another hug, this time in celebration of you and living your truth.

"Of course everything's okay, babe! You're still the same wonderful human I fell in love with. I always know how to pick the cute ones."

[astromaki]

part 3 of second choice ; ceo!shoto todoroki x gn!reader (x ceo!katsuki bakugo) (1617 words)

part 1. part 2. (previous) part 4.

tw ; angst, arranged marriage, toxic relationship, degradation, divorce, mention of alcohol, bad language, slightly suggestive ?

EXTRA INFOS ;; all the characters are aged up obviously (they are 30 here), the point of view of this third part is from shoto todoroki !

confrontation. [7 : 16 pm]

a week has passed since he came home that night drunk. that he had begged momo to stay with him. that he had accidentally seen those divorce papers crumpled by your hands.

momo had seen them too that night, and yet she and shoto had not commented on them. good, he wasn't in the mood anyway.

it had become almost official, even the media had it on their front pages. "one of japan's richest couples on the verge of divorce?", "billionaire todoroki single again?" "y/n, will the heir.ess of their father's company return to being a lawyer?"

he would have liked to say that he cared what you thought about it. if you cried, screamed, were you hurt ? but that would be lying, you were the least of his worries.

and then, wasn't it what he wanted from the beginning ?

that you would end up hating him so much that you would leave him. that he could finally be free of the weight that you represented every day.

and yet his signature was still missing.

"you can't even love your partner properly, and now i hear through the media that a divorce is on the way ? you're pathetic son. i knew i should have married them to touya. " enji's heart-attack voice echoed terribly through the phone, which made shoto sigh. he was even pretty sure he could hear it from across town.

"calm down." shoto said in an annoyed tone. "your marriage isn't a success either, so keep your remarks to yourself. bye. "

"you idiot, don't you dare hanging up on me. i don't care if you can't satisfy your s/o, i don't care if they feel bad about this arranged marriage either. but y/n y/l/n comes from a very famous lawyer's family, so get a divorce and the amount of money you have to give will be huge. "

"i manage them, it will not be a problem. i have to go now. "

the young man finally returned to your room, looking exhausted, his tie loosened and ready to down a few glasses of whiskey.

however, he was surprised to see you. dressed in a beautiful versace dress/suit, you were glowing. well no, he meant that you looked... good.

though, it was the first time he took the time to look at you. to admire you.

the young man finally met your indifferent gaze through the mirror you were standing in front of. that gaze that was so joyful and sparkling at the beginning of your marriage, full of hope to transform this purely financial union into a love marriage.

but that look, devoid of emotion, almost made shoto, Japan's most ambitious ceo, doubt himself. almost.

"i'm surprised you're still using my card to splurge. how much is this one? $1000 ? $2000 ?"

he was tired, exhausted. nut the truth is he was in the mood to be a pain in the ass tonight.

"$ 8,330. plus the $800 pair. " you replied coldly.

your answer was like a slap in the face to your husband. not because of the price, he didn't give a fuck about this.

but this tone right there. it wasn't like you. you were normally so gentle, patient even with the worst of the crap he put you through. that naive kindness that made him want to vomit was completely gone. he didn't expect such a turn of events.

"so you decide to divorce me, but first you want to empty my bank account? you're exactly as I imagined." his look that used to reflect nothing but fatigue was now full of contempt for you.

you finally faced him. shit, he couldn't help but find you beautiful.

"here todoroki, let's talk about the divorce. " you began, quietly walking over to the cabinet and pulling out a stack of documents. "i've signed it, sign it, and i'll take it to my lawyers first thing in the morning.

he snatched them out of your hand and threw them across the room. you didn't even flinch, you even held his gaze. poker face.

a loud silence fell between you. a long silence, uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time. heavy and light. sensible and meaningless.

"what's all this about ? who put you up to this ?"

a wry laugh escaped your lips. your new behavior puzzled shoto. he loved and hated what he had in front of him. a challenge.

"you think i need someone to make me realize that i deserve better than an asshole like you ? fuck, let me laugh. "

your hand went to retrieve a piece of paper from your purse. and it was slammed hard against his chest. bakugou’s business card.

he found your face inches from his, your warm breath gently caressing his cheeks. a scent of whiskey filled his nostrils. you were not sober.

"how many drinks are you on? " he asked quietly.

"so now do you care if i downed a whole bottle or not ? oh please shut up. because now that you mention it, your friend bakugou katsuki may have hired me. to be his company's business lawyer. isn't that funny? "

you turned your back on him, unaware of the state you'd put him in. but damn, it was like he'd just been slapped in the face. nausea took over his whole body, his legs became heavy and weak in few seconds only. and he knew damn well it wasn't fatigue.

so you were leaving him, but on top of that you were going to work for his number one competitor ?

he didn't know what hurt more, the knowledge that bakugo had won one of the most competent lawyers in the field or that you were leaving him for him ? was he jealous ? surely not, it was another feeling that repulsed him. he didn't even know.

"have you lost your tongue todoroki ?"

todoroki ? since when did you call him by his last name ? where are the darlings or my heart that used to annoy him so much ?

you finish getting ready, now wearing your long jacket. he had lost his tongue indeed, he didn't know what to say to you. what to do.

y/n y/l/n, you had succeeded in putting your husband to the wall.

but it was only for a moment. he quickly, too quickly, pulled himself together. his usual irritated expression returned.

"you don't see that he's using you to get ahead of me ? i thought you were smarter than that. "

he took a step forward, slowly but surely. like a predator approaching its prey.

"he doesn't care about you. just like no one has ever cared about you, not me, not him and not your bourgeois family. that's why they put you in a loveless marriage so easily. "

a mirthless laugh escaped from his lips.

"y/n, this bastard doesn't give a damn about you. "

you tried to move towards him, ready to slap him, but the alcohol made you capsize and stumble on your carpet. he arrived just in time to support you with his muscular arms. an annoyed sigh resounded in the large room when your sob reached his ears.

nevertheless, a petty smile stretched his lips. there you were again, the fragile and unassertive y/n finally in his arms.

that bakugo had managed to turn your brain inside out. yet shoto knew you better than anyone else. he knew you. better than you knew yourself. you were that puzzle he had managed to decipher long ago.

"that's not true. kacchan wouldn't do that...", you whisper.

"you know i'm right, sweetheart. you know i'm the only one who's honest with you. my love for you is all you need. "

his muscular hand gradually, peacefully, came to caress your back to take off the buttons of your dress. his lips came to meet yours, to draw you into a long, languid, unsentimental kiss. your lips asked for more, your whole soul asked for more of shoto. more of this man for whom your heart never stopped beating. even if his was vibrating for another woman.

you wanted to feel his lips making love to you sensually, sincerely.

you just wanted him to love you for one night. one fucking night.

shoto was ecstatic. he could already see himself opening a bottle of champagne with his father, to celebrate the divorce that would never happen. tonight, shoto had brought out his best acting skills. millions were at stake. he had brought out his best kiss. he had never touched you like that. so gently, so carefully.

he had never called you by any affectionate nickname.

he has done too much to keep you around.

and you were drunk, not stupid.

you finally stood up, moving away from him, reluctantly. nothing he said was true. from his love for you, to his accusations against katsuki.

awkwardly, you put your dress/suit back on properly.

"i have a meeting with my future employer mr. bakugou tonight. i'll be late. don't wait for me, i'll sleep at the hotel tonight, with your card. "

a red color came to his cheeks. anger ? sadness ? jealousy ?

he had never seen you so determined, so proud. and that attracted him. he was going to lose millions, no matter what. but it was you who was going to escape him. for that bastard bakugou katsuki.

the nice little y/n was no longer shoto todoroki's.

AHHH omg sorry sorry i told you i can't do a fluffy end!! >< (comments and reblogs are appreciated <3)

🔖 tag list ; @nveusii @angelofthorr @missmolliemoo @jazzylove @loki-an-idiot @deepestranchgoopdeputy @mhasimp666 @shotorozu @chscklvr @devilsbooksworld @marshmallow12345 (ones in bold cannot be tagged)

[sassyhobbits]

rowaelin with their first child and they get into that stranger anxiety phase and cry with everyone except when they're in their mothers arms and it's exhausting but also adorable but rowan sometimes feels like a bad dad because his kid doesn't want to be held by him so aelin has to reassure him and then some day this phase is finally over - prompt 😢🥺

ok i adored writing this one. dad rowan is so much fun to work with. i hope everyone enjoys!!

~~~

In his over 300 years, Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius had been awoken by many different things. Whether it was a call to battle while sleeping in a war tent, a summons from his queen late at night, or a lover trying unsuccessfully to disappear quietly before dawn. Yet, none of these manners of waking up had filled him with as much dread as he felt currently.

He was woken in the middle of the night by a shrill shriek coming from the room that adjoined the one he shared with Aelin. In the recent months, what had once been a leisure room had been converted to a nursery for their new baby girl.

It took three years after Aelin’s coronation before they decided to start trying to have a child. It took another year before they were successful. Rowan counted his blessings. He had seen plenty of Fae couples take decades before they finally conceived.

Eliora was four months old now, which meant four months of troubled sleep for both him and his mate.

Rowan was instantly on alert at the sound of his daughter’s cries. He knew that they were no more than a normal babe’s troubles, but his instincts made him tense anyways. He quickly sat up, looking down at his wife quickly to see if she had woken up. Luckily, she still slept, likely beyond exhausted from the mix of raising a child and ruling a kingdom. If Rowan was successful, she wouldn’t have to wake up at all.

He got out of bed and swiftly stepped into the nursery, coming before Eliora’s crib. Her tiny face was pinched up in dainty outrage, small limbs flailing as she cried. Rowan took a deep breath, sending a prayer up to the gods more out of habit than faith at this point, and picked his daughter from the crib. Hopefully, this would be the time he could get her to stop crying.

The little princess shrieked and protested whenever she was in anyone’s arms besides her mother’s. Rowan’s included.

“I’ve got you, my little light,” Rowan whispered to his daughter, cradling her tiny body to his bare chest and lowering himself onto the rocking chair they kept beside her crib. “Everything’s alright.”

Despite his soothing words, Eliora still continued to cry. It broke Rowan’s heart to hear, broke it even more to know that nothing he did could seem to calm her down.

“Please stop crying, love,” Rowan pleaded, threading his fingers through the fine, silvery-blonde hair growing on his daughter’s head. “Your mother is so tired and needs her sleep.”

Unfortunately, even begging didn’t seem to work.

Over the sounds of Eliora’s cries, he heard the door hinges creek, and the sound of bare feet scuffing over stone. Rowan glanced over, finding Aelin walking towards him. Exhaustion weighed down her beautiful face, but her eyes were still full of fondness at the sight of the two of them.

Rowan looked to her apologetically before his face crumpled in defeat. “I can’t get her to stop crying. I’m so sorry, Fireheart.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, love,” she whispered, leaning down and pressing a kiss to his hair. “Give her to me.”

Rowan handed the squirming bundle of blankets to his wife. Aelin situated their daughter in her arms before she lowered herself on Rowan’s lap, allowing him to wrap his arms around her waist, press a kiss to her shoulder, and begin to rock them.

Quickly, Eliora’s cries began to fade away. Her face unscrewed, looking at Aelin with those wide, Ashryver eyes that she had.

Aelin began to sing a low, Terrasenian lullaby as he continued to rock the three of them. It never ceased to amaze him how good she was with their daughter, how quickly she was able to sooth her temper. He only wished that he could do the same, that Eliora would look at him the same way she looked at Aelin and not scream and scream and scream.

Rowan’s heart was full of love as he watched Eliora’s eyes begin to droop shut at the soothing rocking motion and the sound of her mother’s voice. It wasn’t long before she was once again asleep, the night perfectly silent.

Rowan helped Aelin stand, keeping a hand against her back as she brought their daughter back to her crib and laid her down. Perfect. She truly was perfect.

A gentle hand on his arm drew his attention away from the slumbering babe. Aelin nodded her head towards their room and Rowan dutifully followed, shutting the door quietly behind them.

“I’m sorry, Fireheart,” Rowan said again, drawing Aelin into his arms and kissing her forehead. “I know you’re exhausted.”

“No more so than you.”

Rowan could only sigh, pressing his lips together tightly. His emotions were troubled, and he should have known that Aelin was going to notice. She leaned back slightly, peering up at his face.

“I know what you’re thinking, Rowan, and you’re wrong,” she said matter-of-factly.

Rowan wanted to believe her, but he couldn’t help but ask, “What am I doing wrong?”

He had faced many challenges over his years. Wars and battles and tortures. He had survived them all and came out victorious. And yet, the thing that brought him to his knees, was the fact that he couldn’t bring comfort to his own daughter when she needed it. A baby had finally defeated him.

“You know you’re not doing anything wrong,” Aelin said firmly. “The nurses said this happens sometimes. It’s not your fault.”

Rowan had heard this what felt like a thousand times. It did little to soothe his troubles.

Rowan was good at many things. He was a warrior and a general, had stepped confidently into the role of king consort. His hands could kill and heal and build, but they couldn’t get Eliora to stop crying. He couldn’t help but feel that, perhaps, being a father… wasn’t something that he was made for.

It broke his heart to think. He remembered how excited he was when they found out Aelin was finally pregnant, how they cried and kissed and clung to each other, whispering about the future. He had been ecstatic, but also terrified. He knew Aedion, who had welcomed his own son into the world a year before Aelin got pregnant, had felt the same before he was born. But, Aedion hadn’t had the troubles Rowan did. He had stepped into fatherhood gracefully, and his son loved him immensely.

“Hey,” Aelin said, a bit snappily. She put her hand on Rowan’s cheek and urged him to look at her. In those eyes was a familiar fire. “Stop that. I know what’s going through your head. You’re a wonderful father.”

Rowan sighed and hung his head, pressing Aelin’s hand more firmly against his cheek. “How can I be a good father if I have no idea what I’m doing?”

“Do you think I’m a bad mother?”

“What? Of course not.”

“Well, I don’t know what I’m doing either,” Aelin said. “Neither did Aedion or Lysandra. No new parent has any idea what they’re doing. It’s part of the job.”

She made it sound so easy. Aelin had always had a knack for that.

“I wonder if there’s some secret behind it,” Rowan mused as Aelin tucked herself back into his chest and wrapped her arms around his torso.

He felt his wife shrug. “I don’t know… but if there was, I think it would be to love them. To support them. To do everything in our power to make sure they’re happy.”

“I love Eliora more than life. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”

“I know, love.” Aelin rolled on the tips of her toes and brushed a soft kiss against Rowan’s mouth. “Now, all you need to do is have patience.”

He chuckled. “Look at you. Who would have ever guessed that Aelin Galathynius would be lecturing me on patience.”

Her grin was a slash of white in the dark. “I’ve been told I’m wise beyond my years.”

“Who the hell has ever told you that?”

“People. Now, will you come back to bed with me?”

“Of course, Fireheart.”

They climbed back under the covers, pressing their bodies close. Aelin fell back asleep almost comically quickly. Rowan wasn’t far behind, holding his wife tightly throughout the night.

…

Another month went by and little changed. Both Rowan and his wife were getting little sleep during the night, leading to some groggy mornings. He had seen Aelin taking short naps at her desk or dozing off when an advisor spoke for too long. She would, of course, deny it if Rowan ever brought it up, so he wisely stayed silent.

Eliora still abhorred being held by anyone except Aelin. The fact that it wasn’t just him brought Rowan a bit of solace. His daughter cried when held by Lysandra or Fenrys or Elide. She had a particularly nasty meltdown last time Lorcan had held her.

“I know, sweet girl,” Aelin had murmured, taking Eliora from Lorcan. “I wouldn’t want to be that close to him either.”

Still, Eliora’s reactions didn’t deter Rowan from trying to hold and soothe her, though he had not yet been victorious. Patience, Aelin had said. It was easier said than done.

The sun had set below the Staghorns hours ago. Eliora was asleep in the nursery, Aelin was treating herself to a long soak in the tub, and Rowan sat in one of the plush armchairs they kept in their room, sharpening and polishing some of his blades.

It was an easy practice to get lost in. The simple, repetitive movements were a welcome distraction. A good way to cool down before bed.

However, his hands froze when he heard a tiny whimper sound from the nursery that quickly morphed into a shrill cry. Eliora.

Rowan placed his blades down on the low table before him, pushing to his feet and quickly striding into the nursery.

Eliora was wiggling as she wailed. Rowan wished he could read her mind so he knew exactly what was bothering her and how he could help. But, all he could do was take a deep, bracing breath and scoop his daughter into his arms.

“What’s wrong, little light?” Rowan whispered, carrying her over to the rocking chair. “What is it?”

Eliora’s only response was to continue crying.

Rowan sighed, wondering how much longer he had before Aelin got out of the bath and came in to calm Eliora down. He had seen Aelin do it countless times. She would take Eliora into her arms, smile down at her, start to whisper nonsense or sing a low lullaby. She made it seem so easy.

“Everything’s alright, Eliora,” Rowan murmured, switching to the Old Language. “I’ve got you. I’ll never let anything happen to you, little love.”

And then, something amazing happened.

Slowly, Eliora’s cries began to fade away to a whimper and then, to nothing at all. Rowan held his breath, worrying that one wrong move would put her back into a fit of hysterics. His daughter slowly opened her eyes and peered up at him.

Rowan smiled down at her. “You’re just as lovely as your mother. Just as stubborn, too.”

And then, as if she understood his little joke, Eliora flashed him a gummy smile. The shift in expression floored him. She had never given him a smile before.

Rowan felt his throat tighten and his eyes begin to burn, but he smiled back at the tears welled up. A tiny laugh escaped his throat. Finally, finally, he had done it.

Eliora’s chubby arms reached up. Rowan held out a finger, letting her wrap a tiny hand around it. He always forgot just how small she was.

“I love you more than you could possibly know, Eliora.”

He was too distracted by his daughter and the little grip she had on his finger to notice that Aelin had entered the nursery until she was almost upon them. Rowan looked up at his wife, knowing that his eyes were still watery and there were likely tear tracks streaking down his cheeks. Regardless, he beamed.

“It would seem, once again, that I was right,” Aelin said with a triumphant smirk.

“As you often are, my love.”

She laughed and dropped a kiss to his forehead before draping her arms over his shoulders, leaning over and watching their daughter, who was studying them with wide eyes. Once again, Eliora smiled. Rowan would never tire of the sight.

“She looks like you when she smiles,” Aelin mused.

“You think?”

She nodded slowly, reaching out and running her knuckles along the smooth curve of Eliora’s cheek. “I still can’t believe she’s ours. She’s just so… perfect.”

“Like her mother.”

Aelin snorted. “Kiss ass.”

“Maybe a little.”

They faded into silence, simply standing there, wrapped up in their little, blossoming family. They stood there until Eliora’s eyes fluttered shut once more and she drifted off into a peaceful sleep. One she enjoyed for the entirety of the night.

Rowan didn’t know what he had done to deserve such bliss, but he knew it must have been something good.

[bbunnyyy]

Hiii! I was wondering if you could do Mina Ashido x Self Harming reader

(I prefer reader to be female but gender neutral is okay too )

I just followed <3 :)

Meus Amor.

mina x self-harm reader.

☾ TW: Self Harming Reader. ☽

☁︎ She intertwined her warm fingers with your cold ones. Your ears turned red as you secretly relished the feeling. ☁︎

A/n: Take care of yourself, sweetie. Sorry for taking so long, I was busy with exams. I'm here if you, or any of you ever need someone to listen.

<3

The red leaves from the trees around UA were scattered on the ground. They crunched at your feet, relieving some of the stress you had. You sighed, clutching the straps of your schoolbag as you walked to class. It had been an..eventful time as of late. Walking into the class full of people, you still felt alone. Invisible. Already tired, you walked to your seat and crumpled onto your desk. Ugh, your bandaids were itchy...you shivered, feeling cold even with the blazer on. It was chilly outisde, which gave you an excuse to keep your school blazer on.

Snapping out of your dysphoric state, you picked your head up to look for your girlfriend. She was there. Mina glanced at you worriedly, her face brightening up on you waving at her. The pink-haired minx waved back, skipping towards you, with the words of a romantic song tumbling out of her lips. Suddenly the chilly breeze flowing through the class didn't feel so bad. Your cuts didn't sting as much anymore. "Hiya there, girlfriendd!" she said in a sing-song voice while nudging you with her pointy elbow. "You're awfully gay today." You joked. "Who wouldn't bee after looking at their pweecious, cutie girlfriend?" You nodded in agreement, admitting defeat.

Yamada-sensei walked into class, his fist banging the table to get your unruly *cough* Denki *cough* classmate(s) to settle down. Sensei decided to let you "adorable" children attend his class in the library it definitely wasn't to score points as their favourite teacher, no.

☀︎

The class giggled while walking towards the library, the chilly air brushing past everyone's cheeks and through their hair. It felt good. A feeling you hoped wouldn't pass. But there was always that underlying feeling of regret, of emptiness. It just wouldn't go away, no matter how much you pushed. However, you forgot about all of that when Mina intertwined her warm fingers with your cold ones. Your ears turned red as you secretly relished the feeling.

She knew what you felt inside. You didn't need to say anything, she knew. She always knew. You walked in silence, enjoying the silence between you two. You reached the library, still holding hands while sitting on the plush couch. She put her other hand on the Mahagony table, which you laid your head on, giggling together.

☀︎

Some time into class, instead of reading your books, you somehow ended up passionately talking about [insert fav topic]. The sleeves of your blazer slipped to reveal the

[gauze you wrapped your arm in.]

<>

[the pink lines you oh, so lovingly drew on yourself the previous night.]

Mina grabbed your arm, breaking your reverie. "Eh? What're you doing?" You choked out. She tried to pull your sleeves back, but you resisted. "[name]." Mina voiced, demandingly. It happened so quick, it made you panic. You never meant for this to happen. What would she think of you now? No one wanted a person of this kind, let alone a girlfriend. You gave up with a sigh, you had been caught.

Mina, who was at a loss for words looked at your arm with teary eyes. "It'll....be alright, y'know?" She stated, her voice soft. "A-And I'll be here, we all are." Her voice cracked. You brought your hand to your mouth to calm yourself down, a few stray tears making their way down your face. Mina wiped your tears, putting on an undaunted face for you. "Tears don't look good on your face, wipe them away pretty girl."

You pulled her hand off you. "I don't feel great. I'll catch a break." Mina pressed a kiss on your cheek before you could walk off. "I love you, don't question that dumbass. Scars or not."

☀︎

[plush-rabbit]

Uncertainty in the Household

Picture Perfect Series

TW: talk and action for miscarriage, slight manipulation

Word Count: 4.1K

A/N: I wanted to explore the reader and Danny’s relationship in this chapter, so i hope you like it, first part is p rough with the whole miscarriage, so you're free to skip to after the second - if you're uncomfy with that

-

Tears fall into your palms as your fingertips dig into your scalp, your belly- while still early in the pregnancy, still feels as if it’s protruding, and you sit on the shared bed, a faint smell of cigarettes and alcohol lingers in the air and you’re alone. For now, at least. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it were Danny who was the father. You want to kid yourself, to tell such lies that he could be the father, that sleeping with- that being forced into whatever sick game Ghostface has with you- that he didn’t impregnate you. You blame yourself. You should have taken the morning after pill, you should have purged yourself of everything and anything to make sure that you didn’t let yourself have his child. Your stomach twists and turns, a thin veil of acid on your tongue and you wonder how to explain this to Danny. If you even should. It’s still early, maybe you could get rid of the child before anyone has to know. Your eyes widen and you sit up, your eyes scanning the room and you let out a breath, nodding to yourself.

You can get rid of the child. No one knows. You made sure to throw away the pregnancy tests in a dumpster at a park and rip the receipts before anyone could ever see. No one has to know.

Loneliness, while always being your aggressor, has finally worked in your favor. You rush to put on your clothes, ignoring the burning desire to cry, your purse in your hand, you walk to the front door, pausing to leave a note to your partner.

“Went out, I’ll bring dinner.” Something short and simple. Marked with a little heart at the end that makes you feel a bit sick, like it’s something like a lie that you’re telling him. You place the pen down and grab the car keys, rushing down the steps. Each step down the stairs is something that feels heavy, chains around our ankle and the child- no, you can’t call it that. You know you’ll get attached. You’ve heard about the tactics that are used to pressure vulnerable people into keeping their unborn children, and you won’t be one of those. You can’t. Not now and you’re sure not ever. The car purrs to life, the steering wheel a bit too hot from being under the sun and you wait, letting the cool air fan against your already hot body and you reverse out of the parking lot.

-

You return with tuna, alcohol, fenugreek, a peppermint and aloe vera plant, a thin bag that is filled with peaches, different varieties of caffeine that you can already taste, and pineapple. Your hands ache, the base of your fingers sore from the heaviness of the bags that you stubbornly carried up to the apartment. You were not going to make multiple trips, that much was certain about your day. You hear his voice before you see him, a greeting cut off as he realizes just how much you’re carrying. Danny’s eyes widen, and he rushes off the couch, taking bags away and your palms are redden from the indents of the bags.

“Are we having a feast?” His hands are inside a bag and he pulls out wrapped fish, and he stops, turning to you, a tight smile on his lips that you don’t recognize. “I didn’t know you liked fish.” He places it down and watches as you carefully place a clinking bag down onto the table. “Alcohol too, huh? What-” he turns to you, a nervous chuckle filling the space of his words- “Did I forget a special date?”

You shake your head no, already biting into an unwashed peach, trying to ignore how many hands and bacteria have touched the fruit before you. “Just-” you speak with a full mouth and turn your head, covering your mouth with your hand and taking another bite. You swallow and take a gulp of air. “I was just craving fish is all. Why? Do you not like fish?”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just that I- I just wanted soup, and-” your smile falls and he shakes his head. “I can get soup tomorrow. How long until the fish is down?”

“Actually-” you reach into another bag and pull out two containers- “I was able to buy some sushi on the way home.” You pull out a pack and slide the container to him. You spare him a glance as he stares at the sushi with an odd, angry feeling. “Oh, I’m uh, I have tomorrow off, by the way.” You meet his eyes for a minute and he gives you a nod, allowing you to continue.

“You’ve been throwing up lately,” he adds, taking a bite from his plate. Your heart sinks and you try to mask your emotions, turning around to grab a bottle opener from one the drawers. “I’ve been worried, you know. Maybe-” the chair squeaks and when you turn, he’s sitting down, an unopened beer beside his plate- “I should take tomorrow off too and we can go to the doctor. Just to see if you don’t have the flu or-” he tilts his head, his lips twitching- “if it isn’t anything else.”

A part of you wants to tell him your fear. You don’t want to be pregnant, and you hope that if you manifest it enough, it’ll be true. But you also fear that he wants a family and you’ll be the one ruining it for him. Maybe you aren’t even pregnant. Maybe it’s just needless worry over a few faulty exams, but you can’t risk it. Not now. Not if it has the chance to be someone other than Danny’s.

With a bottle opener in hand, you walk towards Danny, his eyes on you the entire time. You place the bottle opener beside his drink, a hand on his shoulder and the other brushing back his hair, combing it to the side. His hands leave his meal and rest against your hips, his gaze up at you and there’s a hint of a smile at his lips, and you lean down, pressing your lips over his scar that adorns his forehead.

“We have bills to pay Dan,” you mutter, “at least one of us should be responsible.” You close your eyes tightly to avoid tears spilling over, the hand on his shoulder tightening and when you pull away, he looks unbothered for a moment before giving you a forced smile. “Let’s eat, okay? You can tell me about your day.”

-

All it takes is one doctor appointment to confirm that you are not pregnant. It was just a scare. And as if life and everything else in control of you wanted to laugh, you bled through your underwear on the ride home. The vomiting in the morning was your body simply pretending to have the signs, your mind so strong that it created a falsehood of pregnancy, just because you were so scared and sure of it.

Life is odd for the moment. You tried so hard to get rid of the unwanted child and they were never there to begin with. You had to go through with the nervousness that consumed you. The call to the doctor, the waiting, the glances that Danny gave you as if he knew something. You wonder if he did know. He isn’t dumb, a bit dense when it comes to your feelings, but he’s smart in a way that matters. You hope that he doesn’t know, for both your sake and his. The little scare will be something that you take to your grave, hoping that it’ll remain just that.

The fan is turned on with a simple swipe of your hand against the light switch, the room filling with white noise. You sit on his couch, your body stiff as if it were the first time that you had visited his home. You still remember how it was. Dirty. You hadn’t expected that from him. There was trash all over, a sort of musty smell and an empty fridge. He hadn’t seemed embarrassed, but rather mildly inconvenienced even though he was the one to invite you over. However, now the place is as clean as it can be, the musty smell now replaced by a slight twinge of alcohol and tobacco, but with an overlapping floral scent from one of your candles. You can’t help but wonder if he minds that you added bits and pieces of yourself into his home. He calls it your home too, almost too eager to make sure that you know that you belong here, but even so, it doesn't feel like your home. It’s too empty, too devoid of your touch. You still feel as if you’re a guest, waiting and cleaning, tending to him when he needs it.

The simple fact of the matter is, this isn’t your home. Your stuff, your personal items that you decorated your home are still in boxes shoved under the bed. You miss your home. “I miss my home,” you say to yourself, tears pricking in your eyes. The rent was cheap, and the landlords were kind enough, but it’s gone. The place scooped up by some stranger and the thought has your stomach rising.

You’ve thought about leaving here. Perhaps not Danny, but maybe that would be a consequence of you leaving. It was too rushed. You were too scared of Ghostface invading your life again. You made a rash decision that the both of you now have to pay for. He lost his space, his privacy and you can tell he holds some resentment, the way he slams the doors close, how he locks the rooms and won’t speak to you until he needs something, until he’s pressuring you to kiss him with a half-hearted apology on his tongue.

You glance at the coffee table, old and cracked, the paint on the wood chipped and revealing the unfurnished finish. The photo frame is cold, a slight layer of dust over it, concealing your nervous smile and Danny’s wide one. He isn't happy, but he’s smiling. You both only have a few pictures with each other. It isn’t much, and you’re surprised that the photographer wouldn’t want more, but it can’t be helped.

The photo is placed back on the table, and you lay down on the sofa, grabbing at the throw blanket that you added. Your arms act as a pillow underneath your weary head, and you stare at the photo, training over how his arms are wrapped tight round you and how close that he holds you.

-

Daniel walks into his shared apartment with you, and he immediately spots your shoes in a different position than when he left. He frowns, walking further into the apartment, his eyes scan the room, his eyes landing on a crumpled bag of fast food on the table, the drink creating a water ring on the table. It isn’t like you to be so careless.

The drink rattles in his hand, nothing but cold liquid is inside the container. His bag is heavy as he leans it against the wall on the floor, and he finally finds you. You’re asleep on the couch, your body curled with the decorative throw blanket covering your body as the fan spins above.

He lowers himself to watch you, your soft breaths and the way your face is relaxed. You’re asleep and it brings him back to a time where you were under him, where night concealed him and he was able to hover above you. It’s much different now, you’re still scared but he’s able to kiss you, to have you rake your nails down his back and hold his hand as if it’s the only thing to keep you sane.

A calloused hand cups your cheek, your skin soft and blemished with faded scars that he’s studied meticulously night after night. You wake up with his fingers tracing over your face and he doesn’t make a sound, everything about him is stoic and he wonders how you are seeing this situation in your eyes. Are you scared? Do you know? Are you pregnant? What are you thinking of him at this very moment? You blink slowly at him and he’s reminded of a cat, watching and tired, and there’s a burning desire in him that wonders what you would do if he strangled you right now. Slowly, his hand lowers, his knuckles brushing over your cheekbones and down your jawline, touching against your pulse on your neck and he feels it quicken. Your eyes never leave his and he doesn’t look away. He’s sure that he could convince you that it was a joke or that maybe it was just a dream that you had. It’s been a while since you had such a vivid dream.

Your hand creeps from under the blanket and you hold the back of his hand, moving it back to your face, letting your lips press against the side of his palm in a soft kiss. “Danny,” you say in a sleepy voice as your eyes close. “How was work?” Your hand that holds his becomes limp and he watches as it slides down his hand, catching on the cuff of his sweater until it dangles off the couch.

It wasn’t smart of him to invite you to live with him. He was too reckless, too needy and desperate to have you beside him that he just wasn’t thinking. Even if you are naïve and easily pulled into a false sense of security, he can’t just explain his costume, he can’t explain the knife and all the careful cleaning kits that he has. This is all too risky.

But he can’t throw you out either. He’s become attached. You’re like a pet to him now, and as every disgruntled man says on television, don’t name something or else you’ll get attached. And now he’s fallen victim to it. It’s nice to have such an easy fuck around, to know that he cold do whatever he wanted to you and you’ll stay here with him, because the other option is much scarier. The corners of his lips pull upwards and he pulls his hand away, fixing the blanket above you and he rises from his knees with a sigh.

“Another dead body,” he says with a chipper voice that he can’t seem to hide. “All signs point to our residential serial killer.” It’s much too risky to have Ghostface visit you, you thought this as your safe haven, you have to know and think that it still is, but fuck does he miss your fear and how pitifully you cried. “You never told me why you hated him so much.” He has to bite the inside of his cheeks when your brows knit together. “I know he’s a killer, but did he ever hurt anyone close to you?”

Your eyes shift and you pull the blanket closer to you, the folds stretching across your frame and showing the curves of your body. “I’m not sure, I just-” you catch his eyes and he sees you visibly shrink away from him- “I’m scared of his mask.”

His mouth fills with saliva as he thinks about just how frightened you are. “What a shame, I was hoping to get into roleplay.” He could think about you know, how you'd hit and scream, how he could pretend that it was all part of the act and just hold you down, thinking about how you would put the pieces together and sob.

“That isn’t funny,” you say in a high-pitched voice, already cracking and sitting up to lessen the distance between the two of you. He rolls his eyes in response, standing up from his crouch with a hiss between his teeth. “People are dead,” you whine, as if he hasn’t been keeping up with the news with you. “He killed people.” You’re much more emotional than he thought, but you’ve held your mouth for so long, suffered in your silence and in your vulnerability; it's only natural you would have such strong emotions.

“Relax, it was a joke.” He takes off his jacket and tosses it beside you, watching as you pull yourself closer, further away from his jacket and only staring at it with confusion, as if he dared to have the audacity to throw something your way.

“A dumb one,” you say with with a pout, gripping tighter onto the blanket.

“I said relax,” Danny says in a stern voice, already done with the conversation. He may have been the one to start it but he was hoping for a more playful one, or rather one where you go along with him rather than try to fight him.

“Whatever,” you huff, and he sees you bundle the blanket in your arms, pushing yourself to the further end of the couch, looking at the wall with furrowed brows as your hand tries to discreetly cover your pout.

“Great,” he says sarcastically, turning around and walking towards the fridge. “Now, you’re angry,” he says loud enough for you to hear.

He rises back up with a bottle in his hand, toying with the cap, letting the ridges play against his fingertips. You don’t respond and he can feel his anger start to rise, something thick that lodges in his throat and makes it impossible to swallow. You aren’t answering him. Usually this would be a good sign, something that means he still has you wrapped around his finger, but it feels different. You aren’t moving from your spot, and you aren’t apologizing to him. He puts the bottle down, and runs his hand down his face with a heavy sigh.

“I think,” your voice is small, and he can barely hear it, but he can, “we both rushed into this… relationship. We should have taken it slow.” When you turn to him, he sees that your eyes are wet and you try to take steady breaths but to no avail. “I’m happy with you, but I don’t think we were thinking clearly when we chose to-” your eyes glance around and you look away from him- “to do this.”

His jaw twitches and he watches you, anger boiling inside of him, white-hot that makes it impossible to think and if he could, he'd grab the knife on the counter and stick it in your back but he can’t. Copper fills his mouth and he turns on his heel, the bedroom door slamming behind him, loud enough that he can hear your yelp and loud enough that it makes his ears ring. He wonders what the neighbors would think of it, but he can’t really bring himself to care. He’ll find an excuse, he always does.

His name is muted through the door and he rummages through the closet, pulling out a worn backpack and knocking a few clothes off the anger that he steps on. You enter the room just in time to witness him opening your drawer and throwing your things inside without a care.

“Danny?” Your voice sounds so fearful and it makes him stop for a second, and when he looks at you, your foot slides back out of the room. You’re terrified of him right now. “Danny, what are you doing?” You ask in a small voice, as you take a tentative step inside the room.

“You want to leave right?” He asks in a condescending tone, stepping closer to you with the back held tight in his hand. “Well, don’t worry. I’ll help you pack.”

“I didn’t-”

“Didn’t you say that we rushed into this?” With every word he stalks towards you and he tosses the backpack onto the bed, only to miss and have it slide down, the contents inside spilling onto the floor. You look away from him and that only adds fuel to the fire that is tarnishing him from the inside. “Didn’t you?” He shouts, slapping his hand on the dresses, rattling your bottles of perfume and creams. He stares at you, his nostrils flared and jaw tight as he tries to keep a sense of composure. “Did you or did you not?” He asks, his voice eerily calm as he lets his nails drag along the wall. “What? Cat got your tongue?”

“I’m sorry, Dan,” you cry, your eyes spilling over with tears. “I wasn’t thinking. Please, I promise, it was just a long day and I’m sorry.”

You’re pathetic and not in the way that he wants you. He turns around and you grab his arm, latching yourself around his forearm. His name is on your tongue and before you have a chance to finish it, he turns around, his hand raised, and mouth pulled into an ugly snarl. You let go of him immediately and try to shield yourself, but he aims for the wall instead. His palm stings and you let out a choked sob.

He can’t think. Not with you here. Not with his emotions running so high. Not when his palm stings and there’s something dark brooding inside of him. He takes a deep breath and he forces himself to look at you. You stare up at him with worry creasing your features.

“It's okay,” his words are still tense, but your body lowers its defenses slightly, and he knows he’s on the right track. “I was angry.” He pulls his hand away from the wall and rubs it with his other, the palm of his hand a light shade of pink. “Why don’t we have dinner, huh?” He tries to give you a charming smile, but it falls flat. “We’ll talk about it over dinner. You know-” he reaches for your hand and grabs it in both of his- “like couple’s therapy or some shit. How does that sound?”

You break away from his gaze, glancing at the floor, and he knows your habits and tics by now. You’ll scan the floor, and look up at him and smile and nod. You play your part so well, and if he had to be honest with himself, he can’t lose that. Not yet. Not when you’re so dependent on him and him on you. He waits for our smile, to give you his own to show that he’s okay, that his anger has subsided for now, but you never give him that. Your mouth parts open and there are tears in your eyes, your hand shakes and grows clammy in his. He calls your name, but you don’t respond. Your breath is ragged, sharp inhales and shaky exhales, and he follows your gaze to the floor under the bed.

In the corner of his eye, he spots white and his nails dig into your skin. “Go get me a beer, I’ll-” he looks down at you and your eyes are stuck, glued to the floor where you can see the face that has haunted you- “I’ll clean up, okay? Just give me a moment.” It isn’t enough, you’re still looking where the mask lays, the bottom half of the face peeking from under your undergarments. Your mouth opens in a silent question and when you look back at him, you’re scanning his face. His body runs hot, his mouth going dry and he says the only thing that can come to mind. “I told you I wanted to try roleplay.”

“I thought you were,” you hesitate, and your tongue peeks to wet your lips, “I thought you were kidding,” you say breathlessly, your words slow as if you were hypnotized and the truth of the matter is, is that you are. You’re ruined by the mask that lies on the floor, the mouth of it the only thing that you can see. You peel away from him and have your back turned to him, your arms coming up to give yourself a hug. “I’ll go get you a beer,” you say in a daze, and when you turn back, your smile is weak, and you can’t look at him for long, your eyes magnetized to the mask on the floor.

He’s left alone in the room, his nails digging into the palm of his hands and red in his vision. The worst part of it all is that he can’t go out tonight. Not when you saw his mask. You’re naïve, and easily spooked, but even you could put two and two together. Even your suspicions would start to rise as you questioned why there was a murder the night he went out. Why Ghostface hasn’t come back for you. You’d suspect him and he can’t have that, not when you’re already so fearful of him.

[aminiatureworld]

Disappearance II

Character: Albedo, gn!reader

Word Count: 2,149

Warnings: None

Premise: In which there is an argument and the reader disappears.

Author’s Note: Idk why I’ve characterized Albedo as a slob twice now. I guess I just think he’s the kind of person to become so engrossed in his research he just, never takes care of himself or his surroundings.

Also this was supposed to be two people but I procrastinated terribly so… here we are haha. Part three tomorrow.

Albedo

It was the third time this week that you had managed to spill his lab notes all over the floor, and frankly Albedo wasn’t sure if he could deal with it any longer.

“You’ve got a lot of papers strewn around,” you said, tone light and joking as you crouched to gather all the papers up.

“You’re the one that keeps bumping into things,” Albedo mumbled, crouching next to you to make sure that you put things back in order.

Seeing that you were putting things together haphazardly he snatched up the papers, frowning slightly as he went through the papers. Honestly, how could you mess up his system so much? As much as Albedo appreciated your interest in his work you were a Knight of Favonius, not a scientist, and as such your visits seemed to cause havoc more than anything else.

“Do you want me to help you with that?” You asked, exasperation creeping into your tone.

“No.”

“Are you sure? You seem, stressed. If you want I could pick up the papers on the tables and organize.”

“Don’t!”

“Albedo?” You leaned back slightly, as if surprised. For some reason that only made the alchemist more irritated.

“If you do that, you’ll just be creating more work for me. I’m very busy right now, I don’t have time to go back and fix your mistakes.”

“Mistakes?”

“It’s already enough that you keep spilling things all over the ground.”

“It’s not my fault that you leave your papers everywhere without even trying to keep them organized.”

“They are organized!”

“Well they certainly don’t look organized to me.”

“You just don’t understand. Besides, I’ve managed not to knock everything over.”

“You know, you’re insufferable when you get like this.”

“I’m not any different than usual.”

“I hope you don’t really think that,” you replied, tone clipped.

Standing up you turned towards the door. Though Albedo made a half-hearted call of your name you didn’t react, simply walking out of the room and slamming the door as hard as possible behind you.

Albedo didn’t even think of you the rest of the afternoon. Anger iced over his slight worry, replacing it with a burning sense of resentment. Your sudden departure stung, and, though it was admittedly childish, Albedo found himself determined not to worry about you.

Besides, you were simply an obstacle to his research at this point. Maybe it was better if you went off to cool your head somewhere, then he could finish up his work. That was what usually happened with other people anyways. Apprentices, clients, the occasional wandering alchemist; they all fluttered around him until he couldn’t stand it and then when they inevitably got fed up he’d finish his work. His relationship with you was still new, and though he couldn’t say that you were the same as all those people in his eyes, he really had no reason to think you would react in a different way.

The sun had gone down long before Albedo finally locked up for the night. It had taken him a good forty minutes to reorganize everything that had fallen, though admittedly most of that time was spent in angry silence. Now as Albedo walked down the streets, still busy with night activity, he wondered what might happen when he got home. He certainly wasn’t ready to apologize, even if his tone was a bit curt his words weren’t wrong; but he couldn’t exactly see you apologizing either. It was bound to be a tense evening. One Albedo was certainly not looking forward too.

All the lights were off in the apartment, something that struck Albedo as odd. Walking towards the kitchen he found a piece of paper crumpled up on the kitchen floor, though when he uncrumpled the paper he was met with eraser marks. Letting out a huff of impatience Albedo went to put some water on the stove. So this is how the evening was going to pass; you presumably at a friend’s house, Albedo in stony silence.

“How petty,” Albedo murmured.

He didn’t expect such a show of emotions from you, having come to the conclusion that you were quite the rational sort. Really, this was all too much. He had been in the right after all, even if he had been a bit cold about it. There was no reason to react in such a way. It was this mindset that carried Albedo through the rest of the evening and off to sleep. After all, it was better than the kernel of doubt that rested in the back of his head, that told him he was the one being callous.

You didn’t show up at the apartment or the lab the next day. Albedo buckled down to work, but by midday the irritation and anger that he’d been holding over were replaced by a deep sense of unease. Hurrying home after work he felt panic shoot through him at the sight of your home empty, nothing suggesting anyone had been there in the time he was at work.

It took all of Albedo’s willpower not to run out the door and go look for you. All the anger and irritation he had felt had been thrown out the window, replaced instead with an intense feeling of worry, and of the realization that his actions might bear actual consequences.

Tossing and turning in bed Albedo stared up at the empty ceiling. He had been certain he was in the right, even this morning. You were clumsy, you had been inconsiderate of his work, you were simply stubborn and petty. Now however he replayed your argument, your fight, over and over again. The more he did so the more he became aware of how harshly he’d acted; the more he wished you would simply appear in front of him so he could apologize. He wanted to go after you, wanted to let you know that he genuinely felt bad. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to do so, to go after you. After all, what if you didn’t want to see him? What if he just made things worse? Once more turning in bed Albedo sighed. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he’d see you again. Tomorrow he’d make things better.

There was no sight of you tomorrow either. Albedo stood in his lab in stunned silence, heart hammering in his chest as he contemplated what this could possibly mean. Was this it then? Had he messed up that badly?

Staring around him Albedo noticed all the papers scattered this way and that on the tables and the desks. Seized by a sudden urge he scooped them all up, carrying them over to where he kept his files. A part of him jeered that it was too little too late, but still the alchemist didn’t stop until everything was filed away properly. Turning around to look at his desk he collected the dirty mugs and discarded equipment, putting them in the sink before turning around to pick through the no longer needed papers that still lay sprawled around the room. He didn’t stop for lunch, nor did he go to start back up on the experiment he was currently working on. Instead he kept picking up and putting away and rearranging. It was almost a ritual of some sort, and though it brought little relief, at least it finally brought distraction.

Still that distraction was shattered the minute Albedo stepped outside. The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon, and the people of Mondstadt were still wandering around, enjoy the cool summer evening. Staring at the people around him, their eyes filled either with purpose or contentment, Albedo realized he couldn’t go home. He couldn’t face the empty apartment again. He thought that his anger would last longer, that he might go a week before feeling as if he burning from the inside out; but now he knew that that had been an arrogant, if somewhat funny, assumption. Turning away from the familiar path home he climbed up the steps of Mondstadt. He knew where he needed to go.

Walking up to the Knights of Favonius Headquarters Albedo was met with the sight of Eula, arms firmly crossed in front of her, faced even colder than usual. Hurrying over to your higher-up Albedo felt uncertainty bloom in his chest. Someone this seemed to bode ill.

“Eula?”

“Ah, the Head Alchemist. What do you wish to say to me?”

“Have you seen my partner?” Albedo paused, somewhat unwilling to reveal what had happened. “They haven’t been home for days, and I wondered if you knew where they might be staying.”

The look on Eula’s face was one of pure disbelief. “You, you don’t know what happened?” Her face shadowed over and she seemed to pull herself up. “If I were your partner, I would declare eternal vengeance for your idiocy. I don’t know what you’ve been doing Head Alchemist, but while you were off doing whatever it is you do, your partner was languishing underground.”

Albedo froze, unsure if he’d truly heard Eula right. The Knight tended to be quite flowery after all with her words. Perhaps this was just a metaphor he couldn’t understand.

“I see that it still hasn’t gotten through your head what happened.” Eula sighed, relaxing slightly. “I sent them off to monitor a few Fatui members, as it seems a group had made their way out of Dragonspine and into Windwail. While doing so they attempted to hide in a small crack in the mountains, but there was a steep drop after that onto the next shelf. Thankfully Amber had also been ordered to scout there, or else who knows how long it might have took to realize they were stuck. I just got the report from them, thankfully there was no lasting trauma.”

“W-where are they?”

“At home I presume. Aren’t you their partner?” Eula tilted her head. “Really, perhaps she should declare a need for vengeance.” And with that the Spindrift Knight walked into the Headquarters, leaving Albedo reeling on the step, heart thudding as if he’d just run a hundred miles.

Albedo practically fell down the steps of Mondstadt, so desperate was he to find you, to make sure you were okay. Eula had said that there was no lasting trauma, but what that meant Albedo was completely unsure of. Had you broken anything? Had you been deprived of oxygen? These thoughts catapulted through Albedo’s brain, constricting his lungs and plunging him into a roil of incoherent emotions.

The sight of you standing in front of his lab cause Albedo to stop in his tracks. For a moment the alchemist was overwhelmed by his emotions, switching between dizzying euphoria, terrible guilt, and unending worry. He took a step forward, then another, walking slowly down the stairs, as if in fear that you might disappear or turn away. However instead of turning away when he reached the end of the steps and made his way towards the fountain you let out a sort of shudder, running towards him and throwing your arms around his neck. Albedo wrapped his arms around you in turn, feeling slightly overwhelmed from the sudden proximity, the sudden feeling of once more being able to feel your skin against his. Letting his head drop onto your shoulder Albedo breathed in deeply, centering himself with your presence, grounding himself in the knowledge that the agony of the previous days was finally over.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled against your shoulder.

“For what?” You whispered back.

“For not listening to you, for blaming you, for being cruel.”

“I’m also sorry.”

“Why? I was in the wrong.”

“Well, I just went off without telling you where I was going. I was going to write a note, but I was so angry I erased it.” You tightened your grasp around Albedo. “I wish I could’ve seen into the future. I never would have done something like that.”

“I don’t care about that,” Albedo ran small circles around the small of your back. “I’m sorry.”

“You already said that.”

“No. I’m sorry for not being there, for not being able to help you; for doing nothing while you…” he stopped, unable to finish the sentence.

Pulling back for a moment you cupped Albedo’s face in your palms, studying his expression. Finally you bent over to press a soft kiss to his lips.

“I forgive you,” you whispered, breath mingling with his.

Albedo leaned into to kiss you once more, finding that his emotions were blocking out any words he might have been able to say. Everything seemed so surreal, as if he’d been stuck in some awful nightmare that only now faded away. And yet this wasn’t a nightmare, this was reality; and Albedo would have to remember that.

For now though, he only wanted to wipe all the fear and conflict away.