#it's the initial of her ocs name aha

[shmuffle]

Did one for seb too! abby next

[random-delights]

Lila

Basic Information

Name: Lila

Age: 20

Bio: Lila is a friendly Elusian villager who made the journey to Brodia for a better life, having taken a thief’s request in order to support her family. She is a skilled magic user who finds joy in making meals and sewing accessories and clothes whenever she can. She tries her best to keep a facade with the army, but slowly it falls apart as she starts to feel more at home with the Divine Dragon.

↓ More Info Below  ↓

Thank you @shellysaurus-rex for putting in all this work for providing the template!

Ally Notebook

Initial Page;

Initial Class: Mage Knight (Sword)

Birthday: April 17

Basic Info: A friendly Elysian villager who got lost on her way to Brodia seeking for a better life. She joined the Divine Dragon’s army after coming across her on their journey towards the Kingdom of Might.

C Rank;

Likes: Flowers, Sweets, Reading, Sewing, Snow, Seeing those around her smile, Family

Dislikes: Insomnia, Rain, Being useless, Bugs, Annoying people

B Rank;

Hobbies: Sewing accessories

Talents: Making meals

Background: Born in the countryside of Elusia, she raised her two younger brothers alone when their parents passed away unexpectedly. Desperate to support her family, she took on a job offered by a thief who tasked her with taking a royal’s life from Brodia. In return, he promised her great bounds of money upon completing the task. Due to desperation, she took the job and headed towards Brodia.

A Rank;

Height: 5′6″

Ring Size: 6.75 | N

Personality: Might appear cheery and social, but at times she can be reserved when not around people. Deep down, she is kind and helpful which surfaces time to time when she lets her guard down. She is the most likely to have the most nimble fingers in the army.

Supports:

Alfred

Louis

Chloé

Céline

Alcryst

Lapis

Citrinne

Ivy

Hortensia

Rosado

Yunaka

Zelkov

Panette

Fogado

Mauvier

Rafal

Agate (oc)

Battle Quotes

When Selected:

“Trust me.” (Full Health)

“Let’s get this over with..” (Full Health)

“We can still push through!” (Medium Health)

“I can’t stop here…” (Low Health)

Critical Attack:

“At last you fall!”

“This is where you end.”

“Goodnight and farewell!”

“To the ground with you!!”

Defeated Enemy:

“I suppose that will do.”

“I survived another day, it seems.”

“Mika, Finley…I will be back home soon.”

“Phew…that’s over with.”

“This is more than I signed up for…”

Ally Heals:

“I owe you one.”

“Much obliged.”

“Let me treat you to a meal, yeah?”

Emblem Engage:

“Emblem Engage!”

“Give me strength!”

Post-Battle Exploration

Chapter-Specific: 

“I’m glad you found me, Divine One. I can’t imagine what would have happened if I stayed in these forests for longer. I hope to be of some use to you!” (Own Paralogue)

“No need to worry about me! This might be Brodia, but I feel rather safe here.” (Chapter 8: Kingdom of Might)

“To be fighting Elusia…the crown princess herself…how awkward, right? Aha…” (Chapter 9: A Clash of Forces)

“I might think so greatly of the Elusian royalty…but nobody deserves to see their family fall before their very own eyes.” (Chapter 10: The Fell Dragon Sombron)

“.... Oh. Divine One, apologies, I didn’t notice you there. I was lost in my own thoughts…forgive me, but I would like to be alone right now.” (Chapter 19: The Dead Town)

Battle-Specific:

“I can only sew so much…please keep me in your considerations for the next battle!” (Not Deployed)

“Who knew I had this much strength in me? I enjoy aiding you, Divine One. ” (Deployed Numerously)

Location-Specific: 

“Never did I imagine I would get to see so much of Elyos. When the war is over, let us go for a picnic, shall we?” (Default)

“S-so many flowers…it would be wrong of me if I picked some, wouldn’t it? They would wilt by the time we end this war and I return home.” (Florra Mill Town)

“Hm? Oh Divine One, apologies, my attention was focused on someone-I mean! On something! Do not worry!” (Brodia Castle)

“It feels cold here…colder than our own winters here in Elusia.” (Destinea Cathedral)

“I-I was not made for this sort of landscape…wait why are there two of you? Oh dear, I perhaps should go sit somewhere.” (Tullah Desert)

“It is so quiet…how surreal.” (Givre Port)

Somniel

In Somniel:

“What a lovely place you have, Divine One. I wish I could bring my own brothers here, they would love the view of the sky from here, definitely.” (Default)

“Divine One, did you see that adorable bow in stock? I wonder if I should pinch it before anyone else does?” (Plaza)

“I was forced to leave the kitchen, because I couldn’t stop preparing meals. Vander said I should rest…I simply wanted to help.” (Café Terrace)

“I’m not all too fond of swimming, but perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to dip my toes into the water for a little while.” (Pool)

“Look at all the delicious fruit! You wouldn’t mind if I ate them all, did you? I’m joking of course…please don’t give me such a worried look.” (Orchard)

“I didn’t know Alcryst fished…hm? Ah, ignore what I said!” (Pond)

“I wasn’t expecting to be training so much, I’ve worked up quite a sweat…gross.” (Training Yard)

“Back in Elusia, I took care of a few animals. I am so happy that we have some here in Somniel.” (Farmyard)

“Oh Alear, nice to see you. Care to join me? This spot here is perfect for taking in the view.” (Lookout Ridge)

“I’m sorry? You remembered my birthday? Did I ever tell you when it was? My…t-thank you.” (Their Birthday)

“Happy Birthday! I sewed a little something for you in celebration. I hope you like it! (Alear’s Birthday)

Gifts:

“Are you…sure?” (Disliked)

“Why thank you, I will take care of it well.” (Liked)

“I am speechless. Can I truly have this?” (Favorite)

“I…I’m not sure what to do with this. Is this a prank?” (Horse Manure)

Café Terrace:

“Welcome, what would you like to have today? You can rest assure I can handle the preparations.” (On Duty Quote)

Arena:

Introduction;

“I won’t go lightly.”

“Up against me? Very well.”

“Careful, I may cause quite a spark.”

Win;

“May I return to my sewing, now?”

Loss;

“I should have been sharper…”

Wake-Up Events

C1:

“Good thing I know how to tip-toe into a room, I won’t scare you awake, Divine One. Hm, where should I sit and wait? ”

“Awake, Divine One? I hope you slept well. How did I get in without a sound? Oh don’t worry about it…perhaps it is a hidden talent of mine.”

“O-Oh my! I must be out of shape. Sorry to wake you so early…apologies, Divine One!” (Waking Early)

C2:

“Why would they send anyone in, especially me? This army is too trusting…I could be an assassin in disguise and I simply waltz into the Divine One’s room? How daft.”

“I suppose it is rather nice they would trust me though…hm? Divine One? Oh you’re awake, apologies, I hope my drivel wasn’t the reason that woke you up.” 

“O-Oh Divine One! Hello! I will try to be more silent next time…apologies.” (Waking Early)

B1:

“ (Humming). ‘Sleep soundly, oh bright one, let the stars watch over you, sound asleep, careful and ever so calm…’”

“Hello Divine One, welcome back from the land of sleep, I hope you slept well. What was I humming? A small lullaby I used to sing to my younger brothers when they were smaller. You liked it? Well, I suppose I can sing it again next time I come to wake you.”

“Oh, was I singing too loudly? Apologies, Divine One…I was singing a lullaby I usually sang to my brothers to help them sleep. I hope you didn’t mind it.” (Waking Early)

B2:

“I hope the Divine One doesn’t mind me bringing in a blanket I sewed…will [she/he] like it? Maybe it’s too much…what if they hate it?” 

“Divine One! Hello, I was wondering if you get cold while you sleep. Please, take this, I created it for you especially in mind. Oh, you like it? What a relief.”

“A-Ah Divine One! Good morrow! This? O-Oh it’s nothing. I simply came to wake you up, aha. Hup to it! Let’s start your wonderful day, shall we?” (Waking Early)

A1:

“And I find myself here, without any orders or ask from the others. I simply wanted to sit idly by your side as you rest, Divine One. Your sleeping face brings me calm…just like back at home, when I looked over my little brothers’ sleeping faces.”

“Awake, Divine One? I hope you had pleasant dreams…hm? Why am I smiling? Obviously because of you, Divine One.”

“Divine One, oh my, I didn’t mean to wake you up earlier than usual! I hope I can return here to watch your sleeping gaze soon.” (Waking Early)

A2:

“I am glad to be here again…I suppose not sleeping at night has its perk. I get to see you before you awaken Divine One.”

“Hello Divine One. Ready to start the day? Take my hand, I will help you up on your feet, Divine One.” 

“Aw…you’re awake. No, no, I don’t mean it in a bad way…apologies, I was just enjoying the view selfishly. Come on then, let us start our day, shall we?.” (Waking Early)

[lydiaalin]

what more can you tell us about that monster tracker *twirls hair*

uhm so she's an oc for hunt showdown, aka she's a hunter from the american hunters association which is a group that deals with the supernatural etc etc

before she joined them she was already a seasoned hunter and tracker but for animals, but after a near death experience in the bayou (where in the events of the game, is under the influence of some kinda entity) she formed some kind of connection with the rifts scattered around that the AHA hunters would use to track down their mark. She ran into said AHA hunters who took her in and she eventually was initiated in the association, where she'd often get hired by other teams for her tracking abilities, ie being able to track the rifts and their mark from a further distance, and even without taking the hunter serum 🧘‍♂️ she doesn't quite have a name yet I'm just calling her The Tracker for now

[kusunogatari]

[ Naruto OC x Canon Ship Week 2020 - Face to Face ] [ @naruto-ocxcanon-ship-week​ || @abyssaldespair​ ] [ Suigin Ryū, Uchiha Obito ] [ Alcohol ] [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ] [ Trope: Online Dating ]

Nibbling her lip, Ryū stares at the slight reflection in her mobile screen. Thumbs flicker over the keys, not quite touching in indecision.

This is the closest she’s gotten.

The concept, admittedly, is just...not one she ever saw herself using. Online dating seems so, so...weird! Lining up your face, your name, a handful of facts, and calling it good. Is that really all it takes anymore? Sure, she...doesn’t exactly have mountains of experience beyond that. Maybe she’s just old-fashioned. But putting up something akin to a mugshot to try and find love seems very...strange.

“Whatcha doin’?”

Eeping in surprise, she claws the phone to her chest, face going pink and heart pounding. “N-nothing!”

Behind her, a coworker she knows mostly only in passing perks a brow. “Whoa, sorry! You looked kinda, uh...distressed.”

Ryū heaves a small breath. “...sorry, I didn’t mean to jump so bad. I just, uh...I’m trying one of those silly dating websites, and…”

The other woman quickly perks up. “Oh! Yeah they’re kinda scary at first but I met my boyfriend on one! I bet you’ll do just fine. Just be smart about it, and it usually all works out fine.”

“Smart…?”

“Y’know...meet in public places, tell someone where you’re going. About the same as a normal date for those like us, huh?”

At that, Ryū can’t help but deflate. “...yeah, good point.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. People gotta have their pictures on there. I take a pic of any license plates and send them to someone I trust just in case.”

Brow wilting, Ryū admits, “You’re...not exactly giving me votes of confidence here.”

“Hey, gotta be prepared for the worst, but the worst hardly ever happens. Besides, a bit of chatting online usually gives a pretty good indication of if something will even work. And you can always ask friends to go on doubles, too.”

At that, Ryū doesn’t answer. She...doesn’t really have many friends to ask, let alone any with dates she’d feel like asking along. “Yeah, good point. I’ll, uh...I’ll see how it goes.”

“Cool! Good luck!” Giving a wave as she passes by, her coworker heads around a corner and out of sight.

“...what am I doing…” Ryū mumbles to herself, looking back to her nearly-completed account. “I know this isn’t gonna work…” And now the less appealing sides are at the forefront of her mind. Maybe she should just keep her nose to the grindstone and pretend she never brought this up.

...but then again…

As much as she hates to admit it, she’s lonely. Being a pharmacist might be similar to her wish to be a doctor, but it’s not quite what she wanted. It just feels like something is...missing. And while Ryū isn’t the sort to assume all her problems can be solved by a guy (or gal), she’s still pretty able to realize that her social life isn’t the best. No real close friends, passing grades with her coworkers...not even any pets. Up until now, she’s lived life in a series of grinds. School, then work, and now...it feels lacking.

Hence the idea to try the app.

“...no harm in looking,” she eventually mumbles to herself, slowly going through the rest of her profile and hitting the confirm button. “You don’t have to go on with it, but...just look. See how it works. Maybe just...chat with someone. One step at a time, okay?”

Of course, by then her break is nearly over, so she mutes her phone and heads back to work. She...only ate half her lunch, but she’s not really all that hungry anyway. Only once her shift is over does she head back to her little apartment and...give this thing a real try.

At first, it throws nothing but male profiles at her. Which is all well and good, but...it’s not all she’s interested in. Looking over a few names and faces, she eventually bucks up the courage to pick one. He’s a few years older, lives a town over, and works as a physical therapist. Not bad, right?

...ugh, wrong.

As soon as they start chatting, she knows this...isn’t going to work. He’s all Mister Nice Guy, subtly bragging about himself and leaving only certain questions open for her in turn: the only things he wants to hear about, and...things she can easily see through as shallow. Eventually she manages to get him to shut up and quickly deletes him.

Okay...not a great first impression, but it’s not gonna be perfect the first time she tries. This isn’t a fairytale, after all. So, she tries another. And another.

After over two weeks of duds that don’t even get past initial chats, she’s about ready to give up.

Laying on her bed spread-eagle with a sigh, she stares up at the ceiling. What started as a vague inking is turning into nothing but a source of frustration. Not exactly what she signed up for. Weighing her options, Ryū eventually stirs when her phone gives an all-too-familiar notification sound.

Another match...wonderful.

Sitting up with a grunt, she opens the message and looks over yet another profile. At first glance, it’s just another guy. Ugh. The amount of lady-seeking ladies has been depressingly low, but...apparently those are usually on their own kind of sites. So, for now, she entertains herself with this one.

Obito Uchiha...huh. Vaguely sounds like her own Japanese roots. There’s a small spark of curiosity, adjusting her stance slightly. Short dark hair, dark eyes, and...well, his pics aren’t the clearest (he clearly knows his good side (or what he’s assuming is his good side since...it’s all she sees)). But she spies a cat. That’s a win. She likes cats. A glance at his actual profile shows a like of sweets, cats (aha!), and a dislike of...aubergines? Googling that, there’s a hum of understanding. It’s eggplant! She...didn’t know that...whoops. The rest of the summary (stuff about ‘being extreme’ and ‘having abs’) gets her to giggle.

Well...might as well give it a try.

Giving the okay, she opens up the chat window, nibbling her lip in thought. What should she say…?

Hello!

A bit surprised, Ryū jolts slightly, not expecting the quick response! ...hi!

I didn’t think you’d accept it so fast!

And I didn’t think you’d say hello so quickly either!

Oh, sorry...was that too fast?

The apology begets a subconscious smile. No, not at all! My phone is usually pretty quiet is all. Sorry if I’m awkward, I’m...still kinda new at this.

Ha, me too. I haven’t had too many matches yet, so I’m still practicing.

Guess we can practice together! Though I have to ask you…

...eh?

What’s your kitty’s name?

Oh! Her name is Tenebris.

Aww, I love that name!

She’s my lady, haha! Helps me reel in the girls ;D

Ryū can’t help a snort. Well it seems to be working. I don’t have any pets, sadly…

What? None at all?

No...I work a lot so I haven’t gotten around to it. And I don’t want them to be lonely!

Bah, cats are good at being alone. Feed them and clean their box and you’re fine.

I’ll have to think about it, haha~

After a few minutes, Ryū realizes...this is the longest she’s talked to someone on here yet. Sure, it was a little stiff to start, but by some grace they just sort of...fell into conversation. No posturing or anything. It’s rather...refreshing! Encouraged, she keeps texting as she starts working on her dinner.

So what kind of work do you do?

I’m a pharmacist! Not quite the doctor I planned on, but it works.

Ohhh, wow!

What about you?

There’s quiet for a few minutes, and Ryū can’t help but wonder if that was a bad question. But then Obito replies, Sorry, my cat got stuck behind the couch...I uh...am currently working on a garbage truck part time…

She blinks. That’s...very random. Nothing wrong with that. It’s an important job, after all!

Eh, yeah...not very charming though, is it?

Oh, pffft. I stand behind a counter all day and give people medicine over and over. It’s not exactly exciting most days. We all make our ends meet somehow.

I guess that’s true.

Smiling at her phone, Ryū keeps cooking and chatting, giving play-by-plays as he asks what she’s making.

Do you like cooking?

Mhm! Food’s one of those things that’s both a necessity, and yet can be fancy when you want it to be, so...I thought it would be good to learn. And it’s a lot of fun!

I’m...okay at it.

Maybe I can give you some lessons down the road, hm?

You would?

Sure! It’d be something fun to do.

Like a first date?

At that, Ryū pauses. Right...dating. That’s what this is all for. She almost forgot… Sure! If that’s something you’d like to do. I guess dinner and a movie is pretty common for that. We’ll just make our own!

I’d really like that!

Cheeks warming, Ryū beams at the screen. I guess...it’s a date! Eventually. Whenever we can make something work, and maybe talk a little more…?

Sure! I take a lot of random side jobs so I can be a little flaky…

That’s okay - we’ll just keep chatting until then. You’re actually the first person that’s been fun to talk to…

He sends a big smile emoji. Success!

You’ll have to think about what we should make! I have to warn you, I like making dessert, too…

Oh no...my biggest weakness…

And no eggplant, right?

Eugh, no.

Haha, noted!

The conversation runs well into the evening until Ryū admits she’d best get to bed. Guess I’ll talk to you some more later, okay?

Mhm!

Say hi to Tenebris for me!

Haha, I will! Goodnight Ryū.

Night, Obito.

Checking her other messages, Ryū plugs in her mobile to charge before mulling over the evening. As she does, a smile slowly pulls at her lips.

Well, she can’t make any assumptions yet, but...this is a good start.

Chatting with Obito quickly becomes a routine. Though not much of a texter before, she checks in and quips with him throughout the day. He tells her about his latest jobs, and she notes anything out of the ordinary at work. Days blend into a week, and then two.

“So…”

“Hm?”

Leaning against the counter, Ryū’s coworker smirks. “Seems to me you hooked one, huh?”

Her cheeks flush pink. “Um...maybe…”

“You haven’t put your phone down for more than fives minutes all day!”

The pink gets darker as the other woman laughs.

“I’m glad! So, you gonna see him?”

“Yeah, eventually...I think we’re both a little nervous.”

“That’s adorable. You’ll have to let me know how it goes! Been nice seeing you look so bright lately.”

Ryū blinks. “...really?”

“Yeah. No offense, but...ever since I’ve worked here, you’ve been so quiet and to yourself. But lately you’ve just seemed more upbeat and...I dunno, out there.”

The observation admittedly takes her a bit off-guard. “...oh…”

“It’s just nice to see you look happy, that’s all. I know a job like this one’s kinda drudgy. Glad you’ve got something to keep your chin up.” With a smile, the other pharmacist straightens and heads back to work.

Still a bit struck, Ryū mulls all that over. True, she’s always been one to keep her nose to the grindstone. Maybe having a bit of a social outlet just...got her going to opening up some more.

...huh.

So...any openings in your schedule coming up?

Uh...I haven’t really checked lately. One sec!

Waiting for Obito’s reply, Ryū nibbles her thumbnail. She’s going to do it. She’s going to ask him over. By now she’s gotten to know him pretty well. She’s always been able to trust her gut, and...she believes she can trust him.

Though just in case, she’ll be letting her neighbor know when he comes to visit.

Just to be safe.

So I think I actually have Sunday clear. Does that work with you?

Yeah! I’m always on a Monday through Friday schedule, so weekends are almost always good with me!

Okay...cool!

Any idea what you wanna make?

Make?

Yeah! Remember, we talked about cooking…?

Ohhh, yeah! Uh...honestly I don’t have any preference.

You sure?

Yeah, just no aubergines.

I remember, haha.

Should I bring anything?

Nah, I’ll handle it. Though I guess if you have a movie you’d like to watch?

Ooh, okay! Uh...any you don’t like?

Maybe nothing too gory…?

Aw, that’s no fun!

I saw enough in medical school, believe me...it’s not fun.

Okay, okay. I’ll pick something.

And with a few other details hashed out...they have a date scheduled.

Ryū’s stomach can’t stop fluttering: both in excitement, and in nerves. She hasn’t really dated since college...what if she does something stupid? Offends him somehow? Or something just goes...wrong?

Okay, no, stop it. It’s gonna be fine. You’ve talked a lot, so...no need to be nervous. Just do it!

By the time Sunday rolls around, she’s as ready as she’ll ever be.

Fiddling with her hair in the bathroom mirror (can she EVER get it to do what she wants?), she jumps as someone knocks on the door. Trying to manage her nerves, she peers through the little peephole, spying what indeed looks to be Obito.

Taking a moment to steady her breath, she pulls open the door and looks up just as he looks over.

...oh.

She always thought his photo gallery on his profile was a bit...empty. At first she hadn’t really noticed that all of Obito’s photos had been taken showing one side of his face.

So only now, with him looking straight at her, does she see what he’s been hiding.

The apprehension in his face clearly shows he’s awaiting her reaction, and at first she can only blink. Eyes naturally slide to the right side where a plethora of scars mar the skin from his brow to his chin. One even reaches up into his lip.

But though it’s a surprise by novelty, it otherwise does nothing to hinder the blush in her face.

...gosh he’s handsome.

Her gaze lingers on the scars for only a moment before lifting back to his eyes, cheeks rosy and giving a demure smile. “...hi.”

“...hey.”

There’s a few beats of awkward silence, the pair of them stuck staring at each other. “...s-sorry! Um...come on in!” Ryū steps aside, going hotter in the face. A nice button-up shirt and clean jeans make him look quite snazzy. Seems her blouse and skirt wasn’t too much or too little. They hadn’t really breached any ideas about how formal to be…

Stepping in, Obito glances around before clearing his throat. From behind his back he draws a little bouquet of flowers. “Er...for you.”

Ryū’s greys alight with delight. “Oh!” It’s cliché as all hell, but she loves them. Delicately accepting the blooms, she gives them a sniff before beaming at him. “Thank you! I, er...I don’t have anything for you…”

“That’s okay! I mean, food’s good with me, heh.”

Giving a giggle, Ryū retreats to the kitchen to put them in some water, setting the vase on her little table. “There…!”

“You...have a really nice apartment!”

“Thank you...I’m always either working or tired, so I don’t manage to mess it up much,” she laughs. “I tried to make it kinda...cute. I’m not exactly an interior designer.”

“No, it’s nice. It suits you.”

That makes her go pink all over again. “...s-so! Um...are you hungry…?”

Obito gives a grin. “Always!”

“Okay! Um...I thought we’d do something a bit...basic? Just in case? Do you like spaghetti…?”

“Yeah!”

“...okay! Cool. Um…” Awkwardness creeping back up, she claps her hands and giggles nervously. “Then, I...guess we’ll give it a try!”

The pair move back into the kitchen, where Ryū already has everything sorted out and ready to go. “Wow...looks professional.”

“Oh gosh, it’s just…” She gestures vaguely. “...I wanted to be ready so we wouldn’t waste any time…” Turning on the heat under the water, she thinks to ask, “...no food allergies, right?”

“No. At least...none I’ve found…? And I’ve had spaghetti before, it should be fine, hm?”

“Okay!”

A bit stuttery at first, she starts guiding him through her process, letting him take most of the reins and acting more as a guide. Obito listens attentively, looking exceedingly focused.

...it’s adorable.

“Okay, so with the grease drained off, we can add our sauce...and once it’s all combined, that’ll be that!” She, in the meantime, worked on a salad mix. “And the garlic bread should be about done, too!”

“You make this all seem so easy.”

She flushes pink. “It...just takes practice! And you did really well!”

“I had a good teacher.”

Once it’s all finished, the pair of them ferry things to the table. “Okay...you try it first.”

“Me?”

“Mhm! You made it, right?”

Glancing to his plate, Obito twirls some noodles onto his fork, lightly pink at Ryū’s watching as he takes the bite and chews. “...it’s good!”

Beaming again, she follows suit. And it’s perfect! Mouth still full, she gives a thumbs-up, making him laugh. Between spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and a little wine, they get through dinner with hearty conversation and increasing laughter.

“I dunno why I was so nervous,” she admits once they’re done, a cheek leaning against a fist as she twirls the last few sips of her wine. “I mean...we’ve been talking so much already. Guess I just felt kinda...out of practice. Y’know?”

“Yeah, me too. Though I try to bravado my way through things.”

“Well, we got through it. Should we play the movie…?”

“Sure!” He holds up a thumbdrive, grinning. “From my collection.”

“Oho!”

With a refill of wine, they move into the little living room of the apartment, Obito hooking up the TV and starting the film.

“What is it?”

“You’ll see!”

“Not gory, right?”

“Nooo. But...maybe a little scary.”

“Scary is okay. I like spooks. Just not lotsa blood and flesh and…” Her nose wrinkles. “...y’know.”

“Ha, yeah.”

They settle on the one couch she has, and at first sit...a little ways apart. They’d had opposite sides of the table before, and...well, this is new. But like a couple of dumb teenagers, they slowly meander their way closer, testing the other’s boundaries as they go until Ryū finds herself snuggled up against Obito’s side, head on his shoulder.

Obito, just out of her line of sight, is clearly ecstatic.

The movie starts out tame, but true to his word, it quickly takes on a rather creepy tone. Transfixed, Ryū stares at the screen, slowly worming her way further and further into the dip of Obito’s side.

...if she weren’t so focused on the movie, she’d realize that was likely his plan.

Obito, on the other hand, has technically already seen this one, and instead mostly watches for her reactions. The closer they get to a big scare, the more often he looks, biting back a grin until it finally happens -!

Shrieking in terror, Ryū scrambles for someplace to hide, and...ends up burrowing into his chest with a string of garbled, frightened nonsense as Obito does his best not to laugh.

“You okay?”

“I -! That -!” Her head shakes with a whimper, still hiding. “Nope. Nope nope nope.”

“Want me to stop it?”

“...nooo…” One grey peeks out, finding the screen a bit more bearable now. “...that was fricken’ terrifying! Ohhh my gosh!”

He just snickers, ignoring her continuing whines of discomfort. “It’s almost over, don’t worry.”

To his delight, she remains half-perched on his lap for the rest of the film. Once the credits start to creep up the screen, she loses her tension and goes limp. “...I almost had a heart attack…”

“Aw…”

“I mean it was good! But cripes, I wasn’t ready...eugh…”

Obito rubs a hand along her back, still clearly amused. “Gonna be able to sleep tonight?”

“...I better, I have work in the morning…”

He apologizes, watching as she tears herself from the couch and disappears into the kitchen. “...Ryū?”

No answer.

Brow furrowing, he makes to follow just in time to see her pull a pan out of the refrigerator. “What’s that?”

“Peach cobbler,” she sniffs, setting it on the counter and then fetching vanilla ice cream. “This is my reward for surviving your movie.”

“You’re gonna eat the whole pan?”

She shoots him a pout. “...maybe.”

He mirrors the look. “...I want some…”

“You have to promise never to scare me like that again.”

“Okay, okay. But wasn’t it at least a little fun…?”

Scooping the food into bowls, she thinks back over how nice and warm it was in his arms...and she could smell his cologne… “...maybe a little.”

They stay standing in the kitchen, leaned against the counter as they eat their dessert. Though not as lively as before, they chat in the quiet.

“So...on a scale of one to ten, how was our date?”

Ryū sucks on her spoon with a thoughtful hum. “...a nine.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Why not a ten?”

“Because you scared the bejesus out of me!” After a moment to pout, she asks, “...you?”

“A ten.”

“...really?”

“Good food, good movie...good company. What’s not to love?”

She...isn’t sure how to respond to that, so she takes another bite to excuse her silence.

“We’ll have to try cooking something else next time. Something spicy!”

���Not too spicy, it’ll make me sick!”

“Whaaat?”

“I have a delicate stomach...nothing too greasy, either.”

“That’s all the good food!” he laughs.

“It’s not my fault!”

“Fine, fine...we’ll figure something out. I’ll have to find some of my grandmother’s recipes. From Quebec.”

That earns a blink. She thought she heard traces of an accent in his voice, but didn’t want to assume. “...sure! I’d really like that.”

But eventually, the bowls and the wine glasses are empty. The movie is over. The hour is growing late.

It’s time to call it a night.

...but it’s clear neither of them really want to.

Obito offers to help tidy up, and that helps take a little more time. But once that’s done, there’s really no more excuses.

“...well…” Ryū fidgets a bit. “Guess I’ll...say goodnight?”

“Yeah, I better go. Don’t want to keep you up to late. And I’ve got my route in the morning.”

“Mm…”

She walks him to the front door, the pair of them lingering in the opening for a long moment. “...be safe on your way home. Text me to let me know you made it okay, all right?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“And to say goodnight.”

“...again.”

“...yeah, again.”

Another pause.

Indecision seeming to make her bones vibrate, Ryū eventually makes up her mind. Stepping up a bit closer, she lays a hand against Obito’s chest and - with a bit of posturing up on her toes - she gives him a feather-light press of her lips to his.

Flashing pink, he nonetheless reciprocates, both of them easing slowly back apart.

“...goodnight, Obito.”

“...night, Ryū. I’ll...talk to you later.”

Nodding with a shy smile, she watches him head down the hall before forcing herself to shut the door. For a moment, she stands and holds the knob...then turns and leans against it with a sigh.

...it seems so quiet in here now…

Eyes lift to her little dining room table, where the flowers he brought her are still sitting in their vase. The sight brings her a small smile. As much as she’s sad to see him go...well, that just means she’ll get to look forward to seeing him again next time.

Next time...what a lovely concept.

Heaving a more contented breath, she makes her way back into the apartment. Time to get ready for bed, and wait to hear he got home okay. Then she’ll sleep, and start all over again.

...but at least now there’s something to look forward to.

     All righty, another day, this one with Ryū’s ship with @abyssaldespair​‘s Obito, set in a modern verse! I had...several ideas for these two, and picking one was difficult and ended up costing me time BUT, it’s done xD      Hopefully I can get MORE done :’D      But yes! This was actually an idea Meg submitted to me, with the premise based largely on Obito hiding his appearance on his profile until the big reveal! Ryū, of course, doesn’t mind his scars no matter the verse. She still thinks he’s one cute cookie x3      Anywho, I guess that’s...really all there is to say for this one! Hope ya like it Meg, and I better get to work on more drabbles xD

[dove-actually]

Sir Rajel’s thin lips pursed in an expression of disgust I hadn’t seen since my own training days. Whoever came next on his roster sat poorly in his esteemed regards.

“Tristan Everard,” he droned nastily, and the hook-nosed boy with pokey shoulders stepped forward. “Hailing from Estel province.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course Rajel would pick him to persecute. A weedy little runt, and having his birth province called instead of his family home marked him as common folk, countryside gentry at best. No name to protect him.

Rajel began to list his trial marks. “Strength and endurance score: average. Field skills: average. Ranged weapons: average. Horsemanship: below average. Melee weapons: abysmal.” 

I growled under my breath; I’d heard of training masters sabotaging hopefuls this way, calling out their worst scores first to dissuade sponsors. Bulbous roach. Why put Rajel in charge of training? A nastier man had never made knight.

Then, of course, the answer came to me: he was training master because of me. The disgrace he’d suffered at my hands had likely put an end to his ambitions of leadership, and I couldn’t imagine the King trusting any valuable commission to a knight so humiliated by a mere trainee. So Rajel had taken the only honorable option left: the training grounds.

I indulged a pang of regret for the knight-hopefuls stuck with him because of me. He wouldn’t dare persecute the nobles, but this scrawny peasant boy would suffer more than his due.

OC INTRO: meet Tristan, The Honorable Duckling

(rest of the excerpt + details under the cut)

I gave the boy another once-over. He wasn’t much to look at; but if his name had been called, it meant he’d ranked in the top two thirds for initial trials. He had some skill, much as Rajel tried to mask that.

“Agility...top tier.” Rajel choked on the words, and I grinned. Aha. “Learning and judgment: above average.”

So, the boy was quick and clever. Good for him. I’d known knights do well with less.

“It is my personal recommendation that this boy is unfit for further training,” Rajel added, and my flash of anger was followed by an equally swift epiphany.

Of course. This was why Sir Justus had lured me here.

A perfect trap. And I’d walked neatly into it, like an overconfident ferret thinking to raid the chicken coop.

“Would anyone like to sponsor him?” asked Sir Rajel, and I closed my eyes and prayed to the Twin Gods to please foil Sir Justus, just this once, so I could see him choke on his clever ploy.

Of course, the gods weren’t listening.

____________________

Tristan’s Backstory

The son of a provincial schoolteacher, Tristan grew up on his dad’s tales of famous knights and brave deeds, and decided early on that he’d join the ranks of those legendary gallant paragons. When his dad died in a winter flu, the local landlord provided a letter of recommendation to get Tristan accepted into training. Unfortunately, a jerk fellow knight-hopeful stole Tristan’s letter upon his arrival to the Citadel, leaving him in a precarious situation. Luckily, he had a run in with the royal spymaster, who liked his manners and honesty and helped him get into initial training...and promptly began to include Tristan in his scheming.

Thus Tristan ended up being Sarra’s squire.

Having grown up worshiping the knights, Tristan is mortified to squire to a knight errant (even though she’s supposedly getting back into the King’s graces by taking on his training), but at the same time he’s overwhelmingly grateful to Sarra for saving him from dismissal. So he tries and fails to hide his mortification and do everything she says, but often he just ends up in trouble for his efforts. Also, he has the poor habit of inadvertently lecturing Sarra on the Code of Chivalry he learned from a book about a hundred years outdated, which makes her groan and laugh in equal measure.

He’s just very EARNEST, okay? 

Oh yeah, and he has A Secret that he hasn’t told anyone because it would exclude him from training as a knight protector. Shhhh

Best qualities: giant heart, wants to help everyone, probably the kindest character in this book (tied with Ahni), clever and resourceful, insanely brave, loyal, generous

Worst qualities: fixated on his antiquated Code of Chivalry, awkward, impatient, and SO JUDGEY HE IS THE JUDGIEST :D and he thinks he’s subtle about it but nope

Biggest goal: finish knight training and become a knight protector, like he promised his dad. He’s just started, so his intermediary goal is ‘finish year one without getting dismissed’ 

Biggest obstacles to his goal: knight training pretty political so having no noble ties and being Sarra’s squire isn’t GREAT for him; also his common upbringing left him with various skill gaps which means he’s behind the others in things like sword-fighting and horsemanship. Also, his secret. Shhhhhh

Way to overcome those obstacles: learn what Sarra has to teach him, overcome his prejudice enough to actually apply her teachings even if they are TERRIBLE DISHONORABLE KNIGHT ERRANT TEACHINGS. poor Tristan he wants to please her so badly but he also disagrees with everything she says and does

Biggest fear: flunking out of training school, also bodies of water. yes he’s scared of swimming and Sarra is def going to get him over that real fast

Other Knight Errant Characters 

Knight Errant Master Post

[aweirdkindofyellow]

Here I Am, There You Are Pt. 2

Jack Barakat x OC ‘Rachel has been best friends with Alex, Jack, Rian, and Zack since high school. What happens when one of them gets married?’

Part 2

“So, Rachel,” Lisa wiggled her eyebrows up and down as she sat across from me, putting down the cup of coffee I had given her just shortly before, “do you have a special person in your life right now?”

“Special person?” I gave her a look that made it seem like I didn’t know what she was talking about, my eyes flickering towards Alex as if I was asking him what his wife meant.

“You know what I mean!” Lisa scoffed, also giving Alex a look so he’d be on her side. He just looked amused, more interested in the exchange than what was actually being said.

“Does Olive count? I asked stupidly, drinking some of my own tea as I looked at the three-month-old sleeping Aussie puppy I had gotten just over a month before.

“That’s a dog, not a person. You know exactly what I mean, you’re just trying to avoid it!” she accused, continuing to push the subject.

I shrugged with a quiet chuckle. It wasn’t that I was trying to avoid answering truthfully, I just wasn’t exactly sure how to answer it. Maybe there was this small sliver in me that just wanted to keep it from them just like they hadn’t let me participate in their wedding despite being such an important person in their relationship. Technically, I didn’t owe them anything. But I wasn’t that petty.

“I mean, I don’t know. I wouldn’t exactly call him special…” I thought out loud. “Unless you think of it as a description of a unique personality.”

“Ah! So there is a ‘him’!” Lisa exclaimed excitedly and pointed at me accusingly.

“I thought you wanted to set her up with a friend,” Alex snorted to suppress laughter, “you’re acting like this is the best news in the world.”

“But it is!” she countered, glaring at him to shut up and stop mentioning her initial plans, and then continued gushing. “Who is he? What’s he like? How did you meet?”

“Calm down,” I laughed, letting the tip of my middle finger circle around the top ring of my tea mug. “It’s been quite a while, but nothing’s been officially labeled, so I don’t want to break any trust by giving away all his personal details.”

“Oh, please, just give me something!” she pleaded with a pout.

“I have to agree with Lisa on this one.” Alex nodded softly, mocking sympathy for me. “You can’t do something so secretive and not force us to get something out of you. We’re your best friends.”

Well, no, no they weren’t. They once were, all the way back in high school and when Lisa and I both went to college while the boys started recording their first proper album. We were all super close back then, but those ties had obviously loosened. It wasn’t just their fault, I also didn’t make much effort after I moved out to LA quite soon after getting my bachelors degree. But I didn’t take the phrase ‘best friend’ lightly. I had my close friends, and I had quite a few, but I was missing that ‘best friend’. People just liked getting close to me for my job, especially any girls out here in LA. Slowly but surely, though, Jack was starting to fill that empty space.

“Okay, how do you know him?” Lisa blurted out after I had been quiet for just a second too long, leaning forward in her seat.

I just stared lamely at her. I wasn’t simply going to give her information like that, especially since they’d immediately be able to guess it from naming random people for our friend group in high school, which included many people they still knew today.

“Do we know him?” She asked next, her eyes widening. Although I didn’t feel the muscles twitching, my face must have given away something because she suddenly gasped and clapped with a lot of enthusiasm. “Oh my god, we know him! Who is it?!” She turned to Alex as if he knew any more information and could help her crack the code.

“We know a shitload of people, Lisa.” Alex shook his head with a chortle. “How about we just go through the alphabet and name all the people we know till she says yes?”

“Okay, who do we know whose name starts with ‘A’?” she wondered out loud, taking Alex’s sarcasm too seriously this time.

But before she could start going through her neverending list she had, rattling came from my front door. While we couldn’t see the door that was just down a hall, the noises were quite easy to hear. It wasn’t the wind shaking the door, there were only clear skies outside. A storm would make the windows rattle. No, it was the all too familiar sound of somebody on the other side unlocking the door. But I didn’t have a roommate… so I had no idea who it was.

When Jack turned the corner and into the living-slash-dining room, he looked a little shocked to see who I was with, but continued to walk in like he knew what was going on beforehand. He really acted like he was where he belonged. But I didn’t recall him saying he was coming over, or I would have told him Alex and Lisa already were. The only reason he could just walk in was because I had once given him a key to dog-sit Olive when I had to go out of town for one night for work. As you can probably guess, he never gave that key back.

Jack still continued to act like he had announced that he was going to make an appearance and casually started walking further into the room in the direction of the kitchen, which was only separated by a few counters and cupboards. Lisa, Alex, and I, however, just continued to watch him to see if he’d give answers to all the questions. One, what the fuck was he doing here? And, for the couple, if he knew who I was seeing, since we were obviously close enough for him to have a key to my place.

Before anybody could actually turn their wonders into spoken words, Olive managed to distinguish Jack’s footsteps. Her head shot up, ears perked, her tail starting to excitedly wag. Within seconds, she stood up from her pillow and rushed over to him, whining in excitement and trying to get his attention by pushing her front paws against his leg to lick his hand.

“Oh, so when we arrive she’s afraid,” Alex rolled in eyes and mocked offense, “but when he walks in she flips shit.”

“She doesn’t know you,” I defended with a shrug, watching Jack cuddle the puppy, “she hasn’t seen Jack in three days, which is super long in puppy time. Plus, he often gives her treats.”

As if to prove what I had said, Jack finally actually got into the kitchen and immediately opened the cupboard that contained the dog treats. He encouraged my puppy and handed her the treats, giving her some pets to seal the deal. Still, he did not fully give us any recognition. It was like he was on a mission and that was all he came here for, he couldn’t get distracted.

I looked back at him, turning my upper body and leaning against the back of my chair. “But seriously, Jack, what are you doing here?”

“Well, if I’m correct…” He opened the fridge and looked inside. “Aha!”

He pulled out a pizza box, grinning brightly, and opened it as he hoisted himself up on the counter and sat facing the table we were sitting at. Quickly, he pulled out one of the last slices and started to munch on it, happily swinging his legs a little. He grinned sheepishly, now reversing the roles and observing us.

“Hey, that’s my food!” I exclaimed, but didn’t get up to do anything.

“If I recall correctly, I’m the one who paid for it,” he retorted with a knowing look. It was true. The pizza was leftover from a movie night we had together just three days prior. Somebody was going to have to eat it sooner or later.

“But I was the one who got to keep it.” I crossed my arms as I challenged him.

“And I’m the one eating it right now!” He took a large bite out of the pizza to prove his point.

“Fine.” I stuck my tongue out back to him and watched as Olive started circling around at his dangling feet.

Jack noticed as well and started kicking around a little, amusing her while he grinned at her cuteness. “Looks like somebody wants to go on a walk.”

Olive immediately perked up. She was still young and small, but she already knew the meaning of that word. It was like telling a child, or Jack, that you were going to go to Disneyland on a family vacation. Her ears stood up a little more and her face showed she was aware of what was being said. After her frozen stance, she completely flipped shit and started trying to climb up Jack’s legs, whining in excitement.

“Jack,” I groaned in annoyance, “why?! Now she won’t be happy to just run out in the garden. You’re the one taking her out for a walk.”

But I screwed up, I said the word myself. Olive stopped in her tracks, her ears perking up yet again. This time, she didn’t attack Jack, however. She turned to me in one jump and started nuzzling against my legs in excitement. While it annoyed me since I had hoped she would be fine with just being outside in my garden that late afternoon because I had guest over, it made Jack break into laughter.

“You played yourself!” Jack hollered with his mouth full. “You’re going to have to do it now!”

“Do what?” I acted innocent and batted my eyelashes, trying to trick him into saying it as well.

“You won’t get me to say it!” He exclaimed.

“Do you guys know what he’s talking about?” I turned to Alex and Lisa who seemed to be very amused by the conversation happening between me and Jack. They were subtly smirking and giving me and each other looks. I just ignored it--I mean, they weren’t wrong.

“You will never trick me!” Jack gave an evil laugh before stuffing some more pizza in his mouth.

“You’re mean,” I pouted and got up from my chair, knowing I couldn’t just let this blow over. Olive would be unhappy. “I’ll get the leash.”

“Psh,” Jack shook his head as I was walking towards the hallway, “thinking she can trick me into saying ‘walk’.”

“Aha!” I shouted just a little too loudly as I clapped my hands and spun in his direction.

“Olive’s still following you.” He shrugged with a smug look on his face, pointing at the puppy still at my feet.

“Hey, look,” Alex interrupted, having had a telepathic conversation with Lisa, “I don’t mind us all going on that walk.”

“But my pizza…” Jack mumbled with a sad look.

I got down on my knees and took hold of Olive’s front paws, smushing her body against my face as I tried to make her look extra cute. “But look at this puppy. You can’t leave this puppy hanging!”

“Ugh, fine,” he groaned and closed the pizza box, putting it back in the fridge, “but I get to hold the leash.”

I rolled my eyes and I took the leash from the hook and clipped in on Olive’s collar. “I thought you just said you didn’t want to go on a walk with her.”

“No, Rache,” he sighed and shook his head, skipping up to take hold of the leash like he wanted, “I hate the physical act of walking.”

Despite our playful bickering, we eventually did manage to get out of the door. I put on running shoes like I usually would do when I went out with Jack and Olive on a hike even though we weren't actually going anywhere far this time. We were just going to go to the dog park a few blocks away. It confused Olive at first. She was used to having to get in the car whenever Jack came along since we would actually go a little further away, but Jack managed to pull her away from it.

Jack and I were walking in front while Alex and Lisa followed, which was the only formation the sidewalk would allow us to make. That didn’t mean we couldn’t all talk together, though. We managed to exchange words, although it was way easier just talking in pairs. It was what led to Jack sneakily taking hold of my hand a little down the road to the park.

We continued like that until we actually got to the park and clipped the leash off Olive’s collar. She started running off to play and roll around the grass. Jack followed her soon after, picking up a stray stick from the floor.

“I want to play catch!” he screamed as he ran away and after the dog.

“I’m confused,” I frowned with Lisa and Alex next to me, “does he expect me to throw a stick at him now or something?”

Lisa, however, changed the subject without any warning. “Of course we know him!”

“What?” I asked, not understanding what she was implying.

But before she could repeat herself or clarify, my phone started ringing. I pulled it out of my pocket and took a look at the screen. On my days off, I always tended to avoid any phone calls since they made me go crazy when I was working. It was why work never called me unless there really was an emergency. So, I felt dread when I saw it was somebody from work actually calling me and not my mother.

“I’ve got to take this,” I excused and walked a couple of feet away so I could take it in private.

It was indeed an emergency. I worked at a magazine-slash-website-slash-blog, which was very LA. I had quite a few responsibilities in the whole fashion sector of the whatever-you-want-to-call-it-media-thing, including making sure the whole section was approved before it went live. I also did quite a lot with the actual connections we had, especially modeling firms, hence why I had had many people try to use me. Since I had modeled a little at the end of my college career plus a while after and when I started working for the magazine, I had quite a few connections to modellng agencies, whether it be with one I actually modeled for or my friends had, I knew how to get what we needed.

So, yeah, an emergency was quite a big thing. In this case, there was an actual problem with a photoshoot we needed for the new update/issue. It wasn’t something I could just easily fix by telling somebody to simply click one button. No, it required many phone calls and emails. What I had assumed would have been a very quick phone call for work, was taking way longer. It might have seemed like I was trying to avoid whatever Lisa had been trying to say before.

Eventually, Jack bounced up next to me while I was furiously typing away, trying to send an email to some company.

“Lisa said you answered a phone call and are still busy with whatever it was,” he pointed out the obvious, almost making me lose my wording. “I just wanted to check if everything’s okay.”

I just nodded while I finished off the email, not able to afford getting distracted. As soon as I pressed send, however, Jack pushed my head up using his forefinger and thumb, forcing me to look at him.

“Hey,” he made sure he had eye contact with me so I wouldn’t look at my phone again, “everything okay?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, causing him to drop his hand from my face. “Just a work emergency. Some pictures can’t be used and now people are freaking out and we need to take some last minute pictures and it’s way too difficult. It’s not that the original pictures are bad, we might just get into some legal shit. Last minute things are never easy.”

“I’ll be your model,” Jack offered as a joke.

“I don’t think that will work,” I chuckled, hearing my phone ding and immediately looking down to see an email notification.

“Why not!” Jack gasped and mocked offense. “Don’t you think I’m sexy enough?!”

“I think you’re just fine, I just don’t think you’re the best to model a size inclusive bikini line. Although, your fans might get a kick out of it.”

“Nah…” He pulled up his nose and nodded softly. “You’re right. I’m more a lingerie type of guy.”

I was too busy reading the email to reply to Jack and go on any further with the joke. Luckily, however, the email only contained good news. I sighed in relief, finally able to write a light-hearted email back.

“Thank god that’s done.” I smiled and looked around, finding Alex and Lisa sitting on a bench with Olive sniffing the ground around it, deciding to walk to them. “Let’s get back to--”

Jack prevented me from going any further and pulled me into his embrace instead, whispering, “you’re way too stressed out. You need to take a nice long vacation for yourself.”

I breathed out, my head pressed against his chest, “sure, but you’re coming with me. I’m not going by myself.”

I took what I said with a grain of salt. There was a certain point in time when it was acceptable to go on holiday with your partner. Do it too soon, and things could get awkward. Usually you’d start with a weekend away close by where you were living. Jack and I hadn’t done that yet, and based on his wording, his suggestion was more along the lines of taking at least a week off and going somewhere nice. Maybe we’d do that together sometime, but I wasn’t sure if now was the right time.

“I’m down,” he still answered, “as long as we plan it when I’m home not doing anything.”

“Or when I have any super big deadlines,” I added, knowing this whole plan probably wouldn’t go anywhere for now.

“Exactly.” He nodded and looked down at me before leaning down and pecking me on the lips.

Since we were in public, that was what is stayed at. It wasn’t like the day we got together where Jack was too drunk to care and I was too in the moment and vulnerable to care either. We had calmed down a little since then. Don’t misinterpret that and think our relationship was dying down. It was doing the opposite. We were now able to enjoy each other’s company and go on dates without always having sex. Since that was what started our relationship in the first place, it was still quite a thing early on.

When we got back to Lisa and Alex, they had once again discussed what to do, only this time with actual words. Alex got up and distracted Jack with Olive, encouraging him to play with her as well, which left me alone with Lisa on the bench. At first, I didn’t think much of it. Maybe Alex really did want to play with Olive and didn’t want to do that without Jack, but Lisa’s words said differently.

“So…” she put her elbow on the backrest as she turned to me, crossing one leg over the other for the angle she was at. “When you said we knew him, I wasn’t expecting Jack. But it’s Jack! Holy shit!”

“Yeah… it’s kinda weird, isn’t it?” I scrunched up my nose and crossed my own legs while I heard Jack screaming in the distance. “Tell high school me I would be dating him now, and I’d probably laugh in your face and tell you it is the most disgusting thing ever.”

“It’s actually kinda cute.” Lisa smiled, leaning against her hand which was up on the backrest. “Jack hasn't that many properly relationships. But from what I’ve seen--and I haven’t seen much--I can say this is one of those more special ones. Like, I’ve seen him in relationships where it’s obviously mainly a physical connection, not an emotional one. This one seems like a good one.”

“Well, I really like him, so that’s good,” I replied, now seeing that Alex and Jack were also properly talking while also throwing a stick for Olive. “And I’m pretty sure we have the same intentions, which is also always nice.”

“Okay. I want all the deets,” Lisa gushed. “When did you get together? How long have you been together? How did you get together?”

“That’s actually thanks to you,” I said and chuckled seeing that Lisa was confused how she was even remotely involved. “We got together at your wedding.”

“What?!?!” She nearly yelled out, but did her best to keep her voice down.

“Well, it’s a little more complicated than that, but it’s the main gist. We only really got together properly when he came back to LA.”

“But I’m confused!” Lisa exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. “I thought you guys both had a one-night-- O. M. G. You guys both-- That bastard lied to me!”

She jumped up and stomped over to the guys to confront Jack. I immediately guessed why she was mad. It was for the same reason why I thought Jack took advantage of me that night. He had clearly told her that he had no idea where I was and that he hadn’t seen me while I actually had been in his bed that entire night and was occupying his shower.

It was funny to see Lisa get mad at him while he tried to defend himself. He kept shooting me looks, showing me that he was blaming me for getting him in that situation. While she was very determined, Jack didn’t even seem all too bothered, just letting her go off on him.

In the meantime, Olive had discovered I was still on the bench and came dashing towards me. I got up and cuddled her and sneakily put her leash back on so we could head back home again. As much as she loved going to the park, she hated going back (although she was always fine as soon as we were walking).

I waited for the others, not wanting to interrupt whatever the conversation was over there, and just stood around with Olive. It didn’t take all too long, however. After Lisa had expressed how unhappy she was with Jack and Jack tried to defend himself, they came back to me and we headed back to my house. Once again, it was practically me and Jack walking ahead with Alex and Lisa following us. After al,l they didn’t exactly know the way back to my house.

When we finally did get back, I noticed my mail had arrived. While I went to quickly get it out of my mailbox, Jack decided to pull out his key and open my front door. I gave him a look that showed him that I couldn’t believe he would do that. Of course I had given him a key, but that was for a reason. I wasn’t sure if we were at the point of actually having keys to each other’s places. All my uncertainties were just pointing to me having to talk through it with Jack, because I was obviously lost.

“You really need to give me that key back,” I said as I entered my house and saw the Jack had already hung up Olive’s leash back on its hook.

“But I like this key,” he pouted and held it close to his chest. “It’s pretty and it lets me take advantage of your fridge!”

“Fine, keep it.” I rolled my eyes and walked into my kitchen so I could open the mail. Jack immediately came to check what I had while Lisa sat back down at the dining table and Alex ran to the bathroom.

My mail was one of the most boring things. It mainly consisted of bills and some advertisements. Occasionally I did receive something from a clothing or make-up company for a sponsorship. I wasn’t just active at my work, I also ran my instagram page, which perfectly fit in the ‘look how great my life is, I do a shitload of awesome things, but actually I just work a normal nine-to-five job most of the time’ sector of instagram pages. Another ‘really LA’ thing. This time, the interesting thing was a handwritten address on a shiny pearl envelope.

I opened it and found a wedding invitation with the plus one box already crossed along with the message ‘you’re bringing somebody no questions asked’ and the bride’s name being ‘Anastasia Elenora Steward’. Although I was a bridesmaid at this wedding--after all, it was my little sister--it was still like it was trying to mock me. I just had a personal problem with weddings… or it was starting to seem that way.

“It’s for Anna’s wedding,” I said out loud as if Jack was wondering what the letter was about. “She’s forcing me to bring a plus one.”

“Umm, hello,” Jack pointed at himself, “I’m right here.”

And for some reason that was the statement that scared me the most out of all the things said that day that could have determined the level of our relationship. Want to come on a nice long holiday with me? Sure, sounds like fun. Want to have a key to my house? Whatever, just don’t rob my place. Want to come as my date to my sister’s wedding? I don’t know.

“Yeah…” I sucked a breath in and used the voice most people used whenever they were trying to make sure they wouldn’t hurt somebody’s feelings. “The wedding’s in five months, Jack.”

“Oh… okay.” He nodded in understanding, but his face showed that he was more confused than ever. Even Alex, who had joined us again, looked confused. He was trying to calculate in his head if they happened to be on tour then.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to come. If it had been the next day or maybe even a week later, I would have totally asked him to come with me. After all, we were dating. But this was five months into the future. We hadn’t even been together for five months yet. We couldn’t just assume that we’d still be together. If we had been together for a year, five months could still make sense. But this was just too far ahead. Of course, I hoped we were still together, but you can never know.

“I’m going to worry about it closer to the actual date. Like, honestly, my sister hasn’t even chosen the bridesmaid dresses yet, but I’m going to have to bring somebody anyway,” I tried to subtly push the subject away for the time being. If in four months Jack and I were still together, I could bring him with me.

Lisa also seemed to have something to say about it, but not in front of the guys. As if she was changing the subject, she suddenly announced, “Rache, you were still going to show me those shoes you have you thought I’d like, should we take a look now?”

“Sure,” I agreed and led her upstairs to my bedroom, leaving behind the two guys to do whatever they wanted.

You see, Lisa and I had had this secret code in high school and college whenever we wanted to talk in private. We’d choose a random clothing article and ask the other to see it, acting like we had had a conversation about it before. In this case, Lisa opted for the shoes, even though I didn’t have any shoes to show her.

“Okay, I just want you to think this through,” she said as soon as I had closed the door behind us while she sat on the bed. “Trust me, I like you and Jack together. But really think this through.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked, wondering what had caused her to suddenly have such a change of heart.

“I didn’t think of it before… but your sister’s wedding--” she started to explain, pressing fingers to her right temple, trying to find the right words.

“I’m not going to ask Jack to be my date right now,” I clarified my action from before, assuming she also didn’t understand what I had done. “It’s in five months. We haven’t even been together for five months. Who knows if we make it that far? Of course, I’d like to, but I’m just thinking realistically here.”

“Well, yeah, of course, I know.” She nodded, dismissing everything I had said. “But I mean it’s your sister’s wedding!”

“What’s up with my sister’s wedding?!”

“Your sister and Jack!”

I stopped and frowned at her. “My sister and Jack?”

“Wait… you didn’t know?” Her eyes went wide and I could see that she felt like she had just said something she shouldn’t have.

“Know what?” I cried and sat down next to her.

“Back in high school…” She waited to see if anything came to mind, but I knew nothing. I didn’t even know they used to be friends in any way or form. “They were in a relationship. Well, not really a relationship, more like a sexationship.”

“Oh god,” I groaned and ran my hands over my face. “I mean, this was back in high school, so it’s not that bad. But my little sister?! Ugh.”

“Yeah… I thought you knew…” Lisa half-apologized.

“It’s okay, I just do need to talk to Jack about this.”

And so I got up and rushed back downstairs without waiting for Lisa to follow me. I found Jack talking to Alex from the kitchen while Alex was comfortable at the TV. Although Jack was getting them both drinks, it didn’t stop me from grabbing a fistful of his shirt and dragging him with me to the hallway downstairs that led to the downstairs bathroom and garage.

“My little sister, really?!” I whisper-shouted as I let go of him and leaned against the wall behind me.

“Oh… umm… yeah…” he mumbled, looking at me but very uncomfortably.

“I’m not mad or anything, but why was I never told this?!”

He shrugged, seeming a little more comfortable knowing that I wasn’t here to shout at him. “I don’t think anybody really wants to hear who slept with their sibling. Me just going up to you and saying that was just weird. And Anna didn’t say anything because she thought you’d be uncomfortable with it being me.”

“Well, yeah, I’m uncomfortable with you having slept with my sister!” I made clear. Just because I wasn’t mad didn’t mean I was a-okay with it. I was in a relationship with a guy that had slept with my sister. That was quite troublesome. “At least tell me you just slept with her and weren’t actually important…”

“What?” he questioned, but then I added a raised eyebrow to help what I was implying. “Oh! Oh-- umm… that’s kinda complicated.”

“Complicated?! Did you take my sister’s virginity or not, Jack?!” If he really had been that person for her, I was unsure if I could actually go through with this relationship. I couldn’t just show up to family events with the guy my sister lost her virginity to.

“She was curious and wondered how things worked. And there was this guy she was dating… like I said, it’s complicated.”

“It’s a simple yes or no question.”

“Okay, yes, technically I did.”

I ran a hand through my hair unsure of what to do next. It would have been easier if I never knew this, but I also didn’t want to not know something so big. Even if they had just slept together like I originally thought, I could have dealt with it. But this was way bigger. The word ‘technically’ didn’t exactly change anything.

“Just trust me,” Jack continued, seeing my confliction, “her first time didn’t mean as much to her and your first time does to you.”

“Are you calling my sister a slut?” I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering if I had actually heard him correctly. Yes, she had been a little more open to one-night-stands than me in high school and college, but then again she was the one getting married to her long-term boyfriend now.

“No, I don’t mean it that way,” he quickly corrected. “The only reason we did what we did was that she wanted experience before she did it with her then boyfriend. Whatever she did with him meant a thousand times more to her than what she did with me.”

“Okay, I’ll need confirmation from my sister on that, but I’ll live with it for now. I’m just going to need a while before we come close to having sex again.”

“But I’m going on tour in a week,” he groaned, getting a slap against the arm from me.

“I’m not going to be able to take you to the wedding at all now.” I shook my head. It didn’t even matter if we stayed together all that time, it was just unacceptable. “That’s just not cool towards my sister. And my parents will judge me-- why would they know? That’s just stupid.” I laughed, but I saw Jack’s posture change. My eyes widened as I glared at him. “My parents know?!”

“They walked in on us one time,” Jack defended, holding his hands up.

“Oh my god, Jack, I can’t.” I started walking away leaving it the way it was. I couldn’t change the past and I sure as hell wasn’t going to break up with him. “Everything’s doomed now.”

Alex and Lisa looked at us as we came back into the living room. It was like they were expecting us to be fighting or mad, but that wasn’t the case at all. I was just a little distraught.

I went to make myself some tea when more thoughts popped up. “I’m never going to be able to take you anywhere that includes my family, so forget ever having the whole meeting-the-parents dinner type of thing.”

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad.” Jack laughed, going to join Alex and Lisa at the TV.

“Wait, you haven’t met each other’s parents yet?” Alex asked in a non-judgemental way. It made sense not having met parents if we had literally just met each other and started dating when we did. After all, I wasn’t even sure if I could call Jack my boyfriend or not. But then again, we were best friends in high school, so things were a little different.

“Well, we know each other’s parents from high school,” I said as I waited for the water to boil. “But that’s it really.”

Alex nodded and Jack decided to make a comment. “Hey, if you hadn’t known and what you are afraid of actually does happen, everybody would be judging you and you wouldn’t know why. Now you know why. But I’m pretty sure nobody could give a fuck.”

“You clearly don’t know my family,” I retorted and crossed my arms.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out then.” He winked.

[edensgate-0w0]

About the character

Tagged by-

@deputy-kamui

Tagging-

@uncommonly-average @dolphinitley @seedlingsinner @deputyash @kamskeyd @thotful-writing (I feel like some of you have done this already so feel free to ignore)

Your muses name-

Sage Thompson

One favorite picture/face claim of your muse-

Things your muse likes doing in their free time-

Writing, drawing, playing with animals

Two headcanons you have for your muse-

She always wears headphones, because she gets overwhelmed really easily with a lot of noises

She is really good at reading lips, but gets upset with herself when she has to ask someone to repeat what they've said

Seven people your muse loves/likes-

Joseph Seed (friend)

John Seed (friend)

Jacob Seed (friend)

Faith Seed (love interest)

Kim Rye (aunt figure)

Elenor (mother figure)

Alexander (brother)

One phobia your muse has-

Haphephobia - fear of being touched

Only conquered by extreme trust, and even then she has to initiate contact

Aha me? Developing an oc? Wow

This is my soft girl I'll fight anyone who is mean to her

[sgtbuckyybarnes]

Homecoming - Chapter One

Aching with grief after the loss of her mom Noelle Bamber finds herself heading back to the only place where she truly felt at home, to the Southside Serpents. But in Riverdale everything has changed. The place of solace she had sought out seems to have gone up in flames...

A Jughead x OC x Fangs fanfiction

(ff.net) (prologue)

Clutching onto the strap of her bag Noelle took a deep breath in through her nose as she stared up to the front doors of Southside High.

She was nervous.

She hadn’t planned for feeling nervous.

Furrowing her brow she bit down on her bottom lip and pushed herself to take more steps forward. It wasn’t like she wouldn’t know people in there! Fangs was in there, Sweet Pea, Toni...all the other serpents.

“Bag in the tray,” a bored sounding man dressed in a security outfit said as she passed through the metal detector with no issue. Snatching it up almost as soon as she let it go he held it away from her as he unzipped the top and rifled through the contents “All good,” he said shoving it back into her arms.

“Hey, thanks!” Noelle answered with a sarcastic smile as she slung her bag back onto her shoulder. Her eyebrows raised and an actual, genuine smile appeared on her lips when she spotted a familiar flash of pink hair “Oh thank god you’re here,” she said with a sigh of relief as she caught up with Toni and slipped her arm through her friend’s “I thought I’d have to hunt you out.”

“As if I’d let you arrive alone,” Toni replied with a roll of her eyes as she nudged Noelle’s side with her elbow “Not that I thought you’d be nervous or anything,” she added with a teasing glance.

“Shut up,” Noelle answered with a roll of her eyes, the two girls spinning on the spot as they heard the sound of the metal detectors wailing.

“It’s the pins on my hat.”

“Aha, your fellow newbie has arrived,” Toni said squeezing Noelle’s hand to encourage her to turn back around to face the doors.

“And here’s me thinking I was special!”

“You’ll always be special to me Bambi,” Toni teased reaching over and pinching Noelle’s cheek, dodging passed her arms as they tried to bat her away “Okay, okay come on,” she continued when she spotted that the next student she was waiting for was finally done with the door security “Forsythe Pendleton Jones III.”

The name caught her attention almost immediately and she turned around just in time to see the confused look on the dark haired boy’s face at the sound of his full name. Even as a Serpent who had been gone a couple of years she knew how special FP Jones and his family were to the gang.

But there was also a different hint of recognition as he looked over to them and his green eyes locked with hers.

“Uh it’s Jughead, actually.”

Noelle’s nose wrinkled up slightly “Really?” the question left her lips without her brain catching up to go over whether or not it was entirely appropriate or said in the right tone “I mean…”

“I’m Toni Topaz,” Toni hurried forward, pushing Noelle behind her “And this is Bambi.”

Her eyes rolled and she shoved her friend out of the way once more “Or you could call me Noelle like a normal person,” she said holding her hand out to shake Jughead’s “Noelle Bamber,” she said smiling to him. There didn’t seem to be that hint of recognition she was feeling as he sent her a tentative smile back and she wondered if her alleyboy had just been someone who looked similar to him.

“Hence; Bambi,” Toni continued for her spreading her arms wide and letting out a laugh “Anyway,” she said nodding her head for the two newbies to follow her throughout the corridors “I was supposed to give you the full animatronic tour but some robots went insane and started killing the guests, so, we’ll have to wing it,” she said turning a corner and jogging down some stairs.

Chancing a glance to her left Noelle allowed herself to actually look over the slumped form of Jughead Jones. His hands were pushed into the pockets of his denim jacket and a grey, crown shaped beanie was shoved over messy dark hair. He was definitely the same guy she had bumped into on her way to the White Wyrm the night of her initiation dance, she was sure of it.

And she hated to admit it, even to just herself, but the squirming in her stomach was no longer down to nerves.

“Classrooms don’t have WiFi,” Toni was saying and Noelle shook her head to pull herself out of her own thoughts “Bathroom stalls don’t have doors.”

“Sounds amazing,” Noelle said in a monotone voice.

Jughead let out a small laugh and glanced to her out of the corner of his eye. She cursed her heart beat as it skipped at his attention “What about the school paper?” he asked quickening his step slightly so he was walking alongside Toni “The Red and Black?”

“Yeah, it no longer exists. Censorship? Budget cuts? Take your pick,” as Toni spoke Noelle couldn’t stop her eyes from wandering around the corridors the three of them were walking through. Some stares back were friendly, others wary and, worryingly, some filled with hatred. “To your right you’ll find a glimpse of jingle-jangle being consumed in its natural habitat.”

Noelle’s attention diverted over to where a group of students were standing near the lockers, not even bothering to hide their drug taking.

“I’m sorry - jingle-jangle?” if she hadn’t been spending the past couple of weeks in the company of the serpents and hanging around the White Wyrm Noelle was pretty sure she’d be asking the same, scoffed, question as Jughead.

“This place is crawling with the JJ, a highly addictive total gutter drug,” Toni explained before jabbing her elbow back toward Noelle when she spotted her still looking “So let’s not touch that,” she continued with a pointed look as Noelle held her hands up innocently.

The weight in her chest seemed to lift as she followed a couple of steps behind Toni and Jughead into the cafeteria. Her eyes had immediately spotted the rowdy group across the room, picking out Fangs instantly and, as well as the company of more familiar people, she knew there was no way she could fawn over Jughead when Fangs and Sweet Pea were around.

Her traitor of a heart would just have to take a back seat.

“All right,” Toni said clapping her hands together “Here in the cafeteria - Ghoulies sit over there. Rival gang, drug dealers, street racers, rumours of cannibalism...don’t ask,” Noelle’s eyebrows raised slightly at Toni’s explanation. She’d never really heard much about the rival gang in the Southside and, after that explanation, she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to again “And we sit over there. With the serpents.”

Just as Jughead asked “You’re Southside Serpents?” all and any of Noelle’s worries disappeared as a wide grin came to her face and she bounded over to where Sweet Pea was perched on top of one of the tables.

“You finally made it then,” he greeted her by bumping his fist against hers before throwing an arm around her shoulders and tugging her into his side in a tight hug “Fogarty was fretting,” he continued flicking a piece of paper he’d rolled up into a ball between his fingers across the table to where Fangs was scowling.

“I was not,” he said in a grumble as she pulled away from Sweet Pea and he opened up his arms for her “Knew you’d make it in okay,” he said pressing a quick, welcoming kiss to her cheekbone.

“Actually, I’m gonna sit alone,” with matching frowns they all turned their heads over to where Jughead was inching away from them “Just, you know, finish my book and brood.”

“Uhm, hi, I’m confused,” Noelle began, raising her hand and ignoring Fangs squeezing her waist in an attempt to shut her up “Aren’t you, like, a Serpent by blood? The son of FP Jones?”

Jughead’s eyes darted between all of the confused eyes staring over to him “Yeah,” he said with a shrug when he realised that it had been a genuine question “So? I self-identify as a loner not a pack animal. I’m just gonna put my head down and try and get through this, okay?”

Tilting her head to one side Noelle went to speak but Fangs shook his head.

“Hey, you wanna get through this you should hang with the Serpents,” Toni spoke the words going through everyone’s mind “If the Ghoulies get a whiff that you’re alone and vulnerable, they’ll make you their bitch faster than you can say American History X.”

“You can’t make him do something he isn’t into,” Noelle called over to Toni, nodding her head to encourage her friend to leave the retreating Jughead and join them at their table.

“Up to him if he wants to put himself into danger,” Sweet Pea added with a shrug as Toni dropped down into the free seat opposite where he was perched and leaned with her chin in her palm “Don’t see why we have to bow down to him just because he’s FP’s son,” he added in a grumble, glaring over to the back of Jughead’s beanie hat as he raised his can of coke to his lips.

“Ohhh stop,” Noelle said with a sigh and a roll of her eyes as she pushed herself away from where she was leaning against Fangs’ side so she could reach over to shove Sweet Pea’s shoulder “Good mood today please,” she said with a sweet smile, gesturing to the corners of her mouth for him to mirror “It’s my first day too.”

Simply rolling his eyes Sweet Pea hopped down from his chosen seat “I will not give in to peer pressure,” he continued throwing her a cheeky smirk and a wink as the others followed on and also got to their feet.

“You two are literally the worst,” she sniped back as Fangs hurried passed her and ruffled her hair. Hitching her bag further onto her shoulder she fell into step beside Toni and couldn’t help but throw a glance backwards to where Jughead was still sitting at his own table “So, what’s his story then?” she asked Toni with as much innocence in her tone as she could muster.

She couldn’t deny that there was something about her fellow newbie that spiked her interest. The slight stoop to his shoulders when he walked, how he shoved his hands deep into his pockets and the fact that her fingers itched to run through his messy dark hair.

She only hoped all of that hadn’t come across in the simple question she’d said aloud.

“Why? You into him?”

Her eyes raised to the ceiling and a sigh passed through her lips as she looked over to the smirking Toni “No,” she shook her head and knew that, this time, her tone was a lot more unconvincing “He’s FP Jones’ son, he’s not wearing his serpent jacket and he won’t sit with us?” she asked with a frown of confusion “Fangs can’t wait to get his hands on his serpent credentials and I know he’s just waiting for Sweet Pea to arrange the tests for him.”

“Jughead isn’t a serpent,” Toni said tucking her hands into the pockets of her own leather jacket “He grew up with the Northsiders. Went to Riverdale High and hangs with all kinds of Northside friends, the serpents have probably always been vilified to him so now FP is in jail and he’s forced to come here with us he probably doesn’t know what to think.”

Ahead of them Fangs and Sweet Pea were roaring with laughter over something that had been said, the latter grabbing the former into a headlock as they walked “Can’t see why he’d be reluctant to hang with those guys,” she said in an overly sarcastic manner “That why you’re so eager to show him round?”

“Well I’m not into him if that’s what you’re asking,” Toni smirked in reply as she wriggled her eyebrows “But yes. Not only do I not want him to be in danger from the Ghoulies but I wanna show him that we aren’t these ruthless, thug like gang members the Northside have probably had him thinking his entire life.”

“Well consider me in,” Noelle said with a smile as she stopped in front of Toni just before they entered their first class “Because I’m pretty sure those guys aren’t going to be helpful in the welcoming sense,” she added with a roll of her eyes as her head jerked to where the boys had disappeared into the classroom.

“Right,” Toni said with a knowing look as she linked her arm through Noelle’s and guided her in through the door “Phillips, Bambi. Bambi, Phillips,” she said as they passed by the tired looking teacher leaning on his desk “She’ll be sitting next to me,” she added before the two of them made their way to the back of the class, passing a slumped over Jughead on the way.

“How’d he get here before us?” Noelle asked in a whisper as she tugged her notebook and pen out of her bag before she tucked it beneath her chair.

“Must have gone the short way around,” Toni answered with a smirk, mirroring Noelle’s actions and flipping her notebook open.

Noelle rolled her eyes as she pulled the lid off her pen and settled down at the ready to take notes. With her head leaning in the palm of her hand she listened as Mr Phillips began his lesson and couldn’t help but get distracted by the room around her. There were tense expressions on both Fangs and Sweet Pea’s faces a couple of seats away as the latter kept typing away angrily on his phone.

“Probably a bet or something,” Toni whispered over to her, noticing her distraction “It’ll be nothing.”

Nodding her head Noelle sent her friend a tight lipped smile as she settled back in her chair and allowed her eyes to wander over to where Jughead was sitting a couple of seats away. He had been taking notes religiously, sitting hunched over his own notebook as he hung onto every word their English Literature teacher was telling them.

“Fahrenheit 451, by one of my favourite authors, Ray Bradbury. Let’s start with the title. Can anyone tell me its significance?”

She knew the answer but she kept her head down. When she had decided to come back to Riverdale she had gotten in touch with Southside High to make sure she was all caught up with where they were in their curriculum.

After a few phone calls and multiple emails she had managed to get most of the material behind what they were going to be taught over the course of the next year. The main subject eager to hand over the information being English Literature and she had spent a lot of her time reading over Mr Phillips’ notes and the books he recommended.

“What?!” Noelle jumped in her seat at the sound of Sweet Pea’s shout, glancing up from her notes as she watched him get to his feet “Damn it!”

Her eyes followed him as he stormed out of the classroom, raising his phone to his ear.

“Leave him,” Toni said reaching over to grasp onto Noelle’s sleeve as she twitched in her seat “It’s fine.”

���People, there’s a burning book on the cover!”

“Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which paper burns,” her interest was distracted once again at the sound of Jughead’s voice while the entire classroom fell into silence at the sound of someone answering “‘It was a pleasure to burn’.”

“Indeed,” Mr Phillips said clapping his hands together “Thank you Mr-” he paused for a second as he glanced down to a piece of paper sitting on his desk “-Jones. And welcome to hell.”

Scrambling in her seat at the sound of the bell ringing Noelle threw her bag onto her shoulder and got to her feet. She had been hoping to have a word with the teacher once the lesson was over, let him know he didn’t have to call her Bambi for a start, but with Sweet Pea storming out in such a manner she knew it would have to be put on the back burner.

“Uh, hi, Mr Phillips?”

At the sound of Jughead’s voice her feet came to a stop as she stepped out into the corridor. Pushing her hair from her face she stayed leaning against the wall just to the side of the door frame as Toni and Fangs disappeared down the hallway.

“I heard you used to advise the school paper, I was wondering what happened?”

“Drugs and gangs came to Southside High,” Mr Phillips replied with a sigh “Trying to get students interested in the school paper was an exercise in futility.”

“I’m interested. I have experience. When I was at Riverdale High I wrote for the Blue and Gold,” Noelle leaned closer as Jughead continued “I’ll put in the work.”

“Noe!”

She jumped at the sound of the nickname only one person she knew used being hissed from down the hallway, her neck craning over the heads of people walking passed to see Fangs waving for her to follow him “Is this what my life is going to be like now?” she asked barging her shoulder into his arm “Being dragged from one drama to the next?”

Fangs grinned across to her, his eyes sparkling, as he replied “Well you did choose to become a serpent Noe,” he said dodging out of the way of her elbow with a laugh alive on his face.

“Hey,” she said reaching out for Toni as both she and Fangs caught up with her. Linking her arm through her friend’s she pulled her close to her side “I have an idea on how we can get Jughead Jones to trust us. You still have your camera right?”

*

“You’re the newbie and the newbie brings the food,” Noelle grumbled beneath her breath in a very bad impression of Sweet Pea as she wrapped her coat closer around herself and jogged up the steps leading to Pops. It had taken her a while but at least she had managed to get him to hand over the cash for everyone’s food.

“Hey,” she said with a smile as she leaned up onto her toes to rest her arms on the countertop “I’m here to pick up an order for the Southside?”

The older gentleman behind the counter sent her a warm smile and told her the price “It’ll be ready in a few moments,” he said as he turned away for a few seconds and reappeared with a strawberry milkshake “You can have this while you wait.”

“I...thanks!” Noelle answered as she took a sip through the straw, placing her hand on her chest and nodding her head as an ‘Mmm’ sound left her “This is amazing,” she said plucking the milkshake up into her hand and turning to see if there was a free booth she could stretch out in while she was waiting.

“Oh! Hey!” she exclaimed jumping slightly when she spotted the newly familiar figure of Jughead Jones heading toward her.

His eyes narrowed slightly and he tilted his head to one side “Hi,” he said with a smile, raising his hand in an awkward wave “You picking up a take out?”

“Roped into picking up the take out,” she corrected him with a roll of her eyes “Sweet Pea can be quite persuasive when he wants to be,” she added shaking her head “You?”

“I come in here to write,” he answered with a shrug and her interest piqued “It’s quiet, I get inspired here.”

“And I bet the milkshakes help,” she replied taking another sip and smiling when he laughed.

“Yeah I can’t deny that,” he answered nodding his head “I’m actually on my way out to see my girlfriend,” he continued jabbing his thumb over to the door “I’ll catch you in school tomorrow?”

“You sure will,” she said arching her eyebrows over to him and waving as she ignored the sink of disappointment in her stomach and watched him slip out of the door “You sure will?” she repeated beneath her breath with a frown and a shake of her head.

“I don’t care, Archie, this is nonnegotiable,” slipping into one of the free booths she couldn’t help but overhear the conversation going on behind her “That drive-by he did was a kind gesture, but this, this is like...I don’t wanna call it a test, though it kind of is.”

“What am I being tested for?”

“Not you, my father. Can he just be a dad for one night? No agenda other than getting to know someone who’s important to me.”

“Order for the Southside!”

Noelle grinned as she slipped out of the booth, nodding her head to the couple sat behind her as they turned in their seats to catch a glimpse of the serpent in the diner “Hi,” she said waving her hand and moving to stand closer to their table “Noelle Bamber,” she introduced herself offering her hand to the good looking, ginger haired boy staring up to her with wide eyes.

“Veronica Lodge,” the dark haired girl sat opposite him cut through in a sickly sweet tone as she leaned over the table to take the hand Noelle was holding out “Of the Park Avenue Lodges.”

“Congratulations?” Noelle answered taking her hand back “And who is this? Your bodyguard?”

“Archie Andrews,” the beautiful ginger boy said with a chuckle as he finally took her hand “You new to town?”

“To the Southside yes,” she said noticing the look on Veronica’s face, especially when she turned and the other girl was able to see the Serpent logo taking up most of the back of her leather jacket “But maybe I’ll see you around,” she added with a wink before she turned to head back to the counter to pick up their food “It was lovely meeting you,” she called over her shoulder, chancing a glance back to see that Archie was watching her leave with a smile on his face while Veronica’s had darkened into a frown.

“Enjoy,” Pop said with that warm smile still on his face as he handed her the two bags filled to the brim with take out food “Are you alright carrying those?”

“I’ll be fine, thank you,” she said gathering up both bags in her arms, thanking him once again as he emerged out from behind the counter to hold the front doors open for her. Jogging down the steps she paused when she spotted the flash of red hair in one of the windows.

Archie turned his head just as she craned her neck to catch one last glimpse at the Northside couple. Nodding her head toward him she let out a laugh when he raised his hand in a wave and Veronica batted it back down again.

Riverdale was proving to be more interesting than she could ever have imagined.

[yoongihime]

Game On│01

Spy!AU Jungkook x Rivals!OC  Length: 6.8K  Type: Mindless Fluff aka my specialty hehe Warnings: May have angst in later parts; ments of weapons and violence, etc.  Recommended OST: (x)  ✎ (a/n): this wasn’t supposed to see the light of day until I finished all my other things but I figured I might as well post it because it’ll give me motivation to finish it T^T also... how long has it been since my pure pure fluff days? this part is realllyyyy just fluff hahah next part may have angst and action so stayed tuned bebs. As always comments and feedback is always appreciated. I must give credit where credit is due and say that this is loosely inspired by the Gallagher Girls academy, but mainly the concept of the academy and the mother as a headmistress, but other aspects are birthed from my fluffy ass imagination.

→Summary: “As the daughter of the headmistress, you’re not particularly impressed by the age old history of the academy, the stories turned bland since you spent most of your childhood hearing the tales as your bedtime story. In fact, you remain unfazed by most circumstances, but as luck would have it, these circumstances happened to exclude a certain golden boy named Jeon Jungkook.” 

[11:07p.m.]

Aha, got him.

Trailing your eyes to from the receding figure to your cellphone, you can’t help but feel the corners of your lips tug themselves upwards.

Yes, this is how it should be. You had no reason to worry, even if it is a mission against his school today.

Rhythmic tapping of your fingers against the screen and your sneakers scratching against the pavement is all that is heard as you drift away from the scene, almost but not quite letting your guard down. You never let your guard down. Subtle vibration of the phone alerts you to the next step of the mission and you swipe your finger across the glass surface, expectant. A familiar robotic voice greets you,

“Hello, welcome to the final stage of your practical. Enclosed in locker 080604 between the intersection of 5th and 7th street you will find a package. Retrieve it. A carrier will arrive at exactly 12:00a.m. on Platform 4 from a train heading South. Deliver the package safely by 1:07a.m. and return to campus by the curfew of dawn. Best of luck.” by the time the voice is done speaking you’ve already thrown the device a few meters away from you where a tiny explosion can be heard. 

Typical.

Sighing slightly, because you’re going to have to run this one, you’re sprinting towards the underground tunnels and away from the crowded streets of downtown, too preoccupied to notice the man in all black on your trail.

[11:45p.m.]

Package retrieved. You’re leaning against the concrete pole with a giant four painted on the top, all but casual as adrenaline continues to pump through your veins. Slight buzzing of people can be heard, but from your position, you can easily observe the ebbs and flow of the station without questioning eyes. Besides, considering the time, the crowd has subsided to a quiet trickle. This is too easy, a voice whispers in your subconscious causing your eyes to flicker left and right every few seconds and brush the little pest away, refusing to relax. That’s when you scan the reflective spherical globe sitting atop of the adjoining corners of the station and notice the man leaning on the other side of the pole, tense—too tense to be work related stress. A soft tsk leave your lips because dammit you didn’t stretch today, but nevertheless you reach for your white earphones, tapping the little tab as if to increase the volume.

“Yes, (y/n)?”

“Bora, I’m gonna have to ask you to clear out all the flies in our dorm.”  

“Number?”

You scan for the hidden surveillance cameras before coming up with the number, “Four”

“Okay.. you’re clear in 3..2..1”

“Thanks love,” you murmur before reaching behind the pole and pulling the man down by his collar, the restraints of security cameras lifted off your shoulders thereby lifting your self-restraint as well.

“How classy,” you murmur as you observe the pressed suit and crisp tie around his neck with the man laying still on the ground, the air knocked out of his lungs, “last semester they came after me dressed in a black ski masks. Can you believe it?” you chuckle as he slowly regains his senses and tries to pull you down onto the floor with him, but you push the heel of your foot into his sternum before he could get anywhere. Landing a light jab against his side, you push his body towards the darker corners of the station as to not draw attention to your far-from-mundane activities.

“Shh, there are people!” you hush him with a slight jab when he finds his footing, his expression belligerent. His fists are not as fast as your kicks and it’s almost a sin but, you’re playing by this point. Searching for his pressure point on the junction of his neck and shoulders you quickly push firmly into the flesh and watch the man unfurl sloppily onto the floor. You’ve always preferred the finesse of pressure points and weak spots rather than punching someone to a pulp. Such was taught by the academy in their sad attempt to retain some sort of “ladylike” image for their students.

A hard blow to the back of your skull reminds you that these men always travel in packs and you turn around to be met with another man in a similar suit, clearly not as inexperienced. Cheshire cat grin on, you’re weaving your way through his blows, only avoiding his fists by a millimeter. Big targets are rather unfortunately slow, but damn they sure pack a punch you thought as you feel the dull pain on the back of your head radiate down your spine.

“Five minutes until arrival” the voice overhead announces, and you lean further away from the recovering man, the sounds of his pants harsh even in the buzzing station,

“That’s your cue buddy.” you smile before pushing two fingers deep into his throat and watch in perverse satisfaction as his eyes roll to the back of his head and his body crumple unceremoniously on top of his partner.

“(y/n) you really shouldn’t play like that” Bora chastises you from your right ear, but the amusement too thick in her voice to take seriously.

“Mute me for like five seconds” you murmur.

Breathing in deeply, you fake the most girlish, high pitched wail you could and watch as the initially annoyed looks of passerby's turn to shock then pure horror as they take in the men on the ground and rush over to shower you with oh honey are you okay’s and my god what happened’s. Turning their attention to your two unfortunate victims, you utilize the distraction to stroll towards the yellow line as the train comes humming by and stops right in front of you, unobstructed by the prying eyes and claustrophobic number of bodies found you. They never recognize you, those strangers. You’ve always thought there was nothing in particular that made you stand out in the crowd and it suits you just fine because it makes you good, if not great, at what you do.

“Profile?” you ask as you scan the crowd, waiting for the specs resting on the bridge of your nose to match the carrier on the train. Bora starts listing off the traits but her voice is all but heard when a familiar presence brushes up right next to you, soap and cotton topped with good looks and even better hair all wrapped nicely in a black suit.

“Good Evening, (y/n)” he greets you, friendly no less, as if you weren’t rivals, as if he wasn’t aiming for the same target as you—as if he can not feel the tension between the two of you right now.

“Jungkook.” you greet him as you look up towards the annoyingly handsome face, his shit eating grin in place, ebony hair mussed to perfection.

“I don’t suppose you’re looking for that man?” he points towards a particularly calm middle aged man in the middle of the train, his eyes trained on his newspaper, however when he looks up the green circle flashes in your vision. Bingo.

“It’d be rather unfortunate, if by chance, I’ve already delivered the package right (y/n)?”  he smiles, his grossly adorable bunny-like smile. It makes you want to smack it off.

“You didn’t.”

He pushes closer, the heat tangible between the two you, “What if I did?” his smile stays in place, but it simmers into a smirk, his gaze boring into yours.

Pulling him in by the tie, you grasp the silky material as you whisper in his ear,

“Game on.”  

[1:08a.m.]

“(y/n), what ever in the world were you thinking when you challenged Jeon Jungkook like that!” your best friend and current roommate Bora yells into the empty silence; not caring that it is, in fact, one in the morning. She’s running down to the foyer, her eyes clear and round as the goldfish bowl you had in third grade. Nonetheless, her presence eases you out of the vines of tension still tangled in every single one of your nerves. Making your way down the lavishly decorated hall, you keep moving until your arms crush her lithe form to yours, breathing in her peach scented shampoo.

“Now, now I passed didn’t I?” you greet her with the hug, effectively shutting her up and feeling her muscles loosen in your embrace. She’s tired too, her numerous devices still connected to her body and her bluetooth stuffed in her right ear, eyes droopy with fatigue but smile radiant nonetheless. Bora has been your best friend ever since the second grade; her love for technology earning her a place in this academy. Maybe love isn’t the right word but rather gift, considering that she broke the government’s firewall in fifteen minutes flat at the age of sixteen— let’s just say the FBI got a shock when they crashed into the apartment to discover a little girl writing pages and pages of codes while mindlessly listening to Today’s Top Hits. So it’s no surprise that there aren’t many systems that she cannot get her pretty little hands into, but even geniuses have their limits.

“The principle is not going to be pleased.” her muffled mumble can be heard from your shoulder, the cotton uniform absorbing her voice but not her unease. You tense once again, but for an entirely different reason, knowing full well you’re surely about to get an earful when she realizes you’re back, which can be any second now.

“Ahh my mother has had better days for sure.” you agree and before you could escape to a blissfully hot bath, a voice over the intercom summons you, echoing through the halls and shooting straight to your eardrums.  

(y/n) you are requested to report to the principle’s office at your earliest convenience. And by earliest convenience I do mean NOW.

“Ah that woman, impatient as always” you groan as you reluctantly let Bora free from your constricting embrace, her shouts of encouragement fading as up make your way up the grand staircase. Portraits line the walls, the glints of light reflecting off the giant chandelier in the middle making the rustic design sparkle despite their age. The portraits of the founders tell the history of this mansion— an all girls academy known for producing the most well mannered ladies and even more lethal spies, but only among those who seek out the information, of course. Situated precariously close to the overlook into the ocean, the main entrance of the academy is designed to be look like any other stuck-up rich kid school that decorates the coast, however the mansion contains an infinite amount of quirks parallel to that of it’s inhabitants—quirks you’re still working to discover. As the daughter of the headmistress, you’re not particularly impressed by the age old history of the academy, the stories turned bland since you spent most of your childhood hearing the tales as your bedtime story. In fact, you remain unfazed by most circumstances, but as luck would have it, these circumstances happened to exclude a certain golden boy named Jeon Jungkook.

It’s the oldest story in the book, every good institution needs to have a rival and it just so happens that his school is yours. Behind these cobbled stones and ivy vines crawls deep ingrained secrets, the one in particular that your mother will kill to keep is the fact that—

“(y/n) for God’s sake why must you entertain your father like that!”

Her voice rings through the spacious room before your brain process the sound of the door closing, her frown visible and deeply engraved on her forehead due to the blazing fireplace to her left. Sighing, you prepare yourself for her usual lecture and clasp your hands together behind your back as a way to physically hold on to your temper. Your mother is one frightening woman who probably can talk her way and possibly even force her way out of thousands of situation. When she wants something she will reach for it no matter if it’s all the stars in the universe or, in this case, the ability to run her own academy. She always achieves what she wants.. and then some. Unfortunately, the “some” does not include your father’s agreement to divorce and she’s still fuming about the man to this day. In all technicality, you don’t count this as a divorce, but a rather intense fight between a married couple who happen to be extraordinary people and thus, the circumstances of their lover quarrel are also rather out of the ordinary. As part of their agreement, your father decides to open an all boys academy (haha very funny dad) and, well, surprise surprise a rival arises for your humble abode. Though it seems rather immature and extreme, nothing can deny the sparkle of life in your mother’s eyes when one of her girls beat the boys from his academy.

“I still passed the practical, mother,” you huff and decide to settle into the lumpy leather chair she brought from her last trip to the Middle East. That mission was her favorite. Apparently people are very generous when you take down their biggest crime organization— who would’ve thought?  

“Yes, but barely!” she explodes from her mahogany desk, her mannerism like that of a crazed bull, ready to charge for the red target that you’ve gone and recklessly strapped to the middle of your forehead.  

“That boy could have easily won and you know that (y/n). He was toying with you.” She sighs when she sees that you will not be affected by her yelling; so she aims for your soft spot to level your anger with hers—Jeon Jungkook is that switch. Jumping up from your perch, you can feel your anger bubbling up, shattering your resolve to maintain any sort of ladylike manners in this conversation—if you can even call it that.

“Are you doubting my capabilities to carry out a mission? You are my headmistress, but you are also my mother first and foremost. I have been nothing but satisfactory in your eyes, mother. Are you mad that dad is keeping my brother hostage across the street?”  

“(y/n)” she softens immediately at the mention of your older sibling, you always knew he was her favorite.

“No, mom,” you sneer the term, “you go and have my genius brother. Might as well send me over there if you miss him that much. I’m sure dad would not mind having me.”

“If you’ll excuse me, headmistress” you back out of the room, but not before giving her a stiff bow to show that you are thoroughly hurt and her gentle call of your name is cut off by the final thump of the double wood doors in their lock.

[2a.m.] (aka unholy time where you definitely should be in your bed)

The cool grass sinks a bit with each step, allowing your footprint to be impressed on the morning dew; it leaves you a bit uneasy because you hate leaving traces of yourself anywhere, but tonight is nothing important anyways. You’re half way to your destination when you pull the black cloth to cover your mouth and with a huff, you start on a steady run the rest of the way to your rival school.

Cool moonlight and thin fog shrouds you as you note the placement of the lasers and security cameras, easily skipping over them, crawling beneath the sensors and letting that sense of satisfaction hit you as you straighten next to one of the numerous back doors of the mansion.

“Top spy school my ass, I didn’t even—“ you murmur until a distinct click next to your head shuts you up and chills every nerve in your body to absolute zero.

“Don’t move.” he murmurs, the metal still pressed against your temple but his hand begins to turn your chin around, the pads of his fingers pulling the thin fabric down from your face—exposing your identity.

“Well, well to what do I owe the pleasure of your company right in my very own backyard today?”

You would know that voice anywhere, it’s the only one besides your mother’s that can get you this worked up.

“Jeon.”

sometime before dawn

Bang!

The gun shot echoes into the silent night, the explosive little blast also blowing your anger away with every press of the trigger against your right index finger.

“So you mean to tell me that your mom pissed you off so you purposely snuck out of one of the most secured places on Earth to break into another one of the most secured places on Earth, if not more secured,” you give him a look at that, “because you just wanted to rant to your dad?”

Bang!

Another shot slices through the empty shooting range, hitting a centimeter away from the center of your target, but you dare say most of your shots have been good if not perfect from this distance. Jungkook stands up from his sprawled out position on the grass, his loose cotton dress shirt a contrast against his crisp pressed uniform from a few hours before—it makes him look your age for once. He looks at your hand expectantly and your grip loosen to hand him the gun, nozzle still smoking and warm from your previous shots. He’s laughing, the rich sound surprisingly soothing in the misty night, like a gentle breeze to cool your temper.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you,” you grumble and hand him the gun, but not before the barest brush of your fingers sent sparks of electricity creeping up your spine, 

“I don’t even know why I’m telling you though.” you hurriedly finish your sentence before the pesky sparks can travel to your brain. Settling on Jungkook’s previous perch on the cool grass, you allow the moisture to gather on your jeans and relax your tense muscles, watching intently as Jungkook spreads his legs a bit before looking down the range at the target. Under the dim light of the moon he looks lethal, like an angel of death sent with the sole purpose of prosecution; the white cotton pressing against the grooves of his back as his muscles underneath flexes and relaxes with each shot.

“I’m not too bad to talk to, (y/n)” he murmurs over a shot, the bullet still finding the dead center of his target despite the vocalization of his thoughts.

Hours of random questions, mindless questions that seem unimportant but crucial all at once flow by the ticks of time and Jungkook proves himself true to his previous statement. That didn’t come as a surprise to you, of course. You already knew he was charming from the moment he convinced you, with that smile and boyish chuckle, to follow him here—albeit he did have you at gunpoint— to his hideout.

Jungkook, you discover, is very much just like you and it’s in this similarity that allows you to you accept that he’s your better half—that’s why he’s someone worthy to be your rival. It makes you a bit disgruntled, how can someone so perfect be matched to you?

Changing the subject, you immediately steer it towards yet another tangent, one that doesn’t involve your cryptic feelings, but he takes it all with grace, savoring your endless attention,

“Say, why is this your favorite place?” you question, watching as he fires off another round, taking in the dewy grass field, moonlight making the water drops glitter like they we made form the stars themselves. He pauses at that, perhaps not expecting you to keep talking to him— you’ve never spent this much time with Jungkook, let alone held a conversation. The nature of your relationship is a role you picked up in your training, nothing more. He was father’s star pupil; you are your mother’s daughter and the rest was history. At times you wonder what would happen if you two were not rivals, but then again it’s not like he treats you like one in the first place.

“It’s because I spent the most time here in my first year,” he answers, his hands searching for the next batch of bullets, but comes up empty. He sheepishly walks towards you and you wordlessly hand him a loaded magazine from the strap on your thigh. Jungkook ducks the other way before you could see him swallow at the action.

“A genius like you? Practice?” you scoff, like he would need it.

“No (y/n), I’m serious. Most of my time is spent eating, sleeping, going on missions and practicing for missions.” he confesses, the bitterness unmistakable even under his smile like the taste of coffee under milk and sugar. Ah, the wasted hours and abandoned childhood to perfect your craft, you also know that feeling all too well.

“You’re already too good.” you blurt before the tiny voice in your head could shut your mouth up. Ah shit, you think when he whips around, his eyes doe-like in their innocence, their wonder and you know for a fact you’re inevitably screwed.

“Did you just compliment me?” he asks, his laughter blooming like a sapling basking in the sunlight for the first time.

“Well, yeah,” you shift uncomfortably under his scrutiny, “I might be proud, but I’m not blind.”

Jungkook pauses at that, his gaze landing on yours, the warm brown of his eyes a rich ebony in the darkness of night; it makes his gaze all the more smoldering.

“You’re even better (y/n).” he declares boldly as if it was a fact.

“Oh please, Jungkook I can’t even sneak into my own father’s place without getting caught, and today,” your voice shaking, “today you could’ve won.” you huff, the self pity melting into the mist in front of your face; your mother’s taunting words echoing from the recesses of your memories.

“It’s not your fault you happened to pick my favorite sneak out spot is it? And I would never let you win easily (y/n). If I do that then I won’t be worthy of being your rival and you see, I plan to keep you here for a very long time. Right by me and maybe one day not as my rival, but as my partner in crime,” he explains, his expression softer than you’ve seen him in ages, but it only lasts a millisecond before he beams up at you and suddenly your brain functions come to a halting stop and breathing becomes a foreign concept.

A slight twitch of the corner of his lips clearly displays his amusement and it only takes a cock of his head, a degree raise in the eyebrows to send your brain haywire and suddenly you’re very much aware that Jeon Jungkook is oh so painfully attractive and staring looking at you like you’re only thing that mattered in the thousands of galaxies and boundless cosmos that exists. Managing a little scoff you simply push him towards the range because what can you do when you’re a hopeless mess on the inside; feeling like you will spontaneously combust under his gaze. If there is one thing that your mother’s “well-rounded” and “utterly comprehensive” curriculum did not teach you, it would be what to do when you’re falling for your one and only rival; given the only male species you’ve had contact with is your father, your brother and your Self Defense 101 instructor, appropriately nicknamed One Punch Man. All factors of the mission screams ABORT but right when your back is turned-  

Bang!

You hear the distinct sound in the peripheries of your mind. Only this time it’s not the target that is hit but your heart and the bullet that is buried deep within is nothing but the stupid cupid arrow, causing your heart to flutter frantically from the blow of Jungkook’s smile.

Dawn aka oh shit you’re way the hell past curfew

Purple fades into the stormy blues and the greets you with it’s warmth, making the features of the boy next to your clearer than ever. He looks pensive, his eyelashes kissing his cheeks gently as he observes the emptied magazines around you and the ragged target that used to be whole. You wait patiently for soft pink of the sunrise to fade into a clear blue however, it seems that your world is permanently dyed rose when Jungkook huffs to straighten his form and offers you his hand. Swallowing, you tentatively reach for it, disregarding the fact that you might have just fallen for your biggest rival—looks like the mansion will have another secret to swallow this morning.  

“Give my greetings to my father for me.” you say as you brush off the last few blades of grass sticking to the denim on your legs. Jungkook looks down at you with a certain longing, as if you’re a puzzle he can’t quite solve, a problem he’s confronted with for the first time.

“Why don’t you just go say hi? I’m sure he misses you.” Jungkook suggests.

You merely raise you eyebrows in response, “And have my father interrogate you for the next 24 hours from behind the two way glass room six floors under about what his star pupil is doing with his only daughter in the darkest hours of the night and possibly waking up the entire school? I think you and me both would rather avoid that man’s rage right Jungkook?” you laugh at the thought. Jungkook simply chuckles nervously, not only because he knows that the situation is highly likely if not guaranteed and because he’s pretty sure that’s the first time you didn’t call him Jeon.

“I feel the need to say a farewell, so I suppose I’ll say Good Morning.” you say as you begin your trek towards your mansion,

“Oh and thank you!” you yell, a blush burning it’s way across your cheeks so you increase your speed before he can glimpse at your flustered state.  

“I’ll see you soon.” Jungkook yells from the increasing distance, his confident smile making you want to question his plans for the imminent future but you brush it off with a thought of I hope not, despite your heart whispering between it’s thumps,

I hope so.

[5:19a.m.]

The slight squeak of the floor board betrays you when you slip into the room bright and early to only hear-

“Don’t even try it until you’ve spilled every word (y/n).”

“I was just—“

“Your phone GPS coordinate suggests otherwise.” Bora cuts you off before you could convince her that you were in the kitchen with the usual case of the munchies. She hops out of her bed, her iPad in hand, the red blinking dot of what assumes to be your satellite signal reflects of the sheer device and you sigh,

“Bora what did I say about sleeping with those things,” you hope to distract her but she isn’t up for your little chit-chats this morning.

“Correction: I was laying down with those things. Also, don’t call her a thing, my baby is precious.” she cuts you off and quirks an eyebrow at your lack of willingness to answer, all the while hugging the iPad to her chest.

“I may or may not have spent the last three hours with Jeon Jungkook.” you say in a hurry and dive towards the safety of your comforter.

“You wha—“ but before she can pester you with questions you dig your own grave and continue,

“I may or may not have a change of heart about the way I feel about him.”

The only sound you hear is the sound of her most prized iPad hitting the ground along with what was left of your sanity.

[7:00a.m.]

“What could he possibly mean by that?” Bora dramatically mimics your attempts at covering up the fact that Jungkook quite possibly likes you. And that you might, possibly, with the tiniest speck of hope, like him back, but of course you don’t want to get ahead of yourselves here. You shush her as you push into the dining room and greet your classmates or “sisters” as you speed walk towards the steaming cups of coffee.

“(y/n) he’s a dude, not Kryptos. He so obviously likes you— which by the way I’ve told you since the beginning, but you’re too stubborn to acknowledge and he was too stubborn to show it—wow you’re perfect for each other! You can’t possibly expect him to spell it out clearer than this, my dear.”

You groan in response and wait patiently for her to drain her self out with the subject, but her curiosity and enthusiasm of this little blossom of romance is infinite and vast as the horizons of the ocean. It’s not until she asks about your wedding plans that you decide to end this. You really didn’t want to pull this card but the only way you know how to shut her up is-

“Just like you and my brother?”

Bora snaps the crisp bacon in her hand into perfect halves, her fountain of words which were overflowing a few moments ago is suddenly barren.

“Th-That is not what we’re talking about right now.”

“Hmm I wonder if I should FaceTime him tonight.” you muse, watching from the rim of your coffee cup as she straightens in response.

“I’ll do it right after you get out of the shower, with that gorgeous face mask you plaster on every night, of course,” you giggle deviously as she completely drops her utensils and fumbles to collect her scattered thoughts enough to warn you,

“Do it and I swear to god you will be locked out of not only your phone but your laptop as well as that spare iPad you use for emergencies.”

“I love you best friend,” you coo and she finally lets go of the subject, for now.

[Two weeks or so later]  exam season.

Apparently soon to Jungkook is fourteen days, two hours and approximately eight seconds later. You’re on your way to your weekly meetings when you run into Bora in the lush hallway and the first thing that comes out of her mouth is-

“Honestly you two just need to date, please. You’ll make the most grossly adorable and talented babies ever.” Bora startled you out of your own daydreams and she eyes you apprehensively when you jump at her remark—you’re usually difficult to surprise, let alone startle, but she lets it go as soon as you begin to protest.

You grumble after her down the hallway to the conference room, arguing that it’s impossible to which she turns around to reply you’re in a spy school, nothing is impossible. Well, she did fail to mention that it is also an all girls spy school and anything outside of it is excluded, meaning boys are excluded and by boys you strictly mean Jeon Jungkook.

Pushing the large doors open, you’re still arguing with Bora as you enter the vast space. The conference room is often used for official purposes and assignments since it’s arguably one of the most expensive room in the entire mansion. Your mother likes to meet with the partner of the joint mission here since it easily fits a crowd. You’re guessing your final for this semester will be a collaboration. It’s rare that your school will partner with another and the prospect of testing other colleagues sends tingles of excitement down your spine.

Heavy, thick velvet drapes lining the floor to ceiling window that expose the head of the room to sunlight and the rest of the walls only function as a screen for presentations. A giant roundtable sits in the center, lined with large leather chairs… chairs that are currently occupied. Words shrivel up and die on the tip of your tongue as you take in the seven boys sprawled in various positions on cushioned seats, their heads snapping up simultaneously as you and Bora stand rooted at the entrance. Immediately, you spot two familiar faces in the group, but the first completely captures your attention as a knowing smile spreads across his face-

“Jungkook.”

“You guys already know each other?” the redhead in the corner perks up from the mention of Jungkook from your lips, clearly not aware of the situation just yet.

“Dude, that’s obviously (y/n). Did you not remember the ass kicking she gave him on his first practical?” a bouncing brunette answers for you and smacks the former’s arm as emphasis.

“Wait, so she’s the one he snuck out to see the other night? Okay kid, maybe I’ll consider forgiving you for disturbing my sleep,” a particularly tired looking blonde peeks from under the cap on his face.

“She’s so cute! Don’t you think she’s cute Namjoon?” the slender, smiling boy pops up from his chair, his energy practically bouncing off the walls of the room like over charged particles.

Namjoon looks up from his phone, an amused smile on his face as he disregards the question entirely and greets you,

“Hey kiddo! Did you miss your big brother?”  

In the next millisecond six pairs of eyes widen and you sigh as you hear their simultaneous,

“Brother?” yelled across the room.

You feel like you eliminated your self out of the picture when all eyes land on Namjoon and questions start to land down on him like rain pelting the roof. By this time, you and Bora are settled in the chairs opposite of the boys (despite Jungkook’s disapproving stare and Namjoon’s longing glance towards your roommate). Your brother simply chuckles at them and answers the scrutinizing questions calmly, but the consensus seems to be ‘you should have told us this not-so-little fact before’ and his answer to that is “It never came up.”

“So what you’re saying is, (y/n) is your sister and you just never happened to mention this fact because we didn’t ask?” says the puppy-like brunette and Jungkook simply shakes his head at the realization grumbling something along the lines of so much for respecting personal space, maybe he’ll finally stop flirting when he knows his team leader is your one and only brother.

“Well, no wonder you’re such a genius. It must run in the family.” the sleepy blonde chuckles, his smile gummy and amused.

“Damn, you guys look nothing alike.” the redhead whispers from his seat, scrutinizing every detail between you and your older brother.

“Thank God.” you and Namjoon murmur at the same time but it was loud enough for the entire room to hear because the next moment the six of them burst into laughter, the kind of mirth that only a group of life long friends can produce from each other.

“Wait,” the particularly pretty one speaks from beside Namjoon, “if you’re the headmaster’s son then that would make him (y/n)’s—“ he doesn’t get to finish his sentence because the next moment the doors open to reveal the man himself, looking like he’s attempting to evade a problem only to land himself into an ever bigger conflict.

“Dad!” you yell and launch yourself from your chair towards him. Perhaps what no one was expecting was the kick you placed a second too late towards the man’s head and his return that you dodge by a hair.

“You’re getting rusty old man.” you taunt and he grunts in return, your blows and blocks flowing like the push and pull of waves until air comes out in harsh puffs and both of your index and middle fingers are hovering over each other’s carotid artery, right where the shoulders meet the neck— a smile finally stretches your cheeks so much they hurt.

“You were going easy on me,” you sigh as you hug his form to yours, hearing his chuckle resonate through his entire body and you can almost imagine the crinkles that would appear by his eyes.

“No, you definitely improved. I haven’t seen you in months pumpkin!” he half shouts and squeezes you one last time to look at the stunned faces of his pupils. You soak in this embrace for what feels like seconds until you note the pin-drop silence that has settled in the room. Detangling yourself from your father, you catch Bora’s knowing smile and Namjoon’s slight giggle before taking in the six dazed boys in front of you.

“At ease gentleman, family tradition,” your father and their headmaster explains, straightening out his suit and watch the boys relax into their seat, except for Jungkook who looks at you with so much adoration that he earns a throat clearing from your dad and a warning look that have you stifling your laughter in your hand.

“Behave yourself, Jeon. This is official business.”

The blushing boy doesn’t get to retrieve this lost dignity because official business comes bustling into the room in the form of your mother, looking haggard as if she aged a decade in the span of weeks.

“Let’s just get this over with.” she grumbles without looking at the no doubt smug smile on your father, her ex-husband’s face. You watch as she situates herself at the head of the table, and immediately the curtains are drawn shut as the screens illuminate the faces of your potential targets.

“Ladies…” she begins and sweeps her eyes towards the seven boys across the table, “…and gentlemen. For your winter semester final, we will hold a collaboration between our academies.”

In the background, her voice continues to rattle off the details of the mission however, you only see the smiling boy across from you. Jungkook’s chocolate irises are alight with excitement, fixed right on yours and his slight smirk that can only be described as irritatingly handsome only serve to reignite the tingles down your spine— not only because of the mission, but rather one with your one and only rival.

The nine of you plus instructor are on the eighth basement of the academy. This floor is specifically for training purposes; the floors are lined with mats and walls plastered with nearly every weapon imaginable, hence the necessary presence of said instructor. You’re currently deciding partners, which would not have been such a grand affair if the boys did not decide to tease their youngest by fighting over you. Namjoon watches the “argument” unfurl with amusement which causes you to only roll your eyes, since he already dragged your roommate out of the picture and pulled her aside to god know where, but not before-

“Bora is my partner. You can fight over my little sister as you please, gentlemen.”

Thank you so much big brother, you mentally chastise him, but you bow your head in defeat as the five pair of eyes stare you down from across the table.

Headmistress (mom) wanted to keep the number low, but since BTS operates as a group she couldn’t argue with the clear unbalance in boy to girl ratio. Which is why you find yourself here, in the eighth basement, apprehension written all over your face as the boys bicker over the method to determine who should be your partner.

“Okay that’s enough,” you huff from your position on the mats, walking over to the boys, namely Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook who were still dead-set on making this as difficult as possible for you.

“I will decide, since you’re all fighting over me,” you sigh in defeat, “who ever beats me in a one-on-one will be my partner.”

There are groans, but Jungkook’s unmistakable smirk is the only thing that registers in your brain and it is in that exact moment that you feel the beginnings of regret tinging your decision.

Well, fuck.

[ask-beacons-finest]

A little tidbit involving @adhdahri’s OC Lan Tian meeting up with the Grimmfuture!au

“Soooo,” Alician stood rubbing the back of her head in front of Weiss’s desk, looking down at the sitting Headmistress, “This girl is an Atlas student?”

“Yes,” Weiss nods, her chin resting on folded hands, “Winter decided to ‘check up’, on how I was running the school. But since I’m busy I would like you to take responsibility. Take her around for the day, show her Beacon. Don’t let her out of your sight.”

With a whining groan Alician reluctantly agreed, knowing she had nothing better to do since her team left for a mission, one she was not included in due to being in the infirmary. Stepping out of the Headmistresses office she walked up to the girl she was in charge of, who happened to be fanning herself silently on a bench across the office.  Heat, must be a lot hotter here than up north, Alician thought to herself, holding out her hand to introduce herself, “Hiya! My name is Alician Levora! And I’m here to take you around!” “Ah...it’s a pleasure, I’m Lan Tian, from Atlas,” the girl spoke with an almost forced smile, and very sheepishly held her hand out to shake Alician’s. Ah, a shy one? Glad Iccarus isn’t here then, Alician chuckled to herself and then with a smile, “Hey, why don’t we get going then eh? I know some places where it isn’t so hot!” “Oh, that would be wonderful thank you!”

  Lan seemed to enjoy sitting in the rear of the library, much more quiet, much more cooler, silence was a common topic during their time there. However, either due to actual curiosity or trying to break the awkward silence, Lan did initiate a conversation, a very quiet conversation, “So...you’re a faunus too?” Alician’s interest picked up at this question, and with that she stopped leaning dangerously far back in her seat, “Huh? Oh, yeah, Tiger. How could you tell?” Lan spoke with a sheepish smile, weakly pointing to her guardian’s face, “Teeth, you yawn a lot. About thirteen times in the past five minutes.”

Alician almost couldn’t believe her ears, and her dumbfounded face just showed that off, “You counted how many times I yawned? And just from that, could tell I’m a faunus?” Lan chuckled a little, which gave Alician another shock as she seemed relatively emotionally dull throughout the day so far, “Yes, it wasn’t too hard, and remember, I said ‘faunus too’, with ‘too’ being the key word. I have a tail myself.” “But you’re hiding it? How come?” “Well...in Atlas, discrimination gets you punished,” Lan looked down a little, “I wasn’t sure if Beacon had something similar, to keep people from being so rude...” Alician sat in silence looking upon her acquaintance, then laughed a little much to Lan’s confusion, and with an almost nonchalant tune, “Aha! Nope, we have no heavy punishments, but, ever since Professor Belladonna caught somebody making fun of this rabbit girl, she really dropped her foot down. Must’ve reminded her of something I guess.”

Lan nodded, “Oh, I see.” Alician hopped out of her seat however, a newfound sense of excitement emanating off of her as she grabs hold of Lan’s hand, “Hey! Let’s get outta here though!! The firing range is normally open around this time and I’d love to see your weapon!” “H-Huh? Is it too hot there or-aaAAH!”

Without being able to get a word in edgewise, Alician dragged her new friend out in the direction of the firing range.

Meanwhile in the headmistress’s office, Weiss was on a call with Winter. “So, little sister, how is my student doing over there?” “She’s doing fine,” Weiss laughed, “But really, you tell her that she’s coming to check that Beacon is up-to-code? Why lie to the child?” “Well,” Winter paused, a worried look on her face, “Her younger years are shrouded in darkness, and don’t get too much better once the records actually start up, she has little connections with her fellow students here. I was hoping some Beacon fire would warm her up to people, maybe even make her interested in a team,” with a smirk, “I know someone that worked with.”

“Oh! Goodbye Winter!!” Weiss cut off the call with a pout, only to turn her head to Blake, who stood with a raised eyebrow, “What? The call was over!” “Sure it was love, sure it was.”

[fandom-imagines-stories]

Always You Three- Year One

Pairing: Fred Weasley/Oc

Warnings: None

Word Count:2645

Summery: Andromeda Malfoy was the pride of her family, that is, until she was sorted into Gryffindor. Who better than Fred and George Weasley to help her navigate five years of being shunned by her father? But when the Triwizard Tournament arrives, her father devises a plan and Andy is thrown into a world of deadly challenges, friendships becoming something more and dark family secrets.

“Hufflepuff!” The sorting hat shouted and the table decorated with yellow and black erupted with applause.

            “Andromeda Malfoy.” Professor McGonagall called out my name and I straightened my robes. As I strode confidently up the steps, I could hear people scoffing and muttering amongst themselves. Everyone knew which house I was going to be in. Every person in my family had been in Slytherin during their years at Hogwarts, except for one, but no one ever talked about him.

            I sat down on the stool and the professor placed the hat on my head. Before it even touched a single black hair on my head, it seemed to know its answer.

            “Sl-” It silenced itself. “Now wait just a moment.” I swallowed. What did it mean wait? “You long to impress your family, but there is a certain spark within you that I simply cannot ignore.” These words were only heard by me for the tables were still alive with anticipation and chatter. “Indeed, you would thrive in Slytherin, but even now, as you hope to live up to your family’s name, you know that you have always been different. But where to place you? You are quick witted and you excel in studies, but you are also loyal, no matter what your family’s past.  I can tell that you will stand up for what you believe is right, and though you are afraid, you will even stand against those you love, which is a great act of courage.”

            “Get on with it!” A student shouted receiving a fit of giggles, but a cold glare from McGonagall.

            “Gryffindor!” The hat’s voice rang through the hall and the room went silent. My heart plummeted. There must be some mistake. I am Andromeda Malfoy, a well raised pure blood. I was born to be a Slytherin. McGonagall, seeming shocked herself, ushered me off the stool and called up the next first year. No one cheered as I cautiously walked to the Gryffindor table. The only sound was the light clapping from the head table.I lifted my eyes from the ground and saw Headmaster Dumbledore smiling at me, his gaze wise, yet curious. When I found a seat, the other students gave me a look and quickly scooted away. I held my head up, pretending I didn’t need their approval.

            Later that night, I read a letter from my mom, realizing that she would want to know what house I got into even though she shouldn’t have to ask. I should have been sitting in the Slytherin common room, snickering with other Pure Bloods. Instead, I sat sniveling in front of the fire while everyone else was asleep. Or I had thought they were all asleep.

            “Crying on the first day?” Exclaimed a voice.

            “Bad sign.” Responded another. I turned to see a red headed boy sitting next to me.

            “Definitely.” I glanced to my other side, gasping as I found the same boy. They both laughed.

            “Twins.” I grumbled. I looked over both of them. “Ginger, musty old robes: you two must be Weasleys.”

            “Snobbish.” One remarked.

            “Robes in pristine condition.” The other noted. “Aha! You must be a Malfoy.”

            “My father told me to stay away from your sort.” I said in a tone that made me realize why they thought I was snobbish.

            “Your family and our family don’t get along.” The boy on my right explained. “I’m Fred by the way. That’s George.”

            “I’m Andromeda.” I announced proudly, wiping away the wetness on my cheeks. Fred snickered. “What?”

            “Nothing. It’s just a long, Malfoyish name.”

            “Well…” I thought for a moment and remembered the name Draco used to call me when he was young and couldn’t pronounce my name. “How about Andy?”

            “I like it.” The twins nodded in agreement.

            “Okay Andy,” George started, his expression softening. “Why are you crying?”

            “Oh… I just- I have to tell my parents I got sorted into Gryffindor.”

            “What’s so bad about that?” Fred wondered.

            “Every member of my family was sorted into Slytherin except for one, and he’s in Azkaban.”

            “Well if it makes you feel better, almost everyone in your family is in Azkaban.” George joke and Fred kicked him. “Ow! What was that for?” I giggled.

“What are you two doing out here anyway. Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

“George and I like to think we’re nocturnal.” Fred grinned.

“Pranks are fun during the day, but it’s at night when the real fun happens.” George added, rubbing his shin.

            “We should probably get to bed.” I glanced toward the clock.

            “See you tomorrow?” Fred asked.

            “I won’t tell my parents if you don’t tell yours.” I grinned mischievously. They both smiled and answered at the same time.

            “Deal.”

                                                           * * *

            The chaos that ensued in the next few weeks was more than I had expected when I became friends with the twins, but it was just as perfect as I had hoped. They always made me laugh, trying especially hard to cheer me up when my mother said that my father might be ‘to busy’ to write me at school. Even my younger brother Draco stopped writing me letters. At first I was devastated, but the twins often encouraged me that I was brave in writing them myself that I was in Gryffindor and they said that if my family couldn’t see how wonderful I was then it was their loss. This didn’t completely make me feel better, but it did help.

            Their first big plan for the year, was to break into the horribly stiff Mr. Filch’s office and see what he had collected from students over the years. I, of course, was skeptical, knowing that if we got caught, everyone would know that we were friends. But they insisted that I come with them, it would be like some kind of  initiation into their two-member club.

            We started after the sun had gone down and everyone, including the twin’s overly pompous brother Percy, had gone to sleep. Lee Jordan, Fred and George’s other best friend, also came along, more than willing to be the distraction to get Filch away of his office.

            “So here’s the plan,” Fred whispered, laying out a small map they had drawn. “Lee will go to the library, and open the screaming book in the restricted section.”

“How do you know that there’s a screaming book in the restricted section?” I wondered. “Don’t you need a teacher’s note to get in?” I almost said; “Don’t be dense. You can’t get into the restricted section without a teacher’s permission. And you couldn’t possibly have gotten that.” But then I remembered that I was trying not to be a total prat now a days.

            “Ah, young, innocent Andy, you have so much to learn.” George sighed playfully.

            “We broke in on the second night.” Fred answered. “Looked around a bit- found some pretty interesting things.”

            “I’ll go and make a ruckus, making sure Filch will be one the other side of the castle when you get in his office.” Lee chimed.

            “While Filch is in the library, we’ll get to his office from this corridor.” George pointed to a hallway on the map. “The three of us will look around and take anything worth taking.”

            The four of us snuck out of the common room and down the hall, Lee going in the opposite direction.

            “Don’t forget to get out of there before you can get caught, or you’ll get detention for a week.” George warned.

            “I know. I’ll see you guys back in the common room.” Lee grinned before continuing toward the library. Fred, George, and I made our way around the castle, checking every corner in case Filch or another teacher was patrolling. Soon, we found Filch’s office, but halted at the sound of an angry meow.

            “Mrs. Norris!” I exclaimed in a whisper. She scurried off. “I hate that cat.”

            “We better hurry before she brings Filch back.” Fred turned to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. I sighed and pointed my wand at the lock.

“Alohomora.” The lock clicked and opened. The office was cluttered, despite Filch being a neat-freak. A large trunk sat behind the desk, with a large lock on the front. I tried the spell again, but nothing happened.

            “There must be an enchantment on it.” I groaned, defeated. “We better get back to the common room.”

            “Or….” Fred’s eyes sparkled and I knew he was going to say something I would regret. “We could wait for Filch to get back and get the key.”

            “Are you crazy?” I almost shouted. “If Filch comes back, they’ll send a letter to our parents, and I can’t get in trouble.”

            “If you want to go back, go ahead. But there’s gotta be some good stuff in here if he had it enchanted.”  I thought for a moment, and for some reason, my curious side over powered my logical.

            “Fine, we’ll wait.”

            “Fred, go be look out, I’ll find somewhere for us to hide, and Andy look around and see if there’s a slight chance he left the key in here.” George began to search the room for any dark corners or tables to hide under. I rummaged through the desk until I came across a large piece of blank parchment.

            “Hey George… why would Filch keep an old piece of paper?” I questioned.

            “I don’t know, but that looks like a map.”

            “A map with nothing on it?” I raised an eyebrow.

            “Or a map that can only be revealed with magic.” He tapped his wand to the paper.

            “Mr. Prongs would like to advise amateurs like the Weasley twins and especially a Malfoy to leave the pranks and raiding to the professionals.” I read out loud. “It’s just some stupid paper made to insult people.”

            “No, it’s a map. Whoever this Prongs was must have put a spell on it.” George concluded. “There must be a password or something.” Fred peaked his head in the door.

            “You two better hurry up. I can hear footsteps.”

            “We’ll just have to settle with this.” I put the paper in my robe pocket and pulled George behind me.

            “But we didn’t open the chest.” He whined.

            “We’ll have plenty to do while we try to figure out how to use the map, now let’s go!”  Fred ran behind us as soon as we could hear Filch’s shouts. We ran through the dark halls and up the moving staircases until we lost the strict caretaker. We found the fat lady’s portrait and said the password, and despite her sleepy protests she let us through.

            “I don’t know about you two, but I’m exhausted. I’m going to bed.” I took the paper out of my pocket and handed it to them.

            “You’re not going to help figure out the password?” Fred looked at me with his big brown eyes and pouted.

            “Did you guys find anything?” Lee asked sleepily from the couch.

            “The trunk was locked and Mrs. Norris found Filch before we could get it open.” Fred lied.

            “That’s too bad. I’ll be in bed if any of you need me.” Lee shuffled upstairs and I began to follow him.

            “Why didn’t you tell him about the map?” I wondered.

            “It’ll be our secret.” Fred smirked. I smiled and went up the stairs and dreamed of mischievous red heads.

            That school year I learned how to levitate a feather and how to make a cure for boils, but none of that compared to what I learned from Fred and George. They taught me that some rules are meant to be broken and that being a Pure Blood wasn’t really anything to be proud of. Instead, I took pride in getting the best score of my class in potions. Professor Snape even seemed to like me.

            During the year, about a month after we found the mysterious map, Fred and George were taking guesses of the password, and the map seemed to be helping them figure it out by lighting up whenever they were getting closer to the answer, they used the right set of words and the Marauder’s Map revealed itself, showing the entire grounds of Hogwarts including secret passage ways that we often used to get around. It also showed everyone in Hogwarts, with their names and a pair of footprints that moved as the person moved. It helped us know where Filch was and which route to take to avoid him. With the map’s help, we only ever got caught twice throughout the school year. Like the time we enchanted some of Professor McGonagall’s books to soar across the room and land on the Slytherins. We got two weeks of detention, but luckily she didn’t write to my parents.

            But as the year came to an end, I realized that I would be going home to a family that was disgusted by me. As the train moved forward through the vast valleys, Fred and George joked around with Lee, and I would fake a smile whenever they talked to me, trying to hide the tears brimming my eyes.

“Hey,” Fred tilted his head so he could see my face, “It’s going to be okay. George and I will write every week.” I shook my head.

“We can’t write.” I said sadly. “ It’s too much of a risk, someone will read them.”

“Well I can’t go the entire holiday without talking to you. We’ll just… come up with code names.” Fred got out a piece of paper and began to brainstorm. “We can be just  like the Marauders.” We all thought for a moment.

“Well it has to do with animals if we are going to be our own Marauders.” I pointed out.

“What about bird brain over here.” George pointed at Fred and Fred threw the quill at him.

“Well, what about Little Red for our little fox?” Fred suggested, looking at me.

“Where’d you get fox?” I wondered.

“You’re sneaky.” George noted. “Remember the time when you snuck into Hogsmeade right under Professor McGonagall's nose?”

“And you’re one of the wittiest people I know.” Fred added. “Besides the two of us, of course.” I punched his shoulder.

“So it’s decided. Little Red it is.” George concluded, writing down the name next to mine.

“Now what about you two cackling hyenas?” I joked.

“Hyena,” Fred mused, “I like that. How about-” The train jerked to a stop.

“Hold that thought,” I said, standing up. “I should get out of here before Percy shows up.”

“What about our names?” They asked at the same time.

“You’ll think of something.” I gave them a smile and hurried out of the compartment. I pushed passed as I exited the train and made it onto the platform. I searched through the crowd of people, looking for familiar heads of light blonde hair.

“M-miss Andromeda?” A small voice said from behind me. I turned to find Dobby, our house elf, standing timidly between a group of students.

“Dobby?” I exclaimed. “What are you doing here? Where’s mom and dad?”

“Y-your father sent me to pick you up miss.” I froze.

“H-he what?” I stuttered. I hoped at least after an entire school year, my father would want to see me when I got back.

“He said he had business at the ministry to attend to.” Dobby seemed to notice the tears. “You’re mother s-said she wanted nothing more than to see you when you got back, but you’re father insisted she go with him.” I sniffed and nodded.

“Of course. He must be extremely-” My voice cracked and I held back a sob. Dobby reached up and took my hand.  

  “Let’s get you home miss.” He said sadly. I wiped the tears off my cheeks and held my head up high… just like a Malfoy.

[mathematicianadda]

To My Fellow MINDers: Reflections on an 18-Year Journey https://ift.tt/37WWJKt

For more than 18 years, I have been a part of MIND, and MIND has been a part of me. And while I will soon be leaving to take the next step in my personal and professional journey, that will not change.

Someone recently told me that I was like that cool senior classmate who all the incoming freshman looked up to for guidance and shortcuts. Someone else told me that I was the head of the welcoming committee to MIND. But the best compliment I have ever received was that I was “the heart of MIND.” As this story of Maria at MIND comes to a close, I want to honor those who along with me made a difference for millions of students by sharing some memories, as well as some lessons I’ve learned along my journey.

A Love of Learning

The first lesson I want to share is about developing a love of learning, and the power of having people believing in you.

When I came to MIND, I was a new mom accepting a position at the front desk not knowing what opportunities there would be for me and my little family. I was intimidated by the brains in our tiny little office space, but that intimidation was gone as those brains also demonstrated a heart and passion for improving the education outcomes in our country, and they were going to start with me.

I learned the value of education not only from our mission, but from the people behind it. I listened after they told me many times that I was just as smart as all the PhDs on the team. I just needed a piece of paper to seal the deal. College was not a thing I knew of or cared for, but they guaranteed me that getting a degree would give my family and me a different way of living, and they would be there to support me.

I did it, I went back to school.

It took me years and many sacrifices, but I finished my undergrad at CSUF. And I didn’t stop there. I later went through a Latina Leadership Program at USC, and I’m currently a second year Executive MBA student at Chapman University. They were absolutely right, not only was I smart, but I had the desire to learn, all because they believed in me.

The Joy of Seeing Students Grow

From my beginning at MIND, I knew that our ST Math program went beyond mathematics. Each time I visited a classroom, I saw how this little penguin JiJi gave students those “aha” moments. It gave them confidence, and it gave them control of their learning. Many for the first time, not feeling intimidated by the language or learning barriers, not afraid of making mistakes. They were proud and they were conquering those games along with JiJi.

This brings me to my next lesson I want to pass on as a graduating senior: go out and see the impact of the work. Go visit students, ask them questions, challenge them to have mathematical conversations with you, help them make real life connections. Have them see the math in places beyond a worksheet or a math book. Places like a soccer field, in the kitchen, or even in creating the next best video game.

This was by far my favorite part of my experience at MIND—taking partners to visit schools and standing back letting students show off their problem solving skills to smart professionals. By just observing them, it became my personal why to see myself and my son in each of those students.

Continuing to Challenge Myself

How did I go from the front desk to a director you ask? Being ready to take on a challenge whenever one appeared.

When MIND began doing fundraising events, one of the directors at the time asked me if I could come and support her meetings by taking notes. She believed that no one person should ever have all the information to themselves. Unexpected things happen, and she always liked having a Plan B. She knew exactly what she was talking about!

The day of our largest fundraising event, she had a serious medical issue at the hotel, while we were preparing to receive over 400 guests (thank God she got through it, because there were still many lessons I learned from her, and are still very good friends today). Janet Ray, our event chair looked at me and said, “Maria, you have been at every meeting, you know what we need to do, so why don’t you take charge?” I have no idea how I was able to pull that through, but that unfortunate situation gave me the opportunity. I started leading the volunteer efforts for this group and became part of the core team alongside many great friends, including my other “M,” Mike Limon. He and I became MIND’s M&M’s, driven by our community.

The lesson here—be ready to step up when the time comes.

Being Authentic

From the time I started at MIND (and before), I was as authentic as I could be with everyone I met.

One day our then Chairman and CEO Ted Smith called me into his office to ask how I was doing, and what was next for me at MIND. With that question, he had me think about how else I could bring value to MIND, and continue to lead with the passion and dedication that I was characterized by. That is how eventually I became the Community Partnerships Director.

Although I never really liked fundraising it became second nature to me. I was making an impact in my community and beyond.

My next piece of advice is to be genuine, and build strong relationships with our colleagues and with our partners. Share with those you work closely with what gets you excited each morning, listen to that excitement, and see if it is still a good match with your current org/position. When people know what you are passionate about, they will help you create those opportunities.

Thinking Big

Who remembers or has ever heard about “The Math Fair”? No, they are not a legend and those of us who were here for one or all three will probably never experience something like that again. It all started with Matthew’s crazy idea of doing a pop-up math museum that would travel the country. He gathered a group of us and said, “Let’s start working!”

We had no idea what that meant, what it would look like, but people got excited. Our designers in Studio JiJi started putting Matthew’s ideas on paper. My job was to go out and convince people to financially support this idea. It was amazing to see how those pictures slowly started coming to life. There were times when it was 2 or 3 am, and you would see so many of us still at the office working, cutting, designing, emailing, or crying our eyeballs out.

Besides raising funds, my special project from Matthew was getting 1,000 people to attend the Math Fair. I started visiting schools, museums, parks, and pitching to local media outlets in English and Spanish, like Telemundo. Leading up to it, we had no idea who would show up, but we were ready. We proudly received 2,000 people that first year. The next two years brought different challenges, but we all brought our strongest attributes to the project. I continued to talk to people, bringing funds while sharing my natural talent of a caretaker.

Let's not forget the third year when Matthew again came in with a brilliant idea—let’s have people taste math!

I thought, “Huh? Wait—I need a minute to cry.” Five minutes after my tears, I was excited! Yes, we created the “Taste of Math.” We had the opportunity to bring on 15 different chefs from around the country, and locally like our dear friends from Villa Roma Restaurant who all created delicious masterpieces of culinary math. That year we had a record breaking 5,000 people having fun with math.

The lesson here is that you can’t be afraid to think big. Surround yourself with colleagues that will work side by side making sure everyone succeeds, where titles don’t exist and where everyone in the group has something valuable to add. Don’t be afraid to ask to be included or excluded from a project you feel strongly about. If people personally reach out to you it’s because you can be an integral part of the team, do not doubt yourself.

Championing Diversity

There was a time when I believed that I was that checkbox MIND marked for being the diversity in the organization. But in representing my culture, my values, my authenticity, and my corazon, I took every opportunity to grow diversity in the organization and in our work. I founded MIND's first Diversity Council because I saw a lack of representation of the students we served. I was very intentional on who I invited to join us. I wanted it to be diverse, not only based on ethnicity, but I wanted it to be diverse in thought, in work, and in generations.

We became a very active group in the community representing MIND. We hosted various events to learn and benefit our English learner students. We received various recognition from groups like the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. We were invited to present at conferences like ALAS and NALEO which opened up for conversations and the addition of underrepresented communities. We participated at community events like the Hyundai Hope on Wheels. I was going places, literally. Here was this Santa Ana girl who never traveled outside her community, and now had the opportunity to visit more than 27 states while at MIND. I continued to be the Diversity Champion for MIND’s board.

I was also blessed to receive personal recognition for the work doing at MIND thanks to nominations from my peers (see my LinkedIn for a full list). I was named Top 10 Women to Watch in Orange County by OC Metro, and a Fun and Fearless Latina by Cosmopolitan Magazine, among many others. Fun fact—Ingrid Ellerbe, another one of my blessings at MIND, my son and I got to travel to New York, with all expenses paid to be recognized at Hearst Tower. When I gave my speech, they presented me as a Fearless Latina who was raising millions of dollars to provide an equity STEM platform for our Latino students through games. I knew that this was bigger than me.

As I mentioned my biggest recognition was during an all-MIND team conference, I received a special 3D printed JiJi, but not just any JiJi—this was JiJi with a heart. Matthew announced that the file that created that award was destroyed because that was one of a kind, just like I was to MIND. What Matthew said that day, will carry on as one of my best memories at MIND.

Serving All Students

Our work and our ST Math program give students a sense of belonging and a sense of pride. Getting a response as to why you are right or why you were wrong with no judgement. Allowing students to quickly pivot their thinking and reasoning. The way that ST Math respects the students is powerful.

But we need to continue to find ways to support all students, schools and families. I am so very proud of Dorene Uhrich, Claire Asander, and their team acting on the need to communicate with our parents in Spanish. Getting more resources translated is something that in the 18 years I was here, I wanted to accomplish more of. So when they asked me to record a video welcoming Spanish-speaking families to ST Math, it was a very personal project for me.

Going out with this project was the best way to say farewell—with my most authentic voice, to the students I represented for these past 18 years.

So my last piece of advice is this—do not give up on something that is important to you. Keep mentioning it to everyone who will listen. For me, I am grateful that I was invited to be part of this project. My voice will live on forever with our MIND families, and I love that.

MIND can mean different things to different people. Whatever MIND means to you, share that as it will help you get to the people you need to get to. I was very blessed to get to a personal level with many of these students and families that knew that they were my personal why.

I’ll leave all of my fellow colleagues with a question: What is your why at MIND? And to those outside the organization: What is your why, in whatever you are doing?

I hope some of these lessons, and the memories I’ve shared, can help you on your journey as well.

Forever a JiJi Believer—until we cross paths again,

Maria

from MIND Research Institute Blog https://ift.tt/3dC1HO9 mcervantes@mindresearch.org (Maria Cervantes) from Blogger https://ift.tt/2YsCdOL

[comicteaparty]

June 8th-June 14th, 2019 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from June 8th, 2019 to June 14th, 2019.  The chat focused on the following question:

What was the original incarnation of your current comic?  What has changed over the lifespan of the idea, and what has remained the same?

Nutty (Court of Roses)

My comic, Court of Roses http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/, was originally built around my first D&D character, a half-elf bard named Merlow the Rose. The comic was going to be strictly based on D&D, but as I started going gung-ho on the worldbuilding I started deviating away, making my own variations on races, making my own pantheon, and even formulating different magic rules and creatures. It's still largely inspired by D&D, and other fantasy works like Lord of the Rings, Elder Scrolls, etc., but I'm also trying to make the world my own, too!

Pencilz

My comic the Caraway Crew https://tapas.io/series/The-Caraway-Crew was originally based on my childhood friend group. Actually the very first incarnation I had with the Caraways was where we were all self-inserted into some large crossover fanfiction... it was pretty bad aha.(edited)

I just realized I said that twice oops

Draco Plato

The first incarnation of my comic....world was a Sailor Moon parody I believe. There was a boarding school and magical boys and girls that fought aliens or something. Firosofi was the "priest" of water and Affinity was the "priestess" of light (ironically her character hasn't seen the light of day in years). Apus was still around in that incarnation since Firosofi and Affinity were affiliated with it there too I think The initial premise still makes up the core of the Apus ideology I think; people fight in pairs against forces that threaten Earth. The focus since shifted to be much more character focused and on characters who were made much later (Damon and Lyall primarily). http://khyatix.com/

ErinPtah (Leif & Thorn | BICP)

But I'm A Cat Person http://bicatperson.com/ basically sprang into being (heh) fully-formed, but I pulled a bunch of the characters from earlier fanfiction incarnations. Jany and Kara Lynn got started in a Neopets RPG; Timothy was created as an OC member of Section XIII in Hellsing; Reseda and Cybele were from the same Sailor Moon exoplanetary team.(edited)

Leif & Thorn http://leifandthorn.com/ started as Colbert Report fanfiction XD It was so far removed from the source material that I spent years thinking "I should file off the serial numbers and try to publish this as an original work"...but it didn't click until I got away from the idea of doing a 1:1 adaptation of the fic's plot, and just used it as the foundation of a world where I could set all kinds of other stories.

AntiBunny

My comic AntiBunny http://antibunny.net/ started out as an all pencil sketchy comic about depression. It experimented a lot early on artistically as I tried to tear down my old style and build a new one. As it's changed over the years I've built up a new art style, and as I've changed as a person I'd say it's become its own story driven by the characters. The protagonist's depression and anxiety is still important, but I think the significant thing is that I'm seeing depression from the outside rather than the inside, and my writing has changed a lot as a result.

mathtans

Interesting topic. I might be unique in that my math comic started as a web serial (though I didn't know that's what it was at the time). Meaning text, but supplemented with drawings, because the point was that the graphs were character hairstyles: https://sites.google.com/site/taylorspolynomials/series/openbar

I gave it up after several years due to lack of interest, then brought it back as a web comic with many of the characters redesigned (parabola having twintails instead of bunny ears, for instance). http://mathtans.ca/ It then crossed over with the serial, meaning both sets of characters are canon and take place in the same universe. https://mathtans.blogspot.com/2017/04/math-character-bible.html

So the more it changes, the more it stayed the same? (As to plot, that tended to be whatever math concept I thought would be interesting, from archaic trig functions to fractals... I never knew where that'd be going.)

kayotics

The original incarnation of Ingress Adventuring Company https://ingress-comic.com/ was, like many other fantasy comics, derived from a D&D campaign I played in. I really loved the character I played (Toivo), and the campaign had finished, so I decided to keep using him in more stories. While the basic idea of the character is the same, I completely removed him from the campaign that he was in so I wouldn't have any issues with having to ask my friends to use their characters. Toivo has essentially remained the same, but large parts of his backstory and the entire setting has been changed from the original game I played him in. And, since I'm no longer tied to D&D with a comic, the rules of magic are a lot more vague. Similar to what Nutty said above, my comic is still largely inspired by D&D and other fantasy staples, but at least I can deviate from them as I continue to make my comic.

MJ Massey

Black Ball http://welcometoblackball.com/ is a much more recent idea of mine and hasn't really changed too much in terms of the overarching story, though minor things have shifted such as Maude becoming more of a main character, giving her a brother who is also getting more involved in the plot, and changing the role of a future character. But it's always been Emily and Chester solving a murder mystery.

MJ Massey

The shifts have been so minor and over time that it's hard to find where the "first draft" ends and the "next version" begins. But I've been mentally shifting things as I go along and see that certain aspects of the story need more attention for the ending to pay off or for the character to get well developed

Who the murderer is has stayed the same and how it happens and why. Just the circumstances around it have been smudged and fixed

Tuyetnhi

The OG plans I had for https://oiydcomic.com/ occurred after I was fiddling with twine to make a one shot short story, and an illustration series/zine project after having an intense dream. At first, I initially wanted to create it into an ero-romance comic about a woman having a one night stand with her dream lover, eventually living together after seeing each other for a few weeks. After thinking about it further (and some beta readers later lmao), I decided to develop into a romance-focused drama about acceptance and making life more than what is instilled in our dreams. I fleshed out Cara's (main character) modivations, her background in regards on courtship and romance somewhat seen in the asian-american experience (specifically Vietnamese-american rituals; some that retained after viet dispora came to the US in the late 80's - 90's and the effects on their children). Basically, from intense escapism to a general exploration on romance. With some common themes I've liked in 90's shoujo with some criticisms here and there.(edited)

Respheal

Galebound (http://www.galebound.com/) started off as what was going to be a short story. I posted it up on deviantART just for fun, and I was totally pantsing the plot xD I had an idea of a magician who for some reason couldn't ask questions, and the stablehand he kidnapped when he wasn't getting a horse fast enough. The original idea was that Din was on the run from something? And Conan was that hapless stablehand the protags burst in on like "I need a horse!" before escaping $antagonist or chasing someone. Originally Din was supposed to be a good guy, for real, just...more of a trickster to Conan's straight-faced act(edited)

Since its inception, the plot got way deeper and a gazillion times more horrible I think at one point an Obligation wasn't necessary for magic, and probably wasn't even totally compulsory But then the Pascal Incident happened and making the Obligation compulsory suddenly became much more integral to the plot and world. And once that happened, Din's backstory got more fleshed out and his character got darker. I still really wasn't sure what to do with Conan at that point, though. That didn't hit me until like seven years after the original five chapter draft going up on dA, and knowing Conan better changed everything It's fun :'D

snuffysam

Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R (http://sgkdr.webcomic.ws/) started off as a short film I made for an introductory film class in college (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibRdxNLd3Q4). The film is about a fan of a really bad anime forcing his boyfriend to sit through an episode. The production quality of the film is honestly really bad in retrospect (still got an A though lol). At around the same time as I was making that film, I had just watched... I assume Food Wars, and I was on a real "you could make a battle series out of anything" stint. Like, I would just have a notes document full of ideas like "a shonen series about math olympiads". One idea I really liked was "a shonen series, but it's actually just The Wizard of Oz". After I had finished the short film, I wondered what the actual series that the "anime" took place in would be like, so I decided to build out a comic. I outlined five books, the first being based primarly off the Wizard of Oz. And... the rest is history.

deo101

The first incarnation of millennium (http://millennium.thecomicseries.com/) was pretty much a "chosen one" story where the main character had to go kill an evil space queen and was the only one who could do it. I made about 6 more stories that I later decided I could put together, and the easiest way for me to combine them all was a highschool space story, which I developed for quite a while... Later I changed them all to be adults and started building the current iteration of the story (which has also changed a ton)

Desnik

My WIP comic (which has an ask blog: http://ask-a-warlock.tumblr.com/) started out as a video game idea incorporating Banjo Kazooie collectathon platforming with Ace Attorney trial mechanics....obvs I'm not much of a programmer or 3D modeler, so I went with skills that I actually know how to do: Write and draw(edited)

It had one incarnation where the characters run around all of Europe but it was much too much to develop within 250 pages so I scrapped that and focused on one standalone story, which I'm thumbnailing now and I'm hoping to get into the art stage by the end of the year

and now the page count is about 170 so hopefully that's an easier project to wrangle, when it comes down to it