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drabbles-of-writing · 3 years ago

Text

Coming Home

AO3

third owl fight attack! This one’s prompt was “Hunter and Luz being siblings”, and I kinda ran with it

Summary: Saying that Hunter was worried for Luz would be an overstatement. He wasn't worried, he was just...vaguely curious. He knew that she'd take some time in the human realm, to be with her mother, but...well, it'd been almost two weeks, and nobody had heard a single thing from her. So, really, breaking and entering was an entirely reasonable reaction.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Now, Hunter knew, on some level, that Luz would be in the human realm for a while.

To be fair, he hadn’t had much time to think about it, what with everything going on. There was the Grimwalker revelation, which was also a kind-of clone revelation, and Luz offering an outstretched hand, and sitting on the ground in the human realm with the portal flickering and pulsing angrily, the dust settling as he held his uncles broken mask in his hands--

He’d been more than a little preoccupied, to say the least.

And Luz had gone through the portal the second it had all finally calmed, when there was nothing left to fight, with goodbyes he couldn’t remember. He wasn’t sure exactly when, everything had gone pretty numb by that point.

He just knew that after the first two days, when he was finally dragged out of his miserable wallowing in ditches by a very exasperated palisman and Owl Lady, Luz wasn’t there.

The others noticed her absence and the slight hole she left, he knew they did, but they never really commented on it. What with Bonesborough falling apart in a literal and metaphorical sense, everyone was kinda busy trying to patch all of it up. Like dealing with that one demon who kept talking about ancient magic, who was apparently the small rat demon's dad. And making sure Kikimora stopped escaping prison for five minutes. And dealing with the other Coven Heads. And apparently there was some people mad that the old wild witch ways were coming back--

Nobody really had the time to wonder about Luz off in the human realm, seeing her mother again.

And for the first week, he didn’t worry. He had an existential crisis and bothersome witches to avoid like the plague. His days were spent distracting himself by making everyone's lives miserable, since they kept insisting on holding him captive in the Owl House instead of letting him decompose in the woods for some reason. And honestly, Luz knew way too many people, because he’d stopped bothering to keep track of everyone by the fourth hour of being in that house.

After he realized trying to run for it or annoying everyone into kicking him out wouldn’t work, he mostly hid in the dark corners where nobody would see him for hours at a time. Used to be for days, but apparently the Owl Lady was just as nocturnal as him, and they’d run into each other early in the morning when trying to grab a snack.

He had Rascal for company, at least. Say what you will about the little guy, but he was as loyal as he was stubborn.

But, after the first week, Hunter was starting to really notice a severe lack of annoying humans running around.

Apparently, so was the others, because he was noticing a few of them beginning to get a little antsy. He would’ve brushed it off, but he could hear a distinct influx of mutterings that sounded like ‘Luz’ and ‘portal’ and ‘human realm’ from his hiding places, when they thought no one else was around.

It was almost halfway through the second week before he knew it, and that was far too long for Luz to be away without so much as a note.

And she was probably fine, he reasoned. But Luz being away without even a call was suspicious enough, two was downright concerning.

By then, Hunter was somewhat starting to recognize the faces that filtered in and out of the Owl House, and he began to plan.

Somehow, he managed to wait until he saw a girl with familiar purple hair step in through the doorway, speaking words he didn’t bother to listen to as she sat on the couch he was hiding under.

Rascal had, of course, chosen to perch himself on the head of a chair across the room, where barely anyone would care to notice him.

She was talking to some small illusionist he saw earlier (he may recognize faces, but names were a whole other matter. He’d never had to memorize names unless they were important to Belos, and if they weren’t, they were irrelevant. He should probably work on remembering their names), something about buildings and repairs or something, it wasn’t his problem. When the illusionist stepped away, off towards the kitchen to grab something, Hunter decided to poke his head out from underneath the couch.

“So what's the word on-- ow!” He yelped, jerking back under the couch when he got a foot kicked into his nose.

“Titan, don’t do that, you prick!” Amity snapped, inching a little further to the left as Hunter peeked out only one eye from under the couch this time, giving his best spiteful glare. “Why are you even down there?”

“Because nobody bothers me,” Hunter growled, holding his nose as he began to wiggle out. “Everyone’s so clingy in this house, it’s maddening.”

“Do you actually mean clingy, or are you referring to basic kindness?” Amity raised a brow, narrowing her eyes as he stood and brushed himself off from the dust bunnies that gathered under the couch.

“Irrelevant. Why hasn’t the human returned yet?” He demanded, leaning against the arm of the couch as Amity sat at the other end, giving a reasonable distance between them.

“Luz?” Amity blinked, clearly taken aback by the question.

“Yes, is there another, different human that you have to bring up every five minutes I should know about?” Hunter snapped, and got a curled lip and bared teeth from Amity in response.

“What, getting bored of the rest of us?” Amity snarked, crossing her arms.

“Don’t flatter yourself, barely any of you were entertaining to begin with.” Hunter huffed. “Now do you know why the human is avoiding us or not?”

“Avoiding?” Amity frowned. “Luz’s not avoiding us, she’s just visiting her mom.”

“With radio silence for almost two weeks,” Hunter said, doing his best to stamp down his impatience.

He really would have rathered asking the Owl Lady about this, but he’d learned from the last time he tried that she’d twist any conversation regarding Luz to be about him, so the next logical best bet would have to be her incessant, chattery, girlfriend. Titan, Luz had the weirdest tastes.

“She’s been away from her mom for four months.” Amity said, rolling her eyes like this was some concept he wasn't understanding. “She’s not gonna see her for a day and then come right back.”

“But still!” Hunter threw his hands in the air, ignoring Rascal’s minorly concerned chirp from across the room. “You think someone like Luz would go without contact for almost two weeks? She would’ve at least popped in to say hello, or go on some ramble about what’s going on in the human realm. She’d feel guilty about leaving you guys to repair everything on your own by the second hour.”

“It’s just...taking her a minute,” Amity said, and that was the first small crack in her resolve he saw. Had she not seen him at his lowest the first time they spoke, he would’ve been proud of the fact he could chip away at her far easier than she could at him. “Luz wouldn’t avoid anyone out of the blue, that’s not like her.”

And he knew she was right on that, as infuriating it was to admit it. Luz wouldn’t abandon people, she’d be more likely to keel over on the spot from spontaneously growing a bile sac. And perhaps a part of him was being a little over dramatic, but there was just this little twist in his chest that curled tighter when he considered going back to hiding in empty rooms and letting everything continue on, waiting to see if anything would change rather than making it change.

“Besides,” Amity continued. “As Luz’s girlfriend, I think that I would know if--”

“Oh Titan, just forget it.” Hunter groaned, tugging on his ears as he stepped away from the couch. “Whatever, you’re useless about this, anyway. If you don’t know when she’s coming back, and the Owl Lady doesn’t know, then nobody will.”

Amity stayed silent for a moment as Hunter stormed off towards the doorway that led to the staircase, Rascal flying off his perch to land on his shoulder with soft, almost melodic chirrups.

He contemplated if he could steal something from one of the spare rooms up there. Everyone was fluctuating between them the last few days, but they often left their stuff in there for him to take. It was fun watching them get so riled up about their missing junk.

“We,” Amity started, and Hunter paused in the doorway, one ear pricked. “We were planning on going into the human realm,” She admitted, voice quiet. “If we didn’t hear anything from Luz by the end of this week.”

Hunter turned around then, noting Amity had one hand bunched up on her leg, fisting the hem of her shirt and rubbing her fingers between it in a nervous tick. She avoided his gaze, and he saw, for just the briefest of moments, the uncertainty spilling off of her, possibly having been doing so for far longer than when he’d noticed the same signs from everyone else.

“Well,” He said, and she looked up at him then, and the vulnerability was gone in a snap, replaced by a curious, slightly accusatory, expression. It unnerved him how familiar it looked. “By all means, don’t go telling me about your super secret rescue missions, not like I’d want to join.” He muttered.

“Count it a blessing that I told you at all,” Amity hissed, ears flicking back. “Maybe if you promise to be nice, we’ll let you come along.” She taunted.

“Maybe if you people hadn’t kidnapped me, I wouldn’t be causing so many problems.” Hunter growled back through gritted teeth, breaking eye contact for only a moment when Rascal lightly bit and tugged on his ear, trying to urge him away.

“Like you need an excuse--”

“Uh, am-am I interrupting?”

The two turned their heads, realizing that the small illusionist, he’d figure out the kids name later, was standing in the living room again, a box of juice in his hands as his eyes flicked between them.

“No, Golden Boy was just leaving.” Amity waved him off, leaning back against the couch.

“You weren’t even clever with that one, Blight.” Hunter sneered, rolling his eyes as he turned to leave.

“Wittebane.”

“Call me that again and I’m ripping your teeth out.” Hunter threatened, pointing a finger at her as he backed out of the room.

“No name,” Amity amended, sticking her tongue out at him.

“You are on thin ice.”

That night, Hunter was opening the window in Luz’s old room.

His escape attempts had never really worked before, the weird tube demon in the front door took his job of keeping him contained very seriously. Everyone else just liked watching the show and tapping in when needed.

However, he also knew, from the mutterings that Luz had told him in those few snatches of time in the days that they had talked before everything went wrong (or right, depending on who you asked), that she’d snuck out through her window multiple times without the demon realizing. Apparently she had bribed him once or twice, and now he barely reacted to the sound of her window opening, sort of like a reflex.

He’d meant to use it for his next escape attempt, just to see if it’d work for him, to run for the hills if it worked, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He’d be damned if they left him out of nabbing Luz from the human realm.

So Hunter tugged his cloak tighter across his shoulders, despite it being torn in many places, he had yet to rid it completely, and slowly opened Luz’s window.

He waited, tense, Rascal just as silent from within his hood. When there wasn’t the sound of a piercing voice after a few seconds, he cautiously poked his head out.

Nothing.

Either the bird really had grown to have no reaction to Luz’s window opening, or he was just as tired as everyone else. Or off eating bugs, that was plausible.

He slowly edged out, only having a moment to peer down at the ground below until he swung out of the window, hands gripping the windowsill as he edged himself down.

He hung in the air for a moment before releasing the windowsill, dropping to the ground below in a crouch. The perks of the Emperor’s Coven were few and far between, but hey, living there had made him an expert at being quiet.

He darted around the Owl House, crouching so as to avoid being seen through the first-floor windows, because there was always someone awake, no matter the hour. The portal to the human realm had been moved not too far away, but far enough that it couldn’t be, you know, automatically seen by anyone approaching the building.

He spared one last glance towards the house before he booked it off towards the woods, already mentally cursing himself for wearing a white cloak in the middle of the night. Why did he think that was a good idea, why did he think that was a good idea--

He made it to the cover of trees, somehow, without anyone sounding the alarm. He ducked behind a tree, catching his breath for a moment as he waited for shouting to arise.

Upon realizing he was in the clear, he pumped a fist in the air with a soft “yes!” and got an encouraging whistle from Rascal, who he gave a quick scratch on the head to.

He then hurried a bit further into the trees, soon faced with branches, vines, and bushes all stretched out across the beginning of a slope before him.

He reached out, grabbing one of the vines and yanking it aside, revealing the structure of the portal to the human realm, its soft humming mostly muffled by everything covering it. He ran his hand down the exterior of it for a second before pushing more vines aside, allowing a small enough space for him to crawl through.

He’d been to the human realm before, technically. Belos’s wrath had only just begun to reach into the human realm before he had managed to be stopped, and Hunter had a few moments out there, feeling the grass and seeing the trees. They really were green, and he couldn’t help but see it all and know with certainty that there was no magic within any of it. Hollow. It was a feeling he was familiar with.

But this time was different, and he inhaled for a moment before giving Rascal what he hoped was his best determined look.

“Alright,” He said. “Let’s see what’s been keeping her.”

He spent about half an hour in the woods of the human realm until he managed to find Luz’s house.

She’d never really said where she lived, just that it was the closest house to the forest. Nothing about directions, so he spent his time wandering about trying to find a house that wasn’t falling apart.

Rascal gave up and eventually flew off at some point, returning about five minutes later, chittering loudly and pulling on his hood. Hunter knew better to argue, and had followed until he came across a house that actually looked lived in, as opposed to the one he’d appeared in.

“If you led me to a random person's house, I will throw you into the sea.” Hunter warned, only getting a cheery whistle in return as he walked around the house.

He eventually found a window on the first floor, and pushing on it, was delighted to find that it was unlocked. He opened it, hoisting himself inside as Rascal darted in.

He realized the window was right over a kitchen sink, and lightly stepped a foot onto the counter beside it. He slowly swung himself inside, not even bothering to shut the window behind him as he dropped to the floor. He might need that escape route later.

Rascal was off exploring without a second thought, so he allowed himself to stalk throughout the kitchen, eyes flickering over photos and magnets stuck to the fridge. He saw ones that looked like letters, colors, and even saw a photo of a woman and a young, crazy-looking child.

He peeked around corners as he darted through the house, cracking open doors before continuing through hallways. One of the doors he opened looked like a bedroom, but he saw something with a scaly tail poking out, so he let that room be. The human realm was bound to have its own oddities.

The other bedroom he saw did have a person sleeping in it, but she didn’t look like Luz, much too old, so he quietly shut that door again and tried a different one.

He opened the last one, at the end of the hallway, already preparing to snap back that Rascal had brought him to the wrong house, when he took in the bedroom.

He only needed to see it for half a second to see the immediate resemblance to the mess that was Luz’s room in the Owl House. He slipped inside, leaving the door open just a crack in case Rascal showed up.

He crouched, eyeing the posters along the walls, shelves full of random junk, books strewn across the room. The figure sleeping in the bed was practically twisted backwards, blankets already halfway on the floor. He approached it, slowly standing up as he loomed over them, searching their face.

“Oh thank the Titan,” Hunter breathed, stepping back as he pressed a hand to his chest. That was Luz, for sure.

She stirred, slightly, hand twitching as she mumbled incoherently in her sleep. At least she wasn’t actually kidnapped or something, he reasoned.

“Hey, human,” He said, a little louder, but enough that he hoped the others down the hallway wouldn’t hear, shoving at her shoulder. “Wakey wakey.”

Luz mumbled in her sleep again, one eye barely cracking open before she turned over and tried to bury further under her covers.

Hunter grabbed her leg poking out from the blankets and yanked her off.

Luz’s yelp was cut off as he smothered the blankets over her, pausing as she fumbled around trying to get it off, ears pricked as he waited to see if anyone had heard.

“I’m awake, Vee, I’m awake--” Luz pulled the blanket off her head, her glare almost immediately replaced with shock.

“Hey,” Hunter grinned, flashing fangs. “Miss me?”

“Hunter?” Luz exclaimed, before immediately covering her mouth with her hands, eyes darting towards her door like she expected someone to be there.

“Oh don’t sound so surprised.” Hunter scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You oughta step up your game if you think you can escape me in another dimension.”

“What are you doing here?” Luz whisper-yelled, scrambling to her feet as she looked wildly around her room. “Did-did the others come?” She asked, giving him such a scared look he was a little put off by it.

“No? I mean, they will be, I just got ahead of the curve.” Hunter shrugged off her odd reactions. “Made sure I got to you before they did, didn’t feel like being left behind on the ‘let’s drag Luz back kicking and screaming’ plan.”

“Oh no, oh no,” Luz shook her head, one hand on her head as she began to pace. “Are-are the others looking for me?”

“Will be by the end of this week,” Hunter said, watching her curiously. “Why? This a bad time or something?”

“Yes! Yes, this is a terrible time!” Luz exclaimed, barely managing to keep her voice down as she whirled towards him.

“Did you get grounded?” Hunter narrowed his eyes. “Because if so, let me just say, I know about fifteen different ways to lessen the extent of the grounding, and twice as many ways to sneak out, this place isn’t even all that fortified--”

“No! Well, I mean, I kind of am,” Luz winced. “But that’s not--you can’t--you need to go.” Luz said, gesturing back towards the door. “You can’t be here.”

“Do you need a body disposed of? Because I also know a lot of ways to--”

“I’m touched, but no.” Luz gave him a withering look. “Don’t even wanna know why you know that. You have to leave.” She insisted, beginning to shove him towards the door.

“Aw, but I came all this way to see you,” Hunter whined in a dramatic tease, slowly leaning back, therefore putting more strain on Luz as she tried to push him out. “You don’t want to see me?”

“Believe me, I’m very happy to see you’re okay,” Luz assured through gritted teeth, offering the smallest of smiles. “And I’ll bother you later. But now is not the time.”

Rascal took that moment to poke in through the crack in the doorway, landing on a shelf and eyeing the two with what felt like judgement. Hunter promptly dropped all his weight on Luz, nearly crushing her.

“Damn,” He whistled when Luz’s knees refused to buckle. “You got some muscle hiding under those skinny bones?”

“That, and you weigh as much as a half-filled sack of lumpy potatoes.” Luz muttered, already pushing back up to her full height as she took Hunter with her.

“You’re impossible.” Hunter huffed, standing back up onto his feet and snickering as Luz stumbled with the lack of weight. “Seriously, what’s the hold up? Are you getting bored with us already?”

“No, first of all, I’d never do that.” Luz pointed a finger at him. “And I’m offended you thought I ever would be.”

“It’s a reasonable assumption.”

“It’s not. And second of all, I’m serious, you cannot be here.” Luz stressed, grabbing his shoulders, a movement that instinctively caused him to flinch, just the tiniest bit. “If my mom sees you here, she’s going to freak--”

“Luz?” A groggy voice called, and Luz stiffened so quickly with such terror crossing her face that Hunter tensed as well. “Creí haber escuchado algo, are you--?”

Hunter saw the door to Luz’s room open, and immediately threw an arm out in front of Luz, giving a quick whistle that Rascal had learned to recognize by now. In a flash, he was holding his staff in his other hand, Luz pushed behind him as he pointed his staff towards the figure in the doorway, ears pressed back and fangs bared in a low, warning growl.

The person froze, eyes going wide, one hand still clutching the door handle.

He recognized it as the older woman he saw in one of the bedrooms, hair still mussied from sleep, the glasses on her face smudged from someone having grabbed them clumsily. The sleep had vanished from her eyes the moment she saw him, a faintly glowing staff pointed only a foot away from her.

“Hunter, Hunter, no, stop!” Luz was quick to grab Hunter’s arm after barely a second of tense silence, shoving the staff down. “She’s my mom, she’s safe!”

Hunter paused at that. Granted, his experience with biological family (as biological as Belos could be) wasn’t the best, but he had heard a few stories, here and there, about Luz’s mom. And Luz would go into a Slitherbeast den for anyone who asked nicely, but hey, he still thought that if someone was willing to fight Emperor Belos for them, they had to be something special.

“Oh, sorry.” He said, all hostility evaporating as he drew his staff back, holding it at his side. “Reflexes.”

“Luz,” The woman said, slowly, and Hunter was so instantly reminded of when the adults dealing with him were trying so hard to not lose their shit that he halfway raised his arm to shield Luz again. “Por qué hay un chico extraño en tu habitación?”

“Puedo explicarlo!” Luz was quick to exclaim, clutching Hunter’s arm, and he looked blankly between them. He’d heard of other languages in the Isles before, often ones spoken by demons, but this was a new one on him.

“Oh estoy segura de que lo harás!” The woman snapped back, hands on her hips now, not bothering to keep her voice low.

“What’s she saying?” Hunter whispered to Luz, eyes still darting between the two. “Is this a ‘we’re about to start fighting’ situation or a ‘you’re grounded for life’ situation?”

“No te puedo creer.” Luz's mom grumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Okay, so, uh,” Luz clasped her hands together. “I promise, mami, this is not what it looks like.”

“What does it look like?” Hunter blinked, giving Luz a concerned expression now. “It doesn't look like I’m a robber, right? Because this place has nothing near worth stealing.”

“Please stop talking,” Luz hissed out of the corner of her mouth, never taking her eyes off her mother. “Mami, this is, uh,” She faltered for a moment. “This is Hunter.”

Her mother cracked open an eye from where she was rubbing the bridge of her nose, sending such a seething glare that both kids shuttered.

“You know what,” Hunter said, letting Rascal transform out of a staff and back into his usual self, letting the bird land on his shoulder as he clapped his hands together. “I can see that you're busy, so I think I’ll just be--why is she staring at me like that?”

The woman was staring at him now, well, Rascal, eyes locked on the cardinal on his shoulder like it had suddenly grown five heads. He flicked an ear in confusion, turning to Luz to ask what her mom’s problem was, only to see Luz immediately face-palm.

“Estoy atascado con un idiota,” Luz mumbled under her breath, and Hunter could pretty easily guess what the last word had meant, and bristled at it.

“Hey--”

“Okay, so, Hunter,” Luz kept her hands pressed together, using them both to point towards him. “Thank you for the visit, really, but I think we’re done here.”

“We,” Luz’s mom finally managed to speak, and Luz cringed with a sheepish smile. “Are going to have a talk.” She growled, though it lacked any of the reverberating sounds an actual growl would have. He always wondered how humans ever got the last hit of their point across without growls or clicks or hisses. He realized now that tone had a lot to do with it.

“And that includes you, young man.” The woman added, turning her glare towards Hunter, and he wouldn’t be ashamed to admit he wilted a bit under it. She could’ve disintegrated Kikimora on the spot with a look like that.

“Yes, ma’am.” Hunter ducked his head, and ignored the quiet snickers from Luz that she quickly tried to smother.

The woman stepped to the side, allowing the two of them to shuffle out of the room. Luz went out first, giving Hunter an expression that was somehow both ‘sorry’ and ‘I told you so’ and boy did he want to punch it.

Hunter hurried out after her, one hand cupped over Rascal protectively, unable to fight back the urge to hide him from everyone and everything new, that he’d be broken in half the second anyone got close.

As he passed her, he knew she was staring at him with a far sharper gaze than she had Luz. He glanced out the corner of his eye, and she was staring at his ears, at Rascal, and just as he stepped into the hallway, her eyes narrowed in on the scar along the side of his face.

He’d had people stare at his scars before, it wasn’t new. Scars weren’t uncommon in the Boiling Isles, but ones as big and prominent as his were generally expected of witches far older than him, far more known for their battles and their victories.

He growled in the back of his throat, briefly twitching his lip to flash a fang. It was near-instinctive at this point, a quiet reminder of who he was, of who shadowed over him, and that it was impolite to stare, to mind your own business.

Luz’s mom jerked back at it, a far stronger reaction than the ones he was used to getting. He was used to a quick aversion of the eyes, hurrying to turn their heads the other way, a simple glance to elsewhere in the room. She stared at him with even more apprehension and worry than before, like she was confronted with a wild animal in her home.

His ears pressed down and he hurried off down the hallway, almost stepping on Luz’s heels from how close he walked behind her.

He noticed an eye peeking out of a room up ahead, and Luz gave a weak, almost teasing, salute to whoever was inside. He saw a flash of scales and what might've been a pitying look until they slipped out of view.

Luz stood off to the side as she exited the hallway, and Hunter stood next to her. He gave her a questioning look, one she nearly missed from how much she was staring at her feet. He nudged her shoulder, gaining her attention, and Luz gave a weak, nervous smile.

Alright, so he was definitely missing something here with his woman.

“Kitchen table,” Luz’s mom said, pointing, and the two obeyed. Hunter had no real reason to, he knew this. She was human, he could just leave, and she wouldn’t be able to stop him. But she was important to Luz, clearly, and he knew, tragically, that he’d feel guilty if he left Luz alone.

Luz sat in one of the chairs at the round table, and Hunter took the one next to her. Her mother eyed them for a moment before taking the one across from them.

“Can I just say, that I did not invite Hunter here--”

“Oh, so that’s how it's gonna be?” Hunter whirled his head to her. “Throwing me under the bus? Sorry I wanted to check in.”

“I am telling it as the truth.” Luz insisted, glaring at him. “Would you rather I tell her that I purposefully invited you here at,” She turned towards the wall, squinting at a clock hanging there. “Two twenty-three? Why did you come here so late?” She demanded.

“Technically, it’s early.” Hunter corrected.

“I’m actually going to punch your teeth out.”

Rascal cheeped from his shoulder, and Hunter nodded sagely like he had said something. Rascal could talk to him, of course, in words that only he could hear, but he often didn’t. And the best part was that he could never prove to anyone that Rascal wasn’t shit-talking them.

“Enough, both of you . ” Luz’s mother said firmly, hands placed on the table that had them both straightening to attention. “Luz,” She turned to her daughter, rubbing her temple with one hand as she gestured with the other towards Hunter. “Explain him, please.”

“Like, life story, or why he’s here, or what he is, or--”

“Just please tell me he’s not from where I think he’s from.”

“Oh,” Luz glanced between Hunter and her mother, gears turning in her head. “He’s...not?”

“Dios ayúdame,” Her mother groaned.

“You told me to say he wasn’t! Actually,” Luz frowned as she turned to Hunter. “Do you count as someone from the demon realm, biologically? I don’t know how that whole, er, Grimwalker thing worked, like are you a direct clone, or--”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, because I’ve been avoiding dealing with that whole situation for the past two weeks, and I’m not about to start now.” Hunter raised a hand to cut her off.

“You…” Luz narrowed her eyes at him. “You need a therapist, dude.”

“You’re the fifth person to say that in the last week.”

“Why,” Luz’s mother cut in again, silencing their conversation. “Is there a demon boy in my house?”

“I’m a witch,” Hunter corrected.

“Don’t you count as, like, half a--”

“What did I just say, Luz?”

“Right,” Luz snapped her mouth shut. “Uh, so, I’m assuming he broke in--”

Hunter groaned, gripping his head in his hands as he slouched over the table. Rascal chittered gently as he hopped off his shoulder and onto the table, nudging his arm.

“--but he wasn’t going to cause any trouble!” Luz added quickly, seeing her mothers expression continue to sour. “He just-he wanted to make sure I was alright.”

The woman eyed the two of them for a moment, and Hunter refused to look up and meet her gaze.

“Hunter, is it?” The woman said slowly, cautious, suspicious, but not accusatory.

“Yes, ma’am.” Hunter sighed, relenting to lift his head, messy hair hanging in his face.

“How old are you, exactly?”

“Mami…”

“Sixteen, ma’am.” He mumbled, resting his cheek in his hand.

“And…” She hesitated for a moment. “How old is that in witch years…?”

“...sixteen?” Hunter gave her a perplexed look.

“They age the same as us.” Luz assured, and her mother seemed to relax just a bit.

“Gracias a Dios por eso,” Her mother mumbled. “Alright, and how did you get in?”

“Window,” He tilted his head off towards the one in question, still open over the sink.

“Of course,” The woman muttered under her breath. “The one time I didn’t lock it. Okay, now what is that?” She gestured towards Rascal on his shoulder, and he raised his hand to let the palisman hop onto his hand.

“My palisman,” He said, settling the bird down on the table, but keeping him a far enough distance from Luz’s mom that she wouldn’t be able to grab him. “I call him Rascal. Which reminds me,” He nudged Luz’s shoulder. “Where do you keep those seeds you have for your palisman? She keeps screaming at everyone and the Owl Lady doesn’t know how to make her shut up.”

“Is she okay?” Luz straightened.

“Yeah, little jays fine, she’s just being a pain in the ass.” Hunter grimaced.

“Watch your language, young man.” Luz’s mom leveled a finger at him, and he eyed it for a moment. “Now what do you mean ‘Luz’s pailsman?’ What in the world is a palisman?”

“Oh, uh, nothing! Nothing important, really. Just, like, staff things.” Luz said quickly, and Hunter and Rascal shared a look. Luz loved her palisman, as bratty as she was. And he knew from experience that Luz didn’t think of palismans as ‘nothing important.’

He drew a hand around Rascal and scooted him a little closer towards himself.

“Okay, okay,” Luz’s mother inhaled a steadying breath, as though to keep her cool. “And you are breaking into my house, early in the morning, to see my daughter.”

“Really just to make sure she didn’t, like, get kidnapped on the way up here.” Hunter shrugged. “Everyone's worried about her, so I took one for the team, and all that.”

“Everyone?” Her mother frowned.

“Her...friends?” Hunter gave Luz a sideways look, and she avoided his gaze.

“Mija, you have friends in the demon realm?” Luz’s mom balked, with the tone of someone who didn’t quite believe it, who almost felt as though they were being tricked.

“I told you a bit about them…” Luz mumbled, shifting uncomfortably.

“You,” Her mother chuckled, shaking her head, the first sign of anything lighter than what they’d had so far. “You really can’t help but be friendly to everyone, huh?”

“It’s how she got stuck with me, it’s a real problem.” Hunter said, and got an elbow jabbed into him for his troubles, wheezing as he clutched his side.

“Well, you certainly are an...interesting acquaintance,” Her mother said slowly, eyeing him, and he barely resisted the urge to briefly flash sharpened teeth when her gaze lingered on the scar across his face again. “And you showed up, by breaking in...just to check in on Luz?”

“Yeah?” Hunter managed to cough out, cracking open an eye to give the woman a confused look compared to her suspicious, searching one. “Why else?”

“...alright.” She said, and her gaze went back to her daughter. “I wasn’t aware that there would be... situations where the demon realm followed you back.”

“Neither did I, really.” Luz was quick to assure, hands raised. “Hunter of all people being worried about me is the most confusing and touching thing that’s happened so far.”

“I was not worried.” Hunter whirled to her. “I only came here because everyone else was, and they were going to leave me out of the rescue party.”

“Rescue party?” Luz’s mother startled, and he should really learn her name.

“Aha, he doesn't mean that.” Luz waved her hands quickly.

“I do?” Hunter narrowed his eyes. “The others were planning on busting out of the portal to come find you by the end of this week. I didn’t want to be left out, so I broke in ahead of time.”

“There are demons coming here?” The woman exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

“Pretty sure the little rat dog is the only demon coming along.” Hunter corrected. “The others are witches.”

“You know his name is King.” Luz grumbled.

“Yeah, but it's way more fun to call him a rat.”

“Luz, cariño, are we going to have more witches breaking in?” Her mother stressed, stepping away from the table and already beginning to pace.

“Not-not when Hunter gets back to them!” Luz said, also standing. “He can tell them to hold off, that I’m fine, and all that.”

“And deal with them getting all pissy I broke out?” Hunter demanded, scooping Rascal up in his hands as he, too, stood. “Hell no, either they hear from me with you there, or I don’t tell them shit.”

“Watch it,” Luz’s mother warned him again, this time only giving a quick glare. “And Luz is not going back there.”

“Then you have two to twenty witches, plus one demon, knocking on your door.” Hunter shrugged. “What’s the big deal?”

“Luz, what did you get into while you were in the demon realm?” Her mother groaned, rubbing her temples.

“I mean, you didn’t ask a lot... ” Luz tried, hovering about two feet from her mom.

“You have two to twenty magical demon people ready to break into our home to make sure you’re okay,” Her mother said, turning towards her daughter. “You didn’t...you didn’t tell me you had friends there.”

“I feel like I just said this,” Hunter squinted. “I told you Luz has friends in the Boiling Isles, isn’t that expected? She makes friends with everyone.”

Luz rubbed her arm and looked down at the ground, and her mother’s mouth twitched downwards for a brief moment. He felt like he was missing something.

“Are all of your friends like him?” Her mother said after a moment, gesturing with a hand off towards Hunter.

“I resent what that implies,” Hunter huffed, ears pressed down as he tucked Rascal between his neck and cloak.

“I mean, personality wise? No, he’s the biggest brat of them all.” Luz assured, and Hunter visibly took offence. “Well, Matt was also a brat, but he’s a friend of a friend, and I think he’s calmer now.”

“They are annoying, though.” Hunter piped up, and prided on barely reacting under Luz’s seething glare.

“Well they can’t come here, your first friend has already caused enough trouble.” Her mother said firmly, and Hunter rolled his eyes at that.

“Please, breaking and entering is tame for me.” Hunter scoffed, and got an even more worried, and possibly judging, look from the woman.

“You're not helping.” Luz whispered, immediately turning back to her mother. “I’m sure we can figure this whole thing out. I can probably get Hunter to tell them to calm them down without me having to go back, Rascal can bully him into it, he likes me.”

“That’s a low blow, human!” Hunter hissed, a low, drawn-out sound that had the woman tensing and Luz only rolling her eyes. “I do so much for you, and this is the thanks I get?” He ignored Rascal’s gleeful chitters that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

“We’re even on that front and you know it.”

“Debatable,”

“This is serious, Luz.” Her mother said, and Luz’s mouth clicked shut. “Christ,” She sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d made friends in the demon realm?”

“You didn’t ask…?” Luz said slowly.

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Hunter said, leaning against the island counter. “I drag Luz back, she hangs for a day or two to calm everyone down, and she comes right back to have quality family time, or whatever you guys call it, until you’re all finished.”

“Absolutely not,” Her mother said instantly. “Luz will not go anywhere near that portal.”

“It’s not gonna blow up, it’s stable.” Hunter raised a brow, not noticing Luz freezing up.

“Luz is not going back to that demon realm,” She insisted, and he was sure she would be growling if she could. “Listen, could you please just tell the other witches to stay back? I don’t want any trouble from that realm coming through here.”

“Ouch,” Hunter said dryly, twitching an ear as he crossed his arms. “Why’s this got you in a tizzy? I came here to bring back Luz anyway, why is this an issue?”

Luz and her mother met eyes for a brief second, and Hunter knew then he was missing something, because it felt like a conversation passed between their eyes and Luz ducked her head again, ashamed.

“Luz,” Her mother spoke in soft tones, though she was rubbing at her face. “You didn’t tell your friends--”

“I was going to--”

“Luz, honey, you can’t omit details from people--”

“I know, I swear I was just busy trying to see you--”

Hunter set Rascal down on the island counter and gestured towards him. The palisman fluffed his wings before proceeding to peck incessantly on the counter, making a loud clinking noise. It got both humans mingling words to come to a stop as they both turned towards him.

“Hi, sorry to interrupt, but I’m still here.” Hunter said, scratching his bird's head to get him to cease once he had their full attention. “What am I missing?” He asked, pointing between the two.

“I apologize Luz hadn’t informed you earlier,” Her mother started, and Luz gripped her arms and looked away from them both, shoulders hunched. “But she won’t be going back to the demon realm.”

He stared. He blinked once, twice. He could see Rascal staring too, just barely in his line of sight.

“Come again?”

“Luz had been trapped there for so long,” Her mother went on. “And-and she was surrounded by demons and rain that scalded skin and-and Vee told me of Emperor’s and experiments,”

Hunter flinched at that, ears pressing flat as he turned his head to the side.

“It’s clearly not a safe place,” She continued, and her eyes dropped to his notched ear. “And...there’s much to catch up on, to talk about.” She said, in a polite tone that told him not to press that particular matter. “Surely, you can explain this to them?”

Hunter stayed silent for a moment, aware of Luz peeking at him with guilt across her features. He didn’t meet it, he knew he’d get more riled up if he did.

“Yeah, so,” Hunter said calmly, clasping his hands together. “That’s not happening.”

“Excuse me?” Her mother reeled back a bit.

“Listen, Miss...what are your last names again?” He asked Luz, though he still didn’t let himself fully look at her.

“Noceda,” She said, sounding confused now.

“Ms. Noceda,” He continued. “I can speak from personal experience when I tell you that the Emperor and any experiments he had are far beyond gone,” He said, bitterness dripping from his words. “And I-- we have your daughter to thank for that.”

Her mother startled for a moment, opening her mouth to speak, but he plowed on.

“Half the things that made the Isles dangerous, including the very reason your daughter was late coming home, are either burnt to a crisp or in the ground.” He said, holding her gaze. “And I can tell you this, with one hundred percent sincerity, that if I go back and tell Luz’s friends that she won’t ever be coming back, you’ll have witches and demons in numbers nearing the thirties knocking on your front door.”

“Is that a threat?” The woman managed to get out first.

“With all due respect, Ms. Noceda, it’s a promise.”

“Thank you, Hunter.” Luz was suddenly at his side, seizing his arm in a grip that felt like he was losing circulation. “That’s enough,” She said, giving him a warning look. “I think she gets the message.”

“Luz, what in the world is he talking about?” Her mother asked, eyes back to her child.

“It-it’s a long story, but he’s right about the Emperor!” Luz added quickly. “He’s...he’s gone, and-and I don’t think he’s coming back.”

“He won’t.” Hunter said, and left it at that.

“Luz, cariño, I’m sure we could work something out with your friends.” Her mother assured. “I’m glad a man like Vee had described is gone, but I’m sure they would understand.”

“That her mom won’t let her come back?” Hunter scoffed, and Luz tugged forcefully on his arm.

“Hunter,” She hissed, and he looked at her then, and saw the fear practically radiating off her. He wondered if it was something she’d picked up from Amity or vice versa, to be brimming with emotions, but leaving them largely unnoticed until someone actually focused.

“Look, I…” Luz hesitated for a moment. “I promised that I’d stay with her…” She mumbled, and the last piece clicked in his mind.

Luz had promised she’d stay, to a likely terrified mother, and Luz was never one to skimp out on promises. She either kept them or agonized over trying. And it’d make sense why she wouldn’t want to tell anyone, she promised she’d leave forever, and no plans or compromises from the residents of the Owl House could sate a mother worried for her daughter.

Also made sense why she wanted him to leave. Her mom did not seem to like the place, and him being there had to be somewhat breaking the little ‘promise’ of interacting with someone from the demon realm at all.

“Oh,” He said, instead of all that, ears pricking slightly.

“I’m sorry to have it all sprung on you without warning,” He heard her mother saying, though he wasn’t looking at her much in that moment, but she sounded genuine. “But the demon realm doesn’t necessarily seem to be...the safest of places.”

“It’s not,” Hunter confirmed, slowly straightening to face the woman again. “But hey,” He shrugged, feeling Luz letting up her grip on his arm. “It’s home.”

Her eyes dropped to his scar again, just for a moment, and he didn’t bother to hide his eye roll this time.

“Trust me, I’m an outlier in how deadly the place actually is.” He muttered. “These,” He gestured broadly to his face, not quite feeling the satisfaction he assumed he’d feel when he saw her wince. “Were caused by something outside the Boiling Isles, something that never should have been there in the first place. He’s gone now.” He rumbled a growl. “We made sure of it.”

She looked apologetic, and he’d give her that. But she shook her head with a sigh all the same.

“I’m sorry, truly, but Luz and I agreed, it’s not safe. I’m glad she could make friends there, I really am,” She said, and he wondered what kind of friends Luz had had in the past, because she said the word ‘friends’ like it could have five different meanings. “But it’s not safe for her.”

“And?” Hunter threw a hand out in a broad gesture. “It was never completely safe, no place is. You gonna look me in the eyes and tell me Luz would never sneak back out? I’m giving her another week at best.”

“Hunter!”

“Look, I’m really just trying to wrap this whole complication up,” Hunter sighed unsympathetically, aware of Rascal chirping and head-butting his arm. “Unfortunately, I know you, and I know you’d rather wallow in a chasm for eternity than never go back to the Isles. And as entertaining as watching a whole drama unfold would be when your mom would eventually find out, I really don't want to deal with that headache.” He grumbled.

Luz looked to her mother then, and her mother looked back. Luz’s hand was still clutched in his sleeve, watching her mother worriedly as she met her confused gaze.

“Luz?” Her mother said slowly, and Luz fiddled with Hunter’s sleeve.

“Mami, I...look, I didn’t...my friends, they...I don’t…”

“Hi, sorry, can-can I butt-in?”

The three whirled around, Hunter automatically putting an arm in front of Luz and taking a step back at the sight.

A basilisk lay in the doorway to the kitchen, tail curled somewhere out of sight. It was a young one, about the size of Luz. That’d work, he’d taken on bigger before, not like he had any magic for a basilisk to steal--

“Vee,” Luz’s mother breathed. “What are you doing up?”

And of course she was someone they knew. Amazing, wonderful, he loved being out of the loop that there was a basilisk casually within the house, that wasn’t unnerving at all.

“You guys aren’t very quiet,” The basilisk--Vee--shrugged as she slithered in, and Hunter took another step back, his arm in front of Luz causing her to be pushed back as well. “Hey there, uh, new guy.” She offered a small, shy wave to Hunter, and he eyed her before hesitantly returning it.

“Vee, I think you should go back to bed, we were discussing--”

“I know, I heard.” Vee brushed off Luz’s mom. “I actually have an idea for, y’know, this predicament. No offence, but I can't really sleep with you guys arguing.” She said, the wringing of her clawed hands the only sign she was nervous, stopping only when she was between them, with Luz and Hunter on one side, Ms. Noceda on the other.

“Should I be worried about this?” Hunter whispered to Luz.

“Nah, she’s cool.” Luz whispered back.

“What if, and hear me out...we all sleep on this,” Vee said, palms pressed together. “We think it over during the night, and when it's actually light out, we talk about Luz wanting to go back to the Isles and the rules that would have to be put in place. And also nobody breaks in.” She tacked on quickly.

“So you do want to go back?” Luz’s mother turned to her, and he saw the hurt and shock in her eyes.

“I…” Luz looked like she had a ‘no,’ at the back of her throat, and he truly did believe she would’ve said all her mom wanted to say. But he nudged her side, and she looked up at him, and clearly he was doing something with his face, because the empty assurances died out.

“Y-yeah, I do.” She mumbled, looking back to her mom. “I...really, really want to see them again, back in their realm.”

And he avoided looking at Ms. Noceda’s face, because the shock and pain increased significantly.

“Well, I, for one,” He said, ducking around Luz. “Agree with the lizard's plan. Sleep on it, talk in the morning with Ms. Noceda, yadda yadda, all that fun stuff.”

“Camila is fine,” The woman murmured, sounding a little dazed.

“Lizard?” Vee hissed, tongue flickering out as she narrowed her eyes on him.

“Right, sorry, snake fits better.” Hunter said before he could stop himself.

“You have permission to beat him up.” Luz said casually, ignoring Hunter’s indignant shout of “traitor!”

“I, yes, yes,” Luz’s mother--Camila--sighed, stepping back and bracing herself against the kitchen counter. “Tonight has been...a hectic one. It’s far too late to be talking about things like this.”

“Does this mean I can go?” Hunter asked, pointing with his thumb behind him. “Preferably without alerting everyone that I snuck out?”

“I don’t know how you got past Hooty,” Luz sighed, tilting her head and beginning to walk towards the front door with a quick, affirming glance with her mother that both had barely managed to make, Hunter immediately following.

“I escaped through your window.” Hunter said simply, and he noted Camila looking up slightly at that, until Vee approached her, murmuring in soft words he knew better than to try and eavesdrop on.

“Of course you did,” Luz grumbled, opening the front door and practically shoving Hunter outside.

“Alright, alright, I get it, I’m leaving--”

Luz stepped out onto the front porch with him, leaving the front door open just a crack, enough so that she could be seen through it, and in turn could see Camila and Vee talking back by the kitchen.

“Am I going to get a personal lecture?” Hunter asked cautiously, crossing his arms as his ears flicked down. “Look, in my defense, you didn’t exactly explain a lot of things to me--”

Luz lunged, and he stepped back and raised his hands defensively. Instead of a mean left hook he was expecting, he got arms wrapped around his sides, squeezing the air out of him.

Hunter wheezed, and would’ve doubled over if Luz wasn’t in the way. She didn’t let up on her hug, and after a moment of trying to get his thoughts in order, he slowly drew his arms around Luz, chin tucked against her head pressed into his chest.

“I’m glad you're okay,” Luz muffled into his shirt, and Hunter may have clung on a little tighter, aware of Rascal watching this all from his shoulder.

“Feel like you said this already.” He managed to get out.

“I know, I just wanted you to know I meant it.”

And if Hunter tilted his head down to press his face into Luz’s hair then, she didn’t say anything.

“Good to see you still kickin’, too.” He mumbled.

“Miss me?” Luz teased, throwing his words back at him as she pulled her head back slightly, and Hunter quickly did the same to look down at her.

“Hardly,” He huffed, clearing his throat to hide how it cracked halfway through. “I just didn’t want everyone leaving me out of all the fun.”

“Uh huh,” Luz raised a brow. “So you just happened to drop by to make sure I was alright on the one night you actually managed to escape the Owl House without being caught?”

“...listen--”

Luz laughed, and Hunter sputtered over his words. He growled and pushed her back and off him, knowing his face was flushing as he turned away and crossed his arms. Luz’s laughter didn’t stop at that, and Rascal sounded like he was laughing, too.

His ears drooped down and he half-heartedly bared teeth, in what may have been an attempt to hide a smile.

“You’re such a massive pain, you know that?” He growled.

“I do,” Luz grinned, laughter calming down to giggles. “I learned from the best.”

“That, you did. That Owl Lady couldn’t be more overbearing if she tried.” Hunter muttered.

“She’s got a bit of an empty nest syndrome, you get used to it.” Luz lightly nudged his shoulder. “It’s her way of welcoming you to the family.”

And he didn’t even have the time to process that whole sentence, because Rascal was fluttering onto Luz’s shoulder, cheeping as Luz raised a hand to scratch at his head.

“Make sure they know not to worry too much, okay?” She continued, looking up at him. “I’ll try and sort this out.”

“Does that mean you’re coming back soon?” Hunter paused, tilting his head. And maybe there was a tone of hopefulness in his tone, maybe.

Luz hesitated for a moment, frowning slightly in thought. She looked back towards the front door, though he couldn’t see if Camila or Vee were anywhere near it, what with the angle being off and Luz blocking most of it. He wondered if they could hear their conversation.

“I think so,” She said, quieter this time as she turned back to him with a small smile. “I... hope so.”

“So do I, they’ll be insufferable without you.” Hunter teased. “Have fun thinking up how to explain to them your apparent promise.”

“Don’t remind me,” Luz groaned, throwing her head back. “Look, it was a panicked situation, and I didn’t want her any more scared than she--”

“Save it,” Hunter said, not unkindly, raising a hand to silence her. “I’ve made worse spur-of-the-moment decisions. Contrary to popular belief, I know you well enough that you’d never stay away for long. You have a habit of being a people-pleaser.”

Luz relaxed, and raised her hand to let Rascal hop onto it. She offered him back to Hunter, and he took the bird into his hands.

“Still, I’m sorry.” She said, wringing her hands together. “For all of this.”

“If all goes well, you’ll get to tell them that yourself.” He said, and attempted a smile.

“Hopefully,” Luz said, glancing back towards the door. “So, that means you’re willing to tell them what happened?” She asked, a pleading note to her voice.

“As in, I tell them that I broke out of the Owl House in the middle of the night, escaped to the human realm, found you when I knew they were going to do the same thing, and then came back to the demon realm without you, just to tell them you’ll probably be back soon, but I don’t know when?” Hunter said, ears lowering more and more as he spoke, raising a brow.

“...yes?” Luz tried, hands clasped behind her back as she looked up at him with wide, puppy-dog eyes.

“...I don’t know why I put up with you.” Hunter groaned, relenting as his shoulders slumped, letting Rascal fly up onto his shoulder.

“Because you care about me,” Luz teased in a singsong tone, her relief immediate.

“Unfortunately,” He muttered unthinkingly, before the words processed in his head. He tensed right after, eyes locked on the wall behind Luz.

She looked surprised for about half a second before she practically lit up, beaming excitedly at him.

“Anyway,” He said quickly, voice higher than normal, knowing he was flushed up to his ears. “I should be off before your mom gets even more pissed at me.” He said, sharply turning on his heel.

Rascal was most definitely laughing at him now, and he pulled up his hood before shoving the bird into it, silencing him. He leapt down the stairs leading up to the porch, instead of walking down them like a normal person.

“Well, in her defense, you did break in.” Luz reminded, though there was a certain giddiness to her tone as she watched him leave.

“Like you haven’t done it!” Hunter scoffed behind him, beginning to hurry back towards the forest, head ducked low.

“Yes, but we don’t need to tell her that!” Luz hissed, voice notably quieter as she fearfully glanced back.

“No promises!” He called back, a grin forming as he picked up the pace. “Call it compensation for throwing me to the wolves!”

“Wh--Hunter!” Luz squawked indignantly.

He turned on his heel for just a moment, giving Luz a mocking salute before ducking between the trees of the forest, cackling as Luz’s calls of “don’t you dare!” faded behind him.

“Alright, Rascal, prepare yourself.” He said, hearing his palisman chitter from within his hood, with a hint of annoyance to it. “We’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

155 notes · View notes

lustinglilac · 4 years ago

Note

Hey love! I absolutely love your OA Zidan imagines & I was wondering if you could do a full on angst to smut one maybe? Idc what the angst part is centered around maybe where he's mad at the reader? but for the smut could there be a choking kink??? Sorry if this is too detailed or you can't do it , thank u !!!

A/N: I had a really fun time writing this! Even though it took me forever. I really hope you enjoy & thank you for requesting 💜

Warnings: choking kink, condescending talk, angry OA (but then fluff), some arguing, NSFW under the cut, 18+ ONLY

*GIF NOT MINE*

“OA... I don’t understand what the issue is. I invited Maggie over for dinner and Nestor just so happened to be there when I did. Big deal!” She scoffed, walking to her side of the car door.

OA tries to steady his breathing, sighing harshly before pulling open the driver’s side of the door, “The point is he’s a manipulative, selfish prick who has no care about who he screws over—“

“Honestly Omar, if you could leave work at work, that would be so great.” She states matter of factly. She fastens her seatbelt, smoothing down her dress before crossing her arms over her chest, turning to stare at something, anything, out the window.

“Y’know... out of all people, I thought you’d understand that the most.” He chuckles humorlessly, “I’ll keep my opinions to myself from now on.” He turns on the engine, the noise drowning out her heart beating out of her chest as they head for their shared apartment.

Minutes later they’d arrived outside of their building, silently getting out of the car as she held back tears. God, she didn’t even know why she was so upset. Maybe at the fact that they let someone as irrelevant as Nestor get between them? She had no clue.

“I’ll be in our room if you need me.” Once inside, she steps out of her wedges, not bothering to look back at him.

Omar contemplates going after her, his anger towards Nestor really getting the best of him as he replayed the conversation in his head.

Loosening the collar of his dress shirt, he took a seat on the plush couch, leaning his head back against it with a low groan.

She willed herself not to cry, stripping out of her short dress and putting on something more comfortable for the time being. She realized the harshness to her words earlier, pinching the bridge of her nose before making the decision to go out into the kitchen for a glass of water. And secretly to see OA.

She padded quietly down the short hallway, reaching the fridge in no time, throwing a glance Omar’s way before averting her eyes.

He watches her manuever around the tiny kitchen area, an amused smirk playing on his lips as she reached up for the glasses that were usually kept on the top most shelf, a bad habit OA had yet to break.

Her stubborness taking over, not wanting to ask for help as she reached as far up as she could to no avail.

“Here— I got you.” In no time, OA had been behind her, one hand on her hip to steady himself before reaching above her and effortlessly bringing down a cup for her to use.

She huffs audibly, “I was— I had it.” Taking it from his grasp roughly before pushing past him, or at least attempting to. OA was quick to trap her against the island before she could go anywhere.

“Really? ‘Cause it looked like you were struggling.” He hums, face neutral as he looked at his partner. “Are you done having an attitude with me?”

She laughs unexpectedly at the tone of his voice, like a mother scolding a teenager for being bratty. In essence, that’s kind of what was happening here, too.

“I don’t know. Are you done acting like I can’t do shit for myself and need you to help me every two seconds?” She counters, challenging him as she felt his demeanor completely change.

He takes his bottom lip between his teeth, letting it go just as quickly and leaning down leveling himself to her eyesight, “Sweetheart— I’d be careful what you say.” His eyes freely roam over her face, stopping for a moment at her lips and then down her neck towards her cleavage.

“Or what—“ Before she’d even finished that sentence, OA had crashed his lips against hers, tongue slipping into her mouth so easily as the glass nearly slipped from her grip before she set it down and kissed him back just as feverishly.

Her hands going straight for his face as he placed her down onto the island, all traces of anger and Nestor gone from their minds as he fumbled with the waistband of her shorts before ridding her of them.

She gasped as she felt the cool surface of the island beneath her bare thighs, leaning back slightly to catch their breath.

“Fuck Omar, I’m sor—“ She began breathlessly only to be cut off again by his lips before pulling back again.

He shakes his head, “I don’t wanna hear it. Not right now, okay?” OA makes sure she understands before unbuttoning his own pants and pulling himself out with a soft hiss.

She nods at him and hums softly at the stern tone he exhibits, the wetness pooling between her legs, a nice contrast to the coolness of the marble beneath her.

OA kisses her neck leaving a mark on the side of it, that she would have no choice but to cover with makeup later, as his hands grab at her tits.

“OA... fuuuck.” She gasps as she feels his hand sliding lower, slotting between her thighs, spreading them just a little to help accomodate him. He pulls away from her neck and looks at her.

“Need me to fuck that attitude right outta you?” He speaks so condescendingly that it makes her nod without hesitation.

“Yes. Please.” She whimpers quietly, thighs threatning to shut around his hand as he kept up a taunting rhythm, circling her wet clit before moving down towards her opening.

Omar smiles, knowing she was right there, right on the brink of cumming for him before he removes his fingers holding them to her mouth.

She pants, breathless, the expression on her face a frustrated one as she looks from his fingers to his amused face.

“Suck.” He presses the wet fingers against her half-open lips, groaning praises when she finally takes them into her mouth and cleans them off with a moan. With his other hand, he manages to rip her tank top down, her breasts spilling freely making her shiver at the cool air on her sensitive nipples.

As he pulls his fingers out of her mouth, he scoots her off the counter onto the ground again, bending her over roughly, tits pressed flat to the cold surface of the marble beneath her.

“So pretty like this... just for me.” He grunts, watching her wet cunt clench around nothing but his words of praise as she arches her back slightly, giving him a show.

“Just fuck me.” She mumbles, nails impatiently tapping against the counter as OA takes his time.

He rubs his cock up and down her pussy a few times making her mewl in pleasure as she tried her hardest to push back onto him, growing irritable with every swipe of his dick up and down her folds.

Her eyes roll shut as he finally pushes in all the way, leaving her no room to say anything but moan and whimper. She was speechless to say the least, until he hit that one spongy spot inside her that made her vision spot.

“Baby— ooooh fuuuck. Feels so good.” She eventually manages to pant out a few words, biting her lip as he kept up a teasing pace.

“Yeah? Right there?” OA teases, grinding his hips into her as his hand came around to cup the front of her throat, pulling her against his chest. His other hand found her clit, rubbing it in time with his thrusts as her mouth fell open at the sensation.

“Omar, don’t fucking stop—“ She gasped, his thumb pressing softly on the pulse point right below her ear as she reveled in the feel of his large hand around her throat. She loved when he got pissed off, whether it was at her (rarely) or at something from work, it usually led to the best sex.

Her tits bounced with every movement as Omar sped up his thrusts, whispering about how he was gonna fuck her till she learned not to talk back to him. And she was cockdumb, loving every word he growled in her ear as he choked her. He kissed the side of her cheek softly as he brought her to her climax, her back arching slightly as he continued until he chased his own high.

They stayed like that for a minute or so, and also because she was unable to move yet, his thumb caressing the side of her cheek softly, placing kisses along her neck.

“OA... I’m sorry.” She sighs, pulling him out of her slowly, whimpering at the sensitivity and turning around to face him.

He lowers his head, pressing his forehead against her own, “It’s fine, baby.” He assures her, placing a chaste kiss to her lips before pulling back to look at her, his hands going straight to her thighs.

“You can always talk to me about anything. I don’t care— even if it’s the most boring thing in the world. I never want you to bottle up your emotions about things in your life, okay?” She nods, making sure he understood.

“Really? You’re gonna be sick of me by the end of it.” He smiles making her laugh.

“Never that.” She places her hands on his beard pulling him in for a soft kiss.

#oa zidan #oa zidan smut #oa zidan imagine #fbi cbs #fbi smut #omar adom zidan

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wakaoujisenhime · 4 years ago

Note

Ah!~ I fall in love with your Takao headcanons! Can I ask headcanons about Takao from best friends to lovers?

A/N: But OF COURSE, you can, the more Takao you guys want, the better for me! ٩( ᐛ )و

So this will be a continuation from his best friends headcanons I made a while back and for those who’d like to see a spicier version of the more or less same troupe, I linked a similar request I got below! Hope you’ll enjoy this! ❤️

Tags: Takao x reader ✅ fluff ✅ friends to lovers ✅ slight angst ✅

☞ 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝟙 ☞ 𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕪 𝕧𝕖𝕣.

━━━━☆ ━━━━☆ ━━━━☆

living with your best friend didn’t change your relationship as much as you thought it would

the two of you were still clinging to each other like leeches, supporting the other during hard times and in general providing a shoulder to cry and lean on when needed

now that you were roommates and not only neighbors you saw Takao every single day and that came with many advantages

you both shared the housework and came up with cooking/cleaning/laundry schedules that made your joint life so much easier

Takao had decided to start working after graduation while you continued your studies (and occasionally worked at a part-time job close to your apartment)

it heavily depended on your individual schedule, but in general, the two of you had agreed that the first one home should be the one to prepare dinner and help the other one out a little

usually, Takao would be the first one home and every time you came back he greeted you like some kind of butler, helping you out of your jacket, taking your bag, leading you to the kitchen where he showed you that evening’s dinner, and lastly he’d conclude his small tour at the bathroom where he had run a bath for you

both of you were so close that all of your neighbors (especially the older ones) continuously teased you, saying what kind of cute couple the two of you were and some even went as far as to ask when you’re wedding was going to be

in the beginning, your and Takao’s cheeks would flush ever so slightly but the longer you lived there the more used to it you got, and in the end, it even reached a stage where you’d counter their remarks with your own witty and comical ones

comments such as theirs didn’t bother you that much, or at least that’s what you thought ...

a couple of months after moving in you invited some members of Shuutoku’s basketball team over for a friendly get-together and a warm dinner

it had been a lot of fun

people were teased, embarrassing situations were denounced as hilarious, compliments fell left and right, and what not

at some point though Miyaji - the club’s former captain - raised the question of whether Takao and you had finally started a romantic relationship

it was just a well-meant question and perhaps a subtle hint and yet your best friend began to deny that so strongly that you couldn’t help but feel aggrieved from his over-exaggerated reaction

the evening was kinda ruined for you and some of them noticed it and felt bad for you

in the end, Miyaji actually came up to you and apologized, saying just how much he’d regretted asking you something that was seemingly a taboo-topic

since then the relationship between your best friend and yourself was quite shaky, you began avoiding too much body contact with him, tuned down your clinginess, and even started avoiding him at times

some people think that Takao isn’t the brightest and assume that he’s quite dense, but you knew better

it didn’t take him even a week to notice that something was wrong with you and before you knew it he waited for you to come back home and asked you to take a seat across from him on the couch

“(Y/N)-chan...I’m aware that something’s been bothering you for the past few days and I know that some topics are better left unsaid, but I really hate seeing you suffer because of maybe something I did.”

his words stabbed your heart like hundred knives and even if you’d planned to keep your hurt pride to yourself, you knew that communication was key in any kind of relationship so with a bitter smile you told him about everything, how his reaction had hurt you more than his captain’s harmless question and how these new and yet unknown thoughts had begun to cloud your mind with masses of doubts

there was a brief break during which Takao’s expression grew unbelievably sad, he had expected anything but this

and then finally after what felt like hours he whispered out your name, got up from his chair, and slowly walked towards you, kneeling in front of your seated figure

“I’m truly sorry...I-I wasn’t aware of how much this actually bothered you,” he paused as he took your hands into his own and continued, “all I wanted was to make Miyagi drop that theme fast since he’s the type to talk about one topic for hours and I really didn’t want to make you uncomfortable since that evening was meant for recollecting and updating each other about our daily lives and not a relationship counseling...”

with a sigh you shook your head and couldn’t help but laugh at just how ridiculous this situation was, Takao joined you not long after

after that small misunderstanding, you two needed a bit until your relationship had normalized, but you’d be lying if you said that everything was back to how it used to be

once the imagination of Takao as your boyfriend had entered your mind you began to realize just how close the two of you truly were

him tending to your needs every time you came back home late, resembled that of a worried father-to-be whose wife was to go into labor soon

the way he always jokingly offered himself as your dinner was a cliché joke and sometimes an invitation one would often see in romance series that once again fell between lovers

and the worst for your heart was how the word ‘personal space’ wasn’t even present in his vocabulary, he’d hug you whenever he could, lean himself on your back and leave his chin in the crack of your neck at every given opportunity, and let’s not mention whenever he had trouble falling asleep (which was basically almost every day)

all those small and seemingly irrelevant gestures which didn’t usually affect you were now the trigger for a deep-red blush along your cheeks and an increased heart rate

and it didn’t help that Takao would constantly tease you whenever he noticed your flushed face

as time went by though you noticed that something between you two had indeed changed

now his mere presence was enough to make your heart thump wildly against your chest

the only comfort you found was that he himself had started blushing more often as well

you thought that nothing of deeper meaning was behind it and just blamed it on your behavior, but what you didn’t know was that Takao was experiencing the same thing as you

for him, it was as if every single touch - no matter how featherlight it was - set his skin on fire

every ever so small and gentle smile or grin you directed his way, immediately brightened up his mood

and let’s not even talk about the small things you do for him, like cooking, preparing some late-night snacks for whenever he has to work on a project until very late in the evening, folding his laundry, ironing his shirts, and so on...

both of you were slowly starting to acknowledge the other as an essential part of your respective lives

on top of that, innocent and sweet thoughts such as kissing each other on the lips, taking a bath together, or just doing silly things such as hiding from the people outside so that you can feel each other’s lips began dominating your minds

and what choice did the two of you have but to bottle these feelings up and hide them from each other just because you didn’t want to ruin your friendship

it was painful of course, but you continued to put yourself through with it, determined to keep this a secret for as long as necessary

unfortunately, Takao wasn’t made out of the same cloth and was slowly but surely feeling how everything was about to explode pretty soon

and then finally one day when the two of you went out shopping together some of your elderly neighbors stopped you yet again and began interrogating you guys as usual

“Have you two dears finally admitted your feelings for each other?”

there it was, their favorite question, that was strangely accurate this time

you were ready to debunk it yet again, but Takao suddenly took a hold of your hand, squeezed it slightly, and announced: “Not yet, but I’m about to!”

three pairs of wide eyes were fixated on the slightly blushing young man who stood beside you and while you were still trying to decipher whether you’d heard him right he faced you and even took a gentle hold of your second hand

“(Y/N)...I feel like this should’ve happened sooner, but my fear of losing you as my constant pillar of support was too big. Your presence was always something extremely helpful and soothing, but as of late I started to truly notice just how much more it was for me and my life. The sheer imagination of me being without you hurt me more than any game my team lost, any missed promotion chance or anything negative for that matter,” he paused and took a deep breath before continuing, “what I’m trying to say is that...(Y/N), I’d like you to become my lover.”

silent gasps could be heard, but you were too overwhelmed to pay any attention to it

the fact that he’d felt the same way and was stuck in the same situation as you were truly unbelievable, but now that you knew it all those small things you’d denounced as an effect of your own unusual behavior made sense

you looked up into the slate blue eyes of the man you’d fallen for and slowly removed your hands from his tight grip, only to then wrap your arms around his neck and bring him closer to you

Takao immediately seized the opportunity to do the same, he was anxious about what you were about to say so he at least wanted to savor what might be his very last embrace from you

“Took us long enough now didn’t it?” was all you said before you confidently took a hold of his cheeks and brought his face closer to your lips until they touched

while you two kissed ever so passionately and drowned in the liberating feeling of mutual love, the two older women next to you smiled while commenting on how they’d always known and how bad you two were hiding it

after you’d finally separated from each other you gave him your obvious answer to which he simply giggled and out of happiness began cuddling and kissing your face all over

this was truly a wonderful moment, it might not affect your relationship all too much but it was nonetheless a step towards a new and yet unknown experience that the two of you would live through while constantly supporting each other ...

#knb headcanons #knb imagines #knb fluff #knb angst #knb takao #takao x reader #━𝙺𝙽𝙱 #━𝙰𝙽𝙾𝙽'𝚂 𝙴𝙲𝙷𝙾

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honkster · 4 years ago

Text

Why the Dream SMP’s way of storytelling is IMPOSSIBLE to recreate in any other medium.

This has been in the back of my mind for the longest time. I think I finally got it.

People have talked about this before, and they’ve put forward some good points, and good for them – most of them are correct. It’s the way the ccs interact with each other, it’s how plot is mixed in with banter, that’s all good! I wanna put more out there.

So you know how you open a book to read, you start a new show, you sit down to watch a movie – that’s all produced by some sort of company, someone who made it specifically for you to enjoy. You expect a certain dramatic flair to it, certain cinematic choices, certain ways of writing, certain camera angles, certain reactions to things. That’s just ingrained expectations of things now.

The DSMP? Doesn’t have that.

The low expectations work very much in its favor. It’s a Minecraft role-playing server with a bunch of famous youtubers/streamers, who are all good friends and have great dynamics with each other. So when you expect “just another Minecraft video” but in stream form, or you watch the videos because there are certain people in them, you don’t expect to be dropped into extreme lore and sensitive topics, realistic situations proposed in game form, a combination of serious stuff and just fun times with friends goofing around – and you’re pleasantly surprised.

We, the fandom, are used to it a bit more now. How excellently they manage to make a serious story in such a “ridiculous” medium, how much it affects us all and gets our creative juices flowing. But even the ccs can’t predict some of the things that happen. And that’s fun.

The whole election ending the way it has? That was on us. And it made some of the most angsty content there has been in the DSMP. People still theorize about the arc and make connections to now – that’s pog!

Fundy being adopted by Eret – that sparked the whole “Fundy just wants a dad – let’s get him some love” thing that made FundyWasTaken and other Fundy+someone ships happen. I see a different person paired with Fundy every week, and somehow, I agree with all of them. I really got into Fundy because of that stream where Eret “slept through the adoption” and Fundy confronted his real dad and spent time with his granddad. That little stream gave us more insight into Fundy’s whole character (Nevermind Fundy showing off his acting skills – you go you funky little fox), but also justifies some of his actions now. DryWaters? Wanting to kill Technoblade? Fucked up reasons, but we still love him.

Phil being broken out of house arrest ahead of time – still made a great stream and Phil agreeing with Techno’s want for revenge – that made us all very happy. The SBI!!! The AE! And that’s also a thing!

That even if we do know or have predicted what’s going to happen, begged it out of the ccs basically, it is still incredibly fun to watch. Where some books/shows/movies fall short and reveal too much and end up being “too predictable”, they’re not fun anymore. I read this somewhere before, that sometimes holding back EVERYTHING from the reader, and relying on shock value to make a good story is just bad. Whereas if you progress the story naturally and let the reader make some predictions of their own and then they end up being right – that’s a lot of serotonin right there. It’s the re-readability that makes it slightly better the second time.

The DSMP takes this concept and fucking yeets with it. Letting fans engage in the story, letting them theorize and then be right, even acknowledging the fanart that was made, just engaging with the community that their roleplay created – that makes it so much more fun. I bet that even if the whole script was revealed to the fandom we would still watch every plot stream. Even if we knew vaguely what happens in the stream, we would tune in and enjoy every second of it. Because the ccs are just that good, we love them that much, we love this plot that much.

Oh and the unpredictability helps too. Tommy in exile was the vague concept of a lot of the streams – it’s taken that and ran with it in a lot of different directions. All quite enjoyable.

Having said all of that… The fact that this type of telling a story is impossible to recreate in any other medium is… kinda saddening? It is incredibly unique, and I’d say has things that not a lot of the people that produce mainstream media would even consider. “Just friends hanging out” – how would that make the script progress? “Engagement with the fandom, even considering their wishes for the characters” – but we’re telling a story here!

The only thing I can think of that would come close to the vibe, would be just a bunch of writer friends coming together, thinking up a universe and general plot, and then each deciding to write a few of their own characters in that universe. When one author focuses on their main characters, the side ones can feel left in the dust, or not fleshed out. The DSMP is just “every character can write their own story”, which takes a lot of the strain from the “main writers”. But the general thing of “just friends hanging out” would be taken away from it. We’re being serious here, why would we change the tone so quick?

With all of that in mind… I kinda wanna make some predictions? And I don’t know if they’re correct, but it’s fun to theorize. See?

1. L’manburg will die.

And not just because Techno has 54 withers. The country is cursed – it definitely is. There is little sentimental value that can be felt for a few flimsy stilts built on top of a crater. It might go out in a blaze of glory, with the withers (Is history repeating itself an interesting enough plot point to recycle a whole arc?), but it might just be forgotten. Yeah there have been some angsty headcanons about how “no one cares about L’manburg anymore, save for two people” and it just gets abandoned, but how about it just becoming irrelevant?

This all comes back to Dream, it always does! His want, need for the server to be “one happy family again”, it just means one thing. He wants the server to return to the peaceful anarchy that it was before L’manburg. No rulers, no factions, no nothing.

That’s never going to happen.

Try as he might, Dream cannot affect that change that L’manburg did to the server. The introduction of a faction, one that can exist without the interference of a higher power – why do you think so many factions have sprouted up since? And it’s not even serious factions a lot of the time, it’s just a few friends deciding to build their bases on a plot of land that they claim is a nation now. L’manburg has changed the mindset of these people, now an alliance with somebody is a political move. An alliance doesn’t exist if it doesn’t have a faction, and that faction can remain neutral for only so long.

Basically, L’manburg introduced the factions mod into the server.

And the fact that every faction now has enough relevance to hold weight in a war also means that every nation on the server is doomed to follow the downfall of L’manburg. Eventually, they will get into a fight they can’t win, go up against the wrong people, anger someone they shouldn’t have. All factions will either be destroyed, or lose relevance, until their creators, residents and such just… move on.

(And really you can go into meta and talk about real governments and compare them, but it’s far more simple than that. The server isn’t built for peace, it isn’t meant to be a relaxing place where you can just vibe, it may have been made for a few friends to play Minecraft together, but it has turned into An Author’s Curse. The curse that follows any kind of story being told – the fact that peace is boring. People watched the first streams of the DSMP because they liked the ccs, and that’s valid. But how many more people tuned in to watch the war streams because there was PLOT and there was CHAOS and there WASN’T CALM PEACE ANYMORE – that’s the curse of every writer. That you can write about someone just living their life drama-free, you can make interesting peace with characters or circumstances, but it’s always leading to one inevitable conclusion – war, drama, because people read that. And at this point, it’s just a predictable outcome. No matter how much you say that you are retired, that you’re done with violence (Technoblade), something will happen that will prove to you that you believed in people too much. No matter how “neutral” you may be in the matter, no matter how much you claim that you have no allegiance (Philza), you will be forced to pick one, because out of all the bad things, you pick the least worst one, the most appealing to you, the one that can benefit your want of revenge.

And I can go on, but this is far too deep for one simple reason – The Author’s Curse is so prevalent here because THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO STAKES. It’s a video game – you die? You respawn. Something gets destroyed? You can just rebuild. Sure, you’ll want to kill the person who did wrong to you, but whatever they did wrong can just be replaced, remade, recreated. So why not have wars? Why not cause massive amounts of destruction “for the plot”?

It’s literally a playground. How all authors have their little playground with their characters that they meticulously plan out, the DSMP is that playground for all of these people.

And it’s fun! Sure! I like it! I’m just really skeptical whenever someone in character says that they “just want peace”, “are retired”, “swear off violence”, “are building just a little city for themselves”. Because you can do that, nothing wrong. But eventually, no matter how much you distance yourself from all of the chaos happening, all of the wars, you will return.

Because it is just much more fun.

It’s the curse. A cursed cycle.

And everyone is in it.)

2. The prison.

I don’t have anything on the prison because I don’t have anything on the book. Yeah I’ve done a whole post where I overanalyze what it could be, but it doesn’t make it any clearer. Whatever it is, it’s made out to be a huge plot point, something that can only be revealed when the prison is finished.

Cursed. The prison’s reason for being constructed is the book, but the book is only relevant when the prison is finished. We can only wait, and theorize, as we do.

(My only theory is that the book is information about another op on the server. Or at least something related to op or creative mode. Dream only fears one thing on this server, and that’s Technoblade, so if his one fear is the most skilled player on the server, what else could give him existential fear?)

3. The SBI.

Again, I don’t have anything! Yeah the reunion seems to be going smoothly, one member at a time, but there is already conflict in their beliefs among each other. And all that’s happened is a vague “maybe one day we’ll strike”.

Is history repeating itself an interesting enough plot point to recycle a whole arc?

Is L’manburg’s destruction AGAIN really necessary to hammer home the idea that no one likes that place anymore?

I don’t know. Whatever happens, no one’s in the right. No one’s in the wrong either. They’re all not good people and that’s that on that.

4. The Clingy Duo.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

That’s all.

(Okay seriously? All of these arcs are connected. You know what happens when everything seems to be connected to one another?

A giant, dramatic final showdown between the two opposing sides.

Cause it’s just Chaos vs L’manburg. Those are the sides. People that want L’manburg to exist and people that want it gone. There are no other sides, there isn’t someone who’s like “Well maybe it can exist if we do this and this” cause no one wants to put in anymore effort into this cursed country. The only people were the clingy duo and now they’re separated and everyone is just leaving and Tommy is on the Chaos side like at this point he doesn’t care about L’manburg he just cares about Tubbo but he has to convince Tubbo to leave L’manburg but will Tubbo be convinced but will Tommy even consider leaving L’manburg and breaking free from its curse AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

Goddamit.)

5. The Egg?

Dunno shit about it. Like the prison – it seems important, but we’re just not being given enough information. Is it a coincidence that the moment Dream commissioned the prison the Egg popped up? Or are the two directly related?

I don’t know. But as long as someone is finding ways to fight the Egg, that’s fantastic. Bad juju indeed.

6. Oh the Butcher Army want to kill Dream!

Hah.

Okay I’ve seen people make the case that the Army is just a bunch of people with trauma repeating the cycle of ab*se that they went through and yes.

Just yes.

And the fact that no one is actually looking at it that way and no one is there to like.. help them or even help them understand that what they are doing is just irrational, even though their reason for doing it and the result they hope to achieve is YES and the only thing that a lot of the people of the server who want peace should try to go for as well, they cannot stand up to Dream on their own. They just can’t, they will get punted into exile. They need allies, and they need powerful ones, people that have also been wronged by Dream and want him gone.

But the cycle continues, and no one knows where it ends.

(Okay but from a writing perspective? Getting rid of Dream is the end goal. It is the be all end all of all conflict, well… most of it, at least most that’s related to the supposed “good side”, or “the side that’s been most victimized”. But from the same perspective, that side is just… no longer. It has proven that is just as bad, if not worse than the final boss. I have to agree that Techno has to pay for his crimes, even though I like him a lot, but Techno did in fact cause insane damage. Yeah L’manburg rebuilt, yeah Wilbur probably caused more – still he isn’t completely free.

But that’s a discussion on morality more than laws.

L’manburg is doomed to die. Dream is doomed to be fought, and probably won against (simply because he has won far too many times already, you know how everyone seems to hate OP characters…). But the Butcher Army is doomed to fail against Dream. So how does that work?

Welp.

Is history repeating itself and interesting enough plot point to recycle a whole arc?

The answer is no.

I’ve repeated that question three times now, and the answer to it is no. No it is not. L’manburg can be destroyed again, and it can be rebuilt again, but the sentimentality that people feel for it will not remain. The cycle of history ends somewhere, and it’s not too far a fetch that it ends here.

So what happens when Technoblade, Philza and Tommy roll up to L’manburg with withers and a destruction wish, only to be met with a bunch of traumatized children with axes and a death wish?

Well, I’ll spare the details, but from a purely writing standpoint…

The two sides team up.

Think about it – The Butcher Army doesn’t care about Technoblade anymore. They’ve seen that Dream is the one pulling the strings, they know that even if they do care about trying to eliminate Technoblade again, they have to get rid of his strongest ally – Dream. But through their anger, they’ve lost their fear. You should fear Dream, he’s a fuckin op. Techno is correct in not wanting to go against him.

But after Tommy? After seeing the Butcher Army at their lowest, screeching about Dream being the villain?

Will Techno finally go past his thinking of “government is evil, always government is source of problem” and realize that Dream has the most evil government in mind for his rule?

I’m still kinda sad that Techno isn’t making the conclusions he should about Dream. But he’s starting to – and really, the SBI-Butcher Army team up is the most logical thing that could happen.

Watch me be completely wrong or miss something and I’ve got ALL of it wrong. I would love that.)

(Also it’s very funny to me that Dream is literally simping for Techno while he’s just here like “Listen bud I would stab you on sight if you didn’t have creative mode”. Dream KNOWS that Techno can and will kill him given the opportunity. Techno knows that that opportunity may never arise.

It’s a weird type of stalemate, to be sure. But goddamn is it interesting.)

Anyway... if you read through all of this... I could bake you a cookie? Thank you! I like to ramble.

#dream smp #gooood its just a block game #ITS JUST A BLOCK GAME #...dammit #anyway #debate me #on everything please

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spontaneouslyinhxll · 3 years ago

Text

Reminiscence

Pairing(s): Oikawa Torú x Iwaizumi Hajime

Genre: Fluff, College AU

Warnings: None

WC: 2.5k

Summary: Oikawa Torú has been in the lives of many, and many have been in his life. But there’s one person who was there to witness it all. Torú’s childhood best friend, and now boyfriend; Iwaizumi Hajime.

Iwaizumi has spent all his life watching the way people’s lives have changed and improved, all because of one special person. He admires Oikawa for doing so, and the memories never seem to leave him.

一In which Iwaizumi remembers Oikawa’s presence in his life and the way it changed everything.

A/N: Originally written for the 2021 Seijoh Exchange

November truly was the most peaceful month, especially at dawn when the atmosphere of the city is calm and quiet.

The slight crunch of leaves as people go on their own individual paths; the small breeze that occasionally causes them to drift away; the ocean scent rushing alongside the wind to be acknowledged; the sun shining slightly through the clouds, just enough to illuminate the streets. Unlike the usual life in the city, at this moment, everything was balanced and serene.

It was mornings like this that the city had taught Iwaizumi to cherish. Moving out of Miyagi and into Osaka wasn’t something he thought about.

At least not until he and Oikawa started dating. Hard to believe that everything happened only 3 years ago.

It was the night after the match with Karasuno, and to be quite frank, Iwaizumi had never expected Oikawa to be the one to make the first move. Maybe it was in the heat of the moment, but everything happened so fast. One moment they were yelling at each other, and in the next everything stilled and silence settled. It wasn’t awkward, it wasn’t comforting either, perhaps a bit tense, a bit baffling too, but above all, it was relieving.

Relieving, because he didn’t have to say it, Oikawa had already said all that was needed.

“IT DOESN’T CHANGE THE FACT I LIKE YOU!” That was all Oikawa had said, but it was enough. All he could do was stand there, in the dimly lit street, slightly shaking, perhaps from the tears or maybe the happiness. In that moment, emotions were irrelevant, the only thing that mattered was that it was real.

He still remembers the way he had swiftly closed the gap between himself and the brown haired boy and engulfed him in his arms. His body had moved on its own accord. But it didn’t take much for Oikawa to return the gesture and hug him back.

They had stood there for what felt like an eternity, yet it didn’t seem as though it was long enough. If given the chance, they would’ve stood there forever.

Displaying affection like this wasn’t something Iwaizumi normally did and it left both of them shocked. Oikawa was the first one to refocus.

“So, I’m guessing that’s a ‘Yes Torú, I feel the same way’?” his silvery voice seemingly rang through the street, teasingly imitating Iwaizumi.

That was when reality hit him, he really was there. Torú’s hearty laugh afterwards made Iwaizumi’s face heat up and he just knew that Torú was purposely doing this to poke fun at him.

“Shut up Shittykawa” Iwaizumi grumbled as he lightly pushed Oikawa off of him.

“Awwww, Iwa-chan, at least try to hide your excitement”

And so the night had ended in laughter, both being forced to split up at one point. Usually after matches, the pair would go to each other’s houses, but not that night. That night they walked away from each other, not because things were awkward, but because things were moving forward.

Looking back at it now, even if they weren’t dating, Iwaizumi would’ve still agreed to leave Miyagi with Oikawa in a heartbeat. Afterall, above everything, they were friends before anything else. The decision to move hadn’t come easy, but it was probably for the best.

Soon enough, still indulging in his memories, Iwaizumi arrived at the Hamasaki Coffee House. It was a small cafe, owned by a family for almost three generations now.

The building was hidden amongst the skyscrapers, the wooden hut-like structure having preserved it’s authentic charm for a long time. It had been in the city of Hirakata for over 2 decades now, but somehow had never been as popular as they are now.

The reason? Well, the reason was no other than Oikawa Torú himself.

When they had first moved to Hirakata, the cafe wasn’t doing so well financially. Sure, people visited regularly but when the duo moved to the city it became significantly more busy.

The first time they had visited was while they were moving their belongings into the apartment complex two blocks down the road. The apartment itself wasn’t much, two bedrooms, a small kitchen, living room and one bathroom. But it was enough for the two of them.

Moving in however, was the real trouble. Under the scorching heat of July both of them had arrived in Hirakata. They had planned to move in early, just so that they had time to get used to the new place. Admittedly, they had rushed a few things but it turned out alright in the end. After a while, the event became something they often joked about.

“Finally” Oikawa slumped his body over the couch, throwing his head back and letting out an exhausted sigh. They had been working for about 4 hours without a break, something both of them knew was unhealthy but at the time it had seemed like the most convenient way to finish things off as soon as possible.

“So what do you wanna do now?” Iwaizumi had found his spot besides Oikawa on the sage couch, a choice that had been made by the Grand King himself. Iwaizumi had to admit, he doubted the decision but the piece of furniture fit right in with everything else. Afterall, Oikawa’s speciality had always been interior design.

“I need caffeineeee” Oikawa whined out his response as he stretched his hands above his head, drawing out the word as he often did when he was tired or trying to convince someone to do something. His lips usually moved to form a pout when he did this, and sure enough when Iwaizumi turned to look at him, it was there. To him it was a charismatic characteristic of Oikawa’s and was one of many that he admired.

It seemed that everything Oikawa did was enchanting to him and always managed to captivate his attention.

“Hajime?”

Iwaizumi let out a low hum, slowly realising the trance he had fallen into while admiring the way his boyfriend was resting peacefully against the sage fabric.

“You okay?” Oikawa wore a slightly concerned expression when Iwaizumi snapped back to his senses.

“Yeah, just thinking” the reassuring smile gracing Iwaizumi’s face allowed Oikawa to slip back into his playful mood once again as he looked back up at the light coloured ceiling.

A comforting silence engulfed them for a while as Iwaizumi scrolled through his phone and his counterpart rested his eyelids and fell into a state where he was almost asleep.

“I’ve found a place..” Iwaizumi’s calm voice broke the silence, not that either of them were opposed to it. “Do you wanna get it delivered or go there ourselves?”

Oikawa opened his eyes slightly, still looking at the ceiling as he pondered his options.

Soon a low hum was heard from the brown haired boy, indicating he had reached a decision.

“I reckon we go there ourselves, it’ll give us a chance to explore the place and to be quite honest, this place is starting to bore me after 4 hours.” By this point Oikawa had picked his head off of the couch and was reaching to grab his own phone as he got ready for the trip they were about to make.

A small smirk took over Iwaizumi’s lips. Oikawa had always been like this; adventurous, always itching to move and discover something new. While Iwaizumi had already known what decision he would make, it was always fascinating to him the way Oikawa concentrated. His eyebrows would scrunch up together and his nose would occasionally twitch, almost like a bunny.

With the image fresh in his mind, Iwaizumi stood up himself and headed to the main bedroom to get his denim jacket.

The rooms and the bathroom were in a small hallway of sorts. Not that either of them liked calling it that, considering it was only about a meter and half deep. The hallway housed three doors; the middle leading to the bathroom and the ones on either side leading to the bedrooms, one of which had undergone a transformation to become an office under the hands of Oikawa.

Turning towards his left, Iwaizumi reached to open the door, stepping into the room as he did so.

When he turned the lights on the horror hit him.

The room was filled with moving boxes, most of them unopened. The reality then struck that the two boys had a long way to go before they could live in the apartment comfortably.

He stood there for a while before spotting his jacket among the boxes thrown on the floor. He carefully maneuvered around the towers of boxes polluting almost 70% of the room. Iwaizumi reached down to pick up the blue jacket, almost failing to balance the box he knocked over while bending down.

As he put the jacket on and reached the door again, he let out a low sigh and once again turned around to see the horrid site that the room had become.

He stood there for a few seconds until he heard Oikawa calling him.

“Iwa-chan~” Oikawa’s sing-song voice could be heard echoing across the living room from near the front door of the small apartment.

“Hurry up or else I’m gonna leave without you!” At that, Iwaizumi rushed out of the room, making sure to close the door so he could forget about the room. Afterall, that was a problem for ‘future Iwa’ to solve.

“I’m coming, shut up dumbass” Iwa had yelled as he made his way to meet with Oikawa who was now standing on the balcony in the ‘front’ of the apartment. The door was held open by his foot while he scrolled through his phone, probably looking through posts from their now ex-teammates and some others from rival schools.

In the short time after they graduated, Oikawa had made sure to keep upto date with everyone, although he never contacted most of them directly, he made sure to like their posts and such.

At the sound of Iwaizumi’s footsteps close by, Oikawa looked up and pulled his foot back to stand up straight to force his partner to run in order to stop the door from fully closing.

A smirk supported Oikawa’s playful actions like usual. It seemed he had made it his goal in life to annoy Hajime at every given chance.

A huff of annoyance was heard from Iwaizumi, which then triggered Oikawa to giggle while the former continued to dust off his clothes and stood up to look at his boyfriend.

Iwaizumi walked ahead, past the closed doors to the neighbouring apartments and towards the stairs, leaving his brown haired counterpart to recollect himself and lock the front door. By the time he reached the main entrance of the apartment complex, Oikawa had caught up to him and the two walked side by side.

The warm summer air blew directly at them as they navigated their way to the cafe that Iwaizumi had found earlier. The streets weren’t too crowded, however they did experience many groups of teenagers in just about every place they walked past. This would be out of the ordinary any other day, but seeing as it was a sunday in the summer holidays, it was a prominent characteristic this time of year.

With just a bit of difficulty maneuvering through the crowds, they reached their destination. From through the glass display of the place, they could see that it was calm and seemingly quiet inside.

A sign hung above the door with the words “Hamasaki Coffee House” printed in a bold red colour along with a small bell that they assumed would ring as they opened the door.

Without much hesitation Oikawa strutted upto the door and lightly pulled the door open, triggering a small jingle to be heard as they had expected.

Walking into the small cafe, the welcoming atmosphere became apparent. Iwaizumi followed Oikawa to a table in the corner of the room, right next to the window out of habit.

After a short time the duo gave their order to the waitress; Oikawa ordered a mocha, while Iwaizumi opted for an americano.

The pair fell into a flow of conversation soon after, failing to notice the attention they were getting. Although that was most likely only because of Oikawa, afterall, he’d always been a people pleaser.

By the time the two finished their drinks and got upto pay, the cafe had become crowded. They slowly made their way over to the front counter, Oikawa walking slightly behind Iwaizumi to avoid bumping into the others.

“Well, you two seem to be the reason why our shop is making quite the profit today,” A man seemingly in his 50s stood behind the counter with a warm smile on his face.

Both of the boys wore matching looks of confusion as they turned to look at each other.

“Oh, my mistake. Let me introduce myself, I’m Hamasaki Akira” he had said, laughing at their expressions.

It must have been a comedic sight to see the pair put two and two together as their expression shifted from confusion to somewhere closer to shock, because Akira let out another chuckle.

“Nice to meet you sir, I’m Iwaizumi Hajime and this is my partner, Oikawa Torú.” Both of them bowed simultaneously in respect.

“Nice to meet you too, and I’m glad to say that because of you two, the place sure has become more livelier than before.”

“What do you mean?” This time Oikawa spoke up, the confusion evident in his voice.

“Well it seems that you two attract quite the attention. All of these people have never even stepped foot in here, yet they’re here today. And you young men are to thank.” As he said this the smile never left his face.

“That’d be because of him. '' Iwaizumi jokingly jutted his thumb towards his left where the younger one stood.

“Oh hush, Iwa-chan” He tried to act nonchalant but the slight blush creeping up Oikawa’s neck gave away his embarrassment.

“Well if that’s the case, how would you like to work here, huh?” A grin was spread over Akira’s face now as he offered the opportunity to Oikawa.

The wide-eyed expression that graced his face caused Iwaizumi to laugh silently as Oikawa tried to form a straight answer.

In the end Oikawa chose to take up the offer. If he hadn’t, perhaps Iwaizumi wouldn’t have the chance to see him like this today.

Right now, Oikawa drifted from table to table, making conversation with the regular customers. He looked happy as always, dropping off the drinks and taking orders.

Once he noticed Iwaizumi, Oikawa smiled at him and signaled for him to wait as he went to make their regular order. The smile was different from the ones he gave the others, it was filled with more love and contentment.

There, that was the man Iwaizumi had chosen to fall in love with.

He planned to never let him go, no matter the sacrifices he had to make, and the object weighing down in his pocket continued to remind him of what he has yet to do.

Please do not repost, plagiarise or modify my works.

#haikyuu fanfiction #iwaoi fanfiction #hq iwaoi #college au #one shot #haikyuu oneshot

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the-sympathetic-villain · 4 years ago

Note

Hello! I just saw your post about wanting remus prompts? Obvs no pressure but I cant get this out of my mind of the rat man..... BAKING

Yes... I need the rat man baking. This took me a bit because I’m really bad at writing short prompts but I like how it turned out! Originally, this was meant to be straight fluff but I couldn’t seem to get away from my personal headcanon that Remus stress bakes lol but its still mostly fluff with a little bit of vulnerability from the rat man <3

Cookies and Coping Mechanisms

Description: After SvSR, Remus knows that everyone is upset by the outcome of episode. His solution? Dragging a reluctant Virgil into the kitchen to make cookies.

Word Count: 1747

Characters: Remus, Virgil (Platonic Dukexiety)

Warnings: Remus-Type Content (Sexual innuendo, Allusions to Drugs, References to gore, etc.), Flirting, Swearing

---

“Come on, Virgie. This'll be fun.”

“Last time I heard that, you ended up on fire, Remus.” Virgil muttered as he shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets, cast a cautious glance at the bouncing creative side.

“You can't spell fun without fire!” Remus chirped happily.

Virgil stopped in his tracks, looking up in disbelief. “Yes, you can—”

“Not if you actually want to have fun, Gerard Gay.” Remus threw out over his shoulder as he continued his manic dive into the cupboards. Metal pans flew up to the countertop as Remus swung around to throw open another drawer with a loud clang.

Virgil growled. His eyes darkened with exasperation as Remus tossed a bag of flour on the counter and a puff of white haze shot up into the air. “I'm so glad that Logan soundproofed the kitchen so you can as be as loud as you want.”

“Hey, that was Roman's fault." Remus stopped digging through the fridge to point at Virgil. “He brought the firecrackers—”

“You lit them!” Virgil threw his hands up in a gesture to the large scorch marks in front of the stove.

“Irrelevant.” Remus purred with a playful grin. “Now preheat the oven for me, emo boy.”

“To what?” Virgil muttered as he stalked toward the oven.

“350 degrees, baby!”

“Don’t call me baby.” Virgil sighed, barely looking up at the mess Remus was making as he danced around the kitchen. “I don't even know why we're doing this. Cookies can’t fix what happened.”

“Well, it sure as hell can't hurt, Donnie Darko,” Remus winked, shooting finger guns at Virgil. “especially since we’re catering to each of them personally. Everyone can hate each other and all, but they can't hate cookies.”

Virgil paused in confusion. “You said we were making one batch of cookies, Remus. I didn't sign up for a whole day with—”

“I never said we weren't. Just one batch is all we need.” Remus grinned with a teasing smile, taunting him to continue.

“How can one batch of cookies cater to all of them?” Virgil wondered. “I mean I get Patton, but the others are a little harder to please.”

“Don't you worry. I'll spill the beans,” Remus paused with a suggestive grin. “but first I need you to strip, Frightmare before Christmas.”

Virgil let out an exaggerated sigh as he ducked his head to hide the redness in his cheeks. “Whatever fantasy your trying to get me play out, I won't—”

“Lose the hoodie, Virge. Everything else is optional.” Remus interrupted, grinning suggestively as Virgil tipped his head up. “Unless—"

“No.”

“Fine,” Remus giggled as he gave in to Virgil. Before he walked away, he slipped a piece of paper across the table as Virgil slipped his jacket off and laid it off to the side. “It’s to get nice and toasty in here and I don’t need you looking like you just got off a sweet bender covered in a suspicious white powder when we go to deliver the goods.”

“Okay—Okay! It’s off now.” Virgil through his hands up in exasperation as Remus wiggled his eyebrow up at him. “You can stop tormenting me.”

“Great.” Remus cheered with a flourish of his hands as he tossed the flour at Virgil. He giggled as the bag erupted into a white puff all over Virgil, leaning into his friend’s scowl before returning to hopping about the kitchen. “Mix the dry ingredients and I'll start on the wet stuff.”

“Great.” Virgil huffed, rolling his eyes as he straightened out his black tee and brushed the flour off himself. Reluctantly, he picked up the flour to begin as he looked up at Remus for explanation. “Now, tell me why you think this is going to make everything better.”

“Well, Pattycake obviously loves homemade gifts—"

“Patton is the easiest to please.” Virgil muttered as he measured the flour. “That's not an accomplishment.”

“Yeah, well. All Roman wants is attention. The fact that we were thinking of him is enough to brighten his spirits,” Remus grinned as he started to whisk together his ingredients. “and the snake boy has a sweet tooth. He hates to admit it, but sugar is Janus’ comfort food.”

Virgil paused. His eyes narrowed on Remus with skepticism in his eyes. “And what about Logan?”

Remus’ grin widened as he swiped Virgil’s bowl and began combining the ingredients. “Well, we're making thumbprint cookies and—”

“—and thumbprint cookies require jam.” Virgil deadpanned as Remus nodded. He stared blankly as the creative side finished the dough and reached below the counter.

“Bingo, bad boy.” Remus chirped as he slid a jar of Crofter's across the table.

Virgil eyed the jam suspiciously as he bit his lip. “Where exactly did you pull that from—”

“Not relevant.” Remus cheered brightly as he handed Virgil a spoon and started forming the cookies. “Start scooping and don't skimp on the jam. I don't want to offend the nerdy professor.”

“Re, this is—” Virgil stared as he followed behind Remus, dropping jam into the indents of the cookies. “—surprisingly thoughtful.”

“So, what?” Remus grinned, raising an eyebrow at Virgil. “Can't a guy do a nice thing every once in a while?”

Virgil blinked, trying to stifle his own shock. “You try to convince Thomas to jump out of moving cars or eat dirt at least daily. Nice things just aren’t what you’re about. Are they?”

“Maybe, I don’t like being predictable.” Remus chuckled as he took the tray from Virgil and slipped it in the oven.

“Holy shit,” Virgil’s mouth dropped open as Remus set the timer. “You actually care about how the others are feeling right now?”

“What?” Remus mused, raising an eyebrow at Virgil. “Did you think I was here for my own amusement, stormy night?”

“I mean, kinda.” Virgil dropped his hands to his side, tugging at the hem of his tee. “I didn’t know that you were capable of—"”

“Of course, you wouldn't think so.” Remus interrupted with a bored tone, sounding exasperated.

Virgil paused as Remus dropped his voice. The uncharacteristic serious in his friend's muted tone stopped him in his tracks and he turned back to see Remus leaned on his elbows, staring at the countertop.

“After this last video without us, everyone's thoughts about themselves are turning to crap and I feel them spiraling just the way you do, emo boy.” Remus smirked as Virgil stared back at him with shock in his eyes. “So, yeah. I used to make Thomas repeat this recipe over and over in his head until he memorized the damn thing.”

“You did that so you could bake for the others if they had a bad day?” Virgil blinked, shocked at the sudden change from Remus’ usual boisterous behavior.

Remus let out a long sigh as he fidgeted with a wooden spoon in his hand, twirling it between his fingers. “You might be his anxiety, but your not the only one carrying that gnawing dread that nothing's gonna work out, Dr. Doom. If it's grating and repetitive, it shows up on my radar too.”

“I had no idea." Virgil muttered, unsure of what else to say.

“You can thank Janus for that one, Virgie baby.” Remus chirped, a little more upbeat as the time chimed off. “You didn’t want to know and the snake's been keeping you safe and snug as long as you been kicking.”

“But what about you, Ree?” Virgil wondered out loud as Remus started to drop the hot cookies onto plates to cool. “Who keeps you safe?”

“Eh, who cares?” Remus’ voice cracked slightly as he rolled his eyes. “Point is that I’ll feel icky and this’ll make that go away.”

“Remus, that’s not—”

“What? Healthy?” Remus purred, as he wrapped an arm around Virgil’s shoulder and jostling him. “Hate to break it to you, kid, but I'm not Tommy-boy’s good coping mechanisms.”

“No, but that's why Thomas works on them.” Virgil muttered as Remus released him. “I'm not exactly what Thomas wants all the time either, but he work through his issues so that I can focus on protecting him.”

“Here’s the thing though,” Remus flashed Virgil a sharp-toothed grin as he chuckled. “My purpose ain’t quite so handy as yours, so its not worth that—”

“You’re wrong, Remus.”

Remus looked up in surprise at Virgil’s abrupt response. He stared for a moment at the concern in Virgil’s eyes before straightening up. “Oh?”

“You keep Thomas grounded in reality.” Virgil shrugged as Remus looked up at him with skepticism in his eyes. “If Thomas lived his life looking Princey's rose-colored glasses, he'd be ignoring all the complex and difficult things that give life meaning.”

Remus raised an eyebrow at him with a playful glimmer in his eyes. “So, there is creative value in ‘juicy butth—”

“Stop,” Virgil held up a hand with a chuckle. “You know what I mean. Not everything is sunshine and sparkles. Thomas can’t ignore things just because he doesn’t like them. He needs the ability to face those things and you give him that, Remus.”

Remus giggled, flashing a knowing smirk at Virgil. “You better be careful, Virgie. If you’re not, I might start to think you give a shit.”

“I do.” Virgil dipped his head to hide the redness in his cheeks as Remus smirked at him. “I do, okay? Now, just shut up so we can deliver some cookies.”

“Oh, gag me, emo boy.” Remus chuckled, barely concealing his smile as he made an over-exaggerated expression of disgust. “I didn't know you were capable of being so tooth-rottingly sweet—”

“Just shut up." Virgil muttered half-heartedly as he smiled and took the plate Remus held out for him.

Remus chuckled, nodding to the exit with a smirk. “Fine. How about we just deliver these top-notch sweets to our favorite depressed bitches then?”

“Fine—” Virgil nodded reluctantly, hesitating as he followed Remus. “—and then maybe we could watch a movie or something after?”

Remus nodded, perking up as he bounced along the hallway. “Something gory?”

Virgil snorted as he staggered down the hallway. “Might as well. None of the other sides will watch scary movies with me anyway.”

“It's a date then, stormy night.” Remus grinned, feeling lighter as they walked down the hall together. “You wore me down.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, smiling as he followed the bouncing man ahead of him. “Good.”

---

General Taglist:

@justanotherhumanstuff @im-an-anxious-wreck

#ask #sunflower-avo-tea #sanders sides #sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfiction #sanders sides fanfic #ts virgil #ts remus #dukexiety

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pl-panda · 4 years ago

Text

To Marry a Vigilante: Part 6

MASTERLIST || First || Previous || Next

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

Even if she tried to downgrade her reaction to learning that the class was held hostage, Marinette was still nervous. No amount of rationalizing that they were mean or that they didn’t care one bit about her helped. She just couldn’t help but worry about them.

Damian tried his best to understand her, but he really didn’t feel any empathy toward them. Idiots brought it upon themselves. He wouldn’t cry after them. Instead, he took it upon himself to distract his beloved from her stress. They were in the middle of the second Disney movie when she finally dozed off in his arms. Given his luck, that was the moment Selina decided to enter the room.

“Oh. I’m sorry to interrupt.” She said with a face that clearly meant she wasn’t even a bit sorry.

“Tt. You’re lucky Angel’s asleep.” He scoffed, making sure not to be too loud.

“Angel huh? The best I ever got from Bruce was ‘Kitty’, and even that was only out of the suit. You’re moving fast.”

“Shut up.” The scowl on his face was evident.

“Why aren’t you roof-running with the rest of them?” She asked, dropping the teasing (for now).

“I told father I would no longer carry the mantle of Robin.” He revealed. It wasn’t much of a secret, but beyond Bruce, only Alfred knew. Their butler knew everything and then some more.

“Whoa!” Seline looked genuinely surprised. “What brought this on? Don’t tell me you’re planning on settling down with a wife.” Her grin returned.

“Tt. Will you people stop?”

“No. Now answer the question pip-squeak.”

“For the record, I’m almost your height now.” He sighed before taking a sneaky gaze at his wife. “Did Bruce tell you about Paris?”

“Not really.” She made a pensive face.

“Then I am honor-bound to withhold any more information.”

She looked at him, trying to judge what it was really about, but Selina kept getting distracted by how cute the two teens looked. If she didn’t know, she would assume they were dating for at least two years, not barely a semester. There was this trust that Damian refused to show anyone else, maybe beside Dick sometimes.

“Fine. But I hope when the time comes, you’ll speak to us.” She was about to leave, but something stopped her. “And if you want to avoid more teasing, try not to have your ‘beloved’ fall asleep in your arms where the cameras can see.” She smirked and left the teens alone. Damian groaned. He was really digging his own grave.

“Dami…” Marinette murmured. For a moment, he thought that he woke her up, but she just snuggled closer and returned to sleep.

--------

A cloaked figure was making strides through the city, trying to keep to the shadows. The streets of Gotham were mostly empty at that hour, but those who still dwelled usually didn’t have good intentions. And even in a city where a group of people in fancy suits was more efficient than the police, someone in a full black cloak with a hood to boot would attract attention sooner or later.

“Hey! Look at that, boys. Someone’s trying to play bat.” A group of burly men stepped their way.

They received no answer.

“What? Bat’s got your tongue? What say you drop the costume and we can see who’s there,” the supposed leader taunted.

They received no answer.

“Oh come on! We can play too!” One of them smiled. He was more perceptive and noted that the figure’s body was not only small but slightly more curvaceous. “Come on, don’t be shy.”

Still, no reaction.

Angered by the lack of any reaction (and slightly tipsy), one of the men tried to push the cloaked person. Their supposed victim reacted by stepping to the side. What happened next froze all of the onlookers’ blood.

With one swift motion, the figure brought a blue weapon down on their companion and it went right through his neck. When she pulled it out, the fancy fan unfolded. From under the black hood, a blue face looked at the would-be attackers. It was definitely female, but it was impossible to make out the age.

“You’re not worthy to even lick my boots, peasant,” she sneered before looking at the others. “Neither are you.”

She folded her fan and rushed forward.

---------

The next day started mostly normal for Marinette. She did wake up curled into Damian’s side, which was nice. Her mother then showed her at least twenty pictures of them sleeping cuddled together, which was embarrassing. She promised to save them for when she was older, which was a dreadful image. Damian brought her coffee in the morning, which was great. He was so thoughtful.

“Mari? Mari? Sweetie?” Her mother waved her hand in front of the girl. “When you stop daydreaming about your lover-boy, can you pay attention?”

“Sorry, Maman.”

“Don’t worry. I was once young too.” Her mother nodded understandingly. “But could you please pay attention? That goes to you too, young man.” She raised her head to send Damian a light glare.

“I apologize for my lack of attention.”

“Today the class is having a trip to the mall, to buy anything they did not bring with them. Caline forced this when it turned out that several girls had nothing to wear for the Gala, which they were apparently ‘not informed about’,” Sabine scoffed.

“Tt. They were. It was that Angel refused to give them free clothes,” Damian interluded.

“I offered to make them the dresses. I even caved and offered a discount.” She grinned. “It’s not my fault all my prices are adjusted to my usual clients.”

“And the fact that your usual clients are celebrities who deemed anything lower an insult to their persona is irrelevant,” Chloé added, walking into the room. She barely managed to get to the chair before collapsing. Whatever possessed her to ask Cassandra Cain for training?

“They didn’t!” Mari protested, but she didn’t put much heart into it.

“Shush! I’m your agent now.”

“I know Chlo. You don’t need to flaunt it.”

“You’re kidding? I’m the girl behind MDC. Suck it, mother!” She shouted at the ceiling, even though it was physically impossible for Audrey to hear her.

“Tt. Moving back to the subject?”

“Oh! Don’t mind me now. I’m having fun.” Sabine smiled at the kids. “But yes, the class is going to be visiting the mall. In theory, you three should be joining them.”

“But?”

“But I would prefer if you kept your distance from them,” Sabine responded harshly. “I don’t want you mixing yourself with a bad crowd Sweetie.”

“Got it, Mom. We will be visiting a smaller shopping district then. I need to fashion masks for all three of us.”

“Won’t masks be provided at the gala?” The woman asked, surprised.

“Tt. Only for those who don’t bring theirs.” Damian clarified.

“Good. One more thing.” She turned to the only boy in the room. “Damian, I trust you to keep both of them safe today. Otherwise, you will have three angry assassins on your neck for the rest of your short life.” She threatened, ignoring the exasperated expression on Mari’s face and Chloé who was checking her nails.

“Three?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I told you that Sandra adores Marinette. And Cassandra shares our feelings toward her newest cousin.”

It took all of Damian’s willpower to remain calm. The idea of Cass, Lady Shiva, and Sabine chasing him was terrifying. “Of course, Madame. I will guard them with all my strength.”

“Then have fun kids! Tom promised to drop you off when he goes to the market and Bruce let him take one of the cars.”

“I’ll go pack up,” the two girls said at the same time. They giggled before running to their respective rooms. Damian just stared after them for a moment, shrugged, and left for his room to get dressed.

When he opened his wardrobe, a line full of ready sets consisting of black turtlenecks and dark-gray jeans, all already ironed and fresh. Together with the morning toilet, it took him a total of seventeen minutes and forty-three seconds to get ready. When he arrived in the main hall, he saw Tom sitting leisurely and reading through the newspaper.

“Tt. Sir, shouldn’t we be leaving?”

“Oh! Damian!” The baker lightened up. “Why would we need to be leaving? The girls left to get ready only a… fifteen minutes ago.” He looked like he was looking for another word, but changed his mind when he couldn’t find it.

“Closer to twenty,” the boy couldn’t help but correct, “but it means they will be ready soon.”

Tom laughed loudly. Damian sent the older man a questioning look, but he had to wait for him to calm down. “You never had to wait for a girl to get ready in the morning, did you?” Tom questioned once he calmed down.

“I do not see the relation…”

“Find yourself somewhere to sit. Most likely we won’t be leaving in at least an hour.” The baker cheerfully suggested.

“But…”

“It’s how the universe works and the sooner you get used to it, the better. A piece of advice: don’t rush them or it will get worse.”

“Um… I still want to know why…”

“Everyone does, but some questions don’t have answers.” Tom laughed.

----------

“Damian! Look at that fabric! I’ve never seen it in stores before!” Marinette dragged her beloved toward the wall of various bales. She showed him yet another fabric, that he couldn’t really separate from three previous ones. Unless you count the color that is.

“It is indeed interesting…” He tried to find the word, but Mari was too far gone to pay him any attention. When he used to listen to his brothers whining after shopping trips with the girls, he always dismissed it as fairy tales. Now, he regretted that he didn’t listen to Tom’s warning and hadn’t brought a wireless earset. The kind that only uses one ear so he could still hear what Marinette and Chloé talked about.

“Mari! Look at that one!” The blonde in question pointed to one that was placed quite high. It was black and when reflected light, seemed to glow purple and dark-gold. Interesting, but it held little tactical value.

“Perfect. Dami, could you reach it?”

“Sorry, Angel, you’re the one with wings here.” He said the first thing that came to his mind.

His beloved blushed. Chloé just shook her head and muttered something about diabetes.

After shopping for fabrics, a new sketchbook, several sets of sketching pencils, and some wires, Damian finally got them to go grab a bite. The whole way he kept skulking. Marinette had forbidden him from paying for any materials or clothes. He wanted to!

Of course, the moment their order was brought had to be the moment a villain made an entrance. Firefly zoomed into the calm street and immediately started to set things on fire. The girls immediately jumped into action, herding the panicking crowd and accelerating the evacuation. Damian took cover and sent a quick text to Oracle before joining Marinette and Chloé with crowd control. It was quite impressive to see the blonde grab the guy twice her size and force him to run the other way. Marinette focused on gathering as many stray kids as possible and guiding them away. There went his hope of not ending up like Father.

It was going okay, the villain seemed more focused on making the buildings burn than attacking the defenseless civilians. Up until he flew over the entrance dropping napalm and cutting them off. Marinette immediately jumped between Firefly and the group of kids she was leading. Damian and Chloé were by her side faster than one could say ‘wedding dress’.

“I told you Katana is a viable accessory.” He grumbled. That reminded Mari. He noticed that her red dress (his favorite) gained a broad red sash tightly wrapped around her. It had no noticeable clip holding it in place, so he assumed she just made some adjustments. Now he watched her unroll it to reveal her Christmas rope dart wrapped around her. She quickly grabbed the end and allowed it to fall loose on the ground.

“At least now we aren’t entirely defenseless.” She stated confidently. This was not Marinette the Parisian girl. This was Marinette the Ladybug, with or without a suit.

“And what do we have here?” Firefly floated not so far away. “A whole collection of new…” He didn’t get to finish. Marinette immediately attacked, hoping to attract his attention away from the kids. Damian cursed loudly. He wanted to leap into action, but he knew that Chloé stood no chance to protect the kids alone.

The rope dart stuck Firefly in the arm, making a deep cut and letting some blood out, but the heat of his surrounding cauterized the wound. It didn’t seem to bother him. Instead, the villain aimed his flame gun at the girl who was already away from the group.

“I will make you burn!” He shouted and opened fire. The girl he was aiming at used her rope to pull herself away faster and avoid the flames.

In the distance, one could hear the sound of sirens, announcing the arrival of the police and fire department. They were still several minutes away and even then Firefly was probably too hard to capture without specialized gear. Or a rope dart.

Marinette spun it several times in circles before releasing her weapon like a deadly projectile. Thanks to a quick flick of her wrist, the rope wrapped around the criminal’s ankle. He didn’t expect it, and when she yanked hard, he lost control over his jetpack for just a moment. It was enough for her to release the ties and gather the rope back. By the time Firefly managed to regain stability, she was already launching another projectile. This time, the dart flew straight and went right through his gun. There were several sparks, but as the rope was isolated she stood her ground. Yanking on the rope, she made him let go of the flame thrower before it exploded. The item fell on the ground and she pulled the now-free dart back while dodging for cover.

Damian saw the gun sparking and without thinking picked the loose sewer cover and jumped in front of the kids. Chloé used a nearby trash can to form a wall between them while the lid served as her shield. The barricade would be useless if someone aimed at them, but it did a fine job shielding the group of eight kids from exploding a flamethrower. They had to drop their defense as soon as the explosion passed, and their hands still got hurt regardless. But they probably saved eight kids from heavy scarring.

Firefly did not have the same luck. The explosion caught him in the middle and the knockback pinned him to the wall. When he got over the daze, he was met with several police guns aimed at him.

-----------

Watching the reunion of kids caught in the fire with their parents was heartwarming for Marinette. She was proud of her husband and best friend. Their quick action definitely saved several lives.

“Excuse me, miss?” A policeman in a long brown coat came to her. The paramedics already cleared her and one gave her the number of a trusted therapist if she needed to talk with someone. “Commissioner Gordon.” He introduced himself. “I was told you were the one that took down the villain…”

“It was an accident.” She spoke quickly. “I mean I didn’t try to take him down. He came over to where I was hiding with the kids. I thought he was about to burn us so I just acted on instincts. Get attention, move away from the group, keep attention, strike with everything at your disposal.” She recited.

“That… Where did you learn that?” He stared at her. She was very young but spoke with the experience of someone who dealt with this on a daily basis.

“Paris was dealing with a supervillain for the last four years. My class was a hotspot for his possessions.” She took a deep breath to calm down. “Even before the attacks started, I was taking martial arts classes. I upped the intensity after that.”

“Hm… I see. And your weapon…?” Commissioner asked, pointing at the rope dart now wrapped around her waist. She didn’t yet have time to put the sash back on.

“Oh! Rope Darts are my weapon of choice. Easy to carry around, fast, good for non-lethal takedowns, and can be made into a fashionable accessory.” She smiled.

“Indeed. Even before that, you and your friends were herding the stray children and directing adults to the nearest exit.”

“Same. I’m not sure how it works in Gotham, but in Paris, it was important to get people away from the ak… possessed person.” She corrected herself for the sake of not explaining everything. “Some of them tended to make civilians into puppets.”

“It was still brave of you. I didn’t get your name.”

“It’s Marinette, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Nice to meet you, Commissioner.” She gave him a bright smile.

“Thank you for your service, Miss Dupain-Cheng.” He saluted the girl before walking away, muttering about reports. Now she only had to explain things to the adults at the Wayne Manor.

--------

Masterlist // Next

#batman #BatFam #maribat #maridami #marinette dupain cheng #guardian!marinette #marinette x damian #Damian Wayne #damienette #Damian al Ghul #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous lb #Miraculous!Sabine #Assassin!Sabine #Superhero!Sabine #sabine cheng #arranged marriage AU

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nalgenewhore · 4 years ago

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masterlist - ao3 - last chapter - next chapter

+*+*+*+*+*+*

His smile was blinding, as always, but Elide didn’t believe him. There was something holding him back. “We’ve thwarted the wicked witch, El,” Fenrys cheered, lifting her up and spinning her around.

Elide squealed, hitting his back as Fenrys slung her over his shoulder and sprinted down the hallway, “Fen, my whole ass is out!” She reached around, pulling down the hem of her black dress. Fenrys batted her hands away.

“It’s only half out,” he pouted. “And it’s a nice ass, it’d be mean to only let me see.”

Elide slapped him upside the head, hissing, “I don’t even let you see it.” Fenrys snorted and slowed down, putting her down in front of her doors, holding onto her waist to make sure she didn’t tip over on her heels. “And I’m a future duchess, a royal one, I can’t have any of my ass hanging out.” She crossed her arms, glaring up at him.

“You’re a future duchess ‘cause of who, again?”

She rolled her eyes at him, patting his face a bit too hard, “Don’t be a dick, sweetie-pie.”

He laughed, tipping his head back. Elide laughed as well, their hysterical chuckles ringing out throughout the hall.

Eventually they calmed down, grinning wildly as they wiped tears from their eyes.

Elide looked at her door handle, “I should go to bed… do you wanna, I dunno, come in? I was going to watch something, hang out with my dog.”

Fenrys nodded, “For sure, Ellie. My choice, ok?” He winked and opened the door, sneaking past her. With a flourish, he opened the door, bowing as he ushered her in. Elide shook her head at him, but the second she took another step, Fenrys had scooped her up and kicked the door behind him with a resound slam.

+*+*+*+*+*+*

“Fen, get off, fat ass,” Elide groaned, pushing the man off. It turned out that Fenrys was a cuddler and though they had fallen asleep on opposite sides of the bed, by the time Elide woke up the next day, Fenrys had wrapped himself around her.

Fenrys whined, decidedly keeping his eyes screwed shut, “Where is my lovely fiancée running off to, so early in the morn?”

“The gym, now move,” she growled, smiling triumphantly when he rolled away and she could get out of bed.

“I’ll be lonely, with the bed so cold.”

Elide glanced over her shoulder, moving out of the way when Bear bounded to the space she had vacated, “Bear can keep you company.”

“At least Bear will never stop loving me,” Fenrys crooned, fawning over the overgrown puppy. “Won’t you, girlie, huh? No, I’m your favourite.”

“That’s cause you give her treats when she’s not supposed to have any,” Elide scolded jokingly as she padded into her closet to change.

When she walked back out, her long hair smoothed back into a high ponytail, both Bear and Fenrys were passed out, sprawled across the plush mattress. Elide chuckled and kissed them both on their foreheads before heading out.

+*+*+*+*+*+*

Lorcan danced on the balls of his feet, glaring at the heavy bag as if it had personally offended him before jabbing with his left hand and swiftly following it with a powerful roundhouse. The bag swung when his shin connected with it and Lorcan jabbed again, kicking once more. His hips twisted with the drive of his leg, making sure the kick was strong before springing back.

After a few rounds - switching every minute - his knuckles were smarting from the rough wrapping and Lorcan stopped, breathing heavily.

He could still feel his anger rolling in his gut so he carried out a complicated pattern that ended with a spinning back kick and the heavy bag straining against the chain it hung from as it swung wildly.

Lorcan reached out, steadying it with his hand before he stalked over to his water bottle on the bench. He sat down heavily, his lungs burning. Practically ripping his wraps off, Lorcan blew away a flyaway strand of hair that had escaped the single braid going down the length of his spine.

When the strand just settled back down on the bridge of his nose, Lorcan glared at it, pushing it back.

“Why don’t you just redo your braid?”

He shut his eyes, managing to keep his mouth shut and not curse aloud. With more control than he thought he had, Lorcan stood up and did not look at Elide, “I can’t.”

In the corner of his eye, he saw her prop her hand on her hip, tilting her head to the side in a condescending way, “Why not?”

Lorcan almost told her to fuck off and mind her own business, but he’d promised Rowan and Fenrys that he would do his best to be civil. In a terse tone, he bit out, “Hair is sacred. I have to have the right intentions when I touch it and I’m pissed right now, so.”

“Why are you pissed?” Any condescension seemed to have left her stance, replaced with intrigue. That probably had more to do with a desired elaboration of what his hair meant to him - not that Lorcan had any inclination to do so - than his being pissed.

He snapped, “Do you always ask this many questions?”

Elide rolled her eyes, somehow looking down her pert nose at him despite the fact he towered over her by almost half a metre, “I was just wondering.”

“Well,” he narrowed his eyes, giving her a mocking smile, “don’t.” Lorcan sipped from his water bottle, watching her carefully as Elide moved around him. He tensed when she walked behind him.

Elide noticed, her face somewhat falling. “I’m not going to touch your hair, Lorcan,” she said quietly. “I would never do that.”

Lorcan was speechless. He slowly put the bottle down, trying to find the words. Elide frowned, looking down at the floor. She picked at her nails, frowning harder at the ring on her finger. Without a thought, Lorcan quipped as he stood, “Having second thoughts, sweetheart?”

Like always, she snapped her head up, “No, I am not. And I am not your sweetheart.”

“Mmm, I see that you enjoy the possessiveness, but I didn’t say my sweetheart… sweetheart,” he said, with a wink and somewhat filthy grin. “Have a fun workout, Elide.” Lorcan picked up his t-shirt before sliding past her to the treadmill to cool down.

+*+*+*+*+*+*

Elide fumed as she pulled herself up on the bar and slowly lowered herself. She glared into the mirror at Lorcan, who was jogging on a treadmill.

She finished her pull-ups and dropped down, landing lightly on her feet. About to move to her next rep, Elide looked over her shoulder to find the door swinging shut behind Lorcan.

Something like anger, anger she’d never known, sparked in her chest and Elide chased after him, slamming the door open, “Hey!”

Lorcan glanced behind at her, a brow arched, “What?” He didn’t stop walking, his long legs eating up distance faster than hers ever could. Elide sped up, her pace faltering when her ankle smarted.

She didn’t notice how he slowed slightly, a concerned gaze zoning in on her leg. Soon enough, Elide had caught up to him, “I don’t get what your fucking problem is. What did I ever do to you that was so bad that you felt the need to tell the whole world that I was unfit for what I was born to do?”

Lorcan stopped walking and looked down at her with a blank expression.

Elide seethed, hissing, “I know you think I’m some joke, Salvaterre. Did you and your horrid aunt sit around with that horrid lordling to plan that dance? Wh-what, you came to save me like you were a fucking hero only to humiliate me?”

“We danced for a minute, Elide,” he said drily, “not exactly what I would plan, if I had planned it.” Her heart cracked a bit in her chest, to hear him be so dismissive about it. Despite herself, despite everything that had happened, it meant something to her. It meant so damned much to her.

She frowned, shrugging her shoulder, “It was more than a minute.”

Amusement stole across his breathtaking face. His perfectly shaped lips curled into a crooked smile, “Well, maybe a minute and a half.”

“Fine, it was a minute and a half, but you lied.”

He tilted his head to the side, “And how did I do that?”

Elide crossed her arms over her chest, “You didn’t tell me who you were and that you were trying to steal my title.”

Lorcan rolled his eyes, “Oh, forgive me, your royal Grace, I guess I forgot that it’s customary to show a girl your entire family tree before dancing with her.”

She gasped, “Oh, you- I’m going to kill you.” They heard voices down the hall and Elide grabbed his arm, dragging him with her into a cozy broom closet. She flipped the light on, glaring up at him, “The lie dance is not the point, Lorcan. It’s–”

“What is the point then,” he asked, flicking the light off.

Elide sent him a withering glower before she turned it back on, “The point is that I’m onto you. I know what you’re trying to do.”

Lorcan raised his brows in a fake impressed look, “Oh, really?”

“Yes,” she hissed. “Do you not think I saw you last night, talking to Fenrys?”

Elide couldn’t discern what flashed over his face before he schooled it into a visage of cool neutrality, “I was already on the balcony. Your fiancé came to talk to me, so…”

“That is irrelevant. I beat your little game and you’re trying to cheat at it. I’m going to marry Fenrys, Lorcan, why does that annoy you so much?”

“You don’t know a fucking thing about him. He has his own life, you know. Fen doesn’t magically exist to fix your problems,” Lorcan snapped, a different type of indignation flaring in his gaze. Elide played it off as jealousy and the bitterness of defeat now that there was nothing in her way.

“Problems,” she laughed coldly, stepping in as close as she could and stabbing her sharp nail into his chest, “that you created, Lorcan. You think I’m any happier with uprooting his life?”

He shrugged, his face settled into cold disdain.

Elide laughed again, the sound hollow. She opened her mouth, about to rip into him when someone opened the door. She tried to jump back, but in the enclosed space, there was nowhere to go.

The poor maid gasped, her eyes as wide as saucers. They snapped between Lorcan and Elide and she stammered, “O-oh my g-go-ds, I-I’m, I am so sorry, ma’am.”

Elide tried to argue, but the girl closed the door, ignoring her protests. She rounded on Lorcan, her gaze like a live wire. “You–”

Lorcan reached for the door handle, turning it and pushing the door open, “You should really learn more about your fiancé.”

Without another word, he stalked away, leaving Elide stunned in the broom closet.

+*+*+*+*+*+*

Channeling all her anger into her arm, Elide threw the stick and watched it as it sailed through the air. Bear barked once, quickly tearing after it into the woods.

Someone whistled from behind her. Elide whirled, relaxing slightly when she saw that it was only Fenrys. “Damn, Lochan, you’ve been holding out on me. Who knew you could throw like that?”

“Thanks,” she said shortly, turning back to keep an eye on Bear. “What are you doing out here.”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Fenrys commented, sidling up to stand next to her. It was late and dark, but with the lights of the palace, Elide could see that he had already gotten prepared for bed. The hood of his Doranelle University hoodie was pulled over his head, but the shine of the silk durag he wore to protect his waves peeked through. “Lorcan told me he saw you out here.”

Elide scowled, not answering as Bear bounded back and dropped the stick. Her heavy tail wagged enthusiastically as she sat and waited patiently. Fenrys picked up the stick before Elide could and tossed it, smiling at the way Bear eagerly chased after it. “So, what’d Lorcan do this time?”

She groaned, letting out a slight scream of frustration, “I hate him so much. He- I- I can’t even articulate how much he bothers me. Like, today, for instance,” Elide didn’t notice Fenrys’ cheeky grin as she launched into her tirade, “I went to the gym and he’s just there, being pissed for no good reason and acting like I would- would hurt him in some way!”

He tilted his head to the side, putting his hands in the pockets of his sweatshorts, “How did you get that?”

Elide rolled her eyes, “His stup- his braid was coming undone and he kept blowing away the hair and so I asked him why he didn’t just redo it and he-” she breathed in deeply, exhaling slowly to collect herself, he supposed. “He told me that he couldn’t redo his braid without good intentions and since he was angry, he wouldn’t do it. I mean,” she scoffed, “what does he have to be angry about? If anything, I should be the pissed off person in this scenario. And I am!”

His friend began to pace back and forth, not noticing how Bear trotted back to drop the stick down in front of Fenrys. “Then he tells me that me uprooting your life is somehow my problem when he’s the thief. Throne thief.” Elide threw her hands up, “And, like, he’s acting like he knows you and you guys are friends…” she trailed off, the words dying in her throat when Fenrys looked away and pushed his hood down.

He ran his hand over his wave cap, blowing out slowly.

“You guys are friends.” Elide drew back, wrapping her arms around herself. “Well, ok, um… I think I need a minute–”

“El, it’s really not like that. He didn’t know until I got here and- and we haven’t seen each other in years,” Fenrys protested. “We went to the same boarding school and we roomed together with my brother and Rowan and his cousin Vaughan. I’m not helping him with any of it, I would never do that.”

Elide looked at him distrustfully, staring directly into his eyes. Fenrys fought the impulse to avoid her piercing gaze. After a few moments, Elide sighed, her shoulders slumping inwards, “Of course, I’m- I’m sorry, Fen. He just drives me fucking crazy.”

Fenrys raised a lightened brow, giving her a slow smile. Elide glanced at him momentarily, distracted by Bear, who was barreling at full force towards the pair. She looked back at him in shock and horror, “Oh my gods, no, Fen! I am not into Lorcan.” She hissed his name with a visceral disgust.

He picked up the stick before she could and hurled it away, laughing as he ran after the dog, “I didn’t say anything!”

Elide exclaimed in rage, flipping him off when he looked over his shoulder, “Yeah, you better fucking run, Marama!”

+*+*+*+*+*+*

an: hey ! lorcan is indigenous in this story, specifically lakota, and his hair holds a lot of meaning ! here are some super cool links for you to educate yourself further on the significance of hair in lakota culture because i am the furthest thing from an expert!

https://sistersky.com/blogs/sister-sky/the-significance-of-hair-in-native-american-culture

http://keepersoftheword.org/traditions/native-americans-long-hair/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/understanding-grief/201710/death-and-bereavement-among-the-lakota

@mythicaitt @tinywolfofeyllwe @schmlip-scribble @the-regal-warrior @empire-of-wildfire @ladyverena @ttakeitbacknoww @shyvioletcat @alifletcher2012 @tswaney17 @ourbooksuniverse @flora-and-fae @thesirenwashere @queenofxhearts @maastrash @mynewdreamwasyou @cursebreaker29 @empress-ofbloodshed @b00kworm @hizqueen4life @silversprings98 @amren-courtofdreams @minaidss @superspiritfestival @sanakapoor @ireallyshouldsleeprn @spyofthenightcourt @januarystears @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln @magicalunicorngypsy @elriel4life @sensitiveillyriancomment/ask to be added or removed from the tag list 🥰

#knowing me knowing you #kmky chapter seven #princess diaries au #elorcan #elide x lorcan #elide lochan #lorcan salvaterre #isa writes #nalgenewhore #it's not nice to lie elide 🙄 we all know what u want rn

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murasaki-murasame · 4 years ago

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Thoughts on Higurashi Gou Ep8

I’ve been thinking for a while that this arc felt almost weirdly similar to the original Watanagashi arc, to the point that maybe the twist was just gonna be that there isn’t actually any major differences this time, but then this episode came around and took us in a whole new direction and now I really feel like we’re all experiencing the feeling of reading through the question arcs for the first time, lol.

Thoughts under the cut. [Also some spoilers about the background meta stuff in Umineko, but I’m trying to keep it vague]

I’ve kinda had a lot of mixed feelings about this arc since it started, since it felt like maybe it was going to just be Gou doing a 1:1 retread of the VN for the sake of giving new fans the necessary character intros and plot exposition to set up the mystery, but thankfully this episode really proved why this is a totally different arc to Watanagashi and Meakashi, even if it’s superficially similar.

It’s actually kinda funny how many elements of this episode were directly inspired by things that happen in the later parts of Watanagashi, but with more or less totally different contexts behind them. I feel like it’s designed to make the preview images for each episode super misleading, lol.

In terms of the storytelling and thematic stuff going on, one of the surprisingly big changes is how the Watanagashi arc really pushed the idea of supernatural possession and demons and whatnot by having Shion [disguised as Mion] going around torturing and killing people, plus the whole “Takano was officially already dead when Keiichi saw her at the festival” thing, but this time around it’s focusing more on the idea of the curse being an excuse that the villagers set up to justify killing enemies of the village each year. Which is closer to the truth, but still not entirely true.

I feel pretty good about most of my theories of what happened in Onidamashi, aside from Satoko and Rika dying, but with this arc I don’t really feel sure about anything. Which is a pretty fun feeling, after having already been aware of Higurashi’s whole mystery for so long.

One of the big things I’m assuming at the moment is that the Mion we see in this episode was really just Mion the whole time. I don’t really think it’s accurate to call her the ‘culprit’ this time around, but I think that for all intents and purposes this is more of a Mion arc than a Shion arc.

I think that it was someone like Shion who killed the family heads, and it just lead to Mion deciding to go ahead with putting an end to the whole tradition. I’m not entirely sure about this, but it’d make sense if Shion was doing her whole arc in the background, but she got killed by Mion before she could kill anyone else.

The whole idea of Mion ever being a killer or getting the syndrome is kinda controversial, but at least going by what we got told in this episode, I think it actually does a pretty good job at showing how this might happen. For one thing, she’s channeling her paranoia into trying to protect Keiichi, which at least feels more consistent with her personality than just snapping and killing anyone. And after how Rika seemed to be at the point of ominously telling people that everyone’s gonna die because she’s given up hope on this timeline, and Mion apparently being convinced that Rika’s behind everything, I can see how maybe she either overheard Rika’s talk with Keiichi, or some time before or after that scene she talked with Rika herself and heard all about how everyone’s gonna die, and how Tomitake and Takano’s bodies should be found soon. I think it’d be pretty understandable at that point for Mion to get pushed over the edge, lol.

I don’t think she’s actually the one who killed Rika, though. Her whole rant in the ladder scene came across more like she thinks Rika’s still around and needs to be stopped. Maybe Rika was killed by the Yamainu after they apparently talked about something, but I’m not sure. At the very least, I think Rika being found in a septic tank probably makes it way less likely that she killed herself, unless someone found her corpse and dumped it into the tank afterward. So someone probably murdered her, but I’m not sure who.

It might have been Shion, but if it wasn’t her at school that day impersonating Mion then that seems unlikely, and I still think it was just Mion the whole time this episode.

One of my main doubts about Mion and her whole story in this episode is that we know from the VN that she knows how the Sonozakis aren’t responsible for any of the curse killings, and are just making themselves look guilty. So her paranoia about the three families being behind everything seems more like something Shion would think. But it’s possible that she doesn’t actually think they’re directly responsible for everything, just that they’re *complicit* in continuing the whole curse narrative, and allowing the deaths to happen each year while sitting back and accepting blame for it. Which I think would make a lot of sense, and might not even require Mion to succumb to full on Hinamizawa Syndrome levels of paranoia.

Even in the VN, I think we see her being upset about the fact that her family knows what’s going on and have basically just been sitting back and letting it happen. So I think this is just an extension of that, and she’s mostly just angry at how the culture of positive communal protection has warped into a string of revenge killings that the three families are allowing to happen.

This is also why I’m not entirely sure whether or not she killed Kimiyoshi and Oryo. It might have just been Shion doing her whole thing from a place of straight up paranoia, but maybe during the whole family party after the festival she basically got pushed over the edge after seeing how those two talked about the idea of the curse and how the people who broke into the Saiguden should be punished.

I’m not sure exactly what Mion’s motive would be for killing Shion, though, if that’s even what happened in the first place. I think Mion would just see Shion as being a victim of the whole curse narrative in the first place, after what happened with Satoshi previously. Even if Shion was the one who killed Oryo and Kimiyoshi, I doubt Mion would kill her over it. It might have just been Shion accidentally falling into the well, since that kinda thing happens sometimes in the VN, but who knows.

Also on the note of Satoshi, he still hasn’t been directly mentioned at all thus far, which is kinda weird. I think Tataridamashi will probably prove whether it’s just a matter of them condensing all of the major references to him from the original question arcs into only one arc in Gou for the sake of avoiding repetition, or if there’s something weird going on. At the moment I’m just leaning toward it being a matter of narrative efficiency.

And even aside from that, there’s lots of reasons why I’m interested to see how Tataridamashi will play out. I’m becoming increasingly convinced at this point that, like most people are thinking, there’s something weird going on with Satoko, and the next arc should give us more evidence for that one way or another. I also think it might diverge more quickly from the VN than these first two arcs did, since Rika has a pretty good motive for trying to immediately avert the whole Teppei abuse situation.

I don’t really know if I think Satoko’s killed anyone yet, but there’s something weird going on with her. Especially after how she wound up dead at the Sonozaki estate along with Mion. I’m starting to lean toward the idea that maybe she’s looping along with Rika, and that she’s basically trying to figure out the mystery in her own way. Which seems a bit more likely to me than her being a criminal mastermind this time around.

Though honestly the question that I just keep going back to when it comes to this whole idea is just . . . what exactly would the point be of doing something like this with Satoko? There has to be something more logical and meaningful going on than just ‘Satoko’s evil this time for Reasons [tm]’. There’s also the fact that we don’t know why Rika herself is looping again, or why the fundamental rules of the game board seem to be at least slightly different this time around, and those questions might tie into whatever’s going on with Satoko.

I think this is ultimately gonna tie into the hints we’ve gotten that there’s something important going on with teenage Satoko in the whole time period where Rika’s a teenager, which seems to be when she got thrown back into the loop. I’m at least becoming more convinced as time goes on that the mysterious girl in the OP is teenage Satoko, since it’d fit what we can see of her hair-style. And since I think Takano is going to be largely irrelevant this time around, it seems more likely for it to be teenage Satoko than teenage Takano.

I’m maybe kinda biased in how I’m interpreting this since I just finished the Umineko Ep8 manga, and since I’m still viewing Gou from the perspective of really wanting it to be a lead-in to an Umineko remake because I just can’t help but get my hopes up, but I think this might connect to my theory of Gou’s game board being along the lines of a novel series that teenage Rika is making based on her memories of the original time loop, in which case Satoko’s role in the new loop might reflect how she feels about the idea of Rika doing this in the first place.

It’s also making me wonder if maybe Lambda’s decided to sponsor Satoko this time around, if she’s basically ditched Takano by this point. Maybe she gave Satoko the ability to go through these loops with Rika to accomplish some sort of goal of hers, which might be in opposition to Rika’s whole goal with all this.

At the very least, in terms of Umineko connections, we’ve already seen Featherine in the OP, so literally anything could happen at this point, lol. I don’t actually think Featherine is directly responsible for what’s going on at the moment, though. I think if anything she’s taking more of a backseat observer role. Which is basically what she was doing already, I guess.

I’m thinking that maybe the final arc of Gou will be at least somewhat about Rika and Satoko in high school, to explain whatever events lead to this new loop, although if we assume that we get a new OP and ED for the second half, Featherine and teenage Satoko being in this OP might imply that they’ll show up before Tataridamashi ends, which would imply that it’ll REALLY diverge from the VN. Which would be pretty fun.

I still really like the idea that this is effectively the origin story of the Bernkastel we see in Umineko. Mostly just because it’d be a cool way to set up for an Umineko remake, but still. I think if we get a look at what’s going on with Rika and Satoko as teenagers, we’re probably gonna find out that Rika ended up getting into contact with Ikuko after attending St Lucia’s, and decided to work with her to write a series of stories based on her memories of the loop. Then, at least on the real world plane, Rika probably just stopped working with her and went on with her life, but on the meta world plane, Bernkastel stuck around as Featherine’s miko and is more or less represented by Ikuko’s pet cat. The timeline on this would also be pretty interesting, since if the teenage Rika and Satoko time period is around 1986, then that lines up with when Umineko takes place.

Though at that point I guess my main question is just what Rika’s whole goal is with writing these new stories, and what Satoko’s goal is if she’s decided to enter the loop because of it. Considering how Umineko went, it might be an ideological conflict about whether the truth should be revealed to the public or not about what happened in Hinamizawa. Which reminds me of how it’d be very interesting if Gou doesn’t even end up explaining what’s going on with the behind the scenes politics, and the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. So maybe there’s some conflict going on about if that whole conspiracy should get revealed to everyone, or if it should be kept secret.

At the very least, if we assume that Gou’s just gonna be 24 episodes long with no second season, I don’t really think they have the time to properly explain all of that stuff, especially since Takano’s already had less of a role in the story thus far than in the VN. I think that, in a sense, Satoko has basically replaced Takano as the main turning point and obstacle of the story for Gou, and that whole concept might end up being relevant on multiple different levels.

Even if we completely ignore Takano and the whole political conspiracy stuff surrounding her that takes up a big chunk of the story, I feel like Gou’s already gonna be kinda short on time if it really wants to be a self-contained story with just 24 episodes. Which is the big reason why I think they’ve basically cut out most/all of the stuff to do with her and replaced it with some sort of new plot point that’ll take less time to deal with.

At the moment, my current theory for the final two arcs of Gou is that the fourth arc will basically be a version of Meakashi that focuses pretty much entirely on flashbacks, and basically ties the flashback half of Meakashi together with some of the flashbacks in Matsuribayashi that deal with the different curse incidents over the years, to set up a more cohesive and linear story arc about both Shion and Satoshi, and their experience with the curse over the years. Then I think the final arc will be a mix of whatever Gou’s original plot stuff will be, and a Matsuribayashi-style series of fragments showing a different perspective on Gou’s question arcs and what was happening behind the scenes in them. I think that’s one of the more realistic ways that they could actually compile all of the important plot points into this one season.

This could all get thrown out of whack if we do actually get a second season for Gou, but I doubt it, so at least for the time being I’m just trying to work out how it’ll all work out with just 24 episodes total.

Anyway, Gou continues to be extremely good, and I continue to be irrationally hyped about the prospect that maybe this is setting up for an Umineko remake, lol.

#murasaki rambles #higurashi #higurashi gou

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krenbotvt · 5 years ago

Text

What The Fans Of (Almost) Every Scarecrow Design Are Like Just by Surveying Rogue Tumblr for Approx: 5 Months. (Not in any particular order. Also this is a meme.)

Year One: You probably needed a childhood to relate to/needed a justifiable reason to stan one of Gotham’s biggest criminals. (but if your childhood involves being half-eaten by crows i am VERY concerned) BTAS: The gateway drug Scarecrow. You’re probably a gremlin, and also really like the Dork Squad(tm) TNBA: He’s under-appreciated, and you know this very well, but you’re also thankful that you get some of the coolest artwork of your favorite spooky boy. (Also the voice. 11/10 you want him to read sleepy hollow to you.) TAOB: You are one of the only 3 living fans of Adventures Of Batman Scarecrow, but you give absolutely no shit. You love that uncanny valley, near on clown-like scarecrow, and i feel bad for you, because you’ll probably never get art of them. Super Friends: I...Wow. Y’all really do exist... Galactic Guardians: YOU GUYS ACTUALLY EXIST TOO??? BATB: JAZZY. You like his hat, and his voice. You also probably enjoy a lot of older scarecrow designs as well. You get sad because you wish there were more content. The Batman (TV series): PFFT HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (But seriously though, you poor, poor things...There, There...) Assault On Arkham: AA Scarecrow in an otherwise good movie. Basically, you’re sad he didn’t get more screen-time. At this point, just stan: Arkham Asylum: ABSOLUTE GOBLIN OF A HUMAN. One of the gateway drug Scarecrows that lead you to The Rogues fanbase in the first place. You either love the serious artwork of him, love him drawn/written as a gremlin, or are STILL offended by his lack of footwear. Either way, you adore him and will remind everyone of it. Arkham Knight: OH FUCKING BOY. This can go one of two ways. 1.You love his writing (or don’t, but still stan), his poetic dialogue and his voice, and you also love how much he hams up the fear factor. You probably adore every artwork of him you see, and you REALLY love reading any fan-written material of him. You have many headcanons, and probably have googled A LOT of stuff to make them more genuine. Or 2. You are very, VERY horny... (But as a good friend once said, “these are not mutually exclusive.”) Nightwing And Robin: Aw, y’all are so cute! Here, have some tea with the SF AND GG Fans, I think they have Earl Grey over in the CORNER OF IRRELEVANCY. (But I feel bad for y’all too.) Unlimited: BEEF BOY. You’re either in the group of people that love Scarecrow designs that use scythes, or you like how strange, yet fun his appearance is. Most art of him is super colorful too. There aren’t very many of you, but the amount of you that I’ve seen seem like super cool people. You all probably also enjoy the next one: Batman/TMNT: You knew the movie was a wild ride from start to finish, but you love it. You probably also like birds (I know, really obvious.) There aren’t many of you, but you like the idea of a corvid-like Scarecrow, and you wish for more. Or...You may be a furry that also likes DC stuff, and that’s ok too! We too also oddly love that weird ass cobra joker anyways. Salecrow: You love his rhyming (which is arguably the best thing about him), but are also annoyed by the fact that most content of him use the same 3 images every time. You’re probably in the same boat as all the other scarecrow fans that genuinely want a proper medieval themed version of him. If you write/draw him, you’ve googled endless nursery rhymes. Its like Dr.Seuss up in this bitch. Also, them hands. Blackest Night: Chances are you’re still amazed that your favorite bag-headed master of fear even HAS that thing. You REALLY want him to wear that damn ring again, and will probably pay an arm and a leg to see it happen in a form of animated media. You also have very interesting artwork/writings of him. And your head canons are outlandish, but in the most fun way. (Seriously though, Hatter with a ring, huh...) Injustice: You either love the concept of The ScareBeast, or you’re here for the fact that hes voice by FREAKING ROBERT ENGLUND. Admittedly, you probably aren’t all too good at fighting games, but you still insta-lock him despite that. The Dark Knight: Cillian Murphy portrays the character rather well, but you either are unnerved by his strangely dreamboyish face, or would wish for a slightly older actor. But!!! Despite all that!!! You love him, and probably still quote “WaNnA sEe My MaSK???” (Although I see some of you get absolutely tired of that lol) I don’t see any loyal fans of him, but everyone seems to agree that he’s not too shabby (heheh... shabby...) Gotham (Tv Series): ...Hello? Where are you guys? I KNOW you exist! Show yourselves! Jokes aside, you either love him or hate him. Live action scarecrows seem to be a hit or miss for some. Harley Quinn (Tv Series): Softies. You adore everything about him. His dialogue, his humor, his very surprising accent, and his, albeit a stretch, questionable sexuality implications. Most art of him is very wholesome and good, probably because you’re STILL not over...Well... Maybe its better if I not mention it (all fans of him are the “If I see anything happen to them I’ll kill everyone in this room and then myself” meme.). Detective Comics: Hroo Hraa, my friends. Hroo Hraa. Whether it’s his “Queer grasshopper leaps” or his strange laughter onomatopoeia, you can’t get enough of his antics. Nothing beats a classic, and the fact that there are still many of you that are fans of him makes me smile. New 52/Prime Earth: One of the few scarecrows that greatly changes his childhood, but you welcome the idea of it. He’s a very unsettling looking guy, but you’ll remind everyone that his writing makes up for it. He’s mostly treated like a semi-C tier villain in the continuity, but every time you see him you’re like “!!!!!!!”.You most likely have a list of every issue he appears in so you don’t have to suffer, and your heart still breaks when you read the scene with him and that one girl. (He said he was sorry, guys.) Batman:Hush: 2 and a half sweet and savory minutes of this guy, only for him to get kicked in the face? Nay, Nay, you say! A crime, you holler! You go to your keyboard to tell your friend about how good his character design is, and how well animated he was, but alas they say “that’s nice, bud.” Blast it all... The Lego Batman Movie/Lego in general: Our boy at his most gremlin. Sure, you know this is a 99% children’s medium, but that doesn’t stop you from smiling like a dummy every time you see him. He’s funny, he’s delightful, and he has... a weird obsession with planes? What is it with them and putting him in planes? Maybe he got a pilot’s license before he attended university? What a smart little block person! Obviously, I left out quite a few here, but these seem to be the most popular. There are SO many comic renditions of him, so It’d take my forever. (My poor fingies already hurt!) But please enjoy this silly little thing :’]

#tube says something #scarecrow #jonathan crane #gotham rogues

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peachhcs · 4 years ago

Text

FINDING OUT

pairing: peter parker x fem!oc

summary: peter's on edge, saimi's upset, and ned is just..ned. when peter decides to go after a couple of guys robbing a bank one night, he's faced with the consequences when he gets hurt and has to give up his secret to his two best friends

word count: 4.3k +

warnings: a little angst but mostly teenagers just trying to find their way in this big ol’ world

A/N

I’m really excited for the first chapter! I hope y’all enjoy it!!!

Remember; add yourself to THIS taglist for any posts relating to this series and more extras coming soon!!

FFHOCO MASTERLIST | SERIES MASTERLISTS

* * *

Chapter 1

saimi spots peter coming in from the corner of her eye. the teenager smirks slightly, telling her friend she'd catch her later before hurrying towards peter. saimi went for his back, clinging onto his neck as she jumped onto him. peter yelped—surprised and not expecting it. saimi giggles, nuzzling his head with her fist.

"what are you doing? get off of me." peter laughs, instinctively catching her anyway because that's what he did.

"hey penis parker." saimi emphasized on the horrible nickname flash gave peter freshman year that just seemed to stick. peter crinkled his nose, absolutely hating that nickname with such a burning passion.

"shut up." peter rolled his eyes while saimi snickered. she loved using it just for fun and so did ned—but obviously if anyone else called peter that, they'd be at their throats in a heartbeat.

saimi stayed attached to peter's back as he walked to his locker; she ignored the longing looks people were giving them. something peter has always admired about his best friend, she never let people's opinions get to her — and she was like kind of popular, but that wasn't really the point anyway. peter finally let her go as he needed to use both hands to put his locker combination in. saimi went to lean against the side of the lockers, her eyes scanning over people passing in the hallway.

"so guess what," a bright smile sat on saimi's face while she turned her attention to her best friend again. peter couldn't help in smiling back, loving the way her mouth curled up into a smile like that.

"go on,"

"ned got the new lego death star set." saimi finished, smiling even wider. peter's eyes widened as well, disbelief written all over his face.

"no way, seriously? how many pieces?" peter questioned as he removed some textbooks from his backpack, careful not to reveal the red and blue suit at the bottom.

"4,016 pieces. you wanna see it?" saimi was already pulling out her phone before peter could respond. she hurriedly scrolled through her phone before landing on the picture ned sent her last night. she passed peter her phone.

"woah, even from the picture it looks impressive." peter commented, examining the box that ned was holding up in the picture. a large smile was on ned's face and peter couldn't wait to see it in person.

"i know right. you and ned are coming over tonight to my place so we can all build it. i can't believe i'm saying this, but i'm actually excited to build it." saimi pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, her brunette waves bouncing just below her shoulders. peter laughed at saimi's comment, but his smile was quick to fade when he remembered the stark internship.

"wait, i can't. i have the stark internship, remember?" peter hated lying, especially when it was to his best friends— but he could not tell them about what the stark internship really was. saimi's face fell, her smile turning into a frown and peter absolutely hated that.

"seriously? can't you just skip just for tonight?" saimi begged and it physically hurt peter to see it. when saimi read his expression, she knew he wasn't going to change his mind. she frowned again.

"i'm sorry, but i can't just blow mr. stark off, you know that. he's like a really powerful person and i really don't want to be on his bad side." peter argued his side—kind of unexpected that saimi was complaining about this now when peter's had this "internship" for two months now.

saimi grumbled, knowing all too well, but that was a conversation for another time. one she wasn't quite ready to talk about in a school hallway on a friday morning. peter couldn't quite read his best friend's expression, but he knew she was disappointed.

"i can try and swing by later if it's not too late?" peter suggested, trying to make up for his absence. it was something he hadn't really noticed, but saimi and ned have—mostly saimi—peter had been growing quite distant from them lately and he didn't mean to. it just kind of happened because he was busy being spider-man and trying to keep queens safe.

"no, don't worry about it. it's fine." the spark and excitement that was in saimi's voice was now gone. she pushed off of the lockers, walking away from peter. she shouldn't blame peter, she couldn't really. it was her dad's fault after all—actually her fault—she was the one who led her dad to peter.

"wait, saimi—" peter hurried to close his locker and catch up with the girl. he hated when she was upset, especially if it was his fault. the curly-headed boy tugged on saimi's arm, making her stop for a brief moment.

"i'm sorry, really i am. i promise i'll make it up to you guys soon." peter tried to apologize. however, saimi crossed her arms and a new, angry, expression sat on her face. peter didn't like when she was angry.

"i'm pretty sure that's the 50th time you've said that and it hasn't happened." saimi's tone was now bitter and peter couldn't really blame her. he frowns, scratching the back of his head.

"i promise i'll do it this time. the stark internship just keeps me really busy.." peter tries not to cringe at his bad lie. saimi clenches her jaw and tries to keep from rolling her eyes.

"i know how this much means to you, peter, but try not to let yourself fall in too deep. there's a lot of things you don't know about mr. stark." saimi turns on her heel and walks the other way without another word. peter was left there to wallow in his thoughts. what did that mean? don't fall in too deep.

"peter! there you are!" peter turns his head and spots ned coming down the hallway. peter smiles, walking towards him to meet in the middle.

"hey man. what's up?' peter chuckles, fist bumping ned like always. it was something they always did—like their thing or whatever you wanted to call it.

"did you get my photo last night? i got the new lego death star set and it's awesome. you and me are heading to saimi's after school to build it." ned smiles widely and proudly. peter chuckles but then grimaces at the fact that he never checked his phone last night after returning home from patrol. he ended up passing right out because it was so late and he was just so tired.

"i didn't look but saimi showed me the picture you sent her. it looks really awesome." peter smiles, enjoying the way ned was so excited about his lego set. he really didn't want to break the disappointing news to ned, but what other choice did peter have? he just hoped he wouldn't have two friends mad at him the whole weekend.

"it is really awesome. you're gonna be doing double takes." ned laughs and peter laughs too, but his smile quickly fades.

"hey, so i actually can't make it tonight. i've got the whole stark internship." peter watches ned's face for a reaction. he practically holds his breath — afraid of how ned was going to react.

"seriously? alright, saimi and i will just build it without you." ned tsks and he seems to be okay with it, but peter can't really tell. peter squints at his friend, trying to read his expression more clearly.

"are you sure you're okay? you're not mad?" peter questions, really digging for a detailed answer. ned shrugs slightly.

"i'm disappointed, but i understand." ned shrugs again and peter frowns. he wasn't sure if he liked that or saimi's reaction better. telling someone you're disappointed in them is even worse than telling them you're mad. it's like a double blow.

"saimi got pretty upset. i feel bad, i do, i just can't disappoint mr. stark, you know?" peter rambles on to argue his point. he couldn't disappoint queens was the truth. if something happened out there and he couldn't save them, peter wouldn't forgive himself.

"yeah, i get it man. saimi's feelings are understandable, but we just wanna spend more time with you, you know?" ned wasn't really one to get overly upset at things. he just acknowledged it and then moved on. peter wished he was like that, but he cared too much about others to just move on like ned does.

"yeah, i know and i'm trying really hard. this stark internship could get me places though." peter says and ned nods in more understanding. the shorter boy pats peter's shoulder in comfort.

"i know. i'll talk to saimi for you if it helps." ned suggests and peter nods. at least ned wasn't mad, but it still hurt peter that saimi was upset and he was the cause. she was his best friend and having your best friend upset at you is a bad feeling—also peter had a fat crush on her but that was completely irrelevant. she was way out of his league anyway.

"okay, thanks. i'll catch you later." peter holds his fist out for a fist bump. ned bumps it like usual and the two part ways to their first period.

saimi taps her fingers against her desk while scribbling in some notes that were on the board. she makes eye contact with ned when he comes in. the two exchange a warm smile as ned takes his seat beside her.

"hey, i'm so excited to build that lego death star tonight." ned smiles and saimi smiles at his excitement. she forgets about her notes for a moment, turning to ned to give him her full attention.

"i know me too, which is surprising because i've never been excited to build legos before." saimi chuckles, thinking how her dad never bought her things like legos when she was younger. it was more like she got mechanical tools for her birthdays and christmas and her dad showed her how to use them.

"peter told me he couldn't make it." ned brings it up first and saimi side eyes him. she scoffs, looking back at her notes. saimi has always been an understanding and a very easy-going person, but this was something she was having a hard time understanding for different reasons.

"saimi your feelings are valid, but peter hasn't had something like this before. your dad is the closest thing peter's had to some sort of "father figure" besides his uncle ben." ned tries to reason with saimi. the girl sighs, she places her pencil down to look back at ned.

"i know, but it just feels like he's taking peter away from us. i mean, you guys haven't seen my dad like i have. he's not an easy-going person like i am." saimi eyes ned and he nods in understanding. even though saimi's known peter longer and has been closer with peter, ned knows her biggest secret that not even peter knows. technically, ned wasn't even supposed to know either, but the boy came to her apartment unannounced one night and things went from there.

"just go easy on him, alright? give him this one thing." ned's voice softens. saimi nods, essentially giving in, her features soften. she wants peter to be happy and she can't stand in the way of something he's really passionate about. she won't stand in the way of something peter's passionate about.

"i hate how you're always right." saimi teases, narrowing her eyes at ned. the boy smiles brightly, taking saimi's comment as a compliment.

"i love it. it's something i'm finally better at than both of you." ned snickers and saimi rolls her eyes. her and peter were considered "the smartest" in their grade, which saimi didn't think so for her at least— peter and ned, especially peter, would argue otherwise.

"whatever, enjoy it while it lasts." saimi snickers and turns back to her notes. the two exchange a smile before settling in for class.

—

saimi lifts her phone to her ear, settling in on one of the stools by the counter. she impatiently taps her fingers along the marble, hoping her dad was going to pick up. he was known for never answering his phone; actually he only answered for pepper now.

surprisingly, the phone clicked on the other end. saimi perked up, straightening herself up in her seat. you could say the relationship she had with her father was touch and go.

"hey, kid. what's up? why are you calling? i've got a meeting soon." tony spoke fast and it sounded like he was multitasking and in a rush.

"hey dad. i just wanted to talk to you about something.." saimi bit her lip as she listened to whatever her dad was doing on the other end. the background noise seemed to stop and there was a sound of a door closing.

"okay, what's up?" tony's tone shifted from fast paced to slowed down and a little bit concerned.

"it's about..peter." saimi started and she heard her dad go silent for a moment.

"what about him?"

"dad, he's looking for your approval and you aren't giving it to him. he's waiting for a call from you..i feel like he's gonna fall in too deep before he knows how to get out." saimi shifts on her stool. she loved peter—as a friend—and saimi will always support what he wants to do, but she doesn't want to see her best friend lose himself in becoming too obsessed with being spider-man and trying to save the world, or queens.

"you know i said the same thing to you when you joined the team. you were like him, too." tony says and saimi falls silent. she didn't know what to say to that.

"well didn't you kind of force me to join the team because you were in a losing battle with captain america?" it was a low blow to say, but saimi's relationship with her father was rocky. it always has been since her mom died.

"saimi, i know you're worried about him, but trust me on this one. we both know what he can do and how capable he is of keeping himself safe. i wouldn't have recruited him if i thought otherwise. plus, why do you think i still have the training wheels protocol on his suit?" saimi bites back a laugh at that last part. she sighs, picking at her sweater to busy her mind.

"laney and joe are out tonight?" her dad shifts the subject. saimi nods, even know he couldn't see her but the camera could.

"yeah. ned's coming over later so we can build a lego death star." saimi chuckles, smiling at the thought. her dad chuckles too.

"a lego death star?"

"yeah, it's actually really cool. i'm kind of excited to build it." saimi smiles. she glances around the empty kitchen, partly wishing her dad was standing right in front of her to have this conversation and not like fifty miles away upstate—it was the price she had to pay though if she wanted to stay out of the public eye and her dad's tabloids.

"well, i'll have the cameras on and i'll check in here and there to make sure you guys are doing okay. don't get into any trouble and don't answer the door to strangers." tony drills his daughter on the usual safety protocols. saimi rolls her eyes playfully, nodding because she's heard those words a million times before.

"i know, i know. thanks for picking up the phone this time." it was another low blow, saimi knew that, but it was true. she hears her dad sigh at that.

"have a nice night, okay? i love you saimi."

"i love you too, dad. have a good meeting." saimi ends the call and she takes in a deep breath, slowing letting it out.

the knock on the door pulled saimi out of her thoughts. she glanced at her watch, ned was early. he was probably too excited to wait. saimi chuckles at the thought and heads to the door. she pulls it open and sure enough, it was ned with the box in hand, backpack, and a grocery bag of snacks.

"are you ready to build a lego death star?!" ned exclaims and saimi smiles widely. she nods her head furiously, letting ned in.

"i know i said i'd be by later, but i just couldn't wait. i've been staring at the box since it came in." ned exasperated and saimi laughs. she shakes her head to tell him it wasn't a problem.

"well we better get started if we wanna finish it by midnight, and knowing us, it'll definitely take us until midnight to build this thing." saimi laughs. ned smiles and hurries to the living room. saimi locks the door, out of habit looking to her right where peter would usually be and they would exchange a glance at ned's antics. she frowned a little when he wasn't there.

ned's words were pounding in the back of her head, "just give him this." saimi glanced at her phone on the counter, thinking about the conversation she just had with her dad.

"saimi, come on! don't leave me in anticipation!" ned called from the living room, breaking saimi from her thoughts. the girl laughed before hurrying towards the living room to start building the lego death star.

"ned, look at the book! the bigger gray piece goes here!" saimi points to the little diagram in the pamphlet. ned squints his eyes, swiping the book from saimi's hand to look at it.

"no it doesn't. that's a different gray piece." ned argues but saimi shakes her head. she swipes the book back from him, staring at the diagram again.

"nope, it's this gray piece. see?" saimi shoves the page back into ned's face. she watches him stare at it for a moment before slowing nodding.

"you know what, you're right." ned says in defeat and saimi rolls her eyes. she grabs the gray piece she was talking about and snaps it onto the base.

"they should've made them different colors. it would make this a whole lot easier." ned huffed and saimi bit back a laugh. it was around 9:30pm and the two still had over a thousand pieces to go. they were spread all over the floor in piles and they were maybe..less than halfway done.

"well then wouldn't that defeat the whole purpose of it being a lego death star?" saimi questions, looking at he next page. ned waves her off in annoyance and saimi smirks.

suddenly, there was a rather loud bang on the balcony doors making both saimi and ned jump in surprise. saimi whipped her head towards the door and she saw the outline of a person standing on the other side.

"holy shit, what the fuck is that?" ned grabbed onto saimi's arm. saimi squinted for a moment and in the dim reflection of the light, she could make out a blue and red suit on the other side.

"wait.." saimi rids her arm of ned's and stands up. she slowly approaches the door, tilting her head slightly.

"saimi..i wouldn't do that if i were you." ned calls out to her but saimi waves him off. she goes for the door and quickly pulls it open. the person on the other side falls into her arms, making both of them stumble back slightly.

ned gasps and saimi blinks in surprise. she could smell a very familiar cologne sent coming off of them and saimi knew who it was under the mask—although she's always known.

"s-spider-man?" ned stutters from behind the two. saimi carefully pushes peter off of her, steadying him. she watches as he hesitantly lifts his mask up, revealing his curly brown hair. ned gasps, again. saimi pretends to act surprised.

"peter?!" ned exclaims and peter sheepishly looks between his two best friends. this was definitely not the way he wanted them to find out his secret.

"hey guys.." peter gives a small awkward wave. he looks down, ashamed for lying to them for this long.

"well, it's about time you told us." saimi wasn't going to give herself away, not yet anyways. she couldn't deny or pretend like she didn't know, but she's not ready to tell the full truth yet. peter's head pops up in complete surprise.

"wait..you knew?" peter eyes saimi as she goes to close the balcony door. the girl nods, pursing her lips together.

"it's kind of obvious." saimi winks at him. peter's eyes widen in surprise—is that what she meant this morning by don't fall in too deep?

"i-i think i need some air." ned breathes before hurrying to the front door. he steps out for a moment and saimi turns back to peter. she raises her eyebrow, knowing he had to have come here for a reason if he was here in his spider-man suit.

"are you okay? what happened?" saimi questions, already seeing the gash on his forehead.

"these guys attacked me at the bank. they were trying to rob it and i tried stopping them, but they had these weird weapons that..were more powerful than i was." peter explains and saimi raises her eyebrow. weird weapons?

"what kind of weird weapons?" saimi leads peter to the bathroom where she could clean him up. she sits him down on the toilet seat while looking for some rubbing alcohol and a bandaid.

"i don't know..they were different than like guns and stuff. they could like blast fire or something?" peter eyes saimi. she meets his gaze and raises her eyebrow—she should definitely talk to her dad about that. peter admires how pretty saimi looked despite being under the poor lighting of the apartment.

"h-how did you figure it out? have you known all this time?" peter shifts the subject. saimi bites her lip, trying to figure out what she could tell him and what she couldn't yet—what she didn't want to tell him yet.

"pretty much. i'm your best friend, peter. you think i wouldn't find this stuff out?" saimi chuckles. she examines his cut, deciding it wasn't deep enough to need stitches. peter gazes into her eyes for a moment, getting lost in them. both of their faces burned from peter's stare. saimi shifted on her feet a little.

"are you mad?"

"no. maybe a little..disappointed that you didn't tell us, but no i'm not mad." saimi rubs the alcohol over his cut. he doesn't wince though because of his heightened senses. peter frowns, getting hit with the disappointed card for the second time today.

"is that what you meant this morning about not falling in too deep? you said that because you knew?" peter questions and saimi glances at him. she looks away for a moment. peter wants to push further because he could tell there was something on her mind, but he knows better and doesn't ask on it.

"sort of. you'll understand..later.." saimi trails off. peter drops the subject for now because if she wanted him to know, she would tell him eventually. saimi moves to put the rubbing alcohol away and puts a bandaid over peter's gash. saimi brushes a hand through peter's hair and gives him a small smile which he returns gratefully.

"i'm sorry i showed up unannounced. i knew i couldn't go to aunt may because she'd definitely flip out if she found out." peter chuckles and so does saimi. they both knew all too well about aunt may and she would definitely freak out.

"it's alright. i'm glad you finally told us though. you may wanna check on ned though." saimi chuckles, glancing at the door where ned went out of. the two get up and saimi digs through some clothes peter left at her apartment for him to change into.

she lets him settle in and collect his thoughts while she goes to check on ned herself. saimi found him leaning against the railing staring down at the stairs.

"hey, you okay?" saimi asks, leaning against the railing too. ned glances at her, giving her a small smile and nodding.

"yeah, sorry. i just had to get some air. i can't believe peter is spider-man. that's honestly so cool." ned chuckles and saimi nods. she had to admit, peter being spider-man was really cool and kind of hot?—wait, no.

"when are you gonna tell him?" ned glances back at saimi after a moment of silence. she didn't need to ask what he was talking about, she already knew. saimi frowns slightly. she was really dreading the day she would have to because she's been keeping this secret much longer than peter's spider-man secret.

"soon, hopefully. i don't know..it's a lot to take in. i mean..let's not forget your reaction." saimi eyes ned and they both exchange a laugh.

"yeah, it is kind of weird. i mean one of my best friends is spider-man and the other is a literal avenger at fifteen years old." ned eyes her and saimi smiles. she picks at her finger nails slightly and ned puts a comforting arm on her shoulder.

"does this mean we can't finish building our lego death star?"

saimi laughs, a genuine one which is something she hasn't done in awhile. ned laughs too and the two stay there for a few more moments just taking everything in.

a new thought was now eating away at saimi's brain though. if more people found out her secret, she has a higher chance of putting them in danger and that was the last thing she wanted. even saimi and ned knowing peter was spider-man put them at a lot of risk now. there were some bad people out there that would do anything to take them out. literally.

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inglourious-imagines · 5 years ago

Text

Engaged - part 2 (Lewis "Nix" Nixon)

Requested by: @real-fans (part 2) & @floydtab (fluff)

Summary: After the stressful yet successful evening of introducing your fiancé to your parents, here comes the second challenge - they invited you and Lewis Nixon to spend a weekend with them in a cottage.

Author's Note: There might or might not be another last part to this but I'm not sure.

Taglist: @alienoresimagines @floydtab @kyra3155 @real-fans @meteora-fc @not-john-watsons-blog @band-of-brothers-cz @tealaquinn @ok-roemanov

Part 1

I'm a man. I'm not a hero.

When her parents announced her the offer, she was taken away by the sudden friendliness.

"Is this a test or are you genuinely asking me to visit our cottage with Nix?" Y/N questioned them, eyes narrowed, suspecting something.

"No! Honey, we really want to meet Louis!" her mother exclaimed with a warming smile.

"It's Lewis, mom. His name's Lewis."

"Just bring him along, Louis or Lewis. It's gonna be fun!"

But Y/N wasn't so sure about that. Her mother was convinced that the weekend's gonna be tremendous and that was exactly what made Y/N feel slightly uncomfortable.

•••

They sat quietly in the car next to each other holding hands, both of them lost in their own thoughts. Her parents were already there and waiting only for them.

"I'm not gonna lie, we're pretty fucked." Nixon broke the silence, his eyes didn't leave the road once as he was the one driving.

"They don't even remember you name! Could you believe that?" Y/N exclaimed staring out of the window completely irrelevant to the fact that Lewis just stated something.

"We're so damn pretty fucking fucked." he repeated as he was obviously in the same state of mind like her. Both of them panicking in their own heads. They didn't need anyone who responds but someone who listens.

•••

The dinner went surprisingly smooth. No bigger incident, no arguments, no death glare at anyone at the table.

"It's been going too well so far." Y/N whispered to Nix who was set next to her as they gathered in a living room to watch some TV.

"I'm expecting troubles, don't worry. Something's gonna happen." Nix smirked cupping her cheek quickly, "it has to."

"I hid another extra bottle of Vat '69 in your suitcase if there's gonna be a crisis."

Nixon's head shot up and he looked at her surprisingly. His eyes shined with sparkles and his happy smile that goldened his face was so contagious. "And that's why I love you so fucking much, Mrs Nixon." Lewis whispered leaning in for a kiss.

"You better not call me that in front of them. Plus you're being way too close to me than they'd like and that hand of yours on my inner thigh is not making it any better."

"I couldn't care less. The point is, do you like it?"

"Lewis Nixon, I'm literally going to marry you in two weeks. I think you know the answer very well."

Her father clapped his hands as he glanced at the duo with a suspicious stare.

"So tell me, Jackson, how did you two get together?" her mother smiled probably too sweetly.

"It's Nixon, Lewis Nixon. Not Jackson." Y/N frowned being irritated about the way they treated the most important man in her life. "It's not that hard to remember it." she added quietly as she shook her head.

"Okay, I'll tell the story then." Nixon said glancing at her seeing her angry face.

•••

It didn't happen right away.

It took them quite a while to give in and admit each other's feelings. From the moment they both said "It's a can of peaches, sir." to Sobel, they started falling. Falling so deeply, dearly and completely in love with the other one.

But the breaking point took place in Dick Winters's room, right after the crossroads operation. Y/N was quietly sipping on her drink in the corner hidden in a shadow while Richard was writing the wanted report for Colonel Sink.

"Just allow yourself a short break, Dick. It doesn't have to be a novel." Y/N rolled her eyes as she poured herself another glass - apparently the last one. She placed the empty bottle back into the footlocker carefully with a cheeky smirk.

"You sound so much like Nix right now. If you two ever get together, the world will be in such a trouble." Dick chuckled, his eyed still fixated on the paper.

Y/N just started to open her mouth to respond with some snarky remark but she heard the door open and when Lewis Nixon stepped into the room with an empty bottle in his hand tapping on it, she decided to shut up.

Now it was Dick's turn to roll his eyes as he stood up and walked over to his footlocker opening it for Lewis to take his hidden Vat '69.

As soon as Winters sat down, Nixon immediately shouted "what the fuck" out loud with a confused yet angry expression on his face.

"It's empty!" the Captain exclaimed throwing his hands in the air. "The bottle's fucking empty!"

Silence fell upon the room. Nixon wasn't able to process the information.

"It's your footlocker but you're a non-drinker. So who the hell could possibly-" Lewis suddenly stopped as a wave of realisation flew over him. He turned slowly to the female Lieutenant who was trying so hard not to burst out laughing.

"You!" Lewis pointed at her taking a few steps towards her.

"I don't regret a single thing." Y/N giggled, her eyes shining and her smile so contagious Nixon simply had to chuckle too. He couldn't stay mad at her for too long.

"God knows you're lucky that I love you so fucking much."

And this sudden confession, those few words changed Lewis Nixon's and Y/N Y/L/N's life forever.

•••

"That's surely a way how to meet, Y/N. Drink his entire bottle of alcohol." her father frowned.

"With all respect, sir," Nixon interrupted, "I'm very happy she did so."

Her father stared at the duo clearly not satisfied with his daughter's choice of partner. Her mother rather didn't say anything just glancing from her to him.

"I know you're not pleased with Lew here and I love you, truly, but your opinion won't change my mind. I love this man next to me more than I love myself or more than I have anyone ever loved in my whole life. He saved me in every way possible a person can be saved. I will marry him so I'm asking you to overcome this problem and come to our wedding. We both be very happy to see you there." Y/N suddenly burst out, finally fed up with her parents' behaviour.

"I can assure you, Mr and Mrs Y/L/N, that I will take care of your daughter the best I can. I'd rather die than have something happen to her. She completes me." Nixon joined the conversation, being so serious as he unconsciously took Y/N's hand.

"Well," her father cleared his voice, "if you see it like that, you have my permission. But if you hurt her, I'll have your head served, okay?"

Nixon shuddered a little under his glare but forced himself to smile that soon turned into a genuine sincere grin, "Thank you, sir. It means a lot."

And for the first time, her father's face had a pleased expression.

Maybe he was the right person for her after all.

Maybe this is the person his daughter's gonna spend the rest of her life with.

"Welcome to the family, Nixon. Welcome to the family."

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why-not-go-with-style · 5 years ago

Note

Ineffable husbands not fully understanding the parental impact they have on Warlock. Maybe it’s not till after the apocalypse that they check in with him, maybe at school, and all the adults are just - “Omg you must be Warlock’s parents!!!! We’ve heard so much about you!” And it keeps happening everywhere they go (much to their absolute joy). Just lots of hugs for poor warlock

I need very little encouragement to write about Warlock’s shenanigans. Thank you for enabling me, anon, because this was a delight to write. I tried to have some fun with narration in this one.

***

The Dowling family was, by most measures, rich. Any family in possession of such a garden which sprawled out for many paces across their estate is rich by at least some measures. As any self-respecting rich family they’ve had a whole platoon of workers, including (but not limited to) maids, cooks, bodyguards and drivers. Most of these are irrelevant to us, just as they were irrelevant to the Dowling family, nothing beyond things of convenience. However, as the reader would, no doubt, be aware, there was a pair of beings on Dowling’s payroll who deserve most careful attention. One was the estate’s gardener, and the other was a nanny.

Despite deserving the attention, they often found themselves lacking it. The other servants endowed them with nothing beyond friendly greetings and gossip-filled smalltalk, as they would endow all others who found themselves in the position of employment by the household. The two masters of the house, the American ambassador and his wife, couldn’t care less about what their employees did as long as they did their jobs, and their jobs, in the couple’s eyes, were to take care of the garden and take care of their child respectively. The garden blossomed, and the young boy grew, so the gardener and the nanny have found themselves, on most occasions, remarkably unsupervised by the human eye.

But of course every rule has an exception, even if it is, at first, not perceived to be such.

That is to say, when the nanny and the gardener remarked to each other that they were often unsupervised by the human eye, they left out one member of the household who was, as far as they were aware, decisively not human. Little Warlock Dowling, the supposed Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness, has never once let them out of his sight for long.

The gardener and the nanny have agreed that such undivided attention from him must have been due to the fact that he sensed, deep inside, their ethereal or occult energies. What they have failed to recognise was the fact that a young child, by and large neglected his whole life by his parents, who preferred to have him in front of a TV screen and not in front of them, had simply latched onto the first pair of adults who seemed to not protest his company. And if said adults were slightly more... peculiar than others – well, young Warlock maintained, all the better.

There were many things he has noticed about Brother Francis and Nanny Ashtoreth. Some of the things he has noticed would amuse them were he ever to voice them out loud. Some would puzzle them. Some would – perhaps – fluster them, if delivered at the right time in the right tone of voice. But Warlock was blissfully unaware of what the right time or the right tone of voice might be, so he kept his thoughts to himself, and instead asked Nanny to tell him another story.

(Nanny told delightful stories. Still, it was, perhaps, for the better that his parents never payed Warlock enough attention to listen to him retelling one of them, because then the circle of staff associated with the Dowling household might have expanded to include a therapist).

In any case, the boy grew under watchful and not entirely human eyes, and if demon Crowley and angel Aziraphale had their secret meetings outside of the estate grounds, to compare notes and exchange smiles, Warlock was none the wiser. He learned to read, and to write, and to solve problems. His father signed him up for an elite school, and a driver was assigned to take him there in the mornings and bring him back again in the afternoons. The Arrangement (of which he knew nothing) worked just as expected – the heavenly influences balanced out the hellish ones, and on the whole, apart from a taste for violence in fiction and an altruistic streak outside of it, what the boy grew to be was remarkably normal.

(Too bloody normal, Crowley insisted, in the same tone of voice in which he would insist later that Aziraphale really should have listened to him back then).

It was midway through December, as dull as winters often are (the only part of Britain which got nearly enough snow that year, or any year, was Tadfield), when Mrs. Harriet Dowling approached Nanny Ashtoreth, after the driver has carefully off-loaded her shopping bags in the corridor to be picked up by the maid.

“Hello, dear,” Harriet nodded distractedly. Nanny Ashtoreth made the kind of face she always made when anyone but the only being allowed to do so called her “dear”. “I’m going to need you to go to Warlock’s parent meeting tomorrow, and then you’re free to go for Christmas. We will call you when we’ll need you back.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Nanny Ashtoreth said primly (and if she had no intention to leave the estate when the Dowlings were on their holiday in Egypt, or Hawaii, or whatever other place they have chosen that year, her employer had no business knowing it). “Have a terrific holiday.”

(One must note, unlike Mrs. Dowling who was too preoccupied by directing the maids to note anything, that much like “nice”, the word “terrific” used to have an entirely different meaning, and Nanny Ashtoreth has lived through enough years to know it. On a completely unrelated note, the only person to enjoy the upcoming trip will have been little Warlock, but that is a story for another time).

The next day, at one in the afternoon precisely, a big black car pulled up to the gates of Warlock’s school. Nanny Ashtoreth stepped out of it and followed the displayed signs towards Warlock’s classroom, while simultaneously waving her hand at said signs to make them point in all manners of different directions (for she had to stay on-brand). There were stairs, and glass walls, and motivational posters (which she considered changing a tad, but ultimately decided that it would be a bit on-the-nose). The school was exactly what one would expect from the kind of overpriced education facility demon Crowley has once earned a commendation for. It was probably for the better (worse, technically, which in Hell’s books was, of course, better) if the Antichrist were to grow up surrounded by spoiled brats. He needed a reason to hate humanity, after all.

Nanny Ashtoreth made her way to the classroom and greeted the man at the door with a polite but tight-lipped smile. He glanced down at the paper in his hands, scanning across the surnames.

“Afternoon, ma’am. You’re here for..?”

“Warlock,” she said. “Warlock Dowling.”

The man did a double take, looking back up at her from where his pencil skimmed down the list. Nanny Ashtoreth, perhaps because she had been simply observant, or perhaps because picking up on negative emotions was practically in her job description (no, the other one), could almost feel the disapproval suddenly radiating off him. She quirked one eyebrow up and held his gaze from behind the darkened sunglasses.

“You’re his mother, then?” the man asked, feigning a smile in that impeccable way only teachers can. “Adrien Franks. My pleasure.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Franks,” nanny nodded, offering her hand when he didn’t. “However, Mrs. Dowling is unfortunately busy today. Antonia Ashtoreth to your service.”

The man’s demeanour changed within seconds. Nanny Ashtoreth was left to watch in almost bewildered fascination how his polite smile morphed into a friendly grin as he grasped her hand in his.

“Oh, do excuse me!” he exclaimed. “I just thought – I probably shouldn’t have. My mistake. Are you his nanny, then?”

“That’s me,” she nodded, squinting at him. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d know of me.”

“Oh, we do,” the teacher shrugged, stepping aside to let her inside the classroom, a surprisingly quiet place without the children. There were parents (or substitutes) already inside, but they elected to eye one another suspiciously instead of socialising, as any self-respecting rich people do when surrounded by other rich people. “We get the kids to talk about their home life, to get to know them, you understand, and Warlock barely mentions his parents.”

“I wonder why,” Nanny Ashtoreth muttered. Somewhere far away Harriet Dowling dropped a wooden clothes hanger on her foot and swore.

“Yes, well, it happens. Unfortunately,” Mr. Franks sighed. “Fortunately, however, for Warlock at least, he has you.”

“Me?”

“Well, you, and the gardener – Brother Francis, was it? Warlock never stops going on about you.” Mr. Franks put the list of surnames on one of the desks, then walked back to her, clearly happy to get to break the silence. “I’m glad he has people like you in his life. He seems to look up to both of you greatly.”

“Is that so?” the nanny hummed, noncommittally. She wasn’t sure whether that was something a young Antichrist should be doing – looking up to an angel, Satan forbid! – but she was going to keep her comments to herself until she could discuss it with the said angel in the privacy of the gardener’s cottage. (Aziraphale, of course, would find it rather distasteful that the boy would even think of looking up to a demon).

“Oh, absolutely,” the teacher nodded with enthusiasm. “Of course, he has a bit of an imagination on him, Warlock, so some things he says are... a bit funny, at times, but that’s not what matters. What matters is that there are people in his life taking such good care of him. You’d be surprised how often his classmates feel ignored at home.”

“No, I don’t think I would,” Nanny Ashtoreth muttered, throwing a glance around the room. The teacher gave her an awkward smile.

“Or perhaps you wouldn’t,” he conceded. “In any case, Warlock is a good kid, Ms. Ashtoreth. Thanks for looking after him. You and Brother Francis both.”

He sounded sincere. It was, in nanny’s experience, hard to find humans who would be so sincere, especially amongst the teachers. She would never admit it, but there was something about people who cared so much for children who weren’t their own which made her if not soft, then at least somewhat hopeful about the human race (and wasn’t it ironic that they were talking about its untimely demise?).

“I will pass your thanks onto him,” she said, seriously. And then: “I think the children are back from lunch. Shouldn’t we start?”

Adrien Franks looked at the clock, then at the door. He knitted his eyebrows together when he saw the kids flooding in through the doorway, their voices filling the room in a way that would have been impossible to miss (and yet). He shrugged to himself, decided that he must have been terribly engrossed in the conversation, and took his place at the teacher’s desk.

He watched, almost unintentionally, how little Warlock’s eyes lit up at the sight of his nanny, and how he barged into her, wrapping his thin arms around her waist. She gave him an almost-smile and petted his tousled hair as he babbled about something Adrien could not hear over the general commotion of the room. He looked over the surnames list (which was now inexplicably on his own desk), decided that enough adults were present (some could stand to learn that not everyone in the world will wait for them), and cleared his throat to announce the beginning of the parents meeting.

Yes, he decided. Warlock Dowling was in good hands.

(It was probably for the best that he didn’t say it out loud, though).

***

I’ve had a whole another scene planned out, with Aziraphale this time, but the fic was getting a little long (and the scene wouldn’t quite fit, frankly). If someone wants to see it though, please notify me, for I would love to write it!

#good omens #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #crowley #warlock dowling #nanny ashtoreth #brother francis #who is barely mentioned but shhh #allie scribbles #allie does prompts #very slowly but i promise i’ll get to tbe rest of them!!

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falseh0od · 5 years ago

Text

All They Really Need

It’s finally here.

Note: A reminder that this is being written Right Now in honor of a strike that is happening on TikTok! There's been an influx of toxic Fanders on TikTok who seem to think that Logicality, Prinxiety, Dukeceit, and Remile are the only valid Sanders Sides ships which is nowhere near the truth! So, a lot of Sanders Sides cosplayers (myself included) are going on a two-week Sanders Sides cosplay strike to stand up to the bullies, and I'm also writing this finally as well! Because I will *always* prefer Analogical and Royality above any other ship, especially Logicality and Prinxiety! So enjoy my boys being gay disasters and finally deciding to make a lifelong promise to each other!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22446493

Summary: Virgil decides it's time for the next big step in his relationship with Logan... no matter how irrelevant it may seem.

TWs: a couple swear words, some anxiety, but nothing horrible!

It was a quiet day in the Mindscape.

Virgil was quietly lounging on the couch in the living room, scrolling through Tumblr and generally minding his own business. On the surface level, it might’ve looked like Virgil was just indulging in his typical emo content on Tumblr.

However, the side was actually desperately attempting (with attempting being the keyword here) to pull together a date plan for the evening.

Today was his and Logan’s two year dating anniversary, and although Virgil had come up with his overall plan for the evening a month ago, he had been so anxious about pulling it off that he had been procrastinating it ever since.

This had all stemmed after Roman had suddenly actually proposed to Patton nearly six months ago. It had been a shock to everyone- Patton included! But the two were determined to take that next step in their relationship despite the fact that it wasn’t possible for Sides to legally be married.

Considering that they had basically everything they could possibly want at their disposal, the wedding planning had gone smoothly and had taken much less time than it normally would. As a result, the wedding had happened about two months ago. Virgil and Logan had been the ‘best men’, and Thomas had done his best to officiate.

And in all honesty, Virgil had never seen either side as happy as they had been for the past two months.

Did Virgil originally think that the concept of them, as sides, getting ‘married’ was unimportant because they would never be truly married anyway? Yeah. Logan had clearly felt the same right after the announcement had been made, too. But Virgil couldn’t deny the rising feeling of longing. He didn’t want anything big or over-the-top, but goddamnit, he wanted to make that lifelong promise to the one person he loved most.

He didn’t know how Logan would feel, but he was hoping Logan would agree.

So here he was, ring in his pocket, scrolling through Tumblr trying desperately to come up with a good way to propose.

That was until his peaceful mid-morning was suddenly interrupted by a very loud Prince.

“Yes, the wind blows a little bit colder!” Roman burst into the room, singing what had quickly become one of his favorite songs from Frozen II to sing (especially when he was doing a duet with Patton). “And we’re all getting older! Aaand the clouds are moving on with every autumn breeeeze!”

Roman continued to sing through the first verse of the song, giving both Anna and Olaf’s lines his all. Virgil just rolled his eyes, trying to put his focus back on Tumblr.

That is until he had an idea.

Besides, maybe Roman could help him, anyway.

As soon as Roman got to the start of the second verse, before Roman could continue, Virgil butted in.

“The leaves are already falling,” he sang (a rare occurrence indeed, but he could make an exception). “Sven, it feels like the future is calling.”

Roman paused for half a second, almost instantly catching Virgil’s drift. A wide grin almost instantly formed on his face. “Are you telling me tonight you’re going to get down on one knee???”

Virgil sat up and gave Roman a quick nod, continuing on. “Yeah, but I’m really bad at planning these things out- like candlelight and pulling of rings out.”

Roman plopped down next to him. “Maybe you should leave all the romantic stuff to me…”

Virgil just rolled his eyes. “Some things never change… like the love that I feel for him.” (yes, purposely changing the pronoun.) “Some things never change… like how reindeers are easier. But if I commit and I go for it, I’ll know what to say and do… right?”

Roman gave him a Look. “Some things never change…” He then smirked and stole Virgil’s last line. “Virge, the pressure is all on you.”

Virgil shoved him gently in response. Roman just laughed, deciding not to continue with the song. “So, I thought you two thought getting married was irrelevant?”

“I mean, I did,” Virgil muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “But… I’ve realized that I wanna make that promise to him.”

Roman nodded. “You know, Virgil, that was actually exactly my reasoning behind proposing to Patton, and sometimes that’s the only reasoning you need. I think, even if he still thinks it’s irrelevant, he’ll do it for you if you truly want it.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right. The only problem I’m having is figuring out just how the hell to do it.”

“Mm, I see. Well, I have a few ideas, if you’d like to hear them.”

“As long as they’re not too extra, I’m all ears.”

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

Virgil stood outside of Logan’s room, hand in his pocket, clutching the ring box.

It had turned out that Roman could actually have some down-to-earth ideas if he really wanted to, and had helped Virgil come up with a solid plan for the evening that could be easily amended if needed. It was simple and quaint, and Virgil was feeling pretty good about it.

Save for the butterflies in his stomach about the proposal, but that was normal, right?

Virgil took a deep breath and knocked on Logan’s door.

He had taken it upon himself to actually look somewhat decent for the evening. He was wearing the only tie he owned, which resembled his hoodie to a point, along with a purple button-down. It was similar to what he had worn in the courtroom, though Virgil had made a point to wear a black vest, too, to put some distance between the two events.

He was still wearing his hoodie, though. No amount of persuasion from Roman could keep him from wearing it. He was also wearing his signature ripped black skinny jeans as well because they looked good with formal outfits and Virgil would die on that hill.

The door opened, and Virgil’s breath suddenly disappeared.

Logan was looking even more dapper than ever and holy fuck was Virgil gay.

He was wearing a black button-down in replacement of his usual polo, along with his signature tie- but adding on a snazzy blazer that had a gorgeous galaxy print. Adding in the dress pants and shoes Virgil was starting to feel slightly underdressed but he knew Logan wouldn’t care.

“You good there, starlight?” Logan asked, almost teasing in a way.

Virgil finally found his voice. “Oh, uh, yeah, I’m ga- good. I’m good.

Logan just laughed softly and the two leaned in for a quick kiss.

Virgil spoke up after they broke apart. “So, I have a couple of things planned for the evening, actually. For after dinner.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I managed to convince Roman to let me borrow the imagination for the night.”

“That actually sounds wonderful, Virgil. I think that’ll be a nice change of pace for a date night.”

“Well, it is our anniversary. I thought it would be appropriate.”

“Indeed.” Logan put his hand around Virgil’s waist, and Virgil put his own hand around Logan’s as they walked down to the kitchen.

Where they were treated to a sight that Virgil was not expecting.

Patton was dressed up in a chef outfit, humming ‘Into the Unknown’ as he stirred a pot on the stove.

“Patton!” Virgil exclaimed. “I thought we had kitchen rights for the night?”

Patton turned to them and grinned. “Aww, you two look so dapper! Oh, yes, Virgil, you guys do have kitchen rights for tonight! I just thought I would do something nice for you two for your anniversary and cook dinner!”

Virgil went red. “Oh- uhh. Well, I guess that works. Thanks, Pat.”

“No problem!” Patton then winked at him and Virgil resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands and groan.

Of course Roman had gotten Patton into this.

He couldn’t complain though, because Patton was the best cook out of all of them, and he had just been planning to stick a frozen pizza in the oven. Roman had probably taken personal offense at that crime against romance at its very core and enlisted Patton for help.

“That indeed sounds wonderful, Patton. What are you making?” Logan asked.

“My secret spaghetti recipe!”

That recipe was not secret, but it was one of Patton’s best recipes, so Virgil couldn’t complain.

“Oh, cool,” Virgil nodded, walking over to the table and pulling a chair out for Logan (like a gentleman, of course). Logan sat down, saying a quick thank you to Virgil as Virgil went to sit down himself.

As they waited for Patton to finish, the two of them chatted quietly, talking about the day they each had, holding hands across the table and just generally being sappy.

After a while, Patton finally came over with two plates of spaghetti in his hands.

“There’s more on the stove if you want seconds!” he said cheerfully. “Don’t worry ‘bout the dishes when you finish, I’ll take care of them later!”

“Are you certain, Patton?” Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You two deserve to enjoy your evening, I can do the dishes for ya!”

Virgil gave in with a shrug. “If you’re positive.”

“I very much am! Now, enjoy your dinner, and if you need Ro or I for any reason whatsoever, we’ll be in the living room watching Mulan!”

Suddenly, in the distance, both left-brained sides heard Roman start booming out the lyrics to ‘Let’s Get Down to Business’.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Sounds good, Pat. Have fun.”

“I’ll do my best,” he grinned with a wink, walking off.

Logan and Virgil then dug into their dinner, which tasted even better than it ever had before. Patton had obviously made certain everything was perfect. It was mostly silent as they ate, both trying to be polite so as to not make the other have to talk with their mouth full or to have to wait awkwardly to finish chewing before they responded

Then, as they finished, Logan finally spoke up. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Well, Roman conjured a movie theatre in the imagination for me, and I picked out an astronomy documentary I’m 90% certain you haven’t seen.”

“An astronomy documentary I haven’t seen? What a concept.”

Virgil laughed. “Nerd.” Virgil then grabbed Logan’s plate and stacked it on top of his own, putting their utensils on top. He stood up, then held out his arm. “Shall we head out?”

Logan took his arm. “Indeed.”

The two stopped momentarily to share another kiss, which lingered longer than the one before.

“God I love you,” Virgil murmured.

“I love you as well.”

Virgil led them to the door to the imagination and opened it.

Logan gasped.

Virgil had spent a good two hours in the imagination with Roman making sure it looked absolutely perfect. They had studied star charts and replicated the night sky to the best of their ability with the time they had and made sure the setting was in the middle of nowhere. Virgil would’ve liked if they’d managed to figure out the whole ‘movie theatre in the middle of nowhere’ concept, but he digressed. He was still happy with how it turned out, and this was the Imagination anyway- things almost never made sense.

“Virgil, this is beautiful,” Logan whispered, almost even choked up a little bit.

“Roman and I spent all afternoon on this,” Virgil nodded. “I owe him one.”

“Yet Roman would never have been able to replicate the night sky to this degree of accuracy if you hadn’t helped him,” Logan added. “Don’t tell him I said that, though. I can clearly see the personal touches you added to this. I absolutely adore it.”

Virgil hardcore blushed. “Thanks, Lo. Shall we head to the theatre?”

“After you.”

The walk to the theatre was only a few minutes long, but it was a few minutes of blissful silence as he appreciated the company of his boyfriend… hopefully soon-to-be fiance.

As they got to the theatre, Logan took the opportunity to be the gentleman and opened the door for him. Virgil walked through and held out his own arm again in an attempt at the domination of the gentleman role again. Logan relented and let his boyfriend take the lead.

They entered the screening room, which was completely empty save for them.

“Any preference on where we sit?” Virgil asked.

“Might we sit right in the middle? I think that’s a prime spot for optimal view.”

“I agree, middle it is.”

They quickly took their seats and Virgil conjured drinks- iced coffee for Logan in his favorite mug, and hot black coffee for himself. Logan settled into his chair, putting his arm around Virgil. Virgil slid closer to Logan and put his head on the other’s shoulder.

The opening of the documentary came on, and Logan immediately reacted with “I can confirm that I have not seen this documentary!”

Virgil laughed. “Thank god.”

As the film progressed, both sides settled in even closer to learn about the stars some more together. As time went on, the two continued to move closer and closer together, until Virgil turned their two chairs and the one on the other side of Logan into a couch so they could cuddle.

Virgil could tell that not only was this a documentary that the logical side hadn’t ever seen before, there was also content discussed that Logan had not known before. Looking up every so often, Virgil could see metaphorical stars (pun) in Logan’s eyes as he listened intently to every word spoken.

Everything had turned out perfect.

And as the credits rolled, Virgil knew it was time.

Logan sighed as he sat up from where he had been sitting, leaning against Virgil. “That was thoroughly fascinating, Virgil. I can’t believe you managed to find a new documentary!”

“Well, sometimes it just takes a little deeper searching to find what you need. The internet is a wonderful place sometimes.” Virgil sat up as well and stretched as his heart began to race.

“Thank you so much for this, Virgil. Oh, did you have anything else planned, or are we returning to the mindscape?” Virgil’s heart melted at the pure hope in Logan’s eyes, knowing the side wanted to stargaze more than anything. Thankfully, Virgil knew the other side very well.

“You really think I would create a nearly-perfect night sky and not give you the opportunity to stare at it for hours on end?” Virgil teased. “Don’t worry, love, that was the plan all along. Right after one other thing.”

“Oh?”

As his heart pounded relentlessly, Virgil almost chickened out, losing a good portion of the confidence he had built up over the course of the evening in a matter of milliseconds.

But pushing past the thoughts in his mind telling him not to do it, this is a horrible idea, he’s going to hate you- Virgil cleared his throat and began to talk.

“I know we talked a lot about this when the topic first came up, and we both agreed at the time that it was kinda unnecessary, but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking the last few months, about all sorts of things. About how much better my life has been since I left the dark sides. Since I joined this family. Since… I first went out with you.”

Virgil swallowed. “And I’ve realized that my life would be nowhere near as incredible as it is now if you hadn’t asked me to be with you. You have made my life, which was pretty shitty beforehand, actually mean something, when four years ago, I would’ve said to anyone who asked that I wished I didn’t exist. Thomas himself said that ‘it’s a pretty big deal when someone makes you enjoy something you’d normally dread’… especially if that something is life itself.

“I know you might still see this as an ‘unnecessary formality that we don’t need to pursue in order for our relationship to be whole’, but even then… I want this, even if it’s only to make you a promise of forever. I love you with all my being, Logan Sanders.”

The butterflies were gone.

Virgil pulled out the ring box and got down on one knee on the floor in front of Logan. “Will you marry me?”

He opened the box to reveal the ring he had put so much time and effort into summoning. It was a simple black band, with purple highlights, decorated with small white diamonds resembling stars, forming some of Logan’s favorite constellations.

Logan was stunned speechless for a few moments, and Virgil suddenly had an influx of overwhelming anxiety.

He’sgonnasaynohe’sgonnasaynohe’sgonna-

Then Logan went red and buried his face in his hands. “I should’ve seen this coming. I should’ve known this was going to happen.”

“What?” Virgil was very confused.

Logan lifted his head up and Virgil was greeted with one of the most genuinely amused smiles he’d ever seen on the other’s face. Logan then reached into his pocket and pulled something of his own out.

Another ring box.

Virgil’s mouth fell open. “Oh my god.”

“Only we could pull this off.”

Virgil then buried his face in his hands. “We’re so useless.”

They then looked at each other in the eye and broke out into hysterical laughter. Logan fell onto the floor beside Virgil as they leaned against each other, laughing harder than either of them could ever remember.

As Virgil started to attempt to compose himself, wiping a stray tear from his eye, he asked, “So is that a yes?”

Logan nearly started laughing again. “Yes, Virgil. That’s a yes.”

Composure regained, the two of them then launched into a hug, holding on as tight as possible.

Virgil only pulled away for a kiss, and then to slide the ring onto Logan’s ring finger. Logan then finally opened the ring box he had brought, showing Virgil the solid black ring band with a sparkling purple amethyst donning the middle he had chosen for him. Virgil nearly burst into tears at the sight. It was absolutely perfect.

Rings exchanged, they leaned in for another long, perfect kiss. Virgil wrapped his arms around Logan’s neck, and Logan wrapped his arms around Virgil’s waist.

When they broke apart, Virgil was the one who spoke first. “Ready for that stargazing I promised?”

“More than anything.”

Hand in hand, the two newly engaged sides walked out of the theatre and over to the field Virgil had chosen as the perfect stargazing spot.

The rest of the evening would be perfect as they talked about the events that lead up to this. Logan would even share that it was, in fact, he who got Patton to cook dinner, having informed the moral side of his plans that afternoon just as Virgil had with Roman. Patton had no idea Virgil was also planning to propose (and Virgil realized the winks were probably aimed at Logan, not him).

Which also likely meant that Roman hadn’t known that Logan was planning to propose. The other two sides were in for quite a tale when they returned.

But for now, Logan and Virgil just laid down in the middle of the field, the perfect spot for optimal view of the stars, cuddling close together as they enjoyed each other's company.

Yeah, maybe the concept of the Sides getting married was pretty preposterous.

But when it comes down to the bare essentials, marriage was just a lifelong promise to be together for each other, no matter what.

And that was all they really needed.

----

AAAAH IT’S DONE

I HOPE YOU ALL LIKED THIS

I LOVE MY CHAOTIC GAY BOYS

Taglist (of one person):

@cefinitely-rolo bless your soul

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