#i know i can do that for every duo name but unfortunately i like being canon-compliant way too much

[freakinator]

being so brave and strong rn (ignoring a canon duo name in favor of one i like better)

[thesharktanksdriver]

Specs of Stardust (platonic)

I really can’t wait to get to determination! Y/n and the straw hats so instead I thought I’d post little interactions/headcanons of some of the stuff they’d do

I swear I’m working on the Roger pov it’s just this popped into my head and sometimes switching between things in writing helps with my burnout

Masterlist for the series here

Tagged: @peachsuka28 @emptynessinmyworld @badluckinfrench @j-s-l-m @tigerfang-rage @madokamagicaa @rymtea @angstylittleb1tch @badluckinfrench @emmbny @kenkenmaaa @yunho-leeknow @chibiduck @spqce-bun @coca-cola-fiend @Koifishpoond

Luffy

The best way to describe these two in a room is that Luffy does something stupid and y/n just goes with the flow following him

The rabid golden retriever and the chill black cat

The dumbass duo, rabid dumbass and chill dumbass

Once did the impossible and shared food with y/n because they gave him a dessert Sanji made (the rest of the crew thought they were mass hallucinating)

Y/n gives him cool rocks that they find, they’ve both now made it a goal to collect a rock from every place they go

Gives y/n piggyback rides 24/7

And no one else can give y/n piggyback rides cause that’s captains privilege apparently

Occasionally when going into battle he gives y/n his straw hat to keep safe

Has semi-adopted one of y/n’s crows named Aurelius which he aptly calls Steve. Aurelius does not like him nor being called Steve

Aurelius keeps pecking at him but Luffy thinks it’s showing affection

Both throw caution to the wind about their own personal safety but if the other is hurt they will pummel someone

When he accidentally ends up in the ocean y/n jumps in after to save him forgetting they’ll sink too

Y/n acts a distraction for Sanji so Luffy can raid the fridge at 3 am

When y/n sleeps in the male quarter (they do regular switches between the female and male sleeping quarters) he has y/n tell him stories to make him go to bed easier

Likes to make y/n laugh

Likes to pinch Luffy cause they think it’s funny how he’s rubber

When Luffy says something really stupid sometimes y/n likes to write it down in a journal exclusively called “Luffy quotes”

So far some of y/n favourites are “the colour orange is named after oranges”, “if I get reincarnated I wanna be a clam”, “I am rubber and you are fat, don't you dare touch my hat” and “if you hungry, eat”

Sometimes the two of them make weird animal calls to scare Ussop

Speaking of the two, unfortunately for the rest of the crew they now have to deal with Luffy’s pranks now getting worse because y/n actually helps him plan them now

Ussop still has nightmares of when he woke up covered in bird seed and was almost taken away by the flock

As does Sanji when he realizes he’s been betrayed by y/n who’s let Luffy raid the fridge once more

Sometimes y/n likes to ask him about his childhood, they find it so oddly funny that he’s the son of Dragon, grankid of Garp, became brother of Ace and was semi-adopted by shanks

They also like to hear about it cause they always worried Ace wouldn’t find good people

Luffy whines it’s unfair y/n doesn’t fully die in water like he would before being smacked on the head by either Nami or Sanji

When having to give history exposition y/n is the only one who can dumb it down so Luffy can understand and pay attention for over 2 seconds

Sometimes will proceed to forget y/n asleep on his back and jump into battle

Even when finding out y/n is immortal has still not figured out their connection with Ace or Roger

Both like to sit on the figure head of the ship and occasionally nap there

By doing this not have fell off several times only for Zoro to save them

Luffy just kinda somehow know how y/n is feeling and y/n similarly knows how Luffy is feeling

Instead of buying Luffy stuff y/n just shares whatever they get with him since they have relatively the same taste in nick knacks

Similarly Luffy kinda just shares his stuff with them in return

The Luffy and y/n stuff pile is ever growing

Luckily Nami has not yet found out about it

Ussop on the other hand has and is joining in on the stuff pile

As does chopper

No one can really distinguish who’s stuff was who’s anymore but they don’t care

They now have an entire storyline happening with different characters

Y/n has a new journal for this exclusively for lore

Both are always hungry, while Luffy is open about it y/n isn’t

Somehow though Luffy caught onto this and now demands for for the both of them

“Shishishishi tell me another one!” Your captain says excitedly rocking back and forth as you both sit on the merrys figurehead, smiling you nod thinking of what to tell him “have I told you about the time I met a samurai?”

You jolt awake with a small groan as you lift your head off of resting in the crook of Luffy’s neck, the sounds of battle now invading your ears. “Luffy did you have to get the marines attention when I was sleeping on your back?” At hearing this the boy pauses, his extended out rubber arm hitting a marine in the face sending the guy flying back “shishi sorry”. At that you can’t help but sigh, he most definitely wasn’t.

Sitting at the table you watch as Luffy lists off the entire menu to the poor waiter, the retail worker shaking in their boots as he seemingly finishes and their gaze turns to you. “Oh, I’m fine-“ before you can finish Luffy cuts you off with a blinding grin “they’ll have the same as me!” And then you see the waiter’s hope drain even more impossibly so from their eyes.

Zoro

Mihawks reluctant kids that ended up on his island and he accidentally adopted duo

Before knowing their immortal he thought that they were mihawks secret love child or something after baratie

Bribes y/n with sword lessons if they side with him against Sanji

Sometimes the two of them switch bandana’s

When he naps sometimes y/n joins him, when this happens he makes sure to take a protective hold of them just in case of turbulent waves

Other times when he naps he’ll wake up with an umbrella set up for him

Doesn’t know it’s y/n and Chopper who put flowers in his hair when he’s knocked out and assumes it’s Sanji which leads to a yelling match

Speaking of chopper, both he and y/n like to hang off of Zoro’s arms like monkey bars and zoro uses them as weights when he’s doing push ups

When he ends up lost y/n somehow has the miraculous uncanny ability to find him

But sometimes when he gets lost y/n ends up joining him for fun

Has kept y/n from unknowingly being mauled by wild animals because for some reason they either love or hate y/n

Likes to ask them about any swordsmen they’ve met on their journeys

The one who typically has to save Luffy and y/n when they end up in water

Y/n likes to joke that he and Sanji are an old divorced couple to others on the crew much to his chagrin

Zoro’s actually pretty observant of y/n due to their instinct to shrug off injuries

Y/n calls out this hypocrisy but it doesn’t change anything

He actually really ends up liking y/n’s flock when the murder of crows occasionally stop by

The one he really connects with though is one named Acantha

She likes to perch on his scabbards and seems to almost guard them when he’s not around

Y/n once fell down the stairs and he almost had a heart attack

After this he instinctively watches to make sure they don’t fall again

When y/n has nightmares and cries in their sleep he almost always ends up waking up

It keeps him up at night

The mornings after he subtly tries to keep an eye on them to see if their ok

Y/n about to fight a one off villain and being confused they ran off without them doing anything, Zoro behind them glaring with his swords out at said villain

Whenever y/n is on look out duty he typically volunteers to do it with them or take over for them

Sometimes game stares off into space he gets their attention by flicking their forehead

Has and continues to use y/n as an arm rest since chopper is too short in comparison

Has fell asleep while doing this but is always woken up by Sanji yelling at him

Will either carry y/n slung over his shoulder or tucked between his arm and side

Y/n constantly wonders how he talks with a sword in his mouth

Or how he came up with that idea in the first place

Sometimes when they end up islands y/n buys him sword themed things, like sword polish or even a small rack to display them

In return Zoro buys y/n journaling gear since he sees them sometimes writing in a small diary and also gets them things that he notices catches their eye

….100% bought y/n the journal of Uta that needs a password and when opened loudly plays a low quality version of Genesis

He regrets this decision when he’s woken up to it at 3 am

“Y/n where are we? Luffy said he’d meet us around this time in the centre of this town” the green haired swordsman says looking around at the people who were also in the same abandoned building as the two of you. They all looked weird, one was a big muscle dude, another looked like a ninja with pink hair, a samurai, a blond dude in a tracksuit and some weirdo with a forehead tattoo. “Zoro how do we always end in situations like this?” You ask.

“I’ll teach you more sword tricks if you agree with me next time Swirly brows gets in a fight with me” he says suddenly waking up from his nap as you rested tucked between his arm, for a moment there’s silence and then you nod making him give an almost vicious grin towards the kitchen of the merry.

“So wait, you thought I was mihawks kid?” You question with an eyebrows quirked up, zoro with a bit of embarrassment nods. “Well, I assumed so since he gave you that little blade of yours” he says pointing a finger to Mihawks gift currently in its scabbard “but he just gave me a sword? How does that make you think I’m his kid?”. He gives you an impressed stare, “Mihawk does not just gift anyone anything let alone a sword plus whatever else he gave you. Doesn’t help that he acted like your damn dad afterwards” and after hearing that you let out a small “oh”.

Sanji

The seafood duo, aka the 5 michelin star chef and the kid who once boiled and ate their own boots (it was not tasty but they did it)

Since Sanji was the first strawhat encountered who knew y/n previously (the others being Chopper, Brook and Jimbe) he Was the first one to know about y/n’s immortality due to his prior experience with them

So it’s safe to say that he takes that secret to heart especially when y/n says they aren’t quiet ready to reveal themself just yet

It still felt too soon and they wanted to be treated normal for a bit longer (their words not his)

So he respects that decision even if he knows Luffy and the others wouldn’t make it a big deal

If anything Luffy would probably think it’s cool and move on

But even if that’s his opinion he swears to keep that secret until their comfortable

And he does so with the upmost respect he can and even covers for y/n sometimes

Due to knowing y/n he’s also the one who worries for them the most, especially when realizing the stories they once told on that island have become more fractured in time

Even their memory of that place is much more hazy

Like a film put over a picture, changing its focus and making it blurry

So he does his best to remind y/n, adding in the details he remembers them now forgetting as they write down the stories

Bribes y/n like Zoro to help win arguments via making them any sweet or desert of their fancy

When y/n is aimlessly pacing around deck he has them help out in the kitchen quite a bit!

Typically he has them help with preparing small things but lets them help with bigger tasks once learning they have some prior kitchen experience

At a port he got y/n an apron that matched his and he had Nami embodier it with their name

Is going insane trying to figure out y/n’s preferences because they say their literally fine with anything

Has made them go through entire taste tests and still cannot figure anything out

He’s chainsmokes more than usual after yet another failed test when y/n says they don’t mind salted black liquorice

Cries and chain smokes when y/n tells him they once boiled and ate their own boots

Almost cried when they pick up on some of his French words

Calls y/n stuff like “petite étoile” and “petite lueur”

After Alabasta y/n joking calls him “Mr. Prince” from time to time

Whenever he makes stuff for Nami and Robin he also makes some for y/n

When Luffy complains about this he always says “women and children come first”

Y/n sometimes clings to his legs, he always chuckles and lets them do so unless it’s dangerous

The only one allowed to raid the kitchen for snacks other than Chopper is y/n

Both of them abuse this privilege but he can’t resist their combined puppy eyes

Once finding out through Luffy that y/n is more hungry than they say they are he now makes them bigger portions

He swears they have a similar stomach to Luffy but he can’t be mad at them

Not when they seem to starve themself rather than tell others their hungry

Due to this he now carries small snacks just in case

Wants to meet whoever “Thatch” is so they can trade recipes and have a cook off

Also to find out through him how he feeds over 1000 people cause he has 2000 stomachs due to the combined forces of Luffy and y/n

Was at first iffy about the crows until a bunch of the birds started eating the leftover scraps he couldn’t incorporate into dishes or was going bad

So he grows to like the feathered flock since they help in not wasting anything

His favourite is one named Blanche who’s an albino crow the murder adopted as their own after finding her abandoned

She reminds him of a dove and of how he too was abandoned by a previous family but found a new one

She also delivers letters back fourth from Zeff for him

He adds a little blue ribbon tied to her leg

When staying in the boys quarters y/n often times has Sanji help them in taking care of themself properly

Mostly cause y/n would just pass out on the floor or stay up till 6 pm if not

Brushes y/n’s hair if Nami or Robin doesn’t do it

Also loves to style it via y/n’s suggestion

let’s y/n borrow his clothes when seeing that Nami had to drag them to a clothing store to actually buy them something other than the clothes they wear everyday

Sanji will never admit it but sometimes he has nightmares of when they had died and on those nights silently checks to make sure their still there

Y/n will never admit to him how many times they’ve starved to death alone on their raft

Mostly for his own peace of mind and their own

Y/n likes to buy Sanji food themed stuff like magnets, dishes and keychains

Sanji meanwhile buys them candies and other odd things he’d think y/n would like, for example Hawaiian shirts and plushies

“Petite étoile! I made you something!” Sanji yelled across the deck, looking towards him you see a Soda float on a small platter. Luffy eyes it hungrily though Sanji notices and he swiftly knocks the young captain with his leg. You giggle out a “thanks Sanj” which makes the swirly browed preen in a mixture of pride and genuine happiness.

“And that’s when…..” pausing in your story you try to think back, the details of which now seemed to escape you. Sanji clears his throat, giving you a sad smile as he then adds in for you “that’s when the musician taught you piano” at that your memory jogs slightly and you smile “and ukulele”

Sitting at the table you eye the small labeled plates with different tastes and textures, all tasted good and even if it didn’t you’d still eat it. But despite that Sanji sits across from you with a defeated look on his face, cigarette sitting numbly in his mouth. “Sanji it’s on really, I’m fine with anything” at saying this his temper seems to flare ever so slightly, something that reminds you of Zeff “you have to have some preference!”. “Well I mean…I ate my boots before. Nothing can be worse than that” once more that seemed to be the wrong thing to say as the cigarette falls from his mouth as he mutters “you what?!?”

Nami

The orange blossom pair

Is one of the first to pick up on the fact y/n might be immortal due to Arlong one day talking about a human child on the sun pirates boat before one that had betrayed them

At the time Nami wrote it off though, more horrified at the fact y/n was a pirate

It brought up a lot of memories of her childhood she does not like to reminisce on

But before joining the crew and after she tends to stick nearby y/n as a big sister presence

Not hovering over their shoulder but just far enough away to watch and make sure their ok

Especially when she wasn’t initially sure if Luffy and Zoro

To be honest Nami always wanted to be a big sister, especially since she in a way wants to make up for everything Nojiko went through due to her

So she takes to caring for y/n the best she can

Especially when seeing that y/n does not to care of themself at all

She’s plain horrified at how they walk off a broken leg, haven’t had a bath in months that wasn’t in salt water, doesn’t care for their hair and leaves stuff stuck in it, along with essentially starving themself sometimes

Nami quickly makes it a goal to change that with the efforts of Sanji

She gives y/n “discounts” when she charges the crew for stuff

The discount is actually free because she’d feel too guilty in charging a child

Along with the fact that y/n spends the pocket money she gives them on gifts for everyone but themself

Speaking of which she charges said person who got a gift with an import fee because that money the gift was purchased with was technically Nami’s

The only one who does not object to this fee is Sanji

Another fee she makes is a y/n hug fee, since as y/n’s appointed big sister she thinks y/n should be compensated for being hugged by a bunch of stinky boys

Teaches y/n about Tangerines and oranges, specifically how to grow them!

Likes to peel oranges for y/n and share them together as a snack as they ramble on about a place they’ve been

In the small garden for her fruits she lets y/n plant some hibiscus plants that y/n cryptically says reminds them of a friend they miss

Is confused as fuck how y/n seems to know almost all the islands they end up on

After finding out y/n is immortal she often asks about past navigators they’ve met and some of the most interesting places they’ve been to

Has to drag y/n to take them shopping because they insist their fine with one pair of clothes

She argues otherwise and can’t help but bristle once finding out their immortal that for years they’ve worn the same thing

It reminds her too much of her childhood, of Bellemere scraping together what she could even when the villagers gave her discounts for clothes

Buys them an entire wardrobe and complains when they borrow the other crews clothes

In reality she doesn’t mind and finds it cute

Has to fashion police y/n because they have no sense of shame and will wear the most god awful combinations of clothes

When y/n sleeps in the girls quarters Nami has their bed set up to be in the middle between her and Robin

That way if a night attack happens y/n is the most safe

And that way Nami can wake them up when their having a nightmare

Carries y/n like throwing a moneybag over her shoulder, it’s partially due to reflex and cause when she has to do this it’s typically in a shit situation

Y/n sometimes sees a small pink spark over Nami’s shoulder when she gets really excited

They haven’t told her yet though

Y/n likes to show Nami the stuff they’ve collected over the years

Especially their jewelry gifted to them

Nami from the moment of meeting the flock saw money signs (lol)

The crows have now been ordered to steal stuff and they bring it to her to examine and evaluate

They also heckle the poor news birds into giving discounts or plain for free

Besides their monetary gain she genuinely likes their presence quite a bit

They not only valiantly guard her tangerines from other less behaved animals but also help her in charting islands

Her favourite is one named Axel, he’s on the older side with a scar across his eye

He not only has an eye for valuable things but also acts as a guard for both the young fledglings and Nami

Y/n likes buying Nami jewelry and navigation gear along with sharing their writing supplies with her

Nami meanwhile buys y/n clothes and some jewelry for them

Sitting beneath the tangerine tree you watch as the hibiscus you planted for Rouge sway lightly In the breeze, your gaze lingers there before Nami lightly touches your shoulder making you jolt. “Here” she offers you a peeled tangerine with a smile, you take it popping the sweat fruit into your mouth. “How much will I owe you?” You ask enjoying the sweet taste, at that she laughs “I need a tester to make sure my product is good. Just consider it free since you’re doing me a favour”. Smiling you nod, not commenting how Sanji would be the better pick for this “job”.

“I still don’t get how you’d gone so long with no other pairs of clothes” Nami mutters whilst holding up two pairs of shirts your size “which do you like? Or do you want both?”. Looking at the clothes you point to the one held up by her left hand, the Hawaiian shirt with a funky pattern. “I knew you’d pick this one” her eyes are layered in fondness even if she gives a small sigh “I’m a creature of habit….besides Mihawk gave me those pyjamas so technically I now have more than one pair”

Waking up to from nightmare your typically used to the sight of the night sky but you awake with Nami’s worried face. Shakily you sit up, “h-hey I’m ok” it’s more said for her sake rather than your own. Despite your words Nami pulls you close, silently letting you clutch onto her like a lifeline as the scent of oranges and tangerines linger as does that small spark of pink just above her shoulder.

Ussop

The story teller duo! Aka the liar and the immortal

Honestly Ussop and y/n are a little dynamic duo of scaredy cat and unfazed who’s dragging the other into a haunted house

Except the haunted house in this case is literally every dangerous situation known to man

Poor Ussop has got it cut out for him more than usual when y/n is around

Something he notices fairly quickly

But he’s too committed in looking cool in front of them and cause he sure as hell isn’t leaving them alone for more than 15 minutes cause they’ll for sure somehow traumatize someone

Another thing he picked up on lol

There’s a Recurring joke with him and y/n when y/n remembers something important at the last minute and he yells that they have the memory of a goldfish

Though y/n’s title is the straw hats storyteller, they really like listening to Ussop’s stories

Though they knows his is fake they enjoy it better that way

Because that means there’s always a happy ending

Something that not all of their stories have

Similarly, though he sometimes gets afraid when they tell their stories, Ussop really likes listening to theirs as well

Mostly for the fact that though some of them are sad their genuinely heart touching most of the time

Y/n tells their tales in a way that captivates just about everyone around them

Something Ussop really admires

Both know and acknowledge each others skills

And sometimes the two of them will collaborate together in figuring out how to make their adventures more engaging when written down

Y/n and Ussop sometimes do commentary when watching Sanji and Zoro fight

Ussop during these commentary of the fighting matches writes down his favourite insults that he and y/n then giggle about later on

Their favourite so far is when Sanji called Zoro Durian in both appearance and smell

Ussop is the one to help y/n in their “disguises”

Aka supplying the fake moustaches

In similar fashion y/n helped make him the SogeKing mask before Water 7

Ussop has y/n test out his inventions and has them teach him new hobbies

To keep from the ever looming fear away Ussop tries to keep himself busy

Something y/n is a pro at and helps him pick up some of the hobbies they’ve learned over the years

On Sundays y/n teaches him and Robin how to do Pottery

Which helps out Sanji because of the amount of broken plates due to Luffy is uncountable

Calls y/n the first mate of the Ussop pirates

He will never admit it but when he misses Ninjin, Tamanegi and Piiman he ends up lingering near y/n cause they sometimes remind him of his old “crew”

Speaking of which y/n is the only one who he talks to about how much he sometimes misses syrup village

Specifically Kaya

Along with this he also confides to them about how he wonders if his dad would be proud of him or disappointed

It doesn’t happen often but occasionally it does really weight on him

But he trusts y/n’s judgment because they’ve met Yassop, and in the fact that they understand what it’s like to miss people

When this happens y/n also confides in Ussop about the people they miss too

Even people they don’t remember

It’s actually pretty sweet especially since on those nights the two of them just talk about how they genuinely feel

Something that is kinda rare for the two

To enhance each other’s stories the two now have started doing puppet shows!

Something they have Nami and Chopper help with in making the puppets

Ussop even made a mini stage out of popsicle sticks

Y/n uses Roger’s coat as the curtain

Ussop Is terrified of the crows especially after that time y/n and Luffy covered him in birdseed and was almost flown away by the murder

Along with superstitions he’s heard about them being bad luck

But the crows love him

Like they really love him, almost as much as chopper

It’s god damn comical watching him run away in terror meanwhile these little feathered fiends are chasing after him with puppy eyes asking for love

The only crows he likes are the baby ones

The little fledglings who (unfortunately for him) find perching on his nose to be the most optimal of places

But their cute as hell so he lets it slide

For now

This then perpetuates the cycle of them growing older and him being terrified of them but them loving him

Y/n finds it funny as hell

But he eventually comes around to them when y/n has them exchange letters between him and Kaya

As well as sending gifts and flowers back to syrup without the items getting lost or rotting

sometimes y/n and Ussop swap headscarves

Y/n likes to buy Ussop random stuff for him to use in inventions

Ussop likes to buy y/n crafts that they can do together (as well as with Chopper)

“And that’s how I, captain Ussop! Defeated the unstoppable man after 3 days of fighting with my 3000 men!” At hearing that you nod enthusiastically as Chopper chimes in about how cool that was. You smile, thinking back to those 3 whole days Roger and fought Whitebeard before recruiting Oden temporarily to the crew. “What did you do afterwards?” You ask making the long nosed sniper perk up, he thinks for a moment before he continues his “tale”.

“Uhhhh Ussop” you say watching as the sniper who currently tinkered away at some new contraption break from his concentration. “Oh hey! Whats up?” It comes out casually as he turns to look at you as you give him an almost apologetic look which makes his brows furrow. Wordlessly you point to the nearby open port window. One of your crows sits there, tilting its head at him “oh no-“ before he can get another word out it lets out a squawk and other feathered little devils start flying in through the window.

“Your dad is more proud of you than I think you know” you say this with utter confidence and it makes Ussop stumble for a moment. “Really?” He asks this in a quiet tone, almost unsure before you nod and smile “it’s all he talked about when I was on the red force. So you best believe it”

Chopper

Cherry blossom duo!

Was the second member of the crew to know about y/n’s immortality due to recognizing the picture of them with Hiriluk

Something that the little reindeer kept tucked away in a small slit in his hat Kureha added to it

So it’s safe to say that he’s ecstatic, confused and freaking out

Though luckily Sanji and y/n were able to talk with him

And to be honest Chopper gets why their scared to tell the others

He’d be scared in their situation! So he keeps the secret as best he can!

Though there were definitely a few occasions he nearly slipped up lol

As the two youngest members on board both Chopper and y/n band together quite a bit

Partially because of the fact that in mental age their close and because their both just natural sweethearts

Chopper finds it funny that despite being the oldest y/n is also one of the youngest

Both are the cutest mf’s out there that Nami 100% uses to guilt others into getting discounts

Y/n and him unfortunately for her also use the puppy eyes on her to get her to peel their tangerines

Chopper thinks of y/n as a big sibling and very much heavily admires them

Y/n similarly thinks of Chopper as a little brother and admires his medical knowledge despite his age

Both have made each other bff bracelets with little sakura charms

Sometimes when chopper gets sad about Hiriluk y/n tells chopper about their experiences with him

And that he would be proud of chopper

That Kureha is proud

And that their proud of the person Hiriluk took as his own because y/n knows chopper will become the best doctor ever

Every time this happens Chopper sobs

Similarly in the moments when y/n is lost (mostly since they don’t like being overly emotional about their feelings or trauma) Chopper likes to become kinda a therapy animal and let y/n pet his fur to calm them down

Along with that chopper also tries to have them open up about how their feeling

Y/n thinks choppers blue nose looks like a blueberry so they sometimes call him that

Chopper gets super “angry” about it (not really, the only times he’s angry at y/n is when they shrug off an injury)

Speaking of which, he gets really worried for y/n and their careless tendencies

He knows their immortal but he wishes they’d care for themself to at least show him their injuries even if their small

It reminds him of Hiriluk since he had also written off his disease and pain as nothing

The parallels between the two of them really make Chopper worried about losing someone again

Like he knows y/n would come back but having to watch someone you love die is still really traumatic

And the amount of times he’s almost had a heart attack from y/n narrowly dodging death isn’t healthy

Now is it healthy for the others either lol

When in his more deer-like form he lets y/n sit on his back! He bashfully preens in pride when they call him their loyal steed

Let’s y/n decorate his horns with little do-dads and charms

His favourite is the little sakura themed ones they bought at a spring island for him

They have done the two kids on a trench coat routine before and it’s somehow worked

The funny thing is that y/n was the legs and chopper was the upper half

Both make inside jokes about the rest of the crew

Both also occasionally goad Sanji and Zoro into fights

They watch with Luffy while eating popcorn

Talks with the flock all the time! He gossips with them and they all adore him so much

He doesn’t have a favourite and loves all of them

Especially since they all try and bring him herbs or steal him medical supplies from islands the crew dock on

The crows love to dote on him, even calling him one of their flock just like the others on the crew

It makes him happy since he gets a bit of animal companionship that he never got and the fact that the flock accepts anyone no matter their looks

He’s scared to tell the birds about how his birth family kicked him out since he knows they’ll try to get revenge

Y/n likes that through chopper that they can now understand their crows

Something in which makes the crows absolutely ecstatic about and Chopper has to regal their constant pleas for attention and to let y/n know that their adored

He tends to their little injuries and puts little bandaids on their wounds

They like to perch on his antlers and he gets supper bashful when they call him their favourite crew member beside y/n

Chopper finds it funny they call y/n their god?

It’s weird but he just assumes that cause the crows explained to him how several generations back y/n had nursed to health their injured ancestors

While y/n stays in the men’s quarter Chopper and y/n set up a little sleepover tent

Both typically fall asleep in the tent and Sanji or Zoro have to put them in their proper beds rather than sleeping on the floor

While sleepy y/n sometimes thinks chopper is a stuffed animal

Both cling to one another when tired (it’s adorable)

Y/n likes to buy Chopper Sakura themed things or medicinal herbs and books that they’d think he’d like

Chopper on the other hands buys y/n things they can do together or with the crew like puzzles or little crafts

“Ahhh!!! What happened to your arm?!?!” The young reindeer doctor practically screams as his widened eyes look at your bloody and bruised arm that’s also bent the wrong way. The rest of the crew whom you’d been trying to hide it from look to you, whoops. “Uhhhh….it was an accident?” You say this and before you can blink your being dragged to choppers medical bay, darn, you’d sneak past them next time

Sitting down on the flooring of the merry you thread your fingers through choppers soft fur. Your breathing still heavy and shaky as your mind comes down from focusing on bad memories. It takes a few minutes sitting there focusing on the sensation of his fur but eventually you find yourself of sound mind again. Tears staining your cheeks as you mumble a thanks to the doctor who nods. “A doctor has to look out for his patients in health and mind” is what he says making you smile ever so slightly.

“Hey chopper what did Rosemary tell you?” You asked looking quizzically at the Crow perched on his antlers, he looks up to bird listening as she squawks again. “She said that big crow, big lizards and Yama missed you? Who’s that?” He translates then giving you a curious look, you think for a moment then coming up with an answer “oh…she means king and the others”. He nods at the answer before then asking “who’s king? Wait! Do you know royalty?!?”

Robin

History duo, ones is a literal archeologist and the other is the ancient ass artifact

After chopper she’s the third person to know of y/n’s immortality due to watching them die with crocodile

While working with crocodile she didn’t talk to y/n directly too much but did try and look out for them in the shadows

She’s also been praying that y/n wouldn’t end up in Alabasta nor that crocodile would find them again lol

But that didn’t exactly go as planned

Once joining the crew y/n is one of the few to trust Robin partially due to their prior knowledge of her and experience with her

Both feel extreme sympathy for one another, especially once realizing they were both children hunted down by the government

Robin like with Chopper uses her abilities to tickle y/n

Robin cannot count the amount of times her ability has saved y/n without them knowing

Before Brook joined y/n would ask Robin to use her power to make arms and lift y/n up to see stuff lol

Sometimes with the sprouted arms y/n likes to play rock paper scissors with them which makes Robin laugh

Y/n eventually has Robin help in writing in their journal to remember things since they trust her perspective more than their own

Because these two both know Poneglyph’s the two gossip via notes to one another in the language

Robin when reading history books and finds something about y/n shows it to them

It’s now an inside joke between the two of them

They also make it an activity to skim through accounts of things and try to find y/n

What sad though is that in some accounts where it’s clearly y/n mentioned y/n can’t actually remember it

And for awhile y/n just gets kinda quiet and excuses themself

She does not mentioned their reddened eyes when she sees them again

But just offers them a hug

In a certain way, Robin kinda projects what she wish she had as a kid into y/n as a form of self healing

Especially after Enies lobby

She wants to be there for them

Care for them in a way she wished others had cared for her

And it’s with this that Robin becomes a mother figure to y/n

She’d tender and caring to y/n in a way that just kinda makes them instinctively cling to her presence

Her warm hugs and floral scent remind y/n distantly of their mom (or they think it does)

They know Robin isn’t her (no one can be) but Robin’s care and general warmth towards them just makes y/n really happy

Hugs galore

As well as Robin helping Nami take care of y/n since they have no self care at all

Y/n constantly steals Robin’s cowboy hat (when she had it )

Like in pre-timeskip one piece Robin calls y/n by their title of “storyteller” but also refers to them by nicknames as well

Robin loves the crows so much, she has each of them memorized by name

As well as their preferences

Her favourite though is one named Hesta, she’s a quiet one of the flock and likes watch Robin read

May or may not use her devil fruit to pet all the crows

Ussop may have freaked out when seeing the entire murder on the ship with Robin’s hands sprouted from the deck everywhere

When she has mini dates with Franky y/n dressed up as a server with a fake moustache

They also have a fake French accent because they took inspiration from Sanji

Both her and Franky have to hold back laughing cause y/n gets really into it

Y/n likes buying Robin history stuff and letting her borrow their journals to read

Robin meanwhile likes to buy y/n things she sees interested them while on an adventure

(She may or may not have stolen a few things whoops)

“Hey Robin can you help me-“ before you can finish what you’re saying the historian finds herself at your side, already helping in tying your shoelaces. She smiles, “for all the skills you’d picked up over the years I’m surprised you hadn’t learned to tie them yet” it comes out as a giggle with makes you smile bashfully “I know how tie sailor knots and stuff but I don’t think they work for boots”

“Y/n, do you want to help me write some the poneglyph’s? I want to look them over later and put what we have in order” Robin asks making you pause from tracing the forgotten language with your hands. You nod, then pulling out your journal and opening up a new page. “Sounds good to me. Should I include me and Roger’s messages?” At hearing that she nods, a curious smile on her face. “Of course.”

“What happened to you was never right, you deserved better than what the world gave you” hearing this makes her go still as the still sleeping Nami tosses and turns in her sleep. “You didn’t deserve what happened to you either. Neither of us did” when she says this you see tears glisten in moonlight as does she with your starry eyes.

Franky

Suuuuuperrrrrr Star duo!

Like a few others of the straw hats he actually met y/n in his childhood

Specifically because of the Roger pirates when they had stopped in water 7 with Oden

So it’s safe to say after everything in water 7 and Enies lobby he definitely knows y/n is immortal

Though after Franky beat up Ussop y/n kinda takes a little while to warm up to him again at

But Y/n comes around quick on Franky when seeing him help try and save Robin

And after he joins the crew y/n becomes his obligatory little helper!

Since y/n likes to be constantly doing stuff Franky has them help him do repairs on the ship and check for anything that needs to be fixed

He says he can’t fit in a lot of the smaller crevices (which he technically can’t) but normally he’d just use some invention of his

But y/n doesn’t need to know that, not when they get excited in helping

Franky 100% teaches y/n to do poses with him

Nami is half tempted to strangle him for this when y/n did the “suupppeerr” pose after a battle

Unfortunately for her dumbass number 2 (aka Luffy) joins in and then Ussop as well

Y/n in the morning likes to help style Franky’s hair, he wonder’s who Vivi is and why his hair colour reminds them of her

Y/n is also the reason why Franky’s hair is now styled occasionally like sea creatures

His favourite is when they style it as a shark or whale

He shivers each time he looks at y/n’s “ship”

Especially when they say that she’s a fine sea-craft (she not)

He just nods along

Back when he was a kid he was also equally appalled back then about it and had offered to make it better

But just like back then y/n refuse

And somehow that dinky thing always seems to end back up at the ship even when in a storm it ends up lost at sea

Y/n sits on his arm all the time, especially when he is in a muscle man pose

They think it’s funny

He thinks it’s funny when steal his sunglasses

The two of them have single-handedly increased the amount of Hawaiian shirts owned by the straw hats by about 70%

Sometimes when he misses the Franky family he talks to y/n about how they deal with leaving people they love

And y/n always talk about how they kinda deal with it

But it’s always hard

They miss a lot of people

Some of which they don’t remember but know they instinctively miss

It definitely helps him

But it also highlights to Franky just how lonely they are

Because he joined later on he hasn’t seen or heard y/n talk about some of their experiences

He’s maybe heard some from iceberg or the other straw hats but they were always vague

It’s sad to him, especially since their short friendship with him had honestly made him feel less alone in the harder segments of his life

But knowing just how many people they had said goodbye to and would say goodbye to, the years afloat on that thing they call a ship by themself

Yeah, it really weighs on him

Because he gets it

Y/n is the only one for sure who knows that Robin and Franky eventually get together (frobin for real y’all)

They don’t tell anyone cause they just kinda assumed everyone already knew and forgot it was a secret lol

Despite this though, they accidentally cover for Robin and Franky when they go out on small dates

Y/n is somehow Franky’s ultimate wingman (wingperson?)

They suggest to him things they know Robin like or would like

The two of them like to paint a pair of stars on each of Franky’s inventions

A blue 5 pointed on for Franky and a smaller 4 pointed gold one for y/n

Y/n Is the only one on the crew besides Luffy to use the Franky fridge to store stuff

Specifically the snacks the other crew members give them through the day

Franky ends up building some birdhouses on the ship for crows who stay the night along with prosthetic limbs for birds who lost legs or even their wings

He doesn’t have a particular bird he prefers over the rest

He thinks all of them are SUUPPEERRRR

They seem to like his golden chain and shiny metal nose

Much to his amusement

Sometimes a chosen bird will be allowed to wear his sunglasses and it becomes the super bird of the day

This bird for that day gets to hang around on his head and gets a invention made for them

Y/n likes to buy Franky cool gadgets they find along with anything that has blue stars

Franky doesn’t buy y/n stuff but instead makes them things, typically little do-dads or even some puzzles to keep them preoccupied

“Hey Franky, do you need some help there?” You asked watching the blue haired shipwright peel himself away from repairing the mast of the ship. He grins, “Surre thing little helper!” He then tosses you a hammer that you luckily catch.

“What do you suggest I get Robin? I’m still debating between these two” the cyborg man questions as he holds up two different bouquets of fresh flowers. You peer between the two, examining them. “Robin would probably like the second one. Those flowers have meanings of “love” “companionship” and “appreciation” which would be the best choice. She’d like the effort behind them” you say before correcting your fake moustache and dusting off any dirt of your fake waiter uniform you stole from Sanji’s days at the baratie. “Should I have Hesta fly in and deliver them?” He adds making you respond “of course!”

Two cans of Cola clink together as you and Franky sit watching the horizon. “I can only imagine Oden’s face seeing that you’re now a pirate after saying you’d never be one, oh and Tom’s” you giggle as Franky nods “do you think they’d be happy?”. For a moment you ponder “I can’t say for sure….but I think so long as your happy they’d be”

Brook

Dead duo (lol) cause they’ve both died and come back to life (though one has done this significantly more than the other)

By the time he joins y/n being a immortal ain’t a secret anymore

Even if it was his emotional breakdown when seeing them again asking if he’s finally gone fully insane before hugging them would probably proof enough that their immortal

But anyway!!

For very obvious reasons Brook for a long while after reuniting is kinda stuck at y/n’s side

Partially because he’s still unsure if this is real and afraid he’ll wake up alone again

On that ship where only the damned souls of the sea like himself stay

Y/n seems to know this though and happily allows him to stay at their side as they hold onto his coat since he’s too tall for them to comfortably hold his hand

The annual amount of death and skeleton jokes have gone up exponentially because of the two of them alone

Both Brook and y/n cope via jokes and each other (as sad as that is)

The crew can’t help but deadpan at the amount of time the two have watched something horrific or head about it and said “same” or pointed to a skeleton and said “look it’s us!”

Brook doesn’t ask his pervert questions or jokes in front of y/n he’s too mortified to do so when he basically considered them his family

He once accidentally did and y/n asked what that meant and he wanted to curl up and die (again)

Y/n brings him milk and stuff with calcium saying he needs to build up bone density

He has yet to tell them he can’t drink it but he appreciates the gesture and gives it to Sanji instead so he can use it for recipes

Brook is the only person y/n talks to about the ways in which they’ve died

Mostly because he’s the only other person who can understand what its like

And because hearing vindication that what had happened to them was wrong kinda helps them process stuff

Because they should not have died as many as they’ve had let alone in such gruesome ways

Hearing it from Brook, someone who’d also faced the horrors of death and immortality really opens their eyes

Whenever Brook plays music y/n instinctively joins him in song

It’s just second nature to y/n at this point

Both are different versions of insane from immortality. While’s brooks is more noticeable for y/n’s it’s more subtle

Y/n likes to show Brook all the instruments and songs they learned after his death

Especially their ukulele skills much to his amusement

Neither can play Binks booze together without sobbing midway

Nor can Brook handle their stories of Laboon still waiting at reverse mountain

Nor can y/n handle hearing how Brook would see visions of them and the crew in his years of isolation

The rest of the straw hats can’t handle just how depressing that all is lol

He accidentally found y/n, Chopper and Luffy in their game and now has made a soundtrack for it

When y/n stays in the men’s quarter Brook sometimes has to check their still alive because of his fear they’ll die again

Y/n has played the xylophone on Brook’s ribcage much to Nami’s horror

Both of them pull the “as the oldest people on board” card

The two of them also call each other senior citizens and try and get discounts at places via Nami’s orders

Both always get kicked out

Y/n somehow learned the word “boner” from someone and asked Brook what that meant because he was made of bones

He wanted to die a second time 💀

He was mortified after that especially when y/n then taught that word to Luffy and chopper who joined in on asking him what it meant

Robin had to help him escape the questioning

When y/n can’t see anything they like to climb Brook to get a better view

Y/n also sometimes hides in his ribcage

The two of them share an atrocious fashion sense

The only difference is that Robin and Nami help in making sure y/n doesn’t end up in a floral shirt with polka dot shorts and sandals with socks

Brook is extremely proud of y/n’s skills that they picked up from him and his crew

The crows keep bringing Brook bones because they assume all skeletons they find somehow are parts of Brook

Y/n taught them to play the xylophone on Brook

The dead musician’s favourite crow is one named “crazy Pete” because he just picks shit up and starts whacking against the nearest surface

This making him the best xylophone player of the crows as well as the best drummer

The flock also uses his ribcage as a perch as well as his Afro in which they have built a nest in that he didn’t know about until baby birds hatched

He got to name the newborns and named some of them after his old crew

Y/n likes to buy Brook skeleton things (like those plastic Halloween skeletons lol) and music sheets for him to write new music

Brook gets y/n a bunch of weird mystical shit that y/n always ends up loving

“Yohohohoho! Are you up for a duet?” The old skeleton asks as he holds up his violin, you look up from the book you were reading a smile already stretching across your face. “Do you have to ask?” You reply back as you get up and get into position, if a skeleton could smile he would.

“Yo brook!” You yell already snickering under your voice “do you think we ought to buy some trombone’s? Or maybe some Xylobone’s?”. At that he lets out his signature laugh, “maybe, but they’d cost a Skelaton! Get it? Cause we’ve both died!” For a moment there’s a pause of silence between you both before the two of you burst out into laughter. Nami grumbles under her breath about you both being “numbskulls” before realizing her mistake, the two of you laugh even harder.

In the middle of the night you and Brook sit in the crows nest, the humming the Bink’s booze filling the silence beneath the stars. Because for now that’s enough.

Jinbe

Fisher duo! Would’ve gone with sun duo because of the sun pirates but that duo name probably fits y/n and ace more

By the time Jinbe joins everyone on the crew knows so he doesn’t need to keep the secret

Something that makes him hella realized about since he knows he’d have to jump through hoops somehow trying to explain why y/n knew him prior

Is always worried for y/n especially when realizing they already have a very small impulse control that melts away when Luffy is near

Like he is getting grey hairs as Robin and Nami emphatically pat his shoulder

Y/n loves to laze about on Jinbe, they’ll just randomly go up to him raise their arms up to be picked up and then just fall asleep or stay there

Y/n likes how warm he is along with how he’ll carry them around. Plus his more squishy and smooth textured skin on account of being a fishman is a texture that they like

Jinbe has accepted his role as a resting place for y/n

Something that now also extends to Luffy, chopper and sometimes Zoro as well

When not doing his duties on the ship he likes to listen to y/n’s recounts of things

He finds it pretty soothing as well as informative

If no one else is up to listen to y/n word vomit then Jinbe always has an ear open

His favourites are ones are those including Roger

He’d never known him, just knew about bits and pieces from Whitebeard so he’s especially interested in learning about him from someone else

Y/n sometimes like to ask him about fishman culture along with facts about mermaids as well!

Especially stuff about Joyboy

Something which makes Jinbe light up in pride

Head pats galore from this fishman once he finds out that y/n melts at that type of affection

Is the first to not question how y/n has befriended so many war criminals

Though his is curious how the hell Doflamingo ended up on that list

Speaking of which when y/n gets really scared or anxious he is quick to pick up on it

Just immediately picks up y/n leaves the situation while Luffy goes to beat up what caused the problem lol

Y/n when seeing him get odd looks gives people odd looks back

Especially when people ask where their parents were and they point to Jinbe as if it were the most obvious answer in the world

Y/n once has bitten someone who was being racist

While Jinbe was proud he was not happy with the fact they resorted to Luffy type behaviour

Definitely considers Jinbe a father figure

Something he holds in high regard especially when hearing how they think so highly about Roger

Due to Jinbe being a whale shark fishman y/n bought themself and him matching whale shark plushies

He got the smaller one while y/n got the mama

Jinbe may or may not have secretly cried about this

Because Jinbe is serious most of the time y/n has made it a sport in trying to surprise him

Like suddenly jumping from the crows nest into his arms or randomly appearing out of nowhere for hugs

Even if he’s upset with their recklessness he always ends up smiling

Much like the others he ends up as a resting spot for the crows, specifically the young ones just learning to fly

They always end up tucked into his kimono somehow but he doesn’t end up minding it much

Not when the combined forces of the baby birds and y/n give him puppy eyes

His all time favourite crow though is one named Pearl, she’s just a little sweetheart that loves to sit on his hands to be pet

To be honest he finds them all rather intriguing especially since crows typically aren’t this intelligent

Like sure typically their intelligent birds but these ones seem even moreso

it seems somehow they have increased perception?

He’s not sure as to why but leaves it as a “y/n thing”

Something that has become a trend in his will for questioning things

Don’t understand it? Probably a y/n thing so move on and accept it

Nami has been following in this mindset for awhile now

Y/n steals his robes despite them being too big

He purposely leaves them out when realizing they like to do this

Jinbe is the only one to know about y/n’s time as a slave and is the only one to know why they sometimes flinch when people touch their back

He’s also the only way who’s able to understand and comfort them when they silently stream out at the sea

At ports y/n likes to go shopping with Jinbe and though he says they don’t need to buy him anything they buy him sea themed stuff to remind him of fishman island

In similar fashion despite y/n saying that he doesn’t need to buy them anything he buys them charms for their bracelets and necklaces that represent a place they’ve been so they can keep track

“So Roger really could stand toe to toe with Whitebeard?” Jinbe asks as you nod with a smile “yeah, Roger despite having no devil fruit was extraordinarily strong and had extraordinary Haki. Plus Roger was Roger”. At hearing this explanation Jinbe nods but then inquires “what do you mean by that last part?” Which makes you lightly giggle before explaining “Roger is the only person besides maybe Luffy who would sneak onto a marine base, fist fight Garp the fist, raid the kitchen and then proceed to escape back to the Oro with the stolen food, treasure and highly classified government field he thought looked cool”

“Jinbe can I go up” you ask with your hands already reaching up to him and in position to be lifted. The fishman smiles, for an immortal you really were a kid still. He smiles. “Alright, do you also want to hear about fishman island again?” It’s not even really a question when he knows your answer but he asks either way and sees you nod. Pearl who’s perched on his shoulder makes room and finds a place between you and him.

It’s late in the night when he finds you sitting on the railing of the ship, silently looking out to sea just as you did all those years ago. He leans against the railing beside you, remembering not to touch your back at this time. “You got reminded of it again?” He asks on which he receives a full nod from you, “it was in the market, there were some propaganda posters about escaped slaves. I checked to see if I was on there, I wasn’t luckily, but it still left me feeling all flighty”. He frowns at that but nods. “Do you need me to stay with you for now?” You respond quickly without thought “yes….it burns Jinbe, my back burns again but I know the brands not there”

[patroxlos]

home base . ch5

"friends who fuck things up" - 5.6k words

ultraman: rising (2024). kenji sato x reader

can be read as a stand-alone.

master post. ao3 link.

previous: ch4. "friends who sleep on call with each other"

next: ch6. "friends who are stuck together"

The start of your decade-long situationship.

---

Los Angeles. Ten years ago.

You let out a low whistle as you look out the window to the gorgeous beach view. Not bad for a guest room. The Satos own a stunning coastal property that, while a lot smaller than your own California manor, is homey enough for the mother and son duo. Yet, you always thought that it was too big for the both of them. Maybe that is why the two are making such a big fuss right now, as they finally have another chance to fill in the space with your timely visit.

Tense footsteps approach, and you turn towards the open door as a lanky Ken Sato gracelessly enters and barrels towards your luggage placed at the side of the wall. “ Why did you bring your stuff in here? I said you’re staying in my room!”

“Well Auntie told me—” You were cut off.

“Mom!” He shouts out to the house. “I told you! I have the pullout in my room for her.” He extends the handle of one of your carry-ons with one hand and reaches for one of your duffels with his other.

You hear Emiko Sato shout back from downstairs, faint from the distance. “Don’t you dare make that girl sleep on anything other than a proper bed.”

“Kenji, it's fine. I can hang out in your room but keep my stuff in here,” you reason with him. You try to take your bags out of his hands but he rebuffs you as he lumbers them out into the hallway, his room being nearest to yours and down the hall.

“But it’s been three years since we’ve had you over!” He insists.

Even if he is a mama’s boy, Ken is not immune to engaging in his fair amount of teen rebellion that got him into shouting matches with his equally hotheaded mother. You know exactly who he inherited most of his personality from. Rapid footsteps climb the stairs and your Auntie Emiko reaches the two of you in the hallway. “ Kenji Sato !”

You both wince at the full name. Still, Ken pushes open his bedroom door as you attempt to trail behind. “Mom, she doesn’t even mind. Right, dude?”

“I…guess?” You do not want to get in the middle of this. You are so, so jetlagged you want to take a shower and crash on any bed available.

Sensing your fatigue, Auntie Emiko pats both of your shoulders lovingly from behind. She stops you from entering his room and leads you back out to the hallway. “So glad you’re back here, dear. You can go ahead and shower in the guest room. I will take your things back once I’m done here.”

Before you can even say thank you, she enters Kenji’s room and closes the door behind them. You wince as you hear another argument start up.

“Mom, we used to share a room all the time! I don’t get why it’s such a problem now.”

“Kenji, the last time you two shared a room was when you were kids! Don’t you think she deserves her own space as a young lady?”

“Then I can sleep on the pullout and she can get the bed!”

“It’s still inappropriate for two teenagers to share—”

“Ugh you’re being so unfair! You’re acting like we’ll do something—”

You decide to walk away and take that shower.

Ever since Emiko and Ken Sato relocated to Los Angeles when you were just six years old, you have visited them almost every year with your parents. Your summer and winter vacations with them significantly help you and Ken maintain your easygoing friendship beyond messages and video calls. It feels good when the two of you are in the same timezone.

Unfortunately, you have not visited them since you were twelve years old. Three whole years without seeing each other has caused you and Ken to drift a little, with him getting sourer every summer break when you tell him you don’t think you could make it. Your parents got busier, and even if the Satos are family friends, it does not mean you wanted to spend every vacation at the States. Finally, you are old enough for your parents to trust you to fly alone, and at sixteen, you are picked up from the airport by your much taller childhood friend.

You absentmindedly think about how much has changed yet stayed the same about Ken as you rifle through your remaining belongings in your guest room, looking for your toiletries and pajamas to change into.

His height definitely took you by surprise. He was shorter than you the last time you saw him, by a half inch. Now, you have to look up when you talk to him, which you know for a fact that he has noticed, based on his smug look at the airport. He is definitely a lot more cocky than you remember, given his status as a baseball prodigy. You wonder whether he stopped getting bullied at school, and if his newfound confidence emerged from it. While he never gave details in his correspondence over the years, you just know that he “has it handled.”

Even if you never lost touch the past couple of years, it only hit you when you came face to face with him that he really has changed a lot. He is no longer as hyperactive as he was when he was younger. He is now more…aloof, with a bit of brooding. His ears are pierced to bear his new signature black studs. Hell, you may not have realized he was happy to have you here if not for his insistence for a sleepover.

It is disarming to shower in a place so familiar yet alien to you now. Maybe…visiting is a mistake.

It has been some time since the two of you had seen each other. What if you do not click anymore? Of course you have made new friends in his absence, and based on his life updates, so has he. He has even mentioned a girlfriend to you a few months ago, which you were a little surprised by. The title of best friend between the two of you feels decorative, with no real fondness behind it. You are scared that one way or another, it will be made apparent in this vacation that the two of you do not fit the way you did anymore.

As you finish your shower and leave the bathroom clad in your pajamas, you see Kenji grabbing some more of your bags from the floor of the guest room. You say “Dude, I really don’t want your ‘ma to get high blood pressure. I’m fine in this room.”

“She finally said it’s okay!” He grins at you, lifting up your bags with no difficulty. You have noticed he got a lot buffer at sixteen. His shirt, which he has definitely already outgrown, stretches out against his chest. Must be all the varsity training.

“Really? How did you manage that?” You dry your hair with a towel as you follow him to his room.

“She got tired of arguing and went to the farmer’s market.”

“...Well that would do it.”

You are sure his room is meant to be the master bedroom of the house, given how you marvel at its size when you get to properly enter. It is much like Auntie Emiko to give her son the best. He hurriedly brings your belongings into a walk-in closet, and when you enter his bathroom to drop your damp towel in the hamper you notice there are two sinks.

Still, it was very much a teenage boy’s room, based on his blue bedsheets stretching out over the king-sized bed and the gaming consoles under his flatscreen TV. You nearly trip over one of his baseball gloves as you marvel at a poster of Hideki Matsui on one wall, in his Giants jersey. You also spot a signed Matsui baseball card from his time with the Yankees, framed on a side table. 

“Whoops— gonna get that—” He rushes back into the room to grab his glove near your foot, dumping it into a random drawer. He is bouncing on his heels. ”...so yeah! This is the room. Welcome!”

“Is that where I’ll sleep?” You point towards the luxury gray sofa in the middle of the room facing the TV.

He walks up to your side to sling an arm around your shoulders; you’re annoyed at how easy it is for him to do that now with his added height. He does not mind that his shirt sleeve is growing damp from your hair. “Nah, I have to let you take the bed. Mom’s orders. We can share like old times though, since it’s big enough. Just don’t tell her.”

“You sure that’s okay? I mean, I know we’re friends but don’t you have a girl or something?”

He instantly sours, and drags you towards the bed with his arm still pressing firmly on your shoulders. “Broke up with me last week.”

“Oooh, bummer. What did you do?”

He smacks the back of your head. “Why’d you assume I did something?”

You shove him off good-naturedly, and sit down at the edge of the bed. “Well did she break up with you because of your stellar personality?” you dryly comment.

“Nah, I just played too much baseball.”

“Why’s that an issue?”

“Don’t really wanna talk about it,” he brushes you off as he walks over to his game consoles.

You frown at him while his back is turned. It’s so…typical of Ken Sato to avoid any conversations about his feelings. He never likes talking about himself beyond what is surface level, and even if you can admit that he has gone the farthest with you when it comes to digging deep into his psyche, he still hesitates a lot when he has to open up. Jesus, you remember how long it took for him to be honest with you about how he does not get along much with anyone in Los Angeles, even his own varsity teammates.

Plus, he has only mentioned his girlfriend–ex, now–a handful of times. Your curiosity was eating at you.

“Ha, no way, you’re actually upset that you got dumped,” you tease, growing a bit more comfortable around him as the minutes pass you by.

He rolls his eyes as he starts up the TV and grabs two of his controllers. He tosses one at you, which you smoothly catch. “Honestly, I wasn’t really upset with it.”

“But weren’t you with her for several months…?” You could not believe his blasé attitude about it.

“And what about that guy your friend tried to set you up with? The one with nice skin but bad breath?” He changes the subject as he approaches you.

You flush, straightening your back. “I don’t really wanna talk about it.”

He raises an eyebrow. Hypocrite.

“It’s different!” You weakly justify.

“Yeah yeah, now scoot—” Ken tries to push you towards the other side of the bed. “This is my spot.”

“Ugh, dude what are you doing?” You groan as you acquiesce. He plops down beside you as soon as you move out of the way, the TV screen displayed Mario Kart.

“Thought we are gonna play?” He opens up the selection screen.

You groan. “I just wanna nap, man. It was a 12-hour flight.”

“You can nap after three rounds,” he protests. He nudges at your wrists until you are holding the controller up properly. “Come on, I wanna hang out.”

“Kenji, I love you, but I might pass out in the middle of round one.” Your hands drop back on your lap. The tension of your back eases as you sink into his mattress, and you want nothing more than to get under his covers and sleep.

He flicks the side of your head to keep you awake, grumbling. “I am not wasting anytime while you’re here. It might take you a whole ten years next time to come back.”

“I said I was sorry,” you weakly reply. You shove your controller into his chest as you throw his blankets over yourself. You sink your face into his pillow for added measure. “Now please, I promise we can hang after I wake up. I just need this.”

Even if your voice is muffled by the pillow, he understood you clearly. He scoffs, and you feel him slide off the bed to leave you alone. Guilt begins to creep into your heart. You know how hard it is for him to make friends here. He is distant with everyone else except for you. Now his girlfriend dumped him and he probably just needed company—

You hear the click of the lights turning off, and the pull of the curtains over the windows. You feel the dip of the bed again, and you look up to see him getting under the covers himself.

“What are you doing?” You hesitantly ask.

“What’s it look like? I’m taking a nap too.”

“…it’s ten in the morning.”

He pushes your face back into the pillow. “Yea, and I had to get up at four to pick you up from the airport.”

You try to apologize, but you are muffled by the pillow. You slap at his arm so he will let your head go.

“Don’t apologize, dude,” he murmurs as he settles into the bed beside you, but still keeping a respectable distance. “S’okay, you need to rest. Sorry about being pushy about it.”

You let out a yawn, relaxing into the bed. “We can play when we wake up…no biggie.”

“It’s not just that…” He faces you, lying down on his side. His arm falls into the space between. He lets out a heavy breath.

You wait.

He does not say anything more.

“Kenji?”

He turns around. “…nothing. I... Good morning, I guess. Sleep well.”

You nearly click your tongue. What is it with boys and their repressed emotions?

Yet, perhaps you worry too much. Things aren’t as simple as they were when you were kids, but that is how it’s supposed to be.

“Kenji I swear to god you’re going to get us in trouble,” you hiss at him as he shoves his arm up the crane machine. You try to cover him with your body since he placed you on lookout duty.

“You said you wanted it,” he grunts back, as he even tilts the machine a little forward.

You hurriedly provide leverage against the glass with your shoulder so the entire thing won’t collapse on him. He has spent fifteen minutes trying to get you a Tuxedo Sam plushie, and as stubborn as he is, he refuses to back down. “Sunk-cost fallacy, man.”

“The hell is that?”

“Don’t you listen in class?”

His long arm strains higher. “Can’t see shit from here. You gotta tell me if I’m close.”

“To your left— yeah, a bit more,” you guide him as you glance into the machine.

“Is it— ah, fuck— did I get it?”

“That’s a Cinnamoroll.”

His fingers pinched at the poor stuffed toy’s ear. “That good enough for you?”

“I guess it’s fine?” The weight of the machine is causing your shoulder to ache. “Dude just grab it and let’s go.”

“No, I’ll get that damn penguin.” God he’s stubborn as shit. His hand strains some more, and you see his fingertips brush against Tuxedo Sam’s hat.

“You’re actually gonna get it,” you marvel.

“I got you, girl.” He throws you a smirk despite nearly straining his rotator cuff.

The machine tilts a bit more, his palm fully closing over the stuffed toy’s face.

“Hey, what are you doing over there?!”

You make eye contact with the underpaid arcade employee stalking towards you.

“Kenji—“

“Oh shit—“

You push the machine back in place as Kenji yanks at the toy as fast as he could with a loud rip. You both bolt out of the exit, the neon lights bathe your skin no more as you run out to the sunset-soaked Santa Monica Pier.

Your howls of glee are drowned by the roar of the pier’s crowd. You smell the sea and fry grease in the air. Ken grabs your wrist and tugs you as he runs towards the parking lot.

You both are reduced to giggles by the time you reach his jeep. Your knees start to buckle as you throw your back against the passenger door, heaving from your long sprint. He is also a wreck, resting his arm against the passenger door as well as he stood beside you.

“Here, for you,” he says breathlessly as he holds up your prize, the Tuxedo Sam.

Or. Part of him.

“What the— Kenji!” You wheeze, doubling over from laughter. Your eyes sting from the tears that are forming.

That stuffed toy is full-on decapitated.

“Gah, damn. Must’ve gotten caught on the claw machine door.” Ken’s brows furrow as he looks at the penguin head he had gripped tightly in his hand.

An apology is on the tip of his tongue until he sees your hunched, shaking form. He barks out his own laughter, one hand circling your waist to stabilize you against his chest.

“Okay okay that’s enough,” he gives you his signature lop-sided smile as you shake against him. “Maybe I am not the best claw machine guy around.”

Your stomach hurts as you gasp for air. Your hand claws at his shirt as you continue to cackle. “Y-you think?!”

He presses the decapitated Tuxedo Sam head against your face to shut you up.

You two still get along just fine.

At that point, it has been a few days since you arrived in LA. You both have spent your time exploring the city while the sun is up, and goofing off in his room when night has fallen.

However, most of your schedule has to work around his baseball summer training. In fact, you could only hit up the pier after his training ended earlier at three in the afternoon. His equipment sticks out from the back as you sit in the passenger seat of his jeep.

“Keep an eye out for any patrol cars,” he tells you as he pulls out the parking lot to begin the drive home.

“Why? I don’t think they’re investigating penguin homicide.” You hug the decapitated Sam.

“Ha ha. My license is only provisional.” 

“Just drive like normal and you won’t get caught,” you nonchalantly say. “If you speed up when we see the police they would definitely pull us over.”

He reaches over the console to pinch your arm. “Don’t jinx it.”

You swat him away, then recline your seat. You stretch your legs out with a sigh. “Ugh, the day still feels too young.”

“Hm, we can have a little night time swim?” He suggests.

“Will your mom let us head to the beach again?” You think you both have messed around at the beach a total of three times already given that it is just at his backyard.

“Not at this hour, no. But you still haven’t tried the pool right?” While the Sato residence is a beachfront, they still have a gorgeous heated pool by the coast. You begin to envy his sun-kissed life.

The sky is already dark when you arrive back home ( home? Maybe it is). You begin making preparations for your nightly swim, donning on your bathing suit and grabbing your towel to head out to the back porch. Ken still hasn’t gone down, and you figure you can go ahead and make some poolside snacks for the two of you while you wait.

You pad barefoot into the kitchen with your sheer white swim cover up hanging off your shoulders. As you rummage through the fridge, the front door opens. A click of heels echo through the house.

“Oh, Navy!” You hear Mrs. Sato call out behind you. “What are you doing here? It’s been some time since you’ve come over— ah!”

She stops herself quickly when you turn around.

“So sorry about that sweetheart. You just look so much like—” She pauses.

“Oh, welcome back Auntie Emiko!” You greet her warmly as you set down the cans of soda you have grabbed onto the counter. She is still in her office attire, having come from her work at a kaiju research center in the city. Even if they are far from the shores of Tokyo, the whole world maintains great interest in those creatures.

Her words finally process in your head. “Sorry, who?”

She hesitates as she approaches the opposite side of the counter. “You know, Kenji’s old girlfriend.”

Ah. You blink. “Oh yeah, her name is…Navy? Right, yeah he mentioned her.” 

“You just look like her from behind. Maybe it’s the current fashion,” she sheepishly explains.

You don’t know why but it peeves you to think that another girl was waltzing around with her swimsuit on in Ken’s kitchen.

“Sorry, Kenji doesn’t like it when I talk about her,” Auntie Emiko explains. She reaches for one of your cans. “May I?”

“Oh sure,” you allow as you slide it to her. You open one of your own as you both comfortably sit at the bar stools across from one another. You take a sip for your nerves. Normally, talking with your auntie is so easy but for some reason a ball is lodged in your throat. “It’s…hard to get him to open up about his feelings.”

“That’s why I’m glad you’re here,” she confesses.

You take another sip, silent.

“You know, she actually was a lot like you. I don’t necessarily miss having her around per se, but it just felt like you were here with us once more.”

“Oh! Well Ken never really talked about her so I wouldn’t know.” You trace your fingertip around the can’s edge.

She laughs at a memory. “You know, when you told us last year that you cannot visit, Kenji moped around the house for weeks. We fought a lot during that time—“

“I’m really sorry…”

“No need to explain yourself to me. I knew he was just dealing with a lot back then. Anyway, one day he just seemed to have perked up again. That’s when he told me he met Navy. She was a bright girl like you are, very similar. It’s too bad Kenji wasn’t ready to fully commit to her. He has a baseball for a brain.” She knocks at her temple for emphasis.

You lean in, your nosiness coming in. “Do you know why she broke up with him? He never really explained it to me.”

She drinks some soda before she laughs again. “He always chose baseball over her, dear. That boy would rather spend his day at the field than whatever she wanted to do.”

“Is that really it?” You ask in wonder.

She shrugs. “Who knows if they fought about something else. The baseball summer training he’s doing now was the last straw, especially when…” She shuts up suddenly.

“When what?” You egg her on.

“Don’t tell him that I told you,” Auntie Emiko suddenly whispers. You nod. “But apparently, she couldn’t take it that he spent the entire day at training. Even I thought it was excessive that he’s doing a lot this summer.”

Your nose scrunches in confusion. “His training ends in the early afternoon. He could have made time if he wanted to.”

“Well he definitely has with you.” Her eyes twinkle knowingly as she takes a long sip from her can.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You’re at a loss. 

She hums. “Ever since you’ve been back, Kenji has been coming home from training after it ends.”

“…As he is should???”

“He normally comes home around nine in the evening because he stays overtime in the batting cage with the pitching machine.”

Oh. Well how are you supposed to know that?

Before you can reply, Ken enters the kitchen with a towel on his shoulders and his swim trunks hanging low on his hips. You train your eyes up to his face with much practice. It was much harder the first time you went swimming together earlier this vacation, when you had realized just how broad his shoulders have gotten. Must have been from all those hours in the batting cage.

“Hey mom,” he leans forward to give Auntie Emiko a peck on her cheek in greeting. He turns to you. “Ready to hit the pool, dude?”

You nod, finishing the last gulp of your soda quickly before throwing the can in the trash. “Yeah, sure.”

Auntie Emiko waves you two off as she slides down her barstool. “Have fun. I might turn in early for tonight.”

“Rest well mom,” Ken calls out to her as she leaves the kitchen.

Your conversation with your auntie goes to the back of your mind as soon as you jump into the warm chlorinated water. Heated pools are a godly gift for a cool night. 

Thrumming with the excess adrenaline from earlier today, you and Ken can singlehandedly reduce the pool’s water levels by a few good inches with the way you two splash around each other. From challenging each other to do the biggest cannonball, to grabbing each other’s ankles underwater, you are turning your relaxing evening soak into a full workout.

Your game of Marco Polo is the most tiring yet. He swims like a shark in top form. You could barely let out a squeal before he pounces on you from below. You nearly hit your head on the side of the pool when he grabs you with ferocity and holds you tightly against his cold, clammy body. His forearm presses against your bare tummy as your legs tangle underwater when he catches you, keeping you both afloat.

“Got ya.” His ego leaks out as his breath hits your ear.

A strong smack from you causes Ken to wince and let go. “You’re just cocky ‘cause your feet reaches the pool floor!” You swim a foot away from him.

“Maybe I’m cocky because I won the last five rounds.”

“Okay, I can acknowledge that you swim a lot better than me,” you bow your head a little to his direction. “So it makes me think that, maybe, you can better utilize your skills in our next game.”

“For the last time, I’m not playing mermaids.” He strikes the water to send a small wave towards your open mouth.

You sputter as you try to splash him back. “But you can have the shiny red tail and I can have a shimmery blue tail to match!”

“ What are you even talking about right now?”

“Don’t you have any imagination?”

“Well, I can imagine that I have two legs and can breathe air.”

“Well, my best friends back at Tokyo played mermaids with me.” It is a childishly low blow, but it is a joke all the same.

He does not seem to think so, as he gives a harsh splash to your face, harder than before.

“Hey, I’m kidding! Honest, we don’t have to—” you nearly drank in the pool water again as another splash came your way. “Promise we don’t have to play!”

You swim over to him as he pushes himself up to sit at the ledge close to the pool ladder. You cross your arms on top of the ledge, beside his legs as you look up at him.

“Kenji, promise. It’s not a big deal.”

He shakes his head over yours so that the droplets in his hair rain down on you. “I don’t know. Maybe you should get on the next plane to play mermaids with your much better friends,” he sneers at you childishly.

Unrelenting, you push yourself to float up between his legs, hands on his knees as you coax him back into the water. “I didn’t mean it, bro. Please come back in?”

“...You won’t even let my mermaid have the ability to talk to all the fishes.” He leans back on his arms as he looks down at you.

“Because that’s my mermaid’s special power.” You swim closer, your ears nearly grazing his skin as your hands slide down to loosely hold his shins.

You nearly miss the hitch of his breath. “Why can’t both of our mermaids talk to fish? It makes more sense that way.”

“Ugh, if you keep insisting then let’s play something else,” you complain.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t expect mermaids to get so political,” he lazily keeps his eyes on you as your head bobs around while you float in the water. “It’s getting pretty late. Let’s call it a night.” 

“Ugh, please… don’t wanna sleep just yet.” You rest your cheek against his inner thigh, pleading with your eyes as you stuck out your bottom lip. You are met with the heel of his hand striking your forehead. “ Ow !”

“What are you doing ?” He hisses, and you wonder if you are mishearing the flustered tone that makes his voice go higher.

“I’m still not tired yet!” Your head is still pushed back.

He presses the heel of his hand firmer against your forehead. “Well I am.”

“I thought you were an athlete.” You grab his wrist to mitigate the pressure. “Your mom told me you spend hours in the batting cage before going home.”

“Yeah, well I haven’t done that in a while.” He gives one last small push on your forehead before leaning back again.

Pouting, you swam to the pool ladder to climb out, before plopping down beside him at the ledge. Your feet absentmindedly kick as it submerges once again into the water, and he follows suit.

“...I heard what you and mom talked about by the way,” he nonchalantly reveals.

“...Does it bother you?” You cautiously ask.

He shrugs, and gives a rough kick out with his feet. “Nah, you’re right. I don’t like talking about feelings and stuff. Maybe that’s why I didn’t really feel bad when she didn’t want to see me anymore.”

“I get why you wanted to prioritize baseball. It’s all you have,” you try to empathize. “Still, maybe you should’ve set aside time for her. It’s important to give space for other people in your life.”

He snorts. “She didn’t want to do anything important, believe me.”

“I’m sure any time spent with loved ones is priceless,” you argue.

“Oh yeah? So should I just risk my dream of being the best living baseball player of all time to makeout in my bed?”

You clam up really fast, and look away. “Don’t you have any tact?”

“You asked.” He reaches forward to scoop some water in his palm to throw at you.

“...Was it something that you did…often?” You do not know why you ask.

“Didn’t I just tell you the reason why we broke up?”

“Well I don’t know!” You throw your hands up in defense. “I just think making out with someone sounds…nice.”

He tilts his head at your tone. “Don’t tell me you’ve never.”

“I’ve…” you think very carefully about your next words. “...tried to, but it just didn’t like. Push beyond a little kiss.”

“Define little.” He angles his torso to face you, even if you could barely look him in the eyes.

“Maybe a peck?”

He whistles. “Damn, dude, way to hit all the bases.”

You try to shove him back into the water but he grabs your wrists and wrestles your arms down, pulling you close.

“Don’t be shy!” He laughs at you. “It’s kind of overrated.”

“It is?” You can’t help your natural curiosity. You put your hands down but he maintains a friendly grip on you.

“Yeah. Maybe the girls I kissed weren’t that good at it but it’s pretty…damp. And messy.”

You ignore the way your heart stings at his use of plural. “But doesn’t it feel nice? Like, it looks nice on TV.”

“Don’t get me wrong it feels…good. Really good,” he hesitates. “It just does not really compare to the batting cage.”

You bite your lip. His eyes unconsciously follow. “I… I really wanted to try doing it with that guy.”

“...The one with the nice skin?”

“And bad breath,” you grumble. “I couldn’t get over it. I tried to be subtle by sliding him some gum but he never took the hint.”

He lets go of your wrists in order to stop himself from laughing.

“It’s not funny.”

“It kind of is given how long you stuck by him,” he snickers. “Why were you even into him in the first place?”

Your mind briefly flashes back to the first time you met that boy, when your friend first introduced you to him. You remember your first thought was that he looks similar to someone you dearly missed.

You shrug, noncommittal. “Haven’t got a clue.”

“Well don’t go running off to find the next boy to get in on with,” he warns.

“I’m not!”

“Keep it that way, guys are pretty gross.”

You suck in air through your teeth. “It’s not really about that…I’m just worried that I won’t be good at it.”

“Yeah, but there’s nothing to be good at,” he gives it to you straight. “If you like a guy enough it will always be good. You’re not getting graded.”

“Well since when were you the makeout master ?”

“Since I had a girlfriend whose breath smelled fine.”

“You said you didn’t even like her that much!”

“I also said she wanted to eat my face everyday.”

Damn, he has a point. 

You give a strong kick to the water, the wave smoothly gliding to the other side of the pool.

Ken sighs, sensing the drop in your mood. “...Does it really matter so much for you to try it out?”

“Try what out?” You play dumb, too embarrassed to say that yes, it did .

He knows what game you’re trying to pull on him, but he lets you. “Eat faces.”

“I haven’t even had a proper kiss yet,” you say, mock-scandalized.

“So I’ll give you a proper kiss first then.”

You blink.

He brings his hands down to splash you with more water. “Don’t look at me stupid like that.”

“I didn’t think you meant eat faces with you !” You splash him back.

“What’s wrong with me? I thought you wanted to get good at it before kissing some guy.”

You pause. You did want to be good… Still, the conversation is starting to spiral out of control. You hesitate to reply.

He clicks his tongue as he pats the tile at his side. “Come closer.”

You sit closer to his side, thighs touching. “God this is kind of weird.”

“It’s just a kiss,” he rolls his eyes. “You wanna learn or not?”

“What if your mom sees?” You look back to the house. It seems relatively quiet, with the lights of Auntie Emiko’s room turn off and the curtains spread out.

“She’s fast asleep.”

“What if my breath smells bad?”

“I’ll let you know.”

“What if—”

“If you don’t want to, I’m not forcing you,” he cuts you off, annoyed. He makes a move to stand but you press your palm against his knee to keep him still.

“What if this fucks up our friendship?”

Ken will have given you another half-assed response if not for the sincere fear reflecting from our eyes.

You continue, “I was really, really scared before coming here. I thought that, once we met up you’ll realize how boring I am and– and think that me coming was a waste of time. And I promise I don’t think that anymore. It’s been a fun few days and it feels like I got my best friend back, you know? It was shitty of me not to come see you, I know that now, because I can’t believe I would ever reach the point where I doubted us.”

He reaches upward to cup your face, and you nuzzle into his palm.

You let out a shaky sigh. “I want to kiss you. I do. I want to know what it feels like and figure out how it goes because I trust you more than anyone else. But I really don’t want to fuck this up more than I have.”

“You haven’t fucked anything up,” he mumbles. “I wouldn’t have offered if I thought you would fuck this up…I was scared too. That you didn’t come back because you grew bored of me.”

“That’s not why—”

He presses his thumb against your cheekbone. “I know. I…I struggled with it but I know now. I feel like I haven’t really come to terms with how…my dad never picked me first. I’ve never forgiven him for how much he neglected me and my mom that I…I think some anger I had with my dad transferred onto my resentment for you when you did not visit. I’m sorry, for being immature about it. I don’t know how to talk about things like this.”

The tightening in your chest unfurls. He moves his head closer.

Your breaths intermingle as you stay by the pool.

“It means a lot…” As you speak, your lips nearly brush against his. You bring your hand up over his heart to steady yourself and maintain a distance. “...How…how do we do this?”

“Let me guide you,” he says, a little breathless. “Anything I can do to keep boundaries? I mean, since this is just a friend doing a favor for a friend.”

Nervous, you blab the first thing that comes to mind. “Maybe…we can just say ‘bro’ after every kiss?”

“...Are you shitting me right now?” He gasps, resting his forehead against yours.

“I-I don’t know…” You giggle. “It won’t count if we do. Won’t mean anything.”

“We can do that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, bro .”

“Sure, bro. ”

“Anything you say, bro .”

“Kenji—Bro, I’m… I’m still a little scared.”

“Then let me take care of you…”

You hold your breath.

His breath is hot.

And he tastes like chlorine.

Like petals sliding against each other, his lips smoothly glide against your own. Your hand against his chest creeps up to leverage itself on his neck. His fingertips slip into your hair and you clench your legs as it brought tingles from your scalp all the way down your spine.

He pulls away, eyed unfocused when he opens them. “ More .”

You open and close your mouth. “Are…Are you asking?”

“ Please…” He kisses your nose. You life your head higher to kiss him back.

You are sure he feels the goosebumps on your skin as his other hand brushes against your leg. He lets his fingers climbs up your inner thigh as the hand in your hair pushes you firmer against him. You massage the nape of his neck in return, urging him on. You move against him on instinct, panting before sucking on his bottom lip. The groan he lets out sets you on fire. You feel a heat, a hunger, which can only be satiated by his skin against yours.

Lightheaded, you pull away for air but he chases after you, his nose bumping into yours as he searches for your lips once more. “Wait,” he grunts. “Not done.” His palm slides higher up your thigh, knuckles brushing against your polyester swimwear.

You swallow back a gasp as you lean back, too prideful to seem needy for his touch. “G-Give me a min—”

You lean back too far, he leans too far forward.

You fall into the pool.

The heated water is freezing against your scalding skin. You feel him wrap his arms around your waist to hoist up above water. You are greeted with a boyish laugh as you emerge for air. You instinctively wrap your legs around his hips as he stands on the pool floor, anchoring yourself on his stability.

“My height comes in handy, huh?” He teases as he walks through the water to get to the ladder. He guides your bottom to rest on one of the steps.

You grasp the metal railings as he steps closer between your legs. Swallowing your pride, you mutter “I’m…I need more…”

“What was that?” He grins. His hands loftily roam from your thighs up to your sides back down again.

You push yourself forward to shut him up.

He dives deeper into your kiss as he runs his fingers again through your hair while his other hand grips your waist underwater. You buck into his touch, bumping against the front of his shorts, and he hisses before nipping at your lip to make you behave. Your knuckles turn white from how tightly you grip the railing. The water sloshes around you two as he presses his hips against yours. The heels of your feet dig against his lower back as you sloppily kiss him through the haze of euphoria he shoots through your nervous system.

From your hair, his hand slides down to grab your chin. He tilts your head up. “You got something…” He brings you closer, and licks at the drool leaking out of your mouth. You grip his nape tighter as he begins to peck there, then to the corner of your jaw, following its line until his butterfly kisses reach your earlobe.

Ken feels your legs clench together. His hand on your waist dips into the water to soothingly knead them back apart.

As you ease open again, he gives a sly peck on your lobe before whispering “Can I suck on your tongue?”

Your mouth goes dry.

“Nod or shake your head.”

You nod.

“Good girl. Now open your mouth and stick your tongue out.”

And shit. Did he make you feel really, really good.

Haa….

Ha…Haah…

A…A-Ah…

He lets out soft moans with each gentle suck of your tongue. They mix with your pants for air.

Reluctantly, he pulls away this time. His touch on your chin skims down to play with the strap of your bathing suit. He swallows heavily before he takes a shaky breath in.

You purse your lips, feeling the numbness. “...Well.”

He slowly nods. “Mhm.”

Your hands loosely slide down the railing. “I…I’m sorry I didn’t know what to do with my hands.”

He chuckles as he leans forward to kiss your shoulder, before slowly rubbing his face against your arm, all the way up to your wrist. He gives it a gentle peck as you still held on the railing, before falling into a pattern of rubbing up and down your arm’s length. He buries his nose at the crook of your arm, groaning.

If you do not know any better, he seems drunk.

“I-It’s getting late…”

“Yeah…” He plants open mouth kisses on your arm. Your hand nearly slips and falls into the water.

“We might prune up here.”

“Mmhmm…” He reaches your collarbone.

You tilt your head back instinctively. He smiles against your skin before his tongue swipes at your pulse. Your hands lift off the railing to grasp his back as jolt upwards.

He laughs again before pulling back. “That good, bro ?”

You instantly scowl. “You’re ruining the mood.”

“You told me to say it after,” he reminds you. Ah. It completely slips your mind that you did.

Ken helps you out of the pool, ever the gentleman. You do not realize just how cold it was until the late night wind blows against you. He hands you your towel, and you stammer out that you have to go shower. You hurry inside without waiting for his response, opting to head to the common bathroom to rinse yourself off.

By the time you enter his bedroom, he is still in the middle of his own shower. You find it odd that he is taking this long. He left the door open, and the light leaks out into the pitch-dark room. You crawl underneath his covers, dry and clean— no longer hot and sticky. Yet, you feel the familiar hunger as his scent crowds around you. You never noticed it before but his bed smells just like his everyday cologne. Burrowing your face into the pillow, you take a deep inhale to calm yourself.

You then remember the pressure of his palm against the back of your head, and wonder what it may feel like if he has your face shoved against the mattress.

“ F-fuck… ”

Your eyes shoot open as you lift your head out of the pillow. Did that slip out of you?

No, that did not come from you.

You look back at the open bathroom door, and just as quickly, you look away. You try to go sleep as you block your ears from hearing anything more. That did not do much.

You bite the inside of your cheek. Are you a fucking pervert?

Ken probably does not know you’re back in the room.

You touch your lips. They still feel warm.

It was just a friendly favor. Don’t make it weird.

Your legs shakily widen.

This is so so wrong.

You slip an extra pillow between them.

The shower stops and the door is pushed open a bit wider. You tense up before you play dead, acting as if you innocuously needed to cuddle up against something soft. His feet pad into the room before coming to a dead halt. He seems to be facing the bed. There is a crackle of hesitation in the air, before Ken heads towards his sofa and pulls it out for the mattress.

He settles himself into his makeshift bed, and you nearly sigh in disappointment when you realize you will be alone for the night, his side of your bed feeling emptier by the moment.

You still struggle to sleep long after you could hear his soft snores.

Did you fuck it up? You cannot help but chide yourself. If it is not weird, then why is he sleeping on the pullout? If it is not weird, then why did you leave him standing by the pool earlier after you finished…whatever it was you both were doing?

You slowly rock into the pillow with no particular rhythm as you thought about it. His hand touching your thigh, his knuckles grazing against…

“ A-Ah…” Your hips stutter. You clam up immediately. Shit, are you too loud?

You crane your head up to look down at the sofabed.

You don’t hear his snoring.

“...Kenji? You awake?” You call out into the dark.

A rustle of blankets. “...Yeah.”

“...you heard that?”

“.....yes….”

“.....”

“Did you…hear me…earlier?”

“...Yeah….”

He does not answer this time.

“...Did we fuck this up?” You cannot stop yourself from asking.

He breathily laughs, and it warms you right back up. “Of course not.”

The next day you sit in the breakfast nook with your Auntie Emiko as you both enjoy a simple breakfast of rice and dried fish. Kenji busies himself with getting ready for his baseball training.

Auntie Emiko chats with you about her plans for the day. “I have to go and meet up with the others moms at the PTA. What are you kids planning on doing later?”

You look at Ken as he packs up his bat, his back turned at you.

“Maybe mess around."

He evidently stills. Shit, are you bold .

But his mom just laughs it off, not really reading into what she said. “Just don’t set the house on fire and you’ll be good. It’s nice that you two are going to take the afternoon in. You had a busy day yesterday.”

You agree wholeheartedly.

“I gotta go,” Ken announces as he pulls up his bag up to his shoulder. He heads towards the table to give his mom a peck on the cheek and you a light side hug. “Bye.”

While Auntie Emiko continues on your little chat, you begin to panic. You worry that you read him wrong. You are sure you did not misunderstand where he stands. Where you stand.

You do not have to worry too long again. He always comes to melt your troubles away.

Specifically, he enters his room at 3:30PM still in his baseball uniform.

And to his credit, he at least showers and pretends you both are not thinking the same thing as he slides into bed beside you. He begins to play a random low-budget action film on his TV, and as soon as it was made clear that neither of you really gave a shit about the exploding cars and machine guns, he turns to you and asks

“Wanna makeout?”

Present day.

Ken wakes up in the shittiest mood he has been in for a while, and that is saying a lot. Not only did he have to turn down your bootycall last night, but he dreamt of your first makeout in his room.

He remembers having you on his lap and pushing your hips down as he came into his pants like the pathetic, horny teenager he was. He remembers you whining for him to teach you how to do your first french kiss like the pathetic, horny teenager you were.

Okay, maybe his thing was a lot more embarrassing. But in fairness, you left a permanent stain on the front of those boxers by the time you were finished.

He gets up from bed and takes a longest shower he has had since arriving back in Tokyo.

Just friends. Just friends. Just friends.

Ken chants in his head. It is the same ten years ago, it is the same now. Even if it feels like everything, it means nothing. Of course, it is not the same now because you ended the arrangement three years ago .

He convinces himself that you were just tired last night, and he was too. Even if the old routine is familiar, and comfortable , it does not mean it is right.

He heads down to his basement, mug of coffee in one hand, and almost immediately he is greeted by the sight of a hyperactive Emi in her cylinder and his dad muttering over some charts.

“Hey girl, morning.” His heart swells with pride as his baby Emi chirps with excitement at the sight of him. Even if last night did not go the way he wanted it to, being able to give her a name feels good. 

“Morning dad,” he walks over to Professor Sato. The old man finally looks up with a start, before his eyes focus on his son with glee.

“Good morning, Kenji! Let’s start bright and early.”

Ken rolls his neck as he begins to warm up. “What’s first on the new sched? Feeding time?”

“Ah, before that…” His dad gestures to the chair beside him, and Ken takes the seat. “There’s something we need to discuss.”

“Is it Emi’s poopies? I never got around to figuring out the schedule in which she does it.”

“No no,” the professor pauses. He wipes his palms down his pants with the nervousness of a father who never really learned how to parent.

Oh wait , Ken thinks wryly, but still tries to stifle the thought.

“Mina…informed me you were headed somewhere last night.” His tone shows he knew more than what he is saying.

Ken stands back up. “No. You cannot leave me alone for twenty years then expect me to be all fine with it when you suddenly feel the need to give me the dad talk.”

“I-I’m not trying…look, son,” his dad tries to soften his temper. “You know how much I like her. You also know how she visited me every other month to check up on me while you were away, and that she has not stopped since you have arrived back home.”

“I know that,” he cannot help but bark out.

“And you know I’ve always appreciated her family’s help with funding the KDF back when its initial mission was more humane, and I don’t hold it against them that they continue to support it until now.”

“What are you saying?” He crosses his arms tightly.

“...I’m saying that I am proud of you for staying behind last night.”

He…He is not expecting this sort of praise. “I’m sorry?”

“W-well– uh– Mina, show him the chart?” Professor Sato calls for the robot assistant.

She hovers into view, and projects to Kenji a chart of…all the times he ditched Ultraman duty the past several months to do something else, categorized by reason.

The third is sleep.

The second is baseball.

The first is you.

He winces at the statistic, because even if he did neglect his duties often to see you, it was not enough to stop you from feeling like he did not care about you.

“...point being?” He pretends not to see what is wrong.

Professor Sato lets out a deep sigh. “I am…proud. That you chose to be here this time.”

“Okay.”

“And that I think you have a shot against that Yamazaki Kento guy.”

A vein nearly pops at the side of his temple. He sets down his coffee mug on a nearby surface as he rubs his head. “Yeah, no. They aren’t together.”

“Oh!” God dad, shut up. “That’s even better news. Since when?”

“It was just a few dates,” he snaps. “They didn’t work out.”

“I see… and this was…Before or after Yuzu?”

“After Mr. Hanyu ,” Ken corrects him immediately.

His dad laughs good-naturedly. “I can’t really follow her when she tells me all about it…At least she prefers athletes over actors, eh?”

“...Thanks. Anything else before I take Emi out for her bath?”

“Uh— Well… Kenji…” Here they go again. “Last night, when you played your…sleeping aids for Emi—”

“Those are the only things that knock her out,” he hurriedly explains. The temperature of the room beginning to rise.

“...R-Right…”

“Dad, don’t worry. I know it’s a bit…weird.”

“I didn’t say that, and I didn’t think that,” Professor Sato tries to assure him. “I…I do the same for your—”

Ken transforms into Ultraman before he could hear another word. Emi’s garbled chirps got louder in glee, and he swoops her into his arms.

He shouts behind him “Whoops, gotta go! She’s getting the hungies.”

Great. Good talk. The father-son bonding is sooo back.

A/N: Dear god was this horny. I miss the club.

I kind of got really shy about writing stuff like this? This is my first time publishing anything like that. i was actually supposed to fully write out the makeout scene in the bedroom but this chapter was getting too long. I really wanted all the things they did at sixteen to happen all in one chapter so I don't have to split it. Things to note

1) the Satos are definitely upperclass lmao. "But writer why is the reader still sponsoring Kenji if he's rich—" that's just how athlete sponsorships work rich ppl give money to other rich ppl all the time. 2) I didn't really like writing Auntie HAHA. I really wanted to call her "Tita Miko" or something but I figure most of you aren't Filipino. 3) To avoid alienating anyone I tried to figure out a name for Kenji's ex gf that i doubt any person is actually named. if your name is Navy then idk... 4) I will be giving you the craziest dating history to compensate for me making Kenji date other girls YIPEE. Except for the ex, I namedrop very real life personalities in each chapter.

[miscellaneoussmp]

Did Bad and Bagi interactions inspire this? Yes. Do I expect this to be anywhere close to Canon? Nope. Anyway, here's the story of The Grim Reaper meeting a set of twins (cw/tw: blood/violence/death mentions, general Cellbit fuckery):

In war, a lot of horrible things happen. That's just how it is. People die, and it's a tragedy, as it always is. Bad always finds himself on the battlefields. His duty to the world beyond demands it of him. Reaping the souls of those who have unfortunately passed on during battle is as simple as it's always been. It's just more time-consuming than usual. Bad can't find the energy to mourn every single soul he takes. He mourns for souls he's yet to take, instead.

Bad likes to believe he's seen everything in this world. He's just as old as it, if not even older. This world shouldn't hold many surprises. As always, he's proven wrong. In the woods not incredibly far from a main battlefield, Bad finds two people. They look young, really young. One sits next a body that is ripped to shreds, and the other sits further from the body. The one closer to the body wipes blood from his mouth as he looks up at Bad. His brown hair was held out of his face with a set of goggles. The one farther is chewing on what looks to be stale bread. She looks between the other and Bad, through her ash blonde hair. They look like siblings, twins maybe. These two are the types of souls that Bad mourns. He can feel they're destined for greatness, yet they're stuck here.

The young duo looks absolutely terrified as Bad approaches them, two sets of wide bright blue eyes stare at him. The one next to the body stands, holding his knife in a shakey white knuckle grip. The one farther grabs a sword in an equally shakey grip. Bad points to the body, and he tries his best to explain that he's just here for the soul. The young brunette nods before turning to his companion, his sister Bad assumes, and translates. Bad recognizes the language as Portuguese, but he doesn't have any hope in understanding what was actually said. Both lower their weapons, the closer sits back down, and both look in amazement as Bad tears the soul from the body. Simple as that. He jokes about soul, luckily, being left in tact. Neither one of the younger two laugh.

Bad stays after his job is complete. He's curious about siblings. He's still guessing at that fact. He wants to know more about the young soldiers. He wants to know more about the young souls he's mourning for. Bad asks about their names. The demon wants to know what names he needs to plead cases for in front of Death, herself. The brunette looks to his sister, a guess still, before turning back to Bad shaking his head. Neither has a name. Bad didn't have one for a while either, so he doesn't push. Next, he asks about their ages. How young are they truly? They can't be much older than eighteen. Bad hates the answer he receives. Quinze, the blonde, speaks finally, her voice shakes. Fifteen, the brunette translates in unsure tone. Was Bad ever that young? He can't remember. Finally, he asks if they're actually siblings. There wasn't any hesitation, both nod.

Bad is taken a back when they question him in return. He really shouldn't have been. They ask–the brother mostly asks, but the sister speaks, as well, in their native tongue–about his name. He shares with them his name and a few nicknames he's gotten over the years. There's a hint of recognition in their expressions with a few of his names. After a few more questions, some of which Bad doesn't answer, he offers the siblings non-stale bread. The brunette doesn't take it, instead licking his lips that are still covered in blood. Bad gets it. He really does. The blonde cautiously takes it with her hands still shaking as she does so. She examines the bread for any tampering. Bad gets that, too. He really does.

The Grim Reaper takes his leave after the siblings fall asleep, it was hours of a futile struggle to stay awake. He knows they sleep light and fearful. Bad mourns for their souls before he ever needs to reap them. The demon curses whoever or whatever has forced these nameless teens to fight. He mourns for the day he'll take their souls. At least they'll know peace then.

After nearly eleven years, Bad meets one of the young souls he mourned for, once again. He took the name Cellbit, and Bad thinks it's a fitting one. Cellbit is a investigator now, and his face holds a relaxed smile. He thanks Bad for being kind to him all those years ago. He doesn't mention his sister.

After nearly eleven years, Bad meets the other young soul he mourned for, once again. She took the name Bagi, and Bad thinks it's a fitting one. Bagi is a pacifist now, and her bright eyes are full of curiosity and determination. She thanks him for being kind to her now. She doesn't mention her brother.

[l-e-e-woso]

I know your requests are closed but could we please have Alexia and this prompt you reposted: “You need to wake up because I can’t do this without you.” This with your writing would be the absolutely best

Please Mi Amor - Alexia Putellas

Italics = Spanish

WARNING! MENTIONS; SWEARING, CANCER AND BLOOD

Prompt 9 - “You need to wake up because I can’t do this without you.”

___________________________

It was a Champions League final against Chelsea and unfortunately Alexia wasn’t playing due to her not being ready to play due to her injury, but her last name is still being displayed on the field by her wife, you, Y/n Putellas.

When the both of you did play on the field together you were an unstoppable force that nobody liked getting in the way of. Alexia and you were the best duo when on the pitch together. Everyone loved when you and Alexia would act cute with each other in front of the fans giving them the content that they wanted.

Apparently, Chelsea’s defenders were being really brave in this particular match and were throwing themselves into you. Every time one of the Chelsea girls tried to foul you the Barca fans would start booing them and suddenly cheer when you would outmanoeuvre them.

All of a sudden as you ran past Jess Carter into the penalty box, she slides tackled you from behind making you fall to the floor holding your foot which Jess had caught with her studs.

You could hear your teammates shouting at Jess as Barca’s medics looked at your foot and fortunately you were fine to play on.

Barca was awarded a penalty that you would take. You took the ball spinning it before placing it on the Penalty spot before taking two steps backwards and to the left. Taking a deep breath, you slowly run up to the ball and you slot it into the lower left corner, the goalkeeper dives the wrong way. The ball goes in! It’s now 2 - 0 to Barca!

You run over to the side where Alexia is sitting, you point at her and make a heart with your hands. “Let’s fucking goooo!” You shout as your teammates all hug you before returning to their positions.

In the 20th minute Aitana scores a beautiful goal with an assist from none other than yourself.

It was the 36th minute Geyse backheels the ball backwards towards Caroline who shoots and scores perfectly.

___________________________

Currently it was the 80th minute and Barca was holding the lead 4 - 0. Chelsea was becoming sloppy with their tackles and you had this bad feeling that someone was going to get seriously hurt.

You were running down the left to cross the ball into the penalty box to Keira who was in the box ready and open for the ball. Just as you went to kick the ball Jess Carter came running into you knocking you over on to your back.

The ball had gone out for a throw-in, in favour of Barca which you would have taken if you weren’t gasping for air while laying on your back. The closest people from your team came rushing to you, which were Keira and Frido.

“You alright?” Keira says as she places a hand on your arm to check on you. “J-just need a m-min-” You get cut off by a shooting pain in your mid-section which causes you to groan in pain.

The ref motions for the medics to come on to check if you are alright. They quickly walk on as they get to you both Keira and Frido step back, so they have room to examine you.

The medics check you out and decide to try to get you to stand up, which you somehow do successfully, they tell the ref that you're fine to play on.

The game resumed.

You were running as fast as normally did and you bumped into one or two Chelsea players by accident. Suddenly you break out into a coughing fit and grab on to the closest person who happened to be Guro Reiten.

Guro holds you up right as you cough and suddenly there is blood all over the front of Guro’s kit which makes her eyes widen. “MEDIC!” Guro shouts as loud as she can as you collapse to the ground with blood trickling out your mouth.

That was the last thing you heard before you passed out on the ground.

___________________________

All everyone could see was both Barca and Chelsea medics run onto the pitch over to where you collapsed. The fans and most importantly Alexia could tell something was seriously wrong because medics never ran no matter what.

The next thing you know Alexia was shouting to Jona to let her on the pitch to see if her wife was alright, he nodded and Alexia ran onto the pitch. She knew that she should not run due to her injury but honestly, she couldn’t care less at that moment because you were hurt.

As Alexia got over to where the medics were and gasped as she saw you passed out on the floor with blood tickling out your mouth. “What the fuck are you doing? Why isn’t she on a stretcher on the way to the hospital already?” Alex shouts at the medic team as Mapi comes over and pulls Alexia into a hug to attempt to calm her down.

Suddenly people come over with a golf cart that has a stretch on and you get loaded on to it.

“Finish this game and meet us at the hospital, okay?” Alexia says to her teammates as her hands shake nervously for the outcome of what happened to you and she quickly runs over to get into the ambulance with you.

___________________________

Alexia had been sitting in the waiting room for half an hour when the Barca girls turned up, just as they went to ask Alexia if you were okay the doctor came over. “Family of Y/n Putellas.” The doctor says which makes Alexia stand up and go over to him as tears roll down her face. “Yeah, I’m her wife.” Alexia says as her voice sounds hoarse from the crying.

“There is no easy way to say this, but Y/n has lung cancer. The only option for Y/n is to get a full lung transplant which she has a 50/50 chance of surviving. On the other hand, if Y/n doesn’t get it she will only have about a week to live. We do have a set of lungs ready for a transplant, we just need your written permission to go ahead with the transplant.” The doctor tries to explain as fast and clearly as possible so he can get back to the operating room.

“Dios mio…yes, I’ll sign.” Alexia says as she tries to hold it together as much as she possibly could in this situation. The doctor hands Alexia the paperwork to sign which she does quickly. “I’ll come and update you as soon as Y/n is out of surgery.” The doctor says before rushing off to the operating room.

Alexia then collapses into the chair behind her and rests her head in her hands as she sobs. She could not handle losing you, you are the love of her life and she hadn’t told you yet but all the IVF treatment she had been doing was working, she had taken a pregnancy test this morning, it had come back positive 5 times. The thought of losing you when you were just starting your family made Alexia feel…heartbroken.

The Barca girls gathered around Alexia and brought her into a group hug. “I can’t lose her…” Alexia sobs into Mapi’s shoulder as she was the main person hugging her. “I’m pregnant…I only found out this morning, I didn’t tell Y/n and now she might never know.” Alexia says which shocks all of the Barca players, but they don’t say anything.

“Look, Y/n will be fine. How about you take a nap and we will wake you up when the doctor comes back?” Lucy says as she rubs Alexia’s shoulder trying to console her in some way. “Okay.” Alexia sighs as she uses the sleeves of her hoodie to wipe away her tears.

After about 15 minutes of trying to get comfy Alexia eventually falls asleep with her head resting on Mapi’s shoulder.

___________________________

It was about 5 hours later when the doctor came over to inform Alexia about Y/n, Mapi woke up Alexia and pointed towards the doctor. “The doctor is here Ale.” Mapi says as she wraps an arm around Alexia’s shoulder just in case the news about Y/n isn’t good news.

“The transplant went well, Y/n is currently in the intensive care unit which is where she will be kept for around a week so we can monitor her and keep a closer eye on her. I will give you a leaflet which will explain the whole recovery process. I will warn you; Y/n is in a coma. We estimate that she will be like this for a week or two, but it varies from person to person. Only Alexia can go into the ICU because none of you are legally classed as family.” The doctor explains to Alexia and her fellow teammates then he hands Alexia the leaflet before walking off.

“Oh, thank god!” Alexia says as tears roll down her face in relief because you were alive. “I’m going to go see Y/n.” Alexia tells the Barca girls as she stands up to go to your ICU room.

_____________After Six Weeks______________

Alexia’s baby bump was slightly noticeable now and she was waiting for you to wake up from your coma to find out the gender because having a gender reveal was something the both of you had always wanted to do together.

Alexia was sitting next to your hospital bed in the normal hospital room and was holding you hand as she looked at you sadly, she just wished that you would finally wake up. “You need to wake up because I can’t do this without you. Please mi amor…” Alexia says as a tear or two rolled down her face then suddenly she felt something squeeze her hand, it was you.

She looked up from your intertwined hands to your face and saw your eyes fluttering trying to adjust to the bright light. “Dios mio! You're awake! Mapi, get the doctor!” Alexia yells at Mapi, who jumps up from where she was asleep and runs to get the doctor.

The doctor comes in and does tons of checks on you then takes the breathing tube out your mouth and puts an oxygen thing on you that goes over your ears into your nose. After a while the doctor eventually leaves all of you to talk.

Alexia comes over to you and smiles at you. “Hi mi amor.” She says affectionately as she kisses your cheek. “Hey babe.” You smile brightly back at her and squeeze her hand that you were once again holding.

“I know this will be a little bit of a shock, but you know how we were doing the IVF treatment?” Alexia asks you as she runs her thumb over the back of your hand as a habit she had.

“Yeah…wait…no way! You’re pregnant? We're going to be parents!” You say excitedly and pull Alexia into a loving kiss.

____________Three Years Later______________

Unfortunately, you could no longer play football but you were now the assistant coach for the Barcalona Women's team which Alexia and the rest of the team were very excited about.

Alexia and you ended up having twins, one boy and one girl. Their names were Andres Jaume Putellas and Mia Elisabet Putellas. Nala was also still around but you did get another bigger dog, a Dogue do Bordeaux also known as a French bullmastiff and he was called Buster.

Alexia had also become the first women or man to win the Ballon D’or five consecutive times. She is now thinking of retiring to finally have time to spend time with her family.

Overall, you could say that you could say that you and Alexia got your very happy ending.

___________________________

Hope you liked this fic! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!

Taglist:   @sofakingwoso @dutch-gay86 @gt713 @mmmmokdok @xxforeverinadayxx    

[twsted-garden-imagines]

Third Years Finding Your Diary (Part 1/2)

I'm back, continuing my first post with the third years since it did so well on here (Thank you all so much for the love on it, btw ❤️).

A little note before I begin, the third years (and second years if this post and the next one do well on here too) will be split into two parts to keep me from getting too overwhelmed by writing for so many characters (my mistake for the first part haha 😅) .

This part will be including Trey, Cater, Leona and Vil. The remaining four third years will be in Part 2.

The same headcanon set for the first years can be accessed here, and the one for the remaining half of the third years can be found here once I get it posted (hopefully by the end of next week).

Headcanons are under the cut!

That should be all for now, and as always, I hope you enjoy!

With love, Daisy

Trey Clover -

- although this habit was much worse when he was younger than he is now, Trey sometimes misplaces his glasses

- with him being near-sighted as fuck without them, he'll have to have his face a few inches away from whatever it is he's trying to read

- (totally not Daisy projecting here, nope not at all)

- it doesn't help that the cover of the Alchemy textbook and your diary are almost the exact same color

- so after you left to go find materials to practice making the potion for an important group project for Crewel's class, he decided to take some notes based on the textbook passage about the potion you were both trying to make

- unfortunately, you were both in the laboratory at that time, meaning Trey had to take his glasses off

- when he tried to grab them from his pocket so he could read the textbook, they were nowhere to be found

- he ended up shrugging it off and grabbed the book closest to him to start reading it

- he grew more confused once he was able to make out something about a certain dim-witted duo from his dorm in your handwriting

- it wasn't until he stumbled across his own name that he realized his error

- unfortunately for him, you were right behind him holding his glasses in one hand and one of the tools you needed in the other

- "Hey, I think you dropped these. Also, is that my diary?"

- "..."

- cue him apologizing repeatedly and offering to make you your favorite dessert in order to have your forgiveness

Cater Diamond -

- Cater knew stepping foot into the Mostro Lounge one day for some amazing Magicam pics meant he'd be paying some kind of price....

- ... but he didn't expect to be asked by the Leech twins to find some piece of blackmail material on anyone of his choosing!

- he frantically tried to find anything, ANY embarrassing story that the twins didn't already know about his dorm mates, but of course, either they refused to willingly give him any information or they told him something the twins already knew

- thinking he was doomed, a glimmer of hope appeared in the form of a plain-looking book abandoned on a library table, no other belongings nearby indicating that someone was sitting at the table

- attempting to make it look like he was trying to find the owner, he discovers it's someone's diary

- Perfect! But whose is it?

- He flips to a random entry to find a whole treasure trove of information about the writer's admiration of a man by the name of "Hornton"

- Hornton? Why does that sound famil- Wait... this is the... oh no.... Oh no, it's the Prefe-

- "Well, well. Looks like this unfortunate soul was desperate in looking for a way to repay us, Floyd~"

- "Hehe, sure does! I'm surprised, Sea Bream! I didn't think YOU of all people would stoop so low as to snoop into someone else's diary!"

- "We were only kidding when we told you to find us some secret we didn't know, but it appears you gave us one anyway~"

- Shit...

Leona Kingscholar -

- It might not seem like it, but this lazy lion is more perceptive than meets the eye

- so it took him no time to notice you carry around this small notebook with you to pretty much every class

- It frustrated him since he's been wondering what it was, but never got around to asking you and whenever he got the energy to take a glance whenever he saw you writing in it, you always promptly slammed the book shut

- Seriously, what's so important to that herbivore to try to keep something from prying eyes?

- he finally got his chance one day during lunch after you were suddenly dragged away by Ace and Deuce, forcing you to leave your stuff with him in the greenhouse

- he opened the book to find your handwriting, a random entry talking about your change in feelings towards him

- "I don't understand how or why, but watching Leona at spelldrive practice on my way back to Ramshackle... I can never get that image of his overpowering motivation out of my head...."

- Wait, did he read that right?

- He doesn't immediately show it, but his constant rereading of that entry is enough to have his mind spinning until he hears a loud cough.

- "Uh... Leona? What are you doing with my diary?"

- Damn it, caught red-pawed.

Vil Schoenheit -

- Considering that his profession usually puts out a bit too much of his personal life out for everyone to see, Vil understands how important it is to have at least one thing to keep all to yourself.

- so he's not the type to go snooping into your personal things without your permission.

- Being tricked into reading personal things, on the other hand? Quite easy to do considering his dear vice housewarden.

- Your mistake was trusting Rook Hunt - of ALL people - to keep an eye on your things while you and Epel were dragged off by Ace and Deuce for who knows what chaotic endeavor.

- With Rook being Rook, it didn't take him long to find your diary and read it cover to cover.

- He then starts a conversation with his precious Roi du Poison about his findings, cleverly disguising them as beauty tips he'd randomly stumbled across.

- Vil goes along with it, not putting much thought into Rook's words until you and Epel return moment later.

- "Why am I not surprised that you read my diary? But did you REALLY have to do it with Vil in the room?"

- Despite his fury at his vice housewarden, Vil somehow maintained a calm composure while apologizing to you on behalf of both him and Rook, albeit still blushing a bit from the many compliments you'd written about him.

[smeraldo-heart]

I don’t know how Tumblr works but here are some clone designs for my fanfiction Angel of the Iron Battalion!! I just think the 13th battalion are neat and it’s sad that we didn’t get to seen them as actual characters (though very understandable..) so I made them!

Here’s Nyx, our favourite trans (ftm) Commander with about 15 anxiety disorders and a need to protect every child in 50ft distance to him.

Hymn, the guy who met an angel ONCE and has not shut up about it since, to the point that he got their language TATTOOED ON HIS FACE. In love with an Angel girl he saw once that saved his life and he never saw again.

Havock, who thinks the more scars you get, the hotter you are (unfortunately he is right but by god can you stop running into explosions please). Would also protect every child within 50ft distance of him.

Liz, the representation for every obsessed crocheter out there. Has probably made little crochet covers for everyone’s armour by now, even though it’s highly useless. He’s say it keeps them warmer in the cold. Everyone is just too nice to say otherwise.

Fourv, another trans clone (mtf) except she has infinitely better eyeliner game than Nyx. Does she wake up before her shift everyday just to do her killer makeup? Nobody knows. There’s a rumour Brush caught her at it once but she threatened him under penalty of death if he told anyone. Everyone else just believes she came out of the tube with eyeliner pre done.

Lucky, a defective clone that was allowed to join and he makes it everyone else’s problem! As payback for being treated as the precious new shiny, he aims to be the most annoying little shit he possibly can, winning his name through his incredible luck winning games no matter what game he is playing. After winning all of Havock’s credits in a game once, he was banned from partaking in any with cash prizes. He thinks this is highly unfair.

And then Brush and Canvas, the twins! Both dumb as rocks and kind as hell. Brush likes to doodle on literally everything and say a dumb joke every five seconds and his twin Canvas is the more stoic of the duo, if only to save his ridiculous remarks for a time where they’d confuse the most people. Some think he actually puts it on as an act for fun, just because he likes annoying people.

And their battalion symbol! It’s sort of like an egg but also like kintsugi, both of which are very poetic for this specific battalion.

[salmonthaart]

hihi uhhm. sorry if this comes off as creepy but i scoured both your blogs for info on pop and lock but unless i suck at looking for stuff i didtnt find much. you should totes tell me more about them

that's not creepy at all don't worry!!! i've never really posted any oc lore publicly because i'm not sure if people care, and boy do i apologize you having to look through my sideblog because Wow Is There Nothing Important On It, but i'm BEYOND elated to answer any questions about them!!! literally thank you so much for asking, you made my day 😭

i have a looooot of stuff about them written down on places like google docs, a discord server i infodump in, and also In My Head so there's a HUGE amount of previously untapped info about them just around, but i'll stick to their main things for now :)

(i also have a toyhouse, but i never finished setting it up, so i'll also probably post more oc stuff on that when it's done)

pINK Lemonade Official Lore Post™ under the cut!

_________________________________________________________

POP:

Pop is an Octoling based on the Flapjack octopus. They are genderfluid, and thanks to the benefits of the cephalopod form, change their physical appearance regularly just for the hell of it. They vary between masc-leaning and femme-leaning, but usually look some flavor of GNC. (Their physical build remains the same, think of it like how the player characters in Splatoon change their gender and hairstyle. Pop just does that whenever they feel like it.)

They are fruitily charming, outgoing, unserious to a fault, and smug. Pop is a lot more sociable than Lock, often chatting people up or making friends at unexpected times. They are well aware of their charm, but make an effort to be the more likable of the two. They like to introduce themselves first, leading to many close relationships with a lot of people that otherwise would never have talked to them. However, when they dislike someone, they make it VERY known. They are unable to hide their distaste towards anyone they regard as too annoying. They can get aloof at times, but are generally a very peppy and easy-going person.

_________________________________________________________

LOCK:

Lock is an Inkling based on the Whiplash squid. He is the composer and instrumentalist of the duo, and is very talented on the keyboard.

He likes to put on an off-puttingly brooding, "cool guy" persona, but when you get to know him, it becomes clear he is often neurotic and overly sensitive. He can be very visibly depressed, though he tries to play off his inability to take care of himself as part of his uncaring attitude. He pushes people away instinctively, but gets very attached to the people who love him despite this. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to healthily express his emotions and can get rather sulky and mean, leading his closest personal relationships to be... rather strained at times.

He also has a toxic and ultimately doomed relationship with Tide of Suit-Nami that both Shlubby and I have agreed is very fun to watch as it slowly burns. Sorry Lock, you're fated to lose the best boyfriend you'll ever have :')

_________________________________________________________

There's a lot more to both of their backstories, but for the sake of keeping things simple, here's a condensed version.

Lock was a trust fund baby pushed into idol culture that got shunted off to boarding school once he was deemed more trouble than he was worth by his parents. In a petulant attempt to be acknowledged by them, he regularly commits petty crimes and acts of vandalism, but is bailed out from afar every time to avoid his family name getting bad press. It's a real sore spot for him.

Pop had loving parents who encouraged them to explore their love for music, but after they got older and started posting their music to HueTube, they got relentlessly mocked for being cringe and were devastated. They went to boarding school in an attempt to escape their reputation and worked past their trauma by pouring it into their work and reclaiming their identity.

Pop and Lock were placed together as part of an idol internship program during their last year of school. Pop felt bad for Lock, and specifically requested him as means of lending a hand. Lock had previously avoided them for quite some time, but once they were forced to pair up he realized he had found his first genuine friend.

_________________________________________________________

and, special one-time deal, two extra characters! i literally have never posted (or. ahem. finished) any art of these two, but they fill out the gang behind the scenes and they occupy my brainspace just as much as pop and lock do :)

_________________________________________________________

MONA:

Mona is a halfmoon betta fish and handler-turned-posse-member of the group. She's an underpaid and overworked employee of the idol agency Pop and Lock are employed at, and was assigned to pINK Lemonade to keep them in check after they were involved in one too many incidents (read: PR nightmares)

She has a bit of a temper, as most bettas do, but over time has formed a real relationship with Pop and Lock and does not blow up at them as much as she does others. Their friendship has also helped her loosen up and not let her job consume her soul.

_________________________________________________________

CILAN:

Cilan is a calm, easygoing, tall inkling and the oldest of the four. He has long purple hair and seemingly permanently closed eyes. He's the group's resident eye-candy and secretary/flunky. There isn't a whole lot to his personality that I can say right now. He's just hot... sue me...

_________________________________________________________

Thank you so much for asking about my ocs!!

[clowntown0129]

RRAAARAGGAHAGHh

in other words, heres a list of twst characters and what kind of lives they would have in project moon the City! im set on most of these but would love feedback on what other people think 🥰🥰🥰 more under cut because good lord. still need to think of the districts they all live in 😭

HEARTSLABYUL

the Adeuce duo dont realize it but they end up working at the same Allas workshop and often get into trouble despite Deuce trying to be a good employee and make his mom happy:( Ace says fuck that. glove with the power of a small tornado to face

Trey being a baker in district K but unfortunately gets caught up in more syndicate business than he would like to admit (he still lives a normal ordinary life he promises)

Cater being a plain office worker in and hates his job but god damnit if he isnt gonna act like he looooves it!! he often gets called up often by Seven assoc. members because hes got connections to get info quick. also once did a totally legal experiment for a totally not shady organization where he was promised money but instead just snuck out with four clones of himself that all live in a friends like scenario in his (their??) apartment but would kill each other if it comes down to it. how the Head hasnt found out yet boggles him every day

Riddle being a super strict office manager thats studying to become a judge (weird ties with a syndicate?? at the very least knows azul)

SAVANNACLAW

Leona being the second son of a super important family that runs a huge company but hating constantly being in second so he runs away and starts his own syndicate (NAME PENDING idk if i just want to call it savannaclaw that seems…lazy). everyone in his syndicate all get metal prosthetics to make them look like animals. leona ofc has his own lion ears and legs.

Ruggie being part of a very poor family in the backstreets and having to do everything to survive including eating corpses on the streets before the sweepers can get to them. worked at Pierre’s Bistro for a bit before he quit and joined Leona’s syndicate because it seemed more stable. if he hadnt found Leona’s syndicate and made a somewhat better life for himself, he mightve gotten kidnapped by a sweeper and turned into one himself. he tries not to think about it

Jack coming from the same district as Vil but hearing about Leona’s syndicate and more specifically Leona—thinking that this guy is super cool and strong to take others under his wing!! he joins the syndicate and slowly realizes that this kinda fucking sucks

OCTAVINELLE

Azul and the tweels running a restaurant called the Mostro Lounge but it’s actually just a front covering the fact that it’s often used as neutral grounds between different syndicates for deal making. along with that, the three take on jobs like they do in game and all have hidden prosthetics that let them turn into their merforms at will. Azul doesnt like using it often because it makes him kinda clanky

SCARABIA

Kalim being one of many heirs to either a huge company or like an actual ruling family (districts similar to district S im looking at you) and having not yet been exposed to all the horrors of the City yet

Jamil being a butler sworn to Kalim ever since birth. he has some sorta equipment on his legs that emits smoke to temporarily blind his opponents along with typical butler equipment

POMEFIORE

Epel being a (begrudgingly) recent Cinq assoc. fixer who actually finds the dueling aspect pretty fun. he doesnt like how Vil gets him to act cute afterwards even when theres literally blood on his clothes

Rook being a Shi assoc. fixer originally but joining Cinq assoc. when he sees Vil his beauty his grace his Roi du Poison his most precious wecious pookie be—

Vil being a director of a sub section for Cinq assoc. along with being a fashion model. a guilty pleasure he often indulges himself in is being a hero—the last one on the stage—as he wins another duel for the day

IGNIHYDE

Ortho being a robot built in his image after he died right after White Nights and Dark Days. one of his core parts is a memory chip with all his memories locked into it using Jcorp tech

Idia being the heir to a company called Tartaros—its original purpose just being viewing over workshops and making their own specialized equipment. now its purpose is to gather any rogue abnormalities and lock them up to be studied

DIASOMNIA

Silver and Sebek being Claws in (suspended) training that work as Malleus’ bodyguards. they both have the Claw arms but only have access to one serum each—Sebek with a serum that makes him lightning fast and Silver with a serum that stores and multiplies his power every time he falls asleep

Lilia being a bloodfiend that was captured by the Head and has been serving as their one man army ever since. hes been semi retired to act as Malleus’ caretaker and constantly uses tech to make his bloodfiend traits less noticable

Malleus being the son of ????. all the higher ups want him either want him completely under their control to use or dead and honestly either plan is still on the table. since hes naturally in his dragon form and the Head hate non-humans, theyve forbidden him from shapeshifting into his human form else they kill him. he sneaks out often in his human form anyway with the other diasomnia guys using a mask similar to Roland’s mask to make perceiving him as Malleus impossible to do

i should come up with all the equipment and enhancements these guys have. holy shit

[pizzatrocious]

So! With the end of this wonderful little event, I do have a bit of a bittersweet announcement.

I'll still be around here and there on a low-effort multimuse I plan to make a while from now... but, save for any light activity you'll still see from me, I plan on retiring from writing.

I'm not retiring for any bad reasons, quite the opposite! But as someone that's been writing on Tumblr for roughly... 14 years? I think I've done most of what I've wanted to do. Every kind of thread you can imagine, every type of character, and every type of genre. For the past few years I've jumped blogs A LOT, but really only because I loved chasing whatever next big thing felt fun to write.

I was here when ask blogs were the standard instead of RP blogs, regardless of whether or not the mun could draw. I remember my first ever Bowser RP blog, iconless and full of crack on a classic Redux theme. I unfortunately remember the Homestuck and Danganronpa craze, and an era where icons were a semi-new novelty that only the 'fancy' blogs used. I remember back when a majority of the Pokemon RPC was a fairly popular crack group that, at its peak, had 300~ active blogs all at once.

I remember the Splatoon Marie roleplayer that chased after me, even when I'd socially isolate myself during the darkest spots of my life, and the Rosalina blog she made later down the line. You might know her now as my wife, Rosie. Funny to think, our more popular duo wound up being Peach and Bowser.

I remember all the different iterations of the Smash RPCs, and all the people that rocked the community with every post. Then there was the Sonic RPC, a place that was almost torn apart by an awful person's hold on the community, only to rise from the ashes! That RPC's pretty quiet nowadays, but those guys may as well be sleeper agents for Sonic content.

Then there's the people I affectionately call 'The Elder Gods'. The ones that, despite being here over a DECADE, they still dedicate themselves to the same characters they always have. They're usually the ones with the ancient-looking blogs that go largely under-the-radar nowadays, but they're the foundation that built these writing communities. You guys mostly just keep to yourselves nowadays, but I see you.

And of course, my good ol' kindred spirits, the people that roleplay the most obscure, hyper-specific characters. Those one-off indie games, obscure shows, characters stuck to a spinoff title or are just dubiously canon, or characters with basically no canon that they've made into their own!

Of course, that's not to forget the people that take the big popular characters, and absolutely ROCK them in a way that makes the character all their own. Gotta toot my own horn, considering one of my old Bowser blogs had a couple thousand followers.

I could go on, and on, and on... but long story short, I've had a great time here.

Part of me never wants to stop, to be honest. But in all this time, I've become a different person. My hobbies have changed, my interests have changed, I'm a completely different person now! But I've also always been a stubborn creature of habit, never wanting to give anything up.

As a result of being anchored to my old habits so long, I'm left a little at a loss for what I want in life. More and more I've felt like a caged animal, just circling around my little enclosure and doing the same things over and over for enrichment. Add to that the usual struggles of adult life being rough and expensive, and you can imagine wanting to spend more of my time on survival is a factor too.

Nobody's gonna know what I really want now, except for me. I need to get out there and do some soul-searching. Find new hobbies, make new friends, experience new things... who knows what I'll be doing a year from now!

That said, I give my genuine, most heartfelt thank you to everyone I've ever crossed paths with in throughout all of the Tumblr RPCs I've been in. Honestly, the only reason I don't list off names is purely because I want to make sure nobody gets left out of my little expression of gratitude. You all know who you are, anyway.

I wish I could've known some of you a little better... but that's just life, isn't it? Sometimes the most impactful people in your lives are the ones you never get to really know. I'm sure I've gotten to be that person for my own fair share of people, with how reclusive I tend to be.

Again, this isn't goodbye. I mean, I'd be a little embarrassed if people thought I was gone forever, only for me to pop up a week or two later. This is a hobby I've always loved, I'll always find my way back to it. I'll always be lurking about, sometimes posting during funny shenanigans. Like I said at the start of this post, I plan on making a private, low-effort multimuse! Mostly I'll just use it to keep tabs on my friends and the writers I really enjoy seeing, but I still have a small list of characters I'd like to play around with a little.

Otherwise though, it's time to leave the nest and try other things.

Thank you again. This is Vincent, signing off.

[frozenjokes]

tumblr is so fun because I can post about things no one’s cares about but me and TODAY I will be rambling about fanfic stuff!!!!!!

I write/have written two big fanfics (pirates and dragons) and I was thinking about doing cute little drawings of diff universe Grian/Scar/etc meeting each other and then I ran into a problem that being both scars and both grians would absolutely not be able to stand each other which is hilarious but if I drew dragon scar and pirate scar together it would just be dragon scar stomping on pirate scar BECAUSE THATS WHAT HE DESERVES.

the Grians are similar except that dragon Grian is a complete loserfail dumpster fire and ghost/pirate Grian would probably die of secondhand embarrassment. Honestly in my humble opinion I don’t think any Grian I ever write would get along I think it’s in his nature to puff up like a cat when seeing himself There Can Only Be One. Not that I have any interest in writing my fanfic portrayals to be in character ndbdbdnndjdj

pirate mumbo would like dragon Grian though!!! they both have ultimate autistic swag and would infodump for absolute hours together. This would drive pirate grian crazy btw he would rant about Stupid Dragon Version Of Him to the other ghost pirates (who would tease him in return for being jealous of a dragon)

Pirate Grian would get along with dragon scar for sure though!! They would be buddies very similar to canon desert duo

Pearl doesn’t have a huge role in the dragon fic but dragon Pearl and ghost Pearl would hang out they’d be so chill together.

Unfortunately dragon Impulse has only been mentioned by name literally like once BUT I think every impulse I’ll ever write will vibe similar to the way all my Grians will fight like cats.

Dragon Mumbo doesn’t really exist due to Third Life Fic Disease but that’s okay. I imagine a dragon Mumbo would be alarmed, concerned, and deeply confused by everything about pirate mumbo which is valid because pirate mumbo is all sorts of fucked up (thanks pirate scar)

if for some reason you read this and don’t know either of my fics my projects post is pinned and the fics are in the project post

[evereverest2]

You do NOT have to answer all of these if you don't want to lmao these are just the ones that looked most interesting to me

15, 18, 23, 56, 63, 64 for Little Monster

bitch i finna answer them all i love LITTLE MONSTER SM

15. How do you write smut scenes? Do you get very visual or detailed? How important is it to be realistic?

so generally i put myself in the narrative and i remember/imagine what certain things feel and look like (even though im unfortunately not a gay man) i think i’ve mentioned this before but the way i write i just see the scene like a movie. i imagine every little feeling and detail and try to cram it into the prose as much as i possibly can, and that’s especially the case with smut scenes.

for me, realism is super important. when i was first starting out and was still a virgin i read a lot of smut and therefore would just emulate what i read. experience is def the best way to know how to write something, but given that i will never be a gay man sometimes u have to do a lot of research, ask a man what it’s like to have ur pp touched, and do ur best from there

despite that, though, there is such thing as too much detail for me. there are MANY smut authors in this fandom and all corners of the internet who will give you LOTS of detail. things like the sensation of pubic hair on the tongue and descriptions each and every little pussy fold jiggling is just too much for me. sex irl is goofy and ugly even if it is hot and sexy and fun, and i often exclude the ugly gross parts bc i feel that as a reader and writer, u aren’t reading smut to know what sex is like exactly, ur reading it for the intimate and sexy aspect of it all. plus, i don’t write porn for the sake of porn, i often write it to explore a particular relationship especially as it changes, and you can 100% see that each time i write terzomega fucking in Little Monster.

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

usually after.

titling and naming things is the hardest thing for me fr. this is the girl who named her stuffed teddy bear “teddy”, her stuffed otter “otter”, her bunny/baby bunny duo “mrs bunny” and “baby,” her stuffed snake “snakey” ….. so on and so forth. i’ve never been creative with names. so what’s easiest for me is to write the whole thing out and take a certain image/idea/moment/name etc. that i want the reader to pay attention to and make that the name.

for instance, on a personal project, i named one chapter of the story “organ”. in the chapter, there is brief mention of an church organ with an unidentified musician playing it. this is one vague moment that isn’t brought up again, and it may have been missed had i not drawn attention to it with the title. the unidentified organist is a key character that appears throughout the story and is implied to have an overarching influence on the main character.

that’s just one example of how i name things. Little Monster is very similar, i want to draw extra special attention to the term ‘mostriciatto’ and the way terzo uses it throughout the story

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

just go read my post honestly. my best advice is genuinely to keep writing as often as you can.

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

the characters. god i love writing characters and crafting their mannerisms and especially DIALOGUE. muah 😭💕 i think that’s the biggest reason my fics tend to hit people emotionally— characters are extremely important to me to be written well

63. Something you hate to see in smut.

yk how i mentioned too much detail?

yeah. but the line is blurry.

really what i don’t like is lack of distinctive voice/personality. sometimes smut is just really boring bc there’s no subtle interaction or implication in the dynamic being written. the characters are just vaguely tied to their canon material and given no real motivation or personality. no background. nothing.

that shit bores me and is partly why i’m not a super avid reader of fanfic anymore. finding strong narratives is hard.

oh also; infantilization. i’ve written virgins and i’ve written naive partners. DO NOT TREAT THEM LIKE TEENAGERS WHO WERE HOMESCHOOLED CATHOLIC. fuck bro. i love a story with a character having a new, exciting experience for the first time, but they aren’t fucking babies that are clueless to their bodies. most ppl masturbate/know what sex is by the time they do it for the first time (ESPECIALLY in the age of the internet).

even if they’re not virgins, infantilization is still gross for me to read. sex is an adult activity between two consenting people, not a clueless idiot who doesn’t understand sex enough to say no. i’m not down with age play. im down for sub space, but there’s a line.

can u tell what character i’m thinking ab rn?

64. Something you love to see in smut.

everything i said ab personality in the last question but reverse. i love a good fucking story (ha). smut for the sake of smut is fine bc there’s an audience for that. but i’m not the audience. give me tragedy and give me love. give me tearful sex and give me giggling, silly sex. i want to know about your version of these characters, and how they treat each other in the bedroom is absolutely indicative of their personalities (at least, it should be).

[your-fave-adopted-you]

hii! could you write the nrc staff protecting a younger (like, 13/14) transmasc yuu from an older student who’s being a dick about them being trans? ty if you can, no pressure though!! <3

awww i can't help but imagine reader and Ortho being best friends 😭💞

Guardian! school staff protects transmasc reader from upperclassmen bigots

Characters : Crowley, Crewel, Trein, Ashton,

TW : transphobia towards reader, might be upsetting to some ig

M! reader

Context :

Being the youngest student at the NRC has its perks.

Your first-year classmates were pretty chaotic and nice to be around, even Ace and Sebek weren't that mean when you were there.

But apart from them, everyone else pretty much adopted you on sight. You were everybody's little brother now, i don't make the rules.

But unfortunately there were still people like back at home, people who didn't understand, or rather, that chose not to.

But at least this time you're not alone against them.

Dire Crowley

Your bully and you were immediately sent to his office after Trein heard you two shouting during his lesson.

This asshole had been misgendering you on purpose recently but it was today that he started calling you names.

Your classmates usually glared at him and that was enough to make it stop, today he was feeling a little more confident, and you were pissed as ever.

So, long story short, you got a 16- maybe 17 year old looking down to his hands while he explained his version of the story.

Honestly, it wasn't anything you hadn't heard before. "Oh but i didn't know-" "i promise it wasn't my intention-" "it was just a joke! I'm sure... he got it wrong."

Sure, this idiot thinks he can fool Crowley, your legal guardian, your Crowdad just because he's... well, another idiot.

While he was throwing compliments and praise here and there in hopes of getting out of the situation, you started to doubt wether or not your guardian would actually fall for it.

I mean he's Crowley.

Every time the Acedeuce duo and you fuck up, you only have to tell him how lost you were without his guidance, his imposing and respectable presence- for him to forgive and forget

"Hm, I'm really disappointed right now. How could one of my best students get in trouble because of such an entitled child..."

He said very serious, now looking at you directly.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"

And as you were already preparing to explain and justify yourself, as usual, he continued.

"Since when has this rude, overgrown child being doing this to you?- When were you going to tell me?"

The boy sitting beside you started looking more terrified than offended.

Somehow, Crowley's voice... his tone... his face even, half covered- and still

It was so threatening, so scary and sincere

"This isn't just about harassment, young man, or even the fact that you would need this kind of intervention to show the minimum respect for a fellow classmate-

But you also choose to target someone younger than you? what does this say about you? should you even be studying here?"

Crowley was defending you.

The same man that would have made you a janitor the day you got here if it wasn't for Grim. (and child labor)

But after all it seems like he actually cared.

The guy from earlier got detention for interrupting the lesson, and you got away with it since it was him who started it.

This wasn't the first- And maybe and to your dismay- the last time something like this would happen.

But now that you have people that will stand up for you? Maybe you can be ok with staying in this world just a little longer.

Divus Crewel

This actually happened during his lesson.

I don't know how someone would be as stupid as to bully you in front of your literal guardian but here we are.

After explaining the next project, everyone had started chatting, picking a partner and commenting on whether or not they would fail because honestly it didn't look easy

But for some reason, just for a moment the whole class went silent. You know how this happens. alright

And, as clear as day, only one voice was heard.

it was this asshole, telling you to go home since this place wasn't co-ed.

this time though, your friends didn't say anything, as they immediately understood what was going to happen next.

Crewel was staring at both you and that idiot, as he walked over.

"What is exactly the problem then? i don't see any girls here."

"You think I'm gonna listen to a grown man with a full face of makeup?"

seriously this dude had a dead wish .

Detention wasn't going to be enough for Crewel to feel like this asshole got what he deserves.

"We're feeling bold huh? well since you're such a strong, manly guy, you'll have no problem with fixing Ramshackle's kitchen, right?"

before your bully could say anything he continued

"By the way I'm sure Crowley will be very amused to hear that a student has insulted one of the teachers. I wonder what kind of chores he'll give you by punishment."

It's only normal that your guardian is beyond pissed.

and with this kinda stuff he's way meaner than the Crowdad.

Mozus Trein

I won't sugarcoat this okay

He most likely misgenderd you a couple of times before having a very... informative talk with you.

and you know, the typical "You're too young to know!" "What nonsense, why do you dress up like that?" "Come on now, no one is going to kick you out of Night Raven for wearing a skirt!"

But you explained, with all the patience you could conjure, how the whole situation was for you. that you didn't choose to be like this, to feel like this...

That if he was going to be your guardian you would be his son. period.

So, yeah, after a while he gets it. And honestly he never misgenders you again. Not even by "accident" like so many people liked to tell you.

It was an important matter.

You are important.

And then one day during class he hears you and some other student having a fight.

Some dude was treating you like shit just because he thought it would be funny to pick on someone much younger than him ig?

And he was being worse than in front of Crewel, because he thought that your guardian wouldn't care about this kind of stuff.

But oh boy

you know that thing old teachers do with big ass rulers, hitting them against the board to get the class attention ? yeah we'll make it angry and more intimidating.

"May i know what are you two discussing that you are defending with such passion?"

oh but he knew, he just wanted to hear what your classmate had to say.

"Nothing Mr Trein! it's not y/n's fault that ... she's... so wrong about a lot of things"

"Like what, exactly?"

Then the bully proceeded to lie about whatever thing to make it seem like he was trying to help you.

"BULLSHIT!" you finally shout back.

after scolding you for your language, Trein sent the guy straight to the principal's office.

A coward, an asshole and also a liar huh

This was an unfortunate event yes, but seeing the situation from an outside perspective helped this certified grandpa to understand you better, to see how upsetting and belittling this kind of situations could be.

Just try to be patient with him okay? but for sure next time he will be the first to stand up for you and defend you.

Ashton Vargas

It's no surprise that you don't necessarily have the same level as your classmates when it comes to P.E

i mean. they're 16-17

And your much younger...

Maybe riding a broom is something that you can do as well as the rest but you've got huge guys in your class, have you seen Jack and Sebek? i mean 💀

To make it short no one has a problem with it, you have to grow a lot more yet, become stronger, faster

Your self proclaimed coolest dad knew, so no pressure.

But after running out of breath one day, this dude that has never had a word with you acts ... too worried,

Like, you're not gonna die, chill

But he keeps pestering you, calling you weak, fragile, small, stuff like that.

and then he starts misgendering you and saying that you shouldn't be hard on yourself for not being able to keep up with the guys like??????

you tell him off politely, and as he keeps on borderline insulting you, you finally snap.

long story short, things get a bit physical and Ashton has to come over to stop it.

Your friends tell him what actually happened, but since they saw you so angry they wanted to let you fight that guy, you know, for your honor and stuff

(Yes, again, Sebek and Jack's idea and Acedeuce actually being the ones to go tell the teacher.)

Also Epel was just about to join you when Ashton arrived.💀

"So you were picking on someone much younger huh? do you think it's funny? y/n tried to calmly tell you to fuck off. right? how does it feel to have a younger classmate that's twice the man you are?"

Your guardian was so angry, he basically forbid your bully from playing in any team at any point for the rest of the year.

And he actually called his parents after class 😤

[obliqueblade]

Desert Duo Chapter 4- I do not have a Crush: Grian's POV

Grian POV

This was not the direction that Grian had expected his life to go. Well, he might not remember what direction he had originally expected his life to go. Still, he was reasonably certain that grading papers and judging if/ how many of his students had used ChatGBT to write their papers was something he had planned on. 

If Grian had the time to spare, he’d take the time to destroy the infernal device. 

Releasing a deep sigh, Grian leaned back in his office chair and spared a glance out the windows to his left. His office was on the top floor of the science building, and while the students, and only the students, hated the steep stairs when they had to meet with him, Grian loved the view from over campus. The campus was unfortunately nestled in the middle of the city, which meant billboards for as far as the eye can see, the science building was surrounded by more trees than most places within Upper City. Grian's office in particular had the best view of the greenhouses behind the building. There, the university boasted about all of the “foreign and endangered” species of plants. Grian knew that if any of the students could see beyond the wall, they would see just how common the plants were. 

From this distance, the 75-meter walls were far enough away that Grian could pretend they weren’t there at all. Of course, that was difficult to pretend when the sun had started to descend and all of Upper City grew dark only a few hours after noon. 

Still though, for being in a cage, the view at least was nice. 

Glaring back at the stack of ungraded papers, Grian would appreciate the view more if he wasn’t stuck there till after nightfall to get them all graded. While the sun was not yet completely gone, Grian knew he wouldn’t be able to leave before nightfall if he were to sit and attempt to grade them all. 

He closed his eyes and weighed the pros and cons of leaving the other half till tomorrow. He would have to come in earlier to get through them before the period began. An image of Scar's grinning face from that morning went through his mind, and Grian shook his head. No, that wouldn’t work. Perhaps he could just postpone handing them back till the day after. His students may not appreciate it, but Grian did not appreciate having to spend hours checking for cheating. 

Fair is fair. 

Plus, Grian was really craving a coffee now. 

Standing up, Grain's joints popped. They frequently did, and some of his students laughed and said he sounded like an old man every time he complained about his body aching. Grian had laughed with his students, not wanting to address he was far removed from just being ‘old’. At a certain point in his life, he had crossed that line, and Grian didn’t want to spend that much time trying to figure out when this happened. 

So far, aside from how it occurred, Grian could hardly remember anything from before. Even the spaces between were nearly impossible to remember most days. There were days when he was frightened of just how far his memory would dilapidate. 

When he would be unable to recall the names of those he held dear. 

Grian couldn’t even be sure if he would know it even happened. If it hadn’t happened already. 

Were there people from before? Those he swore to keep safe that he couldn’t remember any longer? Perhaps he should ask Jimmy about this. He was, after all, the only one who might understand what he meant—the only one who might not regard him as crazy. At one time, there were more, but … not anymore. 

Once again, Grian thought of Scar, before dismissing that. 

“If I may though, about Cute Guy, I worry that they aren’t being safe, for sure, but hurting people? She would never.”

Grian was thankful he had centuries to work on controlling his expressions because all he wanted to do was squeal like a teenager at Scar’s remark. Or do something that would have been much harder to explain as a “human” action. Scar had no reason to trust the hybrid, and while Scar was seemingly endlessly kind, there was nothing Scar would seemingly get from saying this to Grian. 

He had meant it. 

Even though Scar had no idea that Cute Guy was Grian, and had never met Cute Guy he still felt the need to justify Cute Guy. All while understanding Grian’s apparent hesitancy to trust the hybrid. 

He had not necessarily lied to Scar either though. Cute Guy was dangerous- Grian knew that better than anyone. 

Looking out the window once more, Grian decided sitting and reminiscing was probably dangerous for his heart so coffee it was. Coffee would be less harmful to his heart than pinning over something that Grian had long sworn could not happen. 

Swearing that had been much easier before meeting him though. 

Grian scrambled around his office for a bit, trying to hunt his keys down before eventually finding them almost entirely consumed in papers. Glaring once more at the papers Grian was sure were beginning to grow sentience, Grian headed to the door. Shutting the lights off and closing the door behind him Grian readied himself for the five flights of stairs he would need to descend before being able to leave. 

As much as he would love to just, ya know, fly down, that would be a bit difficult to explain if any of his students saw him. Or if cameras captured the event. While it was simple to edit footage, Grian had done it several times before, it was more effort than it was worth when Grian could in fact just walk. 

After a grueling couple of minutes of stairs, Grian had reached the bottom and was pretending that his lungs didn’t want to burst out of his chest. Just in case anyone was watching. 

Leaving the building, Grian made a beeline for where he had parked that morning. While the architect's building was just about the furthest point from Grian’s office, he had continued to park here every morning for the past several months. 

“You don’t have to park over here. I know it must be inconvenient for you”

Scar had laughed, humorlessly after saying it, and Grian felt his heartache at the response.  

“Oh please, if anything you’re helping me get my steps in,” Grian had laughed in response, knowing Scar had no way of knowing how animated he was in the classroom nor the stairs he went up several times a day. Shame filled him though after saying it, knowing he was a coward for not addressing the issue. Grian knew far more than most that overwhelming feeling that your mere existence was doing more harm than good. To be seen as an inconvenience. Something that you constantly felt the need to apologize for.  

Now, Grian stopped in front of his car and looked up at the building he knew Scar spent most of his time in. He wasn’t sure where his office was. Jimmy made fun of him enough for driving Scar to work in the mornings, Grian didn’t need to give him any more ammo by discussing the ongoings of visiting his office. 

Especially after yesterday. Jimmy had gone through several emotions before Mumbo cleared him and Jimmy settled on mocking him.

Sighing again, Grian unlocked his car and got in. He had offered to give Scar a ride home as well, but he had denied it, saying he had a friend who would. 

Grian hadn’t pressed. 

Was that how he referred to Grian if someone asked how he got to work? 

Was Grian a friend to Scar? 

Could he even be?

Shaking the negative thoughts from his head, Grian started up his car and began backing out of the space, focusing entirely on the drive. So long as he focused he could ensure that his mind would not wander and have him second guess decisions he had already made. 

Leaving the campus, Grian took the familiar route to one of the few places in Upper City where he felt safe. 

The Berri Café. 

He had helped the two hybrids set it up after, and while only one worked full-time at the café, he still visited at least twice a week. He met with nearly all of the hybrids within Upper City at least once a month, doing check-ins and ensuring no one had fallen into trouble. After all, Grian was the reason that most hybrids made it into Upper City. 

During the drive, Grian made a point to avoid looking at the new posters featuring his alter ego, or was Grian the alter at this point, as well as the numerous wanted posters filtering through their list of “criminals”. It had been hard enough accepting what had happened all those years ago, but nothing could have prepared him for the gut punch that the updated wanted board would cause him. Jimmy nearly hadn’t been able to talk him down from going into a full-out war with the Hero Association after that. 

Unfortunately, Grian had noticed Scars' habit of staring at them. He never talked about them, but every morning, Scars' gaze never failed to land on one of the screens flickering through the individuals. Sometimes, Grian wanted to ask, demand he state whatever problem he had about the faces presented. 

Faces Grian was all too knowledgeable on. 

But, Grian knew it wasn’t Scar he was really angry at. Not really. Some days he wasn’t even sure if the Hero Association was who he was mad at. 

You. You. You. 

He was just unfortunate enough to know what that list really was. That wasn’t Scars’ fault, and it wasn’t something Grian could hold against him.

Scar would never be unfortunate enough to know the true nature of the signs. 

A warning. 

To the Hybrids. 

To the ones from Evo. 

To him. 

A list of their accomplishments. 

Hearing the steering wheel splitter slightly, Grian looked down to notice his hands radiating a faint purple glow, the material under giving way to the new overwhelming force. Taking a deep breath, Grian attempted to calm down. They were safe. 

For now, some dark recess of his mind provided helpfully that Grian decided to ignore. After all these centuries, Grian had gotten better at suppressing that part of him. Glancing at the splintered sterling wheel once more though, better, but not perfect. 

Finally, the cafe came into view and Grian turned into the parking lot, noting the darkened windows. Considering the time, the actual cafe was closed by now, but that suited Grian’s needs just fine. 

This was not the first time Grian had visited this late, and Joel had yet to turn him away. Mainly since if Grian wanted in- Grian was going to get in. This did mean Joel would tease him relentlessly, absolutely, but never turn away. Plus it helped that he didn’t need a key to get in and out of the building. 

Grian absentmindedly wondered if Lizzy would be joining them, but since she started working as a paramedic a few years after getting the shop set up, her hours tended to change suddenly. Plus, she was one of the only ones that the hybrids had that could provide medical assistance, so there were times when she was still called away. Joel handled this about as well as could be expected. 

Grian almost had to step in at one point though. Lizzie had to cross back into Lower City to help after one of the newer pigmen had gotten into one of the towns. She had originally been meant to stay for two weeks to make sure there were no complications, but Grian had to cross back over and bring her back, as he had been convinced Joel was going to give himself food poisoning from one of the cakes he had taken ‘creative measures’ with. 

Grian may no longer be considered “man”, but he was pretty sure some of the deserts Joel made could kill a God. Though, now that Grian thinks about it, that was probably intentionally done. 

Getting out of the car, Grian shook the remaining negativity from himself. He and everyone here knew what they were signing into in going back. While they didn’t get a choice in the beginning, Grian made sure to give them a choice now. 

Your fault. Your fault. Your fault. 

Grian sighed, turning on his heel and clicking the car lock as he made his way to the entrance of the cafe. There was a time and place for that negativity, Grian could hold it off for now. 

Approaching the door, Grian didn’t waste a moment before phasing his hand through and unlocking the deadbolt before opening the door. See, personal keys. 

Crossing the entryway Grian checked to see where Joel might have been, noting the empty and dark cafe floor. Sensing movement upstairs Grian narrowed his eyes. More than just one person, but Lizzie likely was not home so who… Grian paused a moment before rolling his eyes, recognizing the presence. 

Heading up the stairs, Grian made his way to the living space above the cafe. Moving silently, Grian phased through the door and continued to where he could now hear voices. 

“... Joel, please, please, tell me you did not put that in the cake,” 

“... Yeah, what do you mean? Am I not supposed to?” 

Grian took that moment to step around the corner and ask “What’s Joel done this time?” 

Synchronized screams filled the air as both Jimmy and Joel riled around to face Grian, as he mostly hid his mischievous grin. 

“Grian! How many times have I asked you to knock!” Joel exclaimed, but Grian knew he was more upset that he hadn’t been let in on the prank against Jimmy. 

“I’m not sure, I stopped listening after the first thirty times,” Grian responded truthfully. After a while, Grian had hoped they would get better at detecting his presence. Never know when it would be useful. 

“And Jimmy, you have got to get better at noticing my presence when I’m using my skills. It’ll be helpful to you later.” Grian flicked his glaze over to Jimmy who sighed and looked away. 

“Now what’s this I hear about Joel baking new recipes again?” 

Immediately, Joel moved to hide the table. 

“Nothing,” 

“... Joel. What have we talked about trying new recipes when you’re unsupervised?” 

“That it is an affront to the Gods, and will get us exposed?” Joel tentatively asked. 

“It’s bad Grian. I only came in halfway and by then it was too late to stop him.” 

Grian and Joel stared at each other for a tense few moments, before Grian jerked forward to witness the new monstrosity that Joel had created. Joel moved to keep it covered, but Grian was quicker. 

“Joel! What is that?” 

“... it was meant to be a cake,”

“In what world does a cake look like that?” The last word was practically spat as the cake seemed to sludge in response. How Joel had been able to create something Grian as a biologist was tempted to call a life form was confounding. 

“Well, if Doc ever needed another new design for his creations, he could always hit up Joel for ideas,” Jimmy offered and Grian only paled more. 

Turning to look Joel in his eyes, Grian muttered tone near deadly, “If I ever have to fight a monster that turns into cake sludge, Joel, I’m sending you to the other side of the planet for a hundred years in a cage made of the stuff.” 

“Understood.” Joel moved the disgrace to nature to its garbage bag, waiting and considering a moment before wrapping it up twice. Just in case. 

“Speaking of fighting though,” Joel started and Grian’s stomach sank as he turned his gaze away from watching the dish in case it made any sudden movements. 

“I saw your little accident yesterday on the news. I thought you were meant to be keeping yourself “on the down low”. A whole building collapsing did not seem to be all that under the radar.” 

“That would be because I wasn’t the one who did it. Doc has clearly been busy while we’ve been away.” 

“Oh great. Which ones did he upgrade this time?” 

“Creepers.” 

“Creepers?” Joel shot back incredulously, his voice rising in pitch. For good reason too. Making advancements to creepers was near impossible, due to their nasty tendency to explode when in contact with anything other than a monster. Even they had struggled with it, Grian remembered bitterly, though that had been over 2,00 years ago. Clearly, they’ve been able to make progress in all that time. 

“How in the world did he manage that?” 

“We aren’t sure. What concerns me more is how they were able to get so deep into the city without us noticing.”

“I’ve reviewed every last crossing for the past two weeks but so far nothing. It’s not uncommon for monsters to find their way into the city, but those that have been altered have to be let in. I just can’t figure out from where,” Jimmy added sighing deeply before plooping onto the coach. Grian felt a rise of sympathy for Jimmy. The entire city border was his to account for. Listen for, Grian thought harshly. It was a demanding job, especially at times like these. 

“How did it even happen? Everyone knows not to get close to Creepers on account of ya know… they tend to kamikaze,” 

“Oh that we can blame the ‘number one hero’ for,” Jimmy mutters practically spitting the name. 

“Jimmy,” Grian quickly reprimanded. Jimmy’s dislike of the hero was nothing new, but it was not really due to the hero himself. Usually, at least. 

“Well, I’m not wrong!”

“Hot Guy had no way of knowing his arrow would cause it to explode nor that the blast would be that big.”

“But he wasn’t the one that came stumbling home with their back torn to smithereens and barely conscious! No, he jumps into interviews and on camera and doesn’t even mention that it’s his fault in the first place!” 

“Jimmy, enough!? 

“Grian he has a point though. Yesterday might have been an accident, but Hot Guy was never a part of the plan. If something was to go wrong…” 

“Listen, I understand your concerns, but Hot Guy is not the Hero Association. He’s human, and sometimes they make mistakes. I am made of things stronger than humans, and sometimes that means I will take the brunt of the damage. Hot Guy is not going to change the plan,” Grian commanded, holding eye contact with Jimmy as he did so. 

  The room fell quiet once more as Jimmy and Joel slumped into the couch. Grian reminded himself that deep down neither of them truly held resentment toward Hot Guy. Only what he represented and his options to remain almost entirely ignorant of the truth of the world. Something that while they might hold resentment for, Grian never really could. Though maybe that was because he had met the hero. 

“Grian, we’re only saying this because we care about you. I may not have been there when… when everything happened, but there are people here who care deeply about you. We just don’t want to see you get in over your head.” Joel responded and Grian pondered that carefully. 

By this point, most of the members from before were long gone. If they had made it past everything all those centuries ago, only Jimmy and Grian remained now. A pang shot through his heart, a waking reminder of those he had lost. 

Of those, he had killed. 

Grian and Jimmy are merely walking reminders of a time that no longer exists. A time that Grian wasn’t sure if it could ever exist again. While over the centuries more hybrids had joined their cause, none of them were old enough to remember a time before. Some days though, Grian wasn’t sure he could either. 

“I appreciate it, Joel. Jimmy, I know that you mean well, and I know lately things have been more tense, but everything is okay. We’re together in this.” 

Jimmy remained quiet but nodded his head. Grian almost felt bad for lying to him, but he had long ago created this plan. While the others knew most, they could not know everything.

Not yet. 

Silence once again filled the room, and Grian wasn’t sure how to address it. He knew things were still going to be tense, a few words of reassurance wasn’t going to change that. At the very least though, it was a start. 

Grain's head shot up towards the door, as the bell went off in the downstairs cafe. 

Someone had just entered the building. 

Both Jimmy and Joel followed his gaze, tensing up as well. After a moment though, Grian relaxed. 

“It’s okay, only Lizzie,” 

Immediately, Joel perked up as he shot up off the couch. Grian rolled his eyes as Jimmy laughed at the action. While Joel didn’t need to use a lot of power to conceal his hybrid attributes, so he could keep it up practically indefinitely, Grian could swear he saw Joel’s tail wagging. 

A few moments went by as the sounds of footsteps grew closer. Then- 

“Why are there so many people in my living room?” Lizzie's voice rang out as the door unlocked and swung open. 

“Well if it was for a surprise party, using your instincts before opening the door would have ruined it now wouldn’t it have?” Grian called back as Joel swept his wife up in a hug. You’d have thought she had been gone a month, instead of the few hours Grian knew they had been separated for. 

“Oh, like you didn’t know I was there from the moment I unlocked the door downstairs,” Lizzie responded before returning Joel’s hug. Grian did not bother replying, knowing that Lizzie knew she was right.

“Ah, this does remind me though, how's your morning rendezvous going, Grian?” Jimmy asked conversationally, his tone light, but Grian could sense the teasing lying underneath it. Grian immediately tensed and fought the color from rising to his cheeks. Oh, the joys of having a sibling. Why, oh why, did Jimmy have to witness him dropping Scar off that one morning? He’s never let him live it down since.

“A morning rendezvous? Wait, you’ve still been offering rides with that architecture  professor?” 

“Perhaps,” Grian responded hesitantly, eyes settling on a fascinating vase in the corner of the room. Truly, a marvel. 

“A 2,000-year-old god, crushing on a sarcastic geeky professor. I’m almost tempted to write a novel,” 

“I am not crushing,” Grian practically spit the last word out. How dare they accuse me of having something as mundane as having a crush. The sheer audacity. 

“Grian, I’m married and you’re making me feel as if I’m single,” 

“That’s because you’re needy” Jimmy quickly offered up, as all good friends should. 

“I am not-”

“Joel. When Lizzie goes to work you literally whine,”

“Well, I-I can’t help that.” Jole, rightly so, whined. 

“We know. You’re needy. Now let's get back to pestering Grian about, frankly his embarrassing crush,” Lizzie quickly cut them off before Joel could get Jimmy back. 

“You don’t have to” Grian quickly assured over the sounds of Joel sputtering as he looked at his wife in betrayal, however, it landed on deaf ears. Grian has decided that his friends are the worst. 

“Or we can talk about the new amazing posters that are now decorating the downtown? Lizzie offered and Joel turned to look at her confused. Nope, now, Grian has decided his friends are the worst. He’s shipping them all back to the other side of the wall, and Mumbo is going to take over everything. 

Yep, that’s the only option. Grian was sure that Mumbo would appreciate all of the new responsibilities. Though, Grian did not doubt that if Mumbo was here he’d be leading the charge against his good name. Honestly, Grian should just cut his losses. 

“What new posters?” Joel asked and Grians heart sunk into his stomach, knowing what was about to happen. Looks like Grian was going to be spending the rest of the day planning on how he was going to ship them all off. There was no way that he was going to be able to survive the incoming ridicule from his closest friends. 

“You haven’t seen?”

“I was… busy” Joel offered looking sideways into the kitchen. Grain weighed the odds of ratting Joel out, but he wasn’t quick enough before Lizzie continued. 

“Here, I’ll show you,” 

“Actually, no, I don’t think that all that necessary,” Grian hastily said but it was too late. Lizzie had her phone whipped out and the image pulled up. Grian was almost impressed by how quickly she had the image up and ready to go.

The room was deathly silent before– 

“Bwhahahaha! Oh Grian, mate, they got your good side and everything!” 

“They’re everywhere too. Gave me a heart attack when I left my flat this morning.” Jimmy continued peering over Lizzie's shoulder. Frankly, Grian was amazed the image wasn’t burned into his head like it was in his head. He wasn’t sure if another two millennia was enough time to forget something so traumatic. 

“Really, I think we should just be glad they don’t have any audio of his voice. Then we’d never be free,” Joel said rather hauntingly.     

“You’re lucky I don’t need Lizzie to run over to the other side for the time being or I swear Joel,” Grian threatened in return. Joel merely smiled, unbothered by the rather weak threat, Grian had to admit. Especially since Grian has made it before. Only now, Grian was seriously considering the logistics of it. Though, it might not be worth Joel baking again.

“Speaking of though, Grian, I’ve got a few more that need a crossing,” Lizzie said, and the room grew more serious. Grian was almost thankful for Lizzie freeing him from the rest of the teasings, but crossings were never easy. Crossings were dangerous, only to be done only under very specific circumstances. A part of the agreement that hybrids had to sign to cross in the first place was that they had to completely cut themselves off from anything that could trace them to the other side. When they get to Upper City, they are to remain there, unless something forces them out of the city. Anything other than that is too dangerous. It wouldn’t be the first time the Watchers had discovered a hybrid within the city. 

“How bad?” 

“Nothing major. They weren’t compromised, but one of the younger ones has been sick. Her parents are worried she won’t be able to keep up the transformation with her energy level.” 

This wasn’t all that uncommon for younger hybrids. While it was rare for hybrids to get sick, when they did it was always when they were young and it always hit hard. There were many crossings due to this. Better to get them out before they could get compromised. 

“What are they mixed with?” Grian asked

“Blaze,”

“So we need to get them out, sooner rather than later,”. 

There were not many dangerous hybrids that were allowed into the Upper City. The process to get approval to move into Upper City is long, more so for more dangerous hybrids. Not necessarily because they were more dangerous, but because they needed to use more magic than less dangerous or obvious hybrids. Blaze hybrids needed to constantly regulate their above-normal temperatures, all while using only the smallest amounts of magic so as not to be detected. 

The fact that a blaze hybrid was ill, and a child was dangerous for their safety as well as the safety of the neighboring citizens. They needed to get them out safely, as quickly as possible. 

“Cover story in place?” 

“Parents have taken time off, and this is their only child so she’s been out of school since the sickness started. I’ve had them tell friends and neighbors that they are going to be quarantining in their home with a ‘family friend’ dropping food off immediately. I’ve gone ahead and secured the home with remote responses and cameras just in case anyone stops by they won't notice the empty house.” Lizzie responded, already prepared for the situation. 

Grian smiled at her preparedness. Since they had started this, Lizzie and Grian worked together to secure the hybrid's safety. It was one of the reasons Lizzie became a paramedic and left working at the cafe every night, much to Joel’s displeasure. 

“Am I going to be the ‘family friend’,” Joel asked raising his hand and Lizzie grinned at him. 

“Joy,” Jimmy stated flatly, dropping his hand back down. 

“Are they going to be staying at the cafe or are they crossing immediately?”

“Probably tonight. They’ve still got family on the other side, so they’re excited to meet up with them as soon as possible,” Lizzie responded, and Grian nodded. Usually, they gave a bit more time between the request and the actual crossing, but if they waited too long the chance of exposure grew far greater. 

“Alright, rather than wait for tomorrow night, we’ll go ahead and move them tonight. Lizzie write down the address and sent the notification that I’d be arriving shortly. Jimmy, you’ll be with me for the switch, I want to make sure the other side is clear as well since this is such short notice. Also, I’ll be sending you over for a little bit.”

“What! If this is about before-”

“It’s not. The advancements made have me nervous, and with Doc avoiding our trackers I’m getting worried. I need you to investigate, the hybrids won’t be able to find him if the Watchers are involved,” Grian explained. The plan had always been to send Jimmy over the wall tonight to investigate anyway, now he was just killing two birds with one stone. 

  Lizzie passed over a small slip of paper, and Grian glanced at it before using the smallest of energies to destroy it. 

“Alright, if all goes well I’ll text you when I’m back through,” Grian said turning towards the front door as Jimmy sighed before getting to his feet and walking over. 

“Wait, Grian what am I meant to be doing?” Joel asked as Grian opened the door and let Jimmy walk through first. Grians eye twitched as he stared at Joel, a plan forming.

“You, Joel, get the most dangerous job of all” Joel's head tilted, and once more Grian could practically see the hybrid through the thin layer of magic. He was so excited… It almost made Grian feel bad for what he was planning to do. 

Almost. 

He would not be getting his coffee after, that's for sure.

“You, get to explain to your wife the lovely, new lifeform you created in her absence this afternoon,”

Joel's eyes widened comically large as his gaze turned from Grian to Lizzie in horror. Lizzie froze turning to stare at her husband. Her gaze stayed trained on him, but they all knew she was now aware of the presence in the kitchen.

“...Joel”

“Now, Lizzie, I..”

“Joel. Please tell me in the seven hours I was gone you did not desecrate my kitchen,” Grian grinned widely before shutting the door and began humming to himself as he descended the stairs back into the cafe. All in an honest day's work. 

“I would never-”

“Joel. There is a moving sludge bag on my kitchen table.”

“Uhhh, that’s a … happy accident?” 

“You know he’s going to kill himself trying to get you back for that,” Jimmy grinned once Grian had joined him on the cafe floor. 

“It would not be the first time. None of Joel's pranks ever work out well for him,” Jimmy gave a sharp laugh in response, though Grian was not sure if he had much room to be laughing. It seemed the two of them would be cursed through whatever life they lived. 

“You ready to meet the family?” 

“Yeah. We should probably make sure that the coast is clear first through. Plus you’ll be staying for a few days on the other side to look into the new mobs. Hopefully, we’ll find Doc this time.” 

“... and if we can’t? Grian, we’ve been looking for him for over a hundred years. Doc has clearly made his choice. What are you going to do once we do find him?” Grian's heart stuttered at the thought. 

“It might not be as simple as that Jimmy. Right now, we just need to focus on finding him. I’ll ask Mumbo to check with Grumbot for any signs of him, but for now, we’re just going to play this by ear.”

Jimmy sighed, running a hand through his hair. 

“Grian, I understand that you have these memories of them- but you aren’t there. You’re here and these versions are willing to kill you if need be. You’re doing the same thing with Sc-”

“Jimmy. Don’t.”

The room fell silent as the air tensed. Jimmy did not often bring up Grians other memories- it wasn’t a particularly enjoyable thing to remember that he even had, but it had been increasing ever since Grian met Scar. Really, it was not fare to be upset with Jimmy. He didn’t remember them. 

Didn’t see the flashes of a better life. 

Where deaths were infinite.

And… where they weren’t. 

“Let’s just get this over with,”

“Whatever you say,”

Grabbing onto Jimmy, Grain remembered the address before using some energy to warp them there. Warping was usually an unpleasant feeling, but the more he was taking with him, the worse it felt. At least they had a different method to get across the wall. 

After an intense stretching and sinking sensation, Grian opened his eyes to see a modestly decorated living room. Releasing Jimmy, who looked mildly sick to his stomach, Grian stepped forward and expanded his energy to check the home before announcing himself. Most humans did not take kindly to someone teleporting into their living room. While it had been centuries since Grian messed up something as simple as a warp, he knew he could never be too careful. 

Only noticing three individuals, all hybrids, Grian determined it was safe to start. 

“Excuse me? My name is  Grian, Lizzie mentioned you needed a crossing?”

Immediately, the hybrids lurched to their feet in surprise before heading into the living room. Grian vaguely remembered seeing their faces a few years prior on a processing paper, so it was nice to know they had been doing well all of these years. 

“We weren’t sure when to expect you, so we were waiting by the door.” the Father said first holding his hand out in greeting. Immediately, red flags went off for both Grian and Jimmy

“My name is-”

“We were told we were escorting a blaze out beyond the barrier, so who are you?” Jimmy asked coldly, glaring at the unknown hybrid. The man was relatively short, his hair gave a greenish tint, almost missable if you weren’t looking for it. He certainly was not a Blaze hybrid though. Though his kind was rare, Grian recognized it. 

“No, no, that’s just my daughter and my wife. I’m a Glare hybrid,” The man quickly explained as a woman walked into the room very clearly a Blaze hybrid. Swaddled in her arms was a small child wrapped in a blanket.

“My name is Bdubs,” 

After another tense moment, Grian stepped in.

“Apologies, we weren’t informed that not everyone was a blaze hybrid,” Grian explained. There weren’t many hybrids that held relationships with other hybrids. Especially not those with hostile blood. Glares weren’t aggressive, although they could get moody in the dark. Suppose that was a benefit of marrying a Blaze hybrid though. 

“Yeah, we didn’t get a chance to explain to the woman who came by earlier,” 

“No, if it wasn’t such an emergency we would’ve had the time to go over your guy's file before processing the crossing. How is she holding up?” Grian asked moving closer, hoping they would not see him as a threat. Especially, after only just calming the situation. 

“The fever has yet to break, and she keeps changing how much heat she’s letting out. There's been a few close calls this past hour with her summoning fire, but I’ve been able to put them out before they caused issues,” Bdubs wife explained titling the bundle down to reveal more of the small girl's flushed face. 

“May I?”

“Please,”

Given permission, Grian held his hand out and placed the back of it on the girl's forehead. Letting his power flow a bit more, he checked the girl's condition before removing his hand. 

“The good news is, her condition isn’t anything to worry about. She probably needs a few days to get her more dangerous abilities back under control. Maybe a week or so to be well enough for us to see if you guys can cross back over,”

“Thank you!” 

“Now, we’ll be heading off. Jimmy here will be going with you for the crossing, and in a week he’ll meet back up with you to check in on her okay? We’ll know more by then on when we can plan the crossing,” 

“Now, is there anything else you may need to bring before I make the Portal ?” 

"Oh um, we have a family heirloom that I wanted to return to the other side of the wall, " Bdubs started, "It doesn't feel like it belongs on this side.”

Grian knew all too well what Bbuds felt. He too felt it almost every waking moment. 

Sometimes even more than that.

Even after all these years, that feeling of looking in, of never belonging never really went away. 

“Can I ask for your help with it?” Bdubs asked gesturing to the doorway, “It’s just through there, plus I have a question about this that I don’t want my daughter to worry about,” Bdubs whispered that last part eyes lingering on his daughter before turning back to Grian. Jimmy raised his eyebrow at this, throwing a look at Grian. Grian ignored the questioning look and nodded moving to follow Bdubs into the next room. 

Bdubs turned and walked out of the room, and Grian began to trail after. Jimmy grabbed his arm, panic evident on his face. Something was wrong with Jimmy- he’d been acting more and more strange the past few days but today more than ever. Once he got back from this mission Grian knew he was going to have to have a bit of a serious talk with him. 

Something to look forward to he supposed. 

“Jimmy you’ll be able to hear everything. Nothing is going to happen,” Grian assured moving his hand off of his arm. Besides, Glare hybrids, while rare, were not known to be violent. If Grian was ended by one he’d be alright with never having to face the endless ridicule of his friends. 

“Okay,” Jimmy relaxed if only slightly and turned his attention to talk to Bdubs wife, Grian presumed about the process they were about to go through. Turning back to the doorway, Grian left the living room and entered the hallway. 

“Up here!” Bdubs called from the top of the stairwell, and Grian hung a left to go up and meet him at the landing. Girna turned to face Bduds waiting for him to show where the heirloom was, only Bdubs didn’t move. Staring down at the ground, he shifted from side to side rubbing his arms. Not a great sign, if Grian was being honest.

“What is it?” Grian questioned, knowing the excuse of retrieving the heirloom was only that- an excuse. Grian wished he could say he was surprised, but there had not been much about people's behavior, specifically betrayal that could shock him anymore. 

“I don’t mean to question you or make you uncomfortable or anything but I wanted to know… you’re Cute Guy… aren’t you?” Grian froze and stared at him without responding and Bdubs rushed to explain, “I’m several centuries old by now. I still remember the stories we  passed around the village and…” 

“Don’t” 

Bdubs head shot up to finally meet Grians eyes. 

“We’re here to get you and your family out. For you, your wife, and your daughter's safety I’d be more careful with whom you ask those questions,” Grian finished coldly before turning to descend the stairs. A part of Grian regretted being so harsh. It wasn’t Bdubs’s fault Grian knew what they were capable of. If they thought Bdubs had any information, they would have no problem torturing it out of him. Bdubs had a life. A family. He was best left out of the matter entirely. 

Grian was beginning to wonder if everyone was doomed to be involved. If it was the curse of being kind to him in other lives. 

Dragged into a fight that was Grians fault- with no chance of surviving it. 

Maybe that was why Grian was so determined to keep Scar as he was. 

A Dreamer and Human. 

“Well, if you do know anything about Cute Guy,” Bdubs called down quietly knowing Grian could still hear him,” Let her know that the hybrids are thankful for what they’re doing. People’s minds are hard to change, here, but it is progress!”

Grian froze on the stairs for a moment, remembering. 

“Everyone thinks their progress is for the greater good. I have found that to rarely be true.” Grian left it at that and descended the stairs stopping outside the living room door to collect himself before entering. 

“Ready?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATES

Hello, one and all!

Yes, I know it has been a lot longer than originally promised. I had originally planned to leave this chapter alone at a certain point, but due to how I’ve planned the chapters to go I decided not to. I did end up changing the original ending for this chapter, and I think this ending fits better ultimately. 

Also, Jimmy and Bdubs are OC in this, apologies for that. There is a reason, but all shall be revealed later. Also, Joel was already planned for this chapter back in like November and I laughed so hard when he was announced to be joining Hermicraft.

In other news, the other reason this chapter was pushed back as far as it was is due to some news I received a day or so after posting the preview. One of the girls I met while hospitalized passed away in March. 

She had sarcoma. 

Her mother called to tell me the news, and due to the distance, I was unable to attend her funeral in person. 

She was not even 20 years old. 

It really solidified that when I go, my mom is going to have that same job.

I do not want to come on here and post depressing things all of the time, but I did want to ask that if you are in any financial position please donate to the Sarcoma Foundation in her memory. 

In less sad news, the other chapters have been coming along, and I’m extremely excited for the rest of the story!

Stay safe, and hopefully, you’ll hear from me before August!

[fatmaclover]

12,19 or 23 for mac :-3?

12: What's a headcanon you have for this character?

unibrow mac my beloved <33 if we're talking something more serious though i think itd be that hes got. COMICALLY gay music taste. fag club music is definitely his jam but hes got to get into gaga n shit for my own mental health. this is supported by the fact that in its a very sunny christmas (sorry to bring this ep up again) he literally has TWO rainbow jimi hendrix stickers on his closet door 😭 bud.... howd it take you this long youre literally making your own allegories 😭. sorry im gonna take this one to also say i think he should be More tatted up. rob you can rid yourself of your tats all you want but i know mac gets a tattoo for every boyfriend hes able to keep for longer than a week in my heart. their name right on his skin. this is Always what makes them break up with him.

19: A relationship they have in canon that you don't like?

i feel like "like" is a pretty broad thing for me. i can fucking despise something but it can still be interesting and i still like it. UNFORTUNATELY this is the case about mac and his parents. dear God actually a wretched family dynamic that attacks literally all of my insecurities with some of my own family. something about always making noise, always making a show but never being seen or heard really gets to me. the way even now mac makes it blatantly obvious what hes needing/wanting for emotional fulfillment, but his friends treat him just like his parents did because thats easier than sitting down and dealing with his issues. hes always been ignored so whats a little more?

theres a lot i could go into with this one. how being ronnie the rat was the only time mac would get seen, so of course he was incentivized to keep being a total snitch. how it seems that even joyce ended up adopting those methods against mac, being plenty apathetic towards things that were important to him (not even saying that her blowing him off is undeserved. its very much deserved even if its still a total dick move and heartbreaking that joyce would actively see the environment mac grew up in, and then decide to keep that cycle going for him). the way macs immediate family has interacted with him has affected. so much of his life that its insane. sorry that i wrote a lot about this one its just been on the mind.

oh i suppose i could also say him and carmen. i love you carmen i wish mac was normal you two would be unstoppable as a tgirl and her pet doberman fag duo. im glad youre happy just raising a kid with ur husband tho pls never come back and enjoy your life away from these freaks

23: Favorite picture of this character?

here are the jokey contenders oh my fucking god im sorry. theyre the like basic bitch mac images but theyre so fucking funny to me i think about them 24/7. literally whenever i bring up if im soying over something i want you to picture the second image thats what im doing

for a more serious answer, genuinely i adore nearly every scene fat mac is in. though i suppose the penultimate image of fat mac WOULD be the how mac got fat one

sorry hes like an angel to me here. in the grimy fuckin confessional n all.

i think this one is like. very easily first more than that other one but my shame makes it tied for first instead

sorry. ill stop. dont give me power by letting me post mac images i will empty my whole camera roll going "and isnt he so cute here? and here? and look at his smile here. and look how cute he and joyce are here" until literally every frame of fat mac or mac and joyce in frame together is posted.

fav img of mac and joyce together is them writing in mac and charlie write a movie. purely because i associate it with you and rambling about joyce and joymac for hours. without that association is the fucking cowboy photoshoot from mac and charlie die. sorry. basic answer there too

[aki-shun]

Hi can i ask a request you dont have to do it but can you do a ortho and reader

Hanging out together and ortho just sudenly called us big brother you dont have to do it

Also i live your work

I won't lie. When I read the first half of your request, I was in for a little shock. My coffee spilled on me. But when I read the rest of your request…

Ahhh, it's so cute for sure. I hope you will like it.

Ortho Called The Reader 'Big Brother'

Several weeks have passed since Ortho became an official student of the school. In this way, most of your lessons became common. After the game night after Idia's overblot, you now have a game night with the brothers for 2 nights every week.

Ortho was being bothered by some morons because he was a humanoid robot / i.e. not a real human. Idia, you and the other fist years are dealing with those morons. Sometimes Ortho seems upset about this situation, but it is always you and Idia who lifts his spirits. Others don't know how to cheer up a humanoid robot.

One day, Crewel-Sensei's lesson was your common lesson. Luckily, sensei made you two a duo partner.

While you both prepare the potion Sensei wants, you hear the people in the side cauldron talking.

Ugh that stupid robot is in our class again.

Sensei had been praising him recently. Big Seven, what kind of robot needs praise?

If the liquids in those potion bottles spilled on him, he'd be scrap.

Agh, does not he give very knowledgeable answers to every question asked. Even his voice and way of speaking are like people's, why do they treat him like a human being??

Those bastards..you're back in Ortho. He didn't seem like he was concentrating on his work. He had heard what was them said. You could understand that. You wanted to give those guys their place, but you'd be in trouble if you made a scene in class. You have to wait until the end of the lesson, but unfortunately there is still 23 minutes until the end of the lesson. I guess there is only one option left.

Ortho, we are in the last class and I think the class has not been ventilated in between. Would you open the window?

Of course [Name]-san.

Ortho opened the window and light breezes blew in. You took this opportunity, picked up a powder on the shelf and sprayed the powder in the wind, in a way that would not be visible to anyone. The dust flew in the direction of those children. Only a few seconds passed and

Agh Where did this itch come from?

They started scratching themselves like dogs with fleas. Sensei was yelling about what they were doing. Sensei realized that it was an itch powder, and the ointment for itch powder was in the cupboard right behind you.

Pup, give that yellow jar to those naughty pups.

Of course Sensei.

As you approach them, you sneak another bottle, and as you hand them your jar, you add the foreign substance to their cauldron.

Towards the end of the lesson, an explosion is heard. Those naughty boys dipped the potion. What a great inconsistency.

>After class<

[Name]-san can I ask you something?

Surely what is Ortho?

Why did you do them in class?

Ahh, did you notice?

Sure, but I don't understand why you did it.

And I don't understand why you act like you didn't hear those guys talk.

… You know they say these things all the time.

And they have no right to do so. So that was their punishment. I can't let those idiots talk about you that way. You are like my little brother. So let me know if something like this happens another time.

A glint came to life in Ortho's mechanical eyes after these words.

Well I will, [Name]nii-chan!

[Name]nii-chan..?

WHATS GOING ON IN HERE*!? [Idia]

Actually, I was going to draw a fanart, but because I was too lazy to do it, I made a photo shop.