#if you have doodle requests send em in the ask box and i might do them

[lemonywings]

(old art :P)

hey, sorry for kinda saying i was gonna post fanart once a week and then going quiet. (idk why im saying sorry i think i have like 4 followers-) ANYWAYS

i had a really rough couple months just pass me, and dealing with being back in college and also artblock AND burnout has been a mess. that with additional family stuff has made me dread posting because it felt more like an obligation than something i wanted to do. so im just gonna post whenever i want ig idk man. but yea im gonna try posting more often now. its not gonna be anything high quality so dont get your hopes up, alot of the junk i make is messy and i also have alot of class work to catch up on rn so idk man. aaaaaa

also i know this post probs isnt gonna reach alot of people, but if your seeing this, please consider lending aid to palestine in any way you can. any donation helps and even if you cant help by donating, sharing or spreading links is massively helpful too. i dont have the time and energy to post about palestine every day like some people are but ill try to put links with my art posts whenever i can.

with all that being said, if you wanna stick around and maybe see some art i make in the future then follow idk its 6am rn and i gotta finish my homework before i have to leave at 7 to go to class. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee bye

(gonna tag the fandoms im in aaaaaa)

[kheprriverse]

Welcome to my Page!

☀️ You may call me Kheprri or Khep. My pronouns are They/He and I'm an artist and gamer. This is a primarily LOZ artwork account, but you may see stuff related to other games or personal work sometimes.

BLOG MASTERPOSTS ☀️ [Call of the Sword] - Main LOZ au. Currently a wip but you can check out the planned masterpost if you'd like <3 ☀️ [Dragon Warriors] - Hyrule Warriors but Ares and Apollo are born as dragons and taken in by Zelda's army. ☀️ [Wargod au] - This page is a gigantic WIP. But the au branches off near the end of COTS's planned story.

My Tags to Follow: ☀️ [My Artwork] #Kheprriart, #Kheprriverse They should all link to the same content, but I have multiple in case tags don't catch all the art. (Kheprriart includes wips and completed work. Kheprriverse includes only finished work.) ☀️ [Others' Artwork] #reblog will always be used for others work! ☀️ [Asks, etc] #kheprri ask will have all asks that are submitted to me! These will always be open as well :)!

Find Me Elsewhere! ☀️ [Ko-fi] includes personal story work, WIPs and process pieces, and rewards for members. Now also includes WIPs and process pieces for my loz content as well :)! ☀️ [Commissions] DM me for details! ☀️ [Requests] Feel free to request doodle ideas in my ask box and I might do em! ☀️ @ballad-of-elgado Monster Hunter Sideblog

☀️ Games? Monster Hunter and Legend of Zelda mostly, but I do enjoy a plethora of genres (survival, horror, city sims, farming sims, FPS, etc).

☀️ Art? Dragons, Human/oids, monsters, and ofc Legend of Zelda. I also have a lot of personal story work, which you can find on my Ko-fi.

☀️ Extras! I don’t do reblog/tagging games, but if you’d like my input anyways just feel free to send me an ask on what you’d like to know about me!

[silas-png]

Meet the artist!

^ me! ------------ Basic information:

Name: Silas (or silas.png, whichever you prefer) -> I'm totally okay with nicknames, as long as it's not offensive

Age: Teenager -> I'm not super comfortable sharing my age online since it's personal information, but I am a minor, so please keep this blog PG-13.

Pronouns: He/Him or they/them, whichever you prefer!

Commissions/ request info; I'm totally okay with small requests, like little chibi doodles or something of the like, but I don't have commissions open right now, and probably won't for a while. -> Also, if you have any requests, please keep them PG-13 and I will only be doing 3 at a time max. I've got a lot going on in my personal life, and I'm pretty slow plus I'm a big procrastinator, so please be patient with me. ->-> Also, you're free to send a request for an OC you made! I love drawing peoples' OCs, so if you want to it's totally welcome! :D

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

MISC:

Likes: Demon Slayer (which I post about the most), art, poetry, generation loss, cats, snakes, Star Wars, and candy corn -> Current hyperfixation: Demon Slayer

Can't think of anything I dislike right now

DNI if: You're racist, homophobic, transphobic, or going to shit on anyone in any way.

-----------

Art stuff:

I mostly draw characters from series', but I'll occasionally slip some of my OCs into the mix, and who knows, I might even start dropping lore on some of 'em. 🤷‍♂️

————————————-

Asks:

Mostly coincides with the request stuff, just keep it PG-13 please

-> if you wanna but requests in the ask box, I’m totally okay with that! Go for it!

Okay now have fun guys :)

[karmahasagun]

Hi! If you’ve managed to find this blog, I hope you know what you’ve signed up for!! I’m so sorry!!!

About

I’m Toni, age 23, any/all pronouns, and this is my blog entirely dedicated to my OCs (and possibly some of my friends’ OCs :p). I’ll post art and lore here, answer questions, maybe even do a little bit of rp ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ who knows :3.

Feel free to send asks for doodle requests and questions about/directed at my characters :]

Check below the cut for rules, a complete character list, my tag system, and my other socials ✨

General Rules

Sending asks is HIGHLY ENCOURAGED!!! PLEASE LET ME TALK ABOUT MY CHARACTERS

Art of my OCs is ALLOWED and ENCOURAGED! Though I would appreciate a tag if you draw them, I wanna see :3

That being said, ABSOLUTELY NO AI OR NFTS. GET OUT. FUCK OFF.

Taking inspiration from my characters for your own is okay as long as it’s not a direct rip. And no taking my art and using it without permission. I will hunt you down.

I am an adult, and am okay with suggestive content as long as the character in question is an adult, but outright nsfw and smut is Not Okay, especially if I don’t know you. You will be blocked.

This is my blog that I’m running for fun. I can and will block anyone for any reason. You’re not fun and quirky for breaking my rules and/or being weird. I don’t have time to deal with that.

Ask Box Rules

Keep everything related to my OCs!

Doodle requests are welcome, though they might not get done immediately bc my art motivation is fickle

You can ask questions about my characters, but I may not be able to answer due to spoilers. Many of these characters are ttrpg characters, and certain information might be something I can’t talk about yet.

You can ask questions directed AT a character as well, which I will answer in-character! When it comes to ttrpg characters, I’ll answer based on how they’d respond at the current point in the story, so the same question might have different answers if asked a few months apart as my groups play more sessions :]

As stated in general, I am okay with flirty/suggestive content, but outright nsfw is not permitted.

Character List

All characters will have a very brief summary. For more information on the characters, search for their tags and read through my posts about them!

Active TTRPG Characters

(aka, ttrpg characters whose stories are still ongoing. I may exclude information about them or avoid certain questions directed at them due to spoilers.)

Cypress

Spunky half-humanoid half-snow leopard barbarian with wicked amnesia. Age 13-ish, he/they.

Eries

Mom-friend aasimar paladin keeping the whole party on child leashes. Age 20, she/they. (Want to know more about the campaign Eries is from? My lovely DM, Cove set up a special blog just for Winds & Waves!)

Glory-of-the-Snow

Emotionally unintelligent mohsnian ranger with a cold lizard pet. Age 124, they/it.

Kasper

Rat bastard tabaxi sorcerer/artificer with every mental issue you could ever want. Age 27-ish, he/him.

Miscellaneous

(characters I've made but don't really have a use for yet. Still love em and am willing to talk about em :] )

Darcy

Cottagecore lemur anthro who loves baking and gardening. Age ~25, they/she.

Lilac

Pastel goth lop bunny anthro who loves witchy stuff like crystals and zodiacs. Will do a tarot reading on you unprompted. Age ~24, she/her.

Saturn

Cecropia Moth anthro who works as a bartender. A bit of a hopeless romantic. Age idk mid-late 20s? Any/all.

Tag System

# [character name]

All posts about that specific character

# art // # [character name] art

“# art” for ALL art, “# [character name] art” for art including a specific character

# ask // # [character name] ask

“# ask” for ALL asks, “# [character name] ask” for asks about a specific character

# lore // # [character name] lore

“# lore” for ALL lore, “# [character name] lore” for lore about a specific character

# rp // # [character name] rp

“# rp” for ALL roleplay, “# [character name] rp” for specific character roleplay

# rb

Reblogs (usually accompanied by me relating the rb’d post with a character)

Other Socials

Main Blog

Bluesky

Toyhouse

ArtFight

Friends' OC blogs (that I interact/rp with sometimes)

Arti

Cove

[artistiacons]

[Notice] Ahem, about my askbox

Lil reminder that my ask box isn’t just for asks, but it’s ALSO for art requests! PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE DOING SO THOUGH!: https://artistiacons.tumblr.com/requests-rules

Also keep in mind I have no actual restrictions when it comes to doodling anything Sonic-related since I’ve dwindled in fan content likes comics, AUs, and so forth at a fair amount. You might even say I accept requests from comic blogs as well!

For example, you can request me to draw an AU version of a character, like Sonic himself for example! This can be yours or anyone elses. Or just maybe your favorite hedgehog! I wouldn’t blame you, I got a fair amount of ‘em I like too lol

Anyways, this is just a friendly reminder that I in fact DO NOT CARE if you send me thousands of art requests in my inbox, in fact, I’d love if you spammed it lmao (aka, please gimme requests to do in my freetime, I beg of you, I wanna draw sillies)

[jackrrabbit]

Unprofessional [pt. 1] /// Yandere Tendou x f!Reader

Summary: The new hire you’re supposed to be training at your office job is a little too attached for his own good…or yours. [Part 2]

A/N: Someone requested yandere Tendou and I was like !!! However when I wrote it, it turned out kinda long so I split it into 2 parts; I’ll answer the req when I post part 2. Anyway I’m obsessed with the concept of salaryman Tendou, please enjoy!

Tags/warnings: yandere, timeskip (Tendou is 22-23 in this), workplace/office setting, liberal use of “senpai”, alcohol, Tendou’s crackhead energy is toned down a little bit because of the setting [In part 2: smut, 18+]

You don’t really like Tendou when you first meet him.

Your first impression when your boss introduces the new employee is that he’s all talk and no substance. He’s been hired fresh out of university, and he’s got the stink of a former frat boy all over him—that baseless enthusiasm, chaotic goodwill and arrogance mixed together. That might have been your type when you were still sucking down cheap keg beer from red solo cups, but you’re two years into your career as a real grown-up adult now, and the cockiness that radiates off Tendou in waves is just…annoying.

Unfortunately, when your boss tells you to take the newbie under your wing, train him, and be his mentor, it’s not a request. It’s a demand. So you decide to suck it up. If you’re going to have to spend every second at the office with Tendou trailing after you like a baby duck, you may as well get used to him.

After a few weeks, you have to admit he’s not that bad. Sure, he’s not the best at respecting personal space, but how can you blame him? When he looms over you to reach for a file above your head for the nth time and traps you between his body and the cabinet, you finally lose your patience and snap at him to give you some space, but he looks so surprised and apologizes so sincerely that you can’t help forgiving him. You feel a little bad, even, when he explains that he’s never worked in an office before so he’s not used to all the rules that he’s expected to follow in a professional environment.

You can’t really fault him for that, especially when you’re the one who’s supposed to be teaching him these things. “It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean anything,” you tell him, and he perks up so quickly that you feel even worse for chewing him out in the first place.

The thing is, Tendou doesn’t really stop getting close to you once you chastise him. It just bothers you less. The dozenth time his hand lingers over yours while you’re passing him a document or he picks an invisible thread off your blouse or sits a little too close when you’re riding in the back of a taxi to a client meeting, you start convincing yourself that you’re overreacting. He’s probably not being that much more pushy than your other coworkers—you’re just more aware of him because you don’t know him as well.

And it doesn’t help that he’s tall, towering over you and pretty much everyone else in the office. The cheap suits he cycles through can’t quite conceal the hard lines of muscle underneath—oh, whoops. Now you’re the one crossing boundaries. Tendou is so big that you’re just…more conscious of his presence, right?

This is drilled into you one night after a marathon overtime session when you’re carrying a tall stack of boxes back to the archives. Maybe it’s because you’ve been at work for 11 hours, but the files feel like they’re filled with rocks, not paper. Your muscles are this close to giving out when Tendou appears out of nowhere to pluck the files out of your arms. “Here. Gimme, gimme, I’ll take ‘em.”

The way he carries the heavy boxes so effortlessly makes you kind of embarrassed at how much you’d struggled with them. “You’re pretty strong, hm,” you say absently. Oops, was that inappropriate? You don’t want him thinking you’re hitting on him or something.

“Oh—yeah I guess?” Tendou’s laugh (the one that used to grate on your nerves) sounds like he’s pleased with himself. “I go to the gym a lot.”

“Wish I could find the time. Or the discipline,” you reply as he replaces the file box in the archive room.

“Wow, senpai is calling me disciplined. My heart is pounding.”

His tone is sarcastic enough that you don’t think twice about the second part of his statement. “Don’t get too full of yourself. If you have the energy to go to the gym, you should spend that time double checking your expense reports before you submit them.”

“Ouch.” Tendou holds his hand over his heart in mock betrayal. “Targeting my weak points, how ruthless. But seriously, working out is second nature to me. Been doin it since I was a kid so it doesn’t take any kinda discipline.”

“Oh? Did you play sports or something?”

“Yeah…” Tendou’s voice trails off and when you pause from your task of organizing the files to look up at him, he’s staring directly at you. “…Used to play volleyball. Grade school through college.”

The way he’s looking at you, searching your face for something you can’t identify, makes you think this is more important than it seems. You tip your head to the side, waiting for him to continue.

“Our team in high school was pretty good,” he says slowly.

“That’s cool,” you say, turning back to the paperwork. “Did you ever play Shiratorizawa? They’re my old high school—I think their volleyball team went to nationals back in the day. I was never into sports though.”

A moment passes, and you frown. Did you say something wrong? But just before you’re about to change the subject, Tendou starts laughing. “Shiratorizawa? No, I don’t think I ever played them.”

Your laugh joins his a second late, although you don’t know why he thinks it’s funny in the first place. In the echo of your voices, you can hear how quiet it is in the archives. There’s something here you’re missing, but you’re not sure what.

Luckily enough, the somewhat awkward atmosphere doesn’t carry over to the next day. When you get into the office, Tendou is his usual clingy self, distracting you from your own work to ask you to teach him something and pulling you away when you’re talking to your coworkers so you can double check his emails before he sends them. If anything, he’s more attached than usual—when you go to a contract renewal negotiation with a client he insists on tagging along, so you let him after making him promise not to get in the way.

Of course he doesn’t keep his promise, but you end up appreciating his intrusion more than you could have predicted. The client is stubborn and rude until Tendou chimes in (much to your dismay, at first) with an offer to add on some oddly specific perks to the contract. You’re already practicing your apology speech to the boss in anticipation of losing the client, but to your amazement he agrees to Tendou’s terms and the deal is sealed, along with a healthy bonus for you.

You’re on cloud nine, practically skipping out of the building with Tendou at your side as you fantasize about what you’re going to do with the bonus after you split it with him. A weekend vacation out of the city? An online shopping spree? Some fancy dinners at five-star restaurants? Knowing you, the money will end up going straight to your savings, but you still can’t contain your giddiness. “How did you know he wanted that add-on? Seriously, I had no idea!”

“A guess! I’m good at reading people.” Tendou’s just as elated as you, pumping his fist and whooping like a kid as soon as you’re away from the client’s earshot. “Woohoo! Yay! Our first sale together!”

“A guess? You risked that huge contract on a guess?” You roll your eyes but you’re too excited to be mad at him. “Anyway, you don’t have to say ‘our’ first sale, I know it was all you. I’ll tell the boss you’re doing a good job.”

“No way, it’s ours! Both of us. Me and senpai.” Tendou’s hand reaches down and his fingers lace with yours, squeezing so tight his knuckles go pale.

The thrill of your success flickers as nervousness sets in. Is he holding your hand? “Tendou—“

“Senpaiiiii~” he says in sing-song, swinging your hand as you walk to meet the taxi and ignoring your meek attempts to pull away. “Didn’t I do a good job?”

“Y-Yeah. Good job, Tendou.”

Work friends. The two of you are work friends. Your boss passes all comments to Tendou through you (mostly things about how he’s good with clients and charismatic but needs to stop making minor errors on paperwork). When one of you is sick, your coworkers ask the other to pass on their good wishes. Tendou fits into his role at the office seamlessly, and you can’t say you don’t appreciate the fact that all of his good work is reflecting well on you.

So when his birthday rolls around two months after he’s hired, it’s up to you to plan the office drinking party (only after he complains to you about how he doesn’t have any friends since moving to Tokyo). You have the date you got from Facebook—May 20th—circled in red pen on your private calendar along with a little doodle of a birthday cake.

“What’s that?” asks one of your coworkers, pointing to the circle, as you flip through your agenda a week before the event.

“Tendou’s turning 23,” you tell him. “It’s a Friday, so some of us are going to go to a restaurant and drink a little. You’re coming, right?”

“Oh…yeah.” Your coworker scratches his head and clears his throat. “You guys are pretty close, huh. Um, I actually wanted to ask—you’re not together, are you?”

A chill runs up your spine. “Together? Who said that?” If this rumor gets around to your boss it’ll kill your career. These things always look worse for the woman than for the man. God, it was probably something Tendou said without thinking, he’s always talking about you and someone could easily misinterpret all that praise…

“Well, if you’re dating—“

“We’re not dating,” you say quickly. “We do a lot of work together because I’m training him, but it’s not like that.”

“Really?” Your coworker straightens and smiles. “Cause I was actually thinking of asking if you wanted to go out this weekend—“

“Senpai? Can you help me with this draft?”

Damnit, it’s Tendou getting in the way at the absolute worst time—especially considering he just had to come up behind you and put his hand on your shoulder. Seriously, how many times do you have to tell him to stop doing that when you’re talking to someone else? You’re not sure whether to be irritated at him for cutting your coworker off, concerned that the other man won’t believe what you said about you and Tendou having a strictly professional relationship, or relieved that you don’t have to give an answer to what sounds like an offer for a date.

You cast an apologetic glance at your coworker and make your way over to Tendou’s desk, hoping against hope that the interruption doesn’t look too suspicious. You’d die if word got around to your boss that you were dating your mentee.

///

You’ve got this office drinking party thing down to an art. Step one is to load up on greasy appetizers that’ll increase your alcohol tolerance, step two is to drink plenty of water, and step three is to pour yourself a single drink early and take small sips.

There’s a step four, too: make sure no one else’s glass get’s below the 1/4 mark. Your boss and coworkers are a lot less receptive to how little you’re drinking when they’re all nice and tipsy. It’s a system you’ve perfected over the years, one that allows you to have fun with people from the office without risking making an ass out of yourself or getting a hangover (which, at 25, is a lot more unpleasant than it used to be).

You can’t count the number of times you’ve witnessed the awkward drunken escapades of your fellows, which range from the endearing (your boss crying over how much he loves his wife) to the awkward (coworker makeout sessions) to the potentially criminal (bar fights. So many bar fights). You’re happy to remain a neutral observer, and tonight is no exception.

The only problem is that Tendou hasn’t yet mastered the art of drinking lightly when you’re around people you work with, so now, at the end of his party, he’s (for lack of a better word) trashed. His cheek is mashed flat to the restaurant table like it’s glued there and his head is surrounded by progressive rings of bottles and cans. It’s some kind of miracle that he hasn’t yet gone to the bathroom to get sick.

“Sorry Tendou,” you sigh. “I should have been keeping a better eye on you.” You had no idea he’d get so drunk so quickly. Aren’t tall guys supposed to have high tolerance or something?

“Sssshenpaii,” Tendou slurs, hoisting his head off the table with that looks like Herculean effort. “I liiiike when…when ya look at me…”

“Ha, ha,” you say sarcastically.

Tendou’s head whips around. “Where’d everyone go?”

“They all left—now it’s time for us to go home too. Come on, I’ll help you get to the taxi.” You pay the bill (oof, there goes your petty cash for the week) and pull on Tendou’s shirt sleeve to get him to stand up. Luckily he’s just sober enough to realize what you want him to do and he follows you out to the street with an arm draped over your shoulders to steady his meandering footsteps.

The real trouble comes when the two of you are seated comfortably in the cab and the driver asks for Tendou’s address, which, apparently, he can’t remember. You do the sensible thing and look through his phone, but his own contact card provides no hint to where he lives in Tokyo, only a phone number, email, and address in Sendai which has to be his parents’ house—

Wait.

Tendou’s from Sendai?

You’re from Sendai. You didn’t know he was too. What a coincidence that both of you moved to Tokyo from Sendai. You’ve mentioned your hometown to him a couple times—how come he never told you he’s from the same place? You’re only two years older than him; maybe you’ve run across him in Sendai before the two of you started working together.

Now that you think about it, his face has always been kind of familiar…you thought it was just ‘one of those faces’, but…?

This isn’t the time to wonder, though. You poke Tendou gently in the side, careful not to jar him enough to risk any stomach upset. “Tendou? Do you remember what street you live on?”

After a long pause Tendou names a street, but it’s your company’s address which isn’t located anywhere near a residential district. When you tell him to think harder, he grimaces, lips pulling back to bare his teeth. “Don’ wanna go home…lemme sleep over at senpai’s house.”

“What? You can’t stay at my place.”

“Why noooot? ‘m tired,” he drawls, eyes closing as his head droops onto your shoulder in the back of the cab.

“It’s—it’s inappropriate—wait, no-no-no-no don’t fall asleep,” you tell him desperately but it’s already too late. A light snore filters out of him and you curse. “Tendou—“

“Address?” the cab driver barks insistently, giving you the stink eye in the rearview mirror.

Shit. Well, it is his birthday, you have a pull-out couch, and it’s not like anyone from the office is around to see you going home together. Tomorrow morning you’ll just have to give him a lecture about professional boundaries and make him promise not to breathe a word of this to your boss.

You give your own address to the cab driver. Tendou sleeps peacefully on your shoulder throughout the entire drive, rousing only when you whisper his name in his ear outside your building (which is a miracle, because you know without a doubt that you’re not capable of carrying him). When you get up to your apartment, you deposit him on the sofa bed and tell him not to look through your stuff while you brush your teeth.

Obviously, he doesn’t listen to you. When you emerge from the bathroom, Tendou is standing in the middle of your living room and turning the pages of an old photo album of yours.

“Hey, give me that.” You try to pull it away from him, but he doesn’t let go and his grip is stronger than yours, so the album remains firmly in his hands. “If you’re sober enough to mess with my things, you should go home.”

“This is senpai, right?” Tendou says, pointing to one of the photos.

Despite your exasperation, you lean in to take a look. It’s a picture from high school with you and some friends, all of you wearing your Shiratorizawa uniforms and grinning cheekily at whoever took the picture. Your fingers are cocked up in a peace sign. “Yeah? That’s me.”

“So cute…senpai is really cute…” Tendou’s long finger trails over the edge of your face though the filmy plastic covering the photo.

“Um…you need to get to sleep,” you say nervously, pulling a little harder on the album.

He doesn’t budge, instead just flipping back in the album to older pictures from when you were little until he stops at a photo of you and your younger brother in grade school. Against your better judgement, you frown and look closer to try and pick up whatever caught his interest in this particular image.

“How old…?” he asks.

“I don’t know, 10 or 11 maybe?”

Tendou nods. “When I met senpai…you were this old, yeah.”

“Jeez, you’re really drunk. We met two months ago, remember? I was on the interview board.”

“Yeah.” Tendou’s gaze is glued to the photo. “I was so sad, ‘cause senpai doesn’t remember me. But also really happy to see you after such a long time…I thought it was a dream…”

“Hm? I don’t get it.”

Tendou finally looks up from the picture and meets your wary gaze with those wide red eyes. God, you used to think his face was so creepy—lately you find his zealousness endearing, almost childlike, but right now? It’s making your feet itch how much you want to step away from him. “I was really hoping you would remember on your own, but I guess I’ll have to tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“How me an’ senpai met…”

Are you imagining it, or does his voice sound a lot less slurred than it did just 20 minutes ago? “You’re not making any sense.”

“Shh, just listen…your little brother played volleyball when you were kids, didn’t he?”

How did he know that? You nod hesitantly.

“Yeah…he was in my grade. He was a bad kid, y’know that? Always saying mean things to me.”

It’s true. Your brother’s always had a mean streak in him.

“He used to call me a monster. ‘Cause, y’know—“ Tendou taps a finger against his face. “Guess I look weird. And my name, too. So he said he didn’t wanna play with me. Demons can’t play on human teams. Every day, saying cruel things. I really hated him.”

Monster. Volleyball. Your little brother. Tendou Satori like the mind-reading spirits from folklore. Something’s coming to mind, a memory you haven’t thought about in years—no, decades.

Your little brother making fun of another kid. A tall kid with red hair in a bowl cut.

“I-I remember,” you stammer. “I came to his practice one time and you were there, right? That bowl cut kid was you. I got mad at him for calling you names and I yelled at him. That’s when we met?”

“Correct!” Tendou’s beaming like you just told him he won the lottery instead of recalling a random fifteen-year-old memory. “You made him let me play! I got to get on the court, and block him, and see his beaten face looking up at me. All because of senpai.”

You can play this off, you think to yourself. Tell him you’re sorry for how your brother treated him. Ask him why he never told you that the two of you have met before. Say something. Anything. But your mouth is too dry to let you speak.

“And, you know…” Tendou’s voice softens and a light blush dusts his cheeks. “I thought you were so cool. I couldn’t believe you were related to that jerk. Can I…tell you a secret?”

No. Deep down you know what he’s going to say, and you don’t want to hear it.

Tendou’s hand comes up to comb through your hair, gently pulling through the delicate strands next to your face and tucking them back so he can lean in and whisper into your ear (even though there’s no one else around). “I like you, senpai.”

Stop it. Stop it. Your blood feels cold in your veins.

“I’ve liked you ever since then. I used to wish we were in the same grade so I could be your friend and talk to you every day. Whenever we were in different schools I missed seeing you in the halls and hearing your voice when you spoke to other people.”

“Stop...stop talking,” you whisper, but Tendou continues like he didn’t hear you.

“Why’d you have to go all the way to Tokyo for college? In my third year at Shiratorizawa I studied for your school’s entrance exam forever, but I didn’t get in. Was too busy with volleyball, I guess.” He pauses. “Oh, by the way, I went to Shiratorizawa. I lied about that, sorry. But—seriously, d’you have any idea how hard it was for me when you were away at university? Not seeing the person I love for six years?”

Love, he said. You feel nauseous. “Tendou, you don’t—“

“Let me finish, okay senpai? You don’t know how much I’ve been through. Always having to respect your ‘personal space’—“ he frames the phrase in mocking air quotes— “when I need to touch you so bad I feel like I’m gonna explode.”

And then he’s hugging you into his chest, crushing your torso into his. You struggle and try to get him to let you go, but Tendou is so much stronger than you.

“You’re not that different from your brother after all, are you?” he hums into your hair. “You’ve been torturing me. You know how you lean over my desk when you show me something on my computer? I can…see down your shirt when you do that. And I smell your perfume. I spent two hours at the mall trying all the different perfumes so I could find the right one…thought my nose was gonna stop working! But don’t laugh—“

You’re not laughing.

“—the salesgirl looked at me funny but I got it eventually. Chance Eau Fraiche, right? I can’t believe how expensive that stuff is, what is it made of gold? It was worth it though! I saw this news article about how smelling things in your sleep can trigger memories, so I tried spraying your perfume on my pillow before I go to bed and now I get to see you at work and when I’m dreaming—”

“STOP IT!” Your slap echoes across the room with a resounding crack. You’ve never hit anyone before in your life, but your aim is good enough to leave Tendou staring with a shocked expression off to the side and a bright red mark on his face. His arms fall down from you and you back away from him, clutching your hand to your chest. “You need to get out. You’re drunk and you’re not thinking clearly. We...we can talk about this tomorrow, but right now you have to go.”

Your heart is beating like hummingbird wings, sending a flush up to your face that you know is visible. Tendou ghosts his hand over his cheek and is quiet for a long moment. “I wanted to do this the right way,” he says finally.

“What?”

“I tried. But you’re so obsessed with professionalism. You refused to see me like that,” he sighs. “You’re too responsible. Although it’s one of the things I like about you.”

“Please listen to me...” The psychological anxiety of this revelation is stirring up a primal fight or flight instinct, and you start backing up.

“I really wanted to treat you gently. You deserve to be treated well…”

“Tendou, wait.” How far are you from your bedroom? You don’t want to resort to hiding from him, but you’d feel a lot better with a locked door between you and him.

“…but senpai, I’ve waited so long. And it’s my birthday.”

Your hands scrabble for the doorknob, only—oh. He’s not just stronger than you, he’s faster too.

➠ [Part 2]

[chinuppoppins]

prompt- tandy and tyrone are pen pals that meet up at some point.

So uh, this is going to be a either two or three part-er. I had fun with this one and may have gone a little off topic. Hope it is still alright!

Tandy sighs when her mom hands her the sheet of paper, her brow raising almost off her forehead when she reads the heading. “You adopted a solider for me?” She asked slowly and Melissa nodded from the other side of the counter. The diner isn’t as busy as it usually is, the rainy weather had something to do with it. “Mom, seriously?”

Melissa Bowen wipes her hands against her apron and shakes her head. “Honey, I’m concerned, that’s all. You seem lonely to me, I mean you don’t have any friends, Liam screwed you over-”

“That asshole better hope I don’t get my hands on him!” A voice yells from the back and Tandy sighs when Greg looks through the window at her annoyed face. “What? Who the hell steals EVERYTHING you own and leaves town like that.”

“Mom, Greg, really- I appreciate the thought, but I’m alright on my own.” She told the older, concerned adults while her mom rolls her eyes.

“Just write ‘em, give it a chance. I have a feeling that those men and women serving are just as lonely as you are.” Melissa says.

Tandy looks down at the paper and the name of the person she was sponsoring. Tyrone Johnson. “I’ll think about it.” and then looks down at her phone. “Ah shit, I’m late for class. I’ll see you two later.”

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

A few weeks pass when she comes across the paper that her mom gave her crumbled at the bottom of her bag, smashed by her books. Tandy sits on her bed as she begins to read the letter.

‘Dear Tandy,

Thank you for adopting one of our soldiers through their deployment. The kindness and support that you will be providing will help their time from home a little easier. Provided within is the name of the soldier you will be sponsoring. Please keep in mind that your soldier may be in a remote location so internet access is limited as well as receiving letters.’

She eyes the rest of the letter until she comes across his name again.  PVT Tyrone Johnson. She sighs as she reaches for her computer and types his email address. Tandy honestly doesn’t know what to say. So she wings it. “Hi, Tyrone. I’m Tandy Bowen, your pen pal/personal care package sender. So is there any specific items you want or need. Just, you know, nothing gucci cause I am on a college budget. But um, thanks for your service and stuff, I mean honestly, I’m not too sure if I could ever do it, especially with the man that was put in charge of our country. Anyways, hope to hear from you.”

She reads it over a few time before just saying fuck it and sends the email before crashing into her bed. At least she was attempting to reach out to another human.

----------

Months pass and she was in the middle of writing a thesis statement when her computer bings with a small notification at the right side of her screen. She clicks it and is quickly brought to her gmail account and an email from her soldier buddy. A small smile plays on her lips and she quickly opens it up and blinks the sleep from her eyes.

“Hey Tandy, I’m seriously sorry it took me this long to get back to you. I really didn’t know I was signed up for the adopt a soldier program until I got your email. I reached out and found out that it was my mom that took the initiative to sign me up. Don’t worry though, I’m not an expensive guy and besides, Gucci doesn’t play well with desert camo anyway so your wallet it saved for now. It’s cool though that you are in school,  what’s your major?

Yeah, I know the country is screwed up. Though my vibe on joining The Marines was to protect the innocent you know? I mean, someone’s gotta look out for the little guy.

Um anyway, below is a list of some necessities if it isn’t too much of a bother for you. Can’t wait to hear from you again!

-Tyrone Johnson.”

Tandy finds herself reading the email more then once and then finally the list he sent, it’s the usual types of things that a person would need. Through her eyes stop at the fact that he requested food and not just any type of food, but candy, specifically sour patch kids. She decides then and there that her first priority was to get this guy some sour patch kids first thing in the morning.

------

For Tyrone Johnson, joining the Marines and leaving his home was what would help him succeed in life. He thought that this path would give him respect and yeah, it was harder most days than others. Though a day he saw as a good one was when he received an email from a spunky sort of girl. It takes him a while to come up with a good reply for her and when he does, he sends it as quickly as he could.

But a reply never comes back, maybe he crossed a line with her? Hell if he knew. However he eats his thoughts when he hears. “Johnson, mail for you!”

It’s a medium sized box that he quickly rips into, his eyes meet a bag of sour patch kids and he beams. She had gotten his email and she actually got him the candy, alright, this Tandy Bowen was amazing. His eyes quickly fall to an envelope with ‘Read Me’ written neatly on it. So he sets aside his candy and carefully opens up the envelope to find a letter written on a piece of college ruled loose leaf paper. The writing is neat, pretty and in a mixture of cursive and print. There is a faint smell of lavender on the paper and some of the items in the box. He skims the note before fully reading it, chuckling at the doodles in the corner of the page. There was something about a handwritten letter that was much deeper and personal.

“Hey, Ty!

Just so you know, the lecture I am in is super boring right now so rather than falling asleep like the sleep deprived girl that I am, I decided to do something much more interesting which is writing to you.

I think that your reasoning for joining the Military is really honorable and of all things, The Marines? Pretty awesome. I am majoring in Biological Sciences at Loyola University. It’s in my home city of New Orleans. I’ve always been interested in science, kinda nerdy, yeah, but it’s what I am was always good at so why not?

So I looked through your list, and while I approve of your candy choice (sour patch kids are my second favorite candy after all) , I decided to throw in a few of my favorites as well. You got to broaden your horizon, my friend. What I wish I could send you is a Beignet, you haven’t lived till you’ve tried one. My mom and her boyfriend own a diner and while Greg is awesome, he sucks at making them. So we get an order every morning from the bakery and I am not allowed to touch them.

I was actually kinda wondering how old you are, Tyrone Johnson, where you came from, life before you joined up? I mean you don’t have to if you’re not comfortable. I’m 20 though, I waitress at my mom’s diner and like I said, on a college budget.

Talk to you soon!

Tandy”

Tyrone smile stretched from ear to ear and of course one of his commanding officers notices. “What's got you so giddy, Johnson?”

Frank Castle is a pretty intimidating sort of guy. He was at least six foot two and was complete muscle. “It’s a package sir.”  Tyrone explains as Frank nods, folding his arms across his chest and smiles. “My mom signed me up for the adopt a soldier program, so this girl just sent me a care package.”

Frank plops next to him and looks into the package. “Whoa, she sent swedish fish, those are my favorite. Karen would never send me those,” He chuckles. “Though Lisa might sneak some in the care package.” Most of the men knew Frank’s story. His wife and him divorced mutually and a few years later, he met Karen Page. She was a reporter that his daughter had actually set him up with. “So you know anything about this girl?”

“Uh, she is a college student, we come from the same city, but she doesn’t know that.” Tyrone tells him. “Her mom owns a diner and she goes to school for- biological science.”

“So you finally over that Evita girl?” Frank asks, mouth full of swedish fish

Tyrone thinks for a moment and then shrugs. “I think so, maybe.”

“Don’t be so indecisive kid, women hate that. Write back to that Tandy girl, see those written letter hold more of a punch, trust me.” Frank advises before taking another handful of sweets and leaving him with a pen and paper.

‘Hey Tandy,

Thanks for the package and the candy. So you are from New Orleans, huh? Well, we have something in common-’

-----

She is on her break at the diner when she finally reads Tyrone’s letter. It’s neatly handwritten, unlike any sort of handwriting from a guy she had ever seen. She remembered reading something about how you could know someone through their penmanship, and maybe it was right.

‘- I’m from New Orleans too. I grew up in the lower ninth and then moved to MidCity when I was nine. I’m missing the food though and my parents. When I come home for leave, I plan to just eat my weight in beignets and calas. Another thing we have in common? Well I just turned twenty myself while on duty. My mom was upset that I wasn’t home for it. She gets scared sometimes, you know? I have an older brother, he’s in a wheelchair from being gunned down by some crooked cop when we were kids. Mom was never the same after that. I had a nine o’clock curfew till I left for basic. I can’t blame her though. Maybe, if it’s not to weird, we could meet up when I go on leave? I could come to your mom’s diner so it’s not that awkward.’

Tandy doesn’t miss the fact that there is a stray tear making its way out of the corner of her eye when she reads Tyrone’s letter, though her heart skips a beat when he asks if he could meet her. She panics, would he even like the girl that he would be meeting? Weren’t they moving too fast, they had to be moving too fast. What if he was catfishing her, could that be a thing. This whole pen pal thing was supposed to be a way to make a long distance friend, not one that was from her hometown. So in her nature, she decides to run from this and him.

The summer months pass and she still can’t rid of the nagging guilt that had been eating away at her. How she so carelessly ditched someone who was slow close to being called a friend. She has morning shift at the diner, her mom is already there and so is Greg, cooking up breakfast.

“Tandy!” Her mom exclaims as she walks through the door. “Can you do me a huge favor and take care of table three?”

Tandy nods as she walks past the table first, going back to the kitchen to pull her apron on and her hair up. She rounds the corner again and pulls out a notepad and a pen. “What can I get for you?” She asks, eyes trained on her paper.

“A beignet would be great.” A male’s voice says. “Though I was told they were not made here, since Greg sucks at making them. Did you remember to pick them up this morning?”

She freezes and looks up from her notepad, her pen falls to the floor and her voice isn’t quite working. Sitting before her, is a young man in a military uniform. She blinks once, then twice to make sure she isn’t seeing things and then asks. “Tyrone?” In an unsure tone and he smiles. He’s more handsome than she imagined with a strong jaw, beautiful eyes and a sculpted chin. She wondered for a moment if he was made from marble or something like that and had to fight off the need to actually trace his jawline with her fingers. Tandy glances over at her mom who had a shit eating grin on her face and then sits across from Tyrone. She had a million questions, she she just goes with the first one. “How did you find me here?”

Tyrone sits back against the booth, his hat on his left and tells her. “After you never got back to me, I got worried that maybe I crossed a line. I wanted to drop me, but Frank Castle wasn’t having it. He’s my commanding officer and has kinda adopted me as his son? I don’t know. I know that this sounds creepy and down right stalking, but his daughter looked you up and then told her dad, who told me what diner you work at. I’m sorry, you’re weird out, I’ll leave.”

Tandy reaches out and grabs his hand. There is a jolt, a spark almost and he stops in his tracks. “No, stay. I mean it is a little strange but, I should have wrote you back. I just, I don’t know, I got scared. I can’t believe that you actually still want to see me. I really did screw you over.”

He beams at her and she can’t get his smile out of her head, jesus christ, what was wrong with her? “Well” He tells her. “You have all week to make up for it, deal?”

Tandy stretches her hand out to shake his. “You got yourself a deal.”