#i paused my game of zelda when i remembered i could eat this now i was so hyped 😭

[shalom-iamcominghome]

Reviewing my challah:

This is how the inside of it looks after I tore it! There's something so exciting about seeing the inside of it, like I did that!

It's got a decent mouth feel, and I think next time, I'd like it to be a little saltier - I think I can fix this by using an egg wash.

If the sheer size of the challah isn't obvious, here's a picture I took before I threw it in the freezer:

If it isn't obvious... I'm not sure I can finish this all on shabbos. I wish my dad wasn't gluten-free, I need someone to eat this with me!

Otherwise, it's unremarkable, as far as bread goes. It is significantly better than my last attempt, of which there will be no pictures because it's embarrassing. Overall a 7/10 attempt, I have much to learn!

Good shabbos!!!

[girlwiththepapatattoo]

you see through me what lies beyond, Chapter 2

Warnings: vaginal sex, oral sex (f receiving), fingering, intimidation, Ganondorf being himself

Summary: Left alone in the Demon King's rooms, you pick up a new skill.

Notes: I hadn't expected to do a second chapter, but I managed to get an idea for a plot! Granted, I'm not sure where it'll go right now, but...that's part of the fun. If you spot any mistakes in this, feel free to point it out, I'm falling asleep editing lol <3

Read on Ao3 here!

Previous chapter

You wake alone. For a moment, you startle at the unfamiliar bed, the silk sheets under your naked skin, before memories of the previous night come rushing in. You feel your face go hot as you remember everything that happened. I can’t believe that I really…with him…

You roll over, pressing your hand to the space he’d been in when you fell asleep together. The sheets are cold. He must have gotten up early, you think. You stamp down on the rising disappointment. I doubt he’s a cuddler…

Slipping out of bed, you make a face at the lingering stickiness between your legs. You start to make your way to the bathroom, before pausing. On the table where you shared dinner last night is a place setting for one, and what looks like a folded piece of paper sitting in front of the plate. Smiling faintly, you grab the card as you head into the bathroom for a quick wash, opening it and reading it on the way. In tidy, efficient handwriting, it says: 

My little beauty, I have work to do today, so you will not see me until dinner. You may read anything in my rooms that you wish; I cast a spell this morning upon your brow that will let you read our common tongue. Avail yourself of my bathroom. If you get hungry or thirsty, simply press your hand to your plate or cup and the food you want will appear.  Above all else: Do not leave this room! I cannot guarantee your safety if you do. I would not see you killed so soon after you’ve arrived.  Ganondorf

“Not until dinner, huh?” you murmur, disappointed. But you know that he’s a busy man, so you try not to take it personally. 

You soak in the tub until pruny, enjoying the way that you can stretch out in the water as much as you want, even floating at one point. But your stomach rumbles insistently at you, and so you finally get out, wrapping yourself in a big, fluffy towel and heading out to eat. Breakfast is delicious, hearty and filling, with a variety of fruits that burst on your tongue. 

And all the while, your mind is racing. Yesterday, so much happened that you couldn’t process it very well. (It didn’t help that you were very thoroughly distracted by a certain giant king, either.) But now that you’re alone without much to do, it all hits you like a truck. 

The Legend of Zelda is real. Ganondorf is real. And this isn’t a game. 

A part of you aches to go explore, wanting to see all the places you’ve only been to in pixelated form. But your lover’s warning gives you a healthy pause. This isn’t a game, and you were no warrior like Link. Odds are, if you were to meet one of Ganondorf’s minions, you would be killed. The thought made you shiver in fear. 

And so, once breakfast is done, you peruse his bookshelves. Leather-bound volumes sit proudly in neat rows, and scrolls are tidily piled in drawers. Titles in languages you can’t read decorate the spines and covers of many of the tomes, and some books give you such a bad feeling that you don’t dare to touch them. But there are a fair few that are written in Common, and thanks to the spell he placed on you, could be read just fine. You settle on a bestiary of various monsters, thinking to arm yourself with some knowledge at least, and settle down into Ganondorf’s huge armchair before the fire. 

This particular book is large to accommodate detailed pictures of monster anatomy, the binding sturdy and a muddy brown color. You read about the different monsters that one could encounter in the world, doing your best to commit them to memory. But when learning about their biology no longer holds your attention, you return to the bookshelves, looking for something different. 

And indeed, you find it. Sitting there amongst the tomes is a thick book, written in common: Magic Primer. “Primer…that’s for beginners,” you murmur, and pull the book out. As your fingers touch the binding, a gentle warmth flows up your arm. It makes you smile, hopeful that this will be something you’ll be able to learn. 

You quickly make your way back to the armchair, Ganondorf’s words from yesterday about your possible talent swirling through your mind. Excitedly, you crack the book open. 

New student of magic, this author says to you: above everything else, above natural talent, above raw power, the one thing that a learner of magic must remember to be is patient. Learning magic is akin to befriending a feral cat. If you try too hard, it will run from you. Not hard enough and it won’t be interested in what you have to offer. And if you do not guard yourself, it will rip your throat out.  As in all things, you must find balance, and be not discouraged if the power doesn’t immediately leap to your fingers.  Patience, student, will get you far further than anything else. 

“Patience,” you murmur. “Well, I’m stuck in this room until he gets tired of me, so I can do patience.” 

You turn the page. The first chapter is about meditation, and how important it is to beginners learning magic. “It is highly recommended that new students meditate for at least an hour before trying anything beyond this chapter. A chaotic mind will yield chaotic spells, which can be dangerous for new practitioners,” you murmur, reading aloud. 

You shift in place, following a diagram from the page about how you should sit. “Clearing one’s mind, for most people, is easier said than done. But it need not be full silence. A monotone hum can be even more effective than trying for nothing at all.”

You nod to yourself, lay your hands on your knees, close your eyes, and start humming. A soft, straight tone sound filters into the air around you as you focus on your breathing. You didn’t think you’d be any good at it, and it is difficult, trying not to latch on to the random thoughts that pop into your mind. But almost before you know it, the hour’s past. You shift, stretching out joints gone stiff from sitting in one place for so long. 

The second chapter details some easy first spells. “A light spell is always handy,” you read, “and relatively easy to do. Hold open your dominant hand and fill your thoughts with light. Keep in mind, light can take different forms. If you think about firelight, a flame will light in the air above your palm, so be cautious. The easiest and safest is to think about pure sunlight, as it will result in a simple glowing ball of light.” 

You open your hand above your knee and close your eyes. You think back to…just a few days ago, actually. On Earth, it’s the beginning of spring where you live, and the snows are beginning to melt. You’d stepped out of your door and felt the warm sun on your skin, the feeling pleasant enough to make you stop for a few moments just to enjoy it. 

It’s that feeling that you bring up. The light against your eyelids, the warmth on your face, the uplifting feeling it gave your spirit…so strong is the memory you nearly feel sunlight on your skin now. 

Wait… 

Your eyes snap open, and hovering above your palm is a baseball-sized orb of light, giving off a softly radiant glow. 

You gape it as it floats above your hand. You did magic. 

You did magic.

You did magic!!!

You’re so excited that your mental control over the spell is thrown out the window, and rather than just fade, it bursts into motes of light that slowly disappear, like a tiny firework that reflects your elation. You all but squeal in delight. “Holy shit, I can do magic!” 

Your stomach takes that moment to grumble, but you didn’t want to stop now. So you take up the book and move to the plate on the table. “Let’s see if I can figure out how to make the light stay without concentrating,” you murmur as the tray conjures you lunch. 

And so it is that later that night, when Ganondorf unlocks his door and enters his room, he’s met with dozens of globes of light, softly shining and floating in the air, and you in the process of making another, still only clad in a fluffy towel. 

He stares in shock as he watches you gently toss out another globe, which comes to rest a few inches from one that’s already made. He closes the door behind him, locks it, and snaps his fingers. At once, all the globes go out. You gasp, jumping in sudden fright as the room is suddenly much darker than it was, and you turn to look at him. Those golden eyes all but glaring down at you make you swallow. “Y-You’re back! Ganondorf, I-” 

“What do you think you are doing?” he all but growls at you. He walks toward you, slowly, and you feel your spine trying to disintegrate. You’ve never felt so small, so insignificant before in your life, like a gnat before a colossus. 

“I’m sorry, I…I found this book!�� You hold out the primer in front of you like a shield. “I-I was just curious, I didn’t think it would actually work, but then I made a light, and-” 

You cut off with a yelp as he snatches the book from you, flipping through the first couple pages. He’s quiet for a few minutes, before uttering, “Have you tried any other spells?” 

“N-No! I swear, I only did the light spell!” you gasp. 

He closes the book and sighs as he takes in your terrified appearance. “...that is well then.” He offers you the book back, which you gingerly take. “I did not mean to frighten you. But magic can be dangerous to learn on one’s own. I would be cross if you’d burned up my room.” 

You figure that’s as close to an apology you’re likely to get from him, and your shoulders start to relax. A little, anyway. “I…I wouldn’t want to learn the more dangerous spells on my own anyway. I’m not stupid,” you mumble defensively.

“Glad to hear it,” he rumbles wryly. He tilts his head slightly, and despite himself a hint of  curiosity enters his gaze. “How long did it take you to perform the spell the first time? Tell me about your method.” 

You perk up, and you start grinning. “Okay, so, the book said that before you start on magic work for the day that you should meditate to calm your mind, so I did that. Then, the light spell said to ‘imagine a light source, but be careful if it’s fire.’ It suggested sunlight, so I just…” You explain to him your thought process. “...and when I opened my eyes it was there, above my palm!” 

He looks surprised. “That easily?” 

You nod eagerly. “That easily! I was so surprised and excited that the spell sorta burst, it was pretty.” 

“I see.” He looks thoughtful. Then he suddenly scoops you up with one arm and strides to the armchair, sitting and settling you into his lap. His arms wrap around your waist, and he curves his chest over your back. “Show me. Perform the spell again.” 

You’re a little breathless from being manhandled like that-one night in his presence wasn’t nearly enough to get you used to this. But you nod and close your eyes. “Give me a moment to settle my mind again.” 

Amusement enters his golden gaze, as if he knows exactly what you’re thinking. “Of course.” 

You both sit there in silence as you calm down. Though, it was easier said than done: the fact that you could sit cross-legged in Ganondorf’s lap and still have room left over was…very distracting. But eventually, your emotions settle, and you open your eyes. “Okay.” 

He watches you as you lift your hand, but he’s not just watching your physicality. He’s practiced enough in the arcane arts that he can feel other people’s energies. He hadn’t been kidding yesterday when he told you his thoughts about you and sorcery, but not just because your feelings were able to breach dimensional boundaries. He can feel a wealth of energy inside you, locked behind your world’s limitations. But upon traveling to a world where magic is common, those limitations were shattered, and now your energy flows freely. 

He watches as it travels from your heart and brain, the epicenters of magical force, down your arm, up through your palm to curve into a ball and burst into radiant light. It took all of two seconds. It hovers there, casting a cheerful light over the area. You grin up at him. 

He watches it for a moment. “Show me how you anchor it.” 

“Okay.” You close your eyes again. He watches just a tiny sliver of your energy break off from the main body of the pool available to you. It sticks through the ball of energy as if nailing it to a wall, and you take your hand away, letting it float there.Ganondorf reaches out, poking at the orb, trying to move it–but it stays firm. 

“...I have to admit, I am fairly impressed,” he finally says. You light up, almost brighter than the orb you’d created. “Do not get me wrong, this is a beginner spell. Creating light is not difficult for even children, once they have even a rudimentary grasp of their own energy. However…” He leans back in the armchair, looking thoughtful as you turn around in his lap to face him. “You performed this spell instantly the first time you tried it. That is rare. And to follow it up, in your first session ever using magic, with a holding technique?” He nods. “I will give credit where credit is due: that is very well done.” 

You beam happily at him. “Thank you! I didn’t think something like that would impress you, I’m honored.” 

He nods. “As you should be. However…this will be the last time that you practice magic by yourself.” 

You blink, your stomach sinking like a rock. “...why?” 

“Like I said, I do not want you burning down my room. I have too many important documents and relics in here. Instead, starting tomorrow, you will learn directly from me, in a training room much more suited.” 

Your jaw drops. “You…you’re going to teach me yourself?!”

“I am. Your potential is too great to leave to someone else. I will see to it personally.” 

“Holy shit,” you breathe, and he rumbles a chuckle in amusement. “I…well, I’ll do my best to learn.” 

“Of course you will. I do not expect any less.” He watches you for a long moment, before reaching forward and capturing your chin in between his thumb and forefinger. “Be warned: I will push you to your limits.” 

You swallow hard, but smile faintly. “I figured you would. You’re good at that.” 

His lips quirk up into a smirk, and he leans forward, so close his nose brushes yours. “Am I? Is my little beauty thinking of last night?” he purrs. 

Your heart rate ramps up, your eyes blowing wide. “I’m sitting in your lap and you’re about to kiss me. How could I not?” you whisper back. 

He abruptly grabs your hips, and he yanks you forward against his chest. “I do enjoy how eager you are, little one,” he whispers into your jawline, nipping playfully as his right hand lifts to curl gently around your throat. Heat explodes into your veins, and your gasp is music to his ears. “I like the thought that you are so eager, you would do anything I ask. Would you not?” 

You whimper, trembling at his touch, your hips already pressing forward into his. “V-Very nearly, yes,” you gasp. 

He chuckles, low and dark, the sound curling lithely into your core. “As I thought.” Then abruptly, he plucks you from his lap and stands you next to his chair. “However,” he says, standing as you sway a little, “I have not eaten anything since breakfast. Delicious as you are, you are not very filling.” He smirks down at you as he moves for the dining table. “I will save you for dessert.” 

You gape at his back in disbelief as he leaves you there. The heat is rapidly dissipating as you realize that he’d been only playing with you, and you huff, blushing darkly as you come over to take your seat at the table. “You’re a damn tease, Gan.” 

He flicks his hand at the covered platter, and when he removes the cloche there are slices of roasted beef, smelling of spices and something like wine. There’s also steamed vegetables, and on the other plates appear fresh fruit. It’s a very well rounded meal. “I do not recall giving you permission to shorten my name,” he muses, raising an eyebrow as he serves you a portion of the food. 

You flush faintly. “Well…your full name’s a bit of a mouthful.” Much like other things, you think, though you don’t say it out loud.

“Even so. One night of passion does not entitle you to such…familiarity. Not yet, anyway. You will call me Ganondorf, or my lord. Understood?” 

You glower at him. “If that’s what you want, then fine. But it feels weird being so formal with you, and not just because we…we had sex. I grew up knowing you and your stories, for God’s sake.” You pause as his eyes flick to yours. “How about a compromise? Can I call you Ganon?” 

His lips purse in disapproval. “I am not Ganon. Ganon is my bestial form, and you should know that.” 

“I do, but that doesn’t mean-”

“I have given you your options,” he says firmly. “If you cannot follow my wishes on such a minor subject, how am I to trust you to follow my orders when I teach you magic?” 

Despite yourself, you wince and look down. “All right…I’m sorry, Ganondorf.” 

“Apology accepted.” 

He goes quiet after that. You examine him as you both eat, though you try your best to be subtle about it. He’s perfectly mannered, but his eyes are miles away. You wonder what he’s thinking about, if there’s some problem with his plans. You wonder if it’s Link and Zelda…and that thought makes you freeze, your eyes going wide in sudden realization. 

“Could I ask you a question?” He grunts an affirmative. “If you die, am I stuck here?” 

He looks at you sharply. “Why are you thinking of my death?” 

You hold up your hands placatingly. “I’m not! I mean, I am, but not in-I don’t want you to die, that’s not what I meant. But generally, if you’re alive then Zelda and Link move against you, and that tends to lead to you dying. What if you die while I’m still here?” 

He stares at you for a long moment, before sighing. “If they were to slay me, yes, you would be stuck here. But they would not kill you, as you are not part of my plans. You are only my companion.” 

“All right…” You look down, swallowing slightly as you cut another piece of beef. “That would…kinda suck. I mean, not only do I not want you to die, but I wouldn’t know where to even start about living in a fantasy realm.” 

He snorts. “Yes, a world of much lower technology would be a culture shock for you. But once Zelda learns that you know about…all of us, I am sure she would provide for you.” 

“You think?” 

“Of course. Not only because she is kind, but because you would be a source of information for her.” 

You smile ruefully. “Wisdom.” 

The tone of your voice sounds almost resigned, and he chuckles without much humor. “Wisdom. You understand better than I thought you would.” 

“The outside perspective helps with that.” 

“Indeed.” 

It goes quiet again, save for the snap of the fireplace and the clink of utensils. Only once the food is gone does he turn to you. He smirks, his eyes roaming your form, and he flicks his fingers. The platter and plates disappear from the table. “Stand.” 

You flush, but you push your chair back and stand before him. “Good girl,” he rumbles, and the praise makes a shiver run up your spine. “Come closer.” 

You step forward, and as soon as you’re within reach he grasps you and lifts you from the floor, stripping the towel off and laying you face down on the table. You gasp as he pulls your hips up into the air, his enormous hands framing themselves around your ass cheeks. “Ganondorf!” 

He chuckles, a low, amused, aroused rumble as his eyes feast on the view before him. “Yes? I told you that I would have you for dessert, did I not?”

“You did, b-but I didn’t think you meant it literally!” 

He snorts. “Rarely am I anything but literal, little one. Now, unless you’re crying out in pleasure, hush.” 

You flush darkly as his thumbs pull your lower lips open. You glisten in the firelight, and in the light from the nearby candles, and he watches with relish as your weeping hole twitches in arousal. He says nothing, just emits a pleased near-growl as his eyes roam your folds. His right index finger hooks gently over your labia, leaving his thumb free to rub teasing circles over your entrance. A choked cry is muffled into the table top as all the eager nerves are stimulated around your hole, and he smiles when he feels your thigh muscles twitch under his left hand. 

His thumb suddenly sinks into you, punching a curse out of your lips. He plunges it in and out a couple times, watching the way your slick builds around the digit, before he pulls it out to swipe once over your clit. 

He chuckles as your hips buck. 

His right hand leaves your ass as he sinks one long, thick middle finger into you. Your fingernails scratch against the table top as that finger slowly undulates, and your hips move of their own accord, pressing back to meet his intruding digit. His left hand tightens on your hip, forcing you to stop. 

“You will move when I tell you to,” he growls, and all the while his finger continues to move, to slide along your slick walls. 

“P-Please,” you gasp in vain. You know after last night he doesn’t respond to your begging until he’s good and ready. 

He smirks, his golden eyes darkened and molten, as he watches your quivering cunt responding to him. He watches the way your clit engorges under its hood, wanting attention. He watches the way your juices drip down your folds, squelching around him. 

And then he adds a second, stretching you around his massive fingers. 

“FUCK,” you shout, your hips twisting against his grip as he slowly presses forward. His pace is achingly relaxed, not because he thinks you need him to go slow after last night, but to torment you, the sweetest torture. “Please, please, I-I need more!” 

“Is that so?” he replies, his tone as casual as if talking about the weather. 

“YES! Please, Ganondorf, please!” 

The second please is barely out of your mouth before his thumb is suddenly swiping rapidly over your clit, before his fingers in you suddenly piston rapidly. You shriek in pleasured surprise, your left arm shooting out and knocking a cup off the table with a clang. He laughs as you writhe against his hold. 

And then he slows back down. You whine in protest, feeling the beginnings of an orgasm fade back into your belly, and your clit throbs. 

He stands, suddenly, but your hips come with him, and you yelp as you hang upside down, your thighs hooking over his shoulders. Your face is pressed now against his clothed erection, his cock firm and hot against your cheek through his pants. His left arm is wrapped around your lower back to keep you there, while his right stays where it is, his fingers still deep in you.

 He says nothing, and you get no more warning, before his lips wrap gently around your clit. Your fingernails dig into his thighs and pleasure surges up your nerves like a lightning storm. His lips work gently around your clit, not sucking, just rubbing, and you choke on a sob of pleasure. 

You can feel it building again, the beginnings of your orgasm, rolling in the base of your belly as he works you with all the patience in the world. His hips never once twitch despite the massive erection under your face; he’s fully focused on you, on making you lose your mind in desperate need. 

Impaled on his fingers, orgasm building achingly slowly, his beard tickling your labia and inner-most thighs, you cry out his name like a prayer. 

Then his tongue begins to swirl rapid, tight circles on your jutting clit, and his fingers piston once more into your aching cunt, and you explode into blinding pressure and heat. He growls against you as your walls seize his fingers in a velvet vice, and before you could even realize that he’s pulled his pants down, you’re bent over the table and he’s pushing into you. You scream his name as his fingers keep rubbing your clit, your orgasm not stopping as his cock spears you open. He bends almost in two over you, biting down against your shoulder as your walls do their best to milk him. His hips slam into your ass, his cockhead hitting a spot inside you that sends lightning up your spine, and with a bellow he follows you into bliss. 

Your body buzzes as he empties himself into you, his teeth leaving your shoulder, replaced by his lips and his rapid breathes, exhaled through his nose. His hips keep pumping, slowly, sliding his softening cock through the mess he made of you. You whimper his name, going boneless on the table under him, shivering as sweat cools on your lower back, on your thighs, in your hairline. 

He gathers you up, making you gasp as his cock slips out of you, and he carries you into the bathroom. You smile tiredly against his shoulder as he lowers you into the water. “I have a feeling we’re going to be in here a lot,” you murmur. 

He smirks. “I have a feeling you may be right,” he rumbles as he sheds the rest of his clothes. “But I do not see you complaining about it.” 

His smug tone makes you want to argue…but you can’t. After all, your new favorite pastime is letting the Gerudo King turn you into a whimpering, dripping, desperate mess. 

Not that you’d say that out loud, anyway.

[powdermelonkeg]

Secrets in the Breeze

"What do you think it is?"

Several sets of eyes fell on the tablet Hyrule had unearthed, pondering its use. Legend studied the pattern critically. "Hmm..." He reached down and wiped away some dirt. "...It looks like song magic."

"Those aren't notes I recognize..." Sky said with a frown. “Are you sure?”

“No. But that’s my best guess until I can study it better.”

Hyrule reached for his recorder. “Well, we can find out pretty quickly, right?”

Time held out a hand to stop him. He gave the strange tablet a thoughtful look. "...Everyone, stand back."

The other four in the hunting party quickly gave him distance as he pulled out his indigo ocarina. The marks looked a little different, but...Drawing in a breath, he lifted the instrument to his lips.

The other heroes watched in anticipation.

...Silence.

Time frowned, glancing around the area. “...Did anyone notice anything happening?”

“I don’t think so.” Wild paused, peering at the sky outside the cavern. “Not unless you have a song for causing rain.”

“I do. This isn’t it.”

“Wait, really?”

Time offered a small smile. “A conversation for another time. Let’s get back before the others decide to come looking for us.”

“Do you think they decided to cook something themselves?” Hyrule asked, grabbing his game bag.

Sky scrunched up his nose. “Goddess, I hope not. I can still taste that...reekfish thing.”

Wild raised his hand. “I liked it.”

“You eat rocks. You don’t get to judge what tastes good.”

As the others went ahead, Legend glanced back at the strange tablet. After a moment’s consideration, he wrenched it free of the earth and tucked it under his arm.

It needed to be studied further.

“There you are!” Warriors exclaimed, halfway through putting up the oil tarp for the rain. “We were just about to get a search party ready.”

“He means he was about to go running off after you,” Twilight said, giving his well-polished counterpart a side-eye, then shook his head. “Anyways, we’re all hungry. What took you?”

Hyrule rubbed the back of his head. “Secret cave.” He gave a nod to Wild. “He spotted some fragile rocks and wanted to blow them up.”

“Find anything?”

“Yeah, actually.” Legend held out the tablet. “Song magic script. Do any of you guys recognize this?”

Twi, Four, and Wars all frowned as they looked at the markings, but Wind lit up instantly. He threw his hand in the air. “I do!” he exclaimed. “That’s 4/4 time; it’s conductors notes!”

Time raised an eyebrow. “Conductor’s notes?”

“Uh-huh. It’s how song magic works on the Great Sea.” Wind tilted his head to the side. “Though, I don’t know this song. What is it?”

“We were hoping you could tell us that.” Legend said, sitting down by the fire. “Think you can play a tune for us?”

Wind’s eye’s shone, and he pulled out his silver baton, looking to Time for confirmation. “Can I?”

The older hero frowned, considering. “...Not this close to the fire. Or to bad weather. For all we know, it’s a Lyric of Lightning or something equally as dangerous.”

Wind’s shoulders slumped, and Four patted his back. “Cheer up,” he said. “You can still try it out tomorrow. Besides,” he flashed the younger hero a smile, “we should eat before it rains, right? I’m hungry, aren’t you?”

“...Yeah,” Wind relented. He gave one last wistful look at the tempo pattern.

Soon, he told himself. Soon, I’ll learn your secrets.

Rain pattered outside the heroes’ shelter, the soothing sound and calm scent of petrichor letting even the most troubled of them sleep undisturbed, for once.

Well...almost all of them.

Wind managed the 2 AM watch at the edge of camp, eyeing Legends tools and trying to coax himself out of the temptation to try the new song. It had been so long since he’d run into a tablet like that; the thrill of new abilities or hidden passages was a siren’s call to the young adventurer.

Up, down, up, right. It was so simple.

What could it do?

Wind found himself fantasizing about the possibilities. Maybe it calls birds, he thought. Or summons fairies, or lets you talk to rocks. He glanced up at the stormclouds. Or maybe the old man’s right and it’s a lightning song. How cool would that be?

He pictured it; calling down lightning like one of the mages of legend, with just a swish of the Wind Waker. He could take out entire monster camps in one fell swoop!

His eyes drifted back to the tablet by Legend’s bag.

...If it’s really a lightning song, then it won’t work if we wait for the storm to clear, Wind thought to himself, pulling out his baton.

He needed to try it out.

Just to test it. Time would understand, right?

Stealthily, he crept over and grabbed the stone, carefully pulling it over to his post at the tarp’s edge, and stood in front of it. The Wind Waker sparkled with magic intent.

The stone shimmered, triangle carvings lighting up; orange, yellow, orange, blue. Light bled through the cracks, and—

—it crumbled to dust.

Wind’s jaw dropped.

...Legend was going to kill him.

He shoved the Wind Waker back into his bag hastily, trying to keep calm. This is fine, right? If he doesn’t say anything, then nobody can blame him, and Legend could chalk it up to age! Relics break all the time!

...Except Time’s disapproving frown would crack Wind for sure. There was no evading that; it was almost as bad as when his grandma gave him the look of disappointment. He was doomed.

Ping!

Wind’s ears twitched, momentarily distracted from his crisis by the sound. A soft purple glow caught his eye.

Ping!

The Master Sword gave another call, the sliver of visible blade pulsing with lavender light among Sky’s things.

Wind stared at the sacred sword, uncertain. “...What is it?” he whispered.

Ping!

He reached out to take it, then hesitated.

Sky was going to kill him too.

...No. He couldn’t, right? The Master Sword was just as much Wind’s as anyone else here; besides, he’d just borrow it. Sky could have it back. He reached out for the blade.

Ping!

Four shifted in his sleep, and Wind froze, staring at the shorter hero. If the sword woke anyone up before he could fix the tablet situation, he was toast.

Ping!

Panicking, Wind snatched the sword up and ran outside, trying to silence it before it could make any more noise. He would deal with the consequences later, when the others woke up at a normal time. Once he was safely in the white noise of rainfall, Wind drew the blade. “Alright, what is it?” he demanded, holding it level with his eyes as if he could scold it. “You’re going to get me in trouble.”

Ping, ping, ping—

He frowned as it began to beep faster, lowering it. “Come on, I can’t deal with-”

Ping! Ping!

He paused, then lifted it up again.

Ping, ping, ping—

He lowered it.

Ping! Ping!

Back up.

Ping, ping, ping—

Wind tilted his head curiously. Experimentally, he spun in a slow circle.

Ping, ping, ping ping ping PINGPINGPING ping ping—

“Are you...trying to show me something?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Watching it closely, he pointed the sword in the direction that caused the most noise and light.

Into the forest.

He glanced back at camp. If he stayed behind, they could all go after whatever this was together...after he got a scolding for breaking Legend’s stuff, and endangering the camp, and not listening to the old man...

Yeah, no. Forest it is.

Sky rolled over in his sleep, his dreams filled with endless skies and blue loftwings. Clouds rolled in over the picnic of pumpkin soup he was having with Zelda.

Fragrant, but suffocating clouds. He couldn’t breathe.

He bolted awake, fighting whatever was cutting off his air and defeating the tangled sailcloth in a heroic and not-at-all frantic wrestling match. His eyes fell on the white fabric as he caught his breath.

...He should stop wearing this thing to bed.

With a sigh, he unpinned it from his shoulders and went to wrap it around Fi. If he couldn’t have the comforts of home, at least she could. He reached for the blade—

—and grasped nothing but air.

With a frown, the hero fumbled for his tinderbox and lit a match, struggling a moment to make a spark in the damp storm air, then looked around for his trusty blade. The longer he searched, the more he could feel ice creep into his veins; he even rifled through the luggage of the usual borrowers of the Master Sword.

“Sky?”

His attention snapped over to the source of the voice. Time was looking at him with an eyebrow raised, bleary-eyed and confused. “What are you doing?”

Sky swallowed the panicked lump in his throat. “The Master Sword’s missing.”

Time sat up sharply, wide awake in an instant as adrenaline shot through him. He quickly did a headcount.

Eight. One short.

Kid-sized bootprints left the camp’s edge, pressed into the fresh mud in a perfect trail.

Wind ran through the woods, following wherever the sword led him. The faster he figured out what was going on, the faster he could get back. And if he found something, that would make things better, right? He’d even let Legend keep some of the treasure, as a peace offering.

The forest, though, seemed to have no end to it, stretching high above his head, with shadows reaching out from all directions. He remembered hearing about something like this from Hyrule—the Lost Woods, which spat you out the way you came from if you made a wrong turn in them. He’d never heard of such a thing on the Great Sea, but then again, the ocean wasn’t exactly known for its vast woodland.

Finally, he reached a clearing, the sword giving a continuous ringing noise to indicate that he’d hit his dowsing mark. And, standing in the middle of it, was a weathered stone wall, overgrown with vines. He could faintly see something scrawled behind the foliage.

Narrowing his eyes, Wind channeled all the magic power he could into the Master Sword’s spin attack.

“HYAH!”

“HYAH!”

The heroes stopped in their tracks at the noise. Hyrule sheltered his candle from the rain carefully. “Was that-”

“He’s here.” Time said, quickly breaking into a jog. “Come on, we can’t lose pace now. The Lost Woods can do awful things to you if you’re not careful.”

Wind shook his head, quickly getting rid of the stars in his vision. He’d forgotten how disorienting a Hurricane Spin could be.

It had done the job well, though. The vines were nothing but chopped salad now, and the carvings behind the stone were clear as day. Six conductor’s notes stared Wild in the face, begging to be played.

The hero’s fingers tingled; this felt like the start of an adventure, one that didn’t start with a kidnapping and cannonfire.

Drawing himself up, he pulled out his baton, and began to play the magic tune.

This one was different from the first. It felt...familiar, somehow. It wasn’t something he’d ever played before, and yet...

The music carried his thoughts away from him. He found himself conducting from his heart, like when he’d played with Medli and Makar, swept up in the energy the song game off. As he ran out of notes to orchestrate, he heard an earsplitting CRACK, and his eyes flew open.

The wall had crumbled to nothingness, like the tablet had. In its wake, however, a shining blueish pedestal sat, magic spiraling outwards from its center like a spring flower.

Ping!

Wind looked at the Master Sword, tucking the Wind Waker away. He smiled fondly. “Just like old times, huh?” Giving it a playful twirl, he walked over to the pedestal, holding the sword’s hilt in both hands. “I wonder what’s going to look like this time. Are you going to get more powerful?” His eyes shone, imagining the others’ faces at bringing an even stronger Master Sword back with him. Taking a deep breath, he stabbed the blade down into its newest resting place, confident that he could handle whatever boss or dungeon this unlocked.

“LINK!!!”

His head snapped up as the rest of the Chain rushed into the clearing, eyes wide. “Hey-” He tried to talk, but no sound came out; his mouth felt like it was full of cotton, and his head swam. Silver fog began to cloud his vision.

The last thing he was aware of before he felt himself fall was Time throwing his blade aside and running to catch him.

Then it all went white. The only noises he could hear were the whispers of watchers, and the chimes of tiny bells.

[crimsonkenjii-writes]

Congrats! Can I ask for A and C on Rengoku and Reiner please 🤗

I’m so glad you asked for Reiner!! I haven’t written for him yet and I love him so much!! I’m excited to write for him :)) tysm for the request! .｡*ﾟ+.*.｡(❁´◡`❁)｡.｡:+*

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿ 🔥 ✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿ 🔥 ✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

A - Arcade:

Kyo would not be a poor sport at all!! He’d find games really really fun and just be happy that he gets to spend time with you! He wouldn’t understand why someone would get so upset over losing. It’s just a game?? You could win next round??? He just doesn’t understand

“What’s this game?! How do you play it?! AHA! I DIED!!”

In a modern au, I can see Kyojurou not knowing shit about games lolol so he’d learn it all from you if you knew more than him

“A game? About ghosts?? Why would you want to scare yourself like that?”

Games I can see him really enjoying is Mario Kart (or any mario game lol), any fighting game (like street fighter, mortal kombat, ultimate smash bros, etc), Wii Sports, maybe some PC games like Valorant, Minecraft or League of Legends but his knowledge is pretty limited and would depend on the console(s) you have

He’s sound like a parent when he asks you about your games lmao

“Y/N, my dear! Is that the crossing of animals?! How do you win the game?! ....You don’t???”

“Could you pause the game really quick, My Dear? I need your help with something. You can’t pause it? Why not? Isn’t that button usually the pause button?”

He can’t remember titles for the life of him! Making him sound even more like a parent with your games

“Duty That Calls!” “Man of Spiders for the PX4!!” “Thievery of a Grand Auto?! That’s what it’s called, right??” “Redemption of the Dead!” “The Last of Them!!” “Zelda’s Legendary???”

C - Cooking:

Surprisingly an amazing chef!! He cooked a lot for his father and brother so he knows a few tips and tricks that make him an excellent chef

Although, I can see Kyo failing miserably at a recipe he’s never done before. But the second time he makes it, it’s like he was a professional at that recipe for seven years

He’s also willing to explore other cultural foods and learn how to make them, especially if it’s from your culture! He loves to explore new things and learn about them so you opening a new door to all different kinds of foods excites him

“Oh, this is something you always ate as a child? Do you know the ingredients? I’d love to try making it!”

I can also see Kyo being pretty sloppy in the kitchen while he’s cooking. He’s just so in the zone he doesn’t realize he spilled some sugar on the floor, wiped his flour ridden hands on his forehead or knocked over the salt and let it spill all over the counter

But he does a very well clean up afterwards and leaves the place looking like he didn’t just create a mess for two hours straight

He’s always excited to hear your input on is good so that he learn how to improve it and make it taste even better

You guys typically switch on a off with cooking and he loves the way you cook. Even if you fucked up the food a little, he’s still love it because he can feel the secret ingredient of love in the cooking

Even if you’re so terrible that all you can even make is cereal, Kyojurou would literally gobble that shit up as if it’s the most tastiest thing in the world

“You poured me this cereal, Y/N?” *ANSOOQNFIFHAIOWO* “IT TASTES SUPER GOOD!!!” “DELICIOUS! DELICIOUS!!”

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿ ⚔️ ✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

artwork by: twitter.com/AFpocketbee

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿ ⚔️ ✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

A - Arcade

In a modern au, I could totally see Reiner loving games

He got a lot of the consoles when he was a young boy so the older version of consoles are super nostalgic to him

And since he dabbled in a in all the consoles, his range of games is real large so he plays almost any and every game on every console

If you’re not into games, he’ll try his best to get you into it as well so that it’s something you both could share together he just wants to do everything with you 🥺

“Here, Babe, look. This one is easy! All you have to do is aim at the target and shoot. Try it!” you failed miserably “Oh... no no you did good!! Just... keep practicing and you’ll be an expert in no time!!”

And honestly, this guy’s a little bit of a poor sport. Not to a toxic level but enough for it to be kind of cute. If you beat him at one of his favorite games, sheeeeesh he’s gonna pout so much!

“What?? No. You got lucky. That’s not - I - you - ANOTHER ROUND!”

He will literally keep playing you until he wins then turn off the game as if he “doesn’t wanna play anymore”

He would definitely beat you up a lot in a new game you’ve never played before and not even teach you the controls or give you time to learn them. He’d just beat you up.

He’ll get his fill of victory though and then start to teach you and take it slow. He’d even let you beat him a bunch so that you can start getting the hang of it. But once you do, beware. He will not hesitate this time, he’s going all out.

C - Cooking

Oh dear... oh gosh... this man cannot cook. Get him out of the kitchen. Please, he’ll start a fire.

There’s like literally only two things he can cook and that’s French toast and pancakes. Maybe Kraft Mac and cheese.

But he makes some really good French toast and pancakes, he loves making them for you when you wake up

But other than that, he’s so bad. He’d manage to burn the outside of the chicken and the inside be raw

But if he really, really practiced, I think Reiner would end up be a pretty good cook

Now, if you can cook, you can bet your ass this simp would act so extra when he eats your cooking

“It smells SO GOOD!!” “Mmm!! Oh my god!!! BABE!! MMMMMMM!!! MMHHMMMM!!! SSSOOO GOOOODDDD!!!”

“Reiner, stop simping with your mouth full.”

He always looks forward to your cooking and is literally drooling the entire time waiting for it to be cooked. Let’s just say he’ll be a very well fed man because that’s how much he asks for you to cook for him and how much he eats, not even the left overs are safe

[bringingglory]

@eerna oh my god acshdgagaahhdvsahsv I never expected you to see my post, so I won't lie, I feel like super embarrassed acsgsga

anyway! not gonna lie, this wip has been sitting in my drafts for months now because I wanted to see if I could plan stuff but then I got stuck because Details are hard to figure out BUT I did write out a few scenes, so I'll put them below the cut because they're kind of long. the first one is the "opening" of the fic and the second one is a sort of reimagining of the Silent Princess memory. i have a few other scenes sort of scribbled out, but these are the most "polished" of the stuff i've written alsdkfjasdfk

the opening lol

Link wakes to a faint buzzing in his ear that sends little darts of pain shooting through his skull. He waits for it to end, and when it doesn’t he groans and rolls over, smacking the space around him to find whatever was making that noise and make it shut up. He can’t fathom why his brain is rolling through his skull like that and why there’s an intense pressure behind his eyes, but when he rolls onto his side, he has to press a hand to his abdomen to settle whatever was sloshing around inside his stomach.

Ah. He’s hungover.

Link peels open his eyes and the light sends a fresh wave of pain ricocheting through his skull. He blinks once, twice, and then forces his eyes open to find a phone the size vibrating against the ground a few inches away from his hand.

Link groans and pushes himself up to a sitting position before grabbing the phone and dismissing the alarm. When the phone falls silent in his hands, he finally looks around and tries to assess the situation.

He’s sitting in a bathtub, the porcelain slightly damp from what he hopes is just water. His shirt smells vaguely of cheap vodka and he still can barely look at the sunlight streaming through the window without wincing.

A moment later, he realizes the phone in his hands isn’t his.

Link holds the phone up to his face and rubs the grogginess from his eyes. He swipes up on the screen, surprised that it isn’t protected by a password.

The phone is open on note in the notes app, and it reads:

link, if you’re reading this right now, im so sorry for leaving you in the tub like that!!! my dad’s supposed to come home from the office today and the document case i was telling you about is missing and he cant know i lost it. i know we just started getting along, and im so sorry to ask you this, but could you find the document case? impa’s in my contacts and she can help you. also you have permission to dig through my phone, just dont judge me if i have anything embarrassing on there. can you find the file by midnight? his flight leaves at 3 and i can stall him until then.

it’s 6:11 right now so i have to run before he gets back, but please hurry! i’ll be waiting for you

-zelda

Link blinks and turns the phone off.

Last night? What happened last night? Why can’t he remember anything?

Well, if his raging headache tells him anything, it’s that he had probably blacked out last night.

Link isn’t usually a drinker or a partier. He isn’t really one to go to big social events. So he’s really confused as to why he woke up passed out in a tub with zero memories.

And also, why Zelda left her phone with him.

a version of the Silent Princess memory but they're at a party and its modern

Zelda laughs. “I think I got a little too sober from the Yiga incident to enjoy the party now.”

Link isn’t sure if he’s supposed to laugh with her, but nods anyway. “Do you want to get some air?”

Zelda gives him an odd look, then sighs. “Yeah. Yes. That would be a good idea.”

Surprisingly, she grabs his forearm and leads him through all the bodies pressed against each other. He can feel the heat of her hand wrapping entirely around his arm like a hot glove, even above the heat of the late summer air and the heat from other people in close proximity.

Somehow, they make it to the other side of the house. Zelda pushes the back door open and pulls him past the other stragglers outside before they find a nice tree with a patch of grass that seems generally clear of alcohol and vomit.

Zelda releases his arm as soon as she finds the tree and she sits down, dropping her head against the trunk.

“Are you okay?” He asks.

Zelda waves her hand vaguely.

Link pauses. “Do you need water?”

“If you get me any more water, I’m probably gonna piss myself,” says Zelda. “Sit down.”

He sits down.

The crickets hum vaguely around them, mingling with the distant buzzing and thumping bass of the music from the party. But without people pressing in from all sides and an open field in front of them, it finally feels like he can take a full breath.

The silence settles over them like a blanket. It feels comfortable to him, but he isn’t sure if it’s supposed to be.

“Oh, Link, look.”

Link cranes his head to see Zelda twist around and point out a blue flower glowing vaguely in the dark. It was beautiful with blue petals so light they looked almost white, and a sky blue bleeding out from the center before fading out.

He wants to give her a questioning look, but she’s transfixed on the flower. He can see the smallest of smiles creeping up onto the corners of her mouth.

“It’s a Silent Princess,” she says. “It was my mom’s favorite flower.”

He can tell something important is happening, so he keeps his mouth shut.

“She said that we can’t grow them domestically yet, despite our best efforts.” Zelda breaks into a full smile and it’s radiant. “The Princess can only thrive out here. In the wild.”

They both turn to look back at the house as another loud WHOOP cuts through the air, followed by the sound of a can being crushed against a head.

“Nature is beautiful,” says Link.

Zelda swats him and he has to bite back a laugh.

She turns and runs a gentle finger along one of the petals before sighing and leaning back against the tree.

“Thank you,” she says suddenly. “For being there with the Yiga. And for being there the whole party.” He can hear her swallow. “I’m sorry for being a bitch.”

“You weren’t being a bitch,” says Link.

“I was, though.” Zelda inhales beside him. “I mean, just because I’m under a lot of stress from my dad doesn’t mean I’m allowed to take it out on other people. I was acting like a kid.”

“To be fair, your dad sounds like an asshole sometimes.”

Zelda snorts. “Yeah. He can be.” He turns his head to see her lean forward to fiddle with the grass. “But he’s got a lot on his plate. And it probably doesn’t help that his daughter doesn’t want anything to do with his ‘legacy.’”

“Just because your dad’s under a lot of pressure doesn’t mean he’s allowed to be an asshole,” Link points out.

Zelda finally looks up at him and offers him a small grin. “Fair enough.”

“And besides, you’re your own person. You don’t need to follow in his footsteps.”

“That’s what I said,” huffs Zelda. “But of course it’s, ‘blah blah you have a responsibility. I didn’t raise you like this so you could waste your time researching pointless things.’” She sighs. “It’s fine. It’s whatever. I came to this stupid party to blow off steam, I guess. But Goddess, I did not eat enough today to drink that many cans of shitty beer.”

Link sits upright, alert. “Do you need to get food or—”

“No, no, that’s fine.” And that smile returns and Link wonders what else he can say to make it stay. “You’re sweet. But I’ve probably gotten drunk enough tonight.” Her eyes slide up to him and the mischief in them stops his heart for a moment. “You still have to try the Hot Frog.”

Link blinked. “...what is that?”

--

the endings are abrupt on both of them just bc i wasn't entirely sure how to end them akldjfasd. also the "Hot Frog" is gonna be some kind of mixed drink that gets link really drunk -- me trying to allude more to the original memory from the game haha

anyway, thank you so much for the ask! and thank u for coming up with the shitpost because it made me laugh the first time i read it hasdklfj hopefully i'll continue this one day and do ur shitpost au justice!

[runtedfiction]

tomorrow

day 3: flight @zelinkweek2021

ao3

AN: i fucking love haikyuu!! also this week has been lots of fun :)

* * *

Revali finds someone who flies nearly as high as he does on the court. The world implodes.

* * *

When Impa asks Zelda to be on an intramural volleyball team, she doesn’t think about it too much. They’re studying in the library, and she nods absentmindedly while organizing her cybersecurity notes.

“You’ll just be an alternate,” Impa says, over-explaining even though she knows that Zelda would agree to hide a body with her. “We have six people already, so occasionally you might have to sub in, but I don’t think that would happen. You can also borrow my gear.”

“Well, you remember how bad I was in high school,” Zelda says with a shrug. “And it’s been two years since then, so.”

“Don’t worry!” Impa waves her hand. “Most of them are Mipha’s friends, so they’re chill. We’re all very casual.”

Zelda nods again, and begins reading about different kinds of web attacks.

(If this were a sitcom, this would be the part where the narrator tells the audience, “They were not chill. Or casual.”)

* * *

She shows up ten minutes late to their first game. It’s not her fault--the exam ran over, and she had to get changed before coming--but it’s a bad look nonetheless. Everyone’s looking at her, already lined up on the court, and she smiles apologetically while dying inside.

“Midterm started late, sorry!”

“No worries,” Impa says. “We’re just getting started!”

The whistle blows, and a boy with black--no navy--hair does a jump serve that slams into the opposing team’s court. Zelda doesn’t know if she’s seen anyone jump this high.

“Way to go, Revali,” the burliest person she’s ever seen says. He pulls Revali in for what looks to be a bone-crushing hug.

The other team doesn’t score a point until Revali misses his fourth monster serve; the ball goes just outside the lines. But even when the other team finally gets the ball, it’s easy for the burly boy to receive, Mipha to set, and her roommate (Urbosa?) to spike.

Zelda realizes very quickly, much to her horror, that everyone on this team is good. She can’t even do an overhand serve--what was Impa thinking, what was she thinking--but she doesn’t have time to continue to despair because someone else is serving now.

He has a powerful overhand; again, the ball goes straight into the court. But for his second serve, he takes a few steps back, and flies for his jump serve. He’s shorter than the first boy, but he’s jumping almost as tall as him. Zelda’s mouth opens slightly.

“Nice one Link!” Urbosa says. Revali snorts.

Their team--the Champions--wins the game in what must be under half an hour. Zelda thinks about how she hasn’t done an underhand serve in two years and wants to scream.

* * *

After the third game (another ridiculously easy win), the burly boy--Daruk, she’s learned--suggests that they all go out for frozen yogurt. It’s 11pm and the brunt of exams have passed, so everyone is free.

“Perfect!” His voice booms throughout the gym and matches his giant smile. He claps a hand on Link’s shoulder. The force of it undoes his loose ponytail. “Let’s celebrate the little guy for his final block!”

They go to Selmie’s Spot and eat on the sidewalk. It’s a chilly night, but the chocolate is so delicious that she can’t complain.

“Link,” Revali asks, “where did you learn to play like that?”

“I started in middle school,” he says. Zelda wonders if she’s taller than him--they’re definitely the same height at least. “And then I played through all of high school.”

“Nice,” Revali says in a way that makes it clear he does not, in fact, find that nice.

“Your vertical is quite impressive,” Mipha says. Revali’s eyes look like they could shoot out murderous laser beams.

When everyone’s finished with their ice cream, they figure out logistics for walking back home. Impa, Mipha, and Urbosa head north; Daruk and Revali accompany them.

Zelda finds herself alone with Link, who doesn’t have much to say.

“You’re quite good,” she says.

“Thanks.”

“Did you ever consider playing for real in college?”

“Nah.”

Zelda shuts up quickly, and they reach her gate soon enough.

“Thanks for walking me here,” she says.

“No problem.”

Euch, she thinks as she walks him away. The night swallows his bright blue hoodie. Standoffish.

* * *

For the next two games, Zelda sits on the sidelines and alternates between clapping and getting work done on her laptop. Everything goes swimmingly. Link and Revali rack up points from serves and general talent, Daruk receives steadily, and Mipha and Impa set to Urbosa for spikes.

Then Zelda gets called into the next game. When Revali mentioned that he needed to leave for someone’s birthday party, she agreed to sub in, assuming that the game might end before them anyway.

The game, however, is not ending early; the Guardians might hand the Champions their first loss.

They’re one point behind when Zelda steps in, and then they’re five points behind. The best server on the opposing team aims the balls straight for her, and even though she can get the ball up most of the time, it’s punishing. It slams into her forearms, sometimes spiralling off (Link manages to dive and save it once), and rarely making it to Mipha.

Finally the serve goes out of bounds, and it’s a relief. But then it’s her turn to serve, and oh God, it’s match point.

“It’s ok, you got this!”

Impa’s too kind. Zelda takes one swing at the ball--underhand, how humiliating--and loses the game.

* * *

On the walk back, she’s the quiet one this time.

She doesn’t understand why she’s so upset; intramural volleyball doesn’t matter. Her grades are excellent, she probably has a second date with that cute classmate, and she definitely has a second interview with the university research lab.

Link speaks, unprompted, for the first time in her presence.

“You don’t need to look so worried,” he says.

“I don’t look worried,” she counters. Are her brows furrowed? They are. She makes a conscious effort to smooth them out.

He smiles. “Whatever you say.”

She spends the rest of the walk wondering if she looks worried. Then she remembers how she lost the game for everyone tonight, and that awful feeling pools in her stomach again.

“Hey,” she says when they reach her gate. “What did I do wrong tonight?”

He looks surprised. “Oh, hm--”

“Too much to count?” She tries to say it as a joke, but it comes out a bit desperate. Fuck.

“My roommate books practice courts sometimes, and always asks if I want to come,” he says instead of answering. “Maybe we can practice this week and I’ll show you some stuff?”

She nods. Her brows are furrowed again.

"Don't worry," he says. "It'll be chill."

“I’m not--I’m not worried,” she says.

“Ok,” he says, and she thinks he’s laughing as he walks away.

She scowls. Annoying.

* * *

At the practice court, he teaches her how to serve. Thankfully only Impa and Link’s friends get to dodge her serves that first go into the net, then way too deep, before finally she starts hitting the court.

“Nice,” he says after what must be two hours. She’s exhausted. “Remember you want to hold the ball steady in your left hand before you pound it with your right.”

“Uh. Ok.”

When they’re all walking out of the gym at the end of the practice, Link turns to her. “Sidon booked the court for Sunday night too, if you want to come then.”

“That would be great, thanks."

“He’s cute, right,” Impa says when Link leaves.

Zelda raises her eyebrows. “What?”

Impa just laughs.

On Sunday, he teaches her how to receive.

“Bend your knees more,” he says. “Instead of swinging your arms upward.”

They fall into a rhythm where he does a light spike and she gets the ball back to him. Her forearms are red when they break for water.

“Nice. You learn quickly,” he says. The compliment, said so matter of factly, makes her a bit embarrassed. “Before the qualifying game on Tuesday I got the sand courts up by the track if you want to practice a few hours before. I want to do my serve and Daruk said he might need to come late to the game, so.”

“Yeah, I'll come!” she says. She wonders if she hears a “please don’t mess this up” hidden between the lines, but she has a feeling he’s too nice to think that. He’s patient and an understanding teacher and--frick.

She examines his face more closely.

Impa wasn’t lying. He is cute.

Frick.

* * *

Zelda subs in for Daruk, and surprisingly it isn’t a disaster. She gets all her serves over the net, and only messes up two digs. Revali and Link's jumpserves are also particularly nasty this time around, and they win easily.

They make it to the elimination round, and then semifinals. Frozen yogurt at Selmi's becomes a regular tradition after each game.

Before they reach the finals, she asks Link to practice with her once more. It’s very likely that the Guardians will beat the Zorans, and they’ll have to face them again. Impa has a conflicting exam this time around, but can sub in once it ends.

“Sure, I’ll book the sand courts again,” he says. When they reach her gate, he smiles. Cute. “Night.”

Her mouth still tastes like chocolate when she smiles back. “Goodnight.”

She meets him at the court on a sunny day. They have a small rally, just the two of them serving, bumping, setting, and spiking to each other. Even though it’s late autumn, it feels like summer. They take a water break in the shade of the tree.

His water bottle is empty, she notices.

“Here,” she says, holding out hers. “Have some.”

“Ah, that’s ok--”

“Have some.”

“Ok.” He pauses before taking a small sip and handing it back to her. Huh, his eyes are really blue. “Thanks.”

“Yeah.”

On their way back, they reach the intersection that they normally split at when they’re walking during the day.

“Hey,” he says. “You want to get lunch?”

Her heart is pounding. “Sure.”

* * *

When they face the Guardians again in the finals, she’s the most confident she’s been in her skills. The monster server is back and targeting her, but she only misses once, and even then Daruk is there to cover for her and get the ball to Mipha.

Mipha sets it to Zelda this time, which catches everyone by surprise. Urobsa’s been hitting the entire time, barely getting past the blockers.

Zelda sets up for a spike that ends up rolling off her fingers and functioning more like a tip, but no one is covering her, and they’re one point ahead.

“Yes!” Impa yells from the sidelines. It looks like she ran from her test; there’s still a pencil in her hand as she punches her fist in the air.

“Thanks,” Zelda says as she subs out.

“No problem,” Impa says. “You did great!"

Zelda watches as the Champions go toe to toe with the Guardians. She cheers when Mipha does an elegant dump, when Urbosa hits the ball so hard it goes off the blocker’s fingers, when Daruk digs balls with gnarly spirals, and when Link and Revali pull off superstar plays.

The game ends when Link hits from the back row with impossible strength and precision right on the line.

“Nice!” she yells along with everyone.

(But she could swear that he smiles right at her, and it floods her with warmth.)

At Selmie’s Spot after, even Revali gives Link one of those boy handshakes where they do a one armed hug.

“Nice one,” Revali chokes out, sounding only minimally pained.

“Oh come on,” Daruk says. “The little guy won us the whole thing! Your yogurt’s on me.”

“No, no.” Link shakes his head. “Team effort.”

“Yeah,” Impa agrees, putting her arm around Zelda. “Team effort! To the Champions!”

Zelda smiles. ”To the Champions.”

On the walk home, they’re both quiet at first. She keeps racking her brain for funny things to say to break the silence, or excuses to see him so regularly again.

But then he reaches for her hand, so easily, and that’s all she can think about as they walk. His hand is warm and rough and lovely.

Hm, so lunch the other day was probably a date, she thinks. But I didn’t get that specific vibe? But hm, he’s holding my hand now, fuck. He’s holding my hand. Ok, concentrate--so lunch was a date. Ok but even if it wasn’t--maybe we should talk about this. Do we need to? Is there a “this” even?

The stress makes her palm sweaty. He probably notices, but thankfully he doesn’t break his hold and keeps the same steady pressure.

In the end, she manages a lame, “That was fun.” when they reach her gate. Instead of entering in the code immediately like usual, she turns around to face him. She drops his hand so he doesn’t drop hers first, but she wipes it on her sweater to have an excuse.

“Yeah,” he says, smiling faintly. The warm feeling starts to come back. “Really fun.”

“I definitely got better thanks to you,” she says.

He shrugs. “You were really determined to get better. Stubborn, even.”

It’s so easy to joke back. "Worried about it?”

“Oh, yeah. Always. I feel like you’re worrying right now.”

“Well, yeah,” she says. His eyes are so kind when he picks up her hand again. He laces his fingers around hers, and squeezes. The warm feeling multiplies tenfold. It makes it easy for her to ask, “Let’s do something tomorrow?”

He's really smiling now. “Let me cook for you.”

The seed of hope in her chest blooms. “Sounds good. See you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow.”

[comfy-whumpee]

Abandoned 3

Taglist: @lonesome--hunter, @iaminamoodymoodtoday, @wildfaewhump, @ishouldblogmore, @lektricwhump, @that-one-thespian, @raigash, @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi, @rosesareviolentlyread, @castielamigos-whump-side-blog

Nic’s new partner is…

“Hi.” She sits down on the floor opposite him and smiles. Her hair is golden blonde and there is a flower in it. “My name’s Felicity. You’re Ellis, right?” Her voice is soft and light.

He nods.

“It’s nice to meet you.” She holds out a hand. He looks at it, and then hesitantly reaches out. She gives it a little up-and-down, and lets it go. Like one would tell a puppy to shake. “I’m Nic’s other partner! I’ve been looking forward to coming over, thank you for having me.”

Nic’s new partner is… confusing. He blinks at her. He doesn’t decide whether or not she can come over. She’s a guest; she comes over whenever she likes and she does whatever she wants with him.

Nic is putting away groceries. Ellis is alone with the stranger. Anything she says must be allowed. Anything she does must be okay. Like Harvey, blond like Harvey too, with a free pass to do whatever she likes.

She makes the floor look so comfortable, leaning against the side of the sofa. But of course she is at ease. She is in control. “I know Nic is the one who said I could come over, but this is your house too, and it’s important to me that you’re okay with me being here.” She makes it sound so simple. “If you want me to leave you alone, or to go home, just say. I will. I won’t even ask why.”

He won’t. She’s not telling the truth anyway. Why would she listen to him?

She leans back. From her big white handbag, she takes a tube. “Nic said these were your favourite,” she says, offering the packet of parma violets, “so I got some for you. I bet it’s been ages since you had them.”

He looks at the sweets, then at her. She nods encouragingly, so he takes them. She doesn’t give him permission to eat. He holds them in his lap.

“Have one,” she prompts him. She makes it sound so straightforward. “It’s a treat.”

There is his permission. He untwists the packaging and peels down enough of the paper to pull one out, and puts it into his mouth. The sweet, flower-perfumed taste fills it, and after a moment, he scrapes it against his front teeth and crumbles off the edge into sugary powder.

Felicity looks away for a moment, as Nic comes back into the room with a cup of water and a mug of tea. “Drinks for my two favourite people,” they announce with a grin, putting them both on the bottom of the bookshelf beside where they’re sitting.

Ellis isn’t a person, but he knows the water is for him. He also knows that Nic doesn’t like him to ask for permission. Maybe Felicity will give it to him.

The sweet gets smaller on his tongue. Felicity looks back at him, happy, it seems, to watch him eating what she gave him. At least it’s something that tastes good.

Nic sits down on the sofa, and after a moment, the soft strains of a familiar song start to drift from the speakers. Ellis remembers the fluting notes, and thinks of grassy fields and horse-riding in a video game. He shies away from the thought.

“Nic said you like video games,” Felicity says to him. Even with Nic here again, he’s the centre of her attention. “What do you like playing?”

The sweet snaps in two against the roof of his mouth.

Zelda. It’s the new Legend of Zelda, that the music is from. He’s played it a few times, but then he was taken, and he hasn’t played it since. It was a nice game. He really liked it.

Nic’s new partner is friendly and insistent. “What kind of game?” she asks again.

They can’t say no to her and he can’t ignore her. He has to answer, and to answer he has to speak. He swallows. His mouth is parched.

But he doesn’t have permission to drink.

He crunches away the last of the parma violet. It’s all but disappeared. “Nintendo games,” he says hesitantly.

“Oh, like Pokémon, right?” she smiles, with a little pride. He knows that look, the pleased energy of someone who remembered a video game fact despite having never played one. “That’s cool. Are you good at them?”

Is he? It’s been years, he’s not sure if he is. He pauses, the conversation stalling as Felicity waits for his reply, but he can’t figure out what to say. The seconds drag on.

Nic’s new partner is… patient. She keeps smiling, keeps waiting, even as Ellis stops thinking of what to say as anxious static takes over his thoughts.

“Really good,” Nic steps in with an easy smile. “He showed me how to play a bunch and he was always super talented. He plays with people online too.”

“Ooh, that sounds so fun! Do you have friends online?”

Ellis rubs his tongue along the top of his mouth, trying to find moisture. “I used to,” he admits softly. He has no idea what any of them are up to now.

Felicity just smiles, though. She sits back, and sips her water. “I never really got into video games. I’d love to see what they’re really like, instead of just the popular ones. All the shooting and war stuff wasn’t interesting to me, but Nic says you played with them, so you must have found something different.”

She waits. She listens. It’s the longest conversation he’s had in months.

He nods.

She keeps waiting. She’s giving him time, he realises, after seeing him freeze. She’s letting him have extra time to think and put together words and brave the silence to offer them. Her shoulders lean forwards a little, her head is slightly tilted with her blond braid falling over her shoulder, and she’s projecting interest with every movement. She cares. She cares what he has to say. She really wants to know.

It sets a feeling trembling in his chest, one that he can’t name.

When he looks down, shrinking into silence, she leans back. The pressure of the conversation lifts. She says to Nic, “That farming one looked cute. Maybe I’ll pick it up and have a look.”

Nic’s easy smile carries through their voice, as though Ellis isn’t sitting at their feet humiliating them. “Oh, yeah. That’d be cool. You can even marry people on it, I had trouble choosing so Ellis found a mod that let me marry three people.”

Felicity laughs. She has a nice, bright laugh. She hasn’t hurt him or made fun of him, and she hasn’t even touched him after shaking his hand.

She looks like she gives good hugs.

Ellis doesn’t speak again, but Nic and Felicity keep talking, and Felicity says things to him, and smiles at him, and never, ever forgets that he’s there and…part of this. Without asking anything in return, she includes him, as though he…is a person.

[lady-maria-the-wolf225]

Mikey x Fem! reader Ch: 5

Mikey's P.O.V

I showed the lovely lady around the lair. I can tell by the look on her face. She seemed so fascinated by it. Her eyes lit up like glitter. I just couldn't help myself but just stare at her. She catches my attention like crazy. After giving her a tour, I took her to my room. "Well, now I showed you the lair, what do you think?" she smiled and looked at me. "It's pretty cool. plus your room...is a mess." I chuckled and nodded. "Yeah that's true. Raph and I used to share a bunk bed, but after two years of sharing, we made the decision to have seperate bedrooms instead." She looks at my game system. "So. you own a PS2. where did you get it?" I explained to her about it since I can tell she was curious. "I found it at a nearby dumpster. It was kinda busted up, so I brought it here, and Donnie fixed it for me. As for the controller, surprisingly, it still works." I noticed a pretty looking bag, and I picked it up. "Is this yours?" she nodded and grabbed it. "Yes it is. Wanna see what I have inside?" I immediately sat down with excitement. "Aw yeah Do I!" She opens it up and shows me some video games she got. "I have Mario kart, Crash bandicoot, The legend of spyro trilogy, Legend of Zelda, sly cooper, sonic heroes, ratchet and clank, pac man world 2, and...wait. Where's my Sonic unleashed game?" she was looking for it, and I found the disc on the floor along with the game case. "Is it this one?" she sees it in my hand, and she takes it. "Yes. thank you. Do you have any games yourself?" I nodded, and went to go grab it. When I got back, I showed it to her. "I have a guitar hero game. Sadly it's the only game I have." She looks at it and I look at her games. Her games are super cool, I want to play all of them all day and all night. I looked at her and asked. "Hey uh. Mind if I play some of your games? I never played these but I always wanted to try them." she smiles and responds to me sweetly. "Yeah. go ahead." I look at each game, and I made the decision to start off with this spyro game I never heard of. One of them. The cover art was a picture of a little purple dragon with lightning around. I take out the disc, and put it in my game system. I was blown away by how good those graphics were! When the little dragon breathed out fire from his mouth at those monkeys, I was cheering all the way.  Three hours have passed, and I was having some trouble in some levels. Thankfully this lovely lady who was sitting right next to me helped me out. Man oh man. I never knew she was that good at video games like me. After having fun playing, we talked more about ourselves. I told her about the good and bad my brothers and I faced, and how we became friends with April O' Neil. She then started talking about the fact that her home city has the best deep dish pizza ever. Speaking of pizza, Leo brings in pizza and we all went to eat. I gave the girl a slice, and she declined. "No thank you. I'm not hungry." I frowned a bit. "Are you sure Angel cakes? I don't want you to starve." she nods and responds in a soft tone. "Yeah." Leo looks at us and starts talking. "So. I see you guys are liking each other's company already." I nodded as I stuffed my face with pizza. I ate like I haven't eaten in weeks. She looks at me and giggles. I swallowed my food and smiled back at her. She's cute when she smiles. So cute in fact, I wanna pinch her cheeks and smother her with hugs and kisses all over. I notice Raph was shaking his head and sighs. "What's wrong big bro? Something bothering you?" Raph looks at me annoyed. "Yeah. would you stop eating like a damn maniac?" I stared at him and sighed. I got up from the table, and went to my bedroom. The girl gets up too and follows me. I know my bros were staring and talking but I didn't care. Hours passed, and she was showing me her phone. There's this thing called "you tube". She was showing me tons and tons of videos. Some made me laugh, some made me cry, and some well....made me blush. I never wanted the fun to end. Just until I heard her phone ring. She answered it. "Hello?.....oh hey mom.....no no I'm fine! Just calm down will ya?......*sigh* okay." After she hung up the phone, I sighed and spoke to her. "You gotta head home?" she nods looking at me with disappointment. "Yeah....my mom wants me home. Do you guys have a car?" I nodded but then paused when I remembered what happened with the shell raiser. "Yeah. we do, but it's in need of repair right now because I accidentally crashed it last week after I made the dumbest decision to give that baby a spin. I'll just carry you home cutie pie." I helped her with her stuff, but she decided to let me keep her games which was very sweet of her by the way. I picked her up bridal style, and I used my rocket skateboard to move quicker. "Just show me where you live, and we're good to go." she nods and we skated the night away. The night was gorgeous out. Stars were sparkling all over, and the moon was glowing like a shiny light bulb. She finally pointed to her home, and I landed by the balcony. "And we're here." I gently put her down, and she enters her home. "Well, glad we got to know each other. and....I was wondering.... Um...." I rubbed the back of my neck as I chuckled and blushed bright red feeling nervous. She put her hand on my shoulder and responded. "I'd be happy to come over again soon." I smiled and looked into her innocent (E/C) eyes. She giggled at me and I blushed. "I better get going. I don't want my master splinter to know that I'm gone." she nods in understanding. As she was about to go, I almost forgot to ask. "Wait up. You forgot to tell me your name." She smiles at me. "My name is (Y/N)." my eyes lit up when I heard her name for the first time. "(Y/N)....that's a pretty name." she rolls her eyes chuckling at me. "Well. goodnight.....Michelangelo." I stared at her dreamily but then snapped out of it. "Please.....call me mikey." We both waved goodbye, and I started running off before anyone would see me out in the open. I can't believe it....I finally spent time with a girl! The first girl to ever hang out with a turtle like me! Oh that (Y/N). She makes me want to fly high in the sky. I can't wait to see her again, whatever day she may come by to the lair to see me. I just also hope that my bros and this outside world will accept us too. I know a friendship is an okay thing for them but love?....I guess I'll be the first to show that mutants and humans can fall in love. Besides. Love comes in many shapes and forms. What's the worst that could happen?

End of P.O.V Chapter 6 will be next. :)

[beyondconfessor]

Principle Decisions [11/24]

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Lilith/Zelda Spellman

Summary: It was nice to indulge, for a moment, that Lilith was honestly pleased to see her. That her fingers ran through Zelda’s hair because she wanted to feel her moan against her, that her hand slid around her waist and held her tight because she wanted to hold her. For a moment, Zelda could pretend that this was all real.

N.B.: Also posted on AO3. This is pure fantasy, please suspend your disbelief.

Zelda swallowed as she stood in front of the classroom. She’d been flat out since that morning. Given that her Saturday had been lost, she’d spent all of Sunday finishing off her marking and lesson planning until late into the evening hours. As such, she was exhausted.

She drew in a breath, feeling the caffeine run through her bloodstream as she lifted the marker to the whiteboard and wrote out the main dot points, discussing her thoughts as the class listened to her.

She couldn’t show weakness. Couldn’t allow them to see the exhaustion drifting over her. She needed to focus on the work and drive the points home.

She turned around, feeling a wave of dizziness wash over. Walking back to the pavilion. She used it to steady her and requested Melvin to answer the context of what she’d written on the board in three romantic languages and advise as to their similarities.

The head rush washed over her, and she felt her blood flow return as she listened to him stumble over her words, stuttering, but still managing to point out four out of the five things she was hoping for. She directed to Elspeth next, enquiring as to the missing part.

She couldn’t remember the rest of the class, feeling it blur across from her, but was thankful nonetheless when the class left, leaving her to slump in a seat, head dropping against the spine of the chair as she waited for the dizziness of the room to pass. Perhaps she needed to eat something more sustaining than a granola bar for breakfast-–and yet nausea had been ever-present of late.

She wanted to place it to menopause but knew better than to suggest that. The truth of the matter was that she was unwell, and despite seeing her gynaecologist recently, she’d been placing off seeing her general practitioner for some time, given that during her last visit, the doctor had lectured her about the long term effects of stress and smoking.

She didn’t need another lecture, and her smoking was reduced to two cigarettes now––hardly good for her, but better than her youth.

“Professor Spellman?” she looked up, blinking at the fluorescent lights before sitting up straight in the chair and turning to face the doorway. “Are you okay?” Prudence enquired.

“Quite fine,” she advised, grabbing her bag and standing up. As it was, she felt better after having sat down for a moment. Perhaps that’s what she needed. Maybe she could squeeze in a micro-nap on her lunch break.

“We were meant to meet a few minutes ago. If you prefer, we can do it here?”

Zelda sighed. Her office was only just down the hall. “No, best to be in there,” she advised. Zelda followed Prudence to her office before unlocking the door and setting her things inside.

Pulling out her laptop, she set up and watched a dozen new emails loaded, each one a student pleading for clarification or requesting a new time to meet her to discuss their course load. Sighing, she sorted the emails into different folders before looking up at Prudence, who already had her own workout.

“I graded the assignment for the first years of your language, but I’m afraid that I can’t do the religious studies. Your parameters made sense, but I don’t understand enough of the subject to mark them. I’m sorry.”

Zelda nodded, she’d expected as much, in fairness. “Thank you, Prudence. You’re doing far more than I would expect of a TA.”

“You’re still spreading yourself thin,” Prudence advised. “I know you’re going over everything I mark to make sure they’re fine and I don’t know if it’s because you don’t trust me, or––“

“I trust you,” Zelda advised, with a wave of her hand. “It’s not because of that, it’s because if I’m going to sign them off, I need to ensure that I agree. You do well, there’s hardly ever a bias, and nothing I’m concerned about. If you ever choose to follow the path of academics as a career, I assure you that I will be happy to provide you with a reference.”

Prudence’s expression softened then, a shade of red warming her cheeks. “Thank you,” she said, before drawing in a breath to steady herself, meeting Zelda’s eyes again. “But that’s still a massive workload for yourself. Is there’s nothing that Faustus can do?”

Zelda paused then, watching as the girl’s face scrambled as she realised her mistake, but outside of an awkward movement she made to tug at her sleeves, she did not attempt to correct herself, choosing instead to double-down on it––or perhaps hope that Zelda had missed it.

“Faustus?” Zelda inquired. “Are you on first names with Professor Blackwood?”

“I––we are,” she confirmed. “He’s…agreed to mentor me for one of the projects next year.”

Zelda’s expression sharpened. She wanted to ask then, flatly, if Prudence was having an affair. But then the question was, if Faustus were having an affair with his student, she’d be morally bound to advise Constance. The woman had only recently recovered from her previous breakdown, and as an affair in her marriage would likely only cause her to regress to how she was all those months ago when she couldn’t look after Leticia.

Zelda held her tongue. It wasn’t a problem for now, and so far all she had was guilty looks from Prudence. The girl could just be harbouring a one-sided crush herself. There was no reason to believe Faustus was doing anything wrong.

She continued to discuss things through with Prudence, agreeing to relent and allow her to create some structure for the first-year class lesson planning––providing herself with some relief to focus on other things. She’d still look it over, and likely change it as she needed to, but it would provide valuable skills to Prudence and allow a breather, even if it was only for two hours a week.

As it was, her eyes remained focus on the weekend, counting down the days. She was exhausted, and although she went to bed most nights feeling her eyes burn with the need to sleep, her brain kept her awake with worry, flicking through the work she needed to get done, emails she needed to respond to, essays she’d marked that she fearfully chewed the inside of her mouth over, wondering if she’d been too lenient or too harsh.

Lately, the only thing that allowed her any respite was a choice of three vibrators and a familiar fantasy.

Lilith and her at a crowded restaurant, where the woman was incessantly touching her as they conversed over the food, the woman’s eyes holding hers steady, advising that if she failed to respond the game would be over.

It was enough to drive her quickly to a dopamine high, allowing her to drift asleep where she would dream for a few hours before been awoken by panic, five minutes before her alarm was to go off. She slept enough to not fall asleep at work, and for everything else, there was caffeine.

When the weekend finally arrived, she allowed herself to sleep. There was still a hundred and one things to do, but Zelda allowed herself to turn off her alarm, ease the growing panic and sleep in a little bit longer. After all, she had a meeting on Sunday, and she didn’t want to turn up tired.

Zelda turned up early, stayed in her car until ten minutes to the agreed time, and then knocked on the door. Lilith bid her entrance and closed the door. “We’ll speak first,” Lilith said, and gestured to the kitchen. A neutral space.

Zelda sat down at the table as Lilith sat across from, smiling, her eyes bright as if she was delighted to see Zelda again.

A flicker of something sweet pulsated through Zelda’s heart before she steeled it. This was a professional discussion, not a date.

“I would like it if the impact play continues,” Zelda told her, wanting that to be clear. “I’ll be a better judge of myself and ensure it won’t happen again.”

“It will likely occur again,” Lilith said. “That’s not a poor reflection on yourself; it can be difficult to judge your own emotional needs. But…it might help if you know why you dissociated?”

Zelda bit her lip, and looked away, feeling as if her chest was tightening at the question.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Lilith coaxed. “But if you know why you disappeared at that moment, we can avoid it, or you can be mindful of what you were feeling so the next time it happens we know not to engage in it.”

“I…” she paused, remembering the feeling of the sting, of how much she’d wanted it to hurt. It’d hadn’t been about relief, it’d be about needing to be punished. At the time, a feeling had unsurfaced, knowing she wasn’t enough, couldn’t do enough and when it began to hurt, all she could focus on was that she’d deserved it. “I do,” she said.

“Do you feel that way today?”

Zelda blinked, feeling her eyes prick. “Somewhat, but nowhere near like I had before. I can handle it.”

“How about we play it safe. There are many other things we can do that can provide relief that doesn’t involve impact play,” Lilith said.

“So every time I’m feeling this way, we can’t engage in that?” Zelda asked. The words came out harsher than she intended, and she flushed, looking away. There was an incessant need underneath her skin, and the relief that the caning brought was wholly desired.

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Lilith advised. “When you’re in a healthy mindset, we can learn and touch on your limits and discuss in further detail. Impact play can be used to find relief in times like that, but I don’t feel comfortable doing that with you until I know what your limits are.”

Zelda nodded, swallowing thickly. “Fine,” she said. It was a no for today, but not a no forever. “Seems like a ploy to get more money out of me.”

“Ah yes, my super-secret spanking plan,” Lilith said, giving a patronising nod of her head. “Whatever will I do now that you know it?”

Zelda rolled her eyes. “So impact play is out of the question.”

“There are other comforts. We don’t have to have sex or even indulge in kink,” Lilith advised. “Some of my clients just want the aftercare as the entire session.”

Zelda thought of the feeling of being in the woman’s lap, her hand stroking her hair. Her chest ached for it, but to admit that was…painful. She hadn’t earned it. “No,” she said. “What about bondage?”

“With some clients, I’d be hesitant, but you’ve always responded well to it,” Lilith advised. “I don’t see an issue.”

Zelda exhaled, that was something at least.

“There’s also the domination side. I could order you around on your hands and knees.”

Zelda’s eyes drew to Lilith’s, a flutter returning low in her belly. “And do what?” she asked.

Lilith smirked. “One of my clients just cleans the house. But I’m sure there are other things I could have you do.”

“And what other things would that be?”

Lilith gave a small laugh, her expression shifting. “Anything you want.”

Anything she wanted, the options burned through her and Zelda found herself letting a thousand and one ideas roll through her mind. On her hands and knee, drawing her tongue over the woman’s sex, Lilith’s hand in her hair. Lilith fucking her. Being made to watch as Lilith masturbated…

Lilith rose to her feet, and Zelda followed. She watched as Lilith led her down the hall, a saunter in her step before she turned and gestured for Zelda to walk up the stairs.

Zelda paused, watching her, feeling anticipation bite through as she realised that all she wanted at that moment was Lilith. She wanted to kiss her.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Lilith asked.

Zelda’s eyes watched how her mouth formed the words before her eyes flicked to Lilith’s, a breath tugging as she almost considered crossing the line and just kissing her. God, she wanted to kiss her and feel her gasp and moan and––

Zelda found herself pressed against the nearest wall, and the woman’s mouth was on hers. It was hot and pressing. Zelda moaned, feeling her heart leap at the kiss as hands held her firm, pressing her tight against the wall.

And then her coat was being slid from her arms, tossed to the bannister of the stairs, as Lilith’s mouth continued to kiss hers with a fury. As if she’d longed to see her, touch her, kiss her. Just as she had longed for it.

It was nice to indulge, for a moment, that Lilith was honestly pleased to see her. That her fingers ran through Zelda’s hair because she wanted to feel her moan against her, that her hand slid around her waist and held her tight because she wanted to hold her. For a moment, Zelda could pretend that this was all real.

It should have frightened her how much she wanted it, but when Lilith’s mouth drew over her throat, it was hard to not ache at the idea that she could have this. She could find someone who wanted her like this.

But she didn’t want it with anyone else.

Zelda kicked her shoes off and allowed herself to be manoeuvred next to the stairs where Lilith drew back, teeth biting over her bottom lip as if to hide her grin.

“Hello darling,” she said, a hand coming up to cup her cheek. “Have you thought about what you want?”

“I have.”

“Good,” and then Lilith’s fingers were entwined with hers, tugging her up the stairs, into the bedroom, where the door shut and they could finally look at each other.

Here, it was easy to pretend, Zelda realised. She didn’t need to be a professor at the university or a guardian of two surly children. She didn’t need to be a matriarch to her family or a dozen other things that she was to other people.

She could just be Zelda.

“Tell me I get to ravish you,” Lilith said, and her hands were on Zelda’s waist, a wide smile on her mouth. “I’ve been dreaming of it.”

“Just dreaming?” Zelda asked.

“Ask me nicely, and I might even tell you all the other things I’ve been getting up to as well.”

Zelda hummed, watching the woman’s smile widen further. “I want what you offered the other day. I want to see you come undone.”

“Define undone?” Lilith said, her eyebrows arching as her thumbs drew circles on her waist, over the material of her dress. “Do you want to see me undressed?”

“Mm, yes.”

“Do you want to see…me on my knees?”

“I did enjoy that. I might like to see that again.”

Lilith bit her lip, nodding her head. And then she was leaning in close, her mouth near Zelda’s ear as she asked softly, “did you want to hear me call out your name.”

Zelda drew in a breath, biting back the moan in her throat. “Yes,” she answered, her voice low and purring.

Lilith leaned back and then smiled at her. “Now, there are two ways we can do this. You and I can have sex or…I really do what I promised the other day.”

“Which was what?” Zelda asked.

“That you let me tie you up and I’ll let you watch. I promise it will be quite the performance.”

Zelda felt a wanton tremble low in her belly. Under usual circumstances she wasn’t sure she’d be interested in watching a partner masturbate, but Lilith wasn’t just a partner. Lilith was…something else entirely, and the idea of being tied up, unable to do anything, helpless to watch as she squirmed in her bindings…

Well, she was certainly not against it in any capacity.

“And that will take up our entire time?” she asked sceptically.

“Oh no, there’ll be room for play afterwards. I’m sure you’ll be quite needy for some…relief.”

Zelda’s heart fluttered, a flush already brushing over her. “Well, then. How could I refuse such an offer?”

“How indeed.”

Lilith stepped around, behind Zelda and unzipped her dress, and then her mouth was on her neck and Zelda was feeling warm hands slide over her body as the dress was pushed to the ground.

She went to do the same for Lilith, only for the woman’s hands to catch her. “Oh no,” she said. “You have to keep your hands to yourself, that’s the only rule otherwise you’ll lose some privileges. Now, on the bed like a good girl.”

Zelda bit back a sardonic comment and turned, moving to sit down on the mattress, before shifting to the centre on the bed, where she sat back on her knees, hands in her lap as Lilith returned with lengths of black rope.

The ropes were knotted, and this time, Zelda watched at her ankles were bound to her thighs, which in turn were bound to her wrists, keeping them all nicely locked together. Lilith checked them, fingers running around the pressure points, before she began kissing down Zelda's body, across her throat as one hand slid over the cup of her bra and other slid between her legs.

Zelda moaned, feeling herself grow wet underneath Lilith’s deft fingers as the woman teased her to frustration before pulling away, apparently satisfied when Zelda began panting in her ear.

And then she stood up from the bed and Zelda watched as she moved to the end of the bed, in full view of her.

She undid the cuffs of her long-sleeve blouse, undoing the buttons before she slid it from her shoulders. Then she was unzipping her skirt and drawing that down her thighs. Zelda watched the material slide down, her eyes enchanted by the image of lingerie.

Like herself, Lilith apparently dressed to impress, there was a set of stockings and a garter belt as well, and Zelda watched as she under the claps of the garter belt one by one, before letting them hang.

And then Lilith’s hands were running through her hair as she stretched her body.

Zelda swallowed, drinking in the sight of the woman. It was the first time she’d had the pleasure of seeing her undressed, and if she was honest with herself, she was envious of the fact that it wasn’t her hands undressing her as she kissed over the bared skin.

Lilith’s foot lifted to the ottoman, and then she was sliding down the stockings, her eyes watching Zelda’s follow the movement before the silk was dropped to the ground. And then she did the same with the other leg. A languid movement, her body stretching with ease in flawless movements that had Zelda wondering if the woman did yoga––or had perhaps been a dancer.

Zelda waited, watching with interest as then Lilith returned to sitting on the bed before her, sitting on her knees as she watched Zelda squirmed.

She was close enough that had Zelda been unbound, she would have been able to reach out and touch her, and right now, that’s all Zelda wanted to do. She wanted to kiss her throat and clavicle, place her hands on the woman’s waist and drew down to the hips. She wanted to feel her thigh press between Lilith’s and feel the woman roll her hips over it as she sighed in her ear.

“Aren’t you just a picture,” Lilith said to her with a sharp smile.

“You look divine,” Zelda said, unabashed.  

Lilith’s smile widened, her nose crinkling with obvious delight before it softened again as she came to bite at her bottom lip. Her head tilted and Zelda drew in a breath, focusing her thoughts away from the softness growing inside of her.

“Are you ready?” Lilith asked.

“I am,” Zelda confirmed, watching Lilith’s chest rise and fall.

Lilith grinned, before she leant forward and pressed a soft kiss to Zelda’s mouth, and then she was sitting back on her knees.

Zelda watched at the strappy silk underwear was pushed down her thighs and then slid to her calves.

Zelda expected to watch the woman touch herself, sliding her hands over her body––which was an exciting concept on its own.

Which meant that she didn’t expect Lilith to straddle her thigh, and then moved to kiss her throat, purposefully drawing her body across Zelda’s bound body so there was very little Zelda could do but draw in a breath as she felt the woman’s sex slide over her thigh.

It was entirely more seductive than any lap dance she’d had before, given that she could feel Lilith’s naked body against her, entirely unable to do anything about it. And then Lilith’s mouth was pressed to her ear and Zelda could feel her hand sliding between them both.

Zelda swallowed, trying to calm her beating heart as Lilith’s mouth pressed over her neck, drawing down her throat as she made the smallest noises. Her hips rocked, sliding over Zelda’s thigh, and it was a performance in its own right, one that Zelda could look over Lilith’s should and see in the floor-length mirror in the corner of the room, but she didn’t want to watch.

It was too much when she could hear Lilith making small gasps as she touched herself, knuckles bumping against Zelda’s thighs.

“Lilith,” she whispered.

And the woman’s hand curled over her shoulder, as if to hold onto her for steadiness, her body rocking.

“Please.”

“Please what?” Lilith asked.

“Can I…” she paused, straining in the ropes. “May I please touch you?”

“No,” Lilith advised, her smile wicked as she gasped and Zelda could feel how wet she was, dragging along her thigh. Her fingers twitched, arms straining in the rope bindings and Lilith grabbed her chin with her other hand, holding it steady to look into her eyes. “Watch me, or I’ll get creative.”

Zelda swallowed, “Yes, my Queen.”

“I am your Queen, aren’t I?” she said, her face awash in rapture. “And you are mine today, aren’t you, Zelda.”

“Yes, my Queen.”

Lilith hummed, and Zelda watched her expression shift, head rolling back, body shifting forward. Zelda felt as if her throat would go dry. But every time she leant forward, Lilith was holding her back, laughing at her.

“Needy little thing.”

“Needy,” Zelda snapped, and then the woman’s nails were cutting in her jaw with warning and Zelda felt the need wash over her. She wanted her, needed her like she was oxygen. And all Zelda could think about was what it would be like to run her tongue over the bare throat and feel the woman moan.

“I knew you would get worked up by this. Are you sure you don’t want me to sit back and spread my legs wide for you? You could see how wet I am.”

“I can feel it.”

“And isn’t that much, much better?” Lilith asked and Zelda felt her knuckles purposefully drag against the seam of her underwear. The barest of touch was making her squirmed as the woman continued to fuck herself on her lap and there was nothing she could do to help her.

There was a hundred witty retorts she had that rose and fell as she felt the woman’s head duck to her shoulder. In the mirror, Zelda could see Lilith’s back muscles growing taught, her body shaking. There was a moan, muffled against her throat and Zelda’s breath shook with anticipation, catching in her lungs as she felt the speed increase.

“Zelda,” Lilith hummed into her ear and Zelda’s eyes closed, teeth biting over her bottom lip to prevent from crying out. She wanted her badly. Never before had she felt so much blood rushing into her sex, wetness pooling in her underwear, until she heard the woman’s name whispered like that in her ear.

She didn’t know if it was better or worse to have made this decision. She could be tongue deep in Lilith by now, have her mouth drawing out the same noises rather than this wet, messy feeling drawing over her thighs.

A wave of dizziness washed over her and Zelda’s eyes opened, looking up at the ceiling to focus as she drew a breath, once and then twice, as Lilith’s hand worked between her legs and her other came and curled over her shoulder, the grip trembling as she worked faster and faster.

There was only the soft sound of a panted breath and soft moans, and Zelda’s breath tightened, hoping she was close, because if this continued, she was surely going to combust. Her body burned to touch her, have her hand stroking between Lilith’s legs.

And then the hand tightened on her shoulder and Lilith’s body was taught and rocking. Her mouth was on Zelda’s and it was like everything came into focus. Zelda felt it like an electric shock shooting down her body as the woman moaned against her mouth, her kiss hard and furious.

She tugged at the bindings again, desperately trying to touch her, pressing against her as she rocked with the last convulsion.

And then it was over and Lilith’s body drew loose, her hand drawing away from between them to settle on her other shoulder wetly.

“Untie me,” Zelda said with as much dominance as she could muster with lust powering through her.

Lilith laughed, and then the ropes were tugged undone. Before they were even tossed away she was pinning Lilith to the bed, kissing her mouth and drawing down her body, hungrily, possessively wanting to claim what she couldn’t have.

Lilith’s laughter filled the room as she squirmed underneath her, before her legs wound around Zelda’s waist and she drew Zelda’s face back to hers, kissing her in short, fast bursts before she dropped back. “I thought you’d like that.”

“I hated it.”

“You loved it,” Lilith said, “I could feel it,” and as she said, it her hips rocked prominently, blue eyes flashing. Zelda felt the slickness drag against her body.

“It was cruel, needless torture I wouldn’t wish on another.”

“Is that so?”

“It is, we should do it again another day.” Zelda knew she would be dreaming about this moment. Imagining what it felt like to have Lilith’s body rocking over hers again and again.

Lilith smiled, drawing her fingers over Zelda’s faces softly, tenderly. And then her expression shifted to mischievous. Her hand snatched away and then suddenly Zelda was being kissed again. With teeth and tongue and sucking pressure that had her moaning––too distracted to realise until she felt her hand’s tugged together, that she was being bound again.

It was a simple binding, wrists bound together, but it was enough that in confusion, she slipped to her side and suddenly found Lilith sitting on her hips, pinning her to the mattress.

“Is that how you’re going to play?” Zelda asked.

“Mm. You were rather disobedient. I felt you trying to touch me despite my warning as to otherwise.”

“So now you’re going to punish me?”

Lilith gave a look, not advising either way to her plan, and before Zelda do so much as try to rock her hips, she had her hands above her head, as the woman drew her mouth down Zelda’s throat. “Stay still,” she said, and then Lilith was climbing off her.

Zelda frowns, lifting her head to watch as Lilith opened her wardrobe only for her to turn around and shoot her a dirty look. Obeying, she leant back down on the bed, anticipation prickling over her skin.

And then Lilith was returning and Zelda was biting her lip, eyes watching the ceiling as she felt the woman kneel on the bed before her, sliding in-between her legs.

“Do you know much about forced orgasms?” Lilith asked.

Zelda’s head dropped to look her, but whatever toy she had remained behind her back as she settled on her knees, in between Zelda’s legs.

Lilith’s eyes drew over her body, a long, deep breath puling into her lungs before she smiled, meeting Zelda’s eyes again. “It’s a favourite of mine.”

“For you or me?”

“For you. Think of it as…the other side to the coin.”

Zelda swallowed. “I know a bit of it, but I’ve never really had more than three or four orgasms in the same evening.”

“Mm, I’m sure you stopped your partner or partners when it became unbearable.”

“I…oh,” Zelda realised, she drew in a breath and watched as Lilith dropped a vibrator onto the bed.

“I’m very good,” she assured. “And it can be a lot of fun for both of us. I think it’s a safe way to test you limits, if you’d like to try it,” Lilith was looking at her almost shyly, though there was certainly a vested interest in it. She wanted to see her come undone, but it was more than that. This wasn’t about Lilith taking her to new heights, this was about pushing her limits in pleasure and discomfort and…

…well, Zelda couldn’t help but feel her heartbeat race. “Forced…orgasms?”

“Mm, I press play and we see how many times I can get you off before the battery dies.”

“Is there a record for this?”

“No challenge as such. I prefer to keep to personal bests of the victim,” she said, “And I would very much enjoy making you my victim. Safeword still withstanding.”

Zelda nodded.

“We don’t have to, however––“

“I want to,” Zelda assured, cutting her off. “I want to try it. If I don’t like it, I’ll just say music box.”

Lilith smiled, and there was a genuine warmth to it. As if she was both proud of her and pleased with her. It twisted in Zelda’s chest, a desperation fluttering as she realised that if Lilith smiled at her like that, she’d surely follow her to Hell.

“Good, now, let’s move you there with the pillows.” Zelda shifted, allowing Lilith to help her sit up and shift across to the pillows. The woman allowed her to adjust, propping up two more pillows behind her before she sat back and smiled at her.

And then Lilith was moving between her legs again, her hands drawing over Zelda’s legs.

Zelda’s hips lifted as her underwear was removed, and then Lilith’s mouth was warm, kissing against her knee, setting her chin atop of it lazily, and Zelda watched that blue eyes follow her as she drew her fingers over Zelda’s sex. It was a warm coaxing and Zelda bit her lip, keeping her eyes steady as Lilith drew over the labia, stroking gently.

It was enough to make her limbs shake, and then, apparently satisfied with her reaction, Lilith picked up the vibrator and Zelda held her breath.

“What’s your safe word, Zelda?”

“Music box.”

“Good girl.” The vibrator hummed, its battery quiet as it set against her. Lilith's eyes held hers, watching at Zelda drew in a breath, feeling it hum over her. Never had such a thing felt so intimate, but as Lilith’s other hand came to slide over her thigh, Zelda felt the tension coil inside of her, heels digging into the blankets.

It came slow and steady, shivering from her. It was different from how Lilith’s fingers felt and different from when she masturbated alone. The orgasm spun from her and Zelda breathed through it once, twice, her eyes fluttering and then returning to Lilith.

The vibrator went stronger and without even feeling the first one finish, the second shook through her, harder as she clenched around nothing.

Lilith smiled at her and Zelda felt her heart pound as she leant forward. The woman kissed her and then Zelda was moaning as she felt the vibrator kicked up a notch.

Zelda hissed, feeling it roll over her clit to the other side and back. “You’re doing well,” Lilith coaxed as she drew back. “Two in two minutes, I’m impressed.”

Zelda swallowed, it was intense, far more than she expected. Her thighs shook as she squeezed, heels digging, hands clenching in their bindings. “Jesus in Heaven,” she spat, eyes squeezing shut.

“Three, good girl.”

There her hips tried to pull away, the intensity too much, but Lilith’s hand was firm of her leg, holding her in place as she manoeuvred the vibrator over her clit. It was intense, her clit’s sensitivity was too much, and Zelda strangled a breath, holding back as she felt her body shake, muscles clenching again.

“Lilith, I can’t…” she whined.

“You can,” she coaxed, and as it to prove her point, she slid her other hand from her thigh and stroked over the labia, around and down and then was sliding inside of her where Zelda was wet and wanton, wanting to be filled.

“God,” Zelda hissed and her heels dug in and Lilith's fingers slid prominently, curling against a spot.  

It almost hurt, it was hurting with the intensity, but it was good. She could feel her walls clenching around Lilith’s fingers, squeezing as she was coaxed higher and higher again and then she was crying out, sobbing.

“No more,” she pled, trying to move her hips away, but again, Lilith held her firm, her eyes holding hers, a smile on her lips.

“One more,” Lilith said to her, “You can do it.”

Zelda bit her lip. Her back ached, her stomach muscles ached from all of the squeezings, and there was a rush of noise in her ears. She thought about disagreeing, but the way Lilith was looking at her––utterly please and surprised, fingers stroking inside of her…

Zelda bit her lip, head bowing. One more, she nodded in agreement.

The vibrator moved, rolling up and over and directly onto her clit and Zelda hissed, pulling back away, feeling the ropes pinch on her wrists. She squeezed, a cry whimpering from her and then felt Lilith’s fingers curling, sliding, drawing.

It was Heaven and Hell. She didn’t want it to stop, and yet she couldn’t do it, could feel the climax.

It was too much.

Her heart pounded, heavy and hard in her chest and ears. And then her body was convulsing and Zelda saw stars as she was fucked through to the orgasm.

“Music,” she whimpered.

The vibrator clicked off, Lilith’s fingers slid out from her and then she felt the tug of ropes being undone before Lilith was dragging her close.

Zelda whimpered, feeling her clit throb in a way she didn’t know was possible. She ached, her whole body ached from the however many orgasms she had in a span of however long, but as she was pulled to Lilith’s chest, the woman’s hand drawing through her hair, Zelda couldn’t find herself upset.

She could feel the tears that were drying on her face, and yet despite all of that, there was a hunger in chest as Lilith pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You did well, I’m impressed.”

Zelda shivered, a smile tugging at she allowed her to relax for a moment. There was nothing sweeter than the touch, and despite how much Zelda’s sex felt swollen and raw, a part of her wanted to ask for it again.

“Four orgasms.”

“Five,” Lilith corrected. “Though not all are equal,” she teased.

Zelda sighed, feeling the fingers draw through her hair. She was tired now, utterly exhausted and a part of her wanted to fall asleep like this, with the woman’s fingers running through her hair. But she couldn’t, there were things to do, essays to mark, results to put up.

“Come with me,” Lilith tugged, and then Zelda was finding herself gently being lead to stand, before Lilith was taking her out of the bedroom, into the bathroom, where the remainder of her clothes were removed, before Lilith guided her into the shower stall.

The water was hot and Zelda sighed as it drew over her skin, feeling Lilith slide in behind her. She felt like she was in a haze, barely acknowledging as soap and water were drawn over her skin by Lilith’s hands. There was a soothing nature to it, feeling her hands draw over her shoulders, down her back and legs.

And then Lilith was turning her around to face her.

She wanted to kiss her, but Lilith’s was focused on lathering her arms, then her chest and her belly. And then it was all being rinsed off.

Zelda took the soap from Lilith’s hand, and did the same to her. Washing over her shoulders, down her arms and across her chest and belly, over her back and down her legs. It didn’t feel sexual, she expected it to, to find herself aroused by the process, but instead, she just found herself looking at Lilith and feeling herself soften.

All of the tension had left her, and there was only dizziness that remained as she set the soap aside. For a moment, they stayed there in the water, their eyes watching each other and Zelda almost leant forward, her hand going to cup Lilith’s face, before she watched as Lilith shut off the water.

It was over.

As Lilith wrapped her in a towel, Zelda couldn’t help but ask, “Do you treat all of your clients like this?”

“Only the ones I like,” she said as she took a towel for herself and led Zelda back to the bedroom.

Lilith pulled out a dressing gown from the chest of drawers, sliding it on and tying it at the waist as Zelda dressed again, placing on her bra, garter belt and stockings before her slip and dress. She paused, watching as Lilith drew out of the room, her hand drawing through her hair to pull it back from her face as she smiled at Zelda.

Zelda paused, feeling the smile flutter inside of her before she turned away, moving to the mirror to fix her hair and place heels on.

She felt lightheaded, and if she had just rolled through five orgasms, she’d be suspicious. As it was, she ignored the feeling and made her way downstairs to where her coat and handbag were, before she went to the kitchen.

She rolled her shoulders, feeling tightness in them as she watched as Lilith set the tea down on the table.

“Feel better?” Lilith asked of her.

“I do,” she said. “Lately this has been the only time I get to spend without worrying about work or family.”

Lilith nodded, “That’s how I got into all of this,” she advised. “It seemed to be the only place where everything else disappeared and my thoughts turned singular.”

“I appreciate everything that you’ve done.”

At that, Lilith’s eyebrows rose. “Is that so?”

Zelda hummed, and then she reached into her bag to pull out her wallet.

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Lilith said. “Today fulfilled my fantasies as much as yours, it wouldn’t be fair to take your money.”

Zelda frowned, “I did ask for this,” she pointed out.

Lilith shook her head, “No, I enjoyed myself too much. It’d feel like double-dipping.”

Zelda stepped forward, going to comment, but as she did, a wave of dizziness overtook her and before she could even make the extra step towards the chair, she was…

…

…what was she doing?

________________

[ohsugarfoot]

"Quiet me" from the drabble prompt, if you want!

((Referencing this tag game here. @indecentpause is the main author of The Most Beautiful Puzzle, which is where these characters are from! I'm sort of the co-creator/editor.

Timeline wise, this happens a few years ago! Also, this was finished, I was just waiting until it felt right to post it so now's a good time I guess.))

((cw: emotional meltdown, self harm(hitting self), bruises))

You whirl around the corner and finally find Josselin coming out of the counselor's office.

"I've been looking all over for you!" you exclaim.

"I've decided to drop out," he says, shifting his bag to move the strap more across his chest. His hands come up to hold the strap, almost as if to shield himself from you. "College isn't for me."

"Is that why you've been avoiding me recently?"

A hush falls over the office. Josselin sighs, shifting his weight between his feet. "Can we talk somewhere privately?"

You end in the next building, sitting side by side outside of a random classroom.

The silence gulfs between you.

Josselin reaches into his bag and takes out a yarn square, threading his fingers through the holes. It isn't a stim toy you've ever seen him use before.

"Talk to me?" you finally half ask, half demand.

He sighs. And the silence continues.

You want to reach out and touch him. You want to hold his hand, to rest your head against his too-bony shoulder. You want to hear his voice, to hear him chatter about anything and everything. You want to banter with him, and play chess, and playfully argue about the best video game made.

You want him to stop avoiding you, most of all.

He brings his knees up to his chest, the square interlocked around both hands, his face mostly covered. "I'm no good at this," he mutters to his jean-clad legs.

You scoot and turn closer, barely able to hear him. He smells of sandalwood and skin, maybe a touch of lavender.

It's comforting, in a quiet way.

"Can you try?" you ask.

Josselin sighs.

"I..." he pauses and shakes his head. His fingers move against the cloth, frantically tapping and squeezing.

When he finally restarts, his voice is soft but steady. He faces forward, back against the wall, talking more to the opposite wall than to you.

"So, my mom was a single mom. And it was just us, until... until it wasn't. And then I got bounced between okay foster homes and awful foster homes until I technically ran away. I've never stayed in the same place for long. And... and I'm telling you this because, well, I don't have a lot of friends. Any friends, really. Most people just tolerate me."

You reach out and gently touch his upper arm. Josselin shrugs it off, and you pull away, your chest hurting for both his words and the rebuttal.

"I'm telling you this," he continues, "because I've noticed that I end up crushing on people who even remotely show me any sort of attention. It's not the first time, it won't be the last. And... and... the feelings do fade after a while. If I stay away from the person. So. That's why I've been avoiding you."

You breathe for the first time in what feels like minutes. "Really? You have a crush on me?"

He draws into himself more. "Please don't make fun of me."

"I would never."

He huffs, shaking his head slightly.

"I promise, I would never."

"No!" His raised voice shocks you, echoing through the hallway. "No promises!"

You swallow, then breathe. Obviously a sensitive subject. "Okay," you say softly. "I won't."

Josselin brings his hands up, still tangled in the cloth, to his head. His wrists thump against his head, a little too hard, and before you can stop yourself, you place a hand over where the strikes seem to land. It doesn't stop his hands, but they do slow slightly. You can feel him shaking, rocking side to side slightly.

"S-sorry," he stammers out. "I-I'm... it's too much. Everything."

"What helps?"

He doesn't answer for a while, rocking and thumping, his head shaking, and you're about to ask again, since you're not even sure if he heard you. Should you even be touching him? Are you making it worse? But he hasn't exactly pushed you away again either. Finally though, Josselin says, "Talking."

"Okay. Okay. Well, I'm good at talking. I can talk your ear off, make you look like Vincent Van Gogh." There's a small delay, but you swear you see the smallest of smiles play over his lips. Taking that as a good sign, even as his hands continue to hit against yours, you continue. "I can do the paintings, you can look the part. We can go to Paris, and drink coffee, and pretend to smoke cigarettes, and wear scarves and berets, you know, like the cool artists do. Well, I'm not so good at painting, but I'm sure we can pretend. You know, me dazzling them with my awful jokes, you distracting them with Zelda facts."

That causes him to huff out the tiniest bit of laughter. You continue. "And then when we are done scamming all of Paris, we can take ourselves to the countryside, and we can build little Hobbit homes, and live off the land for a bit. And when it gets boring, or it gets too cold, we can vacation somewhere else, like, I don't know, Mordor, I guess. We can dip our feet in the lava of Mount Doom like hot springs."

Josselin shakes his head, smiling a bit more. "That makes no sense!"

"No, it doesn't!" You laugh. "We would definitely go to Hyrule instead, and we can scam the villagers there with our artwork. I wonder what the conversion rate is between a franc and a rupee. But anyway-"

"Euro."

"What?"

"France uses euros now."

"Conversion rates between a rupee and an euro then. Because if it's good enough, we can totally make bank, and maybe build a castle somewhere. And we can invite anyone we want. Well, except Browser, unless he prom... Uh, says he won't wreck the castle."

And so you continue to weave together a small story, pulling together every video game and pop culture reference you could think of. Josselin's hands continue to thump against yours, but not as hard, not as fast, his breathing slowing down to a more normal pattern, his shaking subsiding to more of a gentle rocking motion. Anything Zelda related is a hit, and most Nintendo games, but not any other console. Forget about any current tv shows or movies, he has no idea about those. And you don't remember anything other than a name or two from the few anime he's shown you from the last few weeks.

But your words, the silly stories of you vacationing and scamming people across the worlds, they seem to help. And he continues to respond to you, occasionally correcting your pronunciation or a wrong detail. You even get him laughing sometimes, and you laugh with him.

Eventually, slowly, Josselin calms down, his fingers still through what you now recognize as a crocheted granny square, and now they're interlocked over yours on the top of his head.

And you could sit there forever, talking with him, but the linoleum floor is unyielding under you, and your leg has fallen asleep over the last twenty minutes or so. So you shift slightly, and the spell breaks.

"Sorry," he says, taking his hands off yours, his arms dropping to his lap, his legs straightening. You curl back into yourself, shifting away so your back is against the cold wall.

And again you're sitting side by side outside of the classroom.

"Thank you." His toes are tapping together, the repetitive sounds echoing down down the hallway, folding over themselves. "You... that helped. Thank you."

"Any time," you say, meaning it with every fiber of your being.

He sighs in response. And then softly, "Frankie?"

"Yeah?"

"I noticed that you... said a lot of 'we' when you were talking."

"I... well, there was a reason why I was looking for you." You turn to watch his face, or what you can see of it with his hair still loose, his head tilted down. "I was going to ask you out on a date."

"What!?"

"Yeah. The art museum has a few free hours on Thursdays and I thought it would be nice to go and walk around. And then we could get something to eat after?" Josselin is quiet next to you, his hands tugging on the square, so you add, "I've noticed you and food are... complicated. So you can pick the restaurant. Or snacks. But yeah. I wanted to ask you out."

Finally, his voice small, "You like me?"

"Yeah?"

"No joke?"

"None at all."

He sits on that information for a few moments. You shift again, crossing your legs as you move to sit in front of him. "I think you're cute! And funny, and smart! So smart." You don't know what's okay to touch, because if it was anyone else you might've brushed his hair back or move in closer. Instead you hover your hand near his. "And I think it'll be fun."

Josselin disentangles one hand from the square and takes yours instead.

"I bruised you," he says, his hand holding yours, turning it over to see the blues and blacks already forming on the back of your hand.

"Better than you bruising you," you say.

He stills, then pulls his hands away from yours. "I'm nothing but a burden."

"Not to the right person," you say. "Not to me."

"You barely know me."

"I know you well enough."

Josselin sighs.

You continue before he has another chance. "Look, if it doesn't work out it doesn't work out. But when... if it does, then we've had ourselves a good time. But we won't know unless we try."

He takes in a deep breath, then lets it back out again, then says, "Okay. Okay." Something sparks in your chest and you smile as he continues with, "So what does that make us?"

"Hopefully free Thursday night," you quip.

Josselin laughs.

[only-by-the-stars]

the annotated Tome of the Wild

Part two: Hard Times at the Huskin’ Bee!

- She shook her head, and feebly struggled. Midna is, of course, not really stuck. She orchestrated this to get close to them as part of her objective to lure them to Koume’s house in exchange for the Fused Shadow that’ll turn her back to normal.

- I'm not a Great Fairy Great Fairies are a series staple, of course, and some of them will grant you wishes.

- “Like I just explained to your sister, since she set me free, I owe her a favor in return. It's the... the imp's code. Yeah. I have to pay her back.” Note the pause there. Almost like she’s making it up as she goes...

- “Anyway, since you're still lost, I know just what to do. How about I take you to Koume of the Pasture, the Good Woman of the Woods? She's very wise, and she'll be able to set you on your way in no time.”  IT’S A TRAP. I mean, she doesn’t know yet that it’s as sinister as it really is, but still. Using Koume for this role was another easy choice, as it allowed me to lure you all into a trap of my own, of sorts. You see, while Koume is very very bad in OOT and the Oracle games, she’s benign and good in MM. So which one am I using? At this point you’re probably assuming I went with the MM one, unless you’re familiar with OTGW and know that the character whose role she’s taking is bad news. But if you’re not, then you’re probably going to be caught by surprise when I do the reveal later.

- “You're gonna listen to that horrid old windbag instead of me?” The first of a few subtle hints that Midna knows and does NOT like Rhoam. Remember, she flew away when he appeared last chapter, so why would she jump to calling him something like that? Why, indeed...

- Midna grinned, exposing her fang again. “Nothing you'd want to hear about.” Because one of her favorites is frogs.

- Link eating a Rock Roast is, of course, canon; we first hear about it in Daruk’s Training Journal in BOTW, and then actually see it happen in AOC. Moreover, during the Vah Rudania section of the “Water and Fire” scenario in that game, Yunobo comments on Daruk’s size and how he must eat a lot, and Daruk tells him to eat lots of Rock Roasts and he’ll get big like him. Therefore, in this universe, he decided to try and help Link get taller by bringing HIM a Rock Roast. The training journal mentions that Link “liked it so much he was speechless”, which, uh. To me implies that he did not enjoy the experience and Daruk is too oblivious to catch on. Thus, this Link did not care for it either.

- He does like puns, though, as we see in the sand seal rental booth dialogue options, thus him entertaining Aryll with them here. I can relate.

- “Gross.” Midna made a face. “That's exactly why I watch where I'm walking.” A hint that Midna hasn’t always been the way she is now, which of course goes over Link’s head. This is a counterpart to Beatrice commenting that she’ll “wash her hands” of the brothers in the show; as a bird, she doesn’t have hands, so it’s an odd phrase for her to use unless you know the truth.

- In the show, the town that the characters go to in the second episode is called Pottsfield, which is an allusion to Potter’s Field, and all the inhabitants are indeed skeletons. So, what better series location to stand in for it than Ikana? And taking the place of the massive town leader Enoch is Captain Keeta, who guards the graveyard in Ikana Valley and is rather huge himself.

- Of course, this is also why folks don’t tend to pass through Ikana. Link’s conversation with the girl about this is a hint to the fact that he’s currently hovering between life or death in the river.

- She laughed, a low, rattling sound that made Link's hair stand on end. I pick my descriptive words very carefully, and the use of the word “rattling” is supposed to invoke rattling bones, or a death rattle.

- “... how I long to see her face now... her starry moonlit gaze now...” These are lyrics from the song “Patient is the Night” from the show. Link’s right in that it isn’t about a person at all, but it nevertheless provides a good way to segue into some reflecting on Mipha and his feelings for her, inching him further along the path to despair.

- “Da na na na na!” Ah, the classic jingle for when you get an item!

- “I have a quest of my own, you could say.”  To find Zelda, which we’ll learn more about later.

and that does it for this chapter!

[katedoesfics]

Shadows of Hyrule | Chapter 12

Link's body ached in places he didn't even know could ache. His legs in particular. There were light bruises in the places where Impa hit him, and his thighs burned from the seemingly endless squats she made him do. He could barely get himself out of bed the next morning, and the walk to school was unbearable as he dragged his feet along. During first period, he let his head rest on the desk, sighing dramatically when Mipha pressed him for information.

“What the hell is wrong with you? You've been whining all morning about being sore.”

Link groaned and closed his eyes. “Please kill me.”

“What did you do last night? Run three miles?”

“I wish.”

Mipha narrowed her eyes at him. “Were you playing laser tag with Riju again?”

Link sighed and shook his head.

“You did,” she accused. “You totally pulled a muscle playing laser tag. That's so lame.”

Link smiled. “I swear, I wasn't playing laser tag.”

“Then what's wrong with you?”

Link opened his eyes and hesitated. Perhaps he should have used Riju as an excuse. He didn't really think that through. To his relief, however, their teacher entered, calling for their attention and offering him just the distraction he needed.

The day continued on without further interrogation from Mipha, and he was too tired to keep up with his usual antics, particularly annoying Revali. His behavior, however, did not seem to strike his friends as unusual. In fact, they seemed relieved that he and Revali were not bickering, and no one cared to indulge Link by addressing his complaining about his sore body. He didn't feel like coming up with a lie, but he would have appreciated some sympathy from them.

His sore body made for a perfect excuse when it came to the end of the day, however. He found Mipha in the hallway after the last bell of the day, standing at her locker as she retrieved her bag.

“What's your plan?” she said as she swung the bag over her shoulder.

“Going to bed,” Link said with a yawn. “And icing my thighs.”

Mipha rolled her eyes. “If it wasn't Riju, it must have been Aryll.”

Link nodded. “Yup. She kicked my ass.”

“She's a little girl.”

“She has a hard kick.”

Mipha grinned. “Alright,” she said with a shrug. “See you tomorrow.”

With a perfect cover in place, Link was able to sneak out the back of the school and make his way around to where Zelda and Paya waited. Like his friends, Impa had no sympathy for his deteriorated condition and showed him no mercy as they continued his training. When she wasn't hitting his legs and correcting his stand, she was making him do squats and lunges. He lifted weights and did more push-ups and pull-ups than he ever imagined. It seemed he was doing everything but learning how to fight with a sword.

To his relief, however, their training session was shorter than the previous one, but he couldn't help but notice that Zelda had done nothing but watch and laugh at him.

“Why am I the only one suffering?” he hissed at her as they left the shrine for the night.

“Because you're the one with the sword,” she reminded him.

“So? What's your deal?”

Zelda shrugged. “I'm sure Impa has her own plans in mind for me.”

“I hope you suffer,” Link sneered.

“Hylia forbid you have to do a little exercise.” Zelda rolled her eyes.

“I've never lift more than a pencil,” Link said. “And even that's a bit much for my liking.”

Zelda pressed her palm against her forehead and shook her head, smiling. “I'm sure all the other heroes weren't nearly as lazy as you are.”

“You know what?” Link started. “I bet they were. I bet they were too busy sleeping and eating and fucking around to give a shit about some stupid destiny.”

“I'm sure that's exactly what happened,” Zelda said.

“Yeah.” Link nodded and grinned. “Hyrule needs a hero? Too bad; I'm going fishing!”

“That's the spirit,” Zelda muttered.

“Princess kidnapped? I'll get to her after I bowl a perfect game.”

“Great.”

“No one wanted to get involved in that shit. Ganondorf? No thanks.”

“Guess we'll need to put out a new ad,” Zelda said. She moved her hands across her as she spoke. “Wanted: Hero. Requirements: Must possess Triforce of Courage and know how to wield a sword. Duties include, but are not limited to, fighting monsters and defeating Ganondorf. Must not die. Payment: bragging rights. Please send resume to Zelda, Princess of Hyrule.”

“I don't think you'll get a lot of takers for that.”

Zelda smiled and shrugged. “Anything's gotta be better than you.”

“Touché.”

*****

Back at home, Link noticed the light on in his father’s bedroom. When he peered around the corner, it was Aryll he saw, laying on his bed with her feet in the air and a picture frame in her hands. She was singing to herself, and Link recognized it as the song their mother used to sing to them. It was the same song that played in her music box.

“What are you doing in here?”

Aryll pointed at the picture, not looking up. “I like to look at this picture,” she said happily. “See how happy they are?”

“That’s because you weren’t born yet,” Link said with a grin.

“Be quiet,” Aryll hissed at him. She fell silent for a moment. “Daddy doesn't get happy like that anymore.”

“That's because you were -”

“Shut up, Link!” Aryll snapped at him.

Link put his hands up defensively. “I'm just kidding, okay?”

Aryll sighed and turned back to the picture. “When is Daddy coming home?”

“I dunno,” Link said softly. “I'll come home early tomorrow, okay?”

“It's okay,” Aryll said. “I know you're busy with stuff.”

Link pinched his lips together. “I can take the night off tomorrow.”

Aryll put the picture frame down on the bed and turned to him with a smile. “Okay.”

“Come on,” Link said, waving her forward. “Go to bed.”

“Can I sleep with you tonight?”

Link sighed. “Fine,” he said, turning down the hall towards his room.

Aryll replaced the picture frame on the nightstand and jumped off the bed, hurrying after Link into his bedroom. She jumped onto his bed and shimmied under the blankets with a sigh as Link crawled over her, laying on top of the blankets with his hands behind his head.

“So,” Aryll started. “I was thinking we should name our dog Richard.”

Link raised a brow. “That's a weird name.”

Aryll giggled.

“We're not getting a dog!”

“But!”

“Don't make me kick you out,” he warned her.

Aryll made a zipping motion over her lips. She turned over without another word and closed her eyes.

*****

Aryll was awoken by two sounds; Link’s snoring, and his phone vibrating on the desk nearby. She elbowed Link annoyingly, but all he did was turn over in his sleep, his limbs sprawled in every direction. She got up and looked at the phone, smiling when she saw Mipha’s name on the screen. She slid her finger across to answer it.

“Hi, Mipha.”

Mipha checked the clock on her nightstand. It was only eleven, but she didn’t expect Aryll to answer. “Hey, Ary,” she said.

“Link’s sleeping.”

“Of course he is,” she said with a sigh. He was not one to stay up late doing homework like she was, but she had at least hoped to catch him in the middle of a late night video game marathon. But it didn’t matter; she really didn’t have a good reason for calling. She would have said something about their assignment, but he would not have any answers for her. Mostly, she just wanted to hear his voice.

“Guess what I had for dinner every day?” Aryll said.

Mipha smiled. “What?”

“A peanut butter and banana sandwich!”

“That sounds… weird. Was it good?”

Aryll nodded. “Link made it for me. Daddy said it was Mom’s favorite.”

“Oh, yeah?” Mipha hesitated, wondering how much she remembered of her mother, or if she even knew of the anniversary of her death. “Do you miss her?”

“No, I don’t miss her,” she said. “I don’t remember her. But I know Daddy and Link do.”

“Yeah,” Mipha said, frowning. “I’m sure they do.” She leaned against the wall on her bed and turned her gaze to the full moon out hr window.

“It's okay, though,” Aryll continued. “I don't need a mom. I have you to do all the things moms do.”

Mipha smiled. “Of course you do,” she said.

“Yeah. You told me boys have cooties, remember?”

Mipha laughed, and Aryll continued on.

“And I have Urbosa and Riju. I have, like, three moms! That's way better. And Urbosa can do my hair like her's and Riju's. I want my hair to look pretty like their's.”

“I think we can arrange for that,” Mipha said. “How about Saturday? You can hang with us girls.”

Aryll grinned excitedly. “Okay! Me and you and Urbosa and Riju.” She paused. “And maybe Link, too? So he doesn't feel left out.”

“I guess Link can tag along,” Mipha said playfully.

“Okay, good. Mipha?”

“Yes, Ary?”

“I'm glad you're friends with Link. We're friends too, right?”

“Of course we are, silly. I like you better than Link.”

Aryll grinned. “Good, because I love you, Mipha. And I love Urbosa and Riju and Daruk and Link and Daddy.”

“I know, Aryll.”

“And don't forget Link loves you too.”

Mipha blushed. “I'm sure.”

“And he loves everyone and Daddy loves everyone and I bet Mommy did.”

“The world is full of love, Ary.”

“Yeah!”

Mipha laughed. “Go to sleep, now, okay? Its pretty late. But I'll see you Saturday.”

Aryll nodded her head. “Okay! Bye!” She pressed the red button on the screen and placed the phone back down on the desk, humming the song from her music box once more. She jumped back onto the bed, taking a moment to yank the blankets out from under her brother, and settled in beside him. Her voice was soft as she sang in the darkness.

“Youth, guided by the servant of the goddess, unite earth and sky...” Her voice trailed off and she yawned.

Link watched as his sister fell asleep beside him. Her breathing slowed into a steady rhythm, and after a few moments, she turned over and snored lightly. Her hand moved across the bed, resting on top of his, and she sighed softly

[puppetwritings]

Please! This isn’t a Game! || Pt. 1 || Jeonghan

Pt. 1 // Pt. 2 // Pt. 3 // Pt. 4 // Pt. 5 // Pt. 6 //

➢ Word Count: 4332

➢ Genre: sci-fi, fantasy, fluff, comedy, transmigration

➢ Summary: What do you do when you get thrown into an unknown world? Well, Jeonghan sure as heck does not know.

--------

“This isn’t a game,” the system said. “This is real life. If you die here, you’re really going to die! There’s not even a guarantee that you’ll go back to your reality. It’s better if you just take the long route. Don’t try to do anything flashy! Be lowkey! And please don’t join the military!”

Jeonghan’s lips were pressed into a line as he trudged through the crowd. His brows were furrowed and anyone who stood longer than three seconds in his path were faced by an icy glare. “Listen, you trashy system, I didn’t get on my knees and snivel and cry to that dumb old man, just for you to tell me my genius idea is bad.”

The system shrank back and said nothing as it watched Jeonghan signed his name on the check-in for the civil exam.  

“I know what I’m doing. Plus, you can boost my specs, can’t you?” Jeonghan said, putting the pencil back into the cup and moving aside.  

“I can! I can, but I can’t make you indestructible!”

“Then I’ll just become so powerful that I’ll be indestructible,” Jeonghan smirked to himself as he started to walk back through the crowd.

Yoon Jeonghan, nearly thirty, had been transmigrated into the body of a twenty-three-year-old with the same exact appearance as him and even the same name. The only difference? It was an alternate universe where magic ruled and the world wasn’t on the verge of falling apart.

He actually liked this place better. He wasn’t attached to stuffy rules, flashy cameras and paparazzi that poked themselves into his business, or parents who scolded him for anything he did “wrong”. It wasn’t “wrong”, it was just unconventional. And here, Jeonghan could be as unconventional as he wanted to be.

The only thing he was attached to was--

“Are you even listening, Host?!”

“Totally not,” Jeonghan easily answered.

The system wanted to cry. “I was explaining the timeline to you.”

“No need, I got it. This guy, Yoon Jeonghan, lived a tortuous life with his dad and his half-brother. This is a universe with magic and he was what people in Harry Potter would call a squib. He found out his half-brother was trying to take over the world, tried to stop him, and died!” Jeonghan easily summarized. He cockily tilted his head at the system. “His dying wish was to be stronger, fiercer, cunninger, and be able to take down his older brother, isn’t that right?”

“That’s right. You got everything right, but,” the little orb that the system embodied turned a bright red before it bellowed, “Why are you joining the military!?”

“His dad and brother are in the military, right? General and, what was it? Colonel?”

The system sighed. “And do you know what I am, even?”

“A system.”

“Yes?”

“An information giver. An NPC that gives quests,” Jeonghan said. “Um, Navi in Legend of Zelda. Hey, you even look like her. All you need are wings.”

The system would cry if it could. Of all the hosts it could have chosen, why did it choose this guy!?

Jeonghan sensed the system’s distress and he sighed. “You chose me for a reason, right? Just trust me.”

“I’m an AI, AIs don’t experience things like trust or emotions.”

“I would beg to differ,” Jeonghan said. “It’s okay, little system, you don’t have to lie to yourself. There’s even that one game in my universe. About like, androids becoming human? We’ve entertained that type of idea for centuries! You don’t have to pretend just to not scare me. Speaking of which, do you have a name?”

“No.”

“Then, can I call you Navi? Or are you gender-conscious.”

The system let out a long sigh. “Navi is fine.”

“Navi it is,” Jeonghan said, smiling in a self-satisfied way.

The entire conversation had taken place in Jeonghan’s head, but his constantly changing expressions still scared the few of the people applying to get into the military academy.

“Aren’t you going to ask how I managed to convince that deranged old man?” Jeonghan asked, sitting down on a bench and waiting for the proctors to start calling names.

“I was there.”

“You’re absolutely no fun,” Jeonghan sighed.

“I thought he was going to shoot you.”

“Would you have protected me?”

“This early in the timeline? I might have had to,” the system grumbled.

“But you said this little squib is actually powerful, right?” Jeonghan asked as he plucked some flowers from the cracks in the pavement.

“Don’t call him--never mind,” the system sighed. “Yes, he’s powerful. Because they only checked for light magic, they missed his dark magic potential.”

“Well, why would good guys look for dark magic anyway?” Jeonghan said. “It’s perfectly normal for them to miss this guy and mistake him as a squib.”

“Don’t use that term.”

“Why? Is it copyrighted?”

“Well, yeah, it is.”

“Are you conscious of copyright?” Jeonghan asked, pausing in his movements.

The system thought for a moment. “No.”

“Then it’s fine.”

The system remained silent as Jeonghan weaved the few flowers he found around him into a bracelet. He shamelessly slipped it on before leaning back and watching young men who had a better physique than him line up for the civil exam.

“Thank goodness I got to inherit the other guy’s memories,” Jeonghan mumbled aloud. “Who knows if I can pass a civil exam if I wasn’t able to?”

“If we didn’t allow you to inherit his memories, perhaps you wouldn’t be as irrational,” the system quietly reasoned to itself.

Jeonghan shot a glare at the system and the system sadly floated down beside Jeonghan. It threw up a white flag.

“How much can you boost up my specs without it being physically obvious?” Jeonghan asked.

He had grown bored of just sitting on a bench and was now roaming around, looking at the food stalls that surrounded the area. He stopped at one that sold something similar to takoyaki and bought some using the money that he stole from his dad.

“I could maximize your speed and endurance. I could also maximize your strength. Your body wouldn’t change at all, except maybe getting a little more toned.”

“Perfect,” Jeonghan shoved a takoyaki ball in his mouth and then stopped walking for a moment. “Do I have to exercise to maintain it?”

“Host, if you join the military, you have to exercise anyway,” the system pointed out.

“But actively. With a purpose. Do I have to do that to maintain it?”

“No.”

“Perfect,” Jeonghan went back to eating.

It was another forty minutes before the proctor started to call names. Jeonghan had already finished two plates of takoyaki by then and had drank four bottles of water. He arrived just in time for his name to be called. He took is nameplate and confidently walked into the testing center, completely ignoring the looks of surprise from those who recognized him.

The exam was similar to the imperial examination that was given out in Ancient China. You would be given a question and you would have to answer it clearly in eight pages. If your idea were good enough, you would pass and continue onto the physical test. If you failed the physical test, but passed the civil test, you were eligible to become a politician and you could attempt the physical test again in another four years. If you failed the civil test, you could also attempt that again in four years, but you were only allowed three tries.

Jeonghan, luckily, arrived at the time that the exams were taking place. He easily breezed through the civil exam with his newly gained knowledge as well as his knowledge from the other world. He received a letter, confirming his above average test score, and was told to report back at the square in a few weeks to take the physical test.

“See,” Jeonghan haughtily showed the system in his mind. “See, I did it. And you doubted me.”

“I never had a doubt in my mind, host,” the system said.

Jeonghan rolled his eyes. What a liar.

“Host, what are you planning to do for the few weeks leading up to the physical test?” the system asked. There was nothing to do. Jeonghan’s transmigration and decision to enter the military warped the timeline, which caused them to miss out on a major event. It wasn’t important but it was the first contact this world’s Jeonghan had to the dark forces.

“Seek death.”

“Huh?”

“You said my arrival caused warps, right? But they still have to carry out their mission,” Jeonghan said. “I could offer myself up as a distraction.”

“Please, host, do you not remember what I said a few days back?” the system sounded as if it were in tears again. “If you die here, you might really die!”

“Navi, it’s fine. I know what I’m doing,” Jeonghan replied just as breezily as he had a few days ago. “Besides, I’m sure that brother of mine is itching for an opportunity to crush me.”

“Why is that?”

“Yoon Jeonghan is actually trying now,” Jeonghan said. “Before, Jeonghan was a crying, wimpy kid whom their father hated and mistreated. In the previous world, he never tried that so everyone thought he was just a no-talented embarrassment. But now, he wants to make something of himself. Even if there’s a chance that I might succeed, that half-brother will definitely try to snuff it out.”

“To the point of wanting to kill you?”

“Yep!” Jeonghan chirped. “Before, he was used as a pawn piece, now, my dear brother might actually be sending me to my death.”

“But you can’t—that’s—host!”

“Yes, Navi?”

“It’s too dangerous!”

“Which is precisely why I have to do it. If I’m already causing ripples, why don’t I just make a wave?”

Just as Jeonghan thought this, the door was politely knocked. Jeonghan signaled for the visitor to come in and watched as the butler bowed.

“Second Young Master, Master would like to see you in his study.”

“Speak of the devil,” Jeonghan thought. He nodded to the butler and followed him out of his room.

“Host, please don’t do this,” the system begged helplessly as it followed its host down the velvet carpeted halls.

“What are you crying so pitifully about?” Jeonghan asked, a gentle smile on his face that suited a sickly young lord. “If you keep crying, I’m gonna lock you in the closet, Navi.”

The system gaped at its host. Had there ever been such a twisted host recorded in history? Most likely not! Because they all died before they could complete the mission! The little system screamed indignantly in its heart but on the outside, it remained a calm blue.

“Host, you’re going to—”

“We both know what they’re going to use me as for this mission,” Jeonghan said.

“A double?”

“Exactly. But instead of being a helpless little lamb that gets captured, I’ll become a valiant hero that does better than my brother did in the previous timeline,” Jeonghan said.

“You have quite high expectations for yourself,” the system noted monotonously.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with that,” Jeonghan replied.

“Host, have you ever heard of biting off more than you can chew?” the system asked. “Because you’ll choke if you do that!”

“Everything you say alludes back to dying,” Jeonghan grumbled. “Can you calm down? I won’t die! I didn’t die in my own world, so I won’t die in this one.”

“But in your own world, no one was actively trying to kill you, were they!?”

“People were,” Jeonghan scoffed. “Goodness, Navi, you don’t know anything about me, do you? Don’t go around making assumptions about me and be a good, quiet little system.”

The system was stunned into a silence and stayed that way until they got to the study.

The butler calmly opened the door and bowed before leaving after accomplishing his task. Jeonghan stepped into the room and took on the posture the previous Jeonghan often had—slouched, unconfident, and looking down.

“Father, Brother,” Jeonghan mumbled.

“Look at you,” Jeonghan’s brother, Taewook, threw an arm over his shoulder. “How are you going to join the military like this? You can’t even look us in the face.”

“Taewook,” their father interjected. “He doesn’t need to look us in the face. He shouldn’t be looking superior officers in the face anyway.”

Taewook chuckled, releasing his brother with a push. “That’s true.”

Jeonghan stumbled, though he really didn’t need to. Seeing its host act like this, the system felt its nonexistent heartache a little. It quickly snapped out of it though after remember Jeonghan’s plan. This man was just extremely good at acting!

“So, Jeonghan, you want to enter the military, right?”

Jeonghan looked up so fast, it seemed that his neck would snap. He nodded several times excitedly. Just by doing this movement, his face paled. His father and his brother’s faces contorted into mocking smiles but the innocent young man didn’t seem to notice.

“Then, you must be willing to help us with tasks. We will be raiding the lair of the Mutated Butterflies in a week and we need someone to be a decoy.”

Jeonghan’s excited eyes diminished a moment and he looked back down. His voice came out in a worried shake. “But—but, father, I know nothing of how the military or how anything works yet. That is why I decided to go to the military academy first.”

“Yes, I know, but you, my boy,” Jeonghan’s father leaned in closer, “You’re special.”

Jeonghan’s face lit up again and he listened intently.

“All you have to do is to bring the decoy troop in towards the front and your brother a few special operatives will sneak in the back and take everyone down.”

Jeonghan nodded. After a moment, he timidly spoke again. “But, father, will the soldiers in the decoy troop die?”

True to the original character, Jeonghan acted naïve and thought only of other people. For now, until he completed his first mission of getting in contact with dark forces and actually activating his powers, he couldn’t OOC too much or he would be directly ejected from this world and well, the system wasn’t sure what would happen after that. Each world varied on how they punished hosts.

General Yoon smirked behind his hand. He took a deep breath to recover himself before standing and walking around his desk. He approached Jeonghan, but Jeonghan flinched at the outstretched hand. The hand finally landed on Jeonghan’s shoulder and Jeonghan was roughly pulled closer until General Yoon was only an inch from his face.

“My boy,” General Yoon spoke in that low, magnetic voice that didn’t charm people but caused them to tremble in fear. “You shouldn’t think about the others. Think only of yourself and of your mission. Who cares if they’re sacrificed if our mission succeeds and you survive?”

Jeonghan let out a nervous laugh and nodded shakily. He took a step back when he was released and he bumped into Taewook. “Ri—right. Right. Father, you are absolutely right.”

General Yoon said back behind his large oak desk. The chair squeaked under him. “Then, Jeonghan, you agree to come with us?”

“Of course, father,” Jeonghan said, his eyes shining like a hopeful youth. “I will not let you or Brother down!”

Jeonghan was soon dismissed after given vague and brief instructions. Jeonghan excitedly left but half way back to his room, that cheerful smile dissolved from his face and his giddy expression was replaced by a look of absolute disdain.

“Host, do you have a plan?” the system nervously asked. No matter how it looked at it, this was obviously stepping into a bear trap!

“Of course not.”

“What?!”

“We’ll play it by ear,” Jeonghan said. He opened the door to his room and sprawled out on his king sized, silk-covered bed. He rolled to the side and poked the floating system. “But I’ll make sure I won’t die. If things don’t go to plan, I can always run off and hide like a coward.”

“But host, you don’t have a plan to go by! What if you get captured?”

“Honestly, getting captured may be the best plan. In the previous timeline, Wimpy Jeonghan ran off and hid, right? He was slightly injured by the dark forces, which allowed him to be marked but they didn’t want to take the risk of snagging him because he seemed weak at the time,” Jeonghan began to reason. “If I get captured, I’d get tortured for information, if I get tortured for information then more dark matter will spill out of me and they will know that I’m worth their time.”

“Why do you want them to know you’re worth their time? All you need to do is get stabbed by a dark weapon and your powers will activate as the dark magic seeps into you.”

“I want them to know I’m worth their time because I want to be one of them,” Jeonghan said. He closed his eyes and smirked. “Only when I’m one of them, can I completely kill that pair of rotten family members.”

 --------

“Host, this is really dangerous,” the system fluttered around Jeonghan nervously. “You can back out now! You might not survive the torture!”

Jeonghan waved the system off as if he were waving a fly. He had been completely dressed in Taewook’s armor, meaning his face was half covered by a fabric mask and he was wearing a helmet that resembled a motorcyclist’s helmet, though slimmer. The armor was slim as well, but was made completely of flexible metal that would block any low to mid-level weapons and magical attacks. Of course, this type of armor was useless against the dark forces who would mostly be using mid-range to high-range attacks and weapons.

“Navi, calm down. I’ve already thought it through,” Jeonghan said.

“You won’t go through with it?!”

“I will,” Jeonghan smirked under his mask. He lifted his sword and yelled “Charge!” in the way Taewook had told him to, and rode off first.

The system floated by him leisurely and watched in shock as he jabbed, parried, dodged, and counterattacked with ease on a horse. The system floated in closer. “Host, have you done this before? From the information I obtained and from what I saw while I was briefly in your world, you don’t have this sort of thing. It’s all mechanical.”

“I took some fighting lessons as a kid,” Jeonghan said.

The system became silent. That doesn’t explain your fast-adaptive skills and superhuman reflexes, host.

Sure, Jeonghan’s adapting skills were fast, but he was quickly forced to retreat and was nearly knocked from his horse multiple times. The few moves he showed that impressed the system earlier were forgotten as he was shoved off his horse and tumbled into a tree.

“Host, are you okay?” the system flew around Jeonghan’s head until Jeonghan used his sword as a lever to get off the ground.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little dizzy,” Jeonghan said. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

The system watched worriedly as Jeonghan flew back into battle. “Host, there is one thing I’m still confused about.”

“Yes, Navi?”

“You said you wanted to be a hero but you also said you wanted to get captured,” the system floated next to Jeonghan’s head.

“A hero can get captured. I just have to protect the soldiers to the best of my ability before I fall. They will think I am Taewook and find it confusing as to how I lost so easily and didn’t just leave them behind,” Taewook had a reputation of leaving his soldiers if it became too difficult, “and then they find out it was actually me, the weak and sickly young master, working hard to protect them. At least a quarter of them will be moved.”

The system was starting to understand its host’s way of thinking but still it was too complicated.

The dark forces were closing in about an hour and a half into battle. The soldiers were indeed surprised that “Taewook” stayed so long with them. They had heard of his reputation while they were still training and had fully expected him to abandon him. They felt a little touched that this didn’t happen, but now they really wished he would leave!

To the soldiers, “Taewook” was probably feeling a little ill. He moved a lot sluggishly and clumsier than usual. Although he threw himself at anyone who was in danger, his stamina could only last so long if he was sick!

Just as the soldiers thought up to this point “Taewook” became even slower. Jeonghan, who was under the mask of Taewook, felt exhausted. He had told the system to lower his specs back down and make them only a little higher than the original of this world. Being able to hold out for an hour and a half was already commendable, but in order to do this, Jeonghan felt that his body was about to tear apart.

Jeonghan was now surrounded by an army of dark forces. His soldiers were further away. They had become caught up and distracted, only to find out they had fallen into a trap! As the dark force soldiers slowly advanced, Jeonghan felt a wash of relief come over him. Finally. Finally, he would be captured—

Jeonghan let out a strangled scream as he was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and lifted up.

He was thrown onto a horse. He felt a warm hand on his back as he was tossed between the body and the neck of the horse. He could hear the surprise screams from his soldiers and the enemy soldiers but the clash and the blasts soon faded and eventually, all Jeonghan could hear was the running stream.

He was carefully slipped off the back of the horse and his “savior” followed him.

At first, Jeonghan thought it was Taewook but after some careful consideration, he figured it was not. The system, which had been shocked into disappearance, materialized beside him again and Jeonghan grumply directed a mental question at it “Who is this?”

“I’m not sure,” the system answered honestly, floating around the mysterious person in the black, fluttering cloak. “I can identify this person as female and I can verify that she was also in the original timeline, but as for her name, I can’t be sure as I do not have access to the memory files that contain this information.”

“Then, an alias?”

“She is known as the Huntress and she works for Mutated Butterflies.”

Jeonghan felt a flutter of delight. Then she was here to capture him! He was just taken away so she could personally lock him up!

Instead of getting cuffed or tied or having his “powers” locked, Jeonghan felt shock and terror shock his entire being as the Huntress fell down in front of him. Her hands hovered close to the wounds that had torn through his armor but she sat back. When she spoke, worry filled her voice.

“Taewook, are you alright? Why didn’t you just run away as you always do? That was such a silly thing to do!” the female said.

Jeonghan stared at the Huntress in shock. He inhaled sharply and found himself scooting back a step.

“Ah, I found another piece of information,” the system said. “In the later part of the storyline, it is revealed that the Huntress is one of Taewook’s lovers.”

“Taewook, what’s wrong?” the Huntress moved closer again.

Jeonghan crawled back another three steps. He pursed his lips and was about to speak when the Huntress pitifully sighed.

“I know, you won’t be able to explain to the soldiers, but I couldn’t just watch you get beat up like that! You understand my heart, can’t you?” the Huntress moved quickly and hugged Jeonghan.

Jeonghan let out a wheezing sound similar to a squeaky toy with a dead squeaker.

“If you were sick, you shouldn’t have come out to the battle field,” the Huntress continued to coo. “That disgusting father of yours has no morals!”

Jeonghan wanted to struggle to leave but in his current, very injured and drained out state, he could do nothing but become limp in her hands.

The Huntress cursed out their father some more. Jeonghan had begun to black out but he quickly regained his senses when the Huntress reached out for Jeonghan’s helmet.

His hand reacted on its own and he quickly smacked the Huntress away. As the Huntress was also wearing a mask, he could not see her expression. He could only gauge by how hurt she was through her voice.

“I'm sorry, I’ve crossed the line,” she said weakly.

Really, Jeonghan thought, what did she see in this man! He was obviously a villain! Obviously cheating her! Obviously abusing her love for him! If she was used to this sort of treatment, then he was only using her!

“Send me back to camp,” Jeonghan managed to gruffly spit out after a long moment of silence. He took care to make his voice as close to Taewook’s as possible but he could not measure the accuracy. He was barely conscious.

A rotten man or not, Jeonghan had to act like Taewook or he would be flayed and flamed. So, when the Huntress attempted to help Jeonghan onto his horse, he arrogantly brushed her off and opted to struggle himself.

His short journey with the Huntress ended with Jeonghan valiantly stumbling off her horse and valiantly ignoring a woman who loved him (Taewook) and valiantly collapsing in front of the camp without making it one step further into its premises. His plan to activate his powers had terribly failed but he had achieved half of what he set out to do.

When Yoon Jeonghan woke up, five days later, he will have found that he successfully entered the military academy without taking the physical test and rightfully became named as a hero.

~~~

(A/N: check out the description or the pting ff tag on my blog for new chapters!)

[themalicealyce]

Sarcasm and Puns: Chapter Four

Summary: You're an introverted person, have been all of your life but it wasn't as if you were shy, you were just content to have your only friends be your brother and your roommate. Though when your brother's young daughter makes friends with the human ambassador of monsters you open up to the idea of having a larger group of friends.

Rating: M 

Waking up late on a Saturday was probably one of the most beautiful feelings you could think of. The sheer number of weekdays you had to lay in bed trying to gather the motivation needed to get dressed and go to work was getting kind of sad, so the few extra hours of sleep you got on your days off was a luxury you never skipped out on. It was sometime in the early afternoon and the sun had started to warm the room. The mild heat seeped through the window, rousing you from slumber. Golden light flooded into the dark room in columns, specks of dust floated and danced suspended in the beams. Not quite fully awake and exceedingly comfortable you wanted to roll over and sleep just a little longer, though the tiny little paw that landed on your face seemed to disagree. Hemlock mewed and stood on you, now with both front paws on your face and his hind legs on your collarbone. You groaned tiredly at him and he mewled back in pseudo conversation. You guessed it was feeding time and your stomach rumbled in sympathy at the thought of food. You found yourself hungry enough to drag yourself out of bed regardless of the tempting warmth of your blankets, so still in your fluffy pajama pants and an over-sized t-shirt you stumbled out of your room.

As soon as your door opened, Hemlock took off like a bullet to where you assumed your roommate had filled his food bowl. With your hair a mess and mismatched socks lazily pulled on you found your way to the living room which had been restored to its normal halfway presentable state. Your yawn stretched out for so long that your ribs hurt as you rubbed sleep out of your eyes. You looked around and saw Vincent already awake and wrapped up like a burrito in his blanket with an overfull plate of microwaved pizza rolls. The sofa was plush, and a homey olive-green color complemented by his bright purple blanket that he was snuggled into so deeply that you would have to use a crowbar to pry him out it.

"Mornin'" You grumbled, mouth dry from sleep, not ready for full sentences yet. Slinking past him on your way to the kitchen.

"Good morning!" He sung, his eyes briefly leaving the tv screen flicking up at you before shoving more food in his face. "If you say so." You replied lazily, bones cracking pleasantly as you paused to stretch before continuing on your way.

Shuffling out of the room, you went into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl out of the cabinet, letting it clatter on the counter. You abandoned it to shuffle over to the pantry to get your cereal. You chuckled slightly as poured your bowl nearly full to the brim of Captain Crunch, amused at the knowledge that your grocery list and eating habits haven't really changed much since college. Crossing the kitchen, you opened the refrigerator, the dim light bulb inside clicking on and bathing you in florescent light as you heard your friend moving around from behind you.

"Why is the fridge full of girl scout cookies and rum?" You asked the room flatly, the fact that this kind of behavior is losing its ability to shock you probably meant something, but you decided not to open that can of worms today.

"I went shopping." he shrugged as if it was obvious as he stood in the doorway, having abandoned his blanket and carrying his now empty plate.

"I'm not even mad, when I get home from dinner wanna crack one of these open?" You asked grabbing the milk, having to Jenga it out of the fridge around the new items.

"Oh, hell yes! Pick up soda for rum and cokes on the way back?"

You nodded as you poured the milk into your cereal and Vincent put his plate in the sink with a careless clatter, quickly returning back to his nest of blankets on the couch.

When you remembered the dinner that you had at Toriel's tonight, you suddenly remembered Gabriel had of course signed you up to bring cookies. You rolled your eyes at the memory. Oh well, you figured it gave you a chance to bake which you hardly ever did. "You want to help me make cookies?" you asked immediately hearing the excited consent from the other room.

His easy enthusiasm made you smile as you brought your late breakfast into the living room, shooing him to his own side of the sofa as you ate and pulled out your 3DS, flicking on a puzzle game you’d gotten ridiculously obsessed with. One section had been really breaking your brain and you really wanted to get past it. You managed some progress over the hour or so, but you had once again become hopelessly stuck. You growled at the game in irritation. You loved puzzles, but maze sections were the worst.

Switching off the game soon after your lazy breakfast, you decided you needed to get started baking so you could get ready to go to this dinner thing since it was already getting a bit late. Eager to be of some help in the kitchen, especially with the promise of cookies, Vincent agreed to do your prep work. He was about five feet of pure, concentrated energy flitting around the kitchen setting it up for you while you looked through your stuff for your mom’s chocolate chip cookie recipe.

“Found it!” You smiled, holding it aloft like a Zelda treasure chest item.

“FUCK! I remember those. Why don’t you ever make those?!” Vincent asked incredulously, snatching the paper from your hands, scanning the list of ingredients.

“First of all, you have to stop snatching shit out of my hands you brat. Secondly, I’m not my mom I’m not here to bake your cookies and pinch your cheeks.” You rolled your eyes taking the paper back from him. “Ugh, then what good are you?” he teased back playfully.

“Well, with me around you can get drunk and cuss and I don’t nag you about bedtimes.” You answered back automatically as you preheated the oven. You looked over to him “You going to actually help or…?” you asked. He nodded eagerly.

Once you started baking you realized Vincent wanted to help by trying to incorporate Mettaton style cooking flourishes to your dish and it became a harder task to keep him focused instead of dancing around posing for a nonexistent camera. You had to snatch the glitter out of his hand as he tried to sneak it into your dough.

“But it’ll make it all pretty!” He whined.

“This is craft glitter! It’s not even edible glitter you heathen!” You argued back putting the bottle on top of the fridge and out of reach of his short arms. He huffed but got over it quickly when you let him eat some of the uncooked dough.

You didn't bake often, or cook really for that matter, but when you did you liked to do so from scratch and every time you left the counters gritty, dusted in a fine mixture of flour and sugar. Vincent didn’t help matters either, when he helped he turned things from messy to a disaster. This time was no different. He now sat on the one countertop by the sink you didn't bother to use, holding a cookie in between his hands looking extremely proud of himself as if surveying the damage that he caused. Still, the cookies turned out great, and he managed to arrange them on a platter without eating them all, so you’d take the nightmare mess in stride. His legs dangled over the edge, nowhere near reaching the floor, making him look even shorter and younger than normal.

Now that you were done you checked your phone. The time had snuck up on you. It was close to the time to go, and the reality of the situation was starting to dawn on you. You have never really gone to a dinner party before, and you were starting to feel like a high schooler meeting a boyfriend's family for the first time. It wasn't like you had experienced that a lot as a teenager, but you still remember the nervous mess you became when trying to impress someone. Frowning down at your dirtied pajamas, your nose scrunched up and you groaned starting to feel tendrils of panic rising.

"What do you even wear to a dinner like this?" You asked more to yourself than Vincent tugging at the hem of your shirt. "Yes, ask the guy who has a panic attack when he has to order in a restaurant about what to do in social situations." He rolled his eyes at you wiping crumbs off his jeans.

"Well aren't you helpful?" You sighed.

"Just throw something somewhat decent together I guess. I don't know." He shrugged.

"And here I was planning on lingerie and a t shirt proclaiming my satanic intentions." You sarcastically intoned.

"Hot. Which I guess works out for you since it's so chilly out!" He couldn't keep the silly little smile he got when he told a bad joke off his face. "Nope, nope if you're going to start with that I'm out. Imma go get dressed." You waved your arms at him in an overly exaggerated manner fleeing the room turning back and pointed an accusing finger at him. "And don't eat all the cookies while I'm gone." "Oh come on, that would be a real CRUMBY thing to do!" He had started to giggle at his own bad pun. "Bad! Bad Vincent. No!" You scolded as you left, retreating to your room.

You could hear Vincent laughing to himself and shuffling around the kitchen all the way back into your bedroom. Once you were there you put your phone down and flung open your closet door to find it mostly full of jeans and work shirts like you expected. You didn't think it was formal enough occasion to wear any of the clothes you wear to work and your t shirts seemed too casual. You sighed and glared at the clothes as if it were their fault you were under prepared for this situation. Pushing through your clothes in search of something you wouldn't feel too awkward wearing you knew you had to have something stored away that would useful.

Lost in deep thought you jumped away from your closet nearly falling on your ass when a loud sound blared suddenly. Quickly you recognized the noise breaking the quiet as the Tardis landing sound from Doctor Who. For a moment you were very confused until you noticed the noise that was playing out of your phone from the nightstand was your brother's ringtone. Taking a moment to be slightly disappointed that David Tennant wasn't here to take you away you answered your phone, propping it up in between your shoulder and ear as you went back to searching through your clothes.

"So are you still planning on coming or are you going to hide and try to will this away because I will pick your lock." Gabriel asked when you picked up your phone, not even bothering to say hello.

You rolled your eyes, you could hear his smirk over the phone. "You have a key you know."

"Yeah, but that is not nearly as fun." He sing-songed.

"So how is Morrigan handling the situation?" You asked, quick to change the subject and hoping that he didn't actually latch on to the idea of trying to pick your lock, you really didn’t want to have that conversation with your landlord.

"She has been throwing nearly her entire wardrobe around her room trying to pick out an outfit. And of course, she doesn't want my help. I didn't even realize she owned so many dresses." Gabriel chuckled, clearly amused by his daughter's antics.

"Yeah, who would have thought that you of all people would raise a messy kid." your toned dripped with sarcasm thinking back on how you two must have made your mom's life a nightmare when you were little.

"Hey, she's better than me when it comes to cleaning her room, it's starting to make me look bad." He admitted.

"You don't need anyone's help to make you look bad." You retorted as you dug deeper in your closet unearthing the very few dresses you owned stuffed in the back you scanned them, picking out a sweater dress that went down to just above your knees, it was warm, soft, and medium grey color. "Aha!" you called out triumphantly as you pulled it off the hanger.

"What are you 'aha'ing at? Finally beat that puzzle game you've been sucking at?" Gabriel asked teasingly.

You groaned suddenly remembering that hard maze puzzle you were stuck on in your game. "You dick, now that's going to bug me all night!"

You could hear him laughing loudly over the phone as you shut your closet, causing you to glare harder as if he was there to see how annoyed you were at him. When Gabriel calmed down you shared a quick conversation about when he would pick you up and you hung up so you could get ready.

[heartofhryule]

Breath of the Wild: Captured Memories - Chapter 6

First and foremost; SPOILER WARNINGS. If you have not played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, or completed the Captured Memories Quest and want to stay unspoilered for it, DO NOT READ. Keep Reading link provided for that reason. So I am writing these as I play through BotW for the first time - which means they probably won’t be ‘one-a-day’ consistent - I have finally gotten all of the memories, but not yet gone for the final fight at Hyrule Castle. #Soon. I will post them as I can though! Promise! I also plan to include links to the cutscene for you to watch at the bottom, if so desired - at least for the ones I can find. Any other warnings that become necessary, I will add for content as I go. For now, enjoy!

Hot hot hot! lol

I really like Daruk in all the cinematics. Optimistic, forthright, stalwart, devoted to his land and kingdom, and ever in support of the Hero - he's a solid dude, no pun intended. While EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THIS GAME is hard to write, this one was less hard just because Daruk is such a cool character. I predict Urbosa will be similar. I. Love. Her. #UrbosaIsBestChampion #SaltyBirdRivaliTakeNotes

One thing I try to do with the cinematics from the games, is not add too much if any dialog for Link - since of course in game he doesn't speak. If I continue with a scene after the cinematic ends in the game, that's one thing. When we get to the Silent Princess memory with the frog, trust me, there will be more. But there are times where at least when writing, its a little awkward that Link says literally nothing - so, while I don't want to add TOO much, so that you basically can watch the cinematic (links provided at the ends of chapters) and then read this for "a little bit more", I did add a line or two in a few chapters now, and I foresee this trend continuing. Nothing extreme, but I felt it needed acknowledgement.

Speaking of Rivali the Salty Bird... his chapter will be next. I swear to Hylia, I wanted to strangle that stupid parakeet. He's a badass... but so, so obnoxious. So, here we go! I'll try and have Salty Bird up as soon as I can, and thank you for staying tuned!

Chapter 6 - Daruk’s Mettle Hot. Hot hot hot. Volcanos were hot. Sure, his Flameproof armor bought in town, and his elixirs helped. But it was still hooooot. Things were looking more familiar nowadays. He didn’t remember faces or names, but things were feeling… familiar. Like he knew he’d been to Goron City before in more than just his memory of Zelda saying they would be heading there. He’d had a feeling he knew where the shop was, and had been right. 

He felt as though it had already been a lifetime since he’d awakened in the Shrine of Resurrection feeling lost, drifting outside of time, detached, frustrated and alone.

But then, he’d never truly been alone.

Zelda’s voice had awakened him. Zelda’s voice spoke to him, to warn him of the Blood Moon each time it rose, or when he needed to know something very important. Her voice called his name in his dreams, and he had begun dreaming of her - from before. Snippets here and there. A white dress, a spring, her tears. Things that when he woke slipped through his fingers if her tried to grasp too hard, but it was enough to fuel him forward. Landmarks were familiar now - perhaps not why, but sometimes, it came to him.

Like looking at the carving of Daruk in the side of Death Mountain, he’d known it, and the memory had come rushing back.

***

They had been standing atop Vah Rudania, traversing the side of Death Mountain in the great, hot wind of the mostly quiet volcano.

“Yeah! I think I’m finally getting the hang of controlling this Divine Beast!” Daruk exclaimed proudly. It wasn’t a boast of vanity, but rather an honest statement of pride and hope from a Goron of integrity. Link knew that, he could feel it. He remembered Daruk, and that he liked him a great deal.

“I’ll tell you what… it sure is a blast piloting a toy like this around!” Link smirked incredulously at his friend and shook his head. A lumbering, enormous piece of ancient technology that they barely understood… and Daruk called it a toy. That was the Goron Champion in a nutshell.

“Let those other champions know,” the rock eater continued, “They’ll have to eat their gravel if they want to keep up with Daruk!” The Goron looked around them, drawing Link’s eye and smile to the scenery. “Speaking of which, can you believe this view?” Just look at all those delectable rocks sprinkled on those mountains… Mighty tasty.”

Link chuckled and cut his eyes to Daruk, knowing the Goron sometimes forgot other races didn’t eat rocks. He would have to take the Champion’s word for it. “It really is a great view, my friend.”

Sharing a few moments of companionable silence, Daruk was the next to speak. “I may not know a whole lot about the Calamity Ganon thing… but mark my words: I will protect this land of ours to the death.” Fist clenched with the vigor of his oath, Daruk grinned and raised his other hand saying, “Right, little guy?”

It happened too fast for Link to dodge or mitigate, and when Daruk slapped him on the back in friendship, it knocked the wind right out of the Hylian Knight. Link gasped and leaned forward, eyes bulging a little as he reached up to what would no doubt be a great bruise on his back by evening.

“Hey, by the way…. Congrats on becoming the princess’s appointed knight. That’s a really big deal! Protecting the King's daughter,” Daruk chuckled, “No pressure.” Still trying to catch his breath and recover from the Goron’s platonic affection, Link winced and nodded but looked to the sky.

“Seriously, though. The Princess is a strong personality - so strong she can’t quite see the range for the peaks,” the Goron Champion added with a scratch of his head. “Remember that, and you’ll be fine.”

No sooner had Daruk finished than a great rumbling started around them. “Huh?” Daruk said and turned his eyes to the mountain. Link thought at first in might have been Vah Rudania beneath them. But when the ancient, mechanical salamander had stopped and seemed to be as it ever was, he too looked to Death Mountain.

Daruk was frowning now. “What the-?”

As they watched, boulders came flying from over the peak of which they stood in the shadow. One, flew directly at them, like a meteor plummeting to the earth. With a great cry, Daruk spread his large arms, balled his hands into fists, and smashed his knuckles together. Just as the boulder would have struck him and also Link, a great angular barrier of red-orange light - like the fires of Death Mountain itself - appeared around them, deflecting the wayward and deadly debris.

“Alright, so what was I saying?” For a moment, Daruk seemed nervously dismissive until he saw the serious and concerned look on Link’s face. That had not been normal, and if Link understood that, Daruk had to know as well.

Turning back to the mountain, Daruk’s voice was a touch softer as he said, “That was a little strange…” They both observed their surroundings and the volcano about for a collection of heartbeats. When it seemed no other boulders were to become airborne, Daruk looked down to Link. “As far as I know, Death Mountain has been quiet for decades. But if the mountain is shivering enough to send down boulders that size, then--”

The Goron paused, and Link turned to raise an eyebrow at him. Daruk just kept his eyes on the volcano. “Nevermind. Forget I said anything.”

With a look of incredulity, Link crossed his arms. “Then what, Daruk? Do we need to leave the mountain, is there fiery death coming for us all and I need to get the princess out of here yesterday… what?”

Daruk was silent as the stones for a long, breathless moment as his blue eyes beheld his beloved mountain. “I don’t know, little buddy, I don’t know. And that, is what worries me.” The sense of foreboding Link felt at those words should have told him then, things were going to go wrong…

***

As the memory faded, Link scrubbed both hands over his face. Daruk; strong, honest, proud, brave Daruk. His friend. They couldn’t have known, not really. It was not as though a few wayward boulders screamed, “Run from the hills! Ganon is coming!”

But a part of him still felt like he should have known.

There was nothing for it now. Like Mipha, Daruk’s spirit was trapped inside the corrupted Vah Rudania. Yes, Link needed the Divine Beasts to aid in his assault on Hyrule Castle and Ganon. More to his immediate point, he wanted to free Daruk. It was the least he could do for his old friend. But, he was going to need help. All he had to do was find this Yunobo and get up the mountain.

Somehow, he had a feeling that was going to be much harder than it sounded.

---

Once again, Link found himself standing over the main control panel of a Divine Beast, knowing that once activated, he would not be coming back. The Fireblight Ganon had been trying, and he was hot, tired and covered in ash. But one thought had bounced around his mind the entire time he fought - he was fighting for a friend he had failed 100 years ago. The knight hoped that, like Mipha, perhaps he would get to see Daruk one last time.

As the Main Control came alight under his Shiekah Slate, the plant like structure of the ancient controls turned blue, Link heard a cheer from a familiar deep voice. “Great work, little guy!”

Turning, Link smiled to see Daruk, mostly intangible, but no less a present force than he had ever been in life. Arms out in victory and gratitude, he took a step forward. Link squared up to greet him, swallowing against the rise of emotion in his chest. “I owe you big for this. Because of you, my spirit is finally free. Can’t thank you enough!”

The Goron Champion scratched his head in the gesture Link had come to remember meant Daruk was nervous, confused, or apologetic. “I feel like I should apologize. I was doing all I could to protect Hyrule when that thing got the best of me. Sorry that me resting with the rubble caused such a mess.”

The knight nodded, and took a breath to assure his old friend that it wasn’t his fault, but Daruk continued. “The good news is, is that Rudania is now back under our control! That means that our century old Ganon beat-down plan can finally go into effect!” As the embers flickered in their ever ascending dance around them, Link had to drop his eyes at Daruk’s optimism. He felt responsible somehow, if not for the cause then at the very least for the resolution. He owed that to Daruk, and Mipha… and Zelda.

“I’m gonna take this thing down the mountain. I’ll have a better shot from there. And then, once you’ve made your way into Hyrule Castle,” Daruk clenched his fists in front of him, “We’re gonna light that thing up!” Slamming one fist in to the palm of the opposite hand, Link nodded, not trusting his voice.

“I wanna give you something. It’s a special power of mine called Daruk’s Protection. It’s no good to me now that I’m a spirit… but it might be useful for you.” Slapping his hands together, even in spirit Link felt the tremor in Vah Rudania from the great Goron’s strength. “Here it comes!”

Pooling energy grew between the Champion’s hands as he drew them apart, and when the red orb entered link this time, it was warm, and fire licked throughout his aura. He instantly knew how to summon the power. Planting his feet and punching his fists together in front of him, the angular-sphere encompassed him as he had seen it around Daruk over a century ago.

Looking up to Daruk with deep gratitude and sadness, knowing their time was drawing to a close, Link worked his hands as the tingle of magic faded. Daruk just smiled. “From this moment forward, the power of protection, from the depths of my soul, now lives in you.”

Link wanted to, felt he should say something, but the glow of golden energy around him heralded that Daruk was sending him to safety. Looking back to his friend, Daruk nodded. “Good luck, little guy. And… give my regards to the princess!” With one last flash of light, Link was gone.

Daruk’s Mettle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzrJlTjHjag  Freeing Vah Rudania - https://youtu.be/IFvkz_oA-m8?t=335 

[stardusttkachuk-main]

One For Now, Some For Later

Title: One For Now, Some For Later

Pairing: Sam x Reader

Word Count: 1,062

Warnings: fluff

Prompt: Christmas with Sam

Square Filled: Neighbors

Summary: AU Sam and Y/N lived across the street from each other since they were 9-years-old. At age 14, Sam shares his first kiss with her, and they only continue to grow in their relationship twelve years later.

A/N: written for @spnaubingo

This is Day 25 of 25 Days of Christmas. Check out the full masterlist here!

Sam lived across the street and he had since you were 9-years-old. You were riding bikes when you first met him, he crashed into you and you both flew off. Thankfully, you landed on your feet while he landed on his side, skinning his elbow and palms in the process. He cried and ran inside before you could even introduce yourself.

It took one dinner for you two to meet again, just a week later. He’d still had the band-aid on his elbow when you saw him. His hair was long and moppy and falling right in his eyes. He was pretty cute now that you’d gotten a good look at him.

“I’m sorry for crashing into you,” you apologized, passing him a can of sprite, grabbing one for yourself too.

“I thought maybe I had broken my wrist because Dean did and he said it hurt really bad, and my wrist hurt really bad. That’s why I was crying.” He was quick with his words, trying to prove something.

“I wasn’t gonna make fun of you for crying, if that’s what you’re thinking,” you told him. “Just wanted to say sorry for not watching where I was going.”

“It’s okay,” he grinned, popping the tab on his drink. “I’m Sam, by the way.”

“Y/N.”

You’re thirteen and Sam’s fourteen and you’re both sitting on the swings at the elementary school that’s just a few blocks away. It’s summer and hot in Lawrence and there really isn’t anything to do besides hang out at the park.

“Have you ever kissed a girl?” You ask out of the blue, kicking at the rocks under your feet.

“Huh?” Sam questions, looking over at you.

“Have you ever kissed a girl. Like on the lips,” you repeat.

“No, have you?”

“I don’t like girls,” you laugh. Sam looks down at his feet. “You’ve never had your first kiss?”

“No. Why?” He snaps.

You shrug, pushing your feet off the ground to get a good swing going. “I just wanted to know.”

Sam starts to swing too, matching your speed and height. “Have you had your first kiss?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t count.”

“Well, why?”

“Because I was little. I was in kindergarten. I don’t even remember it.”

“Oh.” It gets quiet as you two sing together, but the subject isn’t brought up again. Not for a few months anyway.

You race over to Sam’s house to give him his present. It’s nothing special, but it’s been a tradition for the last four years and you want to keep it up. It’s Christmas day and you have family to see, but you have to make this one stop before you start driving around town to spend an hour or so with each family member.

Mary opens the door, tells you that Sam is in his room and lets you go up to see him. You’ve got the wrapped present in your hand as you take the steps two at a time to the second story. You knock first and Sam tells you to come in.

“Merry Christmas,” you say. He pauses the video game he’s playing to get up and give you a hug. He’s still in his flannel pajama pants and his grey t-shirt you can only assume he wore to bed.

“Merry Christmas!” He shouts. You hand him his gift and he smiles, pulling yours off of the nightstand and giving it to you. Together you each unwrap the presents, letting the paper fall to the bedroom floor to be cleaned up later.

“Ah, yes!” he hollers, holding the two books together in front of him. “You remembered!”

You unwrap a bag of Hershey's kisses and two movies. There’s a note on the kisses that says “one for now and some for later.”

You look up at Sam, reading him the note. “What does that mean?”

Sam’s hands are clammy when he rests them on your cheek, but his lips are warm and soft, pressed against yours. It’s short, a little awkward but you can swear you feel sparks. “I wanted to be your first kiss,” he whispers, blushing bright red.

You smile and bite your bottom lip, pulling away from him. You let out a giggle, bringing your thumb up to wipe the red lipstick from his lips. “I’m definitely going to remember this first kiss.”

You haven’t moved far from Sam. At 26, the two of you are both living in the same apartment complex. His is right next door to yours. It’s convenient, getting to see him every day. It certainly has had its perks in your relationship.

Sam knocks on your door, bottle of wine in one hand, a bag in the other and a container tucked under his arm. You greet him with a kiss, stepping aside to let him in and taking the container from him to set down.

“Yes! Mashed potatoes,” you laugh, setting them in the fridge as dinner isn’t ready yet. You were having a steak dinner for Christmas. Neither of you could make it back to Lawrence to see your families, due to the hefty storm that blew through, but living next door meant you could spend it with each other.

You sip on wine, laugh, eat, and kiss quite a bit before you move things to the couch to open presents and watch a Christmas movie. Sam picks “A Christmas Story” and you roll your eyes. He always watched it on Christmas, like it was his own little tradition. You grab the presents for him that are under your tree and he hands you the rather large gift bag he had brought in.

He goes first, unwrapping a book he’d been eyeing the last few months. You got him a bottle of whiskey and he laughs, letting you know he’ll share. Then he unwraps a new shirt, a nice flannel one that’ll keep him warm during these cold months.

You pull out a new jacket, one you’d been asking him for and considering buying yourself. He also gets you a simple necklace and earring set, which you gladly put the necklace on right away, twirling it in your fingers to get a good look at it. You finally pull out a bag of Hershey’s kisses, looking over at Sam.

He leans over to kiss you. “One for now and some for later.”

Forever Tags: @iwantthedean @a-fan-fighting-for-equality @smoothdogsgirl @jayankles @faegal04 @feelmyroarrrr @maddieburcham1 @melonshino @sayukoi @impalaimagining @riversong-sam @atc74 @goldenolaf25 @plaidstiel-wormstache @thegrouchiestunicorn @thebitterbookeater @growningupgeek @sandlee44 @rda1989 @weasleywinchester @fightmenegan @itsmyeffingstory @angelblazon @mrswhozeewhatsis @meeshw777 @jotink78 @poukothenerd @mogaruke @devilgirlsarah @queencflair @ruprecht0420 @summer-binging-spn @holychuckitsthewinchesters @super100012 @jerk-bitch-and-an-angel @supernatural-jackles @taste-of-dean @casownsmyass @danradislife @holyfuckloueh @hsjolie @winchester-negan @emoryhemsworth @i-am-enough-always @samisimportant @brooke-supernatural16 @there-must-be-a-lock @greys-anatomy839 @babytheimpalaimagines @obsessivecompulsivespn @superapplepie @esoltis280 @mirandaaustin93

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