#i've witnessed the good in humanity these last few weeks too but it does not include you

[moonawrites]

like i posted about my complete devastation and disillusionment seeing the way the world is responding to a genocide and between the zionists telling me palestinians do deserve to get slaughtered i've got tumblr warriors ignoring the point of the post (GENOCIDE!????!!!!) and instead telling me to fuck myself for not writing poetry about the good in humanity. the cognitive dissonance is incredible. you're not even capable of showing compassion while imploring people to see how compassionate humanity is do i have to spell the irony out for you.

[noxiousgrace]

I need more self indulgent cale & eruhaben fics in my life 😔

---

(set after part 1 of the novel, canon divergence, spoilers ahead)

I'm writing this at 5 am, don't mind the inaccuracies i haven't re-read part 1 fully yet

> cale telling the truth about his transmigration to eruhaben <

----- part 1/? -------

'This ability is more of a curse, than a blessing, for fucks sake. Is a good nights rest too much to fucking much to ask for?' Cale lamented, a few seconds after waking up.

inside of his room in the super rock villa, he sat up to rest against the headboard of his bed.

He didn't say anything after waking up, silently munching on the assortment of fruit placed conveniently next to his bed, his gaze focused on nothing.

Eruhaben: "good morning."

Cale flinched, but replied almost immediately: "good morning, eruhaben-nim."

Eruhaben: "..."

Cale:"..."

...

Eruhaben: "so, you're just gonna refuse to talk about it?" He asked, a single eyebrow raised in accusation.

Cale glanced at him from the corner of his eye, debating on what would end this conversation the fastest.

Eruhaben, all too familiar with his tactics, continued speaking: "the kids aren't the only ones worried about you. I think these last 2 years have been more than enough for you to realise you can rely on us, no?" His voice held a slowly rising feeling of irritation.

Cale, his eyebrow raised and voice almost drowning in confusion, replied: "where is this coming from, eruhaben-nim?"

The ancient dragon didn't reply to the ignorant human. gathering his thoughts so that he could, by some miracle, verbally beat some sense into this dense bastard.

The bastard in question had been talking in his sleep, every night for the last week, which wouldn't have been much of a problem if the words coming out of his mouth weren't so unnerving.

They weren't even in a language that eruhaben could understand, the dragon had questioned choi han, after noticing the swordsmans discomfort to cales newly acquired habit.

"the language is korean" was the only explanation the elder managed to get out of him.

Tsk, the easiest way was to just question the source of concern directly.

Eruhaben: "how the hell do you know korean? Choi han is the only person from his hometown as far as we know."

Cales expression remained stoic, the sweat gathering behind his ears was the only sign of discomfort eruhaben could see.

After a few beats of silence, cale seemed to have reached the end of his internal war, and sighed: "it's better if i just tell you the truth, please keep this a secret between the two of us."

The dragon nodded, his unease only growing with Cales anxious attitude: "I promise."

Cale, at his wits end, spat out the truth: "I'm a transmigrator. I was born in choi hans hometown, which is called korea by the way, and ended up here soon after i turned 36."

Eruhaben didn't reply immediately, processing the information. Eventually, he found the explanation sensible, and asked: "I see, what does that have to do with your sleep talking?"

Cale: "my ability, record, has been acting on it's own and replaying everything I've recorded so far."

Eruhaben nodded, hiding the rising confusion and concern inside him: "i understand. I'll make something that'll help you sleep easier."

Cale: "thank you"

---

There weren't any further problems since then, but eruhaben was known for his curiosity, so he continued to question cale anyway.

The questions themselves weren't too invasive, mostly asking about the korean lifestyle and culture. Nothing pertaining to cales backstory specifically.

Until now, of course.

Eruhaben: "what was your family like? "

Cale: "I don't remember. "

Eruhaben: "what? "

Cale hesitated, he knew it was disrespectful to not even remember the face of the person who gave birth to him, but it wasn't entirely his fault. he just didn't know how eruhaben would react to it.

Well, he's already in this deep, no reason to stop telling the truth now.

Cale: "I don't remember them. "

Eruhaben was stunned, he gave cale a once-over, this kid seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, so the dragon had assumed the parents worked hard for that to be so.

Eruhaben, with a sense of foreboding, asked anyway: "how come?"

Cale: "they died when i was young, it's been a long time since then, i hardly remember anything from my childhood."

Eruhaben, with a heart pinched by guilt, answered: "that's okay."

Cale simply nodded, unaffected.

The dragon didn't ask any more questions for a while after that.

----

Cale: "eruhaben-nim."

Eruhaben: "what?"

Cale: "you've been staring at me a lot lately. Do you need anything?"

Eruhaben: "tsk. I'm just worried about you."

Cale: "oh?"

Eruhaben, never one to shy away from a problem for too long: "what happened to you after your parents died?"

Cale, not entirely expecting the blunt question: "i lived with my uncle."

Eruhaben, relieved, answered back: "i see, he must've raised you well then. I'm glad you weren't alone."

Cale: "No."

Eruhaben: "No?"

Cale snorted: "that piece of shit doesn't deserve any praise, eruhaben-nim."

Eruhaben: "what do you mean by tha-?"

Cale simply turned around and left, preferring disrespecting eruhaben to opening about this specific part of his life.

The dragon stared at the receding back for a while, his previous relief reduced to dust.

----

[thelov3lybookworm]

Prone to Infatuation

day 1: human tamlin

modern!au

Summary: Feyre won't mind

•○●⛦●○•

A/n: happy @tamlinweek to all my fellow girlies who love tamtam!!! heres my lil fic for the first day of the week ❣️

enjoyy!!

Coming over to visit her friend's ex had probably not been a great idea. It had been, obviously, a hard decision to make.

But did she regret it?

Absolutely not.

He had been her friend too once, and he did not deserve to be thrown aside after the messy break up.

Sure, what he did was not the best thing to do, but it came from a place of good reasoning. He should not have locked Feyre up in their shared apartment, but Y/n could not find it in herself to blame his actions when she knew of his past.

He had never had parents that loved each other, and so the only way he saw his father caring for his mother was when he would lock her up in the house. Tamlin was young, and did not understand that it was not love that he witnessed, but being a psychology student, Y/n could understand what he went through.

He could have definitely handled it better, but if someone just sat him down to tell him where he went wrong, he could have become better.

She was not erasing his mistakes or saying that he did not make them, but she understood his reasns behind them. He had made mistakes, sure, but so had Feyre when instead of just talking to him, she just up and left and moved on while Tamlin was left with no one.

So today, Y/n had decided to pay him a visit after hearing from Lucien that he seemed to be getting better.

With a deep breath, Y/n lifted her hand to knock on the door to his apartment. A few moments filled with the sounds of shuffling and one loud crash later, his form filled the doorway.

He looked... unkempt. His hair sticking all out in all the wrong places, dark circles under his eyes... He just looked so miserable.

"Um, hi."

He blinked at Y/n, seeming not to hear her words. But then he straightened, the shock fading from his eyes as he gave her an uncertain smile.

"Hey Y/n. What brings you here?"

"What, I can't visit my friends without reason?"

He blinked, leaning back. "Uhh. You can of course. I'm sorry-"

Instantly, guilt spread through Y/n. She reached out to touch the back of his hand, staring up at him. "Tam, I was joking."

"Oh. Right, sorry-"

With a sigh, Y/n wrapped her arms around his torso- shirtless torso-letting her head rest on his chest for a moment until he hugged her back.

He let her go after a moment, the sadness, the loneliness that shone on his face making Y/n want to commit atrocities.

As he led her in, she studied her surroundings, swallowing.

The place was meticulously clean looking, except for a few pieces of clothing here and there.

The house looked nothing like it had the last time she visited with Mor. That was back when Feyre had called them up to break her out of the house.

Everything had been lying on the ground back then, as if thrown around in a fit of rage. Y/n had been disgusted, but now all she felt was sympathy.

"So... how have you been."

Tamlin glanced back at her as he snatched his t-shirt form the back of the couch. "Better."

Y/n smiled, nodding.

"That's great."

He studied her for a moment, his eyes skeptical. But then he settled down on one of the chairs at the kitchen island, sighing. "It really is. You were right. Therapy does help."

That statement surprised Y/n. She could not remember talking to him about therapy except for that one time she had mentioned about it in passing, telling him something about her chosen subject of study.

"You are going to therapy?"

He offered her a small smile. "Yes. And it's been helping a lot."

Y/n placed her bag on the counter as she mirrored his position and smiled, genuine and happy. "I'm so glad to hear that, Tam. How is it going?"

"The therapist reminds me a lot of my mother, with the way she looks, the way she yells at me sometimes," He laughed. "I'm becoming better, that much I know. I've come to terms with the fact that not everyone stays forever, and that it is okay to let go of people. It took me over two months to get over my fear of losing people, but its working."

Her eyes prickled at the genuine joy he radiated, the way he seemed more open and vulnerable and happy about it too.

"That's amazing. You atleast have your friends, even though she left. You'll always have us."

He paused for a moment. "Does she know you're visiting?"

Y/n sighed. "She is not my mother, she does not need to know about my whereabouts."

"So she doesn't."

Her silence was answer enough for him.

"You should lave then. I don't want you to jeopardise your friendship just because you came to see her abusive ex."

Tears gathered in Y/n's eyes at his thoughtfulness.

"She won't mind."

I hope she doesn't.

If she got mad about Y/n just visiting Tamlin, Y/n couldn't fathom what Feyre would do if she found out about Y/n's little crush on Tamlin.

"Are you hungry?"

A few hours, a bottle of wine and two large pizzas later, Y/n found herself spread on Tamlin's couch like a blanket as she giggled at something a drunk Tamlin mumbled from where he sat on the ground, leaning back against the couch next to her head.

Silence settled between them again, the awkwardness from a few hours ago nowhere in sight.

"I should get going."

Tamlin glanced at the clock on the opposite wall at that, nodding solemnly. "It's getting late."

Y/n rolled over, reaching up to twirl a strand of his hair around her fingers. "I don't want to though."

He turned his head to look at her, his face flushed from the wine. "Stay then."

Y/n smirked. "Already trying to get me into your bed huh. At least take me out on a date first."

He laughed, head thrown back. "Would this not be considered a date?" He said, gesturing to the half empty eaten pizza on the low coffee table.

"No."

He grinned, leaning his head closer to hers. "Fine then. Are you free tomorrow? Let me take you out on this date you want."

Suddenly, Y/n felt much more sober. "What?"

He huffed. "You basically have I like Tamlin written on your forehead in red paint, love. You can't expect me to not notice."

Y/n shot up, wrapping her arms around herself to do what, she didn't know. "I- I'm sorry-"

"Don't be. We're humans. We tend to fall in love and are prone to infatuation."

Y/n gave him an unamused look as she stood, gathering her things and heading towards the door.

She could hear him following her, but she ignored the urge to just die and reached for her coat hanging next to the door.

Tried to.

His hand caught hers before she could grab the material, tugging her back into his hard chest.

"I am not kidding Y/n. I mean it. Let me take you out for dinner. And not just because I want you in my bed."

She turned her head to look at him, failing to hide her blush due to his proximity.

"What..."

He gave her a dazzling smile. "Let me take you out on a date. Let me court you, the way you read about in your books."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Really."

"Okay..."

"So I'll pick you up at seven?"

Acotar Taglist: @bubybubsters @eos-princess @nightless @harrystylesfan2686 @cassie6392 @kennedy-brooke @tele86 @miluiel1 @hnyclover @minnieoo @sidrapotter @piceous21 @mybestfriendmademe @saltedcoffeescotch @eve175 @starsinyourseyes @starswholistenanddreamsanswered @cumuluscranium @byyalady @lilah-asteria @girlswithimagination @gardenofrunar

[shazzeaslightnovels]

October 2023

(Series: Fate/Strange Fake | Artist: Shizuki Morii)

The fall season is packed with interesting shows and I've ended up watching more series than I usually would. I'm behind on a few of them but I'm trying to let myself be okay with that. I haven't watched any new JJK episodes since the last update. I'll catch up to it eventually but I'm waiting until I hear that Nobara and Maki have had some quality screen time. I also have nothing new to say about Pokemon Horizons. It's still a delight that I look forward to watching every week. As for everything else...

After-school Hanako-kun (2 eps) - a gag spin-off of Toilet-bound Hanako-kun. I enjoyed the original Hanako a lot so I was looking forward to seeing the return of the characters but I haven't enjoyed this one much so far. I don't think I've laughed once so far which is not a good thing a series of shorts focused on comedy. At least the episodes are only 10 minutes long but I'm disappointed that this isn't better.

Dead Mont Death Play Part II (2 eps) - I enjoyed the first half of DMDP but I can't say the return of it has impressed me much yet. It's fine but I'm not really intrigued by any of the new plot points or characters and I'm struggling to remember what I enjoyed about the first half.

Frieren (7 eps) - really good and worth every bit of the hype. I love this exploration of the elf character and how an elf would view time and relationships differently to how humans view them. The fantasy world is so beautiful, the story is engaging, and I love the characters. Probably my favourite show of the season so far.

I'm in Love with the Villainess (4 eps) - I've read the first 4 volumes of the manga for this and the light novel has been of my wishlist for a long time so I was excited about it getting an anime adaptation and it's good so far. I mostly have the same thoughts on the anime as I do on the manga: the character drama is really engaging but the world building is meh. But the anime does bring something new the table with some amazing voice acting. Yuu Serizawa and Karin Nanami are perfectly cast for Rae and Claire, respectively, and make all their interactions even more fun to witness. Some gags that I didn't find funny at all in the manga made me laugh in the anime due to the impeccable comedic timing. The animation is a bit disappointing at times but it's such a fun ride that I can't be too mad.

Spy x Family 2nd season (3 eps) - Spy x Family is back and it's still really good. Like with the first season, I don't love all of the plotlines but the ones that are good are really good. This show is comforting and I'm glad it's back.

The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 2 Part II (4 eps) - while I thought the first part of this season set up a lot of good intrigue, it's in this second part that I'm starting to get really engaged in the character drama and story. I'm so invested in what's going to happen with Philomela and I'm excited every week for the new episodes. It also helps that the OP this time is incredible. In a season with a lot of strong openings, it may be my favourite.

List of Reviews:

Fate/Strange Fake 6

Danmachi Eiyuutan: Argonaut 2

Hamefura 13

[tempportal]

The cool wave of relief that washes over him when he hears those words — of course I believe you, like it's a foregone conclusion, like she's surprised she even has to say it out loud, like she can't even conceptualize a reason not to believe him, like he's telling her the simplest and most fundamental fact of life imaginable, like he's saying the sky is blue and she's saying I know, because how could she not? — is so absolute that his whole body feels almost limp with it, tight knots of tension and fury built up over the past forty-five years unraveling in mere seconds, and he goes down to the pavement beside her before he falls over and hits the hard ground far more painfully.

Five waits, patient and perfectly silent, on the cold concrete as April stumbles her way through the first few minutes of shock and horror (there really is no other way to react, he knows, when you realize the whole world is going to end, and you are going to be there to see it) before she inevitably pulls herself together (quicker than he expected, but he shouldn't be too surprised about that, really — if there's one thing he's learned in the last few weeks, it's that he should not underestimate April Becker under any circumstances) and poses a brand-new string of questions.

(She really does believe me, he thinks, half-breathless with the sheer wonder and awe and hope blooming in his chest. She really doesn't think I'm crazy. She really does believe me.)

"I—I don't know all the exact details, but... I think I've got a pretty good idea of what happened." Five clears his throat and leans back on his hands, the rough asphalt scraping uncomfortably against the soft skin of his palms. "Like you said, Hawkins Lab conducted a series of experiments during the height of the Cold War to test out the effects of LSD on humans and figure out if it could be useful in interrogating prisoners of war or undercover espionage agents. The subjects involved in these experiments... well, the survivors went on to have children, and..." As he edges closer and closer to the end of his explanation, he slows down, his clear and ever-confident voice growing softer and softer until it's barely a whisper in the air between them.

(She's not going to believe me, and the solid, inflexible certainty of it settles in the pit of his stomach like a block of sparkling ice, cold and hard and heavy. She's not going to believe me. She's not going to listen. She's going to think I'm crazy. She's going to think I'm making it all up. She's going to think I'm lying to her. She's going to think I'm lying about the apocalypse, too. She's going to think I'm making that up, too.)

"All the children were born with superhuman abilities," he says, finally, wrenching it forcefully out of his mouth like he's pulling a bad tooth. "And... when Hawkins Lab found out about that... well, it was just Round Two for Project MKUltra." He tells himself that he's only shaking because it's cold out here, damp grass beneath his fingers and crisp gusts of autumn wind blowing through his hair and tugging lightly at the hem of his jacket. Why does he always get so psyched-out about this shit when he thinks about Hawkins Lab for too long? Human experimentation isn't exactly a brand-new concept to him, after all, and besides, he's witnessed the darkest depths of human depravity with his own eyes. Hell, he pretty much is the darkest depths of human depravity at this point.

But he thinks about those ice-white walls and ice-white floors and the paper gowns and the wires and electrodes sticking to the scalp and long narrow corridors and all of a sudden, he can't even breathe, his chest collapsing inward on itself like a dying star.

When Becker's next question comes, it's so unexpected that it actually does the trick — he snaps back to reality in a single sharp burst, blinks away the lingering afterimages of the surgical scalpels gleaming bright under the blinding fluorescent lights, and refocuses on the girl beside him instead. "I—I've met her, but... I'm just here to stop her before she ends the world. I'm not particularly attached to her, if that's what you're trying to say."

𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 & 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋​ ​

Five can’t really pinpoint the exact moment that it happens, but somewhere in between his furious spiel about the apocalypse, and April’s bold declaration, his brain just kind of… short-circuits, glitches, flickers over to a blank blue screen like a shitty computer, because she’s not rolling her eyes and telling him that he’s crazy, and she’s not laughing hysterically and asking just how gullible do you think I am, Five? and she’s not staring at him with that awful, infuriating combination of pity and disgust that each and every one of his siblings has given him at least once in the last week.

 No, she’s—she’s asking questions, and she’s saying she wants to help, and she just—she just believes him, just like that, with no questions asked and no evidence needed (which is great news for him, because he doesn’t actually have any, aside from the bloody prosthetic eyeball hidden away in his jacket), and this—this has to be some kind of joke, because no one ever listens to him when he tries to tell them about the apocalypse, no one ever believes him, they just ignore him, or tell him he’s crazy, tell him he needs to see a goddamn therapist or check himself into the fucking psych ward, tell him you know, Dad did say time travel could mess with the mind, and she’s not saying any of that, she’s not doing any of that, she’s listening to him, and she’s believing him, and he’s just not ready for it.

He should probably answer her questions. He should probably tell her that no, she is not allowed to help him on his mission to save the world, not under any circumstances, because the Commission is way too dangerous, and the last thing she needs is to get tangled up with them, but when he opens his mouth, the only thing that comes out is—in a small and shaky and hopeful voice—

 “You believe me?” He can’t tear his eyes away from her face, not even long enough to blink, because he’s suddenly very sure that if he does, the moment will break, and she’ll change her mind, tell him she doesn’t believe him, actually, tell him I think you’re just a little confused, Five, or you’re drunk, you idiot, and now you’re saying crazy things you don’t really mean, or maybe you should talk to someone—or maybe this is all a dream, maybe he passed out on the way to her house (definitely wouldn’t be the first time he’s had a Tequila Coma, as he likes to call it) and now he’s in the middle of some weird alcohol-induced hallucination, because he’s just that fucking desperate for someone who actually understands the true horror of the future he’s seen.

But the minutes stretch longer and longer, and he’s not waking up.

 “I—I don’t—” he pulls in a deep breath, and tries to pull himself back under some semblance of control, but all his usual iron-hard ice-cold composure has shattered like glass, and the whole world is on its head and he’s left scrambling to try and figure out which way is up. “I don’t know if there’s a connection between the lab and the apocalypse, but… I don’t see how there couldn’t be.” He frowns down at the sidewalk under his feet, absently tracing one of the hairline cracks in the concrete with the toe of his shiny black shoe as he turns it over and over in his mind. How much can he tell her, really? He’s already messed up the timeline pretty badly just by existing in this era, but is the damage irreversible? Will the damage become irreversible if he lets April in on the mission? Is there even a way to not let her in on the mission at this point? She’s way too stubborn to just drop the issue, and he’s got a feeling she won’t believe him if he tries to backtrack now, tries to play it off as a lie or a joke.

(And he—he doesn’t want to play it off as a lie or a joke, because she believes him. There is one person in the whole entire world who believes him. And he knows it’s selfish, but he just can’t let that go.)

 “There’s a girl in this town,” he says, finally. “She lived in Hawkins Lab for a little while. They did some really bad things to her. Really messed-up stuff. And when she grows up, she’s going to end the world. I just… don’t know how she’s going to do it.”

“Of course, I believe you,” she replied, “I’ve seen enough horrors since moving to Hawkins to believe something terrible is brewing.”

While April couldn’t truly understand just how baffling it all was for Five to have someone believe him so quickly, she still knew how it felt to be dismissed. Ever since investigating Hawkins and the Lab, April had seen the craziest, most mind-boggling things. And yet, every time she tried talking about it to people, she was either mocked or ridiculed! 

People didn’t like it when things didn’t make sense to them. They wanted their life to stay simple and palatable, the proper American Dream with a white picket fence and an apple pie in the oven. They didn’t want to think about a darkness lurking beneath their feet. 

And yet, the darkness was here. The Upside Down was rotting right under Hawkings, spilling out monsters and beasts. And even here, in the “real world”, April had seen terrible things. Hawkins Lab was one of those things… She could still remember the chill in the back of her neck, when discovering children’s drawings in that dreadful place…

“A girl from the lab…”

And now, of course, the drawings made more sense. What she had feared was true, kids had been kept there! Kids in a laboratory, like lab rats… She felt sick to her stomach. 

“Maybe what they did to her will cause the apocalypse,” she mused, already focused on the problem at hand. It was how April’s mind worked, and perhaps the only reason she was still sane after all she had witnessed. Whenever a new mystery presented itself to her, she felt the urge to unravel it. And then, nothing else mattered. All she could think about was that new riddle, what it meant, how to solve it….

So far, Hawkins had been nothing but one huge giant riddle. Every answer she managed to scrape only led to a thousand new questions. Five’s terrible revelation was yet another addition to the mystery. But at least, now she wasn’t the only one trying to solve it!

“Do you know what they did in that lab? I have searched everywhere, but all I could find were a couple of newspapers clipping about some obscure LSD experiments done in the 70s. If we knew what happened there, we could know what happened to that girl you talked about.”

“By the way,” she suddenly said, as if she had now just realized that, “do you know her? You talk like you know her.”

@tempportal​

[scuttle-buttle]

Chapter 11

WC: 2077

Rated: E

Chapter Tags: full on angst, discussions of emotional trauma, mild depictions of blood/gore, mentions of self h*rm & su*cide, mentions of child abuse, discussions of physical disabilities, institutionalization, some dialogue & plot canon to TV show, hurt/comfort

🧠

The rest of the conference went by much like the first day did. Both you and Laszlo bought a few books for your collections. An ease had settled over your conversations with the help of Sara and John's presence; you spoke more freely with each other. You tell yourself it is not because he's going soft on you or vice versa, but rather that you have found yourself in this imaginary bubble where you happen to get on well. It's inevitable that it will pop once you’re back at school and Laszlo will revert back to his usual callous state.

Laszlo. It still felt odd to think of him like that, rather than by his title. You couldn't lie, it gave you a sort of thrill. Even in your dreams you had only called him by his honorific. Thankfully you didn't have another dream after Friday. You couldn't escape the feeling that you'd said something incriminating in front of the man in question. So you chose to pretend it didn't happen.

Monday morning came and you headed to the train station. Once again he had secured a private cabin for the journey. This time you came prepared with a book since you had yet to replace your broken phone.

"Thank you again for inviting me to this, I really enjoyed myself. It was really nice of the department to foot my travel expenses, the hotel was really fancy. I may have helped myself to a mini-bottle or two," you joked.

"There is no need to worry about the department's finances; they were not involved."

You pause. He paid for you? Laszlo did say he would take care of the arrangements; but the four-star hotel, the private compartment train tickets, the admission to the conference, and every meal? Shit, that must have been a fortune, hundreds of dollars at least.

You don't know what to say, so you settle for an awkward "oh." A moment passes before you add "I appreciate that, um, I can pay you back. Might take some time but I can."

The professor is flippant in his reply. "There is no need, it was well spent for the research and knowledge acquired." He opens his book signaling the conversation is over.

You lick your lips. Fine then, I'll just consider it payment for emotional suffering and damages of the last eight weeks.

The first few hours of the journey were spent reading one of the new books you picked up at the convention. Occasionally you would peek over the pages at the professor. He was engrossed in his own selection; sometimes he would pause to write down a thought.

Around the seventh hour of your journey you had given up on reading anymore in favor of looking at the fields outside. The silence was comforting.

Laszlo had trouble concentrating on the book in his hand. He saw you as a conundrum. One minute you could be sociable and teasing with your comments, then next you were biting at his throat with your quick wit and fierce ideals. He decides that he wants to know what made you into who you are today. Now is as good a time as any.

His eyes on you cause a tingle up your spine but you ignore it. Laszlo breaks the silence; "may I ask a personal question?"

"You just did," you answer, still peering out of the large window. He huffed once, amused. At his following silence you face him. You raise your eyebrows to signal him to go on with his question. Curiosity grows at the thought of what he intends to ask.

"Twice now you have made implications of a traumatic past," he begins.

Bubble popped.

Interrupting, you snark "is this the part where you psychoanalyze me, doc? Because trust me, I've been through enough of that." You pick at the lint on your jeans.

Laszlo tries to choose his words more carefully the next time he speaks. "What I mean to say is, the first afternoon in the classroom where you defended that student you implied you had been witness to a trauma. You then displayed signs of anger and embarrassment before leaving prematurely. Yesterday you mentioned having entered a psychiatric facility. As an alienist I can't help but find myself curious about your experiences."

You slide your eyes to meet his from across the cabin. Your face is devoid of any emotion. "We all have our demons. Even you can't argue with that."

Your jaw clenches. Everyone had warned you. They all said he would try to worm his way into your head to figure you out. All the reviews, the gossip, everything. It was a big fat 'I told you so'. You give a pitiful laugh at the situation. "You know, everyone told me that you would pull this stunt."

He seems confused by your statement. "And what is that?"

"That you'd get inside my head and try to figure me all out or whatever. You already know I googled you beforehand, what everyone says about your methods. By now I assume you've done a little research yourself. I promise you there is nothing exciting here," you scoff and point to yourself.

"You would be correct in your assumption." You chew at your cheek as he starts. "I do know some of what happened in your past. Yet I also know that society likes to dilute the truth into something either more palatable, more entertaining, for people to consume greedily. What I want to know is what you have faced. How you have not allowed the experience to overcome you so much so that your humanity is erased like the characters I lecture on."

Eyes closing of their own volition you are thrown back in time to that night so many years ago. You didn't talk about it anymore. Bitsy knew of course, but that was the extent.

Laszlo waits. He knows this is likely to push you over the edge if your history with him means anything. Quite frankly, anyone would be tossed to their limit at his interrogation had they gone through what you had. John always told him that he needed to work on his bedside manner; that he had a habit of coming on too strong in his pursuit of learning the intricacies of the human mind. But your earlier comment about being sent to a so-called 'nuthouse' rubbed him the wrong way. It left a bad taste in his mouth. He needed to know. He needed to understand.

Laszlo can imagine the reprimand that he would receive from John and Sara for this. Just as he considers apologizing for his intrusion you open your eyes.

"She was fine. None of us suspected anything was wrong. I came home from having dinner with some… boy, and she had locked herself in the bathroom. She- she must have started over the sink and moved to sit on the side of the tub. She was hunched inside it when I got the door open. I pulled her out. Blood was… everywhere." Your voice is clinical as you explain.

"After, I shut down. So I checked myself into a psych ward a few days later when I couldn't get the feel of her blood off my hands. It's slippery, you know. And it smells. You wouldn't think so but it does." You clear your throat. "I did the therapy, took the meds they prescribed, all the standard treatments. Later I started watching true crime documentaries. I'd heard about exposure therapy so I figured the more I saw the gore, the less the image of my dead roommate would bother me. And it did help. The nightmares stopped after a while, I came back to school. I was better, just not the same.” You had watched the passing landscape as you explained. Turning to face him you speak again. “That's why those pictures didn't bother me. They weren't anything I hadn't seen before."

He contemplates you. The discovery and subsequent loss of your friend in this manner would no doubt cause lingering effects to your psyche. A stain that would forever remind you. "I offer my sincerest condolences. I do not presume to know what that would be like to experience, but I am glad you sought help afterwards. To make the choice to alleviate yourself of your own suffering where possible.”

As he says this he realizes that your anger towards the idea of being enslaved to unconscious impulse makes perfect sense. It explains why you focused so much energy on defending your belief in free will. That you have the power to choose how you carry your joy, your anger, your healing. It reminds him of how he held onto his own guilt and hurt, ignoring how it festered within him for so long. He feels as though he needs to share a piece of himself with you.

“I played piano as a child, quite well too. My mother hoped I would someday make a career of it. I vividly remember playing Mozart’s Concerto for Piano No. 20 in D Minor at a holiday party when I was seven years old. It was my favorite to play.... It requires two hands." You finally look at him. "My father...” He pauses to gather himself.

Now it is the doctor that cannot meet your eyes. As you listen you feel your confusion grow. How could he have been a talented pianist if he only had full use of his left hand? Unless..., the realization dawns on you just as he continues, his words slow.

“My father had two sides. One loving and the other brutal, the two often coexisting. It was something as trivial as putting me to bed, I recall... A game of tug of war. We were laughing…” He inhales a sharp breath. Already you can feel the tears begin to blur your vision. “I don't remember if he was drunk or if I said something that offended him. He must have pulled my arm behind my back.” Laszlo exhales shakily. “In small children, fractures can often affect…” he trails off, unable to finish. You can hear how he barely holds himself together.

Your heart aches for the broken man that sits in front of you. He never let on how much his arm bothered him, at least not within your presence. Suddenly you don’t see him as this rude, insufferable, obsessive man, but instead as someone that spends his life trying to protect himself. He projects his own anger and hurt so that he may, just for a minute, forget about his own demons. He wants to help others even when he feels he cannot bear to help himself.

But unlike you, he has to live with the physical reminder of his past every day of his life.

You stand and move to sit on his right side. Before allowing yourself to think too much of your actions, you place your hand atop his own, curling your fingers around his palm and squeezing delicately. You don’t bother wiping away the tears on your cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Laszlo;” the whisper is barely heard above the sound of the train. A second passes where you fear you have overstepped and offended him by touching the affected limb. When his thumb tightens against the backs of your fingers you know he is not. He holds you in place.

“You asked me how I kept my humanity. How does anyone really? We learn to take what we get and we carry it in a bag. Sometimes you have to drag the damn thing behind you. But eventually the weight gets less and less if you allow yourself to move forward, even if it’s still there with you all the time. I dealt with what happened years ago and it does still haunt me. It’s easier now than it was, but… I- I suppose I’ve learned from you too. Sitting in those lectures and hearing you talk. We can either let it haunt us for the rest of our lives… or we can accept it… and use the memory of our pain to help ourselves and others.”

“I’m not sure the choice is entirely in our hands.” His tone is mournful.

You turn to smile at him through your tears. His own eyes are bloodshot. “I disagree. If it weren’t, if we didn’t have the freedom to choose that, we’d all be murderers.”

Tag list

@hardlyinteresting @lorna-d-m @livvyshmiv @somethingthatsaysbubbles @greeneyedblondie44 @unbeatablecurlgirl @apparrio @marchingicenotes7 @anteroom-of-death @bruhidaniel @lemairepstuff @thehuiabird @zemosimp05 @alindeluce @iamnotthecatladynextdoor @laura-naruto-fan1998 @trelaney @boneheadduluc @i-am-dead-inside-666 @fictionlandslanddreams

[fanmoose12]

a little something for @bruciesnat :) i know i've promised it like a lifetime ago, sorry for the delay! oh, and i decided to combine it with a prompt i also received a long while ago <3

Mike doesn't know why he's doing this. Doesn't understand how he agreed to it, can't comprehend why Erwin would make him do it. Mike doesn't know what he had done to deserve this- this punishment.

He's- he's a good man. An honest one. He serves to ensure the future of humanity, he risks his life to give others a better one.

He's good at it too, he's excellent at fighting and slashing and scouting. He was the best one at it, before- before the annoying midget came.

The same annoying midget, who is insanely strong and easily irritated. The same annoying midget, who has a crush on their adorable Hange. Hange, who Mike has to seduce to test Erwin's theory that Levi, insanely strong, easily irritated Levi, truly has a crush on their Hange.

Mike swallows heavily as he sits next to Hange, just a little too close as Erwin instructed. He smells that it won't end well.

He cringes, as he puts his arm around her shoulders.

Mike likes Hange, a lot actually. Sometimes he feels like they're siblings that were torn apart by some bigger entity. So yeah, he likes Hange. But definitely not like that.

But, oh well, anything for the cause, right?

"Hey, Hans," he murmurs, adopting his most seducting tone. He hopes that his smile is charming enough to captivate their dear scientist. "Are you free tonight? I have two tickets to the theater perfomance," he leans in closer, lowering his voice to what could probably (Mike is an eternal optimist!) be called an enticing whisper. "They're showing the creation of the the Walls tonight."

Somewhere on his periphery, Mike can see a swift dark shadow that oozes the smell of detergent. That shadow, it grows closer, its aura becoming more menacing.

Mike can only hope that if Levi attempts to kill him, Erwin would intervene.

Although... knowing Erwin, he'd just write Mike's death off as a necessary sacrifice.

He takes his hand off Hange. The shadow retreats a few steps back.

"Sorry, Mike," Hange shrugs with a small, apologizing smile. "I showed that play to Levi a few weeks ago. I had my fill of religious propaganda for now. But if you're looking for someone to accompany you," she winks and turns around. Mike's heart sinks. "Levi really liked going to the theatre! He'll be happy to tag along, right, Levi?"

Mike meets Levi's eyes, and sees nothing but desire for murder inside.

Mike quickly scrambles to his feet. "You know, I'll just ask Gelgar to go with me. I'm sure he doesn't have anything better to do."

And they can get wasted afterwards. Mike really needs that after this conversation.

Just as he retreats, Levi takes his place, sitting down next to Hange, also just a little too close.

The mission had failed spectacularly, but, Mike consoles himself, at least he learned that Hange and Levi went to theatre together. And sometimes intel is more important than the victory, right?

Ah, if only Erwin would share his opinion on that.

***

Erwin's second attempt is even worse than the first one, but, at least, this time it doesn't directly involve Mike. Still, he's an unwilling spectator to it, and, just as the last time, he doesn't like where all of this is going.

He already feels bad for the poor guy Erwin hired to hit on Hange during the annual military ball. Where did Erwin get the money - did he take them from the Corps' funds or his own allowance, Mike doesn't know, and, frankly, he isn't sure which option is more disturbing.

At least, the actor is handsome, Mike doesn't know if Hange would like him, he doesn't know if she has a type, and if she does, he hopes it's not annoying midgets, but the guy is handsome, there is no denying that.

Hange has cleaned up fairly well too, the white suit looks excellent on her, bringing out all of her best assets, demonstrating her wide hips and lean, long legs. The hair, gathered in a neat bun, shows her long, gorgeous neck, and the light make-up make her even more gorgeous than usual.

When she and Erwin walked through the front door - him in his blue suit and Hange in her white, symbolising their Wings of Freedom, everyone had their breath taken away.

Even Mike was a little shocked to see Hange dressed up like this, and Levi, who stood right next to him, was completely blown away, staring at Hange with wide-eyed, lovestruck look.

Thanks to Levi's ridiculous expression, Mike now understands why Erwin goes to such length to bring their resident weirdos together. It is delightful to watch Levi behave like that, and Mike longs to see more of this side of him.

Soon after Hange and Erwin make their grand entrance, their guy makes the first move.

He approaches Hange, his eyes bright and smile so charming it makes Mike envious that Hange is at the receiving end of it. He kisses her hand, whispers something in her ear.

"He praises her recent experiment. I thought it was a good place to start," Erwin explains quietly to him.

"Ah," Mike nods. So Erwin thought every detail through? Not surprising at all. "Think this would have an effect on Levi?"

"It already does," Erwin says, pointing to a furious cloud of black hair and suit that is approaching them at a rapid speed.

"Has four-eyes lost all shame?" Levi practically growls, his eyes throwing flames. "Is she seriously flirting with a fucker from the MP?"

"He's not a soldier," Mike answers, reciting a legend Erwin created. "He's actually a wealthy merchant from the South. Heard he sells apples to the King himself."

"And since when Hange is interested in someone like him," Levi crosses hands on his chest, his glare turning even darker, as Erwin's actor takes Hange by the hand and leads her to the dance floor.

"You know, you can ask Hange to a dance," Erwin advices with a pleased smile. "Then she won't be able to flirt with others."

Levi scoffs. "I would rather fight a horde of titans than dance with stinky four-eyes."

Maria, Rose and Sina, Mike thinks. They're worse than children.

"Hange has taken a bath before coming here," he tells Levi.

Levi rolls his eyes. "And now she looks even more awful than usual."

Mike shares a look with Erwin. Does Levi prefer usual Hange, when she doesn't bath for days and her eyes water from the lack of sleep? It almost sounds cute.

"This is the last time I'm attending this shitty ball," Levi swears to Erwin. "Even wine here is shitty."

He marches away immediately after that, heading to the table with wine. Mike can barely stop his laughter, as he watches Levi take a glass of wine, drink a few large gulps of it, and then wince, his mouth moving as he probably murmurs violent curses. He doesn't take his eyes off Hange and her dance partner, and relaxes only when the song ends.

Both Mike and Erwin watch intently as the actor kisses Hange's hand once again. Hange blushes, and Mike almost coos. Levi grabs another glass of wine.

When the actor starts leading Hange away, in the direction of the balcony, Levi starts moving too. He intercepts them just at the edge of the ballroom.

Mike knows he should have expected something like that, knows that Levi doesn't exactly possess the best of manners, but pouring wine over someone? Over his own colleague and friend? Mike certainly didn't expect that.

He's delighted to see what happens next, though.

What happens is that Hange's gorgeous white suit is ruined and Levi wraps his hand around her wrist and drags her to the bathroom. He sports a unusually pleased expression and Hange is laughing herself silly.

Not a bad ending to this endeavor, Mike thinks.

"Another disaster," Erwin sighs.

***

Third time is a charm, or so Mike hopes.

This time Erwin decides to take matter in his hands, and that another sign that this plan will succeed.

The plan is simple, yet, hopefully, effective. Erwin is to whisk Hange away to some remote location, create a scene that would look like a moment between lovers, and Mike is to call Levi there and make sure he witnesses it all.

Erwin is a brave man, Mike thinks, as his Commander explains the plan to him. He would never dare to do something like that to humanity's strongest. To awaken his jealous streak... Mike is glad he's not in Erwin's place.

One sunny afternoon, the plan is set in motion. Erwin takes Hange, and Mike goes to find Levi.

He finds him fairly quickly, in the middle of cleaning Hange's room. Man, he could at least try to make his crush be less discreet. But that's beside the point now, because Levi is cleaning Hange's room and not watching Erwin and Hange. Mike confidently strides up to him.

"Levi! I've just been looking for you."

"What do you need?" he asks boringly. "And have you seen four-eyes? I can't find her all day."

Erwin prepared some legend, a reason why Mike needs Levi, but in the heat of the moment, Mike can't remember a single word. So he just yells "Come with me!" and hope that Levi follows.

Thankfully, he does.

Mike leads him to the stables, where Erwin is already at it. His palm is on the wall, next to Hange's head, and from Mike's point of view, it certainly looks like they're in the middle of... something naughty.

Next to him, Levi tenses, and Mike can practically hear his teeth grinding.

Mike prepares for something very ugly, but then...

"I- I didn't know that Erwin and four-eyes-" oh, fuck, it sounds like Levi is genuinely sad, like he's heartbroken or something. Mike feels a strange desire to hug the little guy and pat his head. But then he remembers that he and Erwin are the reason for Levi's distress right now, and... remorse starts kicking in.

"Levi, listen, it's not-"

"Levi!"

As always, Hange is the one to save the day.

She breaks free from Erwin and sprints to Levi, a wide smile on her face. "You won't believe what Erwin had just told me! He gave me permission to go in the town's library and bring back all the books I want! I'm in dire need of your muscles, humanity's strongest, you'll go with me, right?"

Levi still seems grouchy, but under Hange's sunny grin, his angry facade crumbles. "I don't know if Commander will allow it..."

He doesn't even try to hide his bitterness and irration. Mike disguises his chuckle as a coughing fit.

"Erwin!" Hange turns to him, eyes pleading. "Can Levi go with me?"

"Sure," Erwin nods. "Take all the time you need."

Hange yells in triumph, loud enough to make Mike wince. She grabs Levi by the hand and drags him away. Erwin watches them with a wistful smile.

"I don't think we should get involved in their relationships," Mike says, as he approaches Erwin. He stands close to his Commander, their shoulders pressing against each other. "We should let them figure it out themselves."

"Agreed," Erwin says. "I'm sure they'll manage well enough even without us."

Mike watches Hange wrap her arm around Levi, and is inclined to agree. They will certainly manage without them both.

Or, at least, Hange is able to manage.

And that should be enough.

[goldeneyedgirl]

can i have a snippet of korean alice au please?

How did you know, Anon, that I've been trying to workshop this fic?

It takes her nearly two weeks to get to America. She’s filthy and tired and frightened. She has maybe twenty American dollars left to her name, and the last thing she ate was five days ago - a package of stale crackers. The soles of her shoes are coming away, and she just needs to rest for awhile.

But she made it. Forks. She remembers he told her about it, that they’d be here a few years.

(There’s a little voice in her head that says she should have gone to Singapore. That she is constructing her own disaster. She’s trying to ignore it.)

The relief on her face is probably obvious as they step out of the house, into the snow. For a moment, she wants to fling herself at Jasper and let him fix everything.

Except…

She sees the look on his face. Of unwelcoming suspicion. None of them look friendly, as she moves closer. Jasper does not flinch; she can see the tension in his body, the hard way he stares at her. There is no recognition or compassion or welcome to be found here.

And she finally admits to herself what she’s been trying to pretend this entirely hair-raised journey.

He doesn’t know her. She’s nothing but a stranger to him, and to these people. He has never told them about her, never thought of her because to his mind, it never happened.

Hala made sure of that.

“If you’re here to witness, you’re too late.” The words are hard and unfriendly from a tall, dark-haired human boy clutching the hand of a child with long red hair. She thinks of Dao and wonders what became of him.

“The Volturi recruited from China,” mutters one of the largest vampires she’s seen in-person - the man is pure muscle, and would nearly be equal to Shān from the Chinese coven, and for a moment, she wonders what she’s stumbled into. And then she’s insulted, on so many levels.

“I…” She begins, and she’s embarrassed that her voice wobbles, that all her English seems crude before she even says it, and before she can compose an explanation, the oldest woman (not by much) steps forward.

“Aro has gone and left us in peace. We would appreciate it if you were to do the same.” Her words are firm and, frankly, she feels sick. She’s not sure if there’s anywhere left for her to go. She’s not sure who survived, if anyone is still waiting for her in Singapore, let alone how to get there. She wipes her hands on her skirt and tries again.

“I am…”

“Leave.”

His voice is low, and it’s not a request. It’s an order. It’s a threat and a promise rolled up in one.

She’s no stranger to a beating, to violence. She’s seen and suffered both. But the idea of Jasper’s hands hurting her, intentionally causing her harm - it steals the breath from her body and makes her feel very small and lost.

And she thinks back to him and her in a dozen different beds, different places. To the hundreds of different promises he’s made her and she’s made him. Of good things, safe things.

She looks at them, bewildered, and she wonders if he’ll hit her in the same places he always puts his hands.

And then she bursts into tears.

[imagines4undertale]

How would Mutt and Brass react if they found out their crush/so was having to deal with a stalker at work but they couldn't do anything because the stalker hadn't "done" anything yet beside creep them out. Their boss won't do anything and makes them deal with them as though it was business as usual. (I've been loving your imagines btw, I think you're writing is great!!!)

Finally ready to get back to business!

SF!Papyrus(Mutt)- 

Mutt will be furious. At first, he’s going to think that you might just be over reacting, his tendency to be protective can be seen as such, but after tagging along to your work a day of two in a row he’ll realize just how bad it is. The guy in question isn’t too threatening, but the creep factor is up to 11. Creepers jeepers will sometimes just come in and stare at you from across the store for an hour, or he’ll ask for you to reach things up high or down low to ogle at you. Mutt can feel his magic boil in his bones as you force a smile at the creep. It never crosses the boundary into actual harassment, but from what Mutt can sense from this guy’s soul he isn’t just going to just stop at being a creep. Their soul radiates a sour feeling that makes Mutt feel gross just being around the guy.

It crosses the line big time when he decides to come back to walk you home that evening. Standing a little ways away from the store’s back door is Creeper holding what looks to be a camera bag. Mutt teleports you out of there before the guy can get any pictures of you, but that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

If he were still in the underground, Mutt would have beat the man to a bloody pulp long ago, but here on the surface he can’t really go around hurting people without getting arrested and hurting Sans’ reputation. He’ll start by trying to find you a new job somewhere that will keep you from having to interact with the creep, maybe something where he can keep an eye on you more often, but if he can’t find anything he might just have to get a little more creative.

---

“hey alphys, hello love.” Mutt calls as he enters the store front. The two of you turn to greet him as he notes your more relaxed posture from the last time he visited. “i’ve got her for the rest of the day alph, you can head out now.” He grins lazily, gesturing to the door with his thumb.

“See you tomorrow twerp!” The scaly commander sings as she jumps off the counter she was perched on and jogs out the door. 

“so, how has your first week with a personal creeper guard been?” Your tall skeleton asks as he leans over the counter to plant a kiss on your head.

“Well since you started he’s only come in twice. The first time Sans all but stabbed him with his eyes till he left. The second time was today. Alphys started sharpening her axe and made constant eye contact with him when he came up to pay and I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so pale in my life.” You huff out with some laughter. Music to Mutt’s ears. He gripped your hand over the counter and brushed his thumb over your knuckles. 

“i’m glad to see you’re doing better love. i think he’ll get the message and stop entirely pretty soon.” Mutt grinned at you. 

He had set up a guard schedule between all of your closest friends to make sure that you were never alone at work, and especially as you left work. This way they could scare creeper off when he tried anything and there would be witnesses to his actions if things escalated. The part he didn’t tell you about was that he also had two of the dog patrol watching the place and slashing creeper’s tires any time he parked nearby. It was a little on the petty side, but if he couldn’t beat some sense into the guy personally for bothering you, he could at least make his life a living hell for it. 

MF!Sans(Brass)-

If you want he’ll just kill the guy. He’s a mobster, he kills on a regular basis to protect his family from the other mobster groups. He isn’t a fan of getting his hands dirty, blood gets into the grit of his bones, but he also doesn’t shy away from it. In fact, unless you tell him not to, he might just kill him anyways. Some freak wants to bother you and has the nerve to stare at someone that’s already his. Yeah, no. If you do say that you want the creep alive then he’ll find another way. That doesn’t mean that the creep will make it out unscathed at the end of it though. Brass will stay with you for the first few days until his posse is able to get an idea of this guy’s movement and schedule and learn when would be best time to strike. 

In that time, Brass will have the struggle of a lifetime not just telling you to quit your job and let him support you entirely. He has the money and power to, you would be out from under the perverse staring and safe in his arms. You want to keep working though, to support yourself and keep busy, so all he does is keep you safe and bide his time. 

---

The man trembled as he came to consciousness. He was tied to a chair with a sack over his head, but he could tell he couldn’t have moved even if he was free. Every part of him was sore like he had taken the brunt of a truck’s grill to the face. He could hardly remember how he got here. One moment, he was on his way to see his favorite little prey, and the next-. The sack over his face was roughly pulled from his face, yanking his head up with it and causing a roll of nausea from the sudden jostle of his pained body. 

“say pal, don’t suppose your dirty soul is thinkin’ of someone right now, huh?” A deep, growling voice asked of him. As the man flinched, he looked up to see two bright gleaming red lights lightly illuminating a fiercely, grinning, skeletal face. He likely would have screamed at the sight if he had not seen the face many times before. The same face that would walk arm in arm with his little prey. “normally people who mess with my family, or in this case, those who will soon be my family, end up buried in shallow graves or sunk at the bottom of the lake.” Brass glared down on the man with a look of carefully reigned anger as he spoke. “you are lucky however. ya’ see, the sweet lady you’ve been harassin’ has a soft little heart. she made me promise not to kill ya, no matter how much you deserve it.” Brass approached his captive, cutting the rope holding the man to the chair while still keeping his hands bound in front of him.

“I-is that it then, am I free to go?” The human asked with a scratchy broken voice. A dark chuckle shook through the skeleton. 

“nah, pal. you’re not quite done yet.” Brass grinned as he dragged the man over to a rather large crate holding a jug of water and a brown paper bag, tossing the limp body into it. “you’re going on a bit of a one way trip.” 

The human attempted to move out of the box, but the lid was secured into place before he could even right himself. On the lid, the words, ‘Antarctica’ were printed in bold letters alongside an address. Brass spoke with an associate of his, one of his cargo pushers, and gave him the instructions for the package. After that, he left the warehouse he used for his “business” and made his way to your work to tell you the good news. You’d never see that guy again.

(Brass is a mobster, he’s gonna handle things with a deadly hand, even more so than Mob since he’s seen a lot more violence in his life.)

[joyisntyoj]

04: LETTERS TO NOBODY OR MAYBE MAYARI

Seal stamps, stamps with whatever designs, papers and pens, stickers, pictures, dried flowers, heartwarming messages, and a lot more.

When was the last time you wrote something on a literal piece of paper for someone?

Have you ever personally given someone a handwritten letter or sent it from the post office?

Is writing a letter still a thing today, or you just use whatever app you have because what is the point if other ways are more convenient, right?

Maybe, you are more the vocal type of person and, you just say what you feel instead of writing it down?

Perhaps, you are none of the above because what is important is your presence in their lives and, that is more than enough?

Still, how lovely it is to keep something that has sentimental value. It unnecessarily means that you are hoarding something because what's to not treasure from precious memories in a small piece of paper in an envelope?

This story is for those who never get tired of expressing themselves in whatever form they know, but most especially to those who write.

May you never run out of papers, inks, and thoughts to compose. to more unforgotten memories preserved in letters.

^^^

To: Mayari.

How are you? I wish things were getting better, just like what I always pray. These days, sleeping at night suddenly became serene as well as waking up in the morning. Sometimes my days are dull and typical...I believe? But most of the time, it's either I'm feeling blue or extra sad, or was that the same? I kept on blaming the pandemic, but for real, I'm just a mess. Silent battles are truly tough. I wish I had the courage and strength just like yours. Be safe. Stay sane. I'm really trying my best to be legit all right.

With so much love and kindness always and all ways,

Liway.

Liway is the name, exhausted with life. Mayari, someone out there, maybe a supreme being or plausibly not always receives Liway's letters. Sometimes Liway writes 10 messages at once and sometimes none at all. Mayari is the only recipient of such letters that even Liway never knew they were received by the random recipient it thought was just nobody. It all genuinely started on having a recipient written on the "To:" part at the post office. Though seriously, it doesn't even have any home address. It's super weird that it's for Mayari and no address, and were received.

HOW?

^^^

To: Mayari.

The night has come. This time, it feels heavier than usual. Tears are suddenly falling. I noticed that an unwelcome visitor came. The familiar pain is hugging me again, so tight that breathing is getting harder. I hate everything. Yet, I came to realize a lot of things. Afterward, I'm feeling blessed and grateful. Am I getting crazy? Before I went to bed, at the dinner table, I felt uncomfortable with the conversation we had, my family, about myself back then. I really hate it when they keep on bringing up what happened in the past. I already moved on... I think... so can they stop mentioning those moments? Honestly, whenever anything from the past is introduced again and remembered, I tend to feel like it just happened yesterday. Everything is coming back so fresh and new; fun, pain, sweats, and tears. I hate it.

PS. Mayari, can you send me some courage? Preferably in capsules, So I can have it in my intakes and be sure I'll be really having it in my system literally.

With so much love and kindness always and all ways,

Liway.

Continues writing so many letters filled with how living is like. Liway felt tired and exhausted. A few days ago, it was super overwhelmed that crying is unavoidable. Then this morning, Ms. Walmy called for a little chat and checking up because it's never too bad to check up on somebody, most especially when you're a counselor. It's your job, so uh? Anyway, though Liway was out of focus on the call, it was able to be accomodating and warm in return. It reciprocated the thoughtfulness with a sweet smile.

^^^

To: Mayari

Hey! Today I was mad because firsthand, I experienced that thing I usually hear from other people. The "don't-post-something-revealing-on-social-media-but-love-yourself-but-that's-not-appropriate". Well, I don't even know why I'm reacting super outrage towards it. Because knowing that my family is just concerned for me since the internet is frankly scary. I mean, I did nothing wrong, so why? Maybe deciding to be confident on the internet is not necessary for them. But for me, it is! So how should I deal with this? A friend consoled me, and I feel better. Still tho, my mood is already ruined. Oh gosh.

With so much love and kindness always and all ways, 

 Liway.

Welcoming a new week, the usual Liway is busy with the household chores. Some may find it stressful, but this one is pretty different. Scrubbing the floor, washing the dishes, brooming on the side. Later on, folding the clothes, fixing the bed, and a lot more things. It looks like it'll be tiring its body out until the nose bleeds, and passing out is the last resort to rest. How come it's easier to clean an actual mess than the one inside the head and heart?

^^^

To: Mayari.

Beloa visited me today. My childhood and the only friend left I have up to this day from elementary school. If you get what I mean? It's been a long time since we had a chat, especially that things are super complicated these days. She's doing really well, and I couldn't be more proud. I'm still amazed at how we manage to be friends because we both don't like each other to begin with. It's so funny that we even pulled each other's hair in the 4th grade while the class is taking the annual picture for the school year remembrance. What are the odds in this even, right? HAHAHA. Today was warm and bright.

With so much love and kindness always and all ways,

Liway.

Dates suddenly don't vary in these letters. Even the concept of time is somehow gone. What's important is regardless of not having these "important details" like the usual, Liway can keep up and be consistent in sending its letters. Liway never missed a chance to send a letter to the address less recipient, which left the post office staff to ponder with it. But as time goes by, Alle, the clerk, is no more surprised 'coz she's used to everything now. The envelopes unfailingly vanished the moment it was dropped inside the mailing box. Indeed, a magical mailbox.

^^^

To: Mayari.

I never knew how amazing pretending could be. You know that thing where someone usually says I'm okay, but really not? The inner saboteur that was triggered by their trauma is real-real-real. A car is useless when it's not moving if you wanted to travel to faraway places. Does that make sense?

PS. It sucks that our bathroom is the only "semi-safe space".

With so much love and kindness always and all ways,

Liway.

Polar bears are really fascinating. They get to hibernate. Then, after the time being, back on hunting and living their lives. Ligaya was one of Liway's hero. A lot knew Ligaya for being a superhero, although she does not have that fantasy powers. Just like the polar bears, too, Ligaya has been hibernating for quite some time but kept on saying that she was not. Liway saw it all. Maybe a bear's hibernation is different from a human-being, hmm?

^^^

To: Mayari.

IDK what to say, but I just wanted to be consistent at the very least in sending you letters.

PS. The radio was broken, but in my head, it's working. It kept on playing nonstop music. Is this a poetic way of saying I'm overthinking things?

With so much love and kindness always and all ways,

Liway.

^^^

To: Mayari.

A lot happened lately. Somebody lost a precious one, and here I am, having a renaissance moment. It's a crazy ride, but for all it's worth, the pea has grown into a beautiful plant. Hope it made sense coz finally, everything is making sense to me now. Little by little, slowly and surely.

With so much love and kindness always and all ways,

Liway.

^^^

To: Mayari

Hey!! I hope you are doing great!!! These days, everything felt surreal. I get to be active everywhere. It's draining, yet I feel so alive than ever. I had this thought that time is indeed just a concept, hmm? I mean, anytime is the right time to do what you want and whatever it is. Nothing is too late, most especially when it comes to growth. OH, being late in class still counts but FOR REAL RIP TO THE ONLINE CLASS SETUP -_-

PS. May we never run out of time to be the best versions of ourselves. LOVE WHOEVER YOU WANT. fck the situation, but SOON, GO ANYWHERE YOU WANT. SPEND FOR YOURSELF AND FOR YOUR LOVED ONES. FEEL EVERYTHING.

PSS. May we leave this world with fewer regrets and more amazing memories.

With so much love and kindness always and all ways, 

Liway.

Quite a lot of letters were already sent. The post office is getting more and more letters, as well as Mayari. Still, NO REPLY. Maybe some other, Liway will be able to hear Mayari's words.

^^^

To: Mayari.

*here's an envelope just in case you want to write me something*

With so much love annd kindness always and all ways, 

Liway.

'Tis the season to be jolly. LOL Nah. Liway has been out for the past weeks. By out, means on a hibernation mode. A L O T R E A L L Y happened. It's hard to put it into words. I guess Liway will end these letter-sending shenanigans or just lazy and trying to give out some excuses //

^^^

To: Mayari. 

Ever since I was taught how to move around the kitchen, I've been assigned to be Mom's assistant while cooking for the feast every event/occasion we'll be celebrating. It's tiring but super fun. Getting your fingers bleed and while unaware is cool LOL~ 

PS. Why does it feel so good to overthink things while doing the dishes? What's with that scenario.........

With so much love and kindness always and all ways, 

Liway.

Tireless hands, heart, and mind with countless thoughts and feelings, papers, and pens everywhere—WRITING; it surely is one of the best ways to vent. Though letters can’t hug and wipe one's tears, witness waves of laughter, ease the pain, and such, the comfort from every word written is more than enough.

Suddenly time barge in and reminded me that this is enough. THIS IS ENOUGH FOR 2020...

A new chapter has arrived, and maybe it's time to move forward. Maybe this is where it all gonna stop for a while. I mean, writing is somehow tiring, literally. Probably, Mayari might reply with the number of letters sent anytime soon, so maybe waiting is all that needed.

No rush in moving on.

MAY YOU GET THE REPLY YOU LONG FOR SO LONG.

PRIORITIZE YOURSELF AND HAVE COURAGE.

BE KIND ALWAYS AND ALL WAYS.

💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Little did nobody know, Liway is writing a letter to her "ideal" self.

The letter-sending-to-nobody thingy of Liway is really mind-boggling, right?

Mayari is Liway. Liway is Mayari.

The things that Liway wanted to say but cannot articulate well were always sent to Mayari. Mayari is the version of Liway it wishes to become in the future. 

The weak Liway longs and hopes to have "that" someone by her side to look up to. That's why she always writes letters and keeps them in the memory box.

The post office thingy was actually her shared room at home: the table at the corner with no lights but so much mess. It's that post office.

It's pandemic, so how can a post office be open and how brave she is to go out, right?

That saying, "be the hero you wanted to have when you were little", is the best explanation of Liway's way of venting and expressing.

Nobody knows when Mayari will come to life because it's no certainty that we can be the ideal self we all wanted to happen. 

For now, Liway is fighting her battles and screaming louder to the universe,

UNTIL WHEN DO I HAVE TO FEEL THIS WAY?

To be continued...

Happy New Year, Mayari. ✨💜

This is like an excerpt from my quarantine shenanigans for 2020 LOL.

[renee-writer]

Proper Home Chapter 68 The Birth

"Owe!" Claire's cry of pain awakens Jamie. It is the dead of the night. She is 40 weeks and 3 days pregnant.

"Is it?"

"Maybe. It was strong enough to wake me. We will just have to see if it happens again." He nods and reaches for his phone to time them. Within an hour, there is no doubt.

"We need to wake Faith." Claire pants at the end of a contraction. Faith was her other coach. They had decided she needs as much support as she can get. He runs to do it as she quickly dresses before the next contraction hits. They are every five minutes. So, overwhelmed by riding the creast of pain, the reality that her son is on the way doesn't hit her until she is pulling her shirt on. She stops with one arm in. It is how Jamie finds her a minute later.

"She is.. What is it?" He rushes to her side. She can't answer, in the midst of another contraction. He drops down beside her and helps her breath.

"He is coming." She states as he helps her into her shirt after.

"Aye he is. Faith is getting dressed." He looks around for her slippers. Her regular shoes no longer fit. He finds them and slips them on.

"He is really coming. I will be pushing a human being out of me." This stills him. He lokks at her, unsure what to say. He kens it is his fault she is about to go through this

"Are you guys ready?" Faith breezes into the room.

"I am scared Faith." She admits. She joins Jamie at her side.

"I understand. We won't leave your side. He is healthy. We have had the classes. You are ready. We are ready." Her brother looks a tad pale but, she kens he will buck up when needed. "Yer body kens what to do. Ye have this." Claire nods and starts to stand. She falls back down when the next contraction hits. It is stronger then the previous ones

She reaches out blindly and finds both their hands there. They all three breath through.

Hospital is twenty minutes away. She has five contractions on the way. Faith holds tight to her hand as Jamie drives as fast as he is legally allowed.

They had called ahead and were pre-registered so it is a simple matter when they arrive to get her into a room. She is changed into a hospital gown and checked.

"Three cm's. You are on the way." The cheerful midwife says. She checks the baby's heart rate and then allows her to walk. She has a robe in her hospital bag. Jamie helps her into it and the three start making laps around the halls.

"Ahhh bloody.." She grunts as she stops. She leans against Jamie as Faith holds her hands and helps her "he he" through a fairly horrible contraction. They start walking again after.

"Every three minutes. Should we head back to the room? A nervous Jamie asks Faith. It is Claire who answers.

"No bloody way. I will not be strapped to a bed until I have to. We walk."

"Ahh Jesus! Ahhh f*ck!" It is thirty minutes later and, after watching Claire suffer through ten contractions that made her seriously consider having no children, Faith was starting to agree with Jamie. She doesn't wish her nephew born in the hall.

"Claire love. Let's get you checked out." She nods to exhausted to argue any more. They help her back to her room.

"6 cms. Grand process. The next four will go even faster."

"Can I continue to walk?"

"Sorry no. But you needn't be hoked up to the monitors. He is tolerant of your labor. I will be back to check you in twenty minutes."

"Ohhhhh," she is on her hands and knees, rocking back and forth as her entire lower body is held in an iron vice. Jamie rubs her back, applying counter-pressure while Faith meets her eyes and tries to keep her focused on breathing.

"Jamie, we made a mistake." She says when she can breath again.

"The bairn. I ken it hurts.."

"No and, by the way, hurt doesn't cover it. Agony doesn't..no. By not marrying." He is smart enough not to point out that it was her decision. "I want to get married today! Before he..owe. Christ Almighty. Help!!" He takes her face focusing her on himself.

"Breath baby! Ye got this. It is almost over. Breath with me." She does clinging to his shirt. "Now, ye want to get married now?"

"Yes. I should bave earlier. Let pride get in the way. Please Jamie. Faith can fetch the chaplain. I've the papers in the bag." They had intended to marry before taken him home. "Please." He looks to his sister. She nods and runs out.

"9 cms. Almost there." The midwife reports a few minutes later.

"He can't come yet. We aren't married. Faith went to...ohhhh!"

"Breath love."

"Stuff your breathing! F*ck this hurts! I can't.."

"You can. You are. You will soon be seeing your son. Picture him." The midwife encourages. Faith rushes back in dragging the hospital chaplain behind her.

"Ahhh shite. I can't!" She cries out. Faith looks to the chaplain but he seems unaffected. He probably has heard worse and understands labor.

"Almost done love. There ye go. Deep breath." She takes several.

"I found a chaplain."

"Good. Marry us." Claire directs to him. "The short version for he is coming." The poor lad, only a few years out of seminary, stumbles his book of common prayer, out.

"Yer names?"

"James Fraser. Claire Beauchamp." Jamie answers as Claire is once again in the midst of the gripping tearing contraction.

"Ahhh bloody hell!" The chaplain carefully approachs. Jamie takes tight hold of her hand. She squeezes hard enough to break it. The midwife is busy between her legs. Faith stands on her other side.

"Okay. Ahhh do you James Fraser promise to love, honor, cherish, stay true to Claire Beauchamp as long as ye both shall live?"

"I do."

"Ahhhh. For f*cks sake. What are you doing?" Claire directs to the midwife.

"You are at ten. May push with the next contraction." She calmly says.

"Hurry padre." Jamie says.

"Ahh Aye. Do ye Claire Beauchamp promise to..."

"Ahhhhh!" She screams as the compulsion to push takes over.

"Love, honor, cherish, and stay true to James Fraser as long as ye live"

"Yes!" Christ, this hurts!"

"Push past and through the pain." Faith reminds her.

"I am going to have to cut you to control rhe tearing. Sorry." The midwife says.

"Ah."

"Are we married?" Jamie asks.

"Ahh aye. By the power of the Church of England and God Almighty, I pronounce ye man and wife. Congratulations."

"Thank ye. Faith the licence is in the bag."

"Got it."

"Ye need two witnesses." He reminds them.

"I will witness it." Faith adds her signature under the chaplain's.

"I will too." The midwife says. She emerges from between Claire's legs and signs after taken off her gloves. She then puts a fresh pair on in preparation for catching the bairn.

"Ye just need to take it the register's office." The chaplain explains after it is legally signed.

"It is all legal, then?" Jamie asks.

"Aye. A bit unorthodox but, legal. Ye are married. Congratulations on the marriage and bairn." He is easing toward the door as Claire's screams and curses get louder.

"Thank ye."

"Okay Claire, one more push should do it."

"So tired. I can't." Ir is an hour later. The last of her energy is gone. Jamie sits behind her and supports her in a sitting position. Faith stands to her side and keeps ice and cold rags for her forehead at the ready.

"Ye can mon ghairde. Our son is at the other end of that push. I am so proud of ye. I couldn't have done what ye did. Just a bit more." He helps her to sit and she holds tight to his hands as she pushes once more.

"Good. Just like that. Grap a breath abd.keep going." She eases his head out, eases out his shoulders, the rest slips out. "Here he is." She holds him up. His red hair is plastered to his head. His eyes are tightly shut. His face shows his displeasure at the turn of events. He looks on the verge of a yell. He is huge. He is beautiful.

"Ohh! He is so perfect." His awed mam says.

"Aye. One minute apgar is 8. Wish to cut the cord daddy." Jamie strartles at the realization that is him. He moves to do it through a film of tears.

"Let's weigh and measure this lad." He follows her over to the scales. They return with baby Fraser wrapped securely in a hospital blanket. He is handed to his mam.

"Five minute apgar is ten. He weighs 10 pound 11 ounces and is two feet long. The biggest newborn I have ever seen. Congratulations guys."

"Christ lad. Ye will be bigger then me." Jamie says az he strokes his hair. Claire just stares at him. Her son. Her and Jamie's lad

"I will go ring the family." Faith offers.

"Don't tell them we are married. I want ro surprise them.'" Claire takes her eyes off the baby long enough to say.

She smiles and slips out of the room.

[thisisawesomeness1825]

oops, i (fake) love you, ch. 06

vi. Percy

She's so annoying, Percy thinks as he picks up the paper containing the first lesson. Then, he looks at the other papers scattered on his bed. But so thorough.

In all honesty, Percy still thinks that maybe he's dreaming, because there's no way that Annabeth is now helping him, even if this is somehow coated in sarcastic remarks and ridiculous demands (like giving him homework). When he went to ask for her help in mythology class that day, his mind was running a thousand miles a minute to actually comprehend what he's doing. Once lunch rolled out did he just realize that he really tried to ask for her help. Which was probably the most embarrassing thing he has ever done.

Asking Annabeth Chase for help? Pshhh.

Then the events just followed, and next thing he knew, he was signing up for a fake dating agreement with the enemy. THE Enemy.

For a second, he contemplates not doing any of the steps written on the lesson plan. After all, Annabeth might be sabotaging his plan of dating Rachel, and instead of making him better, she might be making him worse. But then, he figures that she's not that evil to do such a thing, even if she's a little short-tempered and rude.

So he picks up the first lesson and tries to soak up as much as he can.

The next day, when Percy goes to school, he's a little afraid to admit that he's more self-conscious than usual.

He's not wearing his glasses, and the dark green shirt Annabeth suggested he wear clings to his skin more than he likes to. He doesn't really know how wearing this will make him look more appealing to the eyes, because, to be honest, he feels a little stupid.

But when he accidentally bumps to a girl from his English class in the hallway, he changes his mind.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" A voice screeches.

"I'm sorry. I really didn't see you—"

"Percy Jackson?" The girl asks suddenly as she peers at him. "From Mr. Blofis' class?"

"Uh, yeah." Percy reaches up and rubs the back of his neck since he could not push back his glasses.

Her eyes gaze at him from head to toe, then she grins. "Would you look at that? You clean up nicely, after all."

Did he just—did he just get complimented?

"Um, thanks," he says, his cheeks a little flushed.

Out of nowhere, he feels a pinch on his side, and she winks at him. "If you ever need help in English, you know who to ask."

He can only muster a nod, then she's already waving goodbye.

Woah. That was out of the ordinary. For all his stay in Goode, he never really got a wink from anyone (except maybe for Leo, whose eyes are always twitching, anyway).

But that? That is something new to him.

Grover sidles up to him, talking about the latest campaign his club is going to host, as Percy picks up the rest of his books from his locker. Grover hasn't seen him yet.

"Y'know, I really like this fun run drive we're hosting. I mean, I know I couldn't run because duh, crutches, but the importance of this program is—woah."

"Hello, G-man," Percy greets.

Grover squints his eyes at him. "Am I talking to the right Percy Jackson?"

"Of course. Who did you think I was?"

"Are you sure you're not an imposter or something? Y'know, cos my best friend has glasses and has this really bad style of clothing."

"I didn't think it was that bad."

"Uh, sure it was."

Nico, Percy's cousin, who happens to pass by the hallway, takes a look at him and smirks. "Hey, you actually look human today, Perce."

"Says the zombie," he retorts.

"Fuck off," Nico says, then walks away.

"I'll never understand your weird cousin dynamics," Grover comments, as he shakes his head at them. "So, is this part of your new grooming tactics or...?"

Percy tucks his hands to his jeans and shrugs. "Well, I just decided to change a few styles, and ditch my glasses. Nothing major."

"For what reason?"

"I mean, I just wanted a change from a typical Percy combination. This being a new school year and all."

"Are you sure it's not just to impress Rachel?"

"Uh, umm..," He fumbles for the next words, not sure how to phrase the fact that it is indeed for Rachel, but without revealing his fake dating ploy with Annabeth. "...actually, I've—I've moved on from her."

Grover is so surprised he loses his grip on his crutches for a second. With wide and unbelieving eyes, he stares at Percy. Then, he pokes him on the chest. "No shit man. You aren't Percy."

"You're crazy. I am Percy."

The bell rings, and any retort Grover has is lost among the noise in the hallways. Percy calls in a goodbye to his friend and rushes to his first subject. When he arrives, Annabeth is already sitting and she pays him no attention as he sits on his chair.

Huh. Looks like they're gonna be that couple. Anyway, that works for him, since he doesn't have to explain much to his friends.

However, right after the class ends, instead of directly going outside the classroom, she lingers by his desk. This is no surprise for the students who are still inside the classroom since it is normal to see them arguing after class. But what sends their jaw dropping to the ground is when Annabeth gives him a bashful smile (bashful! He didn't know she was capable of faking that!) and mutters, "I'll see you later at lunch."

To be fair, Percy is quite surprised himself, and much more are the classmates who have witnessed the interaction. Thankfully, no one dared to ask him questions, but he can see the wary and amused faces of their classmates. He gives them an awkward smile which almost turns into a grimace when he sees Annabeth's smirking face by the door.

Ugh. The nerve of that girl.

When the lunch bell rings, he almost forgets Annabeth's little stint after mythology class. A number of his classmates have noticed his new appearance, and their positive comments have uplifted his mood for the first half of the day.

"Hey, you look extra dashing today, Percy," Piper says as she takes in his appearance. She smirks when she notices the flush on his cheeks. "Got a hot date?"

Jason, who apparently, overheard the comment says, "Psh. Percy with a hot date? Never."

Piper pinches Jason on the arm. Weirdly enough, the blonde's cheeks turn red. "Don't be mean to him. All my friends are capable of a hot date."

"Say it louder, Pipes!" Leo exclaims.

Just then, Percy's object of affections arrives in a mass of red curls. Rachel looks good today, just as she does always. She beams at everyone when she arrives at their table. "What are you guys talking about?"

"We're talking about how Percy looks dashing today, and whether he is capable of a hot date," Piper says.

Rachel's gaze focuses on Percy, and she smiles at him. "Yeah. I noticed that too."

He's so absorbed with her blinding smile that he fails to recognize the new voice that joins in the conversation, up until he feels a hand squeezing on his shoulder.

"Hey, I told you I'd see you during lunch," Annabeth says to him, and without waiting for a response, leans closer to press a kiss on his cheek.

Woah. Just what.

Seriously, a kiss? On his cheek?

The action makes him stiffen in surprise because really, he did not see that coming. However, this does not escape Annabeth's eyes as she gives his shoulder a tighter squeeze as a warning. But it seems that the Fates are on his side today since his friends are apparently too stunned to take notice of his reaction.

Really, a warning would have been nice next time.

Piper recovers quicker than the rest and stares at Annabeth like she expects her to suddenly wage war on their table. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here?"

Annabeth looks at him and smiles a little tightly. "I'm guessing you haven't told them yet?"

"Haven't told us what?" Grover asks once he swallows his enchilada.

Underneath the table, Annabeth pinches his thighs, and glances at him as if saying, 'you tell them.' He swallows down his nerves and avoids Rachel's eyes.

"Uh, surprise! Annabeth's kind of...um, my girlfriend now."

As if to prove the point, Annabeth interlaces her fingers with his, but he still stiffens with the alien feeling. This time, Rachel catches the reaction with her eyes.

"Girlfriend," Leo repeats, and he gestures to the two of them. "So, um, the two of you are dating now?"

"Yes. Believe or not," Annabeth answers with a tight smile.

"Um, cool." Leo mutters under his breath, 'I believe it not.' Jason shoots him a look. "Congrats Percy and Annabeth. I'm glad that you've, uh...put the past behind you."

"Righttt," Piper agrees way too enthusiastic. "When did this happen?"

Percy answers "yesterday" at the same time Annabeth says "last week." At this, she sends him a knowing look while proceeding to create an excuse. "So, we actually got together last week, but knowing our past, we were hesitant to take a step forward. So we waited for a while then decided to make it official yesterday."

Percy nods his agreement.

"Oh, that's...great."

The rest of the lunch is filled with a weird and tense silence. That's the only way he can describe it. Once the lunchtime ends, Annabeth bids him goodbye with a little smile and an awkward wave to his friends.

"Did that just literally happen?" Jason asks once she's out of earshot. He stares at Percy. "Seriously, you two are dating now?"

"Is it so hard to believe that we do?"

"Um, duh. Did you forget the fact that you were fighting like cats and dogs three days ago?"

"Well, bantering is our form of flirting. And besides, the more you hate, the more you love, right?" Percy shrugs with a smile. His friends just stare at him blankly.

"That's the most messed up thing you've said. Anyways, I'm going. Bye Perce," Grover comments, and hobbles out from the cafeteria. The rest of his friends also file out, muttering goodbyes and half-hearted congratulations. Except for Rachel, who remains seated from where she arrived an hour ago.

"Percy, can we talk?" Rachel asks, then peers at the area around her. The cafeteria is almost empty, but there are still some people lingering on the sides. "Preferably somewhere private."

There's a weight on his stomach, and his nerves suddenly feel on edge. "Okay," he croaks out, then follows her out of the cafeteria. She leads him to an empty classroom in a hallway that's not frequented by people.

Rachel closes the door and crosses her arms in front of her chest. There's a determined look in her eyes and a little anger that Percy really doesn't want to face.

"What are we doing here?" he asks.

"I need you to be honest with me, Percy," she says, then fixes him a stare. "Is Annabeth setting you up for this? Is she manipulating you to act as her boyfriend?"

Percy's mind reels. What? He takes a moment to shake his head because he did not really expect that question. But this moment of hesitation seems to spur Rachel on.

"I mean, she may not look like it, but she can be very manipulative. And I don't want you to be at the end of her games. She can harm you."

"Okay, wait. No," Percy says. This is all going the wrong way. "Annabeth is not using me, nor is she manipulating me. We agreed to go out because we liked each other, even if it may not look like it. No one's using the other, okay?"

"But why do you freeze when she touches you? Like she's repulsive to you?"

Percy internally flinches because that wasn't intentional at all. It's an after effect of what happened to him on the past, and even though he is getting better, the muscle memory still remains. He's not ready to tell Rachel any of it, so he makes a statement that is not entirely a lie.

"To be fair, I'm still getting used to the physical touches couples do when they're together. And Annabeth's my first girlfriend, so it may take some time for me to adjust."

Rachel nods hesitantly like she still doesn't fully believe what he's saying but is willing to let it go. "Okay, fine. But are you really sure? You know you can always ask me to trip her on track practice or something if she does hurt you in one way or another."

"Right. I'll be sure to keep that in mind," he says with a smile. "Thanks for worrying about me, anyway."

"Of course. You're my friend."

This time the smile Rachel sends him feels like a knife to the heart.

"That could've gone way worse," Percy amends as he watches Annabeth pace up and down to his room. She had ambushed him yet again right after he got out of his last class, so he had to make up an excuse for his friends that he couldn't join them.

"It was the worst!" Annabeth exclaims. "They looked at me like I literally kicked a puppy when you introduced me as your girlfriend."

"Well, you were rude to me a lot of times so..." he stops talking once he sees the deadly glare she's giving him. "They were probably just caught off-guard. I mean, we just fought like we couldn't be around each other three days ago."

"Plus, we almost messed up with our inconsistent answers!" She falls back to his bed with a groan. "God! I can't believe I forgot to create a backstory."

"Good thing they're too stunned to question us properly then." Percy scrunches his eyebrows as he remembers their reactions. "But I don't think that they really bought this dating thing."

"Yeah. It was evident on their faces," she agrees. He nods.

"By the way, why are you always flinching whenever I touch you? It doesn't look good if we want to convince them that we're really dating," Annabeth asks. She stares at him, but he avoids her eyes.

"I'm—I'm not really used to physical touches," he lies. He can feel Annabeth's eyes on him, probably thinking whether to call out his BS or not, because back when they still got each other's backs, they used to touch all the time. Hugs, friendly punches, anything really.

"You never minded before."

That's different, he wants to say. He doesn't really know whether to tell her or not that she'd been right about Gabe all along. No, he decides, because she doesn't deserve to know after she left him unguarded in the dark.

This time, he looks at her in the eyes. "Yeah, but you were never a stranger then."

She sucks in a breath and sits up facing away from him. "Stranger, huh?"

"You did say that we can't be friends."

"You're right." She turns to him. "But that doesn't mean we can't be acquaintances."

He raises an eyebrow at her. She does the same.

Annabeth shrugs and asks, "So, tell me something new about yourself."

"Why?"

"So we can be acquaintances and no longer strangers to each other," she answers. He contemplates this for a moment.

"I like dolphins," he says, after a while.

"That wasn't new."

"I got a scraped knee after tripping on the bushes in fourth grade."

"I know that already."

"What? How?"

"That's because I was the one who pushed you."

"I knew that wasn't an accident."

She smirks. "Come on. Tell me something new."

"You probably knew everything about me already."

"Lie. I've only known you for half of your life, and that still leaves the other half."

"Fine. I tried eating olive pizza, and I've got to admit that it wasn't as bad as I've expected."

"Really? I knew you would like it. Nobody hates olive pizza," Annabeth says with a grin.

He rolls his eyes. "I never said I like it. I just said that it wasn't that bad."

"Sounds the same to me. Anyway," she clears her throat. "As for me, I once switched a girl's shampoo for glue because she was being rude to all of us. In short, her hair became a sticky mess."

"Savage," Percy comments. "I didn't know you had it in you."

She shrugs. "Well, she was being mean. Somebody ought to give her a lesson."

"Through a sticky hair?"

"Through a sticky hair." Annabeth reaches her hand out to him. "Now that we know one thing new about the other, we're no longer strangers. I suppose this will make you less nervous?"

He shrugs. "Maybe."

She intertwines her fingers with his own. Her hand, although tanned, still looks pale in comparison to his bronze ones. This time, when she squeezes, he doesn't flinch.

"You have small hands," he comments.

Annabeth chuckles. "I don't. Yours are just long." She looks at their hands, where his fingers almost engulf her own. "To be fair, I never really expected you to grow taller than me."

"Ye girl of little faith."

"I have a lot of faith."

"Really, huh?"

"Just not in you."

"You're mean," Percy says, and let goes of her hand to pinch her.

She glares at him for a moment but slides her fingers back with his. He startles but it's barely noticeable. Yet she has known anyway.

Her gray eyes meet his. "I want you to hold my hand until you get used to the feeling, okay?"

Looking at their intertwined hands and their first civil conversation in a while, he smiles.

"Sure."

He can get used to this alright.

A/N: Hello! I had some fun writing this chapter because it's generally light and fluffy. (I LOVE writing fluff). Also, this is a 'little' longer than my usual chapter length so I hoped you appreciated that.

And I'd just like to greet everyone "Happy Holidays!" Hope you all are doing great, and please don't forget to leave a comment or anything really. I always look forward to feedback from you guys.

[shelllessturtle]

Behind the scenes of this livetext: Mycroft gets a new phone and identifies Iago via haiku; Iago sees Hamilton; "Pride and Prejudice but in Starfleet" becomes a thing; Iago quits their job; SO MANY PUNS; and it turns out that Mycroft has never finished Avatar: the Last Airbender. A year in the making (I'm not even fucking kidding), I present you with: Iago Reads Wizards At War (lightly edited for ease of reading)

Mycroft: Better start bracing yourself for book 8 now

Iago: Oh sweet Jesus

Mycroft: There, no you can't say I didn't warn you

Iago: But you /know/ it's funnier when I get to threaten you with gruesome death!

Iago: Are you ready for this?

Iago: ...one of the chapter titles is "Acceptable Losses". /I/ am not ready for this.

Iago: Nita needs a vacation from her vacation. Nita sweetie...

Iago: "Neets, is it true he destroyed a whole alien culture in just ten days?" Carmela Rodriguez is my Patronus

Mycroft: Right?

Mycroft: She just keeps getting better

Iago: Roll call at the Callahan home: "three humans, one humanoid, one tree, and one giant bug" and I'm quietly cackling in public

Iago: "The centipede pointed a couple spare eyes at the Christmas tree." Taken out of context, I think that may be the most bizarre sentence I've ever read. In context, it makes perfect sense. I don't know which amuses me more.

Mycroft: Yesssss

Iago: "But her mom had loved those lilacs, and wouldn't be seeing them again." OKAY OW

Iago: Oh sweet minty Jesus

Iago: You weren't wrong.

Iago: And I wasn't prepared.

Mycroft: So not prepared

Mycroft: What's that in response to specifically?

Iago: Basically the entire series of events leading to Kit and Nita becoming Seniors

Mycroft: BASICALLY

Mycroft: IT'S ALL GONE TO SHIT

Iago: Descriptions of wizardries in action never fail to be beautiful

Iago: "The changes in the structure of space then start affecting the thought processes and reactions of all living beings in the area. Their behavior will start to become less and less rational...less committed to Life."

SHE WROTE THIS BOOK OVER A DECADE AGO HOW IS IT SO RELEVANT RIGHT NOW

Mycroft: Oh you have no idea

Iago: God help my soul

Mycroft: So yes, welcome to Tom's Wizardly PowerPoint of universal doom

Iago: I should just go see Moana again. It's far less depressing

Iago: "Uh-oh". Now Nita's getting in on it

Mycroft: Indeed

Iago: Looks like Nita's playing "fake it 'til you make it"

Iago: I don't know if that's good or bad, to be honest

Mycroft: Fairly characteristic tho

Iago: True

Iago: "...yet another lollipop sticking out of his face." That is the greatest description of someone with a sucker in their mouth that I've ever witnessed

Mycroft: Roshaun and his lollipop addiction

Mycroft: The real OTP

Iago: *chokes* oh my gOD

Iago: Sker'ret just called Nita "Senior". I think both Nita and I had a quick internal freak-out

Iago: THEY STILL HAVE BETTY CALLAHAN'S NUMBER IN THEIR HOME PHONE I'M GOING TO GO CRY IN A CORNER

Mycroft: ;__;

Iago: "The universe has started expanding too fast, and we have to stop it before it tears itself apart."

"Um. Okay, I see why you might need a few extra days off for that."

*slightly hysterical laughter*

Mycroft: Same

Iago: "Two weeks to save the universe". Sounds like an album title

Mycroft: I'd listen to it

Iago: "What /is/ grenfelzing, exactly?"

"It's kind of like emmfozing, but with chocolate."

Have I ever mentioned that I both hate and love your ability to quote these goddamn books at me when I ask questions?

Mycroft: I can't recall, but I'm glad to hear it

Mycroft: Also I mean that's the only canon explanation so really, what else could I say

Iago: But you quoted it /word for word/

Mycroft: Admittedly, that was at least partially For The Meme

Iago: I'll allow it

Iago: "...a brief, profound case of amnesia. They'd instantly forgotten why they were there" sounds like my life

Iago: Oh my god what is Spot doing with the TV

Iago: *whispers* How bad is it that my mind is currently in the gutter

Mycroft: Dataaaaaa

Iago: AM I JUST A PERVERT OR DOES THAT SOUND INCREDIBLY DIRTY

Mycroft: It's certainly something

Iago: "But most of the aliens are here for the cocoa plants." Well, I can't exactly blame them...

Iago: Carmela Rodriguez remains a gift

Iago: Oh god Ronan's back

Mycroft: Yessssss Carmela and Ronan

Mycroft: A dangerous combination

Iago: Ronan keeps the Spear in a pen

Iago: *checks date published*

Iago: Feels a bit Percy Jackson to me

Iago: Carmela has the insta-hots for Ronan. This is gonna be fun

Iago: "The fucking heir of an almighty something or other" is still a really good description for Roshaun. In case you were wondering if I had warmed up to him any more

Iago: WHALE

Iago: WHALE ON THE MOON

Iago: Whale On The Moon is the name of my new techno jazz band

Mycroft: Can I join?

Mycroft: I'll learn any new instrument you need

Iago: ...having thought about it, I'm legitimately not certain what instruments would be /played/ in a techno jazz band. So, I mean, if you want to learn the synthesizer...

Iago: Young Wizards book 8 alternate title: Wizards' Reunion

Iago: Lots of air quotes going on right now

Iago: ....I want Darryl's manual

Iago: "Where's your adjunct talent?"

"Playing with rocks, as usual."

Okay now I really want a puppy

Iago: "Twychild". Have I mentioned lately that the worldbuilding in these books gives me a case of the warm fuzzies?

Mycroft: Yesssss Tuyet and Nguyet

Iago: *whispers* Why is there a thought-voice talking in second-person in Kit's head

Iago: The description of Roshaun's living space send help

Iago: "A three-way collision between an antique furniture warehouse, a jewelry story, and a Gothic cathedral carved and decorated by the artistically insane."

Iago: So my brain has given Roshaun's father the voice of Mark Hamill.

Iago: There's a decent chance I'm going to just call him the Phoenix King

Iago: "Speaking truth to power is never 'out'." DAIRINE REMAINS GOD

Iago: (Also if I ever go to a protest I'm putting that on my sign.)

Mycroft: Yessss do it

Mycroft: And which kind of Mark Hamill are we talking here: Skywalker, Firelord or Joker?

Iago: Firelord. Thus the Phoenix King comment

Iago: Oh my god Dairine in the face of implications that she and Roshaun are ~involved~

Mycroft: Blessss

Iago: "You tell those people that they are completely nuts!"

Iago: Did...did Roshaun just /whine/ at his mother?

Mycroft: Yes

Mycroft: Not so dignified now

Iago: *falls off the table in laughter*

Iago: Oh god is Roshaun developing a Thing for Dairine

Mycroft: WELCOME TO THE MADDENING AMBIGUITY

Iago: MADDENING AMBIGUITY IS THE NAME OF MY NEW POLITICAL PUNK BAND

Mycroft: Bless

Iago: This is my favorite game

Mycroft: I know a fair few YW fans who have a particular talent for it

Iago: I have a list. I use them in my stories for bands my characters like

Mycroft: Most excellent

Iago: Ponch wants blue food

Mycroft: As do we all

Iago: I /could/ go for some blue Jolly Ranchers

Iago: Ponch, to Ronan: "You two just talk among yourselves."

Dog sass is best sass

Iago: "It's math, Kit, but not as we know it."

SHE. SHE JUST. SHE FUCKING DID THAT ON PURPOSE

Iago: I'm going to go curl up in a corner and cry with laughter now

Mycroft: Yup

Mycroft: What a nerd, right

Iago: Pot, kettle

Iago: Oh shit Sker'ret is having a fight with his parent

Iago: ...I currently have a desire to cuddle what amounts to a giant centipede. What have you done to me

Mycroft: The magic of Young Wizards

Iago: That was terrible

Iago: But, then again, I love terrible

Iago: Okay so the description of dark matter

Mycroft: Yes?

Iago: I feel like I have something crawling around under my skin

Mycroft: It's unsettling, isn't it

Mycroft: That gets worse

Iago: Oh god

Iago: "Nita for the first time actually saw someone else look out of Ronan's eyes. The expression was one of recognition coupled with a very controlled anger. The one who looked out had seen something like this before."

Oh. Shit. Oh /shit/.

Mycroft: Yessssss

Mycroft: Shit just got real

Iago: I am not prepared for this

Mycroft: Correct

Iago: GIGO

Mycroft: :D

Iago: "For transits like this, we temporarily rewrite the kernel that manages local gravity and mass in our solar system. It's no big deal."

oh my gOD

Iago: They are actually Dairine's children

Mycroft: They've been busy since we last saw them

Mycroft: And it's awesome

Iago: "A world of true computer wizards" get the fuck out

Iago: They're actually calling her Mother s e n d h e l p

Mycroft: RIGHT

Iago: I'm not crying you're crying

Mycroft: I'm not crying I'm eating a quaesadilla

Mycroft: The crying one must be you

Iago: Well I can't see to tell you so who knows

Iago: "Guys," [Dairine] said after a moment, "you make me proud."

"That is our other purpose," Beanpole said. "Our first one."

Iago: I A M D E A D

Mycroft: I knowwww

Iago: "Life's all the time sending /me/ messages I can't read." [Dairine] flicked just a second's glance at Roshaun, who she was starting to think was yet another of those messages.

Iago: Oh lordy

Iago: Oh god above send help

Iago: Spot's becoming less of a machine, more alive. I don't know if I'm in support of this change

Mycroft: Everyone needs upgrades now and then :P

Iago: I don't like change

Iago: I kind of adore the mobiles all bowing to Dairine

Iago: Roshaun raised his eyebrows and produced another lollipop, which he held out to her.

"How many of those things do you have?" Dairine said.

"Not nearly enough," Roshaun said.

Iago: Please excuse me while I go laugh myself sick

Mycroft: Roshaun has his priorities in order

Mycroft: There was always a jar of lollipops on hand at CrossingsCon in his honor

Iago: Perfect

Iago: "I'll give you a dysfunction where you'll have trouble finding it again."

Totally stealing that don't even care

Mycroft: Excellent

Iago: "I may be a mother, but you are /mine/."

Maybe I didn't take enough time to recover after finishing The Slow Regard of Silent Things I'm going to go collapse in an emotional heap

Mycroft: So many Dairine feels, I knowww

Iago: "Enthusiasmic incorporation of the Hesper--"

What? What?! What does it say? What does it mean? I NEED TO KNOW

Mycroft: [rubs hands together; evil laughter] I'M SAYING NOTHING

Iago: Oh god is time moving faster on Metemne

Mycroft: MAYBE

Iago: Oh fuck it's relativity isn't it. Because they're near the source of the dark matter, they're moving faster than the rest of the Universe

Mycroft: Very possible

Iago: Oh no. Introduction of Della Cantrell and MY EMOTIONS CAN'T TAKE THIS HALP

Mycroft: Oh boy

Iago: Nita's phone call to her dad. Direct hit to the feels.

Mycroft: Harry Callahan is such a good dad

Iago: That is part of why it hurts so much

Iago: "Nita, could you please get off me before we accidentally become more than just good friends?"

*cackles maniacally*

Mycroft: BEST

Iago: Holy fucking sHIT ALMOND SPIDERS WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

Mycroft: Wait what

Mycroft: Remind me of the context for that

Iago: On Rashah. The creatures destroying the trees are almond-shaped and have eight legs. Almond spiders

Mycroft: Oh ok that's what I figured

Mycroft: HELLO TO OUR TERRIFYING NEW ALIEN FRIENDS

Iago: ALMOND SPIDERS. WHY.

Mycroft: WHY NOT

Iago: "They've been fighting each other, on and off, for /millions/ of years?"

"They must be really enjoying it, to keep the war going so long."

Sker'ret is so great

Mycroft: Rashah is not exactly a great vacation destination, that's for sure

Iago: Oh sweet minty Jesus the almond spiders are a remnant after an atomic holocaust I need a drink

Iago: And...they're all avatars...of the Lone Wanker. Better make that two drinks.

Mycroft: WELCOME TO RADIOACTIVE POSSESSED WAR-MONGERING GIANT SPIDER CULT WORLD

Mycroft: ENJOY YOUR STAY

Iago: Where is Nita's dad

Iago: I am Concerned

Iago: Also

Iago: I will never get tired of the "check your spelling" joke

Mycroft: Same

Iago: "Words had just failed Dairine." Gods above have mercy on us all

Mycroft: I appreciate that the narration pauses to note how unthinkable that is

Iago: Also, a "bright" version of the Lone Power

Iago: What does that mean

Iago: Why is bright in quotes

Mycroft: To indicate it's kind of a rough description of a more complex subject, mostly

Iago: But does it mean that we're getting a version of the Lone Power that's more on the good side or a version that's worse than usual

Mycroft: There's more explanation later, but basically picture the LP's non-evil twin

Mycroft: Like its opposite, basically

Iago: I thought /you/ were refusing to give spoilers

Mycroft: Meh, I saw that as more clarification on what you already read, ymmv

Mycroft: But stay tuned

Iago: Well obviously

Iago: Nita doesn't like shooting people who are shooting at her

Mycroft: Krakens don't count but I don't think they were as sentient

Iago: "I'm a wizard, not an engineer" goddammit /again/?!

Mycroft: Yesss

Iago: I shall take myself off to the laughing corner

Iago: Oh god self-destruct at the Crossings

Mycroft: Kind of a terrifying prospect

Iago: Nita just blew up a giant gun

Mycroft: Yesss

Iago: "High-fiving a giant centipede can take a while."

Up next on Winning Understatements....

Mycroft: That is so fun to picture

Iago: I know!

Iago: "I don't wear socks."

"Just as well. You'd bankrupt yourself."

That is /also/ fun to picture

Mycroft: As an antidote to the tense battle scene, have a bunch of centipede leg jokes

Iago: Pretty much

Iago: Wait

Iago: /Carmela/?!

Mycroft: Hahahaha yesss

Mycroft: THE GLORIOUS RETURN

Iago: What

Iago: WHAT

Iago: Okay, Sker'ret just /swallowed/ the self-destruct panel

Mycroft: He's got a talent for that kind of thing

Iago: Which, I mean, okay, great way to not lose it

Iago: But

Iago: Can't he digest, like, /everything/?

Iago: And the self-destruct sequence is still going?

Iago: What happens if he takes too long to get the panel back out?

Mycroft: Rirhait stomach work in mysterious ways

Iago: ...is that the canon explanation or your way of saying "don't think about it too hard"

Mycroft: Yes

Iago: Why did I let you talk me into this

Mycroft: Because it's awesome, come on

Iago: Ugh

Iago: *quiet noises of agreement*

Iago: "So I took steps." CARMELA

Iago: (Carmela is the reason I let you talk me into this.)

Mycroft: That's the best answer

Mycroft: This book is Peak Carmela honestly

Iago: *whispers emphatically* Juanita Louise

Mycroft: Yessssss

Iago: Carmela just referred to Filif as "my favorite Christmas tree" and Carmela is all of us in that moment

Mycroft: So true

Mycroft: Filif is tree-mendous

Iago: I fucking hate you so much right now. :b

Mycroft: :D

Iago: "We are on errantry, and we greet you."

"Not that you particularly /merit/ greeting." Nita pls

Mycroft: She's earned the right to some snark, I'd say

Iago: Clearly

Iago: "You get more honey with flies. Wait a minute, that's not how it goes." CARMELA PLS

Mycroft: Oh my god

Mycroft: Get ready for another legendary Carmela moment

Iago: IS SHE BRIBING THE TAWALF WITH CHOCOLATE

Iago: FUCKING SHIT YES SHE IS

Mycroft: YEAH

Mycroft: And now you know why this book made Carmela everyone's favorite

Iago: I'M SO PLEASED WITH THIS

Iago: I mean Dairine is always going to be my eternal favorite but yeah Carmela's a close second

Mycroft: Relatable

Iago: Oh my god now she's threatening to /eat/ the chocolate right in front of them I'm crying

Mycroft: I KNOW RIGHT

Iago: Ponch the almond spider is trying to catch his non-existent tail

Mycroft: Omfg I forgot about that

Iago: It's a hilarious picture

Iago: I think I just witnessed a cult gathering

Iago: "You let me worry about this planet, and I'll let you worry about all the others." HARRY CALLAHAN IS BEST DAD

Mycroft: THE VERY BEST

Iago: NO

Iago: NONONONONO

Iago: TOM AND CARL HAVE FORGOTTEN THEIR WIZARDRY

Mycroft: AH YOU'VE GOTTEN TO THAT PART

Mycroft: WELCOME TO HEARTBREAK CITY, POPULATION YOU

Mycroft: And also Nita

Iago: S E N D H E L P

Iago: Wait are Rirhait mostly purple

Iago: Because if yes than they are my new favorites

Mycroft: They also come in blue, green, and pink, but yeah

Mycroft: I'm pretty sure Sker'ret in particular is purple

Iago: Well I saw that but the book makes a point to say that there are a /lot/ of shades of purple and I fucking love purple

Mycroft: You're in luck, then

Iago: "I would never lose my balance. I am a paragon of grace and stability."

"Oh, yeah. Who said /that/?"

"Roshaun."

Someone help me

Iago: I cannot

Mycroft: Pffft

Mycroft: Classic Roshaun

Iago: Kit is hiding his eyes from "sex stuff" and I'm laughing

Iago: "My dog brings home strays." Kit your dog is a fucking gift

Iago: A ducking gift who knows how to work a situation to get dog treats

Iago: And...and then he gave the treat to the Yaldiv that he brought home.

Iago: Ponch is a good dog.

Mycroft: Ponch is a good dog

Iago: "What is it with these Callahan women that they're always after yelling at you and giving you grief?"

"Not always. Just when it's going to get most on your nerves."

Kit just be glad Nita isn't here because she'd sock you

Iago: Oh

Iago: Oh shit

Iago: Just head the story of the dogs' Choice

Iago: And

Iago: everything is fine

Iago: EVERYTHING IS FINE MYCROFT

Mycroft: E V E R Y T H I N G I S F I N E

Iago: "Even when people mean to do good things, bad things happen in the world."

"They're happening already. Pretending they're not won't help."

Memeki the almond spider is speaking to my soul I'm gonna go start a revolution now

Mycroft: Yes please do

Iago: ALMOND SPIDER ATTACK OH GOD

Mycroft: I'm greatly enjoying your dedication to calling the Yaldiv almond spiders

Iago: NITA AND CARMELA TO THE RESCUE FUCK YEAH

Iago: WAIT WAS THE "THING" NITA WAS SUPPOSED TO GO BACK AND GET ACTUALLY /CARMELA/?!

Iago: BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE THE FUCKING GREATEST

Iago: Also

Iago: What does it mean that Memeki was honored by the Great One

Iago: Is she pregnant

Iago: Is she being nommed from the inside

Iago: Oh. Oh shit. What does Memeki mean by "my time"

Iago: CALLED IT ASSFACES

Iago: I mean

Iago: She's not currently getting et

Iago: But

Iago: Eggses

Iago: EGGSES, PRECIOUS

Iago: ACK NO WHY WITH THE MEMORIES OF BETTY I AM NEVER PREPARED FOR THOSE

Iago: Okay apparently the thing Nita was supposed to bring was /not/ in fact Carmela but rather hEART-WRENCHING MEMORIES OF HER MOTHER'S DEATH

Iago: Oh god Carmela is yanking Kit's chain about having found a manual and I'm experiencing emotional whiplash halp

Mycroft: Carmela is dedicated to yanking as many chains as possible, the audience's included

Iago: THEY'RE ALL LOST THEIR WIZARDRY SEND HELP

Iago: ROSHAUN IS ON HIS DIGNITY SEND A DIFFERENT KIND OF HELP

Iago: *inhuman screeching*

Iago: ACK NO YOU ABSOLUTE WANKHOLE GET YOUR DIRTY POWERS OFF CARMELA

Iago: "Oops," said Carmela...and, very slowly, smiled.

Mycroft: OOPS

Mycroft: The holy grail of Carmela badass

Iago: *screams a lot*

Iago: *so much screaming*

Iago: Oh, now This Bitch is rising from the ashes, because obviously

Iago: *snarls a lot*

Iago: *basically continuous snarling*

Iago: RONAN

Iago: R O N A N

Iago: *screams forever*

Iago: *interrupts eternal screaming for a breath* oh yes Sker'ret is in fact purple *continues screaming*

Iago: ROSHAUN WHAT ARE YOU DOING

Iago: ROSHAUN

Mycroft: ROSHAAAAUN

Iago: *still screaming*

Iago: WHAT THE HAP IS FUCKENING

Iago: WHY IS THE TRANSCENDENT PIG HERE

Iago: WHY IS PONCH A SHADOW DOG

Iago: P O N C H

Iago: PONCH IS SUCH A GOOD DOG

Mycroft: PONCH IS THE BEST DOG

Iago: *cries forever*

Iago: *is also still screaming*

Iago: TOM AND CARL ARE BACK

Iago: BUT ON THE OTHER HAND PONCH

Iago: PONCH

Iago: PONCH IS BACK

Iago: HE'S A SHEEPDOG NOW BUT HE'S PONCH

Iago: TOTALLY CRYING RIGHT NOW BECAUSE IT'S ALWAYS THE ANIMALS THAT GET TO ME

Iago: IT'S THE END OF THE BOOK AND THE DOG TECHNICALLY DIDN'T DIE

Mycroft: The dog did the opposite of dying, ultimately

Iago: PLEASE EXCUSE ME WHILE I COLLAPSE ON THIS BED AND SOB WITH JOY

Iago: Okay I'm going to go collapse in an emotionally exhausted heap and probably read all of A Wizard of Mars tomorrow. So. Be ready for that.

Mycroft: CONGRATS you made it to the last stop on the emotional roller coaster that is Wizards at War

Mycroft: You win a free trip to Mars

Mycroft: Where definitely nothing will go wrong

[bubblline]

so i've recently gotten into haikyuu and your art is so amazing and i 100% ship kuroken because of it. like wow, you really capture their subtle feelings really well. i was wondering if you had any fic recs though? you've dragged me into this hell, please take responsibility.

just so you know THIS IS AMAZING AND I AM NOT SORRY ANON 

thank you so much for your kind words Q-Q, I often feel like my art is not enough? like not expressive enough, or just not nice to look at so that means a lot me

okay I’ve read TONS of excellent kuroken in my days and here are some of my favorites. Also be aware that most of these are longer because I love slowburn and you can’t just have that in 3k words but there are some shorter oneshots around too.

The links are under the cut because I have no chill and there are SO MANY

AND PLEASE READ ALL THE TAGS BEFORE DELVING IN

Let’s start with a Classic: How Kuroo found Kenma by @suggestivescribe.It’s a really funny and cute college-get-together-fic in which Kuroo suddenly realizes he’s been in love with Kenma FOREVER and chaos ensues. Oikawa is also Kuroo’s other best friend in this and idk about you but I love me some Oikuroo friendship. This fic is sort of a prequel to another of Scribe’s iwaoi fics, which is also amazing and Kuroo and Kenma do appear from time to time: Conquering the Great King (but be warned that fic has A LOT of smut)

The first multi-chapter story I read with them isSeasons of Love by @nimbus-cloudThis is set after the current events of canon, Kenma is a third year and Kuroo is off to college, they have to figure out how to deal with a long-distance relationship. It’s very well written and a very sweet discovery of what it means to grow up.(There’s a second part too!!)

And from here on out the fics I’m listing aren’t in any particular order

Chamomile and Carnivorous Plants by @ellessey-writes (M) 10k‘There was no great defining moment, no point in time Kenma can look to and say, That’s what did it. That’s when I fell for Kuroo. He just did somehow.And it’s the worst. For so many reasons.’–Kenma needs to admit a few things to himself, and to Kuroo.and the second part Come a little bit closer (E) 13k

this is seriously DELIGHTFUL I love Kenma coming to terms with his feelings and his futile attempts to not be in love

Dream  Catcher by @shions-heart​ (T) 16,9kTetsurou is an Akumu no Seishin, a Nightmare Spirit. His kind absorb the nightmares of humans, allowing them peaceful sleep. Although Tetsurou has existed for centuries, he’s never truly felt alive.Not until he comes across the first human to ever see him.

really really cool world-building, I also imagined this Kuroo a lot like Howl in his raven form. And I think it’s obvious that I love Sy with all the other fics in this rec…….. 

Thieves in the Night by skittidyne (M) 15,7k“Oh.” The man blinks a couple times, surprised, and looks around at the mess again. “…You live like this?” The amount of raw sympathy in his voice is, frankly, insulting. “Why are you in my bedroom in the middle of the night?”“Oh, I was going to rob you,” the man replies easily. He winces at the mess around him once more. “I, uh, kind of thought you were already hit, and I didn’t want to make things worse for you, y’know?”“Get out.”(( or: kenma gets visited by a stupidly considerate thief, who won’t stop visiting him )).

I’ve laughed so much while reading this it’s 1000% RIDICULOUS but at the same time very sweet and funny. Seeing Kuroo as a catburglar has to be one of the funniest images ever.

Being Human: Origins by @shions-heart (M) 41,7kKuroo Tetsurou is a witch’s apprentice living above The Black Cat, a magic supply store where he also works. When his master leaves him for an assignment in China, and his best friends Oikawa Tooru and Iwaizumi Hajime abandon him for a working vacation on the beach, Kuroo commits the taboo and summons a demon to help him in the shop and help drive back the loneliness that lingers in the shadows.

Only the demon he summons isn’t the type of demon he expects, and he finds himself stuck with it with no idea of how to return it to where it belongs.

I love this universe with its urban magic and Kuroo is just the sweetest in this? He just wants some peace to study?? but boy does he get more than he signed up for

An Ode by manzana (G) 1,7kkenma unironically loves kuroo’s laugh – gross and loud and embarrassing and all.

pure sweetness, I love reading Kenma’s POV and see how he just genuinely loves Kuroo

Step by Step by @dgalerab (M) 14,7kEveryone might think that Kenma is the one that is always following Kuroo, but it’s Kuroo that’s been trying to slip his life into Kenma’s since he can remember. He might get a little scared by the idea of going off to college without Kenma. Kenma handles it.

I love the hc that Kuroo just decided to be Kenma’s friend and then stuck with him, they balance each other so well and I think that comes out in this story

The Start of Something New by @shions-heart​ (T) 5kBefore Kuroo leaves for university, he realizes this may be his last chance to confess his feelings to his best friend, Kenma.Despite his resolve, actually getting the words out proves to be … difficult.

This was my birthday gift this year and I love it to bits, it’s very very cute and Kuroo my love is just so dense it’s glorious.

Common side effects by @notallballs (M) 38k (not complete)Kuroo Tetsurou is pushing thirty, recently single, and just moved back in with his mother. Struggling to reconnect with old friends, losing touch with his goals, Kuroo feels like his life is slipping backward, and he doesn’t know how to fix it.

A chance encounter with an old friend might just be the sign he’s been waiting for, if he’s smart enough to make the most of it.

This story is slightly different from what I usually read because it starts off rather dark, Kuroo got dumped, hasn’t seen Kenma in ages and is generally in a bad place mentally but it’s so great to see him slowly pulling through all of that and rekindling his friendship with Kenma. Another bonus is Kuroo’s mom in this story, she’s AMAZING. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

How to Save a Life by @shions-heart (M) 18,4kKuroo Tetsurou’s parents are killed by vampires when he is eight years old. Twelve years later, consumed by rage and hatred for the vampire kind, the hunter still searches for the coven that killed them, vowing justice (or revenge).Kozume Kenma thinks he’d rather die than live as a vampire, but when the newly turned nineteen-year-old’s path crosses Kuroo’s, the hunter spares his life in exchange for his assistance in avenging the hunter’s parents’ death.Tension is a string pulled taut between them, and sooner or later something will snap.

Another thing written for me BUT I LOVE IT SO MUCH OKAY IT HAS VAMPIRES AND ENEMIES TO FRIENDS TO LOVERS. Kuroo is also a lot harsher and meaner than what we usually see of him but that only makes it so much more satifying to read when he finally wakes up.

Teach me the way home by @icespyders (T) 22kDon’t go far off, not even for a day, because —because — I don’t know how to say it: a day is longand I will be waiting for you, as in an empty stationwhen the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep.Kuroo and Kenma grow up in transit.

This fic is ethereal, it definitely succeedes in conveying this sort of restlessness that trains have for me, it’s very episodic and I love that about it because it still manages to tell a coherent story and to be a sort of character study. I really really love it.

Best Friends by @mysecretfanmoments​ (E) 6,3kEvery evening they walk home together, Kuro smelling of salt and suntan lotion, Kenma’s hands sore from scooping ice cream all day, and it feels nice. Peaceful.He’s glad Kuro came, after all.((During the two weeks he spends manning his uncle’s ice cream booth on the coast, Kenma decides that maybe he likes his best friend back, after all))

Reading this fic feels a lot like hanging out outside in summer, just enjoying the warmth and comfort of the familiar. I can’t tell you how often I read this fic, dozen of times probably. It just captures their relationship really well I think, I also love the setting around the beach a lot

national hot dad alliance is now calling… by @dicaeopolis and @owlinaminor (T) 58,2kSawamura Daichi: What the fuck.

(Or, the captains’ squad interactions that definitely happen outside of canon, presented in Skype chat form.)This isn’t focused on krkn but it’s hilarious and it definitely made me cry too, it’s mainly in chat format but there are a couple of ‘novel style’ scenes as well, I would say this is also a bit of a character study, the authors managed to tell each of the captain’s stories with so much humor and wit but also seriousness when it was needed

Those are not all the kuroken fics I’ve read of course and I couldn’t list every single one i like but I have an ao3 where i save my bookmarks and add new ones when I stumble over anything good