#i tried something a bit different with her markings and im proud

[foggysirens]

I posted 3,690 times in 2022

That's 3,690 more posts than 2021!

307 posts created (8%)

3,383 posts reblogged (92%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@surfing-on-a-soundwave

@rocktheholygrail

@skywalker-swift

@sadiebwrites

@transmascskywalker

I tagged 2,247 of my posts in 2022

Only 39% of my posts had no tags

#star wars - 1,369 posts

#art - 727 posts

#luke skywalker - 588 posts

#edits - 498 posts

#q - 390 posts

#din djarin - 382 posts

#dinluke - 265 posts

#mj.chatter - 261 posts

#the mandalorian - 229 posts

#obi wan kenobi - 181 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i was always taught that it’s better to buy one good thing that might cost you a bit more than something you’ll end up having to buy six of

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

obi-wan hiding leia under his coat in kenobi just makes me think that luke and leia would have definitely tried to pull off the ‘two kids in a trench coat’ thing if they had been allowed to stay together as kids

400 notes - Posted June 9, 2022

#4

okay i just woke up but im still reeling from kenobi and all i can think about is bail organa and owen lars.

both of them having agreed to raise these children that mean so much to the galaxy. for bail, raising the daughter of one of his closest friends. owen, the son the brother he hardly knew, but knew was dangerous. both of them raising these children with such a fierce protectiveness.

owen, how when we see him with luke, the second that he’s not where he was supposed to be, owen is off shouting his name. how owen goes and tells obi wan to leave luke alone, leave him out of the jedi business because he’s seen what it can bring, can see luke is already too much like anakin. how then he literally stares down revas lightsaber, not speaking a word of his nephew. like not for a second there i thought owen would break.

bail, so overwhelmingly proud of leia already, of her free spirit. of how she can already stand up to those who treat others (and her) poorly. how he never tells her to change, only pinky swear to apologize after. how we won’t take no as an answer when it comes to getting her back. how in perfect contrast to owen who wants to keep obi from luke as much as possible, bail wastes no time travelling all the way to tatooine to make him help save her.

seeing them be character foils for each other while at the same time we get to see how similar luke and leia are and how they both handle raising them differently but with the same dedication and love is fucking beautiful.

633 notes - Posted May 27, 2022

#3

watching din djarin constantly getting thrown around like a rag doll is so funny cause like yeah- he’s our main man, our badass bounty hunter with some of the best fighting prowess you’ll see, but he’s also the human embodiment of the question mark and does not think things through half the time- the man is smart but he’s absolutely winging it and putting himself in situations where, yeah, he’s gonna get sent flying across the room and i love that for him

665 notes - Posted August 16, 2022

#2

i love to think that sometimes luke will just casually drop the wildest, most unhinged pieces of lore about his upbringing on tatooine around the others and they'll all just look at him in slight fear like,

'oh yeah! that reminds me of when the kids from my school would all go jump into the womp-rat pit!'

and everyone is just like 'the fucking what pit?'

'the womp-rat pit! all the kids would go out to this outcrop in the dunes where there's this pit full of angry womp-rats and try to push each other in!'

or he'd go off about how pod-racing is fun, but pod-racing at night was even better cause it makes it harder to actually pilot- and oh that one time he even flipped but it was okay cause landing in the sand is mostly soft- and din would just be looking at him like 'how are you still living?'

764 notes - Posted June 30, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

i think what made the last episode of kenobi, and the kenobi show as a whole, so special is because it really just reminded us that the heart of star wars is love.

we see it full force with beru and owen. both willing to do anything to protect luke. put their lives on the line for him. we see it in beru immediately jumping into action. we see it in owen's claiming of luke as his own. his son. their son. in the looks on their faces when they see luke again, the utter fear that he may be gone. because while obi-wan could most likely feel him in the force, for one gut wrenching moment owen and beru thought their boy was gone.

we see it in breha and bail. their odd, funny little girl finally home and you can just feel their joy. their pride when leia is unapologetically herself. and how when obi-wan talks to leia about her birth parents, she instead looks to them. those who have raised her with a fierce love and kindness. how when she looks to them, they look back with so much love.

we see it in obi-wan and anakin. obi-wan apologizing to anakin, and we have to wonder how long those words have been building inside him? and then the tragic acceptance that there is no longer that person there to love. that his ten years of grief, maybe longer, was over something that was not his fault, that he could have never succeeded in preventing. but at the same time, we know that obi-wan still holds his love for anakin. it's just that darth vader isn't him.

and don't even get me started on obi-wan and his love for luke and leia. how leia was the one to pull him from his isolation. become the man he was again. how watching over luke is his motivation to stay that way. how thinking about them literally is what gives him the strength to pull himself up from the ground. honestly obi-wan and the twins deserve their own post.

star wars has always been a story about love. it can, after all, ignite the stars. and the kenobi finale has captured that fully, making it feel like the most truly star wars show in ages.

2,098 notes - Posted June 22, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[fertbutt]

some seawing animi, i love drawing seawings and i wanted to try designing these fellas.

First Anemone, she's got something different about her design compared to the other animus dragons, guess why. Im pretty proud of this one, i love anemone, yeah

Turtle my beloved he's a much more warm green than fathom. also he has gold bits in his eyes like a snapping turtle

Orca........ she's the reason I drew these I love her so much. im very happy with this design. i gave her raccoon tail barbels. her face shape looks a lot like her mothers. she has relatively long spines for a seawing and she's very proud of it, she almost always has it flared up. i also imagine she's just generally very large for her age like her mother. also red accents because she's emo and i love her and i love this design. inspired a lot by @/frigid-lizards 's design!

fathom, not too much to say. he has more cooler-toned green scales compared to turtle and a different face shape. really the only similar thing is their body type and markings lol. also he has albatross's jaw spike things

albatross, yeah he's a hybrid idc. a royal hybrid to be exact, all my royal icewing designs have the double jaw spike. i tried to make him at least passable as like, a very odd-looking seawing, but also i think anybody who even entertained the idea of him being a hybrid would immediately get executed or something and outside the palace nobody has really seen him so citizens are just told he just has weird coloration and that's it. i feel like lagoon would be incredibly embarrassed of his appearance and try to keep it hush-hush and would beg albatross to cast a spell to look normal, but albatross has accepted how he looks and never does just to spite lagoon.

[silversatoru]

Ok ok- don’t judge me but get this- College AU, Where Ereh and his friends all go to a nearby maid cafe and turns out his s/o works there, and his s/o is wearing a EXTREMELY short maid outfit and she starts to flirt with Eren’s friends, and basically Eren had enough and dragged his s/o to a bathroom stall, and fucked them calling y/n their little slut, etc. and fucked them so hard they couldn’t work the rest of the day- BYE- 🏃🏻‍♀️ 💨 🚪

maid cafe

a/n: i would never judge you for this???? your mind is incredible and this idea has corrupted my brain for days,, please send more of your wonderful ideas to my inbox. and please let me know what u think bc i truly hope i did u proud

eren yeager x female maid cafe!reader

synopsis: eren and his friends go to a maid cafe and his new girlfriend is their waitress — so he drags her to the bathroom and makes sure she knows who she belongs to

tags/warnings: smut, dom/sub, degrading, mild humiliation, mirror sex, public sex, mentions of drug use

word count: 3.4k

“hey, we should check out that maid cafe downtown. i heard the waitresses are fine,” jean smirked as he proposed the idea, passing a blunt he’d just finished rolling over to eren.

eren graciously accepted the weed, but clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes at jean’s new idea for their friday night. a maid cafe wasn’t particularly up his alley -- he’d just started dating you a few weeks ago and didn’t have any interest in drooling over other women all night. but he was bored and if everyone else wanted to go, he supposed he’d tag along too.

“hell yeah, pretty girls in short skirts sounds good to me,” connie jived, a giddy smile on his face as he blew out some smoke from his own blunt.

“don’t you think that kind of place is a little disrespectful, guys? we shouldn’t view women as-”

“you’re too uptight armin, maybe we can find a nice girl to suck you off and loosen you up a little bit” jean laughed and cut him off as the blonde boy continued to give his immature friends a disapproving look.

“whatever i’m in, just let me finish this first,” eren held up his blunt and took another long drag, “i wont be able to stand you assholes all night if im not high”.

the four of them hung around their shared four-bedroom college apartment a little longer, finishing up their smoke sesh and flinging half-assed insults at one another. the sky was already getting dusky by the time they actually left and were walking through the small, bustling town surrounding their campus. the cafe wasn’t too far, maybe a thirty minute walk, but it was a beautiful spring night and shit, gas is expensive.

armin’s face was horribly flushed when they finally arrived and entered the front door, the poor boy completely unable to even make eye contact with the hostess standing in front of them. his shyness earned him a swift elbow from eren — his way of telling the blonde boy to relax a little bit.

the young hostess spoke to them in a sing-song tone, her hair perfectly curled to frame her face and her cheeks pink with blush. connie and jean completely ate up everything she was doing, gawking at her like a bunch of losers who hadn’t gotten laid in way too long — which is exactly what they were. eren was almost relieved when she finally sat them at a table and walked away, because he couldn’t stand to listen to jeans' horrendous attempt at flirting any longer.

everything on the menu had cute names that matched the theme of the cafe, and while eren and armin browsed the options, connie and jean continued to whisper about the different waitresses and which one they hoped they got.

as for you, it had been a pretty uneventful night, normal customers and nothing too crazy — that was until you walked up to the newest table you were assigned and saw your boyfriend and his friends sitting around the booth. eren and you hadn’t been dating all that long, a few weeks at most, and you hadn’t even met any of these friends yet. anxiety began to pool in your chest, but you tried your best to put on your best voice and greet them like they were any other table — after all, eren was staring so intently at the menu that he hadn't even noticed you yet.

“welcome home, masters! can i get any drinks for you?” you push your voice up to a high octave and make sure to draw out the word masters — it was the opening line that every waitress was required to use by the cafe.

two of the four boys are ogling at you so intensely that they might as well have drool hanging off their desperate lips. a third boy is keeping his eyes fixated on the table as if he doesn’t want to look at you — which is something you’re not quite used to. and eren is staring at you with his mouth gaping open, which he quickly shuts before any of his friends can notice.

he decided to sit back and watch, an amused look on his face as you continue to flaunt your extra-girly facade. he decides that now isn’t a great time for introductions to his bonehead friends — plus he knows you’re nothing like this in real life, so it’s entertaining to watch you act so out of character.

not to mention you look hot as fuck in your skimpy maid outfit — the tight corset-like top hugged your breasts perfectly and your skirt was so short he could practically see the base of your ass cheeks. he could definitely get used to seeing you like this.

but his amusement quickly started to fade as connie and jean shamelessly showered you in compliments and flirted with you like their lives depended on it. and what makes it worse is you’re playing along — he gets that it’s your job but still, can’t you just tell them to shut the fuck up?

he shoots the two idiots across from him a dirty look as soon as you walk away, “hey dumbasses, cut the girl a break”.

“hey man, i didn't hear you call dibs or anything,” connie raised an eyebrow at him.

“yeah dude, we’re just fucking around, chill,” jean added, a light laugh hanging off his last word.

eren couldn’t do anything but roll his eyes in response. he didn’t want to outright expose your relationship yet but he wouldn’t be able sit here and watch this all night either.

his blood was practically boiling when you returned with a tray full of their drinks. connie and jean turned their charms right back on for you, and fuck, if he had to hear you call them “master” one more time he was gonna lose his mind.

“armin get the fuck out of the booth,” he glared at the blonde boy, practically pushing him out of the booth so he could get to you.

armin yet out a small yelp, clambering out of his seat and letting eren climb out after him. the dark haired boy gave you the sweetest smile, but his eyes were lit up like flames.

“hey, mind showing me where the bathrooms are?”

you find yourself frozen in place for just a second, but quickly recover and give him a quick “of course master, follow me!”

the two of you walk to the bathroom in silence, but you can practically feel the heat radiating off of eren.

when you reached the restrooms you opened the door for him and bowed your head, but he grabbed your wrist and yanked you inside behind him, earning a small yelp from you. you noticed him snap the lock down behind him, and before you could even question his motives you were backed into a wall with his lips working roughly against yours.

“so this is what you do all day? walk around with your ass hanging out while calling people master?” he growled in your ear while moving down towards your neck and placing violent kisses along the sensitive skin.

“i- ah- if it bothers you-“ you breath out between gasps, your hands pressed defensively to his chest, “god, you reek of pot, eren”.

“no, it doesn't bother me, i love watching you flirt with other men. but let me remind you who you actually belong to now,” he murmured, voice dripping with sarcasm as he nibbled up to your ear and his hands fondled with the zipper at the back of your uniform.

“eren!” a strangled yelp leapt from your throat as he unzipped you and let your costume fall around your ankles.

for a second you thought about trying to stop him, but his hot lips against your cool skin was starting to win you over. your neck was undoubtedly covered in bruised love marks now, your skin aching in the most beautiful way.

“take it all off,” he mumbled into your ear as he snapped the strap of your bra against your skin.

“we’re in a bathroom eren, i don’t-“ you tried to reason with him, but any inkling of a rational thought was long gone from his mind.

“what’s with all the protests? you had no problem following orders when my friends were the ones giving them,” he cocked an eyebrow at you and lifted his loose shirt over his head in one swift motion.

you could have retorted or made a jab back at him, but your attention was caught up in the perfect lines of eren’s physique. between the sculpted curves of each of his muscles, his dark hair tied in a loose knot at the base of his neck, and the evil smirk across his lips, you were rendered indefensible. everything about eren was so intoxicating, and the idea of letting him have his way with you right now, in this bathroom, was starting to sound less and less like a bad idea. you weren’t sure how long you’d been staring and admiring when his lusty voice filled your ears again.

“did you forget how to use that pretty mouth of yours? i’m sure i can give you a little refresher,” he faked a frown and pointed to the floor with his index finger.

without a shred of reluctance you sunk to his feet. he had you in a state of utter compliance now, and all he had to do was mutter a few arrogant words and take off his shirt — you were almost ashamed, almost.

after a few smooth movements of his fingers against the drawstrings of his sweats, the tip of his member was hanging mere centimeters from your face. you glanced up at him with giant eyes as he stared down at you with his clouded ones. between his raging hunger for your body and the high that was still clouding his mind, there wasn't a single coherent thought in eren’s head other than the way your lips would feel wrapped around his cock.

“open up, princess. if you wanna act like a slut, i’ll treat you like one,” he grabbed the back of your head and forced it forward.

your lips parted without even thinking, and he thrusted his full length down your throat without any warning. you were left coughing and sputtering, the walls of your throat constricting against his cock and sending a few curses from his lips.

he slowed down slightly after that, but kept a steady pace as he mouth-fucked you until tears were leaking down your cheeks. you were gagging and coughing and your face was stained with salty saline but you loved every second of it. his head rolled back as raspy grunts fell from between his teeth, his fist tightening at your scalp.

after he thought you’d finally had enough he pulled back and released your hair from his steel grip. his cock was aching now, coated in a thick layer of your sticky saliva and yearning for more.

“get on the counter,” he ordered, and you scrambled to your feet in a way that was embarrassingly desperate.

you boosted yourself up onto the cool countertop, positioned perfectly between two sinks and leaning back against the mirror. eren placed a firm grip on each of your legs, shoving them open and snickering at the slick patch of fabric between your thighs.

“you like being treated like a whore, don’t you?” he clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth and reached down at your panties before yanking them off in one fell swoop.

he squatted down so his face was level with your cunt, sticking out his tongue and dragging it up to your clit with antagonizing slowness. he moved the warm muscle up and down, sliding it between your folds and in circles around your clit — but his tongue was just barely making contact. and every time you bucked your hips towards him, begging and yearning for just a little more he’d pull his head back and click his tongue at you.

you were aching, leaking, and so incredibly needy for him and he knew it. he’d transformed you into the crumpled mess laying before him in a matter of minutes, and he was very proud of it.

“i’d start begging if i were you, or i’ll leave you here like this — a stupid broken slut with no one to fuck her,” he stood up and cocked his head to the side before beginning to tease your entrance with a single finger.

“ah- eren, please! i’ll do whatever you want,” you whimpered at him, a pitiful look on your face.

“eren? you know you’re not supposed to call customers by their name here,” he shook his head, “you’ll have to do better than that”.

“please- master, use me however you want. just please fuck me already”.

that seemed to suffice for eren, because after that it didn’t take long for him to shealth himself inside you and have your sweaty back slamming into the glass mirror behind you. strangled moans and pitiful whimpers slipped from between your lips, your eyes rolling back into your head in complete bliss. he’d teased and tormented you for so long that the sudden intense stimulation was almost too much.

he fucked himself into you so hard you thought you might break — your legs ached and your back hurt from awkwardly leaning into the mirror. but those feelings were quickly pushed to the back of your head because the overwhelming pleasure was so forceful that you could barely focus on anything else. eren’s length was grinding deep into your aching caverns so good that it was completely clouding your brain.

you let out a stifled gasp when he abruptly pulled out, leaving you feeling empty and aching for more.

“why-,” your voice was so destitute and so, so desperate.

“shut up and stand in front of me,” he commanded, pulling you off the counter and twisting you so you were facing the bathroom mirror.

“look at yourself in the mirror and watch me fuck you,” he practically snarled, placing a palm on your back and pushing your chest down against the counter, “look at how much of a slut you are for me”.

the only response that came out of your mouth was a tiny whine of acceptance — it was pathetic.

a breathy moan fell from your lips as he slid back in, and your cheeks blushed a dark shade of red as you watched yourself get fucked from behind. it was embarrassing, humiliating even, having to see yourself like this, but what made it even worse was that you fucking liked it.

“look at yourself,” he nodded towards the mirror, picking up his pace and tightening his grip on your hips, “just a dumb whore who’s good for nothing but taking orders from other people”.

“only- you!” you let out a strangled yelp.

“what was that? i don’t think i heard you,” he thrusted hard, reaching deeper than he had the entire time and then leaning over your back so his head was positioned right next to yours.

“say it again,” he murmured, burning holes through your eyes with how intensely he was staring at you in the mirror.

“i’m a dumb whore, but only for- you,” you repeated, squirming and whining at the painful pleasure he was forcing into you.

“that’s right,” he flashed you a satisfied grin, standing back up and resuming his original pace.

the sudden shift had you clawing at the smooth countertops — desperately wishing you had a pillow or sheet to grasp onto for some kind of support. you flinched when you felt a couple of his cool fingertips find your clit, immediately rubbing hasty circles around the sensitive bundle of nerves.

“i want you to come for me,” he locked eyes with you in the mirror again, “and i want you to think about how i’m the only one who will ever make you feel this good the entire time”.

his words were harsh but they sounded like honey when they flowed through your pathetically devoted ears. between his consistent thrusts and the pads of his fingers working their magic, you were a pitiful mess of whimpers and moans in a matter of minutes. your body twitching and legs shaking as you mumbled his name over and over — it was the only word your brain could comprehend right now.

seeing you like that nearly pushed eren over the edge himself, but he forced himself to last a little longer, wanting to milk your orgasm for everything that it was. he was genuine when he said no one else would ever make you feel the way he could — your head was spinning and your body was on a high that felt like it would never end.

only once your body finally fell limp and tired, signifying that your climax had ended, did he pull out and spray his seed all over your exposed back. you were a sticky, sweaty mess and your legs didn’t have the strength to stand even after eren was done coming down from his own high.

your face was buried in your arms when you felt a wet paper towel cleaning up the mess of semen off your back. eren tossed the towel into the garbage and wrapped his arms under your torso so he could help your pitiful self stand up. you let out a few pained whimpers, stumbling into his arms and wrapping your hands around his neck.

“that bad, huh? how are you gonna go back out there and work for all your masters? i’m sure they’re waiting,” he smirked at you, and there was no sympathy in his voice.

“i- i don’t think i can,” you whined, clinging to him as your legs continued to shake underneath you.

eren shook his head and clicked his tongue, helping you over to your clothes and assisting you with getting back into your uniform. even after getting dressed your legs refused to work — you were a shaky, stumbling mess. you sat in a pitiful heap against the tiled wall while you watched eren get his own clothes back on.

“i think you might need a new job,” he snickered, squatting down and lifting you onto his back once he was dressed.

you graciously climbed onto his back, arms wrapping around his neck and burying your face into his neck, “yeah, yeah i’ll get a new job”.

“good idea, because everyone’s about to see how pathetic you are as we walk through the cafe,” he wrapped his arms back under your backside to support your weight.

“there’s a back exit right down the hall, please take that one,” you begged, “please”.

“well. since you asked so nicely and did so well i guess you deserve that,” he complied, exiting the bathroom and following your directions to the back door.

but because you have the worst luck in the world, one of the cafe managers came walking right around the corner just as the two of you were about to leave. you buried your head deeper into eren’s neck, unbearable amounts of embarrassment and shame flooding your veins.

“hey man, she quits, sorry!” eren yelled and handled it for you, dashing out the back door before the manager could even comprehend what he’d just seen.

“thank you,” you mumbled into his shirt, and you were truly thankful that you didn’t have to speak for yourself in there.

“no problem, princess,” he adjusted one of his hands so he could squeeze your ass, making you jump against his back, “let’s head back to my house for round two, yeah?”

“r-round two?” you stuttered.

you could barely handle round one, and he was ready to go again? how!?

“i’m joking, relax. let’s go watch a movie or something,” he chuckled, hoisting you higher on his back and beginning your long walk back to his apartment.

you sighed and sunk into his back, that sounded nice. there was a huge difference in how eren acted earlier and how he was acting now, but you were a sucker for both personalities. you expected college to consist of classes and work and maybe a few new friends but meeting eren yeager was sure to make it a lot more interesting.

[blxetsi]

I was curious if you’d be up for headcanon of adopting Gabi Braun, or what it’s like being her older sibling?

If not maybe just Pieck relationship headcanons

Please and thank you

im so sorry im getting to this so late 😭🤚 ty for requesting ‼️

‼️CONTENT WARNING: SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4 AND CHAPTER 139‼️

adopting gabi braun headcanons (canonverse)

characters: gf!sasha braus x gn!reader, platonic!gabi braun x gn!reader, fatherly!levi ackerman x gn!reader, platonic!falco grice x gn!reader

warnings: death, angst, hatred for kids (fuck them kids‼️), peepaw levi 😁👍

- uhhhhhh,, your relationship w gabi had a very rocky start. Lol !

- it all started when your friend eren jaeger decided to run away to infiltrate marley causing the survey corps to go get him just as a war was declared between your countries, and then two kids snuck onto the airship you were using to escape and shot your girlfriend. and she died. Lol !

- you had a lot of hatred for gabi in the beginning, and it was understandable

- you blamed her for shooting sasha, but you also blamed yourself for not being able to save her.

- you were a trained medic, you were supposed to save people, and yet you couldnt even save the woman you loved. it was like a slap in the face, like god was playing some cruel joke on you

- you remember sitting against the wall with sasha's blood staining your hands. you could barely process what happened at the time, and then levi came

- he sat next to you, taking a handkerchief out of nowhere seemingly, and just wordlessly wiped your hands down.

- your relationship with the older man was never defined, even today, but you both cared for each other

- the next time you saw gabi, was in that restaurant, niccolo had attacked gabi and falco, injuring them both, and said she killed sasha

- your blood went cold, you felt so many things, the grief you had pushed down in favour of your job, anger, fear, among other things

- niccolo had said there needed to be justice, he said that gabi should die for what she did, he tried to get sasha's father to kill her, and all you did was stand there.

- your body went on autopilot, barely listening to mr. braus' speech, you watched as kaya pointed a knife at gabi, and you listened to her wails of agony as you blindly led mikasa, armin, and gabi to a different room

- you were scared of yourself, for what you were thinking. did you really want a kid to die ? she did kill your girlfriend, the woman you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, the woman that shared her food with you, the woman that held you when you got scared at night, the woman that promised you that after the war you two would live on a farm together, and have a family of your own.

- but she was still a child. she didnt know any better. you were conflicted in your feelings, especially after hearing what niccolo had said, but it all just emphasized what was already known to you. she was a child

- your blood was pounding in your ears, and you could faintly hear gabi asking your comrades if they wanted to kill her. when armin reassured her they didnt, she looked to you and asked "what about them ?"

- you didnt answer her, and continued to lead them down where eren would be meeting you all. you were supposed to drop them off, but eren made you stay, and then a fight broke out

- you dont remember when you did it, but you held gabi in your arms, shielding her from the fight. you think you needed to be held more than she did

- things got more complicated after that, and slowly the hatred you had for sasha's killer went away, until all you had left was a hole in your chest from guilt and sadness.

- at fort salta, you thought you were going to die there, next to your friends. you thought you'd become a mindless titan, like connie's family

- but you didnt, well you did, but only for a short time, and when you turned back, you reunited with your friends

- looking around for gabi, you saw her tackle falco into a hug, which made you smile

- "y/n !" jean called, you remember looking behind you in confusion, he sounded distressed, but you understood why when you saw sasha saluting the three of you

- you felt your legs move on your own, and you ran closer to her, before stopping about a meter away. she was dead, you knew she was dead, but she was there, wearing that goofy smile on her face and looking at you as if you'd hung the stars in the sky

- she looked at you. "you did good." hearing her voice felt like a dream. your mouth felt dry, and your jaw opened and closed like a fish before you felt tears sting your eyes. "i love you."

- she nodded, before looking at the sky. "i know." she replied. sasha looked back at you before giving you a soft smile. "you know what to do now." before she disappeared in the debris

- you knew what to do, so you did it

- you found levi sitting against a rock, and when you leaned down next to him he muttered something. "i saw erwin again. and hange. all of them." you nodded. "i saw sasha." he looked at you, and gave you the closest thing to a smile. "i guess we're both at peace now."

*****

- three years later, you've become a school teacher in paradis, teaching young children how to read, to write, and basic math. you teach them about art and music, and nature. its nice being surrounded by children all day, kids are lovely.

- you live with gabi, falco and levi, in a small house inside wall sina. levi's legs have gotten weaker with time, causing him to use a wheelchair and crutches. he's given up on his dream of a tea shop, but is content with the life he has now.

- gabi and falco have gotten more rowdy with age, but they've both matured quite a bit. they make you proud

- you send letters to sasha's family. kaya is growing up, and has taken over archery just like her sister. niccolo is living with them now.

- you'll never be able to let go of sasha, or what happened to her, but the pain in your chest has dulled immensely. you think about her sometimes, when youre in bed alone, wanting to feel the warmth of her body in your arms, you know you should move on, you get teased about not having a new girlfriend, even levi has made comments about there being "plenty of fish in the sea"

it was a late night, on a friday. you were grading spelling tests at the dining room table, one lone candle being your source of light. your pen moves swiftly across the different pieces of paper, adding check marks or x marks when needed, adding a note at the bottom of each test, before adding a smiley face on all of your students' hard work. it was tedious, but it needed to be done, and you had to remember to bring them in on monday, you couldn't forget like last time.

you heard footsteps coming down the stairs. they were soft, and slow, and at first you thought it was levi but realized it couldn't be since you couldn't hear the soft tapping of his crutches on the stairs. they came down to the bottom and stood there, it was gabi, dressed in a light pink nightgown that came down to her knees, and her disheveled hair in the braid you did for her before bed.

you pushed your reading glasses to the top of your head. "what are you doing up ? it's late."

she shrugged, and walked over to sit across from you at the table. gabi grabbed the stack of papers that you already graded and shuffled through them, giggling when she found a misspelling.

you rolled her eyes. "don't laugh, they're six."

she shook her head. "i was spelling ten times better than this when i was their age."

"uh huh."

"are you calling my bluff ?"

you chuckled. "maybe. you should be in bed though."

"why ? it's not like we have school tomorrow."

you shrugged. "i was thinking we could go on a picnic outside the walls. it gets stuffy in here."

she nodded. "that would be fun."

the silence came back for a while, until you finished grading and set your papers aside.

"you know, i hear you sometimes." she whispered.

you looked at the brunette in confusion. "how do you mean ?"

"when your in bed, sometimes you cry."

you scoffed, and leaned back in your chair. "yeah well, i try to muffle it."

"i don't think ive ever apologized to you," she started. her eyes welled up with tears and her hands shook on the table. her cheeks and nose became pink as she held herself back from crying. "i know i feel bad, and i regret killing her but, i've never actually apologized to you for-"

"don't." you said. you kept your eyes on your lap, you felt your throat growing tight. "please gabi, don't say anything."

"i need to apologize-"

"you don't. you killed her. she's dead, the war is over. it's done. just let it go." you said, your voice wavering.

"have you let it go ?"

your head shot up to her. "i lost the woman i was going to spend the rest of my life with. she promised me a safe home, a farm, and a family. and she promised we'd grow old together. and that didn't happen. i grew up with her, i've known her since i was twelve, we started dating when i was sixteen. of course i haven't let it go, gabi."

gabi looked shocked by your outburst, but nodded. she understood how you felt, and she felt so guilty. "you don't forgive me do you ? i get it, i really do. i'm sorry."

you shook your head. "gabi no, i do. i do forgive you. i just, i can't forget it." you whimpered, tears started streaming down your face and you choked back a sob. "i loved her with all of my heart, i still do, but i don't hate you-"

gabi rolled her eyes, tears coming out uncontrollably now. "you should. i killed her, i ruined your chance of a happy life ! she was your family and i-"

"gabi no !" you exclaimed, cutting her off. at this point you both looked like a mess, and you were worried you woke up the boys. you grabbed her shaking hands in your own and held them to you. "you are my family. you are. so is falco, and so is levi. i forgive you, and i love you with all of my heart." you said, a sad smile on your face. her eyes widened at your words, before she started sobbing.

you got up from the table to come to her side, and held her in your arms as she cried. her arms wrapped around your shoulders while she dug her head into your neck, tickling you with her hair.

you rubbed her back and cradled her head while shushing her. she sobbed out a muffled "i love you so much y/n." that you chuckled at.

"i love you too so much." you whispered back.

it took a long time for gabi to calm down, but when she did you still held her, rocking her and yourself back and forth slightly. you two moved from the chairs down to the floor, funny enough.

you kissed the top of her head before talking, the only noise in the room being your whispers, her sniffles and the living room clock. "you know reiner's coming home soon. are you excited ?" she nodded against your skin and sniffled again, clearing her throat too.

"i hope he brings me a gift or something." she whispered back, her voice hoarse. it made you laugh, and you had to cover your mouth to keep quiet.

"they're going to shiganshina district for a couple of days, to visit mikasa and eren, and then mikasa will come with them to the capital."

"do you miss her ?" she asked.

"so much. i miss all of them, but mikasa is a close friend of mine, she holds a special place in my heart."

"do you think you and levi will go to the meetings between the marley ambassadors and the jaegerists ?" she asked.

"maybe, if they feel as though they really need us."

you sighed through your nose, which was a bit stuffy from crying. "after we turned back into humans, i saw sasha again."

gabi lifted her head up from where it was resting on your shoulder. "what ?"

"yeah, i saw her ghost i think." you looked down on her with a smile on your face. "she told me i knew what i needed to do, and then i went and got levi and you and falco." you paused for a moment, thinking about how you would word what you were thinking. "i did what i needed to do, i got my family together." gabi's eyes widened. "sasha promised me a family, and although this wasn't the family i had envisioned, it's still a family nonetheless. i believe her last gift to me was you, falco, and levi. and i am so grateful to have you all in my life."

gabi smiled before hugging you. she opened her mouth to say something-

"oi !" a deep voice came from the top of the stairs. "you two woke me up with all of your crying. go to bed." before your heard the creaking of the floorboards and the closing of a door.

you chuckled before standing up, pulling gabi with you. you walked her to her room, and even tucked her in, you both exchanged 'i love yous' and 'goodnights' before you retreated from her bedroom, closing the door behind you.

across the hall, levi stood leaned on his doorway with his arms crossed together. "that family speech, that was cute." he commented. you rolled your eyes at the older man. "were you listening in on a private conversation ?" you teased.

the ex-captain scoffed and looked away. "go to bed y/n. we have a picnic to go on tomorrow." before closing his door.

you chuckled to yourself, remembering how you brought up the idea to him that morning, and he only replied with a curt "we'll see" before sipping on his morning tea.

you went back to your own room, and got into your bed. you turned on your side, and looked at the space you always left open for sasha, and brushed your hand against the pillow.

"goodnight love."

uhhhhh doesnt feel like my best work but whatevs 😁👍 enjoy my comeback to tumblr 🤩🙏

requests open mfs ‼️

[solarsleepless]

Hello good sir.

Please rant to me about avian hybrid/ Lion hybrid/ enderman hybrid c!Niki headcanons and au's. I NEED MORE of your c!niki banter cs I have already read your fics 3times over and over again.

SHJHJSHJSHJSHJSH GIVE ME GENDER EUPHORIA AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE

i'll give some hcs for each

Avian Niki

niki is either a crow hybrid or an angel hybrid. on one hand crow niki is funny to me on the other hand badass angel

her feathers, ironically, stay white during her 'villain' arc because yaknow symbolism

when she was going out with puffy, she'd let puffy preen them

because she was the only other winged hybrid, quackity trusted her to preen his own wings

in return he preened hers while she was in jail

she used to fly with puffy because love <3

during her isolation arc, she takes out feathers as an unhealthy coping mechanism, reasoning to herself that there's no need to preen if she doesn't have any feathers left (yes it's morbid)

eventually tho she just. doesnt even wear clothes for her wings

she just hides them underneath, which is of course VERY uncomfortable

they get worse and worse and ache more and more and she wants to fly so badly but she can't unless she preens them and she can't because she just can't!

when she joins the syndicate, the first thing phil says during their second meeting is: "hey niki didn't you have wings? what happened to them?"

his voice is tinged with sympathy; he knows what it's like to not be able to fly

she freezes, just stops moving, then starts to cry

phil is worried he's done something wrong, but then she reveals that she's kept her wings hidden under wil's coat and cloak all that time (note the symbolism)

he immediately is like "what the FUCK" when he sees them because there are feathers falling when it's not even shedding season yet?? also there are a few in places they shouldn't be at all? there are some fucking missing?????

long story short it takes multiple hours to get them back in place

niki passes out during it because it's been so long since she hasn't been in constant pain

when she wakes up, phil insists on keeping her there to preen her wings

also the syndicate has a long discussion about what happened and they promise each other and themselves to help her get better

Lion Hybrid Niki

she purrs end tweet

no but seriously this girl will purr to end and back

she purrs louder than ranboo which is SAYING something

she loves the scritchy scratches behind the ears. like REALLY loves 'em. she'll just- once you give her scritches she just. surrenders and leans into it. her purring sounds like a fucking jet plane when she gets the scritchies

she can roar, she only uses it to intimidate people tho

her self-worth is just. deeper than bedrock. she has no self-worth

she and puffy are working on it but she still... needs help

sometimes she gets phantom pain from her declawed fingers. she's found out it hurts less when she massages it, but she can't actually reach it, so she asks puffy to do it, and puffy can't help but feel guilty each time she sees the stumps

also niki hates getting her nails trimmed. like HATES it. even if she doesn't want them growing as long as they did before, the idea of something sharp near her fingers after what happened just makes her blanch

eventually tho she does have to do it

she hugs puffy while ant cuts her nails, and puffy whispers sweet, reassuring comments to her.

like

"you're doing so good. i'm so proud of you" and "we're almost there. you okay? we're gonna get through this."

sometimes tho niki just.. can't handle it. but she doesn't want to disappoint puffy either so she tries to just get through it anyways.

puffy notices her discomfort and asks her if she wants to stop. niki hesitates before nodding.

"niki, you being comfortable is so much more important than this. we can do it tomorrow, okay?"

Enderman Hybrid Niki

makes littol enderman noises. sometimes when she's stressed, sometimes just idly, sometimes when she's happy!

she has a tail because how can i not give her one

also she has pawsies and hands like magpiebur by @/nightferns (BECAUSE I LOVE THE WAY THEY DRAW WILBUR'S PAWWWS)

can withstand water a little better than ranboo, being more human than him

it still burns though

she just has higher pain tolerance lul

also can touch snow unlike ranboo because she's half human, half enderman

her ears and tail twitch whenever she's anxious

didn't really like eye contact, and the l'manbergians respected that (esp eret who didnt like people staring at their eyes either) until schlatt came along and basically forced it, so she kinda forced herself to do it from then on

unlike ranboo however, she doesnt go into enderwalk. she actually hasn't got an enderwalk because ranboo got it from nervous habit and it 'evolved' from there (my hc anyway), she instead literally gets hurt

like it hurts her to make eye contact

ranboo sees that she makes eye contact despite being an enderman hybrid and is like: "...HOW???"

she's just like "oh i force myself to do it lul. cause everyone expects me to anyways. it hurts after a while but its fine"

he just goes completely silent after that, then tells phil and techno at the syndicate meeting (while niki is admiring steve) not to hold eye contact w/niki because it hurts her

techno: "HEHH??? she seemed fine when i visited her!!" ranboo: "yeah she's been hiding it this whole time because society expects her to do it." techno, an adhd fella: "..phil where are the adoption papers-"

niki's confused by the end. why did nobody look at her? why did nobody maintain eye contact with her??? did they not like her?

but at the end phil explains that they thought that because she was an enderman hybrid she wouldn't like it (they're lying to not throw ranboo under the bus)

niki just stares, then starts to cry because holy Shit they are so nice

"nIKI NO YOU'RE BURNING-"

used to bite her tail as a way of self-harm. techno was VERY concerned when he saw the bite marks, but niki just lied and said that it was a dog attack

he knows for a fact it wasn't a dog because he's been bitten and his furniture has bites and it didnt look like that

more like that One Time when Ranboo bit him while he was in his enderwalk state

cue him connecting the dots and being like "...WAIT"

niki also really likes blocks. like we all know her city is weird in some parts because it's built with different blocks, signifying niki's jumbled up mind while planning to kill tommy. but in the enderman hybrid niki hc, its also partly because blocks feel nice and she wanted to feel different ones

her tail curls around the legs of people she likes. so far, it's gone around: wilbur, tommy n tubbo (those two specifically during pogtopia), fundy, eret, puffy and the rest of the syndicate

whenever puffy made her flustered she'd blush either green or pink. no inbetween. puffy was very confused and thought niki was disgusted by her at first and was all :(( before niki explained her wack biology

that's all i got for now im afraid!

[queerspacepunk]

Welcome to DADWC!! How about “A lifetime of laughter, at the expense of the death of a bachelor” (Panic! at the Disco, Death of a Bachelor) for Bull/Dorian?

thank u for the patience friend! I hadn't heard this song before but now I have. (Second @dadrunkwriting fill in one day? :0)

“You’re really going through with this, aren’t you?” “I really am. Are you disappointed?” Felix sighs, “I think you’re an idiot, and that this is a terrible idea but I’m also... strangely proud of you.”

To Blackwall, Cassandra, Cole, and 10 others: I was wondering if you would be free to join me tomorrow evening for... a memorial of sorts, for someone quite close to me.

To Blackwall, Cassandra, Cole, and 9 others: Room booked at the Herald’s Rest, tomorrow, 7PM.

To Sera: Room booked at the Herald’s Rest, tomorrow, 6:30PM.

From Josephine: Oh Dorian, I’m so sorry to hear this, of course we will be there! Might I ask, is this a recent loss?

To Josephine: Your presence is much appreciated. It’s something of a complicated story, I’m sure you won’t mind if I wait to tell you all at once, tomorrow evening.

From Josephine: No, of course not, forgive me for prying. Much love.

--

“You’re sure you don’t want to call this off?” Felix says through the phone.

“A little late for that now,” Dorian points out, “they’ll all be here shortly. What else can I do? Call them all and say, ‘sorry lied about the whole memorial thing, never mind’?”

“Isn’t the whole point of this that you’re lying to them?”

“Not lying,” Dorian says, “Misleading. It’s different. And I do think they’ll be a little too preoccupied to be mad, afterwards.”

“You’re really going through with this, aren’t you?”

“I really am. Are you disappointed?”

Felix sighs, “I think you’re an idiot, and that this is a terrible idea but I’m also... strangely proud of you.”

“Now, now,” Dorian admonishes gently, “there’s going to be enough sappiness later on, keep it together for me.”

Felix laughs, and Dorian can just about see him shaking his head.

“You sure you don’t want me to video call you in?”

“I’ll give the game away, just send me the recordings after, and Dorian?”

“Yes Felix?”

“Good luck.”

--

His friends arrive, almost entirely on time for once, in ones and twos and threes. Dorian greets them at the door to the private room, face solemn, and directs them to the seats he’s set out. There’s no faux coffin in the room -- he hadn’t wanted to get quite that morbid, but there is an indulgent spray of funeral flowers set at the front of the room.

Sera tries to ask questions, and is summarily shushed by Josephine. Cole tries to give answers and is dragged aside, informed, and shushed by Dorian. He doesn’t quite get it, but he must have a good feeling about the results because he keeps his mouth shut. Leliana seems to know something’s up, but is entertained enough to not say anything, and Bull gives Dorian a hell of a look, laced with enough concern that Dorian actually feels a little... guilty.

“Thank you all for coming,” Dorian says, once everyone is seated, and pulls out the stack of memorial pamphlets he’s had printed, “I appreciate your presence with me tonight, and your patience with what is a... complicated situation.”

He begins stepping around the circle, handing the pamphlets out.

“Er, Dorian,” Blackwall says, “I think there’s been a mix-up. They’ve put your picture on these.”

“Oh,” Dorian says, turning to the flowers to give him a moment to suppress the grin creeping onto his face, “no, that’s quite correct.”

“You better not be a bloody ghost!” Sera yelps, flinging her pamphlet at him as if to test her hypothesis. It manages, despite being a flat piece of paper that has no business being able to be thrown with any accuracy, to smack Dorian right in the face, which is unpleasant, but does at least seem to reassure her that he isn’t, in fact, a ghost.

None of the others seem particularly concerned that he’s undead, but there is a lot of muttering, and worried looks being pointed his way.

“You need an intervention or something, Pavus?” Krem asks with a frown, “cause I know that cries for help are actually a good thing and shit, and you Magisters-”

“Altus, Soporatus, you know better.”

“-fine, you Altus love your drama, but even this is a bit much.”

“I assure you,” Dorian says to the group at large, “this is not a cry for help.”

“You did just hand us all a funeral pamphlet with your face on it, Sparkler,” Varric points out.

“It’s not a funeral pamphlet, it’s a memorial pamphlet, and-”

“The dates are wrong,” Leliana interrupts, “The death date is a question mark so I cannot comment on that, however this is not your birthdate. You must have been... eighteen? Nineteen?”

“Eighteen,” Dorian confirms, pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a deep breath, “this has all gone rather off-track, hasn’t it. If you would all just hold your questions, and nonsense,” he throws a quick glare at both Sera and Krem, “and allow me to explain things, I think you’ll find it will benefit all of us.”

Bull, Dorian notes, is watching him very, very carefully. They haven’t seen each other since yesterday which isn’t entirely unusual, given Dorian insistence that they maintain their own homes up unto this point, even if he spends most nights in Bull’s bed or with Bull in his own, but he can tell that the fact he’s said nothing about any of this to Bull is concerning him.

Nothing to be done about it now. Nothing but going forward with the plan as intended.

“We are here, this evening,” Dorian says, “to consider, and honour the life of someone I believe we all care about. Someone who has, for many years been the life of our parties, a bringer of spectacular stories and an improver of our collective fashion sense.”

“What happened to ‘im?” Sera interjects. Dorian rolls his eyes but doesn’t grizzle.

“Nothing, as of yet,” Dorian reassures them, “but the bachelor of which we speak has, while not by anyone’s definition a selfless man, has decided that there are certain things worth sacrificing one’s life for.”

They look at him (with the exception of Cole of course, and Vivienne who’s grinning like she knows the answer is is utterly uninterested in giving hints to anyone else) like he’s spouting absolute gibberish. He’d hoped his friends would be a little more advanced in their thinking, but alas. If he has to help them along, so be it.

“How,” he says, “does one kill a bachelor?”

“Shoot ‘im!” Sera suggests.

“Blunt force trauma?” Krem asks, “to the head?”

Leliana hums quietly, “poison?”

“Blessed Maker,” Dorian says aghast, “what is wrong with you?”

“Hate to break it to you,” Herah points out, “but you did invite us all along to what is looking a lot like a fake memorial service for yourself. Your high horse is more of a rocking pony.”

Dorian rolls his eyes, “how long did it take you to think of that?”

Herah pouts, “a couple of minutes.”

“Well done, regardless,” Dorian admits, “now you’ve all had enough time to think. Varric, surely you’ll know. How does one kill a bachelor?

“Explosion?”

“Oh for-” Dorian throws his hands in the air and turns away from them all, trying to come up with a plan B for how he’s going to make this happen. He can tell them the answer, of course, but it won’t be at all the same and someone figuring it out themselves-

“Oh,” Cassandra says, “of course.”

Dorian spins back to look at her, as does everyone else in the room, and she flushes.

“Isn’t it obvious?” she insists, “to kill a bachelor, you marry him.”

They all stare at Cassandra a moment before turning, slowly, to Dorian, who has taken advantage of their distraction to sink to his knee, and pull the ring box from his pocket.

“The Iron Bull,” he says, and he’s not choking up dammit, of course he isn’t, he’s practiced this too many time for that to happen, “I have been a bachelor for over a decade now, and I have thought for some time that it was something I would never give up. That I could not ask for more than what I had.”

“Dorian-” Bull says and there must be something wrong with the acoustics in here, because now he sounds like his voice is cracking and there’s not way that can be the truth.

“Hush,” Dorian says, gently, “let me finish.”

Bull does, closes his mouth and leans back in his chair but not before taking Dorian’s hand in his own, and holding it.

“Right,” Dorian says, “as I was saying. Bull you have come along and swept everything out from under me. Shown me that there is in fact, a whole other life to be had. A life full of laughter, a life full of love, and safety, and honesty.”

And bugger it all he is crying now, and he can only thank the Maker for the fact that he’s a pretty crier.

“I have realised,” Dorian says, “that this is a life I want, even if it comes at the expense of the death of a bachelor.”

He opens the box. It wasn’t easy convincing someone to make an untinted dawnstone ring, or managing to get the measurements without Bull noticing, but he’s done it.

“The Iron Bull, will you marry me?”

[theaviskullguy]

Ink and Petals

@dapple-dualies-propaganda here's the au

Tattoo artist! Rider x Florist! Goggles

hope you enjoy!

---------

When was it not busy at Squid ink?

It was one of the top Tattoo Parlors in Inkopolis. and it was also on a pretty busy street. So, it got a lot of customers. Also the fact that one of the artists was a famous turfer.

Rider hadn't formerly retired, but he had eased out of playing Turf Wars. He had found other interests outside of the sport: Theater, art, reviewing old movies online... He still did Turf from time to time, albeit the adult league. He was too old for the more popular teen division.

So, he found a job as a tattoo artist. And he rather loved it. Not only did most of his friends consult him for tattoo advice (from where the best places are to good designs), but he also knew some gossip. One of his regulars had beef with her neighbor because he has a pet raccoon who keeps stealing her trash and Rider could NOT wait to hear more about this story.

Another thing was, well, Rider had seen some shit. From people covered head to toe in tats, to people eagerly wanting their first tattoo, even to shyer folk who wanted one to defy controlling parents or to mark something important.

None of that prepared Rider for the news he got when tattooing one of the customers. More specifically, Gloves.

You see, Gloves had been coming in for the past few days. They had wanted a pretty complicated butterfly tat, so for the last 3 days Rider has been exchanging stories with the resident enby about... pretty much anything.

This is how this exchange happened;

"So you remember Goggles, right?" Gloves asked.

Rider rolled his eyes. "What, you think I'd forget the guy who kept pulling down my pants?"

"Oh ha ha. Anyways, apparently he works at that flower shop now."

"...He what?"

"You heard me!" They said. "I went there yesterday to get something for a project and there was Goggles! He misses you, 'ya know!"

Rider was just. quiet. He hadn't talked to his crush in a while, contact dwindled when Rider stopped doing Turf as much. Never once did he think Goggles would miss him, but that was probably the self hatred talking.

"...I'll think about it." Was all Rider said.

The conversation continued like nothing happen; Gloves saying multiple cursed things and Rider sharing interesting stories he heard on his job. Time flew by and soon, the tattoo was done; a butterfly with the bi colors on one wing and the nb colors on the other. Rider was quite proud of it, and Gloves seemed to like it. They waved, and left the store, humming to themselves.

Rider looked at the clock. His shift ended in just a few minutes. He knew he had no other appointments that day, so he took to watching old recorded matches in his phone.

Those were over a decade ago. Yet he still remembered everything. His favorite part was still learning he won a match by such a small margin. It was just... amazing.

He sighed. Rider missed those battles. But he has to say, he missed his crush a bit more.

He clocked out, saying goodbye to the other employee-Cherry (business relationships were easy to maintain when your coworkers were your siblings), and headed towards the flower shop for more reasons than one.

Army had a performance the next day. And yeah, Rider knew it was romantic, but platonically giving your best friend flowers was always nice. Plus, he wanted an excuse to see Goggles again.

He looked into the shop-the blue inkling was nowhere to be seen, but then again neither was the front desk. So, Rider shrugged and stepped in.

The floral scent was strong, but not overwhelming. Plenty of blossoms lined the stands, along with tags of what the flowers were and what they meant.

Rider looked around, trying to remember which flowers Army liked again, when he heard a familiar, youthful voice.

"Hi! Need any help?"

The inkling turned around. Goggles had definitely changed since Rider last saw him; his tentacles were longer and in an actual bun, for once. His blue eyes still had that clarity, and he still had that goofy smile. Though he didn't seem to recognize Rider.

"Uhh... I'll be fine. I'm just trying to remember what flower my friend likes the most." He said, hoping his accent didn't give him away; there weren't many in Inkopolis with an Australian accent.

But, Goggles didn't seem to notice or care. "Oh, okay!"

Rider internally breathed a sigh of relief. That would have been awkward if Goggles recognized him.

He looked around the shop, before spotting a bouquet of lilies. He knew Army liked lilies. If they weren't his favorite flower, it'd be close enough.

Rider took a few of the bigger ones, and a few white roses for variety, and took them to the counter.

Goggles smiled. "This a special occasion?"

"Not exactly. Just, my friend's doing a performance for a musical and I wanted to get him something for it." Rider explained.

"What musical?" Gogs asked, arranging the flowers with a sheer, white ribbon tying them together.

"Hadestown. He got Eurydice."

"Oh! I went to go see it last night! Army's amazing at that role. He's your friend, right?"

Rider internally panicked, but calmed down after remembering he wasn't Army's only friend. "Yeah. We've been friends for a while now."

"Well, tell him I said hi!" He handed the bouquet to Rider. "On me, alright? It's for a friend anyways!"

Rider nodded. "Thanks, mate."

"You're welcome!"

------

A few weeks went by. Rider occasionally stopped at the flower shop and got flowers for...well, no real reason. He'd use them to add color to his house, or give them to friends. He just wanted an excuse to see Goggles.

He'd talked to the blue inkling a bit more, too. He'd gotten into the business since, well, he really liked flowers, and he wanted a job where he could just...relax! He still did Turf, of course, but the Adult league was more serious than the teen one, and he just wanted to have fun instead of be expected to take a game seriously.

He still didn't recognize Rider. The yellow-green inkling was a bit hurt by this, to be honest.

Though, it was a bit startling when Goggles actually walked into Rider's work. And Rider was assigned to give Goggles his first tattoo: A blue jay on his shoulder, taking off from a branch.

This time, it was Goggles' turn to ask questions as Rider worked.

"Sooo.... you've been coming into my shop for a while and I still don't know your name!" The blue inkling stated. "I mean, you can probably recognize me though!"

Rider shrugged. "Well, who can forget Goggles of the Idiot Blue team?"

Goggles giggled. "You do know me! I still don't know you!!"

"...I can assure you, we've met before that day I got Army flowers." Rider said.

"Ooh! Can I try and guess who you are?"

"Ehh, why not."

"Okay! Umm..." Goggles thought for a moment. "Clams facemask?"

Rider shook his head. "Nope."

"Inkfall?"

"Wrong."

"Eging Jr?"

"Not even close there."

"Stealth Goggles?"

"Getting closer, I'll give you that."

"....Rider?" Goggles asked.

Rider chuckled. "Took you long enough, idiot."

Goggles smiled wide. "I finally found you! Hi Riri!"

"Hey, Gogs. It's been a while."

"Yeah! I'm a bit surprised I didn't recognize you, since we were pretty close!" Goggles stated.

Rider shrugged. "Well, I'm not the most memorable person anyways."

"Riderrrrr don't say that!" Goggles said. "You're still really popular!"

"To some people, maybe. Not everyone."

There was a tense silence, other than the hum of the tattoo needle as it made the drawing.

"....So." Goggles started again. "How's life?"

"It's...well, better than it was." Rider said. "Got my own place, for one. Though it gets a bit lonely.. You?"

"I'm still living in an apartment. I really want a roommate!" Goggles proclaimed. "Maybe we could move in together?"

"..I'll think about it, Gogs. Though it might be fun being your roommate."

"Really? Thanks Rider!" Goggled smiled.

The conversation grew more casual. Rider enjoyed it; turns out Goggles had his fair share of gossip. It was kinda cool.

And as the next few days passed, Rider looked forward to each of those sessions. His crush seemed to go from "this person would be fun to date i think" to "hOLY MOTHER OF THE GODS IM IN L O V E", and it didn't help that during those meetings, Goggles had to be shirtless.

The days turned into weeks and months. Goggles moved in with Rider, and the two became incredibly close friends.

And, it came to a head near valentines day. Goggles' shop was very busy, as expected. Luckily, Squid Ink wasn't as much.

So, on his day off, just before Valentines, Rider headed to the flower shop and got a bouquet of roses. Cliché to confess on Valentines day, Rider knew, but he's a pining gay cut him some slack.

And Rider came home right as Goggles was leaving for his shift. So, that left Rider with a good 3 hours to practice his confession.

"Alright, Rider. This has to be CASUAL. 'Hey, I've liked you for over a decade but just now had the confidence to confess!' No, too creepy sounding. 'Yo, Gogs. I really like you and maybe we could go out to dinner sometimes?' ...Too casual."

....Yeah, this went on for a while.

Rider groaned, collapsing his his bed. "I wish feelings were fucking easier...I should just call Army."

So, he grabbed his phone and selected the contact, Veronica Sawyer Kinnie

"C'mon, Army... pick up."

And not one ring later, "Rider, what is it?"

"...I need romantic help. Please." Rider asked.

"Look, just because I'm married to Aloha, doesn't mean I know how I ended up here."

"Yeah, I kinda know that." He stated. "Still. I really need some help."

Army sighed. "Who is it? It's totally that one person with the raccoon story-"

"Actually, no. It's, um.... It's Goggles."

The octoling on the other end of the line could be heard sighing. "Still a morosexual I see."

"OI! You're the one who married a fuckin himbo!"

".....Touché. Still, there's a difference."

Rider huffed. "Just... give me some advice. I wanna confess to him tomorrow but I've got no idea how. I'm giving him roses, but like, there's gotta be something more I could do, y'know?"

"Have you tried asking Prince?" Army suggested. "He is the one with the obsession with rom coms and romance novels."

"This is his exam period, Army. I'm not about to potentially interrupt a cram session by asking for romantic advice!"

"Fair enough. I'd say...well, just rip off the band aid. Like... 'Hey, Goggles, I really like you and was wondering if you'd like to be my boyfriend.'"

"...Thanks, Arm. I'll, uh, give it a try."

-------

Rider couldn't sleep that well. Mainly out of anticipation.

He was gonna confess to his crush of...over a decade, at least. He didn't fuckin know what was gonna happen!

Like, would Goggles reciprocate? Would he hate Rider after it? WHAT THE FUCK WOULD HAPPEN-

He sighed. He needed to get his mind off this shit.

Rider looked over to his bedside clock: 5AM. 5 hours before his shift. 5 hours to get his shit together and plan for confessing to the world's cutest but also dumbest man later that night.

C'mon, Rider. Think. Army said to rip it off like a band aid, but Goggles might find that a little sudden and out of the blue. He could write a letter and leave it for Goggles when he went to his shift (The flower shop was closed on Valentines day). That would be a safe option.

Rider sat up, and got out a piece of paper and pencil, writing a note.

"Hey, Goggles.

There's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while. I really, really like you. As in, a crush.

I totally get it if you don't like me back, or think I'm weird, but hey, I was wondering if you'd wanna go out to dinner or something. Probably not tonight cause of Valentine's day but maybe tomorrow night or something.

-Rider"

Quickly, he folded it and wrote Goggles' name, putting a little heart sticker on it. It was corny, but hey, Rider had to use up those stickers somehow.

Rider attached it to the roses, and kept it on his desk.

And so, the morning went as normal. He had breakfast, got out of his pjs, put his hair up... the usual.

But as Rider left to go to work, he left the note and rose on the table, and left the house quickly.

During the day, he nearly forgotten all about it; He caught up with the gossip-Apparently the neighbor with the raccoon and the regular were now dating. So that was a nice little end to the story.

Squid Ink wasn't AS busy-probably because it was Valentines day, people were spending it with their lovers, not getting inked up (unless they made the appointment when single)

And it was near the end of Rider's shift when he heard his name mentioned. Probably someone making an appointment before he heard the familiar voice of Goggles going "Okay!!"

The blue inkling walked over to his station. "Hi Ridey!!"

"...Hey, Gogs. Getting another tat?" Rider asked, trying to keep his cool.

Goggles nodded. "Yeah!!!"

"A'ight anything specific in mind or-"

"Can I get just a simple quote one?"

Rider nodded. "Where do you want it?"

Goggles pulled down the collar of his shirt slightly. "Right here, please!"

"Okay. Just try to keep holding that down so I don't mess up.

-----

And so, tattoo conversations ensued.

The quote Goggles had wanted was a simple Pride one, that said "love is love". It was discreet, but a bit of it could be seen poking out if Goggles ever wore a v-neck.

"So, any plans for tonight?" Rider asked, trying to keep things subtle. Maybe Goggles hadn't read the note yet.

The blue inkling nodded. "Kinda! I had mental plans buuuuut nothing serious."

Rider raised an eyebrow. "Who with?"

"..I m-mean, I still have to ask him.." Goggles' face turned a shade of blue, and he averted his gaze.

"....Can I guess who he is?"

"If ya can!"

He smiled. "Does his name have an R in it?" Rider had a guess it was himself, but it wouldn't hurt to check.

Goggles nodded. "Yeah!"

"Got an accent?"

"Yep!!"

"Is he doing your tattoo?"

"....y-yeah?" Goggles sheepishly smiled. "I'm n-not that discreet, am I?"

Rider chuckled, but on the inside he was screeching. "Honestly? I had no clue myself."

"Really? I've been dropping the most obvious hints!"

"...Like what?" Rider asked, now a bit curious.

"Welllll I've been picking movies you like during movie night, I've made sure to get your drink on coffee runs, Oh! And I offered to cook dinner that one time!" Goggles stated.

"...Damn. I'm just oblivious then." The former dynamo user laughed, before turning off the needle. "There. It's all done." Rider held up a mirror for the blue boy.

Goggles' face lit up. "Whoa! It looks amazing!!! Thanks Riri!"

Rider smiled. "You're welcome. Now, uh, ...did you read my note?"

"..Y-yeah, I did. And, um...I like you too Rider!!" The blue man pressed a small, quick kiss to Rider's cheek.

Rider blushed. "S-so, you'll let me t-take you out?"

Goggles nodded. "Yeah!!!"

"I...thanks, Gogs."

"You're welcome Riri!!!"

----------

aAAAAA RUSHED END

but like. hope yall enjoy!

[milkybunbuns]

smile → kita.s

Fete shenanigans - 7

w/c: 1.1 K

warnings: none

SMILE MASTERLIST

everyone was happily gathered around the red and white checkered picnic mat, the sounds of joyous laughs and talking could be heard from miles away, mainly being powered on by the miya twins, suna and y/n. the others were having small talk amongst themselves, taking their time to enjoy the delicious meal laid out in front of them (okay, for a moment my mind flashed to dirty mode, is it just me? i might just be too dirty minded lmao) which consisted of a variety of fizzy drinks to desserts.

"let's go to the fete after this, i heard that they have really good food stalls and they also have game stalls!", you suggested and at the word food, osamu had immediately tuned into what you were saying.

"do they have onigiri?"

"i'm not sure, that's why we should go check it out."

——

everyone had agreed to visit this fete and fortunately, the group of chaotic children didn't get lost this time, after all, they were being led by their oh ever so reliable father, kita shinsuke.

"mmm...delicious!", you and osamu were darting from stall to stall, snatching a few samples and shoving them in your mouth although kita was staring at the two of you coldly, implying 'stop being a disgrace and get back here this instant' suna just merely facepalmed at this stupidity, shoving his hands in his pockets (for once) and strolling off towards atsumu so he could make sure to get anything stupid he would do on camera.

stopping for a moment, osamu and yourself sat down by a bench, hands full of different foods ranging from onigiris to sushi to bananas coated in chocolates. you took a bit into one of the onigiris, taking your time to savour the flavour, "y/n. osamu."

the said people turned their head almost robotically, to be met with a cold piercing gaze. somehow, the two had gained some guts that they, grabbing the food and running away to some other place. kita attempted to go after the two of you, but was quickly blocked by a sea of people. huh, so this was a bit like a volleyball game...where a tall wall loomed above you, unable to spike past. kita's cold and chilling presence was like nothing amongst the crowd, making it difficult to get through. sighing and rubbing his temples, kita gave up, deciding to deal with them later. these teamates of him were making him grow more white hair day by day, it wasn't like he already had enough, almost half of his hair being made up of white.

——

fortunately, you had endured kita's lecture, who had seemed to gone easier on you than osamu, who was cringing and cowering, even after the lecture had finished. chicken. (seee he does have a soft spot for you :3) now, the three of you were searching for atsumu, suna and yui who had seemingly, vanished into thin air and were to be no where found in this huge damn place. a quick buzz to your phone made you immediately stop, osamu bumping into you and raising an eyebrow.

——

meanie y/nie

y/n-chaan! where are you guys?

we're at the fishing stall, where the hec did you go

me suna and yui went to the rollercoasters

wait wait wait, what's a rollercoaster doing in a fete-

uhhh, i mean, we were at the food stalls

me and osamu were there the whole time though

oh uhm

you're lying aren't you? what did you guys go do

errr, we may or may not have gone to check out that bar near this place

you guys are under age, what, how did u even get in

fake id

im telling kita-san, thanks boi

WHAT NO

HOW DARE YOU

COME BACK

DON'T BETRAY ME

YOU-

B****

not delivered

"ughh", atsumu stomped in a fit of rage, tousling his already messed up hair. stupid y/n, now we're in trouble, i should've known not to tell her ugh

"what happened now", suna deadpanned, knowing that this would already not end well.

"nothing~"

and if you thought suna couldn't have a more deadpanned look on his face, well then you were certainly wrong. "you're so bad at lying."

"what!? i'm a great lier!"

"that's not something to be proud of atsumu-kun", yui pitched in making an irk mark appear on atsumu's head.

"well yer not any better!"

"at least I'm not the one who tried using a fake id.."

"hah? so now you're pushing all the blame onto me huh?"

"atsumu", a similar cold voice stopped everyone in their tracks, turning back to see kita staring at them. atsumu attempted to stifle a snicker, but failed, which made kita look even scarier if that was even possible...

"atsumu. what's so funny? sneaking into a bar?"

"uh-"

"..."

"nothin' kita-san!"

suna took out his phone and began recording, his dream of kita talking baby language to a pet finally somewhat coming true. on his back, you sat on top, scrolling through some social media app. kita shinsuke. the kita shinsuke. was giving someone. let alone you. a piggyback ride. now how on earth did this happen?

——

"kitaaa-senpaiii~"

"yes?"

"can i get a piggy back ride? i'm tired."

"you need to walk like everyone else."

"but kita-senpaii!", you pouted, making grabby hands towards him, "you're so strong and i wanna see if you can carry me~"

even kita shinsuke got affected by praise, it's just in human nature. he sighed and bent down, signalling for you to get on. your eyes widened and you stood frozen in spot, quickly being snapped out of it by a blank stare. a smile quickly found it's way onto your face, "thank you kita-senpai!"

"its fine, just dont expect this to happen every time.."

"yessire!"

osamu couldn't care less about this lovey dovey scene in front of him.

1) he was still too afraid after that lecture

2) he was too busy shoving his face with food

——

now, all osamu could think for atsumu was:

my not so dear brother, your time has come, we'll make it nice and long at torturous for you~

[megalony]

Play the game

This is a murderer! Ben Hardy request that I am going to make into a series, I hope you all like it, feedback is always lovely to have. This is imagine is rather long.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem @butlegendsneverdie @langdonzvoid @jennyggggrrr @rogmeddows @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss @sj-thefan @omgitsearly @luckytrashgooprebel @scarsout @deaky-with-a-c @killer-queen-ofrhye @bluutac @vousmemanqueez @jonesyaddiction @ambi-and-sunflowers @milanosaurus @httpfandxms @saint-hardy @7-seas-of-fat-bottomed-girls @mrsalwayswritex @rogerina-owns-me @peterquillzsblog @im-an-adult-ish @crazylittlethingg @allauraleigh

Series taglist: @britneysurvived​

Murderer! Ben masterlist

Summary: (Y/n) is married to a rival club owner and is told to kill Ben to cut the competition. But when she tries to seduce him, things go a bit too far and killing Ben becomes very tricky when feelings get in the way and a game is being played.

Enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm sorry, you want me to do what?" (Y/n)'s chin tilted down towards her neck causing her to look up at her husband through her lashes with raised brows in a particular manner which she was beginning to become accustomed to looking at him.

Mark had asked her to do a lot of shady things in the two years that they had been married and a lot of the time (Y/n) went along with it and agreed because first and foremost, he wasn't a nice man. She married someone who could kill a person whilst smiling or holding a conversation with someone else so refusing him didn't feel like a very good option. (Y/n) always wanted to make him proud or feel like she deserved to be with someone who was good to her like he was. Now she went along with what he said if she wanted to, she had a voice she wasn't willing to lose.

He liked to push (Y/n), to try and get to her to do things that were on the illegal side and see how far he could push her. It was like a game between them, constantly pushing each other to their limits and (Y/n) was beginning to grow bored of this game now. She didn't marry Mark so she could have someone to test her patience or her conscience or break her morals.

(Y/n) wanted some fun back in her marriage, she wanted to be with someone she actually felt something for and who could both love her and tease her in a relationship that evolved and changed rather than one that came to a stalemate.

"I want you to kill him. Why, too scared?"

A scoff passed through (Y/n)'s lips as she shook her head which tilted back so she could look up at the ceiling. Her hands tightened around the edge of the desk she was perched on and her muscles started to tense and tighten for more reasons than one.

"You want me to kill him? And how do you propose I do that, he knows me I've met him. I can hardly walk up to him and shoot him without anyone knowing who I am. I think all of his men know me by now."

(Y/n) let go of the desk so she could fold her arms over her chest, staring directly at her husband who was still smiling like an idiot who had somehow won a game of high-stake polka.

He wanted her to kill Ben.

Her husband thought that (Y/n) could somehow kill the boss of their rival gang that was trying to fight them for the turf of the town. (Y/n) wasn't ashamed to say that she had married into this business, before she met Mark she walked around the streets oblivious to the fact that there were backstreet deals, killings and dodgy businesses working this town. But when she married Mark she was automatically enlisted onto his side of the business, she was then working in his nightclub that had a backroom which was for the side business of making more money without tax, collecting money from threats and killing people who got in their way.

Marrying Mark was the first time (Y/n) knew anything of Ben Hardy. He owned the boxing club on the other side of town and he was a man that almost everyone seemed to fear for more reasons than one. There was a list longer than (Y/n)'s arm of things Ben had done to people who double-crossed him.

(Y/n) knew that by Ben being killed, it meant Mark could take over and he would be the only business that people would go to for the dodgy money and work they wanted and needed. Likewise, if Ben killed Mark, he would be in charge and no one would dare step out of the lines Ben drew around them.

"You know him, that's the advantage here, honey. If I went anywhere near him they would probably shoot me on sight, but not you. You can get close, you can tease him or mess with him, pretend to leave me and go to his gang or just downright catch him out and kill him because you're sneaky. I don't care how you do it, I just need him gone because I have a deal coming up and if he's gone this deal means we're in with a chance of being at the top."

Mark couldn't get close to Ben because Ben's men knew who worked for Mark and they kept them away from Ben and Ben's club. He didn't want the hassle of Mark being around so killing Ben was near to impossible.

But if (Y/n) pretended to leave Mark and try to get in with Ben or just try to seduce him or catch him out one night when he was alone and kill him, it would be so much easier than Mark having to plan it out and have it traced back to him.

He could see the debate happening in (Y/n)'s eyes when she pushed herself off the desk and wondered if this was worth it. She had killed a few people before and it wasn't something she did lightly. But if she killed Ben that would be it, there would be no competition, there would be no one to get in their way and she would be feared the same as Mark because it would be her who got the kill. She would take out their rival, not Mark. That glory was something (Y/n) could use to her advantage and if she did this then their business would expand.

It was going to take a lot of planning and care and it wouldn't be easy, but (Y/n) might just be able to do this.

"Alright, but it's going to take a few weeks to plan."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Y/n) had never walked through these doors before, she'd never stepped into this reception or even come close to this boxing club because she knew it was practically forbidden. Once Mark put that wedding ring on her finger, that was it. This area of town was off limits and being close to any of Ben's men was a danger sign. It was like this club was an allergy and (Y/n) had to stay away or suffer an allergic reaction.

The cigarette smoke hit (Y/n) first like an overpowering drug suddenly swarming through her system even though she couldn't see any clouds of smoke from anyone with a lit cigarette.

Her eyes scanned around the unfamiliar club, wondering if she could walk right in and disappear and scour the hallways to try and find Ben. She had part of a plan formed in her head but it wasn't set in stone yet. (Y/n) thought that the easiest way to get close enough to kill Ben was to try and seduce him. If he let her close enough to him to seduce and toy with then it would be very easy to kill him.

The only problem would be that if she did toy with him his workers would most likely know and then if she killed him she would be their number one suspect. But she would cross that bridge when she came to it. She had to make him want her first.

(Y/n) almost gritted her teeth when she noticed the system in front of her. There was a reception desk on her right in the corner and next to the desk was a set of double doors that led into the gym and boxing ring. To get in there a button behind the desk had to be pressed to allow access and she wasn't a member of this club, nor did she think they would just let her waltz right in. She would have to toy with these men too.

"Is he in?"

With the brightest smile she could muster, (Y/n) leaned over the reception desk and folded her arms on the counter, smiling at the stranger sat behind the desk whose eyes went wide when he recognised who she was.

"I- I'm sorry?" He looked like he wanted to reach over and press the panic button under the desk and send the gym into lock-down because (Y/n) had walked in. No one really ever saw her as a threat because she married Mark, they thought she was docile and just Mark's little pet but this man clearly thought she was going to stir up trouble and that made (Y/n) internally happy.

"Ben, is he in today I'm here to see him... that's him in the ring isn't it? Be a sweetheart and buzz me in."

(Y/n) glanced her eyes through the glass doors and her eyes were suddenly drawn to the two men in the ring. One of them was wobbling horribly like he was on his last reserves, but the other man... he was something else entirely. He was bare knuckle fighting, sweat dripping from his frame and making his already curly hair turn into waves that fell in front of his eyes but didn't slow him down at all. He was beating the living daylights out of the other man without seemingly having a scratch on himself and he was captivating to (Y/n).

She had never seen a proper fight or even a warm up match before, Mark was never the fighting kind of man.

Something inside (Y/n) stirred to life as she watched the man she definitely knew to be Ben, fighting like it was his mission in life to kill his opponent. (Y/n) found herself biting her lip for a second as she stared at Ben, wondering what it would be like to be married to him instead. She could watch him fighting anytime she liked, she could cheer him on or try and distract him or make fun out of him and see what he did.

'Stop it.'

Chiding herself, (Y/n) turned her attention back to the bewildered man in front of her and she leaned more onto the counter so he could see just a tiny bit into her clevage before she ticked her head to the door with a smile that made him shiver. She was toying with him because she was good at it, flash a smile that was half sweet and half sinister and men fell at her feet and did as she asked and this man was no different.

He clearly knew he shouldn't let her in but his hand found the buzzer before he could even think and the doors beeped, telling (Y/n) she could now go in. He gave her all the access she needed whilst knowing she was married to the enemy.

What a silly little boy.

"Thanks sweetheart." (Y/n)'s tone was sickly sweet before she opened the door and disappeared into the gym.

It was bigger than what she expected it to be. There was a boxing ring right in the centre of the room with a black foam mat as the floor to soften the blows Ben was now giving his opponent. All around the room there were punch bags hung up from the ceiling like meat hooks, there were racks of boxing gloves and white tape for knuckle fights and there were many different racks with weights dotted around the room. (Y/n) guessed there had to be another room for the actual gym with treadmills and rowing machines and all the other equipment since this was a gym and a boxing club.

Yet again, (Y/n) found herself becoming entranced by the way Ben was fighting. He was brutal, he spared no pain and he held no punches and now his opponent was on the floor, Ben was beating him whilst he was down on the ground.

Being married to him must be so different than being with Mark. Being with Mark was fun at first but then it was predictable, he came home at the same time almost every night, he got into little scraps but nothing serious, he collected debts himself and ran the nightclub and dressed to impress. He was always the same, nothing ever changed.

But Ben had to be different.

He was a boxer, (Y/n) knew that from the beginning, so if she married him she could patch him up. Would he be out all night or home at different times each day? Would he dress differently depending on what he was doing? Did he collect his debts or get others to do it? He seemed like the kind of man who would beat people up for being one day late with their debts and he would clearly hurt people without a care in the world. Would he be an intimidating husband or caring, would be be brass when out but then soft and kind when they were alone?

Would a marriage with Ben be predictable or ever-changing?

Why was (Y/n) even thinking about this, she wasn't here to marry Ben or actually fall for him. She was here to make him fall for her and then kill him. But did she really want to kill him when he seemed so intriguing to her right now? Maybe she could toy with him for a while, play with him and then dispose of him when she'd had her fun?

Mark didn't want her to do anything with Ben but make him want her because they were married after all. But (Y/n) could if she wanted to, she could spark up an affair and make Ben want her that much more and make him love her and then kill him. She could have all the fun she wanted that she didn't get with Mark as long as she didn't fall for Ben in return. If she made sure not to get any feelings for him, she could make this interesting.

Was she really debating an affair simply because her marriage was predictable? (Y/n) always thought that being with Mark was good because she loved him and he wasn't out all night or always in danger or in fights, considering what he did for a living, he had a rather safe life. But his life seemed boring compared to what (Y/n) was sure Ben got up to.

Which was better, safe and predictable or dangerous yet exciting?

(Y/n) tried to shake those thoughts and questions out of her mind as she made her way over to the ring, wondering how long it would take for one of them to notice her or even for the other men practising to notice she was here. When a few men started to notice her presence, (Y/n) smirked and sauntered closer to the ring until she could fold her arms over the rope and lean against it.

She stretched her back out and leaned forward, letting her ass stick out whilst she leaned her head on her arm, looking like she was staring at the fight like she was looking at her crush in the playground.

She could see blood beginning to come from Ben's knuckles despite the white tapped tightly bandaged around them. She could see the other man's face oozing blood and covered in bruises and he looked like he had already passed out from the pain.

"What are you trying to do, win the fight or win his life?" (Y/n) spoke quietly but confidently, making sure her voice was loud enough to catch Ben's attention but quiet enough for no one else to hear. Her tone was sultry and her eyes were narrowed questioningly but her smile showed she was intrigued.

The moment her voice hit his ears (Y/n) could see the effect her presence here was having on him because he pulled his fists back and turned to look at her, his brows furrowing in confusion and his upper lip curled in distaste.

Ben knew who she was just by her face and when he saw her leaning there against the rope he felt his heart flickering in his chest like a wavering flame. Why was Mark Lawrence's wife at Ben's club? What was she up to and what was she after? Had he put her here as some kind of bait to get to Ben or to trap him or cause a scene in his club?

Whatever reason she was here Ben wouldn't have it, he didn't want trouble and he didn't want his rival's wife here because Ben didn't like hurting women unless he really had to and this woman was particularly seductive to look at.

"Who says his life isn't already mine? Now what are you doing in my club?"

Ben took one last look at Darren who was spark out on the floor before he decided the fight was now over. He wiped his bleeding nose with his arm and took a deep breath before he climbed through the rope and jumped down out of the ring. He ran his taped fingers through his sweat-ridden hair, brushing it out of his eyes before he brought his hand to his teeth and ripped through the tape.

He watched (Y/n) pull away from the ring, watching him with a raised brow and a lopsided smile that put Ben on edge. He didn't know why she was here but he had to find out and he had to know what she or her husband were planning because this wasn't normal and he didn't want this to become normal either. She was part of the rivalry so she couldn't be here.

"Am I not welcome here, the boy behind the desk seemed happy to let me in, he didn't even ask for my membership card." (Y/n) watched Ben's lips curl in distaste and his eyes roll. One little look and his men melted into a puddle and caved in, he had to have some words with his men and get some new staff if they were all going to be charmed so easily like this.

"Boys are easily fooled as I'm sure you know all too well, doll. Now I know you don't have a membership here so why don't I walk you out. I don't think that husband of yours would want you here even if you aren't wearing your wedding ring."

Ben didn't know what game (Y/n) was trying to play but he didn't want to play. She wasn't meant to be here and he doubted Mark would want her here either. Nor did Ben know why she wasn't wearing her wedding ring, it was probably to try and pull one over on Ben and his workers and pretend she wasn't married to their rival but he didn't care.

She had to go.

(Y/n) rubbed her right hand over her left hand, feeling where her engagement and wedding rings were both missing. She had taken them off this morning so she could use the excuse that she had left Mark just in case she wanted to play things that way.

She looked up at Ben through her lashes, flashing him a smile that conflicted him because he wanted her to leave but he knew she was trying to win him over.

"Who's going to tell him I was here? I only want to look around, don't tell me you're turning away potential customers? Come on big boy, why don't you show me around instead of show me out?" An air of confidence masked the terror dwelling in (Y/n)'s stomach as she flashed him a sultry smile before taking a few steps closer to him. When there was only a small membrane of space between them, (Y/n) tipped her head back to look up at him.

She could feel his breaths getting deeper and when she dared to reach her hand out and glide her fingertips very lightly over his chest that was drenched in sweat, she felt his heartbeat pulsing through his skin. When her fingers tickled over his stomach his stomach sucked in until it disappeared completely like a pothole in the road and his lips pursed like his control was slipping away and he didn't like it.

Ben's lips parted to say something when he felt (Y/n)'s fingers trying to grasp the waistband of his boxing shorts but before he could even say one word she pulled at the elastic then suddenly let it snap back against his hips. It created a sting that Ben barely felt even though his hips moved in shock.

(Y/n) had to admit that Ben did well not to let the shock take over his otherwise placid expression. He quirked a brow at her, kept his lips in a straight line that made him look almost bored with her as he watched her turn around and head in the direction of the corridor she guessed led to the gym. But (Y/n) got three steps in that direction before she felt a hand slipping into the back pocket of her jeans, pulling her back until she hit a hard chest that was heaving.

"Tell me why you're here and I might consider giving you a tour of the club." She felt Ben's lips hovering against her ear and his fingers curling in her back pocket like he was trying to dig his nails through the fabric and grab a handful of her flesh for himself.

"I'm here on my own in the enemies club without my wedding ring... take a guess why I'm here to see you."

(Y/n) could have sworn she felt Ben's teeth grazing her ear when she spoke before his hand suddenly tensed against her and he was guiding her out of the room like he just realised they were still in public.

(Y/n) knew the moment he pushed her into the corridor that she was in with a shot now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Was she really going to do this?

The knife resting in (Y/n)'s hand felt like she was holding a ten ton weight that was becoming too heavy for her to keep her fingers curled around the blade. The longer she held the jagged knife the heavier it became until it was almost glued to the mattress it was resting on.

(Y/n) was laid on her side, her knees slightly curled up to her stomach and the knife clutched in her left hand. All she had to do was carefully manoeuvre out of his arms and then turn and thrust. It could all be over in a matter of seconds and she could go back home and be done with Ben forever. She could go back to her boring life that would get much more interesting the moment it was found that Ben was dead. Her and Mark would be in charge, their status in the underground society would be elevated and they would be at the top of the pyramid.

But (Y/n) didn't know if she could.

It had taken her precisely two weeks from the first time entering the club to manage to get herself into Ben's bed. She had seduced him and flirted with him and now she'd gotten him into bed which was her plan and not Mark's. This was what she wanted, she wanted to get him into bed and then kill him and she was so, so close.

But he was different. Ben was different in every way imaginable, he worked a lot of hours that varied from day to day, he was savage and angry and playful and seductive and cheeky and horrid all rolled into one. He made things interesting and fun and he knew when (Y/n) was trying so hard to get him to fuck her and he didn't give in until last night. He lasted two weeks before he finally gave in and he toyed with her just the same.

If (Y/n) killed him now then that would be it, all the fun she was now having would be taken out of her life and things would be different yet the same and she didn't want that. But she had to do this, she couldn't actually fall for Ben or drag this out or carry on this affair because it wouldn't end well and it wasn't the plan.

He had been asleep for an hour now and (Y/n) had spent that hour thinking and panicking and trying to build up the courage she needed to kill him. Mark would keep her safe if Ben's men pointed the finger at her, he could get her ten alibis at once for tonight so she would be safe and he would make sure nothing would happen to her or trace back to her.

Opening her eyes, (Y/n) tried to hold her breath as she very slowly turned around in Ben's arm that was tightly wrapped around her waist. When she was facing him, she didn't know if she could kill him. A knife was quieter than a gun would be and it was so much easier to wield and thrust into his skin. He could bleed out and only the pathologist would know what time he died and there were no nosy neighbours hearing a gunshot this way, even with a silencer, (Y/n) liked a knife better than a gun.

She had the sudden urge to reach out and run her fingers over his cheek and trace his perfect jawline but if she did she was at risk of waking him up and she couldn't kill him if he was awake. He was very quick and he would overpower her too easily. He had to be asleep.

'Please be quick, please don't wake up and be in pain. Stay asleep for me.'

(Y/n) held the end of the blade tighter in her hand, feeling the grooves digging into her skin as she leaned her head back a little so she could try and be quick with the blade. She held her breath in her lungs and tried to push away the tears in her eyes because she knew she had to do this.

"You cheeky bitch."

Terror swarmed through (Y/n)'s whole body like bees rattling through her blood causing her body to shake and her muscles to become paralysed with fear. The tip of the blade barely poked against Ben's chest before his hand clamped around (Y/n)'s wrist like a viper's mouth, his teeth being fangs piercing into her skin to poison her.

He wasn't asleep, he had never been asleep, he had been laying in wait for her to try something on him and now she tried something he pounced on her. Ben wasn't stupid and she should never have underestimated him or have thought she could ever get one over on him.

(Y/n) didn't know whether to try and push the blade forward quickly or retract her hand or to move or stay where she was or even to try and roll out of bed and scramble away for her life. But the moment (Y/n) moved her hand Ben was quicker. He snatched the knife from her fingers before she could blink and stole her breath when he rolled her onto her back and pinned her down beneath him. The blade was pressed against (Y/n)'s neck so harshly that it was already cutting into her skin and drawing blood and Ben's knees were bruisingly pressed into her hips.

His free hand held (Y/n)'s right wrist and pinned it down against the mattress but the look in his eyes was terrifying. He didn't look betrayed or angry or even annoyed, he looked like he was waiting for this to happen and he looked happy. He was enjoying.

"If you plan to kill me you should have come up with something better than that. Did you really think I'd fuck Mark's wife and not be the tiniest bit suspicious of her intentions?"

Ben wasn't stupid. He knew from the moment (Y/n) walked into the club that there had to be a reason she walked in and it couldn't just have been because she left Mark and wanted to join the other side. She seemed so determined to make Ben like and want her and she was so confident and she seemed to fit in perfectly at the club. Ben couldn't help but be suspicious and no matter how much he wanted to sleep with her tonight, he couldn't do that and let his guard down and this was the proof.

"Now, what do I do with you?"

(Y/n)'s eyes narrowed and she did her best to push away the tears she could feel welling up in her eyes when Ben leaned closer and grinned at her like he was going to devour her. He pulled the blade away from her skin only to agonising slowly drag the tip of the blade down her neck just to feel her swallow nervously and when he reached her trachea he pushed the blade against the soft flesh until (Y/n) was sure he'd pierced it through her skin.

"Ben..."

"You were willing to fuck me and kill me, don't think I wouldn't do the same doll. I'd quite happily murder you right here in my bed just to see what it would do to Mark. Imagine... finding out his wife cheated on him with his rival and then got killed for the guilty pleasure."

(Y/n) didn't like the way Ben smiled at the thought of Mark finding out (Y/n) had gone so far as to fuck Ben and then he killed her instead of the other way around. It would cripple her husband, she knew that for certain and she also knew Ben would rejoice in causing that pain and he would use it to his advantage to take over Mark's business and crush it to the ground.

"But then again, if I decided not to kill you right now, something tells me you'd hang around and how good would that be? Him finding you sneaking around in my club instead of his?"

"Why would I hang around?"

(Y/n) almost felt an ounce of confidence coming back into her words until she watched Ben sit back on his knees and the tip of the knife started to move again. It went from her trachea, down over her collar bone and disappeared between the valley of her breasts before stopping right over her heart. Ben twirled the knife slowly until he made a small circle over her heart, cutting the top layer of skin but not enough to make it bleed.

He liked the way (Y/n) shivered and tried to lean away from him but she had nowhere to go.

(Y/n) tried her luck in shuffling up until she could sit up in the bed and lean against the headboard and the knife didn't pierce her skin, it stayed where it was but Ben's free hand went to her throat just to make sure she wouldn't try anything.

"Because if I let you live then I'm holding tonight over your head. If you disappear back to him or do anything I don't like, he'll find out you spent the night with me." Ben was trapping her in and he knew it, if she left and tried to forget this happened he would tell Mark. If she tried to kill Ben again or mess with him he would tell Mark but if (Y/n) did stay and hang around Ben and went to his club Mark would eventually find out and it would cause her no end of problems in her marriage and her work.

This didn't seem like it had a good outcome for her, she either died right now or became Ben's puppet. But being his puppet might be a good thing because he couldn't deny that she had something that he liked and if an affair started, she wouldn't be his puppet anymore, she would be his lover. (Y/n) would have power and confidence and authority that way and she would have something new and different rather than plain and boring with Mark.

She would have Ben.

When (Y/n) felt the blade moving away from her heart and tracing up her sternum between her breasts, she took a chance and leaned forward and cupped her hand over Ben's that was around her throat.

"By hanging around do you mean being at your club or do you really mean being in your bed? Unless you're the kind of boss who fucks people at work..."

(Y/n) could feel the blade cutting into her skin and she tensed, trying not to wince as a very small trickle of blood started to form around the knife and slither down her skin. She wasn't sure if Ben was intentionally trying to hurt her or if he was testing her or even not realising he had cut her and was simply focused on what she was saying and the tone she was using. She watched Ben with her heart pounding and her chest heaving from adrenaline and fear that only increased when he tossed the knife somewhere on the floor of the bedroom before he let go of her throat that was beginning to hurt from his tense fingers.

He studied her for a moment like he was sure she was going to try and escape or lunge for the knife but when (Y/n) stayed perfectly still, Ben flashed his teeth in a sinister smile that reminded (Y/n) of a shark. He looked like he was going to strike and bite her like a vampire.

She was sure she heard the word 'sorry' pass through his lips when he noticed the cut he'd made to her chest and she knew he hadn't even realised he'd hurt her. That told (Y/n) her words had the right effect on him and this game was now turning into something entirely different.

(Y/n) shuffled back down the bed until she was laid on her back with Ben hovering over her between her legs like the devil himself had found her. A violent shiver ran down her spine when she felt Ben's ruby red lips pressing to the cut he'd made in her skin like he was apologising again for the mark but the feeling of his lips on her skin stole (Y/n)'s breath away. The thought of Mark didn't even pop into her head like his memory was being washed away with every touch of Ben on her skin. He was a fresh coat of paint replacing the faded colour Mark had created on her skin and she loved it even though she knew she shouldn't.

Ben was different, he was new and he was dangerous, he could have taken her life tonight and he may well have done; but he didn't. (Y/n) didn't kill him like she was supposed to but she was so glad she didn't because this was much better than killing him.

It just made things complicated for everyone.

[onthepageoftears]

Hold Them Closer ~ Ch.13 [Jaskier x assassin!reader] || Witcher

A/N: two chapters left!!! I love writing this series omg this is so sad :,( also im actually really proud of this chapter so lemme know what you thought!!

Your kind words and reviews mean a lot to me, so please don’t afraid to leave a message/comment!

Summary: Love always conquers fear.

Warnings: language, ANGST!!!, jaskier pov, lots of loving but lots of sadness, mentions of blood/killing/death, angst angst angst but comfort!!

Words: 2,530 

Please Don’t Plagiarize My Work!

The darkness fell over the small town in Velen gradually as Jaskier ventured the wide paths. He hummed to himself with a slight pep in his step, nodding to any folks who ventured out of their homes at this time of night. Holding tightly onto the fresh meal he gotten from a nearby shop, he made his way into the fairly small inn, greeting the innkeeper despite her grumpy stature.

Jaskier continued on, the smile on his face never faltering. He was trying, as best he could, to stay positive. He always did, always tried, but he found it especially important now. You needed positivity and someone to back you up. You needed someone to keep you as strong as you normally were — someone to hold you up when you couldn’t hold yourself.

Jaskier knew you were strong. Of course he did. It was one of the many things he loved about you. Even then, he knew everyone had their weaknesses. Everyone was a little bit stubborn about those weaknesses — you especially so.

So Jaskier did what he could. He wanted you to know you weren’t alone, and that you could get through this. You would get through this. As always.

He was thinking of you as he walked down the hallway, the fresh dinner he got for you in his hands. He was thinking of you as he used his key to open the door, and he was thinking of you when he opened it and you weren’t there.

Jaskier frowned. You had been here for the past couple of days, standing at the same window with that frown sewn onto your face. And now you were gone.

At first, Jaskier felt relieved. Maybe you had finally gone to confront your mother, as you had always set out to do. Maybe you realized that your mother would welcome you with open arms, that she wouldn’t push you away like you feared she would.

After a moment, though, Jaskier faltered. Something felt off. You were independent, sure — but something inside Jaskier told him you wouldn’t leave without telling him. If anything, he would be the first person you told about finally confronting your mother.

Leaving the fresh meal on the table of your shared room, Jaskier made his way to the witcher’s room just down the hall.

He shoved the extra key Geralt left him in the lock, swinging it open with no hesitation.

Geralt was sitting at his table, sharpening his steel sword.

“Do you knock?”

Jaskier ignored him, concern beginning to show on his face. “Have you seen Y/N?”

Geralt hesitated, blinking at the bard in front of him. “No.”

“Hm.” Jaskier closed the door almost as quickly as it was opened, leaving a confused Geralt with nothing but silence.

Jaskier’s stomach turned. He stood outside of Geralt’s room, keys in his hand. Something was off. Something was definitely off.

Within an instant, the bard made his way back down the hallway and out the front door of the inn, this time ignoring the grumpy innkeeper as much as she ignored him. He walked out into the darkness, not feeling nearly as peppy as he did before. The cold air made him shiver as stood outside, his head swiveling to look around.

His eyes fell on Roach, who was dozing off in front of the post he was attached to — but Jaskier’s eyes widened at the absence of another.

“Where did you go?” He asked no one in particular. He wasn’t even sure if he meant you, or Buttercup, or both — but now that he knew Buttercup was gone, his uneasiness turned to panic.

Jaskier began rushing through the village. He didn’t know what he was looking for; it wasn’t terribly late, but not many people walked the streets. Jaskier knew that if you took Buttercup you wouldn’t be in the village — still, he told himself he was looking for clues, for some reason why you would leave. It would be helpless for him and Geralt to go riding around without a clue where they were going, so instead of completely panicking, he tried to think logically.

You wouldn’t just up and leave without a place to be. You certainly wouldn’t go back to talk to Arnet, who Jaskier could tell made your blood boil. You had already found your mother anyway, so visiting Arnet was useless. And there was nowhere else you could go that would be connected to your mother, since your mother was already here.

Jaskier stopped next to a torch, his face falling into a frown. You weren’t scared easily, but perhaps confrontation wasn’t easy for you. The last time you confronted someone, Jaskier had gotten himself stabbed. In your perspective, any time you tried to do something for yourself, it got someone hurt.

Jaskier sighed, mentally kicking himself. No wonder you were so afraid of speaking with your mother. You were strong, you were brave, but that didn’t mean you weren’t afraid. Your past was unforgiving, so why would your mother be?

Of course, Jaskier knew that wasn’t true. Anyone would be lucky to know you, to love you. He knew he was. But now he understood the way you were probably thinking — and that made his heart fall, just at the thought of you being alone, dealing with all of these thoughts right now.

He had to find you, and soon.

Jaskier kept going, this time letting mind guide him rather than his feet. If he were you, he would want to be distracted. He would want to use his fear and channel it into anger. So, he went towards the village notice board.

He was surprised to get there and see a familiar face.

“What are you doing here?” It came out harsher than he intended, but Theo just rolled her eyes.

“This is my village. What are you doing here?”

Her sarcasm barely phased Jaskier — instead, his eyes fell on something in her hands.

It was a knife. Your knife.

“Where did you get that?”

Theo rolled her eyes again, this time turning to Jaskier. In the darkness, she could see how white his face had gotten — he was scared. Instead of teasing, she shrugged.

“I found it on the board. Right there.” Theo pointed with your knife, and Jaskier walked up to the board. Sure enough, right in the middle of one of the notices, there was a stab mark. Jaskier ripped the parchment from the board, his eyes searching the page with his jaw slack.

“What have you gotten yourself into?” He spoke, not realizing he said it out loud.

“What’s going on? This knife is your friend’s, right?”

Jaskier blinked, almost forgetting Theo was there. The normal condescending tone she had was gone, replaced by actual…worry. He looked down at the girl, who suddenly looked a lot more mature than before.

He shook the thought away, focusing on Theo once more. “Y/N. You remember Y/N?”

“How could I forget an ex-assassin?” She joked, but when Jaskier didn’t respond, her smirk fell. “Is Y/N in trouble?”

“Not exactly.”

Jaskier stared at the space above Theo’s head, his mind racing. You definitely weren’t in trouble the way Theo thought you were. The post mentioned bandits, and though he was still worried, he knew you would be able to fight your way out of it. Still, he was more concerned about how you were mentally — stubborn, sure, but you were never the nicest to yourself.

With a slight nod, Jaskier settled his eyes back on Theo. “I need your horse.”

“What?”

“We need to find Y/N, and soon. So I need your horse.”

“What about that other dude with the horse? The bulky one?”

She had a point. Jaskier could get Geralt to help him, which would probably be easier. But that meant he would have to go back to the inn, brief Geralt on what he knew (including the fact that your mother was also Theo’s mother — which was enough to explain on its own), and beg him to ride on Roach. It would only take more time.

Jaskier rolled his eyes this time, waving his hands dramatically. “Do you want to help me or not?”

Theo opened and closed her mouth, for once at a loss for words. Finally, she rolled her eyes and mumbled, “My mom is going to kill me.”

—

Jaskier held tightly onto the horse below him, squinting in the increasingly dark night. Theo sat in front of him, leaning forward on her horse (that she wouldn’t tell him the name of, or let him ride). Despite him letting her take control of the horse — him knowing that she was too stubborn to let him do anything of the sort — Jaskier yelled to her almost constantly, asking where they were going and if they were any closer than they were two seconds ago. If Theo was annoyed, she didn’t show it. She simply didn’t respond to him, or responded by commanding the horse to go faster.

While the two traveled through the darkness, Jaskier suddenly became quiet. Instead of bothering Theo with his incessant questions, he studied the back of her head — this girl, the one he had practically just met…she was your sister. And now that he knew it, he couldn’t believe he didn’t see it before. You were raised under very different circumstances, sure. But even in the slightest ways — the scrunch of her nose, the stubborn nature, the mocking tones; it was like you two had grown up under the same roof. Jaskier reckoned that once you talked to your mother, the three of you would get along very, very well.

And could he see himself in that group? He hadn’t seen his own family in quite some time, not since he went off to follow his dreams of being a bard. And since then, since gaining some sort of a name and, more recently, meeting you — well, to him, you were all the family he needed. He loved his folks, but having love through blood was never the same as meeting a stranger and learning to love them. Especially when that stranger originally tried to kill you.

“It’s right down here!” Theo yelled, making Jaskier blink at the back of her head. His heart thumped in his chest even more-so than before. He knew you were fine. You had to be. But still, he thought the worst.

Theo didn’t bother stopping the horse, instead slowing down slightly when she made it into the narrow pathway. Squinting, Jaskier noticed what looked like a small source of light — a fire. It was dying down now, but it was certainly there.

Theo saw it too, whispering for her horse to gallop in that direction. Jaskier kept his eyes open, so much so that they began to water. He finally blinked when he noticed the first body.

Even in the darkness, it was a gruesome sight. Jaskier could tell there were pools of blood covering the dirt area, surrounding bodies that have been dead for quite some time. He tried counting them: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Five bandits. Well, five dead bandits.

And then there you were, in the middle of it all. You were hunched over, staring at your hands in the small illumination from the fire. Theo’s horse pulled to a stop, allowing Jaskier to slide from its back. He gave Theo a silent look, one that told her to stay where she was. In some part of him, he wished he could stay there too. He wasn’t scared of you, no, he was…well, he didn’t want to see you like this. So…broken. It had happened before, with Joneta. The way you were silent for so long, how your eyes glazed over. The blood coating your skin — perhaps that’s what you were thinking of as well. Perhaps that made it so, so much worse for you.

Finally, Jaskier walked closer. “Y/N?” He asked, not really expecting an answer. Instead, as he kneeled down in front of you, he heard your near-silent sobs. It didn’t sound like you were hiding them, but rather you had been sobbing for so long that your voice was hoarse. “Oh, love.”

Jaskier hugged you with every ounce of love he had, every ounce that he could possibly give, not even caring that you were stiff in his arms. He could feel you trembling, feel you sob into his chest, this time a little louder. You were in a trance, it seemed, until he got there. You were stuck in your past, and Jaskier was your present. He was your future.

Jaskier pulled away, taking your face in his hands. His eyes searched it, studied it, while trying to wipe away at some of the dried blood. “Are you hurt?”

“You should leave.”

Jaskier faltered, but quickly recovered. “And why would I do that?”

You took a moment to speak, lips trembling. “Leave.”

Jaskier winced at the crack in your voice, at the fresh tear that rolled down your cheek and washed some blood with it. He could tell you wanted to say more, or that you didn’t want to say anything at all.

Jaskier kept your face in his hands, his eyes locked on yours, “I am never going to leave you. Ever. Not until I choke on my last dying breath — and even then, I will damn any god who wants to take me away from you.”

For a moment, you just stared at him. His eyes, so tender as they gazed into your own. A face you had grown to love, so, so much.

Jaskier waited, not daring to take his gaze from yours. And in that time, he watched you frown, and close your eyes, and take a sharp breath in.

“What if she doesn’t want me?”

Jaskier blinked, a frown forming on his face as he looked at your own. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. Once he found the right words, he lifted your head again, making you open your eyes.

Softly, he spoke. “If she doesn’t want you, she doesn’t deserve you, love.”

Again, you blinked at him. Jaskier didn’t falter, didn’t look away. And because of that, you gripped the hands that were on your face and kissed him. Jaskier was surprised, to say the least. He could taste your tears on his lips, your desperation. But most importantly, he felt your utter and absolute love. Your devotion. And as you pressed yourself into him, not caring about Theo waiting on her horse, or the bodies around you, not caring about your fears or hatred or past — Jaskier swore his heart grew twelve sizes bigger. You, who never liked to show your affections in front of people. You, who didn’t like being vulnerable, who even behind closed doors still hesitated before giving him a kiss — you fully welcomed Jaskier here, fully opened up to him. You had trusted him before, even wholeheartedly — but this was…different.

Jaskier knew he was completely taken by you. Completely yours. And he was more than happy to be.

———————————————————————————————————

AHH AHH AHHHHH LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS!!

[inthedayswhenlandswerefew]

But You Can Never Leave [Chapter 7: Forget Everything You Know]

Hi y’all! I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all so much for reading and for showing me and my fics some love. You better believe that I see EVERY. SINGLE. reblog, comment, tag, and message, and they mean the absolute world to me! I know that a lot of content creators are frustrated and taking breaks right now, but rest assured you will not be able to get rid of me if even a SINGLE person looks forward to something I write. I’ll finish this fic (eventually), and I’ll finish the next one too (it already has a name!), and I won’t disappear or leave the Queen/BoRhap fandom at any point in the foreseeable future. Lots of love to you all, stay safe, and I hope you enjoy! 💜 💜 💜

Chapter summary: Y/N brings home some friends; Brian attempts an intervention; John draws a line; Roger gets an answer.

This series is a work of fiction, and is (very) loosely inspired by real people and events. Absolutely no offense is meant to actual Queen or their families.

Song inspiration: Hotel California by The Eagles.

Chapter warnings: Language.

Chapter list (and all my writing) available HERE

Taglist: @queen-turtle-boiii​ @loveandbeloved29​ @killer-queen-xo​ @maggieroseevans​ @imnotvibingveryguccimrstark​ @im-an-adult-ish​ @queenlover05​ @someforeigntragedy​ @imtheinvisiblequeen​ @joemazzmatazz​ @seven-seas-of-ham-on-rhye​ @namelesslosers​ @inthegardensofourminds​ @deacyblues​ @youngpastafanmug​ @sleepretreat​ @hardyshoe​ @bramblesforbreakfast​ @sevenseasofcats​ @tensecondvacation​ @bookandband​ @queen-crue​ @jennyggggrrr​ @madeinheavxn​ @whatgoeson-itslate​ @brianssixpence​

Please yell at me if I forget to tag you! :)

“Smile, everyone!” Your dad peeks through the viewfinder of the Canon F-1 and beams. “One...two...three...say Queen!”

“Queen!” you all shout gleefully. The flash illuminates the dining room, and you blink away momentary blindness. The table materializes back into vision: lobsters, clams, haddock chowder, sourdough bread, fried oysters, pierogis with Vermont cheddar cheese, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes...and, of course, Boston cream pie for dessert.

“Ah, perfection,” your dad sighs contently. “Please continue, Mr. Mercury.”

“Mr. Mercury!” Brian whines, incredulous. “Like he’s got a bloody PhD or something!”

Freddie cracks a lobster claw. He hasn’t taken his sunglasses or wrist-full of clanging bangles off all afternoon. Your parents are profoundly confused by him, but welcoming nonetheless. “I’m a professor of lusciousness. Pay attention and you could learn something.”

Brian rolls his eyes and dunks a hunk of sourdough bread into his chowder.

“So,” Freddie tells your mother between bites of lobster dripping with drawn butter. “Our darling damsel in distress was in the clutches of that horrid, dodgy wanker when none other than our very own Roger Meddows Taylor—”

“You weren’t even there!” Brian protests. “I wasn’t even there! This is, what, a third-hand account?!”

“Eat your soup, peasant. Thank you. Anyway, our beloved Roger comes raging out of nowhere, red-faced, nostrils flaring, a terrifying sight to behold, grabs this guy by his hair and slams his despicable face directly into a marble column. Broken nose, cracked orbital socket, blood everywhere! It was magnificent. I’ve never been more proud.”

“Good for you!” your mother cheers, patting the back of Roger’s hand encouragingly. He smiles at her, warmly, radiantly, like the wildfire he’s always reminded you of. And you marvel at how every human on this earth is made of the same fundamental components—blood and muscles and vessels and nerves, hearts and enigmatic brain matter and ribs, vulnerable parts, armored parts, all webbed together like nature’s own organic circuit board—and yet the marks they leave on you can feel so different: burns, scars, bruises, shadows, imprints that are deep enough to brush bone and never fade.

“Mom, the guy could have died!”

“Did he?” she asks innocently.

“Nope,” Roger says.

“Well then, Mr. Taylor here is a hero in my book.”

“Mr. Taylor!” Brian groans.

“I was petrified he would turn out to be the son of an executive or producer or something and the band would be ruined,” you say. “Fortunately he was just someone’s annoying frat brother from college who already had a reputation for being a sleazebag. So, we were in luck.”

“You were in luck that Mr. Taylor was there,” your mother points out, gazing at him dreamily. This delightful English boy is going to be my son-in-law and give me gorgeous, doe-eyed grandchildren, that look says.

“Yes, a literal superhero,” John says ruefully, sipping a Manhattan. Your dad has a passionate love for mixing cocktails, especially for guests who also happen to be rock stars.

“Mom. Don’t make his ego any bigger, please. I’m begging you.”

Roger snarls around a mouthful of Boston cream pie, sending your mom into a fit of giggles.

“I’m just glad you’re okay, dear.” She smooths your hair. “And that you have people to keep you safe all the way over there across the ocean, and that you’re happy.”

“Yes, your work environment is much improved, isn’t it?” Brian says. “That supervisor you had at the hospital was an absolute bear!”

Your dad strokes his short grey beard. “Well...” he admits. “That may have been my fault.”

Brian’s brow crinkles. “Really?”

Your mom turns to you. “You didn’t tell them?!”

“Oh, is there a scandalous backstory?” Freddie inquires, elated. “Do tell, darling!”  

“Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away—just kidding, it was here in Boston—my archnemesis Patricia and my dad dated.”

Roger drops his fork, appalled. “No!”

Freddie’s nose wrinkles in revulsion. “Why?!”

Your dad rocks back in his chair and laughs loudly, heartily. “She wasn’t always so cantankerous, if you can believe it. She was a sweet girl, wonderful even. But then I met my future wife, and...” He smirks guiltily. “What can I say? The heart wants what it wants!”

You nod along. “And I got the illustrious honor of being an outlet for the frustration stemming from Patricia’s lifelong unrequited love.”

“You saucy minx!” Freddie playfully lashes your mom’s shoulder with a cloth napkin. “Homewrecker!”

She chuckles, not the least bit offended. “People get together under all sorts of strange circumstances, and you know what? You can’t wreck a home if the home wasn’t already half-wrecked before you got there, that’s what I think.”

Roger raises his Patriot’s Punch. “I’ll drink to that.”

Brian clutches his New England Express, bewildered. “Are we...toasting to infidelity?”

“Oh, does that horrify you?” Rog asks sarcastically. Brian grimaces, but dutifully raises his glass.

“We’re toasting to love,” your dad clarifies. “However it comes, as long as it’s true.”

John holds his Manhattan aloft. “To love.”

Freddie clinks his Flying Elvis against the other beverages, including your parents’ wine glasses and your Cranberry Crush. “Cheers!” Then Fred glances at the clock and swiftly polishes off his slice of Boston cream pie.

“Can’t you all stay a little longer?” your mom pleads, collecting plates and gazing longingly at Roger. “This has been so much fun...”

“They have soundcheck at seven, Mom. We have to leave for the stadium soon.”

“Well, before you jet off to your next adventure, can I treat anyone to a long distance call?” your dad asks.

Brian perks up. “Really?!” You know there’s a ring in the future for Chrissie; not an expensive or extravagant ring (not that Chris would want that anyway), but a ring nonetheless. You know because Brian has taken you shopping to help him choose one.

“Of course! You can use the phone in my office. It’s Valentine’s Day, after all. I’m sure there are some lovely ladies back in jolly old England who would be over the moon to hear from you.”

“That would be very much appreciated!” Brian says. “And thank you so much, this has been such a treat, you have no idea how long it’s been since we had a proper homemade meal.”

“I had to rehabilitate the reputation of us Yankees, didn’t I? Now come on, Mr. May, I’ll show you to the office...”

“Mr. May...I like the sound of that!”

“Ten minutes, Bri!” Freddie calls, following them down the hallway. “Then it’s my turn...!”

You begin gathering up the empty glasses, but Roger promptly snatches them away. “No way, Boston babe. You go relax. I’ll help your mom.”

“I think she’s in love with you.”

He grins. “Do you have a secret stepdaddy fetish I could exploit?”

“Oh my god. Roger.”

He snickers and sweeps off into the kitchen. It’s only then that you realize John has disappeared. You check the kitchen, the living room, the hallway, the study, and finally the front porch; John is standing outside in the cold, smoking and watching the setting sun. The sky is threaded with cerulean, rust orange, lavender, indigo. You pull on your coat and go out to join him.

“We’ll make it to Florence one of these days,” you promise John, resting your arms on the wooden, white-painted porch railing. Your mother hung baskets of fresh flowers for the band’s visit, which swing lazily in the breeze. “Crank out a few more hits and we’ll get the record company to add it to the tour itinerary.”

“Wouldn’t that be nice.”

“Are you going to call Veronica?”

He shrugs, frowns, exhales a lungful of smoke into frigid New England air. “I don’t know if I should.”

“You don’t think she’d like that?” you ask, confounded.

“I think she might like it too much.”

“Ohhhhh.” You read his soft greyish eyes, which are faraway and somber, sad even. “I’m sorry, John. You know she’s wild about you.”

“I know it.” He takes a drag off his cigarette. “She’s the first person who ever was, actually. The first person who ever noticed me. Came up to me out of the blue at a disco and asked me to dance, me! So I said yes, like you do when you’re the guy nobody notices. And then I said yes again, and again, and again, until one day I realized...oh, this girl thinks we’re getting married. When the hell did that happen?”

“I noticed you,” you contest.  

John chuckles and nods. “You did,” he agrees. “Right away. Tried to win me over when I was too nervous to finish a sentence around you. But that was long after I’d met Veronica.”

“Well, you can’t break up with her tonight. On Valentine’s Day?! That would be traumatic.”

“Agreed.”

“We’ll have a few days in London between the American and Asian legs of the tour. You can think it over and decide what to do then. I’m happy to arrange the getaway taxi if that’s something that interests you.”

“Yeah.” Again, he peers out into the Western horizon, into rising stars.

“John?”

Now he looks to you. He’s a little too thoughtful, too low. There’s something you’re not seeing.

“...Is there somebody else?”

He doesn’t speak; he just stares at you with those velvety azure-grey eyes, drums his fingers against the railing, lets the ash from his cigarette crumble into the snow-dusted Blue Pacific Junipers.

Roger barrels through the front door and out onto the porch. “There you are, Deaks! I thought we were going to have to find a new bassist. Enlist Nurse Nightingale’s mum or something.”

John smirks and crushes the rest of his cigarette in your father’s ashtray. “I suspect you’d do just fine without me.”

“Oh no. No way. Not happening.”

“That’s kind of you,” John says, unconvinced.

“Here, I’ll prove it.” Rog holds out his calloused hand. “If you ever leave, I leave too. Come on, Deaks, shake on it. It’s official. It’s a pact. There’s no Queen without John Deacon.”

Reluctantly, trying not to show how pleased he is, John shakes. “Alright.”

Roger grins triumphantly. “Signed, sealed, delivered. You’re ours for life, baby.”

“Deaky, do you want the phone?!” Freddie yells from inside the house.

John sighs and exchanges a knowing glance with you. “I guess I should say hi.”

“Okay, but quickly!” Rog presses. “We gotta go!”

“So bossy...” John ducks inside; and Roger, though he’s not wearing anything over his pale pink button-up shirt—sufficiently sophisticated to impress your parents—comes to the porch railing to join you.

“You’re not staying out here, are you?” You eye his thin shirt worriedly, the goosebumps rising over his collarbones, his bare forearms where he rolled up his sleeves to help your mom wash the dishes.

He tosses you a mischievous wink. “I’ve got no one to call.”

Roger looks up at the hanging baskets of flowers, plucks out a cerise carnation, and offers it to you. You mean to say something witty, something sardonic, something that will make him laugh; but all your words vanish into cold February air. You take the carnation, smiling helplessly.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Roger whispers.

You just let me know if you ever change your mind, okay?

Okay.

He turns to go back inside the house.

I won’t fall in love with him. I won’t fall in love with him. I won’t fall in love with him.

Then Roger pauses in the doorway. “You coming, Boston babe? I can’t have you catching pneumonia or something. I won’t know how to fix you.”

Oh, you realize, with horror and yet relief, all those grueling lies stripped away. It’s too late.

~~~~~~~~~~

You knock on the frame of the dressing room door. “Hi Bri!”

He glances over from where he sits in front of the mirror, rimming his eyes with inky liner. Soundcheck went swimmingly, and now Queen has thirty minutes until they need to be onstage. You can hear the disembodied reverberation of voices from the waiting crowd through the walls. “Hello, love. Come in.”

“Freddie said you needed to see me. Did you rip a sleeve or something? I brought my kit—”

“No, it’s not that.” He pats the chair beside him. The boys practically always get ready together before a show, but you suspect profoundly introverted Brian is experiencing one of his post-socialization crashes after dinner with your parents. Something about him is tired, very tired, almost drained to empty. “Join me.”

“Sure,” you say cautiously. You shove your medical kit onto the countertop and then reach to feel his forehead. “Are you feeling alright...?”

“I’m fine, love. I just have a favor to ask.”

“Anything.”

Brian sighs deeply, sets down the eyeliner, swivels his chair towards you. “I need you to promise me that you’re not going to start seeing Roger.”

You titter, deflecting, brushing Brian’s hair away from his troubled, angular face. “Well, as the official Queen touring nurse, I see him quite a lot.”

Brian catches your wrist. “I’m being serious.”

Now your brow knits into tight agitated lines. “I’m curious as to why you think that’s something you have a say in.”

“Bloody hell, I’m not trying to offend you—”

“Job well done.”

“Dear, please, listen to me—”

“Eight months,” you hiss through your teeth as you tear away from him. “For eight months I’ve listened and avoided and resisted and ignored and it’s not going away.”

“Oh, fuck,” Brian breathes in despair. “You love him.”

There are tears biting in the periphery of your vision; you don’t want them to be there, but they are. Your voice is hoarse and trembling. “Bri, please don’t.”

Brian shakes his head and motions with his hands frenetically, desperately, trying to make you understand. “Look, sometimes...sometimes the people we love, the people who own us, the people who fucking set us on fire...they’re not the people we end up with. And that’s not always a bad thing. It’s necessary. It’s self-preservation. Because sometimes the people who set us on fire would burn us alive.”

You gape at him, furious, stunned. “That’s just fantastic, Brian. You’re a true romantic. Jesus christ, does Chrissie know about this? Is that why you’re with her, because she’s, what...safe?!”

“No, that’s not fair, Chrissie’s great, she’s steady and supportive and she’ll make a wonderful mother one day, and my parents adore her—”

“Those aren’t reasons to marry someone, Brian!”

“They are!” He leaps to his feet. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you! You have to think about these things, you have to be rational, you have to protect yourself—”

“Why the fuck do you care?” you flare bitterly.

“Because you saved my life.”

“Stop it, I didn’t.”

“You did, I truly believe that. And I want you to stay with the band. And I want you to be happy. But, dear, please, I’m begging you...this is not the way to do it.”

“I’m not going to go out to some pub and drag home a random guy who’s suitably passionless and predictable enough to be Brian-May-approved.”

“That’s not what I’m asking you to do—”

“Because you’re such an expert on relationships!” you shout, exasperated. “Planning to propose to Chris while you’re still secretly pining over some fling from New Orleans, fucking groupies and then having the nerve to mope around guilt-ridden the next morning as if anyone but you was responsible for that decision, and do I say anything about it?! Do I ever say a single fucking word about it to you, or Fred, or Roger, or your future wife, or anybody?! No, because it’s not my life!”

The dressing room door flies open and John storms inside. “What’s going on?!”

You cross your arms and stare at the floor. Brian’s wide green eyes flick to John, to you, back to John. If it was Freddie, Brian would tell him in a second, would try to enlist him in the effort, and it would probably work; but John is a different story. John won’t side with Brian over you, everybody knows that. And John has a talent for sharpening words into blades. “Um. Nothing.”  

“I could hear you in the hallway,” John says flatly. “Obviously it wasn’t nothing.”

Brian points to you. “Have you tried to talk her out of this? Maybe you should, maybe she’d listen.”

“It’s not my choice to make, just like it isn’t yours. Worry about your own body count. It seems to be growing exponentially these days.”

Brian scoffs. “Because you’d be so thrilled if she ended up with him, right?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” you demand.

Brian and John glare at each other from across the room. John raises his eyebrows, daring Bri to answer. Brian gnaws his lower lip, but doesn’t elaborate. The air is heavy, tense, electrified.  

“Don’t upset her again,” John says darkly.

Brian shows the white palms of his hands in surrender. “Fine.”

John waves for you to follow him. “Come on.” And he slams the door behind you as you both escape into the hallway.

“I’m sorry.” You chase away stray tears with the back of your hands. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to get anyone worked up right before the show...”

“Don’t worry about it. I treasure any excuse to harass Brian.”

You study him, seeking answers, seeking more than you know how to put into words. “Do you think I’m being stupid? If you do, you can tell me.”

“No,” John responds carefully. “I think you’re being hopeful. And I’d like to believe that stupidity and hopefulness are two very different things.”

You smile. “I don’t deserve you.”

“That’s very inaccurate.” He fluffs his hair with his fingertips. “Do you want to touch it before we go on stage?”

You feign demureness. “Hmm...”

“Oh come on. You know you want to. It’s extra voluminous right now, Roger shared some of his magical mousse or whatever. Something way too expensive. You should thoroughly berate him for it.”

You laugh. “I’ll see what I can do.” You comb your hands through his brunette hair, and John’s right; it’s extraordinarily full and soft, and smells like honeysuckles. “You always know how to get me smiling, don’t you?”

“You do insist that I have game. Though I remain skeptical.”

“Good luck tonight. Not that you need it.”

John’s rough thumb lifts your chin, then whisks away a tear you missed. “You’ll be watching, right?”

“I always am.” And that’s the truth; you haven’t missed a Queen show since you met them.

He beams, those gentle grey eyes incandescent. “Then we’ll have an ocean of luck.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Exactly twenty-four hours later, Queen is in New York City.

The thunderous bassline of the opening act shudders through the concrete walls. You’re staring yourself down in the bathroom mirror under harsh florescent lights, your palms gripping the cold rim of a white sink, your eyes shimmering with black and gold shadow, your lip gloss slick and crimson. There’s not a single thing left to do. You’re running out of time.

You breathe in, breathe out, snatch your purse off the floor, breeze out into the hallway.

You can hear the boys’ laughter even before you open the dressing room door. Inside, Brian is tuning his Red Special with his mantis-like legs propped up on the countertop, John is attempting to teach Freddie how to make popcorn in a microwave without setting anything on fire, Roger is scrutinizing his hair in the mirror and frowning as he rearranges it with a comb.  

“Hello, darling!” Freddie warbles. “Can I interest you in some delicious and expertly-prepared popcorn?” He opens the microwave, and smoke pours out. “Oh, you bitch!”

“I’ll pass, Freddie.” You glide to where Roger is sitting, knot your fingers through his blond hair, and tug his head back so you can kiss him. He tastes like mint gum and the ghost of smoke and reckless intemperance; he tastes like everything you’ve ever wanted. There are gasps, and surely dropped jaws as well; but you don’t have eyes for them. “Okay,” you tell Roger.

He stares up at you with huge, starry eyes, a dazed grin slowly lighting up his face. “You changed your mind.”

“Come find me after the show.”

“Yes ma’am.”

You move to wipe your blood-red gloss from his lips, but Roger stops you, knits his hand through yours, stands to meet you.

“Leave it,” he murmurs. “I want them to know.”  

“Want them to know...?”

His lips touch yours again, smiling and scorching and ravenous. “That I’m yours.”

[marshmallowprotection]

Well, hey, if youre willing to write for it im delighted to request it! If you dont already have an idea in mind, how about snapshots of each rfa member with the rfas unofficially/officially adopted child? Or what each would do if they needed to pick them up from school cause they got sick? I kind of love this whole idea so ive already thought up way too many ways to use it haha, but id be happy with literally anything related to the rfa communally raising a kid

I've written some little blurbs for you, nothing long but something just enough to get a taste of what it might be like. I couldn't decide on a specific kid to use so I'm just going to swap between a boy and a girl for whichever it feels right for. 

Yoosung 

"Sungie, do you always get to see so many animals?" 

"Mmm. Yeah, it's part of my studies. If I wanna be a great Vet someday, I have to learn about all kinds of animals and meet them." 

"Really cool! I wouldn't mind if I got to hang out with puppies all day." 

"Well… It's not always like that." 

"Oh, right, there must be kitties and bunnies too!" 

They always chatted like this. 

Yoosung spent the time that he did have free with everybody's favorite son. He was often one of the least busy members of the group but only during the afternoons while the others were working. They would waste a lot of time playing games that he enjoyed or LOLOL, which Yoosung liked. 

They got along really well. Yoosung had taken to him like a big brother, and while he wasn't entirely sure if he was doing it right, he enjoyed the time they spent together. 

He wasn't ever really that close with his big sister, so to have a little buddy to hang out with like this was so different!  

He wasn't the youngest person now, so a lot of the words directed towards him were now thrown to the wayside. It made him feel like he was pretty mature! 

That wasn't always the case, though. 

Video games were an easy way for them to interact and because of that he got a little too invested in them. Of course, just because he was older didn't mean that he always won those games. 

The kid took it ten times more seriously than he ever did and he had to actually try to win what they were on. He never really had that issue before without having many people to play against. But, it was like Seven had been tutoring him on how to destroy others. 

Today was no different. 

"I WIN!" he shrieked as he jumped off of the couch and thrust his hands in the air as Yoosung hung his head in defeat. 

"Looks like you win again," he laughed, though still a little embarrassed. 

Zen

She was a star, a bright shining star. 

All she wanted to do was be the one who made all the sad stuff go away, far, far away from here! It was a dream of hers to be as cool as her family was, and she thought the best way to do that would be to practice for the next party! 

She got the idea from Jaehee, cause she always said that Zen could shine so brightly that it made her feel better. 

So, who else to ask for tips then Zen? 

So, she put on her little show as best as she could for him. 

"You're doing great, keep it up out there, princess!" Zen cheered her on as she spun around in circles and circles on end, pretending to perform for the little crowd of plush toys and Zen.

He clapped as she finished up her little routine a few minutes later, with her arms stretched out wide and little chest heaving from all the little motions. 

Her eyes twinkle with such joy. It was a blessing to see her look so happy and all she ever wanted to hear was that she was getting better at this. 

She puffs out her cheeks when he doesn't say much more, "D'ya like it, Zenny? I can't show everybody else less you think s'good!" 

This little girl was an absolute darling to everybody that she came into contact with and it was no surprise given her parent, who had been the kindest soul ever to walk the face of the planet. She never caused any trouble and all she wanted to do was have a little fun every now and again. 

Zen wasn't all that great with kids, at least, he never felt like he was. He didn't exactly do a perfect job all the time, but he did try his best when he could. 

She had insisted that he sit down and watch her perform this time around. She wanted to show that she could be as dazzling as Zen was, and he would stand to agree that this little girl had a future in talent if she wanted to pursue it. 

Even if she was a little bit pitchy with her own rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. 

Zen let out a little laugh. He pressed his hand against the top of her head and ruffled her hair. "It was very good. You'll blow everybody away at the next party for sure, okay? I need to watch out. You're going to give me a run for my money." 

Jaehee

The little boy clutched at his locks, clearly frustrated with the paper of homework in front of himself. It just wasn't making any sense to him and he really wanted to just give up and quit it. 

He had been trying so hard to do it all on his own so nobody would get worried.  

That hadn't worked because Jaehee caught him looking so dejected in the corner of the café. 

There was no hiding anything from that woman. She just knew when something was wrong and wouldn't let the subject go when she started talking. 

She always got onto him. It wasn't rude or mean though! 

She was just looking out for him, he knew. It didn't change the fact it was a little embarrassing. 

Jaehee looked over his notes and instead of scolding him for the bad marks, she merely hummed and nodded her head. She pointed out some of the troubling areas for him and tapped the spots. 

"So you see, you'll need to do this first before you start doing this part of the question. You're getting ahead of yourself when you're working on these types of problems." 

He stared at the paper for a moment with pursed lips, "...Oh. I guess I didn't think about that." 

"Why don't we try some together and see where it's confusing, okay?" Jaehee smiled. 

He may have felt unsure of himself but he knew that he could trust her judgment at times like this. 

Jumin 

"You look lovely today… I see you and Elizabeth the 3rd are wearing matching bows." 

"Oh, you noticed? I tied them all by myself too!" 

"Did you? That's very crafty of you to do so, princess. Elizabeth seems positively pleasant about it. Why, may I ask, did you do it?" 

"Oh! Elizabeth and I are having a tea party today. We can't have one without looking cute n' stuff. You think my Mommy would like these?" 

"She would. That's her favorite color."

Jumin had never been sure how to act around children. He had never really been a normal child himself, and by the time he figured it out, he was already well grown into an adult. Now, he was really learning how to interact with children. 

This little girl had stolen not only his heart but the hearts of everybody she came into contact with over the past few months.

She was bubbly and sweet, never out of line, she had a penchant for cute toys and little accessories, and she liked to make her own things and play pretend. 

Most importantly, she was the only person in this world who could get CEO Jumin Han to sit in a small chair and pretend to drink tea. 

That's what he was doing right now. 

Elizabeth the 3rd was sitting on her own chair as the girl pretended to pour out some tea into her cup with a smile, "You want some more, Elizabeth? Really? Okay, more tea for the lady!"

Once she set it down she glanced over at Jumin with a big grin, "I'm glad you like it too, I tried really hard. I made some for everybody to wear! I made you a purple one!"

And if anybody thought he wouldn't wear a bow in his hair for this kid, they were wrong. 

Seven

“I did it! I think I put it together, it works, it really works!“

She always looked at the world with stars in her eyes. 

Every new experience was something great to watch happen and it didn’t matter what it was that she was doing or trying out. She always smiled and laughed. It was a great sound, and it had been such a long time since Seven had even heard anything like that. 

This little girl was equal parts smart and sweet. 

If Seven handed her something to work on, she would devour it and figure out what was wrong or what needed to be fixed within a couple of minutes. Seven let her tinker with some of his old robots. Granted, he didn’t give her anything really complex, but still, she learned fast. 

It didn’t always work out, but she never lost her big grin. 

He beamed. “Oh? So you did!  That’s impressive. Good job! Meowy 2.0 here is looking much more lively, huh?” 

She gripped onto the little bot and nodded her head. “Mhm! I wasn’t sure if I was gonna be able to figure it out, but thanks to your help, I got it.”

He couldn’t have been more proud. 

Seven didn’t know what it was like to have many older people in your life care for you like this in a way that was more domestic and typical. He never thought that he would ever have to chance to be around kids like this, but it was something that he always wanted to do. 

She had stolen his heart, though. He would do anything for the kid. 

“That’s right,” Seven nodded. ”You don’t have to do everything alone to figure stuff out. It’s actually better to ask for help when you don’t know what to do next time.” 

She was quiet for a moment and grinned. “...Yeah, about that. I was wondering, how hard would it be to add a flamethrower?” 

Nobody tell the others about that though. 

V

"Does it matter if I make my sky a different color then blue? Why does it always have to be blue? Is it wrong to do something like that? Can it only be blue…? I don't understand." 

"Well, the sky isn't just blue, you know. It can be almost any color you want it to be, it's your drawing to paint so it's your choice what it looks like. Why do you ask?" 

He hung his head, not wanting to look V in the eyes. "... Some kids told me I was stupid and wrong. I guess... I’m just not as good as you thought I was."

V frowned. He got to the boy’s level and pressed his hands against his shoulders, "Hey… that's not true at all. I love your sky, that's why we put it up on the fridge." 

He had really low self-esteem. It wasn’t something that was always remedied by the fact that he had a support system behind him. For some children, it was hard to connect with others in some capacity. 

This boy was always radiant and smiling when he was with the RFA. But, when he was alone or by himself, there were those times when the unease shined through. It wasn’t for a lack of love. Those feelings could affect anyone no matter their life or background. 

V hated to see that. 

“Are you sure?” he asked, quietly. “I would understand if you didn’t.” 

Because he was special, not only to him and the rest of the RFA but to himself as well.

“I’m sure. I would never lie to you. Now, let’s see what we can do about this problem of yours at school, okay?” 

Saeran 

Saeran was always wary of children. 

He always thought of his parents and how badly they had screwed him over as a kid, and his first fear was that he was going to do something as bad as what they did to him to somebody else. That was the last thing that he wanted to do to anyone. 

It wasn’t easy for him to build a bond with MC’s little girl, but he did try every now and again. For some reason, the girl really liked him and stuck to him like glue at every chance that she got. It was kind of hilarious to see somebody so bright and cheery reaching out for somebody as dark looking like him. 

There were times when she would talk somebody’s ear off, but she would never do that to anyone apart from the people in the RFA. She was often quite shy and anxious. With Saeran, though... she was quiet and didn’t often press him for talk and chats. 

She seemed to understand that he really wasn’t much of a guy for chatting, and they both could just hang out without worrying about anything. Today was a little different though. 

He had walked in the room that she was sitting in, and noticed that she was crying. His body stiffened, and he felt rather uncomfortable. He knew that he could have directed somebody else to the situation but at the same time, he didn’t think he could make himself do that. 

He had been in that position too many times as a kid and nobody was there for him. Against the dread in his gut, he sat down next to her and didn’t say anything at first. She was clearly looking over at him. 

“S-Saeran?” 

“...Mmm.” 

“I wasn’t... cryin’... just got dust in my eyes.” 

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want too,” he said, quietly. “I just figured you would feel better if you had some company.“

“...Thank you.” 

[heanv]

Soulmate Chasers | Jeno

genre: soulmate!au

warnings: lots of swearing

word count: 1.5k

song: Young In Love by Chungha

It wasnt fair, it wasnt fair at all.How are you supposed to go out and live like  a normal person when you had “ fuck you” permanently marked on your skin as a soulmark.

What a bastard your soulmate has to be to leave you in a state like this? Your whole life has been filled with people making fun of you and your anxiety was getting bigger with the years which didnt help you either. You tried thousands make up products that could at least make the black mark on your arm less visible but nothing ever worked. You just wanted to find the jerk and blame him for all of your suffering through the years. Your parents werent really pleased when they saw their newborn baby with such a words on your small arm and the thought that your soulmate is gonna curse at you wasnt really fascinating either.

But finding your soulmate wasnt an easy task.You lived in a big city and there were so much people, who knows who of them is the one you were looking for. You often thought what he looked like.Is he tall or short? What colour his hair is? And the most important - what is his personality like? Is he mean? Or is he way too kind?

Questions like this often leave you sleepless and lately you it was getting worse. You were drawing faces of different boys you either have met or you have imagined. Your favourite one was a boy with black hair and deep brown eyes and slim,handsome face. Has he ever thought about you? Was he wondering what his soulmate is like? Was he somehow trying to find you? Your head started to ache of all this overthinking and you finally decide to go to sleep.

“Earth to y/n!!” your friend claped with her hands in front of your face to get you out of the deep thoughts you were dived in.”Are you thinking about him...again” she said with a sarcastic tone and a little pause.

“No, I am not” you answered taking a sip from the hot chocolate which had started to cool down.

“Yes,you are. I can see it in your eyes,y/n. I know you too well” she was and you didnt know if it was bad or good.

“And what if i am thinking about him?”

“ I think you worry too much, Fate’s gonna do her job,right? She put these words on us and all we have to do is wait” this didnt help you much but at least it stopped your thoughts going wild.

“What about you? Have you met somebody?”

Your friend had “you smell nice” on the inside part of her palm and you thought it was cute but she absolutely hated it.

“No, I havent met somebody who appreciates my perfume the way it deservesto be” she winked at you and you laughed.

After you parted with your bestfriend you took your phone and started searching information concerning your essay about “Wuthering Heights”. You were pretty good at writting essays actually, once you were so into writing one essay that you didnt realize that you have written in all caps-lock but in the end your teacher said he was very proud of you and he posted the essay on the offcial school site. Not to lie you were proud of yourself too.

But right now you had to be careful because walking and having your gaze into the phone wasn’t the best idea ever but you did not see something stopping you from doing it.Yeah until you bumped really hard into someone.

‘’Fuck you”

“Oh my God, im so sorry I didn’t see you i..-wait what?’’ you looked up shooked , meeting the cold gaze of the young man in front of you. “excuse me,what did you just say?”

‘’I said fuck you’’ he said anger mixing with impatience in his eyes.

Well he wasn’t the only one who was angry in that moment.You made your hands into fists,trying to calm down.

“Oh! So you are the motherfucker who gave me the worst fucking soulmark ever! Well  guess what, I WILL NEVER LET THIS GO, THERE IS NOTHING WORSE THAN HAVING ‘’FUCK YOU’’ PERMANENTLY  MARKED ON YOU SKIN’’ you roared in his face although he was towering over you. The sudden change in his face told you that you’ve caught him not ready for a situation like that. He breathed deeply and then he looked at you with stern eyes.

‘’Well, imagine having that fucking essay written on ALL CAPS-LOCK…’’ he rolled up his right sleeve and you saw your very own essay written in all caps-lock and it was your turn to make you speechless.

The next minute was spent on heavy sighs and guilty looks. You really didn’t expected meeting with your soulmate to be …like this. Suddenly all of the anger left you as you weren’t even  there like thirty seconds ago. Instead a wave of warm emotions hit you and you realize that the person in front of is your soulmate, the one who you are supposed to spend your whole life with.Eventually you look up and see that he was already looking at you.As you examine his face you see that there were no signs of the previous anger on his face either. He was handsome but like really handsome. And he reminded you of one of your drawings- your favourite one. You slightly smiled on yourself and now that you have checked him out really well  you wanted to thank the Fate choosing you such a handsome soulmate. Your desire to get to know him better was growing with every single second.

‘’So I guess we are soulmates” you whispered enough only for him to hear. The small smile on his face made you blush a little, just a little.

‘’Yeah, soulmates.’’ He dived in your eyes,pausing for a second.’’Sorry for snapping  at you like this I have been kinda stressed out recently.’’

‘’No need to apologise I literally shouted at you as if we are the only people here’’ your smile refused  to leave you and even got wider when he chuckled to himself.

‘’Sorry  but I didn’t catch your name” you knew he had the habit of looking deeply into your eyes when he did for a second time as he was asking you.

‘’ Y/n, my name is Y/n’’ you said giving out your right hand for a shake ‘’And you?”

‘’Jeno,my name is Jeno’’ he smiled wildly shaking your hand.

You felt a strong electricity coming from your hand and reaching every single organ in your body especially your heart that started beating like crazy that was the last time you needed – you already knew Jeno was the only one. You have liked other boys before and even you had a boyfriend although it was for a short amount of time. But nobody felt like Jeno, you always felt guilty when you liked someone because you felt that you are kinda cheating on your soulmate who was somewhere but only one single touch of Jeno was enough for you to know that you didn’t need anybody else.

You talked with Jeno for a bit and eventually both of you decided to go for a walk to get to know each other and your essay was long-forgotten and instead the bright person in front of you was what attention was focused on. You both found your similarities and differences and when he invited you to sit down to a random bench with him he aked you something you didn’t expect to be asked so soon.

‘’Y/n do you think you will be able to love me?’’ his mint breath sank into your neck and as you got goosebumps the shivers that you felt down your spine weren’t late either.

Can you love Jeno? You weren’t sure you could answer in that right moment but then you thought about all these little things you felt from the slightest touch of Jeno. How when he smiled his eyes got smaller and how handsome he look when he was listening to you carefully and although you knew him no more than hour you really felt it excluding the fact that he is already your soulmate.

‘’Yes,Jeno, I will. Will you love me?”you asked him back waiting for his answer.

‘’Yes, I will love and take care of you, Y/n”

That was all you wanted to hear. You knew you would need time to fall in love with Jeno but you knew that you love him and he would love you back. Maybe having “fuck you’’ on your name wasn’t that bad considering that you felt really lucky having Jeno as your soulmate. You secretly hoped he also wouldn’t mind your caps-locked essay now that he found you. Now all you were looking forward to was what the Fate held for you and Jeno.

masterlist

[bubblegumstardust]

So it looks like Becky Albertalli wrote this over a week ago now but it's only just crossed my dash and I can't tell you how mad I am right now.

I hope everyone who contributed to making her feel so forced to come out before she was ready is ashamed of themselves right now. I was literally tearing up reading this.

Y'all talk about not outing people and letting them do it in their own time when they feel comfortable with it and then turn around and pull shit like this. What? Because you don't like her books or characters? Because of some stupid puritan view that if it's not written by an out and proud queer person, it's not valid and doesn't deserve to exist? Whatever your opinion on representation and own voices, NOTHING gives you the right to harass someone about their identity. You may very well be harming a member of the community you somehow think you're protecting or defending, and even if Becky was straight (as she herself believed all that time) it's an extremely shitty thing to do. What business is it of yours to know someone's sexuality or gender identity or literally anything else? Becky may be a public figure, but she's also a person and it feels like (not for the first time) some of y'all forget that.

This next bit is mostly relevant to how people reacted because they believed she was straight and to a lot of opinions I've seen from people on writing diversely.

I literally don't understand some of you some time. You want representation, but when someone tries to give it to you, you throw it back in their face because you decided it didn't come from the 'right' place. #ownvoices is important and we should always be looking to lift up and promote minority authors writing about their own identities, BUT, there is nothing wrong with straight person writing a queer character or a white person writing a character of colour or an able-bodied person writing a disabled character or LITERALLY ANY PERSON WRITING OUTSIDE THEIR OWN LIVED EXPERIENCES. That is something we should be actively encouraging and appreciating from people who want to do it, not something we should be tearing into them for. It's different if they write those characters offensively and the representation they include is harmful, but y'all are awful to people who actually give a shit and are writing these characters because they care as well.

Obviously I'm not saying you can't critique these things and if an author has overlooked something or included something offensive in their portrayal that they maybe didn't even realise, then of course they should be called out on it. But most authors who actually write diversely will do the research and put care into their portrayals because they really just want to give people the representation they want and deserve and why the fuck shouldn't they? Yes maybe they'll miss the mark and fall short sometimes but at least they care enough to try and to improve when they're told they've made mistakes with it.

You complain if they do it and you complain if they don't, so tell me what exactly is it you want? Because there literally seems to be no way to win and all you do when you tell someone they can't write about something they haven't experienced is give the people who don't want to include representation in their work a perfect excuse to continue like that rather than push everyone to be better and more inclusive.

I hope this acts as a lesson to some of you and you'll reevaluate or at the very least think twice the next time a situation like this happens (because I'm sure it probably will again).

Finally, I'm extremely saddened that this is how it had to happen for her, but I'm glad to have Becky as part of the bi community now and I wish her all the best 💖💜💙

[cheryllcher]

A Merry Sprinkle Christmas

it’s christmas!! and of course i had to write something about a sprinkle-loving human :) presenting a lil very long fic of my sprinklebug au!! im overseas now so my laptop is miles away and i cant add the cut so ://

—-

“3...2...1... IT’S CHRISTMAS!”

Marinette squealed as the clocked that ticked away on the living room wall proudly displayed 12 o’ clock. There were sparkles in her eyes as she tried to decided which gift to open first while she scurried to the christmas tree from her place on the couch, making Tom and Sabine chuckle. It was always a Dupain-Cheng tradition to open a gift at midnight every christmas, and this year was no exception.

Their home had sprigs of mistletoe sprinkled (yes this is intentional :> ) around with the scent of fresh hot chocolate filling the air. Stocking hung along the pretend fireplace aka the window, custom made by one (1) aspiring fashion designer of course. The kitchen was filled with food, drinks and ingredients for the upcoming christmas party happening in less than 18 hours. (Marinette was shamelessly counting down.) The tree was the centre of attention though, bringing twinkles into the house- courtesy of the fairy lights wrapped around it. Ornaments, each unique with a story behind them, was carefully placed on some of the branches of the tree, the collection constantly growing. There was no star though, as they don’t see the need for one. Tom joked that Marinette was their star what with all the commissions she’d received from Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale. (“Dad, no! I’m not a star!”) Marinette once tried to add sprinkles to it but they all just fell to the floor which formed a pile of sprinkles around the base of the tree that made her sad.

Marinette was a whole new level of Christmas. She was decked out in her oversized self-knitted sweater with hand-sewn sprinkles decorating it and a cat pun right in the middle. (Gummy Chat would be proud of the cat pun part) Her christmas hat was lined with fake fluffy fur and a big, fluffier pom pom at the tip, decorated with-surprise!- even more hand-sewn sprinkles. Warm fuzzy socks were on her feet, in christmas’ colours, made to look like elf shoes with again, sprinkles made of thread. Almost covered by her hat were mistletoe sprigs pinned to the hair ties that held her hair in pigtails, a huge contrast against her black hair. Tiny bells jingled away on her wrists and ankles, making sounds wherever the sprinkle-obsessed girl went.

“Hang on Marinette. We have some new ornaments to add to the tree this year,” Sabine called out to her daughter, effectively halting the jingly movements. Another tradition in the Dupain-Cheng household, putting up new ornaments if they have any new ones to introduce to their myriad of not-so-new ones. The petite woman pulled out a blob from a box on the table. How did I miss that? Marinette thought as she finally caught sight of the red cardboard cube.

“This,” she gestured to the animal shaped piece, “is to commemorate Paris’ heroes for all they’ve done for us. Sprinklebug and Gummy Chat may not know this but I think they deserve to be celebrated with our other memories on the tree considering their contributions and everything that happened this year with the akumas.” She then put it up on an empty spot on the tree. It was a black cat with a ladybug on its nose. Marinette tried to keep her tears hidden, surprised and touched at the same time. At least one of them knows, Mum.

“There’s a second one, but it’s one of your presents and it can wait till tomorrow if you choose to open another present first.”

Any thoughts of which present to pick went out the girl’s mind, scrambling to figure out which box it is in. Tom laughed at his daughter with fondness before locating it for her, booming with much more laughter as a mass of sprinkles launched for it. 5 seconds of paper tearing and a lid thrown aside later...

*Gasp* “SPRINKLES! A sprinkle shaker! I’ve looked forever for one of these and you’ve finally found one! THANKS MUM AND DAD!”

—-

Operation: Prepare for Christmas Party was almost complete by the 1 hour left mark, so Sabine told Marinette to go and prepare all her gifts and get ready for the party using the remaining time. (She knows how serious that human takes these tasks.) Marinette already triple checked everything the day before and planned her outfit, so all she was left with was hair and makeup which only takes 15 minutes. This means that she was able to sneak out the skylight as her super-secret-alter-ego to meet up with her partner as scheduled. Tikki was interrupted from admiring her present from Marinette, a mini sprinkle-themed dress, but she didn’t mind. Gift in hand, Sprinklebug soared across her city before finding the cat themed hero lounging around on the Eiffel Tower, whistling a christmas tune. He opened an eye at the sound of her landing, a grin taking over his features.

“Merry christmas, sprinkle-boo!” Chat said as a greeting, Sprinklebug returning it in a sing-song voice and a hug. The feline boy kept his eyes on the item his lady brought with her, curiosity definitely triggered. This made Sprinklebug giggle and give in to his silent request, taking hers from the centre of the roof when her friend’s tail pointed in that direction. They opened their presents together, too eager to wait another moment of say another word.

“Omg it’s sprinkles shakers with fancy sprinkles! I’ve been meaning to paint on some for fun and this is perfect! But... isn’t this an expensive brand? Chat-“

“Nuh-uh, no can do madame. I insist and you can’t say no. Also you gave me like 3 different things I should’ve gotten you more!”

They went back and forth for a bit before they burst into giggles, ending whatever “argument” they had. Chat then asked about the ornament that she had given him.

“Ornaments are sort of my family tradition, so i thought I’d make you one. Cat’s and gummy worms and a small pun too. It’s one of a kind.”

Tears swarmed in Chat’s eyes, threatening to fall. He needs to hurry home soon so that he can cry and swoon in pure bliss. He picked up golden thread when pushing away his hat so that he won’t accidentally get it wet. Inspecting it, his saw the name of his princess. Sprinklebug cursed herself mentally for not setting aside of her habit of signing articles of fashion with golden thread.

“Oh, that. I couldn’t knit myself so I commissioned Marinette to create this hat. I’m sure you’re familiar? But please don’t go asking her who I am as I did it via super suit. And before I forget, inside the bag with gummy worms is plagg’s cheese and tiny hat. Wish him merry christmas for me please.” My, what a mouthful you idiot!

“Ah, okay. Please do that same for me with Tikki. And thanks for reminding me, give her one of the shakers. It’s indicated with a little tag.”

They did a little more talking, ultimately bringing the topic back to how Sprinklebug gave Gummy Chat way more things which were also cooler and that he should have gotten more to balance it out.

“It’s really alright, minou. Seeing you smile and enjoying your present is way bigger than all the presents I gave you combined.” A warm smile was directed at Chat.

“Awwww is m’lady finally falling for my smile?” He was being a jokester and he knew it.

“You wish.”

They then parted ways at half past 5, Sprinklebug to prepare for a party and Gummy Chat to soon head over to said party. Not that either of them knew.

Sidenote: Adrien did cry and swoon in bliss for about 20 minutes once home though. Plagg just munched on the edible part of his present and asking him to stop producing “eye-pee” and check for everything before heading to pigtails’ party already.

—-

so there it is! i wanted to write about the christmas party but it’s kinda long so maybe a part 2?? but i also kinda wanna just leave it as a oneshot. hmm decisions decisions... but i hope you liked this thing that i wrote and merry christmas!!

[catisawells]

A Muse for a Huntress

Dahlyah Grimshatter takes aim and fires off a shot into the lake! In the distance, a green bottle sent floating off towards the shoreline shatters!

Catisa Wells tilted her head to the side as she watched Dahlyah curiously, "You're certainly a good shot, Miss Dahlyah." She giggled and wandered over to join the woman.

“--Hm? Oi, thank yeh! Been pullin' triggers since I were jus' a wee lass o' nine.”

"Nine? My father would barely let me use the shears at that age." She snickered, "Then again it seems everyone had a far more colorful upbringing than I did."

Dahlyah Grimshatter holsters the weapon, before hopping down off the bridge railing. "M'father dinnae 'ave too stellar o' plans fer me, frankly. Weren't 'is place t' stop me." she shrugs.

Catisa Wells frowned at that and turned to face her as she folded her arms across her chest, "I am sorry to hear that, it doesn't sound like you had much of a fun childhood."

“Dunane mean t' bore yeh with it, lass. Or bum yeh out by talkin' 'bout it. Point is, been shootin' a while, aye?” Dahlyah Grimshatter grinned wickedly, “Wot's got yeh out an' 'bout, then?”

Catisa Wells smiled faintly, "I just wanted some fresh air... I heard the shooting and came to investigate. It's not something you hear often in this area." She tilted her head and offered Dahlyah a reassuring giggle. "How did your hunt go? I never got the chance to ask."

Dahlyah Grimshatter cheery smirk falters a bit. "--Ah, er... went fine." she nods once. "Tried capturin' th' beastie, like we 'ad talked, if'n yeh recall? But, er…” She shakes her head, and shrugs.

A warm smile spread across Catisa's features as she reached over to place a light touch upon the woman's shoulder, "I remember... I'm sorry you had to take a life, but don't fret. Sometimes it's not always so simple. I'm glad you appear to have come back unharmed more than anything."

“Aye, I ain't damaged none. Ridley neither, thank th' elements. But I ain't all too upset 'bout takin' a life, lass. I take lives like a corehound takes flamin' shites. Aye?” Dahlyah Grimshatter shakes her head, brow furrowing. "I tried, y'know? Tried doin' wot it were we was talkin' 'bout. Snaggin' th' beastie fer study an' all. All fer nothin'.”

Catisa Wells nodded her understanding and blew a lock of loose hair free from her features as she leaned back against the stone walls of the bridge. "I know what you mean. Some avenues of research play out like that all together, except it can take years." She sighed and offered the woman a tired smile, "Nothing cuts deeper than lost time, after all."

Dahlyah Grimshatter tucks her thumbs beneath her belt buckle, as she joins Catisa in leaning up against the wall. "Oi, aye. Makes me think it weren't worth th' effort. Should've jus' done wot I were plannin' an' gone fer th' kill from th' git-go." she huffs. “Jus' dinnae wanna disappoint yeh…”

Catisa Wells arched a brow as she looked to Dahlyah, "Me?" She seemed surprised, "W-why me?" A nervous chuckle escaped her and she quickly moved a hand to cover her features as she blushed. "I didn't mean to, um, mislead you and waste your time trying to catch it..." Her eyes shifted down to her feet and she began to fidget in place.

“--Huh? Oh, uh... no, I dinnae mean…” Dahlyah Grimshatter clears her throat. "It weren't like... -that-... Y'jus' made some good points, I thought, aye? An' I were hopin' t' share th' good news with yeh once I bagged th' beastie 'live. That, er... that's all.” She nods once, breaking her fiery gaze away.

A sigh of relief escaped the fledgeling mage, "Oh good, I was afraid you were upset with me for suggesting such a thing." She let her hand fall to her chest and smiled sweetly to the huntress. "But the only good news I needed was to know that my friend made it back safely from her hunt!"

“--Aye, no, aye... I'm made o' stern stuff, lass.” Dahlyah Grimshatter shakes her head. "I weren't mad at yeh fer nothin'. Jus' disappointed in m'self."

Catisa Wells shook her head, raven locks shifting from side to side with the movement. "You should be proud. You tried. That's more than most of your colleagues or competition or however you might view them would ever do. And that's a victory all by itself, isn't it?" She smirked, "Sometimes you have to give yourself credit for trying to do what others probably wouldn't, what you think is the right thing, even if others don't agree with you. Otherwise who would?"

Dahlyah Grimshatter looks to Catisa, brow raised. "Y'think so? I mean... I like t' think I follow a pretty good code o' ethics, aye? I ain't ne'er tried snipin' a mark that weren't mine. Nor take earnin's out from another bounty hunter. Killed plenty o' marks, but none wot dinnae deserve it, reckon. She shrugs. "Kinna like that?"

Catisa Wells shrugged, "I wouldn't presume to know about people. That's a whole realm I hope to never cross into, but regarding beasts at least I don't think they go out of their way to be malicious." A hand covered her lips as she giggled once more, "I would probably be a pretty terrible bounty hunter, I wouldn't ever want to kill a mark."

“E'en if it were a bandit? Or one seekin' t' cause harm t' innocents? Them's th' marks I try an' go fer, m'self.”

Catisa Wells looked out over the water, towards the hills in the distance with an idle smirk upon her lips. "I would be too busy trying to capture them alive so I can find out why. As far as I'm concerned there's always a reason for their actions. Call me an idealist, but if the bandit is stealing from others it's likely because they have no other means to survive so they have to take it from others who do. For one seeking to cause harm to others, why would they wish to do so? Were they hurt themselves or were they hired to do so?" She shrugged lightly with a snicker at herself. "I suppose that's just who I am, I would rather know things so I could understand it better and do something to make a difference about it."

Dahlyah Grimshatter nods slowly, offering a weak smile. "Suppose that's one way o' thinkin'. Ain't a wrong way, but... prone t' git hurt one wat'r another, reckon. There ain't always a reason wot can be figured an' corrected, lass. Not in my experience. Sometimes... folks're jus' malicious an' cruel.”

Catisa Wells chuckled and shook her head, "And that's probably the reason I wouldn't be able to have a career like that." She giggled, "I would probably get myself killed!"

“Ran down a mark once, wot were a Renny. Void elf, aye? Parchments says 'e killed six people by guttin' 'em alive. Nasty fucker, this'n.” Dahlyah Grimshatter frowns, as she recounts the story. "Tracked th' sum'bitch up t' Alterac, found 'im hidin' out in' one o' th' run down towers. Ridley's got 'im by th' leg, an' 'e's practically sniffin' th' gunpowder out m' barrel. Right then I ask 'im... "Why? Why'd y' kill them people like that?" An' y'know wot th' bastard said t' me?” Dahlyah Grimshatter shakes her head, frowning deeper. "Said 'e liked hearin' th' screams they made when 'e cut int'a 'em. Fed 'im lead, right then'n there. An' I'd do it again.” She pulls a small flash from behind her belt, and takes a swig. "... Sorry, lass. Weren't th' most pleasant story, were it? Dinnae mean t' bring yeh down, none."

Catisa Wells furrowed her brow and shook her head again, "I just can't fathom that..." She sighed, "Even in the face of all that I think I would still be asking why. People don't just decide to do that for no reason, they don't just decide to be evil without a cause." Her lips pulled downward in a frown, "It's alright, Miss Dahlyah. I apologize if I seem bothered, it's just something I'm not used to having to deal with."

“Well, if'n yeh ask me, somethin' y' best git used t'. Unpleasant as it is... this world's got evil in it. An' we dunnae always got time t' sort out wot went'n made it so, aye?” Dahlyah Grimshatter takes another swig from her flask, before holding it out in an offer to Catisa.

Catisa Wells held out a hand to politely decline with a faint smile offered, "Perhaps, though I'd like to think that's why there are people like me and then there are others who do what they can to deal with it like yourself while those answers are figured out. Without each other we wouldn't get anywhere, but together change is made over time. That evil may exist and won't go away, one cataclysmic event after another, but efforts to improve our situation never cease."

“... Huh. Interestin'... might take both types, yer sayin'? T' make th' world a better place?”

Catisa Wells nodded, "Mmhmm! While I would hesitate in the face of something you wouldn't, someone like me might know something that could help in some way." She beamed to Dahlyah, "I want to understand and learn everything I can during this life. Who knows what we

could achieve!"

Dahlyah Grimshatter smiles warmly at that and nods once to Catisa. "Aye. Well... when y' put it that way, we make a damn fine team, aye?" she chuckles.

Catisa Wells giggled, "We do!" She exclaimed with a wink to Dahlyah, "If you ever need me to help you study something, just let me know! I'd be more than happy to help. Maybe I'll just stay away from advising you about how to do your hunting instead." An embarrassed laugh escaped her.

Dahlyah Grimshatter shakes her head, still chuckling. "Nae, lass! Yer input were valid, an' appreciated! I dinnae think 'bout wot added good would come 'bout from takin' th' beastie alive, aye? Besides th' up in payout, 'course." she grins. “It were my fault, fer puttin' my expectations so high up. Set m'self up fer th' disappointment, aye? Keep advisin', lass. I'll jus' try an' be more mindful o' worst case versus best case.”

Catisa Wells grinned, "Of course! Maybe next time you have a situation like that one I could join you and learn how it is from your perspective, for a change!" Her gaze rose to the evening sky and pushed herself off of the stone wall, "It's getting a bit late and I need to meet Miss Silverfield for our job board mission. Will I see you at the end of the week for our next excursion?"

Dahlyah Grimshatter nodded once. "Aye, lass. If'n I'm slated fer it, I'll try an' see yeh there. If not, suppose we'll figure out another way t' work t'gether out in th' field, aye? Would like that." she smiles.

"Likewise!" She giggled and offered a happy wave, "See you soon!"

“Aye, forges keep y' warm, lass.”

@dahlyah-grimshatter​