#i need my army of little guys to grow stronger

[a-french-coconut]

Luke Castellan (Part 2)

Each day, his forces grow a little stronger, demigods joining them from all over the country, even Camp Half-Blood.

It's time.

Already ? It's only been one year.

He's in his office, seated next to a golden coffin that grows more visible every time a demigod pledge themselves to Kronos.

Our army is strong and with Jackson on his father's side, we need another piece in the game.

He stays silent, reaching for a piece on the chessboard on front of him.

Would it really work ?

Will it bring her back ?

Yes, the Golden Fleece is a powerful artefact.

They why didn't Chiron, or even Dionysus, ever told him ?

He would have went on that quest without hesitation, he would have saved her !

I feel your anger rising, good. Remember, Chiron, Dionysus and all the other gods don't care about you. With her dead, they thought they could avoid the Great Prophecy.

He clenches the piece in his hand, his familiar hatred boiling in him again.

They had killed her, valued her as a defective object that needed to put down.

I shall inform our spy at Camp to proceed.

If Silena didn't change her old calendar, she should be horse riding now.

"Silena, do you copy ?" He asks her through the charm bracelet.

"Hi Luke."

As always, the daughter of Aphrodite have this sweet voice, one that could work on many guys but Luke couldn't be more indifferent to it.

Silena Beauregard is not his type of girl but he can't risk having her offended by a rejection.

"Hey Lena, I need you to do me a favor."

"Of course ! Anything you need." Comes back the answer, cheerful and hopeful.

"The poison Lila gave to you last time you two met ? Use it on the target."

"Oh, okay." She sounds disappointed but frankly, she should know better than expect him to like her, daughter of Aphrodite and all that. "Are you sure you want to do this ?"

"Of course I'm sure," he frowns, "why are you asking ?"

"It's going to hurt her Luke, deeply. It's like she'll die again."

"She isn't going to die" he snaps at Silena, voice cold and harsh, "a quest will be issued to save her. Now go do your job and stop questioning my orders !"

He abruptly cuts contact, not caring about how it might affect Silena.

He looks at the piece in his hand.

Kronos wants a new pawn to balance the careful game they are playing.

"Castellan," an empousa barges in, "Torrington is asking for you on deck, he needs you to teach the soldiers a manoeuvre."

"Tell them I'm coming Kelli."

She nods, promptly leaving him alone.

He gets up, puts some light armor before gripping Backbiter and getting out of the office.

On the table, away from the chessboard and its pieces, stands the dark queen, as proud as the girl she represents.

--------------------------------

He dreams of her, of the pine's leaves slowly turning gray, the bark rotting and falling on the ground.

He wonders if she can feel it.

(When he faces her again, on a mountain top surrounded by ruins, he'll know that he made her suffer.)

As expected, Chiron is fired and Tantalus takes over the leadership.

Luke thinks he knows why Kronos chose him. Indeed, they seem to share the same culinary taste.

"How long until the poison kills the tree ?" He asks Alabaster who created it.

"One week, depends on what cure they will administrate it." The son of Hecate shrugs, clearly unconcerned with Thalia's fate. "Don't worry Luke, they should make it time."

"They better," he mumbles under his breath, "if Thalia dies, there is no way for me to convince Annabeth to join us."

"About that," Alabaster fidgets, "Are you sure she'll want to join ? She seems pretty loyal to the Olympians."

"When Thalia joins us, she will too." Luke assures his second in command, "why don't you go find Ethan ? Last time I heard he was still pining over you, looking at you with awe in his single eye."

He snickers slightly when his friend's face turns red, promptly leaving to find the son of Nemesis.

"This is a waste of time," Kelli scoffs from the corner of the room, "why aren't we sending our own forces to get the Fleece ? It would be a lot more productive."

"Because" he glares at the monster who languidly gets closer to him, "they need to ultimately have the Fleece and they are not going to accept it as a gift from us. Hence, they need to find it by their own."

"If you say so, Castellan." Kelli sighs, seating on his armchair, "the girl you keep talking about, Talia or-"

"Thalia" he corrects her, slightly uncomfortable with her proximity.

"That," Kelli narrows her eyes on him, her talons tracing lines on his shoulder and arm," what does she mean to you ?"

"She's a dear friend," he quickly gets out of the chair, earning himself a scowl, "and a powerful ally to have."

"I'm sure she would make quite a feast," Kelli smiles, "Zeus' blood is always so delicious-"

"Don't kid yourself" Luke cuts her off curtly, "you don't stand a chance against Thalia."

"Is that so ?" she hisses, "then maybe I should pay her visit when she's done housing birds and squirrels, to see her worth."

With the speed of a son of Hermes, Luke unsheathes Backbiter and furiously slashes at Kelli but she jumps out of the chair and the only thing damaged is now his furniture.

"Thalia is an essential person in our plan, do you want me to tell our Lord that you wish to harm her ?" He snarls, pulling off his sword from the wood.

"Oh, now" Kelli chuckles nervously, "there's no need for such rash action, I have no intention to go near the daughter of Zeus."

"Good," he says firmly, "now get out, I have work to do."

She hisses at him, hair burning a bright orange but nonetheless hobbles her way out, the sound of her bronze leg hitting the ground echoing in the corridor.

He forces himself to breathe, to squash down his fury against that damned empousa.

His charm bracelet heating up, the signal Silena is trying to contact him, distract him from his insider turmoil.

"Silena," he says rather irritably, "Lila is in charge of receiving your infos, I have enough work to do."

"I thought you would have wanted to hear this but fine, I'll just transmit to Lila and she can tell you." The daughter of Aphrodite says with a snappy voice.

"Wait," he calls to her," what it is ? I'm not busy right now."

A lie since he has to prepare a meeting concerning their sponsors but he is curious about what is so important.

"Clarisse got a quest and she's leaving first thing tomorrow morning to retrieve the Fleece."

"Clarisse ?" He frowns, "why would they send Clarisse when the Fleece is on an island in the Sea of Monsters ? Jackson's obviously a better choice."

"Tantalus isn't very fond of him."

"Tell that idiot that Percy must come." Luke hisses, furious against the new director. "it's the perfect opportunity to trap and kill him."

"It's too late, it would be weird for him to suddenly change opinions." Her voices curls in distaste, "how are we going to keep him Luke, the guy gives the creeps."

"Then avoid him because he is going to stay as long as possible."

"But", her voice wavers, "he might want to hurt the kids."

"Kids" he scoffs, "that are on the opposite side Lena. We are bound to fight them sooner or later."

"We want a better word for all demigods," she stresses her word, "even them, do we not ? I don't see how Tantalus fits into our vision."

"He does for now" he grits out, "anything else ?"

"No, Percy has arrived at camp but he isn't going on the quest. Oh ! Wait, no, I have something to tell you-"

"It'll have to wait," he eyes Chris who just entered and mouthing to him they are here, "I really need to go, please inform your official agent of any new developments and not me."

"Our spy ?" His brothers asks, tilting his head.

"Clarisse has been sent to retrieve the Fleece," Luke eyes carefully his brother's face, "dangerous quest, some might say lethal."

"Clarisse's strong," he mutters quietly, not looking in Luke's eyes, "she'll get through it."

"One day, we are going to fight her, are you sure you'll be able to do so when it happens ?"

"Yes, my loyalty is to Kronos and you."

Chris looks at him with a hardened gaze, grim determination etched on his face.

"I'll do whatever you need me to if it means getting retribution."

"Good," he smiles," I'm please to see your faith in me."

When he passes in front of him, he puts a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Kronos will appreciate that kind of loyalty once we win the war, brother, be sure not to lose it."

As he leaves to greet his guests, he doesn't see Chris carefully taking a picture of his trouser's pocket, with on it a girl with a bright red bandana hugging with one arm a younger Chris.

-------------------------------

"Well, I have to say I didn't expect you here."

He looks rather amused at the trio confronting him.

"Percy, I should have known you couldn't stay far from me for too long, Annabeth," he looks at her, properly seeing her since he left, "you've grown and-"

His voice dies out as he looks with disbelief at the boy in front of him.

Except he's not a boy.

No, he's monster.

A cyclops.

"Really, Annie ?" He says rather hysterical, earning himself a weird look from everyone except Annabeth who's red with shame, "of all monsters, a cyclops ?" He pronounces it with such disgust, such hater towards that kind.

"Don't talk to Tyson that way !" Percy angrily say, struggling against Agrius's grip.

"Why ? Fond of him Jackson ?"

To that, the son of Poseidon stays quiet, the same red Annabeth has colouring his cheeks.

"Well, as fun as this is, I'm afraid it must come to an end." He sighs, "Agrius and Oreius, take them downstairs, I heard the monsters were hungry."

But the cyclops breaks free and sends Oreius tumbling on his brother, giving Percy to opportunity to escape.

"Catch them !" He roars to his soldiers but they have already bolted out of the room.

He can only watch them, seething, disappearing on the horizon on one of the emergency life boat.

He had them...

They were on his boat, unarmed and outnumbered and they escaped.

Shame and rage churn his stomach, make his body vibrate with fury and Alabaster is the one to pay the price.

"Torrington !" he bellows at the son of Hecate, "they were three and you had six demigods and two monsters at your commands !"

"The monsters don't listen to me !" he protests, looking straight into Luke's eyes, "I'm the General of your demigods' army."

"And what have you been doing all those months ?" he hisses, "how come they were completely useless to stop them !"

He sees Alabaster's eyes glower and green ruins appear on his jacket. He reaches for Backbiter but a little girl suddenly puts herself in the way.

"Stop this ! Please !" she begs, looking fearfully at Luke.

"Lou," Alabasters says softly, "get out of the way."

"No, I'm not letting you fight with him !" Lou crosses her arms defiantly, stubbornly not moving.

"Your sister ?" He asks his general who curtly nods, still eyeing him and ready to fight.

But Luke only looks at Lou.

She's small, black-haired and has startling green eyes.

If he has to guess, she must be eleven years old, younger maybe.

And yet, despite her young age, she looks at him warily and ready to protect her brother.

He sheathes his sword to Alabaster's great surprise.

"They'll have to come back once they get the Fleece, we'll catch them then."

He leaves the deck and Torrington's confused face to isolate himself in his cabin.

He spends the next hour twirling a cheap ring on his necklace, thinking of a young blond girl with startling grey eyes and wondering if she would too protect him if he needed it.

-----------------------------

He doesn't remember falling asleep.

And yet he is chained upside down, with an unbearable heat burning his face as he looks at the cauldron below him.

He remembers that place.

It's when they were on the run and Thalia and he got captured by a cyclops.

Annabeth had been the one to save them, stabbing bravely the monster and freeing them.

"Luke ! Stop looking like an idiot and use your powers !" A voice next to him snaps in the air.

She's there, looking wildly alive, face etched into a scowl and gleaming from sweat.

"Thalia..." he whispers with a broken voice.

"Is the heat making you lose your mind ?" She says harshly, a worried frown appearing on her features, "yes it's me, Thalia. The girl who is about to buzz you if you don't find a solution."

It's been so long since he heard her talking and not screaming.

The way her eyes pulse with electricity.

The way her freckles are a constellation adoring her pale skin, contrasting so much with her spiky jet black hair.

The way she's pulsing with life, trashing against the chains restraining her and not cold dead on a forest's floor.

"Thalia, I-"

He wants to tell her everything, like he did before, to tell her about Kronos and his rebellion against the gods.

"Hurry, Luke !" She trashes even wilder, a small edge of fear in her voice.

He knows what happens next.

The cyclops comes back, failing to lure Annabeth in his trap, and as he's ready to cut their bonds, to let them fall into the boiling steaming pit below, the monster screams in pain and Luke seizes his chance.

He gets out of the now loosened chains, managed to free Thalia despite only using one hand, the other firmly gripping the chain, and the both of them jump onto the cyclops's arm.

That's when he sees the cause of the monster's pain.

Annabeth had stabbed him in the toe, his little sister looking terrified but determined to fight the beast.

Quickly, Thalia and he climb down the screaming monster until they're on the ground and help Annabeth kill him.

Then, she punches him in the gut after praising Annie.

"What the fuck Thals !" He groans, doubling over.

"What was that back there, huh ?" She asks angrily, irritated enough for not scolding off for the bad word, "why'd you froze like that ?"

"I didn't freeze, my powers were just useless." He winces when he feels his abdomen, it's definitely going to bruise.

She scowls but doesn't push him further.

"Come on, we have to go, Grover is waiting for us outside." Annabeth urges them, dragging them to the exit.

"It's too late."

Both Annabeth and Thalia look at him with utterly confused faces.

"What do you mean it's too late ? Too late for what ?"

"Forget I said anything," he mumbles hastily, pushing them aside to reach the exit, "it's nonsense."

A hand on his shoulder stops him.

It's not like her punch, no.

It's a prolonged contact, one where her hand barely touches his skin and yet, it is warmer than the boiling cauldron.

"Luke," he hears her say his name with worry, "what's wrong ?"

"Nothing's wrong Thals," he reassures her, not looking in her eyes. "We have to go, the monsters are gaining on us."

But she doesn't let go of him and her hand gets closer to his neck.

He doesn't turn, can't bear to look at her.

"You can tell me anything, you know that right ?" She whispers, her voice centimetres away from his ear.

"And I will," he replies, "I will but not today."

He terribly wants to face her, to tell her everything but he can't waste any more time.

It's stupid of him to think that maybe, in this dream Thalia makes it to Camp alive. It's like jumping off the cliff again when he knows he'll break himself on rocks below.

Yet, he hopes.

--------------------------------

"Welcome back to the States, cousin." He smiles at Percy, holding Backbiter under his throat, "I'm the welcoming party."

"Really wasn't necessary."

"So uncivilised," he shakes his head, "come aboard, all of you."

This time, Grover is with them. Luke doesn't know why he is there, surely something Silena could explain, but he doesn't particularly care. There's only one thing he wants, and it's within his reach.

"Where is it ?"

"Where's what ?" Percy asks innocently, the ghost of a smile floating on his face.

"The Fleece, Jackson." Luke patiently says, "give it to me."

"I can't, it's gone." He says, his smile now very visible and irritably smug.

"It can't be gone Jackson, you are all here," Luke snaps before a horrible idea dawns on him, "no, there's no way, you didn't-"

"Yes," Percy says glowing with satisfaction, "Clarisse is already on the way to Camp with the Fleece. You lost Luke."

"What where you planning to do with the Fleece, anyways ?" Annabeth asks him coldly.

"Well, since none of you are getting out of here alive, I suppose I can tell you," he shrugs, trying to hide his growing panic at the perspective of telling Kronos he failed again, "I was going to use the Fleece to resurrect Kronos but I would have given it back to you after."

"Really ?"

"Of course Jackson, I know why you need the Fleece and I wouldn't have stopped you."

"That's rich," he scoffs, "considering what you did."

To his grand surprise, Jackson hurls a coin at him. One he easily dodge, the drachma falling in the water behind him.

"You betrayed me, betrayed DIONYSUS AT CAMP HALF BLOOD !"

"Old news Jackson, why are you doing this ?"

"Did you poison Thalia's tree ?"

"Of course I did !" He snaps at Jackson, utterly confused, "but you-"

"So Chiron had nothing to do with it ?" Jackson presses on.

"As if that old man could ever hurt his Camp !" Luke rolls his eyes, "why are you doing this ? You already know all of that !"

"I do, but now all the others do too."

"What others-"

His voice dies at he turns and sees the whole Pavillon of Camp Half-Blood looking at them, dead silent, through an Iris Message.

"See Mr D ? Chiron is innocent !" Percy says behind him.

"I suppose so Peter," the god sighs, "well then, goodbye Tantalus."

He waves his hand and the earth opens, swallowing the man whole.

With a furious scream, Luke slashes the Iris Message, making it pop in a cloud of mist.

"Chris !" He barks at his brother, "ready my stallion, I'm going after the Fleece."

His brothers nods and hastily leaves the room.

"As for you all, Oreius and Agrius are in dire need of fresh meat."

"So you're just leaving us here, not even able to kill us yourselves ?" Percy yells at him as they go on deck where a black pegasus awaits Luke.

"I have more urgent matters than you Jackson, believe or not."

"Why don't you fight me, eh ? Scared you'll lose like the first time ?" The son of Poseidon taunts him.

It's an impasse and they both know it.

If Luke declines, he loses credibility and if he accepts, he doubts he'll manage to intercept Clarisse.

"Very well, Jackson. Give him back his sword."

He arms himself with Backbiter and a shield and faces Percy.

"It's not fair Luke," Annabeth protests angrily, "at least give him a shield too !"

"The world's hardly ever is fair Annabeth," he snarls, "I had hoped you would know that by now."

He looks at Percy, scanning for weak spots and when he finds one, he attacks.

"You've gotten better Jackson" he grunts, blocking Riptide with his shield, "but there's not water trick to save you this time."

He kicks him in the leg and sends Riptide flying out of reach.

He hears Annabeth screaming, the cyclops bellowing and Grover bleating as he lower down Backbiter to stab Percy in the stomach.

Water slaps him, sending him tumbling backward and loud screams and confettis ?

Dozens of centaurs are on his ship, trampling his forces or throwing party hats and shooting paintballs.

One hits him on the stomach, splattering his shirt blue and bruising his skin.

Amidst the chaos, he registers Percy mounting Chiron while the others are on other centaurs, his old mentor whistles and they're all gone as fast as they came.

"Chris !" He roars, face red with fury, "the horse, where is it ?"

"It left with them," his brother groans from where he's sprawled on the floor, covered in paint, "saw Percy talk to him."

He feels like he might explode from shame and rage.

It's the second time Percy escapes him, the second time a thirteen years old beat him, an experienced twenty years old demigod.

"All of you, clean this mess ! I have to inform our Lord of this recent development."

He closes his office's door rather harshly, taking a few minutes to calm himself before contacting Kronos.

Master.

Next to him, the coffin glows and he feels him stirring, his presence lingering in the air.

You have failed.

Luke feels his throat drying, yes master.

And yet we are still successful.

I... I don't understand Master. Without the Fleece, you'll take more time to fully awake.

Foolish boy, do you think I cannot wait a few more years ? I have spent eons awaiting for this moment, I do not lack patience.

It was never about you, Luke realises, all you wanted was for the Fleece to reach her tree.

And it has, soon, we'll have another pawn in the game.

----------------------------------

Far away, on a hill overlooking Long Island Sound, a girl opens her eyes under a grand pine tree for the first time in seven years.

[hubristicassholefight]

Swordswoman Showdown Round 2 Part 2

Lightning Farron (Final Fantasy XIII) vs Fa Mulan (Mulan)

Better here in a "preferred character" sense, not "who would win in a fight")

Propaganda below cut

Lightning

She uses a Gunblade. A sword thats also a gun. Said to be very rare because it takes so much skill to use. Does lots of slashing and backflips. Later becomes Champion of A God and sword fights a guy for eternity. Later becomes champion of a Different god and uses lots of different swords; She is dramatic and has lots of character growth and is awesome.

#She fights sephiroth#she has a fire sword for Drama#She gets armor too#how can you say no to that face#you want it she can do it

#there’s 10 hours left Lightning did not suffer to lose#ALL SHES BEEN THROUGH AND FOR WHAT#HER CHARACTER GROWTH IN THE GAME IS SO GOOD#SHES BEEN THRU SO MUCH#I JUST WANT WHATS BEST FIR HER#FOR HER#SHE DESERVES IT APL#ALL#RISE LIGHTNING STANS RISE#WHERES UR ANGER#WHERES UR RAGE

#back to rep my girl because I am NOT done talking about her#like she deserves everything okay#having to grow up quick and throw away her childhood to become her sisters new guardian after losing their mom#having to continuously grow stronger not for herself#but to keep Serah safe#and then eventually the need to want to protect others#her new found family#the fact that she would do so much for them by the time we get the third game#how kuch she had to fight all she had to do for the#the sake of humanity#the things she’s been through#it makes you want all the best for her

#i love them both but come on I gotta rep Lightning 😭😭😭#come on she uses her gunblade like a pro#but I love how she’s not afraid to throw hands either or how agile she is#so she doesn’t have to rely on her weapons at all times#she’s strong too like even before becoming a l’cie she can knock down men -snow- twice her size#she has the skills to back herself up#lets not forget she stabbed a god in the face with a survival knife#she’s just constantly getting stronger and she’s pretty#did I mention she’s pretty because#she’s very pretty

#she comes with 2x Big Sister baggage!#you know how much you love Grizzled Cynical Old Man Acquires Child?#get ready for Grizzled But On The Inside Woman Acquires Child Who Is Somehow Even More Cynical and Grizzled than Her#Idolizes Her and Becomes a Mirror Turned Back Upon Her So She Has To Examine Her Shit#also she’s just so cool#unpopular opinion but I love the feel of combat in XIII#I’m not a fan of super granular systems I love the vibes-based play#watching her flip and slash her way around the field kicks ass#like yes bitch u barely need me here#SHE HAS A GAY LITTLE CAPE HOW CAN YOU SAY NO TO A GAY LITTLE CAPR#they couldve made her a little grizzled tho. for Me.

#Did I mention she can grill up a good steak#but that's all she can cook#She stabs a god in the face with a pocketknife#she punches dudes in the face#she meets a hot australian chick and slaps her and then shows her her tits#She has a suit of armor and a horse cause she a knight#yes i'll propagandize for her in her every poll cause she's perf

#Ok but you forgot to mention how Lightning is literally one woman army#She freaking uses magic and summons her stead guardian and even users those giant ass double edge blades and they fight in unison#She is also very acrobatic and elegant with her moves#Even more so in XIII-2 where she is literally fighting a war on her own and now has access to divine abilities making her more of a Paladin

Fa Mulan

stole her father's sword to take his place in the imperial army. defeated the invading leader and stole HIS sword too.

Soldier who saved all of china; She’s one of the ogs, man, her movie is a banger

i know she's a problematic fave but i still love her :(

[muiltifandomnerd]

Adventures of Chika Hanabusa: The Restoration of Earth

Adventures of Chika Hanabusa: The Restoration of Earth

Disclaimer: This book follows the events of Percy Jackson and Heros of Olympus fanfic, this fanfic will not include Trails of Apollo, The Kane Chronicles, and Magnus Chase.

Chapter 14: Comfort

Chika PoV

I followed Reyna to Baccus’s Garden and Reyna just collapsed on the grass. She wears a worn-down expression, and her clothes are full of dirt and grass. Reyna has her eyes closed but small tears manage to escape her eyes. I can feel her body being tense and her head a bit heated up. I sat on the ground and moved her head on my lap, and I stroked her hair. Reyna suddenly fell asleep on my lap and Ben Sinclair, the son of Discordia, came over to me. Ben looks at me in sympathy and observes that Reyna is lying on my lap. I give the portion that is supposed to cure his lycanthropy and his green eyes, different from his godly motherly, show a pinch of gratitude. Ben was wearing a black t-shirt, and his brown hair was brushed like the emo kids back at my school.

“Is Hyun alive?" Ben asked with a solemn expression and a sorrowful tone, he must love her. I can see how Hyun is into him, but I hope that Ben will understand the sacrifices that Hyun makes.

“She is alive, but Reyna banished her, did you know about Hyun’s betrayal of Camp Jupiter?” I analyzed his expression and he looked shocked.

“What do you mean by Hyun betrayal? Hyun will never betray this camp and me. She wanted us to get married at this camp. I have known her since we were both little kids” Ben says in a loud voice. I put my hand on Ben’s shoulder while Reyna was resting on my lap.

"She betrays Camp Jupiter for your sake, Ben, she must have taught that the Titans must have the magic to free your curse and that's why she worked for the Titan Army during the Titan War. If you love Hyun, please find her and be with her. Maybe in the future, Reyna could forgive her for her betrayal and you guys can get married to her." I say with compassion and understanding the situation of Ben and Hyun.

“Thank you very much, I will find her someday to thank her.” Ben walks away and I still sit on the ground and watch Reyna sleep. Reyna's sleeping form looks so heavenly watch the sun highlighting her tan skin while she dozed off. Reyna opened her eyes and realized she was sleeping on my lap, and she blushed and got out quickly.

“My bad…sorry for sleeping on your lap…It was very inappropriate of me.” Reyna apologizes, Reyna doesn't need to apologize, she had a hard day and she deserves to rest. I don't mind Reyna using my lap as a bed, it was cute.

“No, it’s fine, I get it. The quest was just your mom messing with us and knowing the truth about Hyun will set anybody off. I did meet with Ben earlier and gave the portion. The surprising thing is that Ben wasn't aware of Hyun working for the Titans in the past, so I guess he wasn’t in on it. Anyway, I hope you rest well." Reyna looks on in gratitude that she doesn’t have to break the news to Ben about banishing Hyun.

“Honestly Chika, I don’t know what to feel about Hyun. Knowing that she causes the deaths of many campers, she helps me deal with my feelings for Jason. I can see why she betrayed camp, It was for Ben’s sake and she wants to find the cure for his condition. There was a time when I was willing to do anything to support Jason, but the reason why I will never leave Camp Jupiter is because this is my home and I hope I can grow old in it. I’m honestly hurt that Hyun never trusted us to help her and that she shouldn’t have been a spy. Anyway, thanks for listening, I’m learning how to be vulnerable.” Reyna sat next to me while she looked up at the sky. I hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

“I will always be there for you Reyna, you helped me get used to this demigod life. You made me stronger and you inspire me to be better. I know that Camp Jupiter will always be your home, and I know that someday we will meet Hyun again and hopefully, she will be a better person." I say in a lighthearted tone. Reyna did a small smile and lay back on the ground.

"You know, your optimism is refreshing and I'm glad that I've met you and trained you. You have been a good companion for our quest together. I may have to take you to camp Half-Blood since you are a Greek demigod." Reyna looks down at the ground, wait is Reyna fond of me? It’s like she doesn’t want me to leave her. When I look at her dark eyes, I can see loneliness. She must have been abandoned so many times that she is used to it. I jumped on her arms and tackled her to the ground.

"Silly I want to be with you, Reyna. I don't mind staying here with you, but I do want to take you with me to my school and spend some nights together. Now that you have shown me your world, I want to see you in my world. What do you say, Reyna." I looked at Reyna's expression and she looked taken aback and she did a smirk.

“I don’t mind spending time in the mortal world with you, Chika. I will have to give Frank and Hazel,  my responsibilities as Praetor. Maybe a short break from the demigod is all I need to get over the quest and Hyun.” 

“So, it is decided Reyna, you willing to get to know my father and the people back home," I say with excitement, this will be so cool. I can’t wait to see how my father will interact with her and maybe she can meet my friends and do activities with me.

“Yeah, I don’t mind, your father must have been a good man if you are eager for me to meet him. Give me a week to find suitable replacements.” Reyna looks on in amusement while my face because flushed with excitement, this will be so cool to see Reyna interacting with my world.

[natedogx15]

Kamen Rider Deku Mission 18: Conclusions

Previous Chapter / AO3 / Master List

Deku involuntarily tenses as his mind instinctively flashes back to their fight at the docks when he sees Giran's floating form. On the other hand, Giran stares down at Deku while talking casually to the teen, as if he didn't injure Giran in one of their last meetings.

"It looks like you've gotten a bit stronger since the last time we saw each other. That's pretty impressive. Your fighting style is still pretty crude and aggressive, though. You should really work on that. You'd be surprised how much a bit of refinement helps in the long run." Giran says as he retracts the Proto Driver and puts it behind his back.

Hearing his words causes Deku to snap out of his shock and fear-induced trance and immediately jump off the ground to gain some distance between him and Giran.

"Easy, kid. I'm not here to fight you. There's no need to do that now. I'm just here for a quick pick up and return." Giran says while showing the Proto Driver again.

"I needed to pick up our little toy here. It's more important to us right now than yours." Giran tells him while having another tentacle motion toward Deku's Hero Driver.

Deku immediately glances down at the Hero Driver before realizing what he did and quickly returns his attention to Giran.

"Then again, it's not like I was trying to grab your Drivers, anyway. If I was, I would have taken them during our fight at the docks." Giran continues.

"What are you talking about? They were after our Drivers? Are you saying you're not working with him and Slidin' Go?" Deku asks him in confusion, deciding that talking to Giran would be for the best if he's not going to get attacked.

"Oh no, I'm working with them. However, my job is more of cleaning up. Like so." Giran motions as he picks Ikusaba up with one of his other tentacles, causing Deku to panic and charge at him.

However, Giran lifts him in the air with his telekinesis before throwing the Kamen Rider to the side but not off the roof.

"Easy there, kid. I'm not going to do anything to this guy. We still need him to learn a few things. He's an important resource." Giran explains before a portal opens behind him, and he throws Ikusaba and the Proto Driver into it.

However, he didn't try to go into the portal himself. Instead, he remains in the same place and continues talking to the Kamen Rider a little more.

"Now that that's taken care of, why don't we continue our conversation? I still have a few minutes before I should leave." Giran tells him, causing Deku to look up at him in confusion.

"Why are you doing this?" Deku asks cautiously.

"Because I'm interested in you, kid. You and those two keep taking down our Nomu, and the device you use is interesting. I thought I'd reward you for all your accomplishments by answering some questions. Besides, I'm growing bored that our organization keeps playing on a no-one-should-know basis. This should spice things up a bit." Giran states with a smile that Deku can't see.

"You mean the Meta Liberation Army?" Deku asks curiously, somewhat dropping his guard when he hears this.

He was planning to lead Deku toward that conclusion. He didn't expect them to suspect it already.

"Well, that's surprising. How did you figure us out already?" Giran skillfully goes along with it, preventing Deku from realizing he is surprised at this news.

"Your members kept calling their Quirks Meta Abilities instead. Also, I heard a couple of them say something about an army." Deku states.

"Well, this will make my job all the easier. Master said it's time to start setting Tomura up for his debut." Giran mentally notes.

"I guess everyone else was sick of spending so long only testing the equipment out." Giran laughs at this, but Deku isn't done.

"Why would you be harming your comrades?" Deku demands, wishing to know why Giran attacked the former Construction Nomu if he really was on their side.

"Now that's the million-dollar question. You see, we couldn't risk letting any information on us get out until now. Unfortunately, that means we have to make some sacrifices here and there. The agents understand. They knew what they signed up for." Giran says nonchalantly, angering Deku.

However, he bites back a response as Giran continues.

"But it looks like they couldn't keep their mouths shut before then. It's a good thing plans are changing." Giran lets out a laugh.

"Changing?" Deku asks nervously.

"Yep. We'll be ready to come out of the shadows soon. Thanks to you." Giran laughs, surprising Deku before he remembers the Proto Driver.

"Are you talking about our Drivers?" Deku asks hesitantly.

"Bingo. Quite an interesting piece of technology. It boosts Meta Abilities like our Nomu. However, the user retains control and can use a variety of them instead of two. Not to mention how you don't seem to lose your minds while using them." Giran says appreciatively.

Deku quietly notes that Giran used the term Meta Ability while slowly backing away from him.

"So, why aren't you trying to take it now?" Deku asks nervously as he moves a hand to his Hero Driver to ensure it's secure.

"Because we don't need it, apparently. Our resources have let us make rapid improvements. A new movement will begin soon." Giran says before backing away into the portal.

"Wait!" Deku shouts at him, but Giran doesn't stop.

"We'll meet again, kid. There's still a lot to do, though." Giran tells Deku before he fully enters the portal, and it closes.

Deku stares at where the portal used to be as the sounds of wings flapping grow closer.

"Midoriya! Are you okay?" Chamber asks desperately as he lands behind Deku, shaking the other Kamen Rider out of his stupor.

"Huh, y-yeah. I'm fine." Deku stutters before realizing the implications of Chamber being here instead of back at the factory.

"W-wait! Did you actually beat Kac-Bakugou?" Deku asks in alarm as he stares at Chamber with wide eyes behind his mask.

Hearing this causes Chamber to sigh in annoyance before shaking his head.

"No. We had to stop the fight halfway through when we noticed a hole in the building. Well, I had to stop halfway. He kept trying to attack me since I riled him up so much, and I had to make a quick escape." Chamber says in annoyance before the sounds of explosions are heard, and they're getting closer.

Chamber acts quickly and goes invisible before jumping back right as K.E.M. crashes onto the roof.

"Come out, you damn coward!" K.E.M. shouts in anger.

"Our fight's done," Chamber tells him.

"Like hell it is. We're not done until I've killed your ass!" K.E.M. screams around him until he sees Deku standing there.

"You! Did you think giving that bastard information on how I fight through your stalker notes would help him beat me?" K.E.M. growls at Deku, causing the other Kamen Rider to grow worried before remembering Slidin' Go.

"Ka-Bakugou! There's something important that I need to tell you about Slidin' Go!" Deku says urgently as he looks at K.E.M.

K.E.M. pauses slightly when he registers that Deku isn't using that nickname and calling him by his family name. But that faltering stops after a second, and he glares at Deku.

Seeing that K.E.M. stopped to listen to him surprises Deku for a second. But he's happy about it since it lets him tell his former friend about what he saw. When K.E.M. hears what Deku says about Slidin' Go, he glares at the other Kamen Rider behind his helmet.

"What the hell are you talking about, Deku? Are you trying to say that bastard and Bitch Boss are part of a secret organization?" K.E.M. asks for clarification. 

The entire theory sounds ridiculous to him. Luckily, hearing Deku's story has K.E.M.'s confusion cool his temper, and he remembers how Slidin' Go had taught him how to fight other heroes without getting in trouble. He can understand how that's suspicious in his calmer state. Thinking this, K.E.M.'s eyes narrow in suspicion. However, he doesn't fully believe Deku despite knowing he has issues lying or making up stories.

Chamber is also surprised by Deku's words. He remembers their conversation about how the Meta Liberation Army could be back and has sunk its claws into different places. But he didn't expect they may have gotten into the H.P.S.C. His surprise has him drop the camouflage as he listens to Deku.

"That's what we think, Bakugou. Have you noticed anything weird about them?" Deku asks his former friend, trying to appeal to him.

K.E.M. narrows his eyes as he thinks about it. But almost everything they've done is similar to what everyone else around him has done. Praise him for having a powerful Quirk and say he has the makings of a great hero. The only real difference is how they're harder on him than most people.

Not being able to come up with anything, K.E.M. scoffs at Deku.

"Keep your wild stories to yourself, Deku," K.E.M. says dismissively before turning his head toward Chamber.

"And you, we still have to finish our fight. Don't think you beat me just because you had a bit of an advantage!" K.E.M. angrily shouts while pointing at Chamber, and the other Kamen Rider can feel the glare behind K.E.M.'s helmet.

"I'm done," Chamber tells K.E.M., causing the other Kamen Rider to grow angrier.

"The hell do you mean you're done!" K.E.M. shouts at him.

"I mean, I'm done. I want to hear more about this." Chamber says with crossed arms.

"Like hell, we're done! We're not done until I've kicked your ass!" K.E.M. shouts before charging at Chamber and going for another explosive palm with his left arm.

Chamber reacts quickly and instinctively activates his camouflage before charging at K.E.M. and hitting the other Kamen Rider in the face to interrupt his attack. K.E.M. staggers back and gives Chamber a chance to follow up on his attack with a spinning back kick to the head. This attack sends K.E.M. crashing into the ground. Chamber then jumps on K.E.M.'s back before turning around so they're facing the same direction and crouching to talk to K.E.M. in a low tone while close to his ear.

"Calm down. Do you seriously want to keep fighting after what we heard? You may get into more trouble if we keep fighting like this. We're already not supposed to fight as it is." Chamber tells him in a tone that says he's not in the mood for this.

"Like I give a shit!" K.E.M. shouts at him, but Chamber isn't in the mood.

"You will if there's the chance you go down with them. Do you want to keep fighting us when you don't know why?" Chamber asks him.

"I know why I'm fighting you extras! It's to put you in your places and show I'm the strongest!" K.E.M. shouts before using an explosive palm on the ground below him to spin himself on his feet and throw Chamber off him.

"You realize how suspicious that sounds, right?" Chamber says as he manages to land on his feet, albeit unsteadily.

K.E.M. growls but doesn't say anything else. Instead, he charges at Chamber again. Chamber goes invisible again and tries the same trick. However, K.E.M. attacks by launching both palms forward instead of attacking from the side with one like last time. This causes the attack to land and send Chamber flying to the end of the roof while forcing him to drop his camouflage.

K.E.M. then prepares to attack him again before stopping at a sudden shout.

"Stoppppp!!!" Deku shouts, surprising even himself at how loud his voice is when he does this.

K.E.M. freezes his attack and turns to Deku with a glare while Chamber looks up at him in confusion and pain.

"Bakugou. We shouldn't be fighting like this. That squid Nomu is still out there, and he told me about there possibly being an army of Nomu. They even have something like the Hero Driver!" Deku says while motioning toward his Hero Driver, further shocking the two.

However, K.E.M. soon scoffs at Deku before saying.

"Like I give a damn. All Might crushed hundreds of villains by himself. I can do the same. If you're scared, then quit, Deku. You couldn't become a hero in the first place. The only reason you are right now is because of that old man."

"You're not All Might. That should have been clear when he easily blocked your attack." Chamber tells K.E.M. as he stands up in pain.

This gets another annoyed sound from K.E.M. as he glares at Chamber behind his helmet before Deku gets in between them.

"Enough!" He shouts at the two, surprising them more and causing Chamber to decide to keep his mouth shut.

"I'm serious. We don't know what may happen. We need to start working together." Deku tells the two.

"There's no way in hell I'm working with you or Pompadour over there. You'll both get in my fucking way more than anything." K.E.M. snaps at them.

But in the back of his mind, he can feel a sense of uncertainty growing while thinking about how his fight with Chamber went. As he thinks about it, a memory of Izuku trying to help him out of a creak surfaces. After that, another memory surfaces. This one is of All Might stopping his best attack without any injuries. When these memories flash through his head, a feeling of inferiority starts creeping into his heart, causing him to grow more angry.

Tightening his fists, K.E.M. glares at Deku and Chamber and is about to attack again before a boisterous voice interrupts him.

"I think that's enough for today, young man. We shouldn't go too far in our training fights. Otherwise, things can get dangerous." All Might says as he stands behind K.E.M. and places a hand firmly on the Kamen Rider's shoulder.

K.E.M.'s fight or flight response kicks in at the sudden vice-like grip on his shoulder, and he reacts by trying to launch an explosive palm at All Might using his other arm. However, the hero grabs K.E.M.'s other arm and stops him before he can do anything. He also ensures he's not hurting K.E.M. with his strength before letting go of the teen's shoulder and turning him around. He then places his hand back on K.E.M.'s shoulder and looks at the Kamen Rider's face.

"Enough. I wouldn't recommend going any further. I don't want to have to harm a promising young hero. However, if you do not stop this petty fighting, I'll have no choice but to get further involved." All Might warns K.E.M. in a calm tone that still manages to scare the three Kamen Riders due to its power.

K.E.M. especially does so since the tone is directed at him. However, he refuses to back down even when it's the number one hero talking to him.

"Screw that. Pompadour and I still haven't finished our fight!" K.E.M. shouts while pointing toward Chamber.

"Enough!" All Might says in a much louder tone that causes Chamber and Deku to jump while K.E.M. is frozen.

When faced with All Might's fury, it seems K.E.M. finally understands his situation. His hand tightens in anger and fear as All Might stares down at him. The Kamen Rider can better feel the difference between him and the hero. He has a better understanding of the wall separating them just from All Might's change in tone and how much power is behind it.

Tightening his hand into a fist, K.E.M. slaps All Might's hand off his shoulder and stomps off toward the edge of the roof.

"We're not done here," K.E.M. growls at Chamber before flying off.

The three watch him leave with varying expressions. Eventually, Chamber looks at All Might.

"What are you doing here?" Chamber decides to ask.

Hearing this question, All Might turns around and gives his students one of his well-known heroic grins before laughing boisterously.

"Why, to check on you two, of course. A friend told me you might be in trouble and asked if I could investigate it. But it looks like you two are fine. Great job." All Might says while giving the two a thumbs up.

Hearing his compliment causes Deku's face to shine red in embarrassment.

"Th-thank you, A-All Might," Deku says happily as his mind keeps repeating All Might's words.

"Don't mention it, Young Midoriya. So, what happened here that made my friend ask me to come?" All Might asks as he looks around and sees the damage to the roof from Deku and Ozone's fight.

Hearing this, the two Kamen Riders quickly explain what went on today. Chamber explains his fight with K.E.M. and how that went, while Deku explains his confrontation with the Nomu. After telling them about the confrontation, Deku explains what he and Melissa saw while Chamber and K.E.M. fought.

"Is Melissa alright?" All Might immediately asks in worry as he stares at Deku seriously, causing the Kamen Rider to grow nervous under the intense attention.

"Sh-she should b-be fine." Deku stutters out while staring at the older hero.

Hearing this causes All Might to relax slightly and regain his proud grin.

"Glad to hear it. So, Slidin' Go may be a dirty hero." All Might says as he suddenly grows angry, and the two Kamen Riders can feel the tone change.

They don't know that a part of All Might's anger stems from who he thinks Slidin' Go might be working with. He hates corrupt heroes, to begin with, but knowing one might have ties with an old enemy of his causes All Might's rage to grow.

Suddenly, All Might's exerted pressure disappears, and the Kamen Riders can feel themselves breathing again. All Might then places a hand on both Kamen Riders' shoulders while giving them a proud grin.

"You both did amazing today. Keep up the hard work, and you'll make excellent heroes." All Might compliments the two, lifting their spirits.

"Thanks," Chamber mutters, slightly embarrassed.

"Think nothing of it. Now, I must be going. I should be investigating everything you've told me. Rest assured, Slidin' Go will pay for his betrayal toward those he's sworn to protect." All Might says before flying off with enough force in his take-off to push the Kamen Riders back.

"I think I was more nervous around him now than when I first met him," Shiki states as he de-activates his transformation and puts a hand to his heart.

Izuku can't help but agree as his transformation ends. He's never seen All Might so intense. Experiencing the pressure he gave off firsthand made his image of All Might change. He remembers when All Might first showed up against K.E.M., but it feels different to have the pressure directed at him.

"Y-yeah. That was scary." Izuku nods to Shiki before looking at him.

"S-so. How did the fight go?" Izuku asks, unable to hide his curiosity since he's never known Bakugou to lose, but they did spend a while preparing for Shiki's fight against him.

Shiki blinks at him momentarily as he tries to understand Izuku's words before realizing what he's talking about.

"I was actually winning, thanks to your advice about how he fights. I was out-maneuvering him almost every step of the way." Shiki explains to Izuku, shocking the other teen slightly.

Izuku thinks about his words for a moment and their implications. He's curious if this would be enough for Katsuki to change his attitude, if only slightly. He hopes so. Giran's words keep replaying in his mind, and he's worried about what's to come.

After a moment, Izuku looks around as he realizes something else.

"How are we supposed to get down?" Izuku nervously sweatdrops as he looks around.

Shiki blinks before looking around and realizing the roof they're on doesn't have a latter.

"Shoot." He states as he prepares to transform and carry them both down.

-------------------

With Giran. The villain is sitting in his hotel room with the Proto Driver and unconscious Ikusaba resting on his bed. He seems to be waiting for a call.

Soon enough, the call came in.

"Hey, Doc. How's your newest lab assistant doing?" Giran asks goodnaturedly as soon as he answers it.

"He's been instrumental in a couple more breakthroughs for our replication of that Hero Driver device." Dr. Garaki calmly explains before changing the topic.

"Have you completed the missions?" He asks in an assured tone as if he already knows the answer.

"Yeah. I have the test user and Proto Driver right in front of me. I also talked to one of the kids to get them to take care of those guys for us. Luckily, they already thought the Meta Liberation Army was back. It seems like some of their warriors weren't as they thought." Giran states with a grin at how easy the job was.

"Perfect. The master will be happy to hear this since he plans for Shigaraki to reveal himself to the world soon. He wants any possible competition taken care of and to get more recruits before then." Dr. Garaki explains to Giran.

"I'm sure there will be plenty among the remnants willing to join once their army falls." Giran states before noticing Ikusaba stirring slightly.

"Yes. Shigaraki will have his followers, and we'll finally reveal ourselves." Dr. Garaki agrees with a nod that Giran can't see.

"You may want to send another portal. The guy is starting to wake up." Giran warns as he watches Ikusaba start to open his eyes.

Ikusaba sits up from the bed, and his eyes try to adjust to his new settings. When they register everything, he looks around in confusion, unable to register where he is or how he got here.

"Morning, sunshine. How do you feel?" Giran asks the man in his usual casual tone.

Ikusaba jumps out of bed and stands on guard when he realizes he's not alone.

"Relax. I would have killed you already if I was your enemy. I was the one who got you out of there after Deku beat you." Giran informs him in a way that tells Ikusaba he's not a threat.

Ikusaba continues to glare at him for a minute while sizing him up. After a while, he drops his guard slightly, but not completely. He then looks around the room again.

"Where am I?" Ikusaba asks as he slowly moves to a window to look outside.

He peeks through the blinds to see people going about their everyday lives. It doesn't look like they're anywhere special.

"We're at a cheap hotel right now. I thought I'd talk to you before taking you somewhere else." Giran tells him.

"Where are you taking me?" Ikusaba asks suspiciously.

"Just to the doctors to check for any lasting side effects. The thing is called the Proto Driver for a reason. If we want to produce more of them, we have to be sure there's nothing wrong with them." Giran explains to the man before pulling out a cigarette and offering it to the man.

"You want one. It'll calm your nerves." Giran says, but Ikusaba denies him.

"Your loss. So, what do you remember?" Giran asks the man, causing Ikusaba's brows to furrow.

"I remember everything. Why?" Ikusaba asks.

"I don't feel him trying to lie." Giran thinks as he searches for any shift in Ikusaba's mind.

"Perfect. Now. Do you feel aggressive in any way? I mean unnaturally so." Giran clarifies.

Ikusaba looks at his body for a moment. He doesn't feel any different.

"No. I seem fine." Ikusaba states.

"Alright. It doesn't seem like you're dealing with any of the same effects most Nomu deal with," Giran observes, taking out a notepad and pen as he does so.

"How did it feel? Being a Nomu with the device, I mean." Giran asks.

"It felt amazing. I never felt like that before. I felt like I could take anyone on. The power was insane." Ikusaba states while raising a fist in excitement as he remembers that strength.

"Interesting. However, it didn't seem like he could handle Deku like some of our other Nomu." Giran mentally observes.

"Noted. Thank you for answering these questions. Anything else you think we should know?" Giran asks Ikusaba before he prepares to attack.

Ikusaba thinks about it for a second, but nothing comes to mind. Sensing this, Giran quickly shifts one of his fingers into a tentacle and has it latch onto a surprised Ikusaba's head. The man doesn't have a chance to react before he's put back to sleep. Giran quickly catches the man before he hits the ground and sends a signal with his phone.

Another portal opens, and Giran throws Ikusaba through it before grabbing the Proto Driver and tossing it in with the former wielder.

-------------------

In the dark lab of Dr. Garaki, Ikusaba lies on the cold floor unmovingly. As he does, Dr. Garaki stands above him with two Nomu on either side. Before he can do anything, Giran's notepad is tossed through the portal as well. The doctor picks it up and scans the notes before returning to Ikusaba.

"Fascinating. It seems this test will bear fruit after all." Dr. Garaki calmly states as he has the Nomus surrounding him lift and drag Ikusaba off for further study.

-------------------

Somewhere else, Slidin' Go is talking to Shinonome with an anxious expression as the two try to come up with their next move.

"What am I supposed to do? I don't know if he has anything on me." Slidin' Go tells Shinonome in a tone that makes it clear he's trying to keep calm but is struggling.

"You may have to hide in Deika City until we're sure everything is fine." Shinonome calmly tells Slidin' Go to try and ease his worries.

"What if they track me back there? It'll completely expose everything." Slidin' Go tells her in anger.

"Then don't get caught while moving there," Shinonome tells him in the same calm tone.

"Hey. Are you sure you should be having this attitude about what's happening? You're in danger of getting caught, as well." Slidin' Go warns her, but Shinonome doesn't seem bothered by his words.

"Not really. I can easily play it off as being unaware you were hiding something. You were a hero with a great reputation for your attitude toward heroics. It only made sense I'd ask you to watch over a bad egg. How was I supposed to know you had ulterior motives?" Shinonome sarcastically asks, causing Slidin' Go's anger to grow.

"Are you planning to just throw me away!?" He shouts at her in his anger as he glares at his phone.

"I have no choice. We can't both go down. It's best if at least one of us continues acting as a spy for the cause." Shinonome tells him in an uncaring manner.

Hearing this causes Slidin' Go to grow angrier, but before he can say anything, Shinonome cuts him off.

"Look. I won't completely abandon you. I'll get you a way to escape to Deika safely. Think of it as my last goodwill to you for our time working together. I can't do anything else, though. So, you can take this and leave, try and stay to see what happens, or escape on your own." Shinonome lists off the options.

Hearing this causes the situation to sink further into Slidin' Go's mind as he realizes he doesn't have a lot of options.

"Fine. What do I need to do?" Slidin' Go says in defeat, not wanting to risk staying if Deku does have something and not wanting to risk the Meta Liberation Army's discovery by moving recklessly on his own.

"Not over the phone. I'll send you the help soon." Shinonome promises before ending the call, leaving Slidin' Go to slouch in defeat and sadness as he realizes the reality he's now in.

"How did it turn out like this?" Slidin' Go questions as he stares into his phone with a sad expression.

-------------------

He's not the only one unhappy with today's events. Katsuki is staring at his Hero Driver with a frustrated expression as he recalls how the fight between him and Chamber ended.

-------------------

After Chamber had jumped off the second floor, K.E.M. chased after him but couldn't see the Kamen Rider. He didn't know that Chamber quickly used his whip to keep a grip on the railing after jumping and hanging over the ground above K.E.M. when the other Kamen Rider landed.

Seeing his chance, Chamber called the Power Blade and inserted the Gatling Power Coin. K.E.M. heard the attack announcement above him but didn't have a chance to react before it started raining bullets on him, sending him flying near the hole Ozone made with Deku.

As K.E.M. got up, Chamber noticed the hole.

"Where did that hole come from?" Chamber asked, to K.E.M's annoyance, as he thought Chamber was taking him lightly.

"Who gives a shit!" K.E.M. snapped at Chamber as he prepared to attack the chameleon-themed Kamen Rider but still couldn't see him.

Instead of getting attacked, Chamber passes K.E.M. and stares through the hole. He saw the Plus Striker moving around in a panic and quickly rushed to the mechanical horse. As he did, he dropped the camouflage.

"Where's Deku?!" Chamber asked in alarm, which caused K.E.M. to rush toward the hole and see the other Kamen Rider talking to the Plus Striker.

But Chamber was distracted by his talk with the Plus Striker, who jumped around in a panic.

"Die!" K.E.M. shouted as he charged at Chamber but was surprised when the Plus Striker acted quickly and fired some energy bolts at him.

The attack caused K.E.M. to back down. This gave Chamber a chance to escape using the Fierce Wings Power Coin.

"Get back here, you coward!" K.E.M. shouted at the Kamen Rider and was about to launch himself at Chamber before getting tackled by the Plus Striker.

-------------------

Remembering that humiliation causes Katsuki to clench his hands in frustration as he glares at the Hero Driver and Explosion Power Coin.

"That bastard. He and Deku keep looking down on me." Katsuki mutters as he mentally plays the fight between him and Chamber repeatedly.

The way Chamber outplayed him at almost every turn was especially prevalent in his mind.

"Another thing. You really underestimated Midoriya. He's a pretty smart guy. He gave me some advice about your fighting style before I came here." Those words from Chamber keep haunting him, too.

"So what if that bastard is smart? I'm smarter than him. Deku can't do anything against me." K.E.M. growls.

However, a feeling creeps in the back of his mind. It feels like dread and worry but also inadequacy. He doesn't know what to call this feeling. His pride refuses to accept it, though. He plans to crush Deku and Chamber.

"I won't let those bastards keep looking down on me. Not even All Might will stop me from proving myself. I'm the next number-one hero." Katsuki chants to himself as he tries to push this terrible feeling down.

"That's right. I'm the next number-one hero. I'll crush them, get into U.A., and show them all." Katsuki promises to himself as he can feel the terrible feeling subside.

However, it doesn't completely vanish. That fight with Chamber, while he didn't lose, has damaged Katsuki's pride in a way he's having trouble recovering from. This further fuels Katsuki's anger thanks to the memories that come with this feeling.

-------------------

Izuku looks up at the ceiling of his room as he thinks about today's events. He had talked to his father earlier about everything he heard and saw today. Everything feels like it's growing more stressful as time moves on. Like the winds of change are beginning but he's being pushed back by them instead of forward.

He can't help but wonder if a war will happen soon and what part he'll play if there is. Imagining this makes him grow all the more nervous.

"What if Bakugou and I are on opposite sides of that war?" He wonders before turning to his side to look at the calendar near him.

On that calendar, it's marking days until the U.A. entrance exams. There are still a few months until it happens. He can't believe how slow everything feels now.

"I can't believe how much has happened since Dad gave me the Hero Driver. It feels like it's going on forever." Izuku mutters as he stares at the calendar with tired eyes.

Having the chance to be a hero early has been an amazing and terrifying experience for Izuku. He's learned so much and has had so many eye-opening experiences. The job of a hero is so different from what he imagined. However, there's one thing Izuku knows that has remained.

"Being a hero may feel different from what I expected. But at least I get to save people like All Might." Izuku mutters before looking back up to the ceiling.

Remembering the times he got to be like All Might and save people makes Izuku smile happily. That's before memories of what Giran did at the docks flashed through his mind. Thinking about this again causes Izuku to bite his lip in frustration, which grows as he realizes he had a chance to stop Giran before but froze in fear instead.

"Maybe I should talk to Dad or All Might again later. Am I really cut out for this?" Izuku starts to become worried as he thinks more about everything that's happened.

"If I have to fight that squid Nomu again, will the Power Coin Dad and Yaoyorozu gave me be enough?" Izuku thinks before remembering Giran's words.

"Your fighting style is still pretty crude and aggressive, though. You should really work on that. You'd be surprised how much a bit of refinement helps in the long run."

That advice is sticking with Izuku for some reason. Maybe it's because he's seen how Shiki fights. Or maybe it's because of how truthful it is. After all, he doesn't know how to fight properly and has relied on the Hero Driver's strength or the Plus Stiker's help. And he can't keep doing that forever if the fight with Ozone is anything to go by.

With that, Izuku makes a plan for the future and picks up his phone before speed-dialing Shiki.

"Midoriya? What's wrong?" Shiki asks curiously.

"Do you think you could train me in how to fight?" Izuku asks him, causing Shiki to blink in surprise on the other end of the phone.

"Sure. I don't mind training you. Are you sure it wouldn't be better to join a dojo or something? I'm sure your dad or All Might could find someone better for the job." Shiki asks curiously, not that he won't train Izuku. But it's more efficient to find someone who already has experience teaching people.

"I don't want to bother them when they've already done so much for me. So, I was hoping you could do it instead." Izuku tells him honestly, while secretly looking for a way to spend more time with Shiki since he's one of Izuku's few friends.

"Alright then. That's fine. Come to my place tomorrow and I'll take you somewhere to teach you how to fight." Shiki sighs, causing Izuku to smile excitedly upon hearing he'll get to hang out with someone again.

"Alright. Thank you. Can I ask you one more thing?" Izuku asks curiously.

"Sure." Shiki answers.

"What do you think about everything that's happening? There may be an army of Nomu and we may have to fight against all of them. Not to mention fighting against Bakugou too. I-I'm worried about everything that's coming. We haven't even taken our entrance exams, too." Izuku states as he nervously talks into the phone.

There's a small pause as Shiki digests everything Izuku has stated.

-------------------

On the other side of the line, Shiki walks into the kitchen and picks up a picture frame of a younger him and two people who look strikingly similar to him. He stares into it for a long moment before letting out a heavy sigh.

"I don't know what to tell you, honestly. I'm pretty nervous, too. Everything is crazy right now." Shiki sighs.

"Y-yeah." Izuku nods on the other end.

"My grandfather told me to try not to think about it. He said the older heroes may be enough to handle a war since they likely outnumber the Meta Liberation Army. In the worst case, we still have All Might, right?" Shiki asks with a nervous smile that Izuku can't see.

-------------------

Hearing this causes Izuku to gain a relieved smile and nod. Despite his injury, All Might is still the strongest person in the world. He knows that as a fact, like the sky is blue.

"Yeah. You're right. As long as All Might is around, I'm sure that we'll be okay." Izuku agrees with him in a relaxed tone as he can feel his nerves calming.

"Yep. So, I'll see you tomorrow and we can work on your fighting style?" Shiki asks for clarification more than stating this.

"Yeah. That sounds good." Izuku agrees before Shiki bids him farewell and hangs up the phone, leaving Izuku to himself again.

-------------------

In a restaurant booth, David sits with Toshinori. He had called the hero to have an important conversation about today's events and another topic.

"It's good to see you again David. How are things at the lab?" Toshinori opens with a friendly conversation and smiles as he looks at his long-time friend.

Hearing this causes David to smile at Toshinori before saying.

"It's been fine. Busy, but fine." David says tiredly, causing Toshinori to worry for him.

"Is everything all right, old friend?" He asks in a tone that conveys your worry.

"I've just had a lot to think about lately," David tells him with a tired smile, causing further worry to grow on Toshinori's face as a waiter comes around and asks if they need any drinks.

After ordering their drinks, the two continue with Toshinori saying.

"Tell me about it."

With a reluctant sigh, David tells Toshinori about his recent discussions with Hisashi.

"Lately, Hisashi has been offering Melissa the chance to become a Kamen Rider like with his son and the chairman's grandson. I'm worried about what will happen if she does become a hero. I know I should be supportive since she's always dreamed of becoming a hero like you but..." David continues, his tone getting more desperate and panicked before Toshinori reaches across the table and puts a hand on his friend's shoulder while cutting him off.

"It's okay, David. You need to calm down and explain everything to me calmly." Toshinori tells his friend.

Hearing this, David takes a deep breath and starts over, explaining to Toshinori how Melissa is one of the candidates for a new Hero Driver. Lately, she's been growing more excited about the idea when he talks with her. Hearing this causes Toshinori to nod in understanding before looking at the ceiling nostalgically. David sees this and it's his turn to look at Toshinori worriedly.

"Are you okay, Yagi?" He asks the hero, startling All Might out of the trance he's in.

"Huh, oh, s-sorry. David. I was thinking about how times are changing. It was nearly impossible for a Quirkless person to be a hero when we were younger. Now, there may be three Quirkless heroes." Toshinori says while laughing nervously.

"So, you think I should let Melissa do this?" David asks Toshinori in shock and slight betrayal.

"What, no, no, no. That's not what I'm saying at all. I was just feeling nostalgic." Toshinori quickly tells David while sweating and rapidly waving his hands in front of him in a panic.

Hearing this causes David to calm down slightly and he lets Toshinori continue.

"You know what the hero life is like from your time with me and your time making support items. I'd be worried for Melissa and wouldn't want her to become a hero." Toshinori explains, causing David to relax slightly before the hero continues.

"However, that's my thinking under normal circumstances," Toshinori says, surprising David.

"Now, if she became a Kamen Rider. I'm not sure what to think. I have been training those boys, you know." Toshinori says, causing David to nod.

"They're both incredible. And they've been doing an amazing job defeating the Nomu when experienced heroes can't. Thanks to them, I believe a Quirkless person can be a hero again." Toshinori says with a proud smile.

"So, you think it may be alright for Melissa to become a Kamen Rider?" David asks for clarification.

"I think it's possible. Melissa is a smart girl and the other two will be behind her." Toshinori nods, giving David something to think about.

"I know, but-" David starts before Toshinori holds a hand up to calm his friend.

"Don't worry. I understand why you're worried about this. I'm just saying that I think she may have a good chance of being a hero." Toshinori explains.

"What do you think I should do? Do you honestly think it's a good idea I let her be a hero?" David asks Toshinori.

"I don't know. She is my goddaughter, and we both want what's best for her." Toshinori says with a sigh as he tries to figure out what to say to David.

The two wait in silence as their drinks arrive and their food after. The two think about what they can say to each other, but nothing comes to mind. After a while, David lets out a sigh of acceptance.

"I should probably just talk to her about this. It doesn't seem like we'll come up with anything." David says and Toshinori nods.

"That's likely for the best," Toshinori says before taking a bite of his food.

"Sorry for calling you out like this and wasting your time," David says with a light laugh but Toshinori smiles at him.

"Nonsense. It's always nice to talk to you." Toshinori tells him in a happy tone as he stares at David with closed eyes.

Hearing this causes David to smile and Toshinori decides to change the subject.

"So, does Young Midoriya's father know who I am?" Toshinori asks nervously.

David winches but smiles at his friend.

"He knows you're growing weaker because of our talks. But I don't think he knows it's you specifically training his son and Shiki." David tells him.

Hearing this causes Toshinori some relief. He'd like to keep this form as secret as possible.

"That's good. I'm glad to hear that. Has everything been going okay with the Nomu investigation?" Toshinori asks.

"We finally have a lead," David says with a smile.

"A new Meta Liberation Army, right? Young Midoriya told me about that after I helped him and Young Hikage with Young Bakugou." Toshinori nods, surprising David.

"Yeah. That. To think they've been able to stay hidden for so long." David says grimly as he stops eating and stares at his food.

Toshinori doesn't say anything as he listens to David. He stares at his drink momentarily as he thinks about this situation.

"The world is a terrifying place. I do wonder if this is true, though." Toshinori tells David.

"A few of the Nomu did talk about the Meta Liberation Army," David tells Toshinori, causing the other man to nod.

"Yes. But I wonder if it's that easy. My instincts tell me there is something off about this whole situation." Toshinori tells him.

He's worried that this situation has something to do with the one who scarred him. He's unsure if that man has ties with the Meta Liberation Army. But he has doubts.

"Is everything okay, Yagi?" David asks as he notices Toshinori's attitude.

Hearing this jolts Toshinori out of his thoughts and he gives David his best smile. However, it comes off as nervous.

"I-it's nothing, David. I'm just thinking about something. I'm sure the lead will help us end these Nomu." Toshinori tells him while trying to wave the other man off.

David doesn't look like he fully believes Toshinori but doesn't choose to press on. Instead, the two enjoy the rest of their meal in silence.

Things are finally taking off. Sorry for the plot being stagnant. I didn't realize how much time I spent with this story's Bakugou arc. I'm also sorry for anyone hoping for Bakugou's defeat today. I didn't think it proper for him to be defeated right now and by Shiki.

Power Coins Deku Rabbit, Draco-Breath, Charge, Marsh, Solidification, Unicorn, Overdrive, Wheels, Division, Bull, Barrier, Creation, Razor Edge, Mantis, Stegosaurus, Pterodactyl

Chamber Rifle, Fierce Wings, Shadow Stalk, Gatling, Chameleon, Dragonfly, Sonar, Burrowing Drill, Sprouting, Terra-Wave, Deflection

King Explosion Murder Explosion

[darudedogestorm]

Ok maybe i will make an intro/reference post for some of my primary OCs

doesn't contain their full info as for a few of them that would be a bit Too much... feel free to ask me more about them tho i would be so happy

also now realizing these are like. entirely pokemon ocs. oopsie

sorry if the formatting is strange and offputting its because tumblr doesnt like me that much

avi

guy who found meaning in life thru aminals :) (pokemon) basically struggled a lot, felt pretty worthless, volunteering at the local pokemon center kind of turned his life around

if pokemon werent real he’d be a dog guy. but he’s a cyndaquil guy

projects an image of a casually tough guy

works at a pokemon center :)

basically works with the system that rehomes/releases surrendered pokemon. like if you’ve ever ‘released’ a pokemon into the wild, he’s part of the group of people who handles 1. can it even Be released into the wilderness (for example it might be too habituated to life with humans to be rereleased safely), and 2. depending on the answer to question 1, where is that thing going

i have a whole system for this but it’s not entirely finished

2 beautiful babies (his quilava), little red and big bea

they are from a puppy mill situation :( brought into the center as part of aforementioned shelter/release program

^ the reason little red is a shiny

also the reason he found meaning in life <3

#fosterfailures

wurmple kid/skipper

one time i had this dream that i was lance’s kid (yes the indigo league champion lance) who was like super obsessed with wurmples and dgaf about dragon types and he was lowkey disappointed in me about it. and this became my oc

literally like 8 years old

obsessed with wurmples (based off of me in elementary school who was obsessed with dogs)

he likes other bug types by extension but NOTHING will beat wurmple. nothing.

assumes he’ll one day grow up to be a wurmple. it’s his dream

non wurmple related fact: retreats into his beautiful mind palace during times of stress and if he cannot do so he will explode. the wurmple obsession may be a manifestation of this. just like me fr

puzzle enjoyer :)

i wrote up a thing for one of those 50 question ‘tell me about your oc’ things for him but it would be too long to put here LMAO

in a nutshell:

arachne

spawned from my mono bugtype run of pokemon platinum

girl who is basically a bug

views herself as the general of an army of bugs with which she will one day RULE THE WORLD

engages in mithradatism (consumes the poison of her bugs in hopes that she will grow immune)

it has landed her in the hospital once but like that’s whatever. all that hospital trip taught her was that she should be more careful with her doses as opposed to not dosing herself at all

her starter was a spinarak (spinnerrella) who she used to wear on her back, like a backpack

spinnerrella evolved into an ariados so now she just wears one of her shedded exoskeletons from when she was still a spinarak. one day when she’s taller and stronger she’ll let spinnerrella on her back again but for now they must be apart

connie

i dont even know where to start

spawned from a pokemon roleplay with a friend. 10 page google document

works in conservation/ecology

where she got her name (she is #epic transgender) (and #fail bad at names)

current project is dealing with the slowpoke in azalea; after the team rocket poaching incident, there was an increase in naturally tailless slowpoke (“natural” selection, those without tails weren’t poached and were more likely to reproduce before dying). it’s her job to figure out if this is a problem that needs attention, as well as study any other effects the population may be experiencing

being blackmailed out of doing her actual Dream project, which is working to reintroduce the johto starters back into their natural habitats, which they are extinct in

blackmailed by a certain business man for whom this would not bode

has the most insane fucked up family in the world and doesnt even know about it

has a baby teddiursa that she takes care of :) don’t ask her how she got it

if i wrote Everything i had about her here this would be way too long. as it is an introduction rather than a story recap

i have art of her :)

[themadauthorshatter]

... It's been forever since I even TOUCHED this, and this is really just a headcanon post

So, forever ago, I made a post on Morro's wasted potential in Ninjago, and more people agreed with me than I thought, ngl

So, to add to that post, here are some thoughts/headcanons on how Morro's charaxter would shift if he appeared in more than the ghost season

.

.

Right off the bat, he does not die. He runs away after he is proven to not be the green ninja, but he instead is attacked and has to be rescued, something that knocks him down a few pegs even when he's bed ridden and sick with Wu taking care of him. Morro does eventually apologize for his behavior, more specifically admitting that he was wrong to think he was stronger than the rest when he almost died. Wu lets him stay, happy to have not lost a student, and offers him a different goal instead of being the green ninja: stay where he's safe and keep learning so he can be stronger.

Morro agrees and continues to grow and learn until he becomes Wu's right hand man.

In terms of 'hierarchy,' Wu is the teacher, Morro is second in command and tied slightly with Cole, Zane is after them as the scout and the smart guy that doesn't talk much, Jay and Kai are the two that are good fighters, yet still need some reining in, and Nya and Lloyd are the little guys that do what they're told, thankfully.

Morro's dragon does not have a seat/saddle. Morro rides on his dragon while standing because he is in tune with his wind powers.

Is he all work and no play? Of course not. He knows how to kick back, it just takes him a second to do so.

He and Cole are the most experienced of Wu's students and tells horror stories of his days in training just to mess with the guys.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Morro doesn't hate Zane, but he doesn't like being around him either because(spoiler alert if you don't follow all the parts of my PG-13 touch-up AU) Zane is dead. Being near him gives Morro the heebie-jeebies and makes him feel sick, so he tries not to be near Zane for long periods of time. A couple hours is fine, but a day is too much.

Cole and Morro get along, but before, when Cole first joined, they were rivals, as in they were siblings fighting over Wu's approval. Eventually, Wu got stuck of the constant bickering and sent the two on missions together, something that helped the two bridge the gap between them and start getting along. And now they're inseparable

Jay and Kay have DEFINITELY given Morro more headaches than he cares too mention mainly because Jay's high energy and Kai is reckless. All three get along well enough, but there are times when Jay and Kai are a little much for him to deal with.

He has no problems with Nya. It was weird to live with a girl after so many years, but the two are fatherly decent friends and Morro acts as a wing man for both Nya and Jay because he knows theres something there between them

Like I said, Morro can sense and communicate with the dead, and it's a power he hates because he hates seeing what could have happened to him after running away. He's not surprised when Zane reveals he's basically a reanimated corpse, instead having this sullen look on his face.

Does he go on a lot of missions? Sort of. Sometimes he joins the ninja, sometimes he doesn't. The tomb missions were an immediate 'no' for him because of the history and he got a bad feeling, and seeing Pythor for the first time instantly made him freeze because of the fact that Pythor had some lingering spirits following him.

Fighting the skeleton army was a 'no go,' but Morro did have to push through to help save his family.

Jay helps him through times when seeing the dead becomes too much, and has shown him it's okay to use it because Morro found the ghost of a girl that had found Zane and led them to him

Kai's time wondering and obsessing about if he was the green ninja definitely got on Morro's nerves because, as he later reveals to the team, he thought he was the green ninja once before he was proven not to be. He's over it, but he reacted poorly back then and it almost cost him his life. He doesn't know who it is, but he knows it's not him and he wouldn't bet on Kai because his heads big enough as it is.

Upon meeting Lloyd, Morro had mixed feelings. On one hand, the kid was Wu's nephew and family and was alone where literally anything or anyone could get him and hurt him. On the other hand, he didn't exactly like kids and Lloyd being somewhat helpless bothered him. When Lloyd was on the Bounty and recovering from an illness, Morro was reminded of his younger self, how he tried to be bigger and stronger when he wasn't ready. Not Lloyd's situation, but he did tell Lloyd that he did good lasting as long as he did to get to his uncle again, so he can rest easy knowing he has that under his belt.

Lloyd's reveal of the green ninja hit hard, and it hurt. Big time. Like, 'Tai Lung trained for years on end but is not the dragon warrior' hard. Hiw did he react? By putting his hand on Lloyd's head, giving a very dry smile and saying, "Don't think I'll go easy on you now because you're the chosen one." It was actually a nice moment between thebtwo amd after when Lloyd expressed fear and sorrow at having to fight his father.

When Lloyd aged up, Morro was legitimately devastated and felt awful about how Lloyd has to grow and mature so much faster now and that he had to FIGHT HIS OWN FATHER, all of it boiling up and making him snap at Wu and the team that Lloyd's been through so much already and he's literally just a kid and he has so little things in life that are actually good for him because now being the chosen one has put a target on his back.

When the team got their powers back on the dark island, Morro was not messing with his powers. Instead he was in the waters of the beach trying to catch fish and just sort of being on the beach before sunbathing with Zane because he's never been on a beach before. That stopped when Wu yelled at them.

Morro does get a dragon, but his saddle/ seat is a little different because he stands up when he flies, like he flies his dragon in the way you skateboard, and it equally impresses and annoys the ninja because he's just showing off.

What's his golden weapon? A pair of tessens, or fans, that have wind powers. He does get picked on for it, but he reminds the culprit that he's Morro and you don't want to piss off Morro.

The team does not tease Morro about his abilities with seeing, sensing, and communicating with the dead, mainly because it's the ability itself that hunders him against opponents like the skeleton army, Garmadon, and the serpentine. That many cries from people who have died get to him and he has no idea what to do. The team can't really imagine what it must feel like, but they do comfort him because they're family.

And that's where I'm going to call it because I can't really think of anythi g else for this😅

Hope you enjoyed!!!

[zhongyeet-me-to-the-moon]

Shortcake

A new recruit for the resistance come by, a healer to help the injured.

Dendro!Fem!Reader x Gorou

Type: Story

Warnings: none

Genshin make a playable dendro character before I lose my mind

Y/n decided to join the resistance when a friend of hers got targeted by the vision hunt decree, and since y/n has a vision as well, her friend recommended her getting out before the iron get’s hot. What she specifically suggested was escaping to Liyue or maybe Fontane, but she decided to treck southward to watasumi island and fight instead.

The trip was hard, and she had to pick up a few fighting skill here and there for fighting off the shogun army and Ronen, but eventually she got to the purple grassed island and scheduled a meeting with her excellency Kokomi, tapping her foot nervously, holding a box in her hand.

“Miss, Y/n is it?”

She stood up from the chair she was waiting at a little to eagerly, “Yes ma’me!”

“Right this way.” The peach haired girl gestured to come inside the palace, tea waiting at a small table for y/n to sit at. Her leg  bounced a bit in nervousness.

“It’s my understanding that you wish to join the resistance, do you know exactly which position you we’re hoping for?”

‘”Um, well I do have some fighting experience due to the trip over here, but I believe my talents would be best suited in the medical field. My vision allows me to grow medicinal herbs a lot faster than having them be delivered, and I could also help in growing food as well to keep ration shortages at a minimum. But if it does it down to it, I can fight with you guys if needed, and will be more than happy to take training for it in between.”

Kokomi takes a good hard look at Y/n for a second, getting a gauge on the girl in front of her, Y/n was obviously nervous, her hands fiddling together to try and sate it. But she also looked determined, serious, despite her lack of skill in the battle field she seemed whole heartedly for risking her life for this cause. “Dendro visions are rare, It’s amazing you made it over here without if getting confiscated, so you must be stronger than you’re giving yourself credit for.”

“T-thank you ma’me.”

“You’ve got the job Miss L/n, and i’ll be happy to personally escort you to the main camp.” Kokomi took out her hand to shake, which Y/n happily did, almost forgetting the box she was holding.

“Oh right, I brought a shortcake. I was always told to never greet someone new empty handed so,,” y/n trailed off a bit, hoping she didn’t overstep.

“How about we share that with the people at the camp, I know a certain General that’s been dying to have something sweet for a while now.” Y/n smiled, nodding and standing up to follow Kokomi to the camp.

.

“And one, And two, And one, And two.” General Gorou’s voice rang throughout the camps training grounds, helping the rookies in their speed in changing positions on their bows, and putting it away when close range combat was needed.

“General Gorou, lady Kokomi as entered the premises.” One of the fighters alerted.

Gorou raised his hand to pause the training, “Is something wrong?”

“She brought a long a new recruit sir. A vision barrier.” Gorou sighed a bit in relief, there weren’t a lot of vision barriers in the resistance, and they could use all the help they could get at the moment.

Y/n looked around in awe at the camp as Kokomi labeled each location they were passing and pointing out who was who, before finally walking up to Gorou and his men training. “General Gorou, I’d like to introduce you to Y/n L/n, she’ll be the resistance medic from now on.”

Y/n bowed quickly in nervousness at meeting the tailed man, blushing a bit even, she’s heard talk about how beautiful the resistances general was, but the glint in his teal eyes, so pretty like hot spring pools on a clear day, made all of those comments an understatement. “I’ll be in your care from now on General Gorou, I hope we can get along well.”

“The pleasure is all mine, to be honest I don’t know how much you can help at the moment, supplies in the med bay are a bit low at the moment. But I look forward to seeing your work none the less.”

“Oh I brought supplies with me. from bandages to herbs to help make salves to speed the healing process, or to make teas to relieve headaches or insomnia.” Gorou laughed at the small rant that y/n started to go on, which y/n realized she was doing and quickly trailed off to save her embarrassment. “I a-also brought a shortcake as a thank you for the welcome. It’s strawberry, i don’t know if you like that or not but you’re more than welcome to a slice.”

 The furry eared man eyes lit up a bit, something Kokomi didn’t hesitate to giggle at. He quickly composed himself though, trying to ignore his quickening heartbeat at the excitement of something sweet for the first time in months, but he also could hear his comrades also hearing the words of cake and beginning to whisper weather they’d get a slice to. So with a weight in his heart, Gorou responded,

“It would be rude not to share with everyone, it would only be right that my fighters get a slice first before me.” The people behind him cheering, you quickly gave up the cake and took out silverware from your bag, taking note of the generals disappointed pout but also happy that his comrades were enjoying themselves.

The rest of the day consisted of y/n being introduced to as many people as possible and getting situated in her own living quarters, a bit bigger due to stretching as the main med bay, and finally working out where a good plot of land could be to help y/n grow things as you need. Nearing night she was left to her own devices but were told that if she needed something that Gorou would be near by. Kokomi bided y/n a goodbye, handing her a very large book full of actions for many different types of scenarios. A lot of them only applied to when you’re on the battlefield, so for the night y/n only looked at the ones involving attacks on the main camp, brewing herself a small cup of tea and getting situated for the first night. Y/n went to go look for a glass jar she had with sugar, but instead found an small box containing a single slice of cake, forgetting she brought this one specifically for General Gorou in case the shortcake for Kokomi was enjoyed at the palace. And with remembering how excited Gorou was to get a slice, then sad when he couldn’t, Y/n decided she might as well give it to him now before it gets stale.

Unknown to y/n however, Gorou was close by keeping a look at her. At first it was to see if she was settling in fine, but later he found himself admiring the way to took everything in, her eyes glistening at all the things, and deciding where on the shelves to put certain items. She looked like a kid being given a new toy. He was reminded a bit of when he first started setting up camp here, and deciding where everything would go. So much hope in those days that the resistance was big enough to warrant a big settlement. And unknown to Gorou, his comrades were noticing the look in his eyes being a bit more than admiration, and since it’s a bit known that Gorou isn’t skilled in the area of romance, he probably doesn’t even realize the flush in his cheeks himself. Especially when Y/n finally spotted him in the distance, gesturing for him to come over.

“Miss. Y/n, how can I assist you?”

“Oh you can just call me Y/n, General Gorou.” She corrected, gesturing for Gorou to sit down. She slowly takes out the box she had hidden behind her back, Gorou’s ears twitching in curiosity. “As it turns out I actually brought an extra slice of cake specifically for you, and I wanted to give it to you now before it got bad.” Y/n opened up the box and slowly took it out of the container, already placed on a small plate with a fork. “I also have some sakura tea that I think would pair nicely with it if you’re willing.”

“I- of course Miss- uh Y/n. I would be honored to keep you company.” 

Y/n giggled at the phrasing, not missing the blush Gorou fashioned illuminated by the lamp light, “The honor would be all mine General.”

[puppypeter]

✨ All fics are complete! ✨

He Loves Me Cause I’m Cute, He Thinks I’m Pretty Funny | 2588 words 📱

He watches it back one more time after it posts, checking for typos in his subtitles and captions, and has to laugh again.

Steve fucking Rogers? His brain thought he could pull Captain America, literal superhero and America’s favorite sweetheart?

“Hello I’m a 35 year old amputee living in New York and I think that I could get Steve Rogers.”

OR

the one where bucky posts a tiktok and steve is utterly smitten.

Summer Slipped Us Underneath Her Tongue | 10712 words 🧳

Bucky is a tour guide who enjoys sharing the rich history and culture of each city they pass through with a bunch of early-20's college students who just want to know the cheapest place to get drunk.

Except for Steve, who asks Bucky for a personal tour around his hometown.

The rest is, as they say, history.

You Make My Heart Skip A Beet | 3853 words 🧑🏼‍🍳

“I made soda bread.” Steve lets out the 6’2” supersoldier equivalent of a squeak. “Oh, I love soda bread,” he says eagerly, rolling forward on the balls of his feet like he does when he gets excited. “My mom used to make it all the time when I was growing up.” The tips of Barnes’s ears turn red, and he mutters something that sounds suspiciously like, “I know.”

Ollie Meets Bagel | 5517 words 🥯

He was a skater boy, Steve said let's get bagels, boy.

Steve wants to start doing this twenty-first century thing properly. He gets help in the form of skateboarding, skateboarders, bagels, and Sam Wilson.

Taxi | 5113 words 🚕

Bucky Barnes was, he hoped, a good taxi driver.

He's so good, he actually tries to return lost property that ends up left in his car and... well. It has some unexpected consequences involving a National Icon.

Enough said.

Leg Day | 12157 words 🏋️‍♂️

“So talk to him,” Sam says.

“I can’t,” Bucky groans. “I can’t, Sam, I. He just.” He fluffs his hair up and stares at Sam, distraught. “I want him to bench press me.”

“Okay, so it’s serious,” Sam interprets. “Got it."

(Or: The one where Sam is Bucky's long-suffering roommate, Bucky is a hot mess of a millennial, and Hot Steve spends far too much time on the Lat Pull-Down machine.)

Love In Aisle Four | 2127 words 🛍️

When Bucky needs to swing by the supermarket after a long, hard day of work, the last thing he expects is to meet a cute grocery clerk named Steve…

Coming Up Easy | 45515 words ✍🏻

“Listen, I was just thinking,” Steve says, his face open, eyebrows raised in a tentatively hopeful expression. “Why don’t you come stay at my place for a while? I’ve got an office that I barely use, and a change of scenery might do you good, right? Help you beat that writer’s block?” With a crooked smile, he adds, “I promise I’m not a serial killer.”

While Bucky would normally crack a joke about how that’s exactly what a serial killer would say, right now, all he can do is blink at Steve in surprise, heart tripping over itself in his chest. Steve wants him to come and stay at his place. In Massachusetts. Just the two of them.

"Oh," Bucky croaks. "I- Wow."

“I mean, no pressure,” Steve says hastily. “Totally fine if you don’t wanna. I just thought I’d offer, in case it might help, y’know?”

“Yeah.” Bucky ignores the little voice in his head that sounds an awful lot Nat and Becca, telling him he’s setting himself up for heartbreak. “I mean, if you’re sure, that would be amazing.”

Anywhere The Wind Blows | 8845 words 👨‍🚒🎖️

After a catastrophic fire that shakes him to his core, Steve Rogers quits his job as a Brooklyn firefighter and relocates to a cabin in the remote Canadian wilderness, wanting quiet and solitude and to maybe never have to speak to another human being ever again. He gets his wish, more or less, until a recently injured Bucky Barnes is discharged from the Army and rents the cabin next door.

The Safer Course | 7918 words | Part 1 of Won’t You Be My Neighbor 🏡

When Steve moves to the suburbs in 2033, he intends to retire from superhero life.

He does not intend to fall in love with his pain-in-the-ass neighbor.

Every Year I Have You | 7064 words | Part 2 of Won’t You Be My Neighbor 🏡

Steve set the bar pretty high, as birthday presents go.

Bucky is determined to outdo him when July 4th comes around.

Beneath The Mistletoe | 21203 words 🎄

Bucky had a bet with his sister that if he didn’t have a boyfriend to bring home for Christmas by the time he was 25, he had to give her $200 and go blonde for a year. But now he's 25, it’s nearing December, and not only is Bucky as single as ever, but he’s also running low on cash. He doesn’t exactly want to bleach his hair, either.

At least Steve is willing to upgrade their relationship from best friends to fake boyfriends.

The Settler | 52203 words 🍞

“What do you want to do?”

Steve pauses and looks at them.

What he wants is to stay with them. He doesn't have any family left, they all died before he even joined the war and became... this. Captain America turned whatever he is now. But Natasha and Sam have become his family over the years. Not just because they're on the run together, fugitives and vigilantes, but way before that too.

He doesn't want to leave that.

But he knows that, realistically, he can't stay with them and they can't stay with him.

So he looks at them with a smile and lies. “I don't know.”

OR; In which Steve retires and finally finds a place to call home.

You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory | 1148 words 🐈

"Alright, Bucky," Steve slows his steps, watches his neighbour stop at the bottom of the next flight of stairs. There's a canvas bag in his hand that Steve didn't notice earlier, cream coloured with the figure of a sleeping, black cat painted on it. "Have a good day."

He thinks Bucky's cheeks pink up a bit right then and there, but Steve can't tell. He's too distracted by his pounding, foolish heart, by the way Bucky smiles bashfully, and ducks his head. The way he seems like he wants to stay.

To Believe In Tomorrow | 3959 words 👨🏻‍🌾

Bucky's mornings at the community garden get a little more interesting when the new guy shows up.

Maybe This Christmas | 24873 words | Part 1 of Maybe ❄️

Bucky’s not going home for Christmas. But it’s fine. He’s spending Christmas alone in his apartment, but it’s cool. He’s not feeling up to seeing his family after his accident anyway, plus he has to work. He’s totally fine with it. But then he runs into Steve, literally, and suddenly his Christmas isn’t looking so empty after all.

-----

Hurrying was a bad idea. Bucky’s foot hits a patch of ice and slides out from under him in what would have been a comical cartoon banana-peel-like trip, if it wasn’t happening to him, and he braces himself to hit the ground. This is going to hurt.

“Fuck,” Bucky screeches, but as he lands on his back, it’s not the cold hard concrete he expected, but a solid mass beneath him. Oh god, Bucky thinks as he realises he smacked into the person behind him and took them down with him.

Maybe This Year (Will Be Better Than Last) | 133868 words | Part 2 of Maybe ❄️

Last year, Bucky Barnes met Steve Rogers. Well actually, he slipped and fell on him. What followed was the best Christmas either of them had ever had. But what happens when Christmas is over and life returns to normal? What happens after the Christmas miracle?

-----

Bucky should have known. He did know. When things seem too good to be true, they usually are. And Steve is the best thing that has happened to him in a long time, possibly ever, so of course it couldn’t last.

Maybe This Time (I Hope I Get The Chance To Say Goodbye) | 34561 words | Part 3 of Maybe ❄️

Steve and Bucky Barnes are happily married. They've made it through some hard times and come out stronger and happier, together. Then Steve gets called on to come out of retirement for the most important mission of his life and everything changes. Everything.

-----

“Have yourself a merry little Christmas…” Steve starts singing along softly, and Bucky chuckles, before leaning his head onto Steve’s shoulder, always happy when he’s in Steve’s arms.

“From now on, our troubles will be miles away…” Bucky joins in.

Dancing round their living room, just as in love as ever, their troubles seem light-years away, if not non-existent.

Sadly, they’re closer than they think.

The Unexpected Gift | 9504 words | Part 1 of When Winter Comes 🐕

Steve Rogers is fine.

After ending a long-term relationship with Sam Wilson, Steve moves back to New York. He's tired and lonely but depressed? No. At least, that's what he thinks.

From the window of his apartment, he watches a dark-haired man and his service dog sitting in the park, wondering what his story is.

The Winter Storm | 2218 words | Part 2 of When Winter Comes 🐕

"If I could give you one thing in life, I would give you the ability you see yourself through my eyes, only then would you realize how special you are to me."

After Bucky and Steve confessed their feelings for each other, life has its own twisted way to challenge the most profound love.

One January Night | 4213 words | Part 3 of When Winter Comes 🐕

Before going back to work, Steve Rogers still has things to learn: 1- Depression is a bitch and the battle against it isn't an easy one. 2- Dating a person with disabilities comes with its share of challenges.

Bucky Barnes Has His Shit Together (And Other Lies He Tells Himself) | 14159 words 🔒

You’d think a guy who owns one of the most successful bakeries in Brooklyn, has a million-dollar smile and that antiquated good ol’ boy charm, blond hair and blue eyes and biceps for days, would know what’s what.

But don’t let that fool you: Steve Rogers is a mess.

Obvious | 917 words ☕

"Oh, I have a prompt! So, it makes me laugh how painfully obvious Steve and Bucky's feelings are to everyone when they're in that pining, slowburn, does-he-doesn't-he phase. But imagine Steve and Bucky working in a coffee shop together and constantly bickering, nudging and playfully flirting with each other. And all the employees and patrons are so invested in their relationship and just want them to kiss already but no one realizes that Steve and Bucky have been married since they got out of HS."

[terrence-silver]

I’m imagining Terry watching Disney with he kids or grandkids do you think he has a favourite Disney princess?

I imagine...Terry's father (who I envision as this strict old money pariah who was often strict just for the sake of being strict, in a sense), most likely, never let him watch anything Disney princess related back in, say, the 50's, when Terry would've been a child by my rough estimate, because he felt that's not something a boy ought to watch. So, young Terry saw Shakespeare plays, he saw Hamlet as delivered by Sir Laurence Olivier himself, he listened to performances by various Philharmonic orchestras and sat in on four hour operas with an hour long intermission, he's seen live screenings of Ben Hur and Lawrence of Arabia, but there was nothing tremendously age appropriate for a child, because his upbringing was preparing him to become The Heir and not really an adolescent or a teenager like any other. Thing is, Terry wasn't an adolescents and a teenager like any other.

He was too wealthy for that right from the get go.

A great many popular thing for the 'down and dirty masses' Terry saw, he might've saw ironically when he got out of his family's elite bubble and went into the military overseas --- there it was, a base camp with an erected theatre in the mess hall the soldiers could have movie screenings at during times off if they didn't go out into town and actually have them at the local cinema. Perhaps, Captain Turner wanted to instill All-American values and raise morale in his boys and played them Westerns constantly --- wishing to remind them of home and all its traditional ideals and whatnot a la 'this is the proper way to live and this is what we're fighting for'. Their Commanding Officer had a penchant for John Wayne and a disdain for Spaghetti Westerns because those are 'too Italian', even though he'd secretly play those too, in his office, ever the hypocrite. Regardless, somehow, I feel Terry's major free exposure to any media lacking constraints, of any quality and genre, would've been in the army. This includes anything from pornography to Disney movies because all of Terry's compatriots would've been stuck on this bizarre threshold of being full blooded men, killers and little more than kids themselves. This includes Terry himself.

I think Terry would've liked Cinderella, released in the year 1950, point blank.

He supposes, at the time, something about someone waving a magical wand and changing one's circumstances from bad to good appealed to him on a pathological level. It is the classic fairytale, when you think of it. Old as time. Growing into oneself. Becoming different...better. Going from a repressed pauper trapped in an attic (caged, if you will), accompanied only by the friends she made in talking mice (Terry could've been a lonely child too) to a figurative princess owning the royal ball she crashed whispered to him the first subconscious vestiges of his own oncoming change because Twig yearned to change and become bigger and stronger and tougher. Powerful. Someone classically masculine, like John. Maybe more of a charmer, like Ponytail. He was struck by that, upon the first viewing, in that same military mess hall, as the soldiers went from making inappropriate remarks about a literal cartoon that was meant to invoke a slice of life back home (they spent way too long out fighting and they needed to get their rocks off) to abandoning the theatre and visit a local brothel during their leisure time, leaving Twig all alone with John who sat a few chairs behind him, arms crossed. John always had this way of knowing when Terry was tremendously affected, so as the end credits roll, he places his hand on Twig's shoulder, signifying it is time to hit the bunks. Was this the first cartoon Terry has...ever seen? John doesn't ask. He teases Twig often the way the boys always tease each other but sometimes it is best to leave a guy be.

Years and years later, when Terry has his own kids, he lets them watch anything.

They're the most spoiled and beloved children you can imagine.

The world's their oyster and every wish they have is a wish made true, and they view their heart's fancy on the biggest screen money can buy, in the biggest state of the art private theatre in his mansion, volume on as loud as they please for as long as they please, laughing and tossing around snacks that cost a smaller fortune to procure, being unruly, unhinged, playful and free. Terry watches on with them, arms spread out over three whole seats and legs spread comfortably wide as he practically lounges, throwing his head back in mirth, sipping on champagne. You know, maybe happy endings aren't such a bullshit concept after all?

[akinari-kashihara]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Thanks....

I feel I should be requesting legal counsel for this

Please see under cut

My Wife, My Husband, The Love of My Life

Zelik Lindemann from Mother Keeper

People of the jury, I am a simple man. Eight years ago, I met Zelik. And I have loved him since that day. What more could be asked of a man - a blorbo, if you will - than to be 165cm tall, and able to punch a wall down in a single blow? What more could be asked, than loyalty across decades? To be beaten, scarred, to lose an arm, and to go back because people need him. To be beloved by all who've worked with him. And when he makes a promise, even if he wasn't the one that broke it, he will fulfil the punishment he agreed to.

And to put me in the awful situation of being unable to write fics because I share a name with the man I ship him with. And because Mother Keeper gave me everything I could ever want.

2. 祝え！

The Greatest and Kindest Maou; Tokiwa Sougo from Kamen Rider Zi-O

Sougo is just a little serotonin machine. I see him and I am filled with joy. I love him. He's everything. He wants to be king, one that is good and kind, despite being destined for evil. In his heart, he's a bastard. A master of getting people to do what he wants. He shows no hesitation in having Woz serve him, perfectly willing to call him on a whim. He'll command armies of destruction without wincing. But he's so sweet and loves his friends so much. But he'll never give up his dream for them. They simply need to learn why his dream is so great.

Until it's Heure. No dream is worth losing Heure.

3. The Light In The Darkness, The Midnight Sun

Shun Kageyama from Kamen Rider Kabuto

I wrote a whole essay on my feelings about Kageyama's plot and how he is in fact a fantastic leader. I will stan endlessly.

But also he's so small and Uchiyama Masato is just so cute (he's still cute he makes me 🥺)

4. 虎ーちゃん！！ こっちこっち！！！

Satoru Tojo from Kamen Rider Ryuki

Like, Ryuki is already a masterpiece but I think about Tojo specifically so much. He's just a fucked up little guy! Sensei look at me! Sensei are you proud of me? Sensei, I can be the hero you want. Sensei, if a hero is one who sacrifices what they love and grows stronger for the greater good, I can do that. You were the most important person in my life, Sensei, so that's why I have to lose you.

He wants to be a hero so bad. But he wants to be a hero because he wants Sensei to be proud of him. Really, he wants sensei to give up his wife and family so he can have sensei's attention.

And he's such a poignant part of Ryuki's idea of people achieving their dreams, not through magic or miracles, but because they did something.

5. My Best Girl

Sweet-P from Caligula

I adore Sweet-P so much. She puts up with so much as being not only one of the oldest among the musicians but having to babysit Shadow Knife, Stork and Shonen Doll. Like what did she do to deserve that? She put up with so much in reality and now she's expected to play babysitter when she just wants to have tea parties with her friends!

I know people don't like Overdose, specifically related to her, but I actually really enjoyed her story. There's a lot she doesn't like about herself and her appearance. You get the feeling of someone who truly does feel they've left living their life for themself too late. And she has to work to overcome disliking herself, instead of trying to change herself. While Caligula is messy in things like its depiction of weight, Sweet-P ultimately puts focus on it not mattering. Her friends know they're fat but they're happy. They're more upset that the real world won't accommodate them or share in their happiness. Sweet-P can start to accept she doesn't have to give up one happiness to achieve another. She can transition and still eat what she loves. She just needs to do what makes her happy, not what she feels she has to do. It puts a real interest in what a character wants versus what a character needs. Sweet-P wants to be a cute (petite) girl. She needs to do what makes her happiest, even if it doesn't achieve what she wants.

6. My absolute disaster

Ike-P (Koike Tomoya) from Caligula

I can't go off as strong about the writing of Ike-P but I love him so much. He's a disaster. He's having his quarter-life crisis. He's been put in a group of weirdos because he doesn't want to go back to working his dead-end retail job when he wanted to be an idol. Unlike Sweet-P, he gets thrown in the deep end with people who are like yea let's blow stuff up and he's desperately going "wow is that a shark wow" to move on.

He's in so deep over his head.

But also his entire relationship with Izuru-

7. Devour Your Enemies

Heat from Digital Devil Saga

He's hot, next question.

Also eats people so like-

8. Twinkle Twinkle

Zett from ToQger

ToQger, like Ryuki, is a masterpiece on purpose, and Zett is such a key part of that. He wants to be good. He loves the world, he loves everything he sees. He wants to be happy and a part of everything.

But he's trapped in a situation where he can't be happy, and he can't get free. He has to be the emperor of darkness. Everyone around him benefits from his misery so they will keep him miserable.

And he loved Right from the second he saw him. When he can't go to Right...

He'll bring Right to him.

And yet he doesn't want either of them to be miserable. He just wants out.

8. Another Big Cat and Sensei

Tatsuya Sudou and Akinari Kashihara from Persona 2 (Do NOT separate them)

I don't know what it is with big cats and their teachers but...

Obviously, my URL namesake and I feel bad that they're this low down the list. They're the root of my problem, after all. They're where it all began.

So much of their backstory is just hidden away in P2 (and let me tell you I adore P2 for how much missable content there is) but oh how I think about them. Akinari didn't do the right thing. But he wasn't evil. He did what he thought was right, and did his best. Tatsuya latched onto him and saw someone to lean on. Someone who cared for him when no one else would. Who didn't see him as a bother, but as someone amazing and special and he wasn't a monster - for just a little while. And Tatsuya would carry that on, seeing Akinari in Jun.

And Akinari's own life falls apart because he's trapped in a marriage he was never fully on board for but society pushed him into. Despite it, he loves his son and will do anything for him. AND I STAND BY AKINARI JUST WASN'T THE KIND OF MAN TO DIE HOW HE DID. I WILL NEVER ACCEPT THAT.

Also, I'm always thinking about how Sudou is so separated from Akinari-Nyarlathotep in the masked circle. Like he doesn't cling to that Akinari how he did the real one. I always feel like he knew and accepted no one would believe him on it.

9. You thought I cheated on the last one? Watch this

The Whole Main 6 of UuultraC

I saw Isshiki and went wild but then was like oh is he my favourite tho but then I couldn't decide who so it's all of them I love them all so much.

I have a primer for UuultraC luckily

10. Blorbo of the Week

Luo Binghe from Scum Villain Self-Saving System

My partner is very loving as I tell them for the 15th time today about LBH and SVSSS and my blorbo thought pollution. I have been talking about him non-stop since SVSSS Vol 3 was originally meant to release but then it didn't so I just didn't shut up cause the brain worms were so strong. What am I meant to do???

I think LBH should be an honorary kitty cat for how much he loves his Shizun. He deserves to join the kitty cat club. He's just a big boy that cries a lot and is so desperate for love and attention. He needs headpats and to be housewifed. It's his preferred state of being but people aren't willing to accommodate that!! The world is too cruel to him!! And I want him to be so big and imposing to then hit people with his being a needy housewife

[foodieforthoughts]

Journey through time - Part 5

Summary: Your relationship with Syverson over the years.

Warnings: fluff and only fluff.

A/N1: Last part to this mini photo series. Thanks to @agniavateira who has provided me with so much inspiration. Also thank you to everyone who read and liked and commented. You guys make me so happy. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)

A/N2: I'll be taking a small hiatus from posting fics for now. But I'll be back soon. ❤️

As much as Sy adored his daughter, secretly he had always wanted a son. Two years after Adeline was born, when he was back from his oversees tour for three weeks, Sy took it upon himself to get you round and plump with his kids again. He was overjoyed when you told him over a call that you were pregnant. Although it saddened you both that this time, Sy wasn't going to be around when you gave birth to your child. When you told him he was going to be a father to twin boys, Sy had hollered with glee, making a couple of his men come knocking at his door to see if he way okay. That was a very awkward call, where you were waving at his men while they congratulated you. You sent him a copy of your sonogram, along with a picture of you with Adeline in a care package. "Mini me's," He would say while looking at the picture, "And my princess with my queen." Your heart would flutter like the very first time he had kissed you; upsetting you at the distance and yet also filling you with love. Sy asked his parents to come live with you, help you with Adeline, as you got big and started experiencing difficulty in moving around. When you went into labour, his mother tried to get him on call, just like he had requested. But they were unable to connect to his phone, wondering if he was safe and sound or just away doing things that were expected of him to do as a captain. Your emotions were unbounded when you gave birth to your sons, worrying about Sy and going through the long process without him. The next day, Sy saw his sons for the first time over the video call, happy tears springing in his eyes as you cradled the two boys in your arms. "They have your eyes, Sy. Have you thought of names yet?" You had asked, having decided long time ago that since you had named your daughter, Sy would name his sons. "James and Noah." He had sniffed out, smiling at you lovingly.

Captain Syverson retired as Major Syverson after serving 20 years of active duty. Sy joined as a coach for Little League Baseball team, becoming a favorite amongst his players and their moms. Every morning you would kiss Sy goodbye as he walked out the front door, holding little Adeline's tiny hand in his to drive her to her school on his way to work. Your days were filled with less worrying about Sy's safety and more on providing a loving family for your kids. It helped that at the end of the day, your dining table was occupied with your children and your loving husband, sharing their day's events. Weekends were spent in parks with the whole Syverson clan out for picnics, you watching your husband running around with James and Noah, Adeline who was a spitting image of her father, perched on his strong shoulders. Somedays you couldn't believe your life turned out the way it did, mostly when you would walk inside the living room to find Sy sprawled on the sofa with Adeline curled on his side, James and Noah snoozing on his chest. You would wake him up, carefully peeling your daughter away from her father and take her to bed, while Sy got both boys in his arms with little to no effort and took them to their own room. At the end of the day, when parenthood and responsibilities left you both weary, you and Sy found solace in each other's arms while drifting off to a peaceful slumber.

It was the most devastating day in Sy's life when his teenage daughter told him she wanted to pursue modelling. Adeline was stubborn and opinionated, graced with Sy's beautiful features. He had stared at his daughter with wide eyes, cup of coffee stopping midway to his mouth. "You want me to be okay with grown men gawking at you?" He had gruffly replied, anger evident with his eyebrows knitting together and his lips forming a frown. You had learned over the years to not interfere with Sy's ways of parenting. James and Noah had awkwardly slid off their chairs, both of them avoiding what was to come next. The discussion had ended with father and daughter, arguing with each other, eventually Sy sending a crying Adeline away to her room. Neither of them had spoken to each other the rest of the day, Adeline refusing to eat dinner and Sy drinking too many glasses of whiskey. "I cannot believe she thinks modelling is a career choice." He had scowled later in the night, you both staring at the ceiling while lying in bed. "Didn't you once tell me you had hated your father for sending you off to military school? Do you want your daughter to hate you?" Sy had sighed, turning on his side to face you. "That's different. Adeline's our little girl, it's my duty to protect her." Understanding completely what Sy was feeling as a parent, you had too turned on your side and placed your hand on his scruffy cheek. "You taught her to be strong, independent. She will always be our little girl. Don't you trust her to take decisions for her life? And even if she fails to do what she desires, don't you want to be there for her when she would need her dad?"

The next day you had watched from your kitchen window as Sy and Adeline talked while sitting on the swings in the backyard, ending with long hugs and lots of tears.

While Adeline roamed around the country for fashion shows, Sy groomed his sons to join the army someday. It was not an acceptable behavior, but both of you had your favorites when it came to the twins. Noah, the stronger of the two was decidedly his father's favorite, adding to his delight when by the end of high school, he wanted to go to a military academy. James, the apple of your eye, on the other hand, wanted to become a doctor, much to Sy's dismay. But lessons were learned from the time with Adeline and for that reason only, Sy did not oppose. Noah was sent off to Virginia to a military academy, going on to join the air force as it was affiliated with his school; while James buried himself in studies, moving to Connecticut to attend medical school. Weekends that were spent with picnics in the park, now consisted of video conference calls with your three kids spread out over the country. "It's just going to be you and me in the end." Sy would say, shutting the computer off and looking at you pensively. Wounding your arms around the love of your life, you would rest your head on his shoulder and agree, "Till death do us part."

On your 30th wedding anniversary, Sy gave you an unexpected surprise. He had been missing from the house since morning, only to send a vague text with "Pack your bags and come out in ten minutes." When you walked outside on the front porch, you were left stunned to find Sy dressed in riding gear on a super bike. "I think we need to relive our days from the time we were dating. Come on, I've planned a road trip for us." And with that, Sy had driven all the way to San Antonio for the weekend. With a hotel room on the river, Sy pampered you with all his love and the best Tex-Mex food he could find for you. You spent the day shopping and exploring, while in the night he made love to you with unbridled passion. "My better half," he had called you, kissing your hands while cradling you to his chest. When you both came back home from your trip, you had another surprise waiting for you: Your three children all under the same roof again, holding up a sign board with "Happy anniversary, mom and dad."

Noah had successfully climbed the ranks in the airforce to become Lieutenant at an age younger than when Sy was one. But it was when James, inspired by his twin, decided to join the armed forces as a field doctor, you saw Sy's chest puff in pride. "Syverson men always join the military." He had told his friends over dinner one night, soaking up the praises for his children. Adeline joined a major modelling agency that speared her career forward. She roamed around the globe, sending her old folks trinkets from the new city she was in, and one day added a picture of her and her boyfriend in the mail. Sy turned into a protective father quickly, inviting her and her man to have dinner. "I like him." Your old man had chuckled, when he had scared Adeline's boyfriend, making him blabber incoherently with nervousness. You could only watch in a haze as one day Adeline's boyfriend showed up to your house unannounced, to ask Sy for his daughter's hand in marriage. "Listen boy, Adeline is precious and if you hurt her, you know there wouldn't be anything worse than us. You don't want to be on the bad side of the Syverson men, is that clear?" You had heard Sy warn, a shiver running down your spine listening to his commanding tone, even if the threat wasn't meant for you. A few weeks later, when Adeline was in Paris, she had called home only minutes after the proposal, screaming on the phone that she said "yes." The rest of the night, Sy had you looking at Adeline's baby pictures from old photo albums. "This little bundle would be getting married soon. Can you believe that?" He had laughed, wiping the tear at the corner of his eye and throwing his arm around your shoulders when you couldn't hold onto your own tears.

The day after Adeline, Sy's little girl, was married, he threw a brunch for the newly weds and their families. James and Noah, back from their deployment in time for their sister's wedding, had introduced their own girlfriends to both of you before the ceremony. You knew Sy would never admit it, macho behavior of his never fading, but you could see his eyes glisten watching his family grow. He had tried to keep a straight face throughout the ceremony too, but he had let go of his tears when Adeline had laid her head on his shoulder during their father-daughter dance. Halfway through brunch, Sy pulled you away from the crowd and took you towards the orchard outside the country club. He held your hand while taking you to stand under the shade of a massive tree. "It's like I'm living in a dream." You admitted, looking out at the sprawling orchard, thinking about how you were a mother-in-law to someone. Sy pulled you close to him by your waist, encircling his arms around you. Gray hair on his temples and his face beginning to be marked with wrinkles and yet for you, Sy looked like he had never aged. "I know I don't tell this to you very often, but darlin' running into you, falling in love with you, building a life with you, is the best thing that could have happened to me." He kissed the top of your head, taking your face in his hands before planting a soft kiss on your lips. "I love you and thank you for everything, Sy." You whispered as the birds chirped on the branches above, a whistling breeze blew by carrying the sweet fragrance of fruits in the orchard and you stared at the brilliant blue orbs of the man who had owned your heart and soul since many years ago.

The End.

[biaswreckme]

no restraints | jjk

answer to this request: Can you do a soft idol jungkook request of his girlfriend tracing his arm tattoos as they catch up after a day apart? The recent run bts episode wrecked me

Pairing: Jungkook/Reader (established relationship)

Member: Jungkook

Genre: fluff

Triggers/Warnings: tattoos, shirtless jungkook cuddles

Length: 972 words

Beta reader: thanks so much to @taegularities @hoebii and @heejinnien for reading and catching things that i missed and making this so much better ♥

It has been a long day, but waiting for the evening to finally arrive has definitely been worth everything. You get home at different hours; you usually get to the apartment early, your work finishing at a regular time, and Jungkook comes whenever they are done with rehearsals, recording, performing, filming, or whatever the band is scheduled to do that day. More often than not, he gets home very late at night, exhausted, on the verge of falling asleep but holding on just enough to have a conversation with you, asking about your day, saying he loves you. You try to put as much effort as he does, getting a bath ready for him, cooking his favorite meals when you have enough time, asking about his work, holding onto him tightly, and caressing him softly until he falls asleep.

Today, Jungkook arrives earlier than usual, but he has the same tired look in his eyes. They were just going over some choreography and planning some new songs, but you can see how much rehearsing and not being able to perform is affecting him. You thank your past self from a couple of hours ago for having the forethought of buying some ice cream on the way home and making enough dinner for two. After an overall quiet meal – the comfortable silence of two people who are in love and do not need to fill every second with meaningless conversation to try to get each other’s attention – and a warm bath for him, you two are now in bed. Jungkook does not bother putting on a shirt, the need for skinship with you talking louder than the slight chill in the air.

The only light in the room is coming from the lamps on the bedside tables, one on each side of the bed – his usually stays off, as he falls asleep before you and sometimes you like to stay up reading, one hand in your book and the other touching his hair. The heater is on and you are under the covers, bare legs entangled, his arms around you, his chest to your back. You feel him press his nose against the sensitive skin of your neck and goosebumps cover your skin as he smells you, humming and nuzzling more into you, his arms hugging you even closer to him.

There is a long stretch of peaceful silence that neither of you is making the effort to break, and you have learned that sometimes having you within his embrace is all he needs to recharge, to unwind any unwanted thoughts that might perturb his mind in these difficult times. So you wait until he is ready to speak, knowing the signs too well, maybe even better than you know yourself.

Your eyes glance to his bare arms and you let your palm ever so softly touch the inked skin, lifting it, so your fingers can start tracing his tattoos. Your touch is almost ticklish, the very tips of your fingers stroking the crisscrossed words etched into his skin, and you hear – and feel – him sigh.

“I saw the new episode today, the one with chef Baek Jong-won,” you start, feeling the moment appropriate for a break in the quietness. “I’m so happy you don’t have to hide them anymore.” Your fingers move to the colored eye, slowly tracing its shape, the colored ink contrasting on his light soft skin.

He nods against your neck, a soft smile gracing his lips as they press on your skin. “I’m glad too. I always felt bad for the editors. It’s so much work to blur them in pictures and every single video that comes out.”

He has expressed this worry to you before, knowing that growing into his own personality and expressing his artistic creativity on his own body could have a cost to other people around him – and himself. You love how much he has grown, how much he has changed, more comfortable with himself and becoming the man he is. Your pride for him is overwhelming sometimes, the emotion taking over your body even now as you turn around in his embrace, looking into his eyes. You shift your body backward just a fraction so you can have his arms between your bodies, one of your hands still on his forearm while you raise the other enough to caress his hair. Your fingers comb his blonde strands, a little softer now that you helped him treat it with some hydrating conditioner a few times since they bleached his hair this light. You love the duality in him, how he can look so tough on stage and so soft and wide-eyed in his vulnerable moments with you.

“I’m so proud of the man you’ve become, Jungkook.” The feeling overtakes you, the need to express it verbally to reassure him growing stronger as you see him look at you with a little uncertainty. “People will see that too, Army will see that too, and they’ll love you for it.” You trace the four-letter word on his fingers and press your lips to his. “Now tell me all about what you guys have been planning. I’m your girlfriend, but I’m still Army and I want my exclusive access information,” you say and laugh against his lips.

The mood in the room is much lighter now, his demeanor more relaxed as he tells you some of the plans for the following months. He cannot tell you everything; this would ruin some of the surprises. But you can feel in the way his body is cuddling yours that he is not as anxious anymore, some of his worries about this new part of him being shown to the world fading away with each soft touch of your fingertips on his black ink.

[ao3komorii]

About Time (Timeskip Dimitri/Reader)

Decided to start transferring my works over, starting with my oldest oneshot from ao3 with Dimitri! It’s technically Dimileth since I like the Dimitri pairing from Byleth’s position, but it’s fully in 2nd person and I don’t use any names for Reader or anything. 

This oneshot was entirely born from having a thought of “what if Dimitri accidentally saw Byleth’s boobs and then freaked out.” Also, this one is set after Dimitri comes out of his emo phase, but before the final battle in the BL route. Just a note, there is sex at the end. Enjoy :)

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You did not find yourself in over your head much anymore these days, but you also had a talent for finding new trouble.

You had been backed into a corner by multiple soldiers, and a horrible giant beast. The beast’s jaw opened slowly, revealing its gleaming teeth, dripping with a black substance as the soldiers by its side advanced, lances drawn and all pointed towards you. The Sword of the Creator at your side was growing weary, and you knew that it would not be enough to defeat the enemies in front of you.  

You knew that your former students were on the battlefield somewhere, but you couldn’t see them beyond the great beast that caged you in by the wall. Either way, this was too dangerous a situation for them anyways. You could only hope they would stay away. Use the chance to escape while this creature feasted on your flesh and gnawed on your bones. You didn’t want to die, but you would not allow yourself to be the cause of any of your students’ deaths. It would break you. If anyone had to die, it should be you.  

You held up your sword, ready to fight back, but the onslaught still overwhelmed you. You were able to quickly take out a few soldiers with the last remaining swipe of your mythic sword’s power before their lances got too close to you. You had no time to bask in your small victory as your sword refused to spring into action after your first swipe, only functioning as an average sword, and a dull one at that, as it lost all its power. And with its elongation use now locked away from you, you would only be able to defend yourself from close range.  

This immediately proved deadly for you, as you swerved to avoid the creature’s teeth, but found yourself on the receiving end of an enemy’s lance as it sunk in and out of your shoulder. You screamed with pain and shock as you sunk down to your knees, dropping your sword to press a hand over your wound. It hurt so badly, and you looked up as a shadow loomed over you to see the monster and remaining soldiers all radiating with the satisfaction that they were about to snuff your life out. You couldn’t even gather the strength to pick your sword back up, the pain in your shoulder was too great. Even moving your hand sent unbearable jolts of pain up and down your arm. You could do nothing but watch, eyes drawn to the lance of the soldier that had stabbed you, what must be your blood dripping off the tip and onto the ground.  

You felt all hope leave your mind as the abomination’s jaw opened wide, preparing to blast you with fire. Too weary to continue looking up, you turned your head down in defeat, hoping that your death would at least come fast. You heard a loud shout, but it was not enough to keep you from falling on your side, no strength left in your body to allow you to remain up. Your eyes slid closed, and death felt imminent.  

You felt like you were fading, and the sounds around you faded along with your hazy consciousness. There were sounds of screams and horrible growls, but you didn’t know what they meant, and couldn’t really rationalize anything but the extreme pain you felt. There was so much screaming and so much pain. It was hard to even think at all.  

“Professor!”  

A voice broke through your haze at about the same time you felt the pain lessen by a small fraction. You heard your name called, with more insistency, and you felt annoyed. You just wanted the pain to end so you could sleep. The pain was so great that in that moment you didn’t mind dying if it would end the pain.  

“If she falls unconscious, we won’t be able to save her!” You heard a soft-voiced woman assert.  

“Professor!” the calls of your name and title got louder, and more insistent, and your forehead felt wet as one voice rang out louder than the rest. “Please, Professor, I can’t lose you too...”  

The pain lessened a little more, becoming less all-encompassing, and you allowed your eyes to open. You found your vision blurry until a warmth took over the feeling of pain in your shoulder. A call of your name focused your attention directly above you.  

Dimitri was crying. It was the first thing that struck you as you gazed up at him, tears freely flowing from his uncovered eye. His eye lit up when you looked at him, and you felt the world beneath you shift.  

“Dimitri!” an airy voice angrily broke the quiet. “Don’t move!”  

You were confused, and moved your head, unintentionally shifting your shoulder and sending a wave of pain through it as you went limp against Dimitri’s lap, where you found yourself realizing that your head was resting in. You closed your eyes tightly in response to the return of extreme pain, much worse than you had ever felt before.  

“Professor, not you too! You must not move!” the woman insisted.  

Your mind felt clearer once the pain faded again to a dull ache and the warm feeling took over. You realized at once who that voice was, and you opened your eyes to look at Mercedes, who was by your injured shoulder sending healing magic into the wound. That explained the familiar feeling that you couldn’t place. She met your gaze, unable to form her usual smile as she turned back to focusing on your wound. That confused you, and you turned your head ever so slightly to look at your injury without agitating it again.  

You understood Mercedes’ current urgency. Your shoulder looked horrible. There was a large rip in the shoulder of your cloak, likely ripped further by Mercedes in an effort to get better access to the wound. There was so much blood, it matted the ripped fabric around your wound to your skin, making the area feel sticky.  

Most worrying was the blood nearest to the wound, if it was even your blood, was bleeding an oily black. Mercedes wiped a hand over the wound, clearing it to reveal a patch of gray skin surrounding the stab wound.  

“What is that?” Came Ashe’s panicked voice.  

“The enemy’s lance was poisoned, clearly,” Felix stated with a short glance behind him.  

You looked beyond where you were to realize that the area behind where you lay was covered in the bodies of the enemies that had just been closing in on you. The great beast was killed with no mercy, some of its limbs meters away from its actual body. You couldn’t stand to look at what was done to the Imperial soldiers; some with deep slashes, charred, or with arrows sticking out of their heads. It looked horrible, but not unusual for the battles you regularly faced.  

“But poison couldn’t work this fast!” Annette protested.  

“I’ve heard of weapons being enchanted with poison before,” Ashe explained.  

“Enchanted with poison...” Dimitri echoed, expression tense. “What does it look like to you, Mercedes?”  

Mercedes looked up from your wound to meet Dimitri’s eyes, but quickly looked back down. “Her wound isn’t responding to my magic. If we don’t do something, I fear she may die.”  

Mercedes looked sad and scared, but Dimitri’s growl brought your attention back to him in an instant.  

“There has to be something we can do to save her!” His desperate gaze morphed into one of hatred, one you thought you had seen the last of after Rodrigue’s death. “Tell me who I must kill and I will do it.”  

“Spoken like a boar,” Felix interjected. “You think she has the time for you to go on a murderous rampage?”  

“Felix...” Ingrid protested lowly and sadly.  

“Then what would you have me do, Felix?” Dimitri replied, anger clear in his voice. “She is dying, you can’t expect us to do nothing!”  

“I expect you not to-” Felix started.  

“Stop it!” Annette cried. “You guys need to listen to Mercie!”  

Mercedes nodded toward her best friend as Felix and Dimitri reluctantly went quiet. “There is one way to save her, but we will need everyone’s help.”  

“Me and Mercie came up with a plan!” Annette smiled softly at Mercedes, expression belying a reluctant confidence. “Healing magic can’t touch it, but regular magic should be able to negate its effects enough for healing to work on it again!”  

“And the only magic strong enough to fend off this dark poison is Annie’s fire,” Mercedes explained. “Annie will burn off the infection, and then I will heal the wound.”  

“You want to burn her?” Sylvain implored, shocked. “I know she’s tough, but...”  

“We don’t have the time to think of any other solution,” Ingrid said sadly, gesturing towards you. “Grey is spreading down her arm.”  

Everyone’s eyes shot over to your arm, and you lazily swept your gaze over as well to see that the grey skin tone had travelled down your arm, halfway towards your elbow. The grey patches looked rough, and unlike any affliction you had ever seen before. You wondered if the Imperial army had been exploring darker methods to kill than simple weaponry and monsters. It didn’t surprise you, but you should have seen it coming.  

“What do we do...?” Ashe asked quietly, as if he wasn’t ready to hear the answer.  

“You all must hold her down while Annette burns the infection away,” Mercedes answered. “It will be very painful, but if she moves, she could get hurt, so you must keep her still.”  

Dimitri looked torn as he brushed some stray hairs from your face. Even through the excruciating pain, the gesture embarrassed you. Dimitri looked to be mentally weighing options as a stray tear slipped from his chin to drop on your neck. The tear was a momentary relief, a distraction, but Mercedes couldn’t keep you from feeling all the pain in your shoulder, her healing magic seemingly less and less effective by the second as the pain began to grow stronger.  

“Professor,” Dimitri said, trying but failing to keep emotion out of his voice. “What do you want us to do?”  

You didn’t trust your ability to talk at the moment, and so you kept eye contact with him and nodded the best you could, which ended up being two slow rises and falls of your head. You could only hope that he understood what you were trying to say. He stared at you for a few seconds before he broke eye contact.  

“Dedue, Felix, take her legs,” he instructed, and the two men moved quickly towards your lower half. “Ingrid, Sylvain, take an arm each.”  

The four requested students each their place at one of your limbs, and Dimitri slowly let you out of his lap, your head now resting on the ground as he made his way over to Annette and Mercedes by your injured shoulder. “I will ensure she does not move her shoulders.”  

“Um...” Ashe spoke up hesitantly. “It’s not much, but I brought along a book I’ve been reading, and she might need something to bite down on, so she doesn’t bite off her tongue.”  

He offered the book to Dimitri, who accepted it gratefully, and with no choice, you bit down on it when Dimitri brought it to your mouth. You would have been embarrassed if you weren’t so anxious about the somehow worse pain to come. At Dimitri’s signal, your legs and arms were restrained, ensuring that you could not move them at all. When he checked that everyone had a secure hold on you, Dimitri put one hand on your uninjured shoulder, and one on your upper chest, just above your breasts. His head was just above yours, his long hair tickling your cheeks.  

“Just keep looking at me,” he whispered, voice then rising in volume. “Annette, now.”

Annette didn’t reply, but she didn’t have to. Seconds after Dimitri’s words, you felt the worst pain you have ever felt in your entire life, putting the extreme pain from before to shame. You wanted to scream, but you knew you shouldn’t, even in your haze of pain. You just bit down on the book as hard as you could to compensate. Someone held one of your hands and you squeezed their hand as hard as you could, which must have been painful, but they didn’t pull away or let go of your hand.  

A whisper of your name had you looking back up to Dimitri’s face. He looked fairly upset, but the intense levels of pain you were experiencing kept you from being able to reassure him. He smiled, a clearly forced smile, but didn’t look away from you at all, which gave you no insight into how it was going with your shoulder aside from the momentous pain, which was so hot that it now felt cold. The pain was so white hot that you had to close your eyes, teeth digging into the book’s cover.  

“You’ll be alright, professor,” Dimitri said quietly. “We can’t lose you.”  

You knew that your students would be destroyed if you died here. You knew that they would all fall apart. So you endured the pain quietly, you had no other choice. You couldn’t leave them alone after all you had all been through. You tried to stay still, but suddenly the brutal pain increased tenfold. You screamed around the book, trying to thrash your limbs, but your students remained steadfast, restricting your movement.  

“Annette!” Dimitri barked, taking his gaze from you but not his hands, which kept you pressed down.  

“I’m sorry, it’s... it’s fighting against my magic! Professor, I’m so sorry!” she replied tearfully.  

“We have to keep going, Annie,” Mercedes’ voice broke through the panic. “She has no chance if we don’t keep trying!”

With that, the incredible pain returned, and you once again regained the unpleasant taste of the book cover in your mouth as your teeth sank into the dents you had made previously. Everyone was so quiet while Annette and Mercedes worked that you could hear everyone’s breathing, and Dimitri sounded close to hyperventilating with how heavy his breaths sounded. You looked up at him, but he was looking over at your injury, not at you. He looked like he was about to cry again, and it being due to your strategic negligence was weighing on you at the moment.  

He wouldn’t look at you and looked openly panicked. You thought he would eventually feel your eyes on him, but he didn’t. He just continued to stare at the work being done on your shoulder, which you couldn’t see yourself because Mercedes and Annette blocked your sight of it entirely. You were getting used to the horrific pain at this point, so you managed to remain still. Maybe Sothis helped with your pain tolerance, since you knew that even with the pain levels you had experienced in your life, an average person could not possibly remain as still as you were able to during this kind of a procedure.  

“Mercie!” Annette cried.  

At once, the burning started to fade, as the familiar feeling of Mercedes’ magic took over, engulfing your shoulder in a light so bright that you turned your head away from it and closed your eyes. There were gasps and murmured words all around you and all at once you had a range of movement in your limbs again as everyone released their tight holds on you. Dimitri, however, kept his hands where they were, and you assumed he would wait until he knew that you would be okay.  

Annette and Mercedes finally backed up from your sider, allowing you a glance at your shoulder. There was nothing, not even a scratch, or the third-degree burns you were expecting from the fire magic. The grey patches of skin had receded entirely with Annette’s eradication of the strange poison magic. You were in awe of Mercedes’ magic, but you were far from the only one who was.  

“Remind me not to get too far away from you on the battlefield, Mercedes!” Sylvain joked.  

Sylvain’s words brought Dimitri out of his stupor and he finally released his hold on you as you reached a hand up to remove the now soggy and dented book from your mouth. You weren’t sure what to do with it since Ashe would clearly not want it back now.  

You sat up as everyone else began standing up, your muscles screaming in protest. From the pain that riddled your shoulder from all that had been done to it to the soreness in your limbs from being held down by people who put all of their strength into keeping you still, you were in pain, but not deathly pain. You waved off the chorus of worried voices asking if you were okay; you were just sore, not dying!  

Ignoring their protests, you slowly stood up, only for an arm to slide around your waist. Ready to scold Sylvain for choosing now of all times to flirt, you looked over to see a stubborn Dimitri gazing back at you, frowning with concern. It wasn’t like he had no caring before you were able to bring him out of his ten-year thirst for revenge, but he almost went overboard with how much he showed that everyone mattered to him now. And with that knowledge, you knew you weren’t about to win whatever argument he was about to start about your safety.  

“Be careful, Professor!” he chided, refusing to let go of your waist even as were found you were able to stand properly. Not without soreness, but properly enough. “You can ride back to the monastery with me.”  

You could walk just fine... probably. Your hesitation to accept must have shown on your face, because it started another bickering war.  

“She’s fine without you being a mother hen,” Felix stated dryly.  

“Felix!” Dimitri admonished, not removing his hold on you. “She was barely alive moments ago, and you want her to walk all the way back to the monastery?”  

“In case you haven’t noticed, her shoulder is fine. Do you think she wants you to baby her when she spent months trying to get you to behave like a person and not an animal?” Felix retorted.  

You would rather try to walk, to help preserve your pride, but you didn’t have the chance to speak up before the two started fighting. You weren’t sure how to break up this fight before it got worse, but luckily it was resolved for you.  

“And you two think arguing about this is going to make her feel better?” Ingrid said angrily, making her way over to you. “She will ride back with me.”  

Felix scoffed and turned away, while Dimitri went silent, allowing Ingrid to put your arm around her neck as she led you over to her waiting pegasus. You would have time to thank everyone for their help later. The whole experience and then the arguing had tired you out, and you just wanted to rest. So you got on the pegasus ahead of Ingrid and allowed her to take you back to the monastery, where you could get some sleep and recover.  

You were pushing yourself too hard and you knew it. You were still unhappy with how you had fared in the battle with Imperial troops a week before.  

And here you were, a few days later, training in the rain in the forest just outside the monastery. You had been swarmed by the students worrying about you, and your sword hand was itching to get back into practice. Nobody would agree to train with you due to your being in recovery, and Dimitri had insisted that you rest immediately, somehow even more protective of you than he had been when you were actually injured. You understood their worry, but it was getting tiring being told to rest, so you went to practice outside of the monastery to avoid everyone’s worry.  

Just your luck that it was raining, but there were battles still to be fought, so you couldn’t slack on your training. You were going stir crazy, and so you found a dead tree and began practice. The dead tree was considerably more dead looking several hours later, now bearing many stabs and slashes across it. You finally took a break and sat against the tree, surrounded by bark that littered the ground around you, dislodged from your training.  

You swiped a hand under your bangs with disgust. You hadn’t realized how sweaty you had gotten, but it felt nice to do some solo training the way you used to before you became a teacher. You were tired but felt assured that you were maintaining your sword skills even after sustaining such an injury. The rain was pouring even harder now, though you hadn’t noticed until you took a break. It must have been evening now, but with the harsh weather, it was hard for you to tell at all. The rain didn’t bother you, so you continued to lean against the tree, clothes totally soaked, but feeling at peace in that moment.  

You knew you couldn’t stay out there forever, and so you finally sheathed your sword and stood up. Casting one last glance at the dead and beaten tree, you set back off towards the monastery. Nobody else was outside due to the awful rain, and even the merchants had temporarily closed shop. The gatekeeper, determined to do his job regardless of weather, was just under the archway and greeted you with surprise, noting your soaking wet form. You gave him a smile and reassured him that you were alright, and then continued on your way back to your room to rest for the night.  

Your route back to your room took you through the entryway where you were greeted by various students and members of the church alike, who all noticed your current condition. You walked by them with a smile, brushing off their questions, until you passed by Dedue, who was just outside the dining hall. Or you tried to, as he casually stepped in your way, causing you to stop short to avoid bumping into him. You looked up at him, confused.  

“Professor,” he greeted. “Are you alright?”  

You nodded, not sure where this was going as you went to go into the dining hall, and he moved to block your way again. “His Highness has been looking for you.”  

“...why?” you asked. You had seen Dimitri earlier, so what had happened in the past few hours that he needed you for?  

“No one has been able to find you for the past eight hours,” Dedue answered. “His Highness is worried.”  

Past eight hours? It had only been a few hours... at least, that was what you had thought. You had been told before that you got really focused when you trained, but you didn’t think you had taken four hours, let alone double that time!  

You thanked Dedue for the information, and he only moved out of your way when you agreed that you would go meet Dimitri immediately outside your room, where Dedue told you the king had decided to wait for your return. Heaving a mental sigh, you crossed through the crowd of people getting a late dinner and made your way to your room. Just getting to the block of rooms, you noticed the broad figure with unruly blonde hair right where Dedue said he would be. Looking at his figure, you remembered your initial shock at his transformation, but it had been overpowered at the time with relief that he was still alive after five years of war. As if he could hear your footsteps over the sound of the rain, he turned his head to face you as you made your way over to him.  

“Professor... where were you?” he asked, and you couldn’t think of what to reply, so he pressed onward. “You think me reckless, but you go out to train in the pouring rain when you are not yet fully recovered?”  

You were surprised; how did he know?  You must have looked startled because his serious expression melted away with a genuine laugh as he reached a hand out to brush along your hair, or so you thought. He brought his hand away from your hair to show you and you stared at the twig that he held in his hand, the bark of the twig rotten and dead, much like the tree it had come from.  

“I can’t think of any other activities you would do in the rain with your sword at your side and end up with this twig in your hair,” he remarked. “You know, it usually is the professor that lectures their students about working too hard.”  

“You haven’t been my student in a long time,” you mused.  

“You may not be officially our professor, but we all rely on you for so much,” he replied thoughtfully. “You cannot expect us to not worry when our professor works herself to the point where she is liable to pass out from exhaustion in the woods without telling anyone where she has gone.”  

You immediately felt sheepish. He really had you there. You wouldn’t be able to face them if you had been abducted or killed when you had told nobody where you were going or what you were doing.  

“Please don’t look like that,” he implored you. “I am not mad. We just don’t want anything to happen to our favorite professor.”  

It seemed like they would all keep calling you professor, even though you were all equals now. You had some really stubborn former students, you mused with a smile. Dimitri then reluctantly allowed you off the hook so you could get some rest. You both said your goodnights as you went into your room and Dimitri left for his. As you stripped yourself of your heavy, wet cloak and armor and climbed into your bed, you resolved to be a little less reckless with your training. You also wondered how long you could keep such a promise in times such as this.  

It was hot. So hot. It was all that consumed your mind and body. Suddenly you realized that you had woken up. And you were only wearing a top and shorts, but you were burning up. With a groan, you assessed the situation. You felt sluggish, and so, so warm. Your throat felt sore and sitting up in your bed made you feel nauseous, so you quickly laid back down. You had to face facts; you were clearly sick.  

You knew it had to be the rain. You were outside in the rain for eight hours and overexerted yourself. The combination was a bad idea, but unfortunately you did not see it like that at the time, so here you were. Sick and feeling miserable, unable to get out of bed for fear of throwing up. You didn’t even know what time it was, but you knew that being awake was doing you no favors. You didn’t feel like being awake in this state anyways, so you had only one choice. Gardening and tea parties would have to wait until you didn’t feel like you had just drank poison.  

The feverish heat you felt kept you from sleeping however, which made you even more miserable. Feverish and now irritated that you couldn’t get to sleep, you decided to just remove your top and chest wrappings, your shorts taken off as well for good measure. You had never slept in just your underwear at the monastery before for fear of someone barging in your room without knocking, but at this point you didn’t care. Seteth’s lectures about propriety be damned. You just wanted to be less overwhelmingly warm, and so you laid back down in just your underwear, not bothering to put the blanket back on and curling up in the hopes that sleep would finally come.  

“I’ve had that one before! Remember when we had that visiting professor at the sorcery school? I think she made these for us!” Annette exclaimed excitedly.  

Mercedes nodded as she flipped the page of the new sweets book they had purchased at the market, and they both stared curiously at the next page.  

“Ooh, I always wanted to make some of those!” Annette said, pointing at the colorful pastries that were illustrated on the page.  

“Me too, Annie! We really should make some to share with everyone,” Mercedes replied.  

Their excited chatter was interrupted as Dimitri strode by their table in the dining room for what Annette estimated was likely the fifteenth time that day. He had hardly eaten what would be considered a basic nutritional amount of dinner before he resumed his cycles around the monastery.  

“Dimitri!” Annette called out to him as he was about to pass them to leave the dining hall, and he stopped in front of them. “ Mercie and I were thinking of making some sweets and having a little party with everyone!”  

Dimitri seemed distracted as he responded. “Oh, Annette... that would be...”  

“Are you alright, Dimitri?” Mercedes interjected. “You look like you have something on your mind.”  

“Oh...” Dimitri replied stiffly, coming out of his thoughts for a moment. “Has the professor been by here?”  

“No,” Mercedes shook her head. “I haven’t seen her all day.”  

“Is she okay? Do you want us to help look for her?” Annette pressed, sweets book all but forgotten in worry.  

“She should be fine...” Dimitri trailed off. “Sorry for bothering you both, your idea sounds wonderful.”  

And before either woman could protest, Dimitri exited the dining hall in a hurry, not even glancing behind him, cape fluttering with his movement. Mercedes and Annette could only watch in a haze of confusion and concern, their questions unanswered.  

If you were out training in secret again after overworking yourself in the rain the previous day... no, Dimitri dismissed the thought. He had already looked in the forest and located the tree that you had cut to ribbons the day before. You could have gone farther into the forest, but he thought that unlikely as well. You had seemed regretful when the two of you had spoken at your door the night before, and he thought it unlikely that you would immediately break a promise to him, especially after he had told you how much you and your health mattered to all of them.  

It occurred to him just then that he had neglected to check your room. It should have been the first place he checked, but it had slipped his mind. He would have to go check now. You may have decided to relax in your room for the day, and then he would have been worrying for nothing. Although he knew that you had a healthy appetite, but nobody had seen you in the dining hall at all, which was very strange.  

There was nobody at the dorms, or if they were, they must have been inside their rooms. Dimitri was able to arrive at your door with no hassle, but he couldn’t hear any sounds from inside. He knocked politely, but to no response at all.  

“Professor?” he called out as he knocked again, louder this time.  

There was still no reply, which vexed him. If you didn’t want to see anyone, you would have replied to inform him of that. Which left only one thought running wild in his mind; you must have gone out to train and been injured. Or been injured yesterday and were now in too bad or a state to even talk. Once the thought entered his mind, he was consumed with worry. Reaching out and finding the door locked, he did not spare any thought before he slammed his shoulder into the door, bursting open the lock. Without a moment to spare, he thrust open the door and rushed into your room.  

“Professor-” Dimitri exclaimed, but his eye widened in shock as he took in the scene in front of him.  

The room looked fairly normal , a similar state of cleanliness to what it had been the last time he had visited you here for tea. Your blanket was half draped on the end of the bed and half on the floor, but none of your sparse belongings were out of place.  

Dimitri found you immediately, and his cheeks immediately felt hot. You did not appear to be injured, and he was easily able to discern this because of your lack of clothes. You were curled up on your bed... in only your smallclothes. Dimitri’s mind went blank as his focus was drawn to your bare breasts. He didn’t know what to do, and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. He knew what breasts looked like, but he couldn’t remember seeing any bare but yours at this exact moment. He was transfixed, even though every instinct of his was telling him he had to look away, to protect your modesty.

And then you moaned and brought him out of his stupor. Now that he thought about it, you did not look very well. Still unsure if he was making the right decision, he closed the door behind him before making his way over to you. He removed a glove and placed his hand on your forehead, having his suspicions confirmed. You were burning up, clearly sick from training in the rain for so long the day before. He presumed that you had not left your room the entire day, which did not seem good, considering you must have spent the entire day unconscious and fevered.

He wanted to cover you up, for the sake of his waning composure, but you didn’t have the time for that and he didn’t want to overheat you further. He would have to try to disregard his embarrassment for the moment, because you needed his help, and he didn’t know how to explain to one of the women around the monastery that he had busted down your door and found you nearly naked. And you would never forgive him if he had others see you compromised like this. It was already bad enough that he had seen you like this.

He quietly left your room, glancing around to confirm that nobody was around to see him coming and going from your room so late. It was a cold night, but it did nothing to calm him down at all. Your body was beautiful, and he couldn’t get it out of his mind as he fetched a small bucket of water and a cloth before returning to your room. He mentally braced himself before opening the door to find you in pretty much the same position you had been in, laying on your back.

Prioritizing his worry for you over his shyness, he closed the door gently behind him and walked over to your bedside. He carefully wet the cloth, wringing some of the excess water out before moving your bangs to the side and placing the cloth on your forehead. You exhaled loudly but evenly in your sleep, which he took to be a positive sign.

He ended up not getting a lot of sleep that night. He stayed in your room for quite a while into the early hours of the morning, dunking the cloth in the cold water again whenever it began to be overcome by your body temperature. He never felt his lack of sleep at all, practice, he assumed, from all of his sleepless nights spent longing for revenge. He had never slept as well as he had since he had allowed himself to be free of the burdens of his dead loved ones. Not free from his obligations to them, but now he would channel his resolve into freeing Fódlan from Edelgard’s tyranny as opposed to the mindless bloodshed that he had surrounded himself with for the majority of the past five years.

You were such a comfort to him, one he thought he had lost a long time ago. You had supported him and been by his side, and he was too consumed to appreciate it until after he lost Rodrigue. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Not with you and all of his former classmates and friends surrounding him. They did not want him to be consumed and lost to revenge, and now he understood that the dead did not want that either. But he was not free from the choices he knew he would have to make soon, it was something that weighed on his mind. He did not want to kill his stepsister, but as he went to wet the cloth again, he was glad you would be with him when he made that decision. He needed your support, and he resolved to support you as well as he could, especially given your recent hobby of being reckless with your own health and safety.

Feeling your forehead, he was relieved to discover that your fever had finally broken. You may not have been fully healthy again, but if you were at least a normal temperature now, then he knew that he had done his job. You were still nearly naked though, and he would likely be an unwelcome sight when you woke up, and so he took the cloth and bucket and stood up. Better that you did not know he had been here; it would spare at least you of the embarrassment. But as he quickly fixed the lock back into place before opening the door and closing it behind him, he knew it would be a difficult feat to erase the sight of your uncovered body from his mind any time soon. You were so pretty, and it was all he could think about the entire way back to his room.

You woke up slowly, eyes still closed but aware that you were now awake. Your middle of the night wakeup felt almost like a dream compared to how you felt now. You felt somewhat bad still, your throat not fully better and limbs still feeling a bit heavy, but the incredible fever you had felt earlier had all but faded. You must have really been doing poorly, because a glance outside the window told you that it was morning.

You supposed that you might as well get up; there was no way to assuage worry except going to interact with everyone. You would feel better eventually. You knew that the students would worry about you. Getting up and checking with your calendar, you discovered that you had spent an entire day and night in bed.

You slowly put your clothing back on, happy to discover that it had dried all the way, pretty much a given as it had lain in a heap for over a full day on your floor. You probably looked awful after your high fever, so you headed out of your room and towards the bathhouse to freshen yourself up. Just as you went to enter, Ingrid was leaving, her hair obviously wet, and you exchanged smiles as you passed by each other.

The bathhouse was almost completely empty, save a few women, but none of your students. It made sense that there weren’t a lot of people up this early in the morning. There had just been a big battle, and there were still more to come. Everyone worked so hard, so you felt that they more than deserved to sleep in if they wanted to. But you were more than happy to finally be free from your bed, and so you stripped down and got into the water in just your towel.

You took your time to wash your hair and body, happy to not feel gross for the first time in a while. Only after scrubbing yourself to your utmost satisfaction did you relent and get redressed, leaving the bathhouse behind and feeling fully refreshed. Stifling a yawn, you decided to head over to the dining hall as your stomach yearned for food after so long without.

“Good morning, Professor,” Mercedes greeted you as you both entered the dining hall together. “Did you also hear that they would be including sugar scones in today’s breakfast menu?”

You hadn’t heard anything about menus at all, but any food sounded good to you at this point. You couldn’t remember if you had eaten sugar scones before, but they sounded like something you would like. You and Mercedes walked up to the front of the hall together, both accepting a plate of assorted muffins and colorful scones that were sparkling with sugar.

“Oh, I just love these!” Mercedes spoke cheerily as the two of you found a free section of table and sat down across from each other. “Have you had sugar scones before, Professor?”

You shook your head no and she giggled. “Well, I would recommend spreading some Albenian berry jam on them,” she informed you happily, gesturing to the small dish of red jelly that was situated in the middle of your plate. “These are one of Annie’s favorites, so I thought she would be here by now…”

As if on cue, Annette burst through the doorway to the dining hall, almost tripping as she skidded to a stop just in time to turn and rush towards the dining hall staff for her tray of breakfast sweets. She waved happily at you and Mercedes as she passed you to get to the front. The two of you watched, amused, as Annette was scolded by the head chef for running in the dining hall. She sheepishly apologized and received her tray of sweets, which brought a smile back onto her face as she turned and made her way over to you, taking a seat next to Mercedes.

“Sorry I’m late! I thought scone day was tomorrow!” Annette explained as she took in the sight of her breakfast tray.

“You’re so forgetful, Annie,” Mercedes teased with a smile.

“Well at least I got here in time!” Annette huffed, wasting no time in smearing jam all over one of her scones and taking a big bite out of it.

“That is true,” Mercedes agreed, before turning her head to look at you. “Do you like them, Professor?”

You had tried a bite while they were talking, spreading the jam like Mercedes had suggested, and found that you did like them. You must have missed it when these had been served in the dining hall before. You had eaten an entire scone by the time Mercedes had asked the question, and you were interrupted before you could answer her.

“Mind if I join you ladies?” Sylvain asked from behind you.

“Of course, Sylvain,” Mercedes replied, and he slid in right next to you with his own plate of food that he placed down in front of himself.

“I feel like I missed seeing your pretty face around here the past few days,” Sylvain said, popping an entire scone in his mouth as he looked over at you.

“You never change, do you?” Ingrid said wearingly as she sat down on your other side. “You think that she hasn’t had enough of your behavior already?”

“Ingrid…” Sylvain groaned. “She got a hole cut out of her not that long ago, I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

“And you thought your flirting would heal her wounds?” Felix raised an eyebrow as he sat down next to Mercedes. “You delusions never end.”

“Hey, why is everyone turning on me?” Sylvain complained, and you laughed. “Not you too, Professor! You wound me!”

Now Annette and Mercedes laughed, while Felix rolled his eyes and Ingrid smiled and shook her head. You all ate your breakfast while chatting, slowly adding Ashe and Dedue to your midst. Even when Dedue didn’t appear to be coming to sit with your group, Annette called his name and beckoned him over to join your table, while Ashe was convinced as soon as he saw your group all together. It was very lively, and almost made you forget that there was a war looming over you all. But just because you would soon have to kill or be killed yet again did not mean that you couldn’t enjoy the company of your lively house members.

“Hey, shouldn’t Dimitri be up by now?” Annette wondered out loud.

“That’s true,” Ingrid agreed. “He’s never been one to sleep in.”

“I can go and check his room,” Dedue volunteered. “If he is not there, then he may-”

“No need!” Annette replied. “I see him now! Dimitri, over here!”

The tall blonde king had just walked into the dining hall, and looked your way at Annette’s call, noticing your entire group all sitting together and walking over to approach you all. Before anyone could stop him or insist that he didn’t have to, Dedue was up from his seat to grab Dimitri a plate of breakfast from the cooks at the front. Some other people stopped Dimitri to talk quickly or greet him, and so he arrived at your table just as Dedue had brought back a plate for him, which he accepted gratefully, knowing better than to try to dissuade his friend from performing errands without being asked by this point. He sat down next to Dedue, and Annette got up to bring over some tea to share with everyone. It was the most cheerful that you all had been during this time of war, and you could not recall a time when you had been happier.

You talked with Ingrid about how her pegasus was doing, and she happily invited you to come flying with her if you would like, to which Mercedes and Annette chimed in that they would love to fly with her as well. Meanwhile, Sylvain on your other side informed you that his horse was available for riding lessons as well, to which Ashe mentioned that he wanted to improve his riding skills, and Sylvain looked marginally defeated. You were having so much fun talking with everyone that you didn’t notice anything amiss with Dimitri at all.

“Are you ill, Your Highness?” Dedue said, with no intentions of being discreet with his volume management. “You have not touched your food.”

Everyone paused their conversations to stare at the king, who had been staring at his plate until Dedue had spoken up to him. He looked up at the sudden silence, surprised to see everyone’s eyes on him. He gave Dedue a small smile, assuring him that he was alright, which Dedue reluctantly accepted, but it was not good enough for Ingrid.

“You don’t look very well, Dimitri,” she insisted, leaning forward a bit to get a better look at him. “Have you been sleeping alright?”

He looked over, meeting your eyes for a very brief moment before immediately looking at Ingrid, ignoring your confused stare. “I am fine,” he said reassuringly, shaking his head with a laugh when Ingrid gave him a hard look. “Really, Ingrid. I am alright.”

“If you don’t sleep, you’re just making it easier for the enemy to cut you down,” Felix said sharply.

“I bought some tea at the market that is supposed to help with sleeping problems if you would like to try some,” Mercedes offered.

“I promise you all that I am alright,” Dimitri insisted with a smile.

Sensing that a change of mood was in order, you offered the last remaining thing on your plate, a Dagda fruit muffin, to Sylvain. You found that you did not like Dadga fruit tea, and so you figured that it would be better to give it to someone who would appreciate it more. And it didn’t hurt as a conversation swap either.

“You don’t want it, Professor?” he asked, blinking at you, surprised.

You shook your head, holding the plate a little closer to him, and he shrugged, grinning at you. “Who am I to refuse you? Thanks for the muffin.”

Sylvain ate the muffin in a few bites as Dimitri finally began to pick at his own tray. You tried again to catch his eye, but he was determined to stare down at his plate. Conversation began to pick up again as Annette started to tell a story from back when they were all students. The conversation took a nostalgic turn as everyone then began sharing stories from their school lives five years prior.

“Not to be rude, but I thought you hated us at first!” Annette told you, blushing slightly with embarrassment.

“I must confess that I felt the same at the start,” Ashe agreed, quickly adding, “but we couldn’t be where we are now without you.”

“I do remember calling you beautiful and you just stared at me... I thought you didn’t hear me for a second,” Sylvain recalled.

“How is that any different from now?” Felix sneered.

“That is true,” Mercedes agreed. “Just the other day I saw a village girl just turn around and leave without saying anything.”

“Mercedes!” Sylvain’s jaw went slack. “You saw that?”

“I see your success rate hasn’t changed,” Felix scoffed.

Sylvain really had no comeback for that, and you were far from the only one at the table to laugh at his plight. Giggling, you locked eyes with Annette, who you noticed had also finished her plate. Nodding at each other, you both got up from the table to take your empty plates back.

“I feel like I’ve got my muffin fix for a while!” she joked as you handed your empty plates to the dining hall staff.

“What are your plans for the day?” you asked her, and she smiled.

“Don’t tell Mercie, but she was talking about how she missed these sweet ginger cakes we had when we were younger, and I was going to make some to surprise her with!” she whispered excitedly.

You were glad that Annette was such an endless supply of joy and kindness. You knew how much everyone appreciated any distractions from the mounting scale of war you were faced with, and so you also would have to do your best to keep a happy demeanor about yourself. Annette’s eyes drifted from yours as you both got back to the table as she stared ahead.

“Hey, where did Dimitri go?” she asked.

You looked over to where Annette had her eyes set and noticed that your table was missing its blonde king. You both must have looked incredibly confused, because Dedue decided to put you out of your misery.

“His Highness… had something to attend to.” Even Dedue sounded puzzled.

“Yeah, he just said that he had forgotten to do something and left…” Ingrid added, her eyebrows drawn together.

“Maybe he just had a bad reaction to the muffins?” Sylvain suggested, but one look at Dimitri’s plate told you that he hadn’t eaten a single thing from his plate.

He was acting weird, but he didn’t seem to be sliding back into his darkness again. Even so, you would have to check on him later, just to make sure. You had abandoned him for five years, even if it wasn’t by choice, and you would never leave his side again until the day came when he no longer needed you. You wouldn’t lose him again, not when everyone, when Faerghus, needed him.

Dimitri walked briskly to the cathedral, taking up his usual spot in front of the rubble that had once been a proud altar. He knew that he was clearly acting off, and his friends would eventually come and make sure he was okay. And he knew that he was not doing well, but it was not the type of problem that he imagined that they thought that he was dealing with. He had never dealt with anything like this before, and he didn’t know what to do. And so, he stared at the rubble, but too lost in thoughts to take in the scenery.

He couldn’t sleep at all the night before, and he didn’t know how he would get any sleep tonight. Seeing your mostly nude body had awoken within him feelings that he had kept himself from feeling for so long. He had been so focused on revenge for the entirety of his developing years that he had never allowed himself to think of romance as more than a faraway concept. He had sheltered himself for so long, and now the reality of his situation was hitting him with the full force that it would have had he allowed himself when he was a teenager. Instead, he was an adult man who was only now realizing the depths that his feelings could reach. He loved you, and it scared him.

He knew that he couldn’t avoid you forever. You had a war to win, and he couldn’t avoid his closest ally, even if he happened to just discover his feelings for you. He wanted desperately to be near you, but even with your widening range of emotions, he had seen no indication that you had any romantic feelings towards him. And besides, you would never talk to him again if you found out that he had stayed in your room while you were not fully dressed, even if it was to help you recover from your fever. He would live with his shame and hide his feelings, and would channel his energy into the war. Although that still didn’t resolve how he was going to sleep tonight, since he knew that every time he closed his eyes that night he would see your perfect breasts or your kind smile.

He had spent the last few hours of the night after he had returned to his room staring out of his window into the night sky. He had wrestled with his longing to go back there and tell you how he felt, kiss you… but you were sick. You needed rest. And you certainly did not need to have to deal with this new revelation of his. He relied on you for so much that he would crumble without your support, and so he just had to accept that your support would never be that of a wife’s to him.

He felt like a preteen boy. He couldn’t even stand to meet eyes with you in the dining hall earlier. He was so focused on staring at his plate that he could barely hear what anyone else had said. He had met your eyes for only half a second and even that was too much for him in his current state. You had looked worried for him, worries that he didn’t feel that he could assuage. He would have to keep his distance from you until he could resolve this within himself.

He must have been lost in thought for a while because eventually, he realized that Dedue was by his side. He gave Dedue a nod and then turned back to face the rubble, but a call of his title had him looking back to his stoic friend.

“Is everything alright, Your Highness?” Dedue asked simply.

“I…” Dimitri was not sure what to say.

“When I pledged myself to you, I intended to ensure that no harm came to you,” Dedue explained. “If anyone has been upsetting you, or you are suffering a cursed ailment, you need only to tell me and I will scourge whoever dared to curse you.”

Dimitri could never have a normal conversation with him during this war, could he? There were so many threats to his life, he was willing to admit, but Dedue never ceased to worry, even when everything was stable for the moment. He knew that Dedue cared about him, but he always thought the worst of things when it concerned his king.

“I have no injuries or curses, my friend,” he told Dedue who looked entirely unconvinced.

“If it is something that you feel that you cannot tell the others…” Dedue’s offer was implied. He was concerned, that much Dimitri could tell easily.

“For now, it is something that I must handle on my own,” Dimitri said, not meeting his friend’s eyes.

It took some convincing, but Dedue finally relented in his insistence that he walk the king back to his room, despite the fact that they were on entirely different floors. He also rebuffed Dedue’s offer to stand guard outside his room the entire night to defend him from attackers. Dedue had finally, reluctantly relented and allowed Dimitri to finally return to his room alone. He was careful to check that he hadn’t been followed; Dedue had done it before, after all. But he saw no signs of anyone following him and arrived on the second floor of the dormitories, not meeting anyone on the way down the hall and to his room.

It was early in the night, he discovered as he returned to his room. It was earlier than he usually went to sleep, but being awake for closing in on thirty or so hours was wearing on him. With getting some rest potentially in sight, he sat on his bed and began the painstaking process of removing his armor. He let out a tired sigh as his leg armor came off, and he carefully placed it aside before repeating the process on his upper armor, removing his cape and furs as well when he had taken his armor off. He was left in just his long black undershirt and black pants, which was all he wore when he slept these days. Although he did recall that he had previously pushed himself to the point of collapse when in his full armor before, and waking up from that had never felt pleasant on his body. But given his state of mind at the time, he simply got up and continued to do the work he felt needed to be done; being sore never kept him from the slaughter. But as he was now, he appreciated that he could take his armor off at the end of the day and rest. He never knew how nice it would feel to let down his last layer of defense and truly be himself around his friends with nothing to hide. Well, he thought, nothing to hide but his attraction to you that refused to wane.

He would try to sleep; at least now he was in his room, where he was not likely to run into you. His onset affection for you was so strong that he didn’t think it would go away, and he did not know if that was a good thing or not. He took off his shoes, setting them down before laying down on his bed and closing his eyes in the hope that sleep would find him.

You had spent your day talking to the other occupants of the monastery, doing your best to confirm that everyone was doing alright. You knew that this war weighed on everyone’s souls, and if you could do anything to help, you would. And so, you did some light training with Felix, went to the marketplace with Ashe, and ended up helping Annette do some baking for Mercedes, which did not result in any kitchen disasters for once, which was a relief. You had seen Dimitri in the cathedral earlier, in that same place he had always gone before he had broken free of his darkness. You decided to give him some space, but when you passed by the cathedral again later in the evening, he was no longer in his usual spot in front of the rubble.

Whatever was wrong with him, you wanted to give him time. You really did. But if he was sinking back into his inner darkness, then you couldn’t stand by and let it happen again. You walked around the monastery grounds but were unable to find him. As a last ditch effort, you decided to head to the second floor of the dormitories to check and see if he was in his room. You passed various people as they headed to their own rooms to retire for the night, smiling as Flayn excitedly wished you a good night as you passed by her. Finally, you arrived at what you recalled to be Dimitri’s bedroom door.

You raised a hand and lightly knocked on the door. No answer. Maybe he had gone for a late night walk and you had just missed him on your walk around the monastery. You knocked one more time, slightly louder, but still got no response. You couldn’t hear any sounds from at all from the other side of the door. Having no choice, you reluctantly decided to leave and head back to your own room. You could talk with Dimitri the next time you saw him, you reassured yourself. And so, you began to retreat the way that you had come, off to get some sleep and hopefully wake up fully free from your sickness.

“Professor…”

It was so quiet that you almost didn’t detect it, but you supposed your sensitivity on the battlefield allowed you to pick up the muted whisper of your old title. You turned your head back, not sure what to expect, but found Dimitri in only pants and a long-sleeved shirt, both in black, staring at you from just outside his room. He met your gaze with a look of surprise on his face, almost as if he had not expected you to hear him or turn back to look. You made your way back over to him, and he opened his door wider and gestured for you to accompany him inside.

He walked all the way to his window before turning only his head back to face you. His expression was unreadable, but yours certainly wasn’t, and he immediately saw the worry on your face.

“Are you okay?” you asked quietly. You knew that you couldn’t make him talk if he didn’t want to but you needed him to know that you were here for him.

“You never let up, do you?” he asked, and you vaguely recalled him saying something like that to you in the past. Before you could reply, he continued. “I could not be who I am today without your help.”

Why was he saying that now, and then why did he look so troubled? You didn’t understand where he was going with this, and were about to tell him so.

“I could not stand to lose you,” he spoke slowly, finally turning around fully and stepping slightly closer to you. “But I fear that I may if I tell you what is on my mind.”

“That is not possible,” you countered, staring him down sternly.

Dimitri only grew a small sad smile at your words. He looked to be waging a mental war on himself, but you bridged the gap that was still between you and forced him to look at you in the eyes. You looked at him with all the seriousness you could manage in an attempt to convey to him that you would listen to anything that he had to say. He broke eye contact with you almost immediately, staring at the floor as he spoke quietly.

“You had a fever,” he explained. “Nobody had seen you the day after you were out in the rain. I went to check on you, and you were not answering your door and I…”

Your eyes went wide in surprise. That night, you were…

“I am so sorry, Professor!” he spoke, sounding upset as he hung his head in shame. “I saw you in a state that only your husband should see you in and I-”

His rambling cut off and you looked at him, trying desperately to have him meet your eyes, but he continued to look at the floor, so you took a second to reevaluate these new revelations. Dimitri had not fully explained, but from what you had pieced together, he had been worried about you and came into your room, which must have been after you had stripped down to only your underwear, based on Dimitri’s odd husband comment. You felt a rush of embarrassment that he had seen you like that, but you found that you were more bothered that he had seen you looking so weak rather than the fact that he had seen you nearly naked. But you also found that you didn’t really mind that it was him that had seen you that way.

“I… I did not leave you be. I could not. I stayed with you and kept a cold cloth on your forehead until your fever broke. I should have left, but I could not just leave you like that,” Dimitri spoke up again.

He was so earnest that it was cute. Apologizing for seeing you nearly nude was one thing, but you stifled a laugh as he was for some reason apologizing for staying with you and taking care of you while you were sick. He was fiercely intelligent, brave in the face of the hardships of war, but looking at him now, he looked like an awkward teenager trapped in the body of a grown man. You could no longer help yourself, and you let out a quiet giggle.

“Professor?” Dimitri uttered as he looked at you in shock and you laughed at his expression.

“You’re so cute,” you told him, and watched as your words sent a pink flush to his cheeks as he stared at you in disbelief.

You knew that you should do something to put him out of his misery, but you weren’t sure what. You reached a hand up to cup one of his cheeks, and he looked at you unsteadily, closing his eye as he leaned into your touch. You weren’t sure why you had decided to reach out for him physically, but staring at his handsome face, so close to your own, you felt the most comfortable and safe you had ever felt. You closed your eyes too to bask in the moment, but then he said your name, not your title, but your actual name. You opened your eyes again and the two of you stared at each other and he raised his own hand to cover yours that was still on his cheek. He had an urgency in his eyes that you could not place.

“I need to kiss you,” he said, not breaking eye contact, unwavering under your surprised look.

You really shouldn’t have been as surprised as you were, given how physically close the two of you were now, and how emotionally close you had been to each other for so long, but you hadn’t had the time to think that this was even a possibility. Overpowering all of your mind was the sense that this was all that you wanted in this moment. He was different than he had been when you had reunited with him, but he had broken free of his darkness, and had become the kind, strong leader that his people needed. That you all needed. He was your dearest friend, but right now you wanted him to kiss you more than anything, and so you nodded.

He didn’t waste any more than a few seconds before bending down and connecting your lips as your eyes slid closed as the same time. You adjusted your chin so you would be better locked together as your other hand weakly grasped at the material of his shirt, just above his chest. The kiss felt so effortless, as you both adjusted to the other’s rhythm and Dimitri’s other hand came up to rest on the back of your head, keeping you close together.

The kiss stayed simple, but it was making you feel lightheaded with the intensity that you were both putting into it. You pulled away, not confident in your ability to breathe at the moment and he followed, gently steering you back until the back of your knees hit his bed and you allowed him to push you back down onto it.

You found yourself laying on your back as Dimitri hovered over you, his legs on either side of you. He was upright with his knees pressed against your upper thighs, looking at you with want but unsure of how to proceed. While he sat there in a daze, you shrugged your coat off and gently removed your gauntlets, letting it all fall down in a heap by the bedside, and as you did, you noticed a pile of Dimitri’s own clothing and armor only a few feet away.

When you looked back up, you noticed that Dimitri had been following you with his gaze, but he still looked unsure. You had no idea what was going on in his head or what had happened to his confidence, but you decided that you would have to make it abundantly clear that you would like this to continue. And so, you lifted your torso up from the bed and wriggled out of your shirt, throwing everything that covered your upper body onto the floor and watching Dimitri’s eye widen and cheeks turned red as he once again took in the sight of your bare breasts. You were just happy that you were conscious this time so you could enjoy his very honest reaction.

He was still staring, this time he had switched back to look you in the eyes and you couldn’t help but tease him. “Dimitri, your shirt…”

He finally relaxed a bit and smiled so sweetly down at you. “I suppose I should make it even.”

You had never seen him shirtless before, but the scars on his body told you what he could never bring himself to about what had happened to him over the past ten years. He gave you no explanation, and did not give you the time to fully examine all of his scars as he lowered his head down and kissed you again, feeding in your boldness as he supported himself with one hand, bringing his other hand up to feel one breast. The shock of his sudden movements had you moaning in surprise, and the kiss transitioned further as you both allowed your tongues to meet as well.

You cradled his head in your hands, bringing one hand through his hair, so much longer than it had been five years earlier. Finding yourself wanting to be even closer to him, you brought one leg out from under him and wrapped it around his hip. The position allowed you to grind up against him, and he met your hips excitedly as you kissed and you felt a shiver go down your spine as you realized how much he wanted this, your hips so close together that you could not miss how hard he had become in such little time. The friction was exactly where you wanted it, but it began to not feel like anywhere close to enough.

He pulled back from you by a few centimeters, nose still touching yours, and his hand that was not supporting his weight drifted from your breast to brush a hand through your hair. “I love you,” he said sincerely, chuckling as you looked up at him in shock. “You did not think I loved you?”

He seemed amused by your lack of response, and in truth you did not know, you had been so happy to be like this with him that you hadn’t even considered the feelings that were obviously involved. But you could not deny how happy those words made you, and he leaned down to kiss you again as a smile lit up your face. He gave you a few short kisses before he disengaged himself from you, sitting at the side of the bed, and you hastened to join him. He looked over as you hesitantly placed your head on his shoulder, and he readily accepted the contact.

“I did not think that I would ever feel like this… that I deserved to feel this way with you. I escaped the darkness that I had been trapped in, but I know there are those who will never forgive me for the sins I have committed. But you stuck by my side when I treated you so poorly. I don’t deserve you… any of you,” he said, staring at the wall but wrapping an arm around your naked back.

“You are indispensable to me,” he said as he leaned over to kiss your hair. “I knew that I would not be here without you, but I did not realize my feelings until that night.”

You knew which night he meant, but you had taken even longer than him to discover your own feelings, but you knew now. You loved him, and there was no going back now, even if you wanted to. Which, sitting side by side in this moment, you knew that you only wanted to experience even more with this man who was so dear to you.

“I wanted to wait until after the war, until we had peace. But after that night, I could not look back at you without seeing your bare form. It is shameful, but I cannot hold back any longer, especially now that I know it is mutual,” he explained, adjusting the both of you so that you were facing each other. “I want to be with you.”

He was looking at you expectantly, but kindly. You realized that he needed you to also affirm that this was real, that you loved him as well. He believed in you, but you knew that you should put the poor boy out of his misery. You leaned in to kiss him and he reciprocated happily, pulling back after a few seconds, eyes fluttering open to look at Dimitri, who looked so content in that moment.

“I love you,” you told him, truly meaning it. “I want to be with you.”

Dimitri looked so happy, but with a glance downwards, you saw that he was no less hard. It looked rather painful, and couldn’t be comfortable for him. You were not as subtle as you thought you had been, and he caught your glance downwards on his form.

“I… it is okay, I would never pressure you. You do not have to worry about me,” he said quickly, face flushing pink.

He was about to get up and put some distance between you, but you would not let that happen. You stood up with him and spoke his name softly as you slipped your hands into the sides of your shorts, pulling them down along with your tights and slipping out of them and your boots. It was not a particularly graceful or sexy stripping of your last articles of clothing, but it got the job done. You crossed the room to where he was standing and he allowed you to begin the process of removing the clothes covering his lower half.

“If this is what you really want,” his growled words sent your cheeks aflame. “I will not hold back, my love.”

He helped you by kicking his pants and underwear off, and as soon as you were both fully naked, he picked you up, his hands grasping your thighs to support you. You hastily wrapped your legs and arms around him so you wouldn’t fall, and he grinned at you as he placed you down on the bed, following you down so he could kiss you again. Dimitri kissed you for only a moment longer as you desperately tried to keep up with his pace. You were so ready for what was to come, and you pulled back from the kiss and gazed up at him with longing.

Dimitri swallowed as he looked down at you, and you spread your legs as he reached down to his achingly hard cock. You were embarrassed to discover that you were easily wet enough from just kisses and simple groping that Dimitri was able to rub himself against you before he began to slide himself inside with ease. You let out a breathy moan as you tried not to squirm at the foreign feeling. Dimitri’s eyes closed as he dropped down to rest his head on your shoulder, his deep groan right by your ear as he pushed further inside you. Finally, your hips fully met as he was seated fully within you, and you knew that you had never felt anything like this before. You knew what sex was, your father had been too awkward to give you the talk himself and had a female village chief explain to it to you after you had saved their village, so you knew the basics. But no explanation could match up with how good it felt to be so intimate with the man you loved.

You felt his breath tickle your ear as he pulled himself back up, his eyes half lidded. “You feel so good… forgive me, but it is hard for me to focus on anything else.”

You felt the same way, but you didn’t have the patience for him to wait and adjust to this feeling, so you decided to force the issue by squeezing your inner muscles and watching as he shuddered, eye fluttering closed for a moment with a groan. He opened his eye to glare halfheartedly at you, obviously too pleased at the moment for you to believe that he was actually angry with you.

“You are so impatient,” he teased, but complied with your wishes as he pulled ever so slightly out of you before canting his hips back into yours.

He didn’t waste a second in continuing the movement, and his gentle rocking was driving you crazy. You were completely naked, and it had been a cold month, but you were so, so warm. There was a pleasant burn that was slowly ebbing away to just feel good in a way that you had never felt before. Evidently this was new to Dimitri as well, because he was in no better of a state than you were, panting against your skin as he leaned down to kiss at your neck. You were content to lay like that, your arms around his neck and feeling his hair tickle your face, but a well-timed thrust had you unexpectedly crying out with the sudden spike of pleasure.

Dimitri couldn’t suppress his own groan as he was able to reach deeper within you. And when you rolled your hips up to meet him, he almost stopped his momentum to bask in how good it felt. He once again palmed your breasts and stifled your moan as he kissed you again. He closed his eye as he kissed you because he feared that if he was to keep it open and take in the way you looked right now, this would end far sooner than he wanted. You were so beautiful like this, and his heart stuttered with every sound that left your mouth.

He wanted this to last, but he could no longer be satisfied with the current pace. He began to pull out more swiftly and push back in with a new speed and intensity. He felt pride surge up in him as you squirmed and broke the kiss to let out another cute cry. Your next cry was of his name, which set his pace on fire as you both rapidly tried to meet your ends as you both connected in a desperate clashing of tongues, both groping at any inch of the other’s skin that you could reach.

“I fear this will not last much longer, beloved,” Dimitri panted. “But we have so much more time ahead of us.”

You weren’t fully sure what he meant by that, but at this point you were so close to reaching your peak that you could do no more than moan and grasp weakly onto his neck and back, tangling one hand in his hair. You closed your eyes tightly as Dimitri held you as close to him as he could, his chest brushing against yours in tandem with his thrusting. It only took a bit more of his harsh, fast pace before you lost yourself in pleasure. Dimitri continued to move, prolonging your orgasm as you moaned and squeezed around him. He could only hold out for so long and he was finally pushed over the edge with a strained groan of your name. The two of you stayed joined for a moment before Dimitri gently moved off of you, giving you a shy smile. You went to get up with him, but he stopped you with a hand on your arm and you obeyed, laying back down, but looked at him quizzically.

“You may not want to get up. We have made quite a mess,” Dimitri said reluctantly.

He wasn’t making eye contact anymore, and you followed his gaze downwards on your body. Oh. Without the feeling to distract you, you realized just how gross you were feeling… down there. You closed your legs tightly in embarrassment, and in the hopes that you wouldn’t ruin Dimitri’s sheets. Feeling an onset of bashfulness, you also brought an arm up to cover as much of your chest as you could; despite what you had just done with him, the reality of the situation was catching up to you.

Dimitri laughed at your sudden shyness. “I will go fetch something to clean you up with,” he explained, beginning to dress himself to his first layer of clothing, foregoing his armor.

He bent down to kiss one of your flushed cheeks, and then he was gone out the door. Once the door had been closed and you were alone, you felt all of your remaining composure slip away. You and Dimitri had… you had no idea how he was so much more composed than you were, easily leaving the room to bring back something to clean you up. You felt too embarrassed to leave this room for a month, let alone right after you had been so intimate for the first time. You did not even know what to say to Dimitri when he got back, but you would dare to hope he had meant what he said, implying that he wanted to do this again. That he loved you. But for now, all you could do was wait for him to return.

Dimitri kept a relatively quick pace to fetch a cloth, although for a much different reason than the previous time. He still had a hard time believing that had just happened, that you and he were… he loved you, and he would not deny it even if being open about it was so new for him. Smiling to himself, he wistfully hoped that you would agree to spend the night in his room. He would not force you, but he could not deny that the idea of waking up and seeing your beautiful face first thing in the morning set his heart aflutter.

Dimitri had gotten to the middle of the hallway before he noticed someone waving at him just past his room, standing at the end of the hallway. Sylvain grinned at him as Dimitri walked past his own room to meet his friend just outside the redhead’s room.

“Late night walk, Your Highness?” Sylvain quipped, eyes briefly darting down to the towel in Dimitri’s grasp.

Dimitri was silent for a moment too long, wondering what to respond, and Sylvain laughed awkwardly, running a hand through his hair. “Just one thing though, you might want to noise-proof your room.”

“Sylvain!” Dimitri admonished, shocked.

“Hey!” Sylvain waved his hands in a defensive manner. “It wasn’t me! But, uh, Felix was just here complaining that you and the Professor were interrupting his sleep…”

Dimitri was not sure what to say to that, and immediately felt bad because he was sure that you would be embarrassed if you knew that you two had been heard. Dimitri turned a hard gaze to Sylvain; his childhood friend had not been known to be the most trustworthy with gossip, but Sylvain immediately knew what Dimitri was thinking, and what he was likely about to say.

“I wasn’t going to tell anyone, relax!” Sylvain stated quickly. “Just be careful, ladies don’t really like having an audience.”

Dimitri scoffed, but smiled at his friend. “I will keep that in mind, Sylvain.”

Relieved that Dimitri was not mad at him, he clasped one of his friend’s shoulders. “I won’t keep you from her, but I just wanted to say that I’m happy for you. You deserve to be happy, Dimitri. Just don’t let her get away!” he joked.

Both men having said their piece, turned to go to their respective rooms. Dimitri could only hope that you hadn’t heard any of their conversation. The last thing he wanted to do was scare you away or make you uncomfortable. But as he opened the door, he found you still on his bed, shutting the door behind him without looking back because he could not stand to look away from the smile you gave him upon seeing him return.

It hadn’t been long, but you felt happiness surge up in you at the sight of him. He briskly made his way over to you and handed you the towel he had brought, to your great relief. It would be too embarrassing to have him clean you, and so you accepted the towel gratefully, cleaning yourself as he turned his back to give you some privacy. You made quick work of cleaning yourself, feeling less of a mess immediately, other than your hair still being slightly matted to your forehead with sweat. You wanted to savor this moment, but you also wanted to know if he had really meant what he had said earlier.

Dimitri, not noticing the shift in your mood, leaned down onto the bed just as you sat up so he could give you a light kiss. He looked so happy when he pulled away from you, his smile unwavering. It was only then that he noticed how strained your small smile was. “My love…?”

“…you said we would have more time,” you said quietly, and his brows drew together in confusion, before nodding affirmatively.

“You have not figured it out yet?” Dimitri teased, reaching down to hold your hand. “I would hope that this was not the only time we would be together like this.”

You were still confused, and he noticed immediately. “I do not mean only in a carnal sense. This is a rather unusual setting, but I have no regrets. I want to marry you.”

Oh... You stared at him in shock. You weren’t sure what you were expecting him to say, only just nervous that he would tell you to leave, that this was a one-time thing. But he had gone in the farthest direction possible from what you had feared. You found that you really wanted this, you wanted to marry him, wanted to stay by his side forever. None of your thoughts made it to your face, your expression blank as you stared at him. Dimitri didn’t seem to understand what you were thinking, and got a little anxious himself.

“If you do not want to, of course…” he muttered. “I do not have a ring, yet I decided to ask this of you. I understand if you do not want this with me.”

He had seemingly already decided his fate, and you smiled softly at him. “I accept.”

“You… you do?” he sounded surprised, and you weren’t quite sure why. He was a wonderful man, and you loved him so much. He was a fool to think anything otherwise. Especially after what you had just done together, and all you both had been through.

He had finally seemed to get the message, and practically lunged towards you, connecting your lips together in a rough kiss. This war would end, you knew, and then the two of you could build a peaceful world together. You looked forward to that, but you knew that you would have Dimitri at your side for anything that came your way, and that gave you all the confidence you could ever need.

[lovesupernova25]

I’ll Tell Your Story

Summary: “Oh my gosh he’s dead!” *gangnam style plays*

okay okay: A oneshot involving memories, a grieving Tubbo, and a really cute piglin toddler. Enjoy! (have fun crying)

“Story! Bee! Storytime!” Tubbo jerked awake, startled from his half-dream by a tiny hand tugging on his shirt. 

(That was okay. He could tell it was going to be a nightmare anyway.) He’d dozed off in Michael’s room, lulled to sleep by soft light and the sounds of toddler play.

 “Bee!” Michael pulled at Tubbo’s arm, one eye pleading.

Tubbo took a deep breath. He felt stretched, shattered. His hands hadn’t stopped trembling for a week, and his own tears were responsible for at least twenty of the burn scars on Ranboo’s skin. He barely had the energy to keep forcing air into his lungs and yet- here was Michael, his son, untouched by the same grief. Tubbo figured he could pretend for an evening. 

“Okay,” He swallowed and pulled his face into a smile. “Okay, bud. What story do you want?”

“Ummm…” Michael sat comically back on his hands as he searched the room. “Whozzat?” His eyes landed on something- a picture frame. 

Tubbo’s breath caught. Tommy and his younger self beamed at him from behind the glass, and he could make out a lake sparkling behind them and someone- probably Fundy- making a peace sign behind Tommy’s head. 

He reached for it, feeling something tighten in his chest. 

“This… this was a long time ago, bud,” And it was. Tubbo was shocked by how… different they looked. He traced his younger face with his finger- his smooth, unscarred face, still round with baby fat. Tommy’s hair had still been short, and his eyes… that fearful, haunted look he’d carried- it was gone. Both their eyes were still blue then- brilliant blue. These were the days before the election. Before everything. It was a different world, a different life. “You wanna hear this story?”

“Mmmmm..” Michael hummed his agreement. “Izzat Bee?” He poked a chubby finger at Tubbo’s younger face.

“Yep- that’s me, Mikey. Years and years ago, though.”

“Hmm.. izzat- izzat Phil?” Michael scrunched his face in confusion as he pointed to Tommy. Tubbo swallowed, almost smiling. Tommy would’ve loved to be mistaken for Phil. 

“No, Mikey, that’s not Phil. He’s got hair like Phil, though, doesn’t he?” Tubbo took a deep breath, staring down at the photo in his hand. “That’s someone you don’t know. His name was Tommy.” 

And then once he started, he couldn’t stop. “Tommy is my-” He swallowed. “Tommy was my best friend. We were like how me and Boo are now- we did everything together.” Tubbo smiled, just barely.

“Like what?” Michael yawned. He was getting bored of the story, Tubbo could tell- so he took a deep breath.

“Well, lots of exciting stuff. Tommy was brave,” He leaned toward his son, smile growing. “Brave and strong like a lion.” He lifted his hands in imitation of a lions’ claws, ready to pounce at the toddler. 

Michael giggled. “Stronger than you?” 

And Tubbo was frozen, for a moment. He felt a lump grow in his throat, but smiled gently around it. “Yeah,” he said softly, blinking hard. “Stronger than me.” 

He pulled Michael onto his lap. “Tommy and I fought in wars together- we made a home, and we had to defend it from the bad guys.”

Michael’s eyes widened. “Are bad guys gonna come?” 

“No, Mikey,” Tubbo squeezed the toddler in his lap. “We’re safe here. The bad guys aren’t going to hurt us. Before, though- there were lots of bad guys. And Tommy was-” He laughed, “Tommy wanted to fight them all. He’d just charge into battle with no plan and take on the world.” The smile was creeping onto his face again, even as his vision blurred. “Tommy was pretty stupid sometimes.” Tubbo laughed, and it sounded a little bit like a sob.

“But he was kind.” It was like the dam had opened, and Tubbo couldn’t stop. “He acted like he wasn’t- but Tommy was always kind. He’d do anything for the people he cared about. Did you know, Mikey- he fought Technoblade once?” 

Michael looked up, eyes widening. “Really?” Michael already knew stories about the half-piglin warrior- hearing this was enough to elevate even a stranger to idol status in his mind. 

“Yeah- Tommy’d fight the earth itself if it helped someone he loved.” He huffed out a wet laugh and reached up to stop a tear from spilling onto his cheek.

Deep breaths, Tubbo. 

“That was the thing about Tommy. He cared so much, so deeply- and he’d never give it up. He’d-” Tubbo swallowed, tangling his fingers in Michael’s hair. “He’d always keep fighting- lead armies and start revolutions and refuse to surrender- no matter what, he’d never surrender. Tommy would die before he let the bad guys win.” Tubbo looked down at his son, smiling again. “He was a hero.” 

Michael’s eyes were shining, entranced by tales of glory long gone. “Wowww..”

Tubbo smiled. “Yeah, wow. But people-” He looked away, holding his son tighter. “People don’t always like heroes. They told him he was stupid, or too much, or- or selfish.” Tubbo took a deep breath. He tilted his head to the ceiling. “They were wrong, though.” Tubbo looked back at Michael with an intensity in his eyes that felt like regret. “Tommy… Tommy was the best man I ever knew. He was the best leader, too- and the best friend.” Tubbo closed his eyes and hoped that the only person he wanted to talk to could hear everything he wished he’d said. “And he doesn’t need to worry- because we’re not going to forget him,” he laughed wetly around the crack in his heart, “Anytime soon.” 

Maybe the universe was kind enough to grant him that. 

Michael stretched in Tubbo’s arms. “Mmmm.. I like Tommy.” He giggled. “Imna be like Tommy when I grow up. Big ‘n strong!” He sat up, clenching his tiny hands into fists.

And Tubbo felt something a little like breaking and a little like mending deep within his chest, because it seemed the universe was kind after all. “Yeah,” his voice broke. “Yeah, you’ll be just like uncle Tommy.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[itsclydebitches]

I was once more thinking of vol 8 and other works to compare it to. I hit Harry Potter, specifically Order of the Phoenix. Literally all that happened there showed a much better "proactive Hero" and "Big Bad vs Big Good" battle that it feels unfair to compare. What say you Clyde?

It's been a very long time since I read Order of the Phoenix, but putting aside that and the series' problems with representation (something that always feels like it needs to be acknowledged when discussing HP nowadays), Rowling did a good job of setting up both motivation and justification for Harry's actions. Which isn't to say that he was never wrong — quite the opposite, especially in OotP — but that Harry's involvement in this war is justified in a way that Ruby's involvement is not. He's not just generally active (no tea sipping equivalent scenes), but we understand why he's the one taking that action.

Harry is an unwilling participant forced to fight due to a prophecy, so when he stumbles along the way, we as the reader are understanding because jeez, what else what he supposed to do? Literally no one else can do this and he's trying his best. Ruby, in contrast, is not necessary to this fight. We might have gotten that with her silver eyes, but we didn't, so when Ruby willingly steps up — or, in Volume 8, forcibly takes control — and then gets upset because things didn't go well, the viewer (or at least some viewers: us) are far less forgiving because she demanded this responsibility and then found she didn't like having it. When Harry rushes off to the Department of Mysteries, endangering many of his friends in the process (even if they volunteered) we understand that this action is done out of love. We've spent five books establishing Harry's desire for a family, it's literally his greatest wish according to the Mirror of Erised, so going after Sirius, while reckless, is such an in-character, relatable, human decision. It's integral to who Harry is as a person. Compare that to the lack of work done surrounding Summer and the unanswered question of why Ruby is fighting Salem. Because it's the right thing to do? Great, fantastic, but uh... that doesn't really explain or justify why she's leading the charge when all these other huntsmen — with the same goals, more experience, better plans, etc. —are trying to do The Right Thing too. When thinking about HP vs. RWBY, my mind always goes back to that moment at the end of the first book when Harry tries to tell McGonagall about the stone and she brushes him off. "Ah," I thought later. "That's why three 11yos are going off to save the magical artifact when there are adult, full-fledged wizards around to do it instead. The kids tried to turn hand this off to the adults and the adults failed them." Now, combine this with Harry's growing tendency to go it alone, the implication that Dumbledore may have been allowing him to face certain threats to get stronger, each book's individual situation like a hidden chamber that only Harry can enter, his Godfather being on the run, a magically binding contract that keeps him in a competition because the bad guys are specifically after him... Harry is at the heart of the story. He's integral to it, his part in the fight inevitable, so all that's left is to see how he bears that burden.

Ruby is not integral to this fight, her presence and even her silver eyes are not necessary, her facing down Salem is only inevitable from a meta perspective regarding expectations for a protagonist (and then, in Volume 8, Ruby didn't face her.) There's no clear personal motivation to drive her. There's not even a Guardian's of the Galaxy-esque motivation in the form of, "We'll step up because no one else will." Others do keep stepping up and Ruby keeps forcing them to follow her instead, insisting that her way is better. Only problem is, it's arguably not and that's when she has a plan at all. It's like if instead of going after the stone because his professors won't, or going after Sirius because he loves him, or going after Voldemort because a prophecy and a life of having a saving-people-thing has pushed him to that, Harry made his way to the front of this war Just Because, rejecting everyone else who fought in the first war, has more experience, and actual plans along the way. Why does he do this? Because his name is in the title of the book, I guess.

RWBY throws in lost of classic ideas and setups, but doesn't seem to understand their point. Even something as simple as that Big Bad vs. Big Good conflict in Volume 8. Putting aside how muddied this has gotten between the Gods' involvement and Salem's dip in the grimm pool, Volume 8 took the threat of our Big Bad arriving with an army and... ignored it. Instead, they ran with Ironwood as the primary antagonist of the volume, the guy trying to stop Salem, a previously established ally, the guy who just gave up his arm to capture another clear-cut villain, and who throughout Volume 7 demonstrated none of the manipulation we would attribute to a Dumbledore-like figure. Rather than running with their Big Bad's arrival, RWBY asked how they could force one of the good guys to become a bad guy instead, hence the sudden shooting of Oscar and murder of the councilman. This is a far from perfect comparison (and I take my virtual life in my hands bringing up another controversial character lol), but it's a little like if after we learned about which side Snape was truly on, he suddenly tried to kill Hermione, succeeded in killing a minor character like Professor Flitwick, and then made plans to destroy all of Hogwarts. Meanwhile, everyone is ignoring Voldemort standing on the front lawn because the narrative randomly made Snape the biggest problem instead. So a lot of the fanbase is like, "Yeah he's absolutely a dick and his horrific past/contentious choices are the point of his character... but he's also supposed to be one of the good guys at the end of the day? And the Big Bad is right there? We can argue about how 'good' Snape is until we're blue in the face, but he's no Voldemort. Why did you feel the need to chuck the morally gray character off the deep end for our heroes to oppose when our primary antagonist is literally right here, trying to kill them?" From this, to introducing a dead mother that in no way motivates our cast, to having Oscar face down Salem with an improvised weapon instead of Ruby with her eyes, to giving Penny an arc about accepting her android body only to rip it away, etc. etc. RWBY continuously throws out ideas without understanding what they're meant to accomplish. There's a lot to criticize about Harry Potter nowadays, but a lack of logical development isn't one of them.

And just to chuck in another text — because I too think about what has done Volume 8 themes better lol — consider: Loki. Stop reading now if you don't want spoilers, but a couple episodes in Loki and Sylvie end up on a dying planet that is only evacuating the rich. That's said overtly in both the dialogue and visually in the mise-en-scene, with poor people screaming that only the rich are getting tickets for the rocket and elaborately dressed elites enjoying the comforts of that ride. Then, just as they're about to escape, leaving the rest of their world behind, a piece of the moon hits the ship, either killing them instantly or stranding them with the people they abandoned. And I thought to myself, "See, this makes sense in a way RWBY never did." Evacuation was never about wealth in RWBY, despite what the fandom continually claims. Ironwood was trying to evacuate everyone and only stopped because they all assumed Salem would be killing them momentarily. This situation included Relics and a Maiden that would easily turn the tide of the war, meaning their safety influenced the whole world, not just these people. Mantle was not necessarily about to be destroyed — indeed, we find out later that Salem had no interest in it — and it was always a bad faith (and OOC) assumption that Ironwood was leaving his kingdom for good. The story doesn't even acknowledge the huge number of Mantle citizens already on Atlas when the attack begins. I was just sitting there thinking, "This two episode mini conflict in an insane show with alligators and time shenanigans somehow holds up better than RWBY's 27 episodes that are trying to be deep. How does that happen?"

[fyeah-bangtan7]

Jimin on Perfectionism, Missing Army, His Love of Dancing, and BTS' Future

"We've been telling people to really love themselves," says Jimin. "This year, I began to tell myself these things"

BTS’ Jimin describes himself as “introverted,” which may come as a surprise to anyone who’s seen his extraordinarily expressive dancing, or the moment he leans back and nails a high note in, say, “Magic Shop.” In the second of Rolling Stone’s breakout interviews with each of the seven members of BTS, Jimin contemplated his perfectionist streak, described his experience of the pandemic year, explained his love of dancing, and more. He gave his lengthy, thoughtful answers from a studio room in his label’s Seoul offices, wearing a zipped-up black winter coat with a white faux-fur hood, a large black bucket hat, and a white mask to protect a translator.(In celebration of BTS’ appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone, we’re publishing individual digital covers with each member of the band; check back throughout the next week for more.)

Some fans think that you may be working on a mixtape. Is that true? To be perfectly honest, there’s really nothing that’s ready or prepared. I am trying new things and really challenging myself with new things. But there is nothing that’s concrete or ready to put out.

What have you learned about yourself from the past year, in your time off the road? I realized that we’ve been telling people to really love themselves and telling them to be stronger. This year, I began to tell myself these things as well, and convincing myself that this is also something I need to keep in mind. I also realized there were times when I was being too on the edge with people around me. And I thought that I should go back to the way I was, to realign my gears, so to speak, so that I can become again the person that I used to be when it comes to how I treat people around me and how I treat myself. Now, I see people reacting positively to even small positive changes.

For seven years or so, you had ARMY cheering for you. In the past year, because of the pandemic, you’ve faced silence. How have you adjusted to that? I still have a series of negative thoughts about the situation. You know, “Why are we in this situation?” You know, “What are we doing?” And I didn’t want to acknowledge or admit or face the fact that we can’t see our friends and can’t do the things that we had been doing, as you said, for the past seven years.

What made you want to dance when you were young, and how did you realize that you had a gift for it? First of all, I never thought that I’m good at dancing. But I began to like dancing when I was young. It was my friends who suggested that we go learn how to dance as an after-school activity. As I did more of it, I began to like it more and I started taking more lessons. And I became more and more immersed in it. And I realized, as I continued to learn how to dance, that I didn’t have the stress when I was dancing. It was my own space where I could go to a different world, where I didn’t have to think about other things. It was something that I could really immerse myself into. And it made me feel really free. And it made me really happy. And then even after I debuted and I still have those feelings and those emotions, dancing is the best answer.

I understand that you don’t like to make mistakes. But that could make you very hard on yourself, couldn’t it? When I debuted, I had the shortest period of training. And I feel that I wasn’t fully ready and confident when we debuted.  I still have my shortcomings. I’m always moved by the fans who dedicate themselves — their time, their emotions, everything about themselves — to appreciating what I do and loving what I do. It makes me feel that for their sake and for their devotion that I shouldn’t make mistakes. So if you ask how do I learn to be easier on myself or more generous to myself, I think that will be something that will continue to be very difficult for me because of how I feel. When people point out things that I need more work in, it used to make me really angry at myself. Now I feel thankful if people point out things I need more work in. It makes me want to try harder.

Who were some of your early musical heroes? There were a lot of artists that influenced me. Foreign artists — Michael Jackson, Usher — and also a lot of Korean artists. But a lot of my musical inspiration came from watching the other members do their work.

You were sort of the project coordinator for Be. What did you take away from that experience? What I took away is first, how sincere the members were about making the album and making the music. So much time and so much effort goes into the creation of the music. What I also took away from it is I should also dedicate this kind of time and effort to making and creating music, and I should also try to make great music. I was really inspired by what the members contributed to the process and how we all worked on the album.

You’ve all said many times that there were differences between the members that you’ve overcome over the years. Can you elaborate at all on those differences? [Laughs] So many that I couldn’t possibly list. We all had different personalities, personalities that clash. And I, for example, may consider myself to be a little bit slower, more contemplative or more introverted. And then there are other members who want do things much faster. They’re much more active and outgoing. And then there are other guys who are even more introverted and even slower than I am. So, of course, these personalities continued to clash. I think we’ve all come to develop an understanding that it is OK to have these differences, that some people are going to be slow, and some people are going to be fast. Sometimes we have to wait. Sometimes we have to ask more questions. I think all of us sort of developed an understanding of each other.

I love the song “Serendipity” from 2017. You really pushed yourself as a singer on that one. Could you share your memories of recording it? I think this was the first time I really tried to highlight all the nuances of my voice and focus on each detail of my vocal expression. So it was very difficult to try to make sure that translated into the recording. And I just remember the recording process being very difficult because of how hard I tried to make sure that I focused on all of these details, making sure that they are expressed in the song.

Would you like to still be in BTS when you’re 40 years old? I don’t think I’ve ever really thought of being not a part of this group. I can’t imagine what I would do on my own, what I would do without the team. Even before we debuted my goal was to continue to work with these people, to continue to sing with these people. I think when I become older, and I grow my own beard, I would like to think that at the end, when I’m too old to dance, I would just like to sit onstage with the other members and sing and engage with the fans. And communicate with the fans. I think that would be great, too. So I’d like to keep this going as long as I possibly can.

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