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meruz · 4 years ago

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once again i am answering asks in a big compilation post. included is... gotham, patrick stump, tips about drawing backgrounds, tips about drawing in general, links to my faq, and infinity train

like.... the tv series? No... I’ve drawn dc comics fanart before, though. But it’s been years since I’ve been really into it. I like jumped ship like 10 years ago when the New 52 happened LOL.

AFJHDSLKGH I’m sorry I (probably) won’t do it again??

Actually full disclosure I have a truly cringe amount of p stump drawings/photo studies in my sketchbook right now LOL. He’s just fun to draw... hats, glasses, guitar, a good shape... but I don’t think I’ll rly post those until I can hide them in another big sketchbook pdf.. probably Jan 2022. Stay tuned........ (ominous)

(ominous preview)

These are all sort of related to backgrounds/painting so I grouped them together even though they’re pretty much entirely separate questions.... ANYWAYS

a) How is it working as a BG artist? Is it hard? What show are you drawing for?

I think you’re the first person to ever ask me about my job! Being a background artist is great. It’s definitely labor intensive but I think that could describe pretty much any art job (If something were rote or easy to automate, you wouldn’t hire an artist to do it) and I hesitate to say whether its harder or easier than any other role in the animation pipeline. Plus, so much of what truly makes a job difficult varies from one production to the next, schedule, working environment, co-workers etc. But I will say that I think while BGs are generally a lot of work on the upfront, I think they’re subject to less scrutiny/revisions than something like character/props/effects design and you don’t have to pitch them to a room like boards. So I guess it’s good if you don’t like to talk to people? LOL

A lot of my previous projects + the show I’ve worked on the longest aren’t public yet so I can’t talk about em (but I assure you if/when the news does break I won’t shut up about it). But I’m currently working on Archer Season 12 LOL. I’m like 90% sure I’m allowed to say that.

b) ~~~THANK YOU!! ~~~

c) What exactly do you like to draw most [in a background]?

@kaitomiury Lots of stuff! I really like to draw clutter! Because it’s a great opportunity for environmental storytelling and also you can be kind of messy with it because the sheer mass will supersede any details LOL.

I like to draw clouds... I like to draw grass but not trees lol,,, I like to draw anything that sells perspective really easily like tiled floors and ceilings, shelves, lamp posts on a street etc.

d) Do you have any tips on how to paint (observational)?

god there’s so much to say. painting is really a whole ass discipline like someone can paint their whole life and still discover new things about it. I guess if you’re really just starting out my best advice is that habit is more important than product. especially with traditional plein air painting, I find that the procedure of going outside and setting up your paints is almost harder than the actual painting. There’s a lot of artists who say “I want to do plein air sometime!!” and then never actually get around to doing it. A lot of people just end up working from google streetview or photos on their computer.

But going outside to paint is a really good challenge because it forces you to make and commit to lighting and composition decisions really quickly. And to work through your mistakes instead of against them via undo button.

My last tip is to check out James Gurney’s youtube channel because hes probably the best and most consistent resource on observational painting out there rn. There’s lots other artists doing the same thing (off the top of my head I know a lot of the Warrior Painters group has people regularly posting plein air stuff and lightbox expo had a Jesse Schmidt lecture abt it last year) but Gurney’s probably the most prolific poster and one of the best at explaining the more technical stuff - his books are great too.

e) Do you have tips for drawing cleanly on heavypaint?

@marigoldfool UMM LOL I LIKE ONLY USE THE FILL TOOL so maybe use the fill tool? Fill and rectangle are good for edge control as opposed to the rest of the heavy paint tools which can get sort of muddles. And also I use a stylus so maybe if you’re using your finger, find a stylus that works with your device instead. That’s all I’ve got, frankly I don’t think my drawings are particularly clean lol.

f) Tips on improving backgrounds/scenes making them more dynamic practicing etc?

Ive given some tips about backgrounds/scenes before so I’m not gonna re-tread those but here’s another thing that might be helpful...

I think a good way to approach backgrounds is to think of the specific story or even mood you want to convey with the background first. Thinking “I just need to put something behind this character” is going to lead you to drawing like... a green screen tourist photo backdrop. But if you think “I need this bg to make the characters feel small” or “I need this bg to make the world feel colorful” then it gives you requirements and cues to work off of.

If I know a character needs to feel overwhelmed and small, then I know I need to create environment elements that will cage them in and corner them. If a character needs to feel triumphant/on top of the world then I know I need to let the environment open up around them. etc. If I know my focal point/ where I want to draw attention, I can build the background around that.

Also, backgrounds like figure compositions will have focal points of their own and you can draw attention to it/ the relationship the characters have with the bg element via scale or directionality or color, any number of cues. I think of it almost as a second/third character in a scene.

Not every composition is gonna have something so obvious like this but it helps me to think about these because then the characters feel connected and integrated with the environment.

Some more general art questions

a) Do you have any process/tips to start drawing character/bodies/heads?

I tried to kind of draw something to answer this but honestly this is difficult for me to answer because I don’t think I’m that great at drawing characters LOL. Ok, I think I have two tips.

1) flip your canvas often. A lot about what makes human bodies look correct and believable is symmetry and balance. Even if someone has asymmetrical features, the body will often pull and push in a way to counterbalance it. we often have inherent biases to one side or another like dominant hands dominant eyes etc. you know how right-handed artists will often favor drawing characters facing 45 degrees facing (the artist’s) left? that’s part of it. so viewing your drawing flipped even just to evaluate it helps compensate for that bias and makes you more aware of balance.

2) draw the whole figure often. I feel like a lot of beginner artists (myself included for a long time) defer to just drawing headshots or busts because it’s easier, you dont have to think about posing limbs etc. But drawing a full body allows you to better gauge proportion, perspective, body language, everything that makes a character look believable and grounded.

Like if you (me) have that issue where you draw the head too big and then have to resize it to fit the proportions of the rest of the body, it’s probably because you (I) drew the head first and are treating the body as an afterthought/attachment. Sketching out the whole figure first or even just quick drawing guides for it will help you think of it more holistically. I learned this figure drawing in charcoal at art school LOL.

oh. third mini tip - try to draw people from life often! its the best study. if you can get into a figure drawing/nude drawing class EVEN BETTER and if you have a local college/art space/museum that hosts those for free TREASURE IT AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT, that’s a huge boon that a lot of artists (me again) wish they had. though if youre not so lucky and youre sitting in a park trying to creeper draw people and they keep moving.. don’t let that stop you! that’s good practice because it’s forcing you to work fast to get the important stuff down LOL. its a challenge!

b) I’ve been pretty out of energy and have had no inspiration to draw but I have the desire to. Any advice?

Dude, take a walk or something.... Or a nap? Low energy is going to effect everything else so you gotta hit that problem at its source.

If you’re looking for inspiration though, I’d recommend stuff like watching a movie, reading a book, playing video games etc. Fill up your idea bank with content and then give yourself time/space to gestate it into new concepts. Sometimes looking at other art works but sometimes it can work against you because it’s too close.

Also something that helps me is remembering that art doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking... like it’s okay to make something shitty and stupid that you don’t post online and only show to your friend. That’s all part of the process imo. If you want to hit a home run you gotta warm up first, right? Sports.

I should probably compile everytime i give tips on stuff like this but that’s getting dangerously close to being a social media artist who makes stupid boiled down art tutorials for clout which is the last thing i want to be... the thing I want to stress is that art is a whole visual language and there are widely agreed upon rules and customs but they exist in large part to be broken. Like there's an infinite number of ways to reach an infinite number of solutions and that’s actually what makes it really cool and personal for both the artist and the viewer. So when you make work you like or you find someone else’s work you like, take a step back and ask yourself what about it speaks for you, what about it works for you, what makes it effective, how to recreate that effect and how to break that effect completely, etc. And have a good time with it or else what’s the point.

for the first 2, I direct you to my FAQ

For the last one, I don’t actually believe I’ve ever addressed artwork as insp for stories/rp but I’ll say here and now yeah go ahead! As long as you’re not making profit or taking credit for my work then I’m normally ok with it. Especially anything thats private and purely recreational, that’s generally 100% green light go. I only ask that if you post it anywhere public that you please credit me.

(and I reserve the right to ask you to take it down if I see it and don’t approve of it’s use but I think that case is pretty rare.)

a) @lemuelzero101 Thank you!!! I haven’t played Life is Strange but actually that series’ vis dev artist Edouard Caplain is one of my bigger art inspirations lately so that’s a really high compliment lol. And yeah I hope we get 5-8 too...!

b) Thank you for sticking around! I’ve been thinking about Digimon and Infinity Train in tandem lately, actually. They’re a little similar? Enter a dangerous alternate world and have wacky adventures with monsters/inanimate objects that have weird powers... there’s like weird engineers and mechanisms behind the scenes... also frontier literally starts with them getting on a train. Anyways if anyone else followed me for digimon... maybe you’d like Infinity Train? LOL

c) @king-wens-king I’M GLAD MY ART JUST HAS PINOY VIBES LOL I hope you are having a good day too :^)

a, b, c, d) yessss my Watch Infinity Train agenda is working....

e) aw thank you!! i think you should watch infinity train :)

#ask #trying this new thing where i tag people in the body of the post instead

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adorerdraco · 4 years ago

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Bugs and Hisses ✧ Draco x Reader

Summary: Halloween with Draco <3 Friends into BOO’s (teehee)

Warnings: mild drinking nothing tooo crazy but not encouraging it !

Words: 5.2K

A/N: this is my first one shot in like a month and i ofc had to do something for halloween even tho im a tad late but its still a halloweekend KIND OF !!!!!!! </3 I HOPE ITS GOOOD

“No, it’s a stupid holiday.”

Draco crossed his arms in a stubborn child-like way, a scowl on his face as he stared forward towards the front of the class where Snape was giving a lecture on the small but vicious Erkling creatures.

“Come on, please,” you pleaded quietly. Your gaze kept flickering between your easily-irked professor and the pouting blond beside you, hoping that in a few short seconds you would get the answer you were hoping for that way you could get back into your notes instead of possibly getting a detention or losing house points.

In all the years you’ve been friends with the Prince of Slytherin, you learned that he loathed the holiday and any festivities that came with it. Every year, you beg him to go out to one of the many parties that are thrown ranging from small gatherings to full-on blowouts or just do something halloween related with you, but he always refuses. His reasoning, as he put it, was that he was simply ‘too mature to be dressing up as a foul creature.’

You knew he mostly spent the holiday either asleep in his dorm or walking around aimlessly with Crabbe and Goyle to target unsuspecting first-years after the big feast but this year, you finally had enough of his anti-halloween agenda. You wanted to spend the evening and hopefully night with him laughing by your side and showing him how fun everything could be, but most of all - you wanted to see him in a costume.

“Please, if you go I will never ask you for anything ever again,” you tried again once Snape had turned his back to the class.

Draco pursed his lips as though he was genuinely considering it, his eyes still locked on the back of the greasy-haired professor before he turned slightly to you with a deep sigh. “Fine, but don’t expect this to be an annual thing.”

You gave him a bright smile, holding yourself back from jumping around in your seat and completely pushing aside the desire to throw your arms around him in excitement.

“I promise you’ll have fun.”

He hid the small smile that grew on his face from seeing how happy his answer made you, turning his head down towards his parchment filled with notes that all of a sudden seemed interesting as he avoided your gaze. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was the smallest bit of excited at the thought of spending the holiday with you because he knew that wherever you went or whatever you did, he would be perfectly content with you by his side because for the first time in all your years as friends; he realized only a month ago that the weird fluttering feeling in the pit of his stomach when he was around you or the weird overwhelming warmth that spread throughout his entire body like an ocean of water breaking through a dam - was a crush. He hated it at first, noticing and begrudgingly acknowledging it. He thought it was cliche that he somehow fell for one of his closest friends and mostly, he thought that he was going to ruin the friendship entirely. He wanted to wreck it himself, trying to distance himself from you and being extra mean - but he couldn’t.

He adored your company too much and everything that came with you. He adores your laugh, your smile, your hugs when you greet him and how you somehow give him one each time he needs it the most. He adores the study-buddy system you guys have almost every other week before a quiz or an exam. He adores your bad jokes and clumsy accidents even though those qualities annoy him with anyone else. He adores the way you want him to join you in everything fun you and he especially adores the times when he overhears you talking about him as if he’s your favorite person in the world.

Bottom line, he’s all about you.

So when this season of spookiness came, he was expecting your pleading for him to spend the day with you. Only this time, it only took you a couple times before he ultimately agreed to give in to you.

You were ready to explode with thrill at the thought of what the night held in store for you and you didn’t hide it one bit. When the big Hogwarts Hallowe��en feast was over and every one began spilling out from the Great Hall and into the main foyer, you were searching restlessly for a clean mop of silver hair that almost always stuck out in the mass of students. You weren’t sure if you were able to spot him anywhere in under a few seconds because he was unimaginably important to you, or because his hair was so uniquely bright, or maybe it was how boisterous and loud Crabbe and Goyle always were when they were by him, especially if he was with other Slytherins - but you found him, every single time with ease.

After standing on your tippy-toes several times to overlook the stampede of everyone, you finally spotted Draco leaning across a pillar with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face while he stood in a circle of his House friends that included his two goons and his quidditch teammates. You watched him thoughtfully as you approached, taking slow steps towards the group to admire him from afar and also because they were all slightly intimidating. He looked lost in the conversation, laughs escaping from his upturned lips as he listened to whatever was being said, large pale hands running through his hair every so often when the front pieces of his hair would flop down to his forehead.

He looked ridiculously good and effortlessly at that.

You weren’t sure if you should interrupt, hesitating a few feet away from them to where they couldn’t sense your presence but you were close enough to see and hear them clearly.

“We’ll see you later tonight then, Malfoy?” One of the boys nodded towards Draco.

“I’ll show up for a bit, I suppose,” he shrugs.

You see him look around the circle of boys, eyes landing on you momentarily and then back to his friends before doing a double-take towards you again in surprise. You tried to ignore the butterflies erupting in your stomach when his smile widens slightly into a short-lived toothy grin while he said a quick goodbye to his friends causing them all to disband and him to start approaching you.

“Are you ready for the halloween of a lifetime?” You ask as he neared.

He rolled his eyes, laughing faintly. “Where am I meeting you, darling?”

The nick name he used so rarely for you made your knees feel weak, a warm blush rushing up your neck and inching onto your cheeks that you knew was going to be very apparent on your face in a few seconds.

“I’ll meet you right here in an hour,” you say quickly.

You didn’t give him time to answer before you turned quickly in the direction of your common room and began rushing away before he could see the effect he had on you that was so clearly appearing on your face.

You didn’t know what the night held for you and Draco or where it would lead you. Unknowing to you, you were both hoping something more could come out of the evening between the two of you. But he wasn’t one to express himself in that department of feelings and you weren’t feeling bold enough to say anything about yours. It was a gray area of hoping that fate could somehow intervene and throw the two of you into what you both wanted without either of you really saying anything - but it was impossible. There was no outcome or situation you had in mind that could lead you into that, so you were stuck desperately hoping that one day things might end up differently.

It was beginning to feel ironic how in your world full of real tangible magic, there wasn’t a magical solution to your problem. You were trapped feeling like a muggle who had to figure things out by themselves, no magic included. The thought of giving him a love potion did cross your mind as a joke, but it wasn’t a genuine or fair option but little did you know, you don’t need a potion for him to feel the same way - because he already did.

Walking into your dorm felt like an exuberant disaster of everyone running around and sitting in front of mirrors with their makeup or dressing into their costumes. It was noisy and filled with chatter and you were in shock from how much clutter everyone was able to make in such a short period of time from when the feast ended to now. A simple spell would clean everything up so you and everybody else didn’t really pay it any mind.

You maneuvered around the mess of your housemates and towards your bed where your costume was kept in the trunk underneath it, plopping down onto the floor to pull it from the underskirt of your House colored bedding.

“Did he finally say yes?” Your closest roomie friend jumped onto your bed, propping herself up on her elbows and resting her chin on her hands as she watched you dig through your bottomless trunk.

“Surprisingly, yes,” you answered, hiding the smile on your face.

She drawled out a teasing ‘ooh,’ poking your arm lightly with her index finger as you shied away and leaned deeper into your trunk. She was the only one who you willingly admitted your crush to as she was the only person you really trusted to not blather it off to someone.

“Will I be seeing you two in the Slytherin common room?” She wiggled her eyebrows. “The boys are throwing a party and I luckily got an invite, you know how they are. So picky with who shows up.”

“You mean they’re pretentious?” You laugh. “But I don’t know if we’ll be going to it. I know Draco obviously got invited but I was thinking we could do other things.”

“Like what?” She questions as if she knew it was going to be something dirty. “I know a few secret spots around the castle-”

“No, get your mind out of the gutter,” you smack her arm lightly. “I honestly have no clue what to do. I didn’t think he’d actually agree because he never does.”

She runs her hands over her face, stifling her laughs of disbelief before she sighed loudly. “I still suggest some broom closets, hidden out of sight.”

You sit up, pushing her from where she was lying while she laughed amusingly at your false horrified reaction that you put on to hide the fact from her that what she was suggestion really was what you wanted.

“I’ll leave you alone so you can get your costume on,” she smiles, jumping up from your bed and tossing one of your pillows at you as she walked away. You let out a huff, tossing it back onto your duvet before setting your costume down on the spot your friend was lying in.

You stared at it hesitantly, all of a sudden feeling nauseous at the thought of going out later with Draco as if it was some sort of date even though you knew it wasn’t. It was just two friends, hanging out, doing some spooky and fun Halloween activities together and nothing more; so why were you feeling so nervous? You weren’t sure if it was your instincts warning you of something major that was approaching or the fear that what you didn’t have planned was going to bite you in the arse when you continuously told Draco he was going to enjoy himself when you didn’t even know if that was going to be true. You didn’t want to disappoint him and mess it up for you in the future when the holiday came again and you didn’t want this to be the first and last time you experienced it with him.

The pressure was raining down on you like thick, hard pieces of hail with no end in sight.

As you were getting dressed and doing your makeup for your costume as you liked, (i’m trying to be vague for your own imagination teehee) all you could think about was what in the hell you were going to do once you met up with the Prince of Slytherin. Your train of thought was then derailed into wondering what he was going to be dressed up as or if he was going to be dressed up at all considering the way he is. He was the type to make fun of people who dressed up, that you knew when you ran into him last year as you were walking back to your common room with your friend, both of you in costume and victims of his gentle bullying. He obviously went easier on the two of you since you were there, telling you he was just messing around afterwards and saying he liked yours but once you were out of his sight but still in ear-shot, you heard him and his two minions berating a small group of people that unfortunately passed by them.

You gave yourself one last look in the floor mirror, letting out a long shaky exhale with your hands clasped together before you started towards the way out of your dorm, through the common room, and ultimately towards the foyer outside the Great Hall where Draco was most likely waiting for you. An hour had gone by since you last saw him, an hour of stress and panic that hadn’t slowed down or stopped.

Your shoes dragged against the stone floors, hugging yourself tightly as you walked nearer towards the spot where you were supposed to meet and as you lifted your gaze - you saw him there, staring right at you with a small grin and just like you expected, no costume.

“Nice costume,” he compliments when you reach him.

“Where’s yours?” You frown.

“I’m not dressing up. That’s embarrassing,” he shakes his head.

You scoff, crossing your arms. “You’re the only one not dressed up, that’s embarrassing.”

You don’t know why it was irritating to you that he wasn’t in costume, even if you knew he wasn’t. You figured it was because you were trying to overpower your nervousness with different more consuming feelings, and much to your and Draco’s dismay, it worked.

You weren’t nervous anymore, just irked.

“I’m staying like this, take it or leave it.”

You rolled your eyes, staring him down and hoping that he would change his mind but he wouldn’t. He was ridiculously stubborn.

In the heat of the moment of a fleeting thought, you decided that if he wasn’t going to be in costume, you would put him in one or at least a hint of one. You pulled your wand out, pointing it onto his striking white hair and with one easy spell, his hair was now a flaming vibrant red.

“Y/N!” He growled, running towards the closest thing that would show off his reflection where he let out a string of frantic curse words. “I look like a bloody Weasley.”

Your laughter caught him off guard, the sound ringing in his ears like music that spread warmth throughout him. You were clutching at your stomach with one hand and pointing at him with the other, giggling wildly at the sight of him with hair that did not suit him at all. He smiled to himself, your glee rubbing off on him abruptly that ate away quickly at his anger.

“You should’ve given me some ratty old hand-me-down robes and I’d look just like Ron,” he notes.

“That’s rude, Draco,” you say still laughing. He smirks, leaving the shiny statue of a knight in armor where he was checking his reflection and back over to you where you were still stuck in between doubling over in laughter and watching him.

“I’m glad this is funny to you,” he muses. He begins digging into the pocket of his dress pants, taking your vulnerability as a chance for him to tap his wand to the top of your head and before you could react, your whole hair had turned a deep green.

Your laughter immediately ended as you ran towards the suit of armor, your grimacing reflection staring back at you with deep Slytherin green hair and a distorted Draco behind you doubling over just like you were moments ago.

“This looks,” you couldn’t even finish your sentence, the scowl on your face saying enough for you as you turned bitterly towards Draco.

“Great?” He suggested, his guffawing subsiding into airy chuckles as you stood in front of him. Yours picked up again as you stared up at him, his striking bright red hair looking terribly unfamiliar on him. He was looking down at you, his heart jumping at the sight of you holding back your laughter. “You really do look dashing by the way.”

You swallowed thickly, thankful for the darkness that had settled around the castle and easily hid the scarlet brush appearing on your face. “But my hair is green.”

“Green is my favorite color.”

You opened your mouth to speak, your stomach and heart dropping simultaneously as your mind went completely blank. You pretended to not notice how he took a step closer to you to where he was almost fully against you and he pretended not to notice the way your lips were parted and how your chest was rising and falling a little too heavily as if you were nervous. It was game over for you when his gaze flickered down towards your lips and then back to your eyes, his head leaning down just the slightest like if he were waiting for you to meet him halfway. You were about to get closer to him, about to let your eyes close and give in to what you believed was him wanting to kiss you - but the world had other plans.

“Malfoy! There you are!” Someone boomed, clambering up the steps from the direction of the dungeons. You both jumped away from each other, your attention diverted to the Slytherin boy that interrupted the moment. “Malfoy come on, the party! And you can bring her too.”

You frowned when the boy came up to the two of you, clearly tipsy, dressed as a stereotypical vampire, and over-excited with the fact that Draco was out and willing to participate in Halloween festivities. It seemed like it bothered the now red-head when he looked to you and then back to the Slytherin boy with an apprehensive expression.

The boy, sensing the pause in the air, grabbed onto both you and Draco’s arms and started dragging the two of you towards the Slytherin common room where although the stone walls were thick, the sound of people celebrating inside were easily slipping past the stone slabs. He spoke the password out quickly and as soon as the entrance was open, you were both shoved inside into what looked like the largest party you had ever witnessed in all your years at Hogwarts. It was packed and filled with what looked like half of the school, or at least a huge majority of fifth-years and up. It was loud with music booming from a brand new wizarding-world radio in the middle of the room currently playing a song from the Weird Sisters. It smelled like a mixture of everyone’s perfumes and colognes and like firewhisky. The boy that pushed you two inside quickly passed you two cups of the very potent firewhisky before downing the third one he had in his hand and disappeared into the crowd while screaming for you to enjoy yourselves.

You both stood awkwardly away from the big and rowdy crowd, your drink clenched tightly in your hand against your chest and Draco swishing his around while it was still in the cup.

He wanted to up and run, thinking that someone was going to make a comment about his hair or about him being there, but no one seemed to pay attention to him or that he was there and in a way, he felt relieved by it and less tense by the second.

“How in the bloody hell did we end up here?” You yelled over the music, putting a hand over his arm that was holding his drink up. You didn’t mean to, but you were glad you did because he glanced down at the contact with a small smile before looking back up to you.

“We got dragged here, remember!” He yelled back.

“What?”

“We got dragged here!”

“I can’t hear you!”

He rolled his eyes, bending down towards your ear to repeat himself one last time before you finally heard him over the mayhem around you.

“This is crazy!” You looked around the room, the sight of all the bodies and recklessness being too much as they were all more than likely drunk and oblivious to how stuffy and suffocating the room was becoming.

You looked down at the golden brown liquid sloshing around in your cup, wondering whether or not you should take it, but with the nervousness you felt coming back, it didn’t take you much longer to decide to down your cup and allow the liquid courage to seep into your veins. Draco watched you with amusement, chuckling to himself when you scrunched up your face in disgust from the burn he knew it caused as it went down your throat. He shook his head, deciding to drink his too and it was only minutes that passed before the drink was quickly becoming apparent in your systems. There was something about Firewhisky that always made its mark promptly and it really was courage in a bottle that you were glad was available to you in that moment because you were sure that in just a few minutes you were close to fainting.

You were beginning to sway faintly to the music, the rhythm sounding more loud but distant and more invigorating. You didn’t care anymore if anyone was watching or that Draco was observing you curiously just as he was beginning to lose all sense of holding himself back. He was inching closer to you, his head moving slightly to beat of the song and pure joy etched onto his features when your eyes met his.

“I keep forgetting I turned your hair red!” You yelled up to him, laughing loudly when he ran his hand through it. In your moment of confidence, you reached up and lightly ran your fingers over one of the front pieces hanging over his forehead. He didn’t stop you, his heart hammering against his chest from the drink and his overwhelming crush that was clouding all his senses. “Your hair is so soft!”

He wanted to pin you up against the wall right then and there. You were peering up at him, just as you were before you were dragged inside by one of his Housemates and as soon as he was about to kiss you.

“Do you want to get out of here?” He knew to bend down this time for you to hear him to which you responded with a fervent nod. You took his hand in yours, pulling him towards the exit of the common room and he let you lead him into the coldness of the dungeons that bit at his cheeks. It was a stark difference from the warmth inside, the crisp October air being more chilled than what either of you were expecting. It felt nice against your flushed skin and easier to breathe, especially once after the common room closed again and you could hear was muffled talking and music.

Neither of you were drunk and were still aware of pretty much everything, mostly the feelings stirring inside you both that was begging either of you to make a move towards the other. You were just a tad tipsy, and so was he, but it was enough for you to still enjoy the night without the initial awkwardness that oddly settled in between you. It was weird, considering how open and talkative you usually were with each other but there was something about the evening that made it feel like if you didn’t know each other.

“What now?” He asked you with a raised brow, his hand slipping into his pocket.

You smiled, an idea coming to your head that you knew he would love and you didn’t mind doing in the name of Halloween. “Do you want to go mess with people?”

He stared at you with widened eyes, “bloody hell, I love you.”

There was nothing that could have prepared you for his response, your own eyes widening in shock as you stared at him. He felt his face get hot in embarrassment, Merlin, he felt so stupid. He was mentally smacking himself in the head, desperately wishing he could bury himself seven feet under the Earth and staying there until the end of time.

He was about to play off what he said in a joking way, but for the second time that night he was interrupted by a couple that stumbled out of the common room drunkenly snogging each other’s faces off and wholly oblivious to you and Draco standing there in lingering panic. You jumped back into his arms when the couple staggered past you, almost knocking you over in the process of their makeout session and it annoyed you beyond belief. It annoyed you that they were in your way, annoyed that they interrupted you, annoyed that it wasn’t you in their position with the one you wanted.

You dug your wand out of your pocket, flicking it their way as they rolled onto the wall, still in each other’s hold until the hex that flew from your wand hit the boy causing him to stagger back from the girl and holding his nose in pain. You heard Draco laugh from behind you when bats began to fly out from the boy’s nostrils while the girl screamed and ran away from one of the bats that swept down onto her head. The bats flew out of the dungeon and up the stairs with the boy struggling loudly the whole way up until his panicked screams were no longer heard.

“That was a perfect bat-bogey,” he looks at you proudly. “I feel bad for that poor bloke’s nose.”

“Thank you, thank you,” you bowed jokingly.

When the sound of the door opened again, you both ran to hide behind a long drape against the wall that didn’t hide your shoes very well and pressed up against your bodies that’s shapes were no doubt visible from the opposite side.

You heard footsteps trail haphazardly down the corridor, their back seemingly facing you and as you both peeked your heads out from behind the drape, Draco nodded towards the boy and pointed his wand towards him.

“Slugulus Eructo,” you heard him whisper and a stream of green light from his wand hit the back of the boy’s head and as he turned around in surprise while doubling over in pain, his hand clamped tightly over his mouth as slugs began to slip past the spaces between his fingers. When he stood up to run away, you noticed it was the same boy from earlier that stopped you two from the almost kiss and dragged you to the party. You let out a string of giggles as he ran away just like your last victims.

“This is so mean,” you chortle, leaning into him from behind the drape in an attempt to get closer to him. You were feeling bolder when he beamed down at you, feeling happy knowing that although the night was still young, he was having fun. “Thank you for coming with me tonight, I know you don’t like Halloween.” You say quietly.

“You finally convinced me, it’s not that bad,” he grins.

“Why’d you hate it in the first place?”

The question seemed to strike a nerve but the Firewhisky still flowing freely in his veins tore away easily at his defenses so instead of avoiding your question entirely like he usually would, he frowned and let his guard down.

“I don’t hate it,” he answers apprehensively. “My father never let me celebrate it. He never let me dress up. He told me respectable wizards don’t partake in holidays like these.”

His pout made your gut twist in sympathy, your hand instinctively going into his as you squeezed it reassuringly. “It’s never too late to start celebrating. Besides, I don’t see him here stopping you.”

He smiled for what felt like the hundredth time that night, his stained-red hair falling over his eyes as he looked down to his shoes.

“You have a point, darling.”

The door of the common room opened again and what you suspected to be another snogging couple to stumble out from the sound of heavy breathing and multiple shoes scuffling about was something completely different.

“Glad Malfoy stayed with someone else today.” It was Crabbe.

“Yeah, he never lets us go to these parties,” Goyle responds. “Go ahead and thank Y/L/N for freeing us, he fancies her like a fool.”

“Reckon we should go look for them?”

You figured Goyle nodded to him like the blathering idiot he was because in a few short seconds they were running away up the same steps everyone else had.

You peered up slowly at Draco who was already gaping at you like a deer in headlights. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. The gears in your brain were spinning wildly with happiness, the gossip hopefully being proven true when he didn’t try to deny it. You didn’t realize how close his face was to yours, cheeks tinged with pink from both the firewhisky and sudden shyness and his warm cinnamon breath fanning your face as he looked down at you.

“I can explain,” he finally said.

He didn’t need to; you placed your hands gently on his cheeks, pulling him impossibly closer to you and pressing your lips against his, catching him completely by surprise. His eyes were wide at first, his body rigid and his lips unmoving, but once it finally clicked that this was real and no longer a fantasy that played like a broken record in his head, his lips moved fervently against yours with the rest of his body following. His hands gripped your hips tightly, his fingers squeezing at the hem of your bottoms and his body pushing even further into yours.

Your bottom lip caught lightly in between his teeth as you reluctantly pulled away from him, the both of you breathing raggedly as you searched each other’s eyes.

“I feel the same,” you said softly. “Happy Halloween.”

He smashes his lips hungrily against yours again, his ego growing with each gasp of a delight that escapes your mouth as your hands roamed and tangled themselves into his magically colored strands.

“Very...happy...halloween,” he mutters against your lips in between kisses, a dazy smile adorning your face while he tightened his arms around you.

You just couldn’t wait until next year.

1K notes · View notes

spencerspecifics · 4 years ago

Note

HI HI HI PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WRITE MOREID AT PRIDE AND SOME PINING AND SPENCER THINKS DEREK IS STRAIGHT BUT HE ISN'T AND THEY KIIIITTTTTHHHHH

I absolutely love your energy fuck yes!! I’m so sorry this took forever, ive got school, work and some other personal things happening so I appreciate your patience!

No TW, B u t, a creep hits on Spencer at pride, so if that is upsetting please note that! Thanks :)

———————————————————————

Pride

———————————————————————

Garcia had been pestering Spencer about going to pride for the past week now, and it was slowly driving him insane.

He used almost every excuse he could think of. When he first turned her down, he had simply said, “Sorry, I’m going to be busy that week.” And of course, Garcia being Garcia, she stole his calendar to see what he was busy with (spoiler alert: he had nothing. Except a reminder to go grocery shopping, and email some professors and research scientists back).

So, she persisted, and he came up with a dozen more excuses; “I was considering flying out to see my mom”, “The local museum has a new interactive archeology exhibit for adults, and I want to learn more about ancient structures”, “I have to do a presentation on thermodynamics��.

None of those excuses work, as she sniffed out every lie, “Spencer, you hate flying to Vegas last minute, that archaeology exhibit has been open for months, and your calendar is empty!”

So with her persistence, and legitimate bullying, Spencer found himself finally agreeing. “Fine, but come over to my apartment before we leave so you can help me.” After all, he wasn’t really familiar with pride parades, and what the scene was like there. He was going to be a fish out of water, he already knew that for certain.

True to her word, Garcia showed up an hour before the pride parade was set to start, carrying a coffee in each hand- how she possibly knocked on his apartment door, Spencer didn’t know.

“I brought you a pick me up, that way you have no excuse to be in a bad mood!” She spoke in her signature sing song voice as Spencer let her inside, she barreled in like a hurricane. God, Spencer wasn’t ready for this.

“Thanks..” Spencer decided to reply with that lame response, and not with what he was actually thinking. He took the coffee from her wordlessly as she stepped in further, going to sit down on his couch.

“You excited?” Garcia asked as she set her cup down on his cluttered coffee table. Reid just shrugged, “I don’t know. I don’t do great with crowds.”

“But you do great with disarming murderers?” “You know that’s different-” Spencer said, doing his best to argue, “Reid it is literally not. Both are anxiety inducing, but one is life or death, and it’s not pride. So you can do this.”

Spencer sighed, resigning himself to not arguing with Garcia. Because she was right, though at times her arguments sounded wild. He just had to get over this anxiety and show up at pride, he could do this, right?

Wrong. So, very, wrong. They had left his apartment with thirty minutes to spare, deciding to walk over to where pride was being held- as it was only a few blocks away in a public park.

And as soon as they got there, Spencer wanted out. There were so many people, more than he estimated (and his estimations were usually spot on.), and there was just chaos everywhere. Music, dancing, shouting, singing, drag queens running around happily. Spencer wasn’t sure what to do. He was out of his element.

Garcia seemed to sense that, though, as she dragged Spencer over to some stalls that sold pride flags, pins, and other miscellaneous pride related things.

“C’mon Reid, why don’t you look around and find something you like?” She offered up, something for him to do- something for him to stay busy with. He could do that. Spencer nodded simply, Garcia stayed by his side- looking at pride related wear for herself.

Spencer ended up deciding on a small pin that simply said; “love all”, planning to stick it on his messenger bag strap. Garcia bought a pin as well, but hers just had her pronouns on them; “she/her/hers”.

Looking at all the pride apparel was a good distraction for Spencer, he felt a lot more calmer now- though that didn’t stop him from feeling like he stuck out like a sore thumb. He’s just not familiar with this world, and it’s awkward to suddenly be in the middle of it.

Spencer was in the middle of looking at another booth that sold flags, possibly considering buying himself a small one to stick in his pencil cup at work, because Garcia left him to go compliment a drag queen- when a voice broke through.

“Hey, pretty boy!”

That was a voice all too familiar, what on earth was Morgan doing here? Spencer looked up at him as he made his way towards him. “Hey,” Spencer spoke awkwardly. Not sure what to say.

Spencer was gay. He was fine with admitting he was gay, but he hadn’t really told the team. He thought they figured it out on their own. And they probably had, but still, having his coworker see him at a pride event- it was anxiety inducing.

“What’re- what’re you doing here?” Spencer asked, stumbling over his words as he dropped the small flag he was holding back onto the vendors table.

“Oh, well I’m on the local PFLAG committee. I’m just here to hand out flyers and stuff. But I’m glad to see you’re here, I’m guessing Garcia’s here too?” He asked Spencer casually, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on Spencer.

He was on the PFLAG committee? Why? To help queer people, obviously, but that had to mean he was gay or something- Spencer couldn’t stop his mind from coming up with every possible answer to why Derek was on the committee.

Spencer just nodded in response, he moved himself back from the vendors table to get out of the way, so other customers could look at the flags being sold.

“Yeah, she’s- there.” Reid pointed her out, as if on cue she came out of the thick crowd that had started to gather back up, the parade portion of pride had concluded by now, and people were coming over to the vendors section.

“Hey, Babygirl!” Derek called over to her, and Garcia somehow lit up with a smile brighter than the one she was wearing before, “Well, hey!” She responded enthusiastically, walking up swiftly to give Derek a quick embrace, which he happily returned.

“I wasn’t sure how long you were staying for, but I’m glad I caught you!” Garcia started rambling to Derek, about how the drag queen she met was so nice; “Her name was Mysteria Hysteria. Isn’t that genius?”.

Spencer just stepped back from them both, not sure what to do, not sure if he fully belonged. Pride was a nice event, it was. But the longer he stood around, the more he felt like he should be leaving. Everyone was laughing and smiling, everyone was just happy. And Spencer couldn’t stop racking his brain. In the beginning, he couldn’t stop thinking because of his anxiety, but now he was searching his brain for a reason why Derek was here and what it meant.

Of course, a stupid large portion of Spencer’s mind went to “maybe Morgan likes men”, and then an even larger and stupider portion of his mind had the absurdity to think; “maybe he’s interested in me”. Which Spencer did not even want to remotely entertain, because if he fell down that rabbit hole, he’d never climb back out.

Because yes, he did like Derek. He liked him a lot, the start for his liking towards the man was innocuous enough- which is why it was a problem for Spencer. He didn’t realized he liked Morgan until it was too late. And now he had been battling these feelings for years. Spencer wasn’t ever going to act on them, he just had to live with them- which he had been doing, which he has been content with. But this new information, about Morgan being here, being part of PFLAG- it was going to make Reid’s mind implode in on itself.

Reid decided the best thing was to say; “I’m gonna get some water, I’ll be back.” To which Derek and Garcia both nodded to, and Spencer was off, away from the vendors stand and the only two people he knew at pride.

And while that was a good thing, it was simultaneously not so good. Because now he was alone, overwhelmed, and thinking too much. And now he had a task to do, find himself some water.

That task seemed to be more difficult than anticipated, as the prides layout was a confusing maze, spencer had to pass in front of a group of drag queens in order to get to the food trucks that were on site- but he eventually got there.

He walked up to the first food truck he saw, it didn’t matter what they sold, he wasn’t getting it.

“What can I get for you?” The cashier asked him, “Just a water, please.” He ordered, the cashier nodded and pulled a bottle out from a cooler that was nearby within the truck, handing it over to spencer as they told him his total, a dollar twenty five. Spencer paid quickly, stepping back and away from the food truck, as he wasn’t sure where else to go now. He didn’t want to go back towards Derek or Garcia, he honestly wanted to go home.

He just needed a minute, some space and time to breathe and relax. He was stressing himself out. And about what? Nothing of goddamn importance, just a stupid crush he had been living with for a while now.

Spencer had been leaning against the back the food truck for not long, only a couple of minutes as he was absorbed in thought as he fiddled with the cap on the water bottle.

He was doing his best to follow the grounding techniques he had learned, something to help him calm down, when suddenly- a stranger emerged out of the crowd.

“Hey there, handsome.” The man said confidently as he strode up to introduce himself Spencer. Spencer looked up to meet his eyes, the man in question was a fine looking guy, chiseled jawline, long shoulder length hair, a bit of facial stubble. He was handsome. “Hello,” Spencer answered hollowly in response. In an ordinary situation, he would try and seem more lively- but he wasn’t in a normal situation, not at all.

The anxiety of attending pride was stress enough on its own, but now knowing the guy he had been drooling over for years was here- and worked as a PFLAG volunteer? It was enough to make him lose his mind.

The man didn’t seem to notice Spencer’s empty response, however, as he answered suavely in response; “I couldn’t help but notice you from across the way. I’m Fabian,” Thankfully, the man- Fabian, didn’t stick his hand out for a handshake, instead casually pushing his hair back a bit.

“I’m Spencer,” Reid replied simply, knowing it was best to ride this odd social interaction out, rather than try and fight it. “That’s a lovely name,” Fabian complimented, “Is this your first time at pride, Spencer?” He asked him casually, taking a step forward, closer to Spencer. He was all too confident for Spencer, he too comfortable with invading Spencer’s space. If Spencer could’ve, he would’ve stepped back.

“Uh, yeah. My friend dragged me along.” Reid explained, twisting the bottle cap back onto his half empty water bottle. Fabian nodded, “Your boyfriend didn’t take you?” Fabian asked him. That was a leading question, Spencer had alarm bells ringing in his head the second he heard it. “No. He- um- he met up with us here.” Spencer replied unconvincingly, Fabian obviously did not believe a word he said.

“Well,” Fabian took another step forward, practically blocking Reid in against the back of the food truck, leaning in farther to whisper in Spencer’s ear; “I don’t see him around. So, why don’t you and I get out of here? Hm?”

Spencer wasn’t sure of what to do. He wanted to kick this guy in the crotch and just book it, but he wasn’t sure if his FBI status would protect him in this scenario. He wasn’t sure what could protect him in this scenario.

“Pretty boy! There you are!” A saving grace broke through, and suddenly Fabian was stepping back, and Morgan was walking up.

Thank god, thank fucking god, that’s all Spencer could manage to think as Derek came to stand beside him. “Hey, babe.” Spencer said, cringing at his voice, at what he just said. But that feeling only lasted for a moment as Fabian was still standing right there, staring them both down now.

Spencer could only throw his wish in the sky and hope Derek caught it coming down, ‘please catch along to why I’m calling you babe’ Reid was trying to say.

And Derek caught it, “Hey, baby, was worried about you. Who’s your friend?” He said in his smooth voice, a voice Spencer couldn’t forget. He especially couldn’t forget now, being called ‘baby’ was something Spencer especially could not forget.

“I’m Fabian, you’re Spencer’s boyfriend?” Fabian asked, as if them both calling each other ‘babe’ counted for nothing. “Yeah, I’m Derek.” Morgan responded simply, sliding his hand around Spencer’s waist as if to prove a point. Fabian just nodded, looking between Spencer and Derek one last time before talking; “Well, it was nice to meet you, I’ve gotta get going. See you.”

And then, he was off, fast walking away from Derek and Reid, escaping the terrible situation he had created. Fabian quickly disappeared into the thick crowd, and by then Spencer had his hand squeezing his water bottle all too tightly- as evident by the terrible crunch sound it made. He was too anxious to let go.

“Hey, are you okay?” Derek asked him softly, pulling his hand away from Spencer’s waist. “Can we find somewhere else- can we go sit down?” Spencer asked him quickly. Reid didn’t want to talk about it right this second, right where it had happened. He wanted to leave, he wanted to leave pride and never come back.

Derek didn’t ask a single follow up question as he led Reid away from the food trucks, taking him back towards the vendors stands, and then a bit further back, into the normal-not-so-pride-parade-filled park area. Somewhere less stressful, less scary.

“What did that guy want?” Derek asked Spencer casually as they made their way towards a bench that was sat under a large oak tree. Spencer didn’t speak right away, instead he waited until they were seated to start talking.

“He was trying to flirt, but then he wanted me to leave with him.” Spencer explained as he took a deep breath in, just being away from all the loud sounds and sights was helping him calm down. Derek rubbed Spencer’s back in slow, circular motions as Spencer kept talking.

“He was a classic example of a narcissistic personality, it just made me so uncomfortable- he invaded my space.”

“He was a creep, Reid. Simple as that,” Derek kept rubbing Spencer’s back slowly, Spencer nodded. “I know. Sorry, it shook me up.” Spencer attempted to apologized, and Derek was immediately having none of that.

“Reid, no. Don’t apologize for that, don’t you dare. He was a creep, I’m sorry you got caught up with him. It’s okay if you’re shaken up. We can stay here until you feel up to going back, or we can leave. But I’m not leaving you.”

And so they sat for a good amount of time on that park bench, at one point Derek stopped rubbing Spencer’s back, instead just keeping his arm stretched out against the back of the bench and against Spencer’s back. Spencer loved it, but he knew if he thought about it for too long he wouldn’t be able to stop thinking. That was his biggest problem, he couldn’t stop thinking.

He had to know, he decided, he couldn’t just wonder why Derek was on the committee for PFLAG. He wanted to know, he had to.

“Derek?” He spoke up softly, sounds of laughing and shouting and music were still heard in the distance, but they were safe from the sounds under the tree. “Mhm?” Derek hummed in response, looking up at the aforementioned tree that was providing shade for them.

His eyes were tracing the way the branches curved and bent around each other, it was something he did to pass the time. Spencer thought he was extraordinary for it, Derek loved to see where things went; he was curious- after all these years, and all the bad they had seen together, Derek still loved to search and find the beauty.

“Why are you on the PFLAG committee ?” Spencer asked him, it was thankfully an innocuous enough ask to not draw too much of Derek profilings side out to pry apart his question. Derek shrugged, and was quiet for a second before responding, “I know what it’s like to be a scared kid, unsure of his identity. If I can help someone through that, that’s all that matters. Same reason I’m in the BAU, to help people.”

Spencer stayed quiet, Derek’s reason was so sincere and so sweet and kind- and only driving him to think further. Was Derek still unsure of his identity? Was he an ally? Why did he have to make Spencer swoon so hard without even trying?

“So, you’re just an ally?” Spencer approached Derek carefully with that question, not wanting to impose or be rude- but just feign simple curiosity, praying Derek wasn’t using his profiling skills right now to decode Spencer’s fake motive.

Derek didn’t notice, thankfully, as he chuckled lowly in response; “No, pretty boy, I’m bisexual. I don’t really tell the team, but it’s not confidential information. Plus, Garcia found Grindr on my phone. Can’t hide anything from that girl.”

Spencer nodded, mumbling something in response about how Garcia had hacked his email to make sure he was free for pride. And then, the two fell into silence again. But it didn’t last for long, because Derek wanted to know just as much, why was Spencer here?

“What about you, Reid?” Derek asked him cautiously, the way you approach a puppy you find on the side of the road. Calm and slow, trying to get him to trust him bit by bit. “What about me?” Spencer asked, not wanting to answer anything about himself unless Derek was specific.

“Are you an ally?” Morgan asked him, leaving the question open ended. Spencer could say as little or as much as he wanted. This is how you get him to open up, Derek knew that for a fact. “Um.. yeah, I mean- who isn’t? I just- I have to be. I’m.. gay.” Spencer admitted all too awkwardly, not at all in a normal fashion. But nothing about Spencer was in normal fashion.

Derek nodded slowly, not responding as he stared back up, tracing his eyes over the tree branches yet again.

A few hours had passed, Spencer and Derek eventually left their peaceful bench under the large oak tree, and instead moved back towards the parking lot.

“Garcia’s got a ride home already- I think she got that drag queen to get her home.” Derek explained as they approached his truck, Spencer nodded as he followed Derek. “Anyways,” Derek continued speaking, “I can give you a ride home. Let’s get going.”

“You don’t have to-“ Spencer started, Derek immediately shut him down. “I want to, c’mon. It’s late, you’re tired. I know you are. Let me take you home.” Spencer just nodded in agreement, he couldn’t argue with Derek, even if he did try. Morgan was a stubborn man.

So, Spencer followed Derek into his truck, and they sat in comfortable silence as they started on their journey back to Spencer’s safe space, his apartment.

By the time Derek pulled his truck into the apartments parking lot, Spencer knew something was just the slightest bit wrong. Derek had barely spoken for the entire ride, and usually he loves to say something, to make Spencer smile or laugh, or even just nod and mumble in agreement. But he had done none of that on the way to Spencers.

“Are you alright?” Spencer asked, turning to face Derek as he put the vehicle in park. Derek didn’t meet his eyes, staring at the steering wheel instead as he spoke; “Yeah. Sorry. I’m just thinking.”

“About what?” Spencer pried, absentmindedly unbuckling his seatbelt as he spoke, “About today.” Derek said, not explaining further. “Was today bad?”

Derek shook his head, “No. It started weird, it’s ending pretty good, though. But I’m gonna regret today forever if I don’t do something right now.”

Now, Spencer was confused. Not sure at all what Derek could be talking about, “What do you mean?” He asked, voice quieter than before.

Derek said nothing as he unbuckled his own seatbelt, turning to face Spencer as well, and then he leaned in- closer than they had ever been before. Their noses were almost touching, and Spencer didn’t move. Instead, he watched Derek’s eyes expectantly.

Then, Derek broke through, they were no longer intersecting each other’s personal space- now they were fully destroying each other’s atmospheres. Derek’s lips were on Spencer’s, a chaste, soft, quick kiss- something Spencer would have wanted to go for a lot longer. But then, he pulled away just as fast.

“...That’s what I meant..” He mumbled after a second, looking back towards the steering wheel, looking away from Spencer- and more importantly, not seeing the smile on Spencer’s face.

Spencer couldn’t help it. He knew it was terrible to be smiling right now- he should jump and say something to fix what was happening. But he had to smile, he couldn’t believe that had actually just happened, his brain was still computing and re-circuiting, trying to savor the memory and not forget how Derek’s lips felt against his.

Spencer dragged himself out of his own head quickly, though. He did all he could think of to do in the moment, get Derek back. “Morgan.” Spencer said, tugging on Derek’s sleeve as he did so, forcing him to look back at Spencer and meet his eyes again.

But Spencer didn’t say anything, and he didn’t give Derek the chance to speak, either. Instead, he leant forward, pressing his lips against Derek’s. This is all he had wanted to know for the longest time, and now he had it.

Maybe pride wasn’t so bad after all, you just have to be with the right people for it to work out.

———————————————————————

197 notes · View notes

stinkrascal · 3 years ago

Note

I'm always in awe of your builds, may I please ask if there's any guidelines you give yourself for cluttering? Everytime I try, I just get so overwhelmed...

this is really kind, thank you so much!! honestly, i don't feel like i'm very good at cluttering in a way that's very meaningful, so it flatters me that you think otherwise lol. i don't really have guidelines per se, but i guess i just try to think about what objects make sense to have around at any given place? i mainly decorate houses and bedrooms, so when i'm going through a character's home i try to imagine what they like, what their favorite colors are, their style, how clean/messy they are etc and i try to express that through the decor (i really hate making public lot builds, so the majority of those featured in my story are the ones created by @/beansbuilds). anastasia is girly and she's kinda all over the place, so her bedroom is pastel and messy and covered in clutter, whereas nikolai is very organized and neat, and his bedroom is neutral-toned and clean with minimal decorations. it just depends on the vibes you know!! just think long and hard about the vibes then try to express that through the decorations!! and think about their hobbies too you know, like for instance if you have an oc who likes art, maybe have a few easels, paint brushes, sketchbooks, and colored pencils lying about, or if you have an oc who really loves nature, cover their room with tons of plant life. little things like that to convey their character!! decorationg someone's bedroom can be a great way to develop their personality!

you should always use references too!! whenever im low on inspiration, my go-to muses are always @/warmsol @/peonypyxels and @/orphyd. i genuinely believe the simple act of staring at their builds for as long as i have has improved my ability to decorate my own builds lol. its good to get real-world references of bedrooms too, you can find a lot on places like pinterest! but in my opinion, studying other simblrs' builds proves a lot more helpful since you can see real examples of how others utilize space in their games!

#jade answers #anonymous #i hope this helped!!!#idk the best thing i can say about learning to build is like #u just have to accept that the process is very meticulous and it can take time #actually finding the decor u want then placing it on omsps and aligning it correctly to the surface it takes time u know #esp when u start getting a huge collection of bb cc it can be a lot to just sift through everything #so while im building i like to watch youtube videos to help pass time!!!#youtube is essential to building i think #also save FREQUENTLY #make it a habit do it right now #every time i finish a counter surface i save #sometimes i wait until i complete a wall of a bedroom #BUT GET INTO THE HABIT OF SAVING OK #im actually very fortunate in that my game has only crashed on me like once #which for someone who has 110 gb of cc youd think thatd be a bigger issue for me but no #im good as FUCK at troubleshooting i will never run into sims 4 complications *knocks on wood*#but please the one time my game crashed i was building bries cute pink gamer girl office AND I CRIED BC NOTHING SAVED #its finished now her pink gamer girl room looks very incredibly cute but like i was grumpy for a few days #i had to recover before i could redecorate her pink gamer girl room u know that shit hurted #thats why u ened to remember to save frequently so you dont hurt like me. thank u for listening #good luck sport #i believe in u

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plus-ultra-oof · 3 years ago

Text

Break Time! | Bokuto & Kuroo | Haikyuu!! | Tickle Fic

A/N: This is one of the fastest things I’ve ever written lol. I love Bokuto and Kuroo’s friendship a lot but this could be read as Bokuroo too.

Disclaimer: Includes swearing and minor spoilers for the timeskip (Kuroo’s future plans are vaguely mentioned)

Summary: Kuroo’s working himself to death with exam season on the horizon and Bokuto has just the idea to “help.”

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Upon a third glance at Kuroo in just a few minutes, Bokuto had determined something was wrong. He could hear him sigh and shift in his seat from where he was sat on his bed. It wasn’t in the restless way that Bokuto was feeling right now though. It was a lot more tired. He narrowed his eyes at his friend, taking in his stiff posture and tense jaw. Rubbing his eyes with one hand Kuroo scrubbed an eraser across his paper with the other, the movement far harsher than necessary. He craned his neck to read something out of a textbook and his lips pressed into a thin line as he tried to comprehend it. The near silence in the room aside from his friend’s quiet frustration was honestly freaking Bokuto out.

When he’d shown up at the other captain’s front door, he’d been ready to go get food, screw around in his backyard, and maybe see an action movie or something. They’d planned this for weeks in advance —their schedules were both pretty packed— and as far as Bokuto knew they were both really looking forward to it. He’d prepared to just mess around and have some simple fun, so he was really surprised when Kuroo opened the door with a tight frown on his lips and not at all dressed for a day out.

“Bo?” Kuroo furrowed his eyebrows as his arms came up to cross over his chest, “what are you-“ Realization took over his features and after a few mumbled curses to himself, Kuroo opened the door further and let him in. The house was the same as Bokuto remembered it: Clean, but still clearly lived in. The mild clutter was charming in its own way and Bokuto had seen it when he’d visited his friend in the past. Kuroo himself was actually the only thing that seemed different.

His hair was messier than usual somehow and the beginnings of dark circles were smudged under his eyes. Instead of his usually clean and neat clothes, he was in a ratty white t-shirt and some old looking red sweats with “Nekoma” written down the sides in faded white block letters. It wasn’t just that though, all of his apologies and attempts at conversation also seemed off as he led Bokuto up the stairs to his room. Like his heart wasn’t really in it with his mind so preoccupied.

“Sorry man, I completely forgot, my bad it’s just-“ he cut himself off with a sigh as he heavily dropped into his desk chair. Bokuto felt overwhelmed just looking at the numerous stacks of heavy books lining the desk, so of course he hadn’t protested when his friend asked for another hour to finish up. He hadn’t been excited to sit and do nothing for an hour, but even he wasn’t going to complain when the usually cool and collected guy seemed so frazzled.

So after running back down to the kitchen to grab some snacks, he’d settled down on Kuroo’s bed to wait, scrolling aimlessly through his phone to try and quell his boredom and keep his restlessness at bay for a bit.

That, of course, didn’t work for long. After maybe 50 minutes —a new record!— he started stealing glances at Kuroo over his phone and as time continued to pass he became more and more concerned. He could practically feel the stress rolling off him in waves as he flipped through another workbook, so Bokuto did the only thing he could think to do at the moment, with what little information he had on whatever was happening; He messaged Kenma.

After tapping out a simple “whats wrong with Kuroo?” he’d set his phone down, not expecting much from it. Even though he barely contacted the guy on his own, Bokuto knew Kenma was terrible at responding to anyone who wasn’t Hinata. This obviously meant his chances of getting a reply before the day ended were slim. He practically jumped to grab his phone when it lit up again, only minutes after sending the message. Pretty damn fast for Kenma of all people.

From Kozume Kenma:

entrance exams. he’s been like that all week.

Ohhhhh. That made sense. Bokuto looked over at Kuroo again, as he glared down at his calculator, a new kind of disdain burning in his eyes. Bokuto hadn’t given the exams much thought honestly, but to Kuroo they surely mattered a lot.

When Kuroo told him that he was going to be quitting Volleyball once they graduated to pursue a career in the marketing side of things, Bokuto’d both understood completely and not gotten it at all.

He’d never really know how anyone could give up something that gave him such a thrill and brought him such joy. Sure, Nekoma wasn’t exactly a powerhouse school, but Kuroo was still a damn good blocker. He surely could’ve made it onto at least a division 2 team if he tried. Still, his friend was different. He wanted something else and that was okay. What wasn’t okay was the fact that he seemed set on working himself to death for it.

To Kozume Kenma:

k im gonna fix him

This time the reply was instantaneous. A simple “good luck” that felt suspiciously like Kenma doubting him. He scoffed, looking over at Kuroo again. The guy was probably even more tired than he looked. Koutaro could definitely take him in the messed up state he was in. Then again, he was incredibly stubborn when he wanted to be.

Bokuto glanced down at his phone. He’d already gone 20 minutes over the promised hour. That plus the whole week Kenma described had to be enough time for now. Going for that long without a real break sounded insane to Bokuto, and there was no way it was healthy either.

“Hey Kuroo,” Bokuto called, sitting up and grabbing his phone after sending a final text off to Kenma (An assortment of emojis portraying his confidence and competence at the given task). When his eyes fell on Kuroo, he hadn’t moved at the sound of his name.

“Kuroo?” He tried again. Still no response. It seemed the blocker was lost in his own world of textbooks and pages on pages of meticulous notes. Bokuto practically shuddered at the sight. He didn’t know how his friend could stare at all of that for so long.

Standing and taking a few steps away from the bed landed him right behind the desk chair. He frowned. Kuroo still hadn’t even noticed him moving around. Then he reached across the desk to retrieve a different colored pen and an idea popped into his head. Bokuto, always quite the impulsive person, followed it without question.

He quietly set his phone down on the opposite side of the desk to free his other hand and then reached out and jabbed him in the ribs on both sides. The action was instantly rewarded with a jolt and a squeak from Kuroo, a clatter from his pencil when it fell from his hand, and a loud triumphant laugh from Bokuto himself. Kuroo whipped around, scowling, “What the hell, man?”

“Your hour is way up bro,” Kuroo raised an eyebrow at him and scrambled for his phone. Once he found it beneath a large stack of colorful print outs, Bokuto saw the suspicion and slight annoyance in his eyes turn into guilt.

“Shit,” he turned to actually face him and Bokuto could see the way his shoulders sagged and his hands fidgeted in his lap in a very un-Kuroo-like fashion, “I’m sorry Bo,”

Koutaro gave him a bright smile in an extra effort to assuage his guilt, “It’s no problem, we can just go now!” He exclaimed, straightening and nodding at the door. Kuroo hesitated at that but before he could say anything, Bokuto’s phone chimed from its place on the desk. It lit up for both of them to see and Kuroo’s eyes narrowed in confusion.

“Why’s Kenma texting you?” He asked. A hint of his usual smirk flashed across his face as he peered at the deadpan emoticon, familiar and characteristic of his childhood friend. Bokuto bristled at the question. Why wouldn’t Kenma text him? Sure they weren’t exactly close, but Kuroo didn’t need to look so smug about it!

“I text a lot of people!” He replied, tucking his arms to his chest petulantly, “and you were busy,” he added before he could think better of it.

Kuroo immediately deflated at the reminder of his work. The glimmer of his usual playful self vanishing as he looked back over at his collection of practice booklets and papers and whatever else was strewn across his desk. Then he bit his cheek, and Bokuto knew he was going to argue before he even forced it out.

“Bo, I should probably keep going,” Kuroo frowned, his words almost pained, as if just the idea of going back to studying hurt him. That was what really solidified everything in Bokuto’s mind, “Maybe we can-“

“Nope,” Bokuto said succinctly before launching his attack with the overwhelming energy of a hyperactive athlete who’d just sat in one place for way too long. Kuroo squirmed in place as the spiker snuck a hand up his side. He was unable to stop from giggling already, too caught off guard by the suddenness.

“W-Whahahat the fuhuhuck, Bokuto?”

Bokuto shrugged and used his other hand to scribble at his neck. He made no effort to hide his shit eating grin when his friend squeaked in response, attempting to lean away in the chair, “You’ve been doing this for wayyyy to long,” he chuckled, grin only widening when the best defense Kuroo could muster was to slap at his wrists. Weak at best, but compared to his usual struggle, it was even more lackluster for the self proclaimed provocation master, “You can barely even fight back!”

“Shuhut uhuhup- Bohoho!” Kuroo’s volume went up in slight alarm. Bokuto grabbed onto his arm, using it to pull him out of his chair while simultaneously continuing his attack on his waist. Then he sent him falling back into his bed with a gentle shove, easily maneuvering him into a semi-pinned position with a practiced grace. Now with one of his arms held firmly away from his side, Tetsuro was feeling a lot more vulnerable. The shift was evidenced in the more frantic giggling as he tried to muster enough energy to pull away from Bokuto’s playful torment.

“Don’t worry, we can get you some barbecue! It’ll fix you right up!” Bokuto exclaimed, as if he wasn’t currently digging his wriggling fingers into Kuroo’s stomach to make him shriek louder. Still, he shook his head wildly.

“Ngh- ahahah ihihi- ihihihi neheheed to stuhuDy!” He tried, his voice shooting up an octave when Bokuto decided that the dips in his hip bones were a suitable place to grab and squeeze. Damn Bokuto and his stupidly extensive knowledge of this particular weakness.

“Mmm no,” Bokuto responded, slowing his fingers to fluttery circle to let the other captain breathe, “From what I hear you’ve already done way too much of that! It’s break time!” Kuroo took in the extra air greedily. As he did, he leveled his friend with an incredulous stare.

“How did you even-?” Kuroo started before his expression dropped and his eyes darkened in realization. His gaze went back up to Bokuto’s face where he was leaning over him curiously, “Kenma,”

“Yup,” Kotarou laughed boisterously and nodded his confirmation, “This is an intervention man,” The blocker scowled and started to say something that sounded like the word “traitor” but he was quickly cut off by his own hysterical giggling. The break was over, and Bokuto had decidedly shoved his hands higher to scratch at his friend’s ribs at the sign of continued resistance.

“He- aHA shihit! Hehehe’s lying!” Kuroo yelled through his laughter, desperately trying to catch Bokuto’s wrists as his hands seemed to continue crawling their way up his torso, “Lehehehet mehe uhuhup!”

Bokuto scoffed and smirked at his panicked movements, “Not a chance,” His hands didn’t pause for a second as they avoided Kuroo’s grasp. When they honed in on the space between his top two ribs he threw his head back with a helpless cackle. Bokuto had to bite down on a fond smile at the sound, “Now come on! Just say you’re gonna stop overworking yourself and come get food with your best friend!”

“KehenmahaAh’s my behest friehehend!” Kuroo jeered defiantly, apparently still sassy despite everything. Bokuto narrowed his eyes and dug into his ribs harder, making him throw his head back with the force of his laughter.

“Rude,” If Kuroo wasn’t so busy dying, he would’ve teased Kotarou for the childish pout on his face, “but fine, your second best friend,” he corrected laboriously, as if the Nekoma student was in any place to properly respond to him.

“Gahahahah yohou’re ridihiculous!”

“Blah blah blah, let’s go get food Kurooooo!”

“I hahave to- wahahait! No no no Bo DoHON’T!” The resounding screech that Kuroo let out when Bokuto’s fingers finally made contact with the soft skin of his underarms was priceless. He fell into a fit of insane laughter as the other captain watched proudly. His hyena laugh even made an appearance, sending Bokuto himself into manic giggling as he set about driving his friend crazy. “BWAHAHAHA NOHOHO NAHA BOHOHO!”

“What was that?” He teased watching as any final hope of escape fell away, leaving Kuroo a laughing mess. His hair was skewed all of the place along with his clothes that had ridden up in his struggles. His face was bright red, from embarrassment, laughter, or both Bokuto didn’t know, but it was entertaining any way. It was also comforting to see that even in his almost catatonic pre exam state, his friend was still capable of loosing himself in something as simple as tickling.

“FIHIHINE! FINE FINE FIHIHINE!” Kuroo screamed, giving up his pride at last. Anything was worth it at this point just to stop the sensations taking over his brain. All he could think of was the way Bokuto’s deft fingers were scribbling over his underarms and how no matter how he jerked or squirmed or squeezed his arms to his sides it just wouldn’t stop. He could never handle being tickled there long and Bokuto was taking full advantage of that information, “AHAH YOHOHOU- GahHAH YOU WIHIHIN DAMNIT JUHUHUST STAHAHAP!”

Bokuto shot up from the bed, stopping to throw his arms up in a cheer. His loud shout of “HEY HEY HEY!” in victory was lost on Kuroo though. He was too busy trying to catch his breath where he laid K.O.ed on his bed. Still, when Bokuto finished celebrating and turned back to him he looked better. Still tired, but significantly less stressed out of his mind.

Even as he punched him in the shoulder in revenge, his posture had relaxed and there was a wide grin left on his face. And as the last of his giggles faded away, Bokuto was inclined to believe that it was genuine.

“Come on bro, I wanna go check out the new Rec center by the park!” Bokuto yelled, earning a raised eyebrow from Kuroo as he moved around his room, picking out new clothes for their outing. He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it into his laundry basket before turning to face him.

“I thought you said we were getting barbecue?” He asked, amusement coloring his tone as he picked up a new shirt. Bokuto smirked.

“Both,” he replied, squeezing Kuroo’s sides as he lifted his arms to put it on. He laughed loudly, batting his hands away and shaking his head.

“Ahaha enouhough!” He giggled, taking a few shaky breaths. Then his taunting tone returned at last, “As long as you’re paying man,” His usual smirk was now secured back in its place, for better or for worse.

Then he ducked into the bathroom just in time to avoid Bokuto’s distressed groan. Rest In Peace his wallet.

Still though, he was admittedly happy that Kuroo was back to normal, even if that meant that he was back to being a stingy jerk.

#Bokuto Koutaro #Kuroo Tetsuro #ticklish!Kuroo #haikyuu! tickle fic #tickle fic #tickle #tickling #tickles #fanfic #thanks for reading

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agapi-kalyptei · 3 years ago

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sickblogging: took 80mg methylphenidate today. my previous max was 60mg, tried it 3x and each time it felt like way too much. today? barely feels like it’s doing anything, I’m just... not half asleep. An unorthodox method, but I guess it works! for now.

brain dump, with wildly unrealistic non-medical explanations:

(1) This is most certainly not a reliable explanation for my dizziness, but here are some thoughts. Sometimes when I get excited about meeting new people, with or without romantic interest, I get dizzy. Usually when talking to them, my head just gets filled with hot air and I start floating above fields and meadows. It’s like an extended brain fart you get when you suddenly meet a celebrity you admire.

(2) That said, I’m not in love, not in the usual sense. Would I go on a dinner date with Triin Ruubel if offered? Oh, absolutely. A thousand times yes. Do I, like, think about it more often than twice a month on Friday evenings? Not really. I’m def going to store this explanation for later as a joke tho.

(3) So, what else? What if I’m just overwhelmed, on a much wider scale? I very rarely get dizzy from being overwhelmed. Mostly I just curl up on a couch/bed/binge video games and feel tired for a bit. Not dizzy. Being overloaded with choice + with my ADHD, if anything, makes me paralyzed and indecisive. When it’s work related, I either discuss it with senior devs, or just jump to whatever my gut tells me is right. I might not be the most competent/confident decider, but it can be done. And I still stay dizzy on my days off work.

(4) But, what about my hobbies? With the growing daylight, and because Cymbalta actually worked for me as an antidepressant, to get me back to having a wider emotional range, to laugh more often, and feel like a human, I also started getting excited about life. Not that I didn’t already have literally 10 musical instruments at home, a cinema camera, a speed editor and a color grading panel, and about 40 books I “really” want to read. I am getting more excited about gamedev again, and start contemplating learning Unreal Engine 5, Godot, Rust, and Blender.

My continuous refusal to accept my mortality and denial about the generous budget of 168 hours I’m graciously gifted every week is getting... honestly, just embarrassing. Like, really. Blender. I can’t draw. I can’t paint. My aesthetic sense is the quality of a 10 year old slipper, never washed, from a supermarket. Like, I don’t even have a project in mind that I’d want to use Blender on. What I do know is that I’d find it exciting and fun to learn.

Which, maybe comes to my worst quality - I love learning. Or maybe rather, I love learning more than doing the hard things. I’m going to get blood test results for my 38th aliveness anniversary, and instead of getting stable and grounded, I’m literally the married man from Juno who starts flirting with a teenager*. Again: in denial about my mortality. Never growing up from the child-like joy of learning new things - which isn’t bad on its own, but it is bad because I promote this over making the hard choices in my life. Giving away my instruments would mean admitting defeat, mortality, limited time and energy, lack of focus and excessive clumsiness. While I keep all my clutter, and keep buying more, I get to feel like I can do anything in my life. Like I’m the quirky manic pixie dream guy that’s so interesting and lovable!

[* not actually flirting with a teenager]

(5) Yesterday, I (regrettably) allowed myself a bit of daydreaming. What if I did ask Triin Ruubel out? Then I looked at my malformed body, my pile of biodegradable food containers, my messy (not in a cool way) green hair, my last 6 weeks spent on a couch, my lack of brain and body power to even cook anything besides manna, and thought - how do I prove I’m interesting? How do I prove I’m lovable??

And I drew a blank.

#personal #sickblogging

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mangop1e · 4 years ago

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my Thoughts about mcc14, because this is my blog and the official year of no cringe (in that i will no longer regard my interests as cringe and enjoy them wholeheartedly and post about them if i want)

overall !! it was a really fun event, i was watching blue bats punz pov and they popped off so it was a really good watch for me, the updates to the games were sick as hell and i cannot wait to see these get more refined as we go along plus see what they have in store for bingo and sands of time

putting everything else below the cut for the sake of all the mutuals i have on here that have never interacted with a mcyt in their life!

so. will preface this by saying i’ve watched every mcc live starting with mcc9 and am . just very very into this tournament, i’ll probably do a little analysis post next mcc because i just find it all very fun !! and tumblr is like a void i can scream into and sometimes it screams back so it’s the perfect place to let myself ramble. that being said, here’s my thoughts on this mcc from the blue bats punz pov, with vague knowledge of what happened in a few other povs

build mart: so sue me, i’m a build mart fan. the new map build is INCREDIBLE and i love the choice of elytras rather than the scuffed boats!! the new addition of the golden build is really fun too! not something that could necessarily be changed but build mart is definitely a killer for teams that don’t have good comms and coordination, and having it as a first game can really shake some teams and cause a drop in morale that could affect the rest of their performance in the event. overall, though? im loyal to build mart and i think it only got better with the updates

tgttosawaf: i love how pedantically long that acronym is <3 i think some of the changes really threw players into the deep end, that one round where they had to break the wool in the targets to get through especially, and terra swoop force Definitely threw some players that are otherwise cracked for a loop, especially if they were unfamiliar with the map, but this one was also super fun to watch!! definitely a good game for the first half of the event

sky battle: at long last, sky battle returns <3 as a shameless inniter sky battle is one of my favourite games simply because i Know tommy will always pop off, but it’s also such a fun twist on classic minigames like sky wars and a faster version of skyblockle done super well! i like the new map layout a ton as well, the little towers in the middle ring plus the structure of the innermost ring made for some really interesting plays all around. this game’s another one that can go south really fast if your team comms aren’t great, but definitely more forgiving than build battle, and a hell of a lot more adrenaline-inducing!! in terms of the updates i think this one was probably one of the best, tied with build mart.

survival games: survival games was CRAZY i do think this is one where you need to get good rng with your loot pickups as well as have good team coordination but it’s definitely a really fun pvp game!! only thing i will say is it can be a bit bland next to the rest of the crazy games in mcc but it’s definitely a classic and depending on how its played (cough red rabbits cough) can definitely turn things wayyyy around for a team!! very high stakes in a fun way

hole in the wall: god :sob: the glitch. ohhhh hbomb you and your glitchy ways. this glitch was definitely a new one compared to the usual “spam-space-bar-and-pray” glitch that our dearest tommyinnit has taken advantage of before, but i honestly can’t really blame him too much for using it? it did give aqua an advantage but it’s only slightly different from falsesymmetry using the spam-space glitch to win a few rounds of hitw in a more recent mcc (would have to double check which one, but i do remember hbomb taking note of this when he was reviewing mcc vods the day after). hole in the wall has been a glitchy bastard for as long as it’s been in mcc and it was truly hilarious to see hbomb clip through walls, so - all in all i think if the glitch could be fixed that’d be great but it was still a fun watch! also, pete zahutt is CRACKED.

ace race: whoo boy. ace race. honest opinion? i think the map is REALLY cool and has a lot of potential, but there was a lot of confusion and bugs that need to be fixed for next time - the fact that the players could reset back to a previous checkpoint, the general confusion over where to go which cld mean they need to add more directional arrows. overall i’m really really excited to see how people will perform on this map when they’re more familiar with it and some of the kinks have been worked out on the developer end. i do think scott had a Huge advantage here and it was really prominent due to the fact that this was a new map for everyone aside from him, albeit him seeing a much earlier version that wasn’t the same as the version that existed in the event, and it would definitely be wise of noxcrew and the developing team in the future to be more aware of how much involvement scott has in the gameplay side of testing. the general confusion and checkpoint resetting also did Not help anyone and i do think a few teams really lost out this event because of the issues with ace race, but this map has a ton of potential and im really excited to see what they do with it in the future.

battle box: oooo battle box !! this one didn’t really leave too big of an impression on me but the new map was definitely interesting!! the fact that the way to get to the middle was a bit unclear was ,, definitely interesting to watch :sob: but you can’t go wrong with battle box to be honest. solid team pvp game!

parkour tag: PARKOUR TAG!!! having this as the final game was so fun :] the map they had this time was complicated which definitely comes with its pros and cons: pros being that it creates potential for a lot of really interesting routes and unique usage of the area and environment, and cons being that it can feel really cluttered and overwhelming especially when its your first time playing. overall i liked the fact that it was busier but i think striking a better balance between full and barren could really elevate parkour tag from a good game to a great game

dodgebolt: blue bats </3 they had a fantastic run in the games and had an awful dodgebolt and sometimes that’s how it shakes down !! i always always love the unpredictability to the final winner that dodgebolt gives - the first place team pointswise isnt guaranteed a win, reverse sweeps have happened multiple times in the past, and dodgebolt is always nail-bitingly exciting to watch!

misc thoughts: i do think aqua had an advantage but from the sounds of things scott and noxcrew will be taking genuine criticism into account for next time and have learned from this event, i DONT think that removing parkour warrior was unfair because it wasn’t an event that noxcrew could ever successfully balance by making it hard enough to not have the same guy dominating every event and creating a gap, especially when played later, that no other players had HOPE of reducing and i think parkour tag was a really really fun alternative to it especially since runner and hunter play to diff strengths of the team members and it has a bit more strategy to it plus team comms than parkour warrior did, and i think build mart is a good game and i WILL die on this hill

if you read this far, fantastic, you madlad, i appreciate you

#minecraft championships #mcc #mc championship #blue bats #mcc14 #mcc 14 #look i just really really love mcc and have so many thoughts all the time #and i no longer care about being cringe #i like the minecraft tournament #and i will post about it if i want

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the-ghost-king · 4 years ago

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Let’s!! Play!! A!! Game!!

I have developed a new personality typing system— are you a Piles Person, or do you live with someone who makes piles of their stuff?

Now, sort the PJO characters into Piles Persons or Lives With a Piles Person and Genuinely Hates It.

I'm a pile maker, I feel like this is a callout (I only pile clothes and art supplies, and everything has its place, but I still do it sometimes); also sorry I took some time on this I was thinking and it was a decent bit to write out

Percy -> He's a pile maker; he mostly only makes piles when it's school work and clothes. His school work goes in 2 piles, "done" and "not done" and whenever he has to move his pile for some reason, the piles get stacked together with a piece of paper in between so he can keep them separate and return them to their place on his desk or the dining room table when needed.

His mom doesn't really think much of it, sometimes she gets after him about his clothes piles but usually those are kept in baskets of "clean" and "not clean" so she doesn't worry too much. Paul just kind of got used to the piles (he's a bit of a pile maker too), Paul doesn't think the piles are too bad since Percy is a good kid and he's not dirty just a bit cluttery at times; if a kid who has saved the world multiple times is a little cluttery, so be it. Annabeth isn't bothered at all by it, she's a pile maker too; she'll sometimes fold Percy's clothes when it bothers her but only because he hates that part of the chore and she likes it.

Annabeth -> she's a pile maker; Annabeth also just makes piles of clothes and work, again she sorts into "clean" and "not clean" and she sorts by "done" and "not done" as well. Unlike Percy, her clothes piles are usually folded, but she hates washing clothes (Percy does that part because he doesn't mind). Her work is significantly messier though, her piles are all over the house, on the kitchen island, her desk, and the coffee table.

Her dad and her step mom don't have many thoughts on the situation since whenever Annabeth lived at home she spent her time trying to make herself as small of a nuisance as possible and therefore didn't make piles in order to avoid arguements. Percy doesn't mind except for when her architecture papers are all over the kitchen and he's trying to cook; then Percy just sorts her stuff into smaller piles on the dining table or something so she can just move them back to the kitchen and resume her work later.

Jason -> Not a pile maker, typically; Jason only really makes piles during his work time. Whenever he's working on something he'll move things in and out of various piles during his work, there's no organization system as an outsider looking in but he says there's some sort of process everytime.

His organization process doesn't affect anyone and even when making piles he's very neat, he's probably got file cabinets for literally every aspect of his work; and since he cleans up after he's done there's no reason to be bothered by anything he does. Thalia appreciated Jason's cleanliness when she was raising him, and Reyna appreciated how quickly it made the Senate run.

Piper -> She only makes small piles; Piper doesn't make piles to any large extent and there's no things that she constantly keeps in piles. For example if she's wearing jewelry and takes it off she might leave it in a pile on her dresser or nightstand for a few days but it does get cleaned up within a week or two depending on the items and her stress level.

Her dad doesn't care much because overall Piper is a good kid and little messes aren't really a big deal, sometimes if it's a large quantity of stuff in a shared space he'll ask her to clean it up but if it's in her room he doesn't care much. He's never really upset with her over the situation because after one or two reminders the stuff gets cleaned up.

Hazel -> She's not a pile maker; if Hazel makes piles it's just because she's cleaning something out and putting it somewhere else, or it's art supplies she's currently in the process of using. She's fairly cleanly overall, and she only occasionally makes piles, whenever she does it's similar to how Piper does so people aren't really bothered by it.

Hazel is known for being pretty organized and on top of things, she's very good at color coordinating, she keeps nicely organized binders with information she needs to hold onto, and she's really cleanly as well; that's honestly probably her downfall if anyone is bothered by her, she's a bit too clean about things sometimes. Anything she gets out is put away before she goes to bed at night.

Nico -> He makes some piles; his pile making process and extent is heavily dependent on his mental health, the worse of a place Nico is at mentally means the more piles he makes, but when he's in a good place mentally he doesn't make hardly any piles. When he's in a worse place mentally his pile process resembles Percy's, "clean/not clean" for clothes and "done/not done" for work and it tends to just make Nico's mental space worse since he generally dislikes clutter. When he's in a good place mentally he falls somewhere on the scale between Piper and Hazel, he leaves small piles of hodge-podge stuff for short periods of time but typically he's known for his organization and cleanliness as well, is he has any piles they're going to collect on his nightstand.

Whenever he's not doing so well and starting to make more bigger piles, Hazel, Reyna, and Will often step in to give him a helping hand with stuff so he doesn't get overwhelmed because having a cluttered space only tends to stress Nico out more and make him feel worse. When he's in a good place his piles only ever really bother Hazel, and that's really only because she is so on top of things, they form some sort of agreement that Nico's small piles on his nightstand and desk are acceptable.

Frank -> Doesn't make piles; Frank's pile style works pretty much like Jason, he only keeps piles whenever he's in the process of doing anything. Sometimes when he's being casual he'll make small piles like Piper, just little things here or there that aren't a huge deal.

Just through spending time with Hazel, Frank eventually stops making piles, she doesn't really make him or anything he just finds her level of cleanliness contagious in some manner. They end up developing really similar organization styles which means over time they tend to help one another clean up, it's one of those small acts of care that people show each other overtime, kind of like splitting an orange.

Leo -> He makes piles in certain situations; in his cabin/house he has some small piles of projects he's working on, it's a mixture of tutorials, research papers, and blue prints... Sometimes he stacks tool boxes or the little knick-nacks he owns, but for the most part he's very kept up. He especially keeps a close eye and is very organized when working in the forges, being messy in the forges could be dangerous so you've got to keep a close eye on all of your stuff (kind of like a chemistry classroom) in order to make sure nothing bad happens and goes wrong.

Overall Leo doesn't make piles and is generally well kept in comparison to most of the people around him, so nobody gives him a hard time over it. Calypso finds his small piles endearing because she spent so much time alone and his little collections of things and his piles of work remind him that she's not along anymore; sometimes if he makes a pile that happens to be in her way (this rarely happens) she can get a little bit annoyed but he's very good about cleaning up quickly when asked.

Reyna -> small piles are her guilty pleasure; sure, Reyna is super organized and very on top of her things and she takes good care of her stuff, but sometimes it's late and sue decides to take the easy route and be a little lazy. Perhaps instead of hanging her cape on a hook or folding it neatly she just throws it over the back of a chair for a few, she might set a dagger and her bracelets on her nightstand table instead of putting them in their appropriate drawers. Overall she's neat and organized, but she can sometimes have an attitude of "I'll deal with it in the morning".

Most people don't really know she's like this, she tends to have space to herself where people aren't normally at so there's no reason for them to know, she doesn't try to hide this aspect of herself it's just one of those things there's no reason for anyone to know. Nico knows about it only because they spend so much time together, but it doesn't bother him because Reyna is almost always neater than he is. Her and Hazel have spent a good amount of time together via Nico over the years, and her habits don't really bother Hazel either. Hazel is usually asleep before she makes her small messes, and if Hazel is up before her then her little messes are cleaned up before the day is over so it's chill. Jason wasn't ever really aware of Reyna's little messes, Octavian was but only because he was extra nosey.

Will -> (I'm adding him to the A-list fight me) he's not really a pile maker; Will doesn't make many piles, he's worked in the infirmary so many years... In medical situations even just a small mess can be a matter of life or death, so it's very important to him that things are kept neat and orderly. Although he tends to be fairly laid back about piles he can sometimes rival even Hazel in his need for cleanliness, he doesn't make a pile for anything.

He could probably bother some people with how neat he is, but most people try to cut him q little slack on the situation since it's a trauma response for him (the idea that he always needs to be doing more and doing better). The only person who Will doesn't mind being a little messy is Nico, Nico helps will relax a little bit on his cleanliness in a positive way where he's not stressed about everything being perfect constantly. The only time Will can get a little stressed with Nico's messes is when they get bad, but he's always really understanding and helpful of it because he knows Nico doesn't let things get messy unless he's not in such a great place so Will is capable of picking up the slack if Nico needs a few days, they're a good parallel for one another in that way.

#pjo #hoo #nico di angelo #hazel levesque #percy jackson #piper mclean #jason grace #will solace #frank zhang #reyna avila ramirez arellano #leo valdez #annabeth chase #asks #Headcanon #rethinkthesituation

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sugakookielix · 4 years ago

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Calico: Chapter 3

Summary: It has been two weeks since Mika came to live with Yoongi, and it’s time for her to finally meet his friends

Pairing: CEO Yoongi x Calico hybrid OC.

Mentioned Pairings: Hinted potential Bunny hybrid Jungkook x Calico OC (but not really, this fic is Yoongicentric only). Other implied pairings for the future.

Rating: PG

Warnings: Extremely brief mention of mistreatment/abandonment, occasional swearing

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 5.4k

Calico Masterlist

Credit for header goes to a friend. Original character used in the fic belongs to me. Do not copy, translate, or repost my work onto other sites without my permission. If you find my work has been reposted, please let me know asap.

AN: This update took forever, and I know that a lot of you were waiting for it. As an apology, I have decided to make this chapter longer than my others. For future updates, please let me know if you guys prefer the longer or shorter chapters. I also would like to note (Since some people have asked) that this series started off as a commission to a friend who then decided to hand over character rights and rights to finish the fic as she left the fandom. If you would like to commission a fic such as this one, the link to my commission info can be found in my masterlist. Now, before I continue rambling, hopefully you guys enjoy the update!

It had been just over a week now and Mika seemed to be adjusting perfectly. As promised, Yoongi had taken her shopping and let her grab anything she wanted to help her feel more at home. Not the easiest task, given she would grab anything he looked at or recommended but never anything by herself. Eventually, he had given in and stepped back so she would have no choice but to pick things on her own, replying “If that’s what you want,” whenever she showed him something. It concerned the male a bit that she was so dependent for everything, but he assumed it was a result of her previous ownership and hopefully she’d snap out of it over time. Not that he minded having her cling to him, but it would be extremely tricky to get anything done if Mika always asked his permission to do something as simple as watch TV.

Another recurring issue was the obvious separation anxiety whenever Yoongi had to leave for work. Hoseok had kept his promise and came over every morning to keep an eye on her so Yoongi could leave, but it was clear the hybrid was already attached to him. Mika would whine and cling onto him until he gave her a pat on the head and promised that he would return home before dinner. Otherwise, she had to be pulled away from him physically which caused its own set of problems. Yoongi would never admit it, but it broke his heart a bit to have to leave her while she was still adjusting, but there wasn’t much else he could do. It wasn’t like he could just not show up to work for a week or two to spend time with her, and he wasn’t confident with bringing her to the office yet given how shy she was. All he could really do was promise he would return until he determined if it would be a good idea to start bringing her to work. Hell, he hadn’t even introduced her to his friends yet.

Thankfully, it was Friday, and Yoongi could spend the weekend focused on his new hybrid instead of the new business plan he was working on. His normally organized desk was now cluttered with various documents and files, some of which he hadn’t been able to open yet. It was that time of year where the male found himself flooded with potential changes to lead the business into another successful term and it was honestly overwhelming. Partnership offers, marketing plans, managing finances, looking over reports for all of the departments; it was a lot to handle, and yet here he was forcing as much of it as he could into his shift so he didn’t have to take work home with him. Not when there was a young calico cat waiting at home that deserved his attention on his days off. Especially since weekends were the only time she was actually calm, knowing Yoongi didn’t have to go anywhere without her. Yoongi had about an hour left before he could head home, and he was determined to complete as much of this paperwork as possible, having already worked through his lunch break as well.

A knock at his door pulled the male away from his thoughts, barely looking up from the paper in his hand as he groaned out a forced, “Come in.”

“You’re still working on that?” Yoongi looked up to see none other than Kim Seokjin, dressed and proper as always. If people thought that Yoongi was always professional, they probably hadn’t seen his business manager. Jin always dressed to impress, with well-tailored suits that molded to his form, hair brushed back with not a stray in sight, and the subtle touches of makeup to hide any potential imperfections. It was a very stark contrast to the way the older male acted, and definitely a contrast with the way Yoongi looked at the moment. His jacket discarded on the back of his chair and a few strands of his hair falling out of place from the number of times he’s run his hand through them in the past few hours. Jin took one look at the younger male and sighed, pulling up a chair to the other side of Yoongi's desk. “You’ve been looking at these since this morning,” he said, skimming through some of the papers, “why don’t you take a break before you burn out?”

“I want to get as much done as possible,” Yoongi replied, “it would be nice to not take work home with me again.”

“Because of your new hybrid?” Yoongi only grunted in response, but it was all the confirmation that Jin needed. “When are we going to meet her by the way? It’s been over a week now and everyone's dying to get to know the new member of the family.” Yoongi groaned and set down the document he was holding, pinching the bridge of his nose with his other hand. He knew the question was going to pop up sooner or later but now was not the time.

“Don’t you have work you should be doing?” he asked.

“Given it’s the end of the day and you have most of the work, not really. Besides Yoongichi, you look like you could use the distraction.” Yoongi groaned again, but he knew that Jin was right. He probably wasn’t going to finish this in an hour anyway so a break was probably what he needed.

“I don’t know when you’re going to meet her,” he admitted, “she’s really shy right now and still getting used to her new home, crowding her with new faces is probably the last thing she needs.”

“Well she's going to meet us sooner or later,” Jin replied with a shrug, “what's the worst that could happen?”

“A terrified calico cat and my house getting destroyed,” Yoongi said with a deadpan tone. Jin laughed a bit at the youngers' expression before shaking his head.

“You say that as if we are barbarians, I’m sure everything will be fine,” he tried to assure, though his boss didn’t seem too convinced.

“It’s not you I’m worried about, or even Taehyung, since I know you’ll be gentle, it’s the other hybrids I’m worried about. Jungkook is hyper and practically twice her size, Jimin is physically affectionate, and when Namjoon isn’t accidentally breaking everything he can be very intimidating. Does putting them in a room together with a very anxious kitten actually sound like a good idea to you?” Perhaps Yoongi was being overprotective, but he had seen first hand how scared Mika gets by the tiniest of sounds, so her being scared by other hybrids was inevitable. Still, Jin seemed dead set on convincing him that letting them meet her was a good idea.

“Aish, you’re overreacting,” the older chided, “no ones going to pounce on her. She’ll have to meet us at some point, better sooner than later.” Yoongi sighed and shook his head.

“I’ll think about it,” that seemed to be enough to please the older, as he quickly excused himself before leaving Yoongi's office. The blonde sighed and ran his hand through his hair before looking up at the clock, it seemed that their conversation took longer than he thought as it was about time to pack up. His eyes glanced at the scattered papers on his desk before sighing, organizing them into one pile and placing them in the top drawer of his desk, already dreading having to come back to all of that work on Monday. Still, he promised himself that he wouldn’t take work home and would enjoy his weekend, so that’s what he was going to do. With a tired sigh, he stood from his chair and stretched, feeling his back pop a bit from staying in one spot for too long. Flinging his jacket over his shoulder and grabbing his things, he quickly scanned his office to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything before stepping out, locking the door, and making his way down the hall. A few of his workers paused to bow and tell him good evening, but he only gave them a slight bow of acknowledgment in return. Yoongi wasn’t really in the mood for conversation right now, he just wanted to go home and rest.

It was silent when he finally stepped through the door of his apartment, kicking his shoes off and calling out a soft, “I’m home.” Another few seconds of silence passed before Hoseok popped out from the kitchen.

“I was getting hungry so decided to make dinner, hope you don’t mind!” he said with a soft smile. Yoongi smiled back and shook his head.

“Not at all,” he walked over to his friend before pausing and looking around again, “where’s Mika?”

“Taking a nap on the couch,” the younger replied, returning his attention to the stovetop, “she’s been out for a while though so she’ll probably wake up in a few minutes.” Yoongi hummed in acknowledgment and took a seat at the counter. He groaned softly as he rested his elbows on the counter and his head in his hands. “Rough day?” Hoseok asked without looking back.

“Just busy,” The older mumbled, hearing his friend hum in acknowledgment. Hoseok knew better than to pry on work matters, which Yoongi was grateful for. He didn’t want to talk about it, or at least the actual work part of it. The conversation with Jin replayed in his mind, and Yoongi questioned if he should bring the idea up to Hoseok. After all, he knew more about hybrids than any of them, so his advice could be useful. “I spoke with Jin-hyung today,” he said, easily grabbing the younger attention.

“Oh yeah?” Hoseok replied, “what about?”

“Mika,” when he didn’t get a reply, Yoongi took that as a sign to continue, “he said everyone's getting pretty anxious to meet her and that I should introduce them soon.” Hoseok hummed softly in thought, turning off the stove and beginning to fill three plates so they could all eat together.

“What did you tell them?” he asked after another moment.

“I said I wasn’t sure,” Yoongi lifted his head to properly face the younger, “I mean, I know they have to meet her at some point but she’s so shy that I don’t really know if it’s a good idea.”

“I’m guessing that you are asking because you want my advice? I mean, Hyung does have a point that she will have to meet them eventually if you want her to stick around, and she seems to be adjusting well to living with you. I’d say that as long as you are right there with her, and she has a place to escape if she gets scared, then it should be fine.” He didn’t even have to look at Yoongi to know the older still wasn’t convinced, shaking his head as he walked over with two of the plates, having to make a second trip for the third.

“Thanks,” Yoongi said softly, beginning to pick at some of the vegetables as Hoseok took a seat beside him.

“Why don’t you just ask Mika what she thinks?” Hoseok asked, “explain what will happen to her and let her decide when she is comfortable enough to meet them. If you do it on her terms then it will probably have a better outcome.” Yoongi shrugged softly.

“I guess,” as if on cue, he felt two small arms wrap around him from behind, a soft tuft of white and orange fur tickling his cheek as the young cat curled up against him.

“You’re home!” Mika purred, nuzzling her head against Yoongi's neck. Said male chuckled and reached to scratch at her head for a moment.

“Why hello sleepy head,” Yoongi teased, “have a nice nap?” Mika yawned softly and nodded, still half asleep. It was very obvious that she had just woken up; eyes partly closed, hair falling messily in her face, and her tail swaying lazily under the oversized sweater she was wearing. As soft and precious as always, it was a wonder Yoongi hadn’t completely melted in her presence yet. She stayed curled up against Yoongi for a bit longer before he reluctantly pulled away. He was slowly opening up to how physically affectionate she was, but it still made him feel awkward at times, especially when someone else was around. “Why don’t you sit down before dinner gets cold, I need my arms to eat after all.” Mika pouted a bit but nodded and quickly climbed into the chair next to him, not hesitating to dig into her food. Both males laughed at her before returning to their own food, the conversation between them forgotten.

Hoseok left shortly after dinner, patting Yoongi on the shoulder and giving Mika a side hug before bidding them a good night. The pair migrated to the living room shortly after, Yoongi scrolling through the tv channels while Mika distracted herself with one of her toys. The soft jingle of a bell echoed through the room, coming from the soft ball that she was pawing at and pushing around the rug, letting her cat side start to take over. Occasionally, Yoongi would glance down at her and just watch silently, thinking about what Hoseok said. Would she want to meet the others? The more he thought about it, the more it couldn’t hurt to try his luck. “Hey Kitten,” he called softly, “come here for a moment.” Mika perked up and immediately made her way over to the couch, taking a seat beside him. “How would you feel about possibly making new friends?”

“New friends?” Mika asked, cocking her head to the side and giving him a confused look. Yoongi couldn’t help but chuckle a bit as he nodded.

“I have a few close friends that would love to come and meet you. They own hybrids as well so you could have new playmates. They are a bit hyper though so I wanted to make sure you were ready before inviting them over,” he explained. Mikas' ears twitched slightly and she looked down for a moment. Yoongi frowned when he saw that, immediately thinking the worst.

“What if they don’t like me?” not the response Yoongi was expecting, though he probably should have.

“Of course they’ll like you,” he assured, “I’m sure once you get used to them they’ll love you.” Mika looked up at him to try and see if he was lying. He wasn’t, he was sure that they would like her, the issue was whether or not she would like them. After seeing that he was being honest, the hybrid softly nodded.

“Okay,” she said softly, “when are they coming over?” Yoongi felt like a weight had been lifted off of his chest, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“I’ll talk to them tonight and see, probably sometime this weekend,” he was already pulling out his phone to text Jin, knowing he would pass the news onto Taehyung for him. Mika watched him for a moment before deciding that she wanted his attention again. A soft huff left the female as she slid closer to Yoongi, gently tugging at his arm and successfully getting his attention.

“Cuddles?” she asked. Yoongi bit his lip to keep from smiling as he lifted his arm so she could snuggle up against him. Mika immediately curled into his side, resting her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his waist. The male could feel her purring against him after a few seconds, shaking his head as he let his arm fall around her.

“You’re very clingy you know,” he mused. The response he got was her nuzzling her head against the crook of his neck, mumbling something he couldn’t quite hear. “What was that? I can’t hear you.” He expected her to move and repeat herself, but she made no effort to do so. Her tail brushed against his hand as she relaxed, purring continued as her eyes fluttered shut. Yoongi realized that she was falling asleep and shook his head. If he was being honest, he envied the cat hybrid for being able to fall asleep when and wherever she wanted. He was lucky to get five hours of sleep on any given day with how hectic his schedule was. Yoongi quickly finished up his text conversation and set his phone down. After a brief debate on if he should stay or wake the sleeping hybrid, he carefully wrapped his arms around Mika and stood up. It was a bit of a struggle to lift her since he wasn’t the strongest, but she was thankfully light enough for him to carry to bed without much issue. Yoongi gently set the Calico down on the mattress and placed the blankets over top of her before going and getting ready for bed himself, making sure the doors were cracked a bit so Mika could wake him easily if she needed anything.

After texting Taehyung and Jin, they all decided to come over for dinner the following evening. Hoseok had to work, but he said he would stop by for a bit if he could. Yoongi had spent the day cleaning so his place would be presentable for their guests while Mika ran around and did her own thing. He had also decided to just order takeout for everyone so he didn’t have to spend hours cooking for potentially eight people. Plus, he wanted to avoid going to the store at the moment and leaving Mika alone in the house. She still didn’t have a proper collar, only a standard black one that he doubted was comfortable given how often she picked at it. Yoongi felt bad and tried his best not to take her out in public too often until he could get her one that was of better quality. Since most higher quality collars were more expensive, many people just bought simple ones and only made their hybrid wear it in public. Money wasn’t an issue for Yoongi though, and he knew when the time was right that he would get Mika one that was special.

The sound of knocking snapped Yoongi's attention to the door, apparently catching Mikas as well since she was clinging to him in an instant, hiding behind his slightly larger frame. He knew she was nervous, but hopefully, she would calm down once she saw them. “Relax,” he muttered, reaching behind himself to pat her head softly, “everything will be fine.” That didn’t seem to help much as the calico was still clinging to his arm when he opened the door, revealing Jin and Namjoon.

“I know we’re a bit early, but I was too excited,” Jin said with a smile. Yoongi nodded and opened the door further to let them both in.

“Figured as much,” he replied, closing the door and trying to pry the scared cat from his arm. If it was physically possible, Mika had curled up even more when she saw the new guests. Not that anyone could really blame her though, since there was now a large and intimidating wolf hybrid standing a few meters away from her. As sweet and as clumsy as Namjoon was, he could be very scary upon first glance. He knew it as well since he was actively trying to distance himself from the pair while Jin tried his best to get a look at the young girl. Yoongi had already explained how she might act to them so they would know how to better act around her. At least until she got comfortable with their presence.

Jin bent down a bit so that he was eye level with Mika, waving and giving her a soft smile, “Hi, I’m Jin and this is Namjoon, it’s nice to finally meet you.” She stayed silent for a moment before Yoongi gently nudged her.

“I’m Mika,” she whispered, so quietly that even Yoongi struggled to hear her. Jin couldn’t help but coo a bit at how adorable she was.

“Aren’t you precious, don’t worry, we don’t bite,” he assured. It was easy to notice now Mika's eyes darted to Namjoon for a moment before hesitantly nodding. Still, her grip on Yoongi never loosened and he was starting to worry that she would accidentally rip his sleeve.

“Come on, let’s go sit down in the living room while we wait for everyone else,” he urged, already beginning to walk. He knew Mika would move with him and Jin and Namjoon would follow after so there was no point in waiting. It was another struggle to get Mika to let go so that he could sit down, but they eventually managed to get her to sit without trying to cling to him. Even if she was still curled up into a ball; her ears pressed against her head and her arms wrapped around her legs. Jin remained standing while Namjoon made himself comfortable in another chair. It was barely noticeable at first, but he was doing his best to remain calm so that he would be seen as approachable. With their advanced senses, hybrids could easily pick up scents that went unnoticed by their human companions. It was oftentimes how they picked up on certain emotions or detected threats. Namjoon was also still keeping his distance, wanting the cat hybrid to approach him first. This seemed to work as she relaxed after a few minutes, staring at the wolf curiously. Yoongi and Jin were so caught up in their own conversation that it shocked them when Mika finally spoke up.

“What do wolves do for fun?” she asked, causing the two humans in the room to stop and stare at her. Namjoon thought over it for a moment before looking up at her.

“Well, I can’t speak for all wolves, but I like to read in my free time. I also accompany Jin-hyung to work a lot so I’ll help him there when I can,” he said.

“Namjoon is a pup at heart,” Jin cut in, “don’t let him fool you, he’s also very playful.”

“And clumsy,” Yoongi added.

“Yah! It’s not like I try to break things, it just happens!” Namjoon whined. Yoongi rolled his eyes and chuckled a bit in response. Mika seemed to get bored with this conversation and decided to change the subject.

“Does Jin work with Yoongi?” she asked.

“I do,” the male in question replied, “he is my boss.” Mika looked up at him in awe when he said this.

“Yoongi is really the boss?” the shocked tone in her voice caused the blonde to pout.

“I told you I was the boss the day I met you,” he reminded, “did you not believe me?” Mika blinked up at him for a moment before shaking her head. Jin held a hand to his mouth as he tried not to laugh, Yoongi giving him an unamused expression. “Why exactly would I not be the boss?” he asked.

“Because normally bosses are mean and scary, and you’re too nice!” At this, both Jin and Namjoon burst out laughing, confusing Mika and annoying Yoongi.

“Yoongi? Nice? That’s a first!” Jin teased, causing the other to roll his eyes.

“Oh hush,” he groaned before turning back to his hybrid, “you know that not all bosses are mean right? Hobi is the boss at the shelter, and he isn’t mean.”

“But Hobi is fun and doesn’t wear suits to work every day,” Mika pointed out. This effectively confused Yoongi as he tried to process what exactly she was implying.

“I’m guessing she doesn’t go out much?” Namjoon asked.

“Not yet, no,” Yoongi confirmed, “Obviously I can only speak for the past two weeks, but we haven’t gone out much.” Both Jin and Namjoon nodded, knowing what he was implying and not wanting to bring up a potentially touchy subject. If Mika did realize, she probably didn’t understand properly as she spoke up again.

“I was told hybrids weren’t supposed to go out much,” she said, referring to her previous owner, “the last time I went out we went to the park and then I ended up at the shelter.” Everyone froze at what she said, not knowing what to say. Thankfully, they didn’t have to worry as another loud knock echoed through the house, followed by another series of loud knocks. Yoongi sighed softly and excused himself as he went to answer the door. The second he opened the door, he was almost knocked over from the force of two hybrids pouncing onto him.

“Hyung!” both males shouted, nuzzling against Yoongi who was still trying to regain his balance.

“We missed you,” Jungkook said.

“Yeah yeah, you literally saw me two days ago,” Yoongi muttered, “get off.” He pushed both males off of him as Taehyung stepped inside, giving his friend a huge smile.

“Doesn’t mean we can’t be excited to see you!” Jimin argued.

“Whatever,” Yoongi straightened out his sweater before closing the door, “come on, everyone else is waiting in the living room.” When they entered the room in question, everyone was in the same position they had been left in. Jin was busy laughing at something, likely another one of his awful jokes, Mika was looking at him confused, and Namjoon was trying not to laugh himself. At the sound of footsteps, both hybrids' ears twitched as they turned to the source of the sound. Namjoon waved at the group while Mika gave them all a shy smile.

“Awe,” Taehyung cooed as he dropped to his knees in front of her, “aren’t you adorable? I’m TaeTae!” Mika flinched back a bit but nodded in acknowledgment. At least this time she didn’t immediately try to cower behind Yoongi. Well, that was until Jungkook and Jimin excitedly bound over to her, quickly jumping up on the couch.

“Hi, I’m Jungkook!”

“Hi, I’m Jimin!” both hybrids spoke over each other, their energy immediately startling the smaller feline as she yelped and rolled off the couch. Within seconds, she had dashed past the group and back over to Yoongi, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her head in his shoulder while muttering something about being too loud. Yoongi sighed heavily, ‘not again.’

“Yah!” Jin scolded, “we literally just got her to stop hiding and you had to come in and scare her again!” The two in question pouted a bit and lowered their heads, Jungkooks ears flopping down a bit.

“Sorry Mika,” Taehyung apologized for them.

“They’re just excited,” Namjoon explained calmly, “don’t worry, no one's going to hurt you.” Yoongi wrapped his arms around the girl softly before whispering to her.

“They’re idiots, just ignore them and they’ll calm down eventually.”

“We can still hear you!” Jungkook exclaimed, making the other roll his eyes. Still, the laugh he got from Mika was worth it.

“Come on,” Yoongi encouraged, “we still have a few hours before dinner, why don’t we sit down and you can meet everyone properly.” He waited for confirmation from Mika before he pulled away enough to lead her back to the couch. The others would definitely tease him for being soft later, but he didn’t care.

After a few hours, everyone calmed down enough and Mika actually felt comfortable being around the group. She was still a bit on edge and didn’t engage in conversation very much, but she did occasionally speak up or ask questions. Hoseok had decided to drop by as well which helped a lot, helping push Mika to interact more and not be shy. At one point, she had even allowed Taehyung to pet her, nuzzling into his hand a bit as he ran his fingers through her multicolored hair. They had all just finished dinner and were now winding down to watch a movie and relax before calling it a night. Yoongi, Jin, and Taehyung were tidying up in the kitchen, while the hybrids and Hoseok were playing in the living room. It was really just Jungkook and Jimin though since Mika was too shy to move and Namjoon knew better than to try and wrestle the younger boys.

Mika was on the floor with one of her bells, tossing it around softly as the others did their own thing. Jungkook and Jimin were play fighting a little bit away, having already failed at trying to throw the bell with her. Hoseok was leaning on the back of the couch as he watched, about to say something when he heard his name being called from the kitchen.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, “try not to break anything while I am gone.” He heard a mutual hum of acknowledgment as he walked away, leaving the hybrids alone. Jungkook watched for a moment to make sure he was gone before making his way over to Mika with a smirk. Of course, she noticed, looking up at him with a questioning glance.

“Can I see the bell?” he asked, causing the felines' expression to shift.

“No,” Jungkook pouted a bit, trying to reach for the toy as Mika pulled it back.

“Why not?”

“Because it’s mine and I don’t want to give it to you.”

“That’s mean, I just want to see it.” Mika huffed and held her hand out to show off the bell.

“There, now you see it,” she said with a smirk of her own. Jungkook glanced at her before chuckling. Moving faster than she could react, he snatched the item from her hand and darted back to Jimin on the other side of the room. Mika blinked in shock for a few moments before realizing what just happened, “Hey! That’s not fair!”

“Not my fault you weren’t quick enough,” Jungkook teased, laughing a bit as Mika glared at him, “if you want it so badly, why don’t you come get it?” The catgirl hissed for a moment before crawling over and trying to grab the toy from Jungkook, who only held it higher in response. “Really Jungkook?” she was clearly unamused by whatever game the bunny was trying to play.

“Jungkook-” Jimin tried to interject but the younger only shook his head at him.

“I already told you, if you want it then take it,” he pushed, dangling the toy over Mikas' head. She tried to grab for it again, only for him to pull it away at the last second, causing her to groan. Her tail began to sway behind her as she backed away slightly, ears pressing back against her head. Jimin, who realized what was happening, quickly tried to interject and grab the bell back, only for Jungkook to push him away as well, glancing at him and mouthing ‘Trust me.’ Namjoon had also picked up on what was going on and began to get involved as well.

“Jungkook…” before he could get his full warning out, Mika had pounced onto the bunny hybrid, successfully knocking him back. Jungkook gasped as the wind was knocked out of him, but regained himself before she could grab the bell out of his hands, tossing the item to the side as he flipped their position so he was the one pinning her down. The commotion immediately alerted the attention of those in the kitchen who immediately ran out. Yoongi and Taehyung panicked and immediately tried to run over and break the two up. They were stopped however by Hoseok holding his arm out in front of them.

“The hell Hoseok?” Yoongi hissed, to which the younger shushed him.

“Relax and watch,” Hoseok whispered back. Yoongi huffed but did as he was told, biting at his nail to calm himself down. Sure enough, Mika quickly regained herself and managed to push Jungkook off of her, dashing after the bell once she was free. The bunny was still quicker though and beat her to it, hitting the toy away so they were both chasing after it. After a minute, the sound of laughter filled the room as both hybrids wrestled and chased after the small object, Jimin getting involved shortly after. Both owners immediately relaxed when they noticed this, Hoseok smiling at them proudly. “See, they’re just playing! Nothing to be worried about.” Yoongi couldn’t help but smile at the sight in front of him, happy that they seemed to get along.

“Looks like we’ll be over for playdates a lot more,” Taehyung whispered.

Yoongi's smile widened as he nodded, “Looks like it.”

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theavengerfairy · 4 years ago

Text

One Step Closer - Chapter 6

Previously known as “Gravity”

He had a lot on his mind. It wasn't his expression that gave Callum away; rather, it was his lack thereof. His warm glow had not once wavered in the face of adversity since Anora met him, but now as they walked along with the moon as their guide, her watchful eye observed it flickering dangerously, violent gusts of restless thoughts threatening to snuff out the light at its source. When he believed no wandering gazes were upon him, the young prince would risk a glance at Rayla, first at her face and then at the pocket in which the coin was tucked safely away. Whenever his attention shifted to the latter, fragments of icy bitterness crystallized in his eyes where warm kindness and tender concern had dwelled not much earlier. Between his somber aura and the way he trudged forward with his back bent and his shoulders stooped, one might assume the weight of the world rested upon him, and it was a sight that Anora, for one, could not stand.

"It isn't much farther. We should have the element of surprise, but it would be best not to take any chances. Callum, come up here with me, would you? I know you're inexperienced, but you are our best offense against another mage so we need you front and center. Rayla, bring up the rear please and keep alert for any surprises from behind. Maddie-"

"Yeah yeah, I'm in the middle with the baby dragon." Maddie cut in with an offhanded wave, her other hand already scrounging through her bag in search of her wristbow.

Rayla's nose wrinkled and her lips puckered ever so slightly as she stared hard at Anora, obviously not convinced the rather out-of-the-blue request was what it appeared to be on the surface. Nevertheless, she receded to the back of the group without protest, blades already drawn and hanging at her sides in wait. Meanwhile Callum hurried forward, his head sinking even lower between his shoulders, and fell into stride with Anora, his face averted as though he could hide from her what she had already seen.

"Something's troubling you, Callum."

Callum's fingers picked nervously at the strap of his backpack. "I'm worried about Ez."

"That's not all though, now is it?"

Were all Oceancry elves this insanely perceptive or was he just that terrible at being subtle? It didn't truly matter either way; however it had happened, Callum was caught. Compelled by guilt, he began to crane his neck to check on Rayla yet again, but she had hardly manifested as an abstract blur in his peripheral before Anora beckoned his attention back to her with a crisp yet kindly staccato.

"Ah ah ah, not a good idea; she's still trying to decide whether or not I'm up to something. You flash those big, telltale green eyes at her and we're both done for."

Callum knew she was right of course; it was honestly a miracle Rayla hadn't figured him out already. A cluttered, jumbled mind was a luxury he could not afford; he needed to have his wits about him should their encounter with Castel go south. And yet, no matter how hard he struggled to seize hold of just one of the many intertwining threads of his thoughts, the strand would swiftly slip from his grasp again and rejoin its brethren as they continued to weave and knot themselves into an even tighter, more complicated tangle.

If not for Rayla's vigilant watch, Anora's hand, which twitched at her side, would've clasped Callum reassuringly by the shoulder in an instant. For now, however, she only hoped the extra softness with which she coated her voice proved capable of conveying the sincerity of her compassion, "You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to, Callum, but I would like to help somehow if I can."

He wanted to say something, to release into the open the festering bitterness that had slithered its way into his core when he wasn't looking and to allow the fresh air to cleanse away any gunk that lingered behind. To do so now, however, meant Anora witnessing that exorcism firsthand, and to expect anything less than her recoiling from him in response was preposterous. Was he to suffer in silence for the preservation of his pride or was he to expunge the darkness before it could fully take root, even at the cost of unpleasant potential consequences that might follow?

With a deep breath, the brisk, purifying night air filled his heavy, aching lungs, and when he exhaled, the pent-up words and feelings all came tumbling forth.

"Runaan isn't just someone dear to Rayla. He's an assassin, an assassin who still killed my stepdad and planned to kill my brother after seeing for himself that the egg of the Dragon Prince was safe. Calling off the mission would've meant some risk for him and his team, I get that, but he didn't even consider it. And what about Ez? Even if I could somehow look past everything that murderer has done, it isn't fair for me to expect the same from him; he's just a kid. And how do we know that Runaan won't just pick up where he left off and try to harm him again if he gets free? We don't! I can't put Ez in that kind of danger! When we found the coin earlier and I said I would help, I was thinking about Rayla and nothing else, but now...I don't want to hurt her, and I know I'm a horrible person for saying this, but would it really be so awful for him not to get out?"

His heart and lips stung raw. It was out, the toxic smog that had been corroding his heart and soul, and now all he could do was wait with apprehension's bony fingers already coiling around his throat before he could get another breath in. Why had he thought that this was a good idea?

"You're not a horrible person, Callum; just a real one who has endured a great deal of hardship and loss. You've had your world flipped upside down and that is bound to leave you with questions and frustrations and doubts. You cannot hate yourself for that."

"I still have to make a choice though, and that decision is going to affect more people than just me!"

"But your voice matters too." Anora's hands had found their way into one another's grip, hanging in front of her at waist level and squeezing each other tightly to keep them both locked in place as they could not be trusted to ignore the pleadings of her heart to seize the boy and wrap him in the hug he so desperately needed and deserved. "There is nothing wrong in asking 'What about me?' What about you, Callum?"

What about him? He was angry, hurt, grieving. He was torn between loyalties to different people who he all loved deeply and didn't want to hurt. As a prince, he had been taught from a young age to strive for noble character, but his heart yearned so strongly to be selfish just this once that it physically ached. He longed to live like the child he was once again, to have someone else make the hard choices while he carried on in the ignorant bliss of youth. It wasn't fair; it was all so much, too much.

Callum's eyes fixated on a stone sitting idly directly in his path, and before he could give it much thought, he swiftly drove his foot into it with considerable force. Unfortunately, the rock proved to be larger than it appeared and also securely nestled in the ground, so instead of taking flight, it sent an acute pain rippling throughout the prince's foot as he stumbled a little.

"That...was really stupid." he groaned, concealing his flushed face behind one of his open palms. "Why did I just do that?"

"Well, one of you was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The question is whether it was you or the rock."

Anora's quip wasn't even that funny, but it proved just enough to return a smile to Callum's lips for a fleeting moment. Even when it vanished, Callum's frown wasn't quite as deep or pronounced as it had been before; it was a small improvement but an improvement nonetheless.

"Runaan staying in the coin won't bring my stepdad back, but to just let him go…" Callum wrapped his arms around himself, "My mind's all over the place. How am I supposed to do this? How am I supposed to figure out the best choice to make when at least one person I care about is always going to wind up hurt no matter what I decide?"

"Well, perhaps that's why you're stuck; you're trying to process everything all at once and it's overwhelming you." Anora mused as her eyes drifted up to the moon which peered down at them through gaps in the leafy canopy above their heads. "There are moments when it is best to look at the big picture, and then there are moments where one must focus on a single part of an issue...What can you tell me about Runaan?"

Callum blinked at her, somewhat taken aback by the seemingly sudden shift of attention. "What good is talking about him going to do?"

"Runaan is but a single piece at play, yet much of your turmoil ties back to him in some way, yes? While it may not bring you all the answers you seek, understanding him better might just grant you some clarity and closure that can aid your decision-making." Noticing a low-hanging branch that was about to smack Callum square in the face, Anora held it aside until he had passed and then let it fall back into place with a soft rustle. "You've already named him your stepfather's assassin as well as someone of significance to Rayla; what else can you figure out about him?"

"I don't know. I only encountered him once, and all he did was refuse to hear us out before fighting Rayla while she covered my brother and I's retreat with the egg. What else is there to say about him except that he is cruel and arrogant and close-minded?"

To Callum's surprise, Anora said nothing, but as he swiveled his head to look at her, a jolt shot through him when he found her staring him down, her lips curled into a little smirk and her brows arched ever so slightly. Her eyes reflected not condemnation but rather a blend of mild amusement and skepticism. She was calling bull on his shallow analysis, and what made the matter worse is that she knew that they both knew that she was right. If Callum truly saw things through so narrow a lens, the last place he would be was here, traveling with a party of elves and humans on a quest to return an abducted dragonling home even after all the pain the residents of Xadia and the human kingdoms had caused one another. He understood that the world and those who lived in it were not so superficial, and she was not going to let him get away with pretending otherwise.

He didn't want to think back to that night, his skin crawling and his throat constricting at the mere notion of it. Even so, he lifted his face towards the sky above with a sigh and allowed his mind to wander back, back the many miles they had come, back to the palace wall where those turquoise eyes had judged him as vermin without a second thought. However, the harsh gaze, that stern face, had slackened for an instant when Runaan first beheld the egg with his own eyes. Ever so briefly, the man beneath the warrior had been visible before being buried again, and as Callum studied those same eyes and remembered how that fierce voice had quivered as Rayla pleaded with Runaan once more, his breath caught in his throat.

"What is it, Callum?" Anora purred, her voice little more than a whisper as not to shatter the boy's delicate focus.

"He did hesitate actually; it wasn't for long but he did. I think...I think he was torn about what to do."

"Like you are now?" Anora let the question hang in the air for a moment before continuing, "Callum, do you think he might have been a bit afraid?"

"Afraid? But he's…" Callum stopped, his argument already crumbling apart on his tongue.

"What would he have to fear, Callum?" Anora prodded further, her head tilting slightly to one side as she waited patiently for him to mull everything over.

"He...he was the leader. He made the calls for the group. If he ordered something that was too risky and something bad happened, it would fall back on him-"

"What would fall back on him?"

"The responsibility and...and the guilt." Callum's expression suddenly soured again. "But how could he think that working together to bring Zym home was riskier than attacking a king with a palace full of soldiers who knew they were coming?"

"Perhaps it is not a question of greater risk but of unfamiliar risk. Runaan and the other assassins already understood and accepted the dangers of their mission. To abandon their original task in favor of working with humans to bring the Dragon Prince home would mean taking on new risks, some known but many unknown. If it had been only his well-being at stake, maybe he would have acted differently, but as the leader, he had to consider the welfare of the others also. I'm not saying that I completely agree with his choice, but I do understand it."

"I'm still not sure I do." Callum dragged his fingers rather roughly through his hair then let his arm drop limply back down to his side again. "Rayla knew the risks and cared about the other assassins too. How come she was still willing to take a chance and he wasn't?"

"Hope comes easier when one is young. When you live many years in a world that has been one way for a long time, it is easy to lose sight of how things could be and surrender oneself to what they are now. Like most, Runaan's perspective has been shaped by the longstanding bitterness between humans and Xadians, a resentment which neither side has been willing to try and lay to rest."

"You're not like that though."

Anora's gaze dropped to the ground, her kind features now marred by a rueful smile. "I wish that were true, but I fall short of such ideal virtue as well."

Callum made a face. "But you saved Maddie, even though she was a human…"

"You're right, and I have learned to trust a handful of other humans as well. That hardly means it comes naturally though. The me that you see now is the result of continuous effort on my part to grow despite my own deep-rooted fears and assumptions, and even now, after much hard work, some of those aversions have managed to endure."

"Is there really any chance of humans and elves ever truly reconciling then? I mean, you're one of the most open-minded elves I've met, so if you're still struggling that much, will Runaan or others like him ever be able to see things differently?" Callum's body felt very heavy all of a sudden, as though some phantom of the night had stolen past them and sapped his strength without him noticing until now. His stomach had also begun to ache like it did after he failed to block an attack from Soren during practice and received a wooden sword to the gut with a painful smack.

"Yes, I am a work in progress, young prince, but that in itself is proof of hope and the potential for change living on. I still struggle, yet because I have found not only hope but proof that affirms that hope, I press onward without fail."

"So Runaan needs proof that not all humans are bad? Proof other than the Dragon Prince being alive and well and two human princes being willing to return him home in hopes of preventing a war?"

Anora gave a small laugh. "Some of us are more stubborn than others."

"So how do I figure out what might convince Runaan to give humans a chance?"

"Perhaps Rayla could give you some ideas once you feel ready to talk to her about this."

"You two wrapping up with your juicy gossip? Because I think we're here, unless there's some other giant lake in this general direction with enough magical energy to make the cube thingy light up super bright like it is right now?"

Anora and Callum both felt their hearts perform a nosedive into their stomachs as they whipped their heads around to find Rayla standing not so far behind them, Zym atop her shoulder and crooning as she scratched the underside of his chin. Peering around the elf, Anora shot Maddie a pointed look from where she was lurking at least a yard behind the rest of the group and only received an apologetic smile paired with a nervous shrug from the redhead in response.

Positioning herself between Anora and Callum, Rayla wordlessly glanced from Callum's face to his satchel and then back again. Her expression was hard for him to read, appearing both impassive and irritated at the same time, and while Callum wanted to ask her just how much of their conversation she had heard, his mouth remained shut.

"I know you already gave me an answer but I'm going to ask you one more time: are you sure about this? That cube is something your father wanted you to have; we can search for some other magical artifact to trade with Castel."

Callum's gaze fell to his satchel just as his hand was reaching inside to retrieve the mysterious key, which was indeed glowing so brightly that its light was shining clean through the fabric. Drawing it out, he couldn't help but notice the comfortable warmth radiating from it along with a low, rather calming hum while it pulsed in his palm, and though the glow somewhat hurt his eyes, he just stared at it for awhile, his face distant while the heat mimicked the embrace of those strong but gentle arms he so missed as it crept its way throughout the rest of his body. Ever so briefly, his grip on the cube tightened, but it eventually went lax again.

"There isn't time to look for another artifact. This is what we have to do."

Circling around so she was directly in front of Callum, Anora slowly laid her hand on the cube. Once more, the prince's fingers latched firmly onto the tiny box, but eventually he permitted her to gradually slip it free from his grasp.

"I'm the only one here who is familiar with Castel's tricks, so I'll negotiate with him. It would be best for you three to wait up here-Wait, let me finish, Rayla-so he can't gain any more leverage than he already has by getting his grubby hands on you too. Maddie, do you have a hairpin on you?"

"What if something goes wrong while you're down there? How are we supposed to know so we can help?" Rayla protested as Anora carefully traced a rune onto her skin near the base of her neck before accepting the hairpin Madeleine offered to her. When she said nothing, merely offering her a morose look that left a dreary heaviness hanging over the group, the message was clear enough: were something to go wrong, there would be no helping her or Ezran. That would be it.

After brushing her bangs out of her eyes and securing them into place, Anora marched into the lake, only stopping to glance back at her companions who were crowding along the shore when the water had reached her waist. Despite her own thundering heart, she stood up a little straighter and flashed them a reassuring smile before diving beneath the surface, allowing the water to swallow her up.

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