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hum-suffer · 1 year ago

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We'll see each other again (nevermind the chasm between us) 10

Amar has known Gauri since before they were even born. They shared the same blood, the same parents and the same womb. The nursemaids gossiped about their birth to this day, whispering about how close they are, how Bahu didn't stop crying until he was laid next to Gauri, how Gauri didn't breathe until she was next to Bahu.

They share a bond, profound— beyond anyone's understanding. He feels what she feels and knows it even before she has identified her emotions. He knows what she's thinking and he knows how it's all gonna end in her emotions bubbling. Gauri feels a lot and sometimes, she can't contain her emotions. He's there to hold her together when she cracks with all the untamed emotions inside her.

He's on an excursion, with Bhalla and Gauri, their guards trailing behind them at an unassuming distance. They're disguised, Bhalla having somehow convinced Maa to let him go out to see the Diwali market. She's angry, Amar can tell that even without being her twin.

Her jaw is set— as she's learnt from Amar himself. Her hair is pulled by in a style she rarely favours and he knows an amateur would assume that is a reason of her irritation but Amar knows his sister and knows something as trivial as that wouldn't even hold her attention beyond a couple of minutes. She's wearing an orange saree, complete with red highlights that match her alta— and he knows she hates this combination beyond relief, she's complained about the saree before.

(It was a gift from some lord, an attempt to win Maa's favour. Obviously, a failed attempt.)

"What is the matter with you?" Bhalla asks her finally, when Gauri has stayed silent for the whole of the excursion and is now still silent on the way back. He's easy to anger, but Bhalla has always had the tact of his father— he's never understood women.

(He was different when they were younger. Bhalla used to know everything that made Gauri happy and everything that made her furious. Amar feels an ache in his chest at losing that but he knows that Bhalla feels pressure to do the best among them as he's the eldest. He doesn't have time to tolerate tantrums, in uncle Bijjaldev's words, and he has a lot of responsibilities.

And anyways, who is ever guaranteed to be the same this day and the next? Time changes even the nature of mother earth, what is the nature of man in front of that?)

Amar won't claim to understand anyone he's never met, but he knows his sister to her very bones and soul. It's his one consistency and he's proud of it. I will understand her today and I will understand her when we're both old and frail, he thinks with pride and humility in the same amount. Thank you, Mahadev, for giving me a sister.

Gauri sighs loudly in irritation. "I am fine, Bhalla. Nothing is wrong."

Gauri has always been a good liar. To anyone but Amar and Bhalla. Sometimes, even Maa can't read her lies as well as the brothers do.

Bhalla obviously knows she's lying too. "Do not insult me with lies. Remain petulant if you must, but do not lie to me, Gauri."

Amar sees the minute wince Gauri suppresses and he wants to punch Bhalla for being so impatient with her. He reaches for her hand and gives her wrist a squeeze that is hopefully reassuring. She doesn't show any response to it.

"Gauri." He knows she'll listen to him and sometimes it breaks his heart to have such power over her. He wishes she didn't love him so wholly, he thinks of the day she will marry and move away to whatever place her husband would be in and his heart burns. He will never be able to live in a world where he's away from his sister. "Please, talk to us."

She side eyes Bhalla as she speaks,"Uncle Bijjaldev and his dearest friend, the Kulpurohit, want me to not join in on the Diwali's Lakshmi Pujan."

Amar sees the way Bhalla stiffens. "And why not?"

"Because it will be only a couple of days after I finish my periods," she says, uncaring of the narrowed looks she receives as people overhear her talking about periods to boys. "Apparently, I will be too impure."

Bhalla doesn't speak anything else but looks away at the main objective of the issue being her periods. Amar frowns. "That's absolutely ridiculous, there's nothing impure about you. There can never be anything impure about you!"

"Thank you!" She exclaims, "That's what I've been trying to tell them! Maa asked to meet me today to discuss the same thing and she is seriously considering banning me from the puja because she believes the Rajpurohit."

Amar hears Bhalla groan. "I understand why you're angry, Gauri, but seriously, who can go against the Rajpurohit?"

Something akin to dread trickles down his spine and Amar thinks and oh. No. No. No.

He thinks of Gauri, excluded from the puja and confined to her rooms. Gauri, alone, only with Bhairav and some guards to protect her. Gauri, who already has had an assassination attempt on her. Gauri, who could be killed so goddamn easily away from their eyes. Gauri, who could die. Cease to exist. Amar doesn't think he can imagine a world without her. His sister, half of his heart, his twin, dying. He can't think of the possibility, he can't. Gauri can't die. They can't serve his sister to the assassin on a silver platter, no.

Fuck their notion of made up impurity.

Amar will never lose his sister, not at any cost.

"You don't understand anything, Bhalla," she says heatedly,"Your presence in any ritual hasn't been brought to a question because of your bodily functions! And Rajpurohit is making this up, I know it, there's no way periods are impure, they're the reason people are born!"

"The religious texts do say that women should not get involved in activities during their...problem." Bhalla says, sounding so disinterested that Amar knows he's contradicting Gauri only to distract her from her anger and not because he actually believes the bullshit he's spouting.

Gauri's ears turn red in her anger. "I agree periods are inconvenient enough to be a problem, but saying the word won't make you faint, brother! And the religious texts say that because women need rest in their periods. Do you even know how much my legs, back, stomach and head are aching at this moment? Do you know how nauseous I felt after breakfast today? Do you know my whole body is aching right now and I have these irritating breakouts on my face? The texts say women should not perform stressful tasks, not that they mustn't perform any tasks of import. Yagnas and pujas are stressful because we have to sit in the same position for hours, and because women's bodies are more receptive to energies in their periods and hence also soak up any and all kinds of energies, especially in yagnas, which are literally based on positive and negative energy and enforcement."

"Breathe, you annoyance," Bhalla says, sighing heavily and pulling Gauri closer to hug her sideways. "I understand your perspective and I'm sorry for assuming anything otherwise. Now, do you want a piggyback ride as repayment?"

Gauri thinks about it for a moment but Amar knows she's going to say yes. She hesitates a lot in her path to happiness but she loves the beloved treatment she gets, being their only sister.

She nods finally and all three of them stop in sync. Amar instinctually knows Mama, Bhairavrath and Advaita, their guards, are instantly suspicious. Bhalla hunches down and Gauri hands Amar the money pouch she'd been carrying before hopping onto his back. Amar smiles at the two of them, their grins big and eyes filled with merriment as Gauri winds her dhoti clad legs around Bhalla's waist and laughs loudly, in Bhalla's ear.

"I will throw you off," Bhalla threatens her playfully. They all know he'd never hurt either of them.

He looks at Amar,"What's gotten into you now?"

Amar shakes his head, still thinking about his sister, dead in a room they used to share, blood staining her purple bedsheet.

From Bhalla's back, Gauri raises her eyebrows comically and despite not wanting to, Amar snorts. "Let's go before Mama tells us about how inappropriate behaviour this is."

He doesn't have to, Amar can feel all the questioning stares burning onto the three of them already.

Bhalla begins to speedwalk instantly and Amar chuckles. Gauri looks over her shoulder at Amar, who's a couple paces behind them.

'I love you.' He mouths to her.

'I love you more.' She mouths back, grinning.

He doesn't argue, he knows it's true. No one will ever love him like Gauri does. His heart gets heavier, the thought of parting from her in any way will kill him one day.

But he won't let her die, not as long as lives. As long as Amrendra Bahubali lives, so shall Gauraangi Devi.

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He finds Maa on a swing in the west wing of the palace. He knows she favours the spot, for it is silent and peaceful here. The moon looks wonderful and the stars shine so beautifully that he sometimes doesn't move from this very spot for hours.

"Am I allowed to intrude?" He asks playfully.

Maa turns back to him with a smile that brightens her face and beckons him forward. "Bahu, of course, come. Sit beside me, here." She moves to make space for him and slows the swing down to let him sit.

"Gauri was furious today," he says after a long silence. Maa hums. "Do you believe women in their periods are impure?"

Maa shakes her head. "Never, son. Women are part of Shakti, the reason for the universe, they cannot be impure unless it is in regards to their own karma. However, the council isn't made of men as understanding as you and Bhalla."

"But why are Gauri's periods known to them in the first place?" He asks, miffed at the break in the privacy of his sister,"She has her right to privacy and autonomy."

Maa nods regretfully. "That she does. But Gauri has excruciating periods, like your grandmother. She pretty much cannot do anything for at the very least the first two days of her periods. Her absence makes it obvious."

Amar purses his lips. He will find out the names of these over-interested councilmen later and have a talk with them about just what the hierarchy between the princess and the council is.

"You must let her come to the Puja, Maa. You know how much she likes Diwali. It's her favourite time of the year!"

Maa looks down at her lap, clearly saddened too. "And I want to. But people here are too orthodox and I don't want an unnecessary political fight to ensue with my daughter being at the centre of it. She's bright and mature, but I won't expose her to any kind of backlash, if I can help it."

Wonder fills Amar's heart. Here is Maa, thinking of never letting Gauri face backlash even if she is held as a culprit in Gauri's eyes. And there is Gauri, thinking of never letting Maa face backlash, even if she has to risk her life. Women love so deeply, he thinks, for a moment drowning in the sheer love they carry in their hearts.

But he knows what is the bigger necessity and he doesn't care about orthodox people, he cares to not leave his sister's life to fate and chance.

"Tell them, Maa, if they won't let my sister attend the puja, I won't be there either." His heart is beating wildly in his chest but he knows he will hold his ground. He will never compromise Gauri for anything.

Maa's eyes widen and he feels regret for a moment for causing her strife but it is soon replaced by his love for Gauri.

"Bahu, don't be stubborn. You don't know the things she will hear if she comes to the Puja. I cannot throw every person who slanders her in the dungeons, son and I won't have my daughter crying in Diwali."

"And I won't have my sister feeling ostracised in Diwali, Maa. If they don't want the daughter of their previous King, they won't get the son of their previous King. I mean no disrespect to you, Maa, but I will not leave my sister at any cost." Anxiety flutters in his chest.

(He remembers once choosing Maa about Gauri once, when they were being given separate rooms. He remembers Gauri crying and he acutely knows how unloved she must have felt. He's never going to let her feel so again. Even if there wasn't a threat hanging over her, Amar is never going to leave his sister to misery again. Never again.)

Maa sighs and she suddenly looks so tired, Amar wants to curl up beside her and offer her any comfort he can. But he holds his ground.

Maa shakes her head. A smile slowly blooms on her face. "You are your mother's son." She looks down again, before looking up at him,"You must also realise that I would never let my daughter be isolated from her own rights and family in any condition, Bahu."

"So, Gauri is allowed to attend the puja?"

Maa chuckles as if he said something endearingly amusing. "Yes, Bahu."

Realisation dawns on him.

"You deliberately took their side to see what I would respond with!" Maa shrugs, unashamed of her ploy. Amar shakes his head at her and laughs, throwing his arms around her. "Don't scare me like that again! I don't like fighting with you."

"It's a lesson, Bahu," she says, caressing his hair,"Your Maa or the world around you won't always be correct. But stand your ground. Stay with the truth. Do not ever stray from your duty." He nods dutifully.

When he's finally getting up to leave for his room, Amar looks back at Maa. "Don't worry, Maa. You can't throw everyone who slanders her into the dungeons. But I will cut the tongues of any man who badmouths my sister." Even my uncle. Especially Even the Rajpurohit.

Amar has a simple idea of life: Gauri before everything else.

If his uncle can't accept that truth, he will have to learn to live a bitter life.

Maa gives him a smile that he can't decipher beyond pride and he doesn't care to. He wishes her a good night and leaves, wanting to be the first one to tell Gauri the good news.

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An empty home is never fulfilling.

Bhairav has spent the past years trying to live the way his sister would have wanted him to but it's difficult to keep living when all the goodness of his life is dead.

He hates that he locks the door behind him when he leaves, but as soon as he's back on duty to the palace, all the thoughts of melancholy are locked away. He needs to be at his best if he's ever going to be good enough to protect the princess of Mahishamati and wallowing in unresolved grief really isn't the best way to go about doing that.

Yamuna, the guard who takes the night shift to guard the princess' door gives him a curt nod before leaving. He's given up trying to make conversation with the girl, he knows she doesn't like fruitless conversations.

It's almost an hour later that the princess steps out of the room, dressed in a saree as beautiful as the blue sky and her hair tied in a braid, resting on her shoulder, adorned with pearls.

"Bhairav." She greets him with a slight nod and a smile as they begin walking towards the east wing of the palace, where the princess and the princes have their lessons.

(And isn't that new? Who called him with a nickname last time? How many years has it been? He knows exactly how many years, even days, it's been since someone said his name so tenderly and with affection. The soldier that Katappa made him often peels back like a mask and all he can remember is the child who cursed how powerless he truly was.

"You are my protector and sword, thus, I will be your defender and shield. You shall face no stigma under my service. So I've sworn, and may Mahadev strike me dead if I stray from my oath."

The words echo in his ears and he feels the power thrumming through his veins.)

"My princess." He greets her back, forcing himself to be more alert as they pass the silent hallways. He's even more suspicious of people these days, since the day the princess has revealed that she thinks someone tried to assassinate her.

Katappa would have his head if he said it out loud, but Bhairav already has his suspicions on why anyone would want to kill the princess that is so obviously beloved by the general public.

Since swearing to be her sword, Bhairav has accompanied her to all the donations she has done, to all the temple visits (may they be at midnight), to all the blessings she has received from the common people. He has witnessed it all.

He walks behind her, knows she doesn't particularly like it but he also knows his limits. He's a servant, his place is behind his mistress.

She walks with the power of a Queen.

Bhairav can't help but lament the fact that Mahishamati isn't a Queendom. If it were, Gauraangi Devi would be the best thing that would happen for the state. It's a treacherous idea, but he has enough idea of the characters of this generation of royals to know how emotional Prince Bhallaldev is, how trusting Prince Bahubali is and how loving Princess Gauri is. She is the most immune option of them all.

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Most days, Bhairav can't even fathom the trust his princess shows in him.

They're sitting in a room, him, and the royal twins. Bahubali is undoubtedly displeased by his presence but has accepted it because he knows Bhairav will slit his own throat rather than betray his princess.

"I knew I'd heard of this Satyaveer somewhere," Bahubali said. "He served as a chamber servant to Uncle Bijjaldev, he was the one who was instructed to make my current room liveable when we first separated from the original room."

It's a controversial topic, as far as Bhairav is aware. Everyone knows the storm the princess kicked up when she felt that her bond with her brother was threatened. People often laugh about it, calling it a little girl's tantrum.

(But Bhairav knows how much he craves for such vehement demands. Because no one loves him enough to fight for him. No one knows him enough. No one wants him enough. Anyone who did is dead. Maa, Jijaji, Didi—

Dead.)

(How he wishes someone loved him. Loved him enough to fight for him. Demand for him.)

"If I may, your highness," he says, pulling himself out of his thoughts,"I followed Satyaveer on the days that my princess was ill. He seems to have an affinity for secret passages."

The Princess looks at him sharply. "Which secret passages, exactly, Bhairav?"

"The one beside the statue of Indra dev on the second floor of the west wing, my princess." He's noted down everything about this. He can't even think of failing his princess, she deserves the best to protect her and guard her and Bhairav will not break her trust by letting some cowardly bitch kill her.

The twins share a look. There's a set to the princess' jaw that foretells horror.

"That passage leads to the floor that has a royal suite, used by Uncle Bijjaldev and Maa and the room reserved for the Kulpurohit." Bahubali says. Bhairav narrows his eyes. Rajmata Shivagami Devi would never want the princess dead, that's beyond ridiculous. The woman loves the twins like her own children, she would never let anyone else harm them, let alone plan their assassination.

Oh.

The Princess sucks in a breath. Bahubali shakes his head,"That's ridiculous! Neither Maa nor Uncle would want you dead. The Kulpurohit..?"

The Princess purses her lips. "Uncle wants Bhalla to be the next King. The Kulpurohit has hated me since I first demanded an apology from him for not letting me enter the study rooms on my periods."

"Leave, Bhairavrath." Bahubali says. Bhairav looks at the princess for a moment and she nods at him.

He leaves the room immediately. It's treacherous to think so, but Bhairav thinks his suspicions are only proving correct.

Bijjaldev wanted to be the King but wasn't made one. He wants his blood on the throne. The Princess may not be a contender for the throne but she is the sole power of Bahubali. Without her, Bahubali won't have the same power. He will be loved and liked and adored, he will be courageous and daring and strong, but the power behind the throne won't be wholly his. He wouldn't be able to wield it to his full potential without her.

Hell, from what Bhairav has seen, without the princess, Bahubali would probably give up materialistic things in life. They're both too entangled in their bond to ever survive the death of the other.

Kill one, and the other will instantly be dead.

He keeps his thoughts to himself. Heads have rolled for less.

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What do we think?????

Tagging: @vijayasena @alhad-si-simran @o-merebholebalam

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xxnashiraxx · 2 months ago

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Ofelia and Gale? Maybe? 👀

Request from this post!

Send Me an OC + an Alternate Love Interest for Them and I'll Tell You What I Think of the Idea: Gale 🔮

Ahh this is so fun to think up!!!

Gale has a surprising pull in this area- he's kind, compassionate, silly, bookish, sweet, and tormented. Most of the companions are, which is a huge draw for Ofelia with her hero complex/fix-it personality. Not only does she hate Mystra in the main fic- which will be expanded upon later- if she and Gale got together she'd hate the bitch to no end. She's already very anti-religion- Faerun throws her for a loop but she sticks to her guns- so standing up to gods wouldn't be difficult for her, and learning about Mystra's terrible mistreatment of him would be like the cherry on top of her crusade to get everyone to stop worshipping beings that don't give a damn about them.

I think they'd have a sweet beginning- he's already comforted her in the fic a few times, namely early on when they'd killed the graverobber group. His love of cooking is something they'll really start to bond over as the fic goes on. I can see that becoming extremely romantic with him sharing recipes he loves and her sharing recipes from Earth that she loves to win his heart.

They'd definitely have their first kiss before the tiefling party- that bit of magic he works during the Weave scene is so cute I stg- but their romance progression wouldn't get much farther till most likely after the Elminster delivery to which she would not take very kindly. (And she'd sprinkle in so many Gandalf jokes it isn't even funny)

They'd argue a lot about the orb, about his "duty" to right what happened with Mystra, about her telling him that's not his business and Mystra can just go fuck herself, yadda yadda yadda. I think that after a lot of hard conversations where her insecurities of feeling like she'll never measure up to a goddess in his eyes, as well as her jealousy, he'll eventually reassure her and agree to not go through with the orb explosion. They'll have their first time there, before Moonrise, and after that, it's pretty much all romantical until his proposal at the end.

She'd convince him not to pursue the crown, despite his insistence that its powers could help him get her- and possibly him- to Earth. She doesn't care about going back at that point, and he'd end up teaching and she'd further her bard skills and join Alfira for performances and things!

They'd get married under a full moon with lots of blue and white flowers and I think they'd live for a good long time, maybe have a kid- Ofelia's very averse to that idea but I feel like Gale would be the one to change her mind (or Wyll, which will be next inbox answer!). They'd continue to see their companions over the years until the end. I think Gale would go first and it'd be tough for her, but she'd have her friends around- mainly her BFF Shart, so there'd be some comfort before her time comes to an end. 🖤

✧˖

Thank you for the ask, friend! It was fun planning out their entire romance the past little while!! I have one more to do- Wyll, which I'm very excited for! It's almost 2 am where I live so I'm going to hit the hay for now!

#ask games #alternate love interest #with stars to fill my dream #ofelia #gale dekarios #bg3 isekai

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rebelrobin86 · 2 years ago

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Valentines Day

(Robin Buckley x Fem!Reader)

Robin

Robin was anxiously tapping on the desk of Family Video, impatiently waiting for a distraction. Steve noticed his best friend and work colleague was worried about something. "What's wrong?"

"It's Valentines Day tomorrow and I have nothing for Y/N." Robin sighed. "Y/N's amazing and I really want to give her something special, but I have no money and I don't wanna lose her!"

"You couldn't lose Y/N, even if you tried, she loves you. She'll understand." Steve attempted to reassure Robin. "Seriously Rob, don't stress over it. Are you both still coming to the fair with us?"

"Yeah." Robin responded, unconvinced.

Y/N

You walked through Hawkins Valentines Day fair with Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, Chrissy, Eddie, Steve and his date. Admiring the different rides and stalls.

You enjoyed walking round the fair with your friends, but you were so happy to finally get a moment alone with Robin. "Happy Valentines Day Robin." You smiled, giving her a card and a small wrapped box.

"Thank you." Robin read the card and then opened her present. It was a beautiful silver necklace with a heart pendant.

"I wanted to give you my heart, Robin Buckley. Will you be my Valentine?"

"Yeah. This is beautiful I really love it." Robin smiled, as she put the necklace on. "Thank you."

Nancy ran over to you. "Hey guys, we're all doing the loop rollercoaster, you coming?"

"No." Robin answered immediately. "But you should go, I know you like rollercoasters?"

"Yeah, okay." You replied, not sure why Robin didn't want to go on the rollercoaster, but didn't question it.

"See you later Robin." Nancy smiled, as you went to queue for the ride, ready to have fun with your friends.

Robin

Steve stayed back with Robin, while everyone else went on the rollercoaster. He comes back from the food stall, after finishing some churros, as he sees a frustrated Robin attempting a basketball game at the stall.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to win won of those giant bears for Y/N, because like I expected, she got me the best present ever and I have nothing!"

"Robin?"

Robin continued rambling. "Actually, nothing would probably have been better, because all I got her is a stupid handmade card. I feel like the worst girlfriend ever."

"How much money, you spent on this?"

"Too much!" Robin whines upset as she uses both hands and launches the basketball, which bounces off the net.

"Give me the next ball." Steve confidently says and he grabs the ball. Robin takes a step back and watches. Steve perfectly got it in the first time. "That's how it's done."

Robin points at her favourite bear "We'll take that one please?"

Robin carries the bear. "How'd you do it?"

"You forgot I used to play basketball. Don't worry, you won the bear remember? I just watched you do it."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, now you can actually enjoy the fair with us, instead of murdering one of America's favourite sports."

Y/N

You come off the ride, seeing Steve and Robin holding a teddy, almost as big as them. Hearing them both laughing and joking, you happily run over to them.

"The ride was so fun! It was really funny, Chrissy screamed so loud!"

Eddie added "And crushed my hand from squeezing it too hard." Chrissy laughed.

You squeeled. "Oh wow, you won a giant bear, that's amazing!!"

"I won it for you actually." Robin smiled.

"For me?" You excitedly replied, your eyes lit up as Robin gave you the giant bear. You held and hugged the bear, then hugged your girlfriend.

"This is the best present and Valentine's Day ever! Thank you, Robin."

"Happy Valentines Day! Hey, wanna go on the big ferris wheel?"

"Sure!" You exclaimed as you took Robin's hand and ran over to the ride with her. You two even get your own private pod.

Robin gave you a homemade card she drew bees on saying "bee my valentine" You giggled at the cute drawing and pun, you tell Robin how much you love the card and your new bear, that requires their own seat.

The sun sets as you reach the top of the ferris wheel. Robin smiled leaning in and kissing you at the top of the ferris wheel.

#robin buckley #robin buckley x reader #robin buckley x fem!reader #stranger things #maya hawke #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #eddie munson #chrissy cunningham

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roxannarambles · 1 year ago

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teal mask fixit-fic on the fly part 10

(Current story so far: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 -

Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9)

After an eventful afternoon, the gang met once more at Ogerpon's den. Despite the fact that the defeated Loyal Three had managed to escape before they could be captured, the kids had obtained all three of the masks and taught Ogerpon's bullies a lesson they were not likely to forget anytime soon, so overall it was a pretty big win in anyone's books.

Ogerpon was as happy as a Clamperl with all of her masks returned. It was likely she had not seem them in a very, very long time, and they were the only things she had left to remind her of her old friend. She spent a long time just touching the masks and smiling.

Even Kieran seemed to be feeling a bit better, seeing how happy Ogerpon was. They all had a little picnic outside of Ogerpon's den, to give her some much-appreciated company. She seemed to love Arven's sandwiches as much as Koraidon did. She was gradually warming up to the others, too, although she still seemed to be attached to Arven the most, hanging on him and looking to him for reassurance.

Kieran was very quiet during most of the picnic, but eventually he spoke up when there was a lull in conversation among the rest of the group.

"I'm glad she has her masks back, but I know it's still going to be tough for her. She's still an outcast from the village."

The others were quiet for a bit; this fact was impossible to deny. Then Carmine waved a hand casually, saying,

"We can visit her on a regular basis! She'll be fine, Kiki."

He sighed.

"I guess . . . but . . . I think it would be better if we could clear her name and tell them all the truth."

"Kiki, believe me, I would love that too, but we can't-- Grandpa said our ancestor tried that and he was persecuted as a heretic!"

"Well maybe he just didn't try hard enough!" Kieran shouted stubbornly, his arms crossed, scowling. He continued, quiter,

"Besides, I don't care if people call me a heretic or whatever, it's not like anyone likes me anyway. I bet I could convince people if I tried hard enough--"

"Kiki, I care, I don't want anyone hating on my little bro! And if anyone is doing that, you better tell me so I can go kick their faces in!"

"She's right, you know," Penny said quietly, from her spot sitting beside Kieran. They both glanced to her.

"Not about the . . . excessive threats of violence, she really should stop doing that-- I mean about nobody believing you. Your town is practically founded on that Ogre story. People grew up with it, it's steeped in your culture and traditions by now. People are attached to the story they know, so simply telling them the truth probably won't make much of a difference at this point."

Kieran's expression fell and he looked glumly to the ground, but Penny wasn't finished.

"You need to change their hearts, not their minds."

He looked hesitantly back up to her.

". . . how do we do that?"

After a thoughtful pause, Penny answered,

"By changing the narrative."

Looking impatient, Carmine asked,

"And what the heck does that mean?"

Penny glanced at the others.

"It means I have an idea."

Later . . .

Daylight was fast fading as the gang rushed about in Kitakami Hall's central building, preparing as quickly as they could.

"Hey, I'm back, I have the costume-- took the seamstress long enough, ugh, I felt like I was standing there forever."

Nemona answered cheerfully,

"Great! Penny should be here in just a bit, she's just going over the script one more time with your grandpa! Then she can try it on."

Carmine set the costume down and griped,

"I still don't see why Ogerpon can't just play the part herself . . ."

Patiently, Juliana told her,

"Carmine, she's still terrified of returning to the village, and considering what happened the last time, can you blame her?"

"Yeah, yeah . . . all right. I guess that makes sense. So how are things going here?"

Nemona gave her a thumbs-up.

"Things are okey-dokey! Thankfully our costumes are nowhere near so complicated since it's mostly just the masks."

Nemona, Juliana and Arven had been trying on the black shawls, which seemed to fit them well enough. Carmine sighed,

"Great. Where's mine?"

"Here you go, right here!" Carmine grabbed the shawl, quickly putting it on, but then she picked up the indigo-colored mask. Indignantly, she said,

"What?! I'm not supposed to be Munkidori!"

Nemona glanced between the others, saying,

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought we already decided it?"

"Heck no, I'm not being the lame-o monkey!"

"Well somebody needs to be Munkidori?"

"Well somebody else can, why don't you be the monkey?"

"Oh, well, I'm gonna be Okidogi!" Nemona said, flexing her arm with a grin.

"Wait, what? I thought I was gonna be Okidogi!" Arven protested.

A little confused, Nemona answered,

"We never said that?"

"Yeah, but I just kinda assumed-- I mean, I'm the guy, isn't it kinda obvious I should be the big strong one?"

Juliana made a rocking-back-and-forth 'ehh' gesture with her hand.

"Oh, c'mon!"

"Sorry, Arven, but I feel like Nemona is better suited for Okidogi."

"You're totally biased though, Juliana!"

"No, that's my unbiased opinon--"

"We could battle for it!" Nemona suggested suddenly.

"No, no way! That isn't fair either, you know that!"

Nemona shrugged, and then after a beat, she said,

"We could arm wrestle for it?"

Arven paused, looking as though he was considering it. Carmine said,

"Look, I don't care who plays Okidogi, just as long as I'm Fezandipiti. Juliana can be the monkey."

Juliana crossed her arms, saying,

"Hey, what-- why? I mean, I don't really care, to be honest, but I feel like you're singling me out here for some reason."

"STOP CHEATING," Arven shouted, while he and Nemona were seated at a nearby table in the midst of arm wrestling. Nemona gasped,

"I'm not?!"

"YOU-- NGH-- HAVE TO BE!"

"She's really not," Juliana said mildly as she watched. Ignoring them, Carmine carried on,

"I dunno, it just makes sense. You come across as a good monkey to me. I mean, it's not like you'd be better at playing Fezandipiti. She was annoying to fight but she was so pretty! And elegant and graceful! And you're just . . . well . . ."

Juliana turned to her, her eyes narrowed.

"I'm just what?"

"I don't know, you're just . . ."

"You'd better think very carefully before finising your sentence, Carmine."

"HrrrraaaaAAAAAAAghhhhhhhh!"

Nemona slammed Arven's hand down with a sudden burst of energy and an incredible amount of yelling. Arven wailed,

"No, no!"

She sprung from her seat and was quickly in Carmine's face.

"Well I for one think Juliana would make an amazing Fezandipiti!"

Although Nemona had said it with a friendly smile, there was an undercurrent of tension in her expression, as though she was daring Carmine to challenge her on the point.

Carmine's eyes shifted away and she muttered,

"Tch, better than me? How?"

Nemona moved to Juliana's side and squeezed her, beaming and saying,

"'Cause she's stunning both inside and out, and-- and she has poise and fuerza y fuego y encanto, and I bet she could encanta la flor lejos de una Flabébé--"

"Ugh, spare me the mushy Paldean dribble, I'm going to be sick."

"You guys do realize that all three of them are the villians of the story anyway? It doesn't really matter who's what," Arven said.

Juliana raised and brow,

"Says the guy who just arm-wrestled to be Okidogi?"

"She's short!" Carmine said suddenly, pointing at Juliana.

"Uh?"

"Munkidori is really short. That's why she should be the monkey."

"Stop trying to make me the monkey!"

"Oh my god, you guys, will you just shut up and--"

The door to the room suddenly opened, Kieran and Penny staring in confusion at whatever they'd walked in on.

"Uh . . . everything okay in here?"

Arven coughed and cleared his throat. Juliana smiled and gave them a thumbs-up.

"Everything's hunkey-dory! We're just trying on our costumes and . . . uh, deciding who plays what."

Anxiously, Penny asked,

"You still haven't done that? We're on in like, five minutes, guys!"

"What? Crap!"

"Okay, okay, ugh. I guess I'll be the stupid monkey . . ."

"No, forget it. You and your annoying girlfriend can play Okidogi and Fezandipiti, I'll be super generous and nice and play Munkidori."

"Wh-whuh, we're-- we're not--"

"Ahaha, we're not girlfriends, Carmine--"

"Sure, whatever you say."

"Wait, if you guys are the Loyal Three, what the heck do I do?"

"I haven't heard any thank-you's yet for my generosity, you know . . ."

"Do we, um, give off a couple vibe?"

"I dunno . . ."

Kieran had been helping Penny put on her costume, but he turned and suddenly said,

"Enough!"

Everyone fell quiet. He sighed, then handed Arven a mask.

"You're playing the other minor roles, Arven, check with grandpa before going on. Thank you for playing Munkidori, sis, and everyone else, make sure you have everything you need. We have to be on stage in just a few minutes. This needs to go well, okay? Ogerpon's entire future hangs in the blanace . . ."

Penny, dressed up in the little green Ogre costume, gave Kieran a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry. It'll go well."

After a pause, she turned.

"All right, you guys heard him, quit standing 'round, let's go, go!"

At the front of Kitakami Hall, the area had been set up to act as a stage, the raised stone floor perfect for the task; they even had a curtain arranged. When word had spread that tonight, on the last night of the Festival of Masks, there was to be an extra-special performance, people had gathered very quickly. The crowd was very boisterous while people chattered, curious and eager for the show.

When the Caretaker came on stage, there was a smattering of shouts and cheers. He raised his hands and smiled; the crowd hushed immediately for him. Then he spoke.

"Hello, my dear friends. I am excited to announce that tonight, Mossui Town has a very special performance. In the past, of course, we've often enjoyed re-enactments of the Loyal Three's heroic deeds. But tonight we are joined by some talented young students that wish to add to that legacy. They have told me that their performance will offer a new perspective. This is all I know, but I trust their show will be memorable."

He waved a hand, finshing,

"On this auspicious day, the same day the Loyal Three have returned to us in the flesh, let us celebrate! Please welcome our friends and enjoy the show!"

The crowd cheered as the Caretaker left the stage. Kieran's grandfather appeared from behind the curtain and shuffled to stand on the far side of the stage. Mossui Town did not have much in the way of technical equiptment but it did have lights, as well as a single microphone and speaker set up for the man. He took up the microphone, his expression quite serious, even somber. The crowd waited, curious.

After a pause, the grandfather began to speak.

"We have told the same story on this stage for generations now. It is a tale celebrated and beloved by all . . . a story we know by heart. Tonight, however, I would like to share with you all . . . a new story. One that has some of the same, familiar faces, but whose roles are changed."

There were murmurings among the crowd.

"Now, I know how very fond of tradition Mossui Town is. There is comfort in the familiar. This I cannot deny. But all that I ask of you tonight . . . is to try to listen."

Finished with his introduction, the curtains drew open.

"A long, long time ago, there was a man and an Ogre from a foreign land . . ."

Kieran and Penny appeared on stage: Kieran dressed in baggy clothes and wearing a wig of long hair pulled into a ponytail, Penny hunched over in her little Ogre costume.

"The pair were the best of friends, inseperable. More than anything, they loved to travel, and they had explored lands far and wide in their lifetime. They had seen many wondrous sights and met many wonderful people. Yet, although the Ogre was still young and spry, age was now catching up to her human companion. They decided to travel one last time, and to settle down for good."

The man and the Ogre walked, hand-in-hand, along the stage, as if hiking through the mountains.

"And so they came to the land of Kitikami. They saw its verdant meadows, its lush woods, and its majestic mountains, and thought there would be no better a place to live. They came to the village, eager to meet its people."

Someone else appeared on stage-- Arven, in his shawl and wearing a carved mask that had a wide, smiling grin and a pale, nondescript face.

"The people of the village, however, were terribly set in their ways and very wary of outsiders. And so when the foreign man and his Ogre companion came to the town, people were frightened by their strange dress, their manner of speaking, and even their faces . . . which seemed so different from what they were used to."

The Man held out a hand in friendship, but 'the villagers' drew back in fear. Arven switched his mask around so that it now had a deep scowl, waving at the travelers to leave.

"The man and the Ogre were used to being welcomed wherever they traveled, and were saddened to be treated this way. Try as they might, the villagers refused to allow them anywhere near the village. Yet, they had grown to love the land they had traveled to, and still wished to call it home. So, they settled in a cave in the mountains. It was a simple, quiet life, and a little lonely, but they were still happy to have each other."

The scene changed, with Arven stooped over a table, a selection of masks upon it.

"The only villager that pitied the two travelers was the village mask maker. He decided he would try to help them, and created for them several masks. So inspired by their plight, the masks ended up being his finest creations-- adored with gems that the foreign man had brought from a distant land."

The scene changed again, now with the Man and the Ogre; they had cloaks over their clothes now, and Kieran wore the Teal Mask, while Penny wore the Cornerstone Mask.

"By wearing these masks, the travelers could hide their true faces and mingle with the villagers. The man an the Ogre were overjoyed, and they thanked the mask maker for his kindness."

Arven was back in his role as 'the villagers,' milling about in jinbei with a candy apple. 'The villagers' admired the Man and the Ogre's masks.

"The travelers began to secretly join the village festival, at a time when wearing masks was not something that seemed out of place. Soon the mysterious pair became the talk of the town, thanks to their brilliant masks. In fact, rumors about them began to spread far and wide."

The actors left the stage as the grandfather intoned,

"But rumors of exquisite, shining masks attract more than just innocent curiosity . . . and a group of greedy Pokemon soon made their way to Kitakami."

Carmine, Juliana, and Nemona arrived on stage, each in their Loyal Three masks. There was some cheering from part of the crowd that awkwardly tapered off into murmurings of confusion.

"There was the crafty Munkidori. He had long yearned for intelligence, but once he gained it, he began to scheme all sorts of ways to steal great riches."

"Mua ha ha ha--" Carmine balled her fists and cackled evilly. The other two nudged and shushed her.

"What? I'm acting--"

"Shh! These are silent roles!"

". . . there was the alluring Fezandipiti. He was once a very dull and forgettable pokemon; but once he became beautiful, he started to use his charms to manipulate others."

Juliana waved her 'wings' as she waltzed across the stage.

"And there was the powerful Okidogi. Once the runt of the litter, he now had incredible strength; but instead of protecting the weak, he used his strength to bully others."

Nemona leered at the crowd-- or at least, she tried to, but it was a bit difficult for her to see through the little cheap plastic mask. Juliana gently re-positioned her so that she was facing the crowd properly.

"These three pokemon worked together, but it would be incorrect to claim them friends; rather, they were temporary allies, eager to backstab the others if the opportunity arose."

Kieran was now on stage, laying on a pile of blankets as if asleep.

"And so the three pokemon snuck into the cave in which the man and the Ogre lived. They found where the masks were kept, and tried to make off with them. But the man happened to be there. . ."

The trio crept up, towards the man. They 'stole' the masks, turning to quickly remove their cheap plastic Loyal Three masks and replacing them with the brilliant, handcarved ones: Carmine with the Wellspring mask, Juliana with the Hearthflame mask, Nemona with the Cornerstone mask. They flaunted about in their new masks, but suddenly, the man gasped and leapt to his feet, awoken by the intruders.

Quickly, the man grabbed an old wood axe and tried to attack his foes. The others surrounded him.

"The man tried to stop the thieves, but he was outnumbered and could not wield the incredible powers that the pokemon could . . ."

The man collapsed, while the Loyal Three pretended to strike him over and over. They then gloated and left the cave behind.

"They wounded the man gravely and left with their stolen masks."

The man struggled back to his bed, unfolding the blanket to reveal something beneath.

"But the man had saved one of the masks, kept in a place the thieves did not know of. He took solace in the fact that at least his dear companion would still have one mask to use."

The man then tried to stand, but collapsed back to the ground. He tried again and failed, and opted to crawl instead, dragging his body painfully.

"The man left the cave, perhaps in search of the Ogre. Several hours later, when the Ogre returned to the cave . . ."

The Ogre arrived, walking to the spot and looking around, distraught.

"She found her beloved home in ruin. All that was left were the signs of a struggle and a teal mask."

On her knees, she cradled the Teal Mask as if it were the only thing she had left of her companion. She seemed to cry for a while.

Then she squeezed a fist.

She put the mask on and leapt to her feet, pulling a cudgel from the ground and brandishing it.

"The Ogre donned the mask and rushed to the village!"

She rushed to the other side of the stage, where the Loyal Three were gathered, showing off their masks to a fawning Arven, 'the villagers.' She raised her weapon and charged, startling the trio.

"She found the greedy pokemon there with the stolen masks and fought them, crying out for her friend."

The group pretended to fight. It was not a well-choreographed battle, by any means; they certainly didn't have time to prepare any of that. But what it lacked in skill it made up for in enthusiasum, the teens chasing each other around, Penny waving her cudgel wildly, Nemona throwing pretend punches and Juliana and Carmine trying to make things generally as chaotic as possible. Eventually each of the Loyal Three, in turn, died very dramatically on the floor. Arven watched it all in horror.

"The Ogre defeated them. The villagers, of course, had no idea what was happening or why. All they saw was the raging Ogre. And they felt great fear."

They put out a few red boards set up like the little roof of a memorial, which Arven stood over in mourning.

"The villagers thought the three Pokemon must have tried to protect the village from the Ogre. To honor their sacrifice, they gave them the name-- the Loyal Three-- and interrred them with care."

The Loyal Three masks were placed carefully on the memorial.

"And so the greedy pokemon perished for their cruelty and their crimes. But they were worshipped by the villagers as heroes."

The stage lights cut out, leaving only a single spotlight pointed upon the Ogre, trudging along slowly.

". . . wounded and weak, the Ogre returned to her cave . . ."

She limped until eventually stopping and dropping to her knees, removing the mask. She gazed at it and slumped. The light grew dim and dimmer, and her shoulders shook as if she were sobbing.

". . . alone, and with great sadness."

The spotlight faded out, and the curtains closed.

There was a long pause. The crowd began to mutter amongst themselves, sounding very unsure.

Then, from behind the curtain, Kieran returned to the stage. He was no longer in costume. His grandfather came up to pass the microphone over to him; he gave his grandson a reassuring pat on his shoulders and smiled before leaving the stage.

Kieran faced the crowd alone. He took a nervous breath, his hands trembling. The audience continued to whisper and mutter, confused, curious.

Finally, Kieran mustered his courage and spoke.

"Th-the story you've just heard tonight . . . is a true one. It is a story that has been passed down in my family by word of mouth for generations. The true version of events . . . all those years ago."

He paused, and the audience began to rile, people speaking out and questioning; the Caretaker in the front row looked very confused and at a loss. Kieran swallowed nervously and tried to ignore them. "It's not an easy story to hear, I know-- and it's not what we're used to. It's not a story of heroes triumphant over evil. It's a sad story, very sad. And it doesn't paint Mossui Town in a very good light."

He took a shaky breath and continued,

"But it's important. Because of Mossui Town, the man and the Ogre were shunned and forced to live alone. Because we were so scared of outsiders and scared of anyone who was a little bit different. And when the man and the Ogre were in trouble, nobody was around to help them. When the greedy three pokemon attacked, they had to face them alone."

Some people in the audience began to shout-- "The Loyal Three aren't greedy, they're heroes!" "Lies!" "What is this?!"

Kieran looked panicked, on the verge of the audience turning on him entirely. But he raised his voice and answered,

"I know how much you all love the Loyal Three, but listen! Things aren't always as we first assume them to be. You've all heard one version of events, but you never heard it from the Ogre's point of view. Try to look at it from her perspective! All she wanted to do was live her life and be herself. And people were scared of her and hated her for it!"

The audience quieted a little, shifting into whispers and mutters again, uncertain. From the front of the crowd, the Caretaker spoke up.

"I-I must say, this has all come as quite a surprise . . . a-and I commend you kids for presenting such an interesting new interpretation. I do confess of course that with a story so old, there is no way to know for certain what did go on, exactly, back then. But I am . . . curious. Is there really any harm in continuing our folklore? Regardless as to what really happened in the past. It is such a beloved part of Mossui Town, after all. Surely you see that, Kieran."

Kieran's eyes sharpened. His voice took on a tone of pure conviction.

"Yes. There is harm. The harm that was done to Ogerpon. The harm that is still being done. Because she is still alive, and she is still living in that cave in the mountains, all alone."

The Caretaker's eyes widened. There were shocked whispers among the crowd again.

"She has been living up there all this time, shunned and hated for nothing. And so I am here to finally clear her name. And to ask you all to do something. Please . . ." His voice trembled a little and he swallowed, starting again,

"Please try to look past your fears and your hate. Try to look at the real Ogre. To . . . welcome her, into our village. Please. Think of how scared you might be if you were up in the mountains, alone all this time. All she wants . . . all she wants are some friends. Just like any of us do."

The crowd was somber and quiet after Kieran's plea. A little awkwardly, Kieran turned and parted the curtain behind him, just a little bit. He gestured to someone off-stage, as if asking them to join him. All around was silent expectation.

Then, very shyly, a little figure dressed in green came out on stage. She wore the Teal Mask and fidgeted nervously. Kieran reached out and took her hand. Then he looked to the crowd.

At first, people just whispered and stared; Kieran could see many anxious and ambivilant faces. His stomach twisted in knots, fearing that all of their efforts would be for nothing.

But then, somewhere near the back of the crowd, a clear voice called:

"We love you, Ogerpon!"

And right after that, some children cried out,

"Yeah! You were so brave and cool!"

Expressions shifted and changed, and others were emboldened.

"We're sorry, Ogerpon!"

"You can come visit me if you come to the village!"

"We love you too!"

"Please let Mossui Town make things up to you."

"You were both very brave!"

As people continued to shout their support, Kieran felt the awful anxiety release its stranglehold on him; relief flooded in, instead. He squeezed the Ogre's hand and smiled at her.

Then people began to applaud. It was hesitant and scattered at first, then grew louder and louder, until soon it was positively thundrous.

Kieran looked back to the Ogre and gestured, tilting his head a little, his expression gentle-- asking her something. She gave a small nod.

Then she reached up to her mask and removed it, peeking out warily at the throngs of people. Her bright, starry eyes blinking in the stage lights.

There were cheers. A smile overcame Ogerpon, as brillaint and shining as the gems on her mask. Their hands still clasped, Kieran and Ogerpon took a bow.

Eventually, the curtains parted and everyone else came on stage to join them and bow as well. Strangely, Nemona was missing at first, but she appeared from somewhere in the audience and scrambled up on stage to take her place among them. When Kieran cast her a puzzled look, she just grinned and said,

"Sorry, was busy sowing some seeds of rebellion."

It suddenly connected in Kieran's mind why that first person to shout out their support for Ogerpon had sounded so familiar. He gave her a wide, grateful smile.

All around them, people cheered.

Later . . .

The final night of the Festival of Masks for that year was one to remember. The entire town had turned out for it, and the energy among them was unlike it ever had been before. The celebrations lasted for hours, with Ogerpon as the guest of honor. All of the love was wonderful, although the shy Ogerpon did find it a little overwhelming after a while. Kieran bought her a plastic Ogre mask to wear and a shawl, so that she could continue to enjoy the festival but without all the intense focus, since she blended in with all the other festivalgoers. There was a distinct irony in this, to be sure, but they knew once people had calmed a little, she would be able to go about like normal again.

And Kieran suspected that's really all she ever really wanted. To go about like normal and just have the chance to live her life among others. Which is what they and the rest of the gang did that night.

It was nice, just fooling about. Carmine challenged Nemona to a rematch at Ogre Ousting (very recently rebranded to Greedy Greedent Grabbing), and when she managed to beat her personal best and Nemona, she was elated. Surprisingly, she didn't gloat over her victory this time, though-- not much, at least. Instead she awkwardly told Nemona that it was a good match; Nemona beamed at her and shook her hand, agreeing that it was.

They all went to a face-painter after that, which was fun; everyone's cheeks decorated in whatever silly requests they gave the painter. Ogerpon loved the little stars that were painted on her. Next they went on some rides, like the Tilt-a-Whirl and the Octillary Ride, although Penny avoided those. Kieran and Ogerpon opted to stay off them as well; the others convinced them to try the Bumper Cars, though, since in theory they were a lot less pukey. In practice they were not nearly as calm as Kieran had hoped, mainly because Nemona, Juliana and Carmine made it their personal mission to run people down and ram them as hard as they could, friend or foe alike. After that, the group wanted to do the Ferris Wheel. Kieran was reluctant, because he was a bit anxious of heights and in the past his sister would tease him by rocking the compartment violently back and forth when they rode. Carmine swore she wouldn't do it this time but he didn't believe her, and they eventually solved the problem because Kieran, Penny, Arven and Ogerpon rode in a seperate bucket. It was surprisingly a very peaceful and enjoyable to ride when someone wasn't swinging it back and forth.

There were some impromptu doubles pokemon matches taking place in the central courtyard, so they enjoyed watching that for a time. Some of them even joined in when invited to. Kieran shied away from battling himself, but he watched Carmine and Juliana team up in one battle, and then Nemona and Penny pair up in another.

After that, the gang broke off to wander about and do their own thing. Kieran ended up with Penny and Ogerpon, watching some jugglers, then wandering the vendor booths. Ogerpon was drawn to a booth that was selling sparklers, so Kieran bought the three of them some. When Kieran lit Ogerpon's sparkler (telling her to be careful), she gazed at the little sparks of fire and giggled, waving it about. It was probably pretty tame compared to most pokemon moves, but she enjoyed it anyway.

They milled around the festival like that, going nowhere in particular, just enjoying the atmosphere. Kieran couldn't stop looking at Ogerpon and smiling, feeling so light everytime he saw the joy in her eyes. When he'd done it for perhaps the 50th time that night, Penny chuckled.

"She has you to thank, you know."

Kieran glanced up, caught off guard. Penny was smiling at him. He glanced away, his face warming. He insisted,

"Thanks to all of you. Everyone helped her out so much tonight."

He hesitated and added,

"Especially, um, y-you. It was your idea, after all, the play and everything."

Penny shook her head.

"You're giving me too much credit. It was my genius idea, true, but your grandpa and you really brought it to life. And there's no way I could have convinced the entire town the way you did. It was honestly pretty badass."

Kieran blushed and he fidgeted with the tie on his jinbei.

"That's-- um-- I-I-- t-thank you."

Ogerpon chirped and suddenly dashed ahead. Kieran's eyes widened and he rushed after her.

"Ogerpon, don't go too far, you'll get lost!"

Penny and Kieran chased after her into the path of food vendors. Eventually she came to stop in front of a table, and Kieran realized why she'd dashed ahead-- she must have heard a familiar voice. At the table, Arven and Carmine sat, with plates of cheap fair food as they talked.

". . . so turns out, he'd gotten himself lost and his phone was dead-- not that it'd help much anyway, reception is pretty much nonexistant out there-- middle of the night, out in the Timeless Woods. I had to go back and find him."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Pretty scary, right? I bet a cityboy like you would be helpless out there like that. But I was--"

"Wait, he didn't have a map or a compass or anything?"

". . . no? He was just using his phone."

"Oh, man, that's kinda risky for a big hike like that. You should have at least some basic fallbacks."

"Yeah, he didn't have anything with him, just his phone and some water and his pokemon, I think." "Wait, seriously?! That's not a great plan. I hope he doesn't still go out like that? Y'know, if you need suggestions on some great gear, there's a great little compass I bought that's lasted me for years. Oh, and I know it's a little dorky, but a headlamp is so much better than a flashhlight. Here, I can show you, gimme a sec."

After Arven pulled a little strapped light from his pack, he saw Carmine was staring at him. She asked,

"Who are you?"

He blinked,

"Huh? What do you mean?"

She gave a short laugh and shook her head.

"Why do you even have that with you? And why do you know all this, I thought you came from Naranja Academy?"

Arven shrugged,

"Yeah, so? I also went backpacking across pretty much all of Paldea, so . . . wait, did you think Paldea was nothing but cities?"

"No! I just thought . . . I-I dunno, Naranja's in a big city, I figured it's all you guys know."

She looked a little embarassed admitting it. Arven chuckled,

"Hah. No, not really. Most of us have actually been out in the wilds a lot, during our independent study program. They pretty much just turn us loose for a few months. They say it's a chance to get hands-on experience and see the world or whatever."

Carmine's gaze shifted away. She said,

"That's . . . actually pretty cool."

Arven nodded.

"Yep! So I spent the time traveling all over, hunting down some rare herbs with powerful medicinal effects and defeating gigantic Titan pokemon! With some help with Juliana, that is. We had to go all over, in the mountains, the deserts, the forests, all kinds of terrain."

Carmine looked thoughtful for a moment. She glanced to the big bag sitting on the ground by Arven's feet.

"That still doesn't explain why you have all that stuff with you now, though. It looks like you could fit a house in there!"

"H-hey, it's not that big! It's useful, I thought we might wanna go backpacking in Kitikami!"

"So you have a sleeping bag in there, what else?"

"Just basic gear. Ummm . . . some cooking supplies, clothes, a tarp, stakes, rope, duct tape, an axe, hmm, some repels, matches, tiolet paper, soap, binoculars--"

"That sounds like a crapton."

"And water and food of course. Hey, what are you doing, no snooping!"

Carmine pulled something from his bag.

"What's this?"

Arven grabbed it back from her, answering defensively,

"It's a garlic press."

Carmine cackled,

"A garlic press?!"

"What's so funny?"

"Only basic supplies, huh?"

"There's nothing wrong with being prepared! You never know when you might-- oh, hey there, little buddy!"

Arven leaned down to talk to the pokemon who had suddenly appeared and tugged at his pant-leg.

"How are you enjoying the Festival? I hope you're not running around all on your own . . ."

"She's not," Kieran said, as he and Penny caught up to them. Arven greeted,

"Oh, hey! We were just talking about you a bit ago."

After Kieran's worried expression, Arven added,

"Nothing bad! Carmine was just telling me about your hiking adventures in the Timeless Woods."

Kieran grumbled,

"Aw, man . . . sis, why do you tell that story to everyone . . ."

"What? It's a good story!"

"For you, it is. Not for me."

"You gonna finish that?" Penny asked, sitting down at their table and pointing to Arven's leftover nachos. He made a face.

"Heck no, they're all yours."

"Sweet."

Arven shook his head when she began to eat them with gusto.

"You all have no tastebuds, I swear. Anyway, don't worry, Kieran. We've all gotten lost at some point, especially when we were younger, it's no big."

"Mmm," Kieran responded, leaning against a neighboring table. Ogerpon was curious about Penny's nachos, so she held one out for her; the pokemon sniffed and then wrinkled her nose and backed away. Arven laughed,

"HAH! At least Ogerpon's on my side!"

"You're just picky, Arven."

"What?! No I'm not! If thinking that artificial orange slime they have the audacity to call cheese is being picky, then I guess I'm--GYAHH!"

They all startled when something went shooting through the air and struck Arven square in the chest. He looked down in shock and brushed large, fluffy flakes of white from his jinbei.

"What the heck--"

Nearby giggling alerted them to the likely origin of the projectile; they all looked up to see Nemona and Juliana lurking nearby, with sneaky grins.

"What is wrong with you two?!"

"What did they even throw at you?"

"I don't-- hey, NO--"

He blocked as Nemona chucked something at him again, which exploded upon impact with his arm.

"Are you weirdos throwing . . . snowballs at me?"

"What?"

Juliana took aim but he sprung from his chair, so they began to run away.

"Get back here!" "Run, run!"

On their way out Juliana threw her snowball, missing her target since she was in such a hurry.

"It's the middle of freaking summer, where did these even come from?!"

Arven chased them off, returning to the table when he'd grown tired of running after them. They spent some time speculating and eventually concluded the two girls either had access to some ice pokemon or were buying shaved ice specifically for the purpose of packing them into snowballs. They came by a few more times to try and annoy Arven further-- accidentally hitting Carmine in the crossfire at one point-- and Arven responded by trying to throw nachos at them (they didn't fly far enough, sadly).

They continued to just hang out until they all noticed some music, which seemed to be coming from the central courtyard. Carmine said it was a performance they usually did on the last night, so they decided to head over there. They wanted to try and find Juliana and Nemona first (well, some of them did, Arven and Carmine just wanted to leave them) and so they split up and attempted to locate the troublemakers.

Kieran and Carmine searched the outer edges of the festival-- eventually Kieran spotted the pair, in their orange and purple jinbei, ambling about together under the lights of the lanterns. When he approached, they seemed absorbed in conversation.

"What? No, you did great, what d'you mean?"

"Well I just felt kinda bad, she seemed really deadset on it."

"Nahhh, she volunteered to be Munkidori! It's fine."

"I guess so. Though I got the feeling she only did that 'cause-- uh."

"Cause what."

"Nothing, nothing."

"What?"

"It's silly, it's-- well, she made that weird comment, um. Thinking we were girlfriends?"

". . . oh."

Kieran backed off a little, feeling suddenly very awkward about interrupting their conversation, and tried to see if he could spot where the others had gone off to so he could perhaps pass the buck. Make somebody else do the awkward thing. That sounded like a better plan.

"Does it bother you?"

"Does what bother me?"

"Just, um. People thinking . . . that. I mean, if it bothers you, we can tell them we aren't--"

"What, no, it doesn't bother me!"

"Oh, okay. Are you sure?"

"Of course! Why would it? Like . . . somebody thinks I'm dating the coolest, most kickass, smartest girl in my school, oh nooooo, how awful, whatever shall I do?"

"Unnngh, c'mon, Jules."

"What?"

"I really wanna know if it bothers you, I'm being serious--"

"I'm being serious too!!"

The two girls stopped walking to pause at an isolated corner of the festival near some benches. To Kieran's relief, he finally spotted Carmine, so he emphatically waved at her to come over. He couldn't hear most of Nemona and Juliana's conversation anymore, although he could see from their body language it was still a rather animated discussion; Juliana apparently trying to convince her friend of something, until an embarassed Nemona hid her face in her hands. Meanwhile, Carmine stomped over to Kieran, looking pretty annoyed. Oh . . . hopefully she wouldn't get into a yelling match again. He shot the others a wary look.

Uh-oh. Juliana had gently pried Nemona's hands away from her face and was holding them now, gazing deep into her friend's eyes and apparently spilling her guts about something really heartfelt and potentially very mushy.

This was gonna be even more awkward now.

Carmine reached Kieran, grumbling,

"Have you found them? Forget this, I'm just gonna--" She suddenly spotted them, then, saying, "--Oh, finally! I've been all over the damn place. HEY--"

Eyes wide, Kieran quickly grabbed Carmine's shoulder and interrupted in a half-whisper,

"W-wait, uh, we-- we should maybe just go, Carmine."

"What? Why?! Why are we whispering?"

He gestured very awkwardly towards the girls-- Juliana holding Nemona's hands and Nemona blushing intensely, their conversation still too quiet to make out.

"I think they're maybe, ummmm, having a moment?"

Carmine briefly assessed the situation and then turned, staring at him and stating,

"Oh my god Kiki are you kidding me I am not going to stand here and wait for these losers to make out."

"W-what? I just meant--"

"If anything I should be getting payback for-- wait, hold up, that gives me an idea. Wait here, make sure they don't go anywhere. I'll be right back."

"What?!"

"I'll be right back!"

Kieran watched helplessly as Carmine snuck away and then darted through the fairgrounds, for reasons he could not begin to imagine. He unhappily waited for her return, watching the two blushing girls exchanging tender looks and soft converation, grateful that at least he couldn't overhear.

When Carmine returned, she had a snowball and an evil grin.

"Sis, no!"

"They still don't know we're here, right? Good."

Kieran tugged on Carmine's arm,

"Don't be mean--"

"Fair's fair, they hit me earlier!"

"Y-yeah, but I think they were aiming for Arven."

"That doesn't make it better!"

"Let's just go--"

She pulled away from him,

"You can leave, but I'm getting revenge!"

When they stopped squabbling and turned back, Carmine gave a surprised, indignant squawk; Juliana and Nemona really were making out now. Kieran hoped this meant Carmine would bail, but no, she did not bail. Instead, Carmine took aim and went charging in,

"All right, EAT DIRT, DORKS!!"

Kieran ran after her, calling out a belated warning-- but Carmine's snowball smacked Juliana hard in the back. He winced as both the girls startled and turned around.

"I'm sorry, I tried to stop her," Kieran mumbled, bracing himself for things to turn into a big fight.

But to his surprise, the two girls didn't get mad. They stared at Carmine a few moments, realizing what she'd done, and then they just . . . laughed?

"Hi Carmine."

"Did you actually make a snowball too? That's-- that's dedicated, I gotta respect the dedication."

Carmine paused, looking a bit thrown off. She then huffed and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, well . . . nobody goes around hitting me with snowballs without retribution!"

The two girls exchanged looks with each other, then laughed again-- silly, carefree giggling.

"I mean, that's fair, that's true."

"We did start it and then got super distracted, can't exactly be mad." Carmine sighed. She grumbled,

"Ugh. You two take all the fun out of getting revenge. I'm leaving."

Kieran stopped Carmine, saying,

"But-- we came out here to tell them--"

She groaned,

"Right, forgot. Uh, there's a performance going on in the courtyard, so. If you care, everyone else is over there already."

"Oh! Yeah, sure, let's go."

Carmine looked surprised as the two girls followed them back into the fairgrounds. Juliana asked,

"What's wrong?"

Carmine turned away and replied, with a bit of sass,

"I dunno, guess I'm just surprised you two wouldn't rather be alone."

After a little laugh, Nemona said lightly,

"We're not gonna just abandon our friends tonight, we're not gonna be here for very long, after all. Me n' Jules can see each other anytime."

Juliana nodded and agreed. Carmine frowned,

"Yeah, but . . . you can also see Arven and Penny anytime too, so . . ."

"Yeah, but not you and Kieran!"

Carmine visibly tried to quash her surprise but didn't quite manage it. Self-consciously, she muttered,

"We're, uh . . . we're friends?"

Nemona smiled brightly and laughed,

"Of course!"

She threw an arm over Carmine's shoulders; Carmine stiffened a little, but didn't seem too bothered by it.

"You too, Kieran," Juliana said, causing the boy to smile bashfully at being included.

"Yep, you're stuck with us now, better get used to it."

Carmine groaned and rolled her eyes, but there was a soft smile on her face all the while.

When they arrived at the main courtyard, the musicians were all warmed up and playing some very jaunty music on their fiddles. The atmosphere was delightful, festivalgoers dancing and clapping, some of them with very coordinated dances that Kieran was familiar with, but many others just freestyling and bopping about. Kieran's friends soon joined in, while he opted to remain in the sidelines, just watching.

Before long it seemed like not a single soul was standing still. Children were squealing and laughing, Carmine had joined one of the formal folk dances, Juliana and Nemona were bouncing about together, very goofy and freespirted; Arven was shuffling awkwardly until Juliana and Nemona found him and encouraged him to dance more, so he hammed it up for them and they all laughed.

Kieran was watching it all and smiling, until he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned, finding Penny nodding towards the dance floor in polite invitation.

"O-oh, um, I-I'm not very good," Kieran said, smiling self-consciously.

Penny chuckled.

"Yeah, me too. I actually kinda hate it . . ." She looked around and shrugged, giving him a silly smile.

"Wanna do it anyway?"

Kieran laughed. He was surprised when he answered,

"Okay."

Kieran's heart raced as they joined the others, but he found it wasn't nearly as bad as he'd thought. Nobody was paying them any attention, they were all just dancing and laughing, so he could just sway and move his feet a bit; it actually started to be pretty fun. He closed his eyes and let himself just enjoy the rythm, bouncing on the balls of his feet and doing little twists.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw Ogerpon was bopping along on the dancefloor right next to him, her bright eyes full of undiluted joy. She bounded around him in circles and he blushed, realizing she'd picked him out of everyone here to dance with.

Kieran laughed, the world around him celebrating.

And everything finally seemed to be just right.

#pokemon #pokemon s/v #pokemon scarlet/violet #the teal mask #pokemon spoilers #the teal mask fix it fic #almost done!!#only one more part to go! :D #final scene based loosely on some art I saw online hmmmm I need to see if I can relocate it and reblog it #julinemo #(julinemo mostly offscreen)

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mooncrestedwaters · 8 months ago

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Despite how much I'm like "teehee thats so hot blah blah blah"

I think it was a moment where Rafayel let down a lot of walls in the only way he knew how; Being a snark.

I think Ebb and Flow is within the period that MC x Rafayel are well acquainted, friends even, they've established some form of a bond but not enough to get down into the nitty gritty.

Rafayel planned to hang out with MC, then becoming horrifically ill because of the tide being low/out. I don't think he fully accounted for how sick he'd be and was a little blindsided or even scared.

In a previous life, MC literally murdered him on a day like that (albeit, Rafayel knows it wasn't her fault but nonetheless, you'd still be scared) and he is in the process of just getting to know this MC in front of him.

He tries to push her away by, well...being bitchy. Thinking she'd be sick of his shit and let him be but instead she offers kindness and care and tries to look after him.

When he finally started to let his walls lower a bit and to try and sleep, what did he wake up to? A very fascinated MC who's pushing on his scales and exploring his semi-lemurian form (which isn't MC's fault either. Girl was worried and curious)

Could you imagine the jumpscare?

Going forward he tried to hide his uneasiness and fear with snark and sarcasm. MC thinks Rafayel is just being a brat and tries to match it but when Rafayel throws the "Master" line out, MC retreats because she realises what he is getting at.

That what she said is a very real, very scary truth for many Lemurian's. Including himself once upon a time.

Rafayel starts to explain to her everything, how feeble and weak he is in that time, how she could do anything to him and he would let it happen because literally what else can he do?

Once everything is explained and talked through, Rafayel tries to win some bravado and control back, saying what he's doing could even be a trap.

MC doesn't retaliate in a shared manner again, learning her lesson from before and instead taking a more reassuring approach.

She lets down her walls, saying that she understands he won't and he cannot hurt her. Acknowledging the state hes in for what its worth and the fact that she trusts him regardless.

She reinforces the fact by saying her side is that she'll never hurt him and he starts to peek over his walls, making sure she won't hit him when hes low by asking her to 'swear it'.

They do and Rafayel gets the care he needs, the reassurance he needs while MC learns more about him and peeks behind the curtain of his bravado and dramatics to see a boy who is very scared sometimes and needs a lot of TLC.

It can definitely be painted as steamy, some moments I was scandalised but I think ultimately it was a bearing of hearts to each other and them, not only reinforcing boundaries but learning how to care for one another (especially on MCs side in her way of treating him)

Ultimately, I think their relationship is beautifully written

I read Ebb and Flow expecting a spicy bond story and got emotional bonding with a side of trauma instead 🧍‍♀️(don’t get me wrong I still loved the story it just wasn’t what I was expecting bc of how it was described by other ppl)

Like I didn’t get the vibe either of them were down to fuck like ovi there’s a lot of tension bc Raf and the mc are attracted to each other, Raf is sick and is in a super vulnerable state. But I more so got the vibe of the two building more of an emotional connection and like trust in one another.

Also am I the only one who thought Rafayel was mocking the mc with the “master” segment? Usually when she teases/flirts with him he starts blushing and gets flustered but this time he just keeps death glaring her (not that I blame him—idk wtf the mc was thinking with the whole “I’ll lock you up and whip you” bit girl the only whipping happening here is the whiplash I got when reading that 💀 esp given the history of lemuria 💀) and then overpowers her twice right after and pulls the “what if I set this up to kill you”

Anyways I apologize if this is incomprehensible I might just need an mri scan be lacking reading comprehension to not see the “they’re so down to smash” energy from ebb and flow.

different people can have different interpretations of things! you're all ok nonnie

#love and deep space rafayel #rafayel love and deepspace #rafayel #rafayel x mc #rafayel fishie #deepspace letters

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blue-banana-the-first · 2 years ago

Text

Chapter 3 is Out Y'all

"And so I wait. I wait for time to heal the pain and raise me to my feet once again - so that I can start a new path, my own path, the one that will make me whole again." ― Jack Canfield

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Their walk back is silent but comfortable, their pinkies she realizes with a giddy smile are still interlocked. Occasionally their hands would slightly swing, jolting her back to reality and filling her with serotonin, a heavy load of serotonin and she thinks she might get addicted.

His eyes look faraway but a faint smile is on his lips, a part of her thinks that had he not been smiling he might've looked intimidating. The thought doesn't scare her like it usually would, but it reminds her of the game she would play with herself every time one of Luke's friends would come over.

Most of his friends would be blackout drunk and theoretically they would pose no physical threat to her, but Luke looked harmless at the start too so she would imagine how they would look angry and compare them to Luke, 'who would be more terrifying?' She would think and inevitably Luke would win, though a part of her would claim she's biased, but that part started to go silent the longer she stayed with him.

She must have been staring for quite a while as he turned to her, his piercing eyes looking into her quizzically causing her cheeks to redden from embarrassment, 'I probably creeped him out' she thought to herself.

She did the only logical thing she could think of – stay silent, she had never felt this way about someone before – not even Luke, so until she's sure her voice will come out steady and normal, she'll stop talking to protect herself any further embarrassing cliché moments in her future.

As her dorm comes into view, she's shocked by the overwhelming disappointment she feels at their night being over, she feels a little better when Percy looks just as disappointed and hates herself for it.

His free arm, 'the one that's not interlocked with hers' she thought again for what seemed like the millionth time, came up to rest behind his neck, a gesture that she identified as meaning he was nervous, a gesture that seemed foreign to her, Luke has never been anything but sure, if anything she was constantly the nervous one, for good reason too.

"Um so today was great" he started confirming her suspicions that he was indeed nervous. "I wanted to ask you though if you wanted to hang out again" he paused before scrambling to say "not as a date though!" she would be lying if she said she didn't feel disappointed.

Maybe he noticed her crestfallen face because he then shyly added "Unless you want it to be..." she noticed him fidgeting more than he usually did in the short time she got to know him, and felt a strong urge to reassure him.

"I would like it to be a date" she replied her voice coming out stronger and surer than she felt inside, she gave him a reassuring smile to accompany her words and wished she could feel sure about her life the way she was sure she wanted to spend her life in the company of the boy standing in front of her.

"Does tomorrow work for you then?"

"Tomorrow is great"

He fist-bumped the air cheering, freeing his hand from hers as he jumped up and she burst into laughter, unconsciously bring up her hands to cover her mouth, a habit she acquired after one of Luke's friends commented on one of her teeth being crooked. Percy's eye colour flashed so quickly she thought she was imagining things before he took one of her hands, pressing a kiss to her knuckles.

"Sweet dreams princess" he whispered into the back of her hand before tipping an imaginary hat and turning to go back to his dorm. Her heart thudded loudly in her chest and her mouth ran dry, making it difficult for her to make a sound.

Her dorm is quiet, expectedly as the semester has just begun and most are still deciding where they're going to stay, she doesn't know when her roommate will arrive but she wants their arrival to happen soon and late.

The silence pains her, and spreads fear into her every fibre, who knows who's waiting for her in every corner, so she opens every door, the closet's, the bathroom's, the kitchen's, and her own bedroom door, the lights are all on, it looks like someone tried to rob her but she knows better, she turns on the living room tv into a random nature documentary anything to drone out the deathly silence in her dorm.

Sleeping without the comfort of the dark makes her feel safe at the expense of being uncomfortable. The logical part of her brain is aware that Luke has no way of finding her here and yet, he knew her better than she knew herself, and when starts look for her, which he will specially to pay her back for the stunt she pulled with the bottle.

She pulls the covers up until the completely cover her to her chin, and burrows her self into her pillows, holding them close. She's always been a cuddly sleeper especially when she's terrified, and lately she's been finding her herself terrified more frequently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can find the rest on my wattpad account:

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amane-by-together · 4 years ago

Text

I do adore || Yashiro Nene

Yashiro Nene x Female! Reader

genre: fluff and shoujo ai (girls love)

summary: when yashiro gets tired for having unrequited love towards men starts to have romantic feelings for [name]

“When every little thing you do, I do adore.”

Yashiro had always been head over heels to tall and handsome guys. The senpai whom she liked for three years, spent herself learning how to cook, sew and gardening, ended up getting rejected and calling her a radish.

Teru Minamoto. The president of the student council, known for his good looks and a kind personality. Yashiro had woken up from her fantasies and knew that she didn't deserve him, but he'll be the person she'll look up to instead.

The cream haired girl was frustrated about her love life and wanting to get a boyfriend to make her fairytale come true. It's hard being a romantic, that's what you get from reading romance and fantasy novels.

That's where Yashiro dropped her wishes on having a boyfriend due to her having unrequited love and insecurities because of her legs, decided to focus more on studies and friends. Guess what? She failed to do so.

[name] [surname] was a new student, she transferred a month ago and immediately got along with everyone. [name] and Yashiro started to become friends and had a lot in common, making them even closer.

For whatever reason, [name] never failed to make Yashiro's heart skip a beat. “Yashiro-chan~!” [name] skipped over to her seat and grins sweetly. “Guess what~?”

“Yeah?” Yashiro asked, a little nervous on [name]'s closeness. “Do you need something?” she winced. [name] started to talk about what happened about her day as Yashiro listened on every word she says.

Voices from other classmates started to fade around her and Y/n's voice is the only thing Yashiro can hear. The cream haired girl watched her small movements such as tucking hair behind her ear and the way she smiles brighter than the moon.

Yashiro's heart started to pound inside her ribcage. Her cheeks suddenly warming at the longer she stared at [name] while her thoughts are racing. ‘I don't understand why [name]-chan isn't popular, I mean she's very pretty, kind and caring and...’

Her thoughts were interrupted by a small giggle from [name]'s lips. Yashiro could've fainted right there, her giggles are very endearing, oh how she wished she could make her laugh like that.

Yashiro had never felt this much romance from her previous crushes. Most of them came from pure admiration and looks, seems like [name] outshined all of them. Other than wanting to be like [name], she wanted to be with hers also.

“[name]-chan, what do you think about my legs, by the way?” Yashiro twiddled her fingers, her magenta eyes darting away from the pretty girl's direction. [name]'s expression turned soft, she tenderly wrapped her hands around Yashiro's. This made her heartbeat quicken and her whole face turned into a beautiful shade of vermillion. "Sorry for the sudden question though, I j-just wanted to k-know..."

"Your legs look fine to me, Yashiro-chan." [name] replied, reassuring her with the sweetest smile she could ever give to someone. “I think you are cute too...” she said.

“R-Really?” Yashiro lights up and beamed. [name] nodded sheepishly. The cream haired girl was swooning so hard, she felt like a leading lady in a kdrama with cherry blossoms all around. [name] went back to her seat, leaving Yashiro to fan her blushing face in between stutters. ‘[name]-chan, called me pretty...’

Its not everyday where someone calls you pretty, for Yashiro, its more like a one in a million moment and the compliment was from [name] herself. And Yashiro absolutely adores her for that.

Yashiro glances towards [name] across on where she was sitting. [name] was looking over to the window while her cheek is resting on top of her palm, admiring the falling cherry blossoms during spring. “I'm falling for you everyday...” she whispered under her breath with a pink color tinting her cheeks.

[name], a certain girl who is currently running around Yashiro's mind that night. The naivete couldn't stop thinking about her, she just got her first female crush. “[name]... why are you making me flustered...” she murmured against her pillows. Yashiro notices her hamster, Black Canyon, munching on a sunflower seed silently. “What should I do Black Canyon?”

Maybe she could write her feelings about [name] in her diary. Yashiro stood up and went over to her study desk to get her diary. She begins to write, wholeheartedly pouring out her love for [name].

“I want to hold her hand and whisk her away. I want her in my arms protectively. I wish we could be like feathers that softly fall for another. I want to feel your soft lips against mine. I wish you were mine...”

Yashiro sighed and slumped her shoulders with a flustered look on her face. She was too in love for [name] its driving her crazy. Who knew a girl who dreamed about a prince giving her a romantic fantasy dream would fall for a pretty and kind girl?

If only she was a guy, she blamed fate for being a girl who had fallen head over heels in love for [name]. Yet she feared a lot of things: What would [name] think about her sexuality and knew that she likes her? What if she starts to avoid her for it? It will be another rejection for Yashiro if that happened.

All Yashiro ever wanted, was to be together with [name]. The relationship where she can hold her hand, cuddling her in her arms, smothering kisses all over her face, she always wished to do that to [name].

Ring Ring!

Yashiro picked up the phone since it was her dear friend, Aoi, who was calling. She took a deep breath and answered. “Aoi...” she said.

“Good evening Nene-chan, I got bored and I decided to call you!” Aoi cheerfully said from the other line. Yashiro wanted to tell Aoi about her crush towards [name], yet she feared that Aoi is going to judge her for it. There's no way she could do that, right?

“Hey Aoi...” Yashiro held the phone near her ear, her hands slightly shaking because of nervousness. “There is something I want to tell you, please don't judge me for it...”

“You know you can tell me anything, Nene-chan.” Aoi assured her friend. Yashiro inhaled deeply, her cheeks warming up just by thinking about [name]. She was straight from the beginning yet she never saw it coming when she starts to fall for [name]. “So what is it you want to tell me?”

“There is someone I like...” Yashiro can feel herself getting hotter and hotter. ‘I never felt this gay towards someone, I swear...’

Aoi suddenly became excited and squealed slightly at her friend, she's a sucker for anything related to romance, she even fangirls in Yashiro's love life. “Was he an upperclassmen? Is he from another class or is he in our class?!”

Then, Yashiro finally told her. “Its from our class...” she paused to lick her lips and looked down on her feet, embarrassed that she's going to come out to Aoi. “And it's a her...”

“I have fallen...for [name]...” The cream haired girl admits. “And I really don't know how I came to love her, it's confusing me lately because I just really love her—”

“Kyaaa~!” Aoi squealed from the other line. Yashiro stopped from talking all of a sudden. “You're in love with [name]-chan? That's wonderful!”

“Y-You're okay with it?” Yashiro asked for confirmation, making sure that Aoi wasn't joking about it.

“Of course Nene-chan.” Aoi gleefully replies. “What do you like about [name]-chan?”

“She's very pretty Aoi...” Yashiro laid down on the bed and covered her eyes using the back of her arm. “Other than being pretty, she's kind, sweet and soft. There are times that I wished that she was my girlfriend but somehow I think it's impossible...”

“I don't even know if she likes girls...” Yashiro laughs bitterly. “Even if she does, she wouldn't like me back...”

Day by day, Yashiro's crush for [name] continued to grow. With her blushing and her heart racing whenever [name] comes around. She also seeks advice from Hanako on how to win [name]'s heart, he was weirded out on how Yashiro came from liking guys to girls but he shrugged it off and helped her.

Their first method was her sneaking flowers and letters inside [name]'s locker. Yashiro filled her letters with her adoration and love for [name], unbeknownst to herself that a certain someone sneaked behind her. “Yashiro-chan~!”

“Gyah!” Yashiro jolted up in surprise, turning around and saw that [name] was grinning sheepishly. The cream haired girl stopped all of a sudden, her heart started to race and her cheeks turning red. “[n-name]-chan?!”

“Ah, I didn't mean to startle you!” [name] stepped back and swatting her hands. Cute. Yashiro thought to herself, staring at her even more.

‘Nene, you're too in love with this cutie—I mean person!’ Yashiro yelled inside her mind. [name] tilted her head and smiled, giving her a slight wave before walking off. ‘What should I do?’

Should she confess to [name]? Would this affect their friendship after that? Yashiro lifted her head and looked at the cherry blossom tree across the window, at that moment she had her decision.

‘I'm going to confess to [name]!’

[name] was hiding behind the wall, clenching her chest as she sneaked glances from Yashiro who was talking to Aoi in a rushed manner. [name] smiled before leaving her hiding spot. “Aoi, what am I going to do?”

“Hmmm~” Aoi thinks for a moment as she pointed at the cherry blossom at the distance. “How about confessing to her under the cherry tree from outside?”

Yashiro blushed. Thinking about confessing to [name] was already nerve-wracking. The problem is the result of the confession, the answer lies whether she's going to be rejected or accepted. “Should I really do it, Aoi?”

“We won't know unless you try, Nene-chan.”

'Are you really going to confess again?' Yashiro's inner voice asks her. The second thoughts of hers kept echoing in her mind and then she blinked. All of the negative thoughts were gone. “I'll try!” Yashiro cheered and Aoi clapped her hands happily.

”You can do it Nene-chan!”

Yashiro finally made her decision, she's going to confess to [name] on the cherry tree outside their classroom. There's no turning back and she would rather do this than hiding her feelings forever.

“I can't tell [name]-chan to meet her by the cherry tree...” Yashiro teared up while shakily holding the love letter, she was too shy to ask her and [name] might take the hint that Yashiro was going to confess. “Oh well, there's no turning back now...” she tucked the letter inside [name]'s locker and ran off to the cherry blossom tree to wait for her.

[name] got out of the classroom minutes after Yashiro puts her letter. [name] went to her shoe locker to change her shoes, but when she opened the locker door, a letter fell out. ‘Hm? A letter?’ she raised the letter to her face and checked the sides. ‘I guess this is addressed to me...’

The [hair color] haired female puts the letter inside her bag. She quickly ran outside to the cherry blossom to see her admirer. [name] tilted her head in confusion to see Yashiro standing there. “Ah, Yashiro-san.” [name] scratched her cheek as she walked over to the cream haired girl. “I assume that you're the person whom I'm going to meet here, right?”

Yashiro saw [name]'s smile again, she can feel her apple cheeks burning again and her heart beating faster. “There's something I wanted to tell you, [name]-chan...” she said, her voice was slightly cracking.

A huge gust of wind blew over them, carrying the petals of the cherry blossom along with the sway of their hair. Yashiro clasps her hands together near her chest and shouted out her feelings. “I like you, [name]-chan!” Yashiro confessed with tears brimming out of her ruby eyes, betraying her straightness right there. “Please go out with me...”

[name] stood there speechless at Yashiro's confession, she assumed that the cream haired girl was attracted to prince-like males like Teru Minamoto. “B-But Yashiro-san, I'm just a normal girl.” [name] stuttered out. “I-I'm not like those prince charming that you always fantasize about!”

“So?” Yashiro asked in verge of tears. “Even if you're not those, I still like you despite of that!”

Yashiro couldn't handle this anymore and by the looks of it the confession wasn't running smoothly. Yashiro tried to runaway to hide her tears until [name] caught her hand. “Wait!” [name] yelled out.

[name] saw that Yashiro was crying after that confession. “Yashiro-san...” [name] gently holds her hand, preventing the cream haired girl from running away. “Don't go...” she croaked out.

“[name]...?” Yashiro stared at her, thinking why did [name] stop her from going. [name] teared up also, still holding Yashiro's hand with hers.

[name] mustered up a tearful smile and confessed also. “I have always liked you Yashiro-san...” she said.

Yashiro couldn't believe what [name] just said. Did she just say that she likes her too? [name] likes her back? Yashiro cried even more and smiled. “R-Really?”

“Mhmm.” [name] and Yashiro felt happy now that they both confessed that they liked each other. “It's true that I like you Yashiro-san, and I want to go out with you too.”

Yashiro immediately hugged [name] which the latter returned the affection. “I'm so glad.” Yashiro softly cried, the person she had a crush on is finally hers, it seemed impossible that [name] would like her back, but the supernaturals lingering around the school looked so real, then maybe anything is possible after all.

Yashiro and [name] pecked each others lips, pulling away with a smile now that they shared their kiss. “Nene-chan, wanna go on a date this Saturday?” [name] suggests.

“Of course.” Yashiro laced their fingers together as they walked back to their houses. This is one of the fantasies that Yashiro had dreamed of, being [name]'s girlfriend. There's nothing more she can ask for other than this realistic serenity she's feeling right now.

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #tbhk #fluff #yashiro nene #nene yashiro #tbhk yashiro #yashiro nene x reader #tbhk nene #Yashiro #jshk #jshk yashiro #yashiro x reader #nene yashiro x reader #nene x reader

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muffindaddystyles · 4 years ago

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𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐂 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐊.

Summary: Where you got a panic attack while attending a lecture at University and Harry's out of reach.

Warning: Angst, ah! yes no worries you'll get fluff in the end.

P.S: 𝐖𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲'𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲.

Snuggled into cosy sheets, sweater paws wrapped around a cuppa, the strands of your dark hair tickling the nape of your neck and a sheepish smile of yours crawled against the rim happy while you scrolled through your Instagram feed seeing a short video of Harry singing Landslide on karaoke with his best pal at their get-together.

You and Harry were bestfriends, you met him at a vintage shop in basement where they sell old vintage tees. Despite of knowing who he was you fought with him cheekily over a same 'Pink Floyd's.' T-shirt at that time you guys decided to share it, he'd come to take it from you after every three days a week.

Two years of bestfriendship from you taking him to local south asian and chinese restaurants, to dragging him to yearly fair demanding him to win a bunny for you, to going on a competition for free pizzas only ending up loosing because you were litreally about to go sick, dancing like a maniac at the low price arcade at your university's backstreet, to him dragging you to his friends get-togethers which are quite fun they are super chill but your anxiousness is a little bitch she pops out of nowhere but Harry doesn't mind at all.

Now you're here. Being his lover for an year. He confessed his love for you when he was high on shrooms and you laughed it off tucking him to sleep at his place because he always used to say he 'loves you.' but that was in friends typa way until at the Christmas time while you were having fun for real at Jeff's house with Harry crowded by his mates that one of the Jeff's friends approached you and Oh dear lord' from even so far Harry's sight was dagger to a prey and was hot on his heels, if he would have been a cartoon character red smoke could have seen through his ears.

"Pet?" His brows kinked together as he squeezed you to a corner and he pulled at his bottom lip when your attention was on that guy waving you good-bye, "what Harry?" You asked him nonchalantly peering him through your down gaze.

It was enough to pinch his nerves and Amy one of his girl friend smirked watching the scenario when he was taking both of you to rooftop. With folded forearms you smiled with a certain mischief at the clear jealousy of him ripping through his every action, "jus' wanna protect ye', kiddo." He paced back to you sighing with a painful clench in his chest. He wanted to spill out but why the hell it was so difficult.

"Huh?" Your eyes widened like a deer under the moonlight at his obvious incoherence and he hissed pulling at his roots so you retorted calmly, "relax he was just a guy graduated in the same degree as me." You wanted him to confess his feeling out to you, at many occasions you guys joked about marrying eachother if you both fail to find your perfect partner. Like when you got all sentimental seeing Jeff's first baby at the hospital, getting a baby fever wanting one bubba right that time and Harry joked if any consequences he would help you put a baby in you and trust me nobody in the room laughed, they had deadpaned faces, they all know you guys have crossed the borderline but are playing blind.

His friends have inner jokes for you and Harry, their famous four bets on when Harry will ask you out, his first love confession to you, him proposing you and what your first born would be. Half of them lost more money than they could have imagined in a group of seven, Amy was smirking with full heart because she was praying maybe this time she'll win the bet.

"He looked like he drank 'is arse off." You rolled your eyes at his anxious quip wrapping your cardigan closer to your chest muttering under your breath and Harry's head snapped from your feet to your face, he knew it was ending point of his act "Harry he was completely sober."

He still remained firm at his ground pouting as his curled fingers brushed your elbows to bring you closer, "...but he's still a guy, ye' know.." You wanted to laugh at his face at his silly comment but instead arched your brow sternly.

"So. You aren't?" His heart-shaped lips bubbled around his words but you cut him off, "because if I remember last time you had a dick in between your legs." At this he strewned his lip inside not to chuckle how cute dirty words sounds coming out of your lips.

You frowned feeling cold when he pulled back from you turning his back to you to take a deep breath and his eyes were darker than before from frustration when he turned to face you.

"'Kay fuck. I love you, that's it. happy? I love you and don't wanna loose ye' to anyone!" You knew it coming but not like a bullet so it hit you like one freezing your breath into cold dense air, "you do?" You were at loss of words padding towards him for reassurance as if you're his little girl.

When you were inches away from him He noded without any hesitation saturating even that distance, "yes. I do. Since we've met, since you've invaded all of mind and heart." He wrapped you in his warm conforting arms humming when he snoggled his cheek against your hair.

You playfully scowled at him, "well didn't do that on purpose." Your naughtiness of that moment vanished into air when he asked you sincerely breath tasting you, "can I kiss ye' sweet girl?" Your single nod and his lips were on yours into a deep open mouthed passionate kiss, like how lovers kiss.

His cold finger-tips brushed the under shell of your earlobes earning a shuddering moan and you slipped your hands into the front pockets of his trousers.

Your own icy hands causing him to buck his hips into yours and the sensual touch made you both a whimpering mess. Tongues caressing, lips swiping, teeth nibbling and noses brushing as you kissed until your lips froze to mist.

"Cold?" You admired his after tenderness, lips magenta from heavy makeout session and he twirled a loose errand of your hair around his shiny jewl clad finger kissing your forehead and taking your hands in his bringing them closer to his lips to blow out his warmth to them.

But, there was another pair of eyes watching you astonished and somewhat gasping in awement. Amy, she came to call you guys. Then she rushed back downstairs doing a little prance and all of the people watched her in confusion.

"Ten, ten bucks each. C'mon bitches Harry said I love you to y/n!" Everyone squealed happily at her enthusiastic announcement only groaning at the end when she made a grabby hand, "I won. Now gimme my money."

Even though they all knew they acted like nothing happened respecting your guys descion of whenever you'd like to share your relationship to them, both you and Harry couldn't hold longer.

Your affection it's not new you've been affectionate to eachother since the very start, but this one have meaning and feelings, deep sensations. Hand grazes, knee touches, teasing glances, innocent bantering as if you could rip each others clothes right infront of them, closeness and quite fuck visits in their washrooms were getting obvious day by day and you ended up telling them getting showered in blessings in return.

Right now, with a shake of your head you went past through your boyfriend's antics going through Instagram stories. Your brows furrowed together in curiosity when you came through a post that had a large 'sensite content.' written on it.

This's what happens when curiously takes best of you. You end up doing things you regret time after and this's what happened to you.

"My god!" You clamped your palm over your mouth, eyes widening in horror and nerves crippling in fear. The gor video full of cruelness and blood infront of you making your body shudder.

𝐶𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡! 𝐷𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡 𝐶𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡! 𝐶𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑦/𝑛!!!!

Your mind screamed at you to just move past it but your eyes remained numbed to same video and your heart's weeping for the poor women in the video but you're rigid in your sheets with the cup of tea shaking with the shudder of your fear.

Then the consciousness hit you like a train and you snapped out of it quickly shutting your phone throwing it carelessly on the sheets, putting the porcelain cup with a shivering hand onto nightstand.

You shrinked into your sheets trying to calm your breaths. Bolting shut your eyes you shrugged and shook your head many times to get rid of the same image circling in your mind like a demon trying to haunt you.

You stopped breathing without realizing arm over your forehead as you stared the ceiling, lip sucked into your mouth and talking to yourself you tried to concentrate on something else.

You're feeling it coming. It's collecting in the form of bile in your throat and when you were talking with yourself. Your stupid obnoxious brain played your voice ten times faster and it echoed inside your own fleshy bones like a broken record in the barren house of devil.

You're hating it. You inhaled an audible gasp of loud horrific breath shoting up from your sleeping position throwing your duvet to ground ready to run away, you're trying to run away from yourself from your bloody damn thoughts.

You want Harry. He knows about your anxiety and panic attacks. You had your fair amount of panic attacks in his presence, but he always managed to bring you back to him. He used to make you practice breathing patterns and techniques on how to escape from your own subspace.

The first time you got it infront of him was when everyone protested that you should stay for sometime more but it was already two in the morning and you had an exam in the next morning it was just for him that you went along, but you were kinda angry on your own self for taking risks for just a friendship. Then it came into a black pitch waves of suffocation in his car while he was driving you back home, he was unaware of your condition and practically cried when he couldn't bring you back to him.

That night he slept in your bed for the first time. He wanted to stay closer to you in any case, you were sad that you made him worried for no-reason but he shushed you with infinite forehead kisses, he whisper yelled at you full of concern if he might be suffocating you but you giggled a "no." kissing his cheeks getting cosy in his embrace eyes drooping to sleep. He used to sing lullaby to you when you were having it bad particular nights.

Now, he wasn't here and you thought of calling him many times but decided against it only being your own helper. Taking a deep breath, you sang his lullaby to yourself, not letting tears to fall and reminisced all of the lovely memories of you together. Your kisses. Your laughs. Your cuddles. Your lovemaking. Your cooking failures together.

With all of these memories you were back in your bed closing your eyes only hearing Harry's soft affectionate rasps in your ears.

In the morning you have long forgotten that even the video existed. You were surprisingly fresh walking to your university's building in long strides, greeting everyone and anyone.

Harry just woke up from his lazy slumber. Making an orange juice for himself, his head heavy and he's in no mood to look at his phone. Grabbing his journal and putting on his rings, a special copper one that you gifted him on his ring finger smiling at it like a foolish fucker and pecking it shyly remembering you.

"Heyyy. H!" When he entered studio everyone greeted him joyfully and he hugged them all handing breakfast to each one of them he bought after standing in a queue for half an hour, "how's y/n?" Sarah asked chewing her bagel sitting behind the drums and the seed of distress sprouted in his stomach that he hasn't asked his bubby if she slept good lastnight? What she had in breakfast? If her day's going well.

There's this certain instinction that's making him restless but he can't quite put a finger on it.

"She's good. Gets a lill cranky if I win form 'er at the '10 phase' uno game." He chuckled with a hint of love under his tone his previous thoughts of checking onto you again slipping from his mind.

Plugging his phone to charger he rushed back to his favourite spot quickly taking his journal and pencil to scribble something.

It's your English lecture. The day went well. But now it's not. You're zoning out knowing how boring the lecture sounds.

You stared the way you drew your pencil into unstopping circles at the corner of page and your head was a dark vacant space when the way you acted last night flashed in your mind then the reason behind it, that damn video.

The video displaying like a reel in your mind again as if you're there experiencing it with your body. You twitched, and closing your eyes you snapped your head to side several times when the cold sweat broke at the back of your neck and shudder ran down your spine.

When you snapped for the tenth time in row a hand came squeezing yours, "you okay?" You slowly looked up at the guy sitting beside you as the professor's voice billowed further from you.

You just stared him numbly, tears making your sight blurry. Your breath hitching in your lungs and you can feel it clawing at you like a demon. To avoid getting made fun of yourself you stood up leaving your things and rushed for the door, when a hand came wrapping around your wrist in a tight grip.

"Where are you going miss? This's not acceptable." Your karen professor's voice sliced through your ears and your lungs are tightening with each passing second, everything spinning around you and all you're thinking's if you'd make it alive through this dark box of suffocation.

"S-sorry...I-I have to go—" You tried to stutter in between your broken breaths and she scowled burning her grip into your wrist. Your cheeks numb as you didn't feel tears slipping down to the valley of your breasts, "tell me the reason and I'll let you." Your head fell back at that and you bolted your eyes shut as tight as possible. Then when you tried to inhale you couldn't and everyone around hooed loudly watching you in shock as you tried to escape her with weak crying attempts.

"Let me go!" You shrieked. With wide eyes she let you and you fell to ground painfully hard. It was coming. You sobbed out harshly but it went silent at the end and you bunched your shirt atop your heart when your vision went pitch black, whole body shaking and you forgot even if the oxygen existed.

It's consuming you. Everything around you moving in slow motion. Their shouts for you like a sleepy mumble and it's just Harry's lullaby melodic in the pocket of your heart but it's cold and deserted with nothing but claustrophobia shoving you brutally into darkness where nobody could hear you crying.

You act like a lioness ready to kill anybody while you're having a panic attack and when some hand came to help you. You screamed and growled swatting them away "Don't fuckin' touch me!—" even though your ears are buzzing and you gasped loudly to get some air but it's not helping. God help me, please. You prayed.

Your classmate went through your emergency phone numbers finding Harry's at the top and it ringed sitting in the other room from him.

Then he dialed another one. It was studio's landline, Harry has filled that number without your knowledge and well it helped.

"Harry?" The drums came to halt, the guitar was stopped mid shrivel and Harry's high note fell to ground when the receptionist came with a cordless phone.

"A phone for you from y/n university—" It was enough to smack his breath away and he scurried to his feet taking the phone hastily from her hold, controlling his voice to not yell at the person in his own anxiousness.

He tucked it beneath his ear taking the car keys and his phone out of instinct because when it's you he's always on alarm. What he heard from other side made his knees jello and ribs to knock in two, "fuck. Yeh. 'M comin' jus' yeah, make her breath gently....." He tried to instruct your classmate.

He cursed himself. Not giving two fucks if he broke every speed limit. His knuckles going white and he repeated a mantra of "breath baby. m' sweet sweet girl jus' breath." but he was just saying this to himself because you wasn't in his arms and he wasn't calming you, he's blaming all this on himself.

He didn't even parked his car. Striding inside the lobby and asking for you. After fifteen minutes of no breathing as you were about to hit the deep end you inhaled loudly filling your lungs with proper oxygen causing your eyes to go bloodshot and everyone sighed in relief.

Your classmate took you to University's healthcare room so someone guided Harry there. You had your knees tucked close to your chest, head resting on them to block any light as you whimpered with innocent small hiccups.

Your heart beat racing. Head hurting and chest aching from the after effect.

Harry had to get support of door's frame when his eyes fell over you. Over his Angel that was shrinked pitifully like she's scared of world crying on her own.

The sheets of stretcher rustled under his weight as he slowly and gently wrapped his arms around her, "baby..." He cooed on the verge of tears and she didn't had to look up to know he's here, his scent was enough to relax her mind.

Her parted lips moist over the crook of his neck as she sobbed into him. He tenderly rocked her, running his hand soothingly at her back, kissing her head and her nose wiping her tears "'m so sorry, my baby. my life. 'M so sorry."

You fisted his shirt, face smashed into his chest to avoid the world while embracing your own world, your Harry as he walked both of you to his car carrying your stuff too with him. He helped you sit inside the car rounding to the driver seat and he leaned to kiss your forehead, glossy eyelids and a peck to your lips never letting his concern divert from you as he drove home.

He made you comfortable into your bed, wrapping his forearms around your tummy and soothing your arms down to tranquil your heartbeats.

He knows it's hard for you to talk so he didn't tried to get words out of you. He just wants to be there for you, physically, spiritually, mentally. He's all yours.

After long hour you spoke voice barely above a whisper, "t-they all are gonna think 'm weird." Harry felt something jabbing his sides at her statement and he cradled her chin intensely looking her in eyes.

"No angel. I promise you they wouldn't. See how your classmate called me the very moment you weren't responding? They all genuinely cared for yer', y/n" He stroked the apple of her cheeks and she sighed waveringly new tears glistening at her eyelids.

"Thought I wasn't gonna see you ever again." Her words hit him like death and at that moment he realized they're more than just best friends, just lovers, they are soulmates and Harry would be devastated without her.

His music. His fashion. His cheekiness. His softness. His humbleness will all be gone because he's so dependent on her for everything.

She frowned lightly when Harry hugged her close to his heart, his cheek stuffed into the crook of her neck and when his wet lips rumbled with a sob she pulled him back from shoulders cupping his cheeks.

"Harry? Hey, bambi eyed. Baby look at me." You sniffled wiping your every tear and he refused to look at you sobbing hoarsely, squeezing you to feel you for his dear life.

"Don't say somethin' like that. I wouldn't be able to live without ye'." He muttered silent tears soaking her neck collecting at the dip of her collarbones. She played with his curls smooching his cheeks cooing at him, "'m here baby. in your arms. 'm fine, we're fine." She gave him an eskimo kiss when he finally pulled back. Eyes fluttering as she took a deep breath feeling her lungs nutritioning after so long.

"Did you forgot your promise of making me your babies momma or I've to make you remember?" She tried to light up the mood and he just chuckled kissing her lips, when he stood up she pouted making grabby hands at him.

"Hold me?" She asked innocently. Harry ducked down brushing her hair and kissing her head, "gonna run a bath for us sweet angel."

Interlacing your fingers he guided you to your bathroom. Rose candle's flame flickered a shadow onto mauve tiles as the water had pink waves, the scent is so him and it calmed your nerves down.

He undressed you with soft movements, planting a kiss to your shoulder when you were complete naked infront of him. Settling inside the porcelain tub he took your hand helping you inside, making you sit in between his legs.

Your back to his chest. Head resting on his shoulder and his breath fanning your cheeks. It's nothing sexual. Just you two relaxing your nerves.

He coiled his hands over your tummy, running his thumb in careless patterns near your belly button as the water droplets dropped from his curl atop your breasts.

Exhaustion taking over you. Your eyes drooping and you've no idea when he took you out changing you into his clothes and into bed slipping under covers with you.

"'M always gonna be there for ye', whatever it will take my soul to." His whispers caused your lips to curl in a smile and you hummed snuggling your face into his arm scooping you to him.

A/N: I know it's very excruciating for people going through this difficulty, we don't have Harry physically in our lives but he has helped us alot. I feel you and I believe you. It's okay after every hardship there's a moment of happiness personally created for you. All the love!

#harry styles #cute harry #harry styles blurb #fluff #harry smut #harry angst #hsh #angst with a happy ending #dom harry #harry styles smut #harry x reader #hs fanfic

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n7inky-fanfics · 3 years ago

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Leviathan

"Well, if that's what we have to do let's get started." Shepard says, standing and moving over towards the shuttle with Cortez.

Kaidan hits another husk, killing it, and turns to face Shepard. "Wait a minute here. Are we seriously considering-"

"First, we'll need to restore power to get that cargo door open." Steve says.

"How?" She asks, furrowing her brow.

"I guess we are." Garrus says.

"These old Ballard-class ships are equipped with exterior power sockets. They use 'em for emergency repairs. We can strip the cells from the shuttle and use those for juice. Hang on, and I'll get you started." Steve pulls out a power cell and hands it to Shepard as more Reaper forces drop from the sky.

"Go, we'll fend them off!" Kaidan shouts, opening fire. Together, he and Garrus keep the husks, marauders, and brutes off Shepard long enough for her to get the cargo bay open and hop into the mech.

"Artillery incoming!" She shouts over the comms as she unleashes rockets on the hoard. Within minutes, the monstrosities lay dead on the ground.

She guides the mech over to Cortez so he can inspect it. "All right, Commander. Let's get you out of there and I'll do a systems check."

As Steve moves around the mech with his omnitool, running scans, Kaidan heads towards Shepard. The part of him that is usually so keen to follow regulations and be a good, obedient soldier is thrown out the window by the fear growing in him. This is a crazy risk. "Shepard, I've got to say... I'm not too crazy about this plan."

The hatch opens and she's there, staring back at him. Her gray eyes are fixed on him, filled with determination. Somewhere behind them, he detects a hint of understanding. She knows what he left unsaid, the worry that he feels right now. "We've come too far to stop now. The way home is through Leviathan." she replies in her classic Commander Shepard tone.

"Okay, seals check out. Oxygen pressure is normal. Systems are a go." Cortez says, walking back towards the front of the mech. "It's as ready as I can make it."

"Let's go." she says, setting her jaw and gripping the controller tightly.

Every fiber of his being screams. This is a bad idea. We have no idea what's down there. The mech could fail, she could drown or be crushed under the pressure. If she finds Leviathan, who knows how many ways it could kill or harm her. And if, by some miracle she manages to disable the pulse and get away safely, she'll still need the mech to hold up long enough to return her safely to the surface. Damn it, he's not going to back down so easily this time. He's not going to let her charge off into danger and leave him behind like she did over Alchera. He opens his mouth, prepared to let everything flood out, to say anything to convince her to stay, but all that comes out is "But Shepard..."

"I'll be fine." she interrupts. She looks him directly in the eye. All at once she's his Commander and the love of his life. She's ordering him to stand down, to let her go, while simultaneously reassuring him that she will come back to him safely. He feels his duty to her as a soldier and his love for her as her partner. The battle inside him ends and he reluctantly nods, stepping aside.

"Closing hatch." she announces. She checks the systems and guides the mech to the water. "Commencing dive in 3, 2, 1." The mech hits the water hard, splashing and then sinking into the murky depths.

He listens as Cortez checks the comms. For a moment, everything seems fine and he finds himself relax slightly. Then, he hears Steve's voice rise in pitch. "Commander? Commander, can you hear me? Commander Shepard?"

"What's going on down there?" Garrus asks. Kaidan tries to swallow the lump rising in his throat.

"The comms are out. We can't reach her anymore." Steve replies.

Kaidan doesn't have much time to worry because more Reaper forces drop to the ship. All of his fears are pushed away as he slides into command. "Incoming! Cortez, get the power cores back in the shuttle. Garrus, take up a position near the shuttle and we'll cover him."

Fending off the Reaper forces proves to be a neverending task. Short moments of relief are interrupted by more forces landing. Steve gets the shuttle fixed and mans a pistol from just outside it. In one lull, Kaidan checks the time. She's been down there for over an hour. Kaidan swallows his fear and tells his friends "She'll be here. And when she gets back, we'll be ready to go." They nod in affirmation and load their supplies.

Defending the shuttle from the Reapers is beginning to truly be exhausting when suddenly the mech breaches the surface. His heart soars. The mech stumbles forward and the hatch opens. All hope plummets as soon as he sees her. She's ghostly pale, maybe even gray, and bleeding from her nose and eyes. She falls forward out of the shuttle and hits the ground, right by a pack of brutes. She tries to stand, but hits the ground hard again. Shit, she's defenseless! In that moment, one of the brutes stops, staring blankly for a moment before turning and attacking it's companion. Now's his chance! Kaidan runs over to Hazel and helps her to her feet. Although she's now supporting some of her weight, he's practically dragging her along to the shuttle. "Shepard's back! Cortez, talk to me!"

Steve is already in the pilot's seat, pulling the shuttle back around. "We're good to go! I don't know what the Commander did, but the pulse is offline!" Garrus covers them as Kaidan loads her onto the shuttle. As they take off, he vaguely notes that the brute is still attacking other Reaper forces.

Kaidan helps guide Hazel onto her back on the shuttle floor. Steve shouts about a Reaper incoming. Shit! It's right in their path! He tries to maneuver underneath it, but it opens it's terrible arms and charges it's beam. Before it can fire, it suddenly disables and crashes into the ocean. What the hell did she find down there?

He turns his attention back to Shepard. She's not moving or responding. Damn it, Hazel! "Shepard! Can you hear me?" She doesn't respond. He reads the data from her suit on his omnitool. It's not looking good. "She's freezing!"

She coughs suddenly and violently, jolting upwards. The coughing fit continues to wrack her body as she tries to sit up and brace herself against the seat. He watches her vitals recover some. "You okay?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. Hell of a headache." Her voice is raspy and weak. Her pulse is still somewhat erratic, but it looks like she'll be okay.

Fear and concern quickly evolves into anger at the risk she took. "Never do that again." he says firmly, rising to his feet.

She looks up at him, her eyes rimmed with red. She's exhausted and in pain, but she's here and she'll be okay. She came back to him. He relaxes, letting go of his anger and instead bathing in relief for just a moment before he asks "So, what happened down there?"

"We found it. It's real and a lot more than we ever imagined." She rises to her feet.

Cortez turns back in his seat to face her. "So, was it worth almost dying for?"

"I don't know, but we proved it can't hide anymore... that it's a part of this war, just like us. And it's going to help fight."

As they ride back, Shepard calls Dr. Ann Bryson to tell her about what she found. Kaidan knows no one will get the full story out of her until later, but even the broad explanation is amazing. When the dock back on the Normandy, she immediately locks herself in her cabin to write her full and detailed report, brushing off any requests to check in at the med-bay.

Kaidan finds himself waiting outside her door with a cup of coffee. Dr. Chakwas stands next to him, leaning against the wall with her med bag on the floor. Eventually, the door unlocks and they both go in. Hazel sits in her desk chair, still in her armour. The submission confirmation for her report is still displayed on the terminal.

"Hey, guys." She smiles weakly at them. Kaidan sets the mug on her desk and offers her an arm. She takes it and pulls herself up, then slowly peels off her armor. Chakwas guides her to sit on the couch and begins checking her over.

Eventually, she rises and closes her bag. "You're looking alright, Commander. Take this for the pain. Get yourself fed, hydrated, and warm. I'll be taking my leave now. Have a nice night." She smiles and walks to the door, stopping just next to Kaidan. "Keep an eye on her, Major Alenko." She smiles and exits the room.

Kaidan brings the mug with him and sits down next to Shepard. He hands her the coffee, which she sips as she leans against him.

"Nice to have everyone back on dry land, so to speak."

"Mm-hm." She responds.

"You scare the hell out of me with those risky stunts, Shepard, but I guess it's also part of what I love about you." He whispers.

"I'm sorry I scared you. To be honest, I scare myself sometimes, too. I've already pushed so hard, given so much of myself for the mission, for the galaxy. I lost it all once, and sometimes I wonder if some part of me wishes I had just stayed..."

Kaidan pulls back and looks down at her. She looks so small and timid sitting here, curled into herself. It's a rare moment where he might even call her vulnerable. "Stayed dead..?" He asks quietly. She nods meekly. "Hazel, having you back has been a lifeline. I missed you, more than I could ever express."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just... I came back only to throw it all on the line again and again. And in the end, nothing I did even mattered. The Reapers still arrived, and now we're fighting an impossible war."

"And we'll win. We'll win because of everything you've done to make that possible. I believe in us, Shepard. I believe in you."

"You really think so?"

"I know so." He smiles gently and pulls her into his arms. She curls up against him and slowly relaxes. He can feel her falling asleep, so he takes the mug from her and sets it on the table. Carefully, he scoops her up into his arms. She mumbles sleepily about more work, but doesn't protest as he tucks her into bed. He kisses her forehead and turns to leave, but she grips his shirt tightly. She wants him to stay. He takes off his boots and crawls into bed next to her. She shuffles closer to him, resting her head on his chest, and quickly falls asleep.

#fanfic #mass effect #commander shepard #female shepard #kaidan alenko #shepard x kaidan #f!shenko #shenko #shepard #fshenko

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wolfy2109 · 4 years ago

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Tokka Week 2020: Family💖💖

(just another one-shot)

It's been months since I've seen her, I left thinking it'll be a matter of weeks. The councils of both the tribes had agreed and even I didn't anticipate a resistance. I wondered from time to time how she felt when she got to know that I'll be kept longer and was in a civil war of sorts again,if she'll show up in her metal armour again. The thought of how that armour clings tightly around her upper body was enough to make a grown man day dream. He thought about how soft her cheeks and lips were,all he wanted to was kiss her, passionately. He thought about holding his baby girl in his arms and kissing her forehead,she was the brightest child in the world according to him. He hoped Toph hadn't been too hard on her.

By the time he reached the door step,his every muscle was torn from tiredness,his head hurt from the long hours of sleepless travel(troubles in the ship). But his heart was so full of happiness,his mind full of thoughts and activities to do with both of his girls. He knocked the door and one of his known servants opened the door, thankfully. "Bo, it's so good to see you. Can you get some guys to put all this luggage in my room?" Sokka said,he was the kind of guy who treated servants with more respect than anyone,water tribe had engrained these values of compassion for one and all in him well enough. However,Bo didn't match his enthusiasm,he looked rather flustered, uncomfortable. He didn't meet his eyes when he answered "Sure sir,welcome back. I'll get right at it. ". Sokka was a chief,a strategist and a warrior he knew damn well that something was going on,he raised an eyebrow at Bo,to which Bo replied "did the news reach you?". Sokka worriedly replied "what news?. Is Toph okay?. Is she gone for another dangerous case?. Is Lin-" ,he was then cut off by a "nothing, she's just in an important meeting and will be late,your daughter will be in the study as of now,you can meet her."

Bo then rushed off and Sokka knew something was off but he didn't care,he was seeing Lin after 6 months,he entered the study and saw her dedicatedly reading some book on the history of earth kingdom,when she looked at him,her eyes sparked up with excitement. She ran to him and hugged him,he picked her up. "You're getting bigger,young chief" he told Lin. She giggled and gave him the biggest kiss on the cheek. They spent the entire afternoon talking about how he had fought cleverly and bravely and stopped a civil war and how Lin had aced the basics of earth bending forms. They were laughing like two six year olds,one of them was and well the other was, let's just say not six at all.

Nonetheless they talked like equals,like a true father and daughter duo. They both were fascinated with each other's stories,proud of their achievements and blissful to be back together again. Sokka told Lin that she didn't have to go to any class today, she'll be home spending "quality time" with her father and Lin was more than pleased with this offer.

Sokka went to take a bath after his lunch with Lin and found the two servants who were supposed to bring his luggage up to his room chatting. "I don't know how it's going to be like when he finds out. He has no idea." .The other servant replied "only a matter of time before it all blows up in her face,the nasty attitude,the bringing a guy in the house a week after he left.". Sokka couldn't believe what he had just heard,his body was paralyzed. He felt like he could no longer function. When he had gotten together with Toph he knew it was real,she made him the happiest man on the planet,their comfort with each other was unparalleled. He had been gone longer and she too,why didn't she wait this time. He was no Kanto,he was Sokka,her long time friend,her colleague,her family. He immediately stopped the thoughts from going any further and consuming him. He believed in her and her love. After his bath,his distress had still not eased.

As much as he didn't want to involve Lin in this he had to. Reassuring and horrible thoughts kept gushing his mind,the thoughts had reached the brim of his mind. He went to Lin,she was in her room playing with some of the toys he had got from his home,her fascination with them lit up her face. She was the most adorable child he had ever seen and also the smartest,he took great pride in raising her.

Sokka taught her how to use some of the toys and after five matches of Pai-sho which he deliberately let her win,Lin was tired. Sokka sat next to her,he didn't want to involve her in this and get to know how insecure her father is being right now but he had no other choice. "Lin,has some man been coming home lately?." ,he asked. His tone was a semi-friendly one but it masked fear,a lot of it, nervousness and denial to believe anything other than no. "Yeah,there has been. He has been coming every week since you've left. He is amazing,he brings me these amazing gummies and-", before Lin could complete,Sokka got up and told her to go and play with some of her friends for a while,he had some work to do. Before Lin could stop him and cling to him,he stormed out of the room.

There was no servant in his sight or he would have beaten the truth out of them. His mind was now an utter mess ,"how could she?.We were so happy,we didn't give it the name of a marriage but we were one happy family. She couldn't. She wouldn't have. Maybe it was Aang,maybe he's in town. Maybe it's the servant who reads her notices and letters. It can't be, I trust her and her love for me." ,all these thoughts were enough for him to stop mid-way and rub his forehead that was still aching from the lack of sleep. He was angry at her,who was this man after all?. He was angry at himself,how can his trust in her be so fickle.

He entered his room,their room. And he saw her. Face turned the other side. She was in her armour but something seemed wierd. She wasn't standing in the attention position she had mastered,she looked fragile. He never thought a day would come when she looked…….weak. "Toph" his voice was full of emotions for a second his mind had forgotten all about this other man,his voice was soft, calming and on the verge of cracking. They both were always on duty,they spent months like these often,Toph would go off and Sokka would stay with Lin and vice versa. But every time they saw each other after their period of separation,they spent the whole night talking, hugging, being happy that they were safe, mocking each other and what not. These memories calmed Sokka down.

He heard a gasp,he could see that she had lifted one hand and probably put it at her mouth?,her face was facing the other side. "Wouldn't you turn around?" He asked her. It was obvious now,he was crying. He heard a muffled sob. "I'm sorry Sokka, I don't know what to do, I'm happy to see you, I am, I really am but I don't know how to say this to you",her voice was cracking after every five words. Sokka's heart sank,so there is another man,he thought. He took a step back,he felt devastated,angry, miserable, heart broken and it wasn't long before he would've started shouting at her,he couldn't handle it.

He did everything right,he loved her right,if she didn't want him home,she could have sent a letter. Hawkie was always here to deliver anyway. "Look me in the eye and say it,Toph.",his voice asserted dominance,she had only heard him talk like this on battle fields to the people who answer to him. But it was not only dominance,his voice sounded like he was repressing anger and pain,a lot of it. So he knew,she thought. She hated his reaction,as scared as she was,she didn't expect THIS.

"Oh, I'm sorry Sokka. It's all my fault,if it hurts you so much get out of here, I've done all this once and I'll do it a second time.",she turned around in fury. Sokka scoffed and was about to say something when he saw it.

Was it a baby bump?. He hadn't seen her in the nine months when she was pregnant with Lin but here she was, standing with one hand on her stomach and the other on her back. She continued in fury "do you know how it was like for me?. A week after you left I found out about THIS. But I thought it wouldn't be as hard for me because now you were here,you would look after our child,Sokka!!". She sat on the bed side and tried to continue screaming when Sokka came down at his knees and touched the baby bump. He kissed it,his touch was so gentle, she had missed it so much. Toph breathed sharply,the gesture came as a surprise to her. "What are you doing?" She said. "Why didn't you tell me Toph, I would've-" he was cut off by Toph,"come right away? That's why. I didn't want to put you in a situation where you had to choose between your duties and your family. Whether or not you would have liked this,you would've been effected by it. You were at war for crying out loud. I was so scared for you,so worried about you-". Sokka shut her up with a kiss that was filled with longing and love and an apology?. She thought. They both leaned in, losing themselves completely in this,cheeks wet from tears and eyes shut close. This moment lasted forever,they took moments off where Sokka stroked her hair and she kissed his hand.

They were then interrupted by a coughing sound and when they pulled away,Sokka saw a man at the door,he carried a small bag and had spectacles. "Sokka,this is my doctor. He makes sure of my health,my mom and dad send him in every 4-5 days because of their paranoia." Sokka kissed her nose and whispered "I'm sorry" in her ear. Before she could ask him for what,he bombarded the doctor with questions "is the child going to be healthy?. Is Toph fine?. Why is her bump still so small?. When is it going to kick?. Will it be a bender or a non bender,does it know that it doesn't matter?. Is it a boy or a girl?.". He spent hours getting filled up on her pregnancy months that he had not been a part of from the doctor, Toph just lay on the bed smiling and grinning. Occasionally saying things like "Meathead STOP,YOU ARE EMBARRASSING!!" and laughing at his replies that went like "then what are you?".

She adored him with all her heart,she finally was with the right man,this one would stick around,this one pushes her to be a better parent everyday,this one means the world to her. Her mind was at so much ease,sometime after the doctor left and Sokka had kissed her and hugged her and jumped around her in excitement and love and also explained what he had thought was going on and got scolded for it,Lin peeked through the door. She thought she was hiding properly but both Sokka and Toph knew she was here. "Lin!!!! Why didn't you tell me?!. You're getting a sister or a brother." Sokka exclaimed,"I'm sorry, I thought you already knew" Lin sounded overly apologetic. "No,no sweetie, it's fine,dad's here,come sit with us". He picked her up and placed her near Toph's belly.

There they were,three of them looking like a real family. No marriage,not even Sokka's biological child but he didn't care,Lin was hers and so was Toph. There was another baby coming and they were a perfect family. They spent the evening getting ready for a fancy dinner at Toph's favorite restaurant(cravings you know),Sokka kept obsessing about just how beautiful Toph was and she kept touching him whenever she could,brushing hands,nose rubs,hugs. Pregnancy had made her soft,she thought. No,it was Sokka,he always makes her this way and she loves it. As Sokka carried Lin on his shoulders,Toph brushed her hair with her hand. Sokka looked at her face with love and adoration, excitement for this new chapter of their lives and she knew he was looking. She even blushed a little. God,how Sokka loved making her blush. "Gonna stare at me all night meathead or are we ever gonna leave?." She smirked and they all went to have dinner. And so just an overly happy family at an overly expensive restaurant with an overly protective man who glared at every man who looked at his woman and kid who looked at his daughter enjoyed their meal in peace or their idea of peace.

#sokka #tokka #sokka of the southern water tribe #atla sokka #atla toph #tokka fanfic #toph beifong #toph beiphong #water tribe #otp ideas #tokka week #tokka week 2020 #atla fanfic #atla au

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r3b3lgrrrrrrrl · 5 years ago

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A LunaTic and her Gunn (Part 104 1Xs2) "Late Nights and Lazy Days"

@creatureofthen1ght-v3 @crystalbaby12 @5sosfam1dlover @backoftheroomandnotbelonging @findingmyths

The show at The Roxy was a huge success. The venue filling with electricity as soon as The Boys took the stage. Outside, the sight of Luna had given Colson an extra boost of energy to his mind. Inside, OnStage, her touch was a direct shot of adrenaline to his body. The crowd growing even more insane once Dom and Travis joined him OnStage for an intense encore of I Think I'm Okay.

BackStage, Luna had offered up her repacked bullet to whomever wanted it while hanging off of Colson's back. Collecting their things, they sent their luggage to the LA house after deciding to spend their night in The Valley at Roger's Bowling & Arcade. Luna calling Frannie and Paris while Colson invited Mod and Noah.

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"You're goin' down, Sucker!" Luna wiggles her loose arms and fingers as she grins at Benny and he chuckles.

With so many of them, they have to break off into teams. Luna and Colson call Captain in unison, leading him to complain about how They Won't Be On The Same Team. He only pouts out a Fine when Luna gives him First Pick and a kiss.

Choosing Slim first, Luna takes Paris. Eyeing Luna and knowing how his last interaction went, Colson tries his luck by picking Fran. Making Luna shake her head when she catches her friend rolling her eyes at his effort. Luna takes Rook as a response. Colson snatching up Travis, AJ, Mod, Benny and Bullet while Luna secures her team with Ashleigh, Dom, Baze, Noah and Paris's boyfriend Gabe.

It's way passed midnight. Having been ON since before Noon, Luna's hitting her fifth or sixth peak by now. Just as it starts to kick in for Ashleigh and The Boys. Having only hit the bullet upon arrival with Frannie and Gabe, Paris dutifully sets up their bowling screens as everyone crowds around and the two teams talk shit to each other.

"You don't know what these guns can DO!!" Benny laughs at Luna as he flexes.

"We gonna take her cocky ass down?" Colson nudges Frannie trying to break the ice between them.

Paris had rallied for Colson on the way over, still trying to persuade her to give him a chance. Deciding to bite her tongue tonight for Luna and P, she nods with a small smile. Agreeing with him that, THAT Bitch Could Be Knocked Down A Peg Or Two. It's Colson's laughter that draws Luna's eyes over to the two of them.

"Ugh... With all this bullshit with Sam, I really fucking hope tonight goes well..." Her mind flashes before it catches a trail of colors and is off flying in a different direction.

"Alright.... Here we go!" Paris calls out.

The pure MDMA is now coursing through all of their bodies, minds and souls. The stream of black lights wraps around them, causing them to glow. The bass driven music making their hearts pound as they laugh, trip and bowl.

"It's so great to finally get to hang out with you!!" Luna exclaims as she grabs a seat beside Gabe.

"It truly is!" He agrees with a wide smile.

"Tell me.... What are you guys working on right now. P said you have a mini tour coming up?" Luna asks regarding their band The Soundflowers.

"Yes!!!" Gabe beams as Paris approaches them after picking up a spare.

The three go on to talk about The Couple's music and plans. Colson making his way over as they take turns bowling. Wrapping himself around Luna from behind, he kisses her cheek before joining their conversation. Colson and Gabe clicking quickly as they bond over their love of Sublime and Oasis.

"Your turn, LunaTic!!" Rook hollers.

With her body warm from happiness, content, love and drugs, Luna leans her head back into Colson's chest. Lifting up, she kisses him under his chin before going to support her team.

Grabbing her bearings along with her ball, Luna poises herself as the different colors and objects dance around her. Blinking twice, she swears she can taste cotton candy as she throws a Strike.

"MY GIRL!!!!" Colson yells to her squeals as he spins her around. "I don't even care that you're supposed to be my rival right now!" He laughs as he pulls her chin up for a kiss after he sets her down.

"Come on, Loooove Birds!!" Mod teases them. "You're holding up the game!"

They're really not though. All Sixteen of them are ON, distracted by the black lights and lasers. Slightly Slipping. Bodies still bouncing and bobbing to the music that surrounds them as they chat uncontrollably with each other about EVERYTHING.

Growing bored after the first game, The Slipping Sixteen venture into the Arcade. Simultaneously finding a row of ski ball lanes alongside a line of electronic basketball games. Entering into more challenges against each other, they drop tons of shiny quarters into the game's slots along their way.

Slim, Colson and Benny battle it out in basketball while Luna, Frannie and Ashleigh go head to head in ski ball. Paris and Rook switch out when Luna wins as Baze steps up to challenge Slim along with Gabe after Colson loses to him.

"I got next!!" Colson calls on ski ball.

Luna wins again. Squaring up against her and Frannie, Colson takes his stance in front of the middle lane VERY seriously.

"You two have NO idea what you're in for." He says confidently as he laces his long fingers together and stretches them out in front of him.

Lights, lasers and images dance around them. Flowing in through the windows of their eyes, down into their souls. Binding them together like sticky, magical taffy.

Popping their quarters in, the wooden balls fall down the slot with a loud SMACK. The sound making the three players grin as it brings back goosebumps from their individual childhood memories.

With Rook shouting 1.2.3. GO! They're off. All three being incredibly skilled, it's a close call. Luna coming in 3rd as Frannie takes Colson by two solid 100K point hits. A slightly smug twinkle glints in her cool, blue eyes. It's the only sign of how pleased she is with herself.

Comparing ticket winnings with each other, Luna notices Baze is a little quieter than usual. Part of The Slipping Sixteen going on to wander around the Arcade, giggling and wiggling while they taste the sounds and hear the colors. Finding Travis, AJ, Mod and Bullet, they're consumed by the vivid, original arcade games as the others join them.

"You okay?" Luna asks Baze as she hooks her elbow into his and they continue to wander together.

"Is it that obvious?" He answers with longing eyes.

"Only to me." Luna reassures him as she leans her head against his large arm.

"I miss her, MaGoons..." Baze sighs.

Passing a mirror, Luna stops them. "Let's tell her." She smiles at him before taking a selfie of them and Snapping it to Sam.

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Sam is at Pier 97 with Ashley, Stephanie, Mack, Jackie, Logan, Jason and a bunch of their other friends. Continuing to celebrate at Pride Island, a 2day music festival created solely for the end of the week long event. Checking her phone in the bathroom, she finds the Snap from Luna.

Sam sighs when she sees Steve's face as her heart flutters for him. They have a strong connection but Sam is incredibly independent... And if she'll admit it, incredibly scared of intimacy. Reading Luna's words, she's annoyed with her but can't help Snapping her back with love along with her trademark sass.

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

"Yo!! You game?" Slim challenges Luna when he sees the beaming lights of an open AirHockey table.

"Bet, Motherfucker." Luna laughs as she digs in her bag for more quarters.

Slim drops the plastic disc on the table as it begins to roar and cool air blows from it's sides. With a nod, they signal their beginning. It's an intense, fierce game. Both talking shit as they slam the disc across the board with all their might.

"You ain't got SHIIT!" Slim tries to intimidate her as they match up at 2to2.

Pulling the puck from her slot, Luna holds it in place as she points at Slim. "Watch me, take your whole life and FUUUUUCK it all up in one shot." She grins as she rearranges and recites Colson's lyrics.

"You're such a fucking dork." Slim laughs at her.

The two of them are quick as they make the plastic object zoom across the flat surface. Luna's wide eyes steadily following it as it turns from one disc into four. Glowing orange trails fly around behind it, causing her to become distracted by it's zip as Slim connects just right. Slamming it into her goal, he wins the game.

🎶Who fucked who's life all up in one shot? I DID! Beat THAT bitch when I made THAT disc drop in her slot and YOU KNOW that I'm so good that I can't stop.... Because SOMETHING'S FUCKING WRONG WITH ME!!"🎶

Slim raps as he teases Luna, laughing as he dances around the table. Quickly grabbing her to happily jump and shake her around with him. They're slowly becoming friends.

"FUUUUUCK Yooou!" Luna laughs with him as she rolls her eyes before giving him playful shove.

"You gonna let THESE BOOYS play us like that, B?" Frannie asks with a grin, throwing her arm around Luna. "I got next, Big Man." She taunts Slim with a welcoming smile.

Frannie is naturally suspicious of all people, growing up in the environment she did. It's when her third eye is open that she let's her guard down, fully enjoying herself as she kicks Slim's ass 3to1. Lightly teasing him along the way.

"You got an eye, Girl, don't cha?" Slim compliments her after her win, making Frannie laugh.

Coming back together, The Slipping Sixteen decide to bowl another game. Keeping the same teams as they continue to be entertained by each other and mesmerized by the different colors. Noah and Mod argue over Who's Ball Is Who's while Colson and Slim both High Ten Frannie when she hits a strike on her first bowl. Ashleigh flicking them both off when she nails her own solid strike.

Only picking up a spare, Luna checks her phone as she sits on Colson's lap. Finding a Snap back from Sam, she opens it.

Seeing the Snap over her shoulder, Colson realizes for the first time that Sam didn't come back with Luna. He's called for his turn before he can ask Why.

Having a blast, they finish up their game. It's a close one, Luna's team only winning again because of Rook's impeccable Turkey.

Gathering together, Paris and Gabe exchange GoodByes and Love before catching an Uber home. Frannie uncharacteristically choosing to head back to Colson's with Luna along with Noah and Mod. Dom catching another Uber with Travis to his place, choosing to crash there while Ashley's still in NYC.

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Back at the crib, they let loose with all of them being happy to be Home. Making their way through the house, only Twelve Tripping Twits remain. Pumping up some old Blink 182, Colson immediately starts jumping up and down on the couch before hopping off to grab whatever he can find to juggle. Being pool balls this time.

Luna watches him adoringly. She can feel her brain and heart throb for him as her body continues to tingle during it's own personal rollercoaster ride. "Fuck, I missed him." She thinks. Regardless of the stress from the loss of his Adderall, traveling or even Sam's issues, Luna's glad to be Home. Colson being her Home. Not The West Coast. Not even NYC. Her Home lies where Colson is. Always.

Hooking up Casie's Dance Dance Revolution, at different points they all succeed in both excelling and destroying their attempted dances. The Twelve Tripping Twits laughing uncontrollably at each other throughout their turns as they pass joints amongst them.

They continue on with their magical journey. Gliding in and out of the house, talking about and touching everything. Different Twits alternate in and out of different jam session at different times.

Colson, Luna, Rook, Frannie, Noah, Slim and Mod take to chasing each other around the house, wrestling about and hitting each other with pillows unexpectedly as they round corners blindly. Ashleigh, Benny, AJ and Baze are curled up in fuzzy blankets while Mario Kart escapes from the television. Bullet can be found outside lounging by the pool, staring at the stars.

There's a lot happening at all times. The Twelve Tripping Twits making a huge mess out of the house with their amusing antics.

"Lemme set you up...." Luna says to a still wild eyed Frannie.

"I can't sleep right now, Loons.... I'm on some seeing and feeling shit." Frannie let's out with an exasperated gasp.

"That's okay... I just wanna show you that you've got a safe space when you're ready to crash." Luna answers lightly as she takes Frannie's hand.

Already talking to Colson, Luna shows Frannie to Casie's room. It's a special privilege. Frannie may not be aware of it, but Luna is. NO ONE sleeps in Casie's room.

"This is The Kid's room. You can sleep here without being bothered..." Luna trails off as her swirling mind struggles to formulate words again in order for her to speak. "But... If you're not ready to sleep, you gotta stay the fuck outta here." She asserts by closing the door to Frannie's all too knowing nod.

"There's our killer!" Slim shouts as he comes out of his room, finding Luna and Francis in the hallway.

Wrapping his arm around Frannie's shoulders, he asks What They Were Doin'. Fran answers with a NunYa to Slim's laughter as they follow him back downstairs into the ongoing House Party.

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Rolling hard, the music is still loud as Luna offers up Xanax for calmness and sleep. BB King easily grooving through the living room as The Twelve Tripping Twits begin to slow down. Lounging around while burning HARD. The blues guitar slipping, ripping and vibrating through their enlightened souls.

Exploring each other's bodies slowly on the floor behind to the couch, Luna coaxes Colson to his room. Not bothering to say GoodNight as they slip away. Thinking they're quiet, they loudly laugh as they fail at racing each other on the stairs. Tripping in different ways as they make their way up them.

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In his bed, there's a sweet sensuality to Colson and Luna. Trying to focus, they slowly take each other's clothes off as they kiss the other with soft touches. Uncontrollable colors, feelings and love radiating off of them. Luna's breasts are full as she runs her hands down the sides of her throat, then along her shoulders. Pulling down the straps of her black, lace bra. She unhooks it, letting it fall off of her body as she drags her hands down alongside her ribcage. Still rolling hard, even the lightest touch to her body is amplified by a million.

"I don't know if I can handle fucking you tonight." Colson let's out with a slight hint of fear in his voice.

"Mmmm... That's okay... Can we just lay and touch?" Luna asks delicately with an understanding of the intensity that drugs can bring.

"Yes, please...." Colson answers, wrapping his naked, long body alongside Luna's tiny one as they lay together side by side.

Getting comfortable, he can't help but cup her breast. It's not long before his coarse thumb finds it's way to her pierced nipple. The rounding strokes of his hard thumb making her body heat up as her pussy becomes plump for him.

Their touches are kind and sensual as Colson pulls Luna closer to him from behind. With his right arm under her, distracting her nipple, his left hand slides over her hip. She can feel his growing cock against her as his fingers slowly reach for his goal. Running his two tips up her vulnerable lips, he grows harder as he feels how warm her insides are.

"I wanna live inside her pussy." Colson's drug addled mind wishing for the impossible

Pulling her lips open with his index and middle fingers, Colson slowly makes his way inside of her from behind. His touch causing Luna to arch her back as her whole body tingles. Taking his time as he slowly slips his dick into of her, making her quiver at not only his girth but also his touch.

"Holy fuck...." Luna's body erupts as her brain slowly repeats "Holy Fuck....." Over and over again. The sensation of Colson being inside of her so insanely strong that she feels like they're melting into each other.

Taking his time, he rocks her back and forth along his cock slowly. Colson grunts louder with every inch of him that she pulls further inside of herself.

"Oh, Kitten..." He moans as he sucks on the back of her neck.

"Mmmm....." She coos, enjoying the way he fills her.

Colson holds Luna closer to him, making her juicy pussy clutch his cock tighter. Picking up his pace as he drives into her deeper. Still playing with her piercing with one thumb, he reaches down. Using his middle finger of his other hand to tickle her clitoris, Colson has full control over Luna's body.

"Oh FUUUUUCK, I'm cumming." She moans, not being able to control herself as her body gyrates.

Feeling her tighten around him even more, he let's go also. Bursting inside of her like an overfilled balloon.

"God Damn, Loons.... I swear, your pussy gets better every FUCKING time." Colson pants as she kisses her naked shoulder with a sigh.

Luna let's out a light snicker from his words, causing him to pop out of her to both of their disappointment. Placing his tired dick against her bare ass, they drift off wrapped in each other.

Sticky from their sex as the Xanax begins slowing down their running minds. Their touch calming more than just each other's soul as they end another late night together.

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Feeling Colson shift, Luna rolls over with him, turning him into The Little Spoon. Nuzzling in between his shoulder blades, she kisses his bare, tattooed skin as she whispers out an I Missed You. Squeezing his body tighter against hers. Lifting her hand, he kisses it as he mummers the same. The two easily and instantly falling back to sleep together.

A few hours later, Colson stretches out long as Luna curls up against him under the covers. It's a Monday, the first of July. Just coming off a month long tour, they're taking the day off. A lazy day if you will. Already deciding last week that business will resume it's regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

Wrapped in each other, their too hungover to talk. Both of their brains feeling like mush from the massive amounts of drugs they not only consumed the day/night before, but throughout the last 2mnths or so. Although their insides feel like dehydrated fruit, there's an intimate relief as they simply cuddle. Enjoying the quiet moment to themselves, they drift back off. Catching up on some much needed sleep.

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Colson and Luna finally make their way downstairs after lazily fucking each other awake. He's bare chested in a pair of EST basketball shorts while she's in an oversized Hotel Diablo shirt with a pair of Colson's black boxer briefs underneath and a loose bun.

They find Frannie, Slim and Ashleigh surrounding the island as Baze controls the kitchen. Joints flowing freely while Neil Young plays lowly in the background. Noah and Mod are knocked out in the living room on separate couches with Bullet sprawled out across the floor. The sight of him making Luna happy. While Rook, AJ and Benny can be found still snoozing in their bedrooms.

"Holy shit, that smells delicious." Luna compliments Baze as she peeks around his arm. "What 'cha makin'?" She asks as she accepts a cup of coffee from Colson with a grateful Thanks.

"Homemade bacon cheese burgers, REAL fries and grilled asparagus along with spinach and mozzarella stuffed garlic mushrooms." Baze answers proudly as he checks the oven.

"You truly are a Norseman's God, aren't you?" Luna teases as she slides into a chair between Colson and Frannie, accepting a joint from her pal.

"Viking in the HOOOUSE!!" Baze shouts as he triumphantly thrusts his fist in the air, making the room laugh with him and Luna.

"How'd you sleep?" Luna asks as she turns to Fran after passing the joint to Colson.

"Fucking GREAT!! That bed is a dream. Literally." She laughs. "Thank you for letting me crash in your daughter's room." Fran goes on to speak to Colson as she leans up against the counter to look at him.

"No problem, I'm glad you were comfortable.... Just don't let her know her when you meet her. She can be a little anal about her room and things." Colson says with a smile as he exhales a large cloud of smoke.

"Wonder where she gets THAT from.." Ashleigh chimes in as she rolls her eyes.

"Not THIS guy, EVER." Slim laughs as he jerks his thumb towards Colson.

"Fuck you both, you don't like people touching your shit either." Colson counters as he throws them both a middle finger.

"Facts." Luna laughs as she backs up his statement.

"You're just as bad!!" Frannie exclaims to Luna with another laugh.

"Who's just as bad and what are we eating, My People?" Mod asks happily as he comes bouncing into the kitchen just in time to intercept the joint.

"All of 'em, apparently." Frannie answers through her laughter.

"Hey!! Don't you lump me in with them fools!" Baze threatens with a smile as he points his spatula at Fran.

"My bad, Dude." She continues to laugh with a grin.

"You fuckers are soooo LOUD...." Rook complains as he makes his own appearance.

"IF YA CAN'T HANDLE THE HEAT, GET THE FUCK OUTTA THE KITCHEN, YA FUCKING ROOKIE!!" Colson yells at him with a teasing tone.

This catches him a middle finger from Rook and a solid NO from Luna as she puts her hands over her ears. Colson retaliating with another loud I DO WHAT I WANT before Luna skips him and passes a fresh joint to her Favorite Drummer Boy.

"You're such a bitch." Colson complains with a chuckle once he realizes what happened.

Noah, AJ, Bullet and Benny slowly trickle in as Baze throws the burgers on the grill. Making The Twelve of Them a complete set again as they fill the kitchen with bodies, music, smoke and coming food. All surprisingly functional once coffee and bud hits their blood streams as they recount the madness of last night.

"You totally stole that kid's tickets!!" Noah shouts at Colson.

"No I didn't." He shoots back immediately with an undeniably guilty look.

"You stole a kid's tickets!?!" Luna and Frannie ask together in wide eyed shock.

"No." Colson asserts. "He walked away, I just grabbed the loose tickets that were hangin'." He shrugs with a smirk.

"Seriously?" Luna asks with a cocked look.

"I mean, yeah... But, I gave all our tickets away to a bunch of kids at the end of the night so fuck 'em." Colson shrugs again as he sips his coffee.

"You're such a fucking dick." Luna replies with her face still twisted in disbelief.

"Whatever. Someone else would've jacked 'em if I didn't. And at least I spread the wealth... Because I REALLY wanted those fucking light sabers." He laughs.

Slim, Baze, AJ, Benny and Rook solidify him with a RIGHT. Leaving Luna to lean across the counter now, looking over at Ashleigh for someone else besides Frannie to shake her head with.

"So, what, you fancy yourself as the Robin Hood of Arcades?" Fran challenges Colson. "Robbing from the dumb who are probably in the same poor crowd that you're rewarding?"

"Ohh, FUCK ME." Luna mentally sighs as Colson cocks his chin towards Frannie.

"No." He answers with an attitude. "But if you're stupid enough to leave your money hangin', I don't give a fuck what age you are. Imma snatch that shit up. Don't be dumb and you won't get played like you're dumb."

"Truth." Slim agrees, tossing his bestfriend an elbow while Luna's tosses her an unamused eye.

"I get what you're saying, Kells... But that's fucked up. You can't tell me you wouldn't snap if someone swooped up on Case's tickets." Ashleigh says, putting her two sense in.

"Case wouldn't be dumb enough to leave her tickets behind." Colson replies smugly.

"I had you until then...." Luna laughs lightly as she leans across the counter again to Ashleigh's sigh, both knowing he's right.

"So, what's that make you... A partial dick?" Fran asks not letting it go.

"Oh no, I'm that FULL dick. Through and through. Ask Luna." He smirks.

"Shut the fuck up." Luna replies as she sucks her teeth. Going on to roll her eyes at him and shake her head, she displays the three quality signs of an annoyed woman. "No one here gives a fuck about your dick." She continues as she SideEyes him.

"Yo! Check my mushrooms!" Baze interupts them as he hollers from the patio.

"Gotcha!" Ashleigh shouts back as she hops up.

"All I know is, I'm gonna FUUUUUCK this food UUUPPP." Luna declares, making the entire room agree for the first time.

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Crowded around the dining room table, they all compliment Baze's cooking skills as it's sweet scent fills the room. After passing plates of food and condiments around they all dig in. There's a collective sigh of Oh SHIT when they sink their teeth into their burgers.

"Holy fucking cracker balls." Luna moans as she bites into the homemade potato wedge. "PLEASE fucking teach Colson!" She requests with her eyes closed in pleasure.

"Hey... I know how to cook." Colson states as he shoots her another SideEye.

"No Bunny, you know how to grill. Not cook. We both know this. I love you, but there's a difference." Luna sighs in delight as she takes a snapping bite off of her asparagus.

"Facts." Colson admits. "To Truck, our Viking cook!" He says as he raises his beer. "Great food, better friends and MOTHERFUCKING HOTEL DIABLO!!" He shouts as everyone clinks their glasses and beers with his.

Enjoying their meal, each other's company and being off of The Road, The Twelve of Them relax around the table as they shoot the shit. Bodies slowly recovering as the delicious food regenerates their beings. As always, continuing to bust each other's balls as they laugh with full bellies over a round of drinks and joints.

Once they've finished, The Girls begin to wipe down the kitchen and do dishes as The Boys clean and clear the table while carrying things in from the dining room. They wrap up leftovers before helping with the rest of the clean up. Baze being the only one who's exempt. It's been said before, if you cook in Colson's kitchens, you do not clean.

Coming up behind Luna as they finish, Colson lightly touches his lips against the back of her ear lobe. Sending instant goosebumps down her spine as his deep voice crawls into her brain.

"I wanna show you something when we're done." He husks.

"Okay." Luna agrees without hesitation.

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Word Limit (1 of 2)

To be continued.....

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