#i have had to excitedly break down arcs to my mother who keeps walking by while the show is on/sitting in for an episode n then sleeping

[ploncc]

finally watching House MD and yes i am catching up on my shows a decade late, but that DOES mean that now i can make the hypothesis that chase is another bubblegum bitch character and frankly that's worth the ten years

[screamingatanemptyroom]

Restricted Magic Arc 3 pt 8

On October 13th, 2018 I wrote a short story based on a Fictober challenge.��That ended up turning into a 3 arc fantasy adventure story of Erin and Gerald, and my first ever long running series on this blog. Before that I had pretty much only done short stories. Unfortunately about a third of the way through the last arc, I hit major writer’s block, and abandoned the story. 

Until now. 

2 years later, I’m posting a new part. I won’t promise steady or frequent updates to this, but I am going to definitely try to finish this story. It was one of my favorites, and I want everyone to be able to enjoy it to the end with me. 

Masterpost is linked here. 

Arc 3 pt 7 linked here in case you want a quick refresher on where I left off.

Enjoy!

_____________________

“We’re running out of time.”

Elsinore whispered to herself, crossing her arms across her chest as she shivered with cold. Her fingers dug into her arms, the skin breaking along the tips of her nails. Rivulets of blood ran down, soaking the sleeve of her prison uniform, the pain of the injury dulled by her inner panic. Pacing back and forth around her cell, she stepped in the fluid dripping off her clothes, tracking red footprints on the well-worn floor.

The illusion of Sophia sat on her bed, watching her with a bored expression. “Pretty sure we have nothing but time, living contained in a cell like this.”

“SHUT UP!” Elsinore glared at her sister’s image. “You heard her! Erin is going to MERION!” She threw up her hands. “Merion! Why would she do this to me? I swore never to return there!”

“Is that what happened?” Sophia tapped a finger to her cheek, “Why do I seem to remember that you were banished?” She grinned, jumping to her feet and walking towards her. Her ghostly image tracked over the pooled blood without disturbing it. “But sure, you can pretend it was your choice to not return. Definitely not your punishment for betraying the country… and selling me to the Devil.”

Elsinore clutched her head, trying to ignore the voice of her dead sister, knowing it was her own illusion magic, her own delusion. “Roderick is planning something… why else would he bring her there of all places? No! We have to kill him before its too late!”

“Is that what you told my daughter?”

“She’s betrayed me.” Elsinore paced faster, her eyes wildly looking around the room. “She’s lost focus. So many years. So many sacrifices. And now she’s forgotten everything and abandoned me?!”

“You mean she’s finally looked to a future beyond killing her father? Wanting to survive, get married, have a life that’s about more than just one horrible man?”

“IT’S ABOUT AVENGING HER MOTHER’S MURDER!” Elsinore screamed at the figment of her imagination. “AVENGING YOUR DEATH! THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS!”

“Elsinore…”

“SHUT UP!” She waved a blood stained hand, unsure if the dripping fluid was real or not, her gaze focusing inwards. “I haven’t lost sight of the goal. If she won’t kill him.”

“Sister…”

“Then I will. “

There was a moment of tense silence, broken finally by the screams of the guards outside.

“Fire!”

“The whole building’s burning!”

“Here, this way!”

The door to her cell opened, several armed men ran in, their eyes wide, staring at nothing. Elsinore smiled, spreading her hands widely.

“Why thank you, gentlemen. You’ve served your purpose beautifully.”

The men looked at each other with confused expressions, that slowly changed into ones of horror as their minds fell prey to her magic.

“The witch escaped! Don’t think you can run away!” Facing off, they drew their weapons, each striking the other accurately, and slumping to the ground. Even as they died, their faces were confused, unsure of what was real and what was not.

“Illusion is so close to reality, isn’t it.” Elsinore chuckled, stepping over their quickly cooling bodies and walking out the door. “You really shouldn’t be fooled by such simple lies.”

“You’re one to talk!” The image of her dead sister snorted with laughter, but she ignored her.

“Let’s go.”

She walked down the hallway, her pace casual, unhurried as if she were walking in her own home on her way to tea rather than a bloody hellhole.

Along the way she was attacked several times. They never got near her, striking uselessly in the air as they were caught in her magic again and again. One man brushed passed her, and slumped with shock as she restricted his magic. He had time to scream in fear before dying under the confused attacks from his fellow guards.

The building was burning around her, the heat singing her hair as she passed by.

Elsinore passed by the bodies, the carnage, the destruction of her captors, and she quietly began to laugh.

“Sister…” The illusion of Sophia tried to reach out, but Elsinore could no longer hear her as her laughter grew louder and louder.

She walked out of the door, turning briefly to enjoy the sight of the government building that had been her prison going up in flames.

The fire burned brightly against the quickly darkening sky, the smoke filling the area. Elsinore watched it with fascination, unsure if it were truly burning or not. The guards had fired multiple blasts of flames, it was possible that one of them had begun it accidentally, destroying her former prison. But it could still be her illusion magic, Elsinore simply wasn’t sure.

Not that it mattered either way.

Beyond the crackle of the flames there were no other sounds, everyone else beside Elsinore was dead. She leaned her head back, taking a deep breath to calm herself as her laughter died out.

“Roderick… I’m coming for you.”

Finally he would pay for his sins.

Only then would she truly be free.

_____________________

Olivia and Frederick sat in the front car of the magical transport, each enjoying the trip in their own way.

Olivia was looking out the glass window, watching the scenery as the large metal locomotive moved forward, skimming across the sand as if it were as slick as ice. Resting her chin on one palm, she was a picture of calm. However, every once and a while she would shoot an annoyed glance further into the metal car where a banging noise could be heard.

“Frederick I swear, if you break this transport and we have to walk to Merion, I will destroy you.”

CLANG!

An even louder noise filled the small space, as if to mock her threatening words, and a grease-stained Frederick poked his head up from a small compartment in the floor where he had been happily working.

“Really, you will destroy me?” he grinned. “You and what army?”

Olivia studied her nails, ignoring his sarcasm. “It’s strange…I seem to remember during our last sparring session one of us being defeated… badly.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Like, so badly it was humiliating.”

“Ugh, please don’t…”

“I wonder who that was again?” Her grin was vicious.

Frederick glared. “Fine. Point taken. But keep in mind, I’m not breaking anything!”

“Really? That banging noise I heard was you just passively observing?”

“No, but all I’m doing is trying to get a closer look at this mechanism.” His eyes brightened. “It’s incredible to see a magical artifact like this, something so huge but it moves so smoothly!”

With one hand gesturing further down into the space below the floor, he continued to excitedly explain. “A level 5 earth artifact like this is the stuff dreams are made of. It actually combines several different magics involving the connection between the vehicle and the ground as well as speed adjustment, terrain variability…”

“STOP!” Olivia gave up. “It’s so boring. Please don’t make me listen to another hour long lecture on the wonders of artifacts!”

“This isn’t just an artifact!” He argued back. “This is a work of art!”

“Still boring.”

“How about we compromise? You listen to me gush about how awesome this artifact is, and in return, I’ll let you talk as long as you want about a topic you want.”

“Fashion.”

He winced at her immediate answer. “Really?”

“It’s that or we talk about the many horrifying and disgusting ways the human body can break down and how to fix them with healing magic.”

“…” Frederick sat their silently with a pained expression.

“Well?”

“I’m thinking, I’m thinking!” He gave a long sigh. ”Fine. Fashion it is.”

Olivia rubbed her hands together. “This will be fun!”

“Okay, but first I get to talk about this artifact.”

“Deal.” She stuck out her hand, which Frederick grasped and shook briefly.

“So, the first thing I love about the mechanism of this particular artifact…”

“Hey you guys!” Christopher interrupted Frederick’s impassioned words as he walked into the car with a pleasant smile. “Enjoying the trip so far?”

Frederick and Olivia didn’t turn to face him. Frederick looked back down at the hatch with a frown, while Olivia pulled out a filing board and began touching up her nails. Neither bothered to respond.

“It looks like you were studying the engine?” Christopher noticed the open hatch in the floor, his cheerful expression fading a little. “That could be very dangerous, I really wouldn’t advise that.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.” Frederick snorted with laughter. “I know what I’m doing. If I want your opinion on something that you actually know something about, I’ll ask for it.” Rubbing his head with one hand, a trail of grease was left on his forehead.

Olivia pulled out a handkerchief, cleaning him off. “That’s bold of you, assuming he knows something about any topic.”

“Don’t be silly!” Frederick flinched at her scrubbing, but rolled his eyes and finished letting her clean off his face. “He knows a lot about a ton of different subjects!”

“Like what?”

“How about flirting with everything that moves like a dog in heat?”

She nodded solemnly. “You’re right! How could I have forgotten?”

“There’s also harp playing.”

“How about fiancé stealing?”

“Puppy murdering?”

“Hey!” Christopher broke into their back and forth with a frustrated groan. “I thought we had agreed to put that awful nickname behind us?”

Frederick nodded seriously. “You’re right. It was getting old. We need a new one anyways.”

“That’s not what I…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “Never mind. I’m looking for Erin. Where is she?”

Olivia and Frederick glanced at each other, and then answered simultaneously.

“She died.”

“Who’s Erin?”

Christopher’s face was twitching, he seemed to force himself to hold a friendly expression.

“Guys, can you tone down the hostility? I’m her fiancé. It’s not like I’m trying to hurt her.”

“You think this is hostility?” Frederick laughed. “That’s cute.”

“I’m really a friendly guy once you get to know me.”

Olivia laughed. “Just keep telling yourself that, Kitten Killer.”

“Ooh I like the new nickname!” Frederick politely applauded.

“I thought the alliteration would give it a certain flair.”

“It certainly did.”

“WE’RE GETTING OFF TOPIC!” Christopher’s voice was raised. He paused, seemingly shocked at the crack in his normally impervious polite mask. Clearing his throat uncomfortably, he continued in a more reasonable tone. “Look. I’m just asking a simple question. Do you know where Erin is, or not?”

Olivia stood up, her face grim. “I’ve been wanting to say this for a while.” Her finger raised in the air, poking Christopher’s chest hard enough to force him to step back. “Erin is a better person then you or I will ever be. She’s my best friend in the whole world and I would crawl naked over broken glass before betraying her again. So no, I don’t know where she is, I will never know where she is.” She glared. “At least as far as you’re concerned.”

Christopher stared back at her, confused. “What do you mean again?”

“Olivia, you don’t have to tell him…” Frederick tried to interrupt, but Olivia quickly took over.

“No. He should understand this.” She turned back towards the golden haired young man with a frown. “I made a mistake. I let myself be used by Erin’s enemies. I used an artifact to steal other people’s powers and let her take the blame. I even kidnapped…”

“YOU USED WHAT?!” His earlier calm completely erased, Christopher reached out and grabbed Olivia’s shoulders, shaking her back and forth, silencing her. “You stole other’s powers, leeched their magic, and she FORGAVE you?” He snorted derisively, his face still red with rage. “Impossible. She must not have realized what you were doing! Otherwise she would have left you, there’s no way…”

BAM!

Frederick had moved, almost faster than the eye could follow, and pushed Christopher away from Olivia, slamming him back against the wall of the transport. His fist slammed against the wall, fire magic blazing around his fingers.

“Don’t. Touch. Her.” Frederick looked calm, but his eyes showed the anger just underneath the surface.

“What, no quippy jokes?” Christopher raised an eyebrow, seemingly unconcerned by the burning fist mere inches away from his face. “How unlike you.”

“Just keep going in this direction, and I’ll give you something to laugh about.”

The young man sighed, looking tired. “Fine, fine, I can take a hint. I’ll go away. You can stop threatening to set my hair on fire.”

Frederick stepped away slowly, the flames around his hand sputtering out, and Christopher turned and left through the door towards the next car without another word.

“…” Olivia stepped forward, a complex expression on her face. “Thanks for that.”

“No problem.” Frederick shrugged with a grin. “It’s not your fault you’re so weak that you get bullied by everyone else… but it’s more fun if I’m the one who gets to do it.”

“…”

“Olivia?”

BAM!

“OW!”

_____________________

“You okay?” Gerald reached over from his seat across hers and held Erin’s hand between his own. They had grabbed their own passenger car after Frederick loudly complained about their public display of affection blunting his cynicism and hatred for the world. Erin had rolled her eyes at the time, but was now appreciating the space. The car was quiet, with only the low rumble of the engine moving the transport to break the silence.

She shrugged, staring out the window as the land raced past.

“I’m not sure what’s ahead, but worrying about it won’t change anything. We have to face it.”

“Hey at least the worst is behind us.” At his words, she turned to look at him incredulously.

“What do you mean?”

“EXAMS ARE OVER!” He pumped his fist in the air, a goofy smile on his face. “I’m so happy we survived.”

Erin sighed. “Even ignoring the fact that you somehow have placed exams as the worst thing after we have faced murderers, assassins and entire ARMIES together… you do realize we still have to take final exams at the end of the year before we can graduate?”

“…” Gerald stared at her, looking shocked.

“You forgot, didn’t you?”

His only answer was a sad groan. Chuckling, Erin patted his cheek. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you prepare.”

“Well at least there’s that.”

They sat in companionable silence for a few moments, both watching the scenery from the window.

“Gerald, I’m worried.” She leaned her head on his shoulder, taking comfort in his warmth.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think I’m starting to lose control.” She rubbed her forehead. “It used to be easy to keep things hidden, keep things restricted, but now… It’s like something is unbalanced inside me. How many times have I destroyed whole buildings since we’ve returned?”

“I mean, I’m just saying, if your father and that brat of a fake fiancé would leave you alone you could stop rearranging the school architecture, …”

“Maybe it’s from using Aunt Elsinore’s magic for so long… maybe it’s something else. I don’t know…”

“Well maybe we can ask her… have you heard anything from Aunt Elsinore?” Gerald asked her quietly.

Erin shook her head. “No, not since our last conversation, even though I’ve tried several times to contact her.” Her hands curled into fists. “Do you think…”

“Think what?”

“Think my father got to her?” She closed her eyes. “She’s never been out of reach before… and now I worry…”

“Erin…”

“That she’ll end up just like my mother.”

“ERIN!” At Gerald’s shout her eyes sprang open. The window next to them was cracked, the seat around her torn to shreds. It looked as if a storm had raged in the tiny passenger cabin. Erin stared around her, feeling shocked.

“You see?” She reached out, gently touching the cracked glass. “Ever since we fought that army, even the artifact isn’t doing much anymore.”

Gerald sighed. “Your magic flows a lot more easily now then it ever did. With my level 5 Insight you glow like a sun. The amulet holds back less and less each day.”

“It was always supposed to be a temporary solution. But I need it to shield things for a little bit longer. A foreign country is not exactly the best place to confront my father.”

She sighed, placing her head in her hands. “I think he suspects my true powers already.”

“Well, I’ll contact my parents, ask my people to look into what’s happened to Aunt Elsinore.”

Erin smiled at his attempt to comfort her. “Really? It would make me feel a lot better to know she’s safe.”

“Of course! I’ll call them as soon as we arrive.” His head snapped up as he finished talking, seeming to sense something, as he turned towards the door of the cabin with a furious expression. 

“No need.”

The words were spoken quietly, barely audible within the passenger car, but the effect on Erin and Gerald was instantaneous.

She leapt to her feet, her face pale and angry, every muscle in her body tense and ready for a fight. Gerald also stood, putting his body partway between Erin and the new arrival, his posture clearly communicating an intent to protect as hers was to attack.

General Roderick smiled, the expression causing cold chills to run down Erin’s spine. “Sit down. We’re not going to fight here.”

Reluctantly, Gerald and Erin sat back, down, this time on the same side. Slowly, her father walked closer, sitting across from them, casually looking around, ignoring the increasingly tense atmosphere.

“What did you mean by ‘no need’?” Erin’s mind was racing as she thought back through their conversation. What had he overheard? How long had he been standing there?

Gerald squeezed her hand reassuringly beside her, and Erin calmed down slightly, with his insight there was no way her father could sneak up on them easily.

“Your inquiries after your aunt.” Roderick’s smile widened. “I’m afraid she’s no longer to be found in her government residence.”

“You mean her prison.”

He ignored her interruption, continuing. “She burnt the whole place down, killing all of my men.”

“…” Gerald and Erin stared at each other in shock.

“I assume you will see her soon enough, so need to waste the time looking for her.”

“What do you…?”

“She’ll be on her way to kill me.” Even as he discussed her aunt’s murderous intentions, he seemed… bored. “I expect her sometime in the next few weeks.”

Erin stood up again, struggling to hold in her magic as anger took hold. “You could be lying. She might be still imprisoned, injured, or…or dead…”

“Oh, Éirinne.” He threw back his head, laughing. The sound filled the room, filling her with unease. His eyes met her own and she nearly stepped back at the sense of danger. “I have no reason to lie. She means nothing to me. Her hatred, her desire for vengeance, mean even less to me than yours.”

At these words he turned to leave the room, almost running into Christopher.

“FINALLY! Erin, I’ve been looking for y…” The golden-eyed young man trailed off as he stopped in front Roderick. His face paling, he sketched an elaborate bow. “Pardon me, General.”

Her father frowned, stepping back away from him as if wary of being too close. “Be more careful in the future.”

With that, he was gone, and Erin could breathe once again.

“Well, at least you’re good for something!” Gerald grinned, although the expression was strained. “Driving away nuisances like General Roderick.”

Christopher shook his head, looking offended. “I didn’t drive him away! He was already leaving.” Hesitating, he took a step towards Erin, who stared impassively back at him.

“Erin, can we talk alo…”

“No.” Her answer was short, she turned away from him to face the window. Undeterred, Christopher stepped forward again.”

“I just need to…”

“I cannot tell you how very little I care for what you want or need to do.” Her gaze met his, and Erin didn’t bother to hide her rage. “Leave me alone, and you can still leave in one piece.”

“…” A silence came over the room. Gerald stood at Erin’s side, arms crossed. He didn’t comment but his posture made it clear he supported Erin’s words.  Finally, Christopher sighed.

“FINE.” He threw up his hands. “Just bury your head in the sand, try to pretend the world isn’t ending. I’m trying to save it, but you are so wrapped up in hating me, that you can’t see it!” His face for once did not hold his pleasant, masklike smile but a snarl of frustration. “You know what? Forget it! I’m tired of all of this. You can come crawling back to me when you regret it, and hopefully it won’t be too late. ”

He turned to walk out, but paused to say one last thing.

“How could you be so different from your mother?!”

And with that he was gone.

Erin felt her head spin, and unsteady, sat down, clutching the edge of the window for support. The seat cushion underneath her began tearing, the wood groaning under the strain as her poorly controlled magic bent it away from her. The spider web cracks deepened on the window, the frame warping around it.

“Erin, are you okay?!”

After a long, uncomfortable pause, Erin looked up at Gerald, trying to take deep breaths, to control her emotions, her magic.

“How does Christopher know my mother?”

[sorceress-coffee]

Bittersweet Sixteen

AO3 Link

A loud crash sounded from the kitchen jolting me awake. I groaned sitting up realizing that it was mom, making her special birthday pancakes. “This is going to be a long day…” I sighed out, rubbing my eyes.

“Why is that?” Draal asked, sitting up, a bit groggy from his rest.

“It’s Jim’s birthday, and he hates his birthday,” I explained, glancing at the stairs.

Draal’s brow furrowed, thinking for a moment, “I thought birthing days were highly celebrated in human culture.”

“Normally they are, but not in Jim’s case. They just remind him of when his dad left.” I explained, wincing at the memory.

“When will he be back?” Draal asked, never hearing Jim or me mention his father before.

“He won’t be,” I snarled at the thought, “and if he tries coming back, he’s likely to get Daylight or Midnight through the gut,” I spoke gesturing to my lance leaning against the wall.

“Ah, so it wasn’t leaving on good terms,” Draal nodded in understanding, having similar feelings from when Kanjigar would push him away over his Trollhunter duties.

I shook my head, frowning, “Jim’s 5th birthday, he got him this cool bike kit. I remember Jim being so excited to work on it with his dad… and the next day he was just gone, left in the middle of the night. Last we heard he lives in Vermont now.”

Draal nods, wincing at a crash louder than what woke us, “Why is your mother attacking the kitchen?”

I snorted, laughing “She does this every birthday, she’ll get up before Jim or I and make birthday pancakes. They’re terrible but it’s still something Jim looks forward to. I’m going to make sure she doesn’t set the house on fire.” I chuckled, resting my brow against Draal’s before getting up to check on the kitchen. I paused seeing the counters and stove covered in flour, “Uh mom… are you alright?”

Mom was plating three stacks of pancakes, a candle sticking out of one, “Yes, the flour didn’t want to cooperate.” She giggled lighting the candle, “I’ll be back down, time to wake Jim up!” She grinned heading up to his room.

Shaking my head, I grabbed my plate taking it down to the basement. “Well, considering what I’ve seen Trolls eat, you might like these,” I teased, sitting in the nest with Draal handing him a pancake to try.

Draal sniffed it warily, seeing that I wasn’t trying to eat it. He huffed, plopping it in his mouth, “Hm… It’s not bad… the burritos are better but these are good too.” He comments sniffing at the rest of the stack.

I laughed, handing him the plate. “Go ahead, mom’s cooking isn’t all that acceptable for humans to eat.”

Draal smirked, nudging my cheek with his nose, “Not a human.”

I puffed out my cheeks indignantly, crossing my arms, “yes, but I do have the appetite of one.” My phone began to blare Toby’s gun robot ringtone, I grinned picking it up, “Ready to go?” I asked him.

Toby laughed on the other side of the line, “I’m about to run over in a panic!” He hung up as he began yelling.

“Go?” Draal asked, eating the plate along with the last pancake.

I nodded, getting up again, “Toby set something up with Blinky and Arrrgh for Jim’s birthday. He needs me to help act like there’s something wrong in Trollmarket to surprise Jim.”

Draal nods, tilting his head in thought, “What do humans do for a birthing day?”

I hummed, counting off my fingers as I list-off possible actions, “well there’s cooking and having a big meal with everyone, there’s getting them gifts, things they like… experiences are good too, taking them somewhere different that they’d enjoy.”

Draal frowned, not being able to go to Trollmarket severely limited his options on gifts, taking Jim somewhere different on the gyre was an option, though anywhere he thought of might be a bit too dangerous for the Trollhunter in training, and forget about cooking, Draal didn’t know the first thing about human food. He sighed, unsure of how to participate in Jim’s birthday.

I smiled softly seeing the cogs turning in Draal’s mind, I placed my hand on his cheek. “I usually order in food and raid the scrap yard for things he likes, that’s how we finally got his bike working. Maybe once the sun sets, we can go look there?” I offered.

Draal smiled, nuzzling under my chin, “That sounds good… Thank you, River.”

We glanced up hearing footsteps running towards the basement as Jim throws the door open running down, “River! Something’s wrong in Trollmarket!”

I nod, turning to grab my lance, winking to Draal before running off after Jim.

As we ran towards the Forge Blinky came to meet us, “It’s too late Master Jim! Arrrgh has lost his mind!” He managed to get out as Arrrgh threw a troll across the Forge, arcing over Blinky, “Save yourself!”

Jim turned to Toby, armor ready, “I thought Arrrgh was at your house!”

Arrrgh started barreling towards us, Blinky, Toby and I dodged quickly as Jim stood there, eyes wide as he realized he was going to get tackled by the large Troll.

He backed up quickly, trapped between Arrrgh and the forge blades, “Oh, my gosh. Was it the kitty litter?” he asked as Arrrgh grabbed him, roaring in his face. Once Arrrgh had a hold on Jim, the troll that was tossed earlier pulled a lever and the main arena platform began to lift behind them, covered in balloons as colorful sparks illuminated the platform. “What the?!” Jim yelled, wiping off some of the slobber from Arrrgh’s yell.

Blinky and Toby pulled two ropes and a banner that read ‘Happy Birthday Jim,’ in Trollish unfurled. Everyone yelled ‘surprise’ as confetti was shot out from the banner, Blinky clapped excitedly, laughing, “Happy birthing day, Master Jim!” He called.

“What?” Jim asked confused, yelping as Arrrgh sat him upon his shoulder.

Arrrgh chuckled at the yelp, “Good actor,” he explained as Blinky came around to face him and Jim.

Blinky grinned, “Tobias informed us of your human surprise birthday customs. Are you not surprised?” He practically yelled, excited about partaking in a human tradition for Jim.

Jim tried to chuckle, seeing how excited Blinky was to do this, “Uh… that would be one word for it.”

“I was convincing,” Arrrgh smiled, setting Jim next to me.

I clasped Jim’s shoulder, knowing how hard he was trying to not be upset.

“Sixteen years! A propitious milestone.” Blinky grinned as Jim and I head over to him, Toby handing Jim a balloon to hold. “Sixteen is when young trolls master command of their bowels.” He explained earning a confused look from Jim, a disgusted grunt from Toby, and a snicker from me at their reactions.

“The Hero’s Forge!” Vendel’s voice rang throughout the arena, all trolls and fleshbags in attendance turning to face him as he walked towards us. “Sacred proving grounds for Trollhunters past, present, and future reduced to mockery.” He levels Jim with a hard stare, using his staff to pop the balloon he was holding. Arrrgh began to eat the balloons as Vendel lectured us about cleaning up the grounds and getting back to training. “River, I’d like you to train with the Trollhunter today,” He commented, noticing Jim’s distressed behavior at everything going on.

I nod before helping the boys clean up the birthday mess. As Jim and I began to spar, Arrrgh turned the forge on so we weren’t able to run back and forth on flat ground. Having to dodge the blades was new for me, but I was keeping up with Jim, exchanging blows, separating when a blade swung too close or the ground shifted and meeting again, though I knocked Jim over, each time we met. I sighed, knowing he was distracted. Glancing to Blinky, seeing him frown at something Toby had told him, he probably Told Blinky about Jim’s dad. Once it was time for Jim and Toby to head out for Toby’s next surprise, Blinky stopped me, “Could I have a moment of your time Lady River?” He asked, a weary expression covering his face.

I smiled softly, hanging back with Blinky, waving the boys off. “Toby told you why Jim hates his birthday?” I asked walking with Blinky to his library.

Blinky slowly nodded, “I feel terrible, not knowing, and this surprise… Did we make it worse?” he asked, concerned.

“No, it’s been good for him. I can tell he appreciates what you were trying to do for him, he just… it’s just hard for him.” I explained, knowing Jim only held back with the Trolls trying so hard.

Blinky nodded, relieved that the surprise party wasn’t a terrible idea, “Is there anything Master Jim would like for his birthing day?”

I laughed, “Well… you don’t happen to have a Vespa lying around here, do you?” I joked since there wasn’t a reason Trolls would have human vehicles.

Blinky grinned running to a back room of his library, returning after a few minutes later with minor crashing noises, holding a handlebar headlamp unit of a vintage Vespa, “Is this what you’re referring to?” He asked excitedly, hoping he had exactly what Jim was wanting.

I stared at if before breaking into a grin, “That’s part of one! Blinky you should come with Draal and me tonight, we’re going to the scrapyard, maybe we’ll find more items for the Vespa!”

Blinky set the headlamp unit on a stone table, making sure to keep it out of sight. He paused in thought, “parts… like the bike kit his father got him?”

I winced at the connection he had made, “Sort of…” I tilted my head in thought, “Though, coming from you, there’s no way he wouldn’t like it.” I reassured, trying to ease the worry on Blinky’s face.

Blinky grinned, nodding to me as Arrrgh came into the library holding a bag that was thrashing, “Ready.” He said to Blinky.

“Ah, yes! Let’s find Vendel!” He grinned, ushering us out of the library.

“Is that who I think it is?” I asked, eyeing the bag.

A little green arm stuck out from the bag, waving towards my voice, “Well if it isn’t the witch! Fry any trolls lately?” Not-Enrique cackled from the bag.

I glared at the bag, fist-clenching, “We better find Vendel. Quickly.”

“Agreed,” Blinky glared at the bag, it took a while to find Vendel, running after him before we lost him in the crowd. “Ah, Vendel! Just the Troll we’ve been looking for.” Blinky called out to him.

Vendel tilted his head slightly towards us, still walking. “Don’t stop looking on my account.”

As we caught up to him, Blinky gestured to the bag containing Not-Enrique. “But it is imperative that you look upon this.”

Once Vendel turned around, eyeing us, Arrrgh reached into the bag and pulled a grumpy Not-Enrique out in a tight grip. “Easy on the scruff!” He yelled at Arrrgh, flipping back onto his hand and climbing up to his shoulder. He sneered at Vendel. “And what are you staring at grandpa? Never seen a changelin’ before?” Arrrgh grabbed him, stuffing him back into the bag.

Vendel’s jaw dropped, stepping back slightly, “a changeling?!”

Blinky grinned, “You called me crazy, but who’s the mad troll now, huh? Behold! I have proof!” He gestured violently to Not-Enrique.

“Put that thing away!” Vendel scolded, grabbing Arrrgh and pulling him away from the other trolls as Blinky and I followed. “What are you trying to do? Incite a panic?”

“Is it that bad that he’s here?” I asked confused, unsure why everyone seemed to dislike changelings. They were still trolls, right?

“Ooh, the baby Witch doesn’t know much” Not-Enrique snarked from the bag before popping his head out “’ Ey!” Not-Enrique yelled, trying to get in Blinky’s face. “I only came here ‘cause you promised me socks to eat.”

“And you’ll get them.” Blinky glared at Not-Enrique, irritated at the interruption.

“They better be argyle!” He yelled, waving his tiny green fist at Blinky as Arrrgh shoves him back into the bag. “And smelly!” He finishes, popping his hand out to point at Blinky.

Arrrgh and I noticed a hole in the bag as Not-Enrique slipped out, we began trying to catch him as Vendel and Blinky argued. Blinky was standing up for Jim as we heard frantic yelling closing in.

Jim was running straight for Blinky, pale and scared out of his mind. He fell right before he could tackle Blinky. Standing quickly, still in a panic, “Blinky! Blinky, you have to save me. A huge troll bird, like a jetliner with claws, just tried to kill me!” He yelled.

Blinky was looking between Vendel and Jim as he cut Jim off by covering his mouth with two of his four hands, giving Vendel a nervous grin.

Vendel shook his head, crossing his arms at the display. “How could I not be put at ease by such gallant bravery?”

“Stalkling,” Arrrgh spoke up as he was turning in circles so I could catch Not-Enrique. “Very nasty.”

I grabbed a curled up Not-Enrique off of his shoulder, holding him on my hip like a baby as he stuck his tongue out at me. I poked his nose, easily bouncing him, he yawned leaning on my shoulder. As he had on Arrrgh’s shoulder, he quickly fell asleep in my hold.

“Stalkling?” Jim asked, Blinky.

Blinky gasped, covering his mouth in horror, “Stalkling?”

Jim snapped, “It was flying in daylight! How could it fly in daylight?”

Vendel stepped interrupted Jim’s rant, “Stalklings are one of the only species of Troll immune to the effects of sunlight.” He opened the book he had been carrying and showed Jim a picture.

Jim looked over the picture, shaking his head. “That looks not nearly as scary as what attacked me.”

“That’s because those unlucky few who are caught alone with it,” Vendel slammed the book closed in front of Jim’s face for emphasis, “never live long enough to depict it. I’m curious. How is it that you’re not disemboweled?”

Jim shrugged, trying to recall, “I don’t know. I hit him with my sword, I think.”

Blinky’s eyes lit up, “You struck a blow against a stalkling? What gallant bravery!” He began trying to talk Jim up again to Vendel. Blinky explained to Jim that as long as he’s around another person, he’ll be safe.

I sighed handing the sleeping Not-Enrique back to Arrrgh, “Come on Jim, you have practice soon and I’m meeting Eemeli at the school, I’ll walk you to practice.”

Jim nodded, following me out of Trollmarket irritated that he couldn’t be alone now because of a homicidal bird troll.

Once we reached the school, Jim headed into practice with Claire and I met up with Eemeli. “Ready to plan the project?” I asked, leading him back to my house.

Eemeli nodded, grinning, “Yes, maybe after we can spar? I still have to make sure your words are true.” He smirked.

I rolled my eyes, smiling, “I’m warning you now that if you break something, no complaining. You’re literally asking for it.” I let him in the house, knowing Draal was in the basement, I tapped my foot twice to let him know Eemeli was over.  We sat at the dining table, going over the project. “So, we’re blending metal sculpting and spray painting…”

Eemeli nodded, pulling out a couple of sketches, “I was thinking a dragon breathing fire,” He showed me the different rough drafts he had been working on, “but I think we should do something more with the spray paint than just painting the sculpture. I’m just not sure what.” He explained looking over the drafts.

I grinned, shifting through all the drafts, pausing at one that looked like it had liquid spraying from its mouth, “What if we rigged a red and orange can inside to shoot out the paint like fire?” I asked, pointing to the sketch I had paused on.

Eemeli nodded quickly, flipping to a new sheet, sketching the opened mouth of the dragon sculpture. “We can rest them in the throat and rig it so when the mouth drops open something presses the cans enough to spray.” He turned the sketch to show me, a rough design for how the system would work, a weight would be placed in the lower jaw of the dragon and a little platform that the cans were resting on would be attached to the jaw, shoving the cans up into the roof of the mouth when the jaw dropped.

“Oh! Maybe we can hide the switch behind the horns so it isn’t obvious? That way, the clasps holding the lower jaw up will release on command” I pointed to a small area close enough to the upper jaw that would fit a small switch.

Eemeli nodded, adding it to the drawing, “This is going to be great.” He grinned setting the sketch down, “I think we have enough metal at the school to work on this.” His grin turned into a smirk, “Well since we’re as far along with planning as we can currently get, how about that sparring session?”

I huffed, standing from the table. “Alright, alright. But we have to do that in the backyard. Come on.” I lead him out to the back, taking to the further end of the backyard, watching as Eemeli squared up a bit. I waited for a few minutes, realizing he wasn’t going to move first I rushed him, sliding low to hook his leg, hoping to knock him over.

Eemeli smirked, stepping out of the way at the last second, snagging my arm and throwing me back to a standing position a few feet away.

I stumbled a bit, shocked he countered. “Not bad,” I smirked, wanting to wait him out this time.

Eemeli rushed forward, sliding past me quickly, I tried turning in time but was tackled before I could face him.

A roar from the house caught our attention, Draal ripped through the backdoor, having seen Eemeli tackle me, running for him at full speed.

Eemeli yelped, pulling back quickly, trying to shove me behind him. “River, get back!”

Rolling my eyes, I shoved past him to stand between him and Draal, just in time for Draal to stop dead in his tracks, snarling at Eemeli. “Draal, it’s okay, we were just sparring.”

“Draal?” Eemeli asked, his jaw dropped as I was trying to keep Draal from killing him.

“He threw you onto the ground.” Draal snarled, standing at his full height.

I nodded, “Yes, and you’ve thrown me into a wall. Neither instance was I hurt.”

Draal’s jaw tightened at the mention of our sparring, “If you were human, he could’ve hurt you.”

“If? Draal?” Eemeli asked again, looking between Draal and me.

I sighed, knowing Draal had a point, I turned to Eemeli, “Right, um… Eemeli, Draal. Draal, Eemeli. How do I explain this?” I trailed off thinking.

“How about the not human part first?” Eemeli asked, nodding to Draal as they were quickly introduced.

I nodded, “Well, I’m technically a sorceress, which is different than a human. I’m stronger and have a longer lifespan… oh, there’s the magic part too.” I floundered a bit, trying to keep the explanation simple.

“Okay,” He nodded slightly, looking back to Draal, “And Draal?”

Draal huffed from his nose, eyeing Eemeli, “I’m a Troll and River’s mate.”

Eemeli blinked, processing the words, I cut in quickly, “the human equivalent would be fiancés.” I explained, watching for any adverse reaction.

Eemeli nods slowly, reaching back to scratch his neck with a sheepish smile, “Well, that explains why he was set on killing me. Sorry about that, I assumed since you said you were training and after hauling all that metal it wouldn’t be an issue.”

Draal seemed to calm a bit more at the apology, knowing he forgets that I’m not as durable as a troll sometimes.

I shook my head, smiling, “Don’t worry about it, it’s not the first-time sparring has gone overboard. Besides, there was no damage.”

Eemeli nodded, “Right… wait, if you’re not human, what about your brother?”

Draal answered, thinking it was obvious, “Jim is still a human.”

I shrugged, “Jim’s my cousin, but we grew up together.”

“Great Gronka Mora! Another one?!” Blinky had climbed over the backyard fence and spotted Eemeli with Draal and me.

Eemeli tensed, turning to Blinky and taking a step back towards me. “Another troll?”

“You let him see you?” Blinky asked Draal, “You told him?” He turned to ask me, “You know we are supposed to keep humans from learning about us lest there be panic!” Blinky was beginning to go into a rant.

“Blinky it’s okay, Eemeli’s a friend. We were sparring, Draal thought he was attacking me so he came out and well… Everything’s been explained and the only one panicking is you.” I sighed, trying to calm him down.

Blinky opened his mouth, pointing up with his two right hands, pausing seeing that all three of us were calm. “I see. Well then,” He grabbed Eemeli’s hand, shaking it. “I am Blinkous, you may call me Blinky. It’s nice to meet a friend of Lady River’s.”

Eemeli relaxed at the handshake, “It’s nice to meet you too Blinky.”

Draal huffed, watching as the sun completely set, “It’s time to go.”

I looked at the sky before nodding, “Alright. Sorry Eemeli but we have some business to take care of. I’ll see you at school, oh and don’t tell Jim you know yet, I need to let him know what happened first.” I sighed softly, relieved that the situation had calmed.

Eemeli nodded, smiling. “Of course.” He tried to hug me goodbye but Draal’s hand stopped him along with his glare. “I’ll uh… see you at school then.” He quickly left, fidgeting under Draal’s gaze.

I huffed looking up at Draal, “It’s a normal human custom for friends to hug each other.” I spoke up, slightly irritated with Draal’s behavior since he never had an issue with Jim or Toby hugging me.

Draal was sniffing, brow furrowed, “He can scent, whether or not he knows it.”

Blinky looked between us, nose twitching, “That was him?” He asked Draal.

Draal nodded, setting me upon his shoulder. “He’s a strange human.”

Blinky nods, following after Draal as we head to the scrap yard. “Seems nice enough, besides, humans have different customs and abilities depending on where they live, maybe that’s something his species can do?”

I smiled, shaking my head slightly, “Well, he’s from Finland, but I don’t think he’s an entirely different species Blink.” I point to the scrapyard, grinning, “That’s where we’re looking for parts!”

Draal began shifting through the metal, “Parts for what?”

Blinky grinned, tearing through piles of metal, “Lady River suggested getting Vespa parts for Jim so we can build one together. That is all he wants for his birthing day. I spent all day looking into what we need to get, hopefully- YES!” Blinky yelled, pulling up a classic long saddle. “Found one!”

Draal nods, picking up different items for me to check, “That!” I yelled, pointing to a large metal body. Draal lifted a 150 G.S. body, stripped of wheels, a gearbox, a headlamp unit, and a seat. “That’s perfect!”

Draal grinned at the find, “How many more items are we looking for?” He asked Blinky.

Blinky began counting on his finger, going over a mental list, “Let’s see, we have the body of the Vespa, a seat, and the headlamp unit… Oh! Two, technically three, items left. A gearbox and two wheels.”

We scoured through the entire scrap yard and finally came across the last pieces we need. “This is going to be awesome! Oh! How about I order food and we all meet at the house?” I asked, pulling up Stuart’s mobile ordering.

Blinky nodded, carrying the smaller items, “Excellent idea Lady River, we can all present Jim with his gift that way!” He grinned, not wanting Draal to be left out if they went to Trollmarket, especially after they all found pieces of the Vespa together.

Draal smiled slightly, carrying the body of the Vespa while I sat on his shoulder. My phone started playing the gun robot ringtone, seeing it was Toby I quickly answered, “Hey Tobes! I was gonna call, we’re all meeting at the house, Stuart’s dropping food off!”

“That’s awesome, but um… well, we had to catch Jim, but the Stalkling isn’t an issue anymore. Arrrgh and I are bringing him home.” Toby was excited about getting together, and as per the request of Jim, he was trying to not make a big deal about what just happened with the Stalkling.

I narrowed my eyes, hearing his hesitation, “He did something stupid and reckless didn’t he?”

Toby stuttered, “Well um… We’ll see you there!” He hung up quickly.

I glared at the phone, “Something happened to Jim, apparently he’s okay enough to play it off as nothing.”

Blinky frowned, him and Draal picking up their pace arriving at the backyard before Toby, Jim, and Arrrgh, hiding all the Vespa pieces. “Let’s check on master Jim first,” Blinky suggested, worried.

Arrrgh climbed over the fence, holding a slightly twitchy Jim. I stared him down, hands on my hips. “What in Deya’s name, did you do?” I asked firmly, leaving no room for argument.

Jim sighed, standing up from Arrrgh’s hold once the twitching subsided. “Well, I killed the Stalkling.”

Toby piped in quickly, “And that’s all that matters! Now let’s have… fun?” He trailed off as I leveled my glare at him.

Jim sighed, “It snatched me off my bike and flew into the sky so I used the environment as a weapon,” He paused, gauging my reaction, “I used Daylight and the armor as a lightning rod… while wearing it.”

I sighed, relieved that he at least told me, “That explains the twitching… Are you injured?” He shook his head no quickly. “Alright then. Blinky, grab and blind him.”

Jim looked horrified for a moment before Blinky simply covered his eyes with his hands.

“I’ll grab it,” Draal offered, getting all the Vespa pieces out and setting them in front of Jim.

Jim flinched hearing a loud thud, “This better not be another surprise because I really don’t think I can handle anymore.” He sighed, exhausted from everything that happened today, especially the Stalkling.

Blinky shook his head, “No, no. If my calculations are correct, there are only a few more minutes left to your birthing day.”

Draal smirked, stepping back from the pieces, “Time for your final present, though it might not look like much.”

Blinky uncovered Jim’s eyes, waiting for a reaction. Jim flinched at first before staring down at the pieces, “Wait. That’s a 150 G.S, four-speed gearbox, classic long saddle… Original handlebar headlamp unit!” He grinned turning to Blinky, Draal, and I, “These are the pieces of a 1955 Vespa!”

Blinky smiled, a bit bashful seeing Jim’s reaction, “Well, Lady River informed us that this was the one thing you wanted, I had the headlamp unit, so Draal, Lady River and I procured the final pieces. Perhaps one day, we could build it together?”

Draal nods, smirking at Jim, “After training, you can’t slack off.”

Jim tackled me in a hug quickly! “Thank you.” He jumped to Draal, “Thank you!” Finally, hugging Blinky tight, “This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten!”

Blinky was at a loss for a moment before hugging Jim, smiling softly.

With the arrival of food, thanks to Stuart’s taco truck, we hung around the backyard into the early hours of the morning. Jim kept going on and on about the Vespa and what he, Blinky, and Draal could do with it, of course, I would be painting it.

I smiled watching the three, realizing that Jim was correct in calling Draal his brother and that Blinky was most certainly a father to him. Maybe from now on, Jim will truly celebrate his birthing days with the family we’ve built.

[nyxdelanuit]

A  Dream In Red Ch3

A03

Kirishima’s arm felt tense under your hand. The two of you joined the remainder of the students in the middle of the gym and you reluctantly released his arm. Wait, reluctantly? You chided yourself, you had just met him and even though his toned arm felt nice under your fingers, you really- wait. You were doing it again. A swift shake of your head banished your current thoughts. Luckily, Kirishima stood quietly beside you, still seemingly frozen of embarrassment

Fatgum had followed momentarily, greeting the class with a below.

“Welcome to Stamina Training! As most of you already know, I’m Fatgum, the BMI Hero! MY quirk depends on me conserving my stamina and converting any energy stored into attacks. If I use too much energy, my body will revert to my smaller form, and my quirk becomes near useless. That’s why I have been chosen to help all of you figure out how to use your quirks efficiently! Today is going to be more of a laid back day, at least for me! I want all of you to pair off in teams of two and spar using your quirks. I will walk around and speak to you one on one about your quirks as the class goes on. And break!” Fatgum shooed the class away.

“So Y/N! Wanna wo-” Kirishima had turned to talk to you before a sharp man interjected himself between the two of you.

“Kirishima, you didn’t tell me you met such a cutie! What’s your name? I’m Testutestu Tetsutetsu! Why don’t we spar together? I’d spar with Kirishima, but our quirks are too similar.” The silver-haired man started to guide you away from Kirishima as he talked. You peered over your shoulder to catch Kirishima’s eye. He shrugged abashedly and mouthed ‘sorry’ at your retreating form. You shook your head with a chuckle before focusing on the blabbering man beside you.

“I’m F/N L/N!” You interrupted Tetsutetsu with a smile. “So what’s your quirk then? I didn’t quite get to ask Kirishima.” His eyes lit up as a metallic sheen overtook his skin. “I can quite literally steel my skin!” He cheered. As he tried to show off his quirk, your eyes roamed again to the redhead across the gym. He had paired up with a taller boy, and by the way they were interacting, it looked like they had known each other before. The sight made you miss Inasa, but Tetsutetsu interrupted your nostalgic thoughts.

“So what’s your quirk?” he excitedly peered at you, his face a little to close for your liking.

“Oh, I can make things with my mind and, um, I can kinda sense emotions and some thoughts if I try.” You were a bit nervous about disclosing this part of your quirk, as some people in your past had considered it intrusive.

“THAT’S SO RAD!” he cheered. His metal skin overtook his body and he slid seamlessly into a fighting pose. “Let’s do this!” With little preparation, the silver boy rushed towards you.

You knew you couldn’t let him get close, and you felt a fuzzy length against your hand. In your mentorship, you had worked tirelessly on calling specific weapons to you without much thought. One of your favorites, the lance, had begun to materialize for you. With a sharp thought, the lance became heavy in your hands, and the blade narrowed to a razor’s edge.

Tetsutetsu seemed to pause for a moment in surprise as he watched. Then with a sharp grin, he continued forward, determined. His skin met your lance with a shower of sparks. Despite your tireless training with the weapon, it soon became clear that your lance alone would not be enough to pierce his skin. After your last parry, you focused your energy behind Tetsutetsu, forming a war hammer to materialize behind him. The hammer’s head fell in an arc behind him, as if the handle was held by an invisible hand. It struck his back with a thundering clang, forcing Tetsutetsu to his knees in front of you. You charged in with your lance, but his arm still deflected your blow. Frustrated, you focused your will to all the heavy weapons you had learned to call, forming them one by one in an arc around Tetsutetsu. With a rapid succession of hits, Tetsutetsu’s metal started to chip. You cheered internally at the sight, maybe you would win this?

Then Tetsutetsu had started grabbing at the weapons, and with your cheerfulness distracting your focus, the weapons started to dissipate one by one. With a heavy thump, you were thrown to the ground on your side, Tetsutetsu had you pinned quickly, with a knee between your shoulder blades.

“That was something else Y/N! Way cool!” He cheered above you. You wheezed out your thanks, and Tetsutetsu quickly removed his weight from your torso, helping you up. As you stood and regained your breath, you felt a welcome breeze flow through your hair, and you turned to see Kirishima hardened and taking blows from the tall boy. At least you assumed that’s who the blur around him was. The boy was moving so quickly that your eyes struggled to keep up with the flurry of hits landing on Kirishima. You wondered how Kirishima could keep the wide smile he had after so many hits in such a quick rhythm. Kirishima suddenly struck out, sending the quick boy skidding back, and your eyes widened in surprise.

“Y/N! Get on over here so we can see how to train ya.” Fatgum called to you from a table off to the side of the gym. He waved you over, and you tore your eyes away from the now head-to-head fight to speak with him.

“Alright, I’m ready!” You cheered, sitting across the table from the BMI hero. “Tell me what we need to do.” He returned your enthusiasm with a smile.

“Before we get down to the nitty-gritty, let’s discuss your quirk a little bit more.” You nodded and Fatgum proceeded to quiz you about the aspects of your quirk. As the two of you spoke, your eyes drifted back to Kirishima, who was still sparring. Kirishima looked sharper and more angular than you had seen before, and the boy sparring with him seemed to recoil from every hit he landed on your new friend.

Fatgum followed your eyes as you slowly stopped answering his questions. His own eyes lit up when he saw that you were ogling his very own mentee, or at least his sparring ability.

“He’s pretty cool, huh?” Fatgum smirked as your attention snapped back to the table. “Ya know, I trained him myself. I remember the first time he used Unbreakable in a fight.” He drew a finger up to his eye and sniffled dramatically. “They grow up so fast.” You chuckled and tried to fight the color from your face.

“Yeah, I just met him in my previous class, but he seems really cool!” You allowed yourself another peek at the redhead and managed to catch his eye. He immediately seemed to perk up and waved at you before receiving a supercharged kick to the face.

“Aw come on Iida, that was so unmanly!” You hear from across the gym. You snickered as you returned your attention to your teacher, who was shaking his head at his protege.

“Alright, back to business. You said you can tap into people’s thoughts to a lesser degree. That may help in reducing the strain on your creation abilities.” Fatgum’s face seemed to change as he spoke to you, now looking more like a pro-hero than the goofy teacher moments before. “Ya can use your mind tricks to an advantage instead of mass producing weaponry. Try tapping into their fears, maybe visions of things they care for. Ya might wanna look into trying to communicate through their thoughts too, maybe auditory hallucinations? Either way, it will take some of the strain of holding forms with mass, like the weapons, and ya should be able to focus on your defense so ya won’t get taken down so easily.” You sat, wide-eyed and nodding.

“Sort of like mental warfare?” You couldn’t keep the giddiness out of your voice. Your mother would love this.

Fatgum sent you away with homework- to start trying to apply these new techniques. You sat on the edge of the gym, stretching out your arms to try to relieve the tension between your shoulders. Tetsutetsu sat beside you, instantly chatting about himself and his various accomplishments from when he attended UA High. Your conversation turned towards the first-year Sports Festival when he first went up against Kirishima. He told you about how bitter he was about his introduction to the fight, and how it made him and Kirishima out to be doppelgangers by how similar their quirks and fighting style were. As he regaled you with the epic conclusion to their match, a double knock-out, Kirishima walked up to the two of you.

“Hey now, you better not be leaving out the part where I beat you in arm wrestling and won the match!” Kirishima smirked, sitting on the other side of you.

“Yeah, yeah, but now we’re bros!” Tetsutetsu leaned over you to fist bump Kirishima, sandwiching you between the two hard heroes-in-training.

“So, did you like watching me and Iida?” Kirishima’s eyes lit up as he looked to you, all embarrassment from earlier forgotten.

“Yeah, it was really cool until you took a shin to the face.” You giggled, poking at a still-forming bruise on his cheek. His face grew warm as he looked away.

“Yeah, well Iida’s really fast,” he whined.

“And you got distracted by a pretty girl.” Tetsutetsu peered over you with a smirk. “Come on bro, you know better than that.” His teasing hastened the redness spreading over Kirishima’s face. Once again, the familiarity of the two made you miss Inasa’s presence, and you hoped it wouldn’t be long before you felt closer to your classmates.

The three of you started discussing your meetings with Fatgum, and the boys seemed enthralled with the new techniques you would be practicing.

Tetsutetsu grabbed your hand and somberly looked at you. “I would be happy to be your guinea pig in this, Y/N.” Not to be outdone, Kirishima grabbed your free hand.

“Y/N, we’re friends. You should practice with your friends right?” You giggled at their dramatics and tried to pull your hands out from theirs, but their grips were tighter than you expected.

“Boys, don’t worry! I’ll make sure to mentally torture you both.” They seemed to flinch at this, suddenly remembering what that would entail. Before either could rescind their offer, the tall boy, Iida, walked over to your trio.

“Hello, my name is Iida Tenya. It’s nice to meet you.” He quickly introduced himself, “Sensei has told me to dismiss those he has already talked with, so we are free to go.” He spoke very politely, but without much emotion. He swiftly left after informing your group, walking up to the next congregation of people. With that interruption, you were able to slip out of the grasp of Tetsutetsu and Kirishima and hop up.

“Well, I’ll see you boys later.” You winked at the two of them and started jogging to the door. They quickly scrambled up from the floor and followed you out, playfully pushing each other out of the way. They fell in step beside you, and you started chatting with them about their schedules.

“Next I have Trauma Recovery and Emotional Wellness with Ms. Joke.” Kirishima read off of his schedule. You gasped and turned to look at him, smirking.

“Stalker!” You jokingly accused the redhead. Once again, he vehemently denied, as Tetsutetsu read your schedule and lamented that none of your other classes overlapped his. You laughed at the antics of the boy before a fierce gust of wind swept you above their heads. A booming laugh echoed across the common area you had wandered to, and a sweet smile stretched across your face. Kirishima seemed to be scurrying underneath you, assuring you he’d catch you, while Tetsutetsu gawked at you floating in a whirlwind above him.

The wind gently carried you away from the boys and into Inasa’s arms. You wrapped your arms around his neck as the wind subsided. “Inasa! How has your first day been?” You hair settled against your face and your cheeks had reddened from the wind blustering around you.

“Good!” His smile seemed to overtake his face as he looked down at you, and he set you down gingerly before looking behind you at the two flabbergasted boys.

“Oh! I made some friends!” You cheered. You quickly turned away from Inasa to grab the two boys by the hand and drag them over. Inasa seemed to frown momentarily as he watched you grab their hands so amicably. “Tetsutetsu, Kirishima, this is my friend from Shiketsu High, Inasa Yoarashi! This is Kirishima Eijirou and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu.” you smiled broadly at the three of them.

“Hey, I know you!” Kirishima pointed at Inasa, “You were at the licensing exam!” he smiled. “It’s nice to see you again! You sure scared me when Y/N when flying into the air.” Inasa’s face fell even further as he was reminded of his licensing failure.

“I am very sorry about my attitude that day, I hope you can forgive me.” Inasa’s voice grew louder as he spoke, and he began to bow towards the ground in classic Inasa fashion. Before his head could hit the ground, you placed your hand on his forehead.

“Now, Inasa, I’m sure Kirishima doesn’t mind. That was sooo long ago, right?” You looked over to Kirishima, who nodded quickly. “See Inasa, it’s not as big of a deal as you think.” Inasa stood up and dusted himself off before he nodded. He quickly reverted back to his cheerful self.

“Now, we can all become close classmates!” he declared before picking you up once again. “Let us get lunch in solidarity!” Kirishima looked away abashedly from his blatant affection, while Tetsutetsu tried glared at Inasa’s hands around your waist. Inasa set you down and you started to lead your group to the cafe. As you walked, you remembered your new homework and tried taking a glance in the heads around you. You looked at all three, and as you walked into the cafe, the sour taste of jealousy was thick on your tongue.

[jack-andthestalk]

Our Son, Arc II, Obligations, Chp 5.

So almost 3000 words.

My heart literally hurt yesterday to see that the beautiful @kalendraashtar felt she couldn't continue writing because of horrible anons. It is 100% jealousy, and they are pathetic bitter individuals, who hide behind anonymity. Anyway I want to dedicate this chapter to her because if it wasn't for her her inspiring work I would never have typed a word of fanfic. I don't have an ounce of her gift but I will keep writing anway!I ​ 

Anyways thank you for your comments and asks, it fuels the fire guys! I want to thank @balfeheughlywed and @ladyviolethummingbird  who got me to move the first section of this chapter to a later one and they were so right because I am so much happier with the flow. There is reference to NSFW language below the cut.

Brian patted my hand, a tight smile swept across his face. “There ye are Jamie lad, I was just about to tell ye that I found Claire!” his tone overly light, nervous almost.

Jamie nodded, arms folded defensively keeping his eyes locked on me. “Aye,” he said plainly.

  Brian sensing the tension, made one final attempt at smoothing the waters, “Son I have told Claire that this is not our wish for ye, I ken that might not help yer explanations but…I”

Before Brian could finish his sentence, Jamie’s face grew grim. “This is bullshit” he snarled, “I am damned if I do and damned if I don’t”,  pointing one finger at his father “you absolving yourself of my decisions isna going to make things any better, so dinna bother trying that judicious bullshit with me!” he spat.

  Brian visibly flinched at his words, but he walked towards Jamie calmly, eyes full of sympathy. “I am sorry son. I ken this is very difficult on ye.”

  Before we could speak another word, Willie came bounding energetically into the stables, and we all made a conscious effort to take a step back. 

  “Ma” Willie shouted excitedly “Me and Da have been looking for ye all morning!”, he jumped up into my arms “Where have ye been?” his brows creased together questioningly. “Oh well” I replied, infusing a brightness in my tone that I didn’t feel, “I have been out walking and helping Grandda.”

  Willie nodded acceptingly. “How many friends can I invite to the wedding?” he blurted out, his mind running onto his next plan. 

“The what?” I asked my addled brain failing to follow Willie’s quick turnaround.

  “yer and Da’s wedding,” Willie explained rolling his eyes. “I wanna invite my new friends from School.”

  Jamie stepped forward, taking Willie from my arms. “As many as ye like son”, ignoring my half opened mouth he smiled reassuringly at Willie.

  Brian cleared his throat and started shuffling towards the stable door. “Come with me a bhalaich” Brian beckoned; Willie duly leapt from Jamie’s arms to follow his grandfather.

  “Don’t do that” I hissed as soon as Willie was out of earshot.

  “Claire,” Jamie said ignoring my temper. “Will ya let me explain” his hands outstretched pleadingly.

  “your father has explained it all” I said and stormed off.

_________________

  If my dress had sleeves, they would be wrung within my fingers nervously. "Fuck", I muttered to myself "I am too soft that's my problem".

    The three swift brandies I had downed before arriving had numbed my yapping stomach but done nothing to quench the anxiety roaring around my body.

I had no one to blame for my attendance at this farce but myself, given that my first thought this morning was to board a plane to Boston. My resolve had weakened under Jenny's pleading words.

    "Ya ken mam willna ask it of ye, but she has invited everybody and their mother to this party, if ye dinna show with Jamie, she will would be shamed", seeing my expression she held her hand up haltingly, " I ken right now yer not too concerned of shaming Jamie, but I know ye willna shame mam."

  My answer was quick and wounding "I will do it for Ellen." I said sharply, stamping out the flash of hope that flickered across Jamie’s face.

  Jamie's soft knock on the bedroom door came sometime later, "Are ye ready Sassenach?" his anger from earlier had dissipated somewhat, and instead his eyes held a sadness, the sight was like an invisible hand churning my gut. Part of me longed to pull him to me, missing the solid feel of him but I was still too sore to bridge the gap.

    To occupy my mind and avoid Jamie, I had spent more than the average amount of time readying myself for a party. If I dressed as if going to battle, it might conjure up bravery I didn't own, and to hide the utter devastation that I felt inside. I would be damned if the Dunsany's would know what they cost me.

  Jamie's face when I opened the door, fortified me with just enough courage to face them. "Ye are stunning," he said simply.

__________________

"I dinna want the Dunsany's in my home either" Ellen whispered as we entered through the kitchen door, "but they will be gone tomorrow, and for now we will hold our heads high, aye?"

I heard her message and greeted each guest as warmly as I could.

  Yielding to Jamie's warm hand on the small of my back, just as much an act of compromise as need.

    The Fraser's neighbours and friends eyed me with a mixture of curiosity and something like compassion. I was a stranger, the Sassenach pet name Jamie called me was somewhat different on their tongues.

  To most of them, Jamie's engagement came entirely out of the blue, and they weren't even aware that we were dating, which technically we weren't.

  The flow of congratulations, followed with "sure it will be lovely for Willie" spoke volumes. Our engagement perceived as a necessity, an arrangement almost. Just a girl Jamie had got pregnant, and now he was doing the decent thing by marrying her.

    Everything coloured by the move to Hellwater, I couldn't see our story anymore. Focusing only on the bare facts of mine and Jamie's history, I saw myself from their eyes. A mistake.

    Panic and humiliation were fighting each other for dominance in my mind.

  My status as an obligation was driven home when I heard an elderly neighbour of the Fraser's bend to Jamie's ear. His ruddy cheeks wobbling in merriment "Ye got caught son" he said nudging Jamie playfully in the ribs, "happens to the best of us...our Ann was six months gone when I married her, ye did well to escape the ould ball and chain for four years."

  Jamie's head snapped instantly to me first and then he lent to the man again, muttering something between gritted teeth and stormed away leaving me alone with strangers.

  Hours seemed to pass since I lost Jamie's presence by my side. I  listened to stories I had no part in or knowledge of. I was ignoring the stares and curious looks and raging silently with him for leaving me.

  I pressed my lips together to try and still the scream that threatened to fall from my mouth.

     “Claire?”  Jenny's concerned face was peering at me.

  I moved across the room, away from her searching for an exit I bumped straight into Jamie. Geneva Dunsany trailing behind him, "where are ye going?"

  He was leaning over me, not helping the circulation of air I so desperately needed. “It doesn't matter, I can’t do this”, I swallowed hard and took a deep breath, I glanced over his shoulder at Geneva and Jamie followed my stare, he turned back to me quickly to say something but before he had uttered a word a cold hand reached for my forearm.

  Geneva Dunsany's concerned eyes watching me "Claire are you ok? You've gone a terrible shade."

    "Fine," I said smiling tightly.

  Her blue eyes gazed at me sympathetically this coinciding with Jamie's equally concerned expression made me want to slap something, was he with her when he left me alone? "Look I am sure none of this is easy," she said mildly, "newly engaged and about to be separated."

  Jamie moved a step closer to me as if anticipating my propensity to turn violent. "I just want you to know that we will take excellent care of him" she smiled sweetly.

"I dinna need your family's care Geneva, I am there under coercion. let us be clear, aye?."

  Suddenly it was too much, Geneva's wounded face, Jamie's defensive words. They were all involved in this mess, and I no longer wanted to be.

  Bolting for the nearest door, I breathed apologies while squeezing myself between guests as I left.

   _______

  It was an hour later when Jamie snuck into the stables behind me. "I thought ye went home," he said quietly, tentatively edging closer to me as if approaching a spooked horse.

  "Home?" I snorted sarcastically "and where would that be?"

  Jamie took a moment to consider "I would like to say yer home is with me, but I dinna think ye see it that way anymore?"

  I was at a loss for how to answer him. "Do you have any idea how it felt in that room? I have never felt so alone... so... " searching for a word to sum up how I felt, "so far from home" I finished, hoping that he couldn't hear the break in my voice.

    When his hand snuck around to pull me close, I shrank from his touch.

    "I am so sorry Claire" he held on firmly, ignoring the attempt to sever myself from him.

  "Sorry?" I asked disbelievingly "sorry doesn't come close, Jamie."

    His face fell, and his hand rose to cup my cheek.  Eyes brimming with tears,  I could see the exhaustion weighing down his shoulders.

  Fixing my eyes on a vacant point on the floor, I bit my bottom lip,  it hurt to look at him.

    "Do ye think it is easy for me Claire? It's like ripping my heart out and living without it" his voice falling to a whisper at the final word. Swallowing hard and blinking rapidly, he moved towards me.

  “Do ye not think I am fucking broken at the thoughts of leaving ye?” he persisted.

My mouth curled up in a sneer, "and here you are still only thinking of how this affects you, Jesus Jamie" I snapped.

  His hands reached out and held me firm by my forearms. There was no sound but a ragged drawing of breath. He stood staring at me, eyes searching up and down my face.

  "What would you have me do? Let them leave my parents without a home, a business? Throw away everything they have worked for?"

  "What I would have had you do is not put all that at jeopardy without getting fucking advice first" I spat.

Something flickered in his eyes before he roared "fuck" and kicked an upturned bucket halfway across the stable. Running his hand through his hair he turned from me, his head thrown back.

  I wasn't done.

  "No matter how I look at it, I can't get past that we are not your priority, we weren't your priority when Willie was born, and we aren't your priority now," I said flatly.

    “Claire” Jamie breathed, “That couldna be further from the truth” he shook his head incredulously.

  "This is pointless" I retorted rolling my eyes, "you can't even see what your actions mean Jamie?"

  His bewildered glare told me he didn't have a clue.

    "Look," I said feigning reason. "Our circumstances have changed. It's like you proposed a lifetime ago. I am not naive enough to think that Willie and I may have seen like an obligation."

  Jamie's eyes widened, and he put his hands up haltingly, moving in small steps to stand in front of me.

  "Obligation?" he asked incredulously. I didn't answer, the whispers and swirls of gossip still circulating in my mind from the party.

  "Claire" he breathed, one side of his mouth turning up in a smile. "When I asked ye to marry me, I meant every word, it doesna matter what happens around us Sassenach, what it is between us doesna change."

  His imploring eyes and soft intake of breath made me want to fall into his arms, but Jamie's reluctance to admit the enormous problem our future faced grated on me.

    “Oh ok, so when do you think we should get married then? Where do you think we should live?

When he opened his mouth and failed to say something.  My lips curled up into a sly smile. "The truth is, the day you agreed to move to Hellwater, you ended any future you and I could have."

  Jamie's mouth dropped open, but something close to recognition passed over his face.

  I raised my hand halting the start of his protests, and my voice trembled slightly when I said  "it's not just because we will be separated, your actions speak volumes, Jamie. I gave up everything to come to you, and yet again, Willie and I are down the pegging order."

    His eyes flashed angrily, and he loomed over me "Do – ye – not – think – I – regret –it" he said through gritted teeth.

    "I don't fucking know; maybe it is what you want? Running the show at Hellwater, everyone thinking you're some sort of fucking demigod come horse whisperer, maybe you get your kicks out of that, hmm?"

  Jamie's eyes went as wide as stalks, his hands bunching into fists at his sides before he sent one pounding against the wooden frame behind me. I was reasonably sure I had never witnessed Jamie so furious. I revelled in it, matching his glare with gusto.

    “Are ye crazy?” he asked incredulously. Part of my brain was begging me to stop this before Jamie’s head blew clean of his shoulders, the other half wanted me to provoke him until he said something he couldn’t take back and I would have justification for my loathing.

    Jamie grabbed the top of the gate of the horse stall directly behind me, my eyes followed his hand, and I could see the whites of his knuckles as he gripped it. He was boxing me in, leaning over me to demonstrate his power, it irked me considerably.

  I cleared my throat and gave him a smile that didn't quite meet my eyes. My voice was like honey now.

  "Look you'll be fine I am sure…those Dunsany sisters will be certain to make you feel welcome, I think one of them might even want to fuck you too…so your bed will be warm", the cold gaze that I gave him under my lashes was the perfect accompaniment to the utter filth I was suddenly capable of spouting.

    Jamie grabbed me roughly “What the hell has gotten into ye?” he growled. “Oh come on” I persisted. “You’re pretending it’s a death sentence…when I am sure the Lady Geneva will make it an altogether more enjoyable affair”, my disused British accent now slanted, mocking.

  A rumble came from Jamie’s chest that I knew was going to exit his mouth as a roar.

“Ye think I want to fuck somebody else, is that it Claire, ye think I want to leave you and Willie so I can fuck Geneva Dunsany?”

    I turned my face away, staring at nothing on the wall. "Answer me!!" Jamie roared.

  Turning completely, back to his face I breathing deeply trying to calm myself.

  Jamie's warm breath came fast against my ear. A spiteful tone to his words.

    “Well more fool me because you are the only woman I want to fuck even when yer out of your mind!”

  He pulled me back against him, his fingers pressing into my hips until my bottom met his cock. Hard, aching.

  "Can ye feel that" he hissed against my neck.

  "Even - now," he said haltingly. "I want ye when ye canna even look at me."

  He was rousing something in me that I wasn't sure what to do with.

Heat spread through every inch of me at his touch.

  Another breath.

  "I only want you” he whispered.

II craved him, anger be damned, intense pleasure clawed up my spine and I rotated my hips against him. Teasing.

  "Can ye no look at me then?" teeth snaking into my neck, his chin heavy on my shoulder.

    "No," I said hoarsely "I can't".

    "Do ye want me?"

  "Jamie" I pleaded. "This won't help" My body sending a different message as I slipped my hand back and ran it over his arousal, which earned me an eager groan and a breathy "fuck".

    Slow and steady Jamie's hand crept up the hem of my dress, sure fingers gliding up my thigh until he reached between my legs and felt the wetness there. "Ye do want me," he said while biting and licking the soft skin below my ear.

  Jamie's hand journeyed down my arm and he entwined our fingers where my hand rested above the gate. One knee shoving my legs apart he continued to move his fingers inside of me, teasing the wetness there. I could barely breathe around the need.

  Moaning loudly I thrust my bottom against him, and Jamie drew in a sharp breath.

   I wasn't aware of one other coherent thought, but the sound of the metal clang of his belt buckle hitting the floor as he dropped his pants, and his fist driving himself inside of me.  Losing all heed for where we were or who might see.

  Over and over we punished each other every time Jamie thrust into me, I pushed back.

  Frantic breaths and screams were barely audible over the pelting wind and rain outside. Furious coiling, in my belly, when Jamie slid his hand down to our joining I bowed over at the waist, his soft cries of "Jesus Sassenach" as he stilled and came inside, was just low enough that I wouldn't hear his voice break.

  He slumped over me and grasped me to him. We stood like that not moving and buried deep until Jamie's voice came back against my ear, he pressed a wet cheek against my neck.

   "Are ye going to leave me, Claire?"

[devilgem-archive]

heya!! do you mind if i ask a bit abt ur kyokoswap au?? if u dont wanna thats fine but any info/hcs u have abt it wld be cool bc the au seems rlly neat!! tho again if u dont wanna def no pressure ^^; have a wonderful day!! :D

VIBRATES EXCITEDLY i’ve been waiting 50 years for someone to ask about this!!!!!kyoko magica is one my oldest and most developed aus, i’m more than happy to answer this!

aside from minor adjustments to better fit each character’s arc, the story itself follows canon’s exactly! starts with kyoko having a dream about mami, ends with mami tearing apart kyokami in a new world. ofc a lot of the girls’ original traits remain in tact. kyoko is more like her pre-tds self, kind but ditzy and reckless, mami retains her ladylike grace, homura her overprotectiveness and so on…i always prefer leaving aspects that makes characters…themselves in swap aus if u get me? or maybe that’s just me

KYOKO

swaps with madoka. madokyoko or kyokami, as i like to call her!

a simple christian girl with a plain, ordinary life. kyoko had everything she could ever ask for: a loving family, supportive friends, amazing teachers- just everything! all of that changed when she meets a mysterious blonde girl in a post-apocalyptic setting in a dream…and that very same girl appears in her life the very next day!

while she has a kind heart, she is known to be fiery and unreasonable at times. this temper was usually displayed in heated confrontations with mami

the sakuras used to be rather poor. their financial status improved when the akemis stepped in to assist them, and the two families had forged a close bond ever since

eating is practically her hobby. still hates wasting food and will call out anyone who does so

is a d@ddy’s girl through and through. her father is wise and caring, so she often seeks him out for advice

her wish varies from time to time. in the first timeline she wished to save a cat she named Amy, while others had to do with wishing one or all of her friends back or to be able to defeat walpurgisnacht etc. her final wish was to erase all witches from the past,present and future with her own hands, which caused her to ascend to godhood and leave no trace of her existence in the new world.

kyokami felt lonely when she first realized she had no way to get in touch with her loved ones on earth. it felt even strange to be god herself…she’d always been a girl of faith yknow? she eventually embraced her fate as the composer of the universe, and is perfectly happy in bring salvation to magical girls all over the globe.

ophelia is the witch of abandonment. unlike gretchen, who desires to save the world, ophelia wants to destroy it. kyoko’s faith in humanity died the second ophelia was born…and the all-powerful wudan witch stops at nothing until this cold and cruel world is nothing more than barren wasteland

MAMI

switches with homura! her nickname is homumami, but she’s usually mamicifer to me

i like to call her moemami (or moemi???) in her ‘moe’ phase

was orphaned at the age of 6 when a fatal car crash killed her parents and left her paralyzed from waist down. the hospital had practically been her home since, until she was officially discharged yeaaaaars later

used to wear her hair in drilled pigtails, complete with colorful flower clips that surprisingly correspond to her future friends’ colors. in later timelines she would let her hair down and replace the childish clips with her signature bronze ones.

used to be wheelchair bound before contracting. learned to utilize her healing powers so she could walk again; she used crutches and ribbons to assist her during the early timelines. in later timelines, she fully healed her injured spine the same time she changed her personality

she had a big crush on sayaka in the past…something she’d rather forget. it still flusters her

her wish ofc was to redo her meeting with kyoko sakura

her birthday falls on may 1st. more abt it here

mami has a major sweet tooth.

candeloro is a miserable witch, literally shackled with chains of despair, forever alone in this nightmarish prison- her eternal pity party. although she comes off as aloof at first, her true nature warm and inviting, almost needy even.

she has her own set of ‘clara dolls,’ known as delightful dolls. there’s four of them, each resembling the girls of the quartet but represent the hostess’/mami’s worst aspects: vexation (kyoko), disgust (madoka), cruelty (sayaka) and love (homura)– the youngest doll is the least favorite and looks suspiciously a lot like the good-for-nothing’s dolls (see sayamura for the answer)

HOMURA

switches with sayaka. i lovingly dub her sayamura

was kyoko’s friend from childhood. they attended the same catholic elementary school together before mitakihara middle school.

sported her ‘moe’ appearance pre-contract. after making her wish, she ditched the braids and glasses in order to look ‘cooler’ (@ which kyoko wld say she always looked cool in her eyes

kyoko had been her knight in shining armor for as long as she could remember, and homura really wants to repay that by protecting her as well! she is also hella gay for her bff 

her wish was to have the strength to protect others

her shield is very similar to the one seen in the original madoka manga, though it lacks the hammerspace storage. her firearms are formed via magic

her desire for kyoko, self loathing and jealousy are big big factors to her inevitable demise.

homulilly here is a mix of her nutcracker and mortal world forms. each and every one of the clara dolls still exist along with lotte, luiselotte, liese and lillia.

love is in fact, one of homura’s dolls; because homura and mami cherish the same person deeply, their feelings intertwined and therefore ‘share’ ai. post-rebellion, ai continues to pose as one of the delightful dolls and attempts to revive homura’s memories behind mamicifer’s back

SAYAKA

switches with mami. her nickname is mamisayaka here!

ghost and lonely are big inspos,esp for oktavia

came from a rather well off family, so she never really needed to worry about provisions when she was left on her own. still, all the money in the world could never fill the gaping hole in her lonely heart

knows how to play the violin

her parents and kyousuke and hitomi all perished when a theater collapsed on itself. old wounds reopened when madoka left her to live life her own way

is the ideal big sis! cheerful, sporty and has good grades…For A Sayaka. beneath the facade she’s a depressed slob who doesnt take care of herself as much as she should. its oke as long as she hides it all with a smile :)

oktavia von seckendorff is very highkey based off lewis msa; deadbeat-esque familiars, an abandoned mansion/concert hall labyrinth and a disembodied glass heart, which sits at the very bottom of her lagoon- that kind stuff. those she falls in love with, whether romantically or platonically, are never to leave her- she wont be alone, never again. one condition must be fulfilled in order to kill her successfully: stay. if she’s truly feels content, she will accept death without fail.

MADOKA

swaps with kyoko. kyodoka has a nice ring, doesnt it?

used to be exactly like the sweet and well-meaning canon!madoka in the past, a key difference was she would resort to stealing and breaking other rules to keep herself and her parents and little brother alive.

her mother was a businesswoman who wanted to take a more innovative approach to her work. alas, this would cost junko her entire career and the kaname family became penniless

madoka wished for her mother’s dream project to become reality. just as ur familiar with canon!kyoko’s story, it backfired horribly. disowned from her family, her mother became an alcoholic, dad gets pushed around and baby tatsuya doesnt understand whats going on. days later…press f for the kanames and madoka’s broken heart.

is vile, absolutely vile. can be sweet in one moment then violent and emotionally manipulative in the next like the two-faced bitch she is

rarely uses honorifics to address people anymore, unless she’s playing sweet to get something out of someone. uses ‘-chan/kun/san’ for those she sincerely cares for; she didn’t call homura ‘-chan’ before she began sympathizing with the latter

has a minor problem with booze and tobacco, namely the latter.

she loves loves loves melons!

knowing the value of being frugal, madoka hates wasting things that could be put to better use. she can be kind of a cheapskate in some sense, though she's sane enough to avoid resorting to ridiculous extremities.

kriemhild gretchen is exact the opposite of canon!ophelia. this towering witch continues oh so obsessively reaching for what she cannot; that one faraway glimmer of hope sitting at the endless skies of her labyrinth she calls paradise. shes stubborn as all hell, and will not let herself be destroyed UNLESS one convinces her the world is already a happy place in no need of saving

NAGISA

nagisa is nagisa.

the same charlotte that ate mamisayaka’s head is now a bapy that lives with her post-rebellion

her wish remains the same: to have one last cheesecake with her mother

not much to say here

thats all i can remember from the top of my head! if you want me to elaborate further, pls ask me @mahoutrauma!! 

[tgwltw]

Start of something.

Technically I wasn’t supposed to post the previous one that was about Dick, mainly because I wanted to queue a few posts so that tumblr can just post sporadically over the next few days but what’s done is done. A few papers left until I can enjoy my winter break. 

Thank you for sending this in! I think I got too carried away writing about Lian but I think this is literally the first time I have ever written her and Roy deserves more love too! Might even consider writing a sequel to this but we shall see! As usual, there are mistakes here and there but I hope you will still enjoy reading this.

Thinking about the long weekend ahead of you, you are rather eager to go home to your comfortable bed and your abundant books that you have unfortunately no time to read yet due to your job. Who knew being an elementary teacher took a lot of your time? Although, despite everything, your kids still make you very happy. After making sure you have all of their art projects – the theme for this month is ‘my dream’ – with you so you can mark them over the weekend, you locked your office and pad towards the exit. You really cannot wait to get home!

Your eager steps falter when your eyes land on a very familiar girl playing by herself on the swings. This seems very oddly cliché too – like a scene from one of those books you often read but you definitely cannot leave her alone. So you approach her, making sure to make a small noise at the back of your throat as to not surprise the young girl.

Lian turns around and a grin appears on her face. “Teacher!” She jumps down from the swings to grin up at you and you giggle at how adorable she is. You pat her on the head. Her eyes land on your bag and the smile drops from her face. “Are you leaving now?”

You shake your head as you crouch down beside her. “Where is your Papa, Lian?” You ask her – by the time you leave, Lian is never around and you are often the last teacher to leave the elementary school, except the janitors and occasionally the Principal.

Lian shrugs her shoulders. “I think Papa is late.” She looks around, her twin pig-tails moving around behind her. She really is one of the most adorable kids you have ever had the chance to teach and fortunately for you, she is also an angel and even though you are not supposed to play favourites, deep down inside, you know Lian is your absolute favourite.

“How about I hang out with you until your Papa comes?” You ask her before standing up straight. “Or do you want to tell your Papa to pick you up at the Deli shop at the corner of the block?” You take out your phone, briefly wondering if Lian knows her Papa’s phone number but let out a relieved sigh when she takes the phone from you and begin dialing her Papa’s number.

It takes a few seconds for Lian’s Papa to pick up and you can see it on her face when her eyes brighten up slightly. “Papa, it’s Lian! Ms. (last name) is nice enough to lend me her phone so I can call you!” She excitedly tells her Papa and you had to smile at that – why is Lian so cute? You wonder as you stare at the little girl. She must have also gotten her good looks from her mother too. This makes you think about Lian’s mother – from what she has told you, it is just her Papa and her and occasionally, if her Papa gets too busy, Lian gets to stay with some of her Papa’s friends. “Okay, I love you too, Papa!” She ends the call and hands the phone back to you – that is when you realize that you literally lost yourself in your thoughts. Smiling sheepishly, you ask the little lady what her Papa had said.

Lian grins at you. “Papa said he will try to get there in thirty minutes – is that enough time, Ms. (last name)?” She asks you and you grin at her before holding onto her hand.

“Of course, come on. Let’s go get some sandwiches and maybe a cookie or two.” You wink at the little girl as she squeals in happiness. The two of you spent the entire time talking about everything Lian likes to do and what you like to do during whatever spare time you have. Even when the two of you reached the Deli shop, Lian still continued to talk.

“Papa is really good at… arc – archery too!” Lian tells you proudly and you can really see just how much Lian looks up to her Papa and it warms your heart because you could remember being the same age and looking up to your own Dad. “Papa said I am still too young to go out with him but he teaches me archery whenever he is free so I have fun too!”

You are cut off from replying when the door opens and Lian all but perks up. If you had thought she had been happy earlier, this expression on her is something new – you turn around to follow her gaze and you flush immediately because Lian’s Papa is extremely good looking and unfortunately for you, you literally feel your mouth watering and the flush on your face grew heavier when he came closer.

“Lian!”

You are somewhat glad you are sitting down because dear God, his voice made your knees weak! Lian jumps down from her chair to run up to her Papa and giggles happily when her Papa begin to shower her face with kisses. You take that time to calm your body down.

“Ms. (last name)?”

You startle slightly before taking a deep breath and turning to face Lian’s Papa. No wonder Lian is such a beautiful girl too – her father alone is handsome. You wonder briefly just how beautiful her Mama had been. “Hi, Mr. Harper.” You greet him and he gives you a small smile that somewhat looked guilty to you. You stand up to hand him Lian’s bag.

“I am so sorry for not informing the school – I had some business to attend to and I thought I could make it back before the school lets her out and,” Lian snuggles closer to her Papa, now that he is finally here, Lian feels a tad bit drowsy. “I really am sorry for taking up so much of your time too. Can I buy you a coffee or something? As a thanks for looking after Lian.”

You smile at him, shaking your head to reject his offer. You honestly do not think you can stand being near Lian’s Papa without having a lot of impure thoughts. “Actually it was no trouble at all. Lian’s such a great kid, wonderful company too. I don’t mind.” You tell him and he frowns.

“Can I at least pay you back for spending money buying sandwiches and desserts for Lian then?” He tries once more, rubbing Lian’s back. You notice that Lian is now sleeping soundly in his arms and you had to resist the urge to coo at her.

You shake your head again, braving yourself to place your hand on top of his free hand and he stares at you. You flush slightly under his gaze and drop your hand from his. “It’s really fine, Mr. Harper – “

“Roy.”

“Excuse me?” You furrow your eyebrows.

He gives you another grin. “You can call me Roy. Mr. Harper sounds a little bit too stiffy for me.” He tells you. “That’s the least you can do since you aren’t accepting any other form of payment.” He tells you smartly and you had to bite the inside of your cheeks to stop yourself from laughing. He had bested you.

“Alright, Roy.” You let his name roll of your tongue. “Then you can call me Y/N but I really do have to tell you that it really is no problem – I have been meaning to eat here for a while and Lian, like I mentioned earlier, had been wonderful company but I really should not keep you. Poor Lian must have been really tired.” You point out to the sleeping girl and Roy nods his head.

“Can you at least let me drive you home? It started drizzling heavily when I was on my way here and I parked my car out front.” Roy informs you and you turn to look out of the window – a frown appears on your face. You must have been engrossed in your conversation with Lian to notice the rain. Walking under the rain sounds very tempting but alas, you remembered that you still need to grade the kids’ art projects and if you were to walk home in the rain, you know for sure, their projects will not survive.

So you turn to look at Roy and nod your head. “If you insist.” You tell him and he grins cheekily at you, causing him to look a tad bit boyish but still handsome nonetheless. The two of you immediately head towards the exit but before you can even step out, Roy gently tells you to hold on to Lian and he shifts Lian over to you before telling to stay put for a while. Before you can even get a word in, Roy rushes out and in a minute, he comes towards the door holding an umbrella.

Without exchanging any other words, you simply let Roy hold the umbrella over the two of you, careful to make sure none of the raindrops fall over Lian and unknown to you, Roy is staring at you. He chuckles inwardly – no wonder Lian is so taken with you.

The drive home is filled with comfortable silence, something that surprised you entirely because you only just met Lian’s Papa and you are often a little shy around strangers. Once your apartment is in sight, you immediately thank Roy once again and Roy shakes his head.

“It’s the least I can do – thank you.” Roy tells you earnestly and you grin at him. “For being a great teacher and company for Lian; she talks about you every time after school and I just never had the chance to say it.” He shrugs his shoulders and you blush slightly at his compliment.

“Have a good night, Roy and thank you for the ride.” You quickly tell him before getting out of the car and jogging towards your apartment. You feel like you might combust if you stayed longer – you probably have been out of the dating game for quite too long, you mutter to yourself as you made your way up to your floor but meeting Lian’s Papa had definitely been one of the best things that happened to you this year. With a smile on your face, you wonder briefly when you will be able to meet Lian’s Papa again.

[useyourrwords]

Month in Review // Greyson Unplugged – April | Part 2

This month has been crazy!

I took a trip to my aunts

My mum got a new job and I was covering her shifts

I trained the new girl

My mum and I had an Easter weekend of food and Game of Thrones and skincare

And I read and read and read

If you would like to buy any of the following books please consider using my Book Depository Affliate link!

Blogosphere Highlights

│Laura @ The Book Corps│12 F/F BOOKS YOU NEED ON YOUR TBR!│

│Vicky @ Vicky Who Reads│Tutorial Time! #2: A Hopefully-Easy Guide to Adapting Book Covers Into Horizontal Headers (+walk-through videos!)│

│Cait @ Paperfury│#ACTUALLYAUTISTIC COLLAB (FT. WHAT DO WE WANT TO SEE IN AUTISM BOOKS?!)│WHAT IT’S LIKE TO WRITE AN #OWNVOICES NOVEL (FT. AUTISM PRIDE MONTH!)│

│Becca @ Becca’s Book Realm│Happy Autism Acceptance Month! A list of Do’s and Dont’s and Examples of Good and Bad Autistic Rep!│

│May @ Forever And Everly│How to Get Started on Making Your Blog Look Pretty: A Mini Blog Design Guide by Me, a Somewhat Okay Designer│

│Ellyn @ Allonsythornraxxbooks│HOW I WRITE MY NOTES WHILE READING BOOKS│

│Avery @ Red Rocket Panda│DISCUSSION | WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME TO REVIEW NEW RELEASES?│

│Fadwa @ Word Wonders│ZODIAC SIGNS BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS│#DIVERSEBOOKBLOGGERSDISCUSS: DISABILITY REPRESENTATION IN YA│

│Lilya @ The Kitten’s Keyboard via Fadwa @ Word Wonders│#DIVERSEBOOKBLOGGERSDISCUSS: DISABILITY REPRESENTATION IN YA│

│Hannah @ Mortal Reader│XO Hannah | Dabbling in Poetry… (Kinda)│

│Swetlana @ The Caffeinated Bookworm Life│15 Ways To Spring Clean Your Social Media Platforms│

│Gail @ Queer Astronauts via Lauren @ Northern Plunder│The Comic Book Film and Representation | Written By Gail│

│Kaleena @ Reader Voracious│2019 Book Blogger Spreadsheet Template│Reading Around the Globe│

│Ceillie @ Candid Ceillie│Rec List: Autism Pride Month Book Bingo│

│CW @ The Quiet Pond│Book Recommendations with Varian – Books With #OwnVoices Autistic Characters!│

│Olivia @ Purely Olivia│Do You Read the Book Before Watching the Movie?? // ft. an age-old discussion, pros vs. cons, and my fave adaptations!!│

│Madeline @ Caffeine & Writing Dreams│Why Your Characters are Flat & Boring Caricatures // Story Studies: The Raven Cycle│How Much of Your Character’s Backstory Do You Need to Know? // Backstory & Character Arcs 101│How to Conquer A Read Through of Your Novel Without Getting Overwhelmed│

│Aurora @ Aurora Librialis│The Female Gaze Project: Mothers and Daughters│

Past Month In Review

 January in Review // I Cried, Laughed, Ate Pasta, Celebrated My Birthday & Completed TWO Read-A-Thons/Challenges

 Month in Review // I FINALLY CHANGED MY NAME – February

 Month in Review // The Month From Hell – March

Month’s Goals

Get back to going for walks on most days, if not 6 days a week. Baby steps again 

I walked 15000 steps two days in a row while I was visiting my aunt! But I haven’t been walking much other than that.

Read and read and read and read 

I read 7 books this month!

Keep Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr deleted off my phone 

Honestly, taking the time off social media has done wonders for my reading, mental health and productivity!

Get some blog posts banked up 

Not a lot but still!

Enter quotes and finish reviews for all read books 

HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

no.

But I did work out a great note taking system so that hopefully it won’t be so bad falling behind in writing reviews!

And I’ve decided that I don’t need to mark and enter so many fucking notes. I’ll just mark ones that I love and want to keep and enter those, and for the quotes that I might just want to use in my review or will help me with writing my notes and reviews I’ll mark and then reassess if I need them at the end. Because right now I’m marking basically every time something happens as well as every little tiny detail about a character or the world, on top of quotes and dialogue I love and its . . . a lot.

Try to use Google Calendar more and make some digital planning spreadsheets because physical planner is too time consuming and annoying but I still need to stay organized

I kinda did this well for the first week and then it went to shit. Oops.

Maybe start writing??? Like just one scene. Please

I mean I did write a scene and I worked out some background information and history but I’ve not done much more than that.

Weekend Away

I mentioned in my month ahead post last month that I was planning on visiting my aunt for a few days so get away and have a bit of a break.

Well, I did and it was very relaxing.

My aunt’s house is in pure chaos basically 24/7 and yet somehow it’s still super relaxing??? I don’t know how but it is!

I took some books with me for my cousin C to read. I gave her my first copy of Vicious since its the old cover that’s no longer in print, and I leant her the first two books of The Raven Cycle to read! Fingers crossed she enjoys them!

I walked 2/3 days of me being there! My first day there I walked 15,500 steps! Most of which I did just on my walk!

See, I decided to walk to the beach and back for my walk because Google Maps told me it was only half an hour to walk there…But I always forget that I walk slower than Google Maps plans for because I’m usually reading on my phone at the same time.

So basically, I was gone for an hour and a half. It was a great walk! I was definitely exhausted by the time I got back to my aunts but I enjoyed it!

The following day my cousin, C, came with me. On our walk, C took me to a nicer area of the beach than the part I visited the day before and we stood there for ages soaking in the sun and breeze and view. It was gorgeous and so relaxing!

By the time we got back to the house we’d found someone��s purse, returned it to the owner, checked out the local bakery, and got very badly sun burnt.

Turns out we were gone for three hours! And I’m not used to putting on sunscreen because on my walks at home I’m surrounded by trees, so I’m not really in the sun much. But in my aunt’s seaside town it’s just open sky and that breeze sure does trick you into thinking there’s not much sun to burn you!

While I was away I got to spend lots of time with my cousins! C and her twin, J, and I talked loads about politics and their favourite topic, KPop.

I also got to spend time with my cousin, S and her baby, R, (Baby R since I have another cousin whose name starts with R) and my nana!

Baby R is super cute, a little Capricorn like me and she’s a doll. No really, she’s tiny. She’s a month older than my nephew (They’re both one) and he’s like twice her size.

She doesn’t use her hands to stand up. She just puts them out in front of her like she’s a fucking tiny gymnast and rises. I never get sick of seeing it. Or watching her excitedly run into the back door (don’t worry, she’s never hurt) because Dogs, because same.

She’ll talk your ear off, though it’s mostly baby talk still, despite J’s best efforts (you can often hear yelling’s of “I LOVE you“ and J and C repeatedly saying their own names, battling to see who’s name is said first. They’re not happy that their younger sister, R, was before either of them)

Baby R was hesitant with me at first. It’s been quite a few months since she last saw me so she had to work out if I was friend or foe before approaching me. I often treat babies like wild animals. I’ll let them come to me first, so I don’t scare them off. But once she worked out I was okay, she loved that I was happy to have lots of conversations where neither of us knew what the other was saying.

Baby R also loved my slippers. She wouldn’t stop staring at them! And I was very happy that I got some cuddles one night when she was especially tired.

I also got to enjoy the big personality that is my baby cousin, A. Well she’s not really a baby anymore, she’s five, but she’s one of the youngest cousins I have so she’ll always be my baby cousin.

She’s a Capricorn just like me as well (can you tell I get excited about other Capricorn’s in the family? There’s not a lot of us! There’s a lot of Virgos and Geminis) and she was basically raised alongside 1 adult and 3 teenaged sisters and let me tell you, that is very evident.

Like all the girls in our family, A will talk your bloody ear off and half the time I had no idea what she was talking about but it didn’t matter so long as I was an ear listening. She did have some priceless moments in my opinion, including;

 While I was making dessert for everyone, I was eating a zombie chew (Australian chewy sour candy) and I put it down only to hear seconds later “A, what do you have? That’s not yours!“ and see C, taking my zombie chew from A saying “She said I could have it!“

 After I’d finished making the desserts for everyone, I gave A one of the one’s I made C, because the ones I’d made for everyone else had decaf coffee and I’d assumed A wouldn’t like the taste.

The ones I made for C were made with 90% dark chocolate because of her dietary requirements so they were very bitter. I smothered it in caramel sauce only to find out A doesn’t like caramel sauce, she likes peanut butter and we didn’t have any. A still wanted to try it though so I gave it to her and asked if she liked it.

“It’s fine“ she told me in her upbeat voice. Remember she’s five. I’ve never heard a five year old describe anything as fine. “Are you sure? You can tell me the truth. It won’t hurt my feelings. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it.“ After trying to take another bite, she handed it back to me and told me she didn’t want anymore.

I ended up giving her one of the left over ones I’d made for everyone else that had the coffee in it and she loved that one. Thank goodness it was decaf otherwise she would have been bouncing off the walls!

 I was sat on the couch eating another zombie chew the following day (listen those things are fucking addictive). I’d just finished it when A got home, walked into the lounge room and made a beeline straight to me saying “I can have just a little bit, can’t I?“ And I had to break it to her that I’d already finished it.

 She’s also was the only person who didn’t accidentally call me by my old name! She did forget my name several times though and asked me “hey girl, what’s your name?” Or she called me sister because she thinks any older female is her sister and I had to explain that I’m her cousin. I still don’t think she understands the difference or even gives a shit.

On one night, I’d gotten up to get something to eat from the kitchen, but A must not of seen me get up or where I went and forgot my name again so she started asking C “What’s that girl’s name who went outside?“ C had no idea who on earth she was talking about, she thought A was talking about someone in the movie they were watching, and gave up trying to figure it out. I came back with my dinner, sat down on the couch and A leaned in, pointed at C and told me “She forgot your name, do you know that?” “A, were you talking about Greyson that whole time?“ “Yes, obviously.“

 My favourite moment from A though was when I was sitting at the table, half asleep and trying to eat my breakfast. A had wanted to show me her LOL dolls which have colour changing hair when you dip them in different temperatures of water. J had got her a cup of hot water and they showed me how it worked. Then J had to go and do something else so she put the cup of hot water in the sink and A wasn’t happy she couldn’t keep showing me the colour changing hair, but she had a plan.

A pulled out some little barbie dolls she’d gotten in happy meals and told me excitedly “These have colour changing hair too!“ I asked, finding it hard to believe, “Do they really?“ I think A could sense my doubt. “They do if I colour them.“ A told me, matter-of-factly, as if she was letting me in on her super top secret genius discovery. She sat there and used her textas to colour their blonde hair. And then dipped them in her cold water as if that made any difference. I absolutely lost it, A just fed off my laughter and kept looking for more dolls whose hair could be coloured in.

I honestly didn’t want to leave. I mean, I missed Charlie, and mum and my bed but I enjoyed myself so much! And it was exactly what I needed! I’m already looking forward to my visit in May!

Easter Weekend

For the Easter weekend my mum and I binge watched as much Game of Thrones as possible!

We got through like 2 seasons over that weekend!

I also decided that on Sunday we were gonna have a spa day. I got us face masks, and under eye masks, lip masks and foot masks.

Mum couldn’t stop laughing every time she looked at me with my face mask or lip mask on.

Mum got me an electric tooth brush for Easter, the only problem was I didn’t know how it worked and mum threw away the instructions.

The first time I used it I had put it on charge while I had a shower. I brushed my teeth and waited for some kind of timer to tell me I’d brushed for 2 minutes. It did this weird stalling thing so I thought that meant to switch sides so I did and then it stopped. I figured that was the two minutes done.

It felt like a long time but I’ve never really had a great sense of time. I just thought “Wow, two minutes feels pretty long, I’ve definitely not been brushing my teeth for long enough!”

Then I used it again and it did the stalling thing 3 times. I felt like I have been brushing my teeth for ages and it never stopped so I just gave up. I went and asked mum what the stalling thing meant. “That’s the timer.” “Oh.” “What did you think it was.” “Uhhhh, well, I though it just meant to swap sides. I thought it stopped after the two minutes.”  “No. That’s not how it works.“ “Okay, then I just brushed my teeth for 6 minutes.“ Mum thought this was hilarious! Thank god I hadn’t tried for the first time before I had work! It might have made me late!

On the Monday I went clothes shopping to get ready for winter. I managed to get quite a few things I liked including a Harry Potter top and a top with the female Disney villains that says Girl Gang.

Later in the week I went looking for clothes again since they didn’t have everything I wanted the first trip and I went to the thrift store and found a black jacket that gave me serious Lila Bard vibes. i tried it on and it fucking fit! So obviously it was meant to be and I bought it. I love it so much but in my excitement I didn’t see that some of the buttons are missing so I might have to find replacements for all of them so they match!

Past Month Ahead

 February Ahead // I’m Finally Going To Read The Raven Cycle Series & It’s Black History Month + A Great Resource for Education!!!!!

 Month Ahead // Writers Week, Comedy & Too Much To Do – March

 Month Ahead // Going Off Grid – April

What a big month!

What did you do this month? What did you read? What did you watch? What posts did you write that you’re super proud of?

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[patrickube-blog]

(h x r)

[i honestly feel really strongly for this piece of writing i did about two years ago, it never fails to make me emotional. a lot of the stuff i wrote in the past has identifiable influences – like a movie i’d just watched, a book i loved, a game i just played, or some real life personal thing that happened to me. this story bemuses me because i don’t remember how i even came up with the entire idea, or the weird structure of it. but i think it’s quite lovely and skeletal, so, i hope this gets you feeling something as well,  my nonexistent followers!]

–

The Beginning

We had English after lunch. All of us were caught in a mad, exuberant flurry of motion, scuttling around like schools of fish to finish our essays on Romeo and Juliet.

The sun was smoldering, the clouds whisked briskly into hiding, the breeze faint and whispery. We sat in our customary, rickety red bench, the table-top scrawled with adolescent blather. There were lyrics to hit songs; prancing stick figures; crude swear words; male genitalia of different sizes; names etched inside swollen, crooked hearts, then scratched out and blotted with angry ink.

There was five of us then. We grew together, then grew apart. I remember Travis, always joking, always coy. I remember Lila, sharp as a tack, harsh, slim from weekly track meets. I remember Henry, foppish and vibrant, good-hearted. As for Rose, was the smartest in our group. Naturally we sought her assistance that day. She glowed under the attention. She set about patiently correcting grammatical errors, pointing out muddled sentences, indicating softly which areas needed elaboration.

I noticed Henry was sitting alone during this time, scratching his head, furrowing his brow, staring at his essay in concentration. Travis was teasing him.

And then, like a guardian angel come from the golden gates of heaven, Rose left her gaggle of students and sat beside him. Henry smiled. Nervous, tentative sweat slicked his forehead.

We laughed about it then, me and Travis and Lila, but deep down we were jealous that the inevitable shifting of our group’s dynamic had taken place, and none of us were a part of the equation.

The Middle of the Beginning

“I think I like her,” Henry said frequently afterwards when it was just me and Travis with him. “I think I do. A lot.”

We sniggered collectively, played along. It became a game. “What do you like most about her? Are you gonna marry her?” we would ask with false sincerity.

“Everything about her, I like,” he’d reply importantly, “And, yeah. Maybe I will marry her.” We all laughed. There was no doubt in our minds then that poor, hapless Henry was dreaming up this big romance, borne from Rose’s simple kindness.

“I’m going to ask her to dance,” Henry said one day, out of the blue. “Tomorrow, I’ll ask her.” We grinned. Travis nudged his shoulder boyishly. Someone else who happened to be sitting with us that day made up a bet on whether or not Henry would pull through. I just smiled. Poor, hapless Henry mistook our amused, youthful mockery for pride.

The following week, the dance took place. We gathered in our little group excitedly, flashing smiles, pretending that we couldn’t care less. The gym was bedecked in fluorescent neon lights, strips of flashy, glittery gold paper wrung from the ceiling, music pumping from the domed roof. Lila bragged about how much of it was all thanks to her creative ambition, since she was a part of the dance committee. The girls were resplendent in their skimpy dresses. We wore our flashiest, priciest clothes.

Henry showed up late with Rose in tow, causing quite the fuss. His brown eyes were bright. Rose’s smile was small and shy, her honeydew hair glimmering amidst the neon lights. We stared, pointed, bobbed grins and cheeky laughter across the hall. Travis spat out his drink. Lila arced an eyebrow. We were collectively in awe. Hapless Henry had turned a new leaf.

The girls fawned all over them; we resorted to a thumbs-up.

The Ending of the Beginning

Henry went to a different high school than the rest of us. He moved house early in the year we all started a new chapter in our lives. I wasn’t to see him for years. I was too caught up in the difference of high school to contact him.

In my second year, I dated Lila. She was vivacious, a fresh breath of air from the old days. We laughed about our middle school-selves. I asked her constantly if she knew anything about Henry and Rose, whose quiet popularity in middle school devolved into anonymity. She frequented the library and acquired a new circle of friends, long-legged girls with swathes of hair. I only had to glance to know they took her for granted, accepted her only for the gleam of her blond hair rather than the understated perception of her mind. Lila told me that the last she’d heard, she and Henry had split. I felt duly crushed. Those two were akin to glowing, golden idols from a better, simpler age. Like the rest of us, they’d succumbed to change and rust.

Three shitty parties, one pregnancy test, and two ‘break ups’ later, Lila and I split. “All you ever talk about now is ‘those old days’ as if they were years ago, as if they were amazing all the time. They weren’t. God, get a grip on yourself, you’re pathetic,” she’d said at the argument that ended it. After that, brilliantly angry and youthfully, foolishly bitter, she spread the rumor that I carried STDs. I remember Travis laughing in my face the day after. He made a quip about girls being bitches, about how he was taking Maria Henderson to a party that weekend, about how I should come and use the STD-thing as a sob story to get laid.

I skipped school for a week, pleaded sick to my blank-faced parents. Days were spent staring up at the billowing, far-away clouds from my bedroom window, lost in thought. Escapism. All I wanted was to envelop myself again in the golden warmth of the before, not the now, with stressful deadlines and assessments and new social pressures and angry ex-girlfriends.

The Beginning of the End

-During my final year of university, an unregistered number called my phone while I was walking to a class.

It was Henry, though I still didn’t make the connection when the voice said, “it’s Henry, hey, it’s me.” He had to awkwardly introduce himself twice more. He sounded tired. He asked how I was doing, what I was up to, what university I attended, inquired about assignments, deadlines, and my parents. He confessed, with sheepish laughter, that he’d gotten my number off of Lila, who Rose still saw every now and then. He added in serious undertone, that he never for a second believed those old, filthy rumors.

I had a multitude of questions clamoring in my head. For one thing, I did not appreciate him bringing up the STD-drama. Also, what was he calling me for? After years of silence, hearing him speak while I weaved through other students staring into their phones was a surreal experience.

There was a new, tense quality to Henry’s voice that I’d never heard before. He suddenly apologized, for falling off the radar, for being too busy to keep in touch. Things with Rose were rocky, he admitted quietly, in a resigned sort of way. Before I could ask when they’d gotten back together, he quickly slipped in that he loved her. A lot. They’d gone on-and-off a number of times.

“Look, I know this is…weird, since we haven’t spoken in years,” Henry said shakily. “But you were always the most considerate of the guys. I know that you’ll help me.” There was a long pause. I waited. “Rose is pregnant. We didn’t plan it. She’s totally against, ah, abortion. And, I mean, so am I! She says we have get married…quickly. Fast. She doesn’t want the kid to be labeled a bastard, and I guess she just…” Henry trailed off. “I think she just doesn’t want to be alone.”

He sighed, sounding older than he really was. I didn’t know what to say, or what exactly he was calling me for. “Please,” he went on. “I need your help. Her parents hate her for all this business, and my dad…you know how he is, ever since we were kids, always just…sorry. Ah, when are you free next?”

The Middle of the End

I helped arrange mostly everything. I found a reception hall in town. It was a small, humble, exquisite building that didn’t make a big deal of itself. Henry, Rose and I went down there a few days after he called. I skipped my afternoon lecture.

I did most of the talking. Henry was taller, a bit leaner, though jittery, his smile nervous. There was a new tentative energy in him, the sadness in his eyes never quite going away. Rose, though, was very lovely. Refined, cool and calm. The gaggle of loud, unappreciative girls that used to surround her in a stifling circle were nowhere to be seen. I wondered where they’d gone. Her belly swelled under the blue blouse she wore.

They chose a day, a time, talked over some meaningless technicalities. We had coffee afterwards. It seemed like the decent thing to do, though I could tell both of them just wanted to go home, retreat back into whatever form of shelter they had built for themselves upstate. I felt out of place meeting these two old friends I didn’t actually know anymore. My brain was momentarily confused, attempting to re-arrange itself; I remembered Henry as a flushed, messy-haired youth with gangly arms and a hapless grin. On the last day of school, he’d hugged me tightly and rather desperately, only letting go when Travis shoved a pencil up his ass. The day before he moved, we hung out in the arcade and then the beach. After everyone had gone and the sun began to vanish in the horizon, my mother had dropped off Rose first, then Henry. The three of us sat in the backseat, making small talk, and as we neared Rose’s house, Henry had grabbed both our hands without preamble. Even after Rose left his hand kept clutching mine.

Now he was suddenly taller than me, dressed in a modest suit-and-tie. He had never been solid and leery like Travis, always floppy, but sitting in that café, there was a solidity about him.

The youthful vivacity that was in Rose once was gone; it was replaced by a wide void, reduced as she was to a politely-smiling, well-mannered, chagrin adult. She used to get all the boys’ attention, even in high school. Mature and level-headed, Rose hardly ever went to parties, but when she did, she always vanished upstairs, swallowed up by the inky darkness of the stairwell. I always assumed she and Henry’s split was official. Their hastened marriage date said otherwise.

The café was small, but busy, bustling. Its homey interior and cream walls watched as we slowly took a sigh of collective relief, our stress and tension melting away gradually, mingling with the steam of mochas and lattes.

Henry sincerely apologized for all the sudden fuss, asked again what I was majoring in and when I’d graduate. He asked after my parents and what they were getting up to. He shared some funny stories, but Rose never laughed, she only maintained her frozen little smile. She herself congratulated me for my academic successes, sympathizing with me on how Lila acted all those years ago, affirming she was different now and still asked about me, sometimes. I told them how well they looked, how happy I was for them, what name they were considering for the baby, and did they know yet if it was a boy, or a girl? I didn’t get to pose the questions I really wanted to ask, since I could tell they were both terribly tired of things. Whether it was from work, or each other, or the baby bombshell, or all of the above, or some hidden factor they kept to themselves, I still do not know.

What I knew: they were only alive by the love they shared, weakly binding them together. It was quietly, tragically beautiful.

The End

-Their wedding day fell on a midsummer, lukewarm Friday afternoon.

Henry and Rose invited only a few people, less than a handful: Geraldine was the bride’s sister. Carlton was her boyfriend. As for Lila and I, one could say we were close in school, but Travis wasn’t invited. Was Lila merely a sop for me? Was it a feeble, girlish, chick-flick attempt to get us back together? Was Henry and Rose’s social circle just that closed-off? Were they afraid and ashamed of others knowing about their marriage and Rose’s pregnancy? Had they alienated themselves that much? Like many things about them, I don’t know.

Geraldine picked up the girls, while Carlton and I were put in charge of Henry. It was quite a beautiful day. Sunlight dappled the trees lining the sidewalk, while buildings reached up into the unfathomable sky. There was not a cloud in sight.

We got to the reception hall first. Henry, in a sharp blue suit, paced back and forth erratically in one of the rooms the kindly receptionist directed us to. I had helped him get ready in my flat. Carlton could tell we had history and he was destined to be a mere footnote, so he politely complimented Henry, made some light jokes which we responded to politely, and then he left before we did, saying he’d meet us at the hall. His car was parked in the lot, four spaces from mine. He was browsing through his phone when we pulled up. I thought it prudent to wait for Geraldine to arrive before calling out to him.

While Henry paced, I mused aloud how the girls were faring. Perhaps Rose had cried a little, then switched to happy laughter while her hair was done up artfully.

He was implacable, in that small window of time when it was just us two. I attempted small talk: why his father or her parents weren’t invited (the look he shot in my direction was, I guess, the only answer I needed.) Did they not want anyone else to come, any other friends? That didn’t provoke a response, but I filled the silence with noise anyway. I spoke wistfully of the increasing difficulty of my university assignments, about Travis, about the beauty of the afternoon. Henry was unresponsive, curt. It took me awhile to accept that I simply did not understand the entire situation, and I left him alone with his own thoughts for a bit. Happy nervousness leaked from his every pore as he walked back and forth, back and forth.

He wouldn’t stop pacing. Without a word, I placed a hand comfortingly on his shoulder. The effect was electric. Henry spun around, looked at me with wide, trembling, damp eyes and kissed me. I only began to respond when he drew back again, as fast as he’d leant forward. He was flushed. “I doubt the baby’s mine,” he said abruptly, absurdly. Then, “I love you. Thank you for being here. I mean it. I love you.”

There was a knock on the door, and Geraldine asked how things were coming along. I could have addressed what Henry had just blurted out and the way he’d kissed me, but I didn’t. His eyes met mine, and without flinching, I told Geraldine we’d be right out and that Carlton was in his car. Her heels faded away into the warm afternoon. Before we left the room, Henry kissed me again. I let him, not reciprocating this time.

Rose was a vision of loveliness, a divine apparition. Her back was facing us as we walked up. Daisies were wrung prettily in her hair. When she turned, her face wore an expression that I couldn’t read. The corners of her mouth were upturned, but I wouldn’t say she was smiling. I saw her rounded belly, remembered Henry’s suspicions, his desperate kisses. But I could not harden my heart against her. How could I, with her standing there, her white dress whispering as it danced across the floor in time with the wind?

Geraldine walked in with Carlton and Lila in tow.  “Shall we?” Lila announced with theatrical grandeur. She shot me a glance. The lot of us had dinner a few nights beforehand, a perverted version of the five our original group had, plus Carlton, very handsome, very respectful, shaking my hand firmly over glasses of wine. Geraldine, I knew slightly growing up, a stately, assertive girl who had none of Rose’s subtlety. As for Lila…she was much the same. Harsh green eyes, a smirk instead of a smile. The only thing of note was a tattoo of a pale lily on her thigh. I told her that it was really clever and witty, when we had sex in my flat that same night. She said that I’d gotten myself a nice pad, and allowed that she missed our middle school days sometimes, especially the science lessons where we were partners, fucking up all of our tests. I took that as her apology for the STD rumors. We didn’t mention it.

The sunlight spilled in from the doorway and doused Henry in soft brightness as he stepped forward and took Rose in his arms. She was crying. Her small shoulders trembled demurely. He whispered words to her that the rest of us didn’t hear. Geraldine patted her back. Carlton shifted in place. Lila linked her arm with mine.

There was a small wait inside a depressingly-clean room where no-one really said anything. Shortly, a middle-aged man donned in priestly garb approached us, calling for “Mr. Henry and Ms. Rose.”

It happened so fast. The designated room was jarringly empty. Geraldine, Carlton, Lila and I crowded the front seats, the chairs behind us devoid of any life. The girls had, in an attempt to spruce the state of things, blown up a few listless balloons and scattered a handful of daffodils on the aisle. It was beautiful in its own doomed, sad way. I imagined the lily on Lila’s thigh blooming open for me. Sunlight alighted on each flimsy white petal of the flowers in Rose’s hair.

When Henry and Rose kissed as man and wife, melting into one, trembling, Geraldine let out a sob. Carlton clapped earnestly, then hugged his girlfriend with one arm. Lila touched my shoulder. Her eyes leaked mascara-stained tears. My throat became constricted with emotion.

“I never saw this coming. Never. I mean…not like this. Did you?” she asked me, her green eyes softening, causing me to almost fall in love with her all over again.

The makeshift priest watched as the six of us left, Henry and Rose leading the way with damp cheeks. His sad eyes were full of hopeless love, and he’d given me a look pregnant with apology and confusion as he walked past; he reached out as if to touch my cheek, but instead clasped my arm. The bride’s honeydew hair was aglow, blinding us all.

In the parking lot, Henry and Rose leaned into each other and so did Geraldine and Carlton, shadowing them. Lila kissed my cheek, and I remembered Henry pressing his lips into mine, not once but twice, his suit clinging to his slim frame, his shoulders set. It seemed to have happened a million years ago. I like to think that we were all, in that moment, happy. The waning afternoon sun embraced us and congratulated our exit.

But I suppose that deep down I knew it was temporary.

X

-Lila called me well over a year later.

We’d kept in touch after the wedding, making half-hearted attempts to reconnect, to start over. We had sex two more times afterward, but the second time, I made the mistake of asking her why she did it, all those years ago in our second year of high school. When she feigned sleep, I touched her lily tattoo and waited until she was actually slumbering. We were in her flat, so I left. Taken away from the pale, sentimental magic of that reception hall, I noticed that her green eyes had hardened again. I realized: I did not love her anymore, if I ever really did. I didn’t bother maintaining contact, and neither did she.

We were there, however, for the sake of appearances, when Henry and Rose left on their honeymoon to Florida. I remember Rose waving a lavender handkerchief at us as Henry drove them away. Carlton took me home, doing the same for a friend of Rose’s who’d been invited, some girl co-worker. He asked how things were going with Lila. I said that things were definitely going. He shook my hand when we reached my flat, and I wondered what he would do if I kissed him in the semi-darkness of his car. Later that night I hit up the girl co-worker whose number I’d procured at some point, and drove to her place and had sex on a pull-out bed. She was ensconced at a friend’s for the moment because of personal issues I did not care to divulge in because I had enough of my own, enough of Henry’s, enough of Rose’s, so I fucked her again before she could open up.

I wasn’t present when Rose gave birth five months after, but I was at their infant girl Victoria’s one-month celebration. She was an exhilarating, lovely thing, but she had brilliant blue eyes. Neither Henry nor Rose had blue eyes.

Lila was there, too, but she didn’t look at me once. The girl co-worker arrived late with a guy who I thought at first was Travis, and I was so shocked I dropped the small sandwich I was eating into Victoria’s crib. Carlton told the guests about the promotion he’d received, and Geraldine gushed over her niece, imploring to her in sickly-sweet coos that the girl would have a cousin in due time. Henry never left Rose’s side once, and when I said goodbye, his hand was sweaty. He lingered a second too long, just like at our last day of school, his scrawny arms nearly suffocating me.

When Lila called almost two years after, she did so with a dead voice. Henry had shot himself in the mouth, in the upstairs bathroom of the Victorian-style house he and Rose had bought a year prior.

Lila told me Rose had come home to hear Victoria’s wail of irritation and hunger from bedroom on the second floor. She’d rushed up the stairs, and saw the bathroom door closed. Blood leaked from the space underneath, staining the fresh carpets. And, somehow, Rose had known. I asked what Lila meant by that, but she stuck by what she said. Somehow, Rose had known.

So, she went back down and sat in the living room, called her sister to come over as soon as she could, and remained in the couch for almost an hour, listening to her child’s pitiful, escalating wail, letting her dead husband drown in his blood in the upstairs bathroom.

When Geraldine arrived, everything came undone.

I hung up after telling Lila I’d make it to the wake.

I remembered his warm and perpetually melancholic brown eyes, the lovely honeydew of her hair, the way he kissed me twice in that warm, fuzzy, almost pastoral waiting room with dust dancing in the space between us. I remembered how their initials were etched onto the red bench outside our old classroom. “HxR.” There, forever. ♦

[rowdysakura]

Rizumo Week 2017, Day 2 - Embarassment

title: you’re no rock n’ roll fun fandom: Ao no Exorcist / Blue Exorcist characters: Kamiki Izumo, Okumura Rin, Moriyama Shiemi, and a gaggle of OC kids series: all the good in me is because of you (it’s true)

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale deeply and pray to Inari to give her the strength to not punch her second secretary through the wall. It’d be the start of a bad track record, for one. (Although, to be fair, the first one had been a demon impersonating the exorcist that was her first unknown-to-her dead secretary.) For two, Emi isn’t truly the source of her vexation. Thus, it would be entirely unfair to break the young girl’s face.

Izumo covers her face with a single hand, the other resting on her hip as she hangs her head. There’s a long moment as she goes through a couple of more cycles of meditative breathing before she drops both hands to her sides. Her head tilts back to stare up at the ceiling in apparent despair.

“How long have they been here?” she asks, tone full of the tiredness of a war general finally settling into the grave of defeat.

Emi winces sympathetically and gives Izumo’s shoulder a squeeze.

“It’s only been two minutes, it can’t be too bad right?” she answers, cheer in the lines of body and the smile on her face. Even her long brown hair seems cheerful in the way it bobs as she nods encouragingly.

Her smile is a lie, however. Izumo knows this down to her very bones. She’s done this too many times to be fooled. Has watched the light drain from her subordinates eyes, bit by painful bit, as she’s sent them again and again on this mission, a fate worse than death.

(”Never be the one to keep Arc Knight Izumo’s family busy while she’s out,” they whisper around the water cooler. Only when the light is brightest for fear of bringing ill luck, otherwise. “You’ll never come out the same.”)

It is that bad, Izumo knows. Her red eyes pierce brown and find nothing--Emi is dead inside already. Which is why she’s meeting Izumo outside her subordinates’ shared office space and not Izumo’s own. Emi’s given up. Set them free. Izumo finds herself imagining the carnage that awaits the two of them beyond the ridiculously tall, ridiculously thick double doors.

Izumo sighs. Then straightens, pulling back her shoulders and tilting her chin up. If she is going to walk into hell then she is going in proud and unbroken.

Decision made, Izumo strides forward. Emi trails behind her superior. Her own back unbowed, as well. Izumo will remember her fondly.

Grasping a handle, Izumo pulls open the wooden door. Internally, she braces for screaming both wild, victorious and low, despairing kinds; for seeing her subordinates, good exorcists the lot of them, spread among their desks, slumping lifelessly like forgotten debris; for the horde held precariously within to come rushing towards her the moment she’s noticed. She does not brace, instead, for silence.

Only just realizing she has closed her eyes, Izumo cautiously cracks a single one open.

“SURPRISE!”

Izumo’s eyes fly wide open, her hand gripping tightly onto the door handle in shock. Her mouth drops open and all she can do is stare.

There’s a different sort of carnage than what she had expected: confetti, burst across the office upon her entrance, a banner strung from the ceiling declaring “Happy Birthday, Kamiki Izumo (Mom)!”, and a ridiculously large cake behind the whole group. There were screams but all of delight and cheer. Not a single one of horror. Before her stands the horde, her little family of gremlins: children, husband, and wife, grinning wildly in alliance with her coworkers, waiting for her reaction.

“Oh,” murmurs Izumo. It’s all she can seem to get out past the sudden lump in her throat.

It’s enough, however. Emi slips out from behind her to join Izumo’s subordinates while the red-haired twins, Izanagi and Izanami, rush towards their flabbergasted mother. The rest of her children and her spouses follow after at their own paces. The twins collide with her legs before wrapping their arms firmly around them. In unison their grinning faces peer up at Izumo with mismatched eyes.

“Are you--”

“--very surprised?”

“We did our bestest--”

“--to keep it secret!”

Heat begins to creep up her neck as Izumo laughs just a bit nervously before encircling the two in a hug as best she can.

“Oh, yes, very surprised,” she replies, watching her words transform their faces from happy to positively gleeful.

Izumo lets them go, though they remain attached, to draw her next two kids--Shiro and Sadako--into an embrace. They’re older than the twins. Twelve and ten and already standing at her shoulder. Sadako presses her face into Izumo’s neck while Shiro leans up to a plant a shameless kiss on her cheek. Izumo ruffles his hair in retaliation, smiling as he squawks.

“Mother, I worked all day on that!”

“It was a beautiful mohawk,” Izumo allows. Smile turning into a smirk as Shiro protests that he’s ‘not beautiful, oh my god.’  “But, you know the rules, kisses get smushes.”

Shiro pouts, whining, “I’ve never heard of that.”

“Are you sure that’s not a made-up rule, mom?” asks Sadako, in turn.

“Oh, no, it’s definitely a real rule. I was there when she put it into the official lawbook,” assures Aiko as she comes up and manages to encircle her siblings and mother in one huge hug. Only fifteen and she’s already as tall as her father. It brings a spark of prideful envy to Izumo, as her eldest leans in to press their foreheads together. “Happy birthday, Mom.”

Before Izumo can say anything (though she doubts she could’ve, that lump seems to have grown several sizes in just a span of seconds), Izanami yelps excitedly, “She’s very surprised!”

The six of them break into laughs drawing apart just as Rin and Shiemi arrive, bringing up the rear.

“Really? I was worried you would figure it out and be all grumpy about it,” admits Rin, his grin unwavering.

Shiemi slaps him lightly on the arm before stepping forward and grasping Izumo’s hands, “What Rin means to say is that while we know you don’t particularly care to celebrate your birthday...so we hope this is okay.”

“A-and! If you don’t like it we don’t have to do this ever again,” assures Rin quickly, looking ready to take cover behind Shiemi.

“We just want to show you how much we appreciate you, is all,” finishes Aiko, giving her mother’s shoulder a soft squeeze. Sadako, Shiro, Izanami and Izanagi all give chorusing agreements.

The seven of them give her such hopeful looks that Izumo almost feels scared to breathe. She does, somehow. Past the tightness and the lump.

“Heh, well,” begins Izumo, licking her lips and swallowing. Her eyes avert to the ground. “What am I supposed to say to that? Especially, with those puppy dog looks that I’m pretty sure I banned...Of, course I like it. Thank you, very, very much for caring so much about me.”

“C’mon, bring it in!” Izumo calls, keeping her head down even as she raises her arms.

“Group hug!” shriek the twins.

Shiro gulps, “Two hugs in one day? Is this the end--ow, Sadako!”

“Get in here already.”

“I’m so glad you liked it! Just wait until you taste the cake I made your favorite kind.”

“I made sure he didn’t go too overboard on the sweetness factor, too,” Aiko adds, squeezing into the hug from behind. “And Shiemi brewed some mean tea.”

“We did--”

“--the presents!” 

“I’m the one who came up with the plan! Your secretary helped too, I guess.”

At that, Izumo weakly rubs her knuckles into her eldest son’s black hair, forcing out, “I-it was you who conspired to give me a conniption, then, huh?”

Her eyes burn and she can’t seem to draw in enough air. A small tremble runs through the purple-haired woman’s frame and Izumo draws her family in tighter with a shaky inhale. Her family’s voices buzz around her, almost lost in  the background drone of her cheerful colleagues.

I haven’t been fair to them, she thinks, remembering many birthdays passed by with ‘abrupt’ long-term, out of country exorcism missions that she simply ‘couldn’t’ pass up or flat out refusal to participate in anything more extravagant than a nice dinner at home, sans presents. Even now, she can feel the urge to brush them off and flee. The urge to hide away from the day that had only ever served to remind her mother how much she hadn’t wanted Izumo. 

(I wish I’d never given birth to you!)

Shame bubbles up inside Izumo. Only to be smothered by the sheer overwhelming amount of love pouring from her family to her. She hugs them tighter still, a sniffle breaking from her.

Shiemi gasps, “Izumo! Are you crying?”

Her family pulls back in concern, Rin spluttering, “N-now, don’t you start! If you start cr...crying then I...I...I will too!”

He really does start blubbering, waterworks, soft sniveling, snot and all, sending the twins off into whimpers. Aiko pats Rin’s back in faint amusement while Sadako worriedly gathers up Izanagi and Izanami to shush them. Beside his two mothers, Shiro stands stiffly. His arms raised in apparent surrender and eyes so wide he looks like he might faint at any second.

“I’m not crying!” protests Izumo in a sharp whisper. She attempts to point an accusatory finger in Rin’s direction. It’s rather difficult, however, when Shiemi holds onto her hands firmly. Supposedly, in attempt to calm her. “I-I’m just real-real-really happy!”

“See? Happy crying, happy crying, no need for you two to go weeping too!” Sadako all but wails in the background.

“I’m g-glad!” sobs out Rin.

Izumo chokes out, “Stop yelling!”

It’s too late, however, the damage has been done. The victim of carnage Izumo had been expecting earlier, namely dignity, has come at last. She just never thought it would be hers.

“Stop looking! Get back to work, you heathens!” Izumo shouts at her subordinates. They all stare back at her with an odd mix of well-trained fear and bemused bewilderment in their gaze. If Izumo hadn’t been ready for funeral drums before she certainly is now.

“But we haven’t even had cake yet!” objects Emi from the crowd, looking quite put out.

“She’s right. You haven’t opened presents either. How about we take care of that and then they can go back to work afterwards,” soothes Shiemi, sounding all too reasonable and polite.

Izumo can only stare at her wife with watery eyes, betrayed.

“Oooh, yes, don’t you two want cake? You only get cake if you stop crying, though!”

The tears drain away immediately to be replaced by near battle cries.

“Cake!” shrieks Izanagi.

“I want cake!” demands Izanami.

Grinning the sort of mad grin that possesses those who’ve just scraped by death, Sadako jogs away with the twins in arm, shouting, “Alright! Cake for everyone!”

A cheer goes up from the crowd at her declaration, followed by ever more raucous orders for only the biggest, most icing-est pieces of cake from the two twins.

Aiko hums. One more pat to her father’s back and she’s striding over to the still frozen Shiro. She hooks an arm about him and starts to drag him away, musing aloud, “I could definitely go for some cake. How about you, Shiro?”

Indescribable mumbles are the only response she receives. 

“Good enough,” declares the eldest Kamiki-Okumura cheerily, steering them towards the front of the growing line. 

Shiemi and Izumo watch them go. Shiemi faintly amused. Izumo falling somewhere to between mortification and glassy eyed acceptance. When they glance back at each other, Shiemi’s smile softens. Gently, she dabs at Izumo’s eyes, drying them.

“Let’s go eat, alright?”

Izumo doesn’t nod, or make a noise of agreement, but she doesn’t resist Shiemi’s tug towards the promising, if diminishing, cake. A sort of smile is even managing to creep onto her face. Sure, she’s certainly going to be a laughing stock around her office for a while but for once she’s pleased and happy on her birthday. With her family no less!  Snide marks around the office aren’t anything a little iron fist ruling can’t fix. If she ever comes off this endorphin high, that is. She might not even care--

“Aaah, I love you guys so much!”

Izumo and Shiemi don’t even get a chance to run before they’re lifted off their feet by one--no longer sobbing but still deliriously overcome with emotion--Rin. 

“I love you too, Rin,” returns Shiemi serenely. A faint blush spreading across her cheeks. Quite oppositely, Izumo writhes, claws, and howls like a trapped, wild animal.

“We love you too, Dad!” chorus all their children at once. More than one voice muffled through cake.

Izumo slumps in Rin’s arms. They’re out to kill her. Honestly, truly. Through kindness.

“Shameless! All of you are shameless!”

notes: honestly hope to explain this with subsequent stories but for now here’s a rough guide.

Izumo had Aiko when she was 22. Izumo, Rin, and Shiemi are all 37 in this fic. The rest of the children were adopted at various points. Shiemi became a part of the marriage (although not officially recognized) around the time Shiro was adopted.

Aiko is a carbon copy of her mother Izumo, bc manga genetics, with her father’s build, quarter demon, does not appear to have her father’s flames. Wears her hair ridiculously long. They don’t think she’s ever cut it, not even once. Training to be an exorcist, possibly dragoon.

Shiro is a brown haired and brown-eyed human. His hair pretty shaggy, he tries to do mohawks and fails spectacularly. Hasn’t decided whether he wants to be a cook or rockstar.

Sadako is also human. Currently, she has black hair but she eventually starts dying it blonde like her mother Shiemi. Blue eyes. Loves dressing up. Practicing to become a professional kickboxer. 

Izanagi and Izanami are half demons that can teleport and communicate telepathically with one another. They have small horns hidden by their red hair and red and green eyes (ones red and ones blue, for both of them). They’re about 3 here. Both have an unstoppable sweet tooth and sensitivity to other’s emotions.

[sorceress-coffee]

Trollhunters Episode 9

Episode 1

Episode 8

Episode 10

A loud crash sounded from the kitchen jolting me awake. I groaned sitting up realizing that it was mom, making her special birthday pancakes. “This is going to be a long day…”

“Why is that?” Draal asked, sitting up, a bit groggy from his rest.

I sighed, glancing at the stairs. “It’s Jim’s birthday, and he hates his birthday.”

Draal’s brow furrowed, thinking for a moment, “I thought birthdays were highly celebrated in human culture.”

“Normally they are, but not in Jim’s case. They just remind him of when his dad left.” I explained, wincing at the memory.

“When will he be back?” Draal asked, never hearing Jim or me mention his father before.

“He won’t be,” I sneered at the thought, “and if he tries coming back, he’s likely to get Daylight or Midnight through the gut.” I gripped my lance tight at the thought.

“Ah, so it wasn’t leaving on good terms,” Draal nodded in understanding, having similar feeling from when Kanjigar would push him away over his Trollhunter duties.

I shook my head, frowning, “Jim’s 5th birthday, he got him this really cool bike kit. I remember Jim being so excited to work on it with his dad… and the next day he was just gone, left in the middle of the night. Last we’ve heard he lives in Vermont now.”

Draal nods, wincing at a louder crash than what woke us up, “Why is your mother attacking the kitchen?”

I snort a laugh, “She does this every birthday, she’ll get up before Jim or I and make birthday pancakes. They’re terrible but it’s still something Jim looks forward to. I’m going to make sure she doesn’t set the house on fire.” I chuckled, resting my brow against Draal’s before getting up to check on the kitchen. I paused seeing the counters and stove covered in flour, “Uh mom… are you alright?”

Mom was plating three stacks of pancakes, a candle sticking out of one, “Yes, the flour didn’t want to cooperate.” She lit the candle, “I’ll be back down, time to wake Jim up!” She grinned heading up to his room.

Shaking my head, I grabbed my plate and taking it down to the basement. “Well, considering what I’ve seen Trolls eat, you might like these,” I teased, sitting in the nest with Draal handing him a pancake to try.

Draal sniffed it wearily, seeing that I wasn’t trying to eat it. He huffed, plopping it in his mouth, “Hm… It’s not bad… the burritos are better but these are good too.” He comments sniffing at the rest of the stack.

I laughed, handing him the plate. “Go ahead, mom’s cooking isn’t really acceptable for humans to eat.”

Draal smirked, nudging my cheek with his nose, “Not a human.”

I puffed out my cheeks indignantly, crossing my arms, “yes, but I do have the appetite of one.” My phone began to blare Toby’s gun robot ringtone, I grinned picking it up, “Ready to go?” I asked him.

Toby laughed on the other side of the line, “I’m about to run over in a panic!” He hung up as he began yelling.

“Go?” Draal asked, eating the plate with the last pancake.

I nodded, getting up again, “Toby set something up with Blinky and Aaarrrgghh for Jim’s birthday. He needs me to help act like there’s something wrong in Trollmarket to surprise Jim.”

Draal nods, tilting his head in thought, “What do human’s do for a birthing day?”

I hummed, counting off my fingers as I list off possible actions, “well there’s cooking and having a big meal with everyone, there’s getting them gifts, things they like… experiences are good too, taking them somewhere different that they’d enjoy.”

Draal frowns, not being able to go to Trollmarket severely limited his options on gifts, taking Jim somewhere different on the gyre was an option, though anywhere he thought of might be a bit too dangerous for the Trollhunter in training, and forget about cooking, Draal didn’t know the first thing about human food. He sighed, unsure of how to participate in Jim’s birthday.

I smiled softly seeing the cogs turning in Draal’s mind, I placed my hand on his cheek. “I usually order in food and raid the scrap yard for things he likes, that’s how we finally got him a bike. Maybe once the sun sets, we can go look there?” I offered.

Draal smiled, nuzzling under my chin, “That sounds good… Thank you, River.”

We glanced up hearing footsteps running towards the basement as Jim throws the door open running down, “River! Something’s wrong in Trollmarket!”

I nod, turning to grab my lance, winking to Draal before running off after Jim.

As we ran towards the Forge Blinky came to meet us, “It’s too late Master Jim! Aaarrrgghh has lost his mind!” Aaarrrgghh threw a troll across the Forge, arcing over Blinky, “Save yourself!”

Jim turned to Toby, armor ready, “I thought Aaarrrgghh was at your house!”

Aaarrrgghh started barreling towards us, Blinky, Toby and I dodged quickly as Jim stood there, eyes widening as he realized he was going to get tackled by the large Troll.

He backed up quickly, trapped between Aaarrrgghh and the forge blades, “Oh, my gosh. Was it the kitty litter?” he asked as Aaarrrgghh grabbed him, roaring in his face. Once Aaarrrgghh had a hold on Jim, the troll that was tossed earlier pulled a lever and the main arena platform began to lift behind them, covered in balloons as colorful sparks illuminated the platform. “What the?!” Jim yelled, wiping off some of the slobber from Aaarrrgghh’s yell.

Blinky and Toby pulled two ropes and a banner that read ‘Happy Birthday Jim,’ in Trollish unfurled. Everyone yelled surprised as confetti was shot out from the banner, Blinky clapped excitedly, laughing, “Happy birthing day, Master Jim!” He called.

“What?” Jim asked confused, yelping as Aaarrrgghh sat him upon his shoulder.

Aaarrrgghh chuckled at the yelp, “Good actor,” he explained as Blinky came around to face him and Jim.

Blinky grinned, “Tobias informed us of your human surprise birthday customs. Are you not surprised?” He practically yelled, excited about partaking in a human tradition for Jim.

Jim tried to chuckle, seeing how excited Blinky was to do this, “Uh… that would be one word for it.”

“I was convincing,” Aaarrrgghh smiled, setting Jim next to me.

I clasped Jim’s shoulder, knowing how hard he was trying to not be upset.

“Sixteen years! A propitious milestone.” Blinky grinned as Jim and I head over to him, Toby handing Jim a balloon to hold. “Sixteen is when young trolls master command of their bowels.” He explained earning a confused look from Jim, a disgusted grunt from Toby, and a snicker from me at their reactions.

“The Hero’s Forge!” Vendel’s voice rang throughout the area, all trolls and fleshbags turning to face him as he walked towards us. “Sacred proving grounds for Trollhunters past, present, and future reduced to mockery.” He levels Jim with a hard stare, using his staff to pop the balloon he was holding. Aaarrrgghh began to eat the balloons as Vendel lectured us about cleaning up the grounds and getting back to training. “River, I’d like you to train with the Trollhunter today,” He commented, noticing Jim’s distressed behavior at everything going on.

I nod before helping the boys clean up the birthday mess. As Jim and I began to spar, Aaarrrgghh turned the forge on so we weren’t able to run back and forth on flat ground. Having to dodge the blades was new for me, but I was keeping up with Jim, exchanging blows, separating when a blade swung too close or the ground shifted, meeting again, while I was knocking Jim over, each time we met. I sighed, knowing he was distracted. I glanced at Blinky seeing him frown at something Toby had told him, he probably Told Blinky about Jim’s dad. Once it was time for Jim and Toby to head out for Toby’s next surprise, Blinky stopped me, “Could I have a moment of your time Lady River?” He asked, a weary expression covering his face.

I smiled softly, hanging back with Blinky, waving the boys off. “Toby told you why Jim hates his birthday?” I asked walking with Blinky to his library.

Blinky nodded, “I feel terrible, not knowing, and this surprise… Did we make it worse?” he asked, concerned.

“No, it’s been good for him. I can tell he really appreciates what you were trying to do for him, he just… it’s just hard for him.” I explained, knowing Jim only held back with the Trolls trying so hard.

Blinky nodded, relieved that the surprise party wasn’t a terrible idea, “Is there anything Master Jim would like for his birthing day?”

I laughed, “Well… you don’t happen to have a Vespa lying around do you?”

Blinky grinned running to a back room of his library, returning after a few minutes with minor crashing noises, holding a handlebar headlamp unit of a vintage Vespa, “Is this what you’re referring to?” He asked excitedly, hoping he had exactly what Jim was wanting.

I stared at if before breaking into a grin, “That’s definitely part of one! Blinky you should come with Draal and me tonight, we’re going to the scrap yard, maybe we’ll find more items for the Vespa!”

Blinky set the headlamp unit on a stone table, making sure to keep it out of sight. He paused in thought, “parts… like the bike kit his father got him?”

I winced at the connection, “Sort of…” I tilted my head in thought, “Though, coming from you, there’s no way he wouldn’t like it.” I spoke, trying to ease the worry on Blinky’s face.

Blinky grinned, nodding to me as Aaarrrgghh came into the library holding a bag that was thrashing, “Ready.” He said to Blinky.

“Ah, yes! Let’s find Vendel!” He grinned, ushering us out of the library.

“Is that who I think it is?” I asked, eyeing the bag.

A little green arm stuck out from the bag, waving towards my voice, “Well if it isn’t the witch! Fry any trolls lately?” Not-Enrique cackled from the bag.

I glared at the bag, fist clenching, “We better find Vendel quickly.”

“Agreed,” Blinky glared at the bag, it took a while to finally find Vendel, running after him before we lost him in the crowd. “Ah, Vendel! Just the Troll we’ve been looking for.” Blinky called out to him.

Vendel tilted his head slightly towards us, still walking. “Don’t stop looking on my account.”

As we caught up to him, Blinky gestured to the bag containing Not-Enrique. “But it is imperative that you look upon this.”

Once Vendel turned around, eyeing us, Aaarrrgghh reached into the bag and pulled a grumpy Not-Enrique out in a tight grip. “Easy on the scruff!” He yelled at Aaarrrgghh, flipping back onto his hand and climbing up to his shoulder. He sneered at Vendel. “And what are you staring at grandpa? Have you never seen a changelin’ before?” Aaarrrgghh grabbed him, stuffing him back into the bag.

Vendel’s jaw dropped, stepping back slightly, “a changeling?!”

Blinky grinned, “You called me crazy, but who’s the mad troll now, huh? Behold! I have proof!” He gestured violently to Not-Enrique.

“Put that thing away!” Vendel scolded, grabbing Aaarrrgghh and pulling him away from the other trolls as Blinky and I followed. “What are you trying to do? Incite a panic?”

“Is it really that bad that he’s here?” I asked confused, unsure why everyone seems to dislike changelings. They were still trolls, right?

“Ooh, the baby witch doesn’t know much” Not-Enrique snarked from the bag before popping his head out “’Ey!” Not-Enrique yelled, trying to get in Blinky’s face. “I only came here ‘cause you promised me socks to eat.”

“And you’ll get them.” Blinky glared at Not-Enrique, irritated at the interruption.

“They better be argyle!” He yelled, waving his tiny green fist at Blinky as Aaarrrgghh shoves him back into the bag. “And smelly!” He finishes, popping his hand out to point at Blinky.

Aaarrrgghh and I noticed a hole in the bag as Not-Enrique slipped out, we began trying to catch him as Vendel and Blinky argued. Blinky was standing up for Jim as we heard frantic yelling closing in.

Jim was running straight for Blinky, pale and scared out of his mind. He fell right before he could tackle Blinky. He stood quickly, still in a panic, “Blinky! Blinky, you have to save me. A huge troll bird, like a jetliner with claws, just tried to kill me!” He yelled.

Blinky was looking between Vendel and Jim as he cut Jim off by covering his mouth with two of his four hands, giving Vendel a nervous grin.

Vendel shook his head, crossing his arms at the display. “How could I not be put at ease by such gallant bravery?”

“Stalkling,” Aaarrrgghh spoke up as he was turning in circles so I could catch Not-Enrique. “Very nasty.”

I grabbed a curled up Not-Enrique off of his shoulder, holding him on my hip like a baby as he stuck his tongue out at me.

“Stalkling?” Jim asked, Blinky.

Blinky gasped, covering his mouth in horror, “Stalkling?”

Jim snapped, “It was flying in daylight! How could it fly in daylight?”

Vendel stepped interrupted Jim’s rant, “Stalklings are one of the only species of Troll immune to the effects of sunlight.” He opened the book he had been carrying and showed Jim a picture.

Jim looked over the picture, shaking his head. “That looks not nearly as scary as what attacked me.”

“That’s because those unlucky few who are caught alone with it,” Vendel slammed the book closed in front of Jim’s face for emphasis, “never live long enough to depict it. I’m curious. How is it that you’re not disemboweled?”

Jim shrugged, trying to recall, “I don’t know. I hit him with my sword, I think.”

Blinky’s eyes lit up, “You struck a blow against a stalkling? What gallant bravery!” He began trying to talk Jim up again to Vendel. Blinky explained to Jim that as long as he’s around another person, he’ll be safe.

I sigh, handing Not-Enrique back to Aaarrrgghh, “Come on Jim, you have practice soon and I’m meeting Eemeli at the school, I’ll walk you to practice.”

Jim nodded, following me out of trollmarket irritated that he couldn’t be alone now because of a homicidal bird troll.

Once we reached the school, Jim headed into practice with Claire and I met up with Eemeli. “Ready to plan the project?” I asked, leading him back to my house.

Eemeli nodded, grinning, “Yes, maybe after we can spar? I still have to make sure your words are true.” He smirked.

I rolled my eyes, smiling, “I’m warning you now that if you break something, no complaining. You’re literally asking for it.” I let him in the house, knowing Draal was in the basement, we headed to the dining room. “So, we’re blending metal sculpting and spray painting…”

Eemeli nodded, pulling out a couple sketches, “I was thinking a dragon breathing fire,” He showed me the different rough drafts he had been working on, “but I think we should do something more with the spray paint than just painting the sculpture. I’m just not sure what.” He explained looking over the drafts.

I grinned, shifting through all the drafts, pausing at one breathing fire, “What if we rigged a red and orange can inside that would shoot out the spray paint like fire?” I asked, pointing to a dragon sketch that was breathing fire.

Eemeli nodded quickly, flipping to a new sheet, sketching the opened mouth of the dragon sculpture. “We can rest them in the throat and rig it so when the mouth drops open something presses the cans enough to spray.” He turned the sketch to show me, a rough design for how the system would work, a weight would be placed in the lower jaw of the dragon and a little platform that the cans were resting on would be attached to the jaw, shoving the cans up into the roof of the mouth when the jaw dropped.

“Oh! Maybe we can hide the switch behind the horns so it isn’t obvious? That way, the clasps holding the lower jaw up will release on command” I pointed to a small area close enough to the upper jaw that would fit a small switch.

Eemeli nodded, adding it to the drawing, “This is going to be great.” He grinned setting the sketch down, “I think we have enough metal at the school to work on this.” His grin turned into a smirk, “Well since we’re as far along with planning as we can currently get, how about that sparring session?”

I huffed, standing from the table. “Alright, alright. But we have to do that in the backyard. Come on.” I lead him out to the back, taking to the further end of the backyard, watching as Eemeli squared up a bit. I waited for a few minutes, realizing he wasn’t going to move first I rushed him, sliding low to hook his leg, hoping to knock him over.

Eemeli smirked, stepping out of the way the last second, snagging my arm and throwing me back to a standing position a few feet away.

I stumbled a bit, shocked he countered. “Not bad,” I smirked, wanting to wait him out this time.

Eemeli rushed forward, sliding past me quickly, I tried turning in time but was tackled before I could face him.

A roar from the house caught our attention, Draal ripped through the backdoor, having seen Eemeli tackle me, running full speed for him.

Eemeli yelped, pulling back quickly, trying to shove me behind him. “River, get back!”

Rolling my eyes, I shoved past him to stand between him and Draal, just in time for Draal to stop dead in his tracks, snarling at Eemeli. “Draal, it’s okay, we were just sparring.”

“Draal?” Eemeli asked, his jaw dropped as I was trying to keep Draal from killing him.

“He threw you onto the ground.” Draal snarled, standing at his full height.

I nodded, “Yes, and you’ve thrown me into a wall. Neither instance was I hurt.”

Draal’s jaw tightened at the mention of our own sparring, “If you were human, he could’ve hurt you.”

“Human? Draal?” Eemeli asked again, looking between Draal and I.

I sighed, knowing Draal had a point, I turned to Eemeli, “Right, um… Eemeli, Draal. Draal, Eemeli. How do I explain this?” I trailed off thinking.

“How about the not human part first?” Eemeli asked, nodding to Draal as they were quickly introduced.

I nodded, “Well, I’m technically a sorceress, which is different than a human. I’m stronger and have a longer lifespan… oh, there’s the magic part too.” I floundered a bit, trying to keep the explanation simple.

“Okay,” He nodded slightly, looking back to Draal, “And Draal?”

Draal huffed from his nose, eyeing Eemeli, “I’m a Troll and River’s mate.”

Eemeli blinked, processing the words, I cut in quickly, “the human equivalent would be fiancé.” I explained, watching for any adverse reaction.

Eemeli nods slowly, reaching back to scratch his neck with a sheepish smile, “Well, that explains why he was set on killing me. Sorry about that, I assumed since you said you were training and after hauling all that metal it wouldn’t be an issue.”

Draal seemed to calm a bit more at the apology, knowing he forgets that I’m not as strong as a troll sometimes.

I shake my head, smiling, “Don’t worry about, it’s not the first-time sparring has gone overboard. Besides, there was no damage.”

Eemeli nodded, “Right… wait, if you’re not human, what about your brother?”

Draal answered, thinking it was obvious, “Jim is still a human.”

I shrugged, “Jim’s actually my cousin, but we grew up together.”

“Great Gronka Mora! Another one?!” Blinky had climbed over the backyard fence and spotted Eemeli with Draal and me.

Eemeli tensed, turning to Blinky and taking a step back towards me. “Another troll?”

“You let him see you?” Blinky asked Draal, “You told him?” He turned to ask me, “You know we are supposed to keep humans from learning about us lest there be panic!” Blinky was beginning to go into a rant.

“Blinky it’s okay, Eemeli’s a friend. We were sparring, Draal thought he was attacking me so he came out and well… Everything’s been explained and the only one panicking is you.” I sighed, trying to calm him down.

Blinky opened his mouth, pointing up with his two right hands, pausing seeing that all three of us were calm. “I see. Well then,” He grabbed Eemeli’s hand, shaking it. “I am Blinkous, you may call me Blinky. It’s nice to meet a friend of Lady River’s.”

Eemeli relaxed at the handshake, “It’s nice to meet you too Blinky.”

Draal huffed, watching as the sun completely set, “It’s time to go.”

I looked at the sky before nodding, “Alright. Sorry Eemeli but we have some business to take care of. I’ll see you at school, oh and don’t tell Jim you know yet, I need to let him know what happened first.” I sighed softly, relieved that the situation calmed down.

Eemeli nodded, smiling. “Of course.” He tried to hug me goodbye but Draal’s hand stopped him along with his glare. “I’ll uh… see you at school then.” He quickly left, fidgeting under Draal’s gaze.

I huffed looking up at Draal, “It’s a normal human custom for friends to hug each other.” I spoke up, slightly irritated with Draal’s behavior since he never had an issue with Jim or Toby hugging me.

Draal was sniffing, brow furrowed, “He can scent, whether or not he knows it.”

Blinky looked between us, nose twitching, “That was him?” He asked Draal.

Draal nodded, setting me up on his shoulder. “He’s a strange human.”

Blinky nods, following after Draal as we head to the scrap yard. “Seems nice enough, besides, humans have different customs and abilities depending on where they live, maybe that’s something his species can do?”

I smiled, shaking my head slightly, “Well, he’s from Finland, but I don’t think he’s an entirely different species Blink.” I point to the scrap yard, grinning, “That’s where we’re looking for parts!”

Draal began shifting through the metal, “Parts for what?”

Blinky grinned, tearing through piles of metal, “Lady River suggested getting Vespa parts for Jim so we can build one together. That is apparently all he wants for his birthing day. I spent all day looking into what we need to get, hopefully- YES!” Blinky yelled, pulling up a classic long saddle. “Found one!”

Draal nods, picking up different items for me to check, “That!” I yelled, pointing to a large metal body. Draal lifted a 150 G.S. body, stripped of wheels, a gearbox, a headlamp unit, and a seat. “That’s perfect!”

Draal grinned at the find, “How many more items are we looking for?” He asked Blinky.

Blinky began counting on his finger, going over a mental list, “Let’s see, we have the body of the Vespa, a seat, and the headlamp unit… Oh! Two, technically three, items left. A gearbox and two wheels.”

We scoured through the entire scrap yard and finally came across the last pieces we need. “This is going to be awesome! Oh! How about I order food and we all meet at the house?” I asked, pulling up Stuart’s mobile ordering.

Blinky nodded, carrying the smaller items, “Excellent idea Lady River, we can all present Jim with his gift that way!” He grinned, not wanting Draal to be left out if they go to Trollmarket, especially after they all found pieces of the Vespa together.

Draal smiled slightly, carrying the body of the Vespa while I sat on his shoulder. My phone started playing the gun robot ringtone, seeing it was Toby I quickly answered, “Hey Tobes! I was gonna call, we’re all meeting at the house, Stuart’s dropping food off!”

“That’s awesome, but um… well, we had to catch Jim, but the Stalkling isn’t an issue anymore. Aaarrrgghh and I are bringing him home.” Toby was excited about getting together, and as per the request of Jim, he was trying to not make a big deal about what just happened with the Stalkling.

I narrowed my eyes, hearing his hesitation, “He did something stupid and reckless didn’t he?”

Toby stuttered, “Well um… We’ll see you there!” He hung up quickly.

I glared at the phone, “Something happened to Jim, apparently, he’s okay enough to play it off as nothing.”

Blinky frowned, him and Draal picking up their pace arriving at the backyard before Toby, Jim, and Aaarrrgghh, hiding all the Vespa pieces. “Let’s check on master Jim first.” Blinky suggested, worried.

Aaarrrgghh climbed over the fence, holding a slightly twitchy Jim. I stared him down, hands on my hips. “What in Daya’s name, did you do?” I asked firmly, leaving no room for argument.

Jim sighed, standing up from Aaarrrgghh’s hold once the twitching subsided. “Well, I killed the Stalkling.”

Toby piped in quickly, “And that’s all that matters! Now let’s have… fun?” He trailed off as I leveled my glare on him.

Jim sighed, “It snatched me off my bike and flew into the sky so I used the environment as a weapon,” He paused, gauging my reaction, “I used Daylight and the armor as a lightning rod… while wearing it.”

I sighed, relieved that he at least told me, “That explains the twitching… Are you injured?” He shook his head no quickly. “Alright then. Blinky grab and blind him.”

Jim looked horrified for a moment before Blinky simply covered his eyes with his hands.

“I’ll grab it,” Draal offered, getting all the Vespa pieces out and setting them in front of Jim.

Jim flinched hearing a loud thud, “This better not be another surprise because I really don’t think I can handle anymore.” He sighed, exhausted from everything that happened today, especially the Stalkling.

Blinky shook his head, “No, no. If my calculations are correct, there are only a few more minutes left to your birthing day.”

Draal smirked, stepping back from the pieces, “Time for your final present, though it might not look like much.”

Blinky uncovered Jim’s eyes, waiting for a reaction. Jim flinched at first before staring down at the pieces, “Wait. That’s a 150 G.S, four-speed gearbox, classic long saddle… Original handlebar headlamp unit!” He grinned turning to Blinky, Draal and I, “These are the pieces of a 1955 Vespa!”

Blinky smiled, a bit bashful seeing Jim’s reaction, “Well, Lady River informed us that this was the one thing you really wanted, I had the headlamp unit, so Draal, Lady River and I procured the final pieces. Perhaps one day, we could build it together.”

Draal nods, smirking at Jim, “After training, you can’t slack off.”

Jim tackled me in a hug quickly! “Thank you.” He jumped to Draal, “Thank you!” Finally hugging Blinky tight, “This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten!”

Blinky was at a loss for a moment before hugging Jim, smiling softly.

With the arrival of food, thanks to Stuart’s taco truck, we hung around the backyard into the early hours of the morning. Jim kept going on and on about the Vespa and what he, Blinky, and Draal could do with it, of course, I would be painting it.

I smiled watching the three, realizing the Jim was correct in calling Draal his brother, and that Blinky was most certainly a father to him. Maybe from now on, Jim will truly celebrate his birthing days with the family we’ve built.