#i have to edit : i do love spring weather i really do

[spookykestrel]

anyone with differnt opionns than me on the weather is wrong btw

[starseungs]

after the curtain falls. lmh

lee know x gn!reader — spring was a season welcomed by all. what a pity that the notion of ‘all’ exempted you.

genre/s — angst, fluff, its just hurt-comfort, university au • 2.9k words

warning/s — break-up aftermath, profanity, commitment issues, minho gets called a bad bf (sorry), there's a twist i swear !

note — its quite literally been a year since i last wrote a fic so i would love to know how the quality of my writing is !! feedback is greatly appreciated 🫶

2024 ⓒ starseungs on tumblr. do not steal, repost, or edit.

Spring was never supposed to be this lifeless.

It was a season of new beginnings, where growth is celebrated and life is nurtured back into full bloom. A time of bright colors and freshly scented air floating all throughout the expanse of space, bringing soft smiles of comfort towards anyone who takes it in. Springtime was welcomed by all.

What a pity that the notion of ‘all’ exempted you.

You didn’t know why your spring was so vastly different from the others near you. You’d like to think that your winter started off just as normal as everybody else: watching the crisp fallen leaves on the ground get replaced by a fresh coat of snow, feeling the familiar prick of the icy season’s breeze on your skin as your body tried to suppress a giggling shiver, as well as seeing puffs of steam come out of every warm breath you took, reminding you that despite the cold weather, you still held a warmth inside of you.

Just who would have known that your spring would be the complete opposite, with your heart frosted over despite the rising temperatures? But somewhere in the back of your mind, you knew exactly why. You would never want to catch yourself admitting it, but maybe it was the way your winter ended in a snowstorm of emotions.

It wasn’t every winter that someone had a fight that could completely shatter an intricately built mosaic. It also wasn’t every winter that you would watch your other half walk out of your life without so much of a single falter.

You knew so damn well that it wasn’t every winter that you could get your heart broken.

Perhaps that was why you allowed your heart to get glazed over by ice. After all, it was the only thing keeping it together without requiring you to spend too much effort. Sure, it melted a bit every now and then, but it was easier to freeze liquid than it was to achieve the complete opposite.

It was for the same reason that you found solace in the springtime evenings, where it resembled even half of the winter that was keeping you human. The dimmed atmosphere of the surroundings was able to neutralize all the parading palettes of color, leaving you with a monochrome wonderland that was much more comforting to the eye.

The walk back to your dorm building wasn’t anything special. It really wasn’t supposed to, nor did you expect something to happen. You had just gotten over the hurdles of coursework back in the school’s library when you decided to call it a day, peacefully trek back to your dorm room, and get to sleep the hours away until duty calls. That was how your evening was supposed to go.

Except it didn’t.

When you first saw a figure more or less passed out near the lower steps of your dorm building, you were visibly concerned. Why wouldn’t you be? At this time of the day, it would be dangerous to just leave yourself undefended in public. That, and who in their right mind would be willing to snooze away amidst the midnight breeze?

That was enough for you to start a little jog toward them. Was this person locked out? Were they drunk? Should you help them? All sorts of questions popped into your head as you got closer to the steps the figure took as their bed for the night.

And yet all those same questions vanished into thin air the moment you caught a glimpse of the person’s face.

“—Minho?”

His name came out of your lips so frail, as if any stronger, and the scene before you would shatter into nothingness, telling you once again that it was all in your head. That you had wished to see him again.

It was almost comical just how fast the sight of him brought back the familiar prick in your eyes—the tears fighting the crisp blow of the wind to keep themselves at bay. This wasn’t how your evening was supposed to go.

Granted, the fight between you was a petty one. Well, not more so petty than sudden since it literally blew up out of nowhere. It started off with a question about commitment. Arguably simple one of where you saw each other in a few years. You had gone first after you asked, rambling happily about graduation and living together. Minho chuckled along with your plans, and to you, he even seemed glad to hear them.

Yet, when the topic of marriage was brought up, his smile immediately turned blank.

Of course, you noticed his drastic change of mood right away. What kind of significant other would you be if you didn’t? But when you reached out to ask him what was wrong, he merely brushed it off as being tired.

Except that both you and him had done nothing but lay around the whole day.

Maybe you, too, had a fault in all of this. You prodded him more about the topic, not knowing you were agitating a ticking time bomb running out of time. If you only knew, then it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that he eventually exploded, spitting out that he wasn’t too sure about marriage.

In your view, that would have been fine. You were willing to talk it out; perhaps he had other plans for the both of you that would settle just fine in yours. There was no way you’d pressure Minho into doing something he didn’t feel like doing. You had too much love and respect for him to do so.

It was in an unfortunate turn of events that you had to find out the sentiment wasn’t shared in the same way you did, as when he slammed your room’s door shut after expressing that it wouldn’t work out, he took a piece of your heart with him that left you incomplete on the days that followed.

And yet, there he was again. Marching into your life like nothing ever happened.

In a blinding flash of hot white fury, you marched up to Minho’s peaceful figure, blissfully unaware of the chaos headed his way. Your body shook in the repressed burst of energy, trying not to lose yourself in public despite the area devoid of people. After reaching him in less than a minute, you saw no hesitation in leaning down to wake him.

“Minho,” you grasped at his right shoulder, trying to shake him out of slumber. You saw the action as intense in a way that was borderline frantic, not a care for the state of the joint you had grabbed. After all, why would you? Yet, while you’d like to believe you did a great job at expressing your displeasure, a small voice pestering at the back of your mind begged to say otherwise.

It was a mere whisper—directed at the act you just committed, one that shouldn’t even bother you in the slightest. Yet, it did. So painfully so.

That kind of gentleness isn’t reserved for a heart swirling in rage.

The slight squeeze in your heart at the notion only made you grit your teeth further in displeasure. Curse your damned heart for keeping its fondness for the man before you. The same man who was still up in dreamland while you were fighting your own war at the present. You clicked your tongue in building irritation.

“Wake up, or else I’m leaving you out here to freeze.” With one last shove, Minho finally came back to Earth.

You watched as he fluttered his eyes open, ignoring the warmth that seemed to spread over you once you got a glimpse of his big almond eyes. Minho sure took his sweet time to process his surroundings, causing you to purse your lips in uncertainty when his gaze lingered on your figure towering over him a bit too long with an unexplainable emotion.

“Hi,” he mumbled slowly, a small smile ghosting on his rosy lips. “Even in my dreams, you never fail to look so lovely.”

Cold air filled your lungs as you sucked in a breath at his words. You hated the way he easily melted the ice that you had covered your heart in. Without even meaning to, Minho had already managed to tear down the first layer of protection you had set up to keep yourself sane. There were a lot of things you wanted to tell him back, but you held your tongue. This wasn’t the right time.

Nor would that time ever come.

“It’s not a dream,” you opted to inform him of what was left of the goodness in your heart, partly feeling guilty for his disoriented state. “Get up, Minho. It’s cold out here.”

“You’re—what, wait!”

Minho scrambled frantically from his seated position on the dorm building’s steps, clumsily finding his balance to get up. The rush of suddenly standing after a nap came over him like a wave, causing him to stumble with a groan as he let the blood that came up settle. You sighed at Minho’s efforts, turning back around to continue your way towards the entrance.

“You should go back home.”

“I won’t!” He replied in haste, pure desperation seeping over his words. “Not again. Not when I spend every passing hour regretting that I did back then when I clearly shouldn’t have.”

You felt your world still at what Minho had just said. Did you hear it correctly?

“Please, Y/N.”

Minho’s footsteps echoed in your mind, telling you that he was moving closer. But your body had yet to listen to the warning bells you had set off, keeping you still in the same place you had stopped in. You surprised yourself with the small whimper that escaped your lips after feeling warmth radiating right behind you.

“Can—can I hug you?”

And just like that, the dam broke as the first fits of sobs spluttered out of your body in waves, barely getting contained as Minho wrapped you with his arms firmly. You turned to face him just to throw weak punches at his chest. “I hate you so much!”

“I know,” he said, hugging you tighter, as if you would disappear the moment he eased his hold. “I know you do.”

“Do you know how hurt I was? How could you just leave me like that!”

“I don’t know,” Minho answers again, completely giving in to your inner turmoil. He let you dampen his hoodie with your tears without any reference. “I was stupid.”

“So stupid!”

“Very stupid,” he repeats your words without hesitation, finally pulling back slightly to see your tear-stained face, gently wiping the fresh drops that escaped with his thumb.

You cursed the way your body naturally leaned into his touch. You disliked the way his voice soothed your running mind from the horrors it placed upon yourself. You hated the way you felt comforted by his presence, the same way he hurt you with his absence.

And most of all, you despised the way you couldn’t bring yourself to stay mad at him.

“I’m sorry,” Minho said heavily, visibly trying to keep his own tears at bay. “I know that won’t fix all the things that happened, but I still wanted to let you know.”

You exhaled shakily.

“I—I won’t force you to accept my apology,” he continued. “But please—God, Y/N. I don’t think I’d be able to handle you telling me to go home and never fixing us. I wouldn’t survive in this world without you by my side. I promise I’ll do better for you. I’ll reflect on what I need to, just—”

Minho breathed in deeply.

“Give me another chance.”

The two of you breathed in unison for the first time in weeks.

“Cut!”

“Nice,” Jisung’s squeal of joy could be heard throughout the wide space, carefully fumbling with his video camera to watch the scene’s replay. “That was a great take!”

Seungmin groans at the noise level. “Seriously, would it hurt you to keep it down? Some people are already asleep,” he scoffs, really not wanting to deal with a complaint filed against them this late into the night.

The younger of the two only juts his lower lip forward into a childish pout. “But it’s only midnight. We’re in university. Who gets to sleep that early in university?” Seungmin only bites back a retort after sensing genuine confusion in Jisung’s tone.

“Whatever,” he grumbled.

At the sound of their bickering, the late night’s breeze didn’t seem to be as frosty as it was a few minutes ago. You distantly hear Seungmin and Jisung continue to talk, now finding themselves in a heated discussion about the next scene. A light chuckle was heard coming from the man still holding you.

“Well, I’m glad that they’re having fun,” Minho comments, greatly amused at the duo. You felt his gaze drop down towards your head, still resting on his shoulder. “Feeling okay?”

You could only nod at his query, too exhausted from enacting the scene that just finished. He hummed at your non-verbal approach to answering, running a hand through your hair to soothe your dropping emotions.

“What’s going on in that pretty little mind of yours?” You let out a soft giggle at his wording before snuggling yourself closer to his figure. Minho lets you do your thing with a smile.

“Let’s not ever do that.”

“Do what, love?” He asks, requesting that you elaborate. You listened to his heartbeat thump calmly before speaking up.

“Break up,” you said, the thought leaving a bitter taste on your tongue. “I don’t like the feeling. It hurts.”

Minho laughs again, but this time it was aimed at you. “Well, of course it’s going to hurt,” he says with a light tone. “You’re going to be losing me!” You slapped his arm in annoyance.

“You are such an ass, Lee Minho!”

“Ow—hold on!” He chokes out in between chuckles. Minho takes hold of the hand that was assaulting his arm, slipping it into his own and entangling both of your fingers. You couldn’t help the heat that washed over your face at the intimate action. Minho seemed satisfied with your reaction. “If it makes you feel better, it’s going to hurt me too.”

You pull away to raise a brow at his statement. “Why? Since you’ll be single?” Minho pretends to think for a second.

“I mean, I guess?” You shot him an icy glare at his admission, but the tender smile he gave back at you made your angry facade falter in an instant. It looks like on-screen you had the same issues with their own Minho—both being undeniably weak when it came to them.

“Stop giving me that look,” you sigh amidst a smile you were suppressing.

“What look?”

“That look,” you say, almost in a breath as you struggle to chase the words out of your mouth. “The one when you look at me like I’m the only person in this world.”

It was a look you’ve seen too many times. One that he would give you both at the most intimate of moments and the most random of times. You see it when you wake up in the morning to him already awake beside you; you saw it when you squealed in joy after winning a prize from those rigged claw machines in the arcade across town; and you see it especially when he sees you waiting outside his class’ building after an extensive lecture, holding two cups of coffee for both you and him. It was from those times that you realized—it was Minho’s gaze of unfiltered love for you.

Minho pulls you back into his arms, still unable to let go of his endearing grin. Your head finds its way back into the crevice of his neck, finding home in it once again, like second nature.

“That’s because you are the only person in my world.”

“We beg to differ.”

Minho could only roll his eyes at the eerily synchronized voices of Jisung and Seungmin, leaving you to crumble into fits of laughter. He scoffs before replying, “If I lose my beloved darling, then you guys are losing an actor.”

“Well, you wouldn’t be trying to salvage your relationship if you stopped being such a shit boyfriend!” Jisung bites back at Minho’s threat.

“What, so you would rather watch us be all lovey-dovey in front of you? I didn’t take you for that kind of person, Jisung.”

“Seungmin, he’s fighting me again!”

“What am I, your mom?”

The night continued on in blissful laughter and amused smiles, finally fitting for the season of spring. Even with the chilled breeze of the evening air, the warmth exuding from the four of you would remain, defrosting the ice you had layered on your heart for the scene given to you. Deep in your mind, you knew that this was really how your night was supposed to go.

That as much as you loved creating little scenarios for your friends’ films, you’d always prefer the life you had after the curtain falls.

mastertag 🔖— send in an ask if you want to be added ! 🫶

@fairyki @hysgf @euncsace @comet-falls @starlostseungmin @ameliesaysshoo @hyunverse @djeniryuu

sorry for anyone tagged that didn't want to be !! i used my old mastertag from a year ago for this fic. i'll be creating a new one soon, so kindly just tell me if you want to be included still 🤍

[mockerycrow]

SICK MOMENTS; Gaz Edition (GN!Reader)

gaz masterlist — gaz render by @ave661 <3

summary; this is the second part of my four part series of the 141 taking care of you, who’s sick. enjoy!

[WARNINGS; sickness, medication, civilian!reader, slight military inaccuracies, sick comfort.]

YOU’VE BEEN FEELING quite under the weather for the past two days. A weird pressure in your skull, a tickle in the throat. You didn’t really think much of it as you had much more important things to focus on like your job. You usually switch between working from home and working in an office setting every other day and unfortunately, your illness decides to make an appearance when you’re in the office.

You’re sitting in your office with all of your lights off, your computer screen turned down to low brightness. You’re squinting as you’re staring at the screen that is burning your eyes, an impossible to ignore pain settling in your skull and rattling around inside.

You make the mistake of swallowing, your throat muscles spasming when they figure out they’re tender, sore, and uncomfortable. You wince at the sharp pain as your hand reflexively goes to the front of your throat, your stomach churning uncomfortably. You sigh quietly, unable to deny that you’re indeed sick. You take a glance at the time on your computer and you realize you’re not even halfway through your workday yet. You contemplate what you should do; a good thing for yourself is to go home and rest but you have deadlines you can’t ignore. You decide that you should try to work through it. It’s not like sitting at a computer screen is taxing, right?

..Right?

An hour later and you’re having to save your documents and powering down your computer, your hands trembling as the pounding in your head is nearing unbearable. Tears spring up in your eyes, nearly spilling as you croak out a voice command for your phone to call Kyle. You hear your phone dial up and begin to ring his number. A crumbling guilt settles in your stomach as you know Kyle has to be on the local base right now, doing whatever he is doing. Your mind begins to race, saying that he’s going to be too busy to help you out, that calling him is a waste of time. You don’t even realize he picked up after the third ring.

You snap out of your state of overthinking after you hear Kyle’s calm voice call your name for likely the second or third time. “What’s going on?” Kyle asks, his voice ever so slightly muffled by the quality of the speaker—and your hearing is probably a bit scuffed, too. “Sorry if I’m bothering you, but..” You croak, grimacing at how horrible you sound. “..Can you come pick me up from work?” 

“You’re never a bother, love.” Kyle reassures, his voice considerably softer than his previous sentence. “Are you feeling alright? You don’t sound too well.” You shake your head no before remembering it’s only a phone call and not a video call—and you regret shaking your head as your vision spins for a moment. “No,” You utter, the ache in your throat worsening. “I’ve come down with.. something. Not sure yet.”

You hear shuffling and Kyle’s muffled voice say something, something that wasn’t directed towards you so you pay no mind to it. “I’m on my way, sweetheart. I’ll pick up some medicine on the way to ya, yeah?” Kyle murmurs, making your chest all fuzzy with how concerned he seems. “Mhm,” You him. “Love you.”

“I love you too, see you soon.” And with that, Kyle hangs up.

It doesn’t take him too long to leave the base and pick up some medicine, but to you? It feels like an eternity. You sit there in the dark, occasionally tapping the screen of your phone so you can check the time. You feel like your guts are churning and twisting and you feel like someone is taking a sledgehammer and is ringing a bell—like one of those giant bells you can find at Christian churches that ring every hour. There’s a soft knock at your door, which you croak a sickly “come in”, assuming it’s your knight in shining armor as you already got the okay from your boss to leave through text.

The door opens, letting the light pour in which makes you wince. You recognize the silhouette and the stature of the person almost immediately—it’s Kyle. “Hey,” He calls out to you softly. You can’t see his face, but you can tell he’s wearing the zip up you bought for him months ago on his birthday and he’s holding a plastic bag. Your lips curl into a small smile, and your pain fades for a moment as the fact that he wears the hoodie you bought him to work hits you. Kyle closes your office door and finds his way to your desk in the dark. “Hey.” You echo, your voice gritty and scratchy.

“I’m going to turn on your desk lamp, alright?” Kyle hums as he sets the plastic bag of goods down onto your desk. “Alright.” You echo once again, your voice quieter than before. You dreaded the light. Alas, he turns the light on and you see his beautiful brown eyes look at you, his eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly with concern very apparent on his face. “Aw, sweetheart.” Kyle utters, which gives you an idea that you likely don’t look too well. His hand reaches out to touch your forehead; his palm then flips to the back of his hand. “You’re burnin’ up. Good thing I got medicine, hm?”

You lean into his touch, Kyle’s hand cupping down to your cheek instead. “Sweaty,” Kyle points out, making you huff. “Thanks, Captain Obvious.” You reply with a playful snark, but you sound a bit pathetic from how stuffy you sound. “It’s sergeant, actually.” He replies with a grin, making you snort—and then wince because it hurt your entire head. Kyle begins to grab items from the bag; pain and fever reducers, cough drops, anti-congestant, a bottle of water.. And a box of tea for home, despite already having likely a box already waiting in the cabinet.

You watch with a warm stomach as Kyle pops out the pills for you and you notice he did his research for what medicine could go with what. “I love you.” You blurt out suddenly, meeting Kyle’s eyes. He blinks for a moment before smiling—his fucking smile—and responding with a tilted up tone, questioning. “I love you too..?” Kyle questions the sudden pushed tone, but you don’t elaborate as you stare up at him, thinking about how you’re going to marry this man one day as he frets over your health without complaint.

🏷️; @mlmxreader @kivino @soapybutt17 @microwavedcheeto @frazie99 @ch3rrykoolaid @kimdiedlater @glossysoap @thisuserloveshalloween @ornateorchid @indefenseofkara @lieutenantlashfaz @queen-leviathan @specter319 @theunplannedvariable @spacelia @1117sblog @snoowply @dumb-fawkin-bitch

SHHH i didn’t forget the tag list, you did. /j

wrongly tagged? let me know!! if you aren’t tagged, i was confused about your taglist form or i couldn’t because of your settings. join the taglist here

[simp-ly-writes]

Dates with Harvey Headcanons

Pairing: SDV Harvey x Reader

Summary: Date locations and activities you would do together throughout the year.

Warnings: longer than I was expecting, brief mentions of drinking.

A/N: Still can't believe it's already 2024- but I distract myself from this information by writing yet another fanfic about a pixelated doctor who I wish to be real. May turn some of these blurbs into longer fics one day.

Masterlist | Taglist | edited.

Spring

↳ You would go on walks together by the community centre as the snow began to melt. Hand in hand underneath the sprouting trees, you would share a lunch together by the fountain and sit on the swings, drifting back and forth as you talked to one another about both everything- and really nothing at all

↳ Driving out with your hand on his knee to go to the closest home and garden store. Picking out new plants for the flower boxes at the clinic as well as for the front garden on the ranch

↳ Once you finish choosing various plants and flowers alongside planting them to the necessary survival conditions. I can see you both sitting on the front steps of the home, sharing a pottle of wine as you watch the sunset together

↳ When a last minute snow falls upon the ground, Harvey brews a kettle for the both of you as you settle on the couch. Flicking on some random reality t.v. show to watch together as you talk about the various things you both want to get done this year

--

Summer

↳ In the summertime, you and Harvey paint the various fences surrounding the farm alongside the barns, sheds, and stables. It is a time-consuming job as you both sit in a pile of hay, taking a break from the sun within the interior of a barn. All the animals are outside enjoying the weather as you both take a short nap together with your straw-hat's covering your faces from the sun appearing through the cracks between wood panels

↳ In the warm summer nights, you both enjoy a small fire at the back of the house or by the beachside. Cooking a dinner off to the side as you both enjoy a cheeky marshmallow or two before the meal

↳ Taking Willy's boat out to Ginger Island, you both walk up and down the beaches with your sandals in hand. Harvey has a strip of sunscreen across the bridge of his nose while he enforces that you do the same. The poor doctor is already worried about how much you tire yourself out underneath the sun already from working on the various crops and animals

↳ Havrey helps you to set up your display for the community fair, blowing up balloons alongside painting last minute sign details. Anytime someone comes up to compliment your work- you always add how much Harvey helped as well- loving to watch him become a blushing mess before turning around to go chug his water bottle

--

Fall

↳ In the fall time, you both go out for walks once more since the temperature is dying off. You and Harvey collect various leaves to scrapbook later at home together

↳ From trying to help donate to the museum, Harvey sits in the library for support as he watches you meticulously organize each jewell and artifact to just the right position and room. When you come to take a break, Harvey holds your hand from across the table as he flicks through a medical book he was re-studying. A teapot and a few small snacks sit prepared by the doctor as you squeeze his hand in thanks, Harvey looks up from his book, glasses tipped down his nose as he squeezes your hand back before flipping the page and continues his reading

↳ You and Harvey take knitting classes at the community centre together, making one another a scarf and matching touque. Though having a multitude of loose stitches and a few holes, you both wear them to work proudly as Evelyn chuckles to herself softly- noticing your patchwork

--

Winter

↳ When the ground becomes frozen and the animals are each tucked away, warm in the barns with wine brewing in the sheds from prior seasons. You decide to take Harvey ice-skating at the local rink a town or two away where the ice is thick enough. A few wobbles and falls into your await arms, you and Harvey skate side by side while discussing the holiday plans

↳ Harvey drives on the way back as you fall asleep on the passengers side. When the car stops back in Stardew Valley- Harvey picks you up as delicately as possible- not wanting to wake your slumber as he takes you inside and to bed. Lighting a fire in the fireplace before cooking a meal for when you awake

↳ Hosting your friends and family at the farmhouse was a test of both your patiences. But the time spent together planning, grocery shopping and choosing wines from the cellar were highly memorable between the jokes said and memories shared from throughout the year

↳ When its snows enough, you both make snow-people together in a competition. Rushing in and out of the house for extra details from carrots to coal, hats and twigs for arms. You stand back, looking at the work as Harvey wrapped his arms around your waist, leaning down to plaster a kiss against your cheek

[morgana-larkin]

Either a Melissa or Chessy prompt. How about r experience the spring for the first time? She's foreign and in her home country there's only two season so she doesn't have the experience of fall, winter, spring. Then when it's like spring season, the redhead learned about it and took r in sort of a special place where she can see the newly flourishing plants, leaves and flowers.

Surprise! I did both of them because I’m extra like that 😊. I thought this prompt was really cute and both of them would take a different approach. So here’s 3000 words of just fluff. Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

On another note: I got 2 other Chessy fics that are out. I’m taking a small break from Worth It to focus on the other 9 prompts that I have. I’m still taking prompts as well for both Melissa and Chessy. I also wanted to ask how do you make a masterlist with all the links and everything? I tried googling it but it basically was like 🤷🏻‍♀️… 😒. Any help would be appreciated.

Spring is When Love Blooms

Warnings: tooth rotting fluff.

Words: 3k

Melissa

You walk into the halls of Abbott, and go straight to the break room and sit down at an empty table. It’s spring time outside but the weather is still very cold to you. You’re from the French Riviera where they pretty much only have summer there, weather wise.

“Not used to the cold yet y/n?” A voice said behind you and you turned around and Melissa is standing right behind you.

“No, at least it’s not as cold as it was though.” Melissa rubs her hands up and down your hands to create heat for you to warm you up. “Thanks.” You tell her and she nods as you shrug your jacket off.

“Why are you sitting here all by yourself? I told you that you could join Barb and I.” She says and you look over to their table and see Barb there. You don’t know why but Melissa has taken an interest in you. You moved here to the states in the summer and was really surprised by the fall. You saw all the leaves change colour and even brought a few inside to look at them and everyone looked at you weirdly at first but then told them you haven’t seen colour changing leaves before.

After saying that, the trio began telling you all about fall and why the leaves change colours. You listen to them all excitedly, learning about new things that you never experienced before.

“I don’t know, just, I usually sit by myself, routine I guess.” You told her and she nods.

“Well come on, come join us.” She says with a smile. And of course you obey, the hold this woman has on you is strong.

When you sit down at their table, Barb immediately talks to you. “So dear, are you ready for the spring? For the weather to warm up and all the flowers to bloom?” She asks you and you look at her confused.

“What do you mean for the flowers to bloom? Where did they go?” You ask innocently and Melissa looks at you.

“They died hun. They don’t survive in the cold so they died and now they come back.” She tells you. “Have you not seen when flowers are new? When they still have to grow a bit more?” She asks you and you shake your head.

A month goes by and you forgot about the conversation you had with Barb and Melissa, but Melissa didn’t. The weather has gotten warmer and flowers are starting to bloom. It’s a Friday morning and you’re excited for the weekend.

“Hey hun.” Melissa says as she sees you enter the break room.

“Hey Melissa.” You tell her. “No Barb yet?” You say as the woman in question isn’t here.

“No she’s running a bit late but she’ll get here on time.” She tells you as you sit down next to her. “So I was thinking of going somewhere this weekend and wanted to know if you wanted to come with me?” She says to you.

“That depends where you’re going.” You tell her.

“Well it’s more of a surprise but I will tell you that it’s a little bit out of town.” She tells you with a smile, and that’s the smile that she knows you can’t say no to.

“Alright I guess, I have no plans this weekend.” You say and her smile grows.

“Perfect, how about I pick you up tomorrow morning at around 8?” She asks and you nod.

Tomorrow arrives and you wake up at 6:30 and excitedly get ready. You have a shower, get changed and eat. You pack yourself some snacks and a lunch cause you have no idea how long you’ll be gone for. You’re putting the last item in your bag when there’s a knock on your door. You cross the room to open it and there stands Melissa on the other side, with leather pants, a green top and her leather jacket. Honestly, how could you not find this woman attractive?

“Hey hun, you ready?” She asks you.

“I forgot to ask if I’ll need my overnight things.” You say and she shakes her head.

“Nope, we’ll be back before the day is over.” She simply says and you nod and grab your bag.

You walk to Melissa’s car and you put your bag in the backseat and hop in the passenger seat. Melissa gets in, buckles up, starts the car, and pulls out of the driveway, and then something suddenly hits you. You’re going to be in the car with this woman for maybe a couple hours, this woman you’ve had a crush on for a few months, this woman who…who looks amazing when the sun hits her, you think as the sun hits her face just now.

You get startled by your thoughts when your phone rings and you see that it’s your mom, she usually calls you on Saturday morning.

“Sorry, it’s my mom, do you mind if I talk to her? It won’t take long.” You ask her.

“No go right ahead hun.” She tells you.

You pick up the phone “Bonjour maman.” (Hi mom.) You tell her. “Oui je suis avec Melissa maintenant.”(yes I’m with Melissa right now.) “Oui, la femme qui est une professeur à Abbott aussi. (Yes, the woman who’s a teacher at Abbott as well.) “Je ne sais pas, elle ne me le dira pas.” (I don’t know she won’t tell me.) “une seconde.” (One second) “my mom wants me to ask you if you plan to murder me.” You ask her and she giggles. “Quoi? Ok.” (What? Ok.) You pull the phone away and put it on speaker. “You’re on speaker maman.”

“Hello Melissa.” Your mom says through the speaker, accent a bit thicker than yours.

“Hi, Mrs. Y/l/n.” Melissa politely greets her.

“Oh no need for that, call me Kara, please.” She tells her.

“Alright, hello Kara.”

“I wanted to know if you plan to murder my daughter.” She asks her.

“No I don’t, I like your daughter too much to do that.” Melissa says genuinely and you look at her.

“She told me that you’re taking her on a surprise trip out of town. Is that correct?”

“Yep that’s right. About a two hour drive.” Melissa tells her.

“What are your intentions with my daughter?”

“Maman, please, why the third degree?” You ask her and Melissa laughs.

“It’s ok y/n. Kara, I respect your daughter and will not do anything to break her or your trust.” She tells your mom.

“Alright, y/n, I expect to hear from you tonight then.” She tells you.

“Of course maman. Au revoir.” (Goodbye)

“Au revoir y/n.” She tells you and then you hang up.

“Sorry about that.” You tell her and she just smiles and shakes her head.

“It’s perfectly alright y/n. I get protective mothers, I’m a teacher, I’ve seen it all.” She tells you.

For the next hour drive, you and Melissa spend it talking about anything, from current life to childhood moments and everything in between.

“So then I punched her in the face and they caught a photo of it.” She finishes telling you about the iconic picture of her punching Kristen Marie in the face.

“Oh wow, that’s quite the story.” You tell her while laughing.

“Ya it is. Hey, do you want to listen to music?” She asks.

“Sure.”

“Well we can have the radio or if you want to use your Spotify then you can plug your phone in.”

“Don’t you have Spotify?” You ask her.

“I do, but I’d rather listen to your playlist.” She says and you smile at her.

“Alright if you insist.” You tell her and plug your phone in and then open Spotify, once you go to your playlist, you hit shuffle then play. To Melissa’s surprise, it’s not a French song but an English one. She knows the song and both of you start singing when the lyrics start.

“If you’re blue and you don't know where to go, why don’t you go where fashion sits. Puttin’ on the Ritz.” You both sing. And for the next hour you both sing songs from your playlist. She eventually pulls up to a field and parks.

“I used to come here a couple times a year.” She tells you and turns the car off. You unbuckle yourself and then open the door once Melissa gets out. Once you step out you see a field full of flowers and trees in the middle of blooming. Trees that are almost full of new green leaves, flowers that are almost fully open or already completely open. And flowers of different colours, sizes and types of flowers all over. The grass is also a beautiful green colour and there’s a few bushes around. Your eyes go wide and you stand there stunned by all the beauty for a moment. “What do you think?” Melissa asks you and it snaps you out of your trance.

“It’s beautiful.” You tell her and you start walking. You walk through the flower field with your hands out to touch some of them as you walk by. Melissa is walking behind you the entire time.

“Here.” She says and you turn around. Melissa bends down and picks a beautiful white flower. She gets back up and puts it in your hair.

“What flower is that?” You ask her.

“It’s a daffodil.” She tells you and smiles.

“Do flowers have meaning here? Cause they do in France.” You ask her and she nods her heard. “Then what does a daffodil mean?”

“It has a few meanings, but the main two are unequalled love and the sun is always shining when I’m with you.” She tells you and you suck in a breath.

Melissa bends down and picks up 3 more flowers, a red one, a pink one and another white one, but a different white flower. She also picks a striped one of the same flower. She stands pack up holding the 4 flowers. “And what flowers are those?”

“They’re carnations.”

“They’re beautiful.” You tell her and feel the petals.”

“Ya they are.” She says and looks a bit nervous. “All the colours have a different meaning.” She starts and then hands you the white one. “A white carnation means innocence or sweet and lovely.” She hands you the pink one “pink means I’ll never forget you.” Hands you the red one “red means admiration or my heart aches for you.” She tells you and her eyes look a little sad. She then hands you the striped one. “And striped means two different things, either I can’t be with you or I wish I could be with you.” She tells you and you stare at her.

“And what does yours mean?” You ask her.

“I wish I could be with you.” She whispers and looks down. You look down at the ground too and see a red rose in between you two. You bend down and pick it, then stand back up.

“Melissa.” You say her name to get her attention and she looks back up. “Here.” You tell her and hand her the red rose. “I hope a red rose means what it does in France. Because then it would mean I love you.” You tell her and she looks at you with wide eyes. “I hope these flowers you gave me is a confession because I do love you. I have for a couple months now.” You tell her and a tear falls down her cheek.

“It is a confession. I do wish to be with you.” She tells you and you cup her cheek and wipe the tear stain away. You lean in and kiss her and she kisses you back. You both stand there kissing in a field of flowers and you pull back and look at her. “I love you too.” She says and you giggle.

“Thank you for helping me experience spring for the first time in the best way.” You tell her and she smiles at you.

“Of course.” She tells you and leans in to kiss you again.

Chessy

You walk up the pathway of the vineyard and knock on the door. A woman answers the door and you stare at her.

“Hi, can I help you?” She says as you just stare at her.

You shake yourself out of the trance. “Oh um hi, I’m y/n and this may sound a bit awkward and weird but I’ve seen you at the store getting groceries and it turns out that I live just down the street from you and wanted to introduce myself.” You tell her and she tilts her head slightly.

“Ya I think I’ve seen you there too, I’m Chessy.” She says and brings a hand out to shake and you immediately shake her hand. “I’m the live in nanny here.” She tells you and you stare at her.

“Wow, a nanny, that’s so cool.” You tell her and she smiles.

“Ya it sounds cool but I got twin devils to look after.” She says and you hear footsteps coming up behind you.

“Hey Chessy, guess what shirt I got at the store.” A little ginger hair girl says and runs up to her but stops when she sees you. “Oh hi, who are you?” She asks.

“I’m y/n, I live down the street.” You tell her.

“Oh hi, I’m Hallie.” She tells you.

“I’m Annie.” The other one says and you realise these are the twins that Chessy is the nanny too.

“Hi y/n, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Nick and this is my wife Elizabeth.” Nick greets you.

“Hi, if you don’t mind me asking where are you from? Is that a French accent?” Elizabeth asks you and you nod.

“Ya, I just moved here and for some reason all the trees are like orange.” You tell her and Chessy snorts and you look at her.

“First time experience fall?” She asks and you nod. “But you’ll love winter then, it gets a bit chilly here.” She says and you just look at her.

A few months go by, along with winter and you and Chessy have met and talked at the grocery store quite often and you’ve even been invited a few times to the house for lunch or dinner.

“You’re gonna love spring.” Chessy tells you when you’re over. “All the trees and flowers that died come back and bloom.” She tells you and you smile.

“Wow, I can’t wait to see that.” You tell her and she smiles back at you.

2 weeks pass and you’re at the house again. After lunch, Chessy says she has a surprise for you. She takes you outside to the stables and gets a horse ready for horseback riding.

“I asked for the afternoon off and they gave it to me immediately.” She tells you and gets on the horse. She then sticks her hand out and you look at her.

“You want me to get on?” You tell her and she nods.

“Have you never been horseback riding before?” She asks and you shake your head. “Well don’t worry, it’s not scary.” She tells you and you take her hand. She pulls you up and you get on in front of her. “Now, hold on here ok.” She tells you and you grab the reins. “If you get scared then just hold on tighter ok?” She says and you mumble out an ‘ok’. “Don’t worry, like I said it’s not that scary and I’ll be here the entire time.” She says and she holds the reins as well. And due to that, her arms are on both sides of you, effectively trapping you, and you don’t mind being trapped by her arms. She makes the horse start going and you tense up. “It’s ok.” She tells you, basically right in your ear and you shiver. She gets the horse to start going faster and it’s starting to run, and then it starts full on running.

“Oh my god, that’s really fast.” You say and close your eyes. You feel a hand wrap around your waist and pull you back a bit.

“It’s ok, I’m right here.” She tells you and you lean into her. She lets go of you to grab the reins with both hands but she has her arms more tight on your sides to hold you better. After a few minutes she slows the horse down and she speaks again. “It’s alright, you’re not going to fall. Try to open your eyes.” She says and you do. You cautiously open them and what you see is beautiful. All the trees are growing new leaves, the bushes are growing their branches back and some flowers are growing.

“Wow, this is beautiful.” You say and she puts her head on your right shoulder.

“This is the path to take if you want to do a scenic route.” She says and you’re still looking around, and still leaning on her. “Fall is when things start to die and spring is when they’re reborn again.” She tells you and you smile.

“Thank you for showing me this.” You tell her and she smiles.

“Of course, best view for your first spring.” She says and you turn your head a bit to look at her. She moves her head off your shoulder and to the side more to see you. Both of you then lean in and kiss. She moves one of her hands to your stomach and deepens the kiss a bit. You open your mouth and her tongue slides in and she tastes you. You both pull away after about a minute and just stare into her beautiful eyes. You both just look at each other and smile until you hear a couple birds tweeting close by and you look at the view in front of you. You still lean into her and she puts her head back on your shoulder while she shows you the best view of spring.

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over again, chapter 3: dinner

This is my updates-only blog! Follow me at @burntheedges Joel Miller x f!reader summary: you fell in love with Joel Miller in Austin, Texas, in 2001, but you thought you lost him and your whole family in 2003 when the world turned upside down. now it's 2024, and you find the surprise of your life waiting for you in Jackson, Wyoming. or, five times you and Joel fell deeper in love, on both sides of the apocalypse (and one time you did something about it) 18+ minors DNI chapter tags/warnings: fluff, flirting, banter, angst, bisexual!reader (like me), dancing, holding hands, a bit of pining, kissing (!!!) (the smut is coming so soon, y’all) a/n: Welcome to chapter 3! We’re finally getting somewhere with these two… and there’s a bit of dancing. The Austin section of this chapter was the preview I posted a few weeks back, but it's been edited a bit. music note: All songs mentioned in this fic are on the playlist. The first 19 songs on the playlist are the mix CD mentioned in this chapter. The playlist post has annotations about the first 19 songs with mild spoilers, so skip reading those for now if you’d rather wait. I was a teenager in 2000 and I grew up in the south (and lived in Texas for a bit, later), so I was aiming for songs I would have heard on the radio and songs the reader and Joel definitely would have heard on the radio and when they went out dancing. word count: 8.2k

series main post | series playlist | ao3 | ch 1 | ch 2

Chapter 3: Dinner

Jackson, Spring 2024 

Despite your agreement in his kitchen, you don’t talk to Joel the next day, or even the one after that, except in passing. He’s still taking care of Ellie, and you end up staying in the stables overnight to help with the birth of a foal. (You try to imagine yourself from Before doing anything like that, but it’s impossible.) At least you’re able to sleep again, after that. You’re too tired not to. 

It’s been three days when Joel catches you outside around dinner time and asks if he can walk with you, as he’s planning to pick some dinner up for Ellie. She’s feeling better, apparently, but not up for the dining hall quite yet. You remember being wary of it yourself when you first arrived, so you don’t blame her.

Joel falls into step beside you, in silence at first. The air between you is more comfortable than it was three days ago — it feels easier to walk next to him, less fraught to look at him. You imagine touching his hand again and it seems possible. You were exhausted then, it’s true, but it was also overwhelming to be around him like that after so long. Now you’re a little more used to the idea. 

You use the quiet moment to look him over, checking the outline of his shoulders, his hips, his gait against the Joel in your memory. He’s grayer now of course, but so are you. He’s the same shape but somehow even broader than Before — same Joel, just stronger, and hardier, and more weathered. You can see a hint of discomfort in his walk, but you all have that these days. The sign of a person who has to walk everywhere. It wears at your joints. 

You don’t notice how long you’ve been checking him out in silence until your gaze wanders back to his face and you find him smirking at you, knowingly. 

“See something you like, darlin’?” You feel a rush of warmth towards your face, but you’re not really embarrassed. 

“Maybe I do, neighbor.” You tilt your head at him and smile a bit. “Same as always.”

He shakes his head and works his jaw to hide a wider smile. “I’m pretty sure we’ve said that to each other before.”

“Yeah, I think we did. That night we had dinner at your place after Sarah was sick.” It’s easier to recall things like that, now that you’ve let yourself start. It’s like the memories were just waiting for you to acknowledge them and now they’re all pouring out. 

He tenses a little when you say Sarah’s name, making you wonder if you shouldn’t have. But she was yours too, and you can’t let go of that. You never have and you won’t start now. Not even for Joel. 

He looks away and then back at you, seeming to shake it off and moving a little closer to nudge your shoulder. “You still remember what I taught you? Pretty sure we had our first lesson that night.” He winks, the old flirt. You laugh. 

“Joel, I haven’t danced with anyone since the last time I danced with you. I can’t promise I even remember the steps.”

He pauses, slows to a stop, and turns towards you fully. “Maybe we should give it another shot, see if, um,” he clears his throat. “See if we still partner so well.” You meet his eyes, and you see he’s feeling the same things you are – hesitation, hope, maybe a little fear. Maybe a lot. 

That feeling that’s been pulling at you – that second chance you’ve been thinking about for months – becomes almost tangible in the air between you as he speaks. It makes you feel brave.

You step a little bit closer and reach out to slide your hand into his. He closes his eyes, just for a moment, and you hear his breath hitch.

“Tommy always did say we could light up a dance floor.” You look down at your hands and decide to go for it, too. “I’d like to see if we can, still.” You’re talking about more than dancing, and you both know it. “But I know Ellie comes first, and I don’t want to rush into anything and mess it up. I missed you,” you see he’s formed a shaky fist with his free hand, while the hand holding your own is relaxed and warm. “But we’ve done a lot of living without each other.” 

You look back up at him, hesitantly. You don’t want to push for too much, too fast. You have no idea what fast or slow mean for the two of you anymore. 

Joel nods, twining his fingers through your own and squeezing gently. “We have. But even now I’d never have doubted you’d understand about Ellie. You’re a great mom.” 

He uses present tense, which makes you suck in a sharp breath. You feel it again, that echo from the past. It still hurts. Maybe it’s like building muscle and it’ll fade the more you let yourself feel it. 

“She doesn’t know you, of course, and she’s wary of strangers. And we need to get to know each other now. But we can take it slow.” He smiles at you, a bit sadly, and squeezes your hand again. 

“Slow is fine with me, cowboy.”

He looks surprised, and then huffs out a short laugh. “No one’s called me that in 20 years.”

“No one’s called me darlin’, either.” For a moment, you just lock eyes and take each other in.

“Do you want to come over for dinner soon? Maybe next week, I want to try to get Ellie to leave the house first.” He looks hopeful, but also still hesitant.

“I’d like that, Joel. And I’m happy to wait until she’s ready. I’m still getting used to these- um, these feelings, myself.” He nods, and you know in that moment he understands what you can’t put into words. 

“It wasn’t easy for me, at first. I reacted badly.” He shakes his head, and you think maybe this is an understatement. You reach out to grasp his wrist, right above where your hands are intertwined. “I was cold, barely living back in Boston. Mostly just dying, slowly. Not ready for all the ways that kid can get under my skin. Not ready to have someone I would- that I could let down again. Everything she did reminded me of–“ he clears his throat. “Of Sarah. And I didn’t talk about her or let anyone else talk about her for 20 years. Even saying her name, it’s…” He trails off and looks down the road back towards your houses for a moment, working his jaw as he gathers his thoughts. 

“Anyway. I think I know what you’re feeling. I’ve been there myself.” You nod, not sure what to say, or if you can get any words out. You squeeze his hand, this time. 

He steps back a little, stepping out of the moment you’ve just shared. “Anyway. We should get on. I’ll let you know about dinner, and maybe you and I can meet for lunch sometimes? Until then?” You nod and smile, even as your hands separate well before you enter the dining hall. 

…

You don’t manage lunch, but Joel does come back to you a couple of days later with an actual dinner invitation for the following Saturday, five days away. You agree of course, even though you know how anxious you’ll get with five days to wait. He must see it in your face because he reassures you, “Ellie told me to ask you, darlin’.”

So you manage, anxiously, counting down the days until Saturday. You keep busy in the stables and the garden and even eat with Tommy and Maria a couple of times, trying and failing to ban all teasing about it. He takes mercy on you when he sees the state you’ve wound yourself into by Friday afternoon. 

“Everything’ll be fine, sunshine. No need to look so gloomy.” You can’t help but roll your eyes, wondering if you’ll ever escape Tommy Miller’s puns about the weather. You see Maria doing the same but Tommy just grins, unrepentant.

“I just don’t know what to expect, which makes it worse.”

He reaches over to pat you on the arm. “Ellie’s prickly, sure, but she adopted him the same as he adopted her. She cares about what he cares about. It’ll be fine.” 

You’re not so sure, but you take the reassurance as it’s meant and try to breathe through some of your anxiety. It sort of works.

��

On Saturday you distract yourself with baking so you’ll have something in hand when you arrive at their house later. You haven’t made cookies in years (you hadn’t had the chance in years, before Jackson) but you think they turn out fine. You run out of things to do eventually and find yourself staring at your reflection in the bathroom mirror. With fifteen minutes to go you wrench yourself away (he knows what you look like and you’re both old, now, anyway) to finish getting ready. You glance at the shoe box by the door, wondering if you should bring it or leave it – maybe it won’t come up? It probably will, though. You sigh, unsure, and decide to leave it. You can run back and get it if you need to. Cookies in hand, you head next door. 

You wonder if Ellie was waiting at the window, because she yanks the door open before you can knock. She raises an eyebrow at you and asks, “What’s that?” nodding at the plate in your hands.

“Cookies. You’re looking better.” You hand her the plate. 

“Cookies!” her eyes get comically big as she takes them from you. Joel, demonstrating how much of a dad he still is and always will be, calls from the kitchen, “not until after dinner, Ellie!” She immediately frowns, looking mutinous. You grin at her as she rolls her eyes. 

“Don’t worry, that whole plate is for the two of you. Plenty to go around.” She looks a bit mollified, and heads towards the kitchen. You follow.

You find Joel at the stove, spooning something out of a pan and on to three plates. “Whatever that is, it smells amazing, Joel.” 

He smirks at you over his shoulder. “It’s pepper chicken.”

“No fucking way.” 

It’s out before you can help yourself - you haven’t had a meal like that, from Before, in ages. Ellie snorts. “He’s been talking this up all day, it better be fucking good.”

He eyes her a little, but you cursed first (whoops), so what’s he going to say? He looks back to you and explains that Tommy helped him figure out how to make it with what they have in Jackson. “Hopefully it’s about the same.” 

The three of you settle at the table as he sets out the plates, and you notice they’ve put a candle in the center of the table. 

“Nice ambiance,” you say, grinning at him a little, trying to shake off your nerves.

Ellie laughs, a single emphatic ha!, loud and bright. “He would not stop talking about that candle all damn day. I told him it was cheesy, so he wanted to get rid of it, but then I told him you apparently liked cheesy romantic shit, so he should keep it.” Joel is staring Ellie down and clearly wants her to stop talking, but she’s looking at you and you’re nodding to encourage her.

“Oh? I do like cheesy romantic shit.” Ellie laughs again, clearly at his expense. “What else did he say?”

“That’s enough of that, I think,” Joel interrupts, cutting Ellie another look. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”

You roll your eyes and see Ellie does the same. She grins at you, but then seems to catch herself – like she’s enjoying the back and forth, but isn’t sure of you yet. Fair.

You take a bite of the chicken and can’t stop the moan you let out at the taste. “Holy shit, Joel. How did you manage this?” When you look at him he’s already staring at you, fork dangling from his fingers, looking a little bit like he just got hit over the head with something. “Joel?”

He coughs and adjusts his seat. “Um, right. It wasn’t so hard, just traded for some ingredients from the garden. It’s good?”

“It’s great,” Ellie says. Clearly it’s true because she’s making the chicken disappear at the speed of light. At the same time she’s somehow also darting her eyes between the two of you, like you’re doing something suspicious. She lets the silence hang for a moment, but then asks, “so, what have you been up to for the last 20 years?”

“Ellie! I told you, we don’t need to hash everything out all at once. We can take it slow.” Joel cuts in, eyebrows furrowed in her direction. 

“Oh come on, Joel, you’re such a dinosaur. But like, not one of the cool ones. Just ask! Why waste time?” You wonder what you did to make Ellie want to ask. You were nervous before, but now you’re feeling a bit like you’re walking a tightrope again. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? It’s impossible to tell, but it feels like it will go over worse if you refuse.

“We can talk about it. I don’t mind.” You try to give Joel an encouraging look as you respond. He’s quiet for a moment but then agrees. 

“Alright. Don’t see why we shouldn’t, I guess.” His voice takes on a teasing note as he looks back towards Ellie. “Let’s just jump right in, since you want to so bad.” She rolls her eyes at him again.

“So, let’s hear it! Where have you been?” 

You take a deep breath, trying to decide where to start. You know from Tommy the outline of what they did, where Joel has been – the locations, a few major events, and so on. But you don’t think he knows much about your story. You set down your fork and begin. 

“On Outbreak day, I was in Boston at a conference for work. Joel and I talked on the phone that morning before the conference, but by the end of the day… well. Everything changed.” You take a sip of water. This part, at least, you’ve told someone before, so it’s not as hard to organize your thoughts. “I tried to call, I think everyone did, but the phones went down pretty quick. There was chaos, and then there was what became the QZ, later. But I left before they really got it going. I went south – all I wanted was to get home. To get to Texas.” You’ve been speaking to Ellie, mostly, but at this point you finally look at Joel, and you find him staring at you, unblinking, with the unreadable expression on his face that you know means he’s trying to hide some strong emotion. You look away from both of their gazes and down to the table, gathering yourself.

“I found a group heading south and went with them. We made it to Baltimore, but it was such a goddamn mess. They didn’t want to keep going and I didn’t want to go alone – I knew back then that I wouldn’t make it far – so I stayed, thinking I’d find another group. But staying for a little while turned into a long while and, well. You’ve probably heard what happened to the QZ there in ‘07.” Joel nods, you can see him out of the corner of your eye. You look at him again and find him the same as a moment ago, but with his fists clenched so tight his knuckles are white. You realize you’re staring and look away.

“At that point I was clinging to the hope that my family was still alive with the barest tips of my fingers. But having to leave Baltimore pushed me further south, and I ended up in Atlanta. And, well,” you look at Joel. “I ran into Joyce.” Joel starts in his seat, hands relaxing in his surprise. 

“Joyce Roberts?” he asks, incredulous.

“Yep. That Joyce. Can you believe it? Just walked right into her on the street one day.” You look at Ellie again. “Joyce lived on our street, back in Austin. This was in ‘08, I guess? And we had a whole reunion moment, and then she just looked at me, and I knew. I knew what she was about to say.” You feel yourself start to choke up, and close your eyes, taking a deep breath.

“I know now that she was wrong, but then, it was crystal clear, like a movie playing in front of my eyes as she told me what happened. She said she’d seen you that night, Joel, you and Tommy and Sarah. You sped out of the neighborhood in the truck, and somehow she saw Tommy again, in the chaos after that plane crashed. After that she lost you again, but she asked after you later at one of the camps. She said they told her that according to their records, all three of you were dead.” You’re whispering, at this point, but you try to breathe through it. 

“I guess the, um, the news about what happened with Sarah and then... after… that news got around from the field hospital, but not quite correctly. So some list of survivors got updated wrong. It’s not like those lists were worth much, not for much longer. It was before everyone stopped trying to keep track like that.” You open your eyes, and glance at Joel. He’s pale. 

“But anyway. She was sure, and it had been five years. It killed whatever hope I had left.”

You’re quiet for a moment. You see Joel is barely breathing next to you, his hands clutching the edge of the table. Ellie’s eyes are wide and her face says she’s not sure if she should make any noise at all. You know Joel knows what you were alluding to after Sarah’s death and you don’t want to bring it up any more than that, not now. You’d heard it from Joyce and it’s been a weight ever since.

“Um, anyway. I guess I’ll… we can talk about that another time.” You glance between them and rub your hands on your thighs. Breathe. “So I was in Atlanta for a while. Probably about 8 years? I just worked, like everyone else. Made some sort-of friends.” You hesitate, thinking about Michelle. You decide you’ll come back to it later. You’re already choking on the words as they leave your mouth. 

“But by ‘16, I had to leave. It was getting… weird, in the QZ. And for other reasons.” You take another sip of water. “By that time I was more capable of surviving on my own. Like everyone these days, I guess. So I headed west, thinking I’d go home, see what was there. Turns out I beat Tommy back to Austin by a year or two.” 

You turn to Joel. “That’s why he barely found anything in the house. I, uh, got there first.” You see it dawn on him. “Yeah. I have some stuff over at my house, I wasn’t sure we’d talk about it. I can go get it later.”

“What- what stuff?” He looks like he wants to know and doesn’t want to know, at the same time. You know the feeling. 

“You remember the photo calendars we had made in ‘02 and ‘03? Those, and a couple other pictures. Sarah’s favorite book. One of your shirts and the- um. The belt buckle.” You cleared your throat. “Some new clothes for me. And, um.” You meet his eyes. “That mix CD, from when we got together. Some other little stuff.” He looks overwhelmed. “Yeah, there’s a lot. I’ll bring it over, ok? You can go through it, keep stuff.” He nods, looking far away.

Ellie looks like she’s about ready to burst. “What CD? And what happened in Atlanta? What about after Austin? What next?”

You smile a little at her questions. “Ok, let’s see. Well, Sarah helped Joel burn me a mix CD – do you know what that means?” She shrugs, saying she knows what a CD is. “Ok, close enough. Basically Sarah and Joel created the list of songs and put it on the CD. It had some of our favorite songs to dance to on it. I haven’t seen a CD player in years but I took the CD anyway. 

“Atlanta…” you swallow. “Let’s come back to that, ok? After Austin, I kept heading west. I found some people in west Texas who weren’t so bad to stay with, for a bit. I think I was there for about two years? And then I decided to head to Kansas City, but I heard some bad stuff before I ever got there. I ended up making it work with what was left of the Dallas QZ for a while. I did ok there, anyway. And then last year I decided to head out this way, and Tommy literally stumbled over me on a patrol and scared the shit out of me and turned my life upside down in the process.” 

You stop, and the three of you are quiet. All you hear is the sound of your own breathing.. You aren’t sure what else to say without getting too deep into things you don’t feel ready to talk about, from Baltimore and Atlanta and Dallas. None of them were easy and all of them still hurt at least a little bit. You hope Ellie doesn’t ask but you’ll try if she does.

Joel looks like he’s still trying to take in everything you said, but he finally says, “I wonder if we ever passed each other. Tommy and I, well, our goal at the beginning, as much as we had one, was to get to Boston. To you. But somewhere around Dallas we heard that the initial Outbreak in Boston had been so bad, there were barely any survivors. And I-“ he clears his throat. “I, um, wasn’t in the best shape, back then. It convinced me you were gone, like Sarah, and well. I wasn’t… I couldn’t…” he just shakes his head. “We didn’t actually get there until years later. I guess we could try to match it all up, make a timeline.” 

You shudder. Were you ever in the same place at the same time, unknowing? You almost don’t want to know. 

“I don't think I’m ready for that.” He shakes his head, agreeing with you. “I think that’s all I can do tonight.” You look back at Ellie. She’s studying you. 

“We can talk more later,” she agrees, “but I have one question.” You nod, fixing your face into something neutral. A slightly mischievous look comes across her face. “Can we listen to the CD? We have a player in the living room.” 

You start and bang your hand on the table. “You do? Fuck, I never thought I’d find one.” Joel sighs, and rolls his eyes as you shake out your hand. “I’m allowed to curse, old man, I’m just as old as you.”

“Not quite, darlin’.” He smiles at you. You start to come down from the emotional rollercoaster of the last half hour and smile back. 

“Let me go grab the CD.”

You run back to your house, and after a moment’s thought, grab the entire shoebox. He can look through it later. 

When you return to their house, Ellie and Joel have moved to the living room, and she’s elbowing him and saying something you don’t catch that makes him put his face in his hands. She grins and spots you in the door. You hand her the CD.

Ellie inspects it carefully, seeing the handwritten tracklist in the little paper insert that has yellowed a bit with age. “Joel, did you really make this?” He nods. 

“Sarah did the technical work but we made it together.”

“You weren’t lying, he really was a cheesy romantic. How many of these are in Spanish?” He sighs in a long-suffering way, falling back onto the couch. It makes you smile. 

“Like I told you, it’s who he is.” You look at him, and despite the grumpy act he’s putting on for Ellie, he winks at you. It sets off fireworks inside of you and you smile, helplessly.

Ellie gets the CD in the player, and the whirring noise it makes as it spins the disc sends a wave of nostalgia over you, unexpectedly strong. You resist closing your eyes, knowing what you’ll hear first. You want to see Ellie’s reaction. 

You try to control your face, watching as “La Bomba” starts. She looks confused, and then incredulous. 

“What the fuck is this?” 

You start to laugh, and you see Joel chuckling, too. You know “Suavemente” is up next so you look at him and hold out your hand. “Want to show her?” He gives you a look, and for a moment you aren’t sure what he’ll do. But he stands, of course, and takes your hand. 

“Sure, darlin’.” And then he starts to move.

You weren’t lying when you said you hadn’t danced in 20 years. But somehow, in Joel Miller’s arms, your body remembers what to do, and you start to move across the room together like no time has passed. 

Joel had taught you how to dance in his backyard, with Tommy and Sarah laughing nearby. He had shown you a bit of merengue and how to two-step that first day, and much more later, but most of the time you had just let him lead in both partner dances and line dances. Some of the songs on the CD were ones you used to dance to in his living room or in night clubs, and some were just for you. You wouldn’t say you’re doing any particular style now, as the second track starts, just that you’re dancing and following his lead. 

Ellie whistles and cheers you on from the side, but you can’t look away from Joel. His eyes are locked on you and it feels impossible to look anywhere else. You float through the dance, feeling like your feet are barely touching the floor. 

When the song ends and “Lambada” starts, you force yourself to step back, a bit overwhelmed with how much the dance affected you. 

“Ellie, do you want to learn?” She looks surprised, and then uncertain. 

“Um, maybe? I’m not sure I want to dance with anyone.” 

You tilt your head as you look at her, a hunch forming in the back of your mind, and smile. “Maybe give it a try?” She nods and Joel beckons her over. As they get in position you search through the tracklist to a song you think might work for a lesson. You skip ahead to the Shakira song later on the list because you think the slower beat will help.

You sit on the couch to watch Joel start to direct Ellie around the room, but it pretty quickly becomes clear that it’s not working. She’s fighting him with every step and they keep bumping into each other. It seems you were right – maybe Ellie, headstrong as she is, would do better leading. You stand up.

“I think we’re teaching her the wrong part,” you say as you cut in between her and Joel. He smirks, gesturing for you to take his place as he moves towards the couch. “Ellie, why don’t you try leading for a bit.” You direct her and it’s immediately pretty obvious that she’s more comfortable controlling the dance. She learns a couple of easy steps and starts to lead you carefully around the room, picking up on what Joel had been trying to do as well. 

After a couple of minutes you look over your shoulder at him, grinning, but you see that he’s gotten distracted by the open shoebox on the coffee table. He’s got his belt buckle in one hand, thumb tracing the design absently, like he still remembers the exact shape of the letters after all these years. With the other he reaches in to pull out the 2002 calendar. It’s the one with you and Sarah on the front, smiling for the camera and posing in front of the lake you used to visit in the summer. 

You don’t even realize you’ve stopped dancing until Ellie bumps into you. “What’s wrong?” she asks, looking around you at Joel. “Oh.” 

Joel seems to realize you’re both looking at him, and he looks up at you, that familiar unreadable look on his face. “Sorry, I just looked in and couldn’t help it. I–”

“It’s alright. Maybe that’s enough of a lesson for today, anyway.” You smile a little. “You can hold on to the box, we can figure it out later. Or talk about it. Whatever you want. I kept, um, one of Sarah’s hair ties, with the yellow beads. There’s another one in there.” There’s one more thing back at your house that you decide to keep to yourself for now. Neither of you are ready for that. “And, um. I gave Tommy your mom’s bracelet. For Maria.” 

Joel snorts. “The one you always hated and thought was ugly as sin?” You laugh. 

“Yep, that’s the one.”

The atmosphere in the room has gotten heavier, the moment clearly over, and the two of you have become awkward, losing all the ease you found when dancing. Ellie steps into the middle of it, and says, “well, I still have questions, but I can already hear Joel telling me I’m being rude like the cranky old man he is, so next time, I guess.” 

You feel a bit lighter at her words. Next time? You’ll take it. “I’d like that. Thanks, Ellie.”

You start to head towards the door, and Joel carefully sets everything back in the box to join you. “You can look through it, Ellie, just be careful.” She nods, sitting gingerly next to the box on the coffee table, looking over its contents with wide eyes. The two of you step out onto the porch to say goodnight. 

You’re quiet for a moment, looking at each other. Joel regards you thoughtfully, and says, “that went about as well as it could, I think.” You agree. 

“The dinner was great, Joel.”

“Well, that too. But you and Ellie, is what I meant. I think she’s still wary of everybody but me, but seems to me like she wants to get to know you.” 

“I really hope so. She’s a force of nature, isn’t she?” He nods, smiling, and you can see in it how much he cares about her, his adopted younger daughter. 

“Sorry she brought all that up so quick.”

“It’s fine, Joel. I wanted you to know, anyway. Both of you.” 

He nods, but looks a bit hesitant. “I know we said slow and agreed, darlin’, but I hope you don’t mind if it ends up being real slow after all.” You reach out to reassure him, lightly touching his right arm.

“I need time, too, Joel. There’s things you don’t know about me yet, and things you probably want to tell me, too.” He doesn’t look reassured. You think for a moment, and add, “We know the foundation is there, right? But what we built is long gone, so we just have to see if we can build it again.” He’s looking at you like he can’t tell if you’re sincere or making a construction pun to tease him. It’s both, but he doesn’t need to know that. For now. 

“Alright, darlin’. That’s maybe enough feelings for one day.” He laughs as you roll your eyes at him. “But I have to tell you something, though, before you go.” He moves his arm and you start to move your hand away from where you were still touching him, but he catches it and laces your fingers together. 

“You’re so kind and smart and beautiful,” he starts, and your breath catches in your throat. He smiles at you. “It took my breath away back then and it still does now. I’ll be mad until the day I die that I missed out on 20 years of you, but I still can’t believe you’re here, in front of me.” He tilts his head and squeezes your hand. “You’re especially beautiful tonight. I felt as lucky to have you in my arms during that dance as I did back in ‘01.” 

Your face has gone hot and you raise your free hand to your cheek, knowing he can tell. 

“Joel–”

“No, I want you to hear it. You were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen outside of your house with the moving truck that day we met and it’s still true now. And watching you talk to Ellie and get to know her?” He shakes his head a little, but he’s smiling. “I never thought I’d feel this way again, never thought I’d get to watch two people I care about get to know each other like that. I just wanted you to know how much it means to me. That’s all.”

That’s all, he says. Like it isn’t everything. You’re biting your lip, holding back tears by the time he’s done. You reach out to cup his cheek with your right hand. “Joel Miller, you smooth-talking son of a bitch.” He laughs outright at that, sounding a little choked up himself. 

“I’ve never been able to defend against those moves. Not that I’d want to.” You smile as he leans his head into your hand. “I’m feeling it too, ok? We should go slow, yes, but… well, like I said, we’ve got the foundation. We’re just easing into it.” He grins, and you see a glimpse of him at 32 that you weren’t expecting to ever see again. 

“Probably better, at our age.”

“Better for you maybe, old man. I’m still younger than you.”

“Darlin’, you turn 50 soon, and we both know it.” You shove him a little, grinning. He smiles back, that half smile that used to get under your skin and take your breath away. It still does. 

“Well, Joel Miller, with that I think I’ll turn in.” You start to turn away, but he reels you back in for a short hug. He holds you tightly for just a moment, whispering, “Thanks for the shoebox. I can’t… well. I’m going to take my time with it.” He pulls away.

“Take all the time you need.”

...

Austin, Spring 2001 

On Sunday, you changed your outfit five times before telling yourself to get a grip and putting back on the first thing you had pulled out of your closet, 45 minutes ago. Joel had seen literally all of these clothes before; he’d lived next door to you for six months. Get it together. You looked at yourself in the mirror, messed with your hair one last time, and then forced yourself to leave the bathroom and head downstairs. 

In the kitchen, you glanced at the clock – 5:54pm – and picked up the cookies you baked that morning, heading next door to the Millers’. 

You knocked on their door, and after a few moments with no response you knocked again. Odd. You put your ear to the door and heard music and Sarah laughing. You tried the door and realized it was unlocked. 

As you crossed the threshold you called out, “Millers? Anyone home?” Inside you could more clearly hear the music coming from the backyard, so you left the cookies in the kitchen (where something smelled amazing) and headed towards the back door.

You found it open, and you could hear Sarah laugh again as you moved closer. “Dad come on, you stepped on my toes!”

“Sarah Miller, I raised you not to tell lies.” Joel sounded out of breath, but he was laughing as he said it.

“Well, that’s definitely a lie if I ever heard one.” You leaned in the doorway, smiling as you watched Joel lead Sarah around the yard to “Rie y Llora.” Tommy jumped out of the way as Joel steered Sarah right into him in retaliation for that remark. They hadn’t noticed you yet. 

“Celia Cruz, huh?”

All three Millers turned at your question, all three smiling at you. It was a little overwhelming, as always, to have the attention of all three at once. Sarah elbowed her dad lightly and laughed, saying, “she’s Abuela's favorite.” Joel rolled his eyes. 

“It’s good music for learning,” he muttered, clearly not for the first time. 

“It looks to me like Sarah already knows what she’s doing.” You smiled at the look he shot your way.

“Ha! See, dad?”

“Sure, baby girl. Why don’t you go take Uncle Tommy for a spin, since you know what you’re doing.” With that, Joel spun Sarah towards Tommy, who caught her easily and started leading her around the yard. You laughed, and then looked back towards Joel. He was watching you with that half smile that always gave you goosebumps. 

“Do you know how to dance, darlin’?”

“In a club? Sure. Like that? No way.” 

He grinned at your answer. “Want to learn?” He held his hand out, guiding you towards him once you placed your hand in his. 

“I’ve never danced like this before. I’ll probably stomp all over your feet.” Joel placed your right hand on his shoulder, and took your left hand in his right.

“You let me worry about where our feet go, darlin’. I’ll show you the basics and then you just follow me.” And over the next 15 minutes, that’s exactly what he did. 

Soon you found yourself slowly moving around the yard to “Lambada,” definitely slower than the music called for. At some point Tommy and Sarah went inside to work on finishing dinner but you barely noticed. You were focusing on keeping up with Joel. 

Just as you started to feel a little bit confident, a slow song that you didn’t know started to play. Joel slowed the two of you as well, starting to mostly sway in place instead of moving around so much. He pulled you a little closer with his left hand around your waist.

Catching your breath, and taking your focus off of your feet, you asked, “what brought this on? I don’t think I’ve ever come over to find y’all mid-dance-lesson before.”

“Sarah’s got that school dance coming up and she’s a bit nervous.” He laughed, shaking his head. “I tried to tell her I only know how to do this and a few of those line dances they do in the clubs Tommy goes to. Not whatever dancing they’ll be doing – probably closer to your club dancing.” He winked at you, and you held on a little tighter to his shoulder. “But then she reminded me that her cousin’s party is coming up, anyway, and they will definitely be dancing just like this. So, we were practicing.”

“Cousin?” You asked, confused. Tommy didn’t have kids, and you were pretty sure there were no other Miller siblings.

“Ah, technically it’s my cousin’s kid, on my mom’s side. Easier to just say cousin. They all live down in San Antonio.” He shrugged. You nodded. 

“Well, you did a good job teaching me. Bet that’ll be a fun party.”

You realized at that point that you had slowly swayed in the direction of the trees closer to the back of the yard. You were under the shade of one of the trees, partially out of view from the house. You'd moved closer together as the dance slowed and you found yourself with your right hand on Joel’s neck, fingertips almost touching his hairline. Your eyes darted from his arms, holding you securely, to his shoulders, flexing under his shirt, up to his face. 

You looked up to find Joel looking right back at you. “See something you like, darlin’?” He smirked. You felt a rush of warmth towards your face, but you weren’t really embarrassed. You felt like your whole body was tingling, like you were heading towards something you’d been hoping for for months. Like you were racing forward and up ahead there was a cliff you might fall off of, but you’d fall together. Like the fall was the point, the destination. Your breath caught in your throat. 

“Maybe I do, neighbor,” you managed. He grinned in response, tugging you just a bit closer. Any closer and you’d feel him pressed against you everywhere.

“I know I do.”

“What?” You’d lost track of the conversation. His proximity was going to your head. 

“See something I like.” As he responded, he let go of your hand and brought his right hand up to cup your face. You saw him glance from your eyes to your mouth and in response, you pressed closer, winding your hands into his hair. Joel leaned in, and you barely felt the touch of his lips to yours, when the back door opened and Tommy shouted, “dinner’s ready, love birds! Get in here!”

Joel groaned as he stepped away from you, resting his hands on your shoulders. “I guess we should head inside.” As he said it, he lifted one hand to trace his fingertips along your cheekbone before running his hand lightly over your shoulder and down your arm. “Stick around after dinner? I’d like another dance.” You smiled as he reached down to take your hand and lead you toward the house, walking backwards and keeping his eyes trained on yours. 

“Smooth moves, Miller. Save some for later.”

He was still smiling, but suddenly you felt the intent in his gaze, more focused than even a moment ago. “Oh darlin’, don’t worry. For you I got plenty more.”

…

Dinner with the Millers was always fun, and this occasion was no different. Tommy and Sarah teased Joel mercilessly, and he got them right back, though he was always a little softer with Sarah. 

You talked and joked over dinner, noting Joel had made one of your favorites – pepper chicken – and he winked at you when you thanked him for it. Sarah updated you about her week after she got over her cold and her excitement about the upcoming dance. After dinner she rushed upstairs to talk to a friend on the phone as Tommy headed out the door (“to do some real dancing, y'all should come out sometime”). You were left with Joel in the kitchen, clearing the table together and starting in on the dishes. 

“You don’t have to help with that, darlin’, I can get ‘em later.” 

You bumped your hip against his as he slid in next to you at the sink. “It’s no bother, Joel. Let me help.” He smiled at you, softly, and nodded, picking up the towel to dry the dishes. 

You worked quietly, sometimes recalling a joke from dinner, but you mostly just enjoyed the moment together. As soon as you handed him the last dish he set it aside, still wet, to take your hand and lead you back outside. He switched the music back on with the volume low as you passed the boombox.

In one smooth motion, Joel turned and pulled you back into his arms, into the stance you had only just left before dinner. But this time he pulled you close from the start, tucking you up against him and smoothing his hand across your lower back. 

“Well hello there, darlin’. Fancy meeting you here.”

You smiled, and rolled your eyes a little. “Hey, cowboy.” You let your fingertips play with his hair along his neck. You noticed a light shiver in his shoulders as you did. 

You smirked. “Joel, are you ticklish?” 

“No, and you better not let on to Sarah that you wondered anything of the sort.” He glared at you playfully as he said it, spinning you a little into a new spot in the yard. You laughed, a bit winded even though you'd barely moved. 

“Hmm, seems like information that would be worth quite a bit to some people around here,” you mused. You brushed your fingers lightly across his hairline again, and he squirmed again in response. 

He hid a smile, pulling you in so he could whisper directly into your left ear. “But darlin’, if you keep my secret, I’ll make it worth your while.” It was your turn to shiver. 

“Oh? How so?” You’d never heard your own voice so breathless. 

He chuckled, and raised his left hand from your hip to your jaw, tilting your head to your right as he tucked his face into the left side of your neck. He ran his lips lightly from your shoulder to your jaw, sending shivers down your spine as you inhaled sharply. He kissed you, lightly, right at the hinge of your jaw, and then on your cheek, and then his mouth met yours, softly, barely there and then with gentle pressure. 

He pulled away after only a moment, and you met his eyes in a daze. His gaze was dark, and you felt like you were moving through molasses. Everything was slow, and soft, and heady. You were floating through it and Joel’s hands on you – on your cheek, holding your left hand – were the only things keeping you tethered.

Joel murmured your name. “Let me take you out.”

“When?” Your reply fell from your lips so quickly it made him smile, and you smiled back, unashamed. 

“Friday? Sarah’s got a sleepover.” He smoothed his thumb over your cheekbone. “We can go dancing, show off these moves.” 

You laughed. “Joel, I’ve barely got one, maybe two moves. You sure we don’t need another dance lesson before we take this show on the road?”

He huffed a laugh too, and turned you a little. “Just follow along with me, darlin’, I won’t let you stumble.”

You bit your lip, and nodded. “Friday.”

“Friday,” he agreed, pulling you in again. As his lips met yours again, you wondered how you were going to wait five days for more of this. Joel pulled himself away with a small groan, resting his forehead against yours. “We should stop before we get too carried away, with Sarah home.” You nodded. 

You danced a bit more, finishing out the last couple of tracks on the CD. Joel kept his forehead against yours at first, and then tucked your face into his chest, resting his cheek on top of your head and slowly swaying as the last song trailed off into silence.

You didn’t want to let go quite yet, and it seemed Joel didn’t either, as neither of you moved. You could feel your happiness at finally taking the leap together glowing in your chest – from dancing around each other to an actual dance, the months of talking and flirting had finally gotten you somewhere. But you couldn’t help but wonder.

“Joel? Why now?” You asked it softly, face still tucked into his chest. He hummed lowly in response before pulling back to meet your eyes. He regarded you silently for a moment before seeming to come to a decision. 

“I think we both felt it, right? That first day. You were – you are – the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and I knew I wanted you,” he smirked as he noticed you bite your lip at that admission. He squeezed your hip. “But I realized pretty quick that with you, I wanted something real. I haven’t dated anyone in a long, long time. I wanted to take it slow, and get to know you first.” You nodded. You wanted that, too. 

“But darlin’, I realized the other day, when you were here with Sarah, that maybe there’s a line between taking it slow and just being afraid, and I was flirting with it. And I’d rather be flirting with you.” He grinned as you rolled your eyes a little bit at his joke. “I’ve been afraid for a long time. Afraid of letting someone in when it’s not just me I have to worry about.” He looked towards the house. “But Sarah loves you.”

“And I love her, Joel. That girl is special.” He smiled and nodded before looking back at you.

“I know you do. And she’s been teasing me about asking you out for months.”

“Oh yeah? Well you should know better than to ignore her advice, Joel.” 

He sighed, long-suffering, and nodded. “I know it.”

Joel pulled away and started to head back to the house, right hand reaching for your left. You felt a little shaky, like you really had been floating for the last half hour. 

As you approached the front door, he squeezed your hand. “I’ll see you Friday, darlin’.”

“You sure will, cowboy.” He smiled and pulled you in for another short kiss. 

“Now get, before we get any bad ideas.” 

You laughed, and headed out the door he opened for you. 

“Night, darlin’.”

“See you Friday, Joel.”

...

a/n: see you 8/20 for chapter 4 (aka, when the smut arrives lol)

update: ch 4 now posted!

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@morgaussy @jay-zzle @bluetattoos @dins-riduur-anthe

[sukiipjs]

✮ BLONDIE : PT 2

°:. *₊ ° . ☆ °:. *₊ ° . ° .•

↳ nick sturniolo x masc reader

↳ words - 1961

↳ summary - you’ve been having a hard time realizing and accepting the fact that you’re gay, and in love with your best friend. you try to ignore the feelings but that only makes everything worse until you can’t hide it anymore.

↳ contains - swearing, use of y/n, angst, crying, verbal fighting, idrk 😭 [READ PT 1 - PT 3]

↳ song - blondie by current joys

°:. *₊ ° . ☆ °:. *₊ ° . ° .•

°:. *₊ ° . ☆

days after and nick hasn’t texted me since. no more random tiktok’s, no more check ins, just complete nothingness now. i don’t blame him of course, i’d do the same if he was being as shitty as me right now. but honestly i miss those texts so so much, even if i rarely responded to him, or more so i miss the texts we had before all this stupid shit started.

but again, i truly don’t even know when it all started, it was so easy to just brush this off these feelings and whatever as a friend thing before and not think of it too much. why can’t it just be a friend thing now?

actually i think ive just accepted it all at this point though. i love him and no it’s not just a friend thing, it’s way more and it always has been way more. sure i might wish it wasn’t, but it is and i know it is and i cant just ignore it.

i’m not even trying to get rid of it anymore, i don’t have the strength for hiding it. honestly i think if i kept trying to get rid of it, it wouldn’t even work. obviously i still won’t tell him, or anyone, unless he pries it out of me. i know he doesn’t feel the same and i doubt he even looks at me as a friend anymore.

☆ °:. *₊ ° . °

i continue repeating my own sad cycle of doing nothing but staying in bed, hiding myself from the world… without nick. i still check up on his socials, being the weird stalker that i am and looking at all the story’s and snapchats he posted of himself, he looks just fine without me, of course.

i lay in bed, staring at my phone to avoid looking at the mess around my room. i scroll and scroll, starting to see a weird amount of videos of people taking care of themselves or videos of people ‘spring cleaning’.

i scroll away, i really don’t need to see people functioning completely fine right now, it’s like their taunting me, laughing at me. but the videos just keep coming back, haunting me, laughing at me. all i see through my scrolling cycle is random ass dog videos, cleaning and organizing videos, or nick edits… and that’s exactly what i need.

i let out a loud sigh, slightly rolling my eyes then rolling over to my other side, having my blanket wrap around me. i choose to just swipe off the app and throw my phone to the side of me before closing my eyes and just trying to get some sleep. that way those videos, my stupid feelings, and not even nick can haunt my mind anymore.

°:. *₊ ° . ☆

my eyes flicker open, the sun shining directly in my face and i finally decide to actually do something good for myself and go out for a walk when the sun and clear weather is still out, it’s been raining almost the whole time i’ve seen dying in my room alone.

i slowly move myself up to sit, leaning my back on the wooden headboard behind me and sitting on some pillows below that cushion me. i stretch out my arms in front of me, yawning and running my fingers through my hair to fix the shaggy mess.

i move myself off my bed, stand up then fixing my off center shirt and trying to flatten out a few wrinkles. i throw the blanket that covered me to the side and decide to just throw the shirt and pants that i wear off me -actually putting them somewhere other than on the floor too- i pick out a clean outfit, already feeling way less gross, it’s the small things that count right.

i walk out my room, not forgetting to grab my phone to come with me before going into my bathroom, splashing my face with water to get me more awake. i run my hands in my hair again, fixing it up with my mirror in front of me so i can actually see what i’m doing before grabbing some actual water giving myself something to drink other than dr pepper.

finally i walk out to go by my door, grabbing a light jacket and pulling it over my arms then putting on my shoes and heading out the door. i start off to go a longer way, turning the corner of the sidewalk. i feel all the small breezes on my skin as i get actual sun and nature.

i continue walking random ways, i just want to be out of the mess that i’ve been living in for so long right now. it actually feels nice to be outside, not sitting in a gross hole of dirty clothes and dishes.

☆ °:. *₊ ° . °

i walk, making my way around the neighborhood, my eye catching all the small colorful flowers blooming up and all the small brown squirrels scurrying to run up trees as i pass them. i remember all the times me and nick went out, running around the streets when we were younger. not thinking of anything, just being kids living a simple life. i wish it was still that simple.

as i walk, still obviously thinking of nick, i notice the sky above graying and clouds starting to cover up the sun, shit. i start to walk a little faster, hopefully being able to get home before it pours but as soon as i speed up, small water drops start to fall on me.

i grab the end of my jacket to pull it over my head, holding it over me to shield out the rain. the sides of my jacket block my view as i focus on the path i walk to my place.

i look down at my feet walking, trying not to get too wet as the rain pours more and more, bouncing off the sidewalk. suddenly i feel two hands place on me, pushing me back, “the fuck.” i mutter as i look up, gaining my balance on my feet again. “oh” my face softens as i see nick standing in front of me, his blonde hair damp and drops of water falling from his cheek. he stares at me, i can tell he’s mad and obviously i can tell it’s my doing.

“nick-“ he cuts me off quickly, slightly pushing against my shoulders again as i put my jacket down, wearing it normally, my head now getting pelted with rain. “no, i talk. what the fuck y/n. honestly what has been going gone, you’ve completely ignored me for weeks, you keep blowing me off and i don’t fucking know what i did and the only way i can talk to you about this is randomly bumping into you since you won’t even answer my texts?”

“nick-“ i sigh as i try speaking again but he pushes me back once more. his glassy eyes narrow and i see water pooling in them, i can’t tell if it’s rain or tears. “no! you’re my- you’re supposed to be my best friend and this shit isn’t cutting it y/n! just what is it! what is it. what did i do please just talk to me. if you hate me or something just tell me!” he shouts, his fists starting to clench as i wipe the wet hair in my face away.

“nick stop. you- you didn’t do anything i promise, i’m sorry okay” my voice croaks, i can feel the water pooling in my own eyes now. “then what is it! you can’t just block me out, out of no where.” i shake my head, trying to figure out how to say an actual explanation without saying too much. “nick i’m sorry!”

“stop apologizing! i’m not asking for that, i’m asking for an answer, please. i feel like shit and you haven’t even been there, i kept trying to talk and hang out with you but apparently you hate me now and never want to see me again, i get it!” he scoffs, staring me down as his eyes shut, tears dropping as he takes a breath before opening his eyes back up, wiping off the mixture of tears and rain.

“like i said, if you hate me or suddenly don’t want to be my friend, tell me. i truly, truly, don’t understand this shit your pulling and if you won’t talk now then when will we? you’ll just ignore me again so just spit it out now!” nick keeps rambling on and i just stare at him, seeing how hurt i’ve actually made him. i don’t know what to say, i really don’t.

i just want to shut him up, have him realize that it’s my fault and i don’t hate him. i cut him off as he continues to yell at me, “nick!” my voice feels weak as he shouts back, “what!” i stare at him for a moment, seeing those blue eyes i miss, those star earrings, his grown out roots and before i know it my hands go up to his face, pulling him in as our lips press together.

my hands hold him as strands of his hair poke my fingers, our noses slightly brushing against each others. i quickly step back, eyes wide as i realize what i just did, taking my hands back. “i-im sorry“ my breath is short before i turn around, running away from him to get back to the shit hole of comfort i’m living in to avoid what i just confessed.

i swear i hear him try to call my name but i ignore it, i can’t see him. what did i just do. i can’t even process any of this.

°:. *₊ ° . ☆

i finally reach my place again and i swiftly open my door and walk inside, standing as raindrops slide off of me, creating a small puddle on the floor below. i shake off my hair a little, flicking the water droplets off of me. i take off my jacket, putting it on a hook to let it dry as i take off my shoes too, leaving them by the door.

i wipe my face off with the palms of my hands, wiping off many of my tears that still fall. i walk over to my fridge, getting out another dr pepper then walking over to my couch, slumping down into it as i set my can down and wrap a blanket around myself to warm me up again.

i slowly slide to the side, laying myself down on the cushions. why the actual fuck would i kiss him? what that really the best thing i could do? he already hated me, i did not have to make it worse. i ponder in my head, genuinely trying to find a valid reason of why i just kissed my best friend that hates me. oh. my. god. i’ve ruined my life -not like it was already ruined- i’m never coming back from this.

i stare at the unopened dr pepper sitting on my coffee table, i try making myself reach for it but my arms don’t want to leave the warmth of the blanket i’m huddled in. i hear my phone buzz next to the dr pepper on, i also cannot seem to have my arm reach out to see who’s calling, i hope it’s not who i think but why would he even call me?

rain pelts out on my window, water sliding down the cold glass of it as i lay holding my blanket close to me, pulling the blanket over my eyes as they close, resting as i try forget about my phone continuously buzzing and the drink still on my table.

☆ °:. *₊ ° . °

taglist : @slutforchriss @mattsleftnipple03 @mattsdinosweater @ccolleenn @mixvchelle @leah-loves-lilies @sturn-wrld @redz0nez9 @cheriematt @freshloveforthefit @nickuniversity @whore4matt @txssvx @will-yummy @matty-bear @venusbabysblog @m0r94n

[mint-yooxgi]

{5} - Fight or Flight - Yandere!Redcap!Mingi X Tall!Chubby!Reader

Fae!AU & Yandere!AU - Part of the CoDN Thrill of the Hunt Collab

Genre: Fantasy, Mature, Horror, Angst, Fluff, Smut

Pairing: Mingi X Reader

Words: 7,445

Rating: Mature - 18+ MDNI

Warnings: Please read the warnings carefully, as this is a very heavy story dealing with many dark topics. This is also all of the warnings for this fic as it is one long one shot that I had to split into multiple parts, and I'm too tired right now to individually categorize all of these warnings to their respective parts. 8 ft tall Mingi. Slow burn. Violence: depiction of a massacre, a deer being slaughtered, as well as physical, verbal, sexual, and emotional, both alluded to and not. Blood and gore. Abuse: physical, emotional, verbal, and sexual, both alluded to and implied. Assault: physical, and sexual, both alluded to, implied, and attempted. OC has a really rough past, really this isn't for the faint of heart. Whipping, both alluded to, and done. Mentions of branding. Heavy themes of possession and ownership. Deception. Arson. Really, there's a lot of dark subject matter. Mingi falls hard and fast, thus, he simps a lot for the OC, but it's not a story written by me if Mingi doesn't simp for the OC. The reader is mentioned to be both tall and chubby, but it is not mentioned often, so it shouldn't disrupt the flow of the story when ready if you are not tall and/or chubby. I think that's everything, but if I missed something, please let me know! Smut: Biting/marking, outdoor sex, fingering (fem. rec), oral (fem. rec), hand job (male rec), come eating, overstimulation, Mingi has a dig bick, sex in a spring, really, it's very soft in comparison to the subject matter. This is a Yandere story, it will contain themes such as stalking, violence, obsession, possessive natures, and just general overall creepiness and swearing. You have been warned.

P.S. If there are any spelling or grammatical errors, please ignore them. I did my best through many rounds of editing, but some are liable to still slip through.

A/n: I am SO sorry this took me LITERALLY forever to complete. I meant to have this out so much earlier, and actually posted on time, but it turned out much, much longer than I ever anticipated it being. I'm really proud of how this story turned out, and I didn't want to split it into multiple parts because I felt it would take away from the story as a whole. I'm super excited for you all to read this one, as I had a tremendous amount of fun writing it, and I really hope you all love Mingi's and OC's journey as much as I do. Huge shoutout and thanks to @anyamaris and @kwanisms for listening to me ramble and rave about this story both before and during the writing process, and for always encouraging me while writing! Also, huge thank you to @sanjoongie for being so patient and understanding with me as I write this all out in full. I hope you all enjoy! As always feedback is greatly appreciated! Enjoy!~

Summary: Out of one horrible situation and into another, the cycle of abuse never stops. You've lived with monsters your whole life. So, what's one more?

P.P.S. Please don't let this flop guys. If you enjoyed it, please reblog!!!

Mini Masterlist - Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four

“Mingi?” the soft call of his name from you catches his attention two days later.

Clouds cover the vast expanse of the sky as far as the eye can see, casting a muted hue over the surrounding forest. The day is dreary, and it almost looks as if it might rain.

The redcap hums in response, turning his head in your direction as you walk side by side through the woods.

“I have a question.” Your voice is a bit meek, hands fiddling with the hem of your sleeves almost nervously.

Mingi thinks it subconscious on your part, but your limp is a bit more prominent today than it has been before. That, or maybe it’s just the weather.

“You know you can ask me anything, Blossom,” he smiles encouragingly at you. 

At your hesitance, he pauses mid-step. Turning fully to you, he notices how you seemed to have stopped walking for a brief moment, so he’s quick to close the distance between you.

Slight worry tugs at his features as he sees how uncertain you seem to be. “Don’t be shy, Blossom. Ask away.”

“What’s-“ you begin to say, only to catch yourself. Your mouth opens and closes, a slight furrow to your brow. Then, you’re taking a small breath in, eyes squeezing shut as you rush out, “What’s a claim?”

Mingi’s breath hitches, caught off guard by the type of question you ask. He would have never expected it from you. At least, not yet. The only time claims have been mentioned around you, as far as he knows, was when-

“I was thinking about things, and I remember those other fae from the tavern mentioning something about it-“

“Those fae would have died if they ever tried to force something like that upon you.” His tone is suddenly harsh, a scowl pulling at his features.

Your eyes widen in surprise, not having expected him to react this way. A fact which only serves to make you more confused and unsure of things than you already are.

You shrink back into yourself, picking intently at the sleeve of your shirt. “I’m sorry if I upset you.”

“No, Blossom,” Immediately, he’s kneeling before you, taking your face into his hands gently. “Please don’t misunderstand. A claim is meant to be reserved for those that share the deepest of feelings for one another. It’s a way to say that we belong to each other, and bond us together. What they wanted to do to you-“ his voice catches, and his fingers press a little firmer into your skin, but not enough to hurt, “They would have defiled you, and made you into their possession with a mark like that. You- you would have been marked for ownership, not what these claims are actually intended for.”

“What are claims for?” The words are but a soft inquiry upon your lips, blinking at him mildly. There’s a creeping sense of unease that builds within you from his words, worry gnawing at your stomach.

Your ankle begins to throb.

Mingi takes a shaky breath in as he stares deeply into your eyes. “Love.”

His response catches you off guard. “Love?”

“In this realm, we fae bite each other to display our emotions. It is meant to showcase a deep connection between the recipient and the giver, and each mark is unique to the bite of the fae giving it.” He explains softly. “The mark protects the bearer by stating that they belong to the fae that gives them the bite.”

Your heart drops heavily into your stomach. “Belongs?”

“Unfortunately, fae aren’t the only recipients of such marks.” Mingi frowns, looking to the side as if getting lost in his own thoughts. “Where humans are involved, many fae use these marks to designate a mortal being their property. Once marked, no other fae can harm or touch a human recipient of the bond. It’s the same for marked fae: it goes against the code of a claim.”

“Property?” Your voice rises in pitch, tears springing to your eyes at the implications.

Those fae were going to… No, you shouldn’t think like that. However, that is much more easier said than done.

“Normally, a claim is shared by all parties involved, but those unlucky enough to be claimed by another fae in such a way never get a choice in the matter.” He continues, his hands sliding from your cheeks and down to your shoulders. “The marks are always displayed on the neck. That’s the only way to tell if one has been claimed or not.”

The way his fingers caress the side of your throat has you shuddering beneath his touch, that sense of dread sitting like a rock in your chest. You can hardly hear him over the sound of your racing heart, skin prickling as your mind screams at you to get away from him. To get away from the now imminent threat.

Instinct kicks in, and you are forced to stand there, frozen to your spot as you feel your body shutting down. Once again, you prepare for the inevitable to come.

“Marking someone like this is meant to be a sacred bond between lovers,” his eyes hood over, staring intently at the way his fingers caress the skin of your neck. “I…” His tongue darts out to wet his lips, and you catch a glimpse of those razor sharp fangs lining the inside of his mouth.  “I wish to claim you with a mark of my own someday.”

Time stills around you as you stop breathing. You can feel your skin heating beneath his touch, and suddenly, it’s as if he’s burning you wherever his fingers rest upon your skin. Your throat closes, and tears spring to your eyes, body beginning to tremble uncontrollably beneath his touch.

“No!” Your voice is shrill as you shove him away, scrambling backwards frantically to put some much needed distance between the both of you.

To say Mingi is shocked would be an understatement. Though you physically do not move him, the way you push him away causes his heart to squeeze painfully in his chest.

The worst part is, he doesn’t understand why. He would never force a claim on you. On anybody for that matter.

“Not again!” Your eyes shine with terror as you fall backwards, landing with a harsh thud on the ground. “I’m not your property!”

Mingi’s heart drops, his expression falling as pained disbelief pulls at his features. 

He reaches for you. “No, Blossom, that’s not-“

“You can’t own me again!” Your visage is akin to a frightened animal, scrambling desperately away from him as he stands back to his full height. “I- I- I won’t let you!”

“I don’t want to own you, Blossom-“

Again, Mingi tries to speak, but right now, you’re inconsolable. Each step he takes towards you only makes you sob harder, and he is once more reminded of the way you attempted to flee him after he killed that deer.

His chest tightens, heart aching within.

“I thought you were different,” you’re passed the point of listening, too caught up in your own sense of panic to understand any reason. A harsh sob wracks your body. “I believed you could be different.”

“Blossom, what’s-“

“You’re no different than my husband.” The simple phrase you hiss out freezes Mingi right in his tracks.

Thoughts race through his head at the speed of light, connecting every little instance he’s had with you together. Is this why you’re so guarded? Is this why you flinch whenever there’s a loud noise? Is this why you cowered away from him, why you’re currently cowering away from him?

Mingi swears his heart has stopped. An immense anger begins to flood his veins at the thought of anyone bringing you harm, let alone someone who is supposed to care for you. He may not know a lot about humans, but he knows enough to understand what marriage is supposed to mean. He’s always equated a proper claim in this realm to marriage in your own, so to learn that someone has already taken advantage of you in such a way makes him see red.

Still, he tells himself to calm down. To control himself, so as to not scare you any more that you already are. He promised never to hurt you, to protect and care for you in any and every way he can, and he intends to do just that.

Right now, you need him, and that is far more important than any blinding rage he could ever feel. He needs to get a reign on his emotions, lest he do something that he will come to regret.

Your next words knock the wind right out of him.

“You men are all the same.”

In the blink of an eye, Mingi has you pinned to a tree by your throat. His lips are pulled back in a snarl, his gaze sharp as his dark eyes nearly bore a hole through your skull.

“I am not a man.” His gaze is absolutely wild, claws pricking at the skin of your neck as his chest heaves. 

Your hands come up to grasp at his own around your throat, eyes wide as your heart thunders in your chest.

The idea that you could so much as imply he is anything like the man that could treat you in such a way sends Mingi spiralling. Rage bubbles beneath the surface of his skin, and he subconsciously tightens his grip around your neck. Gone is the fae who was attempting to make you understand, and calm you down. Right now, all that stands before you is the fearsome, ruthless general that everyone makes him out to be. 

“Do it.” Your eyes are wide, desperately pleading with him as you stare into his own.

His nose crinkles, and he bares his teeth in disgust.

“You humans get turned on by the weirdest of things.” He spits the words out, shoving himself off of you and purposely taking a few steps back.

You expression falls, more tears gracing the skin of your cheeks as you collapse onto your knees. “Coward.”

You were this close. This close to finally escaping the hell you’ve been living in all your life, and he’s went and taken that away from you, too.

Mingi’s nostrils flare, eyes sharpening as he stares down at your form crumpled at the base of that tree. His lungs burn, chest heaving with each breath he takes as he clenches his hands into fists at his sides to keep them from shaking.

You swallow, lifting a shaking hand to your throat. “I guess fae can lie.”

Devastated doesn’t even begin to describe the state of Mingi’s heart as he hears you utter those words. His expression falls, the anger simmering to a low boil as he takes a step towards you.

You notice, but your scent surprisingly doesn’t spike in fear. No. All Mingi can sense from you is pain.

“You should be scared of me.” The comment is stated so softly, so casually, that is causes you to blink in shock. “I should terrify you.”

You remain silent, pursing your lips in response.

“I could break every single bone in your body.” He states, taking a tentative step forward while keeping a gentle tone. “I could tear you limb from limb without even batting an eye.”

Your eyes stare blankly at the ground, shoulders curling in on yourself as your hands support your weight. Almost subconsciously, your nails dig into the dirt beneath your fingertips, throat working as you sit there, as still as stone.

“I would have been delighted to skin you alive,” he continues, stopping just short of where you rest upon the ground. “To feast on your flesh as I did so, and make you watch as I carved my victory into your skin.”

A blink, and more tears spill from your eyes onto your cheeks. Your eyes are vacant, the shine that had been growing over the past few days completely gone. You barely even register Mingi coming to kneel before you. It’s only when he gently tilts your chin upwards using the tips of his fingers that you notice just how close he’s gotten to you once more.

“I could have killed you, that much is true.” His tone is soft. Possibly the softest he’s ever used while speaking with you. “But, I don’t want to. I cannot bring myself to want to harm you. Not anymore.”

Though your gaze is locked on his, there is no light behind your eyes. No spark of recognition, either. You don’t even register his words, your entire body going numb as your mind shuts down.

This is the end. You’ll make damn sure of it.

“Are you listening to me, Blossom?” He shifts closer, and he notices how you begin to shake violently. “I-“

“But yet, you want to own me.” Your voice is harsh, spitting the words out like venom on your tongue.

“No, Blossom, I-“

“Why can’t you just kill me?” Your hands ball into fists, nails leaving indents in the dirt as they scrape across the ground. There is a pain held within your gaze, swirling together with the anger that begins radiating off of you in waves. “You said there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for me. So, just kill me.”

Mingi’s eyes go wide, lips parting as he stares at you in shock. His heart feels as if it’s being suffocated in his chest, and the fingers he uses to support your chin with begin to tremble.

“Go ahead, General!” The title you spit out only serves to mock him. “Tear me to pieces! Render my flesh from my bones, and bathe your band in my blood! Carve my heart out of my chest after breaking every single bone in my body! Hurry up, and get it over with, and then just fucking kill me!”

His fingers fall from your skin, hands hanging limply at his sides as a single tear begins to trail a path down his cheek.

“You want to know why I’m not scared of you, General?” You’re hysterical at this point, shrill voice shrieking through the emptiness of the woods around you. “You want to know why I don’t fear you?”

Mingi blinks, and another tear spills down his cheek. His whole body shakes violently as you continue to scream in his face.

“I’ve already suffered through hell every single fucking day of my life ever since I was brought into this world. So, what’s one more?” Tears stream uncontrollably down your cheeks, and you inhale a stuttering gasp. “All I want is for this stupid fucking cycle to end, but you won’t even grant me that! I guess I should be fucking used to it by now. I never get what I want. Always- always, always, always, I’ve only ever lived to serve other people. A stupid means to a stupid fucking end.”

Your voice is harsh as you spit the words out, and all Mingi can do is watch as you fall apart right before his very eyes.

“You really are no different than my husband.” Bitterness coats every inch of your tone. That is, until a humourless laugh is falling from your lips. “No, actually, he was much worse. Because instead of just baseless threats, he would actually put some action behind them.”

The growl that tears from Mingi’s throat is pure animalistic. His gaze hardens as his hands clench into fists in his lap, chest heaving as the rage boils beneath the surface of his skin once more.

“You want to know why I’m not scared of you, General?” You repeat your question from earlier, gaze sharp as you look towards him through narrowed eyes. “It’s because I’ve already survived much worse than you.”

Mingi can feel the familiar prick of his nails digging into his palms, blood beginning to drip through his clenched fingers and onto the earth between the two of you.

“There is nothing for me here, except pain and servitude.” Your voice trembles with the weight of your words, and you furiously wipe at your cheeks. The dirt from your hands smudges against your skin, but you don’t even seem to notice. “So, hurry up, and get it over with. I don’t have anything to live for, anyways.”

His heart stops, and a numbing sense violence begins to course through his veins. His skin feels like it’s on fire, something deep within him roaring to be set free upon the pathetic excuse of a man that ever dared to call himself your husband. The need to crush this man, to tear him apart so that naught remains but chunks of flesh rendered in a bloody heap is so strong, Mingi nearly marches to the closest portal between realms to find this bastard right then and there.

“What did he do to you?” Mingi’s voice is deadly calm, the darkest look you’ve ever seen in your life residing in his eyes as he stares deeply into your own.

His question catches you off guard, blinking at him in shock at how intensely he seems to be reacting. You never thought he would care this much.

“It doesn’t matter-“

“It matters to me!” His booming voice echoes around the area, causing you to flinch in surprise. “What. Did. He. Do to you?”

You avert your gaze to the side, bitterness pulling at your features. “Why do you care?”

Without missing a beat, without any sort of hesitance, Mingi speaks, “Because, I love you.”

Instantly, your gaze darts over to his own. Your breath catches slightly in your throat, shock causing your eyes to widen ever so slightly. That is, until your expression falls.

“Yeah,” you scoff, but it comes out as more of a choked sob. “That’s what he used to say, too.”

“You don’t have to believe me,” he reaches a trembling hand out to you, caressing the side of your face gently to get you to look at him. 

As much as it pains him to see you like this, as much as he wants to go storming off to tear this man apart to satiate some of that burning rage festering deep inside of him, he cannot. You need him here, and that is what is most important right now. 

“But, I want you to know that I am.” He swallows the sudden dryness in his throat. “I am inexplicably, and irrevocably in love with you.” 

A moment of silence as his words settle over your very being.

“Desperately at that.” He adds gently, his eyes holding every bit of truth behind his words.

You turn away, suddenly looking more pained than you ever have before.

“You shouldn’t be.” Your voice is barely above a whisper. “I’m more trouble than I’m worth.”

Mingi’s expression falls at your words. His hand moves back to cradle your chin in his fingers, turning your head to face him once more. “You are worth everything to me.”

Your gaze darts up to meet his own, eyes shining with unshed tears. You know that he can hear the way you inhale sharply, your eyebrows drooping as another sob wracks your entire being.

It is then that you notice his own tears, silently streaming down his face as his fingers tremble against your skin.

“I don’t want to own you, Blossom,” he continues softly, cautiously shifting closer to you. “I have never once thought of you as my property, and I never will.”

A hand comes up to cover your mouth as you choke on another sob, shoulders shaking with the weight of your emotions.

“I am truly sorry I upset you. I should have been more careful with my words.” His thumb gently begins to brush your tears away. “I won’t lie and say that I don’t want you to become mine, but not in the way that I own you. You belong to yourself, as I belong to myself. I would never force something like that onto you.”

Your heart skips a beat involuntarily in your chest, and slowly, with every word he speaks, you begin to relax. Your shoulders are the first to lose the tension they’ve been holding onto, the rest of your body following soon after.

“I want to call you mine in the same ways I want you to call me yours.” He adds lowly, tenderly brushing the tips of his fingers over the skin of your one cheek. “We belong with each other. Together. If we are to belong to one another, then it will be mutually. Never one without the other. Never one being the other’s possession.”

Slowly, you lower the hand you have resting over your mouth. A stuttering breath wracks your chest, but with every second that passes, you continue to calm down. Your tears begin to slow, and you feel him delicately wipe away the final ones that cling to your skin.

“I will never let someone treat you like their property ever again.” His voice is a little firmer as he says this, wrapping you in his arms as he pulls you into his chest. “I will tear them apart before they can so much as even try.”

Before you can stop yourself, another sob escapes you. This time, though, you find yourself clinging onto his shirt for dear life, curling into him as he holds you close.

Gently, his one hand strokes over the top of your head, cradling you to his chest. He sits with you on the ground, rocking you softly in his arms as you rest in his lap. A place solely and purely reserved for you. Always, and forever, you.

“I only want your happiness,” his grip tightens ever so subtly around you. “You are so important to me, that I never want to risk losing you. I never wish to damage, nor taint what we have. I will not kill you. I will not dull your light that has brought me so much joy since the very first moment I saw you shine. I will, however, do everything in my power to protect you, to show you just how much value your life has. I will destroy anyone or anything that even remotely implies otherwise. You do not deserve to be fed those lies any longer.”

Your hand tightens over the material of his shirt, crying into his chest. Never before have such words been uttered to you, and you find your heart close to bursting at the sincerity you can hear in his voice alone. The fact that you can still feel his own teardrops hitting the top of your head as he speaks only serves to add to the intensity of your own emotions surrounding you in this moment.

You underestimated just how much he meant to you, how much he means to you. His words, just as his arms do, wrap around you in a comforting embrace. One which you gladly lose yourself to, finally feeling like you have everything you’ve ever needed tucked within the solace of his touch.

“I’m here,” he coos gently, cradling you so tenderly in his arms. Still, he continues to rock you back and forth as you curl up in his lap, his chin coming to rest on the top of your head. “I’m not going anywhere. Not without you by my side.”

The words that remain unspoken by him echo loud and clear through your mind.

He will not abandon you. He will not let you go where he cannot follow. Always, he is with you, and always he will care for you. Nothing is ever going to change that.

Ever so slowly, you wrap your own arms around his figure, holding onto him just as tightly as he holds onto you. In fact, you go so far as to curl around him even tighter, allowing yourself to feel everything you never have, or have been too afraid to properly acknowledge before now.

For the next hour, you allow him to hold you in his arms. The two of you cling onto one another beneath the light of the setting sun, basking in the comfort you find in the other’s embrace.

It’s soft, and tender. The only noise soon becoming the gentle hum you can feel reverberating from deep within Mingi’s chest. Such a comfort begins to calm you completely, the steady sound of his heart lulling you into a deeper feeling of total relaxation.

Never before have you felt safer, or more cared for than you do in this moment. He’s proved to you time and time again that he isn’t all that he seems to be, and for that, you couldn’t be more grateful. There is no one like Mingi to you, for he is in a league all his own.

You’re pretty sure that if you asked, he’d say that he feels the exact same about you.

Your eyes remain closed, but you do not sleep. Your thoughts continuously drift back over everything that’s just happened this evening, going over every little detail meticulously to try and find something wrong with the scene playing out before you. There must be some kind of trick, some final twist to all of this. It’s all just too good to be true. 

Either that, or you’re dreaming of a life that is all your own, again.

After a few more minutes of thorough examination, you find no fault in Mingi’s words. There is no final trick, nor sly slip of his tongue, only truth. A truth that makes your heart swell with an unfamiliar, yet pleasant warmth. A feeling that you wish to get lost in for as long as you both shall live.

Blinking your eyes open, you stare at the opposite side of the woods. There’s a slight furrow to your brows as you stare down at your lap, beginning to fiddle with your hands as Mingi rests with you against a tree.

Taking a small breath in, you steady your nerves.

“Mingi?” The call of his name is soft, barely above a whisper, yet he still hears you loud and clear.

A hum reverberates within his chest in response, his hand raising to cup the side of your face gingerly. His gaze is nothing but tender as he meets your own, thumb stroking lightly over the skin of your cheek.

“I’m sorry.” You avert your eyes to the side, shame washing over you as you recall the harsh words you spoke to him earlier in the evening. “I should have never compared you to my husband. You could never come close to being like the monster that haunts my every waking nightmare.”

Almost instantly, he shakes his head, concern marring his features.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Blossom.” He speaks evenly, keeping his voice steady; tender, but firm. “I regret ever making you believe I could even remotely do the same disgusting and vile things to you that he did. I promised to protect you, but I couldn’t even protect you from myself in such an instant.”

Now, it’s your turn to shake your head.

“I spent almost all of my life longing for death so I could escape the pain of my everyday life,” you breathe, staring intently down at your hands. “But, I don’t think I ever actually wanted to die.”

Mingi says nothing in response. Instead, he opts to take your hands into his own, bringing them up to press his lips tenderly against your skin. 

His eyes fall shut as he holds you to him, his heart aching for you. That he couldn’t do something sooner to help you is his only regret. Right now, though, he can be here for you, and then, he vows to make every day from here on out better than the last.

“I’ve been close to death so many times, I’ve lost count.” You admit lowly, your throat working as you keep your gaze locked on your hands held in his own. “Never dead. Always dying.”

Carefully, you pull your hands out of his grip, and Mingi blinks his eyes open to see you turning around slowly so that your back is now facing him. 

You kneel between his legs, sitting a bit rigidly before him. Your heart is racing erratically inside of your chest, and your palms begin to sweat. There is a sudden nervous air about you as you prepare yourself for what you’re about to do.

Taking a deep breath in, you take another terrifying leap. You know that Mingi will be right there to catch you with open arms as you begin to fall. 

With trembling hands, you pull up the back of your shirt.

Mingi’s reaction is immediate. Not only does he stiffen behind you, but a sharp inhale can be heard as his eyes fixate on your back. His hands clench into fists in his lap, seeing red once more.

Scar upon scar rests upon your flesh, the raised mounds of skin covering what once was pure. Not a single inch of you hasn’t been mutilated in some way, shape, or form, and the moment his gaze lands on a particularly large piece of marred flesh, a snarl tears from his throat.

“He branded you.”

Mingi can smell the salt from your tears as they cascade down your cheeks for the nth time this night, and he realizes that he hates the smell. He hates it when you cry, and he hates knowing that it’s because of this bastard.

“The village doctor came to know me quite well.” You smile through the pain. “As to be expected, they were friends.”

“How did…“ His voice is deep, gravelly in the way he attempts to control his anger for the moment.

“My parents sold me to him when I was sixteen. I was told I was going to have a better life.” Your hands shake as you cling to the bunched material of your shirt. “All they wanted was status, and he gave it to them at a price. They never cared about me. They only brought me here to this realm to dispose of me. If I could serve them like a slave, I could serve my husband perfectly well. I could serve them a purpose. If I can’t do that, I’m completely useless.”

Mingi purses his lips, shaking violently behind you.

“The moment I stepped through that door, I was his.” Another snarl fills the air around you, and you wrap your arms tighter around your front. “I always had too much of an attitude, and he had to discipline me for it. His favourite were the whips, but never in places people could see what damage had been done.”

All those times you flinched after snapping back at him fill his mind. The way you never complained, never fought back, never tried to run… The only time you begged for mercy was when he killed that deer. Only, now, Mingi has a strong suspicion it wasn’t actually him you were pleading with to spare you.

“I lived to serve him, to please him, and him alone.” There’s a bitter resentment lingering on the edge of your words as you spit them out harshly. A resentment that Mingi unquestionably, and undoubtably, shares. “It didn’t matter what I wanted. I had nothing. I was nothing. If I wasn’t valuable to him, I was useless, pathetic… something to satiate his boredom with whenever he desired.”

“Everything I did soon became wrong. If I brought him meals, it wasn’t served fast enough. The food I prepared wasn’t the right kind, nor was it ever good enough. If I didn’t dress a certain way he liked, he would tear my clothing and humiliate me in public. I was too fat. Too tall. If I talked back, or out of turn, I was told that I was lucky to still have my tongue.” A scowl tugs at your features as hot, angry tears spill from your eyes. “He only let me keep it so that I could please him.”

Mingi swears he stops breathing. The rage swirling within comes to a boiling point, and he cannot prevent the way his lips curl over his fangs. His claws tear into the material of his pants, the sound of shredding fabric echoing throughout the woods as he tries to maintain a grip on his control.

“I was a toy given to him to play with. A pretty little ‘Doll’ sent to obey his every command.” Your whole body shakes violently, eyes squeezing shut so as to block out the memories that threaten to drown you at any second. “He would-“ you choke on a breath. “He would-“ your chest stutters. “He would let his friends watch, then let them take turns until they were all satisfied.”

Those three fae from the tavern flit through your mind, and you are reminded once again how close you came to reliving those awful memories.

“I never had a choice,” you release the grip you have on your shirt, letting it fall gently back over your skin. It doesn’t completely cover you, for a sliver of skin still peaks out, and all Mingi can do is focus on the edge of that horrid brand still visible on your back. “Anything I tried to do for myself was met with punishment. If I overslept, I was forced to stay awake for days, cleaning the entire house to make up for lost time. If I made a meal for myself unsupervised, or if I got myself something extra from the kitchen, I was starved. The only solace I had was escaping to that field in the middle of the night to sit amongst the flowers.”

Mingi’s breath hitches in his throat as you turn to glance back at him from over your shoulder. The most devastatingly heartbroken look rests on your features as you take a shaky breath in.

“He burnt that, too.”

Another low growl slips passed Mingi’s lips as his claws dig harshly into his thighs. He cannot even begin to fathom the pain that you’ve been through, yet he uses his own in this moment to ground himself. 

He can wait. 

He will wait. 

This bastard is not living passed tonight, anyways.

“Didn’t-“ Mingi’s voice is rough, strained from the barely contained fury lingering beneath the surface. “Didn’t anyone in the village notice? Did no one try to help you?”

You let out a laugh at this, but it’s dry and anything from joyous. It sends a chill coursing straight down Mingi’s spine.

“Oh, they noticed.” Your breath stutters on a choked scoff. “Whispers. There were always whispers about what was going on, but never any action. Whispers about my situation, and how horrible it must be. I knew they all knew, but no one ever came to my aid. It’s not like they couldn’t hear my screams, I could see their looks of pity every time I walked passed them on the street. They were all complacent, and all because he was a fucking lord.”

“No one wanted to cross him.” You continue bitterly. “That, or they were already his friends. It was a small town. Besides, who would want to give up such a wonderful opportunity? It’s not like anyone would reprimand them, or care for that matter.”

A moment of silence as you sit up off of your knees to rest fully on the ground. Stretching your legs out before you, you flex your feet, a frown marring your features.

“You asked me once about my ankle,” you stare down at the limb in question, rolling it gently. “I tried to run away, once. It was in the early days, back when I still had some defiance left in me. He ensured I could never do something so stupid again.”

You can audibly hear his breathing deepen, jagged pants escaping him. Every exhale is lined with an animalistic snarl, and you notice his legs have stopped shaking on either side of you.

“That was one of the first nights he almost killed me,” you go on to say, eyes fixated on your right ankle. “He even brought a shovel with him. That’s how he broke it. I’m pretty sure he was ready to bury me alive, too.” 

You blink, your foot stilling as you rest your hands in your lap. 

“By the time he was done, he was bathed in blood. My blood.” Your eyes flutter shut, taking a shaky breath inwards. “I will never be free of him. He is the shadow I see out of the corner of my eyes. He is the figure lurking around every corner, waiting to drag me back into that hellhole any and every chance he gets. He is, and always will be, the monster that haunts my every dream.”

“So, no, Mingi, you are not a monster.” Your pained gaze shifts to look at him from over your shoulder once more. “You could never be what truly terrifies me, because I learned a long time ago that only humans have the capacity and will to be truly monstrous. They will hide in plain sight, and lure you in with a false sense of security. When you have the capability to do good, but choose not to. When you only think of yourself and your own personal gain instead of helping others when they need it. When the power you have is used to hurt others… That is what truly makes someone a monster.”

Your final words linger in the air, an unnatural silence stretching on around you. Intently, you stare down at your lap, blinking away more tears that fall with every breath.

A trembling hand placed upon your shoulder causes you to jump, and you turn your head to see Mingi leaning over you. Slowly, he leans in to press his lips against your forehead, holding himself there as you feel him trembling violently against you.

“Close your eyes, Beloved,” his voice is low as he mumbles the words against your skin. Though he tries, he barely manages to contain the burning rage lingering in his tone. “I do not wish for you to see who I’m about to become.”

For a brief moment when he pulls away, your eyes search his gaze. You can see the anger he holds within, a fury burning as brightly as the stars in the night sky. Yet, within the pits of that fire which blazes in your honour, you can still see that same tenderness he always looks at you with. 

It’s an expression which you immediately understand.

Always, your safety and well-being comes first. He will never do anything to scare you, or jeopardize the way you see him.

So, you do exactly as told. You close your eyes.

Almost instantly, you feel his presence leave your side. You can hear some soft shuffling as he crosses the short distance to the opposite side of the clearing you’ve stopped in, and it feels as if the entire world goes still.

Not even a moment later, a tremendous roar echoes throughout the forest. The sound is full of rage, and anguish, bouncing off of the surrounding trees and causing your ears to ring as you hear a flock of birds take off in the distance. You can hear trees shattering, their root groaning as they are torn violently from the ground. 

Still, you keep your eyes closed.

Snarls fill the air as branch after branch is snapped apart in his fury. Every resounding crash causes your heart to jump within your chest, but you can only find comfort in his complete desolation of the woods.

Finally, someone is fighting for you. Someone is filled with enough rage at your situation that they are actively lashing out due to the mistreatment and abuse you’ve faced. Someone who cannot fathom you ever being treated so horribly by the people who were meant to protect you.

It takes half an hour for Mingi to return to you. You can still hear his breath heaving as he fills his lungs with air, but the sounds of his destruction have long since quieted to a subtle breeze against your skin.

“You can open your eyes now, Blossom.” He says gently.

Blinking your gaze open, you rub at your eyes. Your vision is a bit foggy in the corners, but the moment it comes back into focus, you see Mingi kneeling before you. His shirt is torn in multiple spots, his hair completely disheveled. Dirt is smeared over his skin from head to toe, and you can see a few stray leaves sticking out of his blond locks.

Almost instinctively, you sit up straighter, reaching forward to tug the foliage out of his hair.

His gaze follows you the whole time, shining with adoration despite the worry on his features as he takes your hands gently into his own.

“I’m sorry you had to hear all of that,” he brings your hands up to his lips, placing a tender kiss onto the skin of your knuckles.

Cautiously, you peek around his shoulder, and a small gasp escapes you. Your wide eyes blink in shock as you see that he’s completely levelled a portion of the forest. 

Trees have been uprooted and completely decimated, splinters of wood littered across the ground. Leaves are torn asunder, branches thrown in every direction except towards where you had been sitting. There are even a few sections of earth completely bare, the dirt ripped up and scattered across the wreckage that litters the ground.

“Don’t pay any mind to that, Blossom,” he smiles assuringly at you, helping you stand to your feet. “Let’s go get cleaned up, and then I’ll find us some food.”

True to his word, Mingi leads you to a small spring. He is nothing but gentle as he guides you into the water, bathing you softly as the stars shine overhead. He doesn’t let his gaze linger, nor does it wander, and for that, you’re grateful. He treats you like a person, which is more than you can say about how you’ve always been treated by your own kind.

With him, there are no expectations. You are free to just be.

He truly is the most respectful creature you have ever met, and when he catches you staring at his chest for a little longer than you should, he doesn’t comment on it. Instead, all that greets your ears is a soft chuckle and a fond smile.

A little while later, he’s helping you out of the spring, and back into your clothes. He seems to have somehow gotten a completely new set, along with your own, but when you ask him about it, he simply smiles in response.

“Rest here, Beloved,” he places a tender kiss to your forehead. “I will be back shortly with some food.”

Like always, Mingi is true to his word. It takes him no time at all to return with various fruits and nuts, feeding you eagerly as you sit in his arms. He even managed to find you another stem of red spider lilies to replace the last one that you lost earlier in the day.

He doesn’t seem to eat as much tonight, but he brushes off your worry when you comment on it. You, of course, don’t push, figuring it might be a fae thing, or possibly something about his emotions affecting his appetite.

What he does do, however, is brew you a special tea. It’s made from a specific flower that you vaguely recall hearing about back in your hometown. Besides, you trust him, and it’s not like he’s going to abandon you, or poison you. He already said he would do neither, and you believe him.

“Drink this, My Blossom,” he hands you the canteen carefully, making sure not to spill its contents over your lap. “It’ll help you sleep. I want you to rest thoroughly after the day you’ve had.”

Once the tea is finished, and the food is all gone, you end up curling into his side just like the night before. The embers of the dying fire glow beneath the darkness of the night sky, and you feel completely safe wrapped in Mingi’s arms. No chill settles in your bones, nor discomfort at laying on the ground, either. 

It’s been quite a long time since you’ve been this content, this relaxed.

Surrounded by the warmth of Mingi’s embrace, you fall asleep, and for the first time in forever, no monsters haunt your dreams.

[choicesmonthlychallenge]

Choices March Challenge 2024

I asked and you answered. It seems like flowers and spring are prompts you are interested in for the March Challenge!

I hope you enjoy the prompts I chose. There is a mix of flowers, spring related words, March holidays, dialogue prompts, and visual floral prompts. I also posted some floral dividers that you're welcome to use.

Have Fun + Happy Creating!

Prompts + Guidelines below the cut!

Flowers (these are some possibilities, but all flowers are accepted)

Bleeding Heart Flower

Carnation

Chrysanthemum

Coneflower

Corpse Flower

Daffodil

Daisy

Gladiolus

Hydrangea

Iris

Jade Vine

Lavender

Lilac

Lily

Marigold

Moonflower

Nightshade

Orchid

Pansy

Peony

Poppy

Rose

Snapdragon

Sunflower

Tulip

Wildflowers

Spring

Awakening

Baby animals

Butterflies

Clear skies

Daylight saving

Fresh air

Growth

New Life

Outdoor activities + sports

Picnics

Rain boots

Rainy days

Renewal

Spring cleaning

Sunny weather

Warm temperatures

Longer days

Umbrella

March Holidays (these are some possibilities, but all March Holidays are accepted)

March 01: National Peanut Butter Lover's Day

March 08: International Women's Day

March 09: National Barbie Day + Get over it Day

March 11: National Napping Day

March 15: The Ides of March

March 16: National Panda Day

March 17: St. Patrick's Day

March 18: Awkward Moments Day

March19: First day of spring

March 23: National Puppy Day

March 30: National Take a Walk in the Park Day + Doctors' Day

March 31: Easter

Dialogue Prompts

"The flowers in the park seem to have a secret language, don't they?"

"Why does every spring bring back memories of that garden?"

"I can't believe you kept that secret from me all these years."

"Why do you always have to be so stubborn?"

"I never thought I'd see you again."

"Do you believe in second chances?"

"I thought we were in this together."

"You're not the person I thought you were."

"Sometimes silence speaks louder than words."

"Is it too late to start over?"

"I don't know who I am anymore."

"We're running out of time."

"Why are you really here?"

"Your laughter is my favorite melody."

"If our love story were a book, every page would be filled with the softest words and the sweetest kisses. What chapter are we on now?"

“Will you please shut up”

 “Of all the things i love about you, this is my favorite.”

Visual Prompts:

If one of these inspire a creative work from you feel free to use it. You can list the prompt topic + # (ie: Rainbow 3)

Guidelines + Rules

Submitted works will be featured on a weekly masterlist

Every form of creative work can be submitted: fanfiction, drabbles, moodboards, edits, drawings, poems, songs, sketches, and more—all are welcomed.

Work from any book and story from the Choices (and Pixelberry) universe are welcome (new and old alike)!

You can participate as many times as you want during the month

Clearly list the prompt your used

You can combine submissions for this event and others

Please add a cut to avoid long posts and exposing other fans to triggering/disturbing content.

If your work is NS*W please label it as such and use appropriate warnings. Adult content should be hidden under the page break.

You can get creative with the prompts. It can be a variation of the word and/or concept. It doesn’t have to be exact or literal. If the word inspires a train of thought that led you to something different, put that in the notes and send it in! Have fun with it! Make them work for you! The ultimate goal is just to find joy in creating!

Please tag @choicesmonthlychallenge​​ and if you’d like to add me you can do so as well~ @lovealexhunt​​​ (feel free to DM me your work too since Tumblr tags are fickle)

Please do not submit work that has been created with AI. Works that contain AI will not be reblogged. If reblogged inadvertently and I find out they have AI, they will be deleted.

Late entries will be accepted through April 5

[skekdris]

Sketch of my OC/Species graciously brought to life by @aryeonos , The Arhulian. Needless to say, a huge, six-eyed, badger-centipede is both intimidating and hard to depict visually. Thanks to Ary again for assisting me with editing and proof reading. I don't think my story could have reached this level of polish if I did not have my love to bounce it off of. <3 Down below is a short story of them meeting the Amaranthine characters by @kwillow and @chocodile . They are in for a surprising house guest, that's for sure! Seems like a good way to get a feel for a character is to put them up against some "knowns" to see how the character would react in those circumstances. Acts as a good backdrop to flesh them out from there. As for right now, I'm still 'sculpting' out a lot of the Arhulian lore and worldbuilding. Initially the story was supposed to be with Hyden, Alex, and Theo, interacting with my Arhulian character 'Niadris' - but the way things were written out and flowed - it turned out to be Alex, Theo, and Ridge instead. I really wanted Hyden to meet them in this story, but then again, Hyden being deadass asleep while all the interesting stuff happens sounds like a pretty Hyden-y thing to do. Anyways, onto the story. It's somewhat of a long read, at ~7k Words. There's a lot of character interaction, so I hope stayed close to how the three would react in such a situation!

The Visitor

It was an afternoon in middle spring - which for this area of the continent meant that if the weather was good, temperatures would rise above freezing. The cool air with the humidity of melting snow seemed pleasantly mild compared to the long, bitter winters. In the study of a large manor on the outskirts of a town called Northcrest; an older, corpulent, Rabbit with a cracked gem embedded in his forehead was gripping the sides of his hair in frustration. "A person of my mind, MY intellect should have solved this weeks - no - months ago!" Hyden snarled to himself. 

"You sure you aren't just stalling for time to enjoy your little 'vacation' here?" A Bat leaning in the doorway chided. 

Hyden put on a despondent look. "I am trying, Ms. Solokov. Really, in earnest. The faster I can put an end to this disaster, the faster I can rebuild my oh-so woefully maligned reputation!" He said, crumpling up another paper of scribbled equations of arcane theory, tossing it into a waste basket. 

Alex wanted to retort, but it would just be another fight, another exchange of barbs like all the other times before. She rolled her eyes, then stood up to wander out of the office. "Hopefully Ridge gets back soon. I want someone I can actually talk to." She thought, returning to her room to take stock of her things.

Hours later, as the sun was setting - casting the hillsides in an amber glow, a brawny teal Shark bundled in a heavy coat returned. In both of his arms were large crates, as well as canvas bags hooked around his arms. The door was opened by a short, roundish fancy Rat. "Oh, do make sure you remove your filthy boots at the entryway, I don't want any melting slush being tracked all over my estate." They sneered in their shrill voice. 

"Yes, of course Theo. I wouldn't want to sully your pristine hardwood floors." Ridge responded dryly. Before the Rat could retort, the large Shark added. "Anyways, here's everything you had on your shopping list, these supplies should keep us stocked for a few weeks before another trip." Preemptively cutting off Theo again, Ridge blurted out: "Oh, and I trust 'ya have the perfect spot to put everything. I wouldn't want to scramble 'yer pantry, after all." 

Theo scowled at the bulky outsider, their constant pokes and attempts at wit got under his skin. He knows Ridge was trying to get out of putting away the groceries after a long walk - but he was also right. "Yes, of course. As the sole keeper of this venerable estate, it is my duty to tend to all it's functions, right down to it's inventory." Theo stated. There would have been more words to shoot back, but Theo's duty as a host kept him from slipping any further into banter with his guest.

After dropping off the groceries for Theo to tend to, Ridge went off to search for alex. The manor contained more rooms and floors than any “house” he had ever set foot in. It irritated Ridge to no end that the little rich Rat insisted that the doors remain closed at all times, so he had to peek into half a dozen rooms and three closets before finding the reading room his friend was residing in. The weary Shark entered, flopping down on a chair; glad to be able to finally sit down on something soft and cushy after his trek. Alex smiled, welcoming him. "Your shopping trip took a long time Ridge, I know he asked you to grab a lot. Is everything alright?" The Bat queried.

Ridge sighed. "Yea... well maybe. Just some things 'goin on." He added before continuing. "I know you don't get out much since you 'gotta keep an eye on them two, so I figured I'd go around town and pick up a little news for ya. See what's happening. There's been talk of some strange things going on. Livestock vanishing, hunting season has been looking a little sparse, and strange tracks out in the snow. People said they look like ski pole marks, I dunno what to make of it, I figured you uh - you have gotten out more than I have, so you'd have an idea."

Alex frowned. "Well, unless we are dealing with a roaming pack of wolves with skis, it's probably another one of those magic, twisted monsters that appeared ever since this whole catastrophe began." Alex sighed, rolling her eyes. "Yet another thing I ought to give that fat Rabbit a piece of my mind about." She said, her voice lowering, oozing with contempt. 

Ridge gave Alex a concerned look. "Yeah, well, if it was just that, that wouda have been one thing. But I saw those funny tracks near the path to the mansion... I don't have a good feeling about this."

Alex nodded. "I see. As much as I want to see that guiltless loaf ripped apart and eaten like cheap, stale bread by the very monsters he's created; we need him. I'll keep my eyes and ears out for anything strange." The following nights were uneasy for Alex. Each night, she'd take station and perch herself on one of the roofs accessible via a second story window, scanning the horizon for activity. Her large ears would catch whispers of something roaming in the distance, but she never could locate the source of the sound or what direction it was coming from. It always vanished just as she felt like she was homing in on her target.

She felt an uneasy tingle in her veins as her frustration mounted. If it was just wildlife, or even a monster, she surely should have spotted something by now. "Is anything really out there?" She thought to herself. After another uneventful evening watch, Alex swallowed her worries long enough to get some rest. She already has Hyden to keep watch over, she doesn't need whatever this is stealing her attention.

During the late evening; an hour past midnight, the manor was quiet, save for the crackle of the evening fireplace, as well as the stirring of but a single person; Theo. Between his duties as host, the sole caretaker for an entire servant-less manor, as well as his intense suspicion of everybody - save for his living historical idol Hyden - Theo was often the last person to go to bed, and the first to rise. This truncated sleep schedule, the bags under his eyes; they were merely the cost of business to keep everything in order. During the final rounds of his estate, a knock came from the door just as theo entered the foyer. The ears of the diminutive Rat twitched, his shoulders jerking at the sound of the knocking, which in the dead of night was as clear as his crystal wine glasses.

Tap tap tap. Another knock came. Theos' ears were not deceiving him. "Who in their right mind would visit at this godsforsaken hour?" Theo thought to themselves. This was abnormal. Tap tap tap. He rarely had visitors, ever. Let alone at a time like this. As he neared the door, he hesitated. The magical crystal embedded in his left hand felt strangely warm, and his hand was flush with blood flow. This was never a sensation he had experienced before - something was off. Tap tap tap. Before Theo could ponder any further, the fancy Rat scrunched his nose and bared a snarl as they heard more knocking pickaxing through his inner monologue. Whatever was going on, it was a terribly rude hour to be disturbing anybody, let alone him. Arming himself with some choice verbal barbs for his unwanted visitor, Theo opened the door.

As the door swung open, he was greeted by a silhouette of something massive - even taller than Hyden - though much of it's form was obscured by the evening darkness and their ebony fur, but what could be seen was not the body of a person. It was of some kind of beast. The fuzzy forelimbs of this creature ended in large, gently curved, off-white spikes, similar to that of a praying insect that Theo had only seen depicted in a historical encyclopedia. He looked up; his eyes met with the pairs it had on their badger-like head. The creature's triangular ears flicked, then it looked down at the Rat; the creature's three pairs of eyes were arranged above one right after the other - like the pips of the six side of a die. The eyes were pure black, save for the iris that shone like a purple ring in the light of the lantern. The words Theo had prepared found themselves lodged in his throat.

Aghast, the fancy Rat stumbled backwards, but his heel snagged on the edge of a floor rug, causing the Rat to land on his posterior, painfully pinching his tail. "Eek! M-monster... Gnnnk! Demon! Hng Aberration!" Theo exclaimed in a shrill voice as his rapid breathing caused him to fumble over his own words. He wanted to call out for help, to Hyden; even to the outsider, Alex. But he could not utter anything beyond sharp gasps as his breathing went to disarray.

The imposing creature looked at the panicked Rat and spoke to them. "Oh? Is that so? Would a monster choose knocking over divorcing your door from its frame?" The creature's voice was deep, coarse, and multitudinous as if three separate beings were speaking in unison. The creature remained in the doorway, peering at the quaking Rat, examining them and their actions closely. All six eyes were locked onto Theo, and the gaze made his fur stand on end. Theo already hated being stared at by just one pair of eyes. 

Theo sat on the floor, his whole body feeling flushed and trembling from his pounding heart. That thing had just spoken to him. In fluent dialect no less! Theo had heard of monsters before, but never an intelligent one - let alone one capable of speech. Something about this creature disturbed him to his core. His mind raced at kilometers a minute trying to process just what he was witnessing.

The creature's lips tensed as if it were about to speak; but then it stopped, before looking to its left. "It seems your sentry has been roused." The creature spoke aloud.

"Ess... Sentry?" Theo questioned. Then it clicked; it was referring to Alex. She always kept watch. How did they know about her? "Was this thing spying on us?" Theo exclaimed in his mind. The Rat felt dread bubbling up within him.

In one of the manor's guest rooms, Alex was sleeping. The tension of the last few nights had made deep sleep an impossibility. Thus, when the sound of Theo's raised voice came from downstairs, it was enough to wake her. She rubbed her eyes as she rose from the bed. "Was that Theo shout-" Her large ears flicked as they heard the sound of something unearthly and her fur stood on end. Without any further thought, her body reacted and she grabbed her hunting rifle, sprinting to the location of the sound. Fortunately, her eyes were fully adjusted for the night, and she made it to the foyer without a stumble despite her scramble. 

She sprang into the foyer, stopping herself with the guard rail of the grand staircase. Alex laid eyes on the huge beast in the doorway, it's six met with hers. Alex was prepared to shoot, but the violet irises of the beast were staring right at her the instant she rounded the corner into the foyer; as if it already knew she was going to be there. The sight made her freeze. "Theo! What in the hells is that!?" Alex exclaimed.

"A monster!" Theo shouted.

"A visitor." The creature stated, it's baritone, stentorian voice matching Theos' shouting in volume.

No longer half asleep with no obstructing walls to deaden the sound, Alex heard the creature's course, multitoned voice clearly. "Did that thing... just speak?" She said aloud.

Before either Theo or Alex could interject, the creature filling the doorway spoke to the two startled people in the foyer of the manor. "Yes. I did. Your language is relatively simple compared to my native tongue." The beast stated flatly. 

"Meh Ms. Solokov! It's egk dangerous! It's bee been spying on us!" Theo said, his chest still struggling to steady itself. 

Alex kept her rifle leveled at the beast in the doorway. She wasn't sure if Theo was speaking the truth, or was just in shock. "Okay, who and what the hell are you?" The Bat said, keeping her focus on the creature.

They replied. "I am Niadris. I am what your tongue would call... an Arhulian." 

Alex looked at Theo in bewilderment. Theo glanced back at the Bat. "Are-rule-lee-an?" Theo said aloud, sounding out the word by each syllable. "In all my eghk studies. I've never heard of such a species!" Theo said. The Rat's eyes glanced back to the creature in the door with fear and revulsion. "More like 'arhulian'." Theo muttered under his breath. One of the Arhulian's pairs of eyes shifted it's gaze back to the Rat.

"After knocking on your door and introducing myself, you suggest that I am a feral beast?" Niadris queried, in their deep, hellish voice causing the Rat's fur to stand on end as they swallowed nervously. The 'Arhulian' did not just speak their language, but had an advanced understanding of their grammatical structure. The implications of this rattled Theo as he shuffled back to get further away from this creature.

Alex took a deep breath as she maintained composure, interjecting before the situation escalated any further. "Alright, 'Niadris', why are you here? Theo said you were spying on us." She questioned, her rifle planted firmly in the direction of the unplanned visitor. The Arhulian was unfettered by her brandishing a gun right at them. Did it really not know what a gun was, or worse - did it not care?

"Spying? Given that your kind have responded to me with either fear or hostility on sight, I must carefully select when I reveal myself and to whom. It is no act of subterfuge. It is a necessity. Even now; you have your armament at-the-ready just from me knocking on your door and speaking to you. I wanted to speak to an individual, then have them inform the rest of my presence. Do you really imagine this going any better if I had been more bold in my approach? Depicting myself as non-threatening would be an order of magnitude harder with gunshot wounds." Niadris snorted, all three pairs flicking their gaze to Alex before one of them returned to Theo. The multiple pairs of eyes looking in different directions at the same time perturbed them both. 

"I eghk do agree that your appearance ehm elicits revuls-" A second pair of eyes locked onto him again. " -ghn a response." Theo said, catching himself. The Arhulian did not speak a word, yet the message was clear; it tore Theo up on the inside to even dare admit, but so far this 'visitor' has shown themselves to be quite capable of not letting verbal barbs go unnoticed.

Alex lowered her rifle, still keeping both hands on it. "I suppose that's... a pretty good point actually." She sighed. "But still, why are you here?"

Niadris spoke calmly. "We share a common enemy. Despite my imposing stature and prowess, physical might is all but meaningless against a foe that subsumes and absorbs all flesh that it touches." Alex's eyes widened as the creature continued explaining. "All my strength and ability are merely tools to avoid becoming a hearty meal in the wake of such a lurid foe." Both Theo and Alex became less defensive as Niadris continued. "...It is a terrible entity that digests without need or moderation. It is a blight upon this world."

Alex and Theo knowingly looked at each other. 

"Yeah. We call it the Shadow." Alex said. Her mind feeling a slight amount of guilt over her hostility, her rifle lowered completely. 

"Hrm Yes. In that regard we do have a commonality..." Theo relented, stopping before adding too much.

The fancy Rat composed himself enough to stand back up, and brush himself off. "So, that brings us to the matter at hand. How did you find out about our mission? I don't think anyone would have snrk told you about Rising Dawn."

The Arhulian stared with no reaction. "Rising Dawn? Is that a title?" They paused before adding: "No, I sensed that this place had an anomalous aura, so I studied you from afar before approaching." 

Theo raised an eyebrow. "What is this urgh 'aura' you speak of? What do you mean by sense?" He asked, his voice dripping in incredulity.

"My kind - Arhulians - have a 7th sense if you will. We can see the 'aura' of living things." Niadris explained. "This place caught my attention because I observed a strange aura much further than I would normally be able to; I was at the crooked sign above the red roofed well when the aura became detectable to me. My normal range is about three-fifths of that."

Theo and Alex raised both their eyebrows. "That's half a kilometer!" They both exclaimed in their minds.

"As I approached and could resolve things in detail, I noticed five distinct auras." Niadris raised their scythe-like forelimb and pointed in various directions. "Two crimson auras; one that luminesces brightly." Niadris pointed to Theo before continuing. "Crimson auras? Is it referring to our catalyst stones?" Theo thought to himself as the creature explained. The Rat was still skeptical, as him being a witch was public knowledge after all. As the Arhulian continued narrating, they mentioned: "The second crimson aura seems faint - as if it were hibernating or asleep." Theo's face twitched in shock as the creature pointed to the direction of the room Hyden was currently residing in - an interior room with no visibility from the outside, nevermind the fact Hyden's presence was supposed to be hidden. Niadris, still speaking: "Then there are two mundane auras - one of them with a notable a tendency to perch from a defensive vantage point." The Arhulian stated, pointing their bone-tipped forelimb to Alex.

"Is that how he snuck past me? He knew I was on watch and avoided me?" Alex pondered. 

"Then lastly, the fifth aura. A writhing, squirming mass of discordant signals, that seethe and roil like water itself harboring anger, yet cannot move freely. As if it were sealed away." Niadris pointed in the direction of where the shadow sample was.

Alex and Theo were at a loss for words. There was no way this thing could have such intricate knowledge of Theo's manor without ever having set "foot" inside. 

Before either could speak up, the Arhulian spoke again. "Another one of your kind has roused. It is the other mundane aura, and a voluminous one at that. They are to the northeast, and heading in this direction. Could you inform them of my presence before another outburst happens?" Niadris asked with a dry tone.

Alex was stunned in disbelief. They must be talking about Ridge!

Theo butted into the conversation: "I'm not sure what kind of feh fool you take me for, but I highly doubt you really have such a fantastical ability. Really, you can 'see' us through solid walls?" Theo's mind was a whirlpool of doubt and skepticism. The creature's claims seemed too extraordinary to be true. Theo was not sure how, but it has to be some sort of ruse! In the depths of the Rat's mind, the idea of this creature being able to observe him constantly, undetected was a soul-chilling prospect that fundamentally violated his privacy. It has to be a ruse.

"Yes." Niadris bluntly responded.

"Hmph Well, it was a cunning deception, but I'll have you know, our guest is residing in the southwest portion of my manor. And even if they were where you claimed to be, you aren't even looking in that direction..." Theo scoffed. As he was monologuing, the Bat's large ears flicked as she picked up the sounds of footsteps... coming from the northeast. 

Niadris did not care to let the Rat finish before speaking, their baritone, multitudinous voice overpowering the Rats' in the conversation. "You have previously admitted to having no information about my species, yet you are presuming knowledge of my capabilities?" 

Theo was incensed at being interrupted. "How dar-"

Ridge entered the foyer, scratching his back with a pillow in the other hand. "Hey, uh, is there a barbershop trio here, who are you talki-" The large Shark froze in place as his eyes met with the strange, badger-like creature filling the doorway. "Ah! uh! What in the goddamn...?!" Ridge dropped his pillow and adopted a boxing pose as best they could as their limbs still felt heavy from their evening nap. The Arhulian's eyes devoted a pair to focus on each individual in the foyer.

"Calm down, Ridge! This thing isn't... being dangerous. It wanted to talk to us." Alex blurted out with as much composure as she could muster. 

Theo's face was flush as he exclaimed. "What are you doing there? Your room is on the other side of the manor!" The Rat's entire body tingled as any shred of doubt he could summon was scalded away by the unfolding situation. 

The muscular teal Shark stammered, as so much was happening all at once for him. "Uh, well, I wandered around and dozed off in one of the book rooms. I got up because it was cold, then I heard this guy... thing?" Ridge said, glancing at Niadris, reluctantly dropping their boxing pose and grabbing their pillow.

"Well, at the very least, Niadris isn't lying to us." Alex said exasperated. Though she too, had her doubts about this 'visitor', she did not appreciate Theo antagonizing them openly. Theo glared at her. So far the Rat has shown hospitality to the outsider, but this jab from her really rubbed him the wrong way. In the uncomfortable silence of the foyer that was now getting cold due to the door still being open, Alex's mind sparked with an idea. "Wait a minute. Your special 'sense' is omnidirectional? And it works through stuff?" The Bat thought aloud, raising her voice as her ideas congealed before her. "You mentioned exactly where our sample of the Shadow was earlier too... Theo! They can detect the Shadow long before any of us can see it coming! Don't you realize how insanely useful that could be?"

The fancy Rat stammered as they choked on the shreds of their ego. "Hhhhnngh I'll... take that into consideration... Eugh if we are going to board this creature. I just hope it's civilized enough to behave as a guest." Theo sneered.

The Arhulian made a grin, showing off their sharp, carnivorous fangs to the Rat, as well as the deep plum hue of their interior flesh. "Considering your kind have reacted negatively to my being - often with violence - my exposure to 'civilization' has been quite limited. If my lack of knowledge bothers you so greatly, perhaps you could take some time to elucidate on the matter of guest-hood~" Niadris smirked. 

"Grrrr... Perhaps I will." Theo scoffed. “But I hope you know, we do not have the culinary erk inventory for something of your dietary needs.” Niadris nodded. “I am more than capable of procuring my own food, so you will not have to worry about my nutrition. In fact, I had eaten a deer a few days prior. I should be satiated for several days at least.” The fancy Rat raised an eyebrow. “You have, egh ‘eaten’ ’a’ deer? I think your grammar is a touch underdeveloped. Don’t you mean you caught a deer? hmph What did you do? Swallow it whole?” Theo sarcastically remarked. “I had to break off those meddlesome antlers, but yes, I devoured it whole.” The Arhulian responded nonchalantly. The foyer was stunned. “A-an entire deer?” Alex said incredulously. Theo’s face contorted with disgust. The thought of a creature this size ingesting prey whole - and possibly alive - summoned dreadful imagery in his mind. “So… that would uh... ‘splain the missing animals without a trace. Heh, we thought that was the Shadow ‘fer a moment there.” Ridge chuckled nervously. Theo did not relish being in the room with this lurid creature any longer than he had to. He turned up his scrunched nose before walking off. He was ready for this evening to end. “As I was stating; ehm your first lesson on etiquette will be on closing the door. You're letting all the warm air escape!" Theo spoke as he slinked to the other room, pulling out a cigarette and a lighter from his suit pocket, needing something to take the edge off. As he puffed on his cigarette, the tingling in his hand faded.

Niadris scuttled forward into the foyer, bowing their head to ensure they cleared the door. As the Arhulian entered, their full figure and size was apparent to Alex, Ridge, and a distant Theo peeking from a doorway. Though superficially resembling a badger from the neck up, from the neck down; the Arhulian had a long, Myriapodic form with six pairs of pointed, centipede-like legs. The limbs started off fleshy, covered in fur, then transitioned to softly curved limb spikes that were off-white in color, like bone or horn after the third joint. The Arhulian's body was long and arranged like that of a large, furry millipede or caterpillar, albeit with no segments. Despite their body arrangement, the Arhulian was mammalian - bone clad in flesh - yet clearly centipede-like in their silhouette and locomotion. Niadris closed the door with a light slap of their long, tapered, heavy tail.

"Holy shit. That's... not somethin' you see everyday." A tired Ridge said, not entirely sure if they were still dreaming or not. 

Alex looked at Niadris and saw that they had the strap of what appeared to be some kind of homemade rucksack across their chest as their only article of clothing. "Yeah, I was about to ask about the lack of clothes... but I guess there's nothing in your size." She remarked lightheartedly, trying to break the tension in the air.

"No. There is not. My metabolism can vary to maintain body heat relative to the environment, so clothes would be unnecessary. In addition, they would both limit my range of movement, and be unlikely to hold up to the kind of abuses my hide experiences." Niadris responded earnestly.

The teal Shark spoke up once there was a gap in the conversation. "So, uh... How do I say this? I don't see nothin' down there, and yet your voice is deeper than an Ironfrost coal mine. What are ya? A guy or girl?" The Shark asked. 

Alex's face went wide with shock before scrunching back down into a glare at the Shark. "Ridge! That's terribly rude to just go and ask someone a thing like that!"

Niadris interjected. "There is no need to chide him. It is a perfectly legitimate question. After all, that den keeper did state there appears to be no documentation whatsoever of my kind in their knowledge base - and given the encounters I have had - neither do the rest of your kind for that matter. To answer the first question, my reproductive organs are housed internally to protect them from the rigors of life. Likewise, the answer to the latter question is that your binary terms are insufficient to describe me. Arhulians possess both the ability to fertilize a mate, and sire children. We are hermaphroditic." Niadris explained. "Your language is... limited in expressing my form, so gender neutral terms will be adequate."

Ridge's face was flush with embarrassment as he realized how personal and blunt his question was. "So yeah, on that... if 'yer talkin' about mates; doesn't that mean there are more of 'you' out there?" The shark said sheepishly, trying to adjust the course of the conversation away from his prying faux pas. He clutched his borrowed pillow tightly. Talking to this thing still seemed like a surreal dream to him.

The Arhulian was silent for several seconds. Up until now, they had been immediate to respond to questions. Alex and Ridge glanced at each other. "My kind are not native to this land. In addition, I have traveled a substantial distance. It is highly unlikely you will encounter another Arhulian." Niadris stated, with a briskness to their voice. 

Alex looked down at Ridge from the second floor and gave Ridge a gesture to "Cut it out." Ridge gave a small nod. Alex sighed. "Well, it's safe to say your arrival has been quite a surprise. I think we all should get some rest and continue your introduction properly tomorrow." The Bat said, waving her arm for Ridge to come over to her.

Ridge added: "Oh, uh, I don't think we have any beds that'd fit you. 'Fer now you'll have to stay in the reading room I was in. Theo's got a big cushy rug in there. The fire is dyin' down, but I'm sure it's better than out there, heh.``

Niadris gave an acknowledging nod while their triangular ears perked up. They then pointed in the direction of the room Ridge came from with their uppermost arms, that had regular - albeit large, clawed - hands instead of a fang-shaped spike like the rest of their limbs. The shark raised an eyebrow. 

"Hey, uh, how do ya know what room I came from?" Ridge asked, confused. 

Alex sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah... I'll explain that in a minute, Ridge. I think Niadris here wants some space, they need a moment to relax after the 'welcome' we gave them." She said, physically pushing on the Shark to usher them out of the foyer.

It was true that they wanted to be left alone. Niadris had little experience dealing with people. They felt exhausted having to keep their composure on total lockdown to appear as non-threatening as possible. Niadris was eager to find this "reading room" Ridge had mentioned. Spatially, they knew exactly where it was based on the Shark's location in their mindsphere. On the other hand, their mindsphere did not consider walls, thus the Arhulian had to take a few moments to figure out how to navigate the interior of the manor to the reading room. 

Despite their size and bulk, the sound of the Arhulian's centipede-like legs scuttling across the floor were much quieter than one would anticipate. Niadris made it a point to take light steps, and maneuver on rugs and carpets to minimize sound. Not out of etiquette, but as a means to hone their stealth. Never before Niadris had such an opportunity to interact and maneuver around people in close proximity in a safe environment.

The Arhulian noted a single aura tailing him; it was the bright, crimson one of Theo. Not desiring further drama, Niadris elected to ignore the Rat's presence as they made their way to the "reading room" Ridge had spoken of. The comforts of fire and shelter were secondary to the Arhulian; what had piqued their interest was the very title of the room itself. Alex and Ridge were returning to their rooms, trying to process the evening's events. "They were... quite the visitor." Ridge said, his tone unsure. Alex looked down at the floor as she walked. "Yeah. Something about them makes my fur stand on end. It's like a creeping feeling going up my back." The tall Shark looked down at his troubled friend. "Are... are ya afraid? They give me the creeps somethin' fierce too." The Bat exhaled. " I... I don't know Ridge. I had my gun pointed right at their head, but they were unfazed. Niadris seemed to know what guns are, yet they treated me like an afterthought. They don't seem dumb either; they gave Theo a good run for their money in a debate. So either they got a damn good poker face, or... this 'Arhulian' might be even tougher than it looks." Alex trailed on, the confidence in her voice gone now that she was in private with the one person here she could truly consider her friend. "...I'm a soldier. A hunter. I've had scraps with big game, I've fought people bigger than me. Even gave ol' lard chops a bloody face." Alex said, referencing her brawl with Hyden. "But that creature, it isn't like anything my training could have prepared me for. I don't fancy getting into a fight with them." Ridge scratched his fin. "So, was letting 'em in really a good idea?" "Personally, I think their alibi passed the sniff test. They could have attacked any time and hit us when we couldn't see it coming. If they wanted to make a move, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be playing mind games like a certain someone I know. We have that going for us at least." Alex paused. "Even so, I feel like they aren't telling us everything." Ridge nodded. As they reached their bedrooms, the two parted ways, then closed the doors to their rooms.

In the other portion of the manor, the Arhulian arrived at the reading room; their three pairs of eyes widened in delight. Wall to wall shelves lined with books! Niadris had very limited experience with books from their fleeting encounters - or spoils - from outsiders. Most of those books contained relatively uninteresting data like logs or journals, or completely fictitious tales. Here however, had an assortment of books on a large variety of subjects and organized quite neatly. The Arhulian removed their handcrafted backpack and pulled something out. It was a thick leather-bound book. It was plainly covered, with the sole word "Dictionary" for the title. 

Niadris' chest seemed to squirm and writhe all on its own, followed by the faintest of popping and cracking of stiff joints. With a sound of flesh being pulled taught, numerous pairs of spindly arms came slinking out from in between the creature's ribs on the sides of their chest! These arms were very thin; near-skeletal in appearance. The hands on them were clawless, and consisted of three vaguely conical digits - two fingers, one thumb. These limbs were much slower and deliberate in their movements, and the leathery skin they had was a very deep plum color, almost black. In their travels, Niadris had quickly learned that the pages of books often were too delicate for their stronger, clawed, "normal" arms.

After tenderly putting away their dictionary, the creature's three pairs of eyes darted all across the room, scanning the spines of each book for topics of interest. The low-light conditions of the dying fire was more than enough for the Arhulian to discern the titles. Then, the Arhulian scuttled across the perimeter of the room, picking out a dozen books before returning to the center of the reading room by the smoldering fireplace. The huge, badger-centipede-like being then rested their long form on the floor, their body and abdomen landing on the carpet with a plompf. Niadris laid out three books with the covers open, while each pair of eyes scanned it's own book.

Theo had been quietly observing the beast from a hidden spot in another room through a peephole; and totally-not-a-hole that he had not gotten around to patching yet. The Rat monitored them carefully, shuddering at the sight of the numerous lanky arms protruding from the Arhulian's chest, and those arms touching his books. Yet, his attention was stolen when he witnessed this creature reading three books at a time! Was this creature really that capable of absorbing knowledge? Then, another thought crept into his mind. "Wait, who taught them to read in the first place?" As his mind contemplated, Theo's eyes widened when the creature looked up, and peered straight at him. Eye to eye contact, as if the wall parting them was not even there. Niadris gestured "come over here" with one of their their large, scythe-like forelimbs that were mounted below their exterior arms. Theo ducked down from the footstool he was standing on - nearly falling off in the process - then he covered his face in embarrassment. It seemed like there really was no hiding from this damned creature.

Letting out a sigh, Theo came to the reading room. The warm tingling sensation in his left hand returned. Was his catalyst stone reacting to this creature? The fancy Rat took slow, cautious steps forward. "It is remarkable. A wealth of knowledge at my fingertips." Niadris spoke aloud. They continued. "For so many years, I had to learn matters in direct fashion. I knew your kind stored information on physical documents, but I never could have imagined this place being lined to the ceiling with this treasure." When Theo was up close to Niadris, and composed enough to listen clearly, the Arhulians stentorian voice seemed to be composed of multiple octaves speaking in perfect unison. The scholarly Rat recalled the Arhulians' comment on their native language... “If the multiple octaves can be modulated separately, the grammar of this species could be phenomenally intricate!” However, Theo had more pressing things on his mind than appealing to his inner linguist, and set aside that tangent in his mind for later. The voice had strong projection, and the beast seemed to be making a concerted effort to whisper - which was speaking volume to Theo’s delicate ears.

Theo initially had some words for the Arhulian prepared, but the "treasure" comment gave him pause. The Rat stood there in silence for several minutes as the Arhulian continued reading what appeared to be volumes from an encyclopedia series, watching their thin ribcage arms turn the pages of each book. The hands were slow, deliberate, and delicate. Near by was a cloth that seemed to have been borrowed to wipe the oils from the creature's hands before interacting with his books. The rat let out a swift, small exhale. This monster treated his things better than some people he's hosted. Theo then spoke up. "At least someone else besides His Grace sees my library for what it is, and not eguh ornamentation. Though, I am surprised you would have any academic interest at all." Theo's words trailed on. Niadris shot a glance at him. "However, I presume it is not a completely irrational observation; a thing like you just can't sceh scuttle into a library. Which begs the question at hand, just who would teach you to read?"

The Arhulian paused, before giving Theo their full attention. "I... am not sure." They responded.

"What." Theo said, the word seemingly having spilled out of his mouth in disbelief. "What do you mean you don't know? How ek! How is that even a facsimile of an answer!? Didn't your moth-er well, parents teach you?" Theo said, his voice raised in frustration.  

Niadris explained. "I do not know how I came to this knowledge. My earliest memories were of me being carried in my brood lord's abdomen. In my cradle of flesh, I would see and hear the world as they would. They would make demonstrations for me to observe as I nursed inside them. Their past memories would come to me in my dreams." As the Arhulian narrated, Theo shuddered at the prospect of being entombed alive and conscious in writhing, moist, undulating flesh from all sides. The fancy Rat took a deep breath and persisted in wading through the graphic descriptions from the beast - he wanted answers for the trouble he had gone through this evening. 

Theo waited for an opening in the creature's explanation to jump in. "Your kind- urk Arhulians, have hereditary memory? If so, how is it you do not know where your knowledge came from? Perhaps a past ancestor?" Theo questioned, only half seriously.

The Arhulian shook its head in disappointment. "If only the answer was that simple. It is far more complex, and I am uncertain of the details. I will tell you what I know." Theo rubbed his brow, adjusted his glasses, and nodded. "When I dream, I see fragments of memories; but these memories are abnormal. I see... a settlement, a school, memories of a life not only not that of my ancestors, but not of my kind entirely... and our biology cannot interbreed. That I do know." 

Theo gestured for the creature to get on with it. It was unconscionably late.

"I do have one possible hypothesis. There is another way our kind can exchange memories and experience. A ritual called Arhel-vāl." The strange word was accentuated by the Arhulian's multitudinous voice. "In your tongue, the closest word to it and what it means is amalgamation. Two mature specimens of our kind, typically one larger than their partner, subsumes the other into their flesh..." Theo's stomach churned at the vexing, visceral, possibly even vulgar imagery the Arhulian had verbally illustrated to him. "...but unlike ordinary cannibalism, the subsumed being is absorbed alive, mind intact, and two, become one." Niadris described, sparing no detail, much to Theo's revulsion.

The fancy Rat's tail quaked as his analytical mind began to put together a picture his sensibilities did not want to see. "You're hnnngh suggesting you have Esss assimilated a person?" He said, his mind racing as fast as his heart. "Oh heavens! Is that why it is here? To consume our minds and seize our knowledge?!" Theo's mind screamed.

The Arhulian peered down at the Rat. "Your luminant aura is flaring and seething. Do you find this knowledge troubling?" Niadris asked. Theo looked at the beast glaring down at him, his eyes wide with terror. "I see. You imagine me as your would-be predator." The beast let out a hushed, hellish chuckle with their deep, multitudinous voice. "Worry not, Theo. The ritual of Arhel-vāl is strictly between my kind; the 'donor' in question must be of the utmost certainty in their union - lest their knowledge be torn apart in a maelstrom of panic and fear. Your kind were never even considered a possibility due to the mental fortitude required to uphold the ritual. The being that amalgamated with me - whomever they were - must have been exceptional in their conviction."

The trembling Theo swallowed. "Well, erf I suppose that is good to know. Hrf Well, if you'll excuse me, egk I need to be getting some rest.” He stammered. “It is dreadfully late. And do take care to return my books exactly as you have found them. hgn It was painstaking to order them all as I have." With an abnormal spring in their step, the fancy Rat wheeled around and left the reading room with haste. 

"By the gods, what is that thing? How does it exist? And why did it show up to MY manor, of all places?" Theo cogitated. Their attempt to seek out answers seemed to have only made the question mark hovering over this mysterious creature even fatter. Theo paced around the manor, and passed by the room Hyden was sleeping in; him blissfully unaware of all that had transpired this evening. Theo raised his gloved hand, as if to knock on the door, but he stopped himself. "I can't disturb His Grace during his rest... but I must inform him of this aberrant thing as soon as I can." 

Theo, anxious and jittering, sat down on a cushioned chair outside of Hyden's room, fumbling with a pack of cigarettes. Alone with his thoughts his mind began to wander; all trains of thought leading back to that enigmatic creature. A particular moment from the Arhulian’s behavior stood out to Theo. The way they retreated to the library, and found refuge in books where they were not judged for their appearance or the mannerisms that others found odd... Theo shivered as he felt what was quite possibly a degree of familiarity with this creature. He did not want to fancy such feelings. The Rat shook their head and calmed their mind enough for exhaustion to take its toll; his head bobbed down, and the unlit cigarette in his hand fell onto the floor beside him as he lapsed into sleep right in his chair. The heavyset Rabbit snoozing under their blanket on the other side of the door was the only person in the manor to have had quality sleep that evening.

[welcome-to-sparkys]

Springlocked

TW: gore, Ness dies, springlocking

Summary: Ness saves Abby from being put in the spring lock suit, but at what cost?

A/N: Short little angsty fic here! Not quite security waiter but there's hints of it. This was if Ness took Vanessa's place plot wise in the movie. Just really liked the idea :3 Not a whole lot of editing just wanted to get this out there. May rewrite this at a later date.

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The sound was something Abby could never completely scrape from her memory. The sight of it all was burned into her eyes. Ness shoved Chica away, saving her from the metal grave, but Ness had miscalculated. He threw himself a little too much in the shove, which quickly reminded him of Newton's laws of physics.

He fell into the maw of Ella's abdomen. The sudden jolt of an adult's weight was more than enough to set off the spring locks.

It was almost like a mouse trap in how quick it closed and crunched bone. Ness began spitting up blood within a minute. The spider-leg-like spindels of metal clamped down on his supple flesh. Agony was inadequate to the sound of his screams.

Blood began to pool on the floor. Drip drip drip... Ness writhed in the machine from Hell, his body involuntarily convulsing as more jabs hit him. The claws sunk deeper...

Abby winced, squeezing her eyes shut and covering her ears with all her might as her shrill scream filled the air alongside Ness's gurgling.

"Abby... Run..." Ness managed to spit out, his crushed windpipe added a thick coarse sound to his once sweet-tone. He wanted her to flee before she'd hear his inevitable death rattle.

Mike dashed into the room, hearing the screaming. His mouth fell agape. What he saw... What he saw was worse than he could ever imagine. He knew he was going to be dreaming — a nightmarish dream — of this moment. Over and over and over again... Wondering, pleading, if he could have done anything different.

Mike scrambled to scoop up Abby. Chica hadn't attempted to pick her up again. The childrens' plan had been unexpectedly foiled. Mike didn't want to leave Ness behind, how could he do that? Yet... Abby needed out first.

He rushed out the exit, setting the poor shaken girl on her feet. "Abby, don't- Stay here." He was out of breath, his mind racing. He didn't give her a chance to respond before risking his life, running back inside.

The murderous robot had left, leaving Ness to die alone.

Well, not anymore.

Mike fell to his knees before Ness, blood soaking his weathered jeans. "Ness, Ness listen to me-" Mike choked out. "I'm going to get you out of here, I promise."

Ness simply... Smiled. How could he smile in a moment like this? "I'm just... Glad she's safe." He croaked. "Tell her I love her, Mike. Okay?" His hoarse voice was growing weaker after each word. Something flickered in his eyes. As if... As if he had something to tell Mike. He opened and closed his mouth, swallowing. God... His mouth felt so dry, despite the blood.

Mike fiercely shook his head. "Don't talk like that, dammit! You're not dying. Not here, not now!" Mike shouted, his pain reverberated in the tiny backroom. "You're not... I can't- I can't lose someone else. Not again." Not when he could have prevented it. Again.

"Mike... Remember her order for me, okay?" Ness said rather calmly. "She loves buttermilk pancakes with chocolate chips in the shape of a smile. Two whipped cream eyebrows to boot." He tried to chuckle, but out came a cough and a splatter of more blood. "Don't forget... Please."

Mike nodded in defeat. He knew Ness was a goner. He knew... He knew Ness knew that. "Okay..." He gently took Ness's hand, it daintly hung out the machine. It was so... Cold.

Mike could see the damage. It made his stomach churn. One of Ness's larger intestines had fallen out from a large rip made in his lower abdomen. It was suspended in the air. It was so unnatural and sickly to see. Yet, Mike refused to turn away from Ness. He didn't dare leave him alone. Chunks of flesh wrapped around the sleek and smooth metal parts.

He sat there, and waited. Ness took his last breath, hoarse and inhuman. Yet he smiled. He was content knowing Mike and Abby was safe. That's all that mattered.

A small sliver of Mike had felt peace, knowing Ness was able to die with that weak little smile.

And then he wept.

The building later collapsed, leaving Afton and Ness inside to rot. Mike swore he'd come back, every night. And he did. He rewound the nature sounds tape, and let it play in that very room. He spoke to Ella, to Ness, letting him know about Abby. How she misses Ness so dearly.

"She wants to visit, you know." The frazzled, sleepless man said to the cold, fowl-smelling machine. "And... And I get her those pancakes. Every Sunday like usual. Chocolate chips and everything." He choked on a sob.

One night, Mike swore he saw the machine move. Just an inch. But maybe... Maybe it meant something.

[muniimyg]

12 | three for three

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note: thank you all for all the love you send through interactions! it’s definitely been so fun talking and spending a few delulu moments with you <3 i hope you enj this written! we take a moment to dig deeper with the characters and their feelings... the fun truly begins after this! don’t forget to comment/reblog with your thoughts as i’d love to hear back from you! a special thank you to @floweryjeons for the mini concept !!! and @thealexalcala​ for “all i need is FLUFFFFFFFF” 😆 please forgive the minor typos/mistakes ... will be editing this when i have the time <3 

taglist request: send a request with the title of this fic “your universe” // please DO NOT comment here or on the masterlist . it gets confusing and i prefer answering and tagging through asks !!!

taglist: @yukiehyukie @tarahardcore @bbsantc @jeonqkooks-main @whoa-jo @ellesalazar @exhibitachol @pamzn @floweryjeons @boraength @4ksj @joonsjuice @taegijns @avtrns @taegix94 @bloopkook @jihopesjoint @firesighgirl @vantxx95 @damn-u-min-yoongi @yoongukie-ff @hopeworldjimin @thisisaburnphone @pb-n-juju

If Yoongi had to sum up his feelings for you... Well, it wouldn’t be a very long list. 

It’s not because he dislikes you—no, he does like you! He just feels indifferent. Even if his friends are the definition of comfort and chaos, Yoongi remains indifferent. 

When you confessed for the first time, his immediate thought was that it was too early. You two were only 4 months into being friends. Besides, you were a little too tipsy. Though aware of your confession, you asked him for a clearer answer the following day. With a pounding headache, Yoongi’s words left you feeling even worse. 

“I think we would be better off as friends… We just met and I don’t want to ruin what we could be.”

What you could be?

Friends. That’s what.

By the second confession, a year or so passed. It was during a study session and you brought it up as casual as you could—too afraid of scaring him off but even more afraid of remaining friends with someone who you’ve completely fallen for. Yoongi was talking about the weather and the spring season transitioning in. You smiled in return before mentioning wanting to see the cherry blossoms. Before you could even finish your confession, Yoongi’s softened his gaze and sighed. 

“___, nothing changed. We’re better off as friends.. I hope you understand. But, hey, we can see the cherry blossoms with the others if you really want to.”

No. 

You didn’t really want to see the cherry blossoms. You just wanted to be with him. You just wanted to see something pretty with him.

Then, by the third confession… You couldn’t hold yourself together. You two were being teased at a party. Everyone was asking when Yoongi would finally ask you out. Everyone noted how often you two hung out or how clingy you were with him. Shoved closer and closer to him, he embraced you and laughed. To everyone, he professed; “I don’t like her that way. She’s just a friend. She’s my ace.”

That stung.

Even if everyone was piss drunk, you were completely sober and the feelings his words brought to you made you intoxicated with hurt.

That party was 3 days before the first game you didn’t attend. Yoongi clearly doesn’t remember it even though he walked you home. The confusing signals only made your heart ache and your head hurt. The following day, as you contemplated on going to his game; his words rang clear in your head. 

You just had to take the hint. 

You and Yoongi are friends. He wants to remain just friends... You rather not. In your heart, you can’t be friends with someone you’re in love with. It’s too messy. It’s too unfair. It’s too risky. 

Then, the game happened and you were no where to be seen. Yoongi had gone outside the court before the game even began to look for you in the crowd. You weren’t answering his texts and he found it odd. 

You never ignore him.. Even if you’re mad.

As time went by and Yoongi reflected on his feelings... He soon realized how his heart has begins to feel tight in his chest whenever you walk by. It has started to race and beat faster and faster every inch you get closer to him. How his hands would be sweaty all the time and maybe that’s why his handles when he plays are always on point… Because you were there making him nervous. 

That’s the funny thing.. After all this time, him rejecting you for the sake of preserving your friendship; Yoongi abandoned his own feelings for you. That’s the plain truth. Yoongi has never processed the thought of having a crush on you back. He always figured if the timing would be better.. If he wasn’t such a coward... If there was one more chance with you; you were worth the shot. 

It was love at first sight… On your end.

You caught feelings for Yoongi almost instantly. Within 1 month of knowing him, you couldn’t keep it together. Every slight touch, every time he said your name or walked you home… He had you. In every moment he tried and in every moment didn’t; he had continued to engrave himself into your heart.

You never tried to hide your feelings for him. If you were upset, annoyed, or in love with him more than ever—it was obvious. No one could read you better than him… But that was before.

Suddenly you don’t show up to their game.

Suddenly you’re ignoring him mentioning you in chats.

Suddenly you’re never around.

It’s so strange and frankly, it’s quite frustrating to Yoongi. He figured that if there was any time for you to feel offended or sensitive about him rejecting you.. It should’ve been the first time. Given that you’ve attempted 3 times in total—well, shouldn’t you be used to it by now? What were you expecting anyway? That one day, he would come to you? That one day, it would work out?

No.

There was so much pride you swallowed.

There were far too many nights where you lost sleep over him. Staying up with him to study, waking up early to walk to class to with him even when you didn’t have any scheduled… Not to mention taking care of the whole basketball team on his behalf. From baking cupcakes for their victory parties to helping them with car washes to help fundraise for their away games—sometimes, they were convinced you were the only reason Yoongi plays so well.

He plays well because he has you to take care of him.

He plays well because he has you to impress.

He plays well because he has you.

Had.

He had you.

To be fair, your sudden cold attitude from you took everyone by surprise as you have no problem expressing your sweetness through warm acts. Especially since Yoongi has always been your favourite... It was odd for you to pull away. Nevertheless, it was needed.

The truth is, no one has ever paid attention to Yoongi the way you do. 

He knows that—everyone knows that. You don’t. To you, you see him as this tender-hearted man that just needs a little goodness in his day. If you could be that, why not? 

Even if he can’t fully admit it now—let alone know it—you gave him a sense of peace and love. It’s something he has never gotten from others. It’s something that was only found in your presence and fades in your absence. 

It’s rest. 

In the same sense that you’re the first person to make him feel a sense of peace and love—you’re also the first person he is wildly unsure and unwaveringly certain of. 

It’s the scariest part of being around you. 

He’s afraid you’re a once in a lifetime kind of person. He’s afraid, he’s not that to you. Have you moved on already? The idea of loving you is natural. The idea of wanting to be good to you is second nature. The idea of you and him—is it inevitable?

“There you guys are!” Jungkook squeals from a far. 

The next thing you know, he’s running up to you and Yoongi along with the other guys. 

Yoongi, who has done nothing but stand by your side and make sad attempts of conversation with you since the bidding, smiles at his friends in relief. Was it that horrible being with you?

No.

He’s just nervous and you overthink.

You turn to Yoongi and pout. “What’s going on? I thought we were going to get cotton candy for Jungkook—”

Your crush shrugs as he shoves his hands inside his pocket. “Hmm.. Think this will be sweeter.”

Huh. 

Before you could question what he means, Jungkook greets you with an overwhelming bear hug. You laugh and Yoongi sends Jungkook a warning look. Jungkook sticks his tongue out at him. It’s blue from the cotton candy. 

As he pulls away, Jungkook immediately locks his arms with yours. 

“You wanna get married, ___?”

Your eyes widen. 

Never in a million years did you think you would end up friends with such out of pocket people. 

It’s important to note that when they all first met you, they thought your kindness would wear off and you would reveal your true self. Yet, 3 years have passed and you are just as angelic as the first day they met you. With your pleasant presence, it became a blur as to how you all got along or how the friend group came to be.

It just happened.

It was suddenly you and 7 overprotective friends. Some, however, are more protective and entitled than others. 

Therefore, their overprotectiveness, even towards Yoongi, was necessary. You felt secure with their love. Now, what’s happening? Are they supporting Yoongi? ... Since when?

“Pardon? To who? You?”

You love Jungkook and all.. But you’re loyal to the man who rejected you multiple times. 

“Ew! You’re pretty and all but God knows you wouldn’t be able to handle all this...” Jungkook gestures to himself. Yoongi rolls his eyes and you let out a small chuckle before sharing a look between the two.

“I’m so confused—”

Jungkook groans, tugging you. “Arghh, just come!”

Your eyebrows knit into a frown at Yoongi as Jungkook drags you away. You raise your voice to be heard; “I thought we were going to hang out?” 

Yoongi nods at you nonchalantly, heart melting from your words. Under his breath, he mutters: “silly girl, who do you think you’re marrying?”

The marriage booth is basically the new kissing booth. 

Your school’s facility only approved of it since it promotes healthy family relationships and blah blah blah. Truth be told, it’s just a booth where friends drag each other to expose their crushes. 

Hence, why your friends are doing what they’re doing. 

Jungkook, Jimin, and Hoseok are standing on your side as your bridesmaids. They’re holding cotton candy like bouquets. Meanwhile, Jin and Nam Joon stand on Yoongi’s side. Taehyung stands in the middle of you and Yoongi as the officiant. 

You have butterflies in your stomach but you’re doing everything to calm them down. Yoongi keeps looking forward, hardly even looking at you. It makes you nervous. 

What is he thinking?

Should you just run away?

Would it matter if you did?

Just do it. Would he even stop you?

You bite your bottom lip and look side to side. Taking a deep breath, you sneakily turn away. Hosoek catches your eyes and shakes his head, warning you to stay put. 

You don’t listen. 

Just as your feet are about to move, Yoongi tightens his grip with your hands and holds you still. 

You gulp. 

Even then, he doesn’t look at you. Instead, you notice his jaw tighten. You take the hint and stay put. 

Taehyung clears his throat before he wiggles his eyebrows at you. It’s obvious he is far too excited to be doing this. “Some say love is found in our every day. However, I believe it’s actually found once in a lifetime. With that being said, friends, we are gathered here today to celebrate the once in a lifetime of Yoongi and ___. Should anyone present know of any reason why these two should not wed, speak now or forever hold your peace—”

“She’s too hot for him—”

Abruptly, you and Yoongi turn your head and see Hoseok and Jungkook covering a swimmer’s mouth and dragging him away from the crowd. Hoseok and Jungkook give innocent smiles as they take care of the interruption... 

“Anyone relevant? No? Okay… Yay! You may now kiss the bride!” Taehyung smiles proudly, gesturing for you two to stand closer together. He leans in between you to two and whispers loudly, “... I said kiss!”

You stand still, unsure of what to do. 

Kissing Yoongi—as silly as it sounds—never occurred to you. You’ve spent so much of your time falling for him emotionally—a kiss never crossed your mind. Now what? You’re supposed to kiss him in front of everyone?

Before you can say anything, Taehyung turns your body to face Yoongi. Yoongi takes a step forward and closes in on you. It’s then that you realize you’re still holding his hand and how… How nice it is to be doing so. 

“No vows?” You ask, trying to stall.

Taehyung shakes his head and smirks at you. “Nah. I don’t give a shit about I do’s. Just seal it with a kiss!”

You look at Taehyung with pleading eyes. “K-kiss? Y-you want us to kiss?”

Yoongi scoffs, taking your attention away from Taehyung. “Yah, ___... You’ve liked me for 3 years and suddenly you don’t want to kiss me?”

“What? S-shut up! No, it’s just—”

“Are you not ready?” Yoongi suggest, half teasing and half aware that this may be going too fast. “We don’t have to if you don’t feel comfortable with doing so. You don’t need to act all tough to avoid embarrassing me.”

You let go of his hand and cross your arms at him. Lowering your gaze, you frown. “I am tough. I don’t care if you get embarrassed—”

“Why are you stalling?”

“Why are you asking so many questions?”

He glares at you. “I’m not asking a lot of questions.”

“Yes, you are!” 

Yoongi digresses. 

“You want a question? Fine. Can you whistle?”

“Excuse me? Of course, I can whistle. What does whistling have to do with any of this—”

“Do it,” Yoongi challenges you. “Whistle. I don’t think you can..” 

You give him a confused face for nth time today. He tilts his head at you and insists you prove him wrong. 

Rolling your eyes, you give in to his odd request.

As you pucker up your lips, Yoongi swiftly wraps his arm around your waist and pulls you towards him. As your bodies crash together, he places his other hand to cup your chin and even squishes your cheeks together with his thumb and index finger. 

His gaze softens as he looks into your eyes. 

You blink.

You panic as you suddenly register what he has just done. What he’s doing... In front of everyone. Before you can even decide if you should lean in or push him away, he decides for you. 

Yoongi lets you go and takes a step back. As you compose yourself, he purses his lips and nags, “you’re not ready. That’s okay. I’ll be right here when you are.”

By sunset, Jungkook’s sugar rush reaches it’s peak. 

He’s jumping off trash bins and talks everyones ears off. Jin insists on taking him home while Nam Joon, Hoseok, and Taehyung decide to stay to help Jimin and the student council clean up. 

That leaves you two. 

After the marriage booth, you and Yoongi avoid conversing. The rest of the day was filled with playing games and mostly watching over Jungkook. Honestly? There wasn’t much to say as you two were practically walking on eggshells. 

“Hey,” Yoongi approaches you shyly as the rest of the group goes disperse. 

“Hi.”

“Are you staying behind to help Jimin or are you heading home?”

You look around and notice all the people tearing down the equipment. There’s plenty of them and the mess isn’t that bad either. Could you think of an excuse to get out of whatever Yoongi is about to pitch? 

Or should you just face it? Feelings are feelings and people are people. You can’t keep avoiding him forever. Besides... He’s trying, isn’t he? 

You digress. 

“I might just head home unless the future president asks me to do something,” you nod in Jimin’s direction. “Let me go ask—”

As you’re about to leave his side, Yoongi catches the hood of your jacket and holds you still. You pretend to choke and even reach out your hands as if you need help. Turning to him, he lets go and you let out a small laugh to lighten the mood. 

“You don’t need to talk to him. It’s me,” he says so devastatingly—so pathetically—no, so desperately. “You need to talk to me. ___, can we please talk?”

You aren’t too sure if it’s the way he pleaded or because your heart completely betrayed what your mind has been trying to commit to. You can’t get over him.

“You going to confess to me or something?” you tease. 

Yoongi smiles at you softly in response. Then, he nods towards a direction before walking away. Sighing, you pick up your feet and follow him in silence. 

Yoongi leads you to the middle. 

It’s away from the crowd and near the beach side of campus. It’s not too far away from your place or Yoongi’s. You can hear the waves crashing from a distance and all your friends chatting on the other side. Sitting on the bench, you watch the sunset dissolve in the reflection of the water. As you swing your feet, you stay quiet and let this moment be it’s own. 

When the colours of the sky dim and the streets lights flicker to be more prominent, you decide to suck it up. You should confront your issues now. 

“So… What’s up?” You break the silence and it takes Yoongi a good minute to compose himself. 

This is it. 

This is his moment.

He shakily takes a deep breath before abruptly standing up. Yoongi has a bad habit of keeping his hands in his pocket... But who could blame him? It’s how he feels the most comfortable and truth be told; he needed something to keep him from going crazy.

Everything he feels for you is so new.. It’s unfamiliar. 

“I don’t think we can be friends,” Yoongi confesses. He feels like he could burst from the relief he instantly feels. “... I want to be with you. I want to be more than friends and I understand my realization is late and I don’t deserve another chance—but I’m asking for one anyway. I’ll be better this time.”

His promise sounds bittersweet to you.

“You didn’t want me before,” you remind him. “I was finally trying to get over you… And then you started to care when I wasn’t around. Do you miss me or do you miss me tending to your ego—”

“You.”

“Yoongi… You say it so easily.” You try to pass off the hurt with a laugh. It makes your heart clench. How could he be like this? All of the sudden, he was finally saying the right things. Everything you’ve ever wanted to hear from him is finally being said… What are you doing fighting it? Perhaps you’re hurt. Perhaps you’re scared. Perhaps it finally feels difficult. “I don’t get it.. I’ve liked you for 3 years… Now? Now you want me? You lose a few games and suddenly you need me around?”

“Win or lose, it’s you,” Yoongi confesses. “I don’t get it either. It’s like… It hit me and once I accepted how I felt… It was the easiest thing to know. Ace, you need to know that I have always wanted you. I just… I didn’t want to ruin the friendship and the timing felt too off. You hardly knew me and I’ve always felt indifferent to so many things in life. You know me. You know the kind of person I am. You know the person I could be. I can be emotionally mature. I can be communicative. I can’t express myself as much as you do or as much as Hoseok can but I—”

“What?”

“Nevermind… That’s not the point. The point is; you know me better than anyone else. You know this is me trying. You know this is me being honest with my feelings for you. You believe in me more than anyone and now I’m believing in you.”

“Do you hear yourself? You rejected me.”

A beat. 

“And I regret it. I’m so sorry for everything but I also can’t apologize for not knowing any better… Now I do and now I will be better.”

“What are you saying?”

“___, please date me and dump me over and over again—I don’t care. I want you in any way you’ll let me have you.” 

You heart skips a beat. 

For the first time, it does so when it should. When Yoongi is finally saying the right things and you’re in a position that doesn’t make you feel pathetic and hopeless. 

Regardless, you need a moment to process it all. Yoongi takes your silence as just that. 

He waits. 

He wonders. 

Then, he hopes. 

You sit and contemplate everything. 

Your feelings for him never left. You tried to dim them but it was no use. Every message, every shared look, and every moment that fleets between you two only makes your heart grow fonder. 

But alas, you answer him. 

“Three for three.” 

Yoongi looks at you confused. “What are you talking about?”

“I confessed to you three times. You rejected me three times. I’m giving you three chances to confess to me which means I have three chances to reject or accept. If I accept, then we can be together. I’ll be your girlfriend since you want me so bad,” you tease. Yoongi rolls his eyes at you, trying to mask his hopeful feeling. “This counts as one. My answer tonight is no. You’re right... Back when you rejected me for the first time. It feels like we just met. I’ve never seen this side of you and I’d like to get to know you better. This also gives you the chance to get to know me... So, sucks to suck. Better luck next time, aki.”

Yoongi sighs in defeat but accepts happily. Who is he to argue with you? You just granted him the best wish. He takes his hands out of his pockets and reaches out for you. You stare at it and look at him blankly. 

“Can I at least walk you home?”

The truth is, you have never considered yourself to be stubborn. You’ve always been forgiving and embracive with second chances. Maybe that’s why you give in to Yoongi’s request. Maybe that’s why you let your heart be it’s own and guide you once again...

Maybe that’s why under the cherry blossom trees, Yoongi holds your hand and walks you home.

[cadybear420]

Cadybear's MC Wardrobes: Evie Ayana, OG HSS Book 1 (Part 1). Featuring some edits by me!

This is a new series that was inspired by @tveitertotwrites's Outfit Replacements Series.

How this series goes: With each book, for a MC I'm invested in, I'll assess each of their in-game outfits. How much do I like or dislike the outfit? Is this something that suits my MC's style, or does it make me go "My MC would NOT wear/own this"? And for the outfits that my MC would not wear or own, how would I alter or replace them? I'm not going to use screenshots from the actual game because I can't be arsed. Also I want to use the different sprite expressions to express how my MC would feel about each outfit.

I like to think this is a good opportunity to elaborate on my MCs' dress styles, and show off some edits :D

First up, we'll be assessing the wardrobe from OG HSS Book 1, for the one and only, my beloved Evie Ayana! However, I've had to make this into two parts because of Tumblr's 30 image limit.

Directory for the other parts will be included in the reblogs after I've completed the posts for all books!

Ch 1: "Sweet Dreams" Pajamas

The pants are nice and 100% in Evie's style. Evie LOVES soft fuzzy textures and loose cozy soft pants.

The camisole top, on the other hand, is... not really her taste. It's a bit too short, and the lace trim isn't quiiiite her thing.

Verdict: Only partly in Evie's wardrobe. Alter by replacing the top.

Here's what this outfit would look more like in Evie's style. As well as some alternate pajamas she'd have, because she would absolutely adore those mint-colored smiley-face ice cream pajamas.

Ch 1: "Cool for School" Starter Outfit

Perfect. All the yes. Very gender. Especially the smiley face button and the kitten button. 100%, Evie's fall casual outfit. (I kind of like also that both she and Emma wear tops with horizontal stripes for their fall casual outfits)

Verdict: Part of Evie's wardrobe, and is Evie's official fall casual outfit. Keep it as is.

Ch 1: "Morning Jog" Starter Outfit

Not bad, but the sweater top is definitely far too short for Evie. She doesn't cares much for leggings also, she far prefers slightly loose soft pants.

Verdict: Not quite part of Evie's wardrobe. Alter by lengthening the sweater and stretching the leggings.

Here's what this outfit would approximately look more like to suit Evie's tastes (yeah, unfortunately some of these outfits don't like it when I use the Liquify tool to stretch them). This one, she'd love as an outfit for pajamas, lounging around the house, or for a cool day workout.

Ch 1: "Cardi Cute" Starter Outfit

This outfit truly is super cute, I love the floral pattern and the heart necklace and so would Evie. This is one of the few more fem-leaning outfits Evie would be comfortable wearing– she is okay with skirts or dresses every now and then, so long as A) they're loose/flowy, B) mid-thigh length or lower, and C) absolutely no leg/thigh slits.

However, she'd far prefer this as a spring casual outfit. Something more flowery, light, and carefree like this outfit is far better for spring, both weather wise and aesthetic wise.

Verdict: Part of Evie's wardrobe. Keep it as is (but use it only in Book 3).

Ch 1: "The Bombshell" Premium Starter Outfit

I love this floral print, and so would Evie. But this length of top is not her style, and neither is the choker(?)-style necklace.

Evie doesn't really care for midriff/belly-revealing outfits unless they allow her to put her abs on display (and even then, she's still very picky about the style), and, well... obviously the in-game f!MC sprite does not have abs. PB give us muscular f!MC options challenge (failed).

Of course, even if the sprite did have abs, the top wouldn't really show them. So it's not worth the diamonds to me.

If it was longer? I absolutely would spend the diamonds (though probably for it to be a spring outfit).

Verdict: Only partly in Evie's wardrobe. Alter by lengthening the top and making the choker necklace into a regular necklace.

Here's what this outfit would approximately look more like to suit Evie's tastes.

Ch 1: "Dare to be Different" Premium Starter Outfit

Evie would love this shade of blue and definitely would own the necklaces. She might find the flower crown cute (but probably wouldn't wear it much).

However, both the dress on its own and the outfit as a whole are not her style at all. Especially not the yellow leggings. They do not look good with this color dress.

And it feels more like a semiformal/party outfit to me anyways, so yeah. Maybe some other MC I make would like this, but not Evie.

Verdict: Only partly in Evie's wardrobe. Keep the jewelry and the flower crown for other potential outfits, but ditch the rest.

Ch 2: "Summer Fling" Premium Outfit for Brian's Pool Party

NOPE! Absolutely not! The style of top combined with how short it is, is not for Evie at all. And you wouldn't catch her DEAD in short shorts.

She might like some of the jewelry, though. But that's about it.

I could edit or alter this one, by replacing the shorts with jeans and then making a longer version of the top... but even then, I don't think this kind of top is quite her style.

Verdict: Evie would NOT own this. Replace entirely. Keep the jewelry for other potential outfits, but ditch the rest.

The outfit that m!MC gets is much more her style. May not be as attention-grabbing, but it's her way of being the hottest girl at the pool party. Though she would also be the type to just show up to the party in her regular casual outfit. That works just as well too.

Also, here's that edit of Aiden in the outfit again because I like it better on him. <3 <3 <3

Ch 2: Swimsuit

I like this pattern print and so would Evie. And she'd definitely love to wear a bikini to show off her abs. Though... preferably with a pair of swim trunks. That style of bikini bottom is just a HUGE no-no for Evie. I mean, she probably would wear it for comfort, but just underneath her swim trunks

Also, the bracelets... they're cute, but they're a rather odd addition to this outfit. IDK.

Verdict: Technically part of Evie's wardrobe, but needs the addition of an extra piece. Keep the outfit itself as is, but alter by putting swim trunks over the bottoms.

Here's what this outfit would look more like to suit Evie's tastes. Plus an alternate swimsuit that I headcanon she'll wear in other events.

Ch 6: Football Uniform

My baby jock girl in her first uniform. The utter joy expressed in the slow-printing "My first uniform!" text in the scene is so absolutely deserved.

Look at her. So gender. I'm so proud of her.

Verdict: Technically not in Evie's wardrobe because you have to return uniforms at the end of the season, but the point is, Evie would love wearing it. Keep it as is.

The football uniform is, of course, determinant on activity choice. Even though Evie's canon is being a jock in all three books, I'll also review the band and cheer uniforms, because I can.

BONUS ROUND: Ch 6: Band Uniform

So snazzy! In the AU where Evie joins band, she would absolutely rock this outfit. Especially the top.But I don't think she'd like wearing it for the outdoors band practices on hotter days.

Verdict: Technically not in Evie's wardrobe because you have to return uniforms, but the point is, Evie would love wearing it (in the band!Evie AU). Keep it as is.

BONUS ROUND: Ch 6: Cheer Uniform

Evie's going to second Jade Ali on this one: "You won't catch me dead wearing one of those tiny skirts".

Verdict: Technically not in Evie's wardrobe because you have to return uniforms, but either way, Evie would NOT wear this. Alter by replacing the skirt with pants and lengthening the top.

If Evie did cheer (it's not quite her thing, but she isn't completly closed to the idea), she'd much rather wear pants like in the m!MC's cheerleader uniform. But would still want a sleeveless top, to better show off her biceps.

Ch 9: "Eye of the Tiger" and "Hear My Roar" Premium Tiger Mascot Suits for the pep rally

Both of these are pretty good, I think Evie would really dig that white one. But at the same time, I'm not fully sure she would be up to wearing a mascot outfit. She'd be worried about how hot and sweaty it'd get in there.

But at the same time, I also want that scene where she accidentally throws a school logo t-shirt into Aiden's face. Especially since it parallels with a later scene later on in the same chapter where he accidentally hits her with a crumpled up ball of paper.

Verdict: Keep both outfits as they are, but whether or not Evie would wear them is still being decided. Come back to this later.

Ch 11: "Garb of the Enemy" Premium Disguise for sneaking into Hearst

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Nah

Aside from the comfy-looking jacket and the cute bow, this just isn't Evie's style (though at least the skirt isn't as small, lmao).

I think she'd also question why no one else in the group can wear a disguise, and would doubt the ability of this outfit to truly disguise her.

So to her, it wouldn't be worth it to wear this. Have Julian be the fake Hearst cheerleader instead tbh. I mean, he did do that in Prime once. It'd be a pretty neat little bonus callback, especially considering the more mature Choices!Julian likely wouldn't be as embarrased about it as Prime!Julian was.

Verdict: Evie would NOT wear this, not even for the temporary questionable disguise. But she would only partly own it. Keep the jacket and bow and maybe alter it for a different outfit (Mia probably would let her), but ditch the rest. Let Mia burn it later lol. Well, after Julian wears it as a disguise.

Now, Max's letterman jacket for the m!MC on the other hand... Evie would still be unsure about being the only one in a disguise and its effectiveness as a disguise, but it suits her much better and she'd be more willing to wear it. I mean, just look at her!

Aaaaand because that's the 30 image limit, we'll return in Part 2!

[deedala]

Weekly Tag Wednesday - The Self Care Edition 🌞

hello!! happy wednesday my beans. thanks for the game today @mybrainismelted and thanks for tagging me + @suzy-queued @energievie @jrooc @lingy910y 💖 Name: deanna🌱

Age: noel-aged

What kind of day is it? spring warm and im not ready for that i want my chilly weather back

When was the last time you ate? like an hour and half ago when i woke up from my cold medicine-induced afternoon nap

About how many hours of sleep did you get? well i usually get around 6 hours but lately its been closer to 8

Name one thing you could do to make your day better right now: drink more water probably

Why are you not doing that thing? i am actually, i did it! just now! yum!

What are you going to do tonight to relax? read some fic hopefully

What comfort food do you not eat often enough? hmm chocolate chip cookies i think

What's stopping you? if i buy them at the grocery store i have to buy too many at once and i get stressed out over it lmao

Have you ever had a professional massage? yes

Have you eaten fruits and vegetables today? yes

How much water have you had today? at least 60 oz based off of how many times i've filled my water cup

Is there a self-care gadget you really want to buy? i dont think so?

What is your favourite healthy snack? whats a healthy snack? uuhhh i like rice cakes?

What is your favourite unhealthy snack? hrm...i have a very neutral view on the healthiness of foods but i guess a thing with the least nutritional value would be candy

What is one thing you are going to start doing RIGHT NOW to take better care of yourself? i dunno man im already doing my best lmao

And to close, I want you to say one NICE thing to yourself that you really need to hear right now: its okay to take lots of naps right now, you dont have to power through all the time

and now i shall tag some more nuggets to play if you want otherwise just consider this some awkward finger guns from across the room @darlingian @too-schoolforcool @michellemisfit @mmmichyyy @juliakayyy @heymacy @heymrspatel @metalheadmickey @mickeysgaymom @gallawitchxx @crossmydna @iansw0rld @creepkinginc @squirrel-fund @vintagelacerosette @rereadanon @themarchg1rl @sickness-health-all-that-shit @callivich @the-rat-wins @softmick @palepinkgoat @sleepyfacetoughguy @whatwouldmickeydo @gardenerian @thisdivorce @sam-loves-seb @ardent-fox @transmickey @lee-ow @tanktopgallavich ✨✨✨

[morgana-larkin]

a cute prompt [i hope] reader's been teaching at abbott for over a year now, usually commute or in rare occasions, drive in her car, but now, goes to the school riding bicycle saying it reduces carbon footprint, saves her from expenses and as an exercise. But she just really love bikes, Jacob joined with this, next day he arrived at school riding a bike, then Janine and Gregory. Barb, tho was always dropped off by Ger with their car, rode it the bike during break for fun. Abbott staff decided to have a biking get together next weekend, Melissa initially declined but later on agreed because of Jacob's teasing that she's a schemmenti and doesn't know how to ride a bike [unfortunately, it's true] also, she secretly enjoy seeing you biking. They meet up in the park, with their bikes and decided it's time to go around the area. Melissa, embarrassed, said maybe she wouldn't go that far and maybe wait for them. So the crew didn't argue and left, r stayed. When the staff is out of the earshot and sight of the she beamed and said she'll teach Mel how to ride a bike. Melissa, being flustered and a stuttering mess still acted offensive about the *assumption* of her not knowing how to ride. R gave her a look and agreed to teach her. This is long, but I don't know. I feel like I'm always rambling lololol

Anon, ramble all you want. I don’t mind detailed prompts. And honestly when my ADHD meds wear off, I’m like Spotify, where I do the whole playlist and then recommended. Like I literally don’t shut up lol. Tbh they wore off 3 hours ago lol. So I went a little off just a bit, I didn’t make Melissa flustered until she was being taught instead of flustered before. And it was cute, it really was! Anyway, a little smut at the end but it’s really cute and funny. Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

On another note: I’m accepting Melissa Schemmenti, Chessy and Marilyn Thornhill prompts. So send them! I do currently have 9 that I still need to do but I’ll get to all of them!

Side note: for the gif I was literally watching her eat a tomato for 5 minutes…ok I’ll shut up now.

Teaching You

Warnings: 😏, fluff, sweet praise(non sexual praise), small injury part for Mel

Words: 4.3k

It’s spring time and the weather is finally warm enough for you to bike to work again. You get your helmet on, sling your backpack on and put your coffee mug in the water bottle holder. You unlock your bike from the lock wrapped around your bike and the bike rack in your apartment building and bring your bike outside. You kick up the kickstand and get on your bike, you check your helmet one more time and the little bell on your bike, then you take off.

You have a smile on your face as you’re happily biking to work on the busy Philly streets. You’ve always loved biking, your family are all big on biking and so are you, just something about it that you enjoy. You stop at a red light about a block away from the school and Melissa ends up pulling up to the light as well. You both end up seeing each other and you wave at her with a big smile then the light turns green. Melissa drives off with a smile and a shake of her head.

Once you pull up, you see Melissa parked and leaning on the brick wall of the school next to the bike rack. You pull up near the rack on your bike and get off and lock your bike.

“Hey hon.” She tells you with a smile and you look up at her after locking your bike.

“Hey Mel.” You tell her and then the trio is walking up to the school.

“Y/n did you ride a bike to school?” Jacob asks and you nod. You don’t really want to tell them how much you enjoy riding a bike, afraid they’ll make fun of you. This is your second year at Abbott but no one has seen you ride a bike before.

“Ya I did, it’s great exercise and helps saves the planet a bit.” You tell them and they all smile.

“Great idea.” Jacob tells you and you all walk in together. You and Melissa walk together with the trio trailing along behind you two.

Melissa tells you a joke and you laugh and playfully shove her gently with your shoulder and she does it back to you. The trio behind you smiling at the scene in front of them. You all enter the break and see Barb there on her phone, with Mr Johnson mopping the floor across the room.

“You guys all got here at the same time?” Barb asks all of you.

“More or less.” Melissa says.

“Y/n rode here on a bike this morning.” Janine says and Barb looks at you and smiles.

“Did you, dear?” She says and you nod. “How lovely.” She tells you and you smile.

After school you lock up your classroom, holding your helmet and start to walk out. Melissa ends up locking her classroom when you walk by and she joins you.

“Hey hon.” She tells you as she’s putting her phone in her purse and walking beside you.

“Hey Mel.” You tell her casually.

“So any plans for the weekend?” She asks you and mentally facepalms. It’s Monday, the weekend just happened.

“I don’t know, maybe some plans will come up but at the moment I’m free. You?” You ask her and she’s thankful you didn’t question why she asked you about weekend plans on a Monday.

“Nah, nothing yet.” She says to you and you end up at the bike rack. You put your helmet on and unlock your bike and put the lock in your bag.

“I can’t believe we didn’t know you rode a bike to school and it’s been over a year and a half.” She tells you and you look up at her and smile.

“Well I don’t do it in the winter, you guys just never saw me bike and I don’t really talk about it since it’s normal for me.” You tell her and kick up the kickstand and get on.

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then?” She asks you and you nod.

“Yep, see ya tomorrow.” You tell her and you pedal off. Melissa watches you bike off and she smiles, she already thinks you’re cute, but seeing you happy on a bike warms her heart. She walks to her car with a smile.

The next day it seemed that Jacob decided to also ride a bike to school and you smile as you see him pull up to the rack as you’re locking yours.

“Hey hon, and Jacob.” Melissa says, confused when seeing Jacob as well.

“Hey Mel.” You tell her. “It seems Jacob also decided to bike to school.” You tell her excitedly.

“Well like you said, good exercise and good for the environment.” Jacob says with a shrug.

You all walk in the school, you and Melissa chatting and joking around. When you walk in the break room, Jacob joins Janine and Gregory and Melissa joins Barb. You on the other hand just drop your lunch off and get a coffee then you start to walk off when Melissa stops you.

“Hey hon, why don’t you ever stay?” She asks you and you look at her and realise that they’re all looking at you.

“Oh um, well I guess because you already have your groups of people to hang out with and I don’t want to intrude on that.” You tell her and they all look at you sadly. “It’s alright, I’ll find my own group of people.” You tell them and then walk out before anyone can say anything. Unknown to you, Melissa looks at where you were standing with a shocked and a bit upset face.

You don’t run into anyone after school as one of the parents was late to pick up their kid, apologies flowing out of their mouth and you wave them off saying it’s alright.

The next day it seemed you started a trend as Janine and Gregory also decided to bike to work.

“It’s so much fun to bike!” Janine says excitedly after getting off her bike. You all lock up your bikes and head into the school. You arrive at the break room and you go to put your lunch in the fridge and make your coffee. You go to walk out but Melissa stops you again.

“Hey hon, come sit down here.” She tells you and points to the empty chair at their table. You look at her a bit shocked. Your crush just invited you to sit with her and you blush. You then mentally facepalm as you realise you sound like a high school girl with a crush. You do end up sitting down with her and Barb and you have a nice morning.

At lunch, Barb asks if she can try out one of the bikes for fun. To which you accept and she has a lot of fun biking around the parking lot. All of you are sitting outside having lunch watching Barb bike around.

“Maybe we should get together this weekend and do a little bike ride together.” Janine suggests and you look surprised.

“Really?” You ask her and she nods.

“I’m down.” Jacob says immediately.

“Ya me too.” Gregory says.

“Ya I would love too.” You tell them.

“I wouldn’t mind joining as well.” Barb says and then you all turn to Melissa who’s sitting beside you.

“What?” She asks.

“Do you want to join us on a bike ride together this weekend?” Janine says to her.

“Nah I’m good.” She tells you all.

“Why not?” Jacob asks and she shrugs.

“Cause I don’t wanna.” She tells him.

“Is it because you’re such a tough Schemmenti and you don’t know how?” Jacob says a bit to tease her playfully and doesn’t know that he’s actually right.

“I know how to ride a bike!” She tells him defensively.

“Ok then prove it. Join us this weekend.” He challenges her.

“Fine, what’s the time and place?” She asks and you all settle on Saturday at noon at the park since there’s a lot of bike paths there. You give her a bit of a weird look as she was pretty defensive but you don’t ask her about it.

Melissa keeps watching you bike away after school with a smile on her face.

Saturday at noon, you all show up with your bikes at the park. Melissa is the last to show up.

“Hey hon.” She tells you once she sees you and you turn around to face her with a smile.

“Hey Mel!” You tell her and beam.

“Alright so we should decide on a path and the distance.” Barb says and you all nod and settle on one after a few minutes.

Mel looks a bit worried when you turn to look at her. “You ok?” You ask her and she looks at you, everyone looks over at Melissa as well.

“Ya I’m fine, just I probably shouldn’t go that far. Don’t want to sprain something and then can’t walk for a few days.” She tells them all. “I think I’ll sit this one out.” She tells them and when they go to question her, she gives a glare and they all shut up.

They decide to just bike off without Melissa, except you. You hang back and Melissa looks at you with a quirked eyebrow. You look and see that everyone is just about out of sight and you look back towards Melissa.

“Shouldn’t you be biking alongside them?” She asks while still holding on to the bike.

“Maybe, but I’d rather stay here and help you learn how to ride it.” You tell her with a friendly smile. She looks at you confused.

“I already told all of youse that I know how to ride a bike, I just don’t wanna.” She says defensively again.

“Ok then prove it, use the kickstand.” You tell her and she looks at you confused.

“Kickstand?” She asks and you look at her with a knowing glance and you nod. Melissa looks at her bike, searching for what you could possibly mean.

“Mel…” you tell her and she looks at you as you get off your bike and you kick out the kickstand and let go of your bike. Melissa sees what you do and does the same thing then looks at you with a proud smile. It falls when she sees your face, you’re looking at her a bit sad.

“Did no one teach you how to ride a bike?” You ask her and she looks down at the ground, embarrassed.

“No, they didn’t.” She admits and you walk over to her.

“It’s ok to admit you know, I’m not going to judge you.” You tell her and she looks up at you. “If you want to learn then I can teach you.” You offer again and this time she smiles and accepts. You lock your bike up nearby and then you go back to Melissa. You show her how to sit on it properly and show her how to be when not in motion. Then you tell her how to ride. “It’s mostly about balance, like skating or balancing on one leg.” You tell her. “There’s a reason that the expression ‘just like riding a bike’ is so commonly used for stuff that you know how to do but it’s been awhile. It’s pretty straightforward.” You tell her and then you get off and tell her to try it.

You held on the bike with part of a handle and the seat the whole time so it wouldn’t fall over. Melissa got on just like you showed her and had one foot on the ground while still on the bike when she won’t be in motion just like you showed her and she looked at you for praise with a smile. You gave her a proud smile and a thumbs up and she beamed.

“Now here comes the tricky part, balancing yourself while pedalling. Now I’ll hold on the bike like I’ve been doing and you’re going to pedal ok?” You tell her and she nods. She then blushes when she realises that your hand keeps accidentally touching her butt and missed when you told her to pedal.

“Sorry what?” She asked when she sees you looking at her weirdly.

“I said you can start pedalling.” You tell her and she looks embarrassed then goes to try and start pedalling. She pedals slowly and crookedly and you manage to keep up with her to keep the bike up. “You’re doing it Mel, you’re biking!” You tell her and she has a huge smile. “Do you want me to let go and try and bike by yourself?” You ask and she widens her eyes.

“Uh no, I’m still trying to focus on pedalling and not balance.” She tells you and you smile.

“It’s alright, it’s at your pace.” You tell her without judgement.

You guys take a short break, mostly so you don’t tire yourself out.

“You’re learning it Mel, I bet by the end of today, you’ll be biking circles around all of us.” You tell her and she blushes and looks at the ground with a smile.

Turns out the first time you let go, she noticed how your hand touched hers on the handle and your other hand touched her butt and she lost focus and fell.

You ran to her and luckily she fell on grass. “You ok Mel?” You asked her and she looked embarrassed and had a pout. “Hey it’s ok. Most people fall the first person they try to pedal on their own.” You tell her. “I did.” You say and she looks at you.

“You did?”

“Ya, and I mastered pedalling by then. They took the training wheels off, I go to pedal, and fell right over.” You say with a laugh and she giggles. You then help her up and she blushes at the fact that you’re touching her. You on the other hand think her pink cheeks are embarrassment from falling. “Want to try again?” You ask her and she thinks, your hands still on her.

“I um, I don’t know.” She says, she can’t think properly with your hands on her.

“It’s ok if you don’t want to continue but I don’t want you to get discouraged because you fell on your first attempt.” You tell her genuinely. She decides to give it another try, and on the fifth attempt she was doing it. You were so proud of her. You ran after her and yelling “MELISSA LOOK YOU’RE DOING IT! OMG I’M SO PROUD OF YOU!” You yell as she’s going faster than you’re running. Melissa got flustered that you said you were proud of her and lost focus and fell.

You caught up to her and she fell on the pavement this time and scraped her hands. You kneeled down as soon as you caught up to her and took her hands in yours to inspect them.

“Oh they don’t look too too bad. But I think you should clean it to avoid infections.” You told her and she was looking at you with flushed cheeks. “What?” You asked her and you gently dropped her hands.

“N-nothing.” She said.

“Um ok.” You say confused. “But Melissa you did it! You rode a bike!” You excitedly told her and hugged her and Melissa froze. You pulled away and saw she looked tense. “Oh sorry, I should have asked to hug you. I’m just very proud of you.” You tell her.

“It’s alright, the hug was actually nice. I’m just not used to physical touch.” She says and looks down.

“I’m sorry.” You tell her and she looks up and gives a smile and whispers to you.

“I rode a bike.” She whispers excitedly and you smile.

“Ya you did. How about we go to my place and I can take a look at your hands and clean them. Unless you want to go back to your place and do it.” You said.

“Um, we could, um go back to yours.” She says, stuttering a bit and you nod.

You manage to get both your bikes in her car, somehow. You biked to the park since it’s only 15 minutes of bike riding away from your house. And you get back to your place and bring Melissa to your apartment. You get her to sit on the couch while you get cloths, a bowl of warm water, disinfectant and some bandaids. You bring them all to your coffee table and get her to hold your hands out. Looks like they were bleeding a bit.

You take one of the cloths and dip it in the water and then you wipe the scrapes on her hands. Once the bleeding stopped and the scrapes looked clean, you grabbed the disinfectant. “This might sting a bit.” You tell her and she nods. You put some on a clothe and wiped her hands. She did flinch a bit but other than that she seemed to be alright. You put a couple bandaids on her scrapes, where it was bleeding, and it looked alright. “Alright did you get hurt anywhere else and Melissa looked at you.

“Um nope.” She told you she avoided eye contact.

“Melissa…” You said and gave her a pointed look.

“I’m fine.” She said. You sat up a bit and adjusted your position on the couch so you’re on one knee.

“Melissa, where else does it hurt?” You asked and she crossed her arms and pouted. “Ok, if you’re gonna act like a child then I’ll treat you like one.” You told her and she looked at you and gasped in disbelief. “Either show me where it hurts or I’ll treat you like a child.”

“It’s one of my knees but I can’t roll up my pants to show you.” She tells you and you look at her with a “oh”.

“Well here.” You say and take the blanket on the end of the couch and cover her top part of the legs. You can take your pants off and still keep your modesty.” You tell her and she chuckles, she still takes her pants off and you see blood dripping down her right leg. “We should have made you wear elbow and knee pads.” You tell her and you get on your knees on the floor and get to cleaning her knee. Melissa sees you get on your knees in front of her and some fantasies make their way to her mind and she blushes. You look up and see her flushed face. “You ok?” You ask and she nods.

“Yep.” She says, voice a bit high pitched but you ignore it. You finish up with a bandaid on her knee. Just when she thinks it’s over, it isn’t.

“Oh I almost forgot!” You exclaim and hold your hair where it is, then bend down and give her a kiss on the knee next to where the bandaid is. She felt your lips on her knee and she blushed even more. “A kiss to make it better! Want me to do the same with your hands?” You asked her and she held out her hands. You kissed both of them better and her cheeks have turned from a pink to a red. You look up at her again and see her red cheeks. “Are you sure you’re ok? Are you running a fever?” You ask and feel her forehead with your palm. Oh if only you knew what you do to her. “You feel fine. I hope you’re not embarrassed, cause you don’t have to be.” You tell her and rest your forearms on her legs.

“Ya I’m…fine.” She said and give her a questioning look. “What?” She asked.

“Melissa? Are you hiding something from me?” You ask her and she avoids eye contact. “What are you hiding from me?” You ask her and you get up and bend over to rest your hands on her legs. And Melissa has a perfect view of down your shirt. She really has to focus on where her eyes look right now.” You notice how she stared at you, well more specifically down your shirt and her cheeks got even redder and avoided eye contact even more. You see how she keeps glancing at your hands near her thighs and she doesn’t know what to do. You decide to test a theory and move your hands subtly up her legs, near to that spot in between her legs and her breath hitches and her face feels like it could be on fire. You lean into her more and look at her eyes. “Melissa, something you’re not telling me?” You ask her with a slightly lower pitch voice and she’s breathing deeply right now. Just when you’re about to pull away, she grabs the back of your head and pulls you forward and gives you a kiss.

You’re stunned for a second but then kiss her back and Melissa is stunned. You’re kissing her back? She pulls back and looks at you and you’re smiling at her with soft heart eyes. “Do you like me back?” She asks you and you nod.

“Wait, does that mean you like me?” You ask her and she nods. And before you know it, both of you are surging forward and kissing each other. You end up straddling her lap and she deepens the kiss by slipping her tongue in when you grant access. Her hands roam all over from your chest to your knees. She feels so much of you and yet can’t feel enough of you. She tests the waters and puts her hands under your shirt and feels the skin on the side of your stomach and you don’t stop her. She roams her hands up and you two take a second to breathe before making out again. She continues to move her hands up and feels you smile. So you realise she’s moving her hands up and you’re happy about it. Does that mean she has your approval to unclip your bra? Just as she finishes that thought you unclip your own bra and she smiles. Just as she was about to go and touch your breasts, her phone rings loudly and it startles both of you.

“Hello?” Melissa answers and forgot to see who it was. She’s breathing a bit fast and you can see she’s trying to control it. So of course you decide to be a little shit and dive to her neck. “Oh Barb hi-i” she squeaks the last part out a bit as you decide to suck on her neck.

“Are you ok?” Barb says on the other line.

“Ya I’m fine, why?” Melissa says and tries to get you to stop but ends up holding your hair and letting you continue as it feels good.

“You sound breathless and like something surprised you.” Barb says gently and Melissa can’t think for a second as you removed your shirt and bra at the same time and she just stares. All she can think about is wanting to suck them. You begin grinding her leg and you nod your head to the phone and she suddenly remembered Barb asked her a question.

“Ya I’m fine just ya catching my breath, I ended up biking with y- y/n to her place since it’s like 20 minutes… instead of the-the 2 hour one you wanted to do. We just got back and I’m… catching mmmy breathe.” She stutters throughout the entire sentence as she just feels and sees you grinding her leg and you ended up leaning towards her so your breasts are almost in her face. You were torturing her and she knew it.

“You need to catch your breath after a 20 minute bike ride?” Barb asks and Melissa is really cursing in her head.

You decide to end her torture and grab the phone from her. “Hey Barb it’s y/n.” You say and Melissa decides to grab your breasts with her mouth and you pull the phone away from your mouth enough so that Barb doesn’t hear it.

“Oh hi y/n, is Melissa ok?” Barb asks.

“Mmhhmm.” You say since Melissa is teasing you now. “She’s alright, just she did 20 minutes to my place then 20 minutes back to her ca! Car.” You say as Melissa decides to rub your clit through your underwear and pants. “Ya so she’s fine.” You blurt out and hand the phone back to Melissa.

“Hey Barb, I caught my breath.” And Melissa is still rubbing your clit so you can’t tease her right now. You don’t pay attention to what Barb says and then hear Melissa talk again. “Ok, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Melissa says then hangs up. “You.

Little. Minx.” She says to you and you smile. She rolls her eyes at you then pulls her hand away from your clit and you whine. She sits up with you still on her, your legs wrapped around her waist and her hand grabbing your ass. She brings you to your bed with you sucking her neck and then drops you on the bed.

“Ah.” You say as she actually dropped you on purpose. She crawls on top of you and leans in to your ear.

“You were a great teacher with me for biking. Now let me show you how I pleasure a woman.” She tells you and you shiver and rub your thighs together. She notices how you react and she smirks, she pulls back and looks at you. “And when I teach, I like for the person to tell me how well I’m doing.” She tells you and then takes her shirt and bra off and then makes you breathless all night.

Taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta

@imaginesmultifandoms

@idonothingalldays-blog

@sexysapphicshopowner

@dvrkhcld

@lilfartbox1

Let me know if you want to be added!

[insertdisc5]

Devlog #10: Questions and Answers

Hello everyone! Welcome to this month’s devlog!

If you just stumbled upon this, I am Adrienne, also known as insertdisc5! I’m the developer, writer, artist, main programmer, etc of the game. The game being In Stars and Time, which is the next and final game in the START AGAIN series, following START AGAIN: a prologue (available here!).  You can find out more about In Stars and Time here!!! 

LET’S GET TO IT. This devlog is all about questions!!! So many questions!!! I’m gonna answer them all!!!

Happy 2023, everyone! It’s the year of In Stars and Time! In Stars and Time will release sometime this year on PC and Nintendo Switch! I hope you’re excited!!! In the meantime…

Nothing much to talk about this month! I am still fixing bugs, playtesters are still playing, etc. So… here’s another Q&A (Tumblr asks edition)! They're mostly characters/story based, because that's what Tumblr is all about. No spoilers though, I promise!!!

(PS: you can ask me questions whenever on tumblr btw teehee)

Anonymous asks: Hi!! Thank you for making such a wonderful game with lovely little characters!! I spin them in my head like microwaved macaroni. Can I ask what everyone's hobbies are? And their deepest fears? (If that's not too spoilery) Also have a good day!!

Siffrin likes to do wood carvings! Isabeau likes fashion, designing clothes, sewing them, that sort of thing. Bonnie likes to cook! Mirabelle and Odile both like to read- Mirabelle is a horror fan/YA type stuff, while Odile prefers non-fiction.

As for their fears, most of them are spoilery, but Odile is really afraid of heights.

Anonymous asks: I am DYING to know what that rope is on Mirabelle's outfit is, it's sometimes visible and sometimes not and I don't know what it's attached to?? I want to draw her but this rope!! Is getting me

It’s a rope that works as a belt! It goes around her waist, not her hips. It’s so her dress isn’t all flat and boring

Anonymous asks: oh DOES Sif like wearing slippers?? They seem like a slippers guy. Also what small things ticks the characters off?

YOU FELL INTO MY TRAP!!!!!!!!!!! Siffrin prefers socks. Mirabelle is the one who wears slippers.

Hm… I think saying those would be spoilers also, so I’ll just say that Odile hates when people keep secrets from her.

Anonymous asks: What is each party member's favourite season? While we're at it, what's their favourite kind of weather?

Hm… I think Siffrin is split between winter and summer (they have a good cloak that works for all kinds of weather!). Mirabelle’s and Odile’s are fall. Bonnie’s is summer (coastal kid!). Isabeau hears everyone say every season except spring and picks spring.

They all prefer sunny weather for different reasons. Siffrin because it’s easier to travel when it’s nice outside. Bonnie because they like the sun. Mirabelle because she likes to read outside under a tree, same with Odile. Isabeau because “being under the sun gives your skin a healthy glow!”

Anonymous asks: Questions! Do you have a rough estimate for how long the game will be? If this isn’t a spoiler, how did the gang all first meet? And if it is a spoiler then… what’s each of the gang’s favourite colour? 

I don't want to give any numbers just because playtimes will vary drastically depending on the way you play, but I can confirm ISAT is SIGNIFICANTLY longer than START AGAIN: a prologue!!!

For the gang meeting, first Mirabelle went traveling to try to save Vaugarde, then she met Isabeau in Jouvente, then they met Odile while traveling, then they met Siffrin, and then they met Bonnie. The nitty-gritty details aren’t really that important so I haven’t thought about it much. Most of the details on how they met will be found early in the game, so you won’t have to wait hours to know!

As for their favorite colors (Looks at the game. The game is in black and white) Think you’re funny, huh? HUH!?!???! NEXT QUESTION!!!!!

felikatze asks: how did siffrin obtain their fantabulous hat? and who is your favorite character to draw?

Siffrin was born with this cool hat. Popped right off with it on. And Siffrin is my favorite to draw, with Mirabelle a close second. Bonnie is my least favorite to draw within the gang but I still love them dearly. The King is my least favorite to draw period

inverts asks: why does siffrin wear gloves? what's loop's favourite food? what's the KING's favourite food? teehee

Bunch of reasons, but really the two main ones are 1. Looks cool and 2. Keeps them from biting their nails.

Thank you for the Loop question. No one asked about Loop!!! If Siffrin asked them their favorite food, Loop would say “bananas”. But is it true? Yes. But is it? Yes, for sure. But? Yes.

The King’s favorite food are uuuh (I go through my rolodex of foods) carambolas. Yeah

Anonymous asks: what are the gang's favorite hot cocoa toppings?

I don’t know enough about hot cocoa toppings to answer this, so have their favorite nonalcoholic drinks instead. Siffrin doesn’t think they have a favorite drink but really it’s sugarcane juice, Mirabelle’s is either tea or orange juice, Isabeau’s is probably milk or something, Odile’s is tea (but it’s gotta be expensive), Bonnie’s is pineapple juice.

Anonymous asks: whos the shortest (besides the kid) and tallest of them all?

Within the crew, Siffrin is the shortest (besides Bonnie), and Isabeau is the tallest! The real tallest is the King, of course.

Jovial-gender-jester asks: did the kid & their sister ever cook together?

Their sister taught them how to cook, so yes!

Anonymous asks: will we learn more about how Siffrin damaged one of their eyes? 

Yes :)

Anonymous asks: what’s your opinion on speedrunning isat/saap from a lore perspective? as in, what do you think goes through siffrin’s head when they decide to do it?

>:3c teehees evil-y (⬅has added an item and lore made specifically for speedrunners)

Anonymous asks: is the gang gonna be okay. are they gonna be happy

>:3c I teehee evil-y once more

Anonymous asks: Is there a map of the world? Where are things exactly (e.g. where is Ka Bue compared to Vaugarde (?) ?)

Have this map I drew early in development of the countries around Vaugarde. The story doesn’t really need me to know about The Whole Map so I didn’t think about it. I only figured out two neighboring countries’ names too so I could say other countries’ names for Worldbuilding Reasons (as in, to show Vaugarde is a country inside a world, and not just The Only Country In The World), but I do see Vaugarde as being surrounded with many other ones. Could’ve figured out more country names, but two is a good number. Ka Bue is on the other side of the world- Odile has been traveling for A While. For country sizes here, think European countries!

jovial-gender-jester asks: is it alright to ask how you came up with craftonomy? it was cool realizing it's different from craftology, and maybe has no bearing? the concept's fascinating!

Welcome to insertdisc5’s brainstorm theater

Hi I am insertdisc5 and I am making the prologue> ok i need a magic system for this world > fuck i can’t use basic fire water grass because one of my puzzles is all around finding a fire > ok well every magic system in rpg games is just rock paper scissors really > so… why not… just… rock paper scissors > ok but what kind of world comes up with that tho > so maybe it’s all around Creating Things… you can make all kinds of art with rock (sculpting) paper (art, writing) and scissors (uh… idk cutting things) and i kind of like the idea of magic being something similar to art, so let’s call it Craft > ok now i need to create events with every fucking thing i added to the maps, and also explain the world a bit more > the study of craft… craftonomy > hey you know how you have astronomy (studying space) and astrology (adding meanings to constellations, horoscope) so it’d be funny if it was the same, it would be a funny joke > craftonomy (studying craft) and craftology (“if you’re rock type you’re probably very strong but gullible hehe”) are born

Punkitt-is-here asks: How is RPGMaker treating you ⬅(best wishes)

Rpgmaker is my little cat that stays on my lap cutely and doesn’t even scratch me anymore. This is in big part thanks to my programmer who takes care of the really hard code for me teehee (THANK YOU ISABELLA!!!)

hummingcrows asks: How do you stay motivated!

I genuinely don’t have a helpful answer for this, I don’t find it hard to stay motivated to finish things in general… The few times I felt discouraged, I just either went “ok what’s like A Small Thing I can finish today, so this day isnt a total wash” even if it’s just doing one sprite, or “what’s one thing that would make me really happy to add” like a small scene or something, or just making the chairs’ backs rounder for Lore Reasons, and then I do it, and I am happy, and I am motivated

Anonymous asks: what was it like converting the character designs to game sprites? did they transfer easily or was it difficult?

Pretty easy! Outside of Siffrin (who already has a very simple design), I knew I would have to convert them into sprites, so I knew I couldn’t go too detailed with them. Even with their first concept art, I made sure to doodle them as sprites as well so I could make sure they would look distinct from one another!

(Very First Concept Art for everyone except Siffrin. Got their faces first try! (Except Bonnie))

Honestly the main problem was with their height… In the prologue, they all are very small, since I used a 48x48 size, and Siffrin has a MASSIVE hat that takes almost half his size, so all the other characters had to be drawn relative to Siffrin’s size, which meant I couldn’t add as many details as I wanted. I’m glad that for In Stars and Time I found a way to make the sprites taller (they’re 48x96 now, but I’m not using the full height), so now they are all cute and not squished.

(Some of the first sprites I did for the prologue. Look at how squished everyone looks!)

(Profile sprites for In Stars and Time)

roebeanstalk asks: Have you run into any mechanics you've been excited about, but have decided it's better to save them for a future project to keep this one going? Kind of a "kill your darlings" but for game mechanics?

I’m very happy to say that I’ve managed to add all the things I wanted to add to the game! It helped that there weren’t that many mechanics I wanted to add in the first place lol. I even had time to add one I scrapped early in development because it wasn’t that important! But it made me happy to add it so it’s in now!!!!

galaksyz asks: how many siffrins must be stacked on top of each other until they overtake the eiffel tower in height (ok i just wanted to give you the mental image of the Siffrin Pillar)

actual question: once the game is released, what part of fan reactions & creations would you look forward to most/what would you hope for most?

i think it would be awesome to see fan comics or animations, or OST remixes, or YT playthroughs, analysis/essay videos, maybe AUs... if you had to pick just one of those sorts of things, what would it be that you'd like the most?

212.9 Siffrins. Thank you for asking

And I genuinely love every single fan reaction/creation I've seen so far!!!! I have many folders filled with everyone's reactions/creations that I love to look at when I feel down :')

Fan comics definitely have a special spot for me in my heart tho... Those were always my favorite kind of fanarts to make, as a fanartist myself. The comics I’ve seen from the prologue already make me so so so happy!!!

And also, people just writing about the game… Like, just about things they like, things they’ve noticed, or theories they have, there’s also been a few and they just make me so happy. My brain goes on a loop of “yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah”. This is why I love the theories channel on the discord so much hehe, I tried really hard to add little breadcrumbs so it makes me happy when people pick up on it!!! And someone made a post that was just a list of everything they liked about the prologue and it made me so happy it felt like I was floating for a week hehe

pixxyofice asks: I am always curious about gamedev struggles. So... how hard is it to fix bugs for this game in particular? With the time looping I bet it would be hard to figure out maybe.

Uhhh and also what are each member's favorite colors?

Not that hard! I haven’t done a lot of Big Weird Code inside of rpgmaker, so any bugs are usually because I messed up a switch or variable, so it’s just a matter of figuring out the problem and changing one (1) thing. As for finding out there’s even a bug, that’s what QA and playtesting are for!

Bugs related to the time loop mechanic have (FOR NOW?!?) all been taken care of, so the bugs now are mostly related to choices, since some choices appear/disappear depending on where you are in the story. So sometimes I get a playtester like “hey Adrienne, i don't understand this choice i'm getting here”, and it’s because i messed up and it shouldn't be here yet. OOPS!

As for their favorite colors (I look again. The game is STILL in black and white. I try to run towards you but I'm held back) lemme at ‘em, LEMME AT ‘EM– (a few minutes pass, I calm down) Ok. What's the last question?

itr13 asks: what's everyone's favourite colors?

…..

Mirabelle’s would be a warm pink, Siffrin’s black, Odile’s dark green, Isabeau’s sunflower yellow, and Bonnie's black (but really, light blue). ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!?!?

That’s all I have to say for today! Let me know if you have any questions, or if there’s any aspect of the game development struggle you’d like me to talk about! See you next time!!!

AND DON’T FORGET TO WISHLIST THE GAME ON STEAM ALSO IT REALLY HELPS BECAUSE STEAM’S ALGORITHM IS MORE LIKELY TO SHOW OFF GAMES WITH A HIGH AMOUNT OF WISHLISTS THAT’S THE REASON WHY GAME DEVS ALWAYS ASK TO WISHLIST!!! OKAY BYE!!!!