#it was his first real opportunity to let some of his feral energy and strength out

[bluegiragi]

konig reminisces with horangi over his short-lived stint as an underground boxer in his teenage years...

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[ravenalikesdabi]

First fic ever

Hey, this is just a drabble I´’ve been working on, after years of reading intensively I just hope this is not bad at all, if you have any suggestions please feel free to ask me. There are no real warnings here, it may just get angst. Word count: 1081 

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You had no idea where you have been all this time.

One day you were buying new books related to your thesis and the other you were surrounded by strangers, strangers that keep you enslaved, well, that´s the only thing you can perceived under all those drugs.

Pain, many hands touching your body, your own quirk being manipulated without your consciousness. Maybe all this was your fault, you shouldn’t have caught so much attention around yourself, you made so many people mad about exposing the defects of the levels of strengths in quirks, you never mentioned yours though.

You hated your quirk so bad; it was the reason you made all of this from the beginning. It was considered high potential, but you knew it had so many defects that it wasn´t worth the try, you never wanted to become a hero, mother forced you to enter to UA and then you quit. You knew the hero commission was corrupted, your progenitor was the prove of that and still, they thought you will be a great hero just because of your damn quirk. It was so humiliating the times you failed the tests because of your lack of motivation to do so, until you had the opportunity to leave.

Now, years later being a grad student recognized by all your achievements in science and the dropout of UA, your life was comfy, you never spoke to mother again but you really didn´t care at all. Remembering all you had done was a great exercise to test your lucidness in the nightmare you were, no heroes were here to save you again.

But this was not the first time you were in this type of situation.

You didn´t liked villains, thought. You were in their world before, and yet you cannot choose between which is worse, the hero commission or villains. Probably it was just bitterness from before when they didn´t save you. You had to save yourself from the evil when you grew strong enough. And yet nothing changed, you were just a stupid puppet because of your quirk. Shadows are everything you see, memories from before blending with the actual situation around. You´re starting to lose your body, you feel somehow stronger, you weren´t able perceive yourself like that before, may be because of the drugs or the constant torture for your body to endure pain, who knows.

The shadows are actually people, but you see them like that because you´re blindfolded and what you see is the energy of themselves, which ones are stronger and it would take more to overpower them.

One day, you just snapped.

It was like if you were possessed or something. But you were. You just waited until the perfect timing.

Your quirk controlled your body, feral and merciless taking down everything you saw as a threat. You moved like a shadow, seconds, hours until you were the only one standing. Covered in blood, your eyes itching and tears spreading your cheeks, relief maybe. Then you passed out.

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The hero commission was in chaos, they just waited for too long time.

And now the scene was a massacre, and the person that caused all of that looked so fragile in Keigo’s arms, covered in bruises and blood. He thought you looked like the angel of death, sleeping beauty. What now, thought.

The shadows were just members of some kind of organization that lewd to Quirk Empowerment, they were just trying to tease you as a warning, but it got off their hands. You were going to be in trial to see if what you did was an attempt of defending yourself. I mean, obviously.

Your case caught Keigo’s attention from the beginning, he had no idea you will look like this thought. Actually he wasn´t expecting anything but anyways you impressed him, from your archives of UA when you were classified as unstable to be a hero to your great achievements at a very young age, and the other stuff you were related.

On your unconsciousness you felt warm, arms holding you with such tenderness, a comfortable perfume arousing your nose, but then, cold claws locking your hands, the warmth gone as well as the sweet perfume you were surrounded. Abandoned you tried to reach it again, but it just kept getting colder and colder.

When you open your eyes, the flashbacks of what happened suddenly make shock in your brain, your pressure gets high and some sort of machine starts ringing while you start shaking, your hands trembling tinted with the rests of your episode, you know they have blood in them and that’s why you can´t stop staring at them. Your vision turns blurry as well, from tears maybe or just the suffocating feeling that you actually killed someone this time, thanks to that devilish shit called quirk. Hands are around you in a second, before you get really anxious, they shot you with a sedative, and everything is dark again.

Keigo wants to see you, at least from the outside of the hospital to see if you´re doing okay, the commission wouldn’t let him get involved in your case and even if he really wants to talk to you, he doesn´t find a good reason to disobey. Thanks to his wings, he´s able to look up to the entire building in one way, is weird thought but he reassures himself that this would just take five minutes of his precious time. The scene that he witness is kind of funny, you´re completely tied to your bed, there are nurses watching every movement you make and your face has a very cute pout, you look mad and a little devilish but he really finds the entire situation funny.

In matter of seconds you see him, he suddenly stops at the look in your eyes, agony is what he sees and he would be lying to himself if he didn´t find you attractive, even all tied up, with your hair like a mess, and tears in your eyes. Shyly he moves his hands, in a very impulsive move that resembles to a middle school kid, combined with a little smile unusual of him. Slowly you blink twice, you´re fucking daydreaming now? Or why there´s a birdman greeting at you?

You nod once, and his smile is wide now, you look so confused that is even cuter for him now. Maybe he can pass to say hi, like fanservice he thinks.

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 171

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 23 - “Crisis! Invitation to a Nightmare!” Date watched: 10 January 2020 Original air date: 15 July 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/nZFAArO Transformation Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/6k6SzS0 Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

This is the first part of the two-part mid-season climax and while that makes it high stakes by necessity, this one stands out even among the shows we’ve seen so far. Nozomi causes an accident that drives a wedge between all the other girls, just as Kawarino makes his move. We have to plunge our girls into the depths of despair so they can discover their true strengths and come out more powerful than ever. Let’s dig in!

The Plot

The girls are making an elaborate butterfly bead decoration for Natts House, but when Nozomi and Milk start to fight, the fearless leader accidentally knocks it over, destroying days of hard work. Instantly, Rin and Karen start yelling at her, while Komachi and Urara are also upset but try to placate the others. This only results in more infighting, until Nuts puts his hand down and demands that they clean up the mess.

Over in Nightmare HQ, Bunbee presents Girinma with two choices: termination, or a mysterious black paper, with the heavy implication that whatever it is is life-threatening. At the same time, Kawarino speaks to Despariah about his own plan to separate the Cures from each other, isolating them and taking away the advantage of their teamwork. It’s very sinister.

At school the next day, Nozomi sits alone during lunch, because everyone else had excuses for not being there. Coco comes over and explains that he believes her strong spirit will be able to bring everyone back together, as she is the glue that unites them all. He also hands her a keychain made of the beads she was working with, symbolizing the bond of the five girls and three fairies.

After school, Karen and Komachi make their way home with a sizable distance between them. They try to make conversation but it’s very stiff and awkward. They are interrupted by the arrival of Girinma, who dons a black Kowaina mask and transforms into a monstrous, feral version of his mantis-man form. As Cure Mint and Aqua, they try to fight him but he throws them around like nothing. Kawarino then catches them in a dark energy ball that negates their movements and causes them to recede into their own nightmares.

Inside Aqua’s mind, she awakens facing the student council, who are all wearing Kowaina masks, and their leader reports that Karen’s intellect causes her to feel isolated from her classmates and she has no one she can truly call a friend; she’s all alone. Aqua demands to know how they would know this, and the leader removes her mask to reveal that she is Karen herself. We see her reflected in Aqua’s eye, sinisterly...

Meanwhile, Cure Mint finds herself surrounded by a horde of tiny Komachi dolls, representing a character she drew for a picture book when she was younger. She says she has to help her friends but the dolls insist that it’s pointless, she tried to placate the argument and they just attacked her as well and called her indecisive. They say that everything can be the way she wants it to be in this world, and she gets sucked under the pile of dolls.

Shortly afterwards, Rin is seen walking home when Urara catches up and asks about Nozomi. Rin is very curt with her and snarkily asks if Urara has any other friends, which causes the young actress to start angrily crying. Before they can continue their disagreement, a pinky appears, and they both follow it. The Monster Girinma suddenly attacks them from behind, while the pinky flees and transforms back into Kawarino. The two transform into Cure Rouge and Lemonade but like their teammates before, they’re no match for the monster. Rouge is almost instantly caught in Kawarino’s trap, while Lemonade keeps jumping around.

Rouge’s nightmare sets her on the street where Nozomi got hurt as a child (from episode 2), but this time she’s the one who’s hurting. A small child, revealed to be Rin’s child self, approaches her, lamenting that they’re always trying to protect Nozomi and getting hurt for it. The young Rin suggests to Rouge that their life would be better off without Nozomi in it.

Back in the real world, Lemonade finds that her attacks aren’t affecting Girinma, and soon she gets captured as well. Inside her nightmare we see Lemonade sitting in a chair in a dressing room, looking at her reflection, but her reflection is of Urara with longer twintails. The reflection begins talking to her, convincing her that she should quit being a Precure to pursue acting full time like she promised she would. Lemonade doesn’t want to leave Nozomi behind, but Urara reminds her that it’s a highly competitive field and she’ll be hurting herself if she divides her time. The reflection then comes through the mirror to Lemonade’s side and stares her down, encouraging her to forget her friends and go all-in on acting.

Finally, we come back to Nozomi. She returns to Natts House, hoping to make amends with everyone, but only Nuts, Coco, and Milk are there, saying the others haven’t returned and warning her of an extremely powerful evil presence. At that moment, Kawarino appears in the shop and introduces himself. He informs them all that he has the other four Precures in custody, and will trade them for the Dream Collet. Instead Nozomi takes it and threatens to break it, with Coco and Nuts backing her up. She demands to see her friends before she’ll hand over the Collet, and the villain acquiesces, bringing her to Nightmare HQ (which we finally learn is in another dimension, not just downtown). Coco and Nuts join, and Milk sneaks along as well against orders.

Kawarino brings Nozomi and the fairies into the board room, startling Bunbee, but before any explanations can be given out, Despariah appears on the monitor. Nozomi and the fairies are all taken aback, but Nozomi qickly recovers herself and demands to know where her friends are. After feigning ignorance, Kawarino presents Cures Rouge, Lemonade, Mint, and Aqua, all wearing Kowaina masks.

The episode then closes on a haunting shot of the Nightmare Cures all reflected in Nozomi’s eyes. (the header image)

The Analysis

This is a chilling episode. While we’ve had rifts within the team before, such as Rin and Karen’s little feud in episode 8, this is the first time the whole team has broken up like this. And it’s sort of understandable: the girls had been working on that decoration for several days, so when all that work went down the drain in an instant, tempers flared. Karen and Rin said some mean things and snapped at Komachi and Urara when they tried to mediate, and then everyone (including Milk) felt bad and had some unresolved feelings the next day. It’s a great setup because all you want is for them all to talk things through and make up, but before they can, the villains sneak in and overpower them. In-universe it’s completely coincidental that Kawarino happens to strike while the team isn’t united, but he certainly seizes the opportunity. I’m sure he would have found a way to divide them anyway, like he did the duos, but it helps him that they aren’t all walking home at once.

Thus far in the season it has felt like Nightmare has been a lot of talk when it comes to their employees. Sure, Bunbee and Kawarino have threatened Girinma and Arachnea, but this time we finally see some real consequences. Girinma puts everything on the line for Nightmare, even giving up his own sapience, and being reduced to a mindless creature. It’s an incredibly desperate move and the first sign that this episode is going to be serious.

One thing I really love is how the girls all act the day after the fallout. Karen and Komachi apologize to each other, but are still walking quite far apart and their conversation is stilted.

For some further context, during the big argument, Urara was defending Nozomi from Rin’s scolding and asked Komachi if she agreed with her. Komachi responded, timidly, that she could see Urara’s point but also Rin and Karen’s side, which resulted in Karen calling her indecisive and naive, which hurt Komachi a lot. So now, even though they’ve ostensibly apologized, there’s still some emotional distance between the old friends, and they have visualized this by literally distancing them from each other. They’re together, but they’re not close.

Conversely, Rin acts incredibly dismissive of Urara when approached, and seems to have no time for either her or Nozomi. Rin has taken the destruction of the ornament very personally and believes that scolding is the only way Nozomi will learn from her mistakes, and she isn’t very interested in hanging out with Urara. These two are physically close in space but emotionally distant. It’s less of a strain on their friendship as a reduction in how much of a friend Rin considers Urara to even be. I think Rin is very used to being able to bounce back from arguments with Nozomi. She gets mad, they don’t talk for a few days, they make up. But Urara isn’t used to this or willing to put up with Rin’s passive aggressive bullshit.

Within their nightmare worlds, each girl is presented with a version of herself that preys on their insecurities in order to mentally isolate them from the others. It’s very clever, albeit dark. The way Karen is manipulated into thinking she’s too smart and no one likes her, Komachi is told that her “friends” just walk over her, Rin is fed the notion that Nozomi doesn’t care about being protected, and Urara is reminded that she decided to forego friends for her career. Each of them is manipulated into isolation and convinced that they have no use for friends. This allows Nightmare to actually get inside their heads and bring them together at the very end of the episode for the Nightmare Cures reflected in Nozomi’s eyes.

Speaking of which, as you may have noticed, seeing eerie reflections in each girl’s eyes was a fantastic visual theme throughout the episode. Forcing them to reflect on themselves, watching as they slowly succumb, it’s haunting and amazing. I want to point out that the reflections show the true extent of how disturbing each manifestation is, compared to how they present themselves. We see Karen without her Kowaina mask, the Komachi doll has a creepy smile, young Rin has that haunting expression, and Urara has a faux-innocent grin that masks her less than admirable intentions.

With all her friends captured and turned into Nightmare’s lackeys, Nozomi is at an all-time low, but only she can find a way out of this. Next time on Precure Daily, the epic conclusion to the mid-series climax as Nozomi has to rescue her friends from the clutches of evil and escape Nightmare. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 1 kettei

EDIT: quick comment on something I forgot, I just wanted to point out that Nightmare Urara’s hair is significantly longer than the real deal, and it’s the biggest deviation of the four. Karen’s doppelganger is just Karen, Komachi’s are characters she made up as a child, and Rin’s is her younger self. It’s not clear why Urara’s is that way. Maybe it’s how she sees herself or wants to be.

[franklyshipping]

Fighting The Darkness ~ A Markiplier Ego Fanfic

THIS COMES FROM A WONDERFUL ANONYMOUS PROMPT WHEREIN DARK IS TO HELP SILVER SHEPHERD WITH SOME TRAINING! Let's see how this goes....LET'S DO IT!

TAGGING: @darkipli-ler and @silvlee-shepherd

'....okay explain why I have to do this again?'

Dark smiled as Silver Shepherd looked to him with a mix of confusion and curiosity as he held the black blindfold loosely in one of his hands. In his other hand Silver held a wooden sparring pole, and Dark had his own which he absently started to twirl as he rattled off his reply to the sweet hero.

'Learning to fight in darkness, without sight, is absolutely essential for a hero of your calibre. Darkness in an unknown or disadvantageous environment could be easily instigated by a villain and you need to make sure that you can adapt yourself to that.'

Silver followed along with interest, and nodded with an excited smile as the rationality of it all became clear to him. I mean, of COURSE it wasn't strange at all that Dark wanted to blindfold him in a sparring session, and it CERTAINLY wasn't a suspicious request given Dark's record of somehow tickling Silver to smithereens during their sparring sessions.....ahem.

'Huh....okey dokey! Let's do this!'

Dark chuckled warmly at Silver's excitable demeanour, smiling as Silver slipped the blindfold on over his eyes before gripping his sparring pole, attempting to prepare himself. Silver was very eager to train like this, any opportunity to fight and practise and train himself up to be resilient against any villainous surprise; also, Silver felt so lucky that he had a friend like Dark who could teach him these things!

'Wonderful.....let's begin.'

Dark replied, before proceeding to circle the sweet superhero. Dark frankly just wanted to pounce on the twitching, smiling man and tickle him to pieces, but Dark knew he had to build it up, lull Silver into a state of non-suspicion.

'You must remember....you have five senses. Just because one is inhibited, doesn't mean you cannot use the other four. People subconsciously prioritise sight over all else, you cannot allow yourself to do this.'

Dark spoke concisely in an authoritative manner, and he smiled when Silver perked up excitedly; his eagerness to listen and learn was ceaselessly adorable. Dark continued circling, and continued speaking.

'Taste may not apply so much, but the others do. Hearing for one....is imperative....'

Silver gasped and twitched when he suddenly felt Dark's low voice right next to his ear; Dark had leant in swiftly to speak before retreating back and resuming his circling of the hero. Silver could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end as he got more excited, and he smiled bashfully when he heard Dark chuckle at his twitchiness.

'As is your sense of smell....you can identify people that way, as well as gases, toxins, and other dangerous substances....'

Dark continued, and his words spurred Silver to inhale deeply and see what he could get from his surroundings. It was mostly just the air, but there was another scent there....and Silver developed a cheeky smile as he queried.

'Hey uhm....did uh, did Wilford just come in? I can REALLY smell his candy cologne....'

Dark froze for a moment, cheeks going pink....because yes, Darkiplier did in fact smell like his boyfriend's cologne, for reasons that I'm sure you can imagine. Dark narrowed his eyes at the hero....oh if only Silver knew how much worse he'd made it for himself. Dark poked Silver in the side softly, making the hero squeak as he spoke in a more growly tone of voice.

'And last of all....physical sensation, needed for navigation, and identifying whether or not you are inhibited....or weak in any way....'

Silver gulped, giggling residually from the poke....ah, it was SO worth it! Silver may not have been able to see but he KNEW he'd coaxed out a blush from Dark, and that made his day. Silver straightened up, deciding to interject, for he was wondering what the actual training procedure would be....he had no inkling....that Dark had other plans.

'Ohokahay, so what do we do now?'

Dark smirked, pausing in front of Silver. It was time.

'Now.....focus. Listen. Smell. Feel. Listen to the sound of your breathing and mine, smell the air around you, and feel how the air around you moves....feel how it gives you goose-bumps and makes your hair stand on end....let yourself get in tune, and take as much time as you need.'

Silver of course followed Dark's instructions. The hero tightened his grip on his pole, straightened up, and took measured breaths so that he could hone his focus; Silver was under the impression of course, that this was time given to him to focus, and that he wouldn't need to defend himself or anything. So Dark knew it was time. Dark's hungry eyes flicked over Silver's form as he circled and circled, Silver's tickle spots were coming to the forefront of his memory as he eventually stopped behind Silver. Dark silently set his pole down upon the floor....and with the eagerness of a vengeful monster, he surged forth.

'WOAHWOAH-HEHEHEY AHAHA WH-WHAHAT AHARE YOHOU DOHOING?!'

Dark smirked....oh it had all worked perfectly. He had trapped Silver in a hug from behind with ease and dug his wiggling fingers into the hero's fleshy sides. Silver hadn't stood a chance. The hero had shrieked and tried to clamp his arms to his sides, but alas, it did nothing; plus, he'd fumbled and dropped his pole on the ground. Silver had nothing to fight back with, and thus into frantic giggles he descended.

'Well, we've had a number of rather serious training sessions lately, so I figured it was time for a little fun. Also....you don't really think I'm going to let you get away with that comment about my boyfriend do you?'

Dark smirked as he replied to Silver's mirthful question, not halting his wiggling fingers for a second as he watched Silver's wonderful blush of embarrassment crop up on his cheeks. Plus, Silver was squealing amidst his wild giggles and cursing himself for letting Dark get him like this.

'NAHAHAHA IHI'M SAHARRY I-I-IHI WAHAS JUHUST BEHEING SIHILLY!'

Silver tried to reason desperately, craning his head towards Dark as he wriggled about in his hold. Of course, Dark had only just begun his onslaught of the hero, he wasn't going to stop so soon. Dark snickered fondly into Silver's ear, his teeth gleaming with feral joy as his wiggling fingers now crept to Silver's hyper-ticklish belly.

'Ah that may be....but in hindsight I don't think it was one of your wisest courses of action, do you?'

Silver just absolutely shrieked with laughter, arching his back adorably amidst the absolutely torturous tickling at his tender tummy. It was such turmoil for the poor hero, he couldn't even muster up the strength to take the blindfold off because his body's stronger instinct was to keep his hands pushing at Dark's! So the hero remained sightless, and it meant Silver's mind was swirling with question after question of where and when and how Dark was going to tickle him next. It was pure evil.

'IHITWASBADITWAHASBAD IHIHIHI'M SOHOHO SAHAHAHARRYYYY!!'

Agreeing with Dark and apologising seemed like a very good combination regarding securing mercy from Dark, but Dark was rather enjoying himself. He smiled and awed in Silver's ear unsympathetically, before cooing in a babyish tone as his fingers dug eagerly into Silver's belly pudge.

'Awwww, but it's too late for sorry! Now wittle Silver has to face the consequences of being a cheeky wittle boy!'

Silver squealed amidst his cackling laughter as crimson spread across his face, why did Dark have to tease like THAT?! Silver was so desperate in fact, that his knees buckled and brought them both tumbling to the floor. Thankfully they landed on a soft mat, and Dark had expected such a reaction which meant he managed to maintain his hold on Silver and let his nails scratch at the hero's waistline.

'DOHOHON'T TAHALK LIHIKE AHA BAHAHABY THAHAT'S MEHEHEAN!!'

Silver cried out, throwing his head back and writhing as he weakly whacked Dark's arms and hands, he just couldn't handle being talked to like a baby, it made him feel like a warm puddle of goo on the inside! It wasn't fair! Of course that was exactly why Dark teased that way, just so he could weaken the tender hero more. Dark kept up the waist tickling as he cooed once more into Silver's ear.

'Oh come now Silver, how is it mean when it merely alludes to the truth? You ARE a ticklish little baby after all.'

Dark chuckled as Silver shook his head, wailing and grinning and desperately arching his back....whilst also letting out the cutest hiccups that you ever have heard.

'YOHOHOU'RE AHA-HIC-HA MEHEANIHIE! IHIHI'M G-HIC-GOHONNA GEHET YOHOU BACK!!'

Dark raised an amused eyebrow at that, then snarled and had mercy....only to then grip Silver by his sides and roll him over properly onto his belly. Silver gasped and squeaked amidst the manhandling, blushing profusely since he didn't actually mind being manhandled-ahem, but Silver took the time to catch his breath. He figured he'd need it, and the hero got goose-bumps as he properly realised what had just come out of his mouth. Oh dear.

'First cheeky comments, and now threats? You're really asking for it today aren't you?'

Dark growled as he straddled the hero's lower back, and chuckled as he looked and saw Silver hide his face in his hands rather adorably. Dark's chuckles however became much more smug when Silver deigned not to reply to his question...which was an answer in itself; Silver wanted to receive all this just as much as Dark wanted to give it. Dark allowed his fingertips to splay over the backs of Silver's thighs as he purred.

'You should really be more careful....if you're this cheeky with a real villain, goodness knows how merciless they'd be with you...'

Silver let out another soft, tittery hiccup, before his giggles were rekindled from the teasy gentleness that Dark provided. Thankfully though, Silver finally found the energy to push the blindfold up and off of his eyes....his adorable, watery, mirthful eyes.

'D-Dahahark p-plehease plehehease I-I-I d-dohon't knohow where my ch-cheheekiness cahame from!'

.....yeah, nice try Silver. Dark barked out a laugh, amazed that Silver would even try a fib like that, and then went about scribbling the backs of Silver's thighs with happy malevolence; it had only been 60 seconds or so, but Dark had already started to miss Silver's wilder laughter!

'Of course you don't Silver, of course you don't.'

Dark crooned sarcastically, and smirked with delight as Silver let out a shrill scream of ticklishness. Silver's laughter was high-pitched and utterly wonderful, and along with how he pounded the floor mat with his fists....it was fair to say that Silver was very much enjoying himself.

'NAHAHAHAT THEHEHEHEEEERE DAHAHAHARK!!!'

Translation: Yes it tickles there so much, but I do still like it. Dark of course kept going as he mused playfully in reply.

'Not here? Oh but these ticklish thighs of yours are perfectly within my reach, it would be a shame and a travesty if I didn't give them my attention...'

Silver was just a mess of ticklish noises of all kinds, shrieks, wails, squeals, you name it, if it was loud then he was doing it. It was such a bad tickle spot for the poor hero, and with tears trailing down his burning cheeks, he was really getting desperate.

'IHIHIHI'LL DOHOHOHO AHANYTHIHIHIIIING!!!'

Silver called out, and Dark raised an eyebrow, humming lightly in thought. He peeked behind him and fondly smiled, adoring how the hero just flailed and embodied hysteria so cutely. Dark softly pinched the backs of Silver's thighs as he replied.

'Anything? Anything at all?'

Dark purred, and with Silver nodding almost instantly, it made Dark chuckle and make his request.

'Give me your sweetest apology. You were cheeky to me, and you even had the gall to try and threaten me, I feel that I deserve your best remorse.'

Silver Shepherd wasted no dang time I tell you that, I'm not even sure Dark had completely finished speaking before the superhero's sweet, pleading voice rang out.

'IHIHIHI'M SOHOHO SAHAHARRY PLEHEHEASE FOHORGIHIVE ME DAHAHARK PLEHEHEHEEEASE!!!'

Dark smiled, his heart was nearly warmed with how sweet Silver sounded! Of course, since Silver had delivered on Dark's request, Dark had mercy on him properly. He slid off of Silver's legs, and purred teasingly as the hero hurried to cradle said legs.

'You are forgiven, this time.'

Silver was a mess of flustered gasps and giggles as he frantically worked to rub away all the ghost tingles and tickles that were running through his poor body. Soon though, he moved his hair from his face and looked up at Dark, speaking in a very sweet, meek voice.

'.....th-thahank you.'

Dark smirked as Silver kept blushing; Dark knew it wasn't the mercy that Silver was thanking him for.

'Anytime.'

Silver squeaked happily to himself....after all the intense, serious training sessions they'd had....Silver had honestly really needed something like this. Also, now that he was mostly recovered, Silver perked up VERY cutely and gave Dark an excited, hopeful smile.

'C-Can wehe go get pizza? M'suhuper hungry now.'

Dark smirked, honestly with how dishevelled Silver looked he wasn't surprised that the hero was craving sustenance. Dark got to his feet before happily hauling Silver up too, and replied with a grin as they started ambling to the exit of the training room.

'Absolutely, but only if we can get side orders of nuggets. If I don't have food for Wilford to steal from me when we return then I shall never hear the end of it.'

Silver snorted and giggled at that, it was VERY much a thing that Wilford was the one who would steal pieces of Dark's food whenever the opportunity was there. As they walked though, that cheekiness reared back up in Silver for a moment, and made him mumble playfully; the cologne was still in the air.

'...y-yohou still smell like him.'

Dark pursed his lips and Silver giggled again when he actually saw Dark's blush this time. The hero froze though when Dark turned and suddenly leant in close to him, and for a second Silver thought he was going to be tickle attacked again. However....Dark merely took in a deep breath, and then smirked as he and Silver locked eyes.

'Mmm....you have a wonderful scent combination too....old books and cherry blossoms....and is that a hint of iron?'

Silver's eyes widened as he let out an embarrassed squeak, but ended up smiling bashfully because he figured that he did deserve that. Then, they went and got pizza.....and nuggets and garlic bread and a lot of other food because Dark and Silver had to make sure that their pizzas REMAINED their pizzas.

HOPE YA LIKE THIS LEMME KNOW IF YA DO WOOOOOO LUV YOOOUS XX

[bnhascribbles]

A Plan

Bakugo x Hero!Reader

Request: Dialogue Prompts (31, 53, 65, 73) for “my boi Bakugo”

Words: 1.5K

Warnings: Swearing, Violence

“Piss off!  I can handle these asswipes by myself!”

If you’d only heard Bakugo, his voice as brash and thunderous as ever, you would’ve assumed that he had everything under control–that he wasn’t actually about to get ripped to shreds by two goons from Watchdog’s gang.

Your first mistake had been letting the agency split the two of you up in the first place.  Sure, you were of more help in rescue situations and he was better at making the baddies go boom, but you and Ground Zero were still a team; You had each other’s backs–you fed off each other’s energy.  So yeah, you should’ve said “hell no” when they’d put you on patrol in different wards.  Maybe then he would’ve been able to focus on obliterating the six-foot-tall man-mutt hybrids instead of alternating between offense and rescue.  Thank God you’d at least had your phone on, or else you might’ve seen the news alert a few minutes too late.

“Hey!  Over here, you overgrown poodles!

Both villains turn and face you, although one still keeps a clawed hand curled around Bakugo’s neck, pressing him further into the pile of rubble beneath him.  Your partner writhes despite the thick trail of blood seeping down the side of his forehead.  You’d expected him to use your distraction as an opportunity to get a shot in–to free himself.  He doesn’t; There are no explosions, only shouted curses and a low, ominous, rumbling sound.

His palms had probably run dry.  

Well, shit.

As two pairs of predatory eyes begin to bore through you, you can’t help but wonder if maybe you should have thought this through a little bit more.  It wasn’t like you could breathe fire or punch them into oblivion with super strength.  Your quirk was barrier for fuck's sake; What were you gonna do, shield them to death?  The best you could hope to do was buy time for Bakugo to get some juice back and blast these guys into oblivion.

As the larger of the two mutts hunches over onto all fours–growling and poised to strike–you decide to do what you do best: Talk shit.

You force yourself to smile, to fake arrogance despite the cold sweat clinging to the back of your neck. Bakugo always said that if you really wanted someone to make a mistake, you had to piss them off first.  

“I can’t understand you.  Sorry, but I don’t speak bitch.”

It pounces, and you roll to your left, avoiding the impact by a few inches.  You’re better prepared the second time it lunges, throwing up a barrier at the last possible moment.  It hits the wall hard–the air echoes with a distinctive crunch that you can only hope meant it’d managed to smash in its snout.  As the villain clutches at its face–a mess of blood and drool–you concentrate and form a cube around it, trapping it in an invisible prison.  It snarls, bashing at the enclosure in a frenzy.  The tightness in your gut tells you that you’ll be able to keep it up for fifteen–no, ten minutes tops.  Hopefully, that’s all I’ll need, you pray, turning your attention to the beast’s buddy.

"Yo, Lassie!”

It keeps an eye on Bakugo, but bares a set of very sharp teeth in your direction.  Your partner is still putting up a fight–kicking, biting, cursing–but his captor still has sheer size working to its advantage.

“Fucking leave already!”

You disregard Bakugo’s insane demand; Frankly, you couldn’t care less if your rescue shattered his ego.  Even if it did actually came from a place of caring for you–not wanting you to get straight-up murdered–couldn’t he see that you were trying to save him?  God, sometimes it felt like his head was full of rocks.  Short-tempered, loud-mouthed, insanely-attractive rocks.

Right–not the time.

“If you’re gonna kill him, then you'd better kill me first.  Otherwise, I'm gonna kill you.”

When the creature finally shifts its gaze away from Bakugo, you don’t miss the way the blonde’s eyes go feral.  His struggling intensifies, and you know that you’ll have to work extra hard to keep your foe’s attention.

“Wouldn’t you rather run home and hump your big boss’s leg?  I’m sure you’d enjoy that much more than sticking around here and getting your ass kicked.”

The next few seconds happen so fast that they seem like a blur–a memory playing out in real time.  The villain turns to face you.  Bakugo is lifted high in the air.  You sprint towards him and, on impulse, your arms shoot out in front of you.  You would create another barrier, throw the beast off-balance–after all, that was all you could do.

Before you can fire up your quirk, there’s an explosion.  The force of the blast sends you flying backward, landing unceremoniously on your ass.  As you sit there trying to catch your breath, the hot air feels like it’s scorching your insides.  Coupled with the smoke, it makes for a positively painful experience–complete with watery eyes and a whole lot of wheezing.  Still, none of that mattered right now; Ground Zero was back up and running, baby.

You can’t be sure how long it takes for the street to reemerge from beneath the blanket of smoke.  All that you know is that once it finally does, Bakugo’s standing right there, his stern voice contradicting his battered appearance.

“There were at least three times you should’ve died back there.”

“Only three?”  You reply, voice dripping with sarcasm.  “I hope that number includes you nearly barbecuing me with that last little blast.”

“Joke all you want, but that last ‘little blast’ is the only reason you’re not actually dead.”

“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”  He extends a hand out towards you, and you take it.  “You shouldn’t underestimate what a person is capable of doing to protect someone they care about.”

***

Thankfully, Bakugo at least has the patience to wait twenty minutes–letting you fill in the officers and reporters���before chewing you out.

“Next time, be more obvious with the fucking signal.”

Okay, you understood that he was speaking perfect English, but it might as well have been gibberish, because you had no idea what he was talking about.

“Signal?  What signal?”

“The signal dammit.”  He growls, doing a god-awful job of using his words, as always.  He holds his hands out in front of him like he’s going to set off two explosions from his palms, presumably mimicking your “signal.”  He stares expectantly, growing noticeably more irritated when your confused expression doesn’t fade.

  “That thing you did with your hands that told me to go apeshit!  It almost looked like you were trying to use your quirk.”  

You blink, mirroring his position, finally beginning to understand.  The source of the misunderstanding: He thought that you were smarter than you actually were.  It was an odd problem to have, but then again, everything about your dynamic with Bakugo was odd.

“That’s because I was trying to use my quirk.  Bold of you to assume I had an actual plan.”

The look of sheer disbelief that passes over his face is more amusing than it should be, given the fact that you’ve basically shattered any faith he has in your competence.  Still, when he begins to walk away from you, you follow hot on his heels.

“What?  Not gonna yell at me for doing something so reckless?”  You ask, prodding.  He sighs, but doesn’t respond.  It’s not enough of a reaction for you.  “Come on, this is the perfect opportunity to call me an idiot.”

"You already know you’re an idiot.”  

You pretend to pout, and he rolls his eyes and peers back over his shoulder.  When he sees that the news crews are out of earshot, he runs a hand down his face, grumbling through his palm.  

“But you're also my idiot, and I like you better when you’re in one piece.  So don’t pull stupid shit like that without a plan."

He’d obviously meant to scold you.  You should’ve nodded your head and promised that it wouldn’t happen again–should’ve vowed that you’d stop relying on dumb luck and just run when he said “run.”  But let’s be serious, you couldn’t promise those things; Hero work was unpredictable, and you weren’t the sort to just sit by and watch things happen from the sidelines.  Plus, his little speech gave you something far juicier to cling to.

“Awww, you like me Katsuki?”

The edges of his cheeks flush to a faint shade of pink.  “Drop it.”

“You’re the one that said it first; I’m being perfectly reasonable in asking.”

“You really wanna die?  Keep talking and see what happens.”

“So what ‘piece’ of me do you like the best?”

He clenches his jaw tight.  “Oi, you’ve got a lot of nerve today, don’t you?”

You link your arm with his and grin wide.  He shoots you a dangerous look, those fiery eyes issuing an unspoken warning.  Unfazed, you lean into him, not caring when his sweat dampens the outer layer of your sleeve, nor when the distinctive click of camera flashes starts up from somewhere behind you.

“What can I say, Katsuki?  You make me feel invincible."

[thepetulantpen]

Circus/Class Swap

(Here’s barbarian Molly and bloodhunter Yasha for day 2 of @mollymauklivesfest !)

The first day Molly and Yasha meet, Bo and Gustav are dragging his heavily bleeding body towards camp.

He looks like he tried to take on a pack of gnolls by himself and paid the price in a collection of bite and claw marks. Even bleeding and clearly in pain, he struggles against their help, something bright and restless and untrusting in his eyes as he fights mindlessly against them. Yasha has to hold him down to let Ornna do some first aid and she strains to do so when he puts all his strength against hers. She thinks she only wins because he’s lost a lot of blood.

His first words to her are a series of angry growls and her first words to him are “Stop fucking scratching me.”

It gets a little better, after that. After they’ve stopped the bleeding, after the anger has faded from his eyes and left him exhausted by the campfire.

They eat in silence, Yasha having been tasked with watching him since she’s the only one who could hold him if he decided to lash out again; he has freakish strength for someone as lanky and probably underfed as he is. He devours whatever is placed in front of him, despite Ornna’s cooking being incredibly shitty, and Yasha feels she understands him a little better, seeing all the signs of a traveler who’s been alone on the road for far too long.

They don’t speak- him because he can’t and Yasha because she doesn’t want to- and that works for them, creating a language of grunts and gestures for the days it takes for his voice to return.

They’re walking together, off into the forest and away from the troupe, and hunting down rabbits or any other edible meat when she hears it first.

“Watch out,” he grabs Yasha’s arm, getting her attention in case his quiet, raspy voice couldn’t, and gestures to the ground, “Ivy.”

She nods and walks around it. They don’t talk anymore, and her new friend seems grateful for the lack of questions.

He’s a good hunter, they both are, and it’s a lucky thing for the troupe, since rations can only go so far when they get lost between towns and everyone else is too squeamish to hunt their own food. Yasha has been living off the land for as long as she can remember- which is, admittedly, not long- and the tiefling seems just as experienced, easily falling into a pattern with Yasha.

She’s glad the rest of the troupe doesn’t join them when they’re out here, so no one is around to insist that they make small talk or answer personal questions. Or have manners or stop being creepy or-

Be normal. It’s easier to breathe out in the open air with only the sounds of the forest and their own footsteps to accompany them.

The sound of crunching leaves- many crunching leaves- ahead of them and to their right makes Yasha and the tiefling tense at the same time, moving behind the nearest cover and crouching. Yasha takes out her swords and hands one to the tiefling. He weighs it in his hand and frowns but holds it ready anyway; Yasha assumes, from the strength she’s seen him display so far, that he’s more accustomed to heavy weapons.

They watch the silhouette of something in the near distance lumbering around, flattening bushes and knocking into trees. Yasha hopes it’ll pass them by and shifts to press herself flatter against the tree. The tiefling moves to do the same but he must trip over a root because he nearly topples over and has to grab a low hanging branch to keep from landing on his ass.

It snaps, of course, and lands in the bush underneath it, shaking the leaves loudly and releasing several startled insects.

The shadow turns toward the sound, giving Yasha an opportunity to see it properly: the head of an owl affixed to a massive bear shaped body. It must see her as well, forgetting its meandering path and making a beeline for their position.

Yasha curses under her breath and stands to meet it, but the tiefling is a few steps ahead of her, leaping over underbrush and bounding into the creature’s space.

He holds his borrowed sword in two hands- though it’s so lightweight the stance is unnecessary- and it spans the space between him and the owlbear, it’s point just brushing the beast’s beak.

The bear roars with the shriek of an angered bird, but louder, sharper than a single owl could ever be, so loud it makes Yasha wince, even from beyond the combat. The tiefling seems unbothered, not flinching when the air from the sound blows his hair back, and his face contorts into something definitely angry but also... passionate, energetic, thrilled.

Enraged.

He roars back at the beast and Yasha expects it to come out just as hoarse as his voice was earlier, but he surprises her with a strong, steady cry that carries a sharp edge in a hiss as it trails off, like a snake with doubled lung capacity.

He bears his fangs in what could be considered a grin, if one were to be generous, and lunges forward, sword clashing against claw. The tiefling fights like a wild animal, striking recklessly at every opportunity and taking hits without hesitating. None of the owlbear’s strikes, most of which hit the tiefling’s unarmored form, seem to do as much damage as they should and only make the tiefling angrier, bouncing back from every hit with twice as much energy to put into the next one.

Yasha hoped the owlbear would have left by now, figuring they weren’t worth the trouble, but it seems intent on staying, on finishing this, so she should take it seriously too. She spins her sword around and slides it against the back of her neck, where many other scars from similar moves are engraved. It glows, crackling with energy, and, when she concentrates, forms a line of ice shards, stronger and sharper than they look.

She wields the jagged thing deftly, moving fluidly to lunge at every unguarded spot she sees. It’s different than the tiefling’s brute force approach but ultimately gets them the same thing: more strikes against the owlbear than it is able to get on them.

In a last ditch effort, the beast throws its body at the tiefling, choosing to focus on taking at least one of them down. It would have succeeded in tackling him to the ground if Yasha’s quiet arcane words hadn’t made its blood boil and leak out over its eyes, blinding it and sending it off course enough for the tiefling to step out of the way.

The owlbear crashes to the ground and the tiefling spins, slamming his sword down in a killing blow with enough force that it dents and bends the blade.

Definitely used to heavier weapons.

He turns towards Yasha with a smile, that feral rage in his deep red eyes lighting up his face. It’s a deeply violent and slightly disturbed expression; blood speckled on his cheeks that rise with his wide smile of sharp teeth.

Yasha gets it, sort of, supposing it’s a bit like the thrill of her magic in her blood, thrumming out a forbidden rhythm she doesn’t fully understand.

The light fades from the tiefling’s eyes as the poise of battle leaves his tense shoulders, adrenaline and rage draining. He hands her back the sword, bent at an angle that makes it more useful as scrap metal than as a blade.

“Sorry.” His voice is even more scratchy now, abused from his earlier battle cry, and he tries to dampen his smile enough to look guilty.

He fails, but Yasha accepts the sword and the apology anyway.

“That’s alright. I’ve been meaning to get a new one.”

...

“Ok, you got it? One, two, three... lift!”

Yasha grunts as she takes up the other side of the pole, one of the heavy pillars that’ll hold up their tent. She’s strong, but not quite as strong as Molly, who lifts it onto his shoulder easily.

Now that they’ve been in town for a few days, he’s back to full health and full strength, decent food and a real bed making him feel better than he has in a long time. As intimidating as he can be when he’s ticked off, everyone seems to enjoy having a barbarian around to set up circus tents and move supplies from the carts.

They’ve made him a part of the family, no longer a dangerous stranger or a charity case. He’s gained a voice- courtesy of plenty of practice with Yasha- and a name- courtesy of Toya.

It takes Yasha and Molly half as long to set up the tent as it took Yasha when she was doing it alone, which gives them plenty of time to relax in the afternoon. When everyone else is practicing their acts, they sit on the banks of a nearby stream, washing clothes in the clear water.

Molly takes off his coat, the one he’s having specially made of those bright fabrics he’s become so fond of, and takes extra care in washing it. It leaves his arms bare, exposing the scars that litter his arms and torso, some from battles he remembers and others from battles he wasn’t around for.

Molly’s scars are varied, clearly from distinct enemies he came across in his travels- both before and after his memory cuts out. Yasha’s are different, all straight lines from the same cut of the same sort of blade, crisscrossing over every available surface.

Despite the differences, seeing the scars makes Yasha and Molly feel at home, a little less like freaks and more like warriors. They’ve lived through so much and they wear it on their skin as they fight side by side.

Molly looks up at Yasha with those unnerving red, pupil-less eyes and Yasha looks back with her mismatched, too bright eyes. They both smile, happy to be in each other’s company and feel at once understood and undisturbed. There are no secrets between them because they’d never ask, and there’s no shame because they’ve walked such similar paths.

Anybody who’d look at them would think they’re opposites- colorful, happy, angry Molly and dark, calm, creepy Yasha- but they fit together perfectly, totally at peace.

“You ready for the show tomorrow?”

Molly is slowly drying his coat as he talks, testing out his voice more and more these days. Yasha doesn’t mind, not like she thought she might, since helping out her friend has started to outweigh her need for silence.

“Yeah, you know, it’ll be fun. Your first show, it’s quite the experience.”

“So I’ve heard,” he pauses, thinking, then says, “I suppose we’ll be the muscle then?”

“That, and I do a bit of juggling at the beginning.”

Molly puts down his coat and stares for a second at the tall goth at his side, trying to determine if she’s joking. Her face doesn’t move to indicate she’s messing with him, remaining as deadpan as it always is.

“What, really?”

Yasha laughs and bundles her laundry up, standing as Molly scrambles to follow her.

“Yes, really.”

“You have to show me.”

Yasha bites her lip, not wanting to show off but... Molly looks so hopeful, tail swaying back and forth behind him.

“Alright, alright, take these.”

Molly takes the laundry easily, shifting the piles so they don’t obscure his view. Yasha unsheathes both of her swords, takes a few paces back and tosses themin the air, settling into a simple rhythm for a few rounds before dropping them back into her hands and bowing dramatically.

Molly’s eyes are shiny with wonder and Yasha thinks he would clap if he didn’t have his hands full.

“You should teach me sometime!”

Yasha smiles and takes some of the laundry back, looking off into the distance, where the other performers are gathering for the procession. This is just the first show of many with Molly and Yasha hopes every one of them feels as special as this one.

They’ve got a long journey ahead and she’s glad to take Molly along with her. Once a traveler, always a traveler.

“Definitely.”

[lucianhuntress]

The Bodyguard & The Princess Ch. 2

Word count: 5807 Pairing: Nyx x Fem!Reader Warnings: SFW, fluff and light angst. NSFW content eventually. Notes: When an oneshot turns into a multi-chapter fic. A soulmate au.

Also: if you are wondering who is Cassian Lacertus, he is just a random guy I invented for this fic.

Tagging some Nyx dyx-fans (it’s the work name I use for this fic): @glaive-eve, @bleucommelhiver, @owldearest & @singlebecauseofthechocobros.

Hopefully you enjoy this chapter!

<< Previous Chapter

High hopes of spending the evening with none other than Nyx Ulric were shot down like a bird on a hunting season. A guest after a guest flooded you with questions and suggestions, attempting to be subtle — yet failing terribly.

“Good evening, Your Highness, how are you doing today? Are you seeing anyone currently? I just happen to know the perfect bachelor. A real charmer, you’d be surprised.”

A surprise would have been if they all didn’t know a guy that just happened to be single. But as the princess of the Lucis kingdom, you had to force yourself to act like you were completely invested in their rosy speeches about a man you hadn’t even met.

Nyx wondered how you managed to treat them all with such kind, welcoming smile that made his heart skip a beat if you happened to flash it into his direction. He could feel the frustration through his soulmate mark, but he had no idea that you were the one carrying the counterpart to his.

Those fleeting happy moments, moments when your eyes met Nyx’s made you forget about everything else. The agony the guests gave you washed away with just a glimpse of the familiar ocean blue. Knowing that he stood by your side, made you feel safe, blessed and maybe even slightly giddy.

“I am going to need a break soon. I want to sit down for a while,” you sighed out your thoughts as you waved off another elderly couple and a new one was dangerously glinting their eyes towards you. Like vultures waiting for an opportunity to sink their claws in an already weak target.

“I can tell them to back off,” Nyx informed, feeling relieved of your urgency to take a break. Physically he would have gladly stood there all day — but the guests were slowly drawing him mentally towards the brink of a breakdown.

You lifted your gaze and saw him staring right at you. The content purring of your soulmate mark had been suffocated and replaced with exasperation caused by the constant pour of questions and now you could feel the bond strongly again — spreading its warmth all over your body.

The usual sensation of delight had gained a new shade of steadily growing desire as the evening shifted closer to night.

It made you side-eye Nyx even more than usual and Nyx tried to ignore the feeling as best as he could, but his mind kept slipping through his grasp.

You just looked damn beautiful and the exhaustion you wore made him want to steal you away. Of course he had to mentally punch himself in the gut for such selfish thoughts.

“I would appreciate that,” you said, the glow heating up your cheeks and causing you to fan your face with a hand to cool down. How did one man drive you all hot and bothered without even trying? No one else had managed to do that yet.

If only there was a balcony to retreat to.

You had no idea how to behave around the man, so you kept a polite, princessly approach as you spoke to him. He did the same by acting as professional and emotionless as he could, even when his heart screamed against it.

Nyx nodded and stepped in front of you to block the way just before another elderly couple managed to greet you.

It slightly pained you to deny their chance to have a chat with you, but you desperately needed to rest.

You heard him apologizing to the guests while you headed towards a bench to sit on. The glaives who you had ordered to scatter around the room kept their eyes strictly on you and you couldn’t deny the surge of uneasiness washing over you when you were being under so many eyes.

He felt it too; his soulmate mark emitted an anxious swell as it purged the joyful choir the marks had joined in to. Nyx wanted to comfort his unknown soulmate, but he was powerless to do so.

If only had he known that his soulmate was just a few feet away.

You let your body slump after all that standing around. To carry your body like a princess drained all your energy.

Talking like you were the most knowledgeable creature and speaking like your tongue was made out of silver had your jaws jammed and brain fried. Your whole body was sore from all that, even when you were used to it on daily basis.

Fortunately Ignis wasn’t at the event to see you sitting shoulders slumped and eyes fixed into oblivion, or else you would have heard about it for the next three weeks — or longer, if he felt like you needed a reminder.

Nyx flashed a smirk as he returned to you, “everything okay, Your Highness?”

You lifted your gaze and tried your best to answer him with a smile — but you felt like your cheeks were falling out from their places and you lips felt so numb. You had never felt so “charming” before.

“Just exhausted.”

He chuckled and positioned himself next to you. He was standing while you were sitting — as sitting next to each other would have been seen as an act of courting.

Such a thing wouldn’t have been allowed between a princess and a measly soldier.

Nyx felt a pinch of sadness in his chest as he thought about it — why did he even think about it? He could never have someone like you and you would have deserved someone better. Much better. Not him. And yet he couldn’t stop thinking about you.

You sensed the saddening sting poking your heart and for a moment you felt sorry for your soulmate. The heartache you both suffered caused an awkward silence to fall over you. Nyx kept his gaze strictly on the surroundings, his hands behind his back and expression blank — as it was supposed to be. But in his eyes anyone could have seen the shroud of melancholy of not being able to do anything about the situation he and his soulmate were in.

Your hands rested in your lap, squeezed gently into fists. But your lips were gradually tugging themselves into a smile, though it was a sad one. Sad from not being able to help the suffering you felt through the mark.

“Uhm, Nyx,” you mumbled eventually and the glaive shifted his gaze to you, but denied himself of getting a better view. He saw the sorrowful downward curl of your lips.

What’s wrong princess?

He wanted to speak out the words aloud, but he couldn’t.

“Your Highness?” he spoke instead, dismissing the moment of anguish he had experienced. He'd have to deal with it later.

Once you turned, you lifted your eyes to meet his side-eye.

Nyx felt like everything had paused. He knew he belonged there, next to you. He swallowed, wondering if he could just… no.

“I—” you started and in an instant, you were knocked down from the bench. A sharp pain twinged your elbow and your lower back as you fell down on the cold concrete floor with a huge, furry dog quickly gaining its position on top of you. All of its four legs sprawled around you and hot breath fanning against your skin as it prepared to get a taste of you.

At first you squealed in terrified panic—

“Princess!” Nyx gasped in horror and jumped to remove the dog from top of you.

—and then you giggled as the fluffy creature had a great urgency to clean your face with it’s soft and wet tongue. You shrieked from the tickling sensation and you could distantly hear how Nyx and a couple of others shouted for you.

Nyx had not been so worried in years. Worried of losing someone he barely knew, yet his heart ached every time he heard your high-pitched squeaks. Just the thought of you getting hurt made him work harder.

The canine was stronger than anyone would have guessed. The creature had almost feral strength. Strength it used to smear its saliva all over your face.

Finally, with the cooperation of a bunch of glaives and a couple of animal shelter workers, the dog was pushed away from you. It whined as if it had been interrupted rudely and it kept looking at you longingly.

“I am so sorry, Your Highness I—” one of the shelter workers whimpered, tears were streaming out of her reddened eyes.

“No need to apologize,” you paused her with a whisk of your hand. She stared at you, sniveling and sobbing but the expression turning ultimately confused. “He is an amazing dog and I surely hope that he will find a forever home for himself.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” another worker stepped in. She was as horrified as her co-worker, but at least she wasn’t crying. You shot them both a warm, reassuring smile and turned quickly to give orders to the group of glaives who had instantly dashed to help you with the furball.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I am fine — but I think I should go and clean up my face…”

Your back and elbow still ached uncomfortably, throbbing pain coursing through your body — but it wasn't that bad. It would heal. Eventually.

Nyx eyed you up and down, surprised by how you managed to be so… calm. He knew you weren’t like most of the nobles; he knew you were different. But still he had expected to see some kind of lash out at the workers, or even hear the disappointment with a couple of well-chosen words to scold them.

No. You just kept amazing him every day with the most simple actions. It made him want to see more of you, a side hidden from the public. A side he had managed to catch glimpses of.

“I will escort you,” Nyx stated, his tone could have cut even through steel; he was determined. But his heart told the other: it was still racing with anxiousness from the scene the dog had caused.

You turned your head just slightly to see the glaive standing next to you. His back straightened, hands on sides and mouth pulled into a thin line.

“Thank you.” Your response may have sounded weak, but Nyx saw a sign of relief in your expression. He responded with a tiny nod and waited for you to head for the ladies’ room, while the remaining glaives scattered and resumed their positions.

You walked in silence, Nyx only a few steps behind you. You wanted to say something but the uneasy flickering in your chest rendered you speechless.

He was a glaive and you were a princess — sharing a common interest sounded quite absurd.

“Thank you,” you finally said.

Nyx quirked a brow in surprise, “why are you thanking me?” He ran his hand through his brown hair and groaned inwardly. He hadn't been the only one running to the rescue.

“You turned away those guests, helped with the dog… I…” you looked down at your hands for a second or two. “You have been kind to me.”

Nyx blinked, unsure of how to react. “Those were the orders.” He hated himself for that; they hadn't only been the orders, he had wanted to do it and would do it again. Any time.

But would it be wrong if he told you?

“I see…” you mumbled with a slightly trembling voice. You had hoped for a different kind of answer.

You felt an uncomfortable burn in your soulmate mark. It didn't hurt, but it bothered you. Nyx placed his hand on his left shoulder to feel the tingling heat through his Kingsglaive garbs.

What is going on?

Embarrassment, shame, tension and disappointment scorched your marks almost in a scolding manner.

“Your Highness.” His voice made you halt.

You turned to look at the man over your shoulder. There was a slight frown shadowing his handsome looks, but you could see the gratitude in his eyes.

“I appreciate it. I may have orders, but that doesn't mean I don't want to protect you.”

He saw how your eyes lit up with excitement. It made his heart melt.

You felt it too; your heart fluttered once again when it was just the two of you. You hadn't even realized that you had paused your journey to the ladies’ room.

Nyx wished for the time to stop and he was about to lift his hand to caress your cheek. But he stopped, his hand slightly in the air. “We should continue.”

“Oh, sorry!” you mumbled nervously feeling your cheeks grow warmer.

Nyx’s brows shoot up from curiosity. A princess shouldn't apologize. But one thing he was sure of, as he watched you pick up from where you left.

The dog had a damn good taste for girls.

The charity event ate a good portion of your already scarce free-time. The ride in the black bulletproof car had been awkwardly quiet — like it had been when you arrived at the party.

But at the same time you couldn't stop beaming inwardly, nor did you want to do so. The small chat you had managed to uphold with Nyx cast a fluttering in your gut again as you kept reminiscing in the memory again and again.

On that very same night after getting lectured by a council member or two, you retreated to your quarters. Nyx’s shift had ended and he had returned to his own matters, but your heart was already longing for his presence.

What a selfish person you had become, you wondered as you thought about calling him back to work.

The feeling made you chuckle in the darkness of your bedroom.

The confusion of the feelings you felt around him corroded you; no one had ever made you feel like that. You didn’t even know what he was like and yet you couldn’t wash away the loneliness when he was off-duty. Part of you thought about getting his address from captain Drautos — but would it be right to just knock on his door like a lovefool girl?

...a lovefool?

You wanted to laugh and cry simultaneously and with your hands squeezed into tight fists you bit your lip. A fleeting sting in your lip and the taste of blood, blurred your senses.

“I’m an idiot.” There was no mirth in your little, cold laugh and you hoped that no glaive outside your bedroom would listen to your brief monologue.

Nyx felt it too, half-thanks to his mark, half-thanks to his own thoughts that were somewhere along the same lines with yours. He was lying down on his bed, staring at the ceiling and the picture of Ghalad taped on it.

His mind wandered to you, to his family, to his feelings… He sighed, hoping to understand more. Why the princess of Lucis kingdom was on his mind constantly? He barely knew anything about you — as a person.

He wanted to protect you, to be with you, feel you. “Why am I doing this to myself?” he groaned to himself, surprised to hear his thoughts aloud.

After all, Nyx was all alone in his apartment. He would continue to be alone too. He had no family nor a steady relationship. Libertus was like a brother to him, but that was it.

And what if he couldn’t protect you, like he couldn’t protect his… Nyx swallowed as he tried to seize the train of thought getting off-tracks, he didn’t need any extra emotions with his current ones. But there he was, getting off-track to unlock the chest of memories — full of forbidden thoughts.

You had nearly dozed off as the exhaustion tried to claim you, but the growing pain took away all the tiredness.

Why does it hurt so much?

Your own tears suffocated any reasonable thought and your mind was shrouded inside a thick, black cloud of misery. You felt angry, sad and lonely at the same time.

Your palm, curled into a tight, fist was flickering from the flames inside. Whatever your soulmate was going through, had your guts burn in agony. The hurt, the longing, the sadness and the disappointment had brought a ball of fire into your hand.

It didn't burn you, it brought warmth on your skin as the small flames roared desperately on your palm. It fought against you, weakly.

I'm here for you.

Shifting your thoughts into something more cheerful calmed down your soulmate. The hurt was still in there, poking around, looking for a weak spot.

Everything's going to be alright.

You let out a sigh of relief and closed your eyes. Wet trails on your cheeks from the tears shed for your soulmate being the only telltale of your brief misery. The dreams were finally able to claim you to a realm unknown.

“Thanks man, I needed this,” Nyx yawned as he caught a bottle of beer Libertus Ostium had slid to him across the table. He welcomed the day off with open-arms as he pushed away the need to be by his princess’ side.

“You have been burying yourself in work lately. Found yourself a girl from the Citadel?” Libertus snorted and opened a beer bottle in his hands, “lucky you if it's the one at the office.”

Nyx chuckled and observed the bottle. It was so nice to finally relax and enjoy. His newest assignment had kept him so busy that he had barely even seen Libertus in a while. “I thought you called dibs on her first.”

Libertus shrugged, “well— I tried, but I don't think she's interested.”

The glaive brothers laughed and clinked their bottles. A well deserved weekend had begun in the company of Nyx's best friend.

They talked about whatever came to mind and after downing the first bottles they ordered new ones. Nyx felt tipsy after three bottles of beer and the cheerful feeling hid the ones his soulmate mark was sending.

“You okay?” Gladiolus Amicitia asked, his hand on your shoulder keeping you still.

“I’m fine…” you giggled unexpectedly. You slammed your hand over your mouth and felt the embarrassment burn your cheeks.

“Are you drunk already? What did you drink at dinner?” Noctis grunted disapprovingly.

“N-no — my soulmate seems to be having a good time,” what you had attempted to say with a nonchalant laugh, escaped with a slurred chuckle — like the ones you often let out for your guests entertainment in the high society gatherings.

It was sweet to listen to and you managed to wrap your guests even tighter around your finger. But around your brother and his shield it had no effect.

Noctis and Gladio traded worried looks behind your back.

“Soulmate?” Gladio asked, mystified by the thought that someone actually had a soulmate.

You peeled your sleeve just enough to reveal the mark resembling a crescent moon with a dagger. Noctis groaned in irritation, but Gladio remained silent.

“I can’t believe you actually believe in that stuff — isn’t it a bedtime story for kids?” Noctis said, rolling his eyes in disbelief.

“Or you just have a lame soulmate and you pretend that they don’t exist!” your protest made Gladio howl in laughter.

Everyone had a soulmate mark, to end up with your destined one was just a question of motivation and luck.

“I have one too,” Gladio flashed a wide smile at the embarrassed prince. Noctis attempted to hide his mildly reddened cheeks by looking in the other direction.

“Do you believe in soulmates?” Nyx asked after he had downed his fifth beer. His speech had started to slur from the consumed alcohol but that didn’t stop him. It didn’t stop Libertus either, —who had had the same amount of beer as Nyx—, from understanding his best friend.

Crowe and Pelna had also tagged along after a training session. Nyx had bought bottles for the freshly joined weekend-celebrators and the four of them sat around a wooden table, enjoying their drinks.

“Don't you remember what your old man told us?” Libertus asked with his brows shot up in bemusement.

Crowe seemed interested in their talk, while Pelna was checking out a girl passing by them. He had lifted a bottle half-way up and thanks to the pretty lady had obviously made him pause. Crowe nudged him subtly with an elbow.

Nyx shrugged lightly. He couldn't possibly remember everything his dad had told him and the much less happier memories tended to take over. He took a sip from a newly opened bottle and swept his mouth with the back of his hand.

Libertus sighed heavily in dismay.

“Well, we all carry our marks — so I guess I do believe in them,” Libertus sighed and his gaze dropped briefly. He kept rolling the bottle in his hand. “Did you find your soulmate, or why are you asking?”

Nyx’s lips widened into a smirk, “just curious.” His soulmate had helped him calm down when he was having a moment and it rose a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest.

Libertus repeated Nyx's words quietly, like he was mumbling to himself in disbelief.

“Hey, don’t give up, maybe yours is behind a corner,” Crowe tried to cheer Libertus up with a light laugh.

“But there is a girl…” Nyx continued. He had not mentioned about his feelings to anyone. The booze certainly had opened the gateway to his rose petal-coated secrets. “A girl that I can never have.”

Libertus frowned, “sucks to be you, then.”

“Is there even a girl our mighty hero can't have?” Pelna rolled his eyes, but laughed after.

“I'm sure there are plenty.” Crowe snorted.

It brought a smile to Nyx’s lips. Even the beer couldn’t take you away from his thoughts on a day off.

“Yeah? Probably because you take so much time doing push-ups instead of feeling things,” Noctis paused the taller man with his snide comment, to which Gladio answered with a smug wink and grin.

“Are you the right person to talk about feelings?” Gladio asked smugly.

The two of them had started a debate whether soulmates were true or not. Maybe Noctis was just too thick to notice? Or maybe Gladio's dating life was so active that he didn't notice the feelings of his soulmate.

Noctis surely seemed to be convinced about it all being a fairy tale.

“Hey, at least I have more game than you do,” the shield howled and you had hard time keeping your composure, instead of rolling on the floor and suffocating from the laughter. Not to mention the sluggish feeling your drunk soulmate emitted.

“If you think the mark is just so that you can feel your mate being horny — you are both wrong,” you trembled from the fit of laughter trying to bust the doors of self-control open.

“Then what's it for?” Noctis asked.

“Finding the love of your life — obviously.” You rolled your eyes to the roof and sighed. It was just so simple.

Noctis snorted as if you had just told him a good joke, but Gladio seemed more interested in your statement.

“Love of your life, huh?” You could hear the shield mumbling to himself.

The thought of your soulmate made you feel warm and you pressed your palm over your chest, right over your heart. The tipsy feeling still bubbled inside you and you let out a quiet giggle. One that missed both Gladio's and Noctis’ ears.

Days passed. Some of the days passing infuriatingly slow and some of them so fast, that it felt like you had just gotten up from bed when you were already preparing to go to sleep. You had literally no idea what happened on those days.

Nyx had returned to work from his brief vacation and nothing would have made you happier than seeing him standing in guard in your chambers.

It was a great relief during those fleeting days, because no matter how many times your eyes met his, you felt like the whole world stopped from revolving.

For once in your life, you were bored. It was still an hour or so for the next object in your schedule, so you had time to sit down and… wait.

You took it as a chance to get a bit bolder around your guards. Normally you pretended that they didn't exist, as it made your life easier to not think about having eyes on you constantly. But now the situation was almost begging for a conversation.

“Do you have any hobbies?” you asked politely from everyone, even when your question was meant for Nyx. You barely knew anything about him — just his background and what was on need-to-know basis.

You wanted to know what was his favourite food or if he liked watching movies. You were curious to learn more about his history and most importantly: was he seeing anyone? You fiddled with the hem of your shirt, looking as innocent as ever.

Sadly, no one answered right away and for a moment you had thrown a chunk of hope out of the window. Maybe you had been too hopeful.

Nyx pondered whether he should answer. He had been ordered to not to communicate with you unless it was necessary. Casual chatting was forbidden — which seemed almost ludicrous.

“I tend to work out whenever I have free time, Your Highness,” Nyx answered finally, shattering the calm the glaives had been ordered to upkeep. He had decided to screw the rules for once, there was no harm in answering a simple question.

“Ulric, we aren’t supposed to have this kind of conversation with the princess,” one of the glaives scolded from a corner, eyes glinting in the dim room dangerously.

Nyx cocked a brow at the grumpy glaive, “so I should ignore a question the princess kindly asks?”

He could hear the displeased grunt coming from the glaive, while the other let out a quiet chuckle.

“No, please. I don’t mind talking to you,” you said, trying to sound carefree. You just wanted to know more about Nyx and there was nothing wrong with that. Whoever had come up with instructions on how to act around you deserved a slap and a reassignment.

“But the orders—”

“I give you an order,” you paused the protesting glaive with a warning glare and when you turned your head back to Nyx, you could see him enjoying the situation. He looked half-surprised and half-proud.

“I go out for walks with my friend and her dog whenever I can,” the other not-so-grumpy-glaive told.

“That sounds fun!” you beamed.

“Drinking with friends ain’t that bad either,” Nyx chuckled.

You were filled with wonder. Nyx had seen so much life compared to you. “Do you guys ever go to a drive-in and order food?” you suddenly asked.

“After a heavy night out only, Your Highness,” Nyx answered with an upward curl of his lip.

“Oh?” you gasped curiously, wondering if Nyx knew any good places. You had only escaped the wrath of Ignis a few times before with Noctis and Prompto. Everyone surely made a big deal of your diet.

Nyx flashed a knowing grin at the glaive who had been complaining and then he shifted his gaze back to you. “If you ever have a craving to get some greasy takeout food, just let me know and I’ll help you get there.”

You couldn’t help the burning sensation in your cheeks nor a relieved smile from spreading across your face. “That would be—”

“Your Highness,” hit your ears as soon as the door to your chambers opened. You flinched mildly and saw Ignis bowing down curtly at the doorway before continuing: “the King has requested for you.”

“Already?” you breathed.

Nyx couldn’t suppress the sudden uneasy feeling in his chest. It was like his heart had clenched just a bit.

Your eyes had frozen at Ignis and you swallowed. Questions and thoughts poked the back of your mind. It was quite unusual for the King to ask your presence out of the blue.

“Yes, he wishes to see you immediately.”

“Oh, okay,” you responded somewhat meekly and stood up from the comfortable couch you had been relaxing on previously. The glaive trio in your room stiffened as they prepared themselves to follow after you and Ignis.

You followed Ignis all the way to another level of the Citadel. It was a small meeting room you usually met your father and brother. A family meeting room as Gladio used to say.

This time you entered the room, but there was no sign of Noctis in there. Only the King and his shield stood on the opposite side with a concerned frown worn on their faces.

“Good afternoon,” you greeted with an attempt to sound eager — but couldn’t keep it steady and you ended up sounding worried and fragile.

You saw how worry passed through Regis’ gaze before he steeled himself again. You knew he was going to talk to you as the King of Lucis, not as your loving father. Clarus kept a blank stare, but you could see him gritting his teeth, because his jaw clenched from time to time.

The glaive company and Ignis was left behind the door as it closed after you.

“Y/N,” Regis spoke, pondering his words and choosing the right options carefully.

“Yes?”

“I cannot stop the council any longer, so we have arranged a date,” he said slowly.

“A date?”

The King sighed, dark circles underneath his pale eyes, looking tired as ever. “You are going on a date with Cassian Lacertus.”

Lacertus was an old family line, mostly consisting of officers and soldiers — even a few special agents under that noble family name. You would have probably ended up dating him a few years ago if he hadn’t had a girlfriend back then.

And how fitting would it be to date a princess? You sighed, knowing that it was something your father was forced to accept. Going on a date with a noble guy probably wouldn't mean anything. If it was up to you, he'd end up being discarded like a wet towel.

At least that’s how you planned it; you had no means to be together with a guy who did it for social reasons and not because he had a crush on you.

“So it’s happening now,” you exhaled — disappointment obvious in your tone.

Clarus bit his lip and lowered his gaze. He had always been kind to you and he seemed to be pained by the thought of you dating someone not worthy of you. The king did not respond. He just observed you in a calm manner.

“I-I thought…”

“Like I said, the council is very determined in this matter,” Regis said calmly. “You have been avoiding your duties long enough.”

Duties? What kind of duty is it to date someone I don’t even like? Or even marry? I...

Before you could utter another word, Regis stood up. “Things aren’t looking good on your behalf,” he said softly, like he was trying to apologize and he walked over to you to give a pat on your right shoulder. “They are even considering to announce an engagement between you two.”

The shoulder the King had touched, tensed. Your soulmate was watching over you — you knew it so.

You saw the sad kindness in his eyes. “Thank you, father,” you mumbled, feeling too numb to flash him a smile.

Why am I even thanking him?

He nodded curtly and exited the room, Clarus following him.

Somehow your knees felt weak. Your heart throbbed from sadness and you felt empty. Turning around to leave the room consumed a lot of your energy.

But you couldn't take another step before the realisation struck in.

“Are you alright?” you heard Ignis asking. He had entered the room after the King and his shield left.

You tried to respond, but only a hum escaped your dry throat.

Nyx and the two other glaives followed Ignis to the room. Nyx saw how void your gaze was and how you were squeezing your hands tightly — like you were holding onto something.

“Your Highness,” Nyx said. His heart made an anxious skip.

What is going on? Why is she so pale?

You couldn’t bring yourself to answer. You felt weak. So weak. First you saw the world like you normally did, but now it had turned bleary — like you were looking at it through a mosaic glass.

Nyx saw how limp your body suddenly turned and how your trembling, numb legs gave up. You were  falling for what felt like an eternity. He instantly dashed to embrace you — to stop you from collapsing and getting hurt.

His heart ached and pounded like mad. “Y/N!”

“Nyx…” you whispered — eyes fluttering. You felt how his arms wrapped around you and it cut the shroud of unconsciousness you were almost fell into. Your felt lightheaded, warm and complete.

Is he… holding me?

You saw him so clearly even through your half-hooded eyes. You felt the warmth of his body as he held you a few inches above the floor. You wanted to touch him — to be sure if he was real.  

“Y/N!” you heard Ignis shouting off somewhere. It must have been irrelevant, you thought. You were in Nyx’s arms and you wanted to be nowhere else.

Nyx couldn’t stop staring at you. He was afraid for a moment before he caught you — but now he felt complete. His soulmate mark had never been so content before as it was now.

She’s so beautiful… so innocent and pure.

He should have helped you up, but his mind was jammed from holding you like a flower — afraid to break you if he did something.

She really feels like the finest silk or the smoothest petal. Why am I feeling like this?

“Ulric!” one of the glaives raged at him. Pulling Nyx out of the dreamy world.

“Oh— right!” Nyx gasped and helped you up, “are you alright, Your Highness?” He felt abashed from his sudden loss of self-control. He was still on duty and there was no way that holding the princess like that for that long would look good.

You shook your head. “I think I need some rest…” your heart roared in your chest and your soulmate mark was on overdrive. It really made you see stars.

Next Chapter >>

[boydchloe]

Outdoor Cat Spraying House Dumbfounding Tips

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Cat Urine Specific Gravity 1.025

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[evercelle]

dragonknight!au ask-a-palooza

Anon... I hereby bequeath the cheeseball crown to you.... that's some fluffy shit. NICE!! Though I think Iwaizumi might be more concerned than embarrassed if Oikawa's far enough into his head to exhibit an obvious physical tell of his nerves haha.

@slothesaurus Yo!! I got these interesting asks and I get to do exciting stuff in ffxiv tonight so today’s going great! (Does the poppy come from Makki's head lol)

There are heavy combat rigs with varying degrees of armor available, but they're rarely used because (a) dragon hide is super strong and (b) armor is often too cumbersome to transport. Maintaining dragonshape is a constant drain on the individual's internal mana pool so Iwaizumi and co. don't actually spend much time in dragonshape. Slinging around dragon-sized tack and armor while human-sized would just be a big pain in the ass, so dragonknights almost always ride bareback (lol oh my) since it's for short bursts anyway.

@aunnoo Thanks!! Drawing dragons is lotsa fun so I’m glad people are enjoying this AU.  I don’t mind sharing some headcanons (NOBODY LAUGH, OKAY). I forget if read more cuts work on mobile or not, so I apologize in advance for long ass scrolling as I’m evidently incapable of being brief...

This AU came about from me plopping HQ characters into an original story concept I've been working on so it's kinda hard to describe character-related HCs without laboriously explaining some of the worldbuilding too haha ;;

We call'em dragons but the people who can assume dragonshape aren't ACTUAL dragons. Feral dragons are immensely powerful (and decidedly unfriendly) creatures. The ability to change into dragonshape was developed by tattooing the runes for the transformation spell on a person's body with magical ink containing feral dragon blood, among other things. You get your tat as you go through training in three stages -- temporary tattoos painted on for new trainees, permanent tattoo for those who pass the first stage training, and final tattoo with the addition of the chosen rider's name when a dragonknight pair is initiated. 

The rider's name linked into the runic spell enables the pair to activate combat trance, which boosts their ability to sync up and allows them to literally stick together (handy especially for flying). Because maintaining dragonshape uses all of a dragon's own power, riders serve a couple of important purposes: they can feed their mana to the dragon to keep them going longer, and they also use their magic to heal or otherwise support the dragon (the dragon’s the real weapon in this operation because hello they are a friggin dragon). Think buffing spells like increasing speed, strength, etc. Dragons also can't speak normally after changing shape, so trance mode lets the dragonknight pair communicate telepathically. Last, a dragon's biggest vulnerability is its spell tattoo, which still appears on its body. Damaging the tattoo disables the spellcraft, so they won't be able to maintain their dragonshape. Thus, a rider's most important purpose is literally watching the dragon's back to protect its mark. (Another reason it's not common to use riding gear a-dragonback is because trance is easier to maintain with physical contact.)

Like the rest of the military, dragonknights keep the king’s peace. Outside of wartime that usually just means scaring off raiders or protecting the realm from feral dragons and other primal beasties. Inside of war, they’re the kingdom’s elite fighters and the first priority for enemy forces.

OK now that I got that general expository stuff out of the way...

Dragon and rider pairs are referred to as a singular entity in the field, designated by a portmanteau of their names. Iwaizumi/Oikawa's call sign is dragonknight HAJIRU. Currently active dragonknights include SAEYOKO, HAJIRU, KOUJI and DAIGA, with stage 2 trainee dragonknights KYOUBA and KAGENATA.

Iwaizumi/Oikawa are not physically the strongest dragonknight pair on base (that's dragonknight KOUJI), but they are the highest ranked as a result of their long-term experience together and Oikawa's keen battle sense. They're the best on base at syncing up and maintaining combat trance together.

Riders are much more replaceable than dragons in terms of training up newbies... so part of riders' training is the secret directive to prioritize a dragon's life at all costs, including over their own. Kageyama lets this slip to Iwaizumi after Oikawa injures his leg badly defending Iwa's mark in a fight, so he goes on to lovingly throttle Oikawa and make him promise to never do that again.

All dragons can freely shapeshift between four-legged and wyvern-winged body types. Iwaziumi can fly but prefers fighting on the ground. With his heavy talons and powerful forelegs he's a force to be reckoned with!!

Dragonknight SAEYOKO is the lead for training purposes, though Oikawa/Iwaizumi are assigned to mentor KYOUBA in the field for stage 2 training. Oikawa gets along well with Yahaba but never misses an opportunity to gently bully DAIGA's assigned mentee, KAGENATA.

After long fights or long flight patrols Oikawa gets super exhausted from burning through his magic reserves. Food and rest helps riders replenish their magic energy, so naturally Oikawa always forces Iwaizumi to treat him out lol. Iwaizumi grumps about it but he does spoil him a little extra on those occasions.

[nurturingflame]

Week in Review - 52

Very excited to be starting our second year of Nurturing Flame!!

So to welcome 2017 we are opening our inbox and encouraging you send us a note about some of the things that you enjoyed over the past year and maybe things you might like to see in the future. 

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Dinner, Dancing & Delectation 37-42

Miles away, deep underneath New York City, a presence stirred from it’s still observance of the night. A crooked smiled emerged under bandaged eyes. The small warm bodies surrounding it began to fidget as they sensed their master’s excitement.

“Well, well, my old friend.” The voice creaked in the darkness only to be answered by the chittering of a thousand voices, “I have not felt this particular emotion from you before. We shall have to investigate.”

A bony and withered hand brought a single white rat up so that it was level with a sunken face. “Perhaps Aristotle, there is something new that we can offer our brother after all.” Pink eyes began to glow as the white rat looked over it’s shoulder towards the far away lair. “ Hmmm… Yes. I see now. Very interesting… very interesting indeed.”

“Go.” The figure extended a mangled finger and a swarm of small bodies flowed past him in a never ending wave. “We cannot let this opportunity pass us by. Stay hidden and wait for my signal. Then bring her to me.” The rats ran with the cackle of their King following them. “Bring them both, and I shall have my knight and my queen.”

Splinter had not been surprised at the edict that they all dance, he knew from the way the night was going that it would come to this at some point.  But he would not make it easy.  No.

Mikey had been the first to come and pull at him, quite physically to get him onto the dance floor.  "Pllleeeeeaaase, Sensei!"  He used those huge guilt, inducing eyes that he had mastered at a very young age.  They always, without fail, pulled at Splinter's heartstrings.    When Donnie and Leo joined in, he was almost overcome...almost.  He was used to standing up to his boys, despite their pleas and begging.  Oh, he'd give in, but not until the time was right, and it was not right yet.  He had to work to hide an amused smile.

What did surprise him was when The Phoenix wiggled her way in between the boys,  not a great feat in and of itself with her size.  She laughed and reached for his hand.  Her felt the pressing of her chi against his, she was expansive and high, obviously, on both alcohol and music. Her breath smelled of the high quality sake she'd unceremoniously downed before joining the other females in their little display.  It was pleasant, warm and mixed with her smell of herbs, oil and honey.  A jolt went through him when she touched him, as if a bubble popped between his energy and hers, though she didn't seem to notice in the least.  She laughed and pulled at him, much in the same way Mikey was doing, "Yes, come one, Sensei!"  Her voice was teasing and so were her bright green eyes.

No, it was not the time to capitulate yet. It was going to something greater than mere pulling to cause him to concede.  And if he wished, he could out last any of his sons.  He was quite sure, if wanted to, he could outlast the little healer, also. Her grip slipped off of his fingers as she tugged gently, and he felt a smug satisfaction that he didn't even budge and more so when she came back to tug at him again.

Then the smell of musk and honeysuckle combined with herbs, honey, and sweat, and Eliza was in front of him, having bumped his son and the healer out of the way. Her teasing warmed his chest, he liked when she was happy, when Gwyn was happy.  He liked that they were all going out of their way to get him to dance, to join the festivities.  They were his, Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, April, Casey, Eliza, and Gwyn.  His friends were here, new ones, who were proving to be friendlier than he had anticipated, and old ones, who had brought fine sake to a fine celebration of friendship.

Eliza leaned into him, and it wasn't possible not to see at least some of her ample curves.  It was one of the first times he'd considered, Grant mustn't have had a chance in the world...and his feeling of amusement grew so that his smile ghosted his lips.

But then, she'd issued a challenge.  A real challenge. For a moment, he bristled internally, there was a difference between a challenge and a playful coaxing  But then he reminded himself, this is a party, and she is teasing.  But the confrontation brought into focus that simple dismissals were too low an ante.  A feral feeling, akin to the thrill of a hunt, crept up from his gut.  "Are you saying that I am afraid?"

He heard Phoenix giggle next to him, as Eliza shrugged and replied.

But it was Murikami who came to save his honor at having to concede defeat.  "You are outnumbered, Splinter-san," he said.  "Surrender before you are overrun."

"Your friend is a smart man," Phoenix said, jumping to her feet.

The tip of one side of Splinter's lips raised as his smile threatened to burst forth.  He took Eliza's hand, a warm, comforting feeling enveloping him, but released it almost immediately once he was up.

In a flash, he was in the middle of the dance floor, as if he'd just appeared there,  his face stern and his heart soaring.  "Michelangelo," he said.  "If you please."

In a move that mimicked his father's, Mikey appeared suddenly at the turntable, irreverently spinning a record in his hands.  He placed it down, dropped the needle, and "Soul Train" began to blare.

Splinter twirled, his tail whipping behind him, his legs twisting and turning as he did, to end with his head down, his arm upraised, and a finger pointing to the sky.   The single move sent the room into whoops.  The children all smiled impressively, The Phoenix jumped up and down laughing and clapping her hands like a small child, and Eliza popped her hip out, placing her hand on it and smiling smugly.

He did nothing to hide his own smile now.  They thought this was good?  No, he hadn't even started.

As Splinter took center stage Eliza had to admit that he was rather impressive. His dancing was far more acrobatic than she would have thought possible in a robe, she  wished that he were wearing pants, bellbottoms would have been appropriate, so that she could see his legs and footwork better.

After Splinter’s solo performance everyone else joined in and it wasn’t long before they were all joined together in a twisting ‘train line’ dancing its way through the dojo. She was towards the middle of the pack with Murikami in front of her and Acros with a firm handle on her hips from his place behind her. After one circuit around the room and a loop past the tree the line formation broke apart, people and mutants dancing in smaller groups or signally.

Murikami was scooped up by Medusa, who then joined Casey and Raph. Eliza was about to shimmy her way over to Splinter, Phoenix and Leo when she felt a tug on her hips and found herself pulled back against a fuzzy chest. “No fair Mrs. V.,” Acros rumbled in her ear and she felt the vibrations through her back. “I haven’t had a dance yet.”

“You’re right, Teddy Bear.” The ferret woman teased, using the nickname she had over heard Phoenix use. “I wouldn’t want to be accused of choosing favorites.” She smiled as she leaned into him more, moving her body sinuously. The music continued with a mixed disco beat and Eliza lost herself in the rhythm. At some point Aretha Franklin’s rendition of 'Respect’ came on and she twisted in Acros’ grip so that she was facing him.

Now muzzle to muzzle she began to sing to him. The words leaving her in a slow seductive tone as they danced close together. As the song built she backed away from the circle of his arms, letting her voice soar louder and unrestrained, unaware of the others who were now observing her performance. She didn’t care, she was free, higher than the notes that erupted from her and bounced off of the vaulted ceiling.

The room watched as Eliza put her elongated neck up, threw her triangular head back and belted out "R-E-S-P-E-C-T, tell you what it means to me!" Arcos laughed, his teeth showing in a predatory fashion. "I have nothing up the utmost respect for you, Eliza," he rumbled. He'd gotten much too close a look at those pretty eyes just under those pretty little ears to let something that scrumptious go so easily.  With his arms still out, he danced toward her, as if what she had done was choreographed between the two of them.

Splinter made a move to intervene, once Eliza's show was dojo-wide, but the bear's mother, put her hand on his forearm.  "Let them have fun," she said.  Her eyes twinkled in a way that made him sway.  He blinked, not sure if it was her, the music, or the drink.  "She'll be here when she wakes up in the morning."

"Of course she will," Leo replied.

While the innuendo was lost on his eldest son, it was not lost on him, and  indignation flared in his breast. "She's making a fool--"

"Let her have fun," Phoenix interrupted him, and the indignation turned to anger.  She took a step toward him, so they were very close together, and her look became knowing.  "She's dancing.  We all look like fools when we dance.  That's part of the point."  She pulled at his arm, as if tugging him down to her level.  She was a smidgen shorter than April, but no where near as built.  However, the strength in her tug was surprising, more so in that he found himself bending slightly.  "When was the last time she had fun?"  He squinted at her scowling, her breath still smelling like warm sake.  Her jade eyes returned his stare with her own, "When was the last time you had fun, Yoshi?"

The sound of his name from her lips almost bowled him over.  It shouldn't have, he knew it shouldn't, she'd heard Eliza say his name only a few minutes before.  He hadn't given her permission to use his name, he wanted to tell himself, but that wasn't what struck him.  It was the ultimately familiar way in which she said it, as if she'd been calling him that from the get-go, that caught him.  He should be angry at her for doing so.  But he wasn't.  He glanced back over at Eliza, who was consciously trying to look like she was unconsciously avoiding Arcos' arms.  

Phoenix tugged at him again.  "Song's over, Fancy Feet," she teased.  "No more respect."  A slower song came on, and the little healer let out a whoop, had both of his hands in hers before the first bar was played, and was pulling one of them to her hip.  "Dance with me!" she commanded with a laugh.  He chuckled, taking up position in front of her, realizing there was little else he could do.  As Murikami had noted, he was outnumbered, it appeared.  It also appeared he was being overrun.

Eliza ducked and weaved teasingly but without any real attempt to escape being recaptured by Acros. It was inevitable and she giggled at his antics when she was firmly cocooned in his arms once again. His massive paws held her firmly, one on her back just below the shoulder blade and the other impressively half encircling her more than amble hip. When a slow song came through the speakers Eliza gave a little push against his chest, her natural inclination to go and check on Gwyn, but the bear did not budge. Instead he began to sway and the ferret mother had little choice but to follow his lead.

"You do realize," she said, her tone light, "that this constitutes as three dances?" Without realizing it she dug her fingers a little deeper into his pelt, the tips of her filed claws grazing the skin underneath as she looked up at him through her eyelashes coyly. "Now you've had more than your fair share."

Acros laughed under his breath, the sound was deep and vibrated through both their bodies. "Not sure if I care too much about being fair anymore if the scales are tipped in my favor."

Eliza laughed out loud and wriggled her arms free so that she could swat at him. The young man just smiled, with those soft expressive lips that Eliza had come to envy, and twirled them around the floor. The ferret put her hands on his broad shoulders to stabilize herself. As the song progressed she became more relaxed eventually her fingers found themselves interwoven behind his neck and her head resting on his shoulder and chest, bringing the dancers closer than she would have normally allowed. But there was something so comforting about being embraced, for that's what they were doing more than dancing by the time the song came to a close, by someone bigger than herself. It was not a sensation that she had been privy to regularly after losing Grant. She didn't want to think about it too much, just wanted to tuck the feeling away for days when the loneliness became too real. She was grateful but couldn't bring herself to verbalize it. Thankfully Acros was warm and silent when she pushed away from him slowly, just smiling at her kindly, though his eyes twinkled with an inner amusement as they separated.

Eliza smiled back at him shyly but was saved from any awkwardness by a bouncy Gwyn appearing at her side. "Mom! Mom!! Guess what?!"

"What?" the mother responded brightly.

"Everyone heard you singing, your A was flat bytheway, and started talking about karaoke!" the girl was hardly taking a breath in her excitement to pass along her news. "I said I love singing too and then Mikey said that he did and I said we should do karaoke and April said we could do lip sync battles and Donnie agreed and I asked everyone else, well I mean everyone cept' the adults, but I'm asking you now, and they said that it was cool. So that's what we're doing next and Donnie is setting everything up. Will you do the first one, cause I don't want to go first, but Leo said he would sing Aladdin with me!! Isn't that great!"

Eliza laughed, genuinely happy for her daughter. "That is great Bugaboo! I'll sing, just let me grab something real quick." Eliza rubbed her stomach to emphasize the point. "I'm feeling a little peckish."

Acros, who was still at her side, leaned in, worry on his features. "Are you ok?" He made to place a paw on her abdomen but thought twice about it and let his arm fall to the side. "Do you need to rest?"

"Oh I'm fine." Eliza waved one hand in dismissal while the other settled on the rise of her stomach, the gesture instantly recognizable though there was little to outwardly distinguish any new curves from her naturally plump frame. "All that dancing has finally caught up to me. I just need a snack. The buffet is still in the lab. I'll just grab a plate and be right back to enjoy the show."

"If things get set up early let someone else start Gwyn," The girl made to protest but Eliza silenced her with a look. "I promise that I'll take my turn. Go. Have fun." She shooed them both towards the dj table before heading towards the exit and the lair beyond. Focused on her suddenly voracious appetite she did not see the shadow that followed her into the lab.

"Are you alright, Mrs. V?" Leo's voice drifted through the darkened room as the ferret woman fixed herself a plate of the remaining kinds of chicken from the buffet.

He'd seen her make a hasty exit, and expected she need to go to the restroom.  But then, both his father and Phoenix looked the way she'd gone with slightly concerned looks on their faces.  They were about to separate in their dancing when he had nodded to his sensei.  There was a pregnant pause, where his father and the little healer will still touching in their dance, before his father nodded back at him.

Eliza startled and had to do a little juggle to keep her plate of BBQ chicken and potatoes from tumbling to the floor. Looking over her shoulder the darker fur of her natural mask crinkled between her eyes in agitation as she saw Leo. Freakin' ninjas.

"I'm just fine." She heard the annoyance in her voice and took a small cleansing breath. She knew the hostility was unwarranted. "Thank you Leo." She said much more amicably as she took her plate to the table near where he was standing and taking a seat. "I got a little hungry is all."

She smiled at him before tucking into a thigh, chewing thoughtfully as she evaluated the teen. She and Leonardo didn't always see eye to eye but she had noticed that over the last week he had made a more concerted effort to be accommodating. Though sometimes she felt overwhelmed by his occasional hovering. As she was scooping a forkful of seasoned potatoes another thought crossed her mind. Eliza paused her meal as she felt a genuine affection for the teen bloom within her. "You didn't have give into Gwyn like that," She looked up from her plate and meet his gaze. "but I'm really grateful you did. That song means a lot to her, to both of us."

He smiled, basking in the praise.  He was his father's son, hovering and the love of praise were two things that had definitely inherited from the rat.  "It was nothing," he said.  "She doesn't seem to be too into the dancing.  I want her to have a good time, too."  The girl, while usually very out spoken and upbeat, had not participated in the festivities earlier in the evening.  He had assumed she was simply waiting for the right time, but when Mrs. V had left the dojo, then come back in to announce and all girl's dance, he'd realized, after getting back on the dance floor, that Gwyn was trepidatious about dancing.  He couldn't see why.  She'd done just fine on the floor.  Granted, she wasn't going to win any dancing competitions, but she was just a joyous as everyone else, and Leo knew that was what a celebration was about.

And wasn't this a celebration?  Albeit, he wasn't entirely sure what the celebration was about, specifically, but is a fabulous one nonetheless.  The food was good, the drink was good, the companionship was good, the dancing was good.  He liked having so many people dancing together.  It was a much different feeling than just them and April.  It almost made the experience more exhilarating.  He wondered if that's why people went to dance clubs.  Seeing his father dance had been a delight.   Oh, he knew Sensei would get up on the floor eventually, but it was a hoot to see everyone cajoling him.  Seeing him slow dance with Phoenix was disconcerting, though.  It was as if he shouldn't be doing something like with anyone.  Tang Shen was too important in their lives for him to desecrate her memory that way.  He knew in his head it wasn't a desecration, but in a way, it felt that way.

He eyed the ferret mutant.  She'd escaped the others just after her rather...tight...dance with Arcos.  "Are you having a good time?"