#if you can write 18 chapters of a story and the two mains haven’t even so much as held hands or confessed yet while still keeping the story

[tariah23]

have you caught up to opposites attract yet, i think you'd be pleasantly surprised 😊

I HAVE NOT!!!! I think I might just wait until it’s complete (I see that it’s almost done 😭) but UHHFGG it’s been on my mind heavy lmfao. I miss it sm but I haven’t had time to read it (or any long fiction atm tbh!) but I can’t wait to go back……. The goat of GOIJI ff… the ultimate foreplay. King of superficial and a handful of others are ALSO great of course but OPPOSITES ATTRACT… my god… one of my 10 commandments is to read it if you’re a Gojo or Ijichi fan (if you don’t mind long ass ff) since you don’t even have to ship it at first to really enjoy it, it’s just THAT enjoyably well written. You’ll also come to enjoy Goiji or at least get why people like it so much lmfao.

It’s up there with the likes of THEE STRMB (ultimate sns ff…. 😵‍💫) to ME as far as insane quality goes despite them both being completely different stories. That was one of the best ff that I’d ever read in my life and if I’m saying that a story is just as good as THAT then it most definitely is 😁! I don’t even read ff like that but I always know what to look for when it comes to ones that are this good.

Goiji….. I hope the writer writes some after story stuff for them after it’s over 😭!!!

[snowdice]

Big Bang Editing Story [Day 121]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story years ago, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag ‘proofread stories.’ I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53

Chapter 54 (Patton)

“I still can’t believe he’s allowing this,” King Thomas said from next to Patton. The two of them were standing at the edge of the arena outside the horse stable, watching from a safe distance.

“If he hadn’t tried to bite me earlier, I’d think he was a different horse,” Patton agreed.

“He doesn’t even let Logan ride him,” the king said. “At least not ride him and give him directions.”

Patton was very aware of that. Logan did on occasion choose to get up onto Mr. Apples’ saddle. However, Mr. Apples was always the once who got to decide where they went after that. Logan had no say.

With that in mind, Patton, Logan, and every stable hand who’d heard about the prospective riding lessons had tried to convince Virgil to learn to ride on a different horse. Virgil was just as stubborn as Mr. Apples however and had insisted. Logan, being the only one who could be around Mr. Apples without risking being kicked, had become his de facto tutor.

Not even Logan could have expected that within a week, Virgil would be able to control Mr. Apples. Though perhaps ‘control’ was the wrong word. Nothing could control Mr. Apples, but for some reason, Mr. Apples seemed willing to do as Virgil asked.

Even right now Mr. Apples was trotting around the training arena like he was a well-trained trick horse warming up with his rider.

“Logan told him we could go on an actual ride today if the lesson went well,” Patton told the king. The lesson seemed to be just getting over because Logan said something to Virgil and Virgil started to climb off. Mr. Apples was patient and still as he dismounted.

“Do you think he’d mind if I went with you?” King Thomas asked.

Patton shrugged. “Mr. Apples might.”

“Mr. Apples definitely will,” the king replied. “I’ll come anyway.”

Logan had walked over to where Patton and the king were standing while Virgil fed Mr. Apples some apple pieces as a reward.

“I hear you’re going to go riding today,” King Thomas said.

Logan nodded. “Mr. Apples seems to listen to him well enough,” he said.

“I might join you if that’s alright. Where are you kids going?” the king asked.

“I was thinking the main forest path,” Logan replied. “It’s not a particularly difficult route, but it’s also a part of the castle grounds Virgil hasn’t been able to see yet. Loraine told me it has been recently cleared after the winter.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” the king said. “Are you going now?”

“Once Patton and I saddle up our horses,” Logan said. “You can come.”

“Great,” the king said with a smile. “I’ll ask for Bella’s saddle to be brought out. I haven’t gone on a ride yet this week.”

He turned then to walk towards the stables leaving Patton and Logan alone.

“Do you think he’s been acting weird?” Logan asked, turning towards Patton.

Patton frowned. “No,” he said. “Not really.”

“I’m just wondering why he wants to go horseback riding with us.”

“He likes spending time with you?” Patton guessed.

“Yes,” Logan said, “but typically in a setting that doesn’t involve Mr. Apples.”

Well, that was fair.

“I mean, it’s not too weird,” Patton said, thinking back through the last couple of days. King Thomas had been a bit… clingy.

“He’s been hanging around a lot,” Logan said, echoing Patton’s thoughts with narrowed eyes. He glanced back at Virgil. “You don’t think Virgil let something slip, do you?”

“He didn’t say anything,” Patton said. “I think your dad would say something if Virgil let slip he was an assassin somehow.”

“Unless he let slip something that didn’t quite implicate himself but invited suspicion.”

“Your dad doesn’t seem suspicious,” Patton said. At least, Patton didn’t think he did. He hadn’t been acting mean in any way. In fact, he might have even been acting nicer.

Logan frowned. “We should keep an eye on him, especially around Virgil.”

Patton bit his lip.

“What?” Logan asked.

“Are we ever going to tell your dad about Virgil?” he asked.

Logan hesitated. “I don’t…” he trailed. “I’m not sure.”

“It just feels weird lying for so long,” Patton said. Patton didn’t lie a lot. Sure, maybe he’d pretend to not know what Mama was talking about when sweets went missing from the kitchens or he’d pretend to not know what Logan’s birthday gift was, but he’d never lied about anything serious before now.

“I know, but,” Logan glanced back at Virgil once again, “even if we did decide to tell, we’d have to convince Virgil everything would be alright beforehand. I don’t think we’re at that point yet. He was terrified of Father until a few months ago, and he’s still cautious around him sometimes.”

Logan was right, of course. Virgil was getting more and more comfortable around the king, but he figured any of the progress made would go down the drain as soon as they brought up telling King Thomas about where exactly Virgil had come from. Patton didn’t know if Virgil would ever be comfortable enough.

“We should go get our own horses,” Logan suggested, and Patton nodded.

Patton and Logan’s horses had already been saddled by the stable hands in anticipation of their ride and it didn’t take long for the king to saddle his own horse, Bella.

The forest path at this time of year was very pretty, Patton thought. The tree branches now had small green leaves on them after having been barren for the entire winter and flowers were starting to grow. In a few weeks’ time it would be even prettier, but it would also be harder for the groundskeeper to maintain as well as it was right now.

Virgil really did seem less anxious around King Thomas now. The path was only wide enough for two horses to go at once, and he didn’t seem to mind that he and the king ended up next to each other while Patton and Logan lagged behind. In fact, he and the king seemed to be having a nice conversation about the local wildlife.

However, if Patton looked close enough, he did sort of see what Logan meant. Virgil may not be anxious talking to the king now, but the king himself seemed just a little bit nervous at least at the beginning of the ride.

He seemed to relax a bit as they rode (even laughing when Mr. Apples tried to bite him when he got too close).

Logan had been teaching Virgil the basics about things like animals, but there was still a pretty big gap in his education when it came to anything that wasn’t about training to fight and kill. King Thomas seemed more than willing to answer any of his questions when it came to the animals and plants around them even if they were sometimes a bit silly.

He’d seen a bird that looked like a dove. (It may have even been a dove, but Patton hadn’t seen it.) This had been a source of endless confusion for him.

“But shouldn’t it live in the dovecote?” Virgil asked.

“Not all birds live in a dovecote,” the king explained again.

“But it’s a dove,” Virgil said with a frown.

“Not all doves live in a dovecote,” the king replied.

“But it’s a dovecote,” Virgil argued. “It’s for the doves.”

“Yes, but there are also wild doves,” the king said.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Virgil replied.

“What about it doesn’t make sense?” the king asked with a laugh in his tone.

“Doves go in the dovecote,” Virgil said.

Patton was starting to have trouble following this argument.

“Dovecotes are made for doves,” the king said, “but not all doves go in dovecotes.”

“Why?”

This seemed to stump the king momentarily, but he still answered after thinking for a bit. “Doves existed before people got to them,” the king explained. “People caught and trained some of them, but there was no way to catch all of them. So, some stayed in the wild and continued with their lives like they had been before humans. Plus, sometimes domesticated doves fly off and never come back. Sometimes they might die, but other times they may have just gotten lost and had to build a new life somewhere far away. Or maybe they even decided that being a trained dove working for humans wasn’t for them, so they decided to go off on their own.”

“You let them do that?” Virgil asked.

“We can’t really stop them in the end,” the king said. “People can try, but it never ends up working as long as they can fly.”

Virgil thought about this. “I still don’t understand,” he said, “but okay.”

“We should take you to the cliffs,” the king suggested.

“What are the cliffs?”

“The castle grounds were built for defense,” King Thomas explained. “The edge of the grounds to the North is a large river and overlooking it is a huge cliff. It’s a good place for picnics and for birdwatching. It’s a bit of a trip, but now would be a good time of year to go.”

He glanced over his shoulder back at Logan and Patton. “What do you boys think about going to the cliffs sometime? Maybe in about a week?”

Logan squinted at his father suspiciously. It wasn’t so much the fact that the king was asking them to go to the cliffs. They did that every so often. However, this time, it only supported Logan’s claims that the king was hanging out with them a lot recently.

“Sure,” Logan said, after a moment.

“Sounds fun!” Patton said cheerily right after, trying to cover for the lack of enthusiasm in Logan’s voice with his own. Judging by King Thomas’s expression and Logan’s tight-lipped scowl, he may have overcompensated.

“Great,” the king said. “I’ll” make sure to make arrangements when we get back to the castle.”

Chapter 55 (Logan)

            Virgil was beginning to be able to read some of the common instructions in magic books, but Logan still made sure to read out the instructions to him at least twice before setting him loose. He’d started to jot down notes to himself about things, though these notes were not words, but various symbols that only made sense to the boy himself.

            Logan had asked about their meaning at one point and received an answer that, while earnest, was unintelligible. The symbols were mostly just pictures of things to represent certain steps in spell casting, but they were filtered through Virgil’s rudimentary penmanship and often bizarre perception of the world.

Though, despite the fact that Logan could not often decipher his chicken scratch, it did seem to help him produce impressively quality charms even as Logan began to introduce more complicated processes to make them. He was a very good student even if he didn’t have the best foundation for learning.

“I add lavender for the next step, right?” Virgil asked, his finger on a word in Logan’s magic book.

“That is correct,” Logan confirmed.

Virgil looked back at the book and mouthed the word ‘lavender’ to himself before turning back to his potion. He grabbed a few sprigs of lavender and threw them into the cauldron.

The liquid popped and bubbled violently, but Virgil didn’t flinch as he once would have, prepared for it now.

After the lavender, Logan knew that it would have to simmer for 5 minutes. Virgil looked down at the boiling liquid, contemplating it for a long moment.

“Can I soak a knife in it?” he asked.

“What?” Logan asked.

“Can I soak a knife in the potion once it’s done?”

“In that potion?” Logan clarified. “In the emergency hand warmer potion?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I think a hot knife would be useful,” Virgil said.

“For what?”

Virgil shrugged. “Cooking food on the road,” he said, “burning wood, stabbing someone and immediately cauterizing the wound.”

“That is… not a standard use for this potion,” Logan said.

Virgil titled his head at him. “Would it work though?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Logan contemplated. “Perhaps. The potion can cause burns if one uses too much of it or if it is used without an appropriate layer between it and the skin. If one were to pick a knife with enough surface area and let it soak long enough, it could in theory get hot enough to do as desired. Hmm…” he thought about it. “There would perhaps be the problem of the potion not sticking to the knife very long as it is intended to soak into fabric. However, cardamom could solve that issue as long as it doesn’t interact with any other ingredients. Let me see that spell.”

Virgil stepped out of his way so he could study the page. “Yes,” Logan said after scanning through all of the ingredients. “I think cardamom would work for something like that. Let me go find some.”

He turned to walk towards where he kept his supplies of potion ingredients. Virgil followed on his heals.

“Can we use a serrated knife?”

“Oh, that’s a good idea, Virgil,” Logan said, nodding as he searched through the cupboard that should hold the coriander. “The knife being serrated would help keep the potion stuck to the blade after many uses and would increase the surface area.”

“That was certainly my intentions,” Virgil said smoothly. There was something odd about the tone that had Logan turning to him and blinking at him. Virgil just smiled at him innocently and Logan turned back to the cabinet finally locating the coriander.

“So how are we going to use that?” Virgil asked.

“We’ll put it in right before the last step and let it sit for about 3 minutes,” Logan said. “If it doesn’t quite work, we may need to make another batch. There are options other than cardamom, but that’s the first idea that comes to mind and it a lot simpler if it works.”

He continued to speak of the many other options they could try as they returned to the caldron as well as how they could test the hot knife. It was already about time for the next step and Virgil did it without interrupting Logan’s rant.

Virgil listened to his suggestions with interest all while still making sure the potion he was making was progressing well.

Logan did eventually take over to finish the potion with the revised steps he’d come up with and they ended up with a potion that looked perfect except it was a few shades darker than the one they’d originally been planning to make.

“Well, it looks good,” Logan declared. “We will need to acquire a knife to test its effectiveness, however.”

“There are a few good ones in the kitchen,” Virgil pointed out. “I especially like the one 10 inch one with the black and white handle.”

“You have been eyeing up the kitchen knives?” Logan asked.

Virgil rolled his eyes as though that was not a perfectly reasonable question to ask him. “We should steal that one,” Virgil said.

“Do you think we’ll be able to sneak past Ms. Heart to steal a knife from her kitchen?” Logan asked.

“We can’t,” Virgil said.

Logan almost didn’t believe him… and then he remembered the water pouch incident. “It’s the dinner rush,” Logan said. “We should probably wait for a bit.”

Virgil was shaking his head. “The dinner rush is the best time,” he said. “Everyone will be distracted, and all of the knives will be out and in prime stealing position.”

“And if Patton’s mother catches us messing around in her kitchen during her busiest time of day, she will have Father ground us for a week.”

“Then we just won’t get caught,” Virgil said.

“I’m not sure if it’s that simple,” Logan said with a frown.

“You can stay here if you want,” Virgil offered. “I’ll just go by myself.”

“No, I’ll come too,” Logan relented, though he did still have some reservations about the idea.

He let Virgil lead him towards the main dining hall. By now, Virgil knew the kitchens and dining hall very well.

“Stay here,” he said. They were in a hallway a few feet down from the staff entrance to the kitchen. “I’m going to do some reconnaissance.”

“What type of reconnaissance?” Logan asked, but Virgil had already disappeared before his very eyes. With a blink, Logan looked up and saw a dark figure disappear onto a balcony overhead.

Well, Logan really had no choice but to wait there for him. It wasn’t like he could follow him. He could hear the clatter of silverware on plates from the dining hall down the corridor as he impatiently waited. It only took Virgil a bit over five minutes to return. He dropped suddenly from above and landed in front of Logan in a crouch.

“Well?” Logan asked, letting a bit of irritation into his tone so Virgil knew he was displeased. Virgil did not seem to care.

“Got it,” Virgil said with a wide grin, brandishing a large kitchen knife.

Logan flinched back at the unexpected sight of a weapon.

“You said you were doing reconnaissance!” he sputtered. “Not…” he trailed off remembering that while they weren’t in eyesight of anyone right now, they could be in earshot of someone. He lowered his tone, “stealing the knife already.”

“I was doing reconnaissance,” Virgil said with a shrug, “and then I used the information gathered by that reconnaissance to steal a knife.”

Logan narrowed his eyes at him.

Virgil just smiled. “You would have gotten in my way.”

“I would not have,” Logan insisted.

“How many times has Patton’s mom caught you stealing food from the kitchens in the past?” he asked.

Logan pursed his lips. “That is Patton’s doing,” he said.

“Sure,” Virgil said with an eyeroll. “I’ll have you prove it some other day, but for now,” he twirled the knife around in a way that made Logan cringe even though he did seem to have an expert handle over it. “We have a knife.”

“Right,” Logan agreed with a nod. “We should continue the experiment.”

Virgil stored the knife away… somewhere on his person, and they snuck back to Logan’s rooms.

When Virgil handed over the knife, Logan did have to admit it was a perfect specimen for their project: long and saw-like with a heatproof handle.

Logan carefully set it in a shallow dish and proceeded to pour the potion they’d made onto it. They let it sit for a little under half an hour before carefully pulling it out of the concoction with tongs and letting it airdry. Meanwhile, Virgil suggested they set up a testing area with various old sheets and clothing. They’d even found and decorated an armor stand with an old suit that Logan particularly disliked.

“Well,” Logan said once he’d tapped the handle and had not gotten burned by the potion. “I think we can test it now.” For safety, he made Virgil put on thick heatproof gloves before handing him the knife.

“So how do I make it work?” Virgil asked.

“The original potion works through light friction,” Logan said.

“So just start stabbing things?”

Logan went to respond, but before he could, Virgil had already twisted around and sliced through one of the sheets hanging in Logan’s potion room. There was a sizzling noise as the knife cut through the sheet like it was tissue paper leaving two aflame halves flapping about.

Logan leapt forward to tear the pieces of sheet down and the two of them stomped on the flames to put out the fire.

“It’s perfect,” Virgil said with a grin once the charred remains of the sheet were extinguished.

“It does seem to work as intended,” Logan agreed.

“Let’s do it again,” Virgil said.

“Er, well, perhaps we shouldn’t…,” Logan started, but Virgil had already set his eyes on the armor stand they’d set up. That suddenly seemed like not such a good idea to Logan.

He stabbed the armor stand viciously. It went up in flames instantly. Logan’s eyes widened as the blaze only seemed to get bigger as Virgil drew back the knife.

Virgil did not seem to share Logan’s worry as he turned and stabbed another piece of hanging clothing, setting it ablaze as well.

“Virgil, no! You’re going to burn the room down!” Logan yelped.

The armor stand at that very moment decided to fall to the ground. They had, perhaps, not set the testing area up as well as they should have because it fell directly onto one of Logan’s rugs and set that on fire as well.

“Oops,” Virgil said, eyes wide.

Above the sound of crackling fire, Logan heard a tapping on the door between his bedroom and work room. It opened slightly after a moment and Logan’s father’s voice called out as he was sticking his head into the room, “Um, what do you mean Virgil… is burning the room down!”

The moment Logan’s father fully processed the presence of the flames, he was bursting into the room. He at least remembered that there was a fire extinguishing powder stocked in Logan’s work room even though that fact had slipped Logan’s mind in the chaos. (Perhaps Logan should have thought to set it out when they were testing a fire knife, but Logan would just add that to his growing list of regrets.)

The king managed to put all of the fires out within 30 seconds of poking his head through the door, but the fire left in his eyes when he turned to them afterwards was perhaps more dangerous.

Virgil slowly hid the knife behind his back. It was probably a bit late for that.

“What were the two of you doing in here?” the king asked.

“Nothing,” Logan said. Virgil shot him a look that told Logan what the boy thought about his lying abilities.

Logan’s father put his hands on his hips. “‘Nothing’ set the rug on fire?”

“We may have been doing a small experiment,” Logan said.

“What experiment?” the king asked.

“…I do not wish to say.”

“Logan.”

“Virgil wanted a fire knife.”

“A what?”

Virgil frowned over at Logan. “Your resistance to interrogation techniques is deplorable.”

Father turned to look at Virgil and obviously spotted the fact that Virgil was holding something behind his back.

“Give it here,” Father said, though his tone was a bit gentler with Virgil than it had been with Logan.

Virgil debated it for a moment, but then offered over the knife with a pout on his face. Father gingerly took it and the fire-resistant gloves from him. “Where did the two of you even get this knife?”

“You can’t tell her,” Logan said.

“You stole a knife from the kitchens?!” the king asked.

“We borrowed it,” Logan said.

“Can it be used for cooking anymore?”

“…Well.”

“In the intended manner.”

“No.”

“Then you stole it.”

Logan just frowned and looked away.

“I’m going to go put this in a secure location,” Father said, grimacing at the fire knife in his hands. “No more experiments for you two for a month. I’ll sic Patton on you.”

With that, he picked up what was left of the fire extinguishing powder (just in case) and turned to exit the room.

“Well,” Logan said once he was gone. “That was irresponsible.”

“I could steal it back from him.”

“N-no don’t do that.”

“I definitely could though,” Virgil said.

“I did not hear you say that,” Logan said, putting his hands over his ears. “I am not responsible for any more of your actions in this matter. I am going to the library.”

He walked out of the room then and Virgil followed him to the upstairs library. He said nothing more about the fire knife, but Logan would be a fool to suppose he forgot about it.

Chapter 56 (Thomas)

“Good day for a picnic,” Helen commented as she handed over the basket Thomas had requested from her a few days before. He was taking Logan, Patton, and Virgil to the cliffs today and it was perfect weather for it. Spring was truly here, which meant that those of Thomas’s duties that had laid dormant over the harsh winter were about to start up again.

The world had been on pause for a bit considering no armies or agents from any kingdom could get through the snow the last few months, but the concerns of last fall were showing their heads once again.

Thomas had just gotten word a day ago that the queen of Lamir had routed out a second assassin hiding in her ranks over the winter. The assassin had been sent shortly after it was made clear that the queen wouldn’t bow down after the assassination of her mother. Luckily, the assassin sent for Queen Cecil had not managed to complete her mission during the winter months.

While there had been no similar attempt on Prijaznia soil, Thomas couldn’t help but feel it was only a matter of time now that the snow had melted. They were already working on increasing security in the coming weeks and, though it was doubtful an assassin had managed to hide in the castle all winter without revealing themselves, they’d be closely scrutinizing all of the newer staff members.

It would be a stressful time in the coming months, which is why, despite everything Thomas needed to do, he was still going to take his son and his son’s friends on a picnic today. Logan had already started taking on royal duties as of late, but he still hadn’t taken them all on quite yet. Considering this was last summer before Logan was of age, they should at least try to take advantage of it where they could. Patton was a year younger, but the sentiment held for him as well.

Then there was Virgil. Despite their best efforts, they still didn’t know enough about Virgil, but Thomas was fairly sure he’d never had a summer to enjoy until now.

“Thanks for prepping lunch for us,” Thomas said to Helen with a smile.

“No problem,” she said waving them off. “I put in some of Virgil’s favorites.”

“Great,” Thomas said. “Do you know where the kids are?”

“Patton said they were going to go pet the cats, so I’d guess they’re in the gardens.”

Thomas thanked her again and told her to have a good day before exiting the kitchen. There was a nearby door that led straight towards the part of the gardens Patton and Logan had always favored. He figured they’d either still be around there or they would have wandered towards the stables by now knowing that they’d be taking horses to the cliffs.

So, he decided to simply walk the normal path from the door to the stable, hoping to find them.

His prediction ended up being hilariously correct. They were indeed on the path Thomas had chosen. It was clear they (or at least Logan) were attempting to make it to the stable. However, as was typical, a portion of the party had been waylaid by whimsy.

Logan was standing further down the path, arms crossed and frowning as he watched his friends. Patton and Virgil were surrounded by cats. Patton was sitting down, holding two of them in his lap and watching Virgil’s legs being swarmed by the rest of them, maybe two dozen in total.

Virgil looked confused, but not unhappy about the presence of so many cats. He was leaning down to try to pet them all.

Logan met Thomas’s eyes as he approached and waved a frustrated hand at the two of them. Logan couldn’t help but smile.

“Virgil fed one of them,” Logan complained as though he wanted Thomas to somehow go into the past and prevent this crime.

Patton and Virgil looked over at Thomas, noticing him when Logan addressed him.

“You’re going to make Princess Marisol jealous,” Thomas said. Logan frowned at Thomas as he used the ‘Princess’ label for the cat.

“Princess Marisol decided not to come,” Virgil said with a shrug. He continued to pet one of the cats.

“She’s probably sleeping on my pillow,” Logan said, sounding grumpy.

Thomas just chuckled. Princess Marisol was technically Logan’s cat, at least that’s what the kids said, and she did spend much of her time in the royal rooms. However, she was very clearly actually Virgil’s cat. Virgil just spent a lot of time in the royal wing as well.

In fact, Thomas still didn’t know where Virgil was supposed to be sleeping. He and Mr. Deknis had actually tried to tail him a couple of times, but he always ended up sleeping in Logan’s room those nights.

Knowing Virgil, he might just sleep in the walls. Though that still did not answer the question of where his parents or guardians were. They still had not figured it out. Thomas would assume he was an orphan who’d snuck onto castle grounds for safety, but Virgil had told Mr. Deknis during their first meeting that he was supposed to be in the castle, and it had not been a lie.

Then again, it had slowly become apparent that Virgil was good at dodging the multrum’s powers. It was starting to seem more likely that he’d somehow inserted a second meaning into his answer to Mr. Deknis that night than he somehow had some ghost guardian no one was able to locate working in the castle.

“She deserves the pillow more than you,” Virgil said, bringing Thomas’s thoughts back to the situation at hand. The look of audacity on Logan’s face made Thomas chuckle.

Thomas cut in before it could become a fight. “I could get Princess Marisol a pillow, so she doesn’t sleep on yours. Or we can get you a new pillow if you’d prefer, Logan.”

“It’s not about the pillow for her,” Logan argued. “It’s about her inflated sense of superiority.”

“She deserves it,” Virgil declared. Thomas could tell he was just trying to rile Logan up, and Thomas was sure Logan knew it too, but still his son reacted exactly in the way Virgil wanted him to.

“You have enabled and encouraged this behavior from the start!” Logan seethed.

“She’s a Princess.”

“She is not a princess!”

Patton shook his head while squeezing the cats in his arms, completely used to this behavior at this point. He ran a chin idly over one of the cat’s heads while watching the argument.

“We’re never going to make it to the picnic at this rate,” Thomas said to him, “and after your mother made all of this wonderful food.”

“You’re the dad,” Patton said. “Make them stop.”

And, of course, Patton did just mean that he was Logan’s dad with that statement. However, when he glanced back up at the silly argument still going on between his son and the cat covered boy on the ground, it did almost look like a fight between siblings.

Especially with the dark hair and stubborn but mischievous look in Virgil’s eyes, Thomas could almost imagine the boy being his own child.

He shook away the thoughts and glanced at the picnic basket in his hand.

“We do have a lot of food in this basket,” Thomas said, pitching his voice up so that Logan (and more importantly) Virgil would hear them clearly.

Virgil immediately turned to look at him, abandoning all interest in antagonizing Logan to look at the basket curiously.

Thomas was never sure if he should be amused or worried about how food motivated Virgil often was.

“What’s in the basket?” Virgil asked.

“I’m not sure,” Thomas said. “Patton’s mom made it. We’ll just have to see once we get to the picnic area.”

Virgil nodded in understanding and began to gently scoot all of the cats out of his lap. Logan rolled his eyes, but didn’t seem inclined to continue the argument he’d been dragged into. Virgil and Patton got to their feet and they continued on their way towards the stables.

The horses Thomas had requested be prepared for their trip were already in saddles, though the stable hand who had been handling Mr. Apples seemed a bit dirtier and more exhausted than the rest.

The stable hand seemed as happy to hand Mr. Apples over to Virgil as Virgil was to have Mr. Apples handed over to him. Thomas received Bella with a smile and Logan and Patton got their own horses as well.

The Cliffs were about half an hour's ride from the main castle. There was a mostly well-maintained path to it, though it was easy to get lost if one didn’t know the way. Mr. Apples knew the way perhaps better than Thomas himself and seemed annoyed by the fact that Thomas was trying to lead the way.

Virgil and Thomas ended up side-by-side whenever the path allowed it to placate him.

He still marveled at how willing Mr. Apples was to let Virgil ride him, especially when he tossed his head in Thomas’s direction, a horse’s equivalent of giving Thomas a stink-eye.

“Are you excited for the picnic?” Thomas asked the boy beside him.

Virgil glanced over at him and nodded.

“I am too,” Thomas said. “It’s always beautiful this time of year. I’m glad I could find the time to take you all there this year.”

“Are you very busy?” Virgil asked curiously.

“I am king,” Thomas reminded, “and now that the world isn’t snowed in anymore things will be busy.”

“With the war?” Virgil asked.

Thomas paused for a few seconds. “Yes,” he confirmed. “With the war, but you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Virgil asked.

“You’re just a kid,” Thomas said.

“I’m 14,” Virgil said.

Thomas glanced at him. “Exactly,” he said, “a kid, and luckily, you’re in a place that can afford you the luxury of being one.”

“What do you mean?”

“The war has been mainly fought on Mocnejsi soil in recent years. Our boarders have held strong against invasions. Unless something goes horribly wrong suddenly, it would take a long time for the main conflict to get here. The only real threat in the castle would be assassins sent after me personally.”

“Right,” Virgil said. There was an awkward pause in conversation before he spoke again. “You’re winning the war then?” he asked.

“Something could always happen,” Thomas said, “but for the most part, yes, we have quite the advantage right now.”

“Oh,” Virgil said.

Thomas shook his head as they were coming up to a narrowing of the path. “Anyway, today is a day to not think about war. Today we’re going to have a lovely picnic and do some bird watching.”

“Right,” Virgil agreed from behind Thomas as Bella took the lead (to Mr. Apples discontent.)

When the path widened again, Thomas did his best to direct the topic to lighter subjects and soon they made it to The Cliffs.

Chapter 57 (Virgil)

Virgil had never been to a picnic. At least, that’s what Patton had informed him when Virgil had described his past experiences of eating outdoors. Logan had agreed even though he’d admitted that the definition of “picnic” was only eating a pre-packaged meal outdoors which Virgil had done plenty of times.

From what Virgil could tell, the main difference was just how much stuff one brought to a picnic.

In addition to the basket full of food (that Virgil still hadn’t gotten to look in yet), the king had brought a large soft quilt that he had Logan and Virgil spread out on the ground for them all to sit on.

Patton and Logan had also packed some things themselves to bring along. Logan had brought along a book to read, and Patton had brought along a board game (thankfully not checkers but something Virgil did not recognize). Virgil hadn’t brought anything (except for the fire knife he was definitely not supposed to have and was definitely not letting the king see) because he hadn’t known he was supposed to bring things. He wouldn’t have known what to bring anyway.

The blanket was soft and a much better alternative to sitting on the ground, especially because, while there was grass at the top of The Cliffs, there were also a good number of rocks.

The king set the picnic basket in the middle of the blanket once it was spread out and then lowered himself down to sit on one side. Patton quickly followed him, already fiddling with some of his board game pieces, though he wasn’t setting it up yet. Virgil highly doubted that Logan was going to be allowed to read his book unless Patton eventually got bored of the game.

However, they would, hopefully, be allowed to make use of the basket the king had brought along.

Virgil followed the king and Patton’s lead and got to his knees on the blanket across the picnic basket from the king. He peered at the basket curiously.

He didn’t quite know what picnic food was, but Patton had told them they’d be getting ‘picnic food’ and he was very curious about what that meant.

King Thomas smiled at him. “Let’s see what Patton’s mom packed us, huh?” He reached for the basket and flipped it open as Logan sat next to Virgil. “There is a lot more food than usual in here,” the king said, sounding amused. “Let’s see.”

He began to pull out packaged food and glanced in each package to identify it before setting it out.

“We have a few types of mini sandwiches,” he said, putting them down, “and some pasta salad.” He set down the bowl.

“We also have… er something else.” He showed it to Logan.

“They’re hot cauliflower bites,” Logan said instantly upon seeing them. Virgil perked up in excitement. That was one of his favorite foods.

“Ah,” King Thomas said, but shrugged and set it down. “We also have two desserts apparently: cookies and mini apple pies. That last one’s a bit extra for a picnic.”

“They’re very good,” Virgil said happily.

“And we also have.” King Thomas paused, looking confused. “Chicken alfredo?”

“Yes!” Virgil said.

“Why do we have chicken alfredo for a picnic?”

“It’s a Virgil picnic,” Logan groaned. “She packed us a Virgil picnic.”

“Hey, at least momma sent us something too,” Patton said.

“I think I’ll stick to sandwiches for today,” King Thomas said. He looked at Patton and Logan. “Do either of you want…?”

“No,” Logan said. Patton shook his head.

The king nodded and offered the entire covered bowl of chicken alfredo to Virgil. “Here, this one’s yours,” he said.

“Really?” Virgil asked tentatively. It wasn’t exactly strange for people here to offer him food, and he’d expected and anticipated getting to eat on this venture, but the king of the country offering him an entire bowl of his favorite food was something else.

“It’s not really my idea of a picnic food and you seem excited for it,” King Thomas said with a warm smile, still holding it out.

Virgil took it reverently. Despite the time it had taken to get to the cliffs, the bottom of the container was still warm. Virgil assumed it was one of the heating spells the kitchen sometimes used.

“Thanks,” Virgil said, setting it in his lap.

“Of course, Virgil,” the king said.

The bowl was enough for four people to have a little bit, but for one person it was a lot. Still, Virgil was offered a little of every other food in the picnic basket (and he ate a good number of the hot cauliflower bites).

“Where do you put all of that?” the king asked when Virgil finished polishing off the chicken alfredo bowl.

[theewokingdead]

Morning Sickness - Din Djarin x f!Reader (Another Way Universe)

Pairing: Din Djarin/The Mandalorian x f!Reader (Another Way Universe) Summary: Din learns some things about pregnancy while helping you through a bout of morning sickness. Word Count: 800+ Rating: No rating, blog is 18+. Content: Nausea/vomiting. Pregnancy. Tooth-rotting fluff. The usual teasing/banter. A/N: I found some stuff that I had written but didn't make the final cut when writing the main story. This takes place in the middle of Chapter 8 of "Another Way" but it can be read on its own. I miss writing for these two. I'll get to the epilogue eventually, I swear, so don't yell at me @pedropascalsx

Masterlist

Eyes fluttering open, you wake to find Din gone. Intent on finding him, you swing your legs over the edge of the bed. The second you sit up, your head starts to spin. Your stomach turns over, and it feels as though the contents of your last meal are now fighting their way back up through your throat. Taking steady breaths, you pray it will subside soon.

Mouth filling with saliva, and the taste of bile rising from the back of your throat, you know it's past the point of no return.

You stumble out of bed, barely able to keep your balance as you make your way to the bathroom. Your stomach convulses and you heave, emptying the contents of your stomach into the toilet. The retching is violent, and you feel like you're going to cough up your insides. Finally, the spasms subside, and you slump against the cool porcelain of the bowl, panting heavily.

You hear a rustling behind you, and you turn your head to see Din standing in the doorway, concern etched on his face.

"Are you okay?" he asks, crossing the room to kneel beside you.

You shake your head, unable to speak, and he rubs soothing circles on your back as you try to catch your breath. After a moment, you manage to sit up, and he hands you a damp washcloth to wipe your mouth.

"I'm sorry," you mutter, feeling embarrassed and weak.

Din shakes his head. "If anyone should be sorry it's me. I did this to you."

“Pretty sure we played an equal part in it.” You offer him a weak smile, which he returns. “I just hope this doesn’t last much longer.”

“Me too. Not sure I can stand to see you sick for another year or so.”

“Another year or so?” you repeat, your eyebrows screwed in confusion as you look at him. “What do you mean? We only have seven more months before the baby comes - if that.”

“What?” Din immediately question, his voice filled with shock and confusion.

“What do you mean ‘what?’ Pregnancy only lasts 40 weeks.”

“What?” he repeats.

You can’t help but laugh. “Haven’t you been around pregnant women, Din?”

“Yes, but I’ve never had a reason to care about the length of their, uh…”

“Gestation?” you question.

“Yeah. I just assumed it’s a long time, like banthas.”

“Wait a minute. You’re telling me you know the gestational period of a bantha, but not a human being?” you question, laughing. “Maker, Din. You never cease to surprise me. I mean, fuck, do I like a seven-foot-tall hairy beast that will someday drop a hundred-pound newborn?”

Din chuckles, his expression softening as he wraps an arm around your shoulders. "No, you're much more beautiful than a bantha," he says, pressing a kiss to your temple.

You lean into him, grateful for his love and support. “Good answer.”

“You think the little tadpole will let you get up?”

“Little tadpole?” you question.

“Better than bantha. Or ‘parasite’ as you so lovingly refer to our child.”

 With a smirk, you reply, “Ah, is it because Gungans are born as tadpoles?”

Din sighs. “I set myself up for that, didn’t I?”

“You did.” You stand up, using the sink for support. “I just hope that doesn’t mean I have to give birth in a bog.”

Din chuckles, standing alongside you. “I'll make sure to find the most comfortable place for you to give birth, even if it means taking down an entire empire to do it."

You roll your eyes but can't help the fond smile that tugs at your lips. "You know, for a guy who claims he's not romantic, you sure do know how to make a girl feel special."

He stands up, towering over you, and leans in to press a gentle kiss to your forehead. "You are special, and I'll do anything to make sure you and our tadpole are safe and happy."

You wrap your arms around his neck and pull him into a deeper kiss, feeling a warmth spread through your body. In this moment, you forget the nausea and the discomfort, and all you can think about is how lucky you are to have this man by your side.

As he pulls away, he brushes a strand of hair behind your ear and gives you a mischievous grin. “And who knows, maybe giving birth in a bog will be a new experience for us. We can add it to our list of adventures.”

You laugh and shake your head. "I think I'll pass on that one, thank you very much."

Din pulls you in for another kiss, his hands sliding down to rest on your waist. You feel a familiar heat building between your legs, and you can tell he's feeling it too. “Maybe we should continue this in the bedroom," he suggests, his voice low and husky.

You nod, a flush spreading across your cheeks. “Lead the way, Mando.”

As he takes your hand and leads you back to bed, you can't help but feel grateful for this man, for this life you've created together, for the little tadpole growing inside of you. You know there will be more challenges ahead, more moments of discomfort and fear, but as long as you have Din by your side, you know you can do anything.

[waynes-multiverse]

Plastic Hearts – Part 1

Pairing: Director!Dean Winchester x Actress!Reader

Series Summary: Los Angeles, 1985. Y/N’s a young actress without any success, hopping from one failed audition to the next until one desperate mistake brings her to her breaking point. Dean Winchester, on the other hand, is a grade A asshole and washed-up director at the end of his career, known for his godawful slasher movies in the 70s and his love for blow, booze, and women. Lost in the toxic Hollywood life, their paths cross when one hopeless little wrestling show changes their trajectory.

Chapter Warnings: +18, GLOW AU, self-worth issues, implied smut (reader x unknown dude 🤷‍♀️), cheating, Sam and Dean are not related in this story (--> check the series masterlist for overall warnings!)

Word Count: 2.8k

A/N: Truthfully, I wasn’t gonna share it because it was just a fun, silly project to get over some writer’s block (which I did!). Netflix never gave me an ending to this amazing show, so I wanted to write my own, y’know? But hey, it’s already written, so why not share it with the class, right? As my awesome cheerleader on this project @panicking-outside-the-disco said, the dilaogue screams Dean AU 🖤 (Thank you so much for your encouragement, bestie!) Fellow fans of the show, you’ll be happy to know I kept all the good stuff in there, from Steel Horse to pink, frosted donuts. Everyone else will make sense of those words soon enough. So, hopefully, you’ll enjoy this nostalgic love tribute, and let’s give ourselves a decent ending, shall we? 🤩

Series Masterlist || Main Masterlist

1. Holding Out For A Hero

Another failed audition.

Moving from Nebraska to Los Angeles at the sweet age of eighteen, Y/N has played the Hollywood game for quite some time. Now, at the ripe age of twenty-seven by La-La Land standards, she only has little to show for herself, though. She’s had a few background roles and starred in a handful of low-budget plays, but her big breakthrough, the role that changes everything, still remains a hopeless and seemingly unreachable daydream.

Worst of all, she is sick and tired of the simple and reduced roles Hollywood forces upon its actresses. She wants more than the shitty role of the secretary who tells a powerful man his wife is on the phone. Y/N wants a real part instead of playing second fiddle to yet another pompous dick.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

After her latest failure, she even became so desperate she hid in a bathroom stall for three hours before ambushing her casting director Josie while the poor woman was fucking peeing. But instead of the customary, unexplained rejection, Y/N wanted to hear reasons this time. She wanted to find out why she always gets pushed over for someone else, wanted to know if she could do something better, for crying out loud.

Usually, it’s the agent’s job to tell an actor all the reasons why they were wrong for the role, but she doesn’t even have an agent anymore because, as it bitterly turns out, everyone stops fucking caring about you if you haven’t worked in over two years. For once, though, she wanted some goddamn feedback.

The casting director’s response?

“Look Y/N, every director I work with says, ‘Get me someone I don’t know. Someone I haven’t seen. I want a girl who’s real.’ That’s when I bring you in, so they can see that they don’t actually want the thing they think they want. It’s 1985. Everyone wants Jane fucking Fonda. I’m sorry, honey… But listen, I have some experimental projects in the Valley, if you’re interested. Would you consider doing erotica?”

So, fucking porn. That’s where she’s at with her life.

Defeatedly, Y/N leaves the casting office in West Hollywood once more and gets swallowed by the city’s filth, lost between hellfire and demons. No matter what she does, she never feels like it’s enough. Each audition, you throw yourself against the wall and hope, this time, it’ll stick. It’s an endless game, a gamble of hope – hope isn’t an infinite resource, though, and hers is running out.

Y/N likes getting tortured. That’s the conclusion she’s come to. And because she seems to thrive on torment, she joins her best friend Joanna for a Jazzercise class – aka a room full of toned women in leotards, sweatbands, and leg warmers. The two friends have known each other since middle school and have done everything together since then, including their move to the big city. Joanna is a blonde bombshell who immediately got a role on a popular soap until she quit acting and had a baby a couple of months ago. Now, she’s a housewife and mother in Pasadena while her husband brings home the money.

Y/N loves Joanna, but admittedly, the blonde sometimes makes her feel small and insecure. She doesn’t have the big tits, the perfect curves, or the shiny hair. Jo has always been more successful than her in every aspect of their respective lives, the friendly competition leaving Y/N, more often than not, with a bad aftertaste in her mouth. She constantly tries to keep her envy in check, though, even when the blonde’s boobs exploded during their freshman year of high school. Simply put: Joanna is a sparkling diamond, while Y/N feels like a dirty lump of coal next to her.

The cheer captain versus the theater geek.

“You know, I’d actually do porn if it had a good story. Like, Shakespeare porn,” Y/N half-heartedly jokes as the women change in the locker room after their class.

Jo arches an eyebrow at her, the smile on her lips a bit condescending. “C’mon, Y/N, would you actually do porn, though? You hate being naked in front of people.”

“Things have changed since you disappeared,” Y/N shrugs her shoulders, her voice laced with rebellion, and purposely changes out of her leotard in front of her friend to drive the point home. She also tries not to sound too bitter about the fact that the blonde basically abandoned her after getting married and pushing a human out of her vagina. She knows her jealousy is silly. It’s just part of life. That’s how it goes. It wasn’t always going to be them vs. the world forever.

“I didn’t disappear. I had a baby,” Jo retorts on cue before her face lights up with an insane amount of excitement. “Which you could too! Then we’d both have babies.”

“Great idea,” Y/N snorts sarcastically and slips into her sneakers, playfully musing, “Who of the guys I randomly fuck would make a good baby daddy, huh? The alcoholic I met at the farmer’s market or the depressed stand-up with a heroin addiction?”

Jo sits down on the bench next to her and conspiratorially leans closer. “Can I tell you something that I realized recently?”

Y/N gives her a raised look that borders on amused. “What?”

The blonde has been a bit of a postpartum mess these days. It’s the lack of sleep and the fact that her boobs won’t stop leaking. Also, her kid is a biter.

“When I first was cast on Paradise Bay, I was thrilled, okay? I mean, it was so exciting, remember? And then they put me in that year-long coma, and I was just lying there in this hospital bed, feeling powerless. And then when season three came, and they graduated me to that wheelchair with that blanket–”

“I’m sorry… Is this going somewhere?” Y/N interrupts her because the last thing she needs to hear today is another one of Joanna’s success stories.

“I’m getting there,” Jo frowns and continues straightaway, “Anyways, I was so relieved when Sam asked me to marry him and told me to stop working. He was right. It was completely ridiculous. Why would I do this to myself, you know? I swear to God getting pregnant and written off that show was the best decision I ever made,” she tells her enthusiastically.

Y/N just twitches her shoulders and ignores the guilt that’s bubbling in her gut. “Well, we’re different people. I choose work. I can have a baby once I win an Oscar.”

Jo lets out a deep sigh, “But you’re not even working, Y/N. Don’t you wanna be happy and have a family?”

“Of course I do.” Y/N’s not sure that answer is the whole truth. She knows she’s supposed to want the supportive husband, the cute kids, and the white picket fence, but all those things come with the end of your career. She’s not ready to give up and pay that price yet. She wants to make it on her own first, not needing a hero to save her like some damsel in distress. “‘Sides, don’t I need a boyfriend for starters? Isn’t that how it works?”

“Oh, it’s not that complicated,” Jo huffs and rolls her eyes dismissively. “Just pick the first nice guy with money you find. It’s what I did. I mean, Sam is a complete idiot and so out of my league, but it works,” she shrugs. “Why don’t you come visit me in Pasadena sometimes if you miss me so much? I called you like a million times in the last few weeks.”

“I know,” Y/N groans in response and finishes buttoning her blouse, swallowing the giant lump of shame in her throat. “It’s so far away,” she excuses, even though it’s another white lie. A big one, this time.

Jo tilts her head at her, but Y/N knows the wrinkles on the blonde’s brow are not out of concern. It’s pity. She’s seen that look all her life. “Y/N, are you okay? ‘Cause you look sad and fucking depressing, honestly.”

“Thanks. But I’m fine,” she brushes her friend off with a bitter smile. “Just the usual, you know? I have $28 left to pay my bills, including rent, which is why I’ve been waitressing at that awful diner in Downey all week… Oh, and, uhm, I’ve eaten Honey Nut Cheerios for my last eight meals,” she lists off her miserable life and grabs her duffel bag, feigning the brightest grin, “But hey, I’m gonna do porn. Things are looking up.”

It’s late at night when Y/N returns to her rundown shoebox apartment. Her decorations include one dead plant and two ripped posters of Angela Lansbury and Barbra Streisand, respectively. It’s a sad affair, really.

Completely beat, she checks her fridge, which resembles an empty ice cave, except for that half-full box of cheap wine. Yeah, she can’t even afford to get drunk properly. The old mattress squeaks as she falls face-down on the bed and exhaustively snatches the rotary dial phone from her nightstand, only reaching her parents’ answering machine.

“Hey, Mom. It’s Y/N. I didn’t get the audition today either, but I’ll get another one soon. So, fingers crossed… again. But I was just wondering if you and Dad could maybe wire me some money? You know, just so I can pay my electricity bill and… eat food. I’m really sorry… I know I can’t keep asking you guys for money because I’m a grown-up now… but I swear it’s the last time, okay? And I’m aware I said that the last time, too… Anyways, love you. Call me back, please? Okay, thanks… Bye.”

Slamming the receiver onto the phone, she groans loudly and is close to screaming into her goddamn pillow. When did she become such a pathetic fucking loser?

Needless to say, she imagined her life would go a lot differently.

In the midst of her nervous breakdown, her ears then perk up at a strange noise, eyes darting warily to the window. There’s an audible jam of the lock, followed by the rustling of the yellowed blinds before a large hand pops through the crack.

Shit. Someone’s trying to break in.

Anxiously, she grabs the phone and holds it up like a weapon, her heart thrashing wildly in her ribcage, the sound ringing in her ears. Then, she bravely yells with a shaky voice, “Whoever you are, I have a knife in my hand and already called the cops!”

“Whoa, whoa… Y/N, it’s just me.” A young man’s head pokes through the window, raising his large palms with a chuckle.

Her shoulders slump, the tension of fear replaced with one of annoyance as she sighs half-heartedly in relief, recognizing the intruder. Y/N lowers her makeshift weapon, tossing it on the bed. “Oh my God! What the fuck are you doing here? Why are you climbing through my window? You can’t be here! Climb back out – now!”

“You said the last time that no one can find out about us, so I took that seriously,” he explains as he gaspingly pushes his tall body through the small opening. “Can’t you just be happy to see me, Y/N? It took some effort to come here and climb through that window, you know?” A charming laugh bounces off the thin, bare walls once he’s made it into her apartment and towers over her.

Y/N folds her arms over her chest and cocks an eyebrow, “You want credit for cheating on your wife?”

He sighs and rolls his eyes back a little, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Can we please not call it that?”

“What would you like me to call it? You’re married to someone and had sex with me,” she counters sternly. She absolutely doesn’t want him here. That man is only trouble and part of the reason why her life is so fucking shitty these days.

“Look, this isn’t normal behavior for me,” he shrugs innocently as if the madness can’t be helped and adds the softest puppy dog look. “I just-, I can’t stop thinking about you.”

“So?! It was a huge fucking mistake!” There’s a sharp inhale of breath as she tries to gulp down the anger, guilt, and shame inside of her. “It happened weeks ago! You shouldn’t be here… It was a party. The drinks were free… I-I was feeling sorry for myself, and you took advantage of that.”

Quietly clearing his throat, he mumbles under his breath, “I think we both took advantage of that.” As he meets her gaze, his whiskey-colored orbs mirror the same guilt she feels.

Y/N places her hands on her hips with a deep exhale, her head bobbing as the words sink in and her head begins to spin. She knows he’s right. They’re both equally to blame, but it doesn’t change anything about her regrets. “Please leave. Go home to your family,” she begs him softly, too soft, not enough strength left to fight.

“You can’t just pull the plug on this. You and me. This is real,” he tells her, his hazel eyes boring into hers. “I think you’re the one, Y/N.”

“No, I’m not,” she stresses with a heavy shake of her head, fighting against the tears that prick her eyes and cloud her mind. “I’m nothing special.”

Pensively, he nods and licks his lips, a humorless chuckle escaping between them as he rubs his mouth and ponders, “I keep thinking about what you said to me that night… You know, how there are shiny people who have everything? And then there are people like us who have to go to parties with those people and watch them get their pictures taken. And it’s not fair... ‘Cause we deserve good things, too. We deserve attention and love and… sex.”

Silently staring at him for what feels like an eternity, her mind races a mile a minute as her heart shatters into a thousand sharp daggers that pierce through her skin and leave deep scars in their wake. And then, Y/N foolishly crashes her lips against his just to stop the goddamn pain in her chest.

What is there to say that even justifies any of this? She’s fucking weak.

The harsh sunbeams that fall on her face and blind her eyes announce another dreadful morning as she wakes with a pessimistic groan. The bed is cold and empty; the married guy is long gone, leaving right after the fuck.

Y/N is alone again – with nowhere to go.

Why did she do what she did? In all honesty, she can’t quite understand it herself, the truth too cruel and pathetic to accept it. The only positive thing she can find about her situation is that at least she can’t sink any lower than rock bottom. She’s certain she’s reached the depths of Hell at this point. Los Angeles mistakenly gets called the city of angels. Truthfully, though, it’s filled with devils who lure you to the dark side until you can’t even look in the mirror anymore without seeing a white line instead of your own goddamn reflection.

The funny thing, though? She’s never even been into drugs or booze or whatever bad habit you can catch in this city, like an STD. She has always worked her ass off and walked the straight and narrow. And for fucking what?

Y/N is definitely at her lowest of lows, but that also means there’s nowhere to go but up, right? And when the red light on her answering machine keeps blinking, her hope and good spirit return as she eagerly presses the button, restarting the endless cycle once more.  

“Y/N, this is Josie. I have an audition for you tomorrow. I’m not running it, but I thought of you. It’s in Watts. And it’s not porn... They’re looking for unconventional women, whatever the fuck that means… Oh, and uhm, if you ever ambush me in the restroom again, I’ll make sure you’re gonna be blacklisted on every casting call in Los Angeles. Are we clear? Anyways, good luck, honey!”

A loud scream echoes through the tiny apartment. Y/N can’t believe her fucking ears and jumps excitedly up and down when Josie’s message ends, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks.

The game is back on – and it’s not fucking porn.

2. Livin’ On A Prayer

Yikes! I think it’s fairly easy to guess who this mystery guy is, but let me know all your suspicions and gasps, anyways! 😉 And don’t worry. You’re getting plenty of Dean tomorrow (some would say too much Dean) 😎😈

Everything Jensen (1st part tag only): @extraterrestriali @this-is-me19 @writercole @awkward-and-indecisive @eevvvaa @imherefordeanandbones @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior @jassackles @maggiegirl17 @perpetualabsurdity @deandreamernp @roseblue373 @lyarr24 @deanwanddamons @deanwithscissors @flamencodiva @chriszgirl92 @lhymer1995 @wittyboldsoul @djs8891 @snowlovespie​ @b3autyfuldisast3r​ @recoveringpastaaddict​ @muhahaha303​

Plastic Hearts Series: @spnexploration @jessjad @siospins2 @mrsjenniferwinchester @akshi8278 @xlynnbbyx @wayward-dreamer @foxyjwls007 @smellingofpoetry @justrealizedimmascifygurl @ladysparkles78 @leigh70 @4getfulimaginator2022 @globetrotter28​

[slowandsteddie]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by: @numinosmoon

1. How many fics do you have on AO3?

Currently, three. (find me at deleteurtexthistory ; also have a sideblog by the same name where I just share my own writing if y’all are interested)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

8,388.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I write for a lot of fandoms, but so far I’ve only posted for Stranger Things. The other stuff I have is more… dark. More for me.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Uhh… I only have three published, but

Claudia Henderson and Her Two Boys has 119

Cleaning Headstones has 91

It’s My Turn (To Be The Hero) has 74

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes I do. I know it makes me happy when someone replies to my comment.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Can we count one’s that are still a work in progress? Because I’m writing a Steddie thing based on my grandparents' love story. And I’m going to have to keep it true to source, which means that someone is gonna die. If not, I wrote a Marvel one where the main character gets saved by someone only to end up dying (again?) a few chapters later because they were returning the favor… I’m not posting that one anywhere anytime soon.

7. What’s the fic that you wrote with the happiest ending?

I try to make all of my fics have a happy ending, with only the two exceptions. But I think the happiest is the one where Steve didn’t get what he wanted because he ended up getting something (someone!) even better.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not so far, luckily.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes and no. Yes, I do write it a lot. No I haven’t actually shared it with anyone other than a RP partner. When writing a smut scene, I go with the flow and the comfort levels of the person I’m writing with. When I write for myself, I notice that I tend to go omegaverse if that helps y’all figure out what kind.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest you’ve ever written?

I do write crossovers! I think my craziest might be Supernatural and Riverdale. To be fair, it was a crack fic.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of, but someone did use our RP (without permission) and turned it into a fic that they posted on Wattpad. Everyone’s favorite parts are the ones that I WROTE. I’m still salty about it. They could have asked or given credit.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I would be so incredibly honored if anyone were to ever ask.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! In high school, I co-wrote a One Direction fic with my best friend at the time. I also have co-wrote on a Teen Wolf fic around the same time. I did our boy Stiles justice before I had ever actually seen the show. I wonder if I can find those fics. Hm…

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Steddie. 10000% Steddie. It is all I can think about most of the time. I have never been so obsessed with anything in my life. (And I’m autistic with Hyper Fixations being a normal occurrence.)

15. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Well. The thing is, I’m torn on it. It’s a SVU/Stranger Things crossover. I want to finish it, just to say that I have. But at the same time, it is… Probably the darkest thing I have ever attempted to write. I do know that I’ve taken some of the lighter scenes out and used them elsewhere. I say that I’ve posted a dark thing on here before, but it is so Tame compared to how dark I go most of the time. Like I will edit to make it more palatable and I have no idea why I do that.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I like to think that I’m good at dialogue. I’m good at explaining things, most of the time. At least in my opinion.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I never think anything I write is ever good enough. I always feel like I have to tame it, or lighten it, or just change everything about it in general. Even my answers have been edited and I still no happy.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fics?

It’s good as long as someone isn’t forcing it. Like don’t have someone just randomly throwing in the other language to prove that they know it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

It was either StarGate: SG1 or Charmed.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Cleaning Headstones for my published ones. There is one that I wrote in high school called The Wrong Mister Wright about werewolves and the main character falls for a guy with an older brother who ends up being his True Mate, so he has to decide between his heart and fate. And I think it’s really well paced considering I was like 14 when I wrote it. One of the few fics that I didn’t second guess every single word.

Tagging: anyone who wants to participate 💜

[forabeatofadrum]

You know what fuck it actually, answer all the writers asks that you haven’t already answered yet PLUS another #25 if you have already answered it bc you can be proud of multiple scenes HAPPY EL WOOWOO WEDNESDAY

I should've seen this coming. I am putting this under the cut because this got long. Again, I should’ve seen this coming.

I’ve already answered 5, 8, 9, 13, 18 and 25.

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

I MEAN... look at my many, many WIPs. I think the main reason for holding off a fic is because I got stuck, or because I want to prioritise other fics. I’m trying to not take on new projects, but instead focus on older ones (famous last words, probably).

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

Anything written pre-2015, unless I have rewritten them (like This Charming Man or the SBL/Glee crossover). That, except for JTWLYT, even rewritten it’s bad. I don’t mind, You gotta start somewhere, right? Because otherwise I don’t really mind any fics. Like, I wrote a Glee/Animal Crossing fic once and it slaps.

3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

Mostly chronological, but it doesn’t really matter. So yeah I write what I have in my mind. For example with Ljubim te, I of course knew there were going to be 24 chapters since it’s the Advent, so I plotted out a little bit what happens in all chapters and by now each chapter has at least something.

4) favorite character you’ve written

Jack motherfucking Zimmermann, even though I have abandoned my boy and I haven’t written proper Check, Please! fic in all of 2022. I want to finish two Zimbits WIPs this year, though. Maybe the attic vs. roaches debate breaching containment will bring me back to this fandom. Aly, what would you rather have? A person living in your attic, or 1000 roaches living in your attic?

6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now

Oh I change things without shame. I do point it out in the author’s note, in case someone notices.

7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

This is a difficult question. WAIT NOT ALY THIS IS ME AFTER POSTONG THE ASK I FORGOT TO ANSWER THIS ONE I WILL DO THAT LARER CAUSE I NEED TO GO TP UNI NOW!!

OKAY ALY I AM BACK (and also hello to others!)

So, this is a difficult question because I have the Fear of Being Perceived by people I know IRL. Not necessarily because I think they will judge me, but this is just something I’ve ever had. This is also why I am not going to karaoke night tonight. As a result I do not tell people I write, but not because I am embarrassed. I have just always kept my online and offline lives separately, you know? And this has only grown over the years. I have, like, one person I know IRL follow my personal blog and I created this blog because I do not want him to see my stuff. It’s literally in the bio of this blog. This is also why my name isn’t on here, although I do not mind when people use it in asks or replies. It’s not foolproof, I am aware, but it’s how it is.

But I am also fucking proud of my work and I an enthusiastic. This is why I love ask games like this or communites on Discord. I put a lot of time and effort into my work so of course I love to blabber about it. The person I mentioned above? Yeah, he knows I write fic. But I made him promise to not go look for it. Now I did meet some people who unabashedly talk about what filth they post on AO3. And I told these people I write fic to. But I am always feeling that hesistant feeling. I told them vaguely about Bakery fic and So Much Better, but I am never going to send them the link so if they want to find it, they can, but I will not be the one giving my AO3 away. (Rip. I never kudo their fics either for this reason, cause my AO3 account will pop up).

Aka it is just kind of weird.

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?

I CAN NEVER WRITE WITH PEOPLE AROUND. This is why, when I visit my parents’ house for the weekend, I write less. I recently told Jenna (@thnxforknowingme, not Ushkowitz) that I am shook that she can write at work. I cannot relate.

I don’t like silence in general. I always have sound on, but it doesn’t really matter what. I am currently listening to The Last Five Years lockdown version, but I also just put on video essays that I have seen before, or gaming music, or YouTuber content. Only when I have a specific song/playlist for a fic, I tend to actively choose what I put on, like the playlist for River fic was on repeat during the writing. And Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing is my song for “damn Baz, you live like this”/Time After Time. That kind of stuff.

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

Uh. Everything. But I am also not too harsh on myself. I was 13. I am 24 now. And my English has improved. Fun fact, I did not know the difference between make out and break up for a very long time.

OH AND I LEARNED HOW TO DO PROPER PARAGRAPH BREAKS

12) your weaknesses as an author

Movements. Setting. That kind of stuff. When two people are in a scene and talk, I love the dialogue but I am constantly like “oh God, what else is going on in this scene?”

I am writing a scene for Ljubim te with Kurt and Sunil in a restaurant and I am constantly like “DON’T FORGET THEY NEED TO EAT!!!”

14) do you make playlists for your current wips?

Not right now. I don’t make playlists for my fics that often, unless I want to integrate the music into the fic (again, see River fic). Or I make a playlist AFTER I am done, like my Myosotis playlist.

15) why did you start writing?

Fanfiction? When I first read Harry Potter when I was around 11, but I used to write stories before that. Shout out to TEENZZONE and my first ever gay character that I made when I was 10 and then I got scared cause oooooh homosexuality scary!!! ooooh taboooo!!!! and erased it and made him marry a lovely woman named Daisy but then years later I was like “fuck it he’s bi then”

16) are there any characters who haunt you?

Oh, uh? The first ever gay now bi character from TEENZZONE I guess. Fuck, was Danny his name, or was Danny the guy who came before Daisy? Look, I was 10. Ik zat in groep 7, of misschien zelfs 6. It’s been 14 years.

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

It doesn’t have to be perfect. I am not a published author. This is all for fun. Besides, I read a lot of fic that maybe aren’t “that good” in the eyes of whoever decides what’s good, but I still enjoy them and that’s what matters in the end. I write for me and me alone and hopefully people like it too and we will all have a banging time.

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

Not

Jk jk

I often have a little section in my doc with “Information”, like a timeline or people’s names or what is happening when. The one for Ljubim te has the names of my OCs and the street names of where Kurt and Blaine live. I am thinking of also making a timeline, because there are some time jumps between chapters, although I also try to point out what month it is in the chapter itself.

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

Depends on how inspired I am. I write when I have an idea. Sometimes things snowball from there, sometimes it’s to only add one line.

21) what do you think when you read over your older work?

Define older. As I said, everything before 2015 I pretend I do not see, but after that I actually reread a lot of my stuff. Hence the “I write for me and me alone” mentality. I reread Mendacious this week. And I haven’t read the Anyway series in years and I kind of want to.

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

There are too many to list, but from the top of my head: non-con/dub-con, detailed slavery or kidnapping or something like that, graphic violence, MPREG, fic with one being a minor other an adult.

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

GIRL MY MAIN STARTING POINT FOR KLAINE FIC THESE DAYS IS “WHAT PART OF MY LIFE CAN I LIFT FROM??”

Mendacious: a conversation I had with one of my friends about internalised homophobia

River fic: lol (my broken friendship) (it’s almost Real Blaine’s birthday) (ah, then it will have been 4 years since I last saw him)

Ebb & Flow: my love for Splatoon 2

Bakery fic: me being obsessed with a documentary about rich people in Dubai

Ljubim te: I miss Ljubljana

So yeah, sometimes it influences the plot (Mendacious and River fic) and sometimes it is more a starting point for me to build upon, but it’s my liiiiiiiife it’s not or neverrrrrr-

Also, okay, I am writing this Snowbaz fic called Just Some Guy from an outsider POV and that is coming from me very much believing that Baz is not that hot. Simon is just in love with him. Sorry Baz fans.

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

Expert? I wouldn’t say that, but I do learn about obscure things like Broadway orchestra subbing. And of course I had that entire chapter about neurobiology in Myosotis sylvatica. But I can’t say I am an expert on things.

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of

You can get some All the pretty things lore as a treat.

“As if in every lifetime you and I have lived, we’ve chosen to come back and find each other and fall in love all over again, over and over for all of eternity. And I just feel so lucky that I found you so soon in this lifetime because all I want to do, all I’ve ever wanted to do is spend my life loving you.”

This is how All the pretty things ends. Obviously it is not my writing. This is a direct quote from Glee. I may hate the proposal but they went hard with the speech. But I knew I needed to end the fic with this quote, since it actually inspired the entire premise of the fic. They hop through all these dimensions and in every one of them they find each other to go on to the next. And they grow stronger in the process. I do not know if this fic would be this fic without this quote.

For my own writing, I am really happy with the “emotional climax” of Paradiso 1 and Time After Time, but shhhhh spoilers, you gotta read that for yourself. But a shareable part that I am admittedly obessed with is from The Naked Truth:

We’re acting like a bunch of hormonal teenagers, but I don’t care. We’re high on energy and love. The moment we get to my flat and I close the door behind us, I press him against it and he laughs.

Again, there’s so much laughter.

Is this what love is like? Endless exuberant laughter? I revel in the sound of his joy.

I wrote this because I used “he laughs” or “I laugh” or “we laugh” A LOT in this fic up to the point that it was making me wonder if it’s bad writing, so I just put it in the story. Hooray.

ALY I FUCKING DID IT.

[mamibaddie]

When The Heart Beats || Vampire!Eddie Munson x Reader

Chapter 3: The Night He Came Back

Authors Note: hey-o! This is the third chapter of my vampire!eddie series. I had fun writing this and I hope you have fun reading it too!! The next chapter will have smut in it so if you’re a minor please DNI. I don’t consent to anyone posting my story anywhere or translating it.

Summary: a creature of the night comes gently rapping at your windowpane. You should let him in.

Warnings: blood, wounds, vampire!eddie, some stalking, sadness, mourning. 18+ only!

After what happened in Hawkins, everyone started to panic. Some thought that the Devil has come to Hawkins, feeding from everyone’s past. Others thought it was the end times, to get right with God. But both were wrong. People tried to keep everything going as usual but it was getting harder and harder as the days went on. Things were slowly dying, crops rotting away attracting flies and maggots. Flowers were withering and you feel like joining them.

As you walked into work, you overheard two people discussing the events that were taking place and others that you haven’t quite heard about yet. “I’m telling you Bill. There’s some freaky shit happening here. First Eddie Munson, then these portals opening up, now people don’t know who they are!” Exclaimed a man. “What are you talking about now Bobby?” Said the other. “I’m talking about how some people around Hawkins have said that they’ll be in one place, one moment. Them they wake up in another place, not knowing what happened!” “When does this happen?” “At night. Late at night.” The main named Bill rolled his eyes and scoffed. “They’re probably just drunk.” “That’s what I thought too! Until they all said they had bite marks on their necks.” “They have what now?!” Now Bill was intrigued with what Bobby had to say. “That’s right. Two holes, close to a vein. A centimeter more and they’d be a goner.”

You kept working. The story sounded strange and if you didn’t know any better, you’d think they were lying. But you’ve seen things that are completely unexplainable. After your shift that night, was when you noticed the first sign. It was past dusk. Hardly anyone was out when you walked to your car. From afar you seen something on your windshield. You walked slower, trying to figure out what it was from afar. A part of it was bright red, and the closer you got, you seen it was a rose. You looked around the parking lot and even underneath your car. All to find nothing.

The only person who ever gave you a rose, was Eddie. You remember it like it was yesterday. It was right before your first date with him. He picked you up in that van of his. He had on a dark blue button-up and tan-ish beige khaki pants. He stuffed in his button-up and you can tell he had done his hair. He had given you a singular rose, with a smile on his face. “For my fair maiden. Your chariot awaits.” He said, motioning to his van. You snapped out of your memory and came back to the present. You also noticed a card. On the envelope it had your first initial. You got in your car first and locked it. You looked around again, even in your backseat. No one was there. You started your car up but kept it in park. You opened the envelope and took out the letter. It read, “to my fair maiden. How I miss you so, we’ll be reunited soon and together again. Evermore.”

You felt like you had stopped breathing. Was it him? Your Eddie? Was it some cruel joke someone wanted to play?

It was all you could think about until the next sign, which was on your doorstep. You had woken up early to run some errands when you looked down, you seen another letter. This time the envelope and letter were red. You opened it and said, “ To my fair maiden, I cannot wait to hold you in my arms again. It’ll happen, soon. “ Then a little lower on the paper, there’s a quote that said, “And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many.” You giggled, tears sprouting from your eyes. It was a quote from Lord of The Rings. The Return of The King, to be precise. You knew because Eddie would always talk about his favorite fantasy books. Lord of The Rings was one of his favorites. You even started reading the series because you wanted to be able to have a discussion about the books, chiming in with his excited banter. He would sometimes base his DND games off of the stories. He would also quote some of the romantic lines to you from the book, never in front of anyone else but maybe Dustin and Mike. He had a certain persona that he wanted to keep up. However, you do remember the first kiss you shared in public, in the cafeteria. Everyone was looking, especially since it was Eddie Munson kissing a girl. That was unheard of, unfathomable even. But to you, you couldn’t figure out why he hadn’t pulled someone sooner. However, you were glad because you couldn’t imagine a life without Eddie.

You noticed this time it was signed with a cursive E. You went back inside, ran up the stairs and into your room. You opened up your vanity drawer and seen the other letters that Eddie secretly wrote to you when he was alive. You opened one up and compared the writing. It was practically identical. Right down to how he dotted his i’s. You couldn’t believe what you saw. He was alive, but how? You didn’t understand why he didn’t come to you. Why all these letters? Why didn’t he just walk right in? He knew where the key was hidden. You decided to leave a letter back. You don’t know why or how he’ll even see it but you figured it was worth the shot. You wrote about how much you missed him and wanted to see him. You slipped it in the window before bed and crawled into bed. It wasn’t until the following morning that you noticed it was gone. You looked for another letter to replace yours but it wasn’t there. It wasn’t until the next sign, that you knew you’d see him. The next sign came right after you got out the shower. You were applying Luster’s Pink Lotion to your hair when you heard a slight taping coming from your window. You opened your door to find nothing. Your room was incredibly still. You looked around, analyzing every nook and cranny. You seen another letter. This time, it was slipped through the crack of the window, hanging halfway out of your windowpane. You carefully open your window enough for it to fall right in your hands. You knew it was from him and you could barely contain your excitement. It read, “To my fair maiden, it’s me. I miss you so much. I’m so sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner. I’ve been wanting to talk to you in person, but I’m not sure how you’ll react. If you still love me, stay up for me past midnight. All you have to do is let me in.” You were over the moon. You were finally going to see your Eddie again! Thought filled you with nothing but joy. Ignoring the anxious pull at your heart strings.

———-

All you could do was think about this the whole day. When it finally got to be that time, you had made sure you were showered, skincare and hair care routine finished. You waited and waited. You were reading the poem, “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe. Despite remembering what the note said, Your thin purple curtains were drawn. You wanted desperately to think that it was Eddie, but logically, how could it be? You remembered what your grief counselor said. That grief can manifest itself to become something other worldly. It can make you see or hear things. However, the writing did look familiar.

While you were in the middle of the poem, you heard something tap against your windowpane. You looked up to see what the tapping could be. It sounded like something gently rapping at your window. You see a figure out there, your grief ridden mind convinced it could be Eddie but you shake your head at the thought. “It is only a tree branch.” You say. “That and nothing more.” It keeps gently tapping at your window. You become frustrated but the closer you get, the more the figure really does look like Eddie. And the thought filled you with a fantastic terror you never felt before. And when you pulled open your curtains, and looked into the eyes of the man you loved, that you thought you’d never see again, you were filled from head to toe with an ethereal feeling. “Hello again my love.” He said. “Will you let me in?” You stared unblinkingly at him.

His hellfire shirt was ripped, torn to shreds with dried blood coagulated by the sides of his stomach. His leather jacket was scuffed, dried blood clung to it. There were what appeared to be bite marks littered on his body. His eyes were a radiant red. But when he blinked, they went right back to the same brown eyes you knew and loved. His beautiful, doe eyes had always captivated you but now you felt like you were in a trance. “Y/N…” he said, and his voice was smooth like velvet. “I asked you a question love, will you let me in?” You still haven’t blinked and tears rolled down your eyes. Your mouth partly opened. You slowly nodded your head. You made your way to the lock, and slowly opened the window to your late night visitor. The bits of fog slowly poured into your room. Despite it being late Spring, it was considerably chilly tonight.

He came into your room, almost like he was floating. You backed up and he followed you. “…are you real??… am I dreaming?…” he laughed and cradled your face with his cold hands… such a familiar touch. “Yeah, it’s me. I’ve missed you so much.” It all started to connect… the flowers… the letters… it was truly him. “But…you were dead… your body…” you choked on your tears. “Yeah… I was… my heart stopped and I thought I was dead. But I took a breath.. and then another.. and then another. The bites from the bats-“ you cut him off before he could finish. “..brought you back.” You slowly looked him over. He was so much paler from before.

You reached out your hands to feel him. Cold to the touch. He pulled you in for a hug that, despite how cold he was, felt warm. You shook off the bad feelings you got from this. Pushing this to the back of your mind. Your prayers had been answered. And that’s what matters. You looked up at him, “would you like to take a shower?” You asked. He put his hands on your waist and smirked at you, “are you going to join me?” He asked, his hands slowly cascading on down to grab your ass. You jumped and smiled at him. “I would, but I just took mine. Maybe next time.” “Okay, I’ll hold you to that sweetheart.” “Okay, I’ll help you get ready.” You said, unwrapping yourself from him. You got some of his clothes that he had left. You felt his intense stare the entire time but didn’t mind because you had to go an entire week without him. You walked out to the hallway where there were sheets and towels. You grabbed him a towel and a washcloth.

When you came back in, the water was running. You noted that you didn’t see any steam and supposed it was cold. He was sitting in your chair, in the corner. If it weren’t for the light from the bathroom, you wouldn’t even have known he was there. “You kept all of my stuff…even the shampoo and body wash. You must still love me, right sweetheart?” You looked at him, you wanted to look away from how intense his stare was. But at the same time, it captivated you so much that you couldn’t look away. “Of course, I prayed for you every night.” He smirked at the confession. You placed his stuff on the bathroom counter and walked over to close the window. “I suppose you’d like something to eat? I bet you’re hungry.” You said with a laugh. For the first time he smiled, and you were able to see his fangs. “Starved.”

Taglist: @capmedusa @lunar-flwr @celestixldarling @nxrdamp @da-disappointment @ratherdieasthedevil @saltysoftgrungeofscience @awesomesauce-abbie @sl-tfor-joseph-quinn

[monako-jinn-stories]

Crosshair X Fem!Reader FanFic

It Started With a Vacation

Yall have no idea how good it felt to have ideas and be able to write again. I will admit, I’ve written much better before, but I’m happy with this!

Main Master List

Story Master List

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fifteen - SFW/PG

Chapter Fifteen - NSFW/18+

Chapter Fourteen

It was a little more than a standard week since you’d gone to Scipio with the Bad Batch, and since you’d kissed Crosshair. Well, more like he kissed you, and then ran away. You’d be lying if you said it was the only thing you could think about, though. While it was constantly in the back of your mind, there was something else on your mind. Something you were currently arguing with Kwol about.

“If I have to go, you have to go, Kwol” you said, folding your arms to imitate the holo projection of a man in front of you.

“But they’re so boring,” he complained. 

“Believe me, I know. But at least you have someone to go with,” you shot back.

“You can always take Sans,” he countered.

“Sans would let it get to his head, and then I’d have to deal with that,” you said while rolling your eyes. “Look, it’s literally just for the night. Ahni is already going, and I doubt she’ll let you get out of it.”

“But who will watch the kids? You can’t babysit Ringo and Tayah, so I’ll have to stay here.”

“Ask Mrs. Dure. She loves when they visit the bakery,” you suggested.

“She loves it until they make a mess.”

“Look, you’re going, whether you like it or not. You’re not getting out of it.”

“This isn’t fair,” he groaned, letting his arms fall to his side.

“What isn’t fair is the amount of complaining I have to hear from you. Look, I gotta go, me, Ahni, and Padmé are dress shopping and I still need to get ready. I’ll talk to you later,” you said. “Have fun,” he responded, and the two of you said your goodbyes before you ended the holo.

Next week was the celebratory dance for the leaders and senators of planets that are aligned with the Republic. You, as the queen of Dohbar, were invited to go. Kwol was also invited since he was the king, but like you, he didn’t want to go. You weren’t really one for formal occasions, and especially not ones where you had to be on show as a queen. You had tried to think of everything to get out of it, even begging the council to send you and your battalion on a mission, but Codo had seen right through your plan. Him, being the lovely buir that he was, made sure that you wouldn’t escape this, much to your annoyance.

You heard a ping from your data pad and nearly jumped across the room to grab it. You had been constantly talking to the Batch ever since they dropped you off, and they had yet to talk to you today. You opened your messages, but frowned when you saw it wasn’t from them. Instead, it was from Codo.

“I hope you have fun dress shopping, my child :)” he had sent.

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t help but to smile at his message. You knew he was only adding to the teasing, but he meant it with love.

“I hope you have fun thinking about how miserable I’ll be,” you sent back before you tossed your datapad to the side and started to get ready for the day out shopping. 

You weren’t really a fan of shopping, but Ahni and Padmé had insisted you go. You had tried to tell them that you would just use one of your old dresses, but they nearly burst your eardrums when they screamed their disapproval.

~~~

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard! You’re a queen! You can’t rewear dresses!” Padmé had said, looking at you incredulously.

“It’s just a dress? And who would notice, anyways?”

“There’s always people who will notice,” Ahni had pointed out. “And this is a perfect excuse to have a girls day! I haven’t done anything fun in Maker knows how long, especially not with you since you’ve been at war.”

“I think I’d rather be at war than dress shopping, or going to this dance,” you had grumbled to yourself, earning an eye roll from both of them.

“Jedi,” they’d groaned at the same time, earning a chuckle from you.

~~~

You made yourself a quick breakfast before heading to the refresher to get ready. Even if you didn’t want to go, you’d still make sure to look good. While you were doing your hair like you always like, there was a knock on your door. 

You finished up and went to open it, seeing Ahni and Padmé standing there excitedly. Despite not being a huge dress fan yourself, seeing these two so excited was making you dread this a little less.

“Are you ready to go?” Ahni asked, practically bouncing where she stood.

“Just about,” you replied, stepping aside to let them in. 

“It feels like forever since I’ve seen you both, today’s going to be amazing,” Padmé said as she followed you in.

“Oh! I have some things that I need to tell you guys about today,” you said, a grin slipping over your face.

“Things? What kind of things?” Padmé asked while sitting on the edge of your couch. You smiled and bit your lip, turning slightly to look at her over your shoulder. She caught your expression and her face lit up.

“Y/n! Is it a crush?” She asked giddily.

“Maybe…”

“Ohhh who? Who is it? Do I know him?”

“I don’t think so, but Ahni does,” you said, and Ahni gave you a confused look.

“I know him but she doesn’t?” She thought for a moment before her eyes went wide in shock. “It’s not Jake from school on Dohbar, is it?”

“Maker no! He was always a jerk to me! I still hate his guts!”

“Good, he’s still a prick as well. Kwol refuses to give him a higher rank in the military, not just because he hates him, but he also hasn’t earned it.”

“I’m not surprised, he could barely listen to the teachers in school, let alone follow Kwol’s orders.”

“Enough about Jake, back to your crush. Is it someone else from school?”

“No, he’s not even from Dohbar, but he has been there,” you said, giving her a slight hint. She still looked confused so you smiled and shook your head. “I’ll tell you later when we’re out.

“Hurry up! If we take too long, we won’t have enough time!” Padmé said impatiently. You rolled your eyes and grabbed your lightsaber, clipping it onto your belt before slipping your shoes on.

“Okay, I’m ready to go now.”

“Finally!” Padmé said, jumping up and grabbing you and Ahni to drag you out of the door. “I already have three shops I want to visit, I know Ahni said she had a few, and of course we will most likely see more places while we’re walking around.”

“Padmé-“

“Oh! And I really want to check out some suits, you know, for the boys. Anakin won’t be there, but I’d still love to buy him one.”

“Oh yes! And you guys can help me choose Kwol’s suit!”

“I don’t think-“

“Yes of course! Are you thinking of matching him, or no? I don’t really see you as too matchy of a couple, but perhaps a little bit?” Padmé suggested.

“I was thinking the same colors, but maybe different shades? He tends to look good in dark purples, and I could do a lighter one.”

“Ahni-“

“Maker yes! It would look radiant with your beautiful red skin! His suit could have gold trimmings-“

“GUYS!” You yelled, finally gaining their attention. They looked at you, startled, and you just folded your arms over your chest. “You’re going the wrong way. The elevators are over that way.” You motioned with a thumb over your shoulder towards the other end of the hall. The two of them exchanged glances before meeting your gaze.

“Oops,” Padmé said.

“We might have gotten a little distracted…” Ahni added. You just rolled your eyes and motioned for them to follow you. You went to the hangar, and as a plan to ensure that they didn’t get more than they needed to buy, you suggested you’d walk. 

“I won’t be able to carry everything if we walk!” Padmé complained.

“If you remember, we are out to each get a dress, not a wardrobe,” you reminded her.

“This is going to be a long day if I can’t buy at least five things,” she groaned.

“This is going to be a long day in general,” you mumbled to yourself. You led them down to the streets, and Padmé immediately dragged you into the first clothing shop you saw.

“This is ridiculous. Why are we being sent? Can’t they just use their precious Coruscant guard?” Crosshair complained from his bunk.

“The Coruscant guard is going to be patrolling the outside, they want us on the inside, mixing with the guests,” Hunter explained for what seemed like the thousandth time since they’d found out what their next “mission” was.

“They don’t really expect us to wear suits, do they?”

“Yes, they do. This is a formal occasion. If we are to blend in with the crowd, we will have to wear suits,” Tech said from his bunk.

“How are we supposed to carry weapons with suits on?”

“We simply hide them on the inside. It’s very simple, Crosshair.”

“I can’t exactly hide a rifle,” he countered.

“You’re not carrying your rifle, you’ll be carrying a D-17 and a vibroblade,” Hunter stated.

“This is ridiculous, I don’t want to go. We’re not guard boys. We’re soldiers, we should be out in the war, doing something useful.”

“We are well aware of how you feel on the situation, as you keep reminding us,” Tech said, looking over the edge of his bunk to glare down at Crosshair. The sniper merely spit his toothpick at him, earning an even deeper glare.

“Clones, that aren’t the Coruscant guard, being sent to mingle with uptight rulers of the Republic and their precious senators. You know how that sounds? Ridiculous.”

“Well, there is one upside you might find,” Hunter said, to which Crosshair rolled his eyes.

“I doubt that.”

“You wanna tell him, Tech?”

“Y/n will be there,” Tech pointed out, and that gained Crosshair’s instant attention.

“How do you know that?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at his brother. Tech raised an eyebrow at him and waited a second before he responded.

“Because she’s the queen of Dohbar? A Republic aligned planet?” He said in an almost questioning tone. Crosshair looked at him with his own questioning look before processing what Tech meant. He internally kicked himself for not realizing this, and making a fool of himself for forgetting.

“Right. She’s the queen of Dohbar,” he said, wanting to face palm.

“For as much as you claim to like her, you don’t pay much attention to her,” Hunter stated.

“I do pay attention, I just forgot that she was a queen and that Dohbar was a part of the Republic,” Crosshair defended.

“Next thing you know, you’ll forget that you like her,” Wrecker joked.

“Oh, I don’t think he’ll forget that. Not if you hear what he mumbles in his sleep,” Hunter said, throwing a smirk at Crosshair.

“I don’t talk in my sleep!”

“Oh really? Tech has a recording that might prove otherwise.”

“No he doesn’t,” Crosshair said, looking up at Tech who had a sly grin on his face. He watched as Tech tapped a button on his datapad and a recording started to play. In the video, Crosshair could barely be heard mumbling “I love you princess, you’re all I think about cyar’ika, just want to hold you in my arms, just want to-“

“Enough!” He said, jumping up and grabbing the datapad. He quickly deleted the recording, earning chuckles from his brothers. His face was a furious red as he resisted the urge to snarl at them all.

“I hate you all,” he grumbled, storming out of the room.

“If you leave the ship and go to the temple, give y/n a kiss for us!” Wrecker called after him. A few seconds later, Crosshair peeked around the corner and threw something into the room. They all looked at it curiously before they realized what it was. Wrecker shrieked and Hunter yelled Crosshair’s name while Tech told them to quickly put their helmets on. The smoke bomb went off, and Crosshair chuckled to himself from where he stood outside the ship, waiting for them to run out.

“What the kriffing hells, Crosshair?” Hunter said as he emerged.

“Just wanted to make sure you know what happens when you tease me,” he said smugly.

“Throwing a smoke bomb into the bunks is not an appropriate reaction,” Tech said while removing his helmet. “Now we can’t be on the ship.”

“Well, I guess we’re going to have to go out and look for some suits anyway, so we can use this as an excuse to go now,” Hunter said, earning more groans from his brothers.

“We have to go shopping?” Wrecker groaned, dropping his shoulders forward in a slouch.

“Hey, the GAR isn’t going to supply them for us, so get over it,” Hunter said. “The quicker we get this done, the better it will be. We need something to do anyway. Like Tech said, we can’t be on the ship, thanks to Crosshair.”

“Well at least you’ve learned your lesson now,” Crosshair stated.

“I have found some local Coruscanti shops that have wide ranges of options,” Tech said while looking at his datapad. “Prices are not a concern either, we can simply bill it to the GAR.”

“I suppose we’re walking?” Crosshair asked, and the others looked around at each other and shrugged.

“Sounds fine to me,” Hunter said.

“If we have to,” Wrecker added disappointedly.

“It’s not that bad, Wrecker. This won’t take long either, it’ll be nice to walk for once.”

“Yes, and it will be easier to see more interesting shops on foot,” Tech added.

“We’re not going on a tour of the city, Tech. We’re going to get suits and then go back to the ship,” Crosshair said. Tech scoffed at him before looking at the others who also shared unamused expressions.

“Y/n would love to explore with me,” he mumbled, brushing past them and leading the way into the city.

“Oh! Look at this one!” Padmé said as she grabbed a horrifyingly ugly dress. “Isn’t this just gorgeous?”

“Yeah,” Ahni said in her best fake tone.

“It looks like someone skinned a Wookiee and dyed the fur pink,” you said bluntly.

“Y/n!” Ahni said, giving you a serious face, though it looked like it was about to slip as her slips threatened to form a smile.

“What? I’m just being honest. Padmé, really, you have better taste than that.”

“I suppose you are right,” she said, looking at it again before she put it back. “Have you seen any you like yet?” She asked you.

“No, not really,” you said, scanning the area around you.

“Well, we’ve seen all of this shop, should we go to another one?” Ahni suggested. You groaned at that, and leaned back on the wall behind you. It was only 1300, you’d left at 1000 and you'd already been to 5 shops.

“Don’t even give us that attitude, y/n. We’re staying out until you find one you actually like. Not just one you decide to get because you want to go home.”

“I wasn’t going to try that,” you said defensively, and Padmé gave you a disbelieving look. “Really! I wasn’t! I might not want to do this, but I want to look and feel good.”

“Well, let’s go then. There’s still plenty of places we haven’t been to.”

“Can we get something to eat first? I want to sit down and have a break,” you asked.

“Sure, I’m hungry as well,” Ahni agreed.

“Alright, I guess we can take a break,” Padmé said. “Dexters?”

“Of course, where else?” You laughed, taking the lead.

The walk there wasn’t long, and when you walked in, you were greeted with a warm welcome.

“Well what do we have here? Y/n Jinn, Senator Caree and Senator Amidala, it’s lovely to see you again!” Dexter said, looking out from the kitchen.

“Hey Dexter! Great to see you again as well!” You said, leading the girls over to a booth. FLO rolled over and took out her notepad to take your orders.

“You guys need a minute to look, or are you getting the usual?” She asked.

“I think the usual is good,” you said.

“Three Shawda club sandwich meals coming up,” she said. “I’ll have your drinks out in a minute, ladies.”

“So, you told us earlier you had some things to tell us, and it happened to be about a crush,” Padmé said, looking at you eagerly.

“Yes! And that I know him but Padmé doesn’t? I still don’t know who it could be,” Ahni added. You hid your smile by taking a sip of your water FLO had just placed down. You set it down and met their expectant gazes.

“Well? Tell us!” Padmé said, growing impatient and causing you to laugh.

“I’ll start with a few hints,” you said, setting your elbows on the table. “Like I said before, he’s not from Dohbar.”

“That doesn’t help much.”

“He’s unique, not like any person I’ve ever met before.”

“Okay, you’re bad at giving hints,” Ahni said, folding her arms.

“What? I'm not wrong,” you defended.

“Everyone says their crush is unique and unlike anyone they’ve met before. Give us specifics!”

“He’s tall, handsome, and he has this way about himself. It’s like he knows he has my attention.”

“If right now is any kind of indication, he has no idea because you’re terrible at being straightforward,” Padmé commented.

“Fine, fine! He’s a soldier-“

“You like a clone?” They both said, eyes going wide.

“Yes, is there something wrong with that?” You asked, your voice becoming a little more accusatory than intended.

“No, of course not!” Padmé said.

“It’s just, don’t they age quicker? I mean, what would that mean for a relationship?” Ahni asked.

“It means I’d have to make the most of the time I’d get with him,” you said, shrugging your shoulders. “Besides, remember Canu Ger is researching their aging anyways. He might be able to find a way to slow it down.”

“I still don’t trust him,” she said, “I mean, he’s a Kaminoan deserter. I don’t trust the Kaminoans, what if he’s spying on us for them?”

“Ahni, how many times have I told you, I can’t sense anything but the truth from him. He’s perfectly safe to have on our planet. And he genuinely wants to do this, especially since he knows how close I am to Sans, Hex, and Steele.”

Ahni remained silent, and you could sense her hesitation.

“Look, it doesn’t matter if she likes a clone, I just want to know who it is, and what battalion he’s in,” Padmé said.

“He’s not in a battalion. He’s a part of a special clone force-,” you started before Ahni cut you off.

“Oh my maker! I know who it is!” Ahni said, covering her mouth with her hands.

“Who’s your guess?” You asked, quirking a brow at her.

“You like Hunter!”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but you’re wrong. Plus, I said he’s tall,” You said. She gave you a confused look before speaking again.

“Tech?”

“Nope.”

She held your gaze for a second before realization hit her and she smacked her face.

“Of course you like Crosshair.”

“Crosshair?” Padmé questioned you.

“Yup, his name is Crosshair. He’s a part of Clone Force 99, or as they call themselves, the Bad Batch. They’re genetically enhanced clones.”

“Ohhh, that’s what you meant by unique,” Ahni said.

“Yeah, but also just him in general, his personality. He’s a unique person.”

“I’ve never heard of Clone Force 99. What do they do?”

“They’re mainly just sent wherever the GAR wants them. They’re very efficient, much more so than regular clones,” you explained before adding, “don’t tell my men I said that though.”

“Will I ever get to meet him?” Padmé asked.

“If things happen how I want them to, then yes. But no promises. Remember, I am still a Jedi, and he is a clone. There’s…not much chance for anything,” you said, turning your head as Dexter brought your lunch. 

“I hope these are still up to your standards,” he joked, and you eagerly grabbed one and took a bite.

“Y/n will eat just about anything you make,” Ahni laughed.

“What? His food is good!” You said with a mouthful.

“Well, I’m glad you enjoy it,” Dexter chuckled before waving and going back to the kitchen.

“Back to this clone,” Padmé said, “I’m sure if you really wanted it, you could have something with him.”

“Do you think he likes you?” Ahni asked.

“Oh, I know he likes me,” you said.

“Did he tell you?” She asked excitedly.

“No, but it’s obvious that he does,” you replied.

“How obvious?” Padmé questioned.

“Well, he kissed me-“

“HE KISSED YOU?!” They both shouted, causing the diner to go quiet and everyone turn to you.

“Shhh, and yes!” You whispered, causing them to cover their mouths in excitement.

“What was it like?”

“Was it long?”

“Was he good?”

“Was there tongue?”

“Padmé!”

“What? I’m just asking!”

You laughed, shaking your head.

“There wasn’t any tongue, Padmé. It was short,” you said, before you grimaced. “It was too short.”

“Wait, how short was it?” Ahni asked.

“Maybe like a second or two? And you won’t believe what he did after either.”

“Oh no, please tell me it wasn’t anything bad,” Padmé said.

“He ran away. Like, I didn’t even see him leave. It was a short kiss and then he was gone.”

“What? You’re joking!” Ahni gasped.

“I wish I was. But, I’m not surprised about it, either. He’s…complicated. And so are his emotions.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s too much to get into right now, but he struggles with expressing how he feels, and he’s very cautious,” you explained. They nodded, not pushing the subject.

“Are you guys ready to go back to shopping?” Padmé asked, turning giddy again.

“If we have to,” you sighed.

“Oh, stop it! You were having fun earlier!” She said, furrowing her brows at you.

“Yeah, looking at that hideous dress was so fun,” you joked before standing. You paid for your meals, said goodbye to Dexter, left a nice tip, and let Padmé lead you back to the shops.

After a while, both Ahni and Padmé had found dresses that they liked, but you still hadn’t found any. You didn’t even know what you were looking for or what you would want, so all you could do was wander around until something caught your eye.

“What about this one?” Padmé said, holding it out for you to see. You looked at it and shrugged your shoulders, not taking a particular interest in it.

“It’s okay.”

“Maker, you’re killing me,” she grumbled, putting it back.

It was getting late, almost dinner time and you just wanted to give up. You still saw no problem with wearing an old dress, but each time you began to suggest it, the others would shake their heads and drag you off to another shop.

“I’m telling you, it would be easier if I just-“

“No! You’re getting a new one, this day will not be wasted,” Ahni said.

“It wasn’t wasted, you both found dresses.”

“Wasted for you,” she clarified.

“Fine, I’ll make you a deal then,” you said, leaving the shop to find a new one. “I’ll look around in one more shop, and if I don’t find anything, I’m leaving and wearing an old dress.” The two others looked at each other before rolling their eyes.

“Fine,” Padmé said, “but I’m choosing the shop.” You nodded and let her lead you around. As you walked, you instantly began to put together where you were going.

“Padmé, please don’t tell me we’re going where I think we’re going,” you said, stopping and folding your arms.

“If we’re going to find a dress, it will be there,” she responded, motioning for you to follow.

“But it’s so expensive, and for what? A dress that I’ll wear once and never again? I know I’m a queen and I have money, but I don’t need to waste it on clothing. I can use it for good things, like helping buy relief supplies and donating it to good causes.”

“This is one dress, you’ll still have plenty of money to use for good,” she countered.

“Let’s just go look and see. You might not even find anything,” Ahni added.

“Alright,” you said, giving up and following as Padmé led you away again. When you reached the shop, you immediately felt like this was where you would find a dress. Your mood changed, and you became excited to look.

You walked around, eyes scanning for the perfect dress. Ahni and Padmé watched as you wandered, making quiet comments about dresses they wanted to come back for another time. These dresses were stunning, they were the best ones you’d seen all day. From simple sleek styles to intricate beaded designs, it’s no wonder why they were so convinced you’d find one here. 

“So, can we talk about Crosshair again?” Padmé asked as you searched. You paused, looking at a dress before responding.

“There’s not really much more to talk about,” you replied, moving on when the dress wasn’t the one.

“What’s he look like?”

“Well, he’s tall, slim, he has this soft silver hair-“

“Soft? How do you know it’s soft?”

“He may have stayed with me one night, and I played with his hair to calm him from a nightmare.”

“Wait, he stayed with you?” Ahni nearly squealed. “Like, you shared a bed?”

“You know this isn’t the first time I’ve shared a bed with a man before?” You said, raising a brow at her.

“But this is different! You like this man! It’s not like you sharing a bed with one of your troopers to comfort them.”

“Actually, he was there to comfort me. It was after the battle where I was shot-“

“YOU WERE SHOT?” They both yelled, looking at you as if you were speaking Shyriiwook.

“Why didn’t I know about this?” Ahni asked, looking at you incredulously.

“I must have forgotten to tell you,” you said while shrugging.

“You forgot to tell me you were shot?”

“Would this be a bad time to tell you I nearly died as well?” You asked hesitantly.

“YOU NEARLY DIED?! Does Kwol know about this?”

“Maker no! If he knew, you would have known as well. He can’t keep his mouth shut for anything.”

“How long ago was this?” Padmé demanded.

“Not that long ago…”

“And were you ever going to tell us?”

“Probably not,” you shrugged. “Look, I’m fine now, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters!” They said at the same time.

“What if you would have actually died?” Ahni asked.

“Then I would have died and you would have known. Look, it’s not a big deal.”

“It most certainly is a big deal, and we will continue this conversation later. Right now, we’re here to look at dresses, and I don’t want to ruin the fun by arguing.” You merely shrugged again and went back to looking at the dresses.

As you moved around, you felt a pulling force coming from farther back in the store. With your curiosity piqued, you followed the pull. When you reached where it was, you gasped as you saw the dress.

“Kriffing Maker almighty, this is gorgeous,” you said, reaching out to grab the hanger. It was a beautiful silver dress, the style absolutely stunning and perfect. Just looking at it, you knew if you put it on you would feel like the most powerful and confident person in the galaxy.

“Oh, wow! Try it on, y/n!” Ahni said, pushing you towards a changing room. You went inside and undressed, quickly slipping it on and covering another gasp when you looked in the mirror. It fit your body perfectly, making your natural shape that much more beautiful. You walked out, and both Padmé and Ahni’s mouths dropped. 

“What do you think?” You asked, spinning around for them. 

“I’m so glad I dragged you out here,” Padmé finally said, a wide grin covering her lips.

“You look so amazing! I just know everyone there will be stunned into silence,” Ahni added.

“Maker, I love it so much,” you said, looking in the mirror again.

“Are you going to buy it?”

“Yes! It’s too gorgeous not to get! Even if we didn’t have this dance coming up, I would buy this just for the hells of it.”

“Oh, I’m so excited!” Padmé said, bouncing on her feet. You laughed before going back inside and changing into your normal clothes, carrying the dress to the front. As you walked, you heard familiar voices and immediately froze. 

“Ahni, would you be able to take this up and pay for it? I’ll give you my credits, I heard some people and I want to go talk to them,” you said, handing her your stuff.

“Sure,” she said, taking it from you. “Just don’t be too long, we want to get back.”

“Oh, so now you guys don’t want to be out and I do?” You joked before walking to where the voices were.

“Come on, Cross. The sooner we find one, the sooner we can go back to the ship,” Hunter’s voice said from around a clothing rack.

“You don’t think I’m looking? This is the last thing I wanted to spend my time doing,” Crosshair shot back. “Why don’t you just go look for your own and let me be?”

“Fine, whatever you want,” Hunter said, and you heard his footsteps grow quieter as he walked off. 

“So, what’s a clone doing in a suit and dress shop? Are these the new GAR regulated uniforms?” You asked, walking around and startling Crosshair. His eyes were narrowed for a second before he realized it was you.

“Well, it seems your little dance that’s coming up needs special guarding, so we’re being asked to provide it,” he said, rolling his eyes at the thought.

“I guess you’re another person that would rather not go,” you laughed.

“We could be doing better things, but there is one plus side to going,” he said, turning to hide the smirk that played over his lips.

“Hmm, and what’s that?”

He looked over his shoulder, raising a brow at you and chuckling.

“Oh, wouldn’t you just love to know, princess,” he teased, fingers trailing over the suits as he walked by them. You followed, your eyes catching on the suits that his kept roaming over. 

“Should I make a guess?”

“You can, but I won’t tell you if you’re right.”

“Why? Because you don’t want to admit I’m right?”

“Who said you would be right?” He asked, stopping and turning to look at you again. His eyes sparkled at you, and you felt yourself wanting to fall into them.

“I think the one plus side is that you’ll see me there,” you said. He raised a brow at you, holding your gaze before his eyes wandered above you. He moved forward, getting close to you and reaching up. You had to tilt your head back to look at his face, and your breath hitched when he glanced down at you.

“Pardon me,” he said, “I think I found something I like, and it happens to be behind you.” He gently wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you into his side as he grabbed the suit that had caught his attention. It was a lovely dark grey and red, almost matching the exact tones of his armor.

“I think you would look amazing in that,” you said.

“Oh, I know I would,” he cockily responded.

“Really? You’re that sure?”

“Want me to prove it?”

“Actually, I do,” you said, folding your arms. You watched as he went to the dressing room, and waited for him to come back out. When he did, it took all your strength not to marvel at him.

“Seems like I was right,” he said, noticing your stunned reaction.

“I never said that,” you responded, earning a chuckle from him.

“You don’t need to say it, your face says it all.”

“Well, then I don’t need to say how handsome I think it makes you look.”

When you said that Crosshair had to internally fight himself to not fall apart at your compliment. The way your eyes roamed him was driving him insane. He went back inside and changed out of the suit, walking back out with a new confidence.

“Since you’ve seen me in my suit,” he said, “can I see you in your dress?”

“No!” You immediately responded, surprising him with the sudden outburst.

“Why not?” He asked, confused as to why you reacted that way.

“Don’t you know it’s bad luck to see the dress before the wedding?” You teased, smirking and winking at him. Crosshair, being the man he is, kept his outward expression unfazed, but internally he was dying at your insinuation of a wedding between the two of you. He’d never thought of marriage before, he’d never even thought of romance before he met you. And now the idea of a wedding? Was that something he’d actually want? If it was with you, he didn’t think he’d mind at all.

“Wedding?” He asked, “so you want to get married now?”

“I never said that, but I might not be opposed to it,” you said, taking a slight step forward. He copied your action, smirking down at you.

“Careful, Princess. Getting married isn’t very Jedi of you,” he said, leaning closer.

“Mmm, I’ve never been much of a traditional Jedi, have I?” You asked, wanting to close the now very short distance. You were close enough that you could feel his breath on your lips, and you swore the tension was thick enough to cut through. 

You held his gaze before a small smirk played over his lips. His eyes turned mischievous before you felt him push you back into the wall behind you. You gasped out as he leaned closer, his nose brushing against yours as he placed a hand on either side of your head. You had to reach up and grab the front of his undersuit to stop yourself from falling, your knees feeling like they could give out. His breath fanned over your neck, sending shivers down your spine.

“Y/n? Where are you? We’re about to leave,” Padmé called across the store. You groaned slightly, letting your hands fall from Crosshair’s undersuit while he pulled away and chuckled at you.

“Is the Princess upset she didn’t get what she wanted?” He teased, finger tracing your jawline to your chin and tilting it up to meet his gaze.

“Watch it, snarky,” you shot back playfully.

“Or what?”

“You don’t want to get into something you can’t handle.”

“Oh, I think I can handle you,” he replied smoothly.

“You sure? I’ve had plenty of people try, but they haven’t gotten far. What makes you think you’re better than them?”

“Because I can do this to you,” he said while holding your gaze before a small smirk ghosted his lips. He leaned down again, but instead of connecting your lips in a sweet kiss, he playfully bit your lip and tugged it slightly, causing you to let out a little gasp. He straightened up, taking in your flustered state and smirked at you before walking back towards his brothers.

“I’ve never seen your face more red, or seen you this speechless,” Ahni joked as she appeared by your side. You blinked a few times, pulling yourself back to reality before looking at her.

“Oh, shut up,” you said, face flushing more as you turned around and walked to where Padmé was waiting to leave. 

“Who were you talking to?” She asked, handing you your dress.

“Oh, just Crosshair,” you said.

“Crosshair? He’s here?” She said while looking past you. “Can I go meet him?”

“Not right now, you can wait until the dance,” you said.

“You’re taking him as a date?”

“No, he and the rest of the Batch are going to be there as guards.”

“Guards? What about the Coruscant guard?”

“I have no clue, I only just found out when he told me. Not that I’m upset about their decision,” you said, looking back over to see if you could catch a glimpse of him as you left. 

“I don't want to wait that long to meet him,” she complained.

“It’s only a standard week, you’ll live,” you replied while rolling your eyes.

“I guess, if I must,” she said.

“Come on, I’m cooking dinner tonight, and you guys are helping me,” you said, changing the subject as you began to make your way back to the temple.

“Stemau and ebruah?” Ahni asked.

“Of course! What else would I make,” you laughed, earning eye rolls and giggles from them. 

For the rest of the night, you chatted and caught up, explaining your “getting shot” story further, and earning more remarks about how this was important information to tell them after it happened, not keep hidden from them. Eventually, they went back to their places for the night, and your mind wandered to Crosshair again. You decided to give the Batch a comm call, having missed the rest of them at the shop.

“Y/n!” Wrecker said when he answered.

“Hey Wrecker! How are you?”

“I’m great! We got suits today for that dance, I can’t wait to go!”

“Well, I think you’re one of few people I know that is actually excited,” you commented.

“You’re not excited? But you’re going to have so much fun! Especially if I’m there.”

“I don’t doubt that,” you laughed. 

“Is that y/n?” You heard Hunter’s voice in the background.

“Hey Hunter! How are you?”

“Could be better, but not awful,” he said. “I heard Crosshair ran into you at the shop.”

“Yeah, quite literally a few times,” you said.

“Well, hopefully he didn’t make a fool out of you,” he joked.

“Of course he did, he’s Crosshair. He loves making me flustered.”

“He told us you wouldn’t let him see the dress before the wedding. I wasn't aware you two were that far already.”

“We’re not!” You said defensively. “Not that that would be a bad thing.”

“Better tell him that, I think he’s already in the honeymoon phase.”

“Shut your mouth, di’kut,” you heard a snarky voice comment. “Don’t listen to him, he’s a liar.”

“Aw, and here I thought you liked me,” you said, pretending to pout.

“There’s many things I feel towards you, cyar’ika. I don’t know if there’s even words to describe the right feeling.”

“Perhaps love is the word? Attraction? Lust?” Tech suggested. You giggled to yourself, imagining the annoyance on Crosshair's face. You talked with them for a few hours, catching up on the time you’d been apart. Crosshair was mainly silent, but made a few comments every now and then.

After a while, the other batchers went off to bed, and it was just you and Crosshair talking.

“So, are we going to talk about what happened today?” You asked now that the others were gone.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he responded.

“Really? Are you going to do this every time something happens between us?”

“You’re going to have to be more specific,” he teased.

“The getting up close to me, pushing me into the wall, breathing down my neck and biting my lip. Crosshair, I need you to be honest with me. What is going on between us? What do you want from this?” You waited for a response, but a few moments passed and nothing came. You checked to make sure the comm was still connected, making sure he heard you.

“Crosshair,” you said again.

“I…” he started, but fell silent again. After a few moments, you heard him take a breath before responding. “I don’t know, y/n. I don’t know what this is, or what I want. I just know that I’m doing what feels right, what feels natural. I’m not trying to confuse you. But all this is confusing for me as well.”

“I know, Cross. I just…I don’t want to get my hopes up for nothing.”

“It won’t be nothing, cyar’ika. I can tell you that. I promise, I will give you what I can.”

“Don’t make me promises, Crosshair. Not when we’re in the middle of a war. Not when I’m a Jedi and you’re a clone.”

“Weren’t you the one to tell me that I’m more than a clone? We’re more than a clone and a Jedi, Princess. We can be anything we want to be. And we can be it together.”

You were silent, hardly able to process his words. You wanted to believe them, wanted to believe this was possible. 

“Y/n?”

“I’m still here,” you said quietly. “I’m trusting you, Crosshair. I’m believing you, that we can be more.”

“I won’t let you down,” he replied. You smiled to yourself, trusting fully in this man.

“It’s late, we should be getting to bed,” you said after a moment.

“The Princess does need her beauty sleep,” he joked. You rolled your eyes, though he couldn’t see.

“Goodnight, Cross.”

“Goodnight, Princess cyar’ika,” he said, watching as the comm connection went away.

“I love you,” he whispered to himself.

Tag List! Read this Tag List Info if you would like to be added! 

@imabeautifulbutterfly @nemesis-eris @lightning-wolffe @namesmox @crosshairxs @tacticalsparkles @milppa @techssexythighs @ilikemymendarkandfictional @m-o-o-n-s-g-o-o-n-s @megafrost4 @darkangel4121 @starwarstbbfan @hedahobbit98 @shuttlelauncher81 @rintheemolion @sleepy-tog @littlemisscare-all @nahoney22 @ladykatakuri

[cinlat]

Interview with a Fic Writer

I was tagged by @swtorpadawan​​ (Thanks a bunch!)

I’ll tag @kunoichi-ume​​ @tishinada​​ @dimigex​​ @sleepswithvillains​​ @actualanxiousswampwitch​ @chivalin​​ and anyone else who wants a tag. Feel free to slap my name on it so I can read your answers too.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

42 (I’m now unable to post anymore fics because it’ll mess up this perfect number)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

     923,873

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Family is more than Blood

Heart on a Trigger (the sequel to the above)

Echo of Evil (ffxiv)

The Lost Medallion

Odessen Files

Holy crap, Primal Appetites finally got booted out of the top 5.

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I absolutely do....even if it takes me a minute. I love reading the comments that come to my email, but since those usually reach me away from my computer, I tend to....forget until I log in to publish something.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

That’s a tough one, but I’ll have to go with Soul of the Bes’bev. It ends with Fynta being forced to acknowledge out loud the lengths that she’s willing to go to, to the one person that she never wants to disappoint.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I mean...are we talking smut? Because all of those have happy endings. No? Okay then how about Shenanigans. This fic will always have a special place in my heart.

7. Do you write crossovers?

I have been known to dabble. The only one currently posted is SWTOR/Naruto crossover shared with @dimigex​ involving the disasters that are Fynta Wolfe, Theron Shan, Genma Shiranui, and Kakashi Hatake. The aptly named Tounge-in-Cheek

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

One person disagreed with my interpretation of Ma’at as a slave to her families’ expectations rather than a proper slave in Sithy Bunch, but I’d hardy call it hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Do I write smut, haha. Yes, actually, I do. Mostly aggressive given my main subject matter. It is also playful or a way to express deep emotion that must never be spoken aloud because scary. There is lots of flirting, plenty of biting, and satisfaction for all.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not in the sense that someone specifically singled it out. Just that it’s shown up on websites without my permission.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have, it’s always a fun experience. Namely, Thunder and Scars with @kunoichi-ume​ and Rules of Engagement with @tishinada​

I also have several series where each of us writes a chapter and posts it into the same story with Ume, Dimi, and Tish as well.

13. What’s your all time favourite ship?

I’ll never get enough of these two. Art by the amazing @dingoat​

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish, but don’t think you ever will?

Sadly, probably Generations of War, the continuation of Our Own that introduces Quinn/Sith Warrior and their 4, head strong and very Force sensitive daughters alongside Jorgan’s triplets. I love the story so much, but I have absolutely no idea where to take it. Waht I have published though can be found >HERE<

15. What are your writing strengths?

Action scene, without a doubt. I enjoy writing the flow of a battle or just movement in general.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

All the squishy, gushy stuff that makes of a romance. Legit, I struggle hard with feelings.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I’ve written a lot of Mando’a into my fics. It was daunting at first, then became fun when I needed to figure out how to string something together to make phrase that wasn’t pre-generated by the online dictionary. 

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Probably SWTOR

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet, but want to?

Gears of War. Man, I love those stories so so much, but I just...haven’t written anything for it. I reread their books once a year though.

20. What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

I’m going to have to say my Meet Me on the Battlefield series. I don’t even know how many years I’ve been working on this, but I’m into the final book (that I will finished damn it.) with a few in between novellas, if you want to call them that?

[omlwhatamidoinghere]

Mr. Moreno

Chapter 3: Off-Campus Housing

Summary: Marcus decides it's time for some new scenery during your tutoring session

Warnings: SMUT, language, fluff, teacher x f!student, daddy kink/age kink (all parties are above the age of 18)

Word Count: 3,347!

Check out my masterlist!

_________________

Life has been great!

You're getting good grades, your dad just got a promotion he's been waiting 4 years for, your psychology research was accepted to be part of the department's upcoming journal, and- most importantly- you're sleeping with your professor. Well...maybe "sleeping with" isn't the correct terminology.

The multiple rendez-vous with Mr. Moreno have consisted of him going down on you, you going down on him, your hands down each other's pants and pretty much everything except the main event. That's the one thing he won't do. Yes, you two have definitely had some fun times but he won't go past eating you out and you sucking his cock. Ever since his wife passed, he hasn't had the urge to be with another person in that way. The day he met you, things started to change.

=======

Marcus' daughter, Missy, even noticed he was acting weird that day and confronted him about it. Taking him by the hand to the living room, she sat him down on the couch, "Dad, who is she?" Immediately turning red, "W-what? Who- what are you...I don't...I'm...she's not- she's...why are you-"

"Dad" The pose she strikes radiates the sass that she definitely got from him.

A sigh passes through his lips, "She's...she's just someone I met at work-"

"Someone you LIKE!" Missy cuts him off. She has never seen her dad act this way. She's only heard the stories of how he acted around her mom before they started dating, he must really like this girl.

======

It's not that Marcus hasn't thought about having sex with you- he has and does often- the silver ring that remains on his finger, encompassing the relationship he once had, stirs up this feeling of guilt if he were to have sex with another woman. Even though he knows his late wife wants him to move on and be happy, Marcus still doesn't feel right doing so.

Thank the stars it's the end of the week! Between finishing your project for Mr. Moreno's class and conducting more research for the psychology department, you've been stressed out of your mind. Not only was this week busy, but you also have a test in one of your classes next week. At least today the university decided to give everyone a rest day and treat them to a three-day weekend, even though you're spending it by coming to campus to have Mr. Moreno look over your project. A pleased sigh leaves your lips as you enter the classroom, greeted by a grin from the leader of the Heroics, who is currently talking to one of his fellow teammates, Miracle Guy. He notices his loss of Marcus' attention, immediately realizing who you are, "Well hello there! I've heard so much about you!" If you weren't in the classroom right now, Marcus probably would have knocked him right in the chest. Instead, he turns his head slowly back towards Miracle Guy, his face plastered with a look that can only be taken as 'you need to shut up'.

Setting your bag down as your gaze meets the Heroic's, you're taken back by his last statement, "You...you have?"

"Yeah! Mr. Moreno talks about you all the time! He's always saying how his favorite student is extremely smart and well-rounded!"

Your heart pounds in your ears, hoping Miracle Guy sees past the shade of red currently radiating from your face. You glance over at Marcus and feel heat grow between your legs. If he could kill with a look, Miracle Guy would be dead on the floor right now. The intensity of his stare is enough to make you drop to your knees right there. Your gaze lingers a little too long when Marcus looks over to you and notices your lip between your teeth, his glare changes tones at the sight. The look that fills his wonderfully dark eyes, the same lust-filled look from when he peers up at you from between your legs, causes a flutter deep inside.

"Just fuck each other already!"

Both of you snap from your trance over to Miracle Guy, "What? It's so obvious you both want it! I figured with how much you talk about her, Marcus, that you were already fucking her but I-"

Marcus cuts him off, grabbing his arm and dragging him into his office as you follow with your bag. Shutting the door, Marcus pushes him down into a chair, "We HAVE done stuff." The look on Miracle Guy's face slips to a state of confusion, "But...wait....I thought you said....you told me you haven't..." a sigh passes through Marcus' lips, "We haven't had sex. But we've done other things." A blush dusts your cheeks, Miracle Guy slowly picking up on what Marcus means, "Oooohhhhhhhh....nice! See? Still know how to treat a woman even as an old man-"

"I'm not that old."

"And I really don't care about the age difference." You chime in. Both of them turn to you, "Plus, he's the only man I know that doesn't act like a twelve-year-old," you start to mumble, "Not to mention he's really sexy..."

"What was that?" Marcus leans towards you in hopes of you repeating what you just said. Miracle Guy starts to push, "Yeah I heard you say something but I couldn't tell what it was-"

"I said he's really sexy. Just because he's older doesn't mean he isn't sexy."

Marcus' face matches the embarrassed shade of your own, "You...you think I'm sexy?" Your eyes turn to meet his, "Well yeah! Have you seen yourself?" Miracle Guy remains with his jaw on the floor as the two men take in what you said. A few minutes pass before anyone says anything again, "I think I'm gonna head out. It was nice to finally meet you!" Miracle Guy reaches out to shake your hand. Reaching out to shake his, "A pleasure to meet you as well! Hopefully next time we run into each other it won't be as awkward. Thanks for not telling anyone." With a nod, he steps out of the office, leaving you and Marcus. His eyes lock on yours as he closes the distance between your bodies. Warm, strong hands gently caress your arms, his breath is hot against your ear, "So...you think I'm sexy?" His voice, deep and husky as he moves down to your neck. His teeth graze your skin, a gasp leaves your lips, "Marcus..." His name is a soft whisper filled with desperation. You move your hand up to his hair, your fingers running through each strand causing Marcus to release a low growl against your neck as he continues leaving marks. "Marcus, wait...I need you to....I came in to...-" his lips still on your neck, "Tell me baby." "Why is it so difficult to say something as easy as I came in to see if you could look at my paper?" This man has so much power over you and all he's done so far today is kiss your neck and whisper in your ear. Granted, you can't help but think of all the things he's done to you previously. Stars, you can't help but imagine how amazing he must be in bed...so strong...taking control of you...- see this? This is why he has so much power over you; you can't stop thinking of him. "Baby?" His glasses bump into your jaw as he pulls back to look at you, "What is it?"

"I came in to see if you...um...if you could look over my project?"

His look of realization as he fixes his glasses makes you giggle, "I completely forgot about that...I saw your email and everything and I was going to write you back but then Miracle Guy called and said he was coming in to visit and I got distracted but yes I would love to look over your project." Grabbing your paper out of your bag, still flustered from everything that just happened prior to this moment. Handing it to Marcus, you both take a seat at his desk. He reads over it, paying attention to every detail, biting his lip in concentration. "What the hell? Can you think about anything other than him bending you over his desk and- who are you kidding, of course you can't." He notices your gaze drifting off as he peeks up at you from your paper, "Sweetheart..." You don't hear him talking to you as your mind continues to wander, "...his hands on you...his lips on your body...with how he big he feels in your mouth imagine how he feels in your-" he tries to get your attention again, "Hello? Are you alright?" Still not hearing him, "...and his beard against your skin, especially on your neck and between your thighs..." You still don't notice him as he walks around his desk and leans back against it right in front of you, "Sweetheart, are you alright?" Finally, you come back to your senses. Feeling extremely embarrassed, your cheeks flush red, giving away exactly what was going on in your thoughts. A smirk decorates Marcus' face while he rolls up his sleeves, drawing your attention to his now exposed forearms. "What was going on in that pretty little head of yours, sweetheart?" Even though you two have done a lot together, you still avert your gaze from his, still too shy to admit the dirty thoughts you have of him...not to mention how often you think those thoughts. He gently grabs your chin between his thumb and index finger, forcing you to meet his eyes. Pulling you closer, Marcus' lips barely graze against yours, his breath hot on your skin. His voice drops into a low gravely tone, "Tell Daddy what you were thinking about, all those dirty thoughts that I know run through your mind...be a good girl and tell me..." Your breath leaves your body in a soft moan. Trying to collect yourself, "I was...I-I was thinking of....umm...you...your...uh..I..."

"If you tell me, I just may do it..."

A gasp powers you to kind of form a sentence, "I w-was thinking about you...and what you do to me...and the all the things you could do to me...being underneath you...nearly breaking whatever you're pounding me into..." Marcus lets out a low moan as he pulls you in and kisses you, his tongue already finding its way past your lips. The sounds you make in response cause him to press against his pants. His hands find their way into your hair and on your lower back, pulling you closer. He continues to moan as you kiss, "Damn he's so hot when he moans. Oh my STARS I want to really hear him moan" He pulls back, his hands still on you, "Baby, we should go somewhere..." slightly confused on his comment, "What? Where would we..what do you mean?" His eyes grow dark with lust again, "Some place where we won't get caught when I make you scream my name so much you forget your own..." A whimper escapes your lips faster than you can process Marcus' words. "I'll take that as a yes. Where should we go sweetheart?" You pause a moment to consider, "Well, my apartment is two minutes away. I can send you my address and you can meet me over there." Giving you another kiss before pulling back again, "Sounds like a plan. I'll be over in a few." As you fix yourself up and start to walk away, Marcus quickly reaches out, giving you a quick smack, winking at you with a cheeky grin when you turn to look back at him.

You make it to your car and back to your apartment within a few minutes. Racing inside, you see that none of your roommates are home, remembering they left for the weekend. Quickly climbing the stairs up to your room, you change your bra and underwear to the set you just bought a few days ago, put some dirty clothes in the laundry basket and make sure everything is cleaned up, not forgetting to light a nice candle to set the mood a little more. A few minutes pass and you hear a car door as a text pops up on your screen

"Come open the door, baby ;)"

Trying not to fall down the stairs as you eagerly skip steps, you finally reach the door. Doing one last appearance check, you open the door. On the other side, Marcus leans with one arm against the door frame, closing the gap between your bodies as soon as the door closes behind him. His lips almost on yours, "Where's your room?" Grabbing onto his tie, you pull him in for a kiss, "Up the stairs, the door next to the bath-" before you could finish your sentence, Marcus had you up and over his shoulder, walking up the stairs. Reaching behind him, he waves his hand and locks the door. Once he reaches your room, he lays you down on the bed, kicking off his shoes and climbing on top of you, that familiar look floods his deep eyes again. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this, sweetheart." Giving him a smirk, "You have no idea how many times I've gotten myself off to the thought of you." His lips meet yours in a heated clash. Your arms find their way around his neck as his hands find the button to your jeans. Marcus pulls back to slip off your shirt before kissing down your body; on your lips, to your jaw, down your neck, down your chest, past your stomach. Carefully sliding your jeans off, he continues to kiss your body as it becomes exposed. Soft whimpers from you and groans from Marcus fill the room, his lips never leaving your skin. His teeth grab onto your thigh, forcing a loud moan to escape from your throat. Marcus peers up at you with that infamous look of his, "Ooo, baby likes that, doesn't she?" He bites down on you again, getting the same reaction as before, "You sound so pretty. So good for me." His words only turn you on more. "P-please....please....I..I-I need..." He moves back up to your face, "What is it sweetheart?" You moan breathily in his ear, "I need you. Please, Mr. Moreno..." The groan that comes from his lips makes you even hotter for him, your wetness growing rapidly. Even in class, when you call him "Mr. Moreno", your innocent voice masking your filthy intent, his zipper threatens to break from how hard his cock gets. Burying his face in your neck, Marcus' mustache scratching against your delicate skin, "Say it again," his voice dropping to a growl, "say my name again." His hips begin to create friction between your legs while he awaits your response. The things this man does to you, you feel as if you could get off just from him grinding into you as his voice resonates through your soul. Biting the bottom of your ear, he forces sounds to escape your lips but no words can form, "Come on, baby. Be a good girl for me"

"Mr. Moreno, pleeeaaassee"

His lips travel back down your body as he begins to pull you apart, thread by thread. Settling back between your thighs, his hot breath sends a shiver through you. His tongue licks through your folds, already drenched and melting in his touch. "Already so wet for me, baby" he slips two fingers inside you, "How often have you gotten yourself off to the thought of me, baby?" A moan brings an answer to your lips, "All the time...I think about you all the time....think about you touching me...your strong arms around my waist...your hands on me...you-your fingers...doing..."

"Doing this?"

A curve in his fingers guides you closer to the edge. His name escapes your mouth in a chant, the only word your mind can conjure. The sounds you sing only make his aching stronger and stronger until he snaps, "Baby, I need to be inside of you." Your head moves to meet his eyes as he carefully takes his fingers out of you and places them in his mouth. A groan rumbles through his chest as he cleans them off, keeoing eye contact the entire time. Biting your lip, you hold back a moan as you watch Marcus undress before you, taking in the jaw-dropping sight of his naked body. You sit up and crawl to meet him at the foot of the bed, your hands discovering his skin, your lips are soft against his tanned and toned chest. His hands gently push against your shoulders, "As nice as that feels, there's something tighter I wanna feel around me. Be a good girl and lay back for Daddy." The growl sounding like a command, you do as he tells you. Climbing on top of you, his hands land on either side of your head, dragging your focus up his flexed muscles and to his lustful eyes. You can see the hesitation behind his prowling gaze. Arms and legs wrapping around him, "It's alright, Marcus. I want you inside of me." Quickly wrapping himself with you still hanging on him, he lines his cock up with your dripping entrance, carefully pushing into you. Moans rip through your apartment as he takes it slow, easing you onto his size. "I'm gonna start moving, alright baby?" You release a breath you didn't realize you were holding, "Okay. I'm ready."

Easing himself out of you so it's only the tip of his cock left inside, he pushes in slightly harder than before, still adjusting to you, "Ugh....your so tight baby...so tight for Daddy...so wet..." His lips entertain the delicate skin of your neck,your moans and whimpers echoing in his ears, flipping a switch that send his hips into a faster pace. The skin about his cock passes over your clit with every thrust, taking you higher and higher. Your eyes meet as he moves his head back, your lips grazing as you pant against each other. Marcus leans into you depper than before, his mouth meeting yours just in time to swallow the yelp that soars from you. His tongue dancing on your lips, begging for entrance. Parting them slightly, he groans at the feel of you. His kisses travel to your jaw before his lips guide his breath against your ear, "Good girl. Moan for me, baby. Your sound make me want to fuck you until you can only think of me...what I do to you...how much I stretch you..." His husky voice rattles you to the core, clenching tight around his cock. "I'm gonna...please let me come, sir." Marcus pulls back again to look into your eyes, "Come for me, baby. Come for Daddy. You're such a good girl for me." Your climax slams into you at his words just as he chases his release.

Rolling onto his back, he pulls you to his chest, "That...that was...I haven't done that in forever. Was it okay?" You turn your head up to look at him, "Okay? Marcus that was the best sex I've ever had! You really know how to treat a woman." You both chuckle, "Thank you, honey. That means a lot. But..um...what you said earlier about me to Miracle Guy..."

"Y-yes?"

"Is it true?"

"Marcus, I wouldn't lie about that. You're really fucking sexy."

"Honey you're too-"

*buzzzzz*

*buzzzzz*

*buzzzzz*

Marcus' phone begins to ring. Reaching over carefully as not to disturb your comfortable position, he answers it. Still trying to catch his breath, "Hello?"

"Hey pal, it's Miracle Guy. Make sure you turn off your talk to text next time you and hot stuff get together"

Taglist: @no-droids @autumnleaves1991-blog @absurdthirst @velvetmel0n @wyn-n-tonic @leaderoftheheroics @finerthisboutique

[neonacity]

Chapter 10: Clytemnestra

Summary:

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”

An NCT mafia AU with OT23. Summary: Working for the mafia comes with many layers. There’s excitement, violence, loss, and betrayals. Yet there’s also friendship, family, loyalty, and code. The last thing it needs? Love and all the complexities it brings.

TW: violence, death, mentions of sex, drugs, and other illegal activities. If you’re uncomfortable with any of these, feel free to skip. Author’s note: This is purely a work of fiction. In no way am I supporting all the illegal activities and behaviors that might be mentioned in the story nor am I implying that any member of NCT acts whichever way I may write them here.

Chapter 9: In Memoriam

MASTERLIST

Fic Trailer

Chapter Music: I See Red by Everybody Loves an Outlaw

----

"What did he say?"

My eyes scanned over the words written over the piece of paper for the last time. There isn't much there, but I feel like there's something crucial I was missing. I looked up at Taeyong and shook my head. 

"Nothing much. But he wanted me to meet up with him."

"Did he give you an address?"

"No. Which makes it all the more strange. Unless he is planning to send another letter?" I handed him the piece of paper which he quickly unfolded to read. A slight frown settled between his brows as he went over it. 

There were only two lines there, none of which really makes sense. 

I will be waiting. 

22:00. Black Daisies. 

"Do you have any idea what Black Daisies mean?" 

I shook my head, mirroring the same look of confusion on his face. I've been racking my brains about it for the past few minutes but couldn't think of anything that might be related to it. 

"I honestly have no idea. He wrote a time beside it… so I am assuming whatever Black Daisies is, it's a code for a place? I don't have any idea which location he is referring to though." 

Taeyong simply looked at me silently before finally folding the paper away. We were back in my room after he temporarily managed to save me from the barrage of questions I was sure the others wanted to ask when they found out the letter was addressed for me. 

Every day I feel like the line I'm toeing gets more and more dangerous. Like a high strung tight rope that's ready to give up under my footing.

"You're not going to him." 

I looked up to meet his eyes. 

"I wasn't planning to..." 

Taeyong's gaze didn't waver.

"Promise me."

"Why?"

"Because I know you'll change your mind in a heartbeat once he involves anyone you care about. So I need you to promise, even if he uses me or any of our friends."

My lips pursed and I evaded his gaze. I heard a soft shuffling of feet and felt my mattress dip as he sat beside me. Taeyong didn't need to touch me to affect me with his presence. After that brief moment of vulnerability that we shared earlier, something has shifted. I thought I will be able to put my walls up again just as easily as I took them down, but it seems like I was wrong. 

When he spoke again, his voice was lower. Softer. 

"Promise me." 

"Is that an order from my leader?"

"No, it is a request from a friend." 

I turned to look at him and cocked my brow to diffuse the tension in the air. 

"You're ordering your noona around?" 

His lips quirked ever so slightly into a smile. 

"You're only one year older…"

"Hey. Emergency meeting."

"And seven months. One year and seven months. Don't forget that," I said, looking away.

A sharp knock on my door got our attention at that moment and we both looked up to see Doyoung standing on the threshold. He looked grim as he moved his gaze from Taeyong to me. 

-----

Jaehyun sat at the very back of the room that had filled up with all the members after Doyoung sent his urgent message. Everyone was scattered in the expansive space which seemed a little bit smaller now that WayV has joined, some sitting on the leather stools while others made do with the floor. Jungwoo and Taeil were deep in conversation beside him while Johnny and Yuta stood next to the door, flanking the entrance with their overwhelming presence. Being the main fighters of 127, it comes natural for the pair to be on the watch regardless if it's just an internal family meeting that's happening.

...Except this is not just an ordinary meeting. Jaehyun hasn't heard the full story from Doyoung yet after he came back from his business, but he has a pretty good idea of what the issue might be. Despite being just one of the crime families under the current Don's network, NCT does follow the traditional mafia ranking within its system. Doyoung works as the Consigliere to Taeyong's Capocrimine, taking over the responsibility of being the advisor and overall gatekeeper of NCT to the outside world. His connections give him access to normal society, which means if he calls for a meeting, it is probably an issue involving the "above ground." 

Taeyong walked in with an unreadable expression that made everyone fall silent in a heartbeat. He joined Doyoung in front of the room and looked over the crowd before finally speaking. 

"Has anyone here given any orders to their crew about stepping up any of our activities?"

The members exchanged confused looks between each other. Mark answered in lieu of Dream, Jeno looking just as confused beside him. 

"Not us. Why? What's up?"

Taeyong looked at Doyoung who grimly picked a folder on the table. The latter started reading the contents of it out loud into the room. 

"Heist in Dongjak district. The biggest bank there was ransacked last week. Cops also busted an illegal racing event last night. The other day, there was an ambush on one of the strip clubs at Guro. News came around that a new drug was being sold there after a rise of reported overdose deaths from it three days ago. Businesses that should be under our protection in Seocho are being ransacked despite them settling their tariff fees with us," Doyoung looked up from the paper he was reading and swept his gaze over the room. 

"That's just four of the 18 other cases that I got for the last week."

Everyone exchanged shocked looks with each other. Jeno decided to speak up, the expression on his eyes intense. 

"Hyung, it's not us. We haven't done any heists since you came back from Tokyo."

Doyoung gave a tight nod and looked over to Johnny and Yuta.

"The drugs in Guro?" 

"Not from us. The last ones we distributed are those we got from Japan and they're just psychedelic shots. They're clean." 

"WayV…?"

"We didn't bring any with us when we landed. Our jet can only fit the crates of armory we had to transport for you guys," Kun said with a frown. 

Taeyong ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath. 

"Taeyong, what's happening?"

It was Doyoung who answered for him. 

"There was a rise of undocumented cases that were being fed to the cops in the past weeks. According to the reports, they were done by us." 

"What? That doesn't make any sense," Yuta said from his position by the door.

"It does make a lot of sense, actually. Obviously, we're hands off from all of these so they can only be done by the smaller gangs that we don't manage. And it all started after that announcement was made."

"But those rats wouldn't have any confidence to go against us. They're too small and disorganized to do this. And to even claim that they're NCT? That's just impossible."

"It is possible, if there is someone bigger asking them to act up," Taeyong answered grimly. Jaehyun watched as the man's gaze quickly flickered over to the pale female face sitting on the couch between Chenle and Renjun. That's when it clicked. 

Of course, Jihoon wouldn't be too lax to actually lie low after the bombing of Anarchy. That was just the start.

"Are you sure this isn't Wonho's doing?" Ten asked with concern. "We just got word from our network in Beijing that he was peddling women from kidnappings."

Jaehyun's attention snapped to the boy then at Doyoung and Taeyong at the mention of the name. A heavy feeling quickly started to gather on the pit of his stomach as he waited for their answer.

"That's an entirely different case altogether. But you’re right. The feds caught wind that he was trafficking kidnapped tourists and now they're after his ass." 

"Did he claim his case to be connected to us, too?"

"No. But because of all these other things happening, the police are definitely pinning everything on us."

"Shit," Lucas whispered loud enough for the good half of the room to hear. Jaehyun mirrored the same internally, his hands clasped together tightly in front of him. 

Shit indeed. 

This was all supposed to be a no brainer. He only needed to help the asshole get out of the country and then he can brush him off like dirt from his hands after. Why didn't he do it before things hit the fan? Now everything has become so much more complicated.

"How bad is it?" Taeil asked from Jaehyun's left. 

"Bad enough for us to be in the 8pm news. According to our moles, the Chief of Police is going to announce the manhunt for us tonight."

The room has gone so silent and still that the air felt suffocating. If there is one thing NCT is known for in the underworld, it is the group's efficiency and cleanliness when it comes to its operations. Every job done is spotless, every loophole covered. Until now. 

"Can't we pay off—" 

"We can't. We already tried reaching out to all our associates within the force but they can't do anything about it," Taeyong answered before Taeil could even finish the question. "The cases have reached the public and now there's an outcry from the community. Even the police are pressured to do something."

A round of murmurs swept over the room. Finally, one female voice broke through it to ask the question nobody wanted to say out loud. 

"What are we going to do?"

Taeyong's jaw tightened and he unclasped his arms crossed over his chest. 

"We need to track all those gangs doing these activities and put them in their place. It's going to be difficult to hunt each of them down with their size so we will need to use most of our resources here. Reach out to all the connections you could think of. We don't need more crimes being blamed on us."

Everyone's eyes were on Taeyong as the group waited for what he's going to say next. He stopped for a bit before finally speaking again. 

"And we kill Jihoon. This isn't going to stop until he's gone." 

Glances were exchanged within the room as his words sank in. Jaehyun didn't want to break the silence but he knew that he didn't have any other choice but to ask the next question. 

"And Wonho? What are we going to do with him?"

It was Doyoung who answered this time. 

"We'll kill him, too. We've given him way too many chances already. Once we get rid of him, we take the credit and let the cops know about it. Take them off our backs for a bit. We'll take care of him this week." 

It was fortunate that Jaehyun has mastered the art of keeping an unreadable facade. In his head, the words of the woman he loves echoed once again as the consequences of the situation mocked him. 

"No betrayal… or death of a brother shall be held against any of you." 

-----

Johnny threw his half finished cigarette on the gravelled road with a quick flick of his wrist. He scanned the length of the building from across the wall he is leaning on, gaze shadowed by the cap pulled low against his face. Of course, Jihoon would have the audacity and gall to choose a luxury apartment unit as his mistress' "hiding place" in Seoul. The motherfucker is one proud asshole, acting as if he owns any territory he steps on like the crazy psycho he is. 

He's not here for him though, no. Johnny isn't the type to act out on his own, but things are slowly starting to get messy within the family. People may always credit Taeyong for being the first one to step in the line of fire when it comes to protecting the group, but Johnny is a close second when it comes to his sense of loyalty. Ever since that day he was picked up and saved from that hell of underground brawls at 17 by Taeyong himself, he made it his personal promise to do anything to protect his home. 

That's exactly what he is doing now as he buried his hands in the pockets of his jeans, waiting for his prey. If his informant was correct, she should go out of the building doors any minute now. 

30 seconds. 40. 56. 

His eyes caught a familiar form slipping out of the main entrance of the complex. The woman was wearing more casual clothes now than when they last met at Anarchy, but Johnny knew it was her despite her hoodie shielding the good half of her face. His sharp eyes followed her, allowing her to put some distance between them before he finally pushed himself from the wall to trace her steps.

She had crossed three streets when he really started catching up with her. He waited until the traffic light turned red on the street she was about to cross before slinging his arm around her casually. 

The woman stiffened instantly in his arms and looked up at him in shock. Johnny smiled casually down at her and pressed the cold nose of the gun hidden under his jacket closer to her ribcage.

"If you don't make a racket, there won't be a need for a murder scene by this road."

She pursed her lips as anger flashed in her eyes. She gave a tight nod before directing her gaze back into the street ahead.

"Good girl. Go straight then turn left. There's an abandoned building on the third alley." 

The two of them immediately started walking, sides pressed closely together. She didn't speak, but Johnny could feel her anger just bubbling underneath.

He unceremoniously pushed her inside the abandoned shop when they finally reached it. She turned to him with a glare and he didn't hesitate to raise his gun to her face, cocking it slowly. 

The move made her brows raise. Instead of looking threatened, she crossed her arms over her chest. 

"What do you want?"

"Your boyfriend's head on a stick. When are you two going to leave us alone? Your lot is causing a lot of trouble for us already."

"Are you here to kill me then?" 

"Oh no. You're here as payment. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts after we mess up one of his own." 

The woman stared at him for a long moment. Johnny’s gun didn’t waiver during the stare down, his hand steady as their gazes clashed. Then, all of a sudden, she did something he wasn’t expecting at all. 

She laughed.

She laughed so hard her voice rang and bounced on the dusty corners of the room. Johnny reigned in the confusion that overtook him with a frown. Is she acting to throw him off track?

The girl straightened up and looked at him with pure amusement in her eyes. The smirk playing on her lips told him that there is more to this act than what he is seeing. 

“Oh sweetie, I’m so sorry. You stalked me thinking you’ll budge Jihoon by threatening me? That’s so, so, so amusing.” 

Johnny tightened his jaw but didn’t say a word. He watched as she started moving towards where he is standing, her eyes never leaving his. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as she stalked him, and for the first time, he actually took a good long look at her eyes. What Johnny saw there hit him like a firetruck. 

Jihoon’s madness, exactly reflected in her own gaze.

She stopped an inch away from his gun. If she moved a little, the cold metal of it would have kissed her forehead. 

“You could kill me now or torture me to death and my brother wouldn’t bat an eye… In fact, he might even thank you,” she whispered softly, almost fondly. Johnny felt the hair at the back of his neck rise. His emotions must have briefly flashed on his face because her smile widened in amusement. 

“Here’s one thing you don’t understand about Jihoon. He absolutely doesn’t care about anyone else other than himself. All these things he is doing? They are all for his sick fun. He is mad. Inhuman. If you want to have any chance of winning this, you have no other choice but to play the game with him.” 

“You’re his sister.”

“Half sister. That doesn’t change anything. I’m just a piece on his chessboard. I would honestly let you kill me now if you want to, but I can’t. Not until I finish what I have to do.”

Johnny didn’t know what got to him but he found himself slowly lowering his gun. The two of them stared at each other, silent, for what felt like forever. Finally, she moved to walk past him. 

“If that’s all, then I’ll go ahead. I suggest you find a better informant next time. Jihoon doesn’t stay in my building at all. Even I don’t know where he is,” she said casually as she moved towards the door. 

“I have no other choice. But believe me when I say that I want him dead just as much as you do.” 

“If he doesn’t care about you, why are you sticking with him?” he asked just as she wrapped her hand on the door handle. She stilled, her shoulders stiff. Johnny is not an ace when it comes to psychological games but when she turned to look at him again, he knew for sure that her eyes were honest despite being devoid of emotions. 

That made him stop. Before he knew it, he was speaking again to ask the one question that he’s been trying to answer ever since they met at Anarchy.

“Why did you save me? Back in the club. I was standing directly above your bomb.” 

For a while, she didn’t answer. Johnny thought he saw a flicker of emotion pass through her eyes, but it was gone before he could process it. 

“I wonder why too.”

The door closed behind her, leaving him alone in the shadowed room. 

----

Chapter 11

Tag list: @hen-marks99, @negincho, @nctisthecity

[snowdice]

Big Bang Editing Story [Day 120]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story years ago, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag ‘proofread stories.’ I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53

I have a list of tasks I need to finish, but some of them might take a while. So, expect there to be long breaks between sections.

Chapter 54 (Patton)

“I still can’t believe he’s allowing this,” King Thomas said from next to Patton. The two of them were standing at the edge of the arena outside the horse stable, watching from a safe distance.

“If he hadn’t tried to bite me earlier, I’d think he was a different horse,” Patton agreed.

“He doesn’t even let Logan ride him,” the king said. “At least not ride him and give him directions.”

Patton was very aware of that. Logan did on occasion choose to get up onto Mr. Apples’ saddle. However, Mr. Apples was always the once who got to decide where they went after that. Logan had no say.

With that in mind, Patton, Logan, and every stable hand who’d heard about the prospective riding lessons had tried to convince Virgil to learn to ride on a different horse. Virgil was just as stubborn as Mr. Apples however and had insisted. Logan, being the only one who could be around Mr. Apples without risking being kicked, had become his de facto tutor.

Not even Logan could have expected that within a week, Virgil would be able to control Mr. Apples. Though perhaps ‘control’ was the wrong word. Nothing could control Mr. Apples, but for some reason, Mr. Apples seemed willing to do as Virgil asked.

Even right now Mr. Apples was trotting around the training arena like he was a well-trained trick horse warming up with his rider.

“Logan told him we could go on an actual ride today if the lesson went well,” Patton told the king. The lesson seemed to be just getting over because Logan said something to Virgil and Virgil started to climb off. Mr. Apples was patient and still as he dismounted.

“Do you think he’d mind if I went with you?” King Thomas asked.

Patton shrugged. “Mr. Apples might.”

“Mr. Apples definitely will,” the king replied. “I’ll come anyway.”

Logan had walked over to where Patton and the king were standing while Virgil fed Mr. Apples some apple pieces as a reward.

“I hear you’re going to go riding today,” King Thomas said.

Logan nodded. “Mr. Apples seems to listen to him well enough,” he said.

“I might join you if that’s alright. Where are you kids going?” the king asked.

“I was thinking the main forest path,” Logan replied. “It’s not a particularly difficult route, but it’s also a part of the castle grounds Virgil hasn’t been able to see yet. Loraine told me it has been recently cleared after the winter.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” the king said. “Are you going now?”

“Once Patton and I saddle up our horses,” Logan said. “You can come.”

“Great,” the king said with a smile. “I’ll ask for Bella’s saddle to be brought out. I haven’t gone on a ride yet this week.”

He turned then to walk towards the stables leaving Patton and Logan alone.

“Do you think he’s been acting weird?” Logan asked, turning towards Patton.

Patton frowned. “No,” he said. “Not really.”

“I’m just wondering why he wants to go horseback riding with us.”

“He likes spending time with you?” Patton guessed.

“Yes,” Logan said, “but typically in a setting that doesn’t involve Mr. Apples.”

Well, that was fair.

“I mean, it’s not too weird,” Patton said, thinking back through the last couple of days. King Thomas had been a bit… clingy.

“He’s been hanging around a lot,” Logan said, echoing Patton’s thoughts with narrowed eyes. He glanced back at Virgil. “You don’t think Virgil let something slip, do you?”

“He didn’t say anything,” Patton said. “I think your dad would say something if Virgil let slip he was an assassin somehow.”

“Unless he let slip something that didn’t quite implicate himself but invited suspicion.”

“Your dad doesn’t seem suspicious,” Patton said. At least, Patton didn’t think he did. He hadn’t been acting mean in any way. In fact, he might have even been acting nicer.

Logan frowned. “We should keep an eye on him, especially around Virgil.”

Patton bit his lip.

“What?” Logan asked.

“Are we ever going to tell your dad about Virgil?” he asked.

Logan hesitated. “I don’t…” he trailed. “I’m not sure.”

“It just feels weird lying for so long,” Patton said. Patton didn’t lie a lot. Sure, maybe he’d pretend to not know what Mama was talking about when sweets went missing from the kitchens or he’d pretend to not know what Logan’s birthday gift was, but he’d never lied about anything serious before now.

“I know, but,” Logan glanced back at Virgil once again, “even if we did decide to tell, we’d have to convince Virgil everything would be alright beforehand. I don’t think we’re at that point yet. He was terrified of Father until a few months ago, and he’s still cautious around him sometimes.”

Logan was right, of course. Virgil was getting more and more comfortable around the king, but he figured any of the progress made would go down the drain as soon as they brought up telling King Thomas about where exactly Virgil had come from. Patton didn’t know if Virgil would ever be comfortable enough.

“We should go get our own horses,” Logan suggested, and Patton nodded.

Patton and Logan’s horses had already been saddled by the stable hands in anticipation of their ride and it didn’t take long for the king to saddle his own horse, Bella.

The forest path at this time of year was very pretty, Patton thought. The tree branches now had small green leaves on them after having been barren for the entire winter and flowers were starting to grow. In a few weeks’ time it would be even prettier, but it would also be harder for the groundskeeper to maintain as well as it was right now.

Virgil really did seem less anxious around King Thomas now. The path was only wide enough for two horses to go at once, and he didn’t seem to mind that he and the king ended up next to each other while Patton and Logan lagged behind. In fact, he and the king seemed to be having a nice conversation about the local wildlife.

However, if Patton looked close enough, he did sort of see what Logan meant. Virgil may not be anxious talking to the king now, but the king himself seemed just a little bit nervous at least at the beginning of the ride.

He seemed to relax a bit as they rode (even laughing when Mr. Apples tried to bite him when he got too close).

Logan had been teaching Virgil the basics about things like animals, but there was still a pretty big gap in his education when it came to anything that wasn’t about training to fight and kill. King Thomas seemed more than willing to answer any of his questions when it came to the animals and plants around them even if they were sometimes a bit silly.

He’d seen a bird that looked like a dove. (It may have even been a dove, but Patton hadn’t seen it.) This had been a source of endless confusion for him.

“But shouldn’t it live in the dovecote?” Virgil asked.

“Not all birds live in a dovecote,” the king explained again.

“But it’s a dove,” Virgil said with a frown.

“Not all doves live in a dovecote,” the king replied.

“But it’s a dovecote,” Virgil argued. “It’s for the doves.”

“Yes, but there are also wild doves,” the king said.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Virgil replied.

“What about it doesn’t make sense?” the king asked with a laugh in his tone.

“Doves go in the dovecote,” Virgil said.

Patton was starting to have trouble following this argument.

“Dovecotes are made for doves,” the king said, “but not all doves go in dovecotes.”

“Why?”

This seemed to stump the king momentarily, but he still answered after thinking for a bit. “Doves existed before people got to them,” the king explained. “People caught and trained some of them, but there was no way to catch all of them. So, some stayed in the wild and continued with their lives like they had been before humans. Plus, sometimes domesticated doves fly off and never come back. Sometimes they might die, but other times they may have just gotten lost and had to build a new life somewhere far away. Or maybe they even decided that being a trained dove working for humans wasn’t for them, so they decided to go off on their own.”

“You let them do that?” Virgil asked.

“We can’t really stop them in the end,” the king said. “People can try, but it never ends up working as long as they can fly.”

Virgil thought about this. “I still don’t understand,” he said, “but okay.”

“We should take you to the cliffs,” the king suggested.

“What are the cliffs?”

“The castle grounds were built for defense,” King Thomas explained. “The edge of the grounds to the North is a large river and overlooking it is a huge cliff. It’s a good place for picnics and for birdwatching. It’s a bit of a trip, but now would be a good time of year to go.”

He glanced over his shoulder back at Logan and Patton. “What do you boys think about going to the cliffs sometime? Maybe in about a week?”

Logan squinted at his father suspiciously. It wasn’t so much the fact that the king was asking them to go to the cliffs. They did that every so often. However, this time, it only supported Logan’s claims that the king was hanging out with them a lot recently.

“Sure,” Logan said, after a moment.

“Sounds fun!” Patton said cheerily right after, trying to cover for the lack of enthusiasm in Logan’s voice with his own. Judging by King Thomas’s expression and Logan’s tight-lipped scowl, he may have overcompensated.

“Great,” the king said. “I’ll” make sure to make arrangements when we get back to the castle.”

Chapter 55 (Logan)

            Virgil was beginning to be able to read some of the common instructions in magic books, but Logan still made sure to read out the instructions to him at least twice before setting him loose. He’d started to jot down notes to himself about things, though these notes were not words, but various symbols that only made sense to the boy himself.

            Logan had asked about their meaning at one point and received an answer that, while earnest, was unintelligible. The symbols were mostly just pictures of things to represent certain steps in spell casting, but they were filtered through Virgil’s rudimentary penmanship and often bizarre perception of the world.

Though, despite the fact that Logan could not often decipher his chicken scratch, it did seem to help him produce impressively quality charms even as Logan began to introduce more complicated processes to make them. He was a very good student even if he didn’t have the best foundation for learning.

“I add lavender for the next step, right?” Virgil asked, his finger on a word in Logan’s magic book.

“That is correct,” Logan confirmed.

Virgil looked back at the book and mouthed the word ‘lavender’ to himself before turning back to his potion. He grabbed a few sprigs of lavender and threw them into the cauldron.

The liquid popped and bubbled violently, but Virgil didn’t flinch as he once would have, prepared for it now.

After the lavender, Logan knew that it would have to simmer for 5 minutes. Virgil looked down at the boiling liquid, contemplating it for a long moment.

“Can I soak a knife in it?” he asked.

“What?” Logan asked.

“Can I soak a knife in the potion once it’s done?”

“In that potion?” Logan clarified. “In the emergency hand warmer potion?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I think a hot knife would be useful,” Virgil said.

“For what?”

Virgil shrugged. “Cooking food on the road,” he said, “burning wood, stabbing someone and immediately cauterizing the wound.”

“That is… not a standard use for this potion,” Logan said.

Virgil titled his head at him. “Would it work though?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Logan contemplated. “Perhaps. The potion can cause burns if one uses too much of it or if it is used without an appropriate layer between it and the skin. If one were to pick a knife with enough surface area and let it soak long enough, it could in theory get hot enough to do as desired. Hmm…” he thought about it. “There would perhaps be the problem of the potion not sticking to the knife very long as it is intended to soak into fabric. However, cardamom could solve that issue as long as it doesn’t interact with any other ingredients. Let me see that spell.”

Virgil stepped out of his way so he could study the page. “Yes,” Logan said after scanning through all of the ingredients. “I think coriander would work for something like that. Let me go find some.”

He turned to walk towards where he kept his supplies of potion ingredients. Virgil followed on his heals.

“Can we use a serrated knife?”

“Oh, that’s a good idea, Virgil,” Logan said, nodding as he searched through the cupboard that should hold the coriander. “The knife being serrated would help keep the potion stuck to the blade after many uses and would increase the surface area.”

“That was certainly my intentions,” Virgil said smoothly. There was something odd about the tone that had Logan turning to him and blinking at him. Virgil just smiled at him innocently and Logan turned back to the cabinet finally locating the coriander.

“So how are we going to use that?” Virgil asked.

“We’ll put it in right before the last step and let it sit for about 3 minutes,” Logan said. “If it doesn’t quite work, we may need to make another batch. There are options other than coriander, but that’s the first idea that comes to mind and it a lot simpler if it works.”

He continued to speak of the many other options they could try as they returned to the caldron as well as how they could test the hot knife. It was already about time for the next step and Virgil did it without interrupting Logan’s rant.

Virgil listened to his suggestions with interest all while still making sure the potion he was making was progressing well.

Logan did eventually take over to finish the potion with the revised steps he’d come up with and they ended up with a potion that looked perfect except it was a few shades darker than the one they’d originally been planning to make.

“Well, it looks good,” Logan declared. “We will need to acquire a knife to test its effectiveness, however.”

“There are a few good ones in the kitchen,” Virgil pointed out. “I especially like the one 10 inch one with the black and white handle.”

“You have been eyeing up the kitchen knives?” Logan asked.

Virgil rolled his eyes as though that was not a perfectly reasonable question to ask him. “We should steal that one,” Virgil said.

“Do you think we’ll be able to sneak past Ms. Heart to steal a knife from her kitchen?” Logan asked.

“We can’t,” Virgil said.

Logan almost didn’t believe him… and then he remembered the water pouch incident. “It’s the dinner rush,” Logan said. “We should probably wait for a bit.”

Virgil was shaking his head. “The dinner rush is the best time,” he said. “Everyone will be distracted, and all of the knives will be out and in prime stealing position.”

“And if Patton’s mother catches us messing around in her kitchen during her busiest time of day, she will have Father ground us for a week.”

“Then we just won’t get caught,” Virgil said.

“I’m not sure if it’s that simple,” Logan said with a frown.

“You can stay here if you want,” Virgil offered. “I’ll just go by myself.”

“No, I’ll come too,” Logan relented, though he did still have some reservations about the idea.

He let Virgil lead him towards the main dining hall. By now, Virgil knew the kitchens and dining hall very well.

“Stay here,” he said. They were in a hallway a few feet down from the staff entrance to the kitchen. “I’m going to do some reconnaissance.”

“What type of reconnaissance?” Logan asked, but Virgil had already disappeared before his very eyes. With a blink, Logan looked up and saw a dark figure disappear onto a balcony overhead.

Well, Logan really had no choice but to wait there for him. It wasn’t like he could follow him. He could hear the clatter of silverware on plates from the dining hall down the corridor as he impatiently waited. It only took Virgil a bit over five minutes to return. He dropped suddenly from above and landed in front of Logan in a crouch.

“Well?” Logan asked, letting a bit of irritation into his tone so Virgil knew he was displeased. Virgil did not seem to care.

“Got it,” Virgil said with a wide grin, brandishing a large kitchen knife.

Logan flinched back at the unexpected sight of a weapon.

“You said you were doing reconnaissance!” he sputtered. “Not…” he trailed off remembering that while they weren’t in eyesight of anyone right now, they could be in earshot of someone. He lowered his tone, “stealing the knife already.”

“I was doing reconnaissance,” Virgil said with a shrug, “and then I used the information gathered by that reconnaissance to steal a knife.”

Logan narrowed his eyes at him.

Virgil just smiled. “You would have gotten in my way.”

“I would not have,” Logan insisted.

“How many times has Patton’s mom caught you stealing food from the kitchens in the past?” he asked.

Logan pursed his lips. “That is Patton’s doing,” he said.

“Sure,” Virgil said with an eyeroll. “I’ll have you prove it some other day, but for now,” he twirled the knife around in a way that made Logan cringe even though he did seem to have an expert handle over it. “We have a knife.”

“Right,” Logan agreed with a nod. “We should continue the experiment.”

Virgil stored the knife away… somewhere on his person, and they snuck back to Logan’s rooms.

When Virgil handed over the knife, Logan did have to admit it was a perfect specimen for their project: long and saw-like with a heatproof handle.

Logan carefully set it in a shallow dish and proceeded to pour the potion they’d made onto it. They let it sit for a little under half an hour before carefully pulling it out of the concoction with tongs and letting it airdry. Meanwhile, Virgil suggested they set up a testing area with various old sheets and clothing. They’d even found and decorated an armor stand with an old suit that Logan particularly disliked.

“Well,” Logan said once he’d tapped the handle and had not gotten burned by the potion. “I think we can test it now.” For safety, he made Virgil put on thick heatproof gloves before handing him the knife.

“So how do I make it work?” Virgil asked.

“The original potion works through light friction,” Logan said.

“So just start stabbing things?”

Logan went to respond, but before he could, Virgil had already twisted around and sliced through one of the sheets hanging in Logan’s potion room. There was a sizzling noise as the knife cut through the sheet like it was tissue paper leaving two aflame halves flapping about.

Logan leapt forward to tear the pieces of sheet down and the two of them stomped on the flames to put out the fire.

“It’s perfect,” Virgil said with a grin once the charred remains of the sheet were extinguished.

“It does seem to work as intended,” Logan agreed.

“Let’s do it again,” Virgil said.

“Er, well, perhaps we shouldn’t…,” Logan started, but Virgil had already set his eyes on the armor stand they’d set up. That suddenly seemed like not such a good idea to Logan.

He stabbed the armor stand viciously. It went up in flames instantly. Logan’s eyes widened as the blaze only seemed to get bigger as Virgil drew back the knife.

Virgil did not seem to share Logan’s worry as he turned and stabbed another piece of hanging clothing, setting it ablaze as well.

“Virgil, no! You’re going to burn the room down!” Logan yelped.

The armor stand at that very moment decided to fall to the ground. They had, perhaps, not set the testing area up as well as they should have because it fell directly onto one of Logan’s rugs and set that on fire as well.

“Oops,” Virgil said, eyes wide.

Above the sound of crackling fire, Logan heard a tapping on the door between his bedroom and work room. It opened slightly after a moment and Logan’s father’s voice called out as he was sticking his head into the room, “Um, what do you mean Virgil… is burning the room down!”

The moment Logan’s father fully processed the presence of the flames, he was bursting into the room. He at least remembered that there was a fire extinguishing powder stocked in Logan’s work room even though that fact had slipped Logan’s mind in the chaos. (Perhaps Logan should have thought to set it out when they were testing a fire knife, but Logan would just add that to his growing list of regrets.)

The king managed to put all of the fires out within 30 seconds of poking his head through the door, but the fire left in his eyes when he turned to them afterwards was perhaps more dangerous.

Virgil slowly hid the knife behind his back. It was probably a bit late for that.

“What were the two of you doing in here?” the king asked.

“Nothing,” Logan said. Virgil shot him a look that told Logan what the boy thought about his lying abilities.

Logan’s father put his hands on his hips. “‘Nothing’ set the rug on fire?”

“We may have been doing a small experiment,” Logan said.

“What experiment?” the king asked.

“…I don’t wish to say.”

“Logan.”

“Virgil wanted a fire knife.”

“A what?”

Virgil frowned over at Logan. “Your resistance to interrogation techniques is deplorable.”

Father turned to look at Virgil and obviously spotted the fact that Virgil was holding something behind his back.

“Give it here,” Father said, though his tone was a bit gentler with Virgil than it had been with Logan.

Virgil debated it for a moment, but then offered over the knife with a pout on his face. Father gingerly took it and the fire-resistant gloves from him. “Where did the two of you even get this knife?”

“You can’t tell her,” Logan said.

“You stole a knife from the kitchens?!” the king asked.

“We borrowed it,” Logan said.

“Can it be used for cooking anymore?”

“…Well.”

“In the intended manner.”

“No.”

“Then you stole it.”

Logan just frowned and looked away.

“I’m going to go put this in a secure location,” Father said, grimacing at the fire knife in his hands. “No more experiments for you two for a month. I’ll sic Patton on you.”

With that, he picked up what was left of the fire extinguishing powder (just in case) and turned to exit the room.

“Well,” Logan said once he was gone. “That was irresponsible.”

“I could steal it back from him.”

“N-no don’t do that.”

“I definitely could though,” Virgil said.

“I did not hear you say that,” Logan said, putting his hands over his ears. “I am not responsible for any more of your actions in this matter. I am going to the library.”

He walked out of the room then and Virgil followed him to the upstairs library. He said nothing more about the fire knife, but Logan would be a fool to suppose he forgot about it.

Chapter 56 (Thomas)

“Good day for a picnic,” Helen commented as she handed over the basket Thomas had requested from her a few days before. He was taking Logan, Patton, and Virgil to the cliffs today and it was perfect weather for it. Spring was truly here, which meant that those of Thomas’s duties that had laid dormant over the harsh winter were about to start up again.

The world had been on pause for a bit considering no armies or agents from any kingdom could get through the snow the last few months, but the concerns of last fall were showing their heads once again.

Thomas had just gotten word a day ago that the queen of Lamir had routed out a second assassin hiding in her ranks over the winter. The assassin had been sent shortly after it was made clear that the queen wouldn’t bow down after the assassination of her mother. Luckily, the assassin sent for Queen Cecil had not managed to complete her mission during the winter months.

While there had been no similar attempt on Prijaznia soil, Thomas couldn’t help but feel it was only a matter of time now that the snow had melted. They were already working on increasing security in the coming weeks and, though it was doubtful an assassin had managed to hide in the castle all winter without revealing themselves, they’d be closely scrutinizing all of the newer staff members.

It would be a stressful time in the coming months, which is why, despite everything Thomas needed to do, he was still going to take his son and his son’s friends on a picnic today. Logan had already started taking on royal duties as of late, but he still hadn’t taken them all on quite yet. Considering this was last summer before Logan was of age, they should at least try to take advantage of it where they could. Patton was a year younger, but the sentiment held for him as well.

Then there was Virgil. Despite their best efforts, they still didn’t know enough about Virgil, but Thomas was fairly sure he’d never had a summer to enjoy until now.

“Thanks for prepping lunch for us,” Thomas said to Helen with a smile.

“No problem,” she said waving them off. “I put in some of Virgil’s favorites.”

“Great,” Thomas said. “Do you know where the kids are?”

“Patton said they were going to go pet the cats, so I’d guess they’re in the gardens.”

Thomas thanked her again and told her to have a good day before exiting the kitchen. There was a nearby door that led straight towards the part of the gardens Patton and Logan had always favored. He figured they’d either still be around there or they would have wandered towards the stables by now knowing that they’d be taking horses to the cliffs.

So, he decided to simply walk the normal path from the door to the stable, hoping to find them.

His prediction ended up being hilariously correct. They were indeed on the path Thomas had chosen. It was clear they (or at least Logan) were attempting to make it to the stable. However, as was typical, a portion of the party had been waylaid by whimsy.

Logan was standing further down the path, arms crossed and frowning as he watched his friends. Patton and Virgil were surrounded by cats. Patton was sitting down, holding two of them in his lap and watching Virgil’s legs being swarmed by the rest of them, maybe two dozen in total.

Virgil looked confused, but not unhappy about the presence of so many cats. He was leaning down to try to pet them all.

Logan met Thomas’s eyes as he approached and waved a frustrated hand at the two of them. Logan couldn’t help but smile.

“Virgil fed one of them,” Logan complained as though he wanted Thomas to somehow go into the past and prevent this crime.

Patton and Virgil looked over at Thomas, noticing him when Logan addressed him.

“You’re going to make Princess Marisol jealous,” Thomas said. Logan frowned at Thomas as he used the ‘Princess’ label for the cat.

“Princess Marisol decided not to come,” Virgil said with a shrug. He continued to pet one of the cats.

“She’s probably sleeping on my pillow,” Logan said, sounding grumpy.

Thomas just chuckled. Princess Marisol was technically Logan’s cat, at least that’s what the kids said, and she did spend much of her time in the royal rooms. However, she was very clearly actually Virgil’s cat. Virgil just spent a lot of time in the royal wing as well.

In fact, Thomas still didn’t know where Virgil was supposed to be sleeping. He and Mr. Deknis had actually tried to tail him a couple of times, but he always ended up sleeping in Logan’s room those nights.

Knowing Virgil, he might just sleep in the walls. Though that still did not answer the question of where his parents or guardians were. They still had not figured it out. Thomas would assume he was an orphan who’d snuck onto castle grounds for safety, but Virgil had told Mr. Deknis during their first meeting that he was supposed to be in the castle, and it had not been a lie.

Then again, it had slowly become apparent that Virgil was good at dodging the multrum’s powers. It was starting to seem more likely that he’d somehow inserted a second meaning into his answer to Mr. Deknis that night than he somehow had some ghost guardian no one was able to locate working in the castle.

“She deserves the pillow more than you,” Virgil said, bringing Thomas’s thoughts back to the situation at hand. The look of audacity on Logan’s face made Thomas chuckle.

Thomas cut in before it could become a fight. “I could get Princess Marisol a pillow, so she doesn’t sleep on yours. Or we can get you a new pillow if you’d prefer, Logan.”

“It’s not about the pillow for her,” Logan argued. “It’s about her inflated sense of superiority.”

“She deserves it,” Virgil declared. Thomas could tell he was just trying to rile Logan up, and Thomas was sure Logan knew it too, but still his son reacted exactly in the way Virgil wanted him to.

“You have enabled and encouraged this behavior from the start!” Logan seethed.

“She’s a Princess.”

“She is not a princess!”

Patton shook his head while squeezing the cats in his arms, completely used to this behavior at this point. He ran a chin idly over one of the cat’s heads while watching the argument.

“We’re never going to make it to the picnic at this rate,” Thomas said to him, “and after your mother made all of this wonderful food.”

“You’re the dad,” Patton said. “Make them stop.”

And, of course, Patton did just mean that he was Logan’s dad with that statement. However, when he glanced back up at the silly argument still going on between his son and the cat covered boy on the ground, it did almost look like a fight between siblings.

Especially with the dark hair and stubborn but mischievous look in Virgil’s eyes, Thomas could almost imagine the boy being his own child.

He shook away the thoughts and glanced at the picnic basket in his hand.

“We do have a lot of food in this basket,” Thomas said, pitching his voice up so that Logan (and more importantly) Virgil would hear them clearly.

Virgil immediately turned to look at him, abandoning all interest in antagonizing Logan to look at the basket curiously.

Thomas was never sure if he should be amused or worried about how food motivated Virgil often was.

“What’s in the basket?” Virgil asked.

“I’m not sure,” Thomas said. “Patton’s mom made it. We’ll just have to see once we get to the picnic area.”

Virgil nodded in understanding and began to gently scoot all of the cats out of his lap. Logan rolled his eyes, but didn’t seem inclined to continue the argument he’d been dragged into. Virgil and Patton got to their feet and they continued on their way towards the stables.

The horses Thomas had requested be prepared for their trip were already in saddles, though the stable hand who had been handling Mr. Apples seemed a bit dirtier and more exhausted than the rest.

The stable hand seemed as happy to hand Mr. Apples over to Virgil as Virgil was to have Mr. Apples handed over to him. Thomas received Bella with a smile and Logan and Patton got their own horses as well.

The Cliffs were about half an hour's ride from the main castle. There was a mostly well-maintained path to it, though it was easy to get lost if one didn’t know the way. Mr. Apples knew the way perhaps better than Thomas himself and seemed annoyed by the fact that Thomas was trying to lead the way.

Virgil and Thomas ended up side-by-side whenever the path allowed it to placate him.

He still marveled at how willing Mr. Apples was to let Virgil ride him, especially when he tossed his head in Thomas’s direction, a horse’s equivalent of giving Thomas a stink-eye.

“Are you excited for the picnic?” Thomas asked the boy beside him.

Virgil glanced over at him and nodded.

“I am too,” Thomas said. “It’s always beautiful this time of year. I’m glad I could find the time to take you all there this year.”

“Are you very busy?” Virgil asked curiously.

“I am king,” Thomas reminded, “and now that the world isn’t snowed in anymore things will be busy.”

“With the war?” Virgil asked.

84582

Thomas paused for a few seconds. “Yes,” he confirmed. “With the war, but you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Virgil asked.

“You’re just a kid,” Thomas said.

“I’m 14,” Virgil said.

Thomas glanced at him. “Exactly,” he said, “a kid, and luckily, you’re in a place that can afford you the luxury of being one.”

“What do you mean?”

“The war has been mainly fought on Mocnejsi soil in recent years. Our boarders have held strong against invasions. Unless something goes horribly wrong suddenly, it would take a long time for the main conflict to get here. The only real threat in the castle would be assassins sent after me personally.”

“Right,” Virgil said. There was an awkward pause in conversation before he spoke again. “You’re winning the war then?” he asked.

“Something could always happen,” Thomas said, “but for the most part, yes, we have quite the advantage right now.”

“Oh,” Virgil said.

Thomas shook his head as they were coming up to a narrowing of the path. “Anyway, today is a day to not think about war. Today we’re going to have a lovely picnic and do some bird watching.”

“Right,” Virgil agreed from behind Thomas as Bella took the lead (to Mr. Apples discontent.)

When the path widened again, Thomas did his best to direct the topic to lighter subjects and soon they made it to The Cliffs.

Chapter 57 (Virgil)

Virgil had never been to a picnic. At least, that’s what Patton had informed him when Virgil had described his past experiences of eating outdoors. Logan had agreed even though he’d admitted that the definition of “picnic” was only eating a pre-packaged meal outdoors which Virgil had done plenty of times.

From what Virgil could tell, the main difference was just how much stuff one brought to a picnic.

In addition to the basket full of food (that Virgil still hadn’t gotten to look in yet), the king had brought a large soft quilt that he had Logan and Virgil spread out on the ground for them all to sit on.

Patton and Logan had also packed some things themselves to bring along. Logan had brought along a book to read, and Patton had brought along a board game (thankfully not checkers but something Virgil did not recognize). Virgil hadn’t brought anything (except for the fire knife he was definitely not supposed to have and was definitely not letting the king see) because he hadn’t known he was supposed to bring things. He wouldn’t have known what to bring anyway.

The blanket was soft and a much better alternative to sitting on the ground, especially because, while there was grass at the top of The Cliffs, there were also a good number of rocks.

The king set the picnic basket in the middle of the blanket once it was spread out and then lowered himself down to sit on one side. Patton quickly followed him, already fiddling with some of his board game pieces, though he wasn’t setting it up yet. Virgil highly doubted that Logan was going to be allowed to read his book unless Patton eventually got bored of the game.

However, they would, hopefully, be allowed to make use of the basket the king had brought along.

Virgil followed the king and Patton’s lead and got to his knees on the blanket across the picnic basket from the king. He peered at the basket curiously.

He didn’t quite know what picnic food was, but Patton had told them they’d be getting ‘picnic food’ and he was very curious about what that meant.

King Thomas smiled at him. “Let’s see what Patton’s mom packed us, huh?” He reached for the basket and flipped it open as Logan sat next to Virgil. “There is a lot more food than usual in here,” the king said, sounding amused. “Let’s see.”

He began to pull out packaged food and glanced in each package to identify it before setting it out.

“We have a few types of mini sandwiches,” he said, putting them down, “and some pasta salad.” He set down the bowl.

“We also have… er something else.” He showed it to Logan.

“They’re hot cauliflower bites,” Logan said instantly upon seeing them. Virgil perked up in excitement. That was one of his favorite foods.

“Ah,” King Thomas said, but shrugged and set it down. “We also have two desserts apparently: cookies and mini apple pies. That last one’s a bit extra for a picnic.”

“They’re very good,” Virgil said happily.

“And we also have.” King Thomas paused, looking confused. “Chicken alfredo?”

“Yes!” Virgil said.

“Why do we have chicken alfredo for a picnic?”

“It’s a Virgil picnic,” Logan groaned. “She packed us a Virgil picnic.”

“Hey, at least momma sent us something too,” Patton said.

[zaffrenotes]

[TRR] Kairos

Kairos - Part 12

Pairing: Liam x Riley, Liam x OC Series Rating/Warnings: 18+; language; series will include ns*w 🍋 scenes Chapter Rating/Warnings: G Author’s Note: * All main characters belong to Pixelberry, I’m just borrowing them * Kairos (καιρός) is a word in Greek that translates to “the right time” or “the right moment to act” * Liam’s wife asks about “the one that got away” one night over dinner, and Liam recounts a relationship from his past * This is my submission for @wackydrabbles​​ Prompt 89: This isn't what I had in mind, but okay. * Author’s Note 2: * I apologize if this chapter feels choppy; I haven't updated this story since January, and writing is H A R D, but I want to finish this AU. I know how it ends, I just have to *gestures at the air* get there. * Word Count: 1708

Catch up with previous chapters here

Taglist (let me know if you’d like to be added or removed for this series): @ao719 @blackcatkita @debramcg1106 @ofpixelsandscribbles @callmeellabella @smalltalk88 @aestheticartsx @bbrandy2002 @burnsoslow @choiceskatie @darley1101 @dcbbw @gardeningourmet @iplaydrake @liamxs-world @rainbowsinthestorm @riseandshinelittleblossom @superharriet @texaskitten30 @theroyalheirshadowhunter @the-soot-sprite // @alyssalauren @clairexoxo100 @cordonianroyalty @cordonian-literature @gkittylove99 @gnatbrain @jared2612 @kingliam2019 @mom2000aggie @pink-diamond13 @princessleac1 @queenjilian @sfb123 @txemrn @yourmajesty09

The evening carried on, and it was nearly impossible for Liam to pull himself away from one conversation to the next. Most of the new suitors vied for his attention to make a good impression, various nobles edged their way into conversations to discuss official business, and his friends made every effort to steal him away for short reprieves. He was dancing when he caught a flash of Max’s dress near the edge of the dance floor.

Brief glimpses and glances of a link to Liam’s almost-love was all The Fates seemed to grant for the duration of the ball, despite his best efforts to carve out a moment with Max. The irony wasn’t lost on him; having found a connection to Elia after years had passed, without a way to speak with her sister. His hand warmed against his dancing partner’s palm as they waltzed with other couples.

“What’s troubling you tonight? Besides the obvious farce of this whole ordeal.” A pair of cherry red lips curled into a sympathetic grin, and Liam nodded in silent agreement. “Something other than counting steps is running through your mind.”

Liam adjusted his grip on Olivia’s hand as he led her across the floor, quickly scanning the crowd for another glimpse of Max. “I require the assistance of a dear friend,” he answered quietly, twirling her in a circle. “Someone who knows of secret passages in the palace to remain undetected, who can also speak with one of the new ladies at court.”

One of Olivia’s brows arched in Liam’s direction. “Has someone managed to catch your eye already?”

“Not the way you think,” he replied. “It’s a long story, and right now I’m grasping at straws, but it’s…something.” As Liam twirled his childhood friend in another circle, the expression in his eyes conveyed the seriousness of his request.

Olivia’s back tensed when she looked up to meet her friend’s gaze, though they moved effortlessly through the song. “What do you need me to do, Li?”

“There’s a young woman here, wearing a peacock ballgown. Her name is Max.”

“There’s some irony,” Olivia giggled. “Maxwell’s probably talking her ear off over her dress alone.”

“I haven’t been able to speak with her since we were introduced.”

“Tell me when and where, I’ll make sure you converse with her before morning.”

Liam shook his head at the suggestion. “That’s not the kind of conversation I need to have, Liv. I do need to speak with her though. It could mean cancelling the rest of the social season before it’s had a chance to begin, in a good way.”

Olivia arched her brow at Liam again, as the music began to come to an end. “I’m going to need a full story about this very soon, if she’s a means of ending the season.”

Liam let out an anxious laugh. “Soon enough, of course. Get her as close as possible to my office without being seen.” He looked over Olivia’s shoulder to see Bastien by the ballroom doors, nodding at him just before Bastien said something to another member of the Kings Guard. “Enjoy the rest of the ball, I’ve got to go over details for tomorrow’s events. Shouldn’t take longer than an hour.”

--

Nearly an hour after Liam departed the ballroom, he sighed with relief to enjoy the silence in his office once Regina and her team of event planners were satisfied with preparations for the garden party. He poured himself a bit of scotch in a glass as a nightcap, glancing at the clock on the wall. Most of the guests had ventured home while he went over checklists with Regina, minus the suitors and their sponsors that would live at the palace for the next several weeks.

Another weary sigh slipped past Liam’s lips as he returned to the ornate desk in the office, and he removed the cufflinks Madeleine had given to him as a gift. He rolled up his sleeves, trying to ignore the soft ticking of the clock, wondering if Olivia had managed to get a hold of Max. Princess Maria Amelita Xamira Basilio, who had a sister that went by the name Elia. There were too many similarities in her siblings names and the fact that Max looked so similar in appearance to Elia.

He’d opened the laptop on the desk and was about to type Elia’s real name into the search window, when there was a knock at the door. Liam rushed out of his seat to answer, loudly whispering a name when he turned the knob. “Olivia? Is that you?” He was surprised to see Max in the hallway by herself. “Your Highness, please, come in,” he said, stepping aside to let Max pass. “Did anyone see you?”

Max bowed her head to Liam as she stepped into his office. “No, Lady Olivia led me through a number of passages from my room, and distracted the very tall, silver-haired guard down the hall.”

Liam chuckled softly. “That would be Bastien. He’s always had a bit of a soft spot for Olivia, ever since we were children.” He closed the door shut before walking towards the liquor cabinet. “May I offer you something to drink?”

“No, thank you,” she replied, taking a seat in one of the small couches. “To what do I owe this clandestine invitation?”

Liam sat down in the matching sofa across from Max, clasping his hands together as he carefully chose what to say next. “Max, you and I are both aware of the reason you’re here, participating in the social season. Under other circumstances, I’m certain you would have caught my eye, just as you did earlier this evening.”

Max chewed a tiny spot of her inner cheek. “There’s a ‘but’, isn’t there?”

“The reason you caught my eye was because you bear a striking resemblance to someone I met several years ago, before I met and married my first wife, Riley. Someone who, until tonight, I thought was lost to me.”

“Are you saying I’ve got a secret twin you’ve already met? This isn’t what I had in mind, but okay.” She grinned conspiratorially at him. “Who’s this doppelgänger that’s stuck with you?”

Liam sucked in a breath before answering. “As it were, it’s your sister. Elia.”

Max blinked at him silently, her eyes welling up with glossy tears at the mention of her name. “You…you knew Elia? When? When did you see her? Have you heard from her?” The questions tumbled out all at once, as Max tried to compose herself.

He picked up a gilded box of tissues from a side table, offering it to her. Max pulled two from the box, dabbing at the corners of her eyes, waiting for a response. “It’s been a number of years,” he began. “She was vacationing in Greece, just before she was supposed to return to university to study law.”

Max stopped dabbing at her tears to look up and study Liam’s face. “Oh my god, it’s you. You’re the guy.”

Liam’s brows pinched together. “She mentioned me?”

“Very briefly,” she responded. “Only that she met someone that gave her a reason to laugh every day, and seemed to understand what she – what we,” she paused, motioning to herself, “were going through, being…high profile?”

“That’s one way to describe it,” Liam chuckled softly. “She never said outright that she was a princess, but after we parted ways, many of the things we shared in our conversations made sense.” He looked up to see a puzzled expression on Max’s face. “Her fluency in languages, the way she could tell stories about growing up in vivid detail while overlooking things like ‘I grew up in a palace’ or ‘my parents were especially strict with me and my siblings’…”

“Oh by the way, that’s because they’re the king and queen?” Max scoffed lightly, shaking her head.

“I tried to look for her, for quite some time after that trip,” Liam added. “Only…my efforts were in vain, as the names she used were all nicknames. Even her own name wasn’t fully hers. Elia de Leon.”

Max sniffled and the puzzled expression returned to her face. “De Leon? That’s…our great-grandmother’s name.”

“I suppose that makes sense as well, now that I’m familiar with your family name. Had I searched for Elia Basilio, I might have found out about the royal connection, not that it would’ve changed my opinion of her.” Liam ran a hand across his face, his jawline and chin already rough with stubble. “You haven’t heard from her since that summer either? Anyone in your family?”

“No,” Max answered. “When her personal guard called the morning he was supposed to escort her home, he told my parents the apartment was empty…that she must have snuck away the night before.”

“But I was with her until morning.”

“What?”

“I…” Liam hesitated, taking in a breath. “I had dinner with Elia the night before she was supposed to leave. We talked long into the night, and I told her I was a prince. I even offered to let her stay with me here to take more time and consider alternative options to create some distance with your parents.”

“Because they wanted to marry her off, right?”

“Correct,” Liam nodded. “She only told me it was for a political alliance, to put your family name in a positive light after Mariela’s marriage to someone caused trouble.”

Max sighed with indignation. “That guy, ugh. That’s a story for another evening.” She began to wring the tissue between her hands. “But you saw Elia the next morning?”

“Yes, in fact I was the one that slipped out while she was still sleeping, long after dawn. I stopped for a coffee in the café below where she’d been staying, on my way to return home as well, and I…” Liam paused, recalling the man in the café that morning, remembering the other patron. “You said she had a personal security guard assigned to her?”

“Beni…Benigno, yes,” Max replied.

“Do you have a photo of him?”

“I can do better than that,” Max answered, pulling her phone from the pocket of her cardigan. “He’s here as my security and chaperone for the duration of my stay.”

[x-childish-x]

Request Rules/Guidelines

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog! You can call me Moll and my pronouns are she/her! Thank you so much for considering me to write your request! I kindly ask you to read through all my rules before submitting a request! Thank you once again! I look forward to writing for you!

Trigger Warning! Mentions to mental illnesses, abuse, death, etc. below. PLEASE proceed with caution!

What I Write:

🌺 One-shots

🌺 Drabbles

🌺 Headcanons*

🌺 Multi-Chapter stories* 

* I have not written headcanons yet, but I'm more than willing to try. I’m willing to write more parts to previous fics upon request, or if you'd like a new multiple part story.

What's Okay to Request: 

🌺 Fluff

🌺 Angst

🌺 AUs

🌺 NSFW*

🌺 Little-space*

🌺 Romance

🌺 Platonic

🌺 Age gaps 

🌺 Polyamorous*

🌺 LGBTQIA+*

🌺 Mental illnesses*

🌺 Major character death

* Must be 18+ to request/interact with any NSFW content, littlespace will not be written for anything sexualizing it (here’s a link to help clarify littlespace). I haven't written polyamorous before but I'm willing to try, I've never written any LGBTQIA+ fics but I am willing to try my best and learn. Please see the mental illness guidelines below.

Will NOT write: 

🌺 Non-con

🌺 Dubcon

🌺 Pedophilia

🌺 Incest

🌺 Romantic themes for underage characters* 

🌺 ABO

Absolutely will not write or tolerate any hate to a community, series, character, etc.

* If you would like an underage character aged up for romantic theme I will gladly do so, but please specify that.

Mental Illness Guidelines:

All mental illnesses will be handle with extreme care, I will let you know if I'm not comfortable, I will always include warnings, and will try to keep it as safe as possible for all my readers. If requesting a mental illness/one of the following please be respectful. 

They will not be taken lightly and will mainly be written in mention unless otherwise specified. 

Please include trigger warning in your request

🌺 Suicide

🌺 Self-harm

🌺 Eating disorders

🌺 Death of loved one

🌺 Abuse (mental, emotional, physical, sexual)

🌺 Possible other mental illness depending on the illness

Pairings I write for:

🌺 Character x reader*

🌺 Character x OC

* Please specify the gender and ethnicity of the reader (if you wish). You may choose to leave out ethnicity and it will not be specify. My default is fem!reader and no mentions to ethnicity.

Pairings I WON'T write for: 

🌺 Character x character

🌺 Real person x reader*

* EX: Chris Evans x reader

Important General Information:

🌺 I go in order with my requests!

🌺 You can request in my asks, dms, or even comments, whichever way you prefer.

🌺 You can send multiple requests! Don't be afraid, I'm happy to write for you!

🌺 Please specify the reader you'd like written (fem, male, gn reader, race too if you wish*)

🌺 I will let you know if I don't feel comfortable with your request.

🌺 Specific if you wish for platonic or any other type of relationship. I default to romantic.

🌺 Please be patient. I have a life and can't always write stories quickly in good quality. 

🌺 These rules can change at any time, if they do, I will make sure to let everyone know via reblog/separate post

🌺 Feel free to request a trope, I like the majority of them and would love to give it a shot!

🌺 I mainly write for x fem!reader but I will write x gn!reader and x male!reader*

🌺 I have two Prompt lists! One's NSFW prompts and one's a general prompt list! Feel free to use them, or not! Rules for those prompt lists are included on the prompt lists as well as my main masterlist!

* I do not have any experience with writing specific race but if requested I will do my best to improve and be inclusive. The last thing I want is to offend someone, so please (nicely) help me! I default to fem!reader and don't have much experience in gn/male!reader but I'm more than willing to try and improve!

I do my best to make my work friendly to all people (including POC) I want to be inclusive and improve my writing so that people of all ethnicities and genders can enjoy my works. I try to stray from gender specific pronouns when it's not specific but as mentioned, I default to fem!reader and always put that incase a female term slipped by. Please tell me if I'm offending or doing things that feels excluding! Help me if something triggering is not listed so my writings are safe! I want to improve and learn so everyone feels safe and represented on my blog!

Some requests may take a while! It's simply because I want every request to feel like it was worth it to you! I want to do my absolute best to put out the best possible instead of something crummy that didn't have thought put into it.

Lastly:

🌺 If you would like to request something, but still feel unsure after reading through these, please dm me or send an ask! Don't be afraid to ask if I'd be willing to write for something! I'll gladly clarify and add it to whichever list it applies to!

Ask Here!

Main Prompt list!

NSFW Prompt list!

Main Masterlist! (includes all other masterlists)

I write for a large amount of characters and I’m willing to write for more (including female characters)! If you are unsure if I will write for a character, simply ask and I will add them to my list and let you know!

🌺 I am allowed to reject any character request depending on how comfortable I feel writing for them. They are listed in no specific order, all characters on this list are ones I feel comfortable enough to write for, though others are subject to be added!

FANDOMS:

STAR WARS

Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader

Poe Dameron

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Kylo Ren

Finn

Han Solo

Luke Skywalker

MARVEL

Loki

Pietro Maximoff

Steve Rogers

Tony Stark

Thor

Clint Barton

Bucky Barnes

X-MEN

Peter Maximoff

Kurt Wagner

Warren Worthington iii

Erik Lehnsherr

Logan Howlett

Wade Wilson

Hank McCoy

Alex Summers

Scott Summers

AHS EVAN’S CHARACTER’S

Kit Walker

Kyle Spencer

Jimmy Darling

Tate Langdon

James Patrick March

SUPERNATURL

Dean Winchester

Sam Winchester

Castiel

Jack

Crowley

[seventeenlovesthree]

“Shall we go together?” (12/24) | A Taishirou Christmas drabble countdown

Just a little Taishirou-centric Christmas fic I’ve been meaning to write all year long, so here we are. The plan was to post 12-24 drabbles to complete telling the story and the Christmas spirit succeeded in the end.

🧡💜

Chapters: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]

Characters: Taichi Yagami, Koushirou Izumi, Sora Takenouchi, Yamato Ishida, Agumon, Tentomon, Piyomon, Gabumon (mentions of other Chosen Children)

Main POV: Taichi Yagami

Genre: Friendship (& romance), a hint of action

Rating: K

Wordcount: 890

December 24th, 04:51 PM

 ~

 Koushirou’s prediction had become true in the end. They had arrived with a short delay, but thanks to Sora’s ‘I-brought-all-the-winter-proof-flowers-to-the-hall-yesterday-special-VIP-pass’, they had no issues getting into the concert hall.

 With blankets, coats and scarfs thrown over their Digimon partners – as per usual – and accompanied by Gabumon, they actually had managed to get a few decent seats.

 Ever since Yamato had founded ‘Knive of Day’, formerly known as ‘The Teenage Wolves’, they had ended up at this place every single year on Christmas Eve. Getting together, joking about how overly sappy Yamato’s songs still were – besides obviously enjoying the music as well –, having a drink or two afterwards, exchanging presents… It was one of the few staples neither of them would have wanted to miss out on.

 Taichi’s eyes – as much as he could gather in the dimmed light – had wandered around the hall to spot Sora’s Christmas arrangements during the performance. Of course she hadn’t done and applied everything herself, but she and Yamato had made a deal with the owners of the hall last year, which would require the Takenouchi school to provide arrangements every year in exchange for special usage privileges. And it really turned out nicely, Taichi had thought to himself, admiring the tints of red and green getting illuminated by the stage lights every so often.

 Whether or not Sora really wanted to make flower arrangements in the future – even if he could tell she wasn’t fully satisfied with her work yet –, they would have her back.

 His glance had also switched to Koushirou next to him occasionally, who, in his opinion, also looked nice in this light...

 ‘If that’s not romantic, I don’t know what is’, had been stuck in Taichi’s head all the way through and it absolutely hadn’t helped that he could have felt Sora staring at him constantly from his other side as well.

 “Don’t”, he hissed quietly without returning her stare.

 “What? I haven’t said anything”, she whispered back and he just knew she was grinning.

 “I know you’re thinking something and that’s enough.”

 “Taichi, I’m listening to Yamato giving thousands of people a reason to use this song and confess to their crushes on Christmas Eve, I am not thinking anything.” She couldn’t suppress a laugh, so he eventually turned his gaze towards her again, making her expression soften a bit. “What are you so afraid of?”

 Without even thinking twice about it, he just sighed deeply and muttered: “I’m not like you.”

 “I couldn’t have done it without you back then”, Sora said, simultaneously patting his thigh without digging any deeper than necessary, but even by just hearing those words, he was assured that she’d have his back too.

 “That–“

 He had wanted to respond something, but never managed to finish, as, all of the sudden, the room turned completely dark and silent.

 “What?!”, Sora shrieked, jumping off of her seat and the boys and Digimon followed.

 Instinctively looking back to his other side, Taichi already saw Koushirou checking both his tablet and digivice, as the former’s clock had gone completely haywire.

 “Tentomon, can you feel anything now?”

 “Do you really think it’s a Digimon?”, Taichi tried to keep his voice low and for a reason, as their eyes were growing more and more accustomed to the darkness around them and they could spot people starting to get nervous, mumbling and rustling.

 “We should try to get everyone to calm down, so there won’t be a panic”, Sora suggested and Piyomon, Agumon and Taichi nodded towards her.

 “Good idea.”

 With that, she and her partner left the row to tell their surroundings to remain seated. Yamato was also shouting from the stage to soothe the crowd, telling them that it was just a little blackout caused by technical difficulties in the back.

 “There is something…”, Tentomon eventually exclaimed. “But I’m not sure whether it’s a Digimon.”

 “I can sense it too”, Agumon agreed and Gabumon raised his nose into the air as if he was sniffing.

 “Me too. It’s like… Warm waves in the atmosphere. I have felt it a few times this month…”

 Taichi’s eyes found Koushirou’s in the dark – but he looked just as puzzled as himself, which was never a good sign. His tablet also had troubles to remain on with the current disturbances, so he kneeled down to investigate further by talking to Gabumon.

 “Only this month, Gabumon?”

 “If you’re telling me this is some kind of Christmas-virus, I’m gonna–“, Taichi began, hoping that this wasn’t the kind of Christmas spirit Hikari was referring to, but was once again disrupted – this time by Yamato, who had jumped up the stairs towards them.

 “Guys, are you okay?! Where’s Sora?!”

 “Don’t worry, she’s up there talking sense into people, we’re all fine”, Taichi comforted him, but had no time to even look for Sora in the upper rows, when he heard Agumon aggressively growling his name.

 “Taichi!”

 He had jumped in front of them, pupils narrowed, fangs bared and Tentomon and Gabumon followed him immediately.

 “It may not be a Digimon in the traditional sense…”, Tentomon hissed, sensors straightened.

 “But it’s definitely something with vile intentions”, Gabumon added, all of them ready to jump and protect their partners from a giant pile of data materializing on the stage…

[facets-and-rainbows]

Blue Exorcist 10th anniversary book Q&A session

The 10th anniversary book has a section where Katoh answers 100 questions submitted by fans on Twitter, so here they are translated/paraphrased! May contain manga spoilers up to the recent flashback arc, so be warned.

(Note that I’m playing it very fast and loose here because there are A HUNDRED OF THEM, so not exact wordings, but it should capture the gist. Lemme know if there are any you want elaborated on)

1. Katoh likes the feel of traditional drawing more than digital but is impressed with how far digital has come

2. Meph THOROUGHLY ABUSES spacetime to watch all his shows and ensure that he gets all the merch he wants

3. Did the girls take all of Yukio’s school uniform buttons in middle school? Yes, they did (apparently it’s like A Thing for girls to ask for a button from their crush at middle school graduation, based on some sad movie from the 60s where a guy who got drafted as a kamikaze pilot gave a girl one of his uniform buttons to remember him by)

4. Rin's tail is about a meter long

5. There are tons of servants working at Mephisto's mansion. Belial is in charge of them

6. Katoh borrows from all sorts of neat real locations when making settings

7. Katoh identifies with pretty much all the characters the most! Except Lucifer.

8. Demon designs she's proud of include the impure king and hachirou, pretty much anything that was the main one in an arc

9. Katoh lists a bunch of her favorite musical artists/music she’s listening to recently: King Gnu, Official Hige Dandism, Kenshi Yonezu, BAD HOP, Sakanaction, Keyakizaka 46, Hypnosis Mic, Aimer, B’Z, Queen Bee.

10. Awww the rabbit manga that characters are often reading isn't just Robo to Usakichi, it's an even older one that she drew as a little kid

11. She likes industrial style interior designs

12. Rin and Yukio alternated who got the top bunk growing up, because they couldn't agree on it lol

13. Katoh cares a whole lot about panel layouts and speech bubble positions, might even be her favorite part of the process (it shows!)

4. Katoh does NOT have a mashou, lol

15. Rin has probably been practicing in secret so he can learn to carry stuff with his tail

16. Izumo probably got into shojo manga around 1st grade, her mom had some around the house

17. Specialty dishes: Rin - lots of stuff but especially nabe Yuri - stuff you can throw together quickly Shiro - stuff he learned from Yuri and/or cookbooks, alongside teaching Rin Yukio - Does. Not. Cook.

18. Can't pick a favorite place she's been on research, but there's no place like Japan

19. Kinzou's band isn't currently meeting because demons, but he's probably still thinking of new songs

20. Hardest characters to draw: anyone with detailed flowing hair. Hardest to write for: Lightning and Gedouin. She had to go read books about serial killers specifically for material for Gedouin, lol 

21. Suguro actually gets a dorm room to himself, though allegedly Yukio is technically assigned as his roommate, lol. Didn't end up that way what with Yukio being a teacher and also Rin’s whole...situation

22. Shiemi makes some of her own hair accessories! Cute

23. Katoh doesn't mind if you include stuff with fan letters but check with the editor first

24. Time for making each chapter: Planning/storyboarding: 1-5 days. Sketching: 3-5 days. Drawing/inking: the rest. Just...the rest of the time

25. Neither Suguro nor Izumo have dated before and neither is currently dating. But that's probably just because things were hectic for them! It could happen

26. Yukio breaks 5 or 6 pairs of glasses a year, someone get this kid a strap or something

27. How many spare glasses does Yukio have? Check the fanbook lol it's in there (dang it Katoh)

28. The demon she wants us to pay the most attention to is Lucifer. Because plot.

29. What's under the Order's big meeting table? It's a BOTTOMLESS PIT and if you fall in it you DIE that's what makes it COOL (laughs)

30. What are the job requirements for the angelic legion? Literally just Arthur liking you and inviting you to join

31. She WANTS to do more character profiles but just hasn't gotten to it

32. Rin's tail feels like a cat tail, texture wise

33. The "red Assiah fire" is literally just actual fire nothing special

34. Rin's current hair color is light blue fading to white at the ends

35. Thoughts on Rin's growth: she likes that he stays positive in awful situations and she also thinks it's very main character of him to face the past instead of avoiding it

36. Mephisto didn't purposely surround Rin with stuffed animals when he woke up after going crispy. Mephisto's bed is just Like That

37. Kurikara was based on a cool sword she found in a sword book, but that one was technically just a ceremonial sword. The symbol on it us a Sanskrit letter kaan (sp?) associated with Fudou Myouou

38. Kuro can communicate with normal cats and hangs out with them often

39. Sometimes Shiemi's skirt is extra fancy around the hem what's up with that? Apparently it's an optional accessory that comes with the skirts help I haven't noticed this and don't know any fashion terms in any language

40. When coloring, Katoh always tries to have an overall theme in mind ("emphasis on blue" etc) so it comes together in the end

41. Yes the twins are genetically related to Shiro because of Goro (she says they're like his nephews but I say GENETICALLY at least they'd be indistinguishable from his children)

42. Strongest mom of all the strong moms around here? Yuri! Did you SEE her give birth??

43. Are you careful about your own health Katoh-sensei? Not particularly! Her mom has had to bring her food at work sometimes! Don't do this at home kids

44. At the dating events Shura goes to, does she drink cocktails in moderation? Yeah, she probably downplays her normal drinking habits at these things. But normally she's down for just about any kind of drink

45. Lucifer just really likes oysters okay

46. How many pages of manga does Katoh draw in a day? If she's being good about self-care: three. Maximum number ever: TEN

47. Mephisto is one of those folks who can eat like a garbage compactor and never gain weight. Possibly because his body resists that sort of change the same way it resists aging etc

48. First food Rin cooked: fish burger type patty. Yukio's favorite things Rin cooks: fish simmered in soy sauce, yellowtail with daikon radish. It's fish all the way down

49: Did Rin ever get more monthly allowance from Mephisto? It doubled! He gets TWO 2000 yen bills now (rip) [T/N: That's uh, that's USD $37.26 a month or 33.10 euro]

50. Why isn't Rin more popular with the girls? He gets nervous talking to them, plus he's too oblivious to notice even if he DID have some fans

51. Why change Suguro's hair? She gets bored with keeping everything the same, and she wanted a visual representation that he was getting serious and going into kind of a training arc

52. Things Katoh pays extra attention to when drawing: trying to capture the feel of whatever she's drawing (like "that looks warm and soft" or "I bet that guy stinks" cough Lightning cough)

53: Does Rin take after Yuri more? (He's got her eyes!) Katoh tried to draw Yuri so she looks like both twins. Personality, too - Yukio has her smarts and Rin has her optimism

54: Do you ever wanna be like Mephisto? Well she'd like to be able to get away with just ANYTHING EVER, but no, let's not be like Mephisto

55. Konekomaru not only carries around a cat toy in case he meets any cats, he MAKES cat toys to carry around based on what he thinks the cats would like

56. How'd you come up with Shima? Go read the fan book!

57. Do the kids have Twitter/Instagram accounts? Rin - probably not. Konekomaru might be on some social media. Paku and Izumo are totally on instagram

58. Is there something Rin makes that you wish you could try? All of it! That's the whole idea! He's good at cooking!

59. Will we ever have a (G-rated) reveal of what ALL of Mamushi and her family's tattoos look like? Maybe! She'll think about it

60. Does Arthur have a repertoire of different hairstyles? Not really, he just puts some of it up on the top. Heck he might even have people to do that for him

61. If you wrote a shojo manga what would it be about? She'd have to do a lot of research before even coming up with a story, since there are so many style differences between the genres aside from just the subject

62. The other two of Mephisto's top 3 favorite foods: Cup ramen and....f-fried bubblegum?? Is that a THING???

63. Where do you start when drawing a character? Usually the outline of their face but if it's a complex pose/composition she'll start with whatever's in the foreground (like hands)

64. If Katoh could have a familiar, what demon would she choose? Mephisto. As the all-powerful author, she might actually be able to command him as a familiar!

66. If you swapped Yukio and Rin's relationship around what would change? not much, you'd pretty much have Rin going to the Illuminati and Yukio going to the past

67. Top 3 foods/souvenirs to try in Kyushu? Well she doesn't know what’s good CURRENTLY but when she was there she always used to like burdock tempura udon, hakata torimon (a kind of manju with white bean paste inside), and Chikae style cod roe. today I learned Katoh went to high school in Kyushu

68. Katoh listens to music a lot while she's storyboarding, then when she and the assistants are all drawing and inking they put various videos/movies and stuff on in the background

69. For all his hitting on girls, is Shima actually popular with the ladies at all? He's got enough girls in his life that he probably COULD find a girlfriend if he really wanted, but the double agent thing tends to get in the way. He still wouldn't be as popular as Yukio though (side thought/translator’s note: Shima would be proud of being number 69.)

70. Katoh has the ending planned out in a big-picture way, but there are still a few details here and there that she's fretting over

71. It's cute when the boys put their ties over their shoulders when they're working on something! Where'd that come from? She just figured a tie might get in the way and that seemed like a realistic way to get it out of the way

72. Looks like Yukio is getting some facial hair! What about Rin? They're both about the age for it, but maybe Rin can't grow a beard yet. Maybe a little peach fuzz here and there

73. Katoh's favorite blue exorcist merch? There were some exorcist licenses a while back, and the exorcist pins. Basically it's really cool that these little accessories she drew ACTUALLY EXIST NOW, LIKE YOU CAN HOLD THEM IN YOUR HANDS

74. Okay realtalk how long do we have left, I don't want the series to end yet? We're solidly in the second half by now but it's not, like, ABOUT to end yet

75. Katoh would be a Knight meister, based on what characters she likes to play in games and such

76. How many people in the whole exorcism cram school? More than you think! She doesn't give a number but apparently licensed exorcists also attend classes for new meisters, etc, so there's a wide age range attending

77. How's Arthur feel about, like, studying Taming on the way to becoming Paladin? He's at least mostly accepted that you have to use demons to fight demons effectively

78. Konekomaru started wearing glasses in his first year of middle school, so like 7th grade (more recent than I thought!) He has one spare pair, in contrast to Yukio lol

79. Katoh's current obsessions? Ghost/scary stories! She's even been going to live readings of them recently

80. Media Katoh consumes for inspiration? A wide range of foreign teen drama, horror/suspense, shojo manga, light novels, anime, etc. Special focus on things where two boys are in conflict or there are brothers involved

81. If they weren't exorcists what jobs would they have? Rin - chef. Yukio - doctor. Shiemi - uh, florist?

82. Inspiration for the design of True Cross Town? Katoh and her assistants gathered up a bunch of references, picked out stuff they felt matched the tone, and mashed them all up together

83. Did you use any references etc for the school/exorcist uniforms? She says she probably should have but she just kind of made them up before publication

84. Favorite part of drawing? For color pages, picking out a color scheme. For black and white, drawing in all the little details (though she doesn't always get time to lately)

85. Once again confirms the demon kings' weird hair is a representation of their horns. ADDS THAT PEOPLE WHO CAN'T SEE DEMONS CAN'T SEE THE WEIRD HAIR

86. Now that Yukio's at the Illuminati, where's he gonna get his Jump SQ and spare glasses? Well he probably never planned to stay for long, but hey it's a big ship and they might have an optometrist and/or newsstand there

87. Do you base the demon characters on any references etc? Not really, she just gets a general idea of popular demon designs and then makes up her own in her own style

88. Merchandise Katoh personally wants to have made: stuff that an adult could just use in their day to day life. Also, it's not gonna happen, but if her favorite figure brand made AoEx figures she could die happy

89. If Beelzebub's host body was a beautiful woman, how would Shima react? Would the womanizing win out over the bug phobia? Katoh replies that Shima would probably just faint from being near a girl that pretty, before the bugs even got involved

90. Will the twins ever get to smile and eat dinner together again?? We'll just have to wait and see!

91. What do you check at a "scenario check"? what's a scenario check man I dunno They check for people being out of character or the setting feeling off. They had a lot of these checks for the anime, but they also do them for the drama CD, games, and all that other stuff where multiple authors are involved

92. Why does Shura use baldy as an insult for people who are clearly not bald? She feels like they have some kind of metaphorical, mental kind of "baldness" and she's calling them out on it. Whatever that means

93. After Blue Exorcist ends, what do you want to draw next? She has SO MANY IDEAS, SO MANY

94. Did Katoh make up the Shinto chants that, for example, Izumo used against Gedouin? They're assembled from bits of actual Shinto prayers according to what feels right in the scene

95. Yukio reads the Jump SQ, right, and, just hear me out here, he likes gag manga, right? Does this mean he reads Salaryman Yukio? It's something he would read, but let's say that in the AoEx universe there's just a very similar manga that he finds oddly relatable

96. What do Yukio and Shima do in their free time on the Dominus Liminus? oh my god you guys this ship has so many amenities.  Yukio probably spends time reading in the library, which they totally have. There's also, like, a gym, and a movie theater, and a THEATER theater, all of which are free. Shima probably hangs out at the pool (!) and goes to the movies, and hits on illuminati girls, lol

97. Easiest character to draw? The ones with boring simple hair, lol. Lightning gets an honorable mention for ALSO not having eyes in most shots, but Rin wins--he was specifically designed to be easy for Katoh to draw because that's what you want in your main character

98. How do demons understand gender? They just possess whatever feels like the best match to how they feel in Gehenna, whether that's a man, or a woman, or a rat, or whatever

99. Where do you start when you're coming up with a story? She starts with character design and how the characters relate to each other. Currently she's just continuing an existing story, so she works on splitting up the overall plot into episodes and fleshing it out with scenes and information about characters

100. When do you feel most happy? She honestly feels like she lives a very happy life overall. Mentions noticing a lot of little things, like how nice her cats' heads smell when she cuddles them or taking a nice cold refreshing drink of water. There's happiness in everything. aww.