#i should have brought a deck of cards or something

[wildglitch]

Im at a school party rn (or dance. But its honestly more like a rave then anything) and I cant help but compare it to a dance I went to last year at my old school. Old school being one of the worst in the city and New school being one of the best. So Im gonna note down my observations here on tumblr and see how they compare as the night proggreses.

First thing I notice I that the dancing is a lot more...Vanilla? Idk. So O!School had more kids. But even then the dancing floor had a lot more participants. While here the dancing seems to be a lot less and more tame. The music might be the same, but the adittude towardes it is diffrent if you get what I mean. Its still early so I'll come back to you if anything changes

Second and last of this post. Umm, how do I say this. Where are the Drugs-

Listen, I the night is young so theres still a chance for these kids to sneak something in. But if they dont have anything, good for them, they aint little junkies. It was a problem at O!School

I'll come back in like an hour for more conparisations

[goosewithtwoos]

SLUMBER PARTY

Pairing: Bob x Reader

Summary: Phoenix left some aphrodisiac brownies at your house - you accidentally eat one

DISCLAIMER: yeah i got no fwicking clue how aphrodisiacs work so this is more of a crack post than anything don’t take it too seriously

“You brought brownies!” You squeal, running up to hug your best friend.

Phoenix was carrying a small box of brownies that were perfectly decorated with powdered sugar. Your mouth was watering just looking at them.

“Hands off!” She cries, holding them over her head. “It’s a gift for someone. I’m going to a bachelorette party later.”

You pout. “Not even one?”

“Not even one.”

The two of you head inside, catching up on things and discussing plans for your next official leave. You were trying to schedule a trip with everyone down to Sanibel island off the coast of Florida but Hangman was being difficult and said the time he’d spent in Pensacola had been enough to last a lifetime.

You helped Phoenix get ready for the party, doing her makeup for her. Having grown up with four older brothers, Phoenix had never had time to play with makeup. You didn’t mind - in fact, you loved doing makeup for other people.

After about 45 minutes, a phone rang. Phoenix picks hers up only to find that it was your phone that was ringing.

You grab it off the vanity and check the caller ID.

Bob.

You show your phone to Phoenix who grins wildly. She’s known about your crush on her WSO ever since she had introduced you.

“Hello?” You ask tentatively. It was rare that he’d call you. Typically, he’d call someone else and ask them to ask you something.

“Hey, uh, sorry this is weird for me to call. I was just wondering -“

Your heart was beating out of your chest. You looked at Phoenix, silently pleading with her for help.

‘Put him on speaker’ She mouths. You quickly do so, holding your breath lest he notices the change.

“I have your credit card. You left it at the Hard Deck last night and Penny gave it to me. I was wondering when would be a good time to drop it off?”

‘Right now!’ Phoenix mouths.

‘Right now?’ You mouth back, looking at the state of your room and yourself in the mirror. She nods frantically, turning around and quickly reorganizing your things back into the drawers.

“Umm…well I’m home right now if you wanted to bring it over.” You hoped you came across at least slightly suave instead of a panicking mess.

“Oh!” Bob sounded caught off guard. “Yeah, I can do that. Do you want me to leave it in your mailbox?”

Phoenix whips her head around. ‘No!’

“No? I mean, no! I’ve uh…been having a lot of mail theft recently. You can never been too careful.”

Bob hummed. “Mail theft is a huge deal. You should report it. I remember my sister had a problem with that for a while too.”

Bless. his. heart.

“Yeah…” Your voice died off, trying to figure out if this actually was real life or simply some dream. Bob was coming over. Your heart fluttered at the idea. “So! Um, when should I expect you?”

“Maybe like 30 minutes? I just left the PX and rush hour is kinda crazy at this time of day.”

Phoenix was grinning wickedly. She gave you two thumbs up and the look in her eyes told you that maybe this wasn’t a terrible idea.

You made a noise of agreeance in the back of your throat. “Sounds perfect.”

The next 30 minutes of your life we’re some of the most stress inducing you’d ever faced. You wanted everything to be perfect. Phoenix had high tailed it out of there, nearly forgetting her purse, and you sped cleaned the whole house like the president was coming to visit.

Sure, he was probably just going to come to the door, drop off your card, and leave but the small glimmer of hope you held made you clean. Maybe this time you’d actually have the balls to ask him to come inside.

A soft knock at your door announced his arrival. You scrambled from the couch, brushing down your shirt and fixing your hair before answering the door.

“Hey!” He choked out, taking in your figure. Your flight suit was pretty conservative along with you cammies. It was a rare occasion for him to see you in your civilian clothes. “This is for you.”

You took the card from him, careful to not accidentally brush his hand with yours.

“Thank you so much, I don’t know how I could have forgotten this.” You quickly shove the card into your back pocket for safe keeping.

He quickly shoved his hands in his front pocket and shrugged. “Happens to the best of us.”

You nodded, unsure of what to say and didn’t trust yourself to not randomly blurt out an ‘I love you’, so you settled for an awkward silence.

After you both had stared at each other for far too long, he gave you a quick nod and started to pivot away. “Well, guess I’ll see you back at in on Monday.”

Damn it, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. You were supposed to invite him in and talk and maybe watch a movie and hold hands a little. Not have him walk away after less than a minute on your doorstep.

“Do you wanna come in?” You blurt out, surprising not only him but also yourself. “I have to give you something as an appreciation. I probably have a beer or something.” Fucking dumbass.

He turned back towards you, removing his hands from his pockets.

“I won’t take a beer but I will take a water.”

You stepped out of the doorframe allowing room for him to enter. “I do in fact also have water.”

He entered and then followed as you walked to the kitchen. It was small but good enough to make borderline decent meals. You weren’t much of a chef anyways and ate at the chow hall more than you’d care to admit.

“Do you want ice and a glass or just a bottle?” You ask, turning to the cupboard.

“Just a glass, no ice.” He said, taking in your decor.

This wasn’t a permanent lodging, just for the time you’re stationed here, but you still liked to decorate a little bit. Felt more like something you could call home.

You poured a glass and handed it to him, brushing his fingers as you did.

Your heart picked up from the slight touch and you cursed yourself for being such a child. You were a Naval aviator, you should be able to touch someone without having your mind go completely blank. Yet alas. Your mind was gone the moment his fingers touched yours.

He took a sip, then motioned with his chin to a tupperware sitting on the counter. “You just make those?”

You tilted your head, confused on how the hell a tupperware ended up on your counter. You went to inspect it only to find they were the brownies Phoenix had brought over for the bachelorette party. She must have forgotten them in her hurry to leave.

“Uh, these actually aren’t even mine.” You admit, wondering if it would be worth calling her back for them or not. She’d probably already be there by now. Guess if she really wanted them she would have called and asked. “Phoenix made them. She stopped by earlier and I guess she left them.”

His shoulders slumped a little bit at the news.

“But it doesn’t seem like she’s gonna come back for them any time soon and it would be a real shame to waste them.” You quickly follow up. The look on his face was worth it. You didn’t really want a brownie but you knew he wouldn’t eat one if you didn’t.

You pulled two paper towels and grabbed a brownie for the both of you, handing one to him and smelling yours. God, it smelled so good. Were these really made by Phoenix? They smelled like they were made by chocolatiers from some fancy Paris bakery.

“To Bob, for returning my card.” You said as a mock toast. He raised his brownie in turn before you took a bite in tandem.

Holy shit - they tasted even better than they smelled.

You quickly finished yours before grabbing a glass of water for yourself.

Bob stayed for a while, chatting in your kitchen about everything and anything. The conversation was completely normal so it was surprising when you felt the intense need to get off.

Your heart rate picked up rapidly and you could feel yourself getting wetter by the second. Your replies slowly turned from interesting, full and comprehensive sentences, to a mix of ‘mhm’ and ���oh yeah’. God, why couldn’t you get control of yourself?

“Do you wanna go sit down?” You gasp out, fingers gripping the cup for dear life.

“Yeah, good idea.” Bob was looking much more pale than usual but you chocked that up to your terrible lighting and white countertops.

The two of you sat in the living area, a far enough distance from each other on the couch to make it awkward. You pulled your knees to your chest, hoping that the squeezing of your thighs would be able to help alleviate some of the feeling.

What was happening? You typically had self control but this was excessive. God, you needed a cold shower.

“So - uh - how’s your sister?” You also, trying to think of the least sexy topic.

“Good.” His reply was short and quick. His chest was heaving slightly, looking like he had just run a mile. Was he feeling the same thing you were? His composure seemed to be dissolving just like yours. “Sorry, I’m just a little bit warm. Do you mind if I take this off?” He gestured to his sweater, lightly tugging at the bottom.

You screamed internally. “Of course.” Fuck, once he mentioned heat, your whole body exploded and you needed to take a polar plunge.

Even once his sweater was off, he kept readjusting.

“I’ll turn a fan on.” The moment you stood, you knew something was really wrong. Your legs were like jello. Your heart was racing as your body ached with desperation.

The fan did little to help you cool off and the feeling was simply just getting worse. You had been talking about something, taxes maybe? Something that should have been a complete turn off but Bob was looking at you like he wanted to ravish you.

Your voice trailed off when you realized he wasn’t even paying attention to what you were saying and you couldn’t even remember where your sentence had died off.

“I’m so sorry, I promise I’m trying to listen, I don’t…” He was audibly panting, adjusting his collar. “Fuck, can I kiss you?”

The heat between your thighs was like nothing you’d ever felt before. “Mhm.” You manage to nod, trying desperately to not go insane. You needed his hands on you, like, yesterday.

In an instant, he pulled you into a lip bruising kiss, bucking his hips the moment you straddled him. He was so hard already, you were surprised by how needy he was before anything had even happened.

You kissed like the world was going to end. Like you needed each other like some sort of drug.

His hands found your waist, massaging your sides. You couldn’t help but grind your hips down on his, relishing the sounds he made. When his fingers slipped under your shirt, cold hands touching your warm skin, you gasped into his mouth.

“I need you so bad.” He whined.

“Say it again.” The pounding in your chest increased rapidly at his admission.

“I - I need you. Oh my God.” He cried as you bit down on the soft spot beneath his ear. “You can’t keep doing that.”

You smirk, dragging your tongue along the sensitive spot. “This?”

His whole body shook as he pulled you down tighter against him. “Y-yeah, that.” You couldn’t tell if the movement of your hips was your doing or his strong hands, pushing and pulling you back and forth.

“Can I take your shirt off?” He begs.

“God, yes, please.” You reply. His hands quickly pulled your t-shirt up and over, throwing it somewhere across the room.

Seeing your chest turned him feral. In an instant, his eyes darkened and all inhibition was gone.

“Jesus Christ.” He mutters, cupping your chest through your bra and squeezing. “I could die in between these.”

“Fuck me first.” You pant. You felt like your whole body was on fire. You needed friction, for him to touch you, anything.

He leaned forward and licked from the center of your chest slowly up your neck. You’d never had anyone else do anything like that but it was hot all the same. A strong hand lightly gripped your throat, pressing down enough to feel something but not enough to cut off any blood flow.

“God, you’re gorgeous. Could keep you on my lap forever.” He growls.

Something about the possessiveness made your mind short circuit.

“Robert.” You moan, pressing yourself down again. Every nerve was on fire. You were on fire. You were going to burn and you were going to burn with him.

“I got you, honey.” His southern drawl slowly making its way into his speech. You’d always been interested in saving a horse and riding a cowboy, and now seemed like a good time to try it.

You smashed your mouths back together and began pawing at the bottom of his shirt. You wanted it off but you didn’t want to peel yourself away from him.

He made quick work of the buttons on your shorts, pulling down the zipper and pressing two fingers against you. It felt so good - too good - and you needed him now.

"Please, please, please." You were begging a man, and you couldn't care less.

“I got you baby, you don’t need to beg. I’ll give it to you. Fuck, gonna give it to you so good.” His fingers were inside you, working you open, thumb pressing against your clit.

You threw your head back, groaning in agony and pleasure as he presses against your g-spot.

“Gorgeous, so fucking gorgeous,” he mumbles more to himself than anyone else. You were riding his fingers like a pro, swiveling your hips and grinding down like you’d done it a hundred times before.

“I need…I need you in me.” You moan out.

“I am in you.” He teases, biting down on your shoulder.

This cocky little son of a - “Robert Jameson Floyd.” You whine again. You’d never been reduced to whining and begging before but suddenly, it was the only thing you could do.

He groans when you call him by his full name. His fingers pull out, tapping your folds a few times before being pulled from your shorts completely. He lifts them and - damn him - sticks them into his mouth, acting as if it was the most delicious thing he’d had all week. “You need to take these off.”

Brilliant idea.

You stand, quickly removing your shorts and panties in a fluid move. He unbuckles his jeans and pushes them down. His boxers came off almost immediately afterwards and your eyes went wide.

You’d known he was pretty. Hell, he was probably the prettiest man you’d ever seen, but you didn’t realize that every inch of him was going to be pretty. And big.

You swallow, eyes flicking up to meet his. He was panting, looking at you and you realized you didn’t feel self conscious at all. You felt good, safe, and sexy. You’d probably ask to marry him if he could fuck you as good as he was saying he could.

“How’d you want this?” He asks.

“You’re from Texas, right?” You ask and he nods. “I’ve always been interested in saving horses.”

He throws his head back, laughing. “If it weren’t you standing naked in front of me right now, I’d be getting up and leaving. That was the worst thing I’ve ever heard. Get over here.”

You suppress a laugh, sitting back down on his lap, feeling him hard as a rock underneath you. "Your shirts coming off." You say, pulling at it.

He removes his glasses, shaking his head lightly, tousling his hair even more than your hands had. With or without his glasses, he made it hard to breathe. When he removes his shirt, you were sure he'd knocked the wind out of you entirely.

Your mind couldn't think of anything to say so you opted for leaning down and capturing him into another kiss. His large hands wrap around your side, kneading the flesh beneath. You had began rocking your hips back and forth without even realizing it until his hand stopped you.

"I want to get inside you before I come from just this." He admits, resting his forehead against yours.

You nod, still unable to form coherent thoughts. "Yeah, yeah that's a good idea."

You lift your hips as he lines himself up. Much to your pleasure, he didn't force you down and allowed for you to go at your own pace. It had been a while and you were tight. He hisses through his teeth as you sink down.

"Fit inside me so good." You tell him. He throws his head back, letting out a low moan. You were glad he wasn't the type of man who tried to silence himself. He sounded so beautiful. "Could stay here forever."

"Fuck me first." He says, bucking his hips ever so slightly, echoing your words from earlier.

Who were you to decline such a polite request?

You lift yourself up, enjoying how his eyes immediately snap down to watch where you're connected. The grip on your hips tightens as you go back down.

It felt like your senses were heightened. Every inch of him was sending flames through you. Your heart felt like it was going to burst out of your chest and Bob looked no better.

He was watching intensely as you moved, mouth ajar. You press your hands against his chest and lean forward ever so slightly. The change of angles makes you see stars.

"Oh my God." You cry out. He felt impossibly deep and so, so good.

"Feels better than I ever thought possible." He groans. "Just like you were made for me."

"Thought about this before?" You tease, spelling your name with your hips. What size ring was he?

Bob's hand leaves your waist and trails down to your clit. "Often." With a light pinch, you're doubling over, crying out with a mix of broken moans and his name.

"You're gonna make me come fast if you keep doing that." You warn him. As much as you wanted to come, the thought of this being over made you want to hold off as long as possible.

He pinches again. "I'm no better, darlin. Come whenever, I'll be right behind you." The feeling of him inside you was making you crazy. You were losing your mind and felt entirely content with it. "Fuck, keep doing that."

Your orgasm was rapidly approaching. You'd never come this quickly before and it would be embarrassing if Bob weren't so stunningly handsome and crying out just as much as you were. Sweat was beading on his forehead, causing his baby hairs to stick down.

You run your hand across his head, moving both the hairs and his head back. He looks at you, all fucked out, and the sight alone is perfect shower head masturbation material for the next few months.

"You're so beautiful." He says, his eyes glazed over, like he couldn't believe that you were real. "Can't believe this is real."

You moan in agreeance. This was beyond your wildest dreams. You would have never imagined this as a possible scenario for how the day would go. Part of you began to worry this was all a dream and you'd wake up to find your credit card was in your wallet the whole time.

He shifted and your world exploded. He was deeper than you ever thought possible. God, it felt so good. So, so good. Too good.

"Robert, I'm gonna come." You cry out, gripping his shoulders like a vice. His lips wrap around your chest, sucking and biting down, the harsh breath feeling like Heaven and Hell all at the same time, before he roughly pulls back.

"You gotta get up before I come inside you." He warns, the grip on your hips loosening.

You force your hips back down, tightening your thighs around him. "I'm on the pill, I wanna feel you. Give it to me, please?" You asked it so innocently but your words were filthy.

"Yeah?" He breathes out. "Want me to come inside you? Fill you up?" You clench around him. "You like that, huh? Like the idea of me marking you as mine. Tell me you want it."

"I want it, I want it." You chant. "Please give it to me. Need to feel you inside me."

He takes your other breast into his mouth, bouncing you with more urgency. "Gonna fill you up so good." You hear him mumble around you.

He pinches your clit and you're a goner. Your orgasm rips through you and you're coming harder than you've come before around him. You can tell you're saying something but your mind is so blank, you're not quite sure what it is.

"Holy fuck." He moans, hips stilling as you feel him come inside you.

You're both panting, resting foreheads against each other. You can feel him spilling out but make no effort to move. This was something you'd want to savor for as long as you lived. A size 10 ring would probably fit him nicely.

He presses a kiss to your cheek. His hands pull your hair from your face back into a makeshift pony tail from where it had been sticking to your neck with sweat before letting it fall. "You're amazing."

You laugh lightly, never having been told that after getting absolutely railed before. "I think that belongs to you. I've never had someone make me come that quickly before."

"Same." He agrees. He finds his glasses, putting them on and blinking rapidly to readjust his vision. "A goddess, for sure."

You laugh and swat at his chest. "A cowboy, for sure." He groans, rolling his head back.

“Oh, who the fuck is calling me right now?” You breathed out as your phone began ringing, pulling you from your lovely little bubble. Your heart dropped when you saw who it was. It was Phoenix. You didn't get off him, simply grabbing your phone from the table and answering “Hello?”

“Hey girl, I’m so sorry I just realized I left the brownies at your place! Don’t eat them okay? They’re for a prank.” Her voice was rushed as she got out every word.

“What do you mean ‘they’re for a prank’?”

“They’re aphrodisiac.”

Ah.

[prythiansprincess]

Hii! Az fluff request here.

I was thinking of the inner circle being out having dinner somewhere and the reader is exhausted. Az notices it and moves his arm for her to lean on him and she falls asleep there, head in az’s arm. Az being all cute w her in front of the inner circle. Or something like that!

Love your writing!!

wake me up.

author’s note: wake up babes it’s time to yearn. this drabble is brought to you by this song.

the shadowsinger could tell that you’d had a long day, but he didn’t realize how exhausted you were until you almost placed the chocolate cake in the sink instead of the dirty dishes. azriel took the dessert tray from your hands and handed you the dishes instead in one smooth move.

you blinked in surprise. “oh, thanks az. soggy cake would’ve made a horrible dessert.”

azriel frowned in concern. “you look exhausted. when’s the last time you slept?”

you wiped your soapy hands on the front of your apron. “always great to hear that i look haggard and tired.”

az’s eyes widened. “i didn’t mean— you always look great — i just…”

the soft little chuckle that fell from your lips instantly relaxed the shadowsinger. “i’m just messing with you, az.” you smoothed down the worried frown lines on his forehead. “don’t worry about little old me. it’s just been a long day, that’s all.”

“if you want to head upstairs and rest, i can finish cleaning up here. the others won’t mind.”

you stubbornly shook your head. “are you kidding? i’m not missing game night. the last time we played poker cas got so mad he flipped a table and got put in time out. it’s worth losing sleep over.” sidestepping the shadowsinger, you finished washing the rest of the dishes. you could’ve easily used your powers, but cleaning always made you feel accomplished. besides, it gave you an excuse to be alone with azriel for a little while longer.

“are you sure? i just don’t want you missing any sleep.”

as you racked the plates, you couldn’t help but smile. this was so typically azriel. always looking out for his friends. “you’re sweet to worry, but really, i’m fine az. now let’s go kick some ass at poker.”

halfway through the game, the shadowsinger was convinced that he should’ve insisted on marching you straight to bed. you were barely keeping your eyes open, yawning every now and then while stubbornly stating that you weren’t even a tiny bit tired.

as expected, the poker game had turned heated fairly quickly. cas and rhys were arguing about some trivial rule, while their mates sighed exasperatedly. mor and amren had completely abandoned their cards all together, choosing to drink their weight in wine instead. despite his brothers argument, the only one close to winning was lucien who winked at elain from across the table. his mate blushed and smiled back before turning her attention to azriel.

she nodded in your direction, slumped form currently growing sleepier by the second. elain patted her shoulder, signaling to the shadowsinger. azriel got the hint and scooted closer to you.

“looks like this game isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.” the shadowsinger set his cards down and moved his arm over the back of the sofa. “you might wanna settle in, this might take a while.”

you watched through bleary eyes as cassian angrily waved his deck in rhysand’s face. the high lord looked affronted, which made you snort in amusement. those two were worse than children.

you yawned once again. “okay, but only for a little bit.” azriel nodded as you curled against him, resting your head on his shoulder.

“finally,” lucien mouthed.

azriel glared at him, which only caused the redhead to smirk. elain elbowed him, but there was a quirk to her mouth that told azriel that she obviously agreed. luckily, you were too sleepy to notice the exchange with the meddlesome couple.

“promise you’ll wake me up, az?” you asked as azriel stroked your hair.

“i promise.”

he’d wake you up eventually. he just didn’t specify when.

within minutes, you were fast asleep on his shoulder. azriel pulled the blanket over you, making sure that you were comfortable and undisturbed. the shadowsinger rubbed circles against your back, lulling you into deeper sleep. you looked so peaceful in his arms. he was so engrossed in you that he didn’t even notice that the whole room had gone quiet.

“well, aren’t you two adorable?” rhys said with a smirk. at some point, him and cassian had stopped arguing and focused their attention on the shadowsinger instead.

“you never hold me like that nes.” cassian teased with a pout.

“that’s because you snore loud enough to wake up the whole damn house,” scoffed nesta. “plus, you drool in your sleep.”

cassian gasped in feigned outrage. the shadowsinger shushed him. “not so loud, cas. you’ll wake y/n up.”

“rhys is right, you know.” feyre whispered. “you two are so cute together.”

“it’s about time you do something about it, shadowsinger.” amren said pointedly.

“it’s obvious that you two have chemistry together,” mor added. “you should ask her out on a date. not your little “just friends” picnics. i mean a real date, like dinner and a nice restaurant and candles and everything. oh my gods, i’ll have to help her pick out a dress!”

“that’s a great idea, mor.” feyre agreed excitedly. “we can all go shopping together.”

elain clapped. “i can put together a bouquet for you! y/n adores roses. especially the ones from my garden.”

“name the place and i’ll handle the reservations, brother.” rhysand offered.

“you’ll have to take her to that new gelato place, too.” lucien suggested. “she’s been raving about it for days.”

azriel rubbed his temples as his friends planned out this hypothetical date that he apparently got no say in. the shadowsinger knew they meant well, but if he was going to take you out, he’d do it on his own terms. plus, it’s not like he’d been thinking about your first date for months now. agonizing, was more like it. everything was planned right down to the last detail.

he just had to suck it up and actually ask.

“thank you for the unsolicited advice,” azriel said dryly. “but i think i’ve got it.”

the shadowsinger lifted you up with ease and walked out of the living room, leaving the rest of his friends to their own devices. he quietly made his way up the stairs, taking great care not to wake you. azriel paused on the top step as you stirred in his arms.

“az?” you murmured softly. it was so quiet he thought he’d imagined it.

“yeah?”

you cuddled against his chest, curling your arms around his neck. “promise you’ll ask when i wake up?”

azriel’s heart stopped for a second. then, sunlight filled his veins as you smiled sleepily up at him. he leaned down and kissed your forehead.

“i promise, y/n.”

[qierxing]

A/N: An interpreted continuation of @shiny-jr wonderful fic. (checks calendar) Uhm, happy three month update to this series AND 1k notes on the first part! I would say sorry for the wait, but I really did need it LOL. Anyway, it's not super obvious, but the timeline is a bit all over the place in this part, because I'm jumping back and forth between past and present.

TW/CW: Immolation, violence, implied stalking+actual stalking, obsessive behavior, mild psychological and body horror, toxic relationships, Yuu uses it/its pronouns, we get a little meta in here, the boys are FIGHTINGGG I. II. | Isekai AU | Yan! Heartslabyul x Reader

“Who are you?” said the Caterpillar.

This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, “I—I hardly know, Sir, just at present—at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.”

“What do you mean by that?” said the Caterpillar, sternly. “Explain yourself!”

“I ca’n’t explain myself, I’m afraid, Sir,” said Alice, “because I am not myself, you see.”

— Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Caroll

vi. Mourning

It is incredibly hard to get Yuu alone.

Whether it be by the forces of fate or just because so many vie for their attention, there is rarely, if ever, any time when someone is able to spend time personally alongside them. The only exception to this rule is Grim, who was practically the player's companion from the beginning.

So when Ace Trappola manages a rare chance to snag some one on one time with Yuu, he guns for it. Course, he had to time it perfectly. 

It was just another night like any other. Ace and Deuce decided to come over to hang out for a casual sleepover as usual. The four of them did initially start out studying, before the textbooks and worksheets were being abandoned in favor of more exciting things, such as the deck of cards that Ace brought with him.

Sending Deuce and Grim off to get snacks through a won bet over a card game was easy as pie.

"Hey Ace?" 

He hums in response, letting Yuu know he's listening. His nimble fingers shuffle the worn cards, flipping through them with practiced ease. Stacking them up quickly, he wonders if he should try to impress Yuu with another card trick to gain their enthralled praise.

"Do you…like…being my friend?"

The question makes him blink and look up in surprise at Yuu. It feels blasphemous to hear such doubt lingering in their words.

"Why? Scared I'm gonna ditch ya?" He teases.

Yuu doesn't respond, only giving a sheepish smile back. 

"I-It's not like I don't like being friends with you." He tries to keep his cool. "I just-"

Yuu's smile doesn't falter. "It's okay, Ace."

He's reminded of his previous girlfriend in middle school. It was more of a fling than a serious thing, but it's something he remembers vividly. Their breakup, after all, was rather dramatic.

"You're too much, Ace. Sometimes you just take it too far." 

What was even her name? Elizabeth? He could barely even remember, but for some reason, he still recalls the intense way her face was twisted in burning resentment. He tried to bury it in the past. He swore he would never fall in love or get into another relationship, preferring friendships over any kind of romantic trysts.

Now that he looks at Yuu, he already knows he's screwed up big time.

Yuu's gaze is no longer meeting his, instead staring into the fireplace that Grim had so generously set up earlier. The crackling blue flames reflect in their irises and in that moment, dread curls inside Ace's stomach. Yuu doesn't seem right.

"Hey…you okay?" He asks hesitantly, placing a hand on their shoulder.

Yuu doesn't move, still staring at the fire intently. He opens his mouth to ask again, but then they speak.

"If I wasn't acting like myself, would you still like me?" 

Another question out of left field. 

"Even if you somehow grow anemones on your head, Yuu's still Yuu, right?" His heart swells in pride at the way their lips quirk at his inside joke. 

"Yeah…" they murmur back. 

"Wanna see somethin' cool?" he says, holding out a card. Yuu tilts their head questioningly.

"It's the ace of hearts. What about it?"

"It's not just the ace of hearts!" Ace puffs out his cheeks. "Don't you know the meaning of this card?"

Yuu shakes their head.

"It means good news for yourself or someone close. Practically a lucky charm!" Ace waggles his eyebrows suggestively. "So how can things go wrong now that you have me?"

Yuu snorts and shoves him playfully. "Yeah, yeah, okay, Mr. Lucky Charm."

But it works. The foggy clouds clear from Yuu's eyes, finally returning them to the familiar luster he's used to. For the rest of the night, there is no hint of hollowness within them. And Ace hopes he will never see that sight again.

-

He should've known something was up since that night.

When Headmaster Crowley personally makes an appearance at their dorm, he should've realized it then. If there was anything that the old raven hated more, it was having to do more work than usual. 

"That person wasn't an imposter." Crowley says, coughing awkwardly into his fist.

The solemn words echo in his head on end. The rest of the Headmaster's words start to tune out for Ace. Automatically, his legs begin to move on their own. The calls of the others chase after him, but he ignores them, racing out of the lounge and towards the mirror portal.

Because if you didn't hurt Yuu-

-then what had he done?

When he first arrived in NRC, he didn't even know that Ramshackle dorm existed. Not until Yuu came to reside there; until he had to beg for shelter from them when he was chained with that damn collar. He knew that they didn't have to take him in. But they did, and maybe that's why Ace couldn't turn his back after that. 

The building before him is no longer the broken down hovel that he remembers back then. He remembers how the roof was almost caving in and wooden beams were always in danger of collapsing. Each knock on the entrance doors would send cascades of dust upon his head. Now, the walls are painted with a fresh coat of paint, the roof has new shingles, and the place actually looks like a house you could safely live in. 

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Prefect! Are you there?!" He yells, desperation leaking into his voice. "Please!"

Bang! Bang!

He's gotta be out of his damn mind, acting like some crazy person. But he can't help but be blinded by his fear. So he keeps hitting the door with his fists, praying, hoping, for…well that someone would open the door.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Yuu!!" He screams, and his voice echoes around him, mocking his helplessness. His fists are becoming numb from slamming the wood so hard, but he can't stop himself.

"Yuu–!"

"Oi! Ace!!!" A rough hand on his shoulder shoves him back and before he could knock the souvnabit-

"Ace, look at me!"

He's stopped by Deuce's fists meeting his in an even match of strength. Like an illusion broken, Ace stills and yanks his hands back.

There's only heavy breathing in between them for a long while. 

"...they're not here." Ace snaps to look at Deuce, who only closes his eyes in a painful grimace.

"What do you mean, 'not here'?" Ace asks.

Deuce doesn't say anything for a beat.

"What do you mean they're–"

"They're in the infirmary." Deuce's words flow out in a breathless rush. "The Headmaster said that after you ran."

Fuck, he just acted like an idiot then. No wonder no one was responding to his absolute earth shattering door banging and yelling. Then the meaning of Deuce's words begin to sink in. Oh Seven, no–

He turns and before he could even step in the direction of the main building, his arm is yanked back.

He snarls at Deuce. "Let me go! I have to see the prefect!"

"Housewarden is calling you back." Deuce forces out through gritted teeth and closed eyes. "The Headmaster said that…they don't want to see anyone."

And like a fire put out, Ace's anger chokes to flickering embers.

He lets Deuce guide him back, all the way from the Ramshackle dorm, to the mirror portal, and then back to Heartslabyul's lounge where the other three are grimly awaiting them.

Ace half expects to be yelled at once he passes the threshold. Or get some kind of lecture on how he should have better manners than to just run off like that. It would've been just like his housewarden to only care about weird, arbitrary rules when there were other arguably more important matters.

But his housewarden sits silently on his gilded velvet throne with glassy eyes. There's no anger burning behind them, and the freshmen are terrified to see their once proud and fearsome queen reduced to this husk. He almost would rather him back to the state where he was barking out orders for them. The silence in the lounge is deafening.

Ace swears they must be all thinking the same thing.

Please let this be a bad dream.

-

He tried calling you. Texting you. Hell, he even tried messaging you on Magicam! Magicam, of all things! 

Anxiety claws at his heart with each unread message and dial voice tone greeting. He has so much to say, to ask for-

Deuce wasn't faring well on his side either. He had also tried calling and texting you, to no avail. Grim, that traitor, hadn't come back to visit Heartslabyul at all since the incident. Never mind the fact he had only himself to blame for that—he thought at the very least the cat direbeast would have some sense of pity for their friendship and throw them a bone. 

Ace tried two more times to meet you. 

First, during your infirmary stay, when you were still unconscious.

The second time was when you returned to Ramshackle dorm with Grim.

Maybe the Seven were punishing him for his hubris. Or he supposes this is just karma. Because both times, he fails spectacularly at the front door of Heartslabyul. Because of this, he's the reason why Riddle had put them all on house arrest (with the exception of academic reasons, of course).

It's a declaration that would've been met with mutiny from all of them, if it weren't for the fact that even Headmaster Crowley had explicitly forbade anyone from showing up on Ramshackle's doorstep or trying to meet you. So he understands. Really! He does. He's seen how Riddle holes up in his room, muttering to himself while carrying out boxes upon boxes of crumpled paper. When he manages to snag a stray paper that flutters out on garbage day, Ace realizes that Riddle is also just as frenzied trying to reach out to you. Even if he is going about it in an old fashioned way.

He'll chip in to help. If his housewarden is left to his own devices, they’ll all be fossils by the time he sends what he deems a satisfactory letter. 

And the faster they do this, the faster they have a chance of reaching you.

vii. Embalming

The most horrifying thing is that it doesn't seem to care about dying.

That cursed pile of ceramic shards had disappeared—no, pieced itself back together—and once again, it became the smiling face of Yuu, the being they all knew and used to adore.

Riddle Rosehearts immediately smashed it to pieces again under the weight of his magic.

No one had tried to stop their housewarden. Not even the faceless mobs. Even if they were all alarmed at the erratic behavior of their housewarden, they could not deny the fear of seeing something dead come back alive. With not so much as a dent or wound in them, for that matter.

The third time it happened, Riddle ordered for the remains to be dumped into the school’s incinerator at the highest heat level. Surely, that would be enough. 

He watched as the incinerator roared and shuddered, shaking as if the pits of hell had opened. After a few agonizing minutes, the rumbling stops, and before he can even breathe a sigh of relief, the iron hatches creak open, and out strolls Yuu, perfectly fine and pieced together again.

It's magic. Or some kind of century old curse. Of course it is. After all, it was at a higher power than even Draconia's comprehension. Why he didn't consider the possibility beforehand is something he berates himself now. 

What might be the most damning thing is that it has no fear or suspicion in its face; even after the multiple times it’s been maimed and torn apart. Not like you, who immediately closed themselves off at being hurt so thoroughly. 

The irony isn't lost on him. The temptation of letting the puppet take its place back in favor of just bringing everything back to how it was is something Riddle could not deny. But now that he's actually met you, Yuu just seems more of a shadow of what he remembers during your interactions together.

It has your face. It acts like you.

But it's not you.

When Ace asks after the commotion at the Unbirthday party on how he was able to figure out that it wasn’t [First], he had to take a moment to gather his thoughts. Ace’s face changes into something of disbelief when Riddle merely replies with: “[First] takes their tea with two sugars and a dash of milk.”

“You were so sure only because of that?”

He doesn’t want to think what Ace’s face would look like if he had explained his whole list of reasons how he realized that the puppet wasn’t you. How he soaked up as much as he could when you came over for the tea party. Your expressions, your little habits, the way you fidget…it was all filed away in Riddle's head and later, his private notebook.

But that doesn’t matter now. Now, there’s an even bigger problem than the puppet resurrecting itself.

Grim is missing again.

This alone should've been more worrying than anything for Yuu, but it merely shrugs and says it’s not sure where he scampered off to. He's more than suspicious, of course, but there is no proof, which is infuriating already.

But without Grim, they are missing the key to finding [First]. 

The others raise hell once they hear the news Riddle reports at the weekly housewarden meeting. A new wave of tension washes over NRC and with it, an unprecedented deep disdain for the puppet. It returns back to classes unannounced, making Ace and Deuce rant to him about how weird it is that it’s trying so hard to act like nothing had happened. It attends school events with their camera, drumming up conversations like normal between all of them; despite the fact it gets ignorance or violence in response (depending on the person it greets).

But none of them are really sure on how to interact with Yuu.

The nicer ones, like Trey or Deuce, entertain Yuu with frigidly civil responses, in hopes of boring the puppet and making it flit away to another victim. Meanwhile, he and Ace have finally come together on an agreed opinion: that they would rather die before letting the puppet even think it could take [First]’s place.

“Go away.”

Yuu merely smiles in response to Riddle’s annoyed voice. The puppet leisurely lounges in the chair across the table from him. The school library is vast but empty, his authoritative voice echoing down the long halls. Several floating books flit past above their heads and the chandeliers above flicker with bright candlelight.

“I just wanted to keep you company.” Riddle purses his mouth in disgust. It’s invasive, it’s gross, and most of all it feels wrong to hear those words coming from Yuu. 

“I didn’t ask for your company,” he replies coldly. “Shouldn’t you know that it’s bad manners to bother someone who wants to be left alone?”

“I don’t think you like being left alone, Riddle.” He flinches at the way Yuu’s eyes bore into him. “Well, then again, you sure like to pretend you’re fine, don’t you?”

His hand tightens around the textbook he’s reading about cursed dolls. There would be no point if he brought out his magical pen and reduced it to rubble. But he is tempted, if only to get some peace and quiet for just a few minutes.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Riddle says.

“Hmm…” Yuu hums into its hand, “...then I suppose I will just let you be. What a shame, I had something entertaining to tell.”

“What? What do you mean?” 

Yuu giggles and waves him off. “No, no! You said you didn’t want my company now. Why should I tell you anything?”

He resists the urge to incinerate the book in his hands. “Fine! I would like your company. What is this ‘entertaining’ thing you want to tell me so badly?”

“Hmm…how insincere,” Yuu tilts its head coyly with a smile more akin to a smirk. “But I guess that’s the most I can get.”

“Since you’ve all been driving yourselves crazy, [First] is safe.” The floor feels like it’s been yanked underneath him. The puppet is smiling still, as if it’s all some big joke rather than the revelation it delivered. He can hear his blood roaring through his ears.

“You…” Riddle snarls, face heating into a bright red rage. “What did you do to them?”

It bursts into laughter at his face. 

“Why, I only granted their wish!”

Its laughter is cut short by the sound of ceramic being crushed, and Riddle is left shakily breathing at the pile of shards that used to be Yuu. The puppet’s words churn over and over in his head.

What did you wish for? 

-

It is currently 3:20 on a Wednesday afternoon. 

In his planner, the bullet point neatly penned on the schedule shows ‘Studying for History Test’ in bold blue ink for the time slot. ‘History of the Queendom of Roses’ is laid open on his desk, to the chapter about the local mythos of the area, just as he intended. His notes from lecture are next to it, with several of his stationary needed to jot down annotations. 

And yet, Riddle has yet to touch any of these items or actually adhere to his daily schedule—he’s too distracted by what he should do in order to reach the player.

Riddle's already embarrassed enough, resorting to handwritten letters with the best calligraphy he can muster. He's sent only a couple that passed his satisfaction, and they have all been met with judgemental silence. He’s hunched over another crumpled letter near ripping his hair out when someone knocks on his bedroom door. He quickly shoves the envelope under some textbooks out of frantic instinct.

“Come in.”

A familiar bob of red orange hair pops out behind his door, and Riddle raises an eyebrow at the underclassman who enters.

“Ace? What is it?” Normally, Ace would never be in his room if he could help it. If he was in Riddle’s room, it most likely meant he was either being scolded or punished. And Ace’s eyes are shifting side to side, as if he was trying to sneak his way in. 

“Out with it, Ace.” He’s not in the mood for the underclassman’s shenanigans.

“Housewarden, you’re writing letters to the prefect, aren’t ya?” The question completely takes him off-guard sputtering.

“W-What does t-that have to do with you?” He tries to maintain his composure, but Ace is already giving him a smug smirk for the one up on him. Of all people, it had to be him finding out. 

"I had an idea, Housewarden. Why don't we send them something with the letter?" Riddle blinks in surprise.

“...How smart of you for once, Ace.” It was so simple, yet he marvels at the idea's brilliance. Perhaps there was merit in trying this proposal.

“Hey! What the hell does that mean?!” His underclassman snaps back in a huff. “Whatever, point being, maybe we should switch it up instead of letters all the time.”

He crosses his arms, “And what do you suggest? There’s not much we can really send that hasn't been sent already by other dorms.”

Ace winces. Clearly he didn’t think about the other dorms with more affluent people; people who had more than enough thaumarks and prestige to spend it to appeal to you. Riddle can't blame him either: although he is at the top of the school and his parents are well known mages, it's not like any of that could help him here. All of them, in a sense, were stuck in that situation. 

For once, he starts to resent not having more.

"Ugh, well…maybe it doesn't need to be so fancy, you know?" Ace rubs his neck, face scrunched in frustration. "Like…uh…you know-flowers! People send flowers all the time, yeah?"

This is true. And for Queendom of Roses’ residents, it has become custom to send bouquets with subtle messages left in petals and stems. Although he is a bit loath to admit that he isn’t as well versed in the language of flowers compared to hedgehogs.

"And what do you recommend, Ace?" He asks. "What would be the best flower to send to the prefect in our circumstance?"

"We got all these roses, why not send them that?" Ace responds, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Riddle coughs in annoyance. 

"Why not just procure some from Sam's shop? Today is Wednesday. Do you not remember rule 228?" He chides. Ace groans, rolling his eyes. 

"Not the weird rules again…"

"Ace."

"Yeeesss Housewarden…" The card soldier mock salutes with a deadpan expression. "I'll see if we can get some flowers at Sam's."

"You better, or else it's–" 

"-off with my head, I got it, I got it." Riddle seethes as Ace cuts him off and dashes out of his room before he could get another word in. So troublesome…

Still, there's nothing to do except wait for his card soldier to report back. He turns back to his desk, bringing out the crumpled letter from its hiding place. Running a hand over the crumpled pages, he attempts to pick up his pen again, but fails as his thoughts begin to wander. 

Riddle only manages to pen a couple legible sentences when his door slams open, banging against the wall. He almost falls out of his chair in shock from the loud noise. How was Ace back so quickly?

"Have you not heard of knocking?!" He scowls, turning around to see Ace panting and sweating as if he had run a marathon.

"Never mind that, Housewarden, I saw them!" Ace shouts. 

“What are you jabbering…” Riddle trails off in realization. “You better not be horsing around, Ace.”

“Do you think I would lie to you about this?” Ace retorts frantically. “I saw them at Sam’s shop working the cashier!”

For a moment, his mind races with this information. If you were working at Sam’s shop, it would explain why you weren’t showing up to classes, let alone in the hallways or rooms of NRC. It’s a clever ruse—classes may be over during this time of day, but nearly all of them were participating in mandatory club activities or study labs. No wonder no one else has caught on to this. Riddle rubs his chin in thought, settling back in his chair.

“What are you going to do now, Housewarden Riddle?” Ace asks hesitantly. His eyes are filled with some kind of anticipation and hope, no doubt wondering if he could get some leeway in his own agenda. Normally, he would go right away as there was no need to hesitate about these kinds of things.

But. Crowley’s stern announcement comes back to his mind and guilt starts to creep in. 

“First, we’ll go with your idea, Ace.” He responds. “The ban hasn’t been lifted, after all.” Ace opens his mouth to protest, but he holds a hand up to interrupt him.

“But if that doesn’t work, then I’m sure even Crowley can’t say anything about coincidences.”

viii. Calling Hours

“I’m not joking around, you two.” 

There’s very few times that the vice housewarden of Heartslabyul gets truly mad. His patience seems boundless, honed by years of taking care of younger siblings at home and then dealing with rowdy underclassmen in NRC. But even his saint-like patience could only stretch so far.  

“I told you, we didn’t do it!” Ace scowls with furrowed eyebrows and crossed arms. Meanwhile, Deuce is silent by his side, face twisted with conflicting emotions. “You don’t even have proof! You just singled us out just because!”

“Who else was around the kitchen when I left it?” Trey asks, voice starting to rise in anger. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice you two lurking around before?”

The two freshmen began to speak out, voices rambling over each other and cascading into a loud shouting match that was barely intelligible.

“We just wanted to see if we could get something from the fridge, how were we supposed to know someone would-”

“Me and Ace just wanted to bring something along when we deliver the Housewarden’s invitation to-”

"You dumbass, don't just say that out loud-!"

It’s at this moment that Cater Diamond strolls in, takes one look at the mess of the situation and does a 180 back round to the door. But it’s too late, because the interruption is just enough for Ace to sink his hooks into him.

“Cater-senpai, you believe us, right?” Ace shouts after the orange head, making him flinch in place. “You saw us get the order from Housewarden Riddle!”

Cater turns around slowly like a door on rusty hinges, with an expression that screams of not wanting to be involved. "Oh Acey! Uhm, you mean the letter Riddle gave you two-"

"Yes!" Deuce interrupts in earnest, already trying to barrel his way to proving his innocence. "Housewarden Riddle entrusted us to deliver the tea party invitation ourselves personally." 

Cater turns to Trey, who is rubbing the bridge of his nose, eyes closed with a tiredness that seems comically reminiscent of an old man. "Well, I'm not sure what this is all about, Trey, but maybe you should cut 'em some slack and let it go."

The other senior nods in reluctant agreement and the two freshmen all but nearly trample over each other trying to run from the tension filled room. But they're stopped in their tracks when Trey calls out again.

"Wait, you two." The duo slowly looks back with cautious eyes.

"You wanted to bring something to the prefect, didn't you?" Trey tilts his head to one of the many strange topsy turvey cabinets in the kitchen. "I have some leftover cookies that I made yesterday. Take them. I'm sorry for accusing you guys like that."

Ace and Deuce exchange confused glances, and although Ace looks away in denial, Deuce nods in gratitude. They leave the kitchen just as chaotically, this time with the aroma of lavender following them.

A brief silence follows their absence, while Cater raises an eyebrow at Trey.

"Sooo…care to spill the tea?"

"Don't even start." Trey groans.

Cater seats himself on one of the stools near the counter, waiting. Trey busies himself with cleaning the stoves and counter, trying not to meet Cater's eyes. Silence falls, but it's with none of the comfort that Cater is familiar with. Giving up, he turns to his phone, refreshing his Magicam dash mindlessly. This continues for a good while until finally—

A low sigh, then– "Somebody took my candied violets."

Cater looks up from his phone. Another beat passes, and he realizes it's not a passing statement. 

"It's not like you to get this bent out of shape over your ingredients going MIA." Cater shifts his face onto the elbow meeting pristine marble while shoving his phone away. "You sure that one of the froshes didn't just end up taking them thinking they were for everyone?"

Trey lets out a rough guffaw. "You know better than I do that the others don't touch our stuff."

Cater taps his fingers on the polished white granite, hands already itching to grab his phone and check for updates, but he restrains himself. "That's…mostly true."

"That can only mean one of you guys has taken it." The hairs on Cater's neck raise at Trey's tone.

"Hey now," Cater grins, raising his hands in mock surrender, "you heard it from those two. I was with Riddle when he gave them that invitation."

"I know." Cater's fingers twitch as Trey carelessly tossed aside the rag used to clean the counter into a bucket. The soggy fabric makes a hollow sound against the wood, echoing rather loudly in contrast. "But Riddle would never do such a thing either."

Cater resists the urge to roll his eyes. It's true that their cute housewarden would hardly dare to stoop to thievery, but Trey's blind faith in him can be annoying at times. After all, didn't their little teapot tyrant threaten to kill the prefect at one point?

He supposes that was his fault, though.

"Then it's back to square one." Cater shrugs. "Besides, what were you even planning to do with them if you weren't gonna eat it?"

The baker runs a hand through his mussed forest green hair and frowns. "I was going to bake a cake with them as a peace offering to the prefect."

Cater's mouth forms an 'o' shape in realization. "That's pretty big brain."

"Yeah, but look how that turned out."

"It's fine~you were able to at least send cookies this time round." Cater finally cracks, digging into his pocket for the familiar grooves of his phone case. "All's well that ends well, right?"

Trey doesn't respond and Cater is too engrossed in his phone to look up to see his expression. He slides off the stool naturally, tapping through recent posts and comments, eyes laser focused on recent posts on his dash. 

"Cater." 

There it is. It's the most recent story reel by Ace(according to the time stamp, about two minutes ago). It's an inconspicuous black out picture with several cute teapot and teacup stickers decorating the screen. The banner message is short and sweet: 'Dorm tea party bout to get real this month 🤔😶'

"Cater." Cater's attention snaps back and towards his friend, who gazes at him with dark eyes.

"Please don't lie to me next time."

With that, Cater watches as his long time friend finally leaves the kitchen. 

Thank the Seven he did. He might have been a decent actor, but Trey has been with him through thick and thin, and it's given him the annoying ability to see through his tells.

Really now. Trey knows that he hates sweets. Shouldn't that be enough of an alibi?

It's not fair that Trey already has everything to set him up for a good relationship with you. Even if they're all set back by their violent reaction to you arriving in this world, he's sure it would only take a couple tries with Trey offering genuine heartfelt food to get to you.

It's just not fair. 

Isn't he fun to hang out with? He consistently gets compliments online for his suave looks and easy personality. So why couldn't he compare to-

He shakes his head. There's no point in overthinking it now. Cay Cay #3 had easily taken the cutely decorated jar of violets and discarded it in the dorm dumpster. Like candy from a baby.

He knows it's petty. But for once, he feels much better, knowing that he upset Trey's original plans to ensnare you.

Now, he once again checks Ace's story reel and screenshots it, while quickly pulling up the search bar. He just needs to level the playing field.

-

There can only be one fake bitch in this house and Cater has had enough of the competition.

“I wasn’t aware that you were going to visit me, Cater.” 

The puppet tilts its head with a warm smile, but there’s a frosty undercurrent to the greeting. It’s clear that he’s not welcome, if the way it’s blocking the doorway of Ramshackle has anything to say.

“Yeah, I ended up losing something here. You mind if I look for it, Yuu-chan?” Cater asks innocently. “Promise it won’t take too long.”

“Hm, sure. But I don’t think you’ll find what you’re looking for.” Yuu's grin is sharp as a razor blade. It knows what he’s here for and it’s definitely taunting him. That little–

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to look~” He responds back airily. His fist curls around his phone in his pocket tightly. The puppet shrugs and walks off, leaving him standing in the doorway.

It’s been a while since he’s personally been at Ramshackle dorm. Cater remembers how Ace complained about the house being a real fixer upper, but then again, he doesn’t remember much of that, since Yuu always spent most of the time at Heartslabyul dorm. The renovations certainly made it much more pleasing to the eye and more importantly, livable by HOA standards.

There’s nothing to write home about the living room. The coffee table is bare and there’s no wrinkles in the sofa cushions at all. It’s a little eerie—as if no one even lived in the house in the first place. The only sign of living was perhaps the fact it is clean of dust or dirt. 

Nothing in the kitchen either. He gives a wayward glance to the second floor, searching for any signs of movement. Couldn’t hurt to be thorough. 

Rows of tall doors pass by as Cater opens each one of them. A storage closet, a spare room, an electric cabinet, another storage area–it all blurs by after the fourth door. There really is nothing, as if the whole house has been wiped of any trace of you. He's about to toss in the towel when an old, dusty memory crops up. His little freshman, Ace. Cater swears he had been making fun of Yuu for seeing strange things at night. Something about a mouse?

Right, their room! Why didn't he think of looking there?  

His feet take him rapidly from memory to the door that was the third from last in the hallway in the east wing. He manages to wrench the door open to see a regular bedroom, bed sheets barely stirred. Before he can even put one foot in, a throat clears behind him. 

"It's rather rude to go into other people's bedrooms, don't you think?"

You got to be kidding me. Cater turns around with the fakest smile plastered across his face. Yuu looks unamused, tapping its foot impatiently against the wooden floorboards. 

"Just wanted to make sure, y'know?" Cater replies. Yuu gives a tight smile back. It goes around him and shuts the door with a hard thunk.

"Ever heard about how curiosity killed the cat?" 

Cater shakes his head in surrender, "I guess I need to look elsewhere for my lost item."

The entrance doors slam shut behind him hard enough to startle several birds out the dead trees in the yard. Cater doesn't bother giving a look back as he strides out of the yard and past the gated fence surrounding the property. That glimpse was enough and much more. Cater smirks to himself, taking his phone out and sending a quick text message to the group chat. Yes, curiosity may have killed the poor kitty cat…

But satisfaction brought it back.

viiii. Eulogy

It might surprise people to know that Trey Clover's first real friend is Che'nya Pinker.

That's not to say that Trey had trouble getting along with others as a kid, oh no. Everyone in his neighborhood agreed that he was a very sweet boy, who looked out for others around him. When he wasn’t taking care of his baby sister, he would be asked by other parents around the block to look after their own children, whether that be playing soccer games with the more energetic kids or patty cakes with the quiet ones. So it isn’t a stretch to say that he’s friends with nearly everyone. But Che’nya was a special case.

Their first meeting is still burned into Trey’s memory.

“You see it too, don’cha?” The boy had greeted him while swinging upside down on a low hanging tree branch. Trey had half a mind to scold him for the dangerous action before he actually looked at him. 

The first thing that takes Trey off guard is that he has eyes. They’re a shiny yellow, just a shade lighter than his. His pupils are long and thin, not round like his at all. He supposes it must be like a cat’s pupils—for he’s never seen anything like it. Then it’s his unique colorful hair, streaks of light pink intermingling with dark purple, making a strange striped pattern across the chopped uneven hair. Trey faintly recalls a certain cat from their local legends, whose fur boasted those very same colors. 

“...What are you talking about?” Trey eyes him warily. The cat boy gives a cheeky grin. He vanishes and then reappears in front of him, albeit with missing arms.

“The people around us who wear the faces of strangers.” Trey’s skin gets goosebumps at the way the boy observes him. He is not looking through Trey, but at him. Their eyes are directly making contact. “But you’re different. You have the face of a friend.”

“And what do you mean by that?” Trey furrows his eyebrows. The boy's grin stretches wider in response. (His teeth were rather blunter than expected, but his canines were pointed.)

“You’re strange. I’m stranger. Together, we can both be strange,” the cat boy chirps back lightheartedly. “The name’s Artemiy Artemiyevich Pinker. But you can just call me Che’nya.”

Something in his mind had clicked then. It’s hard to explain the feeling–just that it felt like a puzzle piece put into place. He hadn’t known it then, but at that point, the hands of fate had moved. 

Whatever the case may be, Trey was grateful to have Che’nya. Because now he knows that he isn’t crazy; not when he couldn’t see his parent’s faces nor his baby sister’s or even his other friends'. Che’nya too, only shrugs his shoulders when Trey asks him about his grandfather.

“The old man? Yeah, they say I have his eyes, but I wouldn’t know.” The statement is so casually delivered that Trey can hardly believe he’s talking about his only living relative and guardian. “His face does not mirror mine in my mind.”

Staring down at you, shivering with cold and hunger, he feels something churn in him again, just like that fateful day. 

He has his orders from Riddle: bring in the imposter alive. Trey isn’t a violent sort and nor does he enjoy boasting his strength over others like a sadist. And he cannot deny the feeling of cold rage that day when Yuu shuts down, fear inundating him that he may never, ever, get an explanation for the world he was born in. Why he and Che’nya were special, why he had to witness Riddle suffer under his mother–what was it all for?

Your face. There is no blank stretched skin—he can see your wide open eyes, bloodshot and fixated on him. Your mouth too, shaped in a pained grimace, lips bruised and bloodied from previous skirmishes. Surely, surely, there must be a reason why you were here. Why you bear the same face as Yuu. You hold all the answers, if you would just cooperate.

“Hey, I’m not gonna hurt you,” Trey tries reaching out, but you scurry back into the hedges, squinted eyes wary and untrusting. You remind him of a frightened hedgehog, prickly spines bristled and body curled in to protect yourself. “I just wanna talk.”

“Go away, please,” the imposter quietly pleads. “Just pretend you never saw me! I swear I didn’t even know how I got here…”

Trey swallows hard. 

“Just come quietly. Please.” He is the one begging now. “It’ll be easier for all of us.”

“For who?” The imposter barks a sharp laugh. Trey doesn't miss the way they wince in pain from their wounds. “For me? Or for you?”

He doesn’t have an answer. The sound of running footsteps has him turning, and when he looks back, you’re already gone. The only traces that you were there at all were faint splotches of red blood and crushed grass.

Trey wonders if this, too, was meant to be fate.

—

Trey’s been lovingly dubbed as someone reliable. Some consider him to be an older brother figure due to his nagging and supportive care. It's ingrained in him at this point from the years he’s spent playing babysitter. Trey knows the students around him are not his younger siblings who need constant watching (although their actions say otherwise).

But he worries.

Just a bit. Trey knows better than anyone that you can take care of yourself just fine. He's seen how you carry yourself within those hedges. 

It's just that, he doesn't know if you're okay right now. How could he know? You've been silent even in the face of Riddle's unceasing letters. So of course he's just a bit unsure if you're actually okay, or if you don't trust them enough to say so.

Trey finds himself more frustrated with the ban they're under. Not because of the inability to see you, although that is part of it. No, it's because Riddle has managed to skirt around that rule to desperately grab onto you, and that was just enough to wear you down. 

He thinks if he was bold enough, he could've tried.

As if it wasn't enough, even Ace and Deuce find their own way to get to you, snatching up the chance to deliver the monthly tea party invitation. It takes everything in Trey to clench his teeth and let go—even when Cater ruins his plans. He can't get mad here because it won't get him any closer to you. He has to be the bigger person.

If there is one thing Trey knows about Cater, it's that he absolutely hates getting sweaty or dirty. If Cater wasn’t trying to get out of running those P.E laps, he would absolutely be shirking any extra work assigned. So he's more than suspicious when Cater bounces up to him with a grin saying he could help cover Trey's science club duty of watering plants. 

Trey likes to think he can tell when Cater’s lying. His close friend's happy go lucky demeanor often throws off others, but he’s been with him long enough to pick out his subtle tells. His eyebrow twitches when he’s particularly anxious and the corner of his mouth tends to perk up if he’s feeling particularly daring or desperate. Trey figures this must be something that even he can’t trust Trey with, if he’s going out of his way to take on extra work.

So Trey considers this repayment for letting him take his violets. He watches as Cater dashes off in labwear, waiting for a minute, before following after him. His duty was in the tropical zone of the botanical garden, so he has no worries even if he does lose him. 

He nearly does a double take when he sees you walking in the courtyard hallways by yourself. And before Trey could rethink his actions, he follows behind you, eyes not leaving your form for a minute. 

You look like you haven't slept well. There's dark circles under your eyes. He hopes you're brushing your teeth. There’s no signs of bandages or wounds that he remembers you in, which he supposes is one relief. Even if he so desperately wishes to cook you a proper meal—you look like you could fall over at any minute.

The realization your path is leading to the botanical garden comes just as Trey catches sight of the glass dome. He wants to rush in after you, but he stops himself just as the door swings close behind your form.

Cater is in there. It all makes sense now. Trey has to give it to him—Cater really does know every little happening in the school. But Trey knows him well too—and if he had to guess, even if Cater manages to talk to you, it won’t end pretty. His inability to be genuine will definitely only set you on edge and less likely to reciprocate. 

The waiting game he plays is nothing compared to the silence he had to endure before. Trey doesn’t have to look to know that you’re the one slamming open the doors to the botanical gardens, labwear dirtied and face twisted in a frustrated anger. He watches as you enter Professor Crewel’s office again and after some time, pop back out in completely different clothes. 

His chest tightens in longing as he continues to follow after (more from an instinctual drive now, rather than deliberate), trying to keep you in sight within the stone pillars. He wants to call out after you so badly and ask you what’s the matter, if you need help with anything. If there was anything he could do to make you forgive him for watching you bleed out on dewy grass. The sun is about to set, warm golden rays flickering between pillars and casting long shadows. Trey’s so enamored with following after you that he flinches back when the sun directly shines into his eyes, blinding him momentarily. 

He barely manages to get a hold of himself. By the time his eyes blink away the blurry blots, he realizes you’re looking back at him. His breath stops. Your eyes are wide and frightened as they are that day, and his heart drops to his stomach. Both of you don’t move, merely staring at each other. 

You finally break the connection, turning around and quickly walking away. Trey gasps, remembering to breathe, lungs screaming for air. 

What was that?

x. Entombment

It's a nice sunny afternoon in the Heartslabyul domain. There weren't any track club activities nor dreaded remedial lessons. If anything, this free time would have been perfect for a nap. He hadn’t been up to any large shenanigans like this since the whole fiasco of [First] and Yuu. 

“I don’t think this is a good idea.” 

Ace scoffs, rolling his eyes. “You got a better one, loosey Deucy? If we don’t do this now, then all of us are stuck until Housewarden grows a pair of balls.” 

Deuce Spade bites his lips. “I just think there might be a better way around this.”

“Yeah? And the sky is blue. Keep going, we don't have much time." Ace cranes his neck to the side of the bush, eyes warily looking out to make sure the coast is clear. 

Deuce grumbles but continues plucking, some roses already tucked within his arms. They chose a bush the furthest away from the dorm, in a hidden corner where no arched windows could overlook them. It was necessary, because today was Wednesday, and the Housewarden would have their heads for plucking his beloved roses out of all the flora.

His fingers are bleeding already, finger pads torn from repetitive tugging on the thorns and stems. They couldn’t afford taking any of the gardening tools, lest they be questioned for what they were doing with them. Still, even he had his limits.  

“Why is it that you aren’t helping at all?” Deuce snipes at Ace, who scowls back. 

“You want to be caught by someone, genius?” Ace replies snarkily. “Someone has to keep look out.”

“Doesn’t explain why I have to do all the work.” 

Ace rolls his eyes, deigning not to bother engaging in another futile argument that would lead to nowhere. Deuce is about to cut off a particularly stubborn rose when Ace pipes up again.

“...Did they ever respond to your texts?” Deuce only deflates in response. Ace’s mouth slants crookedly in an annoyed grimace. The two of them know full well what the answer to that was.

“Damn that cat…” Ace mutters bitterly under his breath. Deuce doesn’t say anything. He too, is finding it hard to not feel petty towards Grim right now. Weren’t they friends? He could’ve afforded to help them out somehow. But it’s no use. Their texts went unanswered. Headmaster had banned them from stepping foot onto Ramshackle grounds. It’s like you had closed everything off from them.

It’s why he doesn’t protest this plan, as reckless as it is. He’s not any better than Ace—he needs to see you. He and Ace were your closest friends, your first friends! He loved you. That had to mean something. If it didn’t, then…

“I think this is enough.” Deuce adjusts the messy bouquet in his hands, attempting to hold them without crushing the delicate petals. Ace looks over and nods in approval. He takes out crimson ribbons and a silk handkerchief and begins tying it around the stems in a very artful way that has Deuce’s eyebrows raising.

“Where did you get that?” Ace smirks in response at the interrogative question.

“Don’t worry about it.” Ace snatches the bouquet from his hands and slips in an envelope with the housewarden’s seal. Deuce silences the questions on the tip of his tongue. For whatever Ace has planned, he’s rather not know anything more troublesome than necesscary. 

What he failed to account for was getting caught. Housewarden Riddle was beyond furious for what they did. It was only by Trey and Cater's gentle reminders that what they did was for all of them, that he only calmed down.

Deuce supposes three days with the collar is better than a week. Even if it is a heavy thing that weighs on his very soul.

He only hopes that you don't notice the thorns they forgot to trim.

—

It’s a given that although Trey is the right hand of Heartslabyul, Cater is considered the left hand of Housewarden Riddle. It’s been that way since Deuce himself enrolled in NRC, and possibly even further back. He hadn’t understood it quite then, but after some time, he realized something that he should’ve realized a long time ago. 

To never get on Cater’s bad side.

There are events where the five of them gather outside of Yuu’s influence. Administrative meetings, monthly tea parties, and the occasional casual hang out. When you’re aware of how much of your life is affected from being not like the others, it’s common to side with those who are like you. 

Cater had called the meeting this time. It was a bit out of the blue, at least for him and Ace. It’s only when they’re all gathered around the playing table in the lounge, not another soul in sight, when Deuce realizes Cater has that gleam in his eye. One that screams that he got a viral lead on a hot topic. His upperclassman must have been investigating.

"Remember how mirrors are considered to be portals?"

Deuce's neck prickles.

"Your point, Cater?" Their housewarden is impatient, not aware of what the question poses. His arms are crossed with his eyebrows furrowed in a frustrated glare. Deuce realizes that he must have been the one to send out Cater.

"There's a mirror in the prefect's bedroom." Deuce blurts out, and Riddle’s steely eyes snap over in surprise. Cater nods in affirmation.

"Yeah. I only managed a glimpse, but Yuu covered their mirror." Cater says. 

“Hold on, you went into the prefect’s bedroom? Scratch that, to Ramshackle?” Ace asks. “Why are we just getting this now?”

“Because I just came back Acey,” Cater flicks his forehead, causing Ace to exclaim in pain. Trey smiles faintly at the action. “Also Riddle told me to keep it confidential—you two would have ran straight out if we had told you.” 

Deuce sheepishly rubs his neck at Cater’s pointed sentence. Riddle rubs his chin in thoughtfulness, eyebrows still furrowed. 

“But there isn’t anything magical about that mirror, is there?” Riddle asks, skepticism coating his tone. “The puppet could have simply covered that mirror out of an odd preference.”

“Acey, didn’t you mention that Yuu always mentioned seeing things in that mirror?” Cater responds, deflecting the question upon his underclassmen. Ace straightens as he and Deuce both exchange a glance.

“Yeah…something about a mouse in their mirror,” Ace answers slowly, face scrunched in an effort to recall memories. “I always thought it was just crazy dreams but…”

“Yuu was always insisting about it,” Deuce chimes in. “Said the mouse speaks to them and everything—that there was another world it was in.”

Trey and Cater share a furtive glance together before looking at Riddle. Their housewarden seems to be taking in the new information, closing his eyes in thought. For a while, no one dares to speak. 

“What do you think, Riddle?” Trey finally breaks the heavy silence, and Deuce breathlessly releases a sigh. Leave it to Trey to speak for all of them.

“If the mirror in the bedroom is magical, then that changes things.” Riddle pronounces with conviction. “If that mirror potentially holds a dimension, then that would be the perfect place to trap someone.”

“Cater.” The orange head straightens to attention at the stern command. “Find a way to get the puppet out of the dorm for a while. We’ll need to look into this ourselves.”

Cater smirks and a chill runs down Deuce’s spine. While Cater still has an easy going look, his jade green eyes have darkened with a sadistic gleam. 

“Roger that, housewarden!” His upperclassman chirps, already taking out his phone. 

Riddle is already barking orders that each of them are to take up within this mission of theirs. But Deuce nearly misses his task, eyes stuck on Cater’s face as he scrolls his phone.

He catches a glimpse of a photo before it’s quickly clicked away. Deuce snaps back to Riddle just in time for Cater to shoot him a wary glare, checking to make sure no one else was looking. 

Deuce is very glad he is working together with Cater.

[maochira]

A part of the Family. [chapter 2]

chapter 1

synopsis: Corazon and Doflamingo have different ideas of what your future should look like. Unintentionally, Doflamingo changes his plans to be closer to his brother's.

type: platonic; familial

tags: gn!child!reader & Donquixote pirates, found family, hurt/comfort, Doflamingo softens up a litte

a/n: chapter two already? Yep! My brain is overflowing with ideas for this series and it's so much fun to write ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

It’s been months since the Donquixote pirates had taken you in. During this time you certainly proved yourself worthy to Doflamingo, although not necessarily because of your strength. Quite on the contrary; there’s much your combat abilities lack in. Doflamingo had seen the same thing in your eyes as Law; a hatred to the world that you didn’t quite feel, but your eyes expressed regardless. It didn’t take long for all of the crew to notice how numb you were to any feelings; the way your body and mind still solely focuses on surviving despite being provided with a - more or less - safe home.

To Doflamingo, your apathy to not only those around you, but also towards yourself, showed itself as a great opportunity. He could mold your personality into anything he wants as you grow up; raise you to only feel emotion when harming others; feed you a mighty Devil Fruit and turn you into a warrior that wouldn’t be affected by something ridiculous such as empathy. With this plan in action, Doflamingo keeps you away from the other children in the crew whenever possible. He doesn’t want you bonding with them, not even risking to let you feel anything but emptiness. If there’s anyone you should develop a bond with it should be him. The captain; the one who’s had control over your very life ever since the moment you were brought onto his ship.

Corazon on the other hand has intentions opposite from his brother’s. While unable to completely take you out of Doflamingo’s control, Corazon still tries his best to take as much of his brother’s influence away as possible. He’d encourage you to play with the other children, make Law read children’s books to you, try to make you laugh with silly faces - but he could rarely get more out of you than a little smile. Still, that was enough progress for him. One step at a time, he would think to himself each time you’d show only the hint of sympathy or help a crew member not because of an instruction, but because you wanted to.

“(Y/N) seems to open up.” Trebol says, observing you play a card game with Baby 5, Buffalo and Dellinger. “Do we send them back to their room?”

Doflamingo crosses his arms, letting out a huff. “No. I guess it was inevitable for them to become friends with the other brats.”

His eyes narrow as he watches your triumphant smile after winning this round. Unsure if this really was unavoidable or if you began opening up and showing emotion due to Corazon’s efforts, Doflamingo decided he could no longer only focus on his original plan. He’d have to let you become friends with the other children; he should let you become close to the rest of the crew - your family. While not part of his original plan, letting you bond with the others doesn’t have any negative sides. It does hold you back from remaining emotionless, it isn’t essential to raising you into the way he pictures your future.

With a few swift steps, Doflamingo walks towards the group of children gathered on the deck and kneels down right besides you.

“Having fun?” His large hand placed on your head, Doflamingo ruffles your hair firmly. After you respond with a nod, his head leans over you, giving him a good view of the cards in your small hands. He doesn’t continue commenting; he let’s you continue the game with the others. When you win yet another round, Doflamingo even praises you.

Law raises his head from the book he’s been reading. It’s odd, Doflamingo would usually take you away if he saw you playing with the other children. But now he’s even showing you some affection - as far as being affectionate goes for Doflamingo, at least. Praise coming from the captain was also rare, especially outside of battle.

“You want to play with us?” Baby 5 asks, holding out the stack of cards towards Doflamingo.

Although, he declines and straightens his posture. “No, I’ve got to talk with the officers.” He says, gesturing over to Trebol, Pica and Diamante, who’ve been observing the scenario quietly. Corazon doesn’t seem to be nearby, but it’s safe to assume he’s napping somewhere.

“My plans regarding (Y/N) have changed a little.” The captain announces to the group of men that have gathered in his office. “They started displaying more emotions lately. And they’ve gotten somewhat close with the other kids.”

“We can always force them back into their room, lock them in if needed.” Diamante suggests. “I doubt it’d take long for them to become numb again.”

Corazon quietly listens, although to those around him he seems absent-minded. He yawns and leans back in his chair, legs resting on the table.

Doflamingo pays no attention to his brother, instead looking at Diamante with a stern look. “I said I’ve changed my plans.”

“But young master, may I ask what made you change your mind?” Trebol inquires, careful to not agitate Doflamingo. Everyone knows he doesn’t appreciate his ideas and plan being questioned, and neither does he like explaining them more than needed.

A rare moment of Doflamingo hesitating follows. At first he considers dismissing Trebol or even ignoring him; he himself can barely figure out the reason. Diamante was right; it would be easy to force your mental state back into the way it was before. As the captain he could enforce stricter rules on you . He could lock you in a room, not allowing you to interact with the rest of the crew. If he wanted he could put you near a fire, or light up matches whenever you would even dare to show emotion. By now Corazon isn’t the only one who knows even the tiniest flame can trigger you, and Doflamingo hasn’t hesitated to use this as a way to discipline you more than once. So what is it holding him back now?

Rather than being a calculated decision, this one was instinctual. Even somebody as cruel as Doflamingo couldn’t bear to deprive you of any positive emotions after he saw how happy you looked after winning the card game. Something as unimportant and small as a game for kids, and you still grinned so proudly at your victory. That sight was the braking point for Doflamingo to change his plans. But that’s not what he wants to give the others as an explanation.

He gets up from his seat, voice as authoritative as ever. “I want their hatred towards the world to grow stronger. We can do that by letting them get close to everyone in the family; let them learn everyone’s reasons for being part of the crew. They’ll learn from hearing other’s experiences.”

While not a direct answer to Trebol’s question, it does provide enough reasoning for the officers to understand. Although, Corazon seems a bit skeptical regarding Doflamingo’s sudden change of mind. Not that he’d complain about it - on the contrary, he’s glad you get to grow out of your emotionless shell.

[nikosaki]

Hello there 👋, I hope you’re having a great day

I saw that you’re open for some requests, may I request some scenario/short fic for Fyodor Dostoevsky, in a story where Fyodor and Reader (female) are childhood friends, and they both got separated for some quite long time due to some family business reasons, because of that, Reader doesn’t recognize Fyodor anymore (she still remembers him, but she forgot how his face looks like). One day, they both meet again at the moment where Fyodor got captured by Ace (the white haired mafia executive from season 3 episode 4), and reader was currently working as his subordinate, I don’t know if you’re accepting some angst with happy ending, but if you don’t, then you’re allowed to decline this request, that’s all, thank you 🙏💖

"Come with me, my angel. I will sew your wings back where they belong"

Summary: You were but a flower in the wide open to him fo back in his childhood you were the only companion he had, now Fyodor meets you again but in hands of another man, will he truly resurect you or leave you as you be?

Genre: hurt to comfort (kindaof), romance Warnings:fem reader, suicide (implied for ace), slight manipulation, follows canon events of the episode, dialogues are different, not proofread, reader collapses because of overload information

A/N: this seemed so intresting :0

Fyodor remembers it all, from the day you had first met him in a fancy doll-like attire to the day he lost you.

He remembers everything.

✦ ⎯⎯ㅤִㅤ୭ ୨♡୧ ৎㅤִ ⎯⎯ ✦ ⎯⎯ㅤִㅤ୭ ୨♡୧ ৎㅤִ ⎯⎯ ✦

"I get to choose the type of game we play" the white-haired man says a tint of arrogance splayed on his tone, ace thought he had everything in control from his subcordiates to the hostage infront of him. He had already debated he would win.

"Go ahead" the man replies back his thick russian accent hiding an enigma. You were simply Ace`s right hand but how tired you were from this mans arrogance as if he was the king or something.

"Hm, this man seems quite intelligent i wonder if he can beat Ace, i really do hope he does" you think to urself you always remained quiet and god had somehow accepted your request

"Name! go get a stash of playing cards" Aces harsh tone cuts your thoughts off as you slightly roll your eyes and leave to get the cards. The thing you didnt know was the purple-eyed sharp gaze you may have forgotten who he was but he didnt.

"Is she another of your subcordinate?" he asks, fake curiosity in his tone. "Why yes could you not see the collar around her neck? Such a pretty face should not go to waste!" Ace mocks not knowing you were behind the door gritting your teeth.

"Sir, i have brought the items" you break their conversation bending over to hand over the stash of items "Ah finally" Ace heaves in exaustaion as if hes the one who was made to fetch them, his hand snatching the deck of cards hastily.

You couldnt care any less about the game they were playing but you could only focus on the man infront of you, beautiful amethyst eyes dark bags under them and luscious raven like hair one would mistake them for the feathers of a real crow.

Where have you seen such soft hair before?...

"Name, this is Fyodor Dostoevsky" the woman you called mother told you introducing you to the boy infront of you "Well then we will leave you two in the library while we talk about important matters.

Just like that your parents left and you approached the sickly boy crouching down to the wooden floor. "Why do you look so sickly?" you ask the boy as he only glares at you one could say, a tired glare.

"Maybe because i am sick?"

With that you and the sickly boy had interacted more talking and talking for hours, Actually you didnt even care how many hours it had been past back then. The words he uttered made it seemed endless and his topics made you less bored.

Even for fyodor, he was piqued in you, though you may looked like a mindless puppet back then, you had a mind compared to a jungle filled with wild flowers, how etheral and terrifying was something so vast and wide.

“Dear, we must go now bid farewell now” your mother’s voice rang out from the door of the warm and cozy library. “Ah farewell, dostoevsky” you stand up pushing the dust off from your white skirt. “Please, call me fyodor” fyodor quietly replies to which you only smile

“Alright, fyodor”

The next couple of days, you remembered how you had met with this young Russian boy and spent much of your time with him, he was far more interesting than any books you have read or any jewels you inspected.

You remember sitting down under the shadows of oak trees talking about the world beyond this small area of russia.

“Do you believe in immortality?” He asked “Maybe, why” she answered to his question which held thousands of answers but he who asked remained silent.

You remained silent watching the men in front of you play deck cards, apparently it was a guessing game.

“Ah” fyodors voice caught you back to the game, he had guessed the last card to your shock but the one who was most shocked was Ace but before you could react he had smashed a wine bottle on the winners head, staining red wine all over his face.

All of this shocked you as you watched ace walk out angrily and just sighed.

“That was really smart of you, Dostoevsky.” Ah- the name you first called him, you had really forgotten have you? “Was it? Well I simply memorised all of the cards imprints layer flat on the table” he remarked nonchalantly. “Simply? That’s quite impressive in my eyes though” you answered back rubbing his ravenous feather like hair with a soft towel as all the other subordinates watched from afar. “Say, what is your ability?” you ask putting his ushnanka “Well my ability allows me to control time and ability” the man answered tilting his head towards you.

He lnsists it’s his ability only for you to kneel down next to his ear, away from the pipe attached to the ceiling

“You are a liar”

Your voice softly whispers in his ears but instead of him being shocked at your intellectual guess, the man can only smirk as he replies back. “Correct, моя дорогая мышка”

Your eyes dilate in shock, the name he called you…

You remember he used to call you this same exact pet name all the time but just because your memories from your past stays on the other side of the storm that doesn’t mean you can’t see through the clouds.

✦ ⎯⎯ㅤִㅤ୭ ୨♡୧ ৎㅤִ ⎯⎯ ✦ ⎯⎯ㅤִㅤ୭ ୨♡୧ ৎㅤִ ⎯⎯ ✦

Anxiety casted over you as your eyes meet the disastrous scene unfold infront of you. The white haired man came back but at what cost? The cost of disbelieving in god, the thought brushes over you as you stare at Ace’s hanging body and the little boys corpse.

“Both of them are dead, моя любовь” a voice corrects behind you as you instantly turn around. You stare at the so man who had defeated the port mafia executive, such a man was capable of causing such destruction.

Even so your curiosity seeped through, “Wh- no what are you…?” Your voice could have make a croak when you felt his lip bitten fingers rise your chin towards his menacing eyes.

You could only stare at the man’s eyes, how can a man be so pretty yet cruel at the same time?

“My dear [name], do you not remember the boy you talked under the skies of Moscow city?” your eyes widen.

“Fyodor? Fyodor Dostoevsky?” This was too much for you, all of the memories appearing in your head like slideshows, your head was feeling dizzy but it was him! Your friend

And before you could say anything you felt your body collapse, with your head falling on his chest not that fyodor was surprised since it went as he planned

His hands pick you up and carries your dizzy form to the boat. After that you didn’t know what happened but somehow you had woken up in a cozy bed.

“Ah моя любовь, you are awake from your slumber I see.” Fyodors calm voice calls out, a much softer and less intimidating smile on his face.

You remain silent before getting up and inspecting his face. “It’s really you..” you try to reach out for his face but hesitate for a while but he says nothing before grabbing your hand.

“[name] I will wholeheartedly explain everything to you, but firstly would you care to join in my mission of redeeming the worlds pure form?” He takes your hand gently and brings it to his lips, looking at you adoringly.

“That means murder and violence am I right, Fyodor?” You ask still captivated by his beauty. “You are quite witty after all” he chuckles to himself

you move away your hand move closer to him before cupping his face and locking your forehead with his, which caught fyodor off guard.

“Yes, yes I will fedya. Anything to be back with you again but this time don’t leave me…please” “of course I won’t, моя дорогая мышка”

a/n: OH MG I AM SO SORRY ANON THIS TOOK SOO LONG

divider: @hyelitas

[tarotmeg]

Pick a Pile 🍪

— What do you need to hear right now?

There are two piles to choose from. Take what resonates, leave what doesn’t.

Pick a pile tarot reading with my animal blanket in the back and my two lovely aragonites. I wish I had more aragonites (and I might buy a new one this year). I saw a beautiful purple one last year but bought the two-coloured one instead. They remind me of ice and waves.

Pile 1 — red-green aragonite

Cards: Queen of Swords, Ace of Cups, The Well in reverse (from the Ethereal Visions deck), Justice.

You’ve had a lot of time to think about your important decisions and choose something you’re not yet fully sure about. No matter if you’ve come to the conclusion you’ve come to with someone’s help or alone, the result of it won’t be negative. You may not be seeing it now, but it’ll all be alright, and your hardships will pay off. Trust yourself, your friends, family and the universe. Deep down in your heart, you can feel that you believe in yourself, so why won’t you say it out loud and acknowledge it wholly?

Everything will work out, and you’ll have a fresh beginning. You’ll have all the time you’ve craved for creativity, new relationships, passion and love, so give yourself a break—at least a mental one if the work you’re supposed to do and make come to an end is still ongoing. New opportunities will come to you right after. Sometimes, for a new thing to be built, the older one needs to be destroyed, and it might seem scary, but it’ll make you happy and prosper. Remember that there are people willing to support you around you and that you can ask them for help and guidance; you shouldn’t be dealing with your fear alone.

In the end, whatever your decision was, it will be judged accordingly—by others and the universe. You’ve already made up your mind and it was right by you, and you don’t need to dislike it now. I feel like something related to water might help you find peace and balance.

Pile 2 — all red aragonite

Cards: Ten of Swords, Eight of Cups, Page of Pentacles, Two of Wands.

You were hurt, and it wasn’t that long ago. You’re still here, going forward, and the universe doesn’t want you to look back at what has happened with sorrow or anger. Your resolve brought you here, and you need to remember it next time you doubt your own words and actions.

It would be best to take some time to ponder everything carefully and see it from the point view of an observer. Try to detach yourself from the situation, only for a few minutes, to see it all anew. It’ll help you notice your own strength and get you to inner peace, and it’ll remind you that the world is big and that we have so much more to experience as people.

You should take a break overall, too, and find something to take your mind off the overly troubling thoughts. If nature is calling you, go for a walk in the forest, hike or sit on a bench in your local park—anything would be significant. Look for a fun hobby, meet someone completely new or choose a goal for yourself. Allow yourself to experience things you were too scared to do because of the fear of failure. I can feel that you need more courage, but it’ll definitely come naturally to you with time and contemplation. Travel where you want, make that choice that will impact your future and plan for all the things you aren’t sure are going to pay off. It’s okay to fail, and it’s okay to start with all the people around you knowing all the answers while you still need to look for them.

[rottenpumpkin13]

Imagine the firsts getting competitive over queens blood

Why Queen's Blood Is Banned From SOLDIER, A List

• Some people don't know how to play fair and make up rules on the spot, which results in arguments between opponents. One time Zack made up the rule that slapping down three cactuar cards automatically wins the game, and Kunsel was so enraged he shoved a cactuar card down Zack's throat.

• Some people⏤Sephiroth⏤are too good at QB and and it angers others who don't stand a chance against them, leading to cheating accusations. This came after Angeal was so convinced Sephiroth was cheating that he called the police. This resulted in Lazard having to explain to the dispatched officers that the "cheating" in question was because of QB and not Sephiroth cheating on his apparent lover Angeal.

• Some people⏤Genesis⏤don't know how to lose, which turns the above point violent. Genesis has been known to throw entire decks out the window and set them on fire if he loses. If he loses to Sephiroth, guarantee the table will be broken in half and they end up on the ground in a fist fight.

• Sephiroth lost to Genesis once and Genesis never let him forget it, bringing it up in every conversation. Sephiroth grew tired of this, so he did the healthy thing and attempted to staple Genesis's mouth shut.

• The matches take too long because no one wants to lose, so they spend time planning their moves and strategies. One match between Angeal and Zack took three hours, they skipped a giant mission they had been prepping for weeks for, Lazard had a heart attack, and in the end Zack realized he had spent three hours pouring his concentration into the game for nothing. He had to be sedated.

• The Counterfeit Booster Pack Fiasco: Kunsel started selling shady "limited edition" QB decks behind Lazard's back⏤selling things is also banned from the 49th floor. They started selling like hot cakes, but Lazard caught wind that there was something going on. So he interrogated Sephiroth.

Lazard: I know that there's unauthorized goods being distributed amongst the program.

Sephiroth: You don't say.

Lazard: Tell me what it is.

Sephiroth: How would I know?

Lazard: Eyewitnesses claim to have seen you purchase something from Kunsel in the men's bathroom this morning.

Sephiroth, not thinking AT ALL: It was candy.

• And that's why sniffer dogs were brought in at 9 AM on a Wednesday and everyone had to do a drug test.

• Random people pop in at random times of the day to play against SOLDIERs. Reno uses this as a way to bet money and has scammed Zack out of three paychecks already. Cloud swings by on occasion to beat all three 1sts, enjoy watching them lose, and leaves.

• Deck theft runs rampant. Every day there are reports over stolen QB decks and accusations that have ruined several friendships, which hinders everyone's ability to work together. No one is safe. Sephiroth's deck got stolen, Genesis's deck got stolen, Angeal accused Sephiroth and Genesis of theft, Zack....has a suspicious amount of good cards.

• People play when they should be working.

Lazard: Angeal, where's your mission report?

Angeal: Genesis ate it.

Lazard: Excuse me?

Angeal: I beat Sephiroth in a QB match and Genesis was so jealous and enraged he grabbed the report right off my desk and chewed off a chunk.

Lazard: I'm convinced that there's crack in those apples.

• The straw that broke the camel's back and got QB officially banned, though, was the match between Sephiroth and Genesis that ended in them getting stitches because they discovered a way to effectively stab each other with the cards.

• Its rumored that the mere mention of Queen's Blood is enough to make Lazard have a nervous breakdown.

[judesmoonbeauty]

Miss Fairytale Keeper, Come Have Fun With Us: Nica Schwartz EPILOGUE

Translations will not include screenshots or CGs as mentioned here. Fan translation only. Not 100% accurate. Please expect grammatical errors. Cybird owns everything. Feel free to re-blog, but please do not post my translations elsewhere. Thank you, for you support! ☾.

Nica: She truly is a cute robin.

I heard a muttered voice and turned around, but he just smiled and waved.

Kate: Did you say something?

Nica: Nothing at all. Anyway, if you don’t go home, then will you keep doing naughty things with me?

Kate: I won’t!

When I turned away from him, Nica began to walk ahead, chuckling.

(I’m so tired today…..)

(It’s all because of Nica’s teasing me)

As I watched his nonchalant back, I felt a little irritated, but I didn’t feel any regret about taking his hand.

[Transitions to the Palace.]

One day, a few days after the mission —

(I’m glad the issue was exposed because there was evidence of illegal gambling.)

It was thought that the evidence had been lost in the fire, but a ledger left at the scene revealed illegal gambling, and was delivered to Her Majesty the Queen.

(This is just the tip of the iceberg.)

I recalled Nica’s words and came to a halt.

(Still, I think we need to solve the problems in front of us one at a time.)

With a changed mindset, I started walking,

(Maybe I should talk to Nica about it?)

I turned on my heel to search the entire palace to lay out the facts.

Nica: I found a cute robin looking for me.

At that moment, Nica appeared before me and I jumped in surprise.

Kate: How did you know I was looking for you?

Nica: Heh, so you really were looking for me.

(I’ve been taken along for a ride…..)

Nica: Is there something you wanted to say to me?

Nica: How about some tea?

When I accepted the invitation with a nod, he escorted me to the drawing room, where I sat down on the sofa.

Nica: So, you wanted to have a chat about the casino the other day?

Kate: How’s that….

Nica: I’m a staff officer, right?

Nica: Information gathering is a skill.

He takes a sip of his tea and begins cutting the deck of playing cards he has in hand.

Nica: The core of the aristocrats were arrested, but the children of the upper class were released on bail.

Nica: Well, they’re nothing more than debauched sons and daughters.

Kate: …..People who’ve lost everything because of gambling.

Nica: At best they’ll go to a rescue institution, otherwise won’t they die in ditch somewhere? [1]

Nica: I don’t care what happens to the gambling addicts.

I frowned at his skillful shuffling.

Kate: They certainly brought it upon themselves.

Kate: But I don't believe that all of the people who attacked me had ill intentions that were beyond the point of no return.

Whatever the reason, it was a crime to cause an explosion and attack so many people.

Kate: I don’t approve of methods that do not allow room for rehabilitation.

Nica’s eyes widened and he blinks repeatedly.

Then, there’s a loud laugh.

Nica: I’m jealous that a kind young lady is worried about them.

Nica: Would you like to gamble to find out how they feel?

Kate: Huh?

Nica: You might understand if you experience the thrill of not knowing if you’ll win or lose,

Nica: The exhilaration of winning and the despair of losing.

When I gazed at him who was dealing the cards alternately,

Nica: What will you bet? Money? Your body?

Kate: I won’t bet that!

Nica: The bigger the stakes, the more intense it is.

When he picks up the cards dealt,

Nica: If I win, show me around the city.

Nica: Of course, without telling Crown.

Nica discards a pair of matching cards, and I realize this is a game of Old Maid.

Nica: You might not be trusted as a fairytale keeper anymore.

Kate: What’s in it for me?

Nica: If you win, I’ll tell you all about us.

Kate: What?

He flashed a card,

Nica: What’s our aim, what we’re going to do, I’ll answer all your questions.

Nica: What will you do?

He smiled meaningfully and crossed his legs.

(Maybe I can learn about “their lies” that Harrison was talking about.)

Kate: I’ll do it.

Nica: Now you’re talking.

Taking a deep breath I faced it.

Nica: Ladies first.

As he said that, I reached and pulled out a card, but

(Ah,)

I drew the joker, and resisted the urge to make a facial expression.

Then Nica smiled widely.

(Maybe he knows what I drew…..?)

Nica: Why are you staring at me like that. Have you fallen in love with me?

This battle may have been decided who’d lose from the start.

Ftn [1] 野垂れ死に 'Notarejini' - Literally, to die in a field or die a dog’s death.

[Master List] Dividers: @.adornedwithlight

Tags list: @sh0jun @theimaginativelyreticent @sapphire-323 @letter-from-afar @nateko Please let me know if you'd like to be added to my tags list!

[jpitha]

Used to Humans

Lots of "HFY" and "Deathworlders" and "Humans are $Adjective" stories understandably talk about early days with humans in the galaxy. It's fun to think about how humans could be different from other sapient species and how the things that we do that are normal to us could be seen by others. Eventually though, everything gets explained and the galaxy moves on, right? What does it look like when everyone already knows about the wild things humans do.

****

Vic burst through the door into the lounge. "I've got it! If we can route the neutrino stream away fro-"

Resimar and Pel'im didn't look up from their card game. Many of the games humans brought into space are popular, but almost all pale in comparison to the humble deck of cards. The idea of pieces of laminated paper with numbers and symbols on them to play hundreds of different games was appealing across all sapient species in the galaxy. Resi and Pel were currently deep into a Pinochle tournament.

Without looking up at him, Pel'im says, "Nice work Vic, I'm sure it'll work great." He sighs and flicks his eyes up to Resi. "twenty five points." Resi makes a face, but flicks her ears, indicating agreement.

Vic looks at both of them, incredulous. "You don't want to know what I figured out?"

Resi puts down four cards. "Kings around."

Pel snorts. He takes a moment to move the cards in his hand to a slightly different orientation. He doesn't look up at Vic. "Vic. How long as humanity been in the Galaxy?"

"Uh, more than one hundred Earth years now?"

Pel nods. "Right. And in that time, how many planets did you destroy?"

Vic thinks for a moment and looks down at his pad. "On purpose, or by accident?"

"That's entirely his point, Vic!" Resi looks up at Vic while Pel fusses at his cards. "For the last hundred and something years, when something wild has happened in the galaxy, you go to the center and you find one or more humans, either cackling with laughter or covered in soot going 'I had no idea that was going to happen!' We're just used to it now." She frowns at the cards in her hand. "You usually clean up any messes you make, so go nuts, have fun. Tell us when it's over. Is this going to be like the 'Apple Pie' incident again?"

"Double Pinchole!" Pel throws down both jacks of diamonds and both queens of spades, triumphant "That's thirty points, and my win for this round.

Vic crosses his arms. "No, it won't be another Apple Pie. For one, I know more about your physiology, for two, HR has forbid me from the kitchen, and for three the captain says that it wasn't that big of a deal actually, and nobody was seriously hurt in the end."

Resi sighs and scoops up the cards, carefully arranging them and with her smaller than human hands very carefully shuffles them. Pel leans back and takes a sip of his tea, satisfied.

Vic stares at them, deflated. "Oh. Uh, okay then. I'll let you get back to your game. Who is winning?"

Resi snorts. "Pel currently, but the tournament is not over yet."

Pel leans back and makes a gesture like rolling their eyes. "It basically is."

Later that day, when the bulkhead doors slammed shut to prevent all the atmosphere from venting from the ten meter hole that appeared in the hull near Vic's workstation, Resimar wondered if she should have expressed more interest in what Vic was working on.

[husbandograveyard]

₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊ Part of my fluffember short writings - Masterlist ₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊

₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊ Cyno (Genshin) X Genderneutral reader ₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊ ₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊ Fluff - wc: 521 ₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊

Cyno’s eyes light up when you quietly ask him to explain his silly card game to you. He doesn’t even mention the fact that you called it silly yet again, knowing fully well that you say that just to poke fun at him. You have always found it really endearing, how a man with such an intimidating reputation was actually nothing but a huge nerd at heart. 

He had asked before, actually, to introduce you to the mechanics of it all. It was back when you first started dating, when you didn’t really know him that well yet. Before you realized just how much time he invested in the game. Before you knew how hard he worked, how much effort he put in just to get a specific card to perfect his deck. How he laid them out on the table, softly muttering to himself about strategies and summons, about passive abilities and charged attacks. You always liked watching him, finding joy in his joy, but initially you just weren’t invested enough to let him teach you. And he had never asked again. 

So you had brought it up now, casually, since you both had a quiet day off, and the weather outside made it so you couldn’t really go on an adventure together. He jumped off of the couch, nearly throwing you off- you had rested your legs on top of his to read, and nearly stumbled over himself getting to the shelves where he kept his deck, his die and his spare cards. You closed your book with a smile, chuckling at the excitement that was practically radiating from his body, and followed him to the table. 

He was already stalling out some cards, dividing his own deck into the different categories of cards, trying to figure out the best way to start explaining all the categories and what their function was, as well as the different steps of the game and…- 

He stopped dead in his tracks, looking you in the eyes. You had sat yourself across from him at the table, a wide smile on your face, nothing but pure love and adoration in your eyes. He scanned your features for anything that would tell him that you were getting bored, or impatient. He had been rambling for a while, the excitement taking over without keeping in mind that maybe you weren’t that interested after all, surely to overwhelm you with the endless stream of technical terms that was falling from his lips 

“I’m sorry, maybe that’s all too much- maybe we should take it a bit slower?” 

You just chuckled in response: “As slow as you want it to, cause that just means I get to listen to you a little longer, and I get to spend some more time with you.” 

Cyno averted his eyes, something he did more often when he got flustered. But you weren’t done yet. 

“And there is nothing I love more than seeing you happy and excited like this.” 

Cyno was quiet a bit, clearing his throat before he sat down and pushed a tray with die your way. 

“So-...” 

[moontyun]

Pairing: Yeosang x reader Word Count: 925 Genre: fluff, attempted humor, friends to lovers Warning(s): swearing Synopsis: Friendships came and went as time wore on but you were always someone constant for him. Someone who unwaveringly stood beside him. Someone he grew to depend on and care for deeply.

Feisty

A gentle breeze swept through the trees as it continued to pour down on the tent. All three of you had huddled inside and watched the cold rain touch everything in sight. It was freezing and there wasn’t anything to do other than to just watch the day go by. Yesterday, San had said he wanted to take you guys to see the stream he had found on his walk today but it seemed the weather had other plans for you guys today. 

The temperature continued to drop, the colder it got, the more you needed heavier weighted blankets. “Hot chocolate would be really good right now.” You had turned around on your back looking back and forth between the two boys, hoping one of them would get the hint and make you some. 

San was completely confused, “How do you expect to have hot chocolate when we can’t even keep a fire going right now?” 

You pouted in response, “I was hoping one of you would figure something out.” 

Yeossang laughed a little at your pouting before he threw a blanket over your back, rubbing it gently, trying his best to warm you up. “I’ll make you some when the rain lets up. But until then, you’re going to have to make the blankets work.” San furrowed his brows, this was a little odd of him to do. He’d never done that for San, nor did San really expect him to. It was just weird that he was doing that for you. Never had he known Yeosang to do something like that. Something was different. He’d kept a mental note to ask about it later. Right now, was not the time to ask. 

You sighed, “Should we play cards or something?” 

“Did you bring any?” San was thoroughly convinced you didn’t have any considering the recent silly question you asked.

“Yes, smart ass. I brought a deck.” You sat up and began ruffling through your backpack. You pulled them out, “See? I brought them! Don't doubt me.” 

San rolled his eyes, “I have to. Sometimes you lack common sense.” You glared at him. He was being catty just because of his own situation and he had been for the past two or three days. It was starting to get on your last nerve. It wasn't your fault he chose a crappy person, why were you getting the brunt of the attitude?

Yeosang cleared his throat, trying to get your attention. “Okay, instead of trying to kill each other, let's just play a friendly couple rounds of cards.” 

After a few rounds of San losing and getting his ass handed to him, the rain had finally stopped, the fire crackled as the two of them sat by the fire with you asleep, bundled up warmly. San watched as Yeosang played with the burnt pieces of firewood with a stick he'd found. The night was peaceful, a good end to such a long and dreary day. Crickets chirped announcing their presence, wolves howling somewhere far off. Owls hooting away, peaceful. 

San's intuition was nagging at him. It had been since the whole back rubbing incident today. San had been watching Yeosang the whole day. How he responded to you, how he looked out for you, how he took care of you. It was starting to become clear to him that there was definitely something more between the two of you. The little flirtatious comments towards one another was a little more than what his bond with Yeosang allowed. They seemed less like a bromance and more like a genuine attraction toward one another. 

San had been debating bringing it up for the past 20 minutes, it was starting to get on his nerves just thinking about it. He wasn’t sure if the two of you had always been just a flirty duo or if he was just imagining things because of his recent issues. He figured since you were asleep and it was just the two of them out here, he might as well ask. What was the worst that could happen? “Do you like [name]?” He flat out asked, no skirting around the issue, no sugar coating it, nothing. Just flat out asked.

Yeosang was taken aback by the sudden question. If his face wasn’t already red, it would have been now. He didn’t say anything for a few seconds but continued to play with the charred wood in the fireplace. “No! What makes you say that?” He half shouted before he realized he was being too loud. 

San quirked his brow, Yeosang was being defensive about something so silly, “So you do?” He readjusted himself and watched how Yeosang was squirming around with the question. 

“No. Couldn't be farther from the truth.”  Yeosang was getting oddly defensive but San wasn't going to keep pushing it. He knew that it would just make the other extremely irritated. It was bad enough they were all out here for his mental healing. “Are you feeling any better after lashing out all day?”

The younger man was slightly annoyed with the question. It wasn't like he was lashing out intentionally, it just happened given his whole situation he's in right now, “Honestly or do you want the sugar coated answer?” 

“Sugar coated.” 

“Fantastic!” 

Yeosang chuckled a little, “You'll be okay. It sucks right now, but you'll be okay.” Patting his friend's back as he continued to play with the torched embers. San was confused, Yeosang was never this touchy. Maybe he was trying to cover something up.

masterlist! ☆ next! ☆ previous!

Tag list is open, send an ask to be added!

[apomaro-mellow]

S1E07: Go Fish

S1E06

Jim was in the cereal aisle, pushing his cart around. He stopped in front of the chocolatey cereals and was pretending to look at them. He picked a box up and without missing a beat-

“I know when I’m being followed, Joyce. Whatever it is, just spit it out.”

She slid her cart next to his, looking a little sheepish. “I didn’t mean to stalk you in the store. I just didn’t need you turning tail when you saw me.”

“I wouldn’t ‘turn tail’. I’d walk away, like a man.”

“And this man is gearing up for a fishing trip this weekend with his son, right?”, Joyce asked.

“Yeah, me and Steve have plans for it. Why?”

“Well I was thinking… that you could bring a couple other guys. Like Will and Jonathan.”

“And just why would I do that?”

“Because they could use some male-bonding time”, Joyce said, looking very intently at the contents of her cart.

“See, the thing is, I was planning on having a little…talk, with Steve. Just me and him.”

“You can talk to my boys too.”

Jim cleared his throat. “It’s gonna be uh, well a sensitive topic.” He started pushing his cart in an attempt to leave the conversation.

Joyce kept pace with him. “I think Jonathan and Will could use that talk too.”

Jim stopped suddenly, then looked Joyce over. “I think we’re talking about different things.”

“I don’t think we are”, Joyce said.

“And why should I be the one to do it, huh?”

“You’re the one who decided they needed someone to teach them how to throw a ball or mow the lawn. So you can get this too.”

Jim hung his head. “....They bring their own poles.”

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

At 4:30 in the morning, Jim was already packing the car away. Steve was yawning as he leaned against the passenger door. Jonathan was carrying Will, fully dressed but still mostly asleep. Steve opened the back door so he could be put into the backseat.

“You and Hopper fish a lot?”, Jonathan asked.

“Only when he wants to talk”, Steve said. “Last time we went fishing he told me about us moving. This time I think he’s gonna tell us he’s getting married to your mom.”

“What?”, Jonathan hissed in a whisper.

“Why else would he bring you and Will along?”, Steve shrugged.

“They’re not getting married.”

Steve grinned. “Wanna bet?”

“I thought you learned not to bet against me?”

“Saddle up, boys. We gotta get there before the fish wake up”, Hopper said as he got in behind the wheel.

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

Hours later, El’s Saturday morning cartoon marathon was interrupted by the sound of knocking at the door.

“Good morning!”, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Mike greeted.

“Good morning”, El waved. “Were we supposed to meet up today?”

“Your dad and your older brother are both out of the house all day. Of course we’re hanging!”, Dustin exclaimed while letting himself in.

“We brought some movies and some games”, Lucas added.

“This is okay, right El?”, Mike asked.

“Y-yeah it’s okay. Totally.”

Max gave her a knowing look before making herself comfortable on the couch. Lucas took out a deck of Uno cards and began to shuffle.

“As the reigning champion, I’ll deal”, he said.

“Since when are you reigning champion?”, Mike questioned.

“Since I beat you back in second grade and you never recovered.”

“That’s BS you never beat me!”

“Well how’s about a friendly game to settle it?”, Lucas suggested as he dealt everyone a hand.

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

The waters of the lake were calm and mostly still. In the boat, Jim and Will sat on one side, while Steve and Jonathan sat on the other.

“Look at us”, Jim said, trying to keep any nerves from his smile. “Just a bunch of men, earnin’ their meals today.”

Jonathan was the only one to respond. “Heh, yeah.”

“Your dad ever take you boys fishing?”, Jim asked.

Will shook his head as Jonathan spoke up. “He took me hunting, a couple of times. I didn’t really…enjoy it.”

“Well fishing’s different from hunting. For one thing, you can just shoot the breeze with your fellow fishermen while waiting for something to bite.”

“Does it take a long time?”, Will asked.

“Depends. We could be out here for hours and catch nothin’. You just never know.” Jim rolled his shoulders and cleared his throat. “But uh, speaking of catching, or uh”, he shifted it gaze to Steve. “Pitching? Or you know, whatever you’re about. Um-”, he cleared his throat. “I wanted to talk to you boys about something.”

“Here it comes”, Steve said. 

“Are you really marrying my mom?”, Jonathan blurted out at the same time Will asked, “Are you mad about the baseball game?”

Jim looked between all three of them. “Marry-what?! The game?? And what do you mean ‘here it comes’?”

“Every time you take me fishing, you’ve got some big news, or you wanna talk about something serious”, Steve said.

“We’ve been out fishing like, twice”, Jim said.

“But it’s true, right?”, Jonathan said. “You have something important to talk about? Is it about our mom?”

“I’m not getting married to Joyce.” Then Jim put a hand on Will’s shoulder. “And I’m not upset about the game. We raised a good amount of money and you kids played your heart out.”

Steve’s eyebrow raised. “Then why are we out here at the ass crack of dawn?”

“Watch your language. And we’re here because…” Jim got fidgety as he tried to lay it down gently. “I’ve noticed-well I guess Joyce has too, I wanted to talk to just Steve but if our suspicions are correct, you two boys need this talk too.”

“Um, if this is the talk I’m thinking about, my dad already had it with me”, Jonathan said, eyes shifty.

Steve raised a hand. “Yeah, same here. It’s a little late for the two of us, but maybe Will?”

“I-I don’t need that talk!”, Will said quickly. “I heard high school has a really good health teacher so, yeah.”

Jim rolled his eyes. “Not that kind of talk. This one’s a bit more…specific.”

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

“This is exactly what happened last time”, Lucas beamed.

“Shut up!”, Mike shouted.

All five of them had cards in their hands. Lucas was down to two while Mike had about a dozen in his hand.

Lucas kept going. “I was about to win, while you were stuck with all these cards.”

“How’s this for ‘about to win’? Draw four!”, Mike slammed it down like the card had wronged him personally.

“....This means war Wheeler.”

“Did any of you guys see this epic game?”, El asked Max and Dustin.

“Nope”, Dustin replied, placing down a card when it was his turn. “It happened before I moved here, which means it happened before Max moved here.”

“I’m starting to think it didn’t happen or neither of them won”, Max said. She then grinned at Mike. “Draw two, you goober.”

“You’re the worst”, Mike complained.

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

Silence lulled over the boat. Jonathan’s head was in his hands and Steve had his arms crossed. Will was gripping his pole like a lifeline. Jim released a breath.

“Feel free to, you know, say anything.”

Steve pinched at the bridge of his nose before leaning forward. “What are we supposed to say? Besides ‘you’re dead wrong’? Or ‘you have no idea what you’re talking about’?”

“I know a thing or two about it.”

“Then let’s focus on you being dead wrong”, Steve said. “We’re not-”, he quickly looked around the lake but there was no one else on the water but them. “We’re not queers”, he said a bit more quietly.

Jim sighed. “Steve…”

“I’m sorry, our MOM asked you to talk to us about this?”, Jonathan finally looked up from his hands.

“Joyce has noticed some things. And so have I”, Jim said.

“I don’t know what you think you’ve noticed, but you’re wrong”, Steve said.

Will was very quiet, but Jim’s eyes still went to him, trying to gauge his expression. It reminded him of a scared, cornered animal.

“Look, gay or not, we just wanted you to know…well that we know.”

“And what? You’re gonna kick me out? Or send me to boot camp?”, Steve got up suddenly and jostled the boat.

“Watch it”, Jim said in a warning tone. “No one’s doing any of that.”

“Steve”, Jonathan grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back down. “I think he’s trying to tell us that he’s okay with it.”

“It doesn’t matter if he’s ‘okay with it’ when it’s not true!”

“Even if you’re not gay, you might have a friend that is”, Jonathan said. “And if you ever bring that friend around, it’s nice to know Hopper won’t just toss ‘em out, right?”

Steve settled, and for a moment, he thought about Robin. Then he looked to Will, who still hadn’t said a word.

“Yeah…okay, fine. It’s…nice to know that, I guess. But where do you get off just assuming I’m gay? I’ve literally gone out with half the girls in this town.”

“Two words”, Jim said as his line began to go taut. “Eddie Munson.”

Steve sputtered while Jim began to reel in something. He was still trying to explain himself when Will’s line did the same and he started to reel in a fish.

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

“This is inconceivable”, Mike said as he looked down at the stack of cards.

“Well, conceive it”, Max said as she placed down her last card.

“That’s two wins for me, three for El, and a whopping five wins for Max!”, Dustin announced with great exuberance.

“How is this even possible?”, Lucas lamented.

“Maybe we were just lucky”, El offered.

“Or maybe you two have never played against anyone with actual skill”, Max said just as the front door opened.

“Welcome back! Did you guys catch dinner?”, El asked.

“Fried fish is on the menu”, Jim said while patting the top of her head. He took the cooler full of fish into the kitchen.

“So how was manly-man fishing time?”, El asked Steve when he came in, carrying the poles.

“It was…enlightening.”

S1E08

[lullabyalikpoptarot]

Enhypen Career/Love Energy (October)

Okay, I took a week off from my boys, but now back it for this monthly check in for them. I will be doing a career and love energy reading for them. I will also pull a card for some guidance for them. I just like to see where they are this month energetically.

Heeseung

Career (5 of Pentacles) With the keyword loss. There could be a sense of loss when it comes to his career this month. There could be a sense of lack and not getting much support at the moment. This gives me someone with a scarcity mindset and not feeling like he has much at his disposal.

Love (Master) This card represents The Devil card in Tarot, as I have mentioned this card comes up a lot for him. In this deck, this card invites him to face his fears surrounding love. The message I like in the booklet, is the absence of fear is unconditional love. I feel he will need to let go of these fears he may have surrounding love to allow love to come in more freely for this month.

Guidance (Balance) This card in this deck represents the sign of Libra, which Heeseung is, so this is a month for him to find balance and equilibrium in whatever feels unaligned and chaotic. In the booklet, it talks about a balance between air and water, that message spoke to me. I feel he needs to bring a bit of balance between his mind and his emotions, and to not lean on one element over the other. The reason things may not go great for him this month, is due to a lack of balance he may have.

Jay

Career (5 of Wands) The keyword being disagreement here. There could be a lot of fights and arguments between him and others, possibly members this month. His energy seems combative and ready to fight this month regarding his career. He has a lot of passion about things regarding his career, so he can definitely get carried away at times. Also, his competitive energy can get the best of him.

Love (Sacral Chakra) This chakra is all about creativity, passion and intimacy, so he will have to work with aligning that in regard to his career. This is also about desires, pleasure, sensuality and sexuality as well. So yeah, he may be intuned with that for this month. Not sure I went to get further into that. Maybe this invites him to enjoy the beauty and intimacy of relationships for this month. Also, he should use his love life for creative purposes as well.

Guidance(Reveal) This is a month for him to dig deep within himself and bring things that were hidden into light. This is a time for him to go headstrong into revealing the truth that needs to be brought out, it could be within himself or his surroundings. To find the answers he wants, he will have to dig and do the groundwork. 

Jake

Career (The Lovers) There are strong contracts and commitments he is tied to for this month. It seems he is happy with what he is doing at the moment. He seems to be in a good place regarding his career for this month. There are commitments he is set out to do, probably contractual, but he is ready to take them on and seems like he is happy with what he needs to do. It seems like there was a good choice he made or something he wanted that came to light.

Love (Nurture) Lovely card, love the message of this card in the booklet. Great card for him. This will be a month for him to nourish himself and practice self love, to also nurture the relationships he has, be it romantic or platonic. To show gratitude for the love he has had, and has now. This is a month to practice abundance for him and to do things that nourish his soul. If he tends to this, it will allow loving relationships into his life. This card also invites him to be creative in the matters of love. Also to take care and nourish his body as well.

Guidance (Disguise) He will need to adapt to his surroundings for this month. He may fall into the trap of putting on a facade or being deceptive to fit in. Although blending into your environment is important. It is important he doesn’t get lost in it and forget himself while doing so.

Sunghoon

Career( The Hanged Man) There doesn’t seem like there is much he can do regarding his career. He is just learning to let things be this month. He may try to take time between breaks to reflect and gather his thoughts to gain a better perspective on things regarding his career. He may feel his hands are tied and just goes with the flow. He just learns to accept whatever difficult situation he may be in.

Love (Take the Lead) This card invites him to take the initiative regarding his love life. If there is someone, he should bring some spark and excitement to it. He may be the type that likes to do that. He is a very passionate person overall. If it is someone new, it invites him to take the plunge and ask this person out. This isn’t a time for him to wait around, this is a time to the leap and have fun.

Guidance (Defend) Oh, interesting message here, so this may be a month that he should not just stand back and do nothing, although he tries not to start arguments. This may be a month for him to speak up and stand up for himself, because sometimes the only way to be heard is to be loud and confront. If he doesn’t get what he wants it is because he is not willing to take a stand for what he wants, rather he prefers being passive and just letting it be, which explains the hanged man in his career. This may not be the month to do so.

Sunoo

Career(3 of Swords) The keyword being grief here, there is something he may feel hurt or frustrated about regarding his career. He may feel the need to express this hurt to others. There may be something that doesn’t go his way this month. Just hurt,sadness and frustration here. This card is about communication as it is a swords card, so he may say something hurtful, or more likely someone may say someone hurtful to him.

Love(Confront) Hmm, interesting message in the deck, what I am getting is there are things about himself and his relationships that are now coming to light for him. There could be habits he has done in the past that may need to be worked through and healed. Although, this has worked in the past. It no longer serves him now, so he should work on removing these aspects of himself in regard to his love life for it to flourish into what he wants it to be in his present relationships.

Guidance (Instinct) This card urges him to follow his instinct. He may feel pulled to release himself from a commitment or something is limiting him in some ways. His instincts is maybe to run from this, or be free from this, but he stays confined for whatever reason he may feel, but this card urges him to follow the path of his instincts, which can be scary, but is important to live an authentic life to truly be happy.

Jungwon

Career(The High Priestess) Not much activity going on for him, even though I believe the group is touring this month. It seems he will be doing a lot of inner work and being patient. I don’t see a lot of action for him, or there is, but his focus will be on himself and gaining knowledge from within himself. I don’t know, but when I read for him these cards, like this one and the hermit keep popping up. It is like he spends a lot of time on his own lately. Can’t wait to get to his perspective reading.

Love (Heal) There may be some healing he has to do, also forgiving others and himself for the blame in relationships. He will also have to learn to have open discussions without getting too defensive and argumentative. Maybe he had or is in a relationship where it is hard to have an open nonjudgmental conversation. This boy is stubborn, so I see it. Blame goes both ways. He should understand his flaws, accept and work on it, and understand the other party has to do that as well. Acceptance and understanding is needed for him and whatever partner he has had, has or will have. 

Guidance (Heal) Once again, a big theme for him is to heal this month and work on himself. To do whatever he can to fix whatever needs fixing and to embrace whatever he can’t fix. This card represents the birth of something new, so through all this something new will come out of it. This can also indicate healing of something physical if he is dealing with physical issues as well, or just a need for him to recuperate this month.

Ni-Ki

Career(8 of Swords) This boy feels restricted and limited from expressing himself. I don’t think they necessarily limit him. He may choose to do this, as in this card, the person can get out of the situation, but chooses not to. He may feel like he can’t be himself or express what he wants. I get this from him a lot, so it makes sense.

Love(Sadness&Isolation) Ugh, this makes me sad, because I don’t think this is just particular to his love life, but to all his relationships in life in general. He just feels lonely, like does anyone hear him, or listen? I do hope the members do. I don’t feel this is about his love life, just relationships in general, but in love relationships it is just hard for him to open up, so it can lead to feeling lonely and alone.

Guidance(Communicate) I feel like this message speaks loudly. The reason he isn’t heard and lonely is because he simply does not communicate. He shuts people out of fear of being vulnerable, but this leads to him feeling lonely. It is a vicious cycle that he may need to break by just talking to someone openly. This reading is making me want to start getting into his perspective reading now. I want to hug him.

Okay, looks like a heavy month for them overall, but I know they will get through it. In life, we will have ups and downs. I found these messages interesting though. I wish them love, peace and healing for this month.

[markrosewater]

I was reading a reddit thread where a new player was asking why X theme/mechanic in a recent set was not something he could build a competitive standard deck around. The responses in the thread was ENTIRELY set mechanics and themes are MEANT for limited not to build decks around. Is it a design problem that the player base feels set mechanics and themes are not meant for constructed 60 card formats? They did bring up how cards like Tenacious Underdog might have a set mechanic on them but them seeing play was because they were a strong card that happen to have it on them. Also it was brought up that Underdog could have the text just spelled out on the card and still function with out the "set mechanic" on it. Do set mechanics and themes matter outside of limited?

I’m not quite sure how to answer this. Clearly cards with mechanics are played in constructed formats, so yes, they matter. It’s harder to build solely around mechanics as you start getting into formats with larger deck sizes and singleton rules, but there are Standard decks where the main theme are based around using newer mechanics.

Also, I should point out that high-level tournament constructed is a small portion of constructed play. Many Friday Night decks are built around mechanical themes. As you get more competitive, the very nature of it pushes you towards playing the strongest collection of cards which makes pure build-around theme decks lower in number.

[hedgiwithapen]

DHD: Stargate, anyone(s) on SG1 gets telepathy. Hammond and/or Janet with telepathy also entirely acceptable.

Headaches came with command, George knew well. Every time he’d been promoted, his wife had cooked a celebratory meal and upsized the bottle of aspirin in the medicine  cabinet. But it was largely metaphorical headaches he had to deal with, or headaches walking around in human bodies, like certain unnamed members of SGs 1, 3, and 5.  Mostly 1. Little frustrations, bigger frustrations, and concerns, and worries that were easier to label as a headache and move on. Being a little tired and overworked was part of the job of running the SGC, and it was worth a headache now and again to keep his family--his country--his planet-- safe. This headache, though, felt like his first ever hangover, back when he’d been young and stupid and unsupervised. “General?” Major Carter asked. He blinked at her, trying to recall what exactly her report had been about. Something about the trees on a planet--no, that wasn’t right. The bees? No…badgers? Badgers sounded right. He glanced at the written report to confirm. Badgers. Not any weirder than  sentient water that had taken out so many Russians a few weeks back. “Yes?” he asked. “You have a question, Major?” “Sir, not to be blunt but are you ok?” she asked, “He doesn’t look well. I guess I wouldn’t either, with all the fuss Senator Kimsey is kicking up, he’s got an awful lot on his plate.” “I would appreciate it, Major, if you didn’t refer to me in the third person,” he grit out, waving a hand at her obvious dismay.  “I’m fine, just a headache. You’re dismissed.” “Sir,” she acknowledged, though George could hear her muttering about oddness and doubting the headache ‘story.’ As if he was lying about the pounding in his head. It wasn’t like Cater, and George let himself wonder for a moment that Colonel O’Neill had rubbed off a little too much on his team. The headache lessened, some, as he read over the report in the quiet of his office. It worsened again when someone tapped at his door. “Come in,” he barked. The sooner he dealt with whatever emergency Dr. Frasier had uncovered, the sooner he could try to take a little catnap. “General Hammond,” Dr. Frasier smiled. “I was just speaking with Sam, and she expressed some concerns. Could you tell me a little about your symptoms? Headache? Migraine? Brain tumor?” “For heaven’s sake,” George said, feeling a little like Jack. “ I do not have a brain tumor.” “I see,” Dr. Frasier frowned. “I think Sam was right. Telepathy.” “Telepathy?” George squinted at her. “Dr. Frasier, I don’t want to question your judgment, but that seems a little far fetched.” “I’d agree with you,” she said. “If I’d said my suspicions out loud.” “Oh,” he said, and really, what else was there to say? Ah, right. “ How on earth did I…” “Could have been something brought back from that planet, something in the mind that resists our decontamination…of course, no one else seems to have come down with it. I’m sure Daniel will be eager to go back and find out. For now, as your doctor, I suggest you get lots of rest, and avoid crowds. He’s here practically around the clock, maybe it’s a good time to see--” “You think I should go home? Like this? Doctor, I have two very sweet granddaughters approaching middle school. The last thing I want to know is what’s in their heads.” She laughed. “Understandable. I’ll tell everyone to leave you be.” “No, wait,” he stopped her. “See if O’Neill and Harriman can be spared.” “Can I ask why?” George pulled out a deck of cards. “I want to see how far I can take this. Since I’m officially off duty per your orders and all.” “Get pictures,” Dr. Frasier laughed again. “We’re all going to want to see the look on Jack’s face. Good luck, sir.”