#it's honestly so fun to watch what julian is doing while everyone else around him is talking | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

yesvaldemarharder · 4 years ago

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Being A Cock Warmer For The Males In Arcana

Yeah I ain’t stutter. Also the fact that y’all got 308 notes on the Nsfw Arcana bit I ain’t got 308+ followers hurts me. So cruel. 😤

Anyway let’s get started before I have a mental breakdown haha (<— old edit sorta)

Edit from today (7/25): WE ARE NOW AT 565 FOLLOWERS! (I do believe, I might have to check again) Thanks so much guys! I know I disappear a lot but with witch stuff and spirituality and shit like that I just need to take breaks. I don’t mind y’all asking me how I’m feeling though smh, it might bring me back sooner to know people care about me.

But y’all too scared to even comment on how much y’all like my posts so I know y’all won’t do it.. cowards. 😔🥺

Anyway here’s the cock holder post, I’m actually not sure if these are completely cock holder-ish because of how they turn out but here, have fun rubbing off kiddies uwu. (Please don’t be actual kids tho smh, I ain’t responsible for yo lil ass.. if you get caught rubbing one out)

EDIT 7/27: Finally I’m done, I just want to say thank you to all the followers that’s been waiting for this post! I’ve been in off and on moods these days so yeah..anyway I’ve been holding this post for months and well here ya go! Also if anyone else wants to Roleplay just hit me up! (However I need to see your style of Roleplay before we start anything..short rps and rps with plot or starters aren’t my thing. And I call dating Valdemar uwu, I’ll rp your fav character for you if you rp them for me.)

I feel like some of these are out of character but only a little, please deal with it considering how hard I worked to get this out..also if you read this whole top, you get this: a quick request from me! Request anything you want and I’ll upload it either today, tomorrow or the day after! You have to read all my top tho and I know some of you won’t so for people who do, in your request send me the call out note I put up here!

Honestly it shouldn’t be hard to find..but anyway enjoy!

(Also I might make edits later teehee..)

Asra

As yet another costumer walked asking multiple questions about crystals and spiritual awakenings you nearly whimpered to them as an answer to whatever they had just said. Your hand roughly clutching the edge of the greeting desk in front of you.

Asra’s cock nestled in deep inside you like a snug bug in a fucking rug. It pressed against your sweet spot, nudging against the g-spot and he’s carefully rolling his hips shooting pleasure all throughout your body. Your clit is rock hard at this point as his hand grips your naked thigh, your shirt pulled up and panties around your ankles.

Everything is hidden from the people coming in except your face which is trying to hard not to show how hot you’re feeling. You want to stick your tongue out so bad or let your eyes roll but you know that with the right person that’s a dead giveaway. When another comes in Asra greets them with a warm smile seeing you stumble on your words to do so instead. He thrust his hips a little and you hold back from crying out, ducking your head down into your arms to bite your lips. Just like the way he told you to.

‘What a good girl you are.~’ He thinks with a catlike grin. He’s enjoying this quite a bit and you can tell with the twitching that his cock is doing inside you. Asra has patience though, a lot of it..and while you want so desperately to bounce on his cock like a whore in heat he simply won’t let you until he sees fit. Maybe if you beg for it though he’ll simply not give a damn about the customers and will put you up for display, fuck you right on the counter in front of everyone that enters.

When the customer haults themselves mid sentence they take the time to ask if you’re ok. Of course you can’t answer, you can’t even trust your voice to sound somewhat under control. Asra is on it in a flash taking any words from you to speak instead. Maybe not with the words you expected him to say but really you can’t argue right now. Not when he lifts your legs a bit more and sinks deeper into your wet messy pussy. You shake against him letting out a strangled whimper.

“She’s just a bit sick right now, poor thing... I wished for her to sleep but she insisted on helping me today. Isn’t that sweet?”

Insisted on helping daddy work today.~ Oh such a naughty girl you were weren’t you? Don’t worry though, he’d made you squirt all over his cock like the loving daddy he was. What would he be if he didn’t?

After a couple of words between Asra and the customer the customer leaves with whatever they managed to purchase. The shop was quiet now only with the sound of wetness between your thighs and you breathless moans. It was quiet until he pushed you forward. You press firmly against the counter and he follows you pressing right up against your back, your hands find the counter and he chuckled into the skin of your back. “Such a good girl, you did a good job~” he mumbles as your cervix twitched against the slit of his cock and god, he has to cover your mouth as you cry out in pleasure because even though there aren’t anymore customers he still can’t be sure if anyone is still around outside.

You hips bucked against him now in a deep rut. He doesn’t even bother to tell you to stop because he know you won’t, he also knows you can’t help it at this point..your bouncing, tears running down your rosy cheeks. He just watches with a smug smile as his cock disappears each time you push back against him, his hands moving down to grab your hips as you moan and cry for more. Who knew a simple push would make you loose your mind? He did, that’s who knew.

You jerk with a high pitched cry and this time he doesn’t bother to cover your mouth, you’re just too far gone and he’d be a liar if he didn’t want to hear you babblering about how good his cock was. At one point you nearly collapsed but he holds you, lovingly as if you were simply cuddling in bed and not just breeding yourself on his cock.

“Shh, Shh. That’s a good girl, take daddy’s cock baby. It’s okay, I’ll let you cum.”

And oh god when his fingers came to play with your clit magick mixing in and you came so hard.. You were pretty sure you went to the astral plane for a second or some shit because it made you grip the desk for your life. Eyes rolling as he groaned, busting his load within you filling you with pups. You went limp against him, panting tiredly as he nuzzled you as if he didn’t just fuck the shit out of you.

“Such a good girl.”

Julian

You’re both flustered. His hands tightly gripping your twitching thighs as his large cock is deeply submerged in you. You’re in public, at the bar matter of fact surrounded by both men and women alike who are either drunk of their asses or are soon to be as such. Either way it’s risky to do this here but it couldn’t have been helped.

When you found your seat in Julian’s lap he turned a deep shade of red from the suddenly weight but simply chuckled lifting a brow, curious to know what you were up to now. “Darling? Careful now, I might ‘pop one’.” He chuckled and you purred, the noise making the glass you held to your lips vibrate a bit. He hugged you, like a baby clinging to a mother until you start to feel something prodding at your butt.

You make a small surprised noise and he freezes on the spot. You look back at him and he’s so flustered all he can do is look back up at you, sweating lightly, he even gives a shy little grin as if to say ‘told ya so’. After a short staring contest you bite your lip and purr once more. Why not take advantage of this, you and Julian we’re into many things so why not try out a little public play? You lift the glass back to your lips to down the rest of whatever you had been drinking in the first and then you shifted in his lap getting a feel of a twitch.

“Julian darling, you seem to have a bit of a surprise for me hm?~” He gives a nervous chuckle but nods. You take the momentary awkwardness as him being a bit shy and you know it’s understandable, even you’re feeling a little anxious with what you are about to do..however Julian was always one to try new things and you could tell he was interested the second his hand carefully cupped your hip.

You bit your lip in anticipation and without too much more hesitation you look around to see if anyone is watching glad to see that they’re not and you stand a little pulling down your pants and panties. He watches, he’s so nervous that you can practically see him gulp but the bulge in his pants is still growing so neither of you can help yourselves.

He fights his pants quickly pulling them down letting his cock bob out. Hard and already glossy with sweet precum already. If it wasn’t for a growing wetness developing between your legs and the group of people around you you’d get down on you knees and take that cock in your mouth. The tip is an angry red and you go to make a joke but shudder as he sneakily runs his thumb down the crack of your soft ass, playfully over your butthole and over your folds to your cute pink clit.

You nearly buck, humping the table but your careful. That’ll cause a scene for sure. Julian is impatient now, forgetting the awkwardness and embarrassment but he’s still cautious.. as much as he wants to beg you to hurry he doesn’t whine, not here, not yet..

You slowly lower yourself on the large, throbbing cock. It stretches you and you hear Julian gasp, his hands grabbing hold to your thighs the second you both connect. It’s hot in your belly, twitching against your fleshy pink walls, making your belly bulge ever so slightly. You’re shaking and he can’t quite literally feel you quivering around him. Biting into your lip you lightly roll your hips, slow to get a good feel of the twitching inside you.

You suddenly let out a muffled cry, your hand coming up just in time to cup your mouth when Julian bucks a bit on instinct. He’s quick to apologize though, sorry he couldn’t keep his body still but oh god...you’re soaking wet and so fucking hot that honestly he feels he might cum already.

You try to calm down, not to cause a scene when he presses his head into the crook of your shoulders, panting on your neck as he wraps his arms around you firmly keeping you in place. You practically whimper as he kissed your neck. “Q-Quickly darling, bounce on it. I’m going to cum soon~” Julian didn’t usually tell you what to do, and that might have been the reason you looked surprised at his words, might have also been the reason you grew wetter..

You felt...flustered, for the first time of being with him because usually you were the one in charge and yet here he was whispering in your ear telling YOU what to do. His lips on your neck, whispers in your ears encouraging you, cock deep inside and kissing your cervix, his taller build pressing so lovingly against your back. He moved his hand down to rub your clit curious to see your reaction as he lifts his head a little to look at your blushing face. He starts off slowly but soon he’s rolling his fingers in rough circles as you gasped and bucked, hips twitching and legs shaking.

“J-Jules, oh shit~ stop...stop I’m going to cum, I’m going to!-“

It was unexpected but he roughly slammed his hips up, cock hitting that sweet spot and he groaned as his cock throbbed before a thick release of cum flooded your insides. He held you tightly as you trembled. His hand tightly over your mouth to keep you quiet because you had been making cute little whines without even noticing. He suddenly was up and moved like a flash as he whisked you off to the bathroom where you squirted, your pussy twitching and spasming around him, eyes rolling because you had just came.

He held you against the wall as you struggled to stand on your own, no one was around now so he freely kissed you, a deep blush on his cheeks as he tried to calm you down. He’d take his time cleaning you up after you came down from your high.. “I’m sorry darling, please forgive me...I couldn’t help myself.” He chuckled lightly against you smiling as you huffed.

Lucio

You’re completely naked, skin sweaty, head buried in the same pillow where Nadia rest her head. His gauntlet squeezes your ass in a tight grip, voices in the hallway having normal talks. Your cheeks are a blood red.

He’s teasingly slow with each thrust, slow but rough covering your mouth with his other hand each time you let out a squeal at his cock spreading your cervix, the words in your ear he whispers are dirty and vulgar, humiliating but you can’t help the way your pussy squeezes around his thick veiny cock.

Lucio doesn’t seem worried, doesn’t seem like he cares if someone comes in to see him breeding his favorite servant like your just some toy. Maybe every once in a while you’ll hear Nadia’s voice and he’ll growl at how tight you squeeze around him, horny but scared she’ll come in and catch you both.

It’s so hard not to rock back into him, not only because he’s barely leaving any space for you but also because he’s in charge here. There’s a delicious twitch from his pulsating cock and you shake your hips now biting into that pillow snapping your eyes shut. It’s good, he’s good...no, he’s fucking amazing and it feels like you’re melting.

At one point it so good that you beg quietly. Soft whimpers and moans falling from your lips as the hand he had on you mouth moves to your hair, yanking those locks he loved so much.

His cock twitches inside you again and holy fuck you’re crying, you want to cum so bad but he’s keeping you still, stopping you from fucking back against him and so now all you can do is try to keep quiet.

This is torture, you think to yourself but then there’s a snap of his hips, cock burying deep in your womb and you scream, face forced into the pillows to shush you. He chuckles lowly in your ear, mockingly as you tremble violently against him.

“What’s wrong princess? Is something the matter? Use your words kitten~”

He knows you’re weak and he loves using it against you. At this point you really are crying, you want to cum to bad and he’s edging your orgasm at a level he’s never done before and it’s fucking killing you.

Beg, beg to get fucked like a bitch. Beg for him to take mercy. Beg for his cock, he fucking loves that.

And you did. “P-please sir~ please please please...let me cum please..” you sound so desperate it’s pitiful but with a hum he grants your wishes. If you thought the teasing was one thing the strokes he gave your slutty ass was another.

He fucked you so hard into the bed that when you came you couldn’t stop whimpering his name or shaking. You hips trembling seven after he pulled out. Your face pressed so hard into the pillows as his hot cum dripped out of your cunt.

He’d clean you up later but for now he kissed your lower back before giving that bum a nice slap watching as the skin brightened.

“Good girl~”

Muriel’s is a bit shorter because other then Portia I don’t really see him in a ‘LETS FUCK’ kinda way. Just my opinion don’t get mad please smh.

Muriel

It’s making your stomach bulge so much that you’re shaking, gripping his strong thighs as his large hands carefully settle on your hips.

There’s a twitch and you toss you head back to rest it on his chest, panting, whining like a dog and heat and even though it’s slightly embarrassing for you, looking up with lidded eyes and seeing that deep blush makes you purr. You bite your lip

His hand slides and now it’s on your stomach gently caressing the bulge he finds there. You shudder and then you let out a sweet high pitched moan as one of his thick fingers move to rub you clit.

His movements are slow but firm, he’s careful because he doesn’t want to hurt you but he also loves how your nails dig into his skin and how you buck and clench around him.

Keep doing that and might blow his loud sooner than he thought he would.

It’s just you and him, Inanna (did I spell that right? I don’t know I ain’t played his route like that..) is out, and he feels better that she is. Not hear to watch as the clear juices drip out of your needy cunt.

He hasn’t rolled his hips or thrusted up into you once yet and deep in your mind you feel a bit grateful but that doesn’t mean you can’t rub against him

There’s a shiver and then you wiggle those hips of yours, crying out in bliss as his finger presses against your clit and how you can feel his cock twitch again. The hand on your hips squeezes and then there’s a shaky groan behind you

He slumps a little, big strong chest against your back, lips against your throat in a gentle kiss and he’s shaking. He might just cum but it’s no doubt that you’re going to beat him to it.

When his hips stuttered you arched but now it was too late to stop. You cried his name out before you came hard around that fat cock of his. He gasped at the tightness but quickly wrapped his arms around your waist giving you a gently but firm hug.

His cumming and his cum is thick and stick. You convulse just having it in you and when you’re both done he falls back onto the bed panting with the same tempo as you.

Fuck, you loved this man and when you found your voice again you’d definitely tell him to his face. ❤️

Can I just say that Vlastomil needs more fluff and smut of him??? Like no cap he lowkey makes the pussy wet for me 🥴🥴🥴 his is a bit short but cut me some slack, it’s 1 am in the morning..

Vlastomil

You didn’t suggest this, it just kinda sorta happened. When you came into his office to greet him with a kiss you didn’t expect to end up staying for this long but you guessed when lovers are too busy with work the second they had time alone anything will go down.

A simple kiss turned to Vlastomil grabbing your hand carefully to pull you closer. He’s missed you and you’ve missed him too, what could it hurt to spend time together? You smile a little and come closer until you’re in his lap, facing him and that cute dumb grin on his face. His hands moving around your waist to pull you both together and then you’re kissing again.

His tongues are curious to roam your mouth and as you do so you can’t help but moan a little remembering the times those same tongues had been submerged in your pussy making your jerk and cry out for mercy. You’ve missed him more than you thought you did..damn Nadia and those amazing adventures you two seemed to always go on..

He paused upon hearing the sound come from you and as he pulls back there’s a glimpse in his eyes that you both know all too well. Then there’s a slight twitch beneath his robes and you can’t help but shift closer, pressing a hand to his chest to make him lean back a little. His hands are still on you but this time they squeeze a little at your hips to encourage you. “Well, we have the time now correct?” He hums and you purr, nodding a bit as you lean down to kiss his exposed throat which makes him shiver under you.

With a catlike grin you pull back lifting your skirt to show your thighs that’s encased in stockings and lace underwear that has probably five seconds to be dealt with before he rips them off you. His eyes are focused and his cheeks are a bit red but now you too have gotten this far, no need to stop now. Not with the bulge between his legs growing bigger and needier for attention. It doesn’t take long to get him inside you, his fingers have prepared your now wet cunt and now your slit is teasing the head of his cock.

Usually Vlastomil doesn’t mind a bit of playfulness but he really wants you and with out much of a thought he pulls you down, kissing your lips as you go to arch and moan out at the sudden move. He’s throbbing in you, his long cock pulsing happily to finally be surrounded by your hot wet insides. You clutch his clothes, legs twitching a bit and even though you want to keep kissing you can’t help how your head tilts back even more you you to let out a broken moan of his name.

“Vl-Vlast~..” you gasp as he shifts a little to which he hums. “Hush now, don’t be too loud dear~.” Because while he’d love to make you scream the last thing he really wants to hear are rumors from servants who are far too curious about his love life. You shiver and for a while he just holds you allowing you to be the one rolling your hips shakily against him. A quiet groan leaving him each time his cock moves inside you like it might just slip out.

You’re so hot that he buries his head in your shoulder to try and stop himself from pinning you down on his desk. With his movement he presses deeper in you and you whine rolling you hips a bit faster. He’ll allow you to chance your orgasm, until he doesn’t..where he’ll grab your hips in an almost bruising grip to stop you. Then he’ll edge you on till you’re shaking and crying like a bitch, begging for him to stop and just let you come.

Only then would he allow if, for now however, he liked the feeling of those tight walls hugging his cock like a life support.

As you fell apart to your bucking he leaned his head back to whisper in your ear on how you’re doing so well or how good you feel around him. He’s not actively trying to make you cum but oh he’s definitely help tug on the knot inside of you. You hips stutter and with a shout you cum, shaking, twitching, and begging for him to stop with his mistreatments.

When your down, breathless and used he’ll continue to hold you there until he’s cumming so much in you that it starts to overflow. When you could speak again he’d wait for you to say how much you love him, for now however he simply chuckled and placed a lovely kiss on your forehead. Later he’d definitely pin you down and be the one in charge.

Valerius

Whatever Lucio has been saying definitely didn’t translate to you, not when Valerius had his cock so far up your pussy that you struggled to even breathe evenly.

Not with his hand massaging the inside of your thigh underneath the cloth of the table, not with him pressing a light kiss to your cheek even once in a while and definitely not with his little dirty promises each time Lucio looked away.

Your breath came out shaky after Lucio asked you something about the food and you bit your lip feeling the cock in you twitch.

“It’s d-delicious.” It’s the only thing you can mumble after Lucio speaks on how’s the food, while trying to not bounce on the cock that’s getting squeezed by your cunt. You want to roll your hips so bad, make him fuck you on this table without a care, but at the same time you do care.

You care about what whatever the hell Lucio will say for whatever fucking reason and that leaves you shivering trying to fight off the heavy blush that’s trying to appear on your face.

Valerius leers close, his head finding your neck, his lips moving along your skin. Smooth lips kissing your shoulder, then the base of your neck and moving to your ear. He moves his hips and your hand instinctively comes down to squeeze his thigh. He lets out a low groan into your ear feeling the wetness that you’re pussy is letting off, your heat having him hard as a fucking boulder. It really is hard to not bend you over this table and fuck you like the slut that you are. He could see it now, your nails digging into the table cloth as his fingers yank and pull on your hair, his eyes on your cunt with swallows him oh-so nicely with each thrust.

“I’m going to fuck you darling..” he speaks into your ear and the shiver you let off made him chuckle. Lucio is back talking again now, something about another masquerade and how amazing he is.., it doesn’t matter. Valerius’s hand on your thigh begins to move and you’re so sensitive now that even the slightest touch makes you whimper under your breath. His hand moves to tickle your clit, fingers playfully rubbing against the hard bun and now you do bounce on him.

It’s sudden but it makes you both shudder, there’s a wet sound that’s made when you do it and now Valerius downs the rest of his wine somehow calmly managing to set the empty glass on the table. His eyes are closed and you bite your lip, Lucio perks. “Oh Valerius! Would you like some more wine? I’ll even go get it for you!” And you can’t stop him because he’s already running to the kitchen. There’s silence and then his hand wraps around your throat, it squeezes and you let out a choked moan.

“Do it again.” He hummed and fuck, you listen to daddy when told to. Your hips are quick to studder, you bounce, raising your hips just to slam them back down on him. A broken cry leaving your voice when he takes the lead. Your legs spread over his as he fucks you with vigor. His cock rutting so deep in you with each thrust that you can feel it in you tummy and you can feel yourself chasing your own orgasm.

It’s just you and him and your letting out whimpering and broken moans, babbling to your daddy on how good you’ll be if he lets you cum. He believes every word of course because right now the ball is in his field and he’s in charge of if you actually get to cum in his lap.

Your arching, eyes rolling and you can feel the tightness in your belly. It’s coming, you’re trying to warn him, your hands placed on his knees for some sort of structure. You’re so cute, he whispers lovingly in your ear how wet your cunt is or how much it’s squeezing him and then he comes to a sudden stop.

You almost cry, not a small whine but a pitiful yell. You were so close and yet he stopped..this is torture, you couldn’t help but repeat that in your head. Lucio is coming back and you can tell because who doesn’t know that snazzy silhouette by now. Valerius has his hands on you holding you tightly to stop you from taking from him without permission. You will only cum when he lets you, don’t forget that.

They’re talking but you’re trying so hard not to really cry right now, your pussy trembling with juices dripping down his balls and down your thighs. He has a hand on your hip that’s squeezing, telling you to keep in your place and even though you’re desperate you know that the prize of waiting is much better than a punishment. Or was it? (Teehee 👅😈💦)

A wine bottle slides towards you and it takes you a second to realize what’s happening. You blink before wrapping your fingers around the barrel without a thought and then there’s another deep thrust. You jerk bitting your lip as your hand tightens around the bottle almost like you wish to crush it. Valerius leans against you with a hum “are you alright? Can you open it?” He spoke lowly and to be honest there’s been multiple times where you wanted to hit him but this one really took the cake.

You nod lightly and then his other hand is over your clit, you gasp as digits violently play with the bundle of nerves and you can’t see at the moment but there’s a wide smirk on Lucio’s face. You completely break and arch in his lap as he presses kisses against your throat. “C-coming!~ D-Daddy I’m coming!~~” you cry and while you try weakly to clutch his arm he bucks lifting your hips with his other hands.

The string breaks inside you and then you go to scream but his hand is quick to cover your mouth from such a blissful sound. You cream all over his cock and there’s a rough groan as he cums inside you, his cum hot and filling you to the brim. You slump against him shaking and shivering before peeking a little.

“WOW! What an amazing show Valerius!” The count chuckles and now your blush is hellishly red. Did Lucio know the whole time? Well it must be expected considering how close the two could be. Valerius had his head in your shoulder as he lightly pet your belly which only added to how tired you were now.. You were definitely going to hit him when you woke back up..

Now, for Valdemar and Vulgora. I KNOW they both go by they/them pronouns. I’m only saying this because someone once didn’t know the difference between a daddy kink and ddlg on my account and the last thing I want is some little fucker being like “bUt BuT bUt!..” Most of my post for Valdemar or Vulgora is them with a tentacle dick but I don’t mind writing them with vaginas either. (Tribbing post coming soon uwu) My point is they’re both capable of forming whatever genitalia they want and plus this is just for fun and horny folk, calm down.

Vulgora

A blood curdling scream cut through the air as blood fell to the dirt ground with a splat, the coliseum was bustling with hunger for violence and the screams of the weak. There were three reasons for coming here, for one, Vulgora loved the coliseum. How could they not, fighting and blood was basically what they were made for. Two, they loved to show you the things that they liked to get closer to you.

The third being that when screams filled the air, the screams of pleasure from your lips couldn’t be distinguished from the ones down below.

They grinned a bit before laying their chin on your shoulder, their strong arms wrapped tightly around your waist to keep the two of you attached. You twitched tossing your head back to rest on their shoulder as you let out hot pants and cooes. It squirmed inside of you, that seeping hot tentacle that stretched your cunt as if that was its job. Their tentacle was white in color other than the tip that grew a lovely pink/red, you bit your lip. Just thinking about it had you opening you legs a bit more.

Vulgora shifted moving their hips and you shake when they do because the way their tip wiggles inside your cervix definitely has you ready to start drooling and have their baby or some shit. Vulgora usually fucks you like your in heat but here, with the screams of death they want to hear you scream for more. It’s a bit sadistic of them in a way but why should they care, it’s only you and them on this row of chairs anyway, everyone else is much closer to the front.

Vulgora’s body is hot against yours and if it wasn’t for their arms wrapping around your midsection you’d probably arch away from the touch. Sometimes their so hot you can’t handle it, and more ways than one. Vulgora suddenly snaps their hips up and it’s so sudden that a scream rips right out of your throat before you can catch it. It mingles in the air mixing with a now dead man down below but now you hand moves to grab their arm.

“V-Vulgora..I can’t..~” you struggle to speak, your toes curling as the tentacle wiggles and squirms inside your belly, your eyes rolling as you bite down on your lip. Vulgora chuckles a mocking chuckle and somehow it makes you even wetter. Their tongue slides out to lick your throat, a gauntlet running up your shirt to expose your breast to the tangy air. “You can if I say you can~.” They mumble against your skin.

Holy fuck, you could cum right now but they’d definitely would turn your bliss into a punishment because did they say you could come yet? No, no they didn’t.

Your clit is so hard at this point and the adrenaline of someone simply turning around and catching you so exposed has you not only scared but squeezing them more. What if someone turned around? The whole stadium would see you taking the Pontifex’s cock like some whore. You started to shake at that thought laying your head back against them because you think you’re about to cum. They hum against your skin because out of all their time of dating you they know what goes on in the filthy little head of yours.

You like this. They grin a little before biting down on your shoulder before making a circle motion with their hips. Oh they way you begged, that’s what they want to hear. They want to hear how much you like it and how much it makes you feel good. Vulgora isn’t one to spend time fucking others so you have such privilege to be getting dicked down by them much less be their actual mate.

They don’t really edge you but you can expect more then one orgasm. When you’re practically crying and begging is when they’ll stop breeding you because now you’re full of cum and boneless against them. You pussy spasms around them and all the can do now is laugh a bit and rub your bloated belly. Even with how rough they can be you can tell they love you. They hands rubbing you carefully as the whisper how good you felt and how impressive you are in your ear.

If anything Vulgora is so in love with you you can proudly say your their addiction. You giggle a little when you finally have to strength to again and they hum lightly at the lovely sound.

Valdemar

Valdemar hasn’t been paying much attention to you but honestly what can you expect from them, you may have gotten them to acknowledge they feel a strong connection for you but when stating how you need their touch or how they should pay more attention to you can still be a bit of a struggle.

You huff seeing their back to you, those talented hands (which your cunt knows all to well at this point, fuck I’m needy now..) working so diligently on the lifeless corpse of some female you didn’t take the time to learn about. You’re in your night cloths having just came out of the shared room that you had been waiting for them in. You’re a bit annoyed to see them still working, it’s not like the body was going anywhere soon..

“Val..are you still working on that...” you sigh lightly and they don’t even bother to look back at you as they speak. “It won’t be for much longer.” They answer without missing a beat. You approached them, naked feet lightly padding against the floor and not much longer your against their back. They pause for a second before moving to look back at you. You give them a look, one of irritation and maybe a bit of an attitude and they don’t say anything as they narrow their gaze a little.

“Are you having more time with her than you are with me?” You mumble childishly against their back as your arms move to close around them and then you hand carefully runs down their chest. They roll their eyes moving to put their utensils down in the bloody tray next to the rotting corpse. “Don’t be absurd darling..” they speak and there’s a bit of a low warning tone behind their mask. Maybe it was the fact that they’d been working for hours when they wanted to join you or perhaps it was you coming out of nowhere with such silly things to say, either way, you could see that this was them telling you to watch yourself.

They noticed that attitude for a couple days now and to say the least they were pretty fed up with it. Fed up with the attitude and/or petty remarks.. You on the other hand scoffed to hide a smug smirk. “Do you like your fingers being in her more than in me?” This time they turned around making you stop and then take a small step back because to be honest you didn’t expect that. They grabbed your wrist holding it up as they got closer, your scent drawing them in.

“What did I just say? Stop the nonsense (y/n) or I’ll punish you.” Oh~ now you shivered a little. You hummed to resist from biting your lip, a punishment huh? Just what you needed. You pressed against their chest looking up at their slim tall figure with an almost challenging look as if you were calling a bluff. You tilted your head “did I strike a nerve? Want some more alone time with your new bitch?”

It happened so fast, them spinning you around and pushing your front down on a newly cleaned table. They pulled your hips up pressing firmly against your back as they leaned down to your ear with a low scoff. “Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear.” They spoke lowly before a hand was lifting your gown over the round of your ass to reveal those lace panties, their gloves hand traced your skin. You shivered under their surprisingly strong build, biting your bit as you wiggles back against them only for one of their hands to sit right in the small of your back keeping you still. “Drop the attitude.” The hissed lightly.

When you let out a small whimper that’s when they knew this was what you wanted. They paused before humming in a sing song-y way. Their other hand snaked up before wrapping around your throat tilting your head back until your eyes connected with theirs. “Oh now~ I think I see what’s happening here..” they spoke with that sharp gaze. You were already getting super wet at this point and you wanted so desperately to push back against them.

“What a naughty little whore you are (y/n)..” they trailed off a little as something slimy ran up your inner thigh to rub over your clothed cunt before pulling your panties aside revealing your needy cunt that trembled for attention. You could feel it behind you, their body shifting a bit to help in this situation..the tentacle sliding over your clit as another managed to free them from their slacks revealing their tentacock which started as the same color as their skin to black half way.

Soon enough they had pushed inside leaving you breathless as they kept that dominating gaze on you, the hand around your throat squeezing a bit as your pussy hugged them. The long and heavy appendage squirmed inside you and you couldn’t help but spread your legs a bit more and cooe at them. Your stomach bulged a bit and you had to keep your hands firmly down to not completely collapse upon them, hell if it wasn’t for them supporting your back you were nearly positive your legs would buckle.

Once they were completely settled they leaned down to give you a kiss, short and sweet before they started a torturously slow pace allowing you to feel all of them and shake with need. Oh no, not this..Valdemar had quite a bit of patience and you knew that when they say they’d punished you they mean it. The last thing you expected was such cruelty like this though. You let out a broken cry “V-Val!..please~..” you choked out letting out a slight gargle as their hand tightened a bit more around your neck, the other moving to clasp around your hip to keep you from fucking back onto them.

They ignored you, their thrust slow but intensely firm, their cock sinking so deep in you you couldn’t help but cry a little from the slight overstimulation.

The room still had the scent of blood that filled your senses as well as the scent of sex and the wet squelching noises coming from you two. Your moans growing louder and your begs growing more desperate each time they pressed against you, your clit so hard that each time one of the other tentacles would flick it you’d jump with a shout. Valdemar never once looked away from you while you on the other hand couldn’t keep your eyes open or stop letting them roll to the back of your head.

They loved this honestly, putting you in your place and watching you fall apart from just a couple actions and they had to admit, while sex isn’t necessarily important to them they liked to see you so red in the face and twitchy with pleasure. You felt like you been there for hours when you finally came shaky violently, closing your eyes tight and letting out a high pitch cry. Your back arched as much as they’d let you and you came so hard it felt like you had died. Valdemar held you through it, letting up on their grip around your throat.

They weren’t done with you of course, they’d still have yet to cum themselves. For now though they’d hold you until you were ready to take more of your punishment.

#the arcana #the arcane game #count lucio #the arcana asra #julian devorak #the arcana muriel #praetor vlastomil #consul valerius #pontifex vulgora #quaestor valdemar #n/s/f/w #nsf.w #otoma game

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beybladefanboy · 3 years ago

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Top 5 Metal Masters Episodes

Honestly, out of the three main seasons, Masters to me is the weakest. That is by a slight margin, it’s still a very good season, but it is a more noticeable margin than the one between Fusion and Fury. I think we can all agree that the time they spend in America in the last twenty five or so episodes is the most consistently good part of the season. Before that, this season goes up and down in quality like a rollercoaster. In the end though, this season was more good than lackluster so here are the best episodes.

Honourable Mentions

Episode 98: The Fallen Emperor

This is the episode where Da Xiang and Julian battle. I honestly really relate to Julian’s story where he was held to really high expectations and was never allowed to fail so when he did, he didn’t know how to handle it and felt like he lost everything. This episode also made me really like Da Xiang. He was annoying at first but seeing him become a leader who has found strength supporting his team and getting back up after every defeat and teaching Julian to do the same was really nice. It was a great moment for both of their characters and it was cool seeing Da Xiang use the full extent of his abilities. I didn’t really think of him as a really strong blader before this episode.

Episode 100: The Wild Beast Unleashed

This is Kyoya and Damian’s battle and once again, I’m biased toward Kyoya. I like his battle against Damian more than Gingka’s because Gingka was sort of guaranteed to win while Kyoya could’ve gone either way. I don’t really have much to say: it’s just an epic battle and an interesting look into Kyoya’s character. I won’t go into that because another Tumblr user has already done a much better job and I don’t want to copy them, it’s just really in line with the Kyoya we know.

5) Episode 77: The Dragon Emperor Returns

I mentioned having a Kyoya bias but if there’s a character I have even more of a bias for, it’s Ryuga. Long story short, this is the episode that made Ryuga my favourite character. I liked him as a villain in Fusion, and was already starting to get a bit of a crush on him, but this episode made me fall in love. In fact, I can pinpoint the exact moment it happened: when he explained how the dark power was man made so he could overcome it and draw L-Drago’s power from its original source, showing that he was willing to admit his mistakes and determined to grow from the experience. How could I not admire that? He’s also just a total badass. His entrance in this episode, walking in with a sadistic looking smile as he makes meteors fall all around him before he beats the crap out of everyone there was just amazing. This is also a great episode for Tsubasa, another favourite character of mine. He’s going crazy due to the dark power in this episode, letting his dark side take over and drive him to battle Sophie, Wales, and Julian in the woods at night with the intent to destroy them. It’s tragic but the Dark Tsubasa arc was the best part of Masters so I really liked seeing him struggle with this darker side and seeing Ryuga provide him the solution: to become one with the dark power. Just a really interesting episode overall.

4) Episode 69: The Scorching Hot Lion

Here’s more of my Kyoya bias. This episode was a huge breath of fresh air. Masters before this point was really uninteresting for me, with the exception of the Dark Tsubasa stuff which hadn’t been portrayed much at this point. It was mostly battles I didn’t care for and Gingka, Masamune, and Yu being insanely obnoxious. So to get away from them, and see a character’s return I was personally waiting for with baited breath, it was like a drink of cold water on a hot day. This is a simple episode all things considered: it’s just the formation of Team Wild Fang but that was more interesting than anything else in the season at that point. Kyoya and Nile’s camaraderie/friendship is developed and showcased well, to the point where they already really feel like a team. Demure is sort of just inserted into their group but he does prove himself to be useful and to kid me, it was a nice surprise that he was the one to make their team. So yeah, just a simple episode showing fun interesting characters forming bonds.

3) Episode 91: The Furious DJ Battle?!

This episode is honestly just funny. It doesn’t accomplish anything plot-wise: it’s just Gan Gan Galaxy trying and failing to find a replacement member for their team since Tsubasa and Yu are both hospitalized. Kenta and Wang Fu Zhong all battle for this honour, when Ryo interferes in his Phoenix costume. He tries to join the team, stupidly not knowing the rules of his own tournament and in one of the most satisfying moments EVER, Hikaru puts this idiot in his place and Ryo is disappointed. His suffering is points in my book. Then the American and Japanese blader DJs come in. Rewatching it now, this episode was probably fan service for people that wanted to see them battle but it’s honestly great fan service. Seeing the main cast react to such a terrible bey battle, with the series’ over the top announcing, is just amazing. Words can’t really give it justice. Just watch the episode. It’s the funniest one in the show.

2) Episode 72: Eternal Rivals

In my opinion, this was Gingka and Kyoya’s best battle. I always have fun seeing these two battle but at this point in the series, they hadn’t battled one on one since Metal Fusion. The battles got much more layered and fierce since then. Gingka and Kyoya are constantly going back and forth between who is winning, trading special moves and keeping you on your toes and wondering who’s going to win. And then… neither of them do. Gingka and Kyoya end up being equals in power, using up every ounce of their strength trying to defeat their opponent before collapsing from exhaustion. Yeah, it’s kind of disappointing we never saw Kyoya defeat Gingka. However, I think a tie was the perfect way to end this specific battle. Before this, Masamune lost to Nile so one more loss would’ve kicked Gan Gan Galaxy out of the tournament but simply giving Gingka the win would’ve sort of discredited the hard work Kyoya put in. Having them tie keeps Gan Galaxy at the disadvantage without making them lose and showcases how far Kyoya has come as a balder. Overall, just a really epic battle that makes the slower parts before it worth it.

1) Episode 79: Dark Eagle

There’s a very simple reason I love this episode: it’s the culmination of the Dark Tsubasa Arc, aka the best thing about Metal Masters. It was an interesting look into a character's psyche and added a darker layer to the earlier part of this season. However, this resolution was what made it really stick out to me. In other shows I've seen (Yugioh for example) the goal is always to drive out/destroy the darkness within people but this episode decided to go in a more realistic direction. Realistic in an representational way I mean. In real life, we can't drive out our "darkness" so to speak. What we can do in real life is accept ourselves and learn to overcome our inner demons rather than denying them, which is what Tsubasa did in this episode. He accepted that his darker self was part of him but that it didn’t define who he was, overcoming that darkness and creating a new special move on the spot to defeat Sophie and Wales. Yeah, the battle itself is still really good but the flashback of Tsubasa as a kid and him overcoming his dark power is what propels the episode into being one of the best.

#beyblade #beyblade metal fight #beyblade metal saga #metal masters #beyblade metal masters #daxiang wang #julian konzern #don't think I've ever tagged them before #they're both cool #kyoya tategami #tsubasa otori #ryuga #ryuga kishatu #gingka hagane #I do love this season #I really hope I haven't made anyone think otherwise

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this-is-my-procrastination · 4 years ago

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the arcana main 6 w/ a shy, easily flustered mc

Asra:

Asra is pretty private so he’d love to spend nights in with just you

doesn’t mind quiet as long as he still gets soft cuddles

He’s good with his words though, so he’ll often whisper sweet things into your ear and make you blush

Would definitely take you with him on spontaneous trips to other lands, but he’ll always keep in mind your comfort levels and check up on you often to make sure you’re having fun

Is very protective of you, and if anyone makes fun of you for being quiet, he’ll immediately step in with a dark look on his face

Asra just really loves you and everything about you, including your shyness, and his favorite thing is definitely making you blush

He makes it sort of a game to see how many times he can make you blush in a day (spoilers: it’s a lot)

And on the occasion that you do something to fluster him in return (like a flirty remark or a surprise kiss on the cheek), you’ll be rewarded with the rare sight of a flustered Asra with averted eyes and rosy cheeks

Julian:

Julian loves that you blush for him often, it makes him feel special and also he just really loves seeing your red face

He thinks you’re absolutely adorable and will often surprise you with a sweeping hug or a charming wink

He likes to go to rowdy places and would love for you to join him, but he would also completely understand if you’re not feeling up to it

Always keeps you in mind when you guys are somewhere crowded

He keeps near you at all times, usually with a comforting hand on your shoulder or waist

If he sees any sign that you’re starting to feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable, he’ll immediately whisk you away with his signature dramatic flair

He’s gotta take care of his lovely darling, after all!

But he’s really good at bringing you out of your shell and helping you enjoy yourself when you guys are out

He’s very outgoing, but so fun to be around that meeting new people or going to crowded places doesn’t seem as scary when he’s with you

Nadia:

Nadia doesn’t mind your shyness because she also enjoys taking breaks from social outings every now and then

Especially when she’s around those headaches that call themselves courtiers, you’re like a breath of fresh air for her

She can always feel herself relaxing and genuinely enjoying herself around you

Very considerate and always takes your needs into account

Her favorite nights are those when she’s alone with you and y’all can just appreciate each other’s presence

She’s really patient so she won’t mind if you tend to be quiet

She’ll gently ask you about your day, and then delicately comb her fingers through your hair or pull you to sit closer to her

Nadia does love seeing you flustered though

She’ll laugh and make a witty remark about how tempting you look with those pink cheeks

She already loves to give people gifts, but she’d especially enjoy watching your face when you receive something because she knows you’ll start to stutter and get flustered

Portia:

This girl loves to talk so there’ll never be a dull moment nor an awkward silence when you’re around her

Doesn’t mind if you tend to be quiet, but she loves to affectionately tease you and say you’re the strong, silent type

But then you start blushing and she’ll call you cute, sweet, adorable, etc.

Thinks it’s really endearing when you get all flustered

She’ll tease you about it, but ultimately won’t go out of her way to make you embarrassed around her

She prefers to just spend time with you and shower you in affection and earnest words of love and adoration

Brings you out of your shell slowly but surely, with an endless amount of patience and enthusiasm

Lucio:

Lucio doesn’t mind you being shy around others because he thinks it means you’ll pay more attention to him

But if you ever shy away from him, he will whine and get dramatic (nothing new), saying that you’re cruelly depriving him of his needed cuddles for the day

Honestly acts like a child about it, but you suppose it’s endearing in a way

Other than those situations, though, he still appreciates you and makes sure you’re comfortable with the many parties he hosts

Loves to show you off no matter what, so expect to meet a lot of new people, but he’ll still make sure to keep an arm around you and comfort you if you’re getting overwhelmed

And that’s a big show of love from him since he’s usually bouncing around like a puppy on crack

He loves when you get embarrassed, although if you get flustered by someone else’s actions, he’ll get jealous real fast

Pinches your cheeks and calls you precious when you blush because of him

Will do anything to get a reaction out of you, which will probably end up annoying you at some point

But he thinks it’s worth it to see your endearing expressions

Muriel:

Muriel’s already a quiet dude, but instead of deterring you, I think it could help bring you out of your shell

Like his presence is very calming and stable so he would never be overbearing, and you’d be able to feel comfortable speaking your mind around him

Your mutual shyness would make this relationship v awkward at first, but after a while it becomes really cute and everyone will ship it

Your gentle touches make this boy soft (and also very flustered)

If you start blushing, he’ll start blushing and vice versa, so whenever y’all show affection to each other, it becomes a big lovey-dovey mess

He’s protective of you and although he hates going out in public, he’ll endure it if you’re going out because he doesn’t want you to be alone

You struggle through crowds together, but knowing you have each other’s back helps set both your minds at ease

And when you both get back, there’ll definitely be a lot of cuddling and sweet moments

He’ll smile when you start to blush and rub your back comfortingly as he waits for you to calm down

The moment you return his gentle touch, he’ll start to blush oh no

He really enjoys it though, and he’ll pull you even closer into his chest if you start to get red

#the arcana x reader #asra x reader #asra x you #julian x reader #julian x mc #nadia x mc #nadia x reader #portia x reader #portia x mc #lucio x mc #lucio x reader #muriel x mc #muriel x reader #the arcana x mc #why is portia's so short im really sorry #is this even good #what is good writing idk her #not an ask

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a-dumb-simp · 4 years ago

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How the obey me brothers + Arcana would react to a dancer gn mc

> The Arcana + Obey me

Regular and competition hc

This is purely self indulgent because I dance lmao <3

> I matched up different styles to different people based on what they would be most interested in!

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

^ this is so long and I’m sorry but I’m on mobile so I can’t put a read more :( I love u <3

Ballet

Lucifer

He found out you did Ballet when he looked through your profile for the exchange program

He was interested but waited until you wanted to tell him to ask anything

He loves to watch you stretch and if you convince him well enough he might join you some nights and morning

It's part of your guys routine

His brothers must never know

You convinced him to finally do a partner dance with you

Him in a Ballet leotard and black legginging

His brothers are going insane but his glares still give them chills

Makes a room for you guys to practice with mirrors and ballet bars set up

Will spin you and then dip you

Kisses in the middle of dances all the time

Becomes a lot more flexible and doesn't know what to do with it

You teach him all the French Ballet terms and sometimes use it as inside jokes cause no one else can understand ”dance talk”

Cuddles in between fun practices :))

He's soft for you

Asra

He knew you did ballet before the incident

Afterwards he helps teach you again

Has to teach himself the moves and terminology first so now he gets to dance with you

Loves teaching you small bits of French when you learn to talk again so it's easier to understand ballet

Once you remember the both of you go to masquerades and do partner dances in the ballroom

Nadia loves watching the both of :)

You try to teach Muriel and it goes awful but Asra finds it adorable

He teaches you slowly and you learn to be a dancer again thanks to him <3

Contemporary

Belphie

He was napping the first time he heard you jumping around

He looked up curiously to find you practising a sequence

Almost asked you what you were doing but instead went back to sleep

Woke up again and saw you in a butterfly jump

You heard him rustling around and got excited!!

You can finally show him what you had choreographed!!

He watched you do a routine with a sleepy smile

Afterwards he'll applaud and let you curtsy towards him

Acts like he's throwing roses to you (plz pretend you caught one in your mouth)

He loves watching you dance

It's soothing to him honestly and if he's ever in a bad mood he’ll ask you to dance for him

Muriel

He found out through Asra that you liked to dance

He found you one day in the garden outside the hut practising grande jetes

You looked like a little fairy jumping around the in the forest

He honestly fell in love again

He sat down with Inanna and watched you for a good hour

Loves seeing your face light up when you finally nail doing your firebird

Will walk up to you and and tell you how beautiful you looked dancing

Scared you a bit!

He's v sorry :(

You just looked so focused he doesn't want to interrupt you!

Hip-hop

Mammon

Found you practising moves after school

You were playing music in your headphones and couldn't hear a damn thing

He just watched you for a bit until he felt the need to cause mischief >:)

He grabbed your waist as you were about to do a move and your hips went back towards his

-0-

He's a blush mess now and so are you, you compose yourself better than him tho

He didn't realise what you were dancing to at first so he begs you to play the music without headphones

As soon as it starts playing he can't take his eyes off you

He has little hearts shining in his eyes and is a blush mess but at the same time proud of you

Please teach him some moves

This man can sway and shake his hips-

Show him how to dance in different styles

wacking would be just favourite, the mix of pop with a subtle sway is perfect

Both of you doing duets

Please recreate dirty dancing scenes with him, he’ll die happy

Lucio

He's in the ballroom when he sees you

You and Portia we're just messing around and she found out you had danced before you came to Vesuvia and she immediately asked you to teach her

His heels made so much damn noise there was no way you couldn't hear him

Portia took her leave after blushing and left him staring at you

Deciding to be a bit bold you continued the combo

Leaning down to the floor and dragging your hands up your body slowly while continuing eye contact

He's a blushing mess

He may seem like a dominate tall leader but. You make him especially weak

He's begging to learn how to strut

You pull out his pairs of highest heels and go walking through the castle

He's surprisingly good at it, maybe a bit too good

His balance isn't the best but his confidence makes up for it

If he falls he's taking you down with him though so watch out

Tap

Leviathan

He found a video of anime characters dancing to song and saw someone recreate it with tap shoes

He found it so cool and shoved his phone toward you to show you

You quietly goggles and said you would be right back

He was a bit disappointed you didn't have a reaction to the video but he let it go for now

When you came back he looked up and saw the same style of shoes in your hands

He jumped up and yelled that you had to learn the dance!!

Oh you will, but he's using your spare pair of shoes to do it too

He's of course on board, dancing and anime with you!! of course he loves it

The other brothers not so much, the constant noise forced you guys to learn it outside

Levi was clumsy and not forceful enough to truly make sounds but he had the right spirit

You're both giggling and out of breath when he gets the idea to upload the video

Mammon and Belphie are both already making fun of you guys in the morning

Portia

She was so excited to come home and see you with a tap board laid down and playing a metronome

You were so distracted you didn't see her looking at you with stars in your eyes

She closed the door and you still didn't look over

She finally had to walk over and grab your hand

You were so concentrated as you were mastering doing a switching pullback without moving

You completely fell

You forgot to tape the bottoms of your shoes and slipped when she tapped you

She quickly pulled you up and made you sit on the couch

She's apologizing but you assure her she's fine, she's just mumbling about how powerful and focused you looked

She loves seeing you so passionate about something <3

Pointe

Satan

Satan had read about traditional French and Russian ballets at some point probably has seen a recreation of a Christmas classic dance at some point

So when he was in your room reading and saw your first pair of shoes tied up he asked about them

You showed him how they bent and about how the shank was dead but they were your first pair and it was sentimental so you kept them

He went with you to get fitted for a new pair and even paid for them just to see you dance

As soon as you got home he asked you to show him some basics

He had seen enough dances to know how to twirl you and you let him

He held you and you taught him how to do partner work

It becomes a regular thing

The brothers find you guys in the living room one day, him in a leotard and tights and you in a leo and a pancake skirt

They all watched as he completed a lift with you

Please convince him to try pointe

He learns fast so pre-pointe isn't really and issue and he has good balance

You eventually both learn multiple traditional combinations and show off

He's so glad he asked about your old pair of shoes

Nadia

She found out you did some sort of balance-related sport as soon as she saw how you carried yourself

She knows from having to learn how to walk elegantly and from dance lessons how the two are related

She just flat out asked you

You told her you did pointe and for once you didn't have to explain it to someone using the term ”toe-shoes”

She took ballroom lessons as a child and then went on the learn some other styles as well

She never did try pointe but she knew what it was

She took you to get handcrafted and fitted Russian pointes

You showed her different moves in French and she taught you the same terminology in Russian (she knew both)

It was fun honestly, she could relate more than anyone to learning

She taught you styles of dance she learned and in return you put on shows in pointe shoes just for her

She loves watching the control you had over your body and the concentrated faces you made

Jazz/Mucial Theatre

Asmodeus

This man lives for drama

As soon as you told him you did musical theatre dances he was in love all over again

He loves helping you come up with ideas for dances

He will ABSOLUTELY do a duet with you

You have to perform in front of the brothers

Diavolo has you both be entertainment for his parties

He's so enthusiastic about this

Please let him do dramas with you

He can't act for shit but it's still so funny

There's really no dancing happening more just over exaggerated falling into each others arms

Julian

We already know he's been in plays and acted in theatres

So that night he had acted as himself when he accidently fell onto stage you told him you danced

He's already dragging you to dance on the tables at the bar

Everyone drunk and clapping for you and you get free drinks for the entertainment

He's also making you come to be in theatre with him

Please indulge him in this

Your both getting ”made fun of” by Asra but he truly finds you both adorable

You put on shows for Nadia and the staff and Portia is crying by the end of it

Julian completely falling into your arms and taking you down with him

This man forgets his height

Demands to be the damsel in distress

Please be his knight in shining armour

Acro/Lifts

Beel

This man-

Get him to lift you please

He’s absolutely strong enough to lift you over his head

Dirty dancing lifts that Mammon can’t do lmao

He loves watching you stretch before and he starts stretching with you too

You guys work out together to build strength

He uses you as a weight honestly

You both scare the other demons in the gym

(Mostly him but like seeing a tiny human being able to keep up with a demon is also a bit terrifying)

Protein shakes together!

The other boys will come down to the kitchen to see you both in workout gear and happily talking and wonder how the hell you're both this excited in the morning

He loves watching you concentrate and enjoying it with you when you finally land a move

The first time you successfully did your arial he was so proud

The first time you fell doing a trick he was so worried

He learns to spot you from then on

Please lift him, he loves it

FAUST <3

She’s so excited!!!

Her human can do tricks

Likes wrapping around you while u stretch

STRECTHES WITH YOU

She sits in blanket forts and watches you

Sits on your head while your balancing

Emotional support <3

She loves you so much

💘💖💗💘💞💖💓💝💕💖💓💘

#asmodeus obey me #lucifer obey me #obey me #obey me beelzebub #obey me leviathan #obey me mammon #obey me!#satan obey me #the arcana #the arcane game #the arcane julian #the arcana asra #the arcana nadia #the arcana lucio #the arcana muriel #the arcana portia #fictif #nyx hydra

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abluescarfonwaston · 4 years ago

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Lettenhove Au

Part 1 Part 2

Oh how unreasonable.

“Dear did you finish those logging reports?” His mother stepped into the office. Head buried in a logistics report.

“Just did. Here.” He offered them to her but her eyes were stuck behind him.

On Geralt.

“You must be my son’s new bodyguard.” He watched Geralt hesitantly nod out of the corner of his eye. “I hadn’t expected you to be quite so…”

“Old?” He suggested for her. “You won’t offend him by being direct. He does have- oh what?- Half a century or so on you. It’s only fair.”

Her brow pinched. Her fingers rubbed together nervously as she glanced back to him. “Julian I know numbers aren’t your forte but he can’t be-“

They knew exactly the moment the gold in his eyes registered.

A tiny back step. Half a sharp inhale.

“A Witcher?” She looked at him. Hand covering her agape mouth. “How? How did you-“

He readied himself to explain when her eyes widened. “The white wolf.”

They both tensed as she rounded the desk to him.

She cupped his face in her hands. You are the man who kept him from me. You are the bastard he abandoned me for. He braced for her to say. As so many of the women in his life had.

“Thank you.” Her tears freezing Geralt more effectively than any spell he’d ever seen. “For protecting him all those years. Thank you.” Geralt eyes stayed locked on her. Trapped by her thin hands. “For bringing him home.”

He was halfway out of his chair he’d realized. He eased back down into it. Who he’d worried for he wasn’t sure.

How unreasonably in love I am with everything you do.

“Julian!” His mother burst into the room. Letter in hand. “The Countess responded!”

Geralt looked up from his sword sharpening, hands stilling. Ciri shrunk behind him, further into the couch they’d settled into that night. It was honestly a relief for the too familiar noise to halt. It made the space behind his eyes hot. It’s steady rhythmic sound as horrible as it had once been calming.

They’d been moved into the servant’s quarters attached to his room in case someone came for him in the night.

He stood and seized her by the waist. Picking her up and spinning her, as he knew she wished he would for she was very excited, her dress billowing around her. The way Father had when he’d courted her all those years ago. She’d admitted to him once she missed it. It was one of the few things she missed about him.

What do you need? He’d asked. He knew how to play his role diligently.

“As I promised she would!” He smiled brightly for her. It was as fake as the rings that had dyed his fingers green years ago. But she didn’t know that.

“A Countess Julek! I’ve no idea how you managed this!” She was well above their class. But she’d loved him once. With a title she might love him again.

“What did I say?” He gently put her down and swept her into a waltz. It’s been so long since I’ve gotten to waltz. She told him.

“Trust me.” There were tears in her eyes. A brightness to her he couldn’t remember ever seeing.

He spun her. “I said I would take care of things.” Dipped her gently to the familiar tune in his head. It sounded flat even though he knew it was in tune. “Didn’t I?”

“You did!” Her steps faltered as she pulled him into a tight hug. It might have been bone crushing a decade or two ago. “Thank you for coming home.”

“Of course.” Geralt and Ciri watch him tuck her into his shoulder. He whispered above her grey hair. “I had nowhere else to be.”

I’ll spend my days so close to you cos if I’m standing here maybe.

“You’re getting married.” Geralt stated as the door closed behind her.

“That is the plan yes.”

“You’ll be miserable.”

And how, he thought, is that any different from how I am now?

Everyone will think I’m alright.

Court was easy. Simple.

Deadly. Dangerous.

It was just about saying the right thing. Listening. Not giving away too much.

“There are some rumors going around about you Julian.” She fluttered her eyes distractingly. Let her sleeve slip down just so. He’d seen it before. Hell he’d done it before.

That didn’t mean it didn’t work on him.

Or. It used to.

“About what happened to you after you disappeared.” She leaned in making a point to show off her assets.

The color of her dress was brilliant. Vibrant. His collar was buttoned all the way up. It didn’t actually make it hard to breathe but it still felt like it. He recognized the dye they must have used. It seemed less. Less everything.

Course the courts in Kerack hardly compared to the ones he’d played at so it was likely just. Less.

It had nothing to do with how dull the world seemed these days.

“I went to Oxenfurt. I hardly disappeared.” He flashed her a smile. Winked as he said, “And I’d be happy to show you what I learned.”

She giggled.

“What did you study?” Interjected her handler. Forcing distance between them with practiced ease.

He’d never been grateful for the restraints of court. How a hand touch outside of dancing was as scandalous as a long passionate kiss elsewhere.

He was grateful for it now.

“A variety of things. Geography was my favorite.” The textbook was big enough to hide a demijohn behind. “And I took to teaching for a few years.”

Her eyes glittered. “Did you ever see any of the places you learned about?” Whatever information she’d been told to gather forgotten to the wonder of the world beyond their logging forest and rocky coasts.

Or maybe this was what she wanted. The machinations of a country this small didn’t have to be terribly inspired.

“A few.” He granted. The back of his throat tensed. I went to the edge of the world and back before my eighteenth year. He didn’t say. “Any place in particular you were hoping to hear about?” He raised his glass for a drink.

“Are the blue mountains really blue?”

His cup paused at his lips. Golden eyes rested heavily on him from across the feast.

Posada sat at the feet of its range. Stretched up to Kaer Morhen and beyond.

“Yes.” He tried to cover for the stilted pause. Gave too much away he knew by the devilish look in her eye. “In the evening light the whole range turns the most beautiful blue I’ve ever seen.”

“What does Kaer Morhen look like?” He’d asked. Because he’d never seen it.

Would never see it.

“Big stone keep.”

“Oh come on! We both know you can do better than that!” He’d protested. “I want to know what its like!” Tell me what your home is like. He begged.

“What do you think of Lettenhove?” He asked as the carriage rattled down the road to their accommodations. His Mother had retired hours ago. What do you think about my birthplace? My unwilling home? My soon to be grave?

Geralt opened an eye. Considering him. Just like everyone at the party had. Just like everyone always did. Judging without seeing. He maintained his posture as the snow fell outside the window. He had a role to play.

“Seafood’s decent.”

Laughter bubbled in his throat. High and hysterical.

He swallowed it down.

“I suppose it is.” He told the falling snow. He did not think of the Blue Mountains covered in snow and the big stone keep he would never see buried within it.

I’ve seen enough he says. I know exactly what I want.

“Jaskier!”

There were hands on his shoulder and a knife to his throat and it was all pointless but he was still scared.

He was still scared.

There was gold and white filling his vision as his chest fought for air. He couldn’t breathe and he was going to die and gods.

Gods he was going to die.

And he was okay with it.

“Jaskier?” His face was wet as he sobbed. I was going to die and he was okay with that and that was the scariest part. Someone was moving him. Arranging his limbs and tucking him into the crook of their neck. “It was just a dream Jaskier.”

The dream slipped from his mind but the hollow in his chest didn’t. The violently terrible acceptance of his fate didn’t slip away.

Let’s run away. To the coast, to the blue mountains, to the end of the world. To Skellige even. I’d brave sea sickness for you. Let’s run away Geralt.

Think of your people ordered the ghost of his old man.

Life’s one blessing. Said the man cradling him in his arms.

Stay. Begged his Mother.

He curled into the embrace of the man who’d served as his home for two long decades. For half his life. The half of his life that had a home for.

Geralt was only here because there was no better option. Because a fool promised him a place to stay long ago and that fool wouldn’t break a promise. Not a promise to him.

Did you ever care for me at all? Or am I to you, as I am to everyone, a burden you’re too kind to put down?

No. Because Geralt had put him down. Now he was simply too desperate to step away.

“This is your fate Julian.” Rumbled the voice of his Father.

“I’ll find a better fate then.” He’d screamed back. “I’ll make a better one.”

He had.

“I want to go home.” He quietly admitted into the crook of Geralt’s neck. To the stars over the path and the grinding of a whetstone on silver or steel. To the crackle of a fire and pages filled with ink by its dying embers.

To raunchy laughter and shared bedrolls. Desperate dashes from terrible towns and angry cuckholds. To grumpy Witchers dunked in bathtubs, yanking knots from disgustingly tangled hair and quiet gifts of lute strings made from griffin guts slipping into his case while he slept.

“We’ll be back at the estate tomorrow.” Came the wretched assurance.

He sobbed. “I know.”

You couldn’t run away from fate. Not really.

It’s this life that we’d created, inundated with the fated thought of you

“Geralt said you used to play.” Ciri admitted to the bookshelves she’d been dusting. “He said you played wonderfully.”

“Did he?” He blankly responded. He could feel Geralt frowning at him.

You should have cheekily grinned at me. He could hear Geralt correcting. You should be making fun of me for liking your music but never admitting it to you. Then I could comment on how i didn’t want to feed your overgrown ego.

He checked the ledgers math on the abacus. Then did it again because numbers had never been his forte.

“He said,” She hesitated. Turned ever so slightly to watch him. “You were at my mother’s betrothal.”

Jaskier was. I wasn’t. An angry part of him snapped.

He took in the tight tension of her shoulders. The pointed dedication to a meaningless task.

I see you little swallow. I see you. “I was.” He glanced at the door. If someone overheard. He could avoid this if-

“Everyone’s asleep.” Geralt told him.

“Then,” He stood, weighted heavy by a story he had no desire to tell. “I suppose I owe you a story.” He smiled and offered his hand to her. “Since Geralt never tells it right.”

She took it and he pulled her into the ballad. Into the start of her tale.

Into the beginning of their stories end.

And if you asked me to, if you asked me I would lose it all, Like petals in a storm

He lifted her sleeping form from the couch, carrying her to bed.

“Thank you.” Geralt muttered from the doorway as he tucked her in.

He was so tired.

He nodded. Turned from the room.

Geralt caught him at the doorway. “Thank you.” He repeated.

He took in Geralt’s face as he stared at her. As he listened to her slow steady breathing. Sleeping comfortably and warm.

Ask to stay. He begged the hand holding his bicep. Ask me to come with you.

Tell me you want me. He plead. That what you said was a lie.

But he didn’t. Because he was looking at Ciri. At the best thing he’d ever done for Geralt.

At the little girl who was the end of the story they’d shared.

“You love her.” He told him. “Which I say only because I don’t think you know.” Geralt’s face hardened as it always did when faced with an uncomfortable truth about himself. “But you love her Geralt.”

If this was his fate then at least he’d done that.

He couldn’t save his people and he’d broken every relationship he’d ever made and he was going to die in a manor he hated all alone.

But at least he’d done this. At least he’d given Geralt Ciri.

At least he’d given the love of his life the love of his.

cos darling I was born to press my head between your shoulder blades

#geraskier #geralt x jaskier #geralt #jaskier #lettenhove au #tw depression #tw for that awful feeling of being okay with dying #also waltzing #think i figured out how to end this yall!#thank you to the person who suggested Exile. I think that will serve part 4- our conclusion - quite well!#writing #not totally in love with using Fair for this section but its what i had when i wrote it so

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crowsnests · 3 years ago

Text

taste of certainty - part two

Fandom: The Arcana Pairing: Julian Devorak x OC Apprentice (Syran Elkas) Tags: friends to lovers; modern times au; friend group dynamic; slow burn; pining; really just Julian being Julian and Syran being Oblivious Words: 6034 Warnings: mention of anxiety, migraines, insomnia, alcohol

part 1 2 3 4 5

playlist

I know that it can take me even deeper if I let it But my limbs are trying to swim away

- trust; half-alive

II. beach fire sparks

The car ride is mostly quiet, Nadia and Pasha sit at the front, humming along to the songs Pasha puts on– clearly some sort of playlist made just for the two of them. Syran looks out the window, buildings and lights passing by. The sound of Ilya’s voice doesn’t want to leave her mind.

Syran suddenly feels watched, so she pries away from the window, noticing how Pasha is leaning over the passenger seat to look at her.

“What?” Syran asks.

Nadia glances at her from the rearview mirror.

Pasha smiles, sly. “You know what.”

Syran thinks she does, but– she’s gonna pretend like she doesn’t. Mostly because she really doesn’t want to know what.

She shrugs, “I don't.”

Most of the time, if she focuses, Syran can be a good liar. She hopes to channel her talent right now, although she knows that sometimes Pasha has the ability to see through her.

“You really really don’t?” Pasha insists, smile getting wider.

Syran narrows her eyes, “You’re mad at me for the pizza choice?”

Pasha sighs, clearly impatient to Syran’s stubbornness.

“No! You and my brother!” She groans. “You got all cosy, and Ilya was all like ohhh hello and you were like oh shit, oh my god!!” She tries to imitate the two of them by changing her pitch. Badly. “Like, come on, just date already!”

“Wh– what?” Syran is a good liar, but hearing Pasha talk so earnestly about– whatever’s between her and Ilya is– weird.

“There’s no–” Syran swallows, trying to get her tone back to normal. “What do you mean? I’ve fallen asleep near you guys before– I mean. I just didn’t expect it to happen, this time. Why would we date? We’re friends.”

Please stop, please stop. She thinks.

Pasha furrows her brow. “Friends, huh? I mean, yes. You are friends. But mayyybe you could be friends that smooch.”

Nadia reaches to put a hand on Pasha’s thigh. Pasha turns to her for a second. “What? You know I’m right.”

“Your truth doesn’t mean it’s also Syran’s truth, babe.” Nadia’s tone is gentle, but she gives Syran an understanding look from the rearview mirror– Pasha doesn’t seem to notice.

Syran feels incredibly relieved. She is grateful to Nadia for bailing her out of this conversation.

“Yeah, my truth is very different from– whatever it is you think. Ilya and I are friends and we don’t– s– smooch.” Ah, she really wishes she didn’t say that last part.

Pasha narrows her eyes one more time. “Ugh, whatever,” she huffs, turning to sit properly, facing forward. “I just think you would be really good for my brother. He needs someone as nice as you.” She mutters, clearly more serious this time.

Syran can’t help but widen her eyes at that, flattered. She tries to ignore the heat on her cheeks, though.

“W–well, thank you, but there’s nothing like that between us.” Syran is trying to convince herself more than Pasha. Nadia throws her one last look from the mirror and she knows she’s caught on more than Syran would like.

As soon as Syran gets back home, a lazy meow greets her at the door. Her cat, Persephone, bumps her head against her calf. Syran reaches down to pick her up and scratch behind her ears.

“Hello, cutie, hope you didn’t feel too lonely today,” Syran plants a kiss on top of Persephone’s head. She lazily meows as a reply, in between all the purring.

The apartment is quiet besides that. Without Ran’s excited laugh and warm presence, the atmosphere in the house feels wrong.

Once Syran’s in her room and changed into comfortable clothes, all the embarrassment catches up to her as soon as she sits on the bed. She stares at the window for a second, then the thought of Ilya makes her want to hide herself further in bed and scream into a pillow, like she’s fifteen again and her emotions are all over the place.

Well, the latter is definitely true.

Persephone lays down beside her, kneading on the duvet until she finds a comfortable spot.

Just when she’s done strangling her pillow, Syran’s phone rings with the sound of a text.

from: dumbsra - 21:03

goodmorning (.❛ ᴗ ❛.)

Syran groans. She wants to punch him. She knows exactly what he’s referencing, but she is not going to fall for it.

to: dumbsra - 21:04

It’s nine pm

from: dumbsra - 21:04

Oh, i know (.❛ ᴗ ❛.)

to: dumbsra - 21:05

good to know you can read a clock, then

from: dumbsra - 21:07

I’m just saying, you looked like you were really comfortable tonight (.❛ ᴗ ❛.) (－ω－) zzZ (¬‿¬ ) °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°( ´ ▽ ` ).｡♡(„ಡωಡ„)

Fucking idiot. What is she even supposed to reply to that? Fuck you, would be appropriate, but she knows that it will give him more ground to make dumb jokes.

Why is everyone onto her?

to: dumbsra - 21:08

we need to discuss the way you use emojis, honestly, it’s a problem

from: dumbsra - 21:09

Ignore my words all you want, you know i can read your mind (つ✧ω✧)つ :｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆

to: dumbsra - 21:10

then i’m sure you know what i’m thinking right now

from: dumbsra - 21:10

that you should ask Ilya out on a date?

(☞°ヮ°)☞ ☜(°ヮ°☜)

to: dumbsra - 21:12

No, that i stole your favourite shirt once and i will do it again

Goodnight! ( ◡‿◡ )

from: dumbsra - 21:12

ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ don’t you dare

Syran puts her phone down, stopping herself from answering more. She hears it vibrate a couple times, definitely Asra complaining about being left on seen, but she doesn’t care right now.

She turns to her cat, who looks up at her, languidly, “At least you’re on my side, right, Persie?”

Persephone just yawns and goes back to napping.

Syran sighs. All she wants to do is get ready for bed and not think about Ilya’s comforting presence.

🂱

When she arrives at the park entrance, their designated meeting spot for the winter fair, there’s enough people around for Syran to not find her friends immediately. That’s until she spots a tall figure on the side of the entrance.

“Muriel!” She calls, waving towards him.

When she reaches him, breath forming little clouds of vapor, Muriel smiles down at her, “Hey, Syran.”

Muriel is wearing dark green gloves that Syran remembers getting him a few birthdays ago. “Aww, you still wear them?”

Muriel nods, “They’re warm.”

“Hello babe,” Asra pops up from beside him and beams at her, all bundled up in a puffy jacket and bright teal beanie.

“Hey handsome,” she teases back, hugging him briefly. “Where are the others?”

“Pasha and Nadia should be here soon, Ilya is– somewhere.”

Syran blinks. Ilya can be late sometimes but he lives with the two of them, so– “Didn’t he come with you guys?”

“Yeah, then he forgot his wallet in the car,” Asra rolls his eyes.

Syran laughs at the thought of Ilya scrambling to get back to the car and looking for his wallet.

Idiot.

She realises she’s said it out loud when Asra throws her a look. She tries to hide her face in her scarf.

Ugh, does he have nothing else to think about?

“Hey!” Someone exclaims from behind them just then, saving her from any comments Asra might make. “Found it!”

Except that someone is Ilya, waving at them and running, dark crimson scarf coming loose to show his neck.

For fuck’s sake, she can’t catch a break. He looks handsome as always.

“Oh– hey Syran,” he comes to a halt right in front of her, surprised, as if he hadn’t seen her before. To be fair, she’s only the second shortest of the group (first being Pasha by an inch or so, thankfully), so maybe he really didn’t see her. Then, he smiles and Syran wishes her scarf was big enough to become a cocoon for her to hide in.

She’s fine. She’s okay.

( “I don’t have a crush!” she told Ran over the phone last night, after recounting the events of the evening. “That’s ridiculous. Ilya’s been my friend for a long time. He’s just– nice, okay?”

“Of course he’s nice, wasn’t he nice before?” Ran laughed. “Feelings can evolve, you know?”

“No– no– he was.” Syran huffed. “It’s nothing, okay? I’m just– I’m just tired, all these years I’ve been fine, so I’m fine now too.”

She could almost see Ran raising her eyebrow at her, “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Syran insisted. “I know very well what a crush feels like. Whatever I feel for Ilya is– not a crush. It’s fondness, friendship. Not– anything else.”

Ran sighed, surrendering. “Whatever you say, Elkas.” )

Ilya’s eyes are so hard to look away from, but Syran finds the strength to put her hands in her pockets and stare at her boots. Pretty safe defense mechanism, if you ask her.

“So, what’s the plan?” Ilya asks the group.

“Well, I assume since you found your wallet you’re going to pay for everyone?” Asra smirks.

Ilya scoffs, “You still owe me money for that dinner we had, Asra.”

“I paid you back!”

“A mug you shoplifted isn’t exactly the same,” Ilya retorts.

“It’s a beautiful mug and It reminded me of you! Isn’t the thought that counts?”

“It literally says World’s Worst Doctor, you little shit–”

“You still use it though!”

Muriel and Syran exchange a sympathetic smile, knowing very well the bickering between the two can be neverending. This argument comes up at least once a week.

Thankfully, Nadia and Pasha join them, interrupting the discussion.

“Market time!” Pasha exclaims as she runs for the entrance, Nadia and Ilya in tow.

They enter the park, all decorated, pretty lights illuminating everyone’s stunned faces.

They’ve been here before, when they put it up, but they have changed some of the stalls since– regardless, it’s always a fun night for them. The little wooden cabins sell all sorts of things. People crowd them, looking at the different displays.

Syran drifts towards one that sells honey from a small independent company. She and Asra sample some of it, while the others spread over the displays around them. Pasha buys a scented candle, Nadia some golden handmade earrings, Asra decides to get yet another set of incense, and Muriel takes a liking to a little hand-carved wolf sculpture.

Syran finds herself by a stall that sells minerals and crystals, all neatly separated by wooden boxes. She recognises some of her favourites: lepidolite, chrysocolla, black opal, agate. The stall owner smiles at her, reassuring her that she can look at them closely.

She picks up a lepidolite rock, looking at how the light reflects on the coarse lilac surface.

“Anything interesting?” A voice comes up behind her, startles her enough for her to almost drop the crystal.

She takes a second to regain her thoughts, still recovering from the small jumpscare. Ilya curiously inspects the display, like he didn’t just give her a mild heart attack.

“These are cool! Do you collect them?” He asks, leaning closer to look at some tiger’s eye.

“More or less,” Syran nods. “I’ve always liked to, since I was a kid.”

Ilya turns to her, grin on his face. “Aww, baby Syran playing with rocks!”

She rolls her eyes but not without a smile, “They are pretty rocks!”

Ilya laughs, then nods. “Yeah, I guess they are.”

Syran stares at him for a second, both of them just standing there as she still holds the lepidolite.

It’s not a crush.

Ilya turns back to the crystals, suddenly averting her gaze. “So, uhm– they all have meanings, right?” He points at the display with his gloved hand.

“Yeah, each has its proprieties– people use them for meditation, or for healing, things like that.”

Ilya looks up at her again, brows knotted. “You believe in that stuff?”

Syran shrugs, “I mean– I like the idea that something can help you find whatever strength or energy you need. Quartz gives you clarity, agate helps with stability, amethyst with intuition– you know, they’re quite empowering.”

“Still, why rely on something external to bring you those things?” He tilts his head, like he’s genuinely trying to understand, albeit a bit skeptical. “How can a stone give you that?”

Syran can’t help but chuckle. “Guess you could think like that. But they're supposed to help you find that in yourself, to bring it out. At least in my opinion.” She looks at the display again. “Plus, why not? If it helps somebody feel better, why take that away?”

She feels Ilya’s gaze on her for a second, before he turns to look up at the rest of the display. “Mh, that’s a nice take.”

Syran side eyes him. “Ah, men of science,” She sighs.

Ilya laughs. “Don’t you have a degree in biology? And– what’s that supposed to mean?”

She shakes her head, picking up another crystal to look at it. Citrine. “Nothing, just– people in your field are often cynical of stuff like this.”

“Are you calling me closed-minded?” Ilya sounds offended, but it takes Syran one look to know that he’s joking.

“Mh– you said that, not me,” she teases.

Ilya smirks. “Okay, what does this one mean, then?” He picks out a random crystal and shows it to her with childlike gall. Syran looks at it. Moonstone.

Oh, great.

“Uh– it’s about hidden feelings? Helps to heal relationships and opening up– yeah. I mean, it’s written on the paper there.” She vaguely points at the box where the moonstones are, turning away from him. She doesn’t need to tell him everything about it.

Ilya laughs, then delicately puts the stone back. “Well, okay, okay.”

A man steps up to the display right by Ilya, trying to look at the rocks in front of him. Startled, Ilya steps closer towards Syran, apologising to the man.

She sighs, small and imperceptible, because of course he had to get even closer.

Syran moves her gaze to look at the necklaces at the back, pendants made with various crystals. There’s an aquamarine one, calming blue and really pretty.

“What is it?” Julian is so close he’s basically whispering in her ear.

“Huh?” She doesn’t dare look towards him.

“Which one are you looking at?”

“Oh, that one–” She points at it. “The light blue one.”

“What’s that?”

“Aquamarine I think– uh, it’s connected to water. Healing, moving on. Stuff like that.”

Ilya hums. “Looks nice. It suits you.”

“Uh, I do–”

Syran gets interrupted when someone pats her hard on the shoulder, startling her. Again. Ilya seems to feel the same.

“We thought we’d lost you guys!” Pasha’s voice doesn’t sound reprimanding, rather she has a wide smile on her face when they turn to her. Behind her, there’s only Muriel, piercing eyes on them.

“Where are the others?” Ilya asks.

“Nadi’s already at the skating rink with Asra,” Pasha grins. “So you better get going.”

Ilya gasps. “That’s cheating!”

He darts away towards the rink, Pasha hot on his tail, taunting him with predictions of his downfall.

Syran can’t help but laugh. She and Muriel fall behind, taking their time to reach the others.

“That’s nice to see,” Muriel says, breaking the silence.

“What is?” Syran turns her head up to look at him.

“The two of them– being on good terms.”

“Were they– not?” Syran asks, brows knotted.

“Well– ah, it’s a long story. Probably not my place to tell.” Muriel shakes his head. “Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No, that’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.” She smiles, understanding. She can’t say she’s not surprised at the news, though. Ilya and Pasha seem to be really close, it’s hard to imagine them anything but.

Muriel smiles back, puts his hands in the pockets on his coat, shoulders rising up a little. “Yeah, I just– I wonder how it is. To have siblings.”

Right.

Muriel is an only child and he was raised by his grandma. Syran doesn’t know much about his life growing up, she’s always assumed he never wanted to talk about it.

She wonders if maybe he just never felt like anyone wanted to listen. That’s the case for her, anyway.

“It depends, I guess,” Syran says. “Everyone’s got their story.”

Muriel nods. “Yeah– do you– I mean, maybe I don’t remember but– do you have siblings?”

She thinks of her little sister back at home with her mother. Growing up without a second parent and having to mature early to help around the house, Syran never had the chance to get close to her sibling.

“I do. A younger sister, but–” Syran looks ahead as the skating rink comes into view. “We’re not like them. I rarely hear from her now. I don’t think she likes me very much. I mostly find out what she’s up to through my mother, so. Yeah.” She sighs. “Yvaine has always been a mystery to me.”

Muriel stops as they reach the edge of the skating rink. “Guess you can’t choose family,” he sighs.

“Guess not,” Syran smiles, bitterly. Then she looks up at Muriel again. “But hey, that’s okay. You got something better.”

Muriel frowns, looking at her with confusion. “Huh?”

She grins. “You got us.”

Muriel takes a second, blinks once.

Then he starts laughing. It rises slowly, his eyes crinkle up and his smile grows wide. He reaches out to ruffle Syran’s hair, affectionately. She’d complain, usually, but she can only laugh with him.

“Yeah– I do. We all got each other,” He says.

Then, Asra calls to them from inside the skating rink, leaning on the edge. “Hey, you two! Stop wasting time!”

🂱

Syran hasn’t skated in a while, but she quickly gets the hang of it again. She and Muriel seem to be the ones struggling the most, though. It takes a bit, but once she finds her pace, she starts going around the rink with more confidence, running into her friends now and then, sharing laughter, and throwing playful jabs at each other.

“You’re not that bad!” Ilya says as he comes up to her, starts skating by her side.

She shakes her head with a smile, “Please, I almost broke my spine earlier.”

“Not your most graceful moment, I’ll admit,” He teases.

“Hey, you’re supposed to support me!” She tries to playfully swat at his arm but ends up losing balance instead. Just when she thinks she’s going to fall on her face again, Ilya holds her steady. Close to him.

Too close, once again.

She can smell the musk of his perfume, she wonders if he can hear her beating heart.

It’s not a crush.

“Thank you,” She utters up at Ilya, words coming out in a puff of vapor.

“It’s okay,” Ilya smiles, still holding her. “Anytime.”

She looks away. “Hopefully not, I’d rather not risk falling again.” Syran laughs, still feeling the pain on her buttcheek from the last time she fell.

“Well, yeah.” Ilya laughs back.

Then it’s like he realises he’s still holding her, and– she remembers it, too. He slowly pulls away from her as she stands properly again. “Uh, hey, by the way–”

Asra skates up to them just then, interrupting Ilya. “You losers been still for too long, stop blocking the path!”

Syran gapes at him. “I wasn’t aware there was an ice skating police?”

Asra huffs, “There is one now! Move!” He goes to push her, but she slinks away with a laugh. He starts chasing her and Ilya yells back at them.

“Am I off the hook, then?”

Asra follows Syran, trying to get her, although he stumbles here and there. Differently from Syran, he finds his balance again quickly, laughing in glee.

It lasts only a moment, but she meets her gaze with Ilya’s across the rink. Wasn’t he saying something?

But before she can think about it Asra takes Syran for a spin, makes her twirl, holds her hand. It’s fun like this, and they properly start skating together. They enjoy their time and joke around– and sometimes still fall on their asses.

It’s great, but it starts to get a little taxing for her. “I think I’m done for now,” Syran heaves when they come to a halt in a corner of the rink, leaning onto the rail.

“What, giving up already?” Asra pouts.

“My face is going numb.” She puts her gloved hands on her cheeks, but it doesn’t help much– they’re all wet from falling on the ice.

Nadia comes up to them, perfect form and game face on her features. “Quitting so soon? You guys are hopeless.”

“Uh, excuse me?” Asra glares back. “We don’t claim to be professionals.”

“Not all of us see this as a competition, Nadi,” Syran smirks. Nadia almost looks insulted, but it’s all for show.

“Is that a challenge?”

“It really isn’t,” Syran laughs. Then, she notices Ilya coming their way. “Plus, looks like you’ve got your hands full already.”

Nadia turns just as Ilya catches up to them, breath heavy and hands on his hips. “What’s up Satrinava, ready to resign?”

“In your dreams, Devorak.” She glares. “Next one to touch the rail is out.”

Ilya squints at her. “You’re on.”

Syran smiles as they go off, skating away in the midst of the other people. Both of them look effortless, although Nadia is something else completely. She twirls and jumps, dares Ilya to do the same. He tries, but it’s not as graceful.

This is Nadia Satrinava we’re talking about, after all.

Eventually, Syran steps off the rink, finding Muriel already leaning outside by the rail, chatting to Pasha who’s still inside. They’re both acting like there’s no chaos generated by the others on the rink

“Done?” Pasha asks when Syran walks up to them, still feeling a little weird from having her feet back on normal ground.

“Yeah– it’s all fun and games until you get bruises everywhere.”

Muriel laughs, “Couldn’t agree more.”

“Aw, you guys need to believe in yourselves a little! The more you try the better you get!” Pasha’s encouraging words are sweet. “Plus, if Ilya can do it without making a complete fool of himself, so can you.”

“I don’t know, he seems to be struggling a little,” Muriel hums, nodding towards the others.

Pasha turns and Syran can see that Ilya looks definitely more tired than Nadia. There’s still resolve on his face, she can see it more clearly as they slowly approach their side of the rink.

“Go babe, show him how it’s done!” Pasha starts cheering.

A second before Nadia passes by them, she winks at Pasha and sends her a kiss, effortless and elegant. Ilya, hot on her tail, just sneers at his sister, raising up his middle finger. She gives back just as much.

“He’s gonna go down,” Pasha mutters. Then she turns to them. “Gonna do a few more rounds and see if Asra wants to do some stunts. See ya later!” She waves just before skating off.

Once again, Syran and Muriel are left alone, fondly smiling at their friends.

“This is quite the show, I have to admit,” Syran laughs. “Cheering from the sidelines.”

“Mh, I think no one is rooting for Ilya, though.” Muriel says.

Syran realises that’s kinda true. “Oops– well, hey. Maybe I’ll cheer for the both of them.”

Muriel side eyes her. “Mh. No preference at all?”

“Uh, yeah, I mean. We all know how Nadia can get, so I kinda feel bad for Ilya.” She chuckles, looking at Nadia as she expertly swings past a few surprised people, skating backwards to laugh at Ilya.

“Right,” Muriel says under his breath. Syran feels his eyes on her, so she turns back to him.

“What?”

For a second there’s a small smirk on his face, but then Muriel shrugs and turns back to the skating rink. “Nothing.”

Syran narrows her eyes, kinda weirded out.

Muriel is not the type to beat around the bush, he’ll usually say what he thinks and with as few words as possible, so it takes Syran a little by surprise.

“Not convincing.”

He huffs a laugh, ruffles Syran’s hair again. This time she pouts up at him. “Don’t worry ‘bout it.”

“You’re being weird,” Syran turns towards the rink as she adjusts her hair. “What about you, big guy? Any bets?”

“Oh, hundred percent Nadia. Pasha and I have some sort of bingo going on, though.” Muriel laughs again.

“Bingo?”

“Yeah, like everytime Nadia flips Ilya off, everytime Ilya apologises to someone for almost bumping into them, everytime Nadia winks at Pasha, stuff like that. Winner gets fifty bucks.”

“You guys are ruthless.”

Muriel smirks, “Maybe.”

“What’s the criteria for this competition anyway? It’s like they just make up rules on the spot.”

Syran says, a little confused. It just looks like a weird version of tag where insulting shouts are thrown across the rink as the other patrons turn around in shock.

“I’m not sure. I’m not even sure they know,” Muriel shrugs. “Ilya looks pretty confident, though.”

And yet, no more than a minute later, Ilya stumbles on his feet and spins around, trying really hard to stay up on his own. However, he puts a little too much energy in his step and that makes him haphazardly skate his way towards where Muriel and Syran are.

“Oh no–” Syran starts.

“Shit, fuck–” Ilya comes to a halt right in front of them, hands on the rail and torso leaning forward. His chin is just a few inches to the left of Syran’s cheek. “Uh– hey.” He says with a side glance.

“H– hey.” Syran answers. It’s okay, her heart is doing absolutely nothing right now. She’s not mad at the universe at all.

He really has a nice perfume.

Ilya slowly gets back up, smiling awkwardly at her. “Sorry ‘bout that.” Then, pushes himself off the rail, looking at his hands with eyes wide. “Oh no. Shit. Did Nadia see that?”

Muriel raises an eyebrow. “I think everybody did.”

As if on queue, cheers of victory rise from behind Ilya, making him wince. Pasha kisses Nadia and Asra claps vehemently– then, they all start skating towards them, clearly enjoying Ilya’s demise.

“You owe me a drink, Devorak. Again.” Nadia beams when she reaches the rail. Ilya just side-eyes her.

“Whatever. You got lucky.”

🂱

They end up in the big cabin by the rink that houses a cafè/pub. Warm drinks in hand and sitting by the fire, all of their frozen nerves from the ice skating start to melt.

It’s cozy and comforting, a nice relief for Syran after the cold of the ice rink. All of them are chatting and teasing Ilya for his loss. He laughs with them, but eventually they start reassuring him too, even Nadia, saying that he wasn’t that bad, after all.

Syran decides to buy him mulled wine, served in a ceramic mug with some cheesy winter phrase printed on.

“Consolation prize!” She cheers, coming back from the bar.

“Oh my, this is such a beautiful gift Syran,” Ilya says, theatrically. “I shall cherish it with all my heart, thank you.” He mock cries, playfully dabbing at nonexistent tears under his eyes.

Syran laughs under her breath as she sits back next to Asra, rolling his eyes.

The patrons around them die out and Ilya excuses himself to the bathroom. The moment he leaves, Pasha cozies up to Nadia, the two discussing the victory again. They all chat a bit, Pasha making fun of Asra’s odd faces while skating. Then, a moment of comfortable silence between all of them.

Asra’s eyes are immediately on her.

“What?” Syran wonders, feeling put on the spot.

“Nothing,” Asra smiles. It’s his coy smile that says everything and nothing. She has the urge to punch it off his smug face.

Syran decides to ignore him.

“So, Muriel, how’s the bingo going?” She asks him.

“Oh, I’m winning.”

He exchanges a glance with Asra, the two of them almost communicating telepathically.

“Ok, now I feel like there’s something here.”

“I don’t know, is there?” Pasha asks.

“Yeah, is there?” Asra adds.

“Could you stop being a gemini for half a second?”

Muriel laughs at Syran’s joke, but she keeps a serious face.

“Aw, I love you.” Asra side-hugs her, trying to diffuse the situation. “Also no, I can’t. Just like you can’t stop looking at Ilya like that.”

“I don’t–”

“Who’s looking like what?” Ilya is back from the bathroom, and he slowly sits down back in his chair, perfectly arched eyebrows raised.

“You, like an idiot on the rink! Ha!” Asra immediately changes the topic, leaving Syran hanging. She won’t forget, not this time.

Muriel sips his wine, side eyeing them. There’s another sly motherfucker.

Just as it arrived, however, the weird mood is gone, and all is back to normal. Once again Syran finds herself being grateful for her friends. No matter how tough things get, she knows they will be all there for each other.

Even though they are most definitely hiding things from her.

🂱

Syran’s Sundays mostly consist of catching up on shows, cuddling with Persephone, taking time to cook meals she loves, and doing some grocery shopping. She also takes care of her plants and, sometimes, gets a headstart on work.

Asra calls her boring, but she finds peace in it. It’s not that she doesn’t like going out, she loves a good party every now and then, but there’s a different kind of pleasure in taking care of the small things. Plus, now that she’s got the apartment to herself for the week, she can play loud music and karaoke as much as she wants.

Really, it’s a blast.

When her phone rings in the middle of the day, just as she’s moving her big potus out of the sun, she groans. Her hands are full, so she shifts the big pot in one arm and lodges her phone between her head and shoulder without checking– she expects Asra to be calling her to continue their previous text conversation. She has not let go of what he said at the Winter Market.

“For the millionth time, it’s not what you think!”

“Oh, it isn’t?” A deep chuckle resonates from the other side of the phone.

Shit.

“Oh– fuck– uh, thought you were Asra– ah, I mean– hi, Ilya.”

“Hi, Syran,” He laughs, all throathy and low. Ugh. “Am I bothering you?”

“No, not at all– just taking care of my plants– uh, give me a second.” She puts the potus on the kitchen counter, grabbing the phone before it slides down her neck.

“Okay, all set, what’s up?” She tries to act nonchalant. Well, she is nonchalant. This is just Ilya, after all. Her good friend, Ilya. Yep. Nothing to worry about.

“Well, as you know, Pasha’s birthday is coming up soon,” he starts.

“Oh, yeah, right! Damn, I almost forgot.”

Ilya laughs. “Me too, to be honest.”

Syran can’t help but chuckle too, then gasp dramatically. “Why, your own sister?”

“Shh– don’t tell her or she’ll kill me. I’ve been very busy with my research, ‘kay?” He sounds solemn, but she can tell he’s smiling.

“All right, I’ll cover for you– if you buy me a coffee,” She laughs.

A little voice in her head asks where is this confidence coming from anyway?

Then again, this is just Ilya.

“Deal,” he answers.

Ilya, who’s now just being quiet on the other side of the line. “Sooo, why are you calling me?” Syran asks, tapping her fingers on her kitchen counter.

“Oh, right, well– Okay, so. Well, I don’t know what present to get Pasha. I know it sounds lame, but I genuinely have no idea what she might want this year.”

Syran stops for a second, thinking of Pasha and what she’s like. She likes plants, but she’s got plenty of those. She likes pretty clothes and cute shoes, but those would be hard to get right. Syran finds herself coming up short of a sure answer.

“I see– have you asked Nadia?”

“I tried, but she replied with something vague, and then got competitive because she is going to get the best present anyway, or something.”

His answer makes her laugh again. Of course: Nadia is extremely kind, gentle, and helpful– except when she decides to win against everyone else.

“I assume the others weren’t much help either?”

Ilya sighs, “Well, Muriel just shrugged and pointed out that she likes flowers, Asra suggested a glow in the dark lava lamp, so– yeah, no.”

“So, I guess now it’s my turn to give advice?” Syran chuckles, padding to the other side of the kitchen, where Persephone is lounging in the sun. She scratches her fur.

“More or less,” Ilya trails off.

“Huh?”

“Well, I was– uh, I was wondering if you could come with me. To get her the present? Really I don’t know if you’ve already picked something, but. Uhh– maybe we could work on it together? Since you know her well, and all? And I’ll get you that coffee, too.” He huffs a laugh, almost nervous.

A day going around shops with Ilya? Just the two of them? That’s fine, Syran’s fine, it’s no big deal at all.

“She’s your sister, Ilya,” she can’t help but tease him a bit. “I’m sure you know her well, too.”

“Yeah, I know she’s my sister.” He scoffs, fake annoyed, “But– I mean, yeah, I kind of know what she likes– but every year is hard, and I’m not the best at presents– and you seem to be great at it, so–” He trails off.

Syran listens, trying to figure out where this is really going. If she were actually great at presents, she would know what to get Pasha in a heartbeat. But, regardless, she likes to think she’s got a good eye.

She doesn’t know whether to stop him and reassure him or let him talk. But before she can decide, Ilya continues.

“And. Uh. This year she’s throwing this big themed party, too, and it’s the first time I get to meet all her friends, n’stuff. I don’t even know what to wear–” He sounds really concerned. “Truthfully, I just want to make her happy. I feel like the last two years I didn’t do great, so. Yeah.” He sighs. “And– and, I don’t want to lose to Nadia, either.” He ends it like he’s confessing a deep, dark secret.

It makes Syran laugh, thinking him cute for worrying about his sister so much.

Then, she swats away the idea of Ilya and the word cute in the same sentence.

“I’m sure she’ll be happy whatever you get her, Ilya,” Syran smiles, hoping to reassure him. Persephone turns to expose her belly, meowing coyly. “Don’t stress yourself so much, you clearly care a lot and that’s enough to make a good present.”

“Thank you, uh. That’s. That’s nice of you to say.” He mutters, and Syran thinks she can feel him be a little relieved.

“Just saying the truth,” she wishes the smile on her face wasn’t so goddamn insistent. She and Ilya have this sort of mutual understanding, where not many words are needed to guess how the other’s feeling. Well, most of the time. Still, she lately realised how surprisingly similar they are.

And yeah, recently Syran has been feeling a different kind of pull towards Ilya, but she doesn’t need to think about that. She’ll be dead before she catches anyone thinking him cute anyway.

“So…” Ilya starts then, shaking Syran from her thoughts. “Is that a no? On the– uh, present hunting?”

“What– no, it’s a yes, I mean, yeah, no, I’ll come!” Syran replies before thinking, surprised, and a little too eager.

Fuck. She takes a deep breath.

“What I mean is: I’d be more than happy to help you pick a gift. I need to get one myself, anyway.”

“Ah, that’s great,” He exhales, clearly relieved. Then, he seems to regain his composure. “Are you free on Wednesday?”

#an writes #julianxapprentice #julianxsyran #Syran Elkas #Julian Devorak #modern au #the arcana fic #ilya devorak #asra alnazar #muriel #nadia satrinava #pasha devorak #the arcana #part 2 #ilya x apprentice #fic writing #things are gettin spicy and syran is not getting it #apologies #my daughter is dumb

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asrasotherbottom · 5 years ago

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i love portia so much!!! if you're taking requests about her, how about portia and mc pulling pranks on the other main 5? i imagine they'd have to run from lucio afterwards lol

Portia x MC Pulling Pranks this got so long oh my god

Julian

Obviously they’d prank Julian together. Portia has a backlog of ideas spanning years and so anytime they’re going to see Julian, she has something planned.

Her favorite thing about pranking her brother is that hes very easy to prank.

Some favorites involve putting a live crab in his bed, convincing him the squirrel that hangs out by the palace can actually talk, and moving all his furniture a few inches to the left and watch him bumble around trying to figure out whats wrong. Notable runner ups involve magically sealing his shampoo and a sheet of plastic wrap at face height

Sometimes she even convinces Mazelinka to get in on the fun, as long as her flowers arent going to be trampled in the process. “I did you a favor and finally washed those smelly cloths you call clothes.” as she holds up a hot pink shirt.

Nadia

Pulling pranks on Nadia is something that she thinks requires days of schemeing, she knows all of Nadia’s habits and everything that would be crossing a line, and shes always aware of Nadia’s mood so she knows to not prank her while she’s not doing well.

She also is very compassoinate and knows Nadia is under a lot of stress, so she never does anything that would cause Nadia more grief than laughter.

Nadia has a great sense of humor as long as she’s not the butt of the joke, so Portia’s pranks on her are more…spatial.

Rearranging the chairs in the dining room so something looks…weird. Nadia walking down the hallway and portia moving a desk into a secret passage so when Nadia comes back its gone.

MC dressing up in Portia’s outfit and seeing how far along into dinner service they can get before Nadia notices.

Portia can never keep a straight face when Nadia questions her though, so the jig is up within seconds.

Honestly most of the palace pranks are Portia and MC convincing Nadia that pranking the courtiers is Vital to palace function.

Asra

Pranking asra is easy because Portia can always convince faust to get in on the fun.

She’ll ask MC to make a book levitate with magic or to throw her voice so it seems like the stove salamander is talking to Faust.

“HEY ASRA! CATCH!” and then she’ll jump off of a tree branch and he drops everything he’s carrying to float her down to the ground.

She tried to eat pudding out of a mayo jar once while looking at Asra except he didnt think there was anything weird about that and then she felt like she got the short end of that stick.

One that never fails to make Portia (and everyone else) chuckle is borrowing the stove salamander and putting a regular yellow lizard in his nook.

Asra: please light the stove?? whats going on? who are you??lizard: ( 0 ) v ( o )Portia: *chuckles from downstairs*

Muriel

Portia and MC are careful about their pranks with Muriel, the last thing she wants is to upset him.

She sneaks out in the night and puts party hats on all the chickens.

She has nadia make him a pair of extra long pants to sneak in with his regular pants so he thinks he shrunk 3 feet in the night. (He can hear her laughing from outside the hut so that only lasts a few seconds)

Portia wearing really tall stilts and casually walking up to muriel like shes been that tall all along. MC would obviously back up her story and stop her from toppling over.

She and MC would leave various minorly enchanted garden gnomes around his hut that do things like make sneezing sounds when you walk past it, or Say Fuck, or list ingredients for bad sandwiches. .

Lucio

From where Portia and MC sit, Lucio could use a good pranking

Replacing all his white clothes with green or pink versions and waiting to hear the “WHAAATTTTT” in the morning when he gets dressed.

She convinces all the servants to call him an assortment of wrong names and then play as if they genuinely thought thats been his name the whole time, whats a “Lucio”?

In a modern AU she’d consider nair in his shampoo but opts to replace his toothpaste with hemmoroid cream instead.

But her favorite was having MC pour some nasty ocean water into his mouth when he was asleep and hiding, and when he yelled, she came rushing in, a dutiful servant, with a cup of vodka to uh, make it better. (yes, they did have to run out of his chambers at that point)

#portia #portia devorak #pasha devorak #portia the arcana #the arcana portia #main 6 #just in case #Anonymous #saveportia

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vgckwb · 3 years ago

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P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 56: Rise Up

Ren was running a bit late getting to the hideout. She asked everyone there to begin investigating now that they have a name. Upon arrival, Ren was surprised to find Makoto among them, and she looked PISSED. “Ummmmmm…”

“She didn’t tell us why she was here either,” Ann explained. “She wanted to wait until we were all there.”

Ren was still stunned, but tried to proceed. “Well, the good news is we got a name…”

“And HOW did you get that name?” Makoto asked

Ren was confused. “I talked to a reporter…? Are you mad because I entered a bar? Because the lovely bartender was super adamant about not giving me anything alcoholic.”

Makoto was taken aback. “You entered a bat?”

“...No…” Ren lied.

Makoto sighed. “Well, if you’re telling the truth, then how do you explain this?” She showed Ren and everyone else a news article on her phone. The article was about the three gang members that got beaten up.

Ryuji panicked. “That wasn’t us!” He exclaimed.

Makoto was more confused now. “So if it’s not you who did it, then can you prove it?”

“...Maybe” Ren said. “We might have witnesses, depending on the time.”

“Well, as it just so happens, one of the gangster’s was wearing a watch that got broken,” Makoto explained. “Can you explain what you were doing at about 10:30?”

“Ah, what were we doing?” Ryuji wondered. “I think that was after we left.” Ren and Ryuji realized what they were doing. While Ren had a mile-wide grin on her face, Ryuji’s face contorted in horror. “We beat them up!”

Everyone but Ren looked at him, confused. “Oh, come on Ryuji. It won’t hurt to tell them.”

“What do you mean, we beat them up,” Ryuji insisted, his face turning red.

Makoto was not having it. “What’s going on?”

Ren snickered. “Lucky for us, not only do we have two witnesses, but also photographic evidence that places us somewhere else.”

Everyone looked at Ryuji. Ryuji couldn’t hold out any longer. “I want my 5000 yen back.”

“Done” Ren said, handing it to him.

Makoto turned to Ren. “So, where were you?”

“Well, after we had gotten the information…” Ren began.

It flashes back to last night. Ren and Ryuji were making their way through Shinjuku. “Alright, so, you wanna test it out? See if we got the right dirtbag?” Ryuji asked.

“Hmmmm” Ren thought. “I dunno. I kind of want to wait for the team to be there.”

Ryuji looked at her. “I mean, I guess I get it, but what if we have the wrong guy?”

“That’s part of the reason I wanna wait,” Ren said. Ryuji was confused. “I’m a little scared.”

Ryuji chuckled. “I get it. I was always scared before a big meet. But the trick is to not let it get to you.”

Ren smiled. “Maybe you and Sumire should talk.” Ryuji laughed rather loudly.

“Oh my, what an adorable laugh” a voice said. The two teens looked over to see two men. The two men walked over. “I know he already LOOKS perfect, but I think he has the energy for it too.”

“Oh, without a doubt,” the other man said.

“Um, what?” Ryuji said.

“Oh, pardon me, where are my manners?” the first man said. “My name is Julian.”

“And I’m Angel,” the other one said.

“Um, OK?” Ryuji said, still confused.

“And don’t think we don’t know what you’re doing here” Julian said. Ryuji looked at him blankly. “Why, you’re here to let yourself go.”

“What?” Ryuji said.

“Oh, don’t be so modest,” Angel said. “Or do. It’s very becoming of you.”

“I’m not sure what’s going on,” Ryuji said.

“Aww, we’re all friends here,” Julien said. “You want to let out your inner drag queen.”

“WHAT?!” Ryuji yelped.

“We saw you hanging around Crossroads,” Angel explained. “Too nervous to go in.”

“B-Bullshit!” Ryuji snapped back. “I was waiting for her!” Pointing to Ren.

“It’s true,” Ren admitted. Ryuji was relieved. “He wanted me to scout the place to make sure it had what he needed.”

Ryuji panicked again. He pulled Ren aside. “What are you doing?” he whispered.

“We can’t tell a perfect stranger that we’re out hunting for information about a gangster” Ren whispered. Ryuji looked shocked, then sheepish. “What did you do?”

“Well, uh, this guy, I was kicking rocks, you know?” Ryuji began explaining. “One hit him, I apologized, and we got to talking.” Ren glared at him. “I didn’t say anything about the Phantom Thieves, I didn’t even mention gangs. I just said we were helping the student council.” Ren was still glaring at him. “OK, fine, I’ll go along with this as an apology. We humor them for a bit, tell them we have to get home, and leave before the last train departs.”

“...’We’?” Ren said, still glaring. Ryuji was sweating bullets. “Ha!” Ren said, smiling. “Just kidding. You know I wouldn’t want to miss this.” Ryuji grumbled, but accepted it.

They broke away from their huddle. Ryuji got slightly embarrassed. “Ha ha, you got me.”

“Well don’t worry your pretty little head,” Angel said. “We’ve got the BEST stuff to make you SHINE!”

“Just like I always wanted,” Ryuji said. “But uh, could we take her along too?” Julian and Angel looked at Ren. “It’s just...she’s the only person I’ve told about this. I’d feel more confident with her there, you know?”

“Oh, of course,” Julian said. “Well now, come come.” The two kids followed the two men to a place close to Crossroads that was more specialized to the art of drag. The group spent some time picking out the right clothes for Ryuji. Ren explained that one of Ryuji’s hang ups was that he still wanted to feel tough, but it was no problem to find a tough look that was more feminine.

Ren also applied Ryuji’s make-up. Once she finished, she backed up. “There.”

Julian and Angel looked on. “Wow, I’m impressed” Angel said

“If you ever feel like making some extra cash, I’m sure some of our regulars would LOVE to have you on make-up” Julian said.

“Thanks,” Ren said, “but for now, I only work with him.”

“Aw, that's a shame,” Julian said. “Well, if you ever change your mind, the offer stands.”

“Thank you,” Ren said.

“So, what now?” Ryuji said.

“Well now we gotta get you in some of those CUTE outfits” Angel said. “And then PHOTOSHOOT!”

“Ph-Photoshoot?!” Ryuji said, surprised.

“Realx, it’ll be just for us” Angel said.

“Yeah, come on,” Ren said. “It’ll be fun.”

Ryuji looked at Ren. He relented. “PHOTOSHOOT!” he said with as much gusto as he could muster.

“Splendid!” Angel said. They capped the night off with Ryuji modeling various outfits, while everyone else took photos.

“You look gorgeous!” Ren complimented, taking another shot.

“Oh, you’re just saying that…” Ryuji answered, trying to play into the bit

“No, I mean it,” Ren said. “I’m honestly a little jealous.”

“Well, I’m sure that you’ll have your time to shine too” Julian said. “Your make-up game is SO on point!”

“Thank you,” Ren said. They took more pictures.

After the photoshoot, Ryuji and Ren left. “Take care you two!” Angel yelled out.

“Thank you!” Ren said.

“Yeah! Thanks!” Ryuji, smiling. Once he was far enough away, he let go of his smile. “Ugh.”

“Alright. 5000 yen, or this is going to Ann” Ren said. There was no reaction from Ryuji. “5000 yen or this DOESN’T go to Ann?”

Ryuji became more alert. “What? No! The first one! Ann cannot see these!” He took out some money and handed it over. “Ugh.”

Ren giggled. “Still, you gotta admit, tonight was fun.”

“Maybe” Ryuji admitted. “But I’m not keen on doing it again.” Ren giggled some more.

In the present, Ren was showing off the photos she had taken of Ryuji. “So, that’s what we were doing.”

“Huh,” Makoto said.

“UGH!” Ryuji groaned.

“I must say, you have a nice aesthetic presence,” Yusuke admitted.

“You really do look good here,” Jose said.

Ann looked at the pictures. “Ryuji? Have you ever thought about being a model?”

“Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!” Ryuji said in a frenzy.

Sumire giggled. “But I will say, those guys are right.” Everyone looked at her. “Ren-senpai is REALLY good at make-up. I wouldn’t mind you applying make-up to me sometime.”

A light blush covered Ren’s face. “Th-Thanks.”

Makoto sighed, relieved. “Well, at least you aren’t going around assaulting people.”

Ryuji hung his head down. “I almost wonder if that’d be better.”

“BUT” Makoto said. “There is the matter of that person Sakamoto told stuff to.”

Everyone looked at Ryuji, while he recoiled. “Hold on. I didn’t say anything that would give anything away.”

“Are you sure?” Makoto asked. “Remember whose voice I have on recording?”

“Ugh,” Ryuji said.

“Well, I believe him,” Ren said. “I doubt Ryuji has much of a capacity to lie like this.”

“Hm, I guess that’s true,” Makoto agreed. “But it’s still something to consider.”

“Yeah,” Ren said. “It might be hard to find them, but if there’s no commotion, we might be safe.”

Makoto nodded. “So, what now?” The thieves looked at each other confused. “I’m assuming you’re going to begin your ‘work’ now that you have a name.”

“Well, yeah…” Ann said. “But that’s members only.”

“There’s a bit more finesse to it than just knowing their name,” Ren explained. “And besides, we might not have the right name to begin with.”

“I suppose that’s true…” Makoto admitted. “But I would like to see your process. You know, to make sure everything is above board and all.”

The thieves exchanged a look. Ren sighed. “It’s not that we don’t trust you, or want to keep you out exactly,” she said, deciding to be direct, “it’s just it’s a lot, and it might seem unbelievable. So, unless you’re ready to take the dive with us, it might be better to leave us be.”

Makoto stared at her. “Fine. I’ll let it go for now. But I WILL figure this out.” She walked off. With that determination, came something else: The app. Not that anyone noticed right away.

Once she was far enough away, the thieves were relieved. “Man, she’s determined!” Ryuji noted.

Morgana popped out. “Are you sure that was the right thing to do?” he asked.

“Well, I don’t know if there was any other way,” Ren answered. “You were there when I tried to dodge her inquiries about the Phantom Thieves.”

“I guess that’s true…” Morgana admitted. “Still, you’re better at letting others know just enough than Ryuji.”

“Shut up!” Ryuji shouted back. “You don’t even need to worry about shooting your mouth off, because most people just hear you meowing!”

“Are cats allowed at your school?” Yusuke asked.

“Well...he does have you there…” Ann said.

“You know what I mean…” Ryuji said, still a bit frustrated.

“I don’t think we should belabor the point any longer,” Ren said. She got out her phone and loaded up the app. “Junya Kaneshiro.”

“Match found” the phone responded.

“It IS him,” Ryuji said, amazed.

Ren looked at her phone. Just as before, Kaneshiro’s name is in black, and following that is one more line in black, then a line in white. “Yeah, and we know it’s the right guy because someone’s taking over already.”

“WHAT?!” the thieves yelled in unison.

“But didn’t Eris tell you no one was taking over yet?” Sumire asked.

“Well, something must have happened,” Ren said, giving some serious side-eye to Ryuji.

“Hold on. We can’t be SURE it’s my fault” Ryuji said.

“That’s true,” Jose said, defending Ryuji. “He did say he didn’t go into specifics.”

“Besides,” Ann interjected, “if this Kaneshiro person is doing business in all of Shibuya, that gives him a LOT of people who could be his enemy here.”

“Match found” Ren’s phone sounded off.

“What was that?” Ann asked.

Ren looked. “Well, it seems we’ve stumbled into the second thing needed to get into his palace. Apparently, it covers ‘All of Shibuya’.”

“You’re kidding,” Ann said.

“That’s massive,” Yusuke added.

“But we’re still missing the take over word,” Morgana said. “And unlike with Madarame, I doubt Kaneshiro is having a big public event.”

The thieves all thought. Something clicked in Sumire. “You don’t think that the person who beat up those guys could be it, do you?”

“Hmmmm” Yusuke said. “I cannot deny the possibility.”

“Yeah, but how are we supposed to figure this out?” Ann asked

“Well, it’s better than nothing,” Ren said. She thought some more. “Maybe we can get Makoto’s help on this?”

“Really?” Sumire wondered.

“Well, I don’t have any better ideas,” Ren admitted.

“I’ll go see if I can’t find her still” Ryuji said. “She couldn’t have gotten too far.” Ren nodded at him. He rushed off.

Meanwhile, Makoto was walking around. “I don’t think they’d do anything illegal,” she rationalized. “But why won’t they tell me what it is they do? They said it’d be unbelievable, but how much of that is just bluster on their part?” She bumped into someone. “Oh, sorry.”

“It’s alright Makoto” they said.

Makoto looked up to see Naoko. “Naoko?”

Naoko smiled. “How are ya doing, champ?”

“Oh…” Makoto said, taken by surprise. “Well, I’ve been better, but I think I'm doing alright.”

Naoke lowered to her level. “Well, if there’s anything you need, you know you can always come to me, right?”

“Of course,” Makoto said. Naoko kept looking at her. Makoto was confused. “Ummmmm.”

“Anything,” Naoko repeated.

“Right…” Makoto said. Naoko kept looking at her.

He stood up. “Ah, I’m sure you’re fine,” he laughed.

“...OK?” Makoto said. At that moment, Ryuji came up and saw those two conversing. He immediately hid, but kept watch.

Naoko laughed a little more. “Sorry. I’m just working on a case, so my mind is more focused on that at the moment.”

“Oh, you got a case?” Makoto said. “Well, with you on the job, I’m sure it’ll get solved.”

“Thanks kiddo” Naoko. “You doing well in school?”

“Yeah,” Makoto answered.

“Good” Naoko nodded. “Keep it up, and take care now.”

Naoko started walking off. “Wait!” Makoto called out. “I can ask Sae for a date if you’d like to have dinner sometime. Or maybe we could plan a picnic for...well…”

Naoko smiled. “Sorry, but I’m going to be rather busy. Plus, I think your sister has a lot on her plate as is. Still, thanks for the offer.” He finished walking off.

Makoto smiled, feeling a little more refreshed. Just then, Ryuji walked up to her. “Oh, Sakamoto-kun.”

“Um, you know that guy?” Ryuji asked.

“Yeah. He worked with my father on the police force” Makoto explained. “They were partners.”

“But he’s not an officer now?” Ryuji inquired further.

Makoto shook her head. “He’s a private investigator now. But more importantly, why are you here?”

“Oh, um, well,” Ryuji began explaining, “we might need a little more information, so we were hoping to ask for your help.”

“Well, I’m here to help. What do you need?” Makoto asked.

Ryuji was concerned about what to say, and more importantly what not to say. “We might need to investigate who beat those people up, but we might not now.”

“What do you mean?” Makoto asked.

“That guy you were talking to,” Ryuji answered, “that was the guy I talked to last night.”

Makoto was a little stunned, but she refined her composure quickly and chuckled. “OK then, so nothing to worry about.”

“What?” Ryuji responded.

“I mean, he’s not going around beating people up, if that’s what you’re thinking” Makoto kept going.

“But he COULD be,” Ryuji responded. “He MIGHT know.”

“Even if he did, I trust him not to do it,” Makoto said.

“But…” Ryuji blurted out. He was struggling to find the words without saying everything.

“But what?” Makoto asked.

Ryuji remained focused on what to say. He managed to muster “Ugh. It’s complicated.”

“Well, it sounds like you have some more talking to do with everyone else” Makoto. “Still, once you get your bearings straight, I’ll gladly help in whatever capacity is needed.” She walked off. Ryuji, frustrated, walked back to the group.

“Did you find Miss Niijima?” Yusuke asked.

“Yeah…” Ryuji answered.

“What’s wrong?” Jose asked, sensing something off about Ryuji.

“Well…” Ryuji said. “Things are a bit mixed.”

“How?” Ann asked.

“So, when I found her, she was talking to someone,” Ryuji said. “Specifically, the person I met in Shinjuku.”

“Did you go and reintroduce yourself?” Morgana asked.

“NO! I ain’t THAT stupid!” Ryuji countered. “I hid until he left and then I talked with Niijima.”

“What did she say?” Sumire asked.

“She’s very confident it’s not him, but I think it could be,” Ryuji explained. “But I couldn’t think of a way to tell her without saying everything.”

“Hmm” Ren pondered. “That IS tricky.”

“What do we do?” Ryuji asked.

They all thought about the question. Ren finally answered. “I guess we just need to be completely honest with her.”

“Are you sure?” Morgana asked.

“I don’t think we’ll get anywhere otherwise” Ren answered.

After letting the information settle for a bit, Ann spoke up and said “I think Ren’s right.” Everyone looked at her. “It’s just, she’s been fighting tooth and nail for the students of the school. I think it’s only fair that she should have all the knowledge to continue the fight, you know?”

“I do know” Yusuke chimed in. “However, I think the reveal should be a united front. A one-on-one meeting would be lacking.”

“Plus, if all of us were here, it might seem more believable,” Jose added.

“OK” Ren nodded. “I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

“Why not now?” Sumire asked.

“I think it’d be a bit awkward at this point,” Ren admitted. “So, do you want to do it here again?”

“I dunno,” Ryuji interjected. “I think it’d be a bit suspicious.”

“I think we should do it in Shibuya,” Yusuke suggested. “That way, if the person Niijima was talking to IS the person taking over, and she IS willing to believe us, we might get the third thing we need.”

“What an excellent idea Yusuke-senpai!” Sumire said. Yusuke went deep into thought. “Was that too much?”

“Oh. No. Sorry” Yusuke answered. “I just started thinking. ‘The person taking over’ is a bit of a mouthful. I think we need a better term for these people.”

Everyone got to thinking. “...Rebels?” Ryuji suggested.

“But we’re the rebels,” Morgana explained. “We’re the ones standing against corruption.”

“Yeah, but so are they in a way,” Ryuji said, defending his answer. “It’s just different from us.”

“Still, I don’t think we should put them in the same category as us, at least entirely,” Ann added. “If we were the same, we’d be no better than that Akechi kid thinks we are.”

“Well, you officially sunk my idea,” Ryuji said.

“What about ‘Conquerors’?” Sumire suggested.

“That’s not bad,” Jose said. “But I think we don’t want them to conquer. Otherwise the palace rulers would be dead.”

“Oh, right,” Sumire said.

They thought some more. “Well, this might be something we come back to later” Ren said. Everyone nodded. “In the meantime, we have a plan: we meet Makoto in Shibuya, and explain the truth.” Everyone nodded again. “Alright, then, meeting adjourned.”

Before everyone could leave, Ann shouted “WAIT!” Everyone looked at her. “Do you think you can send us those pictures of Ryuji?”

Ren smiled. “Of course.”

“Wait, don’t I get a say in this?” Ryuji asked. It was too late though, as Ren had already posted the album in the group chat. “Ugh.”

That evening, Makoto was having dinner when Sae walked in. “Sis!” Makoto stood up. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.” Sae wasn’t answering. “Your food is in the fridge.” Sae still said nothing. Makoto noticed she was holding something. “What’s that?”

Sae finally answered. “Huh? Oh, sorry. I found this in the mail slot.”

“What is it?” Makoto inquired further.

Sae got a bit frustrated. “I haven’t read all of it, but it appears to be a manifesto. The person writing it claims to have beaten up some gangsters last night.” Makoto was alerted. “So, you said my food was in the fridge?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah” Makoto answered. Sae set the manifest down on the table and walked into the kitchen. Makoto quickly walked over and took a picture of it with her phone. Once she did, she noticed the app. She stared at it for a bit, until the microwave dinged. Makoto returned to her seat and continued eating.

Sae came back out with her plate. She ate slowly, but aggressively, as she continued reading the letter. “Ugh. This guy.”

“What’s wrong?” Makoto asked.

“He’s just insulting us like we’re not even trying,” Sae said. She took another bite. She sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m not going to be pleasant company tonight. This on top of everything else is driving me up a wall.”

“Oh. Well, I could finish in my room if you want” Makoto said. “I still have some homework left to do.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Sae said. Makoto took her food and headed for her room. Once there, she pulled up the picture of the manifesto and began reading it herself. After she finished, she had a stunned look of horror on her face.

The next day, during lunch, Ren got out her phone and messaged Makoto.

Ren: Hey.

Ren: We need to talk.

Makoto: Funny. I was about to say the same thing.

Ren: Oh.

Ren: I guess that works then.

Ren: Can you meet us in Shibuya?

Makoto: Sure, but why?

Ren: That’s one of the things that needs explaining.

Makoto: I see.

Makoto: Well, It might be easier if I just come with you.

Ren: Yeah.

Makoto: Well, see you after school then.

Ren: Seeya.

Ren put her phone away.

After school, Ren met up with Ann, Ryuji, and Sumire. Once gathered, they waited for Makoto. She showed up a few minutes later. “Sorry, just had to take care of some business. Well, shall we get going?” The other thieves were uneasy, but Ren nodded. She and Makoto started walking off. The other thieves followed behind them.

It took a bit, but they met up with Yusuke and Jose around Shibuya Crossing. The thieves all banded together, looked at Makoto, who was looking at them, feeling unsure of what was going to come next. “What’s on your mind?” Makoto asked, nervously.

Ren sighed. “You want the truth?” she asked. Makoto nodded. “Alright. But please note, what I am going to say is the truth, no matter how ludicrous it seems.” She took a deep breath. “So, here’s just a basic overview. There’s a parallel world that’s shaped by people’s congitions. We can tap into it using an app that was given to us by a powerful entity to save the world.

People with really distorted desires form these things called ‘Palaces’ and at the center is their desire, which is their treasure. We sneak in to steal that to make them confess. But there’s another bit of complication.

This figure, Eris, corrupts people in order to take over the palace and kill the palace ruler. We not only go in to stop the palace ruler, but this person as well. BUT in order to get into the palace, we need three keyword: the name of the ruler, where the distortion is centered, and what the distortion is. When someone takes over, that last one becomes their’s, and not the palace ruler’s.

So, we need help figuring out who the person taking over might be. We have almost everything we need, but we can’t go until we figure this out. If you’re willing to help us, we’d like that.”

Makoto watched as Ren explained this, unblinking. The thieves were worried that Makoto would laugh this off, or get angry with them. Instead, she said “Huh. I guess that explains a few things.”

The thieves were confused. “Like what?” Ren asked.

“Why you’re never seen, first of all,” Makoto explained. “But I’m guessing it would also explain this.” She held up her phone to them. They were all stunned to see the Metaverse app. “I found it on my phone last night. I tried deleting it a few times, but it always came back.”

“Oh. I see” Ren said, awkwardly.

Makoto grew a little more serious. “And you need something from the person taking over? Well, I think I can provide that too.”

“What do you mean?” Ren asked, confused again.

“Last night, someone left a note in our mailbox claiming to be the person who beat up those gangsters,” Makoto said.

“Um, why?” Ryuji asked.

“My sister works for the prosecutor’s office,” Makoto said.

“Ooooooooohhhhhhhh” Ryuji said, remembering that the man he talked to mentioned a Niijima working at the prosecutor’s office.

“I heard from her this morning that it was sent to some of her coworkers, an assortment of police stations, and some news outlets as well,” Makoto continued. She glared at Ryuji. “And after reading it, I think you’re right.”

“Oh, about that guy?” Ryuji asked, his heart beating a mile a minute.

Makoto nodded. “I think he, Naoko, is the one who is taking over.”

“But, Ryuji told us that you denied that accusation,” Ann explained.

“And I did,” Makoto said. “But reading this, I knew. And with you explaining that this Eris person manipulates people into doing things, I understand now.”

“So what does it say?” Jose asked. “Is there anything that could be helpful to figuring out how to get into the palace?”

“Yeah, so far, we only have the guy’s name, Junya Kaneshiro, and we accidentally figured out the place, which is all of Shibuya,” Ann explained.

Makoto nodded. “His name appears in the note” she said. “I did a little research, and it appears he’s a big time gangster who you don’t want to mess around with. Ugh. Well, he knows I’m involved, but at least he doesn’t know about Kisa.”

“Wait, he knows Hagiwara too?” Ryuji said.

Makoto looked at him, glaring daggers. “Yeah. She’s his niece. Did you tell him she was involved too?” Ryuji looked pale as a ghost, and as much as he wanted to say something, he felt like anything he would say would not be well received. Makoto sighed. “Well, at least this whole thing makes more sense now.”

“So, the letter?” Ren said, awkwardly shifting the subject back.

“Oh right,” Makoto said. “I think it could be useful.” She pulled up the photo she took. “It goes as follows: ‘Greetings Tokyo, It has been a long time since I’ve graced your presence.’”

“It has?” Ryuji said. “How?”

“I’m getting to that,” Makoto said. “‘In case you were wondering, I am the one who beat up those criminals recently. That was only the beginning. I have decided to fight for Tokyo once again. However, it appears that things have gotten too out of control for The Night Raider to handle.’”

“The...Night Raider?” Ryuji asked.

“Ah, I remember,” Yusuke said. “Night Raider is a superhero from a comic from a long time ago. Madarame had the full collection.”

Makoto nodded. “It was my father’s favorite when he was a kid. Naoko’s too. They bonded over that when they first became partners.”

“If I remember correctly, The Night Raider would also put out messages for Tokyo to assure them they were safe” Yusuke said. Makoto nodded.

“Oh, so it that when you figured it out?” Ryuji asked.

“No” Makoto responded bluntly. She continued. “‘A prosecutor’s office that goes after the innocent while the police do nothing to get the truly heinous. Hence, I am making my return as The Dark Raider. The Night Raider vowed never to kill, but with things so terrible, there is no other choice but to kill. And I’m going to start with a man rotten to the core: Junya Kaneshiro. His tyrannical rule over Shibuya will come to an end upon his execution July 11th. In the meantime Tokyo, stay safe. From, The Dark Raider.’”

Ryuji seemed a little confused. “So, when did you figure it out?”

Before Makoto could answer, Sumire interjected. “It was the date, wasn’t it?”

Makoto nodded. “That was the day my father died. I knew then it HAD to be Naoko.”

“WHAT?!” Ryuji screeched. “So, let me get this straight: this Naoko guy is pretending to be a superhero to kill criminals, and he’s going to start by killing Kaneshiro on the anniversary of your father’s death? That’s one messed up personal crusade.”

“That’s it!” Yusuke exclaimed. They all looked at him. “The name for the people taking over: Crusaders!”

“Um, I guess?” Ryuji said. “But I don’t know if now’s the time for this.”

“Well I like it, Yusuke-senpai,” Sumire said.

“Thank you,” Yusuke said. “Although it was Ryuji who inspired me.” Ryuji didn’t say anything, but this time he was too dumbfounded to do so.

“OK, now with that out of the way, let’s see if we can’t figure out something from this,” Ren said.

“Um, I think it’s kind of clear,” Ryuji said. “He’s imitating his favorite comic book.”

“Navigating,” the phone said.

“What the?!” Ryuji said before the world warped around them.

The thieves and Makoto found themselves in a Shibuya with a green skyline, and everything around them looked like it was hand-drawn from a comic. “Woah!” Makoto said, freaking out. “This...This is insane.”

“Please,” said Morgana. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Makoto looked down. “Is that a talking cat?”

“I am NOT a cat,” Morgana explained.

“I don’t think this is a good time to explain that,” Ren said.

Makoto looked up to see everyone in their thief outfits. “Who are you?”

“Um, it’s us,” Ann explained. “This is just what we look like in the other world.”

Makoto was still shocked. “Oh. Wait, when did we get over here?”

Ren checked her phone. “Probably when Skull here said the words ‘comic book’.” Everyone else checked their phone. They saw Junya Kaneshiro, All of Shibuya,” and in white, Comic Book.

“Ugh. I need to learn to shut my mouth” Ryuji said.

“Wait, Skull?” Makoto said.

“Oh yeah,” Ryuji said. “Over here, we use codenames.”

“I’m Joker, this one’s Mona, she’s Panther, he’s Sunshine, she’s Violet, and he’s Fox.”

“I see,” Makoto replied, intrigued. She peered over them. “Is that normal too?”

The thieves looked at what Makoto was pointing at. They looked like walking, talking ATMs. “Well, it’s not entirely unusual,” Ren explained, “but this is odd. Let’s investigate.” The thieves walked up to the ATM while Makoto followed behind cautiously. “Excuse me.”

“GAH!” The ATM said. “I’m making the payments! I just need more time.”

“Wha?” Ren said.

“Oh, Mr. Kaneshiro won’t give me the time though” the ATM said. “Please, help!”

Ren was still bemused by this, but said. “We will.”

“Thank you,” the ATM said. “I don’t want to end up like them.” They pointed to another ATM, this one broken and on its side. The ATM hurried off to try and save itself.

“Um, what’s going on?” Makoto asked.

“Well, this is just a guess,” Ren said, “but I think these ATMs represent people in the real world.”

“So Kaneshiro thinks of these people as nothing but ATMs?!” Ryuji exclaimed. “That’s effed up!”

“Well, if he’s extorting money from people, it makes sense,” Sumire lamented.

“Well, yeah, but we gotta put a stop to this!” Ryuji said. Suddenly, a beam went off. Everyone looked to see a giant lime green beam blasting through the sky. They followed it and saw that a floating bank was being pulled by it.

“FOLLOW THAT BANK!” Ren shouted. They all chased the falling bank to its new destination. They arrived just as the bank was setting into the space around it. Once it stopped moving completely, two shadow guards walked out, and in the middle of them was a very angry purple man in a white suit. Ren halted everyone. “I think that might be Kaneshiro” she whispered.

The man furiously looked around. He saw the thieves and Makoto. “You!’ he said, walking up closer to them. “Are YOU the ones who took my bank out of the sky?” Ren shook her head.

“Um, pardon me?” Makoto said, stepping forward. “Are you by chance, Junya Kaneshiro?”

“That’s right,” he said, cautious.

“Why was your bank in the sky?” Makoto continued.

Kaneshiro’s shadow laughed. “Because that made me untouchable. That allowed me to act with impunity. I can control all of Shibuya without lifting a finger, because when I do, everyone but me gets PUNISHED.

But now I’m brought down to your level. And so, I need to punish whoever’s responsible.” He took a better look at Makoto. “Say, your uniform looks like the one of the girl who tried to get evidence on me.”

Makoto was afraid, but stood her ground. “That’s right. She’s a student at my school. And I’m the student council president. And you’ve made a grave mistake crossing me.”

“Oh ho” Kaneshiro said. “Feisty, aren’t we? But I think it’s the other way around. I have those photos of her, and I have the police under my thumb.So tell me, what are you going to do?”

Makoto took a step forward. “I’ll stop you!”

Kaneshiro laughed. “It’s been a while since I’ve heard a joke THAT good. Guards, take care of her. And her little friends too.” The shadows started to inch forward, but before they could touch Makoto, one of them got kicked out of the way.

The person responsible for the kick was a superhero with a black suit, black cape and cowl that was torn and tattered, white gloves, white boots, and white trunks. Across his chest was a stylized “DR” to symbolize that this person was the Dark Raider. This person was Naoko.

The other shadow turned their attention to him, but he pulled out some boomerangs and threw them at the shadow. He then walked up to Kaneshiro. “I’m the one you’re after,” he said. “I dragged you down here so we can fight like men. Leave them out of this.”

“Heh,” Kaneshiro chortled. “You think someone playing dress-up scares me?” Naoko grabbed Kaneshiro’s arm and twisted it. “GAH!”

“I’m not playing,” Naoko explained. “You saw what I did to some of your goons, right? Well that’s only a sample of what I’m going to do to you. You will pay for your sins with your LIFE!”

He twisted Kaneshiro’s arm harder. “AH!” Kaneshiro yelped in pain.

“NAOKO!” Makoto called out. Naoko looked at her. “STOP!”

Naoko let go, while Kaneshiro fell to the ground. “This isn’t your fight Makoto. Run while you still have the chance.”

“No,” Makoto said.

“What?” Naoko replied.

“This IS my fight” Makoto said, filled with determination “This man has been harassing my fellow students.”

“This man is DANGEROUS!” Naoko argued.

“Don’t you think I know that?” Makoto retorted. “But I have to try. Otherwise, what am I?”

Naoko walked over. “You’re a student. Your job is to get good grades, get into a good college, and have a good life. Not take on some mobster with a known body count of 22!”

“STOP!” Makoto shouted, surprising everyone. “Quit telling me what to do! If I’m supposed to be in charge of what I do, why is everyone else telling me what it should be, or what I am?! I’m the student council president, and I’m supposed to protect my own! But no one trusts me because of what other people have placed upon me, and I’m SICK of it! I want to earn that trust back by doing whatever it takes! So you either help me, or GET OUT OF MY WAY!”

Kaneshiro stood up in this moment where everyone else was distracted. “GUARDS!” He called out. More shadows appeared as Kaneshiro retreated into the bank. The thieves rushed to protect Makoto, while Naoko had already begun.

Meanwhile, a voice was ringing out inside Makoto’s head. “Have you decided to tread the path of strife?”

Makoto was struggling. She fell to her knees. “Yes,” she answered.

“Very well,” the voice continued. “Let us proceed with our contract at once. I am thou, thou art I... You have finally found your own justice. Please..Never lose sight of it again.” A mask appeared on Makoto’s face. “This memorable day marks your graduation from your false self.”

Makoto ripped it off, shouting “JOHANNA!” Blood sprayed out of her face. A blinding light surrounded her. Once the dust settled, Makoto was dressed as a biker, and her Persona had manifested as a motorcycle she was riding.

“Woah!” Ryuji said.

“I’m impressed!” Morgana exclaimed.

“Hm” Ren smiled.

Makoto revved up Johanna. “JAH!” she belted out, as she began attacking the shadows. Between her, the other thieves, and Naoko, the shadows were dealt with. Afterwards, Makoto was out of breath. “Woah…”

Naoko looked at them. “Tell me: Are these the rumored Phantom Thieves?”

Makoto looked up. “Yeah... I asked them to help me... And now... I’m joining them...”

“I see,” Naoko said. He reached his hand out. “We can work together, you know. Taking down criminals left and right.”

Makoto was still out of breath. “Sorry” Ren said, stepping in. “But so long as your plans involve murder, we can’t accept.”

Naoko retracted his hand. “Very well. I will allow you to try your way. But make no mistake, I don’t intend to lose. Kaneshiro will stop at nothing to get his way. You have to be willing to do the same in order to take him on.”

“I’ll stop where I want!” Makoto yelled. Naoko stared, nodded, and then leapt away.

The thieves looked around. “Let’s call it here for today” Yusuke suggested. Everyone nodded and they all went back to the real world.

Once they were back, Makoto was again stunned. “Woah. That just happened.”

“Yeah,” Jose said. “But it was pretty cool.”

“Boy, I’ll say,” Morgana said. “I’ve never seen a motorcycle persona before!”

“Yeah,” Makoto said. “Wait, the cat talks here too?”

“I am NOT a cat!” Morgana said, holding his position.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Makoto said. “Then what are you?”

“Well…” Morgana said.

“This is Morgana. He’s a creature from the same person who gave us the app,” Ren explained. “He just has the form of a cat.”

“OK” Makoto said, taking this alright. “Why is he here?”

“He was always here,” Ren explained. “I usually carry him around in my bag. But you couldn’t hear him speak unless you go to that other world.”

“Oh” Makoto said. “How peculiar.”

“Yeah, that’s one way to describe him,” Ryuji remarked.

“Can it!” Morgana said. “At least I’m not a loud mouth.”

“Those two argue from time to time,” Ren said. “Don’t worry about it.” She reached her hand out. “For now, welcome to the team.” Makoto smiled. She gathered what strength she had left to accept Ren’s handshake, and accept the title of Phantom Thief.

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xaharadesert · 4 years ago

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Bard MC - Headcanon

Arcana Characters (Main 6) x MC

A/N: Okie dokie, this one is for a very lovely and very patient anon! Their request for an MC who can control magic through music is super cool! Honestly, I didn’t know exactly what a bard was when I first received this request, so I’ll be adding in a couple references about that as a joke :) I also tried to leave it ambiguous between whether the MC sings or plays an instrument, but I may have failed. My apologies, these may be a bit shorter than what you’re all used too, but I was struggling with this a little bit (also I am half asleep as I am finishing this, so I’m sorry if some of it doesn’t make sense). Also, I’m very sorry about using an outdated meme, but the oppurtunity was right there and I had to use it. As always, I recognize Asra’s non-binary gender orientation but will be using he/him pronouns! Please let me know if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes :) Requests are open!

❤️Julian❤️

Oh, yeah, he knows what a bard is

Like a singer... right?

Nope

When you tell him that you control magic through music, he has a small crisis and reevaluates every bard he’s ever met

He suddenly has quite a few questions about the inherent magic of music

Curious as always, he wants to learn more about how music acts as a medium for magic, which means a lot of questions

Most of his questions are based in psychology, because a small part of him that constantly doubts magic believes that you’re just a scientific genius

Overall, he supports you, of course

He loves music and the fact that you can cast spells using it is just an added bonus

Julian is already thinking about all the musical adventures you’ll have together

If you offer to teach him, he’ll respectfully decline

He’ll stick to the ordinary kind of music, thank you

On that note, unless it messes with your magic he will absolutely sing along whenever you’re preparing a spell

If this is a problem he’ll sing quietly to himself to avoid being a distraction

He’s sorry if it’s annoying to you, but he really loves singing

When he’s constantly surrounded by music he finds it hard to keep quiet

But if you’re okay with him joining in? He’ll belt some made-up lyrics at the top of his lungs

He may accidentally sing over you and your music, so even if it was originally fine, it will unintentionally cause problems

🧡Portia🧡

Oh, a bard!

That’s uh... a music thing, right?

I mean, she was mostly right

When you tell her that you can control magic through music she’s ecstatic

Magic in and of itself is super cool, but music too?! That’s amazing!

Portia wasn’t the biggest fan of music before, but you can bet your butt she is now!

She loves listening to you preform magic, and even if your not doing a spell, she loves listening to you

She wants to know what kind of songs control what kind of spells

In fact, she wants to know everything about your magic

You might as well be her official teacher because she never stops asking questions

In fact, asking if you can teach her eventually does come up

She’s a very eager student, although she often goes off track and starts inventing her own music

It’s not as effective, but she’s definitely having fun

Even if she never actually learns the magic part, she learned a cool new musical skill

She’ll create silly little songs to make you laugh

Sometimes when you use a particularly sad song for a spell, she’ll start to tear up

This can be a bit of a distraction, but she swears she’s not actually upset

You’re just amazing at what you do

Once Julian needed your help and her response was “this is so sad, MC play Despacito”

💛Lucio💛

Of course he knows what a bard is!

At least that’s what he claims

In reality he has no idea, he always referred to them as “music people”

So when you tell him about controlling magic through music he’s suddenly feeling a little afraid of every musician he made fun of in the past

He’ll never admit that out loud, though

Lucio thinks what you do is amazing

You can do magic AND you’re musically talented! That’s double the talent!

For a moment he considered mocking Asra for being less talented than you before remembering that you and Asra are friends

That doesn’t stop him from showing off your talents to everyone else, though!

Whether you really want to or not, you’ll probably have to show literally every Vesuvian your abilities at least once

Lucio himself isn’t particularly interested in learning your form of magic

He’d rather watch and listen as you preform spells

He doesn’t really want you to teach anyone else though, but he can’t really stop you if you choose to anyway

Sometimes he’ll ask you to preform a spell just so he can listen to you

He especially loves to hear slower songs for spells that ward off nightmares

When he listens to you, he genuinely feels calm and peaceful

He just exists in a perfect moment, with nobody but you and him

On a side note, though, sometimes when you’re showing off for other people he’ll try to sing along and it’ll always end up sounding horrible

💚Muriel💚

Doesn’t even pretend to know what a bard is

He never really had a reason to know, so he doesn’t

When you first tell him, he feels a bit awkward because he feels as if you expected him to know

But of course, your brand of magic was pretty unique so explaining your abilities was old hat by now

He’s not exactly sure how he feels about your methods

Of course he loves and supports you, but your magic... it’s just... a lot

It seems to require a lot of noise, and it draws way too much attention in his opinion

He would never try to change you, but he shrinks into himself whenever you gain a crowd from performing a spell in public

He starts to feel differently about it the first time he hears a slower song

When your music is soft and soothing he inadvertently feels himself relax

Knowing that you’re beside him, doing what you love, brings him a lot of inexplicable joy

Muriel doesn’t really have any interest in learning your kind of magic for himself, if he’s being honest

Although, he never minds when you want to talk about the complexities

He doesn’t mind very much if you need to practice late at night at home, because he doesn’t need to worry about other people intruding

Personally, he has no real uses for your magic so he never asks for your help

That isn’t to say he won’t accept it; if you want to use a song to help with menial tasks once in a while he won’t complain

The one exception is if you start using it for some creepy spell in the middle of the night

Then he may have a few complaints

💙Asra💙

The only one who actually knows what a bard is without your explanation

He was there throughout most of your magical growth, so he already knows a lot about it

In all honesty, if it weren’t for you, he probably would have been just as oblivious as everyone else

He loves how unique your method of performing magic is

Asra has never met anyone quite like you, and he doubts he ever will

Watching you perform your magic is one of his favourite hobbies (if you can really count that as a hobby)

Observing how your magic interacts with your music is incredible to him

He’s a little jealous, but he’d never say that out loud

You offered to teach him years ago and he eagerly accepted, but he never quite got the hang of it

In the end, he learned most of the theory behind it, but he mostly stuck to his own brand of magic

Even if he does admire your magic more than he admires his own, he does love the contrast between the two of you

(Spoilers) when he brought you back and was re-teaching you most things, your magic was one of the hardest

He felt horrible that he couldn’t properly demonstrate for you, but after teaching you the theories again, you seemed to pick it up on your own

On a side note though, helping you relearn your magic did allow him to grasp a couple of basic spells with your method, which makes him super excited

All in all he’s just thrilled that you have such a strong and unique brand of magic

He’s proud of how much you’ve grown into it, despite not having a proper mentor

Asra is a fan of quite a few unique types of music, but listening to whatever kind of music your using has definitely helped him settle on a few favourite songs

He doesn’t have a favourite kind of musical spell, so he’s excited no matter what kind of magic your performing

One time he even convinced you to cast a spell to heat up some tea faster just because he wanted to hear your music

💜Nadia💜

A bard?

As in, one who recites poetry, correct?

She uses the definition of a bard when describing what she thinks you do

Nadia is pleasantly surprised to find that your definition of bard is much more powerful, although she now has a few questions about how you go about defining words

She doesn’t have very much magical experience, so she was unaware of how unique your brand of magic was

But when she finds out exactly what it is you do?

She’s so excited

Nadia definitely loves music, although she leans toward slightly more refined tastes

She starts to question her favourite songs when she first hears you perform a spell

You manage to convey so much emotion, regardless of how long a spell or song is

She feels her heart pound in her chest whenever you use a lot of emotion in a spell

If you offer to teach her, she’ll have to politely decline

She knows how to play piano, sure, and her singing voice isn’t the worst, but she isn’t particularly interested in studying magic

She’ll just leave that part up to you

Of course, she’s always content to watch you perform, although sometimes it is a bit disruptive

If she needs a quick spell while in a meeting, a whole song can be a bit of a problem

She learns to work around this though, because she would never want you to ever change who you are

Although, she will admit she found it humorous when you chose a particularly aggressive song for a spell when trying to prove a point to Valerius

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raccoonpoptart · 4 years ago

Note

wanted to share this scenario idea bcs it's adorable ;; it's where the reader accidentally made a mistake in casting a spell, ehich resulted in them turning into an animal! i'm wondering how the characters would react to them huhu

YESSS THIS IS SO CUTE THANKYOU 🌸✨ this is so funny to think about honestly could you imagine suddenly turning into an animal? personally if i turned into a raccoon i would never want to be human again 🦝🦝🦝

☼

that’s not how that goes...

warnings: none! wholesome times tonight <3

some of the animal choices are obvious but others are...just for giggles 🐝 hope you like it! ✨

Earlier at the market y/n got some new ingredients to use in a spell, but had to substitute a few obscure things with more easily accesible items. With nothing but hope in their heart (that they wouldn’t absolutely ruin anything important), they made their way home.

It wasn’t until about halfway through the spell that y/n realized something was a bit...off. The smell just seemed a bit more potent, and the color was a little more unexpected than usual. Magic was strange like that, so they shrugged and threw the last ingredient in the bowl. Poof! Smoke went everywhere and y/n was covered in green dust.

Suddenly, everything grew so much bigger in the shop and y/n began to panic. Asra wouldn’t be home for a few hours! What were they supposed to do? Their heart raced as they walked to the nearest mirror. They realized that it wasn’t the shop that got bigger, it was them who got smaller. Uh oh...

alright gamers lets do this

Asra

when he came home he looked everywhere for you and when he saw the mess you made he started to panic a little

he had no idea what you were trying to do but the fact that you weren’t around was...really unsettling

“mc?? where are you? please come back...”

suddenly he felt something slip up his arm and squeeze...

“oh, hi, faust...did you s-”

what looked back at him wasn’t those red eyes he was used to but instead it was two big purple eyes

he was about to scream (because who wouldn’t freak out over a random snake) when he heard your voice in his head

i think i messed up the spell :(

he laughed softly and placed a soft kiss on your head and assured you if he couldn’t fix it, it would probably wear off anyway

spoiler alert it took almost a whole day for it to wear off but he enjoyed having you wrap around him whenever he went anywhere

faust thought it was the best thing ever, she would wrap around asra’s left arm and you would be on his right

Bite the goat!

(i was so tempted to do a fox but i thought it would be cute to sorta be like a chimes and flamel moment)

Nadia

when she was told that a lynx had been spotted sneaking around the palace she was a little worried

lynx are not common, so of course she wanted to see! but when the lynx ran up to her and started to rub against her and purr?? she was very confused

it wasn’t until she saw your eyes that she realized it was you! but didn’t really know how she knew...it was just her intuition she guessed

she just assumed something magical happened and hugged you

loved when you followed her around the palace because everyone was so afraid, or just had a puzzled look on their face

when you would meowl (or, yell for lack of a better word) she would smile and kiss your head then laugh if anyone around her got scared

would talk to you like normal even if you couldn’t properly answer, she just assumed any noise you’d make was a response

complimented your ears and thick coat then offered to brush your fur (she wanted to hear you purr again)

she enjoyed having you around all day and once you were back to normal she asked so many questions

Julian

another damn raven had taken a liking to him and he was ready to leave vesuvia again

he facepalmed as malak and this new bird had started messing with his hair and squawking

meanwhile you found it pretty funny how he accepted it so quickly and waited a while before having malak tell julian

you and malak had continued to bother julian for a few hours but once he got annoyed you had malak explain and julian just laughed and asked if malak had run into a window again

when you softly pecked his nose and rubbed against his face he blushed softly

“ah, well...at least it’s temporary. it is temporary, right? please tell me it won’t last forever!”

boi was a bit stressed because now he felt like he had to look after you but malak told him to *ahem* buzz off we’ll say cause he was having so much fun

found the looks he got a bit funny because of course having two ravens follow you everywhere would look strange (CAN I MAKE A NORSE MYTHOLOGY JOKE PLS.....TWO RAVENS = ODIN LMAO)

once the spell wore off he held you close and let out a sigh of relief,,, “darling, you make a beautiful bird but please don’t scare me like that again <3”

Muriel

ignore the part where it says the shop got bigger, for this it got smaller ok thanks <3

inanna had been gone a while so he went out to find her

instead found her outside playing with a......bear?

he closed his eyes and exhaled then turned to go back inside to avoid dealing with another unexplainable thing

but inanna dragged him over to the bear and he just stared as the bear stared back

woof! “inanna that makes no sense, it’s not mc”

then the bear hugged him and he blushed but didn’t pull away because why else would a bear have silver fur and pink eyes

you couldn’t exactly fit in his hut so he decided to just sit outside with you. he assumed that a spell went wrong because the same thing had happened to asra before

“so, mc... do you think this is permanent?” you grunted in response and placed a paw on his head

it was a bit awkward but he laughed softly and placed a hand on your head (wholesome mountain man :( i would die for him...)

watching you catch fish was hilarious to him considering you couldn’t do it by yourself a few months ago, but made sure to keep an eye on you anyway

he liked that you were taller than him for a bit and felt safe when you would hug him, even if the sight of it would seem strange but was happy when you were back to normal (now he can kiss the top of your head and hold your hands properly)

Portia

walked into her cottage and stopped in her tracks

she was face to face a puma and her heart started racing, she was about to run until she saw pepi run up onto the bigger cat’s head and headbutt her

“pepi.....can you please explain who this is quickly” she was trying not to freak out in case the giant cat would attack her

in response pepi started to purr and rubbed against the cat and was surprised when the big cat started to purr too

she thought that maybe pepi had somehow made a new friend? and just was grateful that it didn’t eat her

you had to lead her back to the shop and show her the mess as well as the pile of your clothes on the ground for her to understand

“mc :3 does that mean you’re technically naked?~” she poked your side and laughed when you made a slightly annoyed noise

absolutely loved how everyone ran at the sight of her with a puma and walked with a bit more confidence “i feel like the main character in a story! strong, beautiful woman with her most trusted cats at her side!”

you wished you could laugh but you loved how adorable she was and also you were amazed at how even though you were walking, pepi stayed asleep on your back

after work the next day she found you asleep in her bed wearing some of her clothes and she smiled so big as she hugged you tight

Lucio

“can somebody please explain why the hell a damn PEACOCK IS IN MY ROOM???”

as he raised his voice, the bird puffed up its feathers and started to squawk which freaked him out but it just walked up to him and stared

he was so confused but was thankful the bird wasn’t attacking him so he tried talking to it

“uhhhh- hello there, aren’t you beautiful? are you an albino? your white feathers are gorgeous” you puffed up your chest at the compliments and expanded your tail feathers

he smiled and tried to pet your tail feathers “you aren’t so scary now, how’d you get in here?” he didn’t really think to ask anyone because the only person he could think of was asra and he didn’t want to talk to him

mercedes and melchior liked the bird so why shouldn’t he? he shrugged and just let you follow him around all day, talking to you like you were another one of his pets (which was annoying but you liked the compliments althought they were new, obviously you didn’t normally have feathers)

the spell wore off in the middle of the night he went from having two dogs and a bird in his bed to having two dogs....and YOU!! just when he thought being with you couldn’t have brought more surprises and weird stories

he gave you his shirt and laughed as you explained what happened ,, “well, it’s good it was temporary! if i never saw you as a human again i don’t know what i would do”

☼

that was so fun!! omg i love writing weird stuff like this 🍓 anyway, i hope you liked it! i’m thinking about writing a story where mc can turn into animals on the regular but we’ll see ✨✨ now i wish i could turn into an animal for a day lmao

#the arcana #asra alzanar #asra x mc #countess nadia #nadia x mc #julian devorak #julian x mc #muriel #muriel x mc #portia devorak #portia x mc #count lucio #lucio x mc

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beybladefanboy · 3 years ago

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Top 5 Worst Episodes of Beyblade

I'm gonna say this right off the bat: ranking Beyblade episodes is weird since they're all so tightly knit together. However, I was able to find five episodes that I find either dull or problematic in some way to make a top 5 worst list. When I make the best list, it’ll likely be top 5 of each season because there are way more good episodes than bad ones. In fact, I don't really think most of this list is bad besides the top two. Anyways, let's get started.

5) Episode 109: Kenta's Determination (Metal Fury)

Yeah... I have really mixed thoughts on this episode. I really love parts of it and I really hate other parts of it. I enjoy it every time I watch it, and I've watched this one A LOT, but if I think about it in a critical way at all, it falls apart. It really does feel like the narrative is gloryfing Kenta for stalking someone. Ryuga told Kenta to go away multiple times and when I first watched this episode, I assumed Ryuga was taking a difficult path specifically to throw Kenta off his trail. We don't know that Kenta's statement about Ryuga taking difficult paths on purpose is true, we're just trusting Kenta's word on that, who is still a total stranger to Ryuga at that point. Kenta and the audience have no actual indication that Ryuga wants Kenta around or is letting him follow him until that moment where Ryuga waits for him in the desert, which you can easily miss if you're not paying attention. I know this because younger me missed it. There isn't as much emphasis on this frankly cute moment as I feel there should be. Still, it does save the rest of this episode and later episodes with these two. Without it, the scene at the end where Ryuga allows Kenta to follow him could easily be interpreted as him giving in because he can't get Kenta to go away. "Remember kids, if you stalk someone for long enough, they'll give in!" You see what I mean? It's obviously not trying to teach that but the way this episode is framed, putting Kenta in the right for this, really makes it feel that way. Still, there is at least that little hint that Ryuga wanted Kenta around before the final scene and honestly I love this episode too much to put it any lower. It bothers me when I think about it critically but dammit I enjoy watching it. I hate that dream sequence where everyone is out of character but putting it aside, I love seeing Ryuga kick ass, I still laugh at that scene where he first meets Kenta and doesn't even know his name, I love seeing Ryuga scare off a tiger just by looking at it, and goddammit, him waiting for Kenta in the desert and that entire scene at the campfire are some of the cutest damn things in this show. I love this episode, even though from a critical perspective, it's a disaster.

4) Episode 68: We Meet Again! Wang Fu Zhong (Metal Masters)

This is ironically the only Masters episode on the list. It's the least of the three seasons for me because the overarching story just isn't as interesting but the individual episodes themselves are fine at what they're trying to do. The only exception for me is this one. I will admit I am not very invested in the Wang Fu Zhong characters. I dislike Chi-Yun and Chao Xin, and before his episode with Julian, Da Xiang as well. Mei Mei is fine though her gag of forgetting words is more often dumb than funny. So seeing them wasn't very exciting for me. I'm also just not invested in this conflict. Gingka, Masamune, Yu, and Tsubasa struggling to work together as a team makes perfect sense given their characters and adds conflict. It makes sense it's just not interesting. There were what... two team battles in the entire tournament? And the way they all worked together in the final act was by fighting their own individual battles so this whole conflict didn't feel like it amounted to much in the end. There was this big emphasis on teamwork with no real pay-off (in this season at least, Fury did a better job with the teamwork angle). It also makes the characters really damn annoying. I mean, I can't stay mad at Tsubasa but the other three were being so bratty, to the point where I was getting just as frustrated as Madoka. There are some good comedic moments in this episode but overall, it's just kind of a slog for me.

3) Episode 37: Rock Scorpio's Deadly Poison (Metal Fusion)

Jeez, another Kenta episode. Kenta is one of my favourite characters. Why are his episodes so hit or miss? This one is kinda like my number four pick: not necessarily bad, just boring and annoying. Busujima is an annoying nuisance and I don't find Sora or his pack of randos interesting. This episode was also really misplaced, coming after Tsubasa leaves the Dark Nebula and before he goes to confront the others. If you skip this episode, you will miss nothing. In fact, this episode takes away from the flow of the story and is just a distraction. Sometimes filler episodes can be okay like the Kenta and Benkei changing parts episode in Fusion or the Blader DJ battle in Masters. The difference is those were fun and the latter especially came at a time when the audience and the characters actually needed a breather. This episode doesn't do that. It takes more than it gives.

2) Episode 130: The God of Venus, Quetzalcoatl (Metal Fury)

Okay, Yu and Tithi's battle is perfectly fine. It's quite fun actually. My problems with this episode occur after that. I've complained about this so many times but I cannot stress it enough: this episode destroyed Kyoya's character. It made me hate him the first time I saw this. Kyoya beat up a child who didn't want to fight. When has Kyoya ever demanded to battle a cowering opponent, much less a child? Tithi being a legendary blader isn't an excuse by the way, he was still a non-combatant. RYUGA was above bullshit like this at this point. Also, Kyoya's reason for deciding to return is horribly stupid and forced. Destiny is a theme throughout Fury but it was always portrayed as a choice the characters made of their own accord, impacting the world around them, not some invisible unstoppable force making them do things. I really respected that about this season. Destiny being a choice is more applicable to real life and just more inspiring and interesting in general. But that's thrown in the trash in this episode when Kyoya feels that destiny is forcing him to be with the group, despite him helping them of his own accord in past episodes and destiny not actually forcing him to do anything. It sounds like an excuse and abandons the actual emotional reason Kyoya left the group in the first place. His internal conflict of feeling weak for being in a group was left unresolved and he comes off as a selfish guy only sticking with the group because he feels he's forced to by some invisible concept, something every other episode in the series disagrees with.

1) Episode 48: The Truth About Light and Darkness (Metal Fusion)

In my opinion, this is the only episode in the series that actively hurts other episodes. The Phoenix twist was already incredibly obvious at this point yet they still feel the need to take up the majority of this episode explaining it and the lore about L-Drago and the dark power in excruciating detail. This episode is nothing more than an exposition dump. In the case of the L-Drago lore, it's actually important, but I ask you: what did the Ryo twist actually add? After this point, it gives us a stupidly incompetent director of the WBBA to make frustrating decisions for the sake of the plot in Masters and to a lesser extent, Fury. However, there was no reason this character needed to be Gingka's dad. Or exist, really. These conflicts could've happened whether or not there was a figurehead for the WBBA orchestrating it. However, this episode even more negatively impacts past episodes by painting Ryo's aggressive actions toward Gingka, especially him breaking his point counter, as abusive. He abandoned him, let him think he was dead, and broke something of his for the sake of shaping him into this "noble hero" and the episode has the fucking gall to not only put him in the right, but have the characters and the narrative glorify his actions. "Remember kids, it's okay if your parents abuse you as long as they're doing it for your own good." This is Kenta's Determination levels of messed up implications. Except while that episode was sweet, funny and didn't hurt any other episodes, this episode is drawn out, boring, and actively makes Fusion as a whole worse. And the worst part is it's unskippable. Like I said earlier, there's a ton of important exposition in this episode as well as Ryuga killing Doji, which is a hugely important scene that shows that not even Ryuga's allies are safe and really hammers in just how greedy for power he is. It's honestly the only good scene in the episode. The L-Drago lore is important and strengthens the final battle but everything else should've been scrapped.

And there’s my list. I tried to make this list somewhat objective, only putting episodes on here that had actual problems and not just episodes that annoyed me. That’s why the Garcias episodes aren’t on here for the record. I actually wanted to put episodes 82 and 83 on here so badly but there’s actually nothing objectively wrong with them. Those characters are annoying but the battles are mostly pretty good, the knockout battle set up is unique, and it’s not a distraction. The world tournament is the main plot after all. Call those episodes dishonourable mentions if you will, I enjoy Kenta’s Determination more than both of them, even though that episode is probably objectively worse.

#beyblade #beyblade metal fight #beyblade metal saga #metal fusion #metal masters #metal fury #I didn't bother including Shogun Steel #because it's only tangentially related #and I don't care about it #ranking list #top 5 worst

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wexhappyxfew · 4 years ago

Text

| CHARACTER STUDY |

>> Private Daniel Jackson [Saving Private Ryan]

>> Sergeant Hazel Parker [The Soldier of Stars - Band of Brothers Fic]

A little while ago, I was talking to Linda ( @wecomrades ) and she had just read of a portion of one of my Band of Brothers fics, The Soldier of Stars, where it portrays my main OC, Hazel Parker, who is a sniper, as whispering prayers each and everytime she shoots her rifle. And so she sent me a message, saying how it was very similar to Private Dnaiel Jackson of Saving Private Ryan. And I was like, OMG THATS WHO SHE IS BASED OFF OF! And well here we are!!

When I first started drafting The Soldier of Stars, it was under a different title, had more characters instead of my 3 now, and was sorta a mess, but I cleaned it up with help from a few writer friends. But Hazel always stayed the same - derived from the character of Private Daniel Jackson of Saving Private Ryan was what I always wanted to go for!! And I did!! For a while I had been planning a sort of almost character study to show Hazel’s similarities to Jackson, but never got the time. But now since our discussion, I have been more inclined than ever to finally do one!! Private Daniel Jackson is also my favorite Saving Private Ryan character, and I just KNEW I had to go along with it!! So without further adieu, please enjoy if you wish!! It’s not much, as I don’t want to spread this out, but it’s my general thought process that I had creating the tiny lil sniper I ADORE with all my heart - Hazel Parker. 💛

INTRODUCTION + BACKGROUND

When I first created Hazel Parker as a character, I wanted to create a quiet, introverted character that people of the more introverted side of the fandom could relate to - who was also a strong female character in her own ways, and also a pretty badass sniper :) So I drew inspiration from Private Daniel Jackson of Saving Private Ryan, pretty heavily - similar ways of seemingly approaching the war, firing their weapon and saying prayers to accompany it, being religious, sort of an quieter personality (they can do their job and do it well). I drew multiple different things from Private Daniel Jackson to add to Hazel Parker as a person and the outcome was exactly what I had hoped to get!

(1) This Is Just Pure Irony

When Hazel Parker was simply just an idea, with no name, no face claim, nothing really, I just spent time watching war films, gathering ideas, personalities, all of that. The name came to me one night a few minutes before I fell asleep and I really just loved the name ‘Hazel Parker’ together, because I felt it was fairly unique, yet it worked for many, many reasons. And then I went and rewatched Saving Private Ryan and found something out that I LOVED and still LOVE to this day.

The man who was up with Private Daniel Jackson in the bell tower was named Private Parker. And I honestly just love the irony and connection between that, because then I went and created my own Private [Hazel] Parker. I just loved it because Hazel is based off Private Jackson and then there was that connection and I just loved it! :)

(2) Religion

Private Daniel Jackson is described as a ‘devout Christian’ and he wears a cross as well as whispers prayers directly from the [King James Version] Bible before shooting his Springfield in combat, which is something paralleled with what I made Hazel do as well as a Christian.

As a child, Hazel had nowhere to look after her father left and Faith and God were really the only things she could follow after and look to, to guide her she felt because there was nowhere else to go and she felt so lost. This follows her into the war year with Easy Company and eventually into postwar.

But I used her description of being Christian to show the morals she held in war almost constantly and how she viewed the war and how God was with war.

One of the most pivotal scenes to describe this moment is between Hazel Parker and Shifty Powers in Bastogne (two who grow to become close friends), where Hazel is talking about how ‘God tells her to love her enemies’, but how can she do that when the enemy does cruel things such as this war? She has a power struggle with her Faith in God and in the reality of war and I present this struggle in many different situations - yet she still remains faithful in the end, which I love. God was there for her through her childhood and through war and she respects that.

(3) Prayer Whispers

Just like what I mentioned above, a bit, actually is the fact that like Jackson, Hazel is a Christian and similarly whispers prayers before each shot she takes in battle. For how morally coded she is, she is not a fan of death but knows she can not avoid it and whispering a prayer for the life she takes it better than saying nothing in her stance, wishing them well in the afterlife and hope God protects her afterwards for what she has done and committed.

Private Jackson - Psalm 25:2

“ O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.”

Corporal Hazel Parker - Not Specified

“ By God, rule me and guide me, ever this day, be at my side, to light and to guard.”

The examples above are just two excerpts of what both tend to say throughout the course of the book and movie and I think this was the major connection that many people made throughout the course of The Soldier of Stars was how Hazel reminded them of Private Jackson. And I felt super happy that in the end, that was what I had initially hoped for when I had started. It was a nice feeling to have.

(4) Motives

For me, I felt their motives were also very similar - that is Private Jackson and Corporal Parker.

In my own interpretation from when I saw Saving Private Ryan, Private Jackson just seemed like the sort of guy, who was there for his friends, highly caring, highly intelligent and skilled, he knew his place, and he had this sort of persona about him that said ‘I’ll go where ever the war takes me, as long as this rifle is in my hand.’ and Hazel is VERY similar to that in many senses.

Hazel Parker, who doesn’t exactly know her place in the beginning of the fic eventually does find her place, and then remains reliable, intelligent, skilled and focused in her position as she does so - along with the idea of ‘Wherever I go in war, I want my rifle in my hand.”

( Might I mention that both shoot with Springfield rifles ;) )

Even though Private Jackson has much more confidence than Hazel does, his confidence is just an outward confidence of her inward confidence. He speaks it, saying he could kill H*tler from a mile away. Now, Hazel would never say that, but she sure could easily think that. She knows by the middle of the book really she’s good and doesn’t need to say it, she just needs to have that confidence in herself - but it is a very similar sort of confidence overall.

(5) Just some Fun Facts!

It is said that Private Jackson was born in West Fork, Tennessee and I, coincidentally made Hazel Parker also born in Tennessee in Pigeon Forge! They have a bit of the Southern Charm.

Like I mentioned above - they both shoot with the exact same sort of Sniper Rifle - the M1903A4 Springfield Rifle and are highly outstanding marksman that both Captain Miller and Major Winters put faith in for the two of them in their separate ways.

They tend to be able to do solo missions, sometimes with or without a spotter. The M1903A4 Springfield Sniper rifle was used by the US Army during World War 2 and feds a 5 round magazine and is bolt action. And one of the things I liked about this rifle is you didn’t always quite need a spotter for it to be in use - most snipers have a spotter with them for calculations and such - but with this rifle, it is not always required, for if you need to drop and shoot, it still is effective.

Private Jackson does this many times, such as in the very beginning on D-Day on Omaha Beach as well as a bit later on when he faces off with a German Sniper in a downpour in Neuville. And then he continues again in the Bell Tower where he meets his death.

I portray Hazel as doing a very similar thing when she attacks with Easy Company in Brecourt Manor and is positioned up in a tree, before moving to the first gun - a spotter is not required for her to be effective. She does it again in various moments through out the Normandy Campaign such as during the Battle of Carentan, where she kills from above and in the Battle of Bloody Gulch. We see her again in action in Nuenen and throughout Market Garden and into The Island again where WInters has faith to send her up along the dike away from everyone else to battle.

The last time we see her in this position is in Bastogne in various, different situations where she is effective and makes it work - one of my ALL TIME FAVORITES actually. It is her night time solo mission to recover the body of Private John Julian, which she does with success and it is I feel one of the most pivotal moments for a character like her because by then we know she can fully handle herself in many, many ways. We see a bit of her inner battle there as well which I love because her mind is highly complex, congested and always in a mind-battle, but I love it and we really get to see her inner thought for what they are.

And, I also sorta based it on Physical Appearance - neither are exactly the biggest soldiers there - as that is where Hazel got ‘Tiny’ for a nickname really, but being tiny as a sniper works for Hazel because she can move around quickly and hide away easily as well, so her build was based similarly off of Private Jackson’s.

OH fun fact - it seemed to be that when it came to Jackson’s friends, he was not afraid to quite literally kill for them, Hazel was very much made the same way.

Something that goes off of this is Hazel’s repetition of the ‘bright green-eyed, German soldier’ she killed on her first day in the early hours of the morning. He haunted her in different ways throughout the war (she had killed him with a knife which she had the entire war) and by the end we see her confront the man who shot Chuck and put the knife that killed that German, to the man’s throat. By the end she throws down the knife as a signal that she won’t let the German with the bright green eyes follow her anymore, which gave me, personally, strong Jackson vibes in a way which I loved to write :)

HEY! so this was sort of my view I took on making Hazel Parker similar to Daniel Jackson in many aspects, just taking important bits and chunks that I noticed and incorporating it like that! I really enjoyed making this and Daniel Jackson had always been a huge inspiration so I was excited to make a character similar to him!! I do this with most of my OC’s in various degrees actually, but this one was on my mind for a while so I was excited to finally do it!! Huge thank you to Linda for being so interested in this topic and hyping me up for it!! I hope you enjoyed, my friend! <3

#band of brothers #saving private ryan #bob fic #the soldier of stars #hazel parker #daniel jackson #corporal parker #private jackson #character study

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dhwty-writes · 4 years ago

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Chapter 11 - A Broken Bard

In the comments there were a lot of requests to finally let them talk. They talk. Also, there’s a bath scene. Yay?

The bath scene was inspired by @spielzeugkaiser‘s art here, who kindly gave me their permission to use it. It ends very differently, though. Going forward there will be more scenes like this, that you might recognise but as we’re telling two different stories, they won’t overlap completely.

I hope this is what you guys had in mind for them talking :)

Thanks as always to @persony-pepper for betaing this fic.

Summary: There is something deeply wrong about Lettenhove Hall that Geralt notices very belatedly: the complete lack of music. He confronts Jaskier about it.

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prologue | previous | next

There was something deeply unsettling about Lettenhove Hall and Geralt couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was. It was odd, if he was honest. He normally spent his winters in the crumbling ruin of Kaer Morhen. Lettenhove Hall was a golden palace in comparison. It wasn’t as big, of course, but instead it was what Jaskier surely would describe as ‘cozy’. It was warm and dry, filled with the hustle and bustle that came with a well-kept household.

Still, there was something off. Distressingly so. It wasn’t just that the staff shot him knowing glances whenever he and Jaskier were in the same room. It wasn’t just that Jaskier had grown cold again after that morning of almost-normalcy, or even that the Viscount was planning something.

Geralt knew that he was. His not-friend might have many virtues, but subtlety was not one of them. Or patience. Every day the Viscount rode out into the forest for some reason or another. And he was always whispering to Ciri, both of them bouncing on the balls of their feet as they were conspiring. As if he wouldn’t notice. Still, he let them. They were allowed to have fun.

But that wasn’t what unnerved him. Geralt was certain that it was something else entirely, something important that was missing. Something important that he was missing. If only he could remember what it was.

Realisation dawned on him one morning, about one week after his return from the hunt. Ciri was already up, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet when he told her that they could start training in earnest again. She yelped gleefully and hugged him tightly before rushing down the stairs of the tower.

A small smirk spread on his face when he heard her quietly singing the chorus of Toss a Coin to Your Witcher — he had taught her when she had begged him to. It wasn’t the same as learning it from Jaskier himself, of course. Geralt’s voice was rough and untrained and he had needed a few tries before he didn’t stumble over the words anymore. But it warmed his heart, really, to hear her do something as mundane as singing a plain tune. It was one of the simple joys of life that she’d been deprived of for the last months.

They reached the end of the stairs and Ciri reached the end of her song. “Give a hug to your witcher,” she sang loudly and launched herself at him. Geralt chuckled softly and let her cling to him while he shouldered open the door. “O valley of plenty! O valley of plent- oh.”

Everyone in the courtyard stopped dead in their tracks and stared at them in bewilderment. A pitchfork clattered to the floor, a stableboy nearly let go of not-Roach’s reins and Marta dropped the pile of clean laundry she was carrying.

“Geralt,” Ciri asked, the vinegar scent of her fear spiking, “what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” he confessed quietly and lowered her to the ground. He looked around for an answer, but whoever met his gaze quickly hurried away. Even Wiktor silently shook his head and went back inside.

In the end, it was only Marta who was left, still fussing over the laundry. He strode over to her and crouched down to help. “I’m sorry,” he said honestly. He was relieved that she didn’t flinch from his touch. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It- it’s alright,” she stammered. “It was nice to hear music again. Even if it was so short.”

Geralt frowned. “There is no music in Lettenhove?” he asked stupidly. That didn’t make any sense. It was Jaskier’s castle, of course there would be music of all kinds- Only that there wasn’t. “Shit.” It hit him like a club over his head. “There is no music in Lettenhove.” No music. None at all. Jaskier didn’t sing, didn’t play the lute, didn’t even hum. The closest thing to music he’d witnessed so far were the nervous rhythms tapped out whenever Jaskier’s mind started racing — he could tell when that was happening by now. But no music. Not even work songs from the washerwomen and cooks.

“Are you alright?” Marta asked worriedly.

“Wh-why not?” was all Geralt managed to stammer.

The servant glanced around as if she was waiting for something horrible to happen. Then she leaned in closely: “His lordship has forbidden it,” she whispered. “He’s terribly… passionate whenever he hears someone singin’.”

He nodded. Jaskier was passionate about a lot of things. Somehow, he doubted that it was a good thing in this case. “We won’t do it again,” he promised. Just for good measure he added once more: “I’m sorry.”

He got up and walked back over to Ciri who stared at him with bulging eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m an idiot,” he growled.

“Why now?” He shot her a mean glance that had battle-hardened warriors pee their pants before. His child surprise just cackled gleefully.

Luckily, he was spared the embarrassment of an answer as the doors to the East Wing burst open. His hopeful mood sank when a sharp voice cut through the air: “Witcher!”

He turned slowly. “My lord.”

“Jaskier!” Ciri shouted and ran over to him. “Have you come to watch us again?”

The Viscount smiled sadly. “Not quite. I heard you s-” He hesitated and the despicable scent of onions flared up. “I heard you.”

“Did you like it?” she asked eagerly. “I changed the lyrics, did you hear?”

“I did,” he answered and his voice trembled. Geralt felt a pang of guilt. “Who taught you that tune?”

“I did,” Geralt answered before Ciri could. The surprise surprise flashed over his face, mingled with amusement, sadness and hurt. “Is that the only reason why you’ve come? My lord?”

“Not at all,” the Viscount straightened his back. Geralt watched with astonishment as the stony mask of his Lord’s Face settled over his features again. He’d never get used to that. “I have come to whisk my dear cousin away. Should she be interested in receiving a very demonstrative lesson on a border dispute.”

Geralt frowned. “Do you think that’s safe?"

Jaskier snorted and waved his hand. "Of course, it’s safe!”

“I’ve heard that one before.” He crossed his arms defiantly. He trusted Jaskier with his life. The Viscount wasn’t stupid — he was about as far from stupid as they got — but in sixteen long years the bard had never displayed so much as an ounce of self-preservation. Geralt had the scars to prove it. “I remember hearing that before we got arrested in Oxenfurt, spring 1251, because four months earlier you had thought it a great idea to publish a smear poem about the Headmaster of the Academy under your name. Or that time we were visiting an old friend of yours and we were thrown out because you had slept with his mother, his father’s mistress, and his twin brothers. Or your innumerable shortcuts that inevitably ended us up fighting some kind of monster, or guards, or both at once. You’ll forgive me if I do not trust your judgement completely.”

“Now, that was three examples, Geralt-”

The witcher growled menacingly. ‘Fucking bardlet.’

“Right!” He sighed exaggeratedly. “How many guards do I have to bring along for you to allow her to go?”

“None,” Geralt answered simply. “Only me.”

“No,” he said decidedly. “I want to talk the man’s ear off, witcher, not start a war. If I show up with you at my back, I could skip the parlay altogether and just throw my gauntlet at his feet.”

He frowned deeply. “My answer’s still no.”

“Your answer?” Jaskier laughed hoarsely. “What gave you the impression that I was asking your permission?”

Ciri cleared her throat awkwardly, completely forgotten by the two men. “I, uh- I’d rather not go if Geralt thinks it’s unwise.”

He had a hard time to keep the triumphant grin off his face and judging by the strain in Jaskier’s voice he was struggling just as much to keep his emotions in check: “Fine.” He turned to Geralt. “Will I be able to convince you if I outline the whole dispute to you?”

“Maybe.”

“Good. Come then.” To Ciri he said: “Why don’t you go look what Janka and Józia are up to, hm?” The girl nodded eagerly and left skipping over to the North Wing, where the Pankratz sisters were to be found at most times.

He himself followed Jaskier up to his study once again. As soon as the door shut behind them the Viscount walked over to where a map was smoothed out on a side table. “So, this is what we’re dealing with…,” he began talking immediately.

The Viscount de Lettenhove talked about the tensions between his viscounty and the neighbouring barony of Dergetten that were on the rise again since his father’s death. He also continued to include the various disputes over the last five generations — the previous Baron of Dergetten had apparently relieved Jaskier’s grandfather Julian of his left hand while his great-great-grandfather, the first Viscount Pankratz, had killed the heir of his neighbour in his time.

“Though, I have to admit I am incredibly thankful to good old grandpapa Albert for that violent streak of his. That is what convinced the Count of Hangfelt to entrust us with this lovely castle for safekeeping. Be glad that his descendents haven’t regretted their decision yet.”

All in all, Jaskier insisted, it was just a conversation. He would bring guards because the Baron would, too, but he claimed that they were friends.

“That’s just the kind of thing province nobles do for fun,” he closed his lecture with a roll of his eyes. “Not that I approve, of course. But I promise you it will be a most educational experience for dear Cousin Fiona. I learned to talk myself out of, what is it father used to call it? Ah, yes, ‘aggressive negotiations’. I learned to talk myself out of 'aggressive negotiations’ first, before I learned to talk myself out of almost-castrations.”

Geralt frowned. “Ciri won’t have to do either.”

Jaskier’s eyebrows shot up. “Sure,” he drawled, “and how exactly did you arrive at the conclusion that your child surprise would lead a chaste life?”

“Hmm.”

He grinned triumphantly. “So, witcher. Are you satisfied?”

“Hmm,” he said again, glancing around. His gaze settled on the sword at Jaskier’s hip. “If anything happens, you will use that to protect Ciri with your life,” he growled. “Don’t care if you can wield it or not, but you will. Do you understand, bard?”

“Viscount, but yes,” his voice was solemn all of the sudden, “I understand. I mean, she would probably do a better job of protecting me by now but it won’t come to that. Never. I swear.”

Geralt took a deep breath. He didn’t like letting Ciri go with Jaskier. It wasn’t like when he left, that was him out there in the danger. Now however… He wouldn’t even be able to do anything if something happened. That was nothing short of torture. Still… “Alright,” he conceded. “How long until you’re back?”

“The border’s not far from here. Used to be, but, well, that’s another story. Two hours of riding, three maybe, then we’ll spend the same time insulting each other very politely — I’m sure we’ll lose at least half an hour because Ciri wants to join in, she likes that. And then we’ll ride back. We’ll have to see, maybe she’d like to see one of my other villages, then we’ll take longer. We’re also going to stop and eat at one point. So, sundown. At the very latest.”

“Alright,” he said again. “Fine. Have… have fun, my lord.”

“I guess we will.”

He shrugged and turned back to the door. After a moment of silence Jaskier added: “Geralt, wait-” They both hesitated. In the end, it was Jaskier who spoke first: “We have to stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Fighting over Ciri. Especially when she can see us.”

He frowned in confusion. In Kaer Morhen the other witchers had never had any qualms about fighting before the apprentices’ eyes. Even in the literal sense. “Hmm.”

“It’s just-” Jaskier sighed. “It’s not good. Trust me on this one, Geralt, please. I know that we… We’re not alright right now. And we probably won’t be for a long time. But that’s our problem. It shouldn’t affect Ciri. Alright?”

“Alright,” he answered quietly, his heart beating so fast it could almost pass as human. “But will we be?”

“Will we be what, witcher?”

“Alright.”

He sighed heavily. “I don’t know,” he answered with a quivering voice. “Not if we don’t work for it. Not if we don’t-” He bit down on his lip. “All in due time,” was what he said. What Geralt would have given to know what Jaskier was not saying.

“Hmm. Sundown you said?”

“I did.”

“I’ll wait for you. Good luck, my lord.” He left before Jaskier had a chance to answer.

He didn’t even wait for Ciri and Jaskier to leave before throwing himself into work. He changed into his stable clothes and headed downstairs but even before he could enter the stables, Wiktor stepped out, Pegasus’ reins in hand.

“Here,” the stablemaster said, “take him for a good long ride. Takes your mind off other things.”

“Hmm.” Geralt didn’t protest for fear of his voice abandoning him. He just swung into the saddle and was gone when Ciri and Jaskier came to fetch Dancer and Dreamer.

Wiktor was right. He didn’t have much of a choice besides concentrating on the young horse below him, still wild and eager to run free without a rider. And yet, he found his mind wandering. To Ciri, of course, and Jaskier off to their parlay.

But also back to just Jaskier, who didn’t sing anymore. He cursed himself silently and loudly for not noticing before. That was the kind of thing one spotted immediately when reuniting with a friend after a long time of separation. But they weren’t friends anymore. And Geralt reckoned he hadn’t been a good friend before.

He didn’t return until after lunch, both him and Pegasus drenched in sweat despite the freezing temperatures. He gave the yearling’s reins over to a stable hand, and went on to grab Jaskier’s old wooden sword.

He was about to head out the gates again when he heard rapid steps on the stairs. “Oi!” Marin shouted. “Oi, Geralt, wait!”

The witcher grunted annoyed but waited nonetheless. “What?”

“I’m coming with you.”

“What for?”

“To spar,” the Captain of the Guard raised his own wooden sword, “or to blow some steam off. Both, if you like to.” He smiled kindly. “You look like you could need it.”

“Hmm.” He wasn’t really in the mood for company. But he didn’t want to argue either. He didn’t want to talk at all, if he was honest.

“Come on,” Marin bumped shoulders with him. “I promise you I’ll put up more of a fight than a tree.”

“Fine,” he caved. Side by side they headed out into the woods. Marin was chatting amicably and Geralt answered with the occasional grunt. It was… easy. Almost too easy. When the sparring started, the teasing started, too. That felt even easier. To respond to the barbed comments with jabs of his own. He could almost pretend- He knew he shouldn’t, but he could.

It also felt good to train in earnest, not just thrash a lifeless tree. Marin didn’t compare to sparring with Lambert or Eskel, of course, but it was better than nothing.

It was the late afternoon when they trudged back up the hill to the castle, and Marin finally managed to get a laugh out of Geralt. Later he couldn’t remember what it had been about, but for a short moment he wasn’t worried. He was almost happy, in fact.

“Ah,” Marin sighed contentedly, “and here I thought you didn’t feel emotion after all.”

“Hmm.”

“So, it’s untrue? That rumour, I mean.”

“It is.” His skin crawled uncomfortably but luckily he was spared another question when a guard called down from the walls: “Oi, witcher! Where’ve you been? His lordship and his cousin got back an hour ago.”

His heart sped up and he cocked his head. “And?”

“Both hale and hearty. His lordship’s in his study, I believe; and Lady Fiona ran to Lady Józefa’s drawing room. She’s very excited ‘bout something.”

Geralt nodded and tried not to seem too thrilled, forcing himself to slow his step. “Thanks.”

Marin’s hand landed heavily on his shoulder. “Go on,” he said and gently pried the wooden sword out of Geralt’s grasp. “We’ll talk another time.”

He looked at him surprised for a moment. Only when the Captain of the Guard nodded once more in encouragement he pounced. He didn’t even try to hide his hurry as he sprinted over to the North Wing and up the stairs.

“Where is she?” he asked as he burst into the drawing room only to find it empty except for Józefa.

“Good evening to you, too, Geralt,” she said very calmly, not even looking up from where she was weaving an enormous tapestry. “Where is who, if I might ask?”

“C- Your cousin. Fiona.”

She turned around to him. “You can call her Cirilla to my face. I know.”

Geralt frowned. “Fuck,” he cursed and turned on his heel. 'Tonight, it’ll be bard’s head on a platter.’

“Ah, ah, ah. Before you go and gut my brother, he had nothing to do with it. She told me all by herself.”

“Fuck,” he said again. ‘She should know better than be that stupid.’

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. Anyways,” she sighed and turned back to her work, “your child surprise — Geralt, could you at least face my direction while I am talking to you? That would be very appreciated, thank you very much.” He ground his teeth and turned back towards her. “Well, where was I? Ah yes, Cirilla. She was here. Wanted to come and look at the tapestry and tell me about her day. She was very enthusiastic. Apparently, she rendered the Baron of Dergetten speechless and dear Julek nearly fell off his horse because he was laughing too hard. Also, she’s very cross at his lordship for sending her away for half an hour while staying back to discuss something in private. You missed her by… hm, ten minutes maybe, I’d wager. She was rather tired.”

“Hmm.” That was a lot of information. He was still eyeing the tapestry while trying to decide what to do now when Józefa spoke again: “Come and look if you like,” she said with an inviting smile.

“I’d rather not, my lady,” he grumbled. He should go and look after Ciri.

That made her laugh. “Don’t be shy. And don’t pretend you don’t want to look.”

His eyes flitted to the door. A few more minutes wouldn’t hurt, he guessed. And Ciri had talked a lot about the tapestry since he got back. It would be nice to know what she was talking about for once. “Fine,” Geralt relented and stepped closer.

He had seen his fair share of finished tapestries but never observed the process. For rugs, yes, but not this kind of art. He had imagined it to work much like the common rug and while the loom looked much the same, Geralt gaped. “There’s a painting,” he noted. “And a mirror.”

“Why, of course,” Józefa seemed genuinely confused. “How else would you make a tapestry?”

He shrugged and looked at the painting instead. All five Pankratz siblings were depicted, the four sisters standing around Jaskier in his high seat. As far as he could tell, it was very accurate, especially given that it couldn’t be a portrait. 'She really knows her siblings’ faces well.’ He didn’t pay too much attention to the three siblings he already knew, but stepped closer to observe the other two.

He didn’t even know their names, he realised with shock, but he would’ve guessed that they were Jaskier’s sisters regardless. Just like Janina, too, they could have been twins. Quadruplets. Whatever. The same soft brown hair, the same round face, the same piercing blue eyes. Of course, there were differences, too, subtle enough, but still there. Jaskier would point them out in a heartbeat, wrapped in pretty words. All Geralt noticed was that they were beautiful like their brother.

“Oh,” Józefa said, “you have never seen the process!”

He frowned, the increasing accuracy with which the Pankratz siblings saw through him made his skin crawl. “Those are buttercups,” he said instead and pointed at the painting. The five people were all holding bouquets in many different colours, Jaskier’s the same as his namesake.

“Ah, yes.” Józefa smiled fondly. “Mother gave him that silly name. Jaskier, I mean. I thought I should honour that. Beautiful and poisonous.”

“And the other ones?” The Józefa in the portrait was holding primroses, and Janina daisies. The other two held red clover and lilies of the valley respectively.

“From our mother, too. Stokrotka and Koniczyna for Janina and Jolanta, the most common of flowers. Konwalia for Justyna, poisonous as well. And primroses for me, the one that was spoiled the most.”

“Hm,” Geralt made. “The sense of humour runs in the family.”

“I’m afraid it doesn’t.” She made a disgusted face. “You see, dear Janka-” The doors burst open. “Ah, speak of the devil…”

“Don’t we have endured enough in the past month, Józia?” Janina Pankratz flared. “Is a witcher in our home not enough punishment for whatever crimes we might have committed? This is getting ridiculous!”

Józefa sighed while Geralt did his best not to growl. “What did he do now?”

“He’s locked himself into his rooms, like the spoiled brat he is. He’s sulking, for whatever reason, but I tell you it’s his fault! I offered to go to the parlay, I know Daniel well enough, but did he listen? No! Wanted to do it all by himself like a big boy and what did it get him? He ruined it, somehow, I’m sure of it. Worse than this damned cousin he brought here; she’s listening at least when an adult is speaking. I remember why I was glad to have him off at Oxenfurt or Melitele knows where. Oh, what I would give for the possibility of him ending up dead in a ditch at every moon’s turn! I tell you, Józia, I’d put him over my knee, if I could!”

Geralt couldn’t keep quiet anymore: “You shall not,” he growled. “You won’t harm one hair on his head.”

Janina whirled around, noticing him behind the painting for the first time. “You!” she pointed at him.

“Me,” he confirmed.

“You stay out of this,” she bristled. “Besides, it’s beyond time that you learn your place in this house, you-”

“Janina,” Józefa said quietly. To his surprise the eldest Pankratz sister shut up.

“Fine,” she sneered. “I’ll come back when our drawing room is clean again.” With that she was gone, slamming the door loud enough to make Geralt’s ears ring.

Once he had recovered, he asked: “Why does your sister hate witchers so much?”

“Janina?” Józefa sat down behind the loom again. “Has nobody told you? Our mother died twenty-four years ago. She was killed by a monster; I don’t even remember what kind.”

That was a common enough story. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Julian and Janina are the only two with real memories of her anyways. I was two years old when she died and I can’t even remember her face. Though, well the witcher thing… Father hired one to get her back. Don’t ask which school or anything, all tales about The Incident have been banned from Lettenhove years ago. Not even Julek dares break the silence. Not even now, after-” She sighed and took a moment, blinking at the ceiling. There were tears in her eyes, though she did not smell of onion grief.

“You don’t have to,” he offered nonetheless.

“No, I want to,” she insisted. “You deserve to know. He couldn’t bring her back, of course, she had already been dead. The witcher only returned with her corpse. Janina has hated your kind ever since.” She sighed. “Julek on the other hand… why, you became his heroes.” She smiled at him. “I’m glad that he became such good friends with you. And that he got to travel the Continent with you, it has always been his dream. I believe you have made him the happiest man alive.”

Geralt swallowed hard. “I… did nothing to warrant your praise, my lady. I made him very sad, actually.”

“Is that why I barely recognise him anymore?”

“Hmm. I fear so.”

“Then fix it, witcher. We have all heard his songs and in those you are a hero. And Julian might be a lot of things — a debaucher, a nitwit, and a self-important swaggerer who impossibly inflates all of his tales. But he is no liar. Not when it’s truly important.”

He had the feeling he was missing something. “So?”

She clicked her tongue in disapproval. “So, live up to your reputation and save him. He is withering like this."

Geralt ground his teeth. "I’m trying,” he grunted. “I just don’t know how.”

“You’re a smart man. I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” She picked up the thread again. “You could start by trying to coax him out of his rooms.”

“Your sister said he’s locked himself in.”

She looked at him as if he was exceptionally stupid. “Well, then get creative! I’d be very surprised — and disappointed — if those doors don’t open for you. And now off you go, I want to hear the gossip.”

Geralt wasn’t really sure what made his legs move. First out of the Drawing Room, then down the stairs and up again, until he stood before Jaskier’s room. 'I wanted to look after Ciri,’ he reminded himself, but this was oddly more important. He also suspected that he’d never find the courage again if he bolted now.

And so, Geralt of Rivia meekly knocked on the Viscount de Lettenhove’s rooms. “My lord?” he asked.

No answer. He shouldn’t be surprised. He almost turned around again to go check on Ciri first, but then Jaskier’s faint voice beckoned him inside an empty bedroom.

“Uh-” Geralt said, confused.

“Over here,” he answered and Geralt quickly strode over to another door he hadn’t noticed during his previous visit. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the bathtub Jaskier was soaking in.

“My lord?” he asked hesitantly.

“Come in,” the Viscount commanded.

“Maybe I shouldn’t-”

“Just close the door, Geralt,” he sighed tiredly and raised a golden goblet to his lips. The smell of alcohol permeating from it was entirely too strong for it to just be wine.

“Alright,” he answered quietly and did as he was told. Jaskier drank again and he could feel worry creeping up his spine. “Are you drunk?”

“Not enough,” the Viscount answered and took another deep gulp.

Unsure what else to do, Geralt sat down on the side of the tub and asked: “Your parlay didn’t go well, then? Your, uh- your sister said that Ciri said it did.”

“Which one?”

“Take a guess.”

“Janka still won’t talk to you, huh? I’ll see to that.” He swirled the liquor around in his cup. Before Geralt couldn’t take the silence anymore, Jaskier thankfully continued: “It was… alright, all things considered. Hoped it would be better. Feared it could go worse.” He looked straight at Geralt. “There’s no going back now, witcher. The stage is set. Now we just have to play our parts.”

“I don’t quite understand.”

Jaskier sighed and dropped back against the tub. It did nothing to quell Geralt’s worry, but at least it served to empty out most of the goblet. “All you need to know is that it went well enough. Though I suspect-” He halted.

“What do you suspect?”

“No, let’s not talk of that. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

“You know that I’m here if you want to talk.”

He snorted a laugh. “Those words don’t suit you, witcher. Whenever I hear them from your mouth, I can’t shake the feeling that you’re mocking me.”

'I’m not,’ he wanted to say. But his words failed him as so often.

Jaskier sighed and pushed himself upright again. “Now, what did you come for?” He glanced into his cup and frowned when he found it empty. Carelessly he tossed it away.

Geralt averted his gaze. “I’m not sure if now’s the time…”

“My witcher,” he said coldly.

“My lord?”

“Talk,” the Viscount ordered without turning to face him.

And so, he did: “You did not ask me for details about my hunt.”

“I did not,” he confirmed.

“You’re-” He wet his lip with his tongue. He knew that no matter how he posed that next question, there would be trouble. “You’re not writing a song.”

Jaskier’s jaw clenched immediately. “I am not. I was under the impression you didn’t like them.”

“And I was under the impression you wrote them regardless,” he shot back without thinking.

The Viscount’s expression grew cold. “So what? Is your ego so inflated you think you’re owed songs now?”

“I do not, my lord. I was also under the impression you wrote them because it is your passion,” he said calmly. “I did not mean to offend you.”

There was no answer at that.

“You’re not singing, either,” Geralt continued cautiously. “Your hands are soft and your lute is nowhere to be found. You tell Ciri stories but never sing for her.”

“Get to the point, witcher,” Jaskier ground out.

Geralt steeled himself and asked with as much courage as he could muster: “Why is there no music in Lettenhove Hall, my lord?”

Jaskier whipped around to him, water sloshing over the rim of the tub and drenching Geralt’s breeches. He wanted to stand his ground but there were tears in Jaskier’s eyes, the scent of anger and sadness wafting off him. He stood and swayed, coughing at the foul odour. “Because I despise it, witcher. I hate every tune I ever wrote, every line I ever composed. I cannot stand it anymore. Just thinking of it makes me sick!”

Geralt retreated farther as a thick cloud of onion grief hit him. “Is it my fault?” he asked agonised and immediately cursed himself for it.

The tears flowed freely now, Jaskier choking on his sobs instead of answering. 'Foolish witcher,’ he chided himself, 'of course it’s your fault.’

He regained his balance and avoided Jaskier’s gaze. “I’m sorry,” he said earnestly. “I am so sorry. If I could-”

“No.” Jaskier sniffled. “Not for that.”

'For what then?’ he wanted to ask but didn’t. 'Coward.’ Three times he reached out only for his hand to fall back to his side again. “Is there anything I can do?”

“I think you’ve done quite enough.” Geralt didn’t even dare to breathe. Spicy pepper flared up. “Go away, witcher.” When he hesitated for just one moment, Jaskier shouted: “Now!”

Geralt was too craven to do anything but obey.

A/N: And now you can come yell at me in the notes.

#My writing #OWBABH #geraskier #geralt of rivia #Jaskier #cirilla of cintra #geralt x jaskier #geralt/jaskier #of witchers bards and broken hearts #geraskier fanfiction

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howaboutleeches · 5 years ago

Note

For the Au, trope, prompt thing. How about 9, 9 and 2 with Julian?

“For the Au, trope, prompt thing. How about 9, 9 and 2 with Julian?”

9 - camp!au

9 - strangers to lovers

2 - “fuck. fuck fuck fuck fuck this shit. fuck.”

(Sorry in advance for my lack of knowledge about summer camps. I’ve never been to one and all my info about it comes from USA movies. I hope you like it though ;) )

@gangsterloli

——————————————————————————————————–

“His warmth” Camp!AU (Julian x Reader)

Word Count: 1,934

It was that time of the year again. Moody teenagers, hot weather and mosquitoes as predators. Summer camp was happening once again and now you were officially qualified to be a Camp Monitor. You remembered ‘till this day all of your monitors and how they were the best people ever. They always made summers happier, even if you didn’t want to go camping that year. And now, you were one of them.

You were now waiting at the bus stop for the minivan who was supposed to pick up all the monitors. Asra and Nadia were casually talking, also waiting for the van as you decided to drift into your thoughts and imagine all the possibilities of the next three weeks.

“Excuse, are you also monitors?” Your head snapped at the source of the sudden voice.

Standing tall, the skinny but charming man had his cheeks red and his chest going up and down with exhaustion. The tips of his hair were sweaty and you realized he had opened a few buttons of his monitor shirt. Damn.

“Yes, we are! Are you the new monitor, Jason?” Nadia extended a polite hand to the red-haired man and he responded with a very excited handshake.

“Actually it’s Julian, but no worries” He then proceeded to shake Asra’s hand with the same vigor and turned to you.

Both your eyes lingered on each other’s for a while before sharing the last handshake of the moment. You just stood awkwardly close to each other waiting for the van to arrive.

The trip was really quiet and everyone seemed to be trapped in their own thoughts. You looked through the window, taking in all the beautiful nature around you. The closer you got to the camp, the fewer buildings and houses you would see, and more green would be presented to you. Memories of the past years you went to the camping site crossed your mind. Hiking, laughing close to the fire…your first kiss.

“The last to get out of the bus has to carry all the bags!” Asra joked and rushed out of the van, rapidly followed by Nadia.

You got up quickly, not wanting to face the punishment and bumped straight to what felt like a brick wall. Eyeing you down, the tall redhead held a chuckle and gave you enough space to pass through. You accepted and quickly waddled out of the van.

Of course, as an act of kindness, you decided to help Julian with all the bags. Most of them were easy to carry, but when you had to deal with Nadia’s, it took both of you and Asra to be able to move it to your shared room. Her excuse was something among the lines of “the weather is crazy in here, you never know what to expect”. Forecast who?

“So, why did you decide to become a camp monitor?” The sudden voice from behind your back spooked you. Turning slightly, you could see Julian’s soft smile towards you.

“Well, I’ve spent most of my summers coming here and I really enjoyed it. I always admired the monitors though. They were always so happy, full of life. It looked like they were having more fun than all of us. I had my chance to be one and I didn’t want to waste it. What about you?”

“Well…I’m actually here in a secret mission, you know. My younger sister is going to spend her vacation here and I, accidentally, overheard her talking to some friends about the reason. There’s this guy, a few years older than her, that’s also coming. I had to do my duty as a caring older brother and not let her do anything stupid”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little. I definitely didn’t picture him as an overprotective older brother. But it was a little cute though. We proceeded with the small talk until noon when we had to get together with the rest of the team and make the pair’s divisions. We waited in the cafeteria for a few minutes until a tree of a man showed up.

He had his long dark hair tied up in a man bun and his physic was more similar to an MMA fighter than to a logistics guy. He analyzed each one of our faces and looked at his clipboard, trying to match names, photos and whatever other notes he had taken previously. He then nodded to himself and proceeded to point at each one of us with his pen.

“Nadia and Asra, Fane and Pietros, Maika and Kilian, Julian and (Y/n)” We looked at each other simultaneously and gave each other a warm smile. The logistics guy, Muriel, just rolled his eyes at the common excitement and retrieved to the room he came from.

————————————————————————————————-

“OKAY, WHO’S READY FOR THE BEST TREASURE HUNT EVER?” I yelled at the top of my lungs and heard howls and excited screams coming from the twenty-five teenagers in front of me “Jules, would you like to explain the rules?”

Julian rubbed his hands together before saying each of the treasure hunt rules as if they were sacred. It was really funny to watch him get so into this job. As a result of spending almost three weeks together, always talking and planning activities, you were really close by now. Sometimes both of you would just sit under a tree in front of the lake instead of going to sleep and talk about everything and anything that popped into one of your heads at the moment. Of course, you couldn’t be spotted by any of the teens or else it would be a huge problem, but all of it being a secret between you made things even more exciting. After the main rules were given, he turned to me, and I knew what it meant.

“Now, there are ten riddles hidden in the campsite. You’re all familiarized with it by now, so it should be easy for everyone to guess where we should go next to look for the next clue. And now…LET’S WIN” A horn sounded in the middle of the woods and you ran towards the campfire place. All you knew was that the first clue was there and nothing else. Everything was also a mystery to you.

Your group was smart and after ten intense minutes, you all were headed to the final clue. Portia, who you later found out was Julian’s sisters, was coincidently in your group, and she had found the 9th clue. “ “What always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?” What kind of riddle is that?” She angrily questioned.

Marvin, the quiet kid in your group, raised his hand energetically “I know, I know! It’s a river!” And then, everyone ran like crazy towards the nearest river, and the only one we had seen since we arrived. There was a boat on the edge of the river with a sign saying “monitors only”.

Apparently, it was way too dangerous for the kids, but it was okay for us to take the risk. Damn Muriel. We alerted the teens to stay away from the water as Julian and I would get into the boat, get the clue and get out, as fast as possible. They all agreed and we ran towards the boat. I, somehow, managed to jump right into it, but Julian wasn’t that lucky. While jumping into it, he gave the boat some impulse, making us back away from the shore.

Obviously, my first instinct was to pull him inside the boat, but after that, we were both getting further and further away from the kids we were supposed to be watching.

“fuck. fuck fuck fuck fuck this shit. fuck.” Julian mutter to himself like a mantra and it was honestly making me nervous.

“Julian, do you know how to swim?” He looked at me and nodded vigorously. I grabbed the clue, held it tightly in a fist and pulled Julian up by his wrist. I counted to three and then felt the cold water absorbing me into darkness. Well, this is definitely different than the pool. Or the beach. Yeah, definitely different. I tried to swim up, hold onto something, but I had let go of Julian and now I felt completely desperate.

I could feel my fingertips getting colder by the second and my body becoming heavier. I couldn’t end like this. My heart was beating too fast for its own good and I was feeling the urge to breathe, but I couldn’t, or else it would be the end. My eyelids were slowly closing when I felt this sudden pressure on my wrist and then my body was being pulled upwards.

Air filled my lungs in a matter of seconds and a cough harshly came out of my throat. My savior, Julian, was smiling at me, his cheeks as red as an apple and his long hair sticking on his face. I felt a sudden urge and I knew I had to do it immediately. I grabbed his face and pulled him towards me, giving him a very passionate kiss. I ran my thumbs on his cheeks and he gave into the kids. Of course, it didn’t last very long since I was already out of breath, but it was totally worth it.

We swam to the shore being greeted with whistles, claps and a very disgusted Portia, complaining about how all that was very inappropriate and that she would tell Mazelinka. Even being wet, we managed to read the next little and rushed to the final point. We were the first group to get there, meaning we had won the treasure hunt. Our group won double dessert, they could stay awake until 2AM, and the monitors were allowed to use the hydro.

“Are you guys okay? What happened?” Asra asked when he arrived with his group in second place.

“Oh trust me, everything is fine” Julian replied, holding my hand.

After eating our deserved dessert and making sure everything was in its place, we headed to the hydro. He was already in it when I got there and I felt a little embarrassed to take off my robe in front of him, even if I was wearing a bathing suit underneath it. He, reading my thoughts, covered his eyes and gave me enough time to take the robe off and hop into the hydro, sitting across from him.

“Are you sure you want to sit there, so far? After basically harassing me, I thought you would want some closure” I splashed some water in him in a joking manner.

“Oh, please, I was just dizzy and wasn’t thinking straight. You can’t take rushed and unthought actions seriously.” He gave me a smug grin and slowly leaned closer, putting his finger under my chin.

“Are you still dizzy?”

“No”

“Good”

He brushed our lips together before closing the gap between our mouths. He was warmer than I expected and, just like magic, I was sitting on his lap, his hand firmly holding my hips and my arms around his neck. He separated the kiss and looked me deep in the eyes.

“ I really like you. I want to get to know you. I want to make you happy every day. I want to make your heart beat faster and your cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Will you let me?”

I leaned on his chest, his warmth comforting me. “Only if you let me do the same to you.”

——————————————————————————————————-

So much fluff

I loved it!

#julian imagine #julian imagines #julian x reader #julian devorak #julian x mc #julian fluff #the arcana #the arcana imagine #the arcana headcanon #asra x reader #nadia x reader #Smut #julian smut #muriel x mc #muriel x reader

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