#just yeesh. i’m glad it’s over and i moved on | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bwabys-scenarios · 2 years ago

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Fixer Upper

Part 22

Perv!Kurapika x Fem!Reader

part 21

part 23

!!REBLOGS APPRECIATED!!

warning: sexual content, dry humping, masturbation

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Gon splashed Killua, the two laughing. “Yeesh, this water sure is hot. Do you th-“

(Name) came speeding by wearing a towel, speeding back after grabbing a bottle of water and another towel.

“Was that (Name)?”

The two followed her, seeing Kurapika doubled over by the hot spring. When she carried him past the two, not even looking at them, they exchanged a glance.

“That idiot better not have thrown up in the hot spring.” Killua said, huffing. Gon shrugged.

“I think he just got overheated, his face was red.”

Gon and Killua followed close behind (Name), stopping to change before running to her room. The two peeked in to see (Name) cuddling the blonde, gently pushing back his hair to kiss their forehead.

Gon blushed, quickly pulling his head out of the door. “Killua, let’s go.”

The white haired boy gagged, nodding. “Yeah, let’s… but…”

He looked down the hall, a mischievous smirk on his face. “Why don’t we stop by Leorio’s room first?”

——————

Kurapika groaned, attempting to shield his eyes from the bright rays of sun by raising his h- wait, he couldn’t move his arm.

He wiggled it, soon realizing it was under something…

As his eyes adjusted to the soft morning light, he looked down to see he was holding (Name) close, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

He jumped a little, causing (Name) to stir in his arms, pulling her head away from his chest. “Hmm..?”

She looked up at him through her half lidded, sleepy eyes, yawning. “Good morning…”

“How…”

His face was already red, and he could feel his heart racing a million miles a minute. “Did we..?”

‘There’s no way we had sex for the first time and I forgot!’

She rubbed her eyes. “Did we what? You got overheated at the hot springs last night so I brought you to my room so I could watch over you.”

He let out a sigh of relief, relaxing. “Ah, I see. Thank you, for taking care of me.”

(Name) smiled, sitting up and stretching. “No problem, Pika.”

His heart fluttered at the nickname and Kurapika realized that she was saying it a lot more often. It both made him incredibly happy, and worried at the same time.

“(Name)?”

She looked at him, pulling the blanket off of herself. “Yes?”

He looked down at the hoodie she gave him to wear, clutching the fabric. “Can I… keep this?”

She blinks at him, tilting her head. “You want to… keep my hoodie? Why?”

The answer to that question was that it smelt like her and made him feel like he was holding her close, but if Kurapika said that it would make things awkward.

“… it’s comfortable. I… like the texture of it.”

She nods slowly. “Ah, okay. It’s not my favorite hoodie, so I guess that’s fine.”

She pulled her clothes out of her suitcase, Kurapika blushing when she grabbed a pair of panties. “I’m gonna take a shower real quick. You can stay here or go to your room, either is fine with me.”

He waited for her to close the bathroom door before he fell back in bed, pulling the hoodie to his face to inhale her scent. “Mmm…”

Kurapika had woken up with morning wood and he was glad (Name) didn’t notice. As he stroked his cock while inhaling her scent, he paused. He remembered bringing something that might help him get off faster…

Kurapika glanced at his satchel lying by the bed, biting his lip. ‘She usually showers for over 15 minutes, I should have… enough time…’

He grabbed the satchel, opening it and pulling out the pair of panties he snatched before throwing it to the side. The blonde held up the panties, face burning red.

‘I’ve never… used something to get off like this before… but…’

He held them closer, sniffing lightly. Although they’d been washed, he could faintly smell her scent on them. ‘(Name)…’

He inhaled deeply, imagining actually being between her legs, stroking faster to the thought alone. The panties definitely helped him cum faster, busting a load almost instantly.

‘Shit…’

He cleaned himself up quickly, stuffing the panties back into his satchel just as (Name) exited the bathroom. “Ahh, that was nice. Let’s go get some breakfast Kurapika!”

Feeling soft after his orgasm, the blonde nodded and followed behind her like a lovesick puppy.

———————

“Kurapika, are you alright?” (Name) asked, not understanding why he was being so clingy.

Kurapika had his head on her shoulder, nuzzling gently. “Yeah, just… sleepy.”

This answer seemed to satisfy her. Regardless, she was happy he was being more affectionate with her, it reminded (Name) of better times, when she thought he might love her.

“Oh Kurapika, you dirty dog.”

Leorio approached the two, playfully slapping the blondes shoulder. This caused Kurapika to grumble lowly, finding comfort in scooting closer to (Name).

The taller man laughed, sitting across from them. “You two seem pretty close. Killua told me you slept together last night.” He said, wiggling his eyebrows.

(Name)’s face grew hot, though Kurapika didn’t seem to catch the innuendo. “We only slept, nothing else. Geez Leorio, your head is always in the gutter.”

Leorio blinked at the two. “You just… went to sleep? Nothing happened in the hot spring?”

“Yeah, Kurapika got overheated shortly after you left so I took him to bed.”

The taller man stared in disbelief. ‘I for sure thought they were about to jump on each other. That’s why I left, to be a good wingman!’

Kurapika looked at the man with sleepy eyes. “What do you mean nothing happened in the hot spring? What were you expecting?”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he put 2 and 2 together. ‘He left us alone on purpose!’

Leorio leaned back in his seat, stealing a grape from (Name)’s plate. “Whatever, that doesn’t matter. I’m just glad…”

He glanced at Kurapika and (Name), a small smile on his face. “I’m just glad everyone’s getting along again. It’s nice, like how things were during the Hunter Exam.”

(Name) smiled too, holding onto Kurapika’s hand. The blonde blushed at this, squeezing her hand gently as they ate breakfast together.

Leorio left soon after to make his own plate, leaving the two to eat alone. “So, what’s our plans for today?” Kurapika asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

“Well, I wanted to go to town and explore, but then I learned that they do massages here and I’m planning on getting one.”

Kurapika nodded, sipping on his orange juice. “A massage? That sounds nice, I think I’ll join you.”

After breakfast, the two walked around the hot spring until they reach the Spa.

“Hello, would you two like a massage? It’s free of charge!”

(Name) nodded, handing the receptionist her ticket. Kurapika pulled his out of his satchel, gulping when his hand brushed against her panties. “Here…”

They were led to another room, and informed to change. “Change? Together?”

(Name) nodded, pulling off her top. “She probably assumed you’re a woman. We can clear it up in a minute, just turn around and we’ll change with our backs facing each other.”

“Yeah…”

Kurapika, however, did not turn around. He watched her back as she pulled off her shirt entirely, then reached her hands behind her back to in lip her bra.

‘Wait, she’s getting completely naked??’

He looked down to the clothing the woman had given them, face turning red.

It was a silky, short purple robe with the hot springs insignia on the breast pocket. There was a soft, black lace trim on the bottom, Kurapika nodding in approval. ‘This is nice, but… obviously a woman’s robe.’

“Shit…’

(Name) turned to Kurapika, a pout on her face. He wasn’t looking at her face though, his eyes were on her barely covered chest. “It doesn’t fit good…”

She seemed upset, and although he was trying to hold off a boner, Kurapika couldn’t help but wanting to help her. “Hey, it’s okay, I can ask for another size.”

“This is the biggest size they have!”

He raised an eyebrow, eyes back on her chest. “Come here.”

She walked forward, still pouting as Kurapika’s hands settled on either sides of her chest. (Name)’s eyes widened, feeling the tips of his fingers brush against her breasts before he pulled the fabric over them, using a chain to link the two sides together. Once he was done, the chain faded away, but (Name) could feel its aura still present.

“There, that will keep…”

He swallowed, able to feel the softness of her chest against his chain. “That will keep your robe in place.”

She smiled, tears beading in her eyes. “Thanks, Pika.”

Her arms wrapped around him, bringing the blonde close to her. “I really appreciate this.”

He hugged back, resting his chin on her shoulder. “It’s no problem, (Name).”

(Name) laughed, pulling away. “Let’s go get our massages!”

—————

The two walked out of the changing room, seeing the receptionist was gone. Instead of her, two tall, muscular men were waiting for them.

“Hello, ladies, we’ll be your masseuses today.”

Kurapika was instantly on edge, especially after seeing how flustered (Name) looked. ‘Does she… like men like this?’

They led the two to another room, gesturing for (Name) and Kurapika to sit down. “You can remove your robes and get comfortable. There are towels to c-“

“Remove our WHAT now?!” Kurapika exclaimed, face gone red. (Name) smacked his arm, holding back a laugh.

“Okay, we will.”

The masseuses left the room, Kurapika whipping his head at (Name). “You didn’t tell me we’d have to get naked!”

She blinked, patting his shoulder. “I thought you knew. If you’re uncomfortable, you can go back and-“

“No.”

(Name) furrowed her eyebrows at his expression. He seemed… determined? “Okay..? You can leave any time, and I’ll go with you.”

He nodded slowly, face still warm. “Okay… let’s… get undressed.”

The two turned away from each other, undressing before lying on their respective beds.

“We’re ready!”

The two masseuses walked back in, smiling. “Okay! Any spots where you feel any pain?” the man asked, squirting lotion into his palm.

“Hmm, my shoulders are a little tense.”

Over by Kurapika, the man was struggling to get an answer from the blonde.

“Are you… sore anywhere? Any tenderness or tense spots?”

“I’m always tense and ready to strike.”

‘Yikes. This lady is creeping me out.’

“Alright then, I’ll just start.”

The man began the massage, feeling Kurapika tense under his touch. “Try to relax, okay?”

“I don’t relax.”

“Well… try.”

Kurapika huffed, turning his head to look at (Name). She was smiling, cheek pressed against the table as the man pressed down on her back. While he didn’t necessarily like that another man was touching her, she looked like she was enjoying herself, so he let it be.

That was until a moment later when she let out a mewl, causing Kurapika to bolt up, sending the masseuse working on him falling onto his butt.

“Hey, miss, stay d-“

Kurapika pulled his robe on and grabbed (Name)’s, rushing over to her. When the masseuse turned to ask him what he was doing, he stopped.

Just one look into Kurapika’s scarlet eyes were enough to make the man back away, holding his hands up. “Come on (Name), we’re leaving.”

“Aww, already? But-“

“You said I could leave any time and you would go with me.”

He felt bad using her words against her for such a petty reason, but the ache in his chest was growing by the second, and Kurapika was afraid he may hurt one of the men if the massage continued.

“I did say that, you’re right.”

She sat up slowly, wrapping the robe around herself, Kurapika looking away. He couldn’t perv on her right now, not after he interrupted her massage.

“Okay, let’s get dressed.”

“(Name)…”

Said girl was sat in the lobby, pouting as she stared at the ground. Kurapika plopped down next to her, attempting to cheer her up. “What else did you have planned for today?”

She sighed, pulling her knees to her chest. “Well, I was going to get a massage then go to my room and relax. I guess I could still do that, but…”

She huffed, and Kurapika felt his heart twist in his chest. His jealousy had ruined her day, and he felt awful for it, but he didn’t regret what he’d done one bit. The memory of their hands on her, the noise she made, still made his blood pressure rise.

“You said earlier that you wanted to explore the town, yeah? Why don’t we go together?”

(Name) was still pouting, toying with the frantic of her jeans. “Maybe…”

‘I should get her something to make up for it, like a snack. Shit, what do girls like? What does (Name) like?’

“I’ll get you some ice cream.”

This seemed to peak her interest, the girl looking up as her face began to grow warm. “Ice cream?”

“Yeah. My treat.”

This persuaded her, (Name) standing. “Let’s get going then!”

——————

(Name) bounced on her heels, waiting with Kurapika for her ice cream. He enjoyed seeing her so happy, it reminded him of the girl he knew during the Hunter Exam.

“Kurapika, are you not going to get any?” she asked, holding onto the sleeve of his undershirt. He shook his head, smiling.

“No, I’m not in the mood for ice cream right now.”

She pouted, tugging on his sleeve now. “Then why did you bring me here if you didn’t want any?”

“To get you some ice cream.”

(Name) made a face as Kurapika laughed, patting her back. “What, I can’t treat a friend to some ice cream without getting some for myself?”

She didn’t answer, frowning. ‘I don’t understand… why would he just come here to get me ice cream? Is there some reason he’s doing this, some ulterior motive?’

(Name) shook her head. ‘No, I can’t think like that! He’s being nice, I should just be happy.’

“(Name)? (Naaamee)?”

She blinked, seeing her cup of ice cream being pushed towards her. “Here, your ice cream is ready.”

“Oh, thank you.”

She lifted the spoon into her mouth, grinning. “It’s so good!”

He smiled, watching her enjoy her sweet treat. “Really? I’ve never tried that flavor before. Can I have a bite?”

(Name) nodded, taking the spoon from her mouth and dipping it into the ice cream. “Here!”

Before, Kurapika might have blushed and hesitated, but in this moment he was feeling a bit bolder, taking the spoon into his mouth.

He looked at her as she pulled it back, licking his lip. “Mmm, it’s good. I might have to order the same one some other time.”

(Name)’s face heated up under the intensity of Kurapika’s stare, the way he licked his lip making her look away. “I-I’m glad you like it.”

After she finished her treat, the two walked around town, stopping occasionally to check out shops or take pictures.

“This is nice. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to relax like this without the kiddos.”

A bush rustled next to them, but neither of them paid it any mind. “It’s a full time job taking care of Killua, I’m sure.”

The two laughed, Kurapika turning to look at her. It was the first time in a while he’d seen her truly relax in his presence, and he was both happy and a little nervous. He let the latter feeling sink into the back of his mind, instead focusing on how happy he felt in the moment.

‘She’s so pretty…’ he thought, reaching out to brush a part of her hair out of her face. She looked at him then, her pretty (e/c) eyes meeting his.

“(Name)…”

He stepped forward, cupping her cheek. The moment was perfect, with the sun slowly setting behind them and their hearts racing with excitement.

“Yes?” she whispered, leaning into his touch. It seemed the entire world was holding its breath, everything else fading away as the blonde leaned closer.

(Name) closed her eyes, but nothing came, besides the feeling of his finger swiping against her cheek.

When she opened her eyes, Kurapika was looking away from her. “You had some ice cream on your cheek.”

(Name)’s smile became smaller, her eyes looking to the ground. “Oh… thanks.”

Silence filled the air, no longer the comforting quiet they shared before. It was awkward, a bit tense.

“We… we should probably get back. We leave in the morning, so I want to get a good nights sleep.”

Kurapika nodded, still not looking at her. “Sounds like a good idea.”

He began walking ahead of (Name), the girl following behind as she twiddled her thumbs. ‘I really thought he was about to kiss me.’

When they got back, Leorio was sitting in the lobby, his forehead covered in sweat. “Oh, hey guys! How was your date?”

The blonde next to (Name) stiffened, quickly responding. “I-it wasn’t a date!”

He almost sounded upset at the accusation, (Name)’s face falling. ‘Oh, right. Of course it wasn’t a date, we were both just… bored.’

His tone made her shrink away from him, and when Kurapika noticed this it was too late to change anything. “I’m going to bed. See you two in the morning.”

“(Name) w-“

Kurapika stopped himself, letting his hand fall. “Yeesh man, you made it sound like going on a date with her would be the worst thing in the world.” Leorio said, shaking his head.

“But it wouldn’t be! I…”

Leorio took pity on the blonde, patting his shoulder. “I know, bud. Just… be more careful with how you talk around her. Women can be sensitive, you know?”

He nodded slowly, slumping down in the chair next to Leorio. “I’ll try…”

Kurapika glanced up, blinking at the man next to him. “Why are you so sweaty?

Leorio cleared his throat, looking away. “No… no reason”

That was a lie, however.

2 hours earlier

Leorio and Killua watched as Kurapika and (Name) walked towards the entrance of the hotel. “Yeah, we’ll get ice cream then walk around town. That sound good to you, (Name)?”

“Yes, that’s perfect!”

Killua perked up, eyes following the pair. “Are they…”

“Going on a date? Probably.”

The two looked at each other, nodding. “That idiot might end up saying something stupid. We should follow them.” Killua said, walking back towards Gon’s room. “I’ll grab Gon.”

Killua narrowed his eyes from their spot in the bush as Leorio and Gon lapped at their ice cream. “They’re on the move!”

Gon set his ice cream aside. “Killua, nothing strange has happened so far, shouldn’t we just let them have their own time together?”

“No. No we can’t.”

Killua took a bite of Gon’s ice cream before moving to another bush, following the two. They caught them in the middle of a conversation.

“It’s a full time job taking care of Killua, I’m sure.”

Killua scowled. ‘It’s a full time job making sure you’re not hurting my mom again.’ he thought, making a sour face.

“(Name)…”

The three nearly gasped when Kurapika cupped (Name)’s cheek, Gon blushing. “He’s gonna-“

Leorio covered his mouth. “Shh!”

“Yes?” (Name) asked. They could see her eyes soften at Kurapika’s touch, closing when he began to lean closer.

Killua had to be restrained by both of them, one covering his mouth and the other keeping him from jumping out of the bush.

Kurapika kept leaning forward, almost meeting her lips, but stopping to swipe her cheek then turn around.

His face was beet red, eyes half lidded. “You had sown ice cream on your cheek.”

“Is he being serious right now?” Gon asked in a hushed voice. “He was totally going to kiss her!”

Leorio sighed, letting Killua go. “He’s just not ready for that yet, I guess.”

“We… we should probably get back. We leave in the morning, so I want to get a good nights sleep.”

The three looked at each other before inching away. Once they were out of sight they sprinted towards the hot spring, leaving Leorio a sweating mess once he sat down.

Present Time

“I see.” Kurapika said, giving him a suspicious look. “I’m going to follow (Name)’s example and get some sleep. Goodnight, Leorio.”

Leorio made sure he was gone before running to his room. Gon and Killua were waiting for him on his bed, playing some card game. The white haired boy looked up, raising an eyebrow. “So, what did he have to say for himself?”

“It wasn’t a confrontation Killua. I think he was just nervous, I gave him some advice.”

Gon and Killua shared a look. “Hey! It was good advice!”

“If he takes advice from you Kurapika is a bigger idiot than I thought.”

“Rude.”

“Or just desperate.”

Killua snickered as Leorio cleared his throat. “Anyways, gentlemen…” he said, looking quite serious. “What are our plans to help our little love birds?”

———————

Leorio loaded the last suitcase into the mom van, stretching lightly. “Aight, load up kiddos.”

“You’re only a year older than me.” (Name) reminded him, waiting for Kurapika to get into the van.

“People under 6’0 are children to me.”

“Oh yeah? That wasn’t the way you thought when we-“

Leorio covered her mouth before Kurapika could hear. “Keep your voice down. He- the kids will hear you.”

“What? It’s nothing super dirty, we just made o-“

He shoved her into the car, the girl squeaking when she fell onto Kurapika’s lap. He let out a groan, the girl quickly sitting up and turning so she was facing him.

This was not good for him, because how it was her pussy pressing against his crotch, not her ass.

“Kurapika, are you okay? Sorry, Leorio kind of pushed me in.”

He couldn’t speak, the warmth of her pressing into him causing the blonde to pant. She leaned forward until her chest touched his. “Kurapika? Hello?”

Leorio grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her away. “Give the man some breathing room, (Name).”

‘She’s going to give him a heart attack.’ Leorio thought, giving the overheating blonde a once over.

“Oh, yeah, sorry Kurapika.”

She twisted around in his lap, getting comfy. As she did this, Kurapika tried his best to calm down. ‘It’s okay, everything’s going to be fine. It’s only a few hours until we reach the hotel for the amusement park.’

He wrapped his arms around her, partly to keep her still in case they moved around, partly so he could pull her closer to cuddle into her shoulder. ‘Can’t lie, this is… really nice…’ he thought, his eyes fluttering closed.

(Name)’s scent always helped him relax, but in this situation it only seemed to make his body hot. He looked up at her through his pale eyelashes, lips hovering over her shoulder.

She was smiling, gazing out the window. The sun illuminated her face, reflecting in her (e/c) eyes. Looking at her face never got easier. She was gorgeous, everything about her making his heart do backflips behind his ribs.

It was then that she glanced back, making eye contact with him. “Kurapika?”

His breath hitched. She leaned back, her hair ticking his face. “Sorry, I’m blocking the window aren’t I?”

She didn’t seem to see that she was now blocking him with her back, but the blonde didn’t mind at all. He was perfectly content to nuzzle against her soft sweater, basking in her warmth.

About an hour into the ride, the road got bumpy again, to the point (Name) was struggling to keep still. Her hips rose and fell, bouncing up and down while Kurapika tried to hide his little whimpers and whines.

“Pika, sorry!” she said, looking back. His face was red, and her was holding onto her so tight in a desperate attempt to keep her still.

“Pika are y-“

She squeaked out when she felt something poke into her, instantly squeezing her legs shut. “K-Kurapi-“

He covered her mouth, glancing around the car to make sure no one was looking before whispering in her ear. “Sorry… you were moving too much…”

She whimpered into his hand, the blonde grunting before pulling it back. “It’s okay, Pika… it’s natural to…”

(Name)’s face grew hot, her eyes staring at her lap. He sighed, pulling her closer and nuzzling into her neck. “Thank you… for understanding…”

He was panting against her skin, blonde hair tickling the back of her neck. “Please… don’t know… don’t know what to do.” he whispered, his voice soft and desperate.

He was obviously struggling to control the way his body was reading, and being the sweet friend she was, (Name) simply held his hand. “Shh, it’s okay. I’ll think of something, just try to relax.

Her voice was so sweet, making him heart race and his body tingle. Kurapika cursed the clothing keeping them apart, his hands grabbing at her thighs.

‘It’s all my fault, I couldn’t stay still and now he’s suffering and probably super embarrassed. I have to reassure him!’

(Name) gently stroked his arm, bringing his hand up and kissing it. “It’s okay, don’t be embarrassed. This kind of thing happens when friction is involved.”

Little did she know, her attempts to comfort him were only making the bulge in his pants painfully tight.

“(N-Name)!”

Kurapika buried his face in his shoulder, trying to think of something, anything to help him calm down, but nothing was working.

“Hey, we’re pulling over for lunch!”

‘Fuck!’

Kurapika looked up, cheeks flushed and sweat bearing down his forehead. ‘If she gets up, they’ll all see how hard I am. Fuck!’

(Name) noticed the grip on her thighs tighten, seeing Kurapika’s face. She knew what she had to do.

“Hey, I don’t think Kurapika’s feeling too well.”

Leorio parked before looking into the rearview mirror. It only took one look into Kurapika’s eyes to understand the situation at hand.

“Shit he’s not going to throw up in the mom van us he? I told you we should have taped him to the roof!” Killua said, opening the car door.

“Killua.” (Name) warned, causing the white haired boy to pout.

“Hmph.”

The three left, Leorio giving Kurapika a thumbs up before hurrying the kids inside.

As soon as they were out of view, (Name) turned her head. “Are you okay?”

He shook his head quickly, eyes hazy as he looked up at her. “Won’t… won’t go down…”

She squeezed his hand, giving him a sympathetic look. “… is there anything I can do to help?”

His eyes widened, and he looked up at her like she was his only lifeline. “… mhm.”

Kurapika gently moved her hips against his, rocking them gently against his bulge. “Move… move like this…”

Her face heated up, feeling his hard on rub against her ass. “Okay…”

She moved slowly, letting him show her exactly how to rock her hips. “F-fuck just like that…”

She felt his lips on her neck, his hand slowly trailing up her shirt as he bucked his hips into hers. “K-Kurapika!”

He paused, his hand stopping right before slipping under her bra. “Sorry…”

Kurapika moved his hand back down to squeeze her tummy instead. She whined, the sound making his breath hitch. “(Name)…”

He nipped at her neck, moaning against it as she rocked her hips. (Name) panted, holding onto the headrest of the seat in front of her.

Suddenly, Kurapika’s hands gripped her inner thighs and pulled them apart, pulling her up and onto his bugle so he was grinding against her pussy instead of her ass. She gasped, letting out a mewl that caused the blonde to speed up.

“Gonna… gonna..!”

He grabbed her chin and turned her face to kiss her as he came in his pants, his tongue pushing past her lips. He continued to buck his hips into hers, moaning into her mouth as he rode out his orgasm.

When Kurapika calmed down, he pulled away and stared into her eyes with his soft scarlet ones. His chest rose and fell, a line of saliva connecting their tongues.

Kurapika didn’t say anything for a while, just panting as he hid his face in her neck, holding onto her thigh. She was holding onto the arm that held her thigh, gently rubbing it. It was nice, being comforted by her after an embarrassing and intimate moment.

He stayed there, enjoying her presence before his phone buzzed. “Hmm? Was that your phone?”

She was about to turn to look at him, but he quickly turned her head back around. Kurapika didn’t want her to see how soft he was, how in love with her he was right now. He couldn’t help the adoring look in his eyes, the need to keep her close and nuzzle into her.

“Keep… keep looking ahead. It’s just Leorio.”

She nodded slowly. He was probably embarrassed over his behavior, maybe even ashamed. She wanted to tell him it was okay and she didn’t mind helping him, as his friend, but she stayed quiet.

Kurapika’s eyebrow twitched as he read Leorio’s message.

Leorio: Are you two done fucking yet? We’re going to say it’s Killua’s birthday to embarrass the shit out of him

Kurapika sighed, giving her tummy one last squeeze before letting her go. “Let’s go eat. Leorio asked us to…”

The blush returned to his cheek, eyes trailing down her back and to her ass. He swallowed, looking a way quickly. “To hurry up.”

She nodded, opening the door and sliding out. Her legs were a little wobbly due to her lingering arousal.

Kurapika climbed out after her, giving her a concerned look. “Are you okay? Would you like me to carry you?”

She shook her head quickly and stood up straight. “No, no I’m fine!”

She walked ahead of him into the restaurant, spotting their friends and sitting with them. “I’ve gotta go to the bathroom.” Kurapika stated to the table before leaving.

“(Name)!”

Gon hugged her, smiling. “Is Kurapika feeling better?”

She nodded slowly, watching as Kurapika walked to the bathroom.

“Yeah… I think he is.”

As the others began to talk amongst themselves, (Name) rubbed her legs together, biting her lip.

‘That felt…’

She looked up to see Kurapika walking back, the man giving her a shy smile.

‘Really good…’

———————

For the rest of the ride to the amusement park, Kurapika was very soft and sweet. He held her close, now openly squishing her soft tummy and thighs affectionately.

It got to the point that the others noticed the change in his behavior, notably Killua. “I’m going to throw up…” he groaned, watching Kurapika bury his face in her shoulder. Killua had had enough!

Thinking he was joking, Leorio scoffed. “Just roll down the window.”

And he did, vomiting out the window. “Wait, pull over! Oh baby, come here!”

Kurapika had to hold her back from crawling over the middle seat to comfort him and hold his hair back. “Hey, the spring is sticking up, just wait for Leorio to pull over.”

As soon as the car stopped (Name) jumped out and ran over to Killua’s side, kneeling down to wipe his face off and give him some water to drink. Kurapika whined slightly when she left, feeling her warmth fading away. ‘It’s alright, she’ll be back in a minute…’

“Are you okay baby? Do you need some medicine?”

He sniffled, looking up at her. “Yeah…”

She cooed, grabbing her backpack and taking out a juice box and motion sickness medicine. “Here, take this.”

He did, before tugging on her sleeve. “Can you stay with me mom? I don’t feel good…”

“Aww, of course baby!”

He got out, climbing back in to sit in her lap. Killua turned his head as she patted his back to give Kurapika a shit eating grin.

The blondes eyes widened. ‘That little bastard, he did this on purpose!’

The two glared at each other, Killua then turning to cuddle (Name). “Poor baby. There must have been some peppers in your food or something. Don’t worry, I’m here.”

Killua’s smug glare faded, his hands gripping her shirt as she rocked him gently. He’d done this to get her away from Kurapika because his PDA was making him ill, but he couldn’t deny that being comforted and reassured that (Name) was there for him wasn’t a nice side effect.

Kurapika’s lip quivered, and he shivered like a sad chihuahua while watching Killua’s sigh contentedly. (Name) had been keeping him warm and safe, and now she was gone. Suddenly the car felt a lot colder, a lot lonelier than it had a few minutes prior.

———————

As soon as they were out of the car, Kurapika attempted to grab (Name)‘s arm and pull her close to him, only for him to spot her carrying the sleeping Killua in her arms. ‘God damnit!

She gently ran her fingers through his hair, sighing. “He’s not feeling well, I guess I’ll have to stay with him at the hotel while you all go to the amusement park.”

Suddenly, Killua’s eyes shot open. “Hmm? Wait I’m awake!”

(Name) raised an eyebrow and set him down. “Well you might be awake, but you threw up earlier and I don’t want you riding rollercoasters after th-“

He groaned. “Mom I’m fine! I think I got it all out of my system!”

(Name) huffed, poking his cheek. “Oh really? Then I don’t need to carry you around.”

Killua paused at that, crossing his arms over his chest. “I didn’t say that…”

Kurapika snickered, causing Killua to glare at him. “Aww, Killua… come here.”

She picked him back up, Gon running over. “Hey, I wanna be picked up too!”

“Hey, she can’t-“

She picked up Gon as well, holding them both. “Alright, if you want.”

Kurapika and Leorio stared at the girl, blinking. “Um… (Name)? They aren’t… heavy are they?”

She shook her head, beginning to walk towards the amusement park.

——————

They spent a few hours riding rides, eating greasy amusement park food, and running around before the park closed.

“God I’m exhausted…” Leorio said, barely able to keep himself upright. Killua and Gon had dragged him around to every ride, forcing him to ride with him.

“Me too.” Kurapika agreed, stretching. Leorio narrowed his eyes at the blonde.

“And why are you tired? You didn’t ride anything.”

Kurapika pointed to (Name), who he was carrying on his back. “I’ve been carrying her the past two hours.”

“Maybe if you weren’t so scrawny you wouldn’t be tired.” Killua said, holding onto (Name)’s hand as she slept. “I see why they made you the Rat zodiac.”

Kurapika’s eyebrow twitched. “I’m… I’m not scrawny…”

He looked away, frowning. “And rats are rather intelligent animals!”

“Yeah, so are dolphins. And dolphins are awful.” Killua rebutted.

“Wait why are dolphins awful?” Leorio asked. “I thought sharks were the ones you had to look out for.”

Gon grimaced. “Dolphins… let’s just say um…”

“They’re the Hisokas of the sea.”

The entire group shuddered. “Point taken.”

‘Wait… my dolphin…’ Kurapika thought, continuing to pout.

“Also sharks are more scared of people than people are of sharks! Here’s some more shark facts!”

The next 15 minutes were spent listening to Gon list out shark facts as they walked through the crowd to get to the mom van. “Mmm…”

(Name) stirred awake when Kurapika sat her down in his lap. “Pika…”

She leaned against him, nuzzling into his shoulder. (Name) was still tired, and although his heart raced, he let her get away with her affectionate actions.

“We’ll be at the hotel soon, okay?” he says softly, wrapping his arms around her.

“Mmm… warm…” her lips brushed against his neck, causing him to push her a little too roughly away.

“(N-Name)! What are you-“

She was blushing heavily, looking down at where his hands were. He slowly moved his eyes downwards, squeezing whatever he was holding lightly before seeing what was in his hands.

“Oh my god! Pervert!” Killua said.

His hands were firmly grasping her breasts, squeezing them lightly. “I- I didn’t mean-“

Kurapika didn’t pull his hands away out of pure shock.

“K-Kurapika!”

He was pulled back into the moment when he heard (Name) call out to him. Her face was burning up, and she was looking at him with shy and embarrassed eyes. “Y-your hands…”

Kurapika’s face turned bright red, pulling his hands away quickly. “Jesus Christ dude, you just groped my mom!”

Kurapika tried to stammer out a response. “W-wait it was an accident!”

“If it was an accident why did you hold onto them for so long? Gross, I knew you were some kind of pervert but I didn’t know it was this bad.”

“I’m not a-“

Leorio cleared his throat. “We’re here.”

Kurapika helped her out of the car, looking anywhere but her face. “I’m sorry, (Name). I swear it was an accident.”

He felt her take his hand. “It’s okay, Kurapika. I understand.”

Kurapika sighed, his cheeks fading to a soft pink instead of bright red. “I know you’re not interested in me like that, so don’t worry!”

He blinks, finally looking at her. The look on her face made his heart hurt. “I… I’m just a warm body, I know.”

Kurapika winced, remembering the words he said to her.

“You’re good at being a warm body, at least.”

Leorio overheard this conversation, feeling his chest tighten. ‘She still thinks that’s all she is? Even after…’

He cleared his throat, walking over. “We need to get everything unpacked. Come on.”

He grabbed Kurapika’s arm and dragged him to the back of the vehicle.

(Name) sat alone on the curb, looking down at her lap. ‘I can’t get ahead of myself. He was just using me to get off in the car because I was what was available. Anyone other woman would also done the job just fine…’ she though, pulling her knees to her chest. ‘I just… helped out a friend. Nothing more…’

Gon spotted her sulking on the curb, quickly running over. “(Name)? What’s wrong, are you tired? I can carry you inside if you want!”

He gave her a worried smile, tilting his head to look at her face. She sighed, looking up. “I’m fine Gon. Yeah, I’m tired but I can move.”

She stood up, stretching lightly before walking inside. He frowned. ‘Something’s wrong, she looked so… sad…’

He glanced back at Leorio and Kurapika, who seemed to be talking about something serious as they unpacked. ‘I’ll go tell Killua, he’ll know what to do!’

Leorio leaned against the mom van, his eyes pointed at the ground. “… your words really, really messed with her head, Kurapika. She..” he sighed, running his hand his hair. “She’s had trouble with her self worth since. (Name) really, really liked you, so when you said all she was, was a warm body to you, she internalized that.”

The tall man barely held back from telling him more, telling him what happened after the events of York New. ‘I promised her I would never tell him…’ Leorio thought, clenching his fist. ‘But it’s hard. If he knew… maybe he wouldn’t take her for granted…’

Kurapika trembled, raising a shaking hand to his mouth. His actions really did have consequences. Kurapika thought that after their intimate moment in the car, maybe things would be better. But was it really their intimate moment, or just his? What did she get out of it, besides the feeling that he was using her for her body? “I…”

He watched as she walked with Killua and Gon, the former holding her hand with a cornered look in his eye. “I love her, Leorio. I know I fucked up, but I… I want to love her, I want her to be happy.”

Leorio smoothed out his Hawaiian shirt, sighing as he grabbed the last suitcase. “I know you do, bud. You should tell her that, though, not me.”

Kurapika stood by the mom van for a good minute, thinking over Leorio’s words. ‘Tell her? I couldn’t. Not after everything I’ve done. I love her, but…’

He sighed, pushing back his hair. ‘I don’t want to hurt her again if I leave. Can I really allow myself to be with her, when there’s no guarantee I will live to see tomorrow because of my mission?’

Kurapika was snapped back to reality by Leorio calling out to him. “Hey, it’s getting late. Stop staring into space, we’re gonna go grab dinner!”

He nodded slowly, getting into the mom van. (Name) walked back out, waving at Kurapika from the doorway. “I’m coming!”

He blushed, waving back. ‘Maybe… maybe it’s okay to try. What could go wrong?’

———————

They sat inside a relatively nice restaurant, the five all looking at the menu. “Do they have chicken strips?” Gon asked, looking over the menu.

“No sweetheart, they don’t,” (Name) answered, patting his head. The black haired boy pouted.

“They have baked chicken. Isn’t that close enough?” Kurapika asked, looking up from his own menu. The group raised an eyebrow at him.

“No, you stupid twink. One is a breaded and fried chicken strip the other is baked. The only similarity they share is that they are chicken.”

Kurapika raised his menu again so he could roll his eyes. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

(Name) gave him a gently pat to his shoulder. “So, what are you getting, Pika?”

He glanced at her, giving the (h/c) haired girl a small smile. “I’m thinking I’ll get some pasta.”

She nods, munching on one of the free rolls the restaurant had provided. “Oh, that sounds good! I’m going to share the sea food platter with Leorio!”

Kurapika raised an eyebrow, glancing at the man who sat beside her. Leorio had his arm resting on (Name)’s chair as he looked over her menu with her.

The blonde scowled. He had wanted to sit next to her, but Leorio got there first, and Killua always managed to take a seat near her as well, so now Gon and Kurapika sat across from the three.

“I’m glad we’re next to each other, it’ll make sharing our good easy!” (Name) said with a smile. Leorio laughed, moving his hand from the chair to around her shoulders.

“You sure you aren’t just happy to be sitting with me, sunshine?”

The menu Kurapika was holding tore, causing Gon and Killua to glance at him. They looked at each other then to (Name) and Leorio.

“Kurapika!” Gon said, in an attempt to whisper. “Are you feeling jealousy right now?”

The blondes face erupted into a blush, and he attempted to stammer out a response. “J-jealous? No, no I wouldn’t- why would I be jealous?”

Gon sighs, holding back a laugh. “Your cheeks and eyes are red, and you’re staring at Leorio and (Name).”

Kurapika places a hand on his cheek, hissing and pulling it away. His face was hot, and one glance at his phone screen showed him that Gon was right.

“Kurapika!”

(Name) leaned over the table and pushed the pair of hello kitty sunglasses onto his face. “Your eyes.”

She cupped his cheek, patting gently. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

He leaned into her touch, his jealousy slowly fading. “No, just… just remembered something unpleasant.”

She gave him a sympathetic look, brushing her thumb over his cheek. “You can tell me about it later, if you want. I’m always here for you.”

His heart thumped painfully against his ribs. ‘She’s so kind, too good for me.’

He spent the rest of dinner eating quietly. A few minutes before they were about to leave, (Name) glanced at Leorio, setting her fork down. “Leorio?”

He looked up from his dessert, humming. “Yeah, sunshine?”

She sighed, cheeks heating up. “Can you explain to me why you put mine and Kurapika’s luggage in the same room?”

The sound of Kurapika’s fork clattering against his plate as it fell from his hand made the two jump. Killua snickered at his reaction.

“Well, that’s how we decided to split the rooms. We got two, and you two ended up sharing one. You’re lucky, I have to share a room with Killua and Gon.” Leorio said, a scowl on his face.

‘I’m a great wingman.’ Leorio thought, sipping on his milkshake.

“Okay, but there’s one problem.” (Name) said, tapping against the table with her nails nervously.

Kurapika was still processing the fact they were sharing a room. “And that is?”

“There’s only one bed.”

Kurapika glared at his friends, his red eyes shining behind his sunglasses. “What?”

Gon looked away, scratching the back of his head while killua ate the free bread rolls. Leorio laughed nervously. “Well you see… the room was cheaper that way, and it was either that one or a room with four beds!”

(Name) sighed. “That would have been ideal! We could have all shared a room then.”

The three didn’t want to admit that the room has been booked on purpose, specifically to get Kurapika and (Name) closer. “Sorry…”

Kurapika knew this, though. He seethed in his seat, tapping his foot in frustration. ‘But…’

He looked to (Name), who was scowling at Leorio. ‘I’ll get to sleep next to her…’

He felt warm at that thought. “I guess it can’t be helped.”

———————

Kurapika sat on their shared hotel bed, waiting for (Name) to finish her shower. ‘Why do I feel so antsy? My heart is pounding.’

He was in his pajamas, fidgeting with the comforter as he listened to her singing in the shower. ‘I wonder if she knows I can hear her.’ he thought, a soft smile on his face.

This smile faded when her singing stopped, replaced with silence before he could hear the faintest whimper.

His eyes went wide, the blondes pants tightening. Kurapika stood up, walking closer to the door.

‘I have to get closer… what if she hurt herself?’ he attempted to reason with himself. Although, he knew the real reason he was pressing his ear against the door, hand slipping into his pants.

“Hahh…”

His cock twitched in his hand at the sound of her muffled moans. ‘Fuck she sounds so good…’

Kurapika wanted nothing more than to be the cause of those pretty little sounds she was making. He had to bite his lip to stay quiet as he masturbated with her. ‘Wanna… wanna cum with her…’

He listened intently, so he could tell when she was about to cum. Her moans were becoming more frequent, soft whines and mewls escaping her mouth.

He could just imagine her leaning against the shower wall, fingers rubbing at her clit, moving towards to prod at her entrance. Kurapika wanted nothing more than to be the one making her feel so good, to pump his fingers in and out of her pretty pussy until her cum was pooling beneath them.

He stroked faster, feeling that familiar coil tightening in his tummy.

She was getting close, he could tell. (Name) was panting, unable to keep her moans quiet anymore. Kurapika held himself back from cumming, wanting to wait for the perfect moment to-

“K-Kurapika!”

His eyes shot open while we he came, his thick seed shooting out onto the door. He could hear her panting and moaning as she came as well. Kurapika’s hand trembled, his face bright red. ‘Did… she moan out my… name? Was she…’

He felt himself grow hard again, his cock aching for another release. ‘Was she thinking of me while she touched herself?’

Kurapika didn’t have much time to process that. The shower turned off, meaning (Name) would be walking out within the next five minutes. He cursed, quickly wiping off the door and running to the bed. ‘Do I have enough time to jerk off again? I’m so hard, I c-‘

(Name) walked out of the shower, causing Kurapika to quickly pull the comforter over his lap. “I’m done, Kurapika.”

She smiled, her face a little hot from her shower and orgasm. (Name) looked much more relaxed, lightly stretching before walking over to the bed.

“(Name)?”

She glanced over at him as she sat down on her side of the bed, slowly pulling back the comforter so she could climb in. “Yes?”

“Earlier, in the car…”

Her eyes widened and her face burned hot with the memory of their intimate moment. “I wanted to thank you for helping me and… I apologize if it seemed like I was just using you. My body… it felt so hot, and I was embarrassed that someone would see… but I trusted that you wouldn’t make fun of me or think less of me for…”

His face was red, and he was obviously quite flustered. She felt herself relax, placing a hand over his. “It’s okay, Kurapika. I will admit, I did think that you might have just been using me, so I appreciate the clarification. I’m happy to help you, you’re my dear friend I don’t want you to ever be embarrassed over something that’s natural.”

Although she said this, he still couldn’t help but shy away from her touch. ‘I know she says I shouldn’t be embarrassed, but I don’t want her to think I only want her for her body again…’

He nodded slowly. “That’s… all I wanted to say. Goodnight, (Name).”

She lied down, and he turned off the light. Although (Name) did believe his words, her heart was still having trouble letting go of the insecurity that he really had used her. It wasn’t easy getting over deep rooted insecurities like that, but she did feel a little better, better enough to scoot closer to him.

“Kurapika?”

He turned to look at her, seeing she was closer. The blonde swallowed, his cock still throbbing from earlier. “Yes, (Name)?”

(Name)’s eyes were half lidded, maybe from being tired, maybe because she felt nice and relaxed. Either way, it made Kurapika’s heart thump loudly.

“Does it bother you to sleep next to me like this?”

This question took him aback, causing the blonde to tilt his head. “Bother me? No, not really. It’s not like it can be helped either way.”

(Name) nodded slowly, giving him a shy, tentative smile. “Well, I like sleeping next to you. It reminds me of the Hunter Exam, and I always feel… nostalgic.”

‘She likes… sleeping next to me?’

A blush took over Kurapika’s face. “I… like sleeping next to you too. You’re probably the only person that I really feel comfortable with sleeping next to me.”

They were both flustered now, playing with their respective ends of the comforter. “That… makes me really happy to hear, Pika.”

The blonde perked up a little, glancing at her. ‘Pika… I’m her Pika again.’

Every time (Name) used the old nickname she had for him, Kurapika felt butterflies in his tummy. She seemed so content laying against her pillow, eyelids beginning to drop closed.

“Pika?”

He hummed in response. They were closer now, but he couldn’t tell if he or her had moved in.

“Can…”

She placed her hand on his, Kurapika melting at her touch. Her hands were always so warm and soft, and he couldn’t help interlocking his fingers with hers.

“Can you what, (Name)?”

(Name)’s eyes softened when her interlocked his fingers with her. “Can I hold you? I know I said I only wanted to do it once when we slept together in York New, b-“

Before she could finish her sentence, the blonde scooted forward and pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on top of her head. “Please… I…”

He was having trouble speaking. She always made his head feel fuzzy, his heart pound, and his cock hard. It made interacting with her difficult, but he couldn’t deny his need to be closer to her any longer. She was right there within his reach, asking to hold him!

(Name) wrapped her arms around him, and he could feel her shudder slightly. “Pika…”

She nuzzled into his chest, her hand reaching up to play with his hair. Kurapika didn’t think he could feel any more at peace in this moment. She was in his arms, nuzzling him, playing with his hair. What else could he ask for?

“I love you, Kurapika. Goodnight…”

That made the moment perfect, tears prickling the corners of his eyes. Instead of responding, he kissed the top of her head as she fell asleep, pulling her even closer.

He didn’t care if she could feel he was hard, that didn’t matter. All that mattered is that they were together, and that she loved him. Whether it was platonically or romantically, Kurapika didn’t care. He loved her too, and would love her until his heart stopped.

When her breathing slowed, indicating she had fallen asleep, he smiled softly, rubbing soothing circles into her back.

“I love you too, (Name).”

———————

The bed was empty when (Name) woke up, the sound of the shower going telling her Kurapika left to get his shower before they had to leave for the amusement park.

(Name) pushed herself up, yawning and rubbing her sleepy eyes. Soft footsteps could be heard walking towards their room. She already know who it was before the person started knocking.

“Mooom! Hurry up, the park opens in 30 minutes!”

Killua poked his head into her room, groaning when he saw she was still in her pajamas. “Seriously, you’re not even dressed yet? And-“

He paused at the sound of the shower running, smacking a hand over his forehead. “And the blonde is in the shower. Of course.”

She suppressed a laugh, pulling the boy close and ruffling his hair. “Oh, stop pouting. You know I can get ready fast. You three go and pick up some breakfast for us all, and we’ll be ready by the time you get back.”

Killua huffed, taking a moment to lean into her touch before swatting her hand away and running out the door.

‘He’s so grumpy in the morning,’ she thought, giggling as she opened her suitcase.

Kurapika walked out of the bathroom a moment later, wearing a sweater and jeans. His face lit up when he saw (Name) was awake, the blonde speeding over to hand her his towel and sit in front of her.

He didn’t even have to ask, she already knew Kurapika wanted her to dry his hair.

(Name) giggled, drying his hair as she leaned against her. “Pika, I’ll need to get to a set of my body wash and shampoo. It’s been really good for your hair!”

He hummed contentedly when she ran a hand through his damp hair. “Mhm… thank you, (Name). I always look forward to this.”

She was thankful he was facing away from her, because she was blushing intensely. “I like doing it too!”

After she finished drying his hair, (Name) left to go change. She decided to follow Kurapika’s lead, and throw on a knit cardigan and jeans. His eyes softened when she walked out, the blonde sighing. “You look pretty, (Name).”

Her blush deepened. “Th-thank you, Kurapika.”

The group arrived at the amusement park again, this time planning to stay all day long. (Name) stretched lightly, quickly applying some sunscreen to everyone’s face. “Alright, you boys charged your phones right?”

Killua nodded while Gon scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously.

“Gon, I told you to remember.” (Name) scolded softly.

“Sorry, (Name). I got distracted watching cool reptile fact videos last night.”

“It’s true, and he played it full volume like an old person.” Killua said, flicking his friend on the forehead.

(Name) sighed, opening her backpack and handing him a portable charger. “I’m so glad I packed these. Keep your phone charged, okay sweetheart?”

He nodded, giving her a quick hug as an apology. The two left after, (Name) calling out to them.

“We’ll meet in the dining hall at 1 pm!”

“Okay mom!”

Leorio and Kurapika glanced at each other, then down at (Name). “So, what’s first up on our agenda, princess?”

(Name) smiled up at the two. “First, I want to check out the petting zoo! I heard they have bunnies!”

She wiggled a little as she stood, obviously excited. ‘So cute…’ the two thought.

“Alright, to the petting zoo. Kurapika, you have the map?”

The blonde nodded, unfolding it.

The three made their way to the petting zoo, (Name) washing her hands as Kurapika snuck away to buy her a cup of kibble to feed the bunnies.

“(Name) I got y-“

Kurapika glanced to his left to see Leorio also holding a cup of kibble to her. She glanced between the two, laughing. “Aww, you’re both so sweet. Why don’t we feed them together?”

She bounced on her heels as she waited to get let inside the petting zoo. It was really cute to watch her jump a little and giggle when the door opened, her two friends feeling their hearts race.

As soon as she walked in, all the bunnies hopped towards her, pawing at her pants leg. She cooed, picking one up. (Name) didn’t even have the kibble in her hand, Kurapika and Leorio did, yet the bunnies ignored them completely.

“Animals like individuals with pure souls.” Kurapika stated while the watched (Name) giggle as the bunnies crawled into her lap and gently nibbled at her clothes.

“Yeah, and I don’t think there’s anyone purer than her.” Leorio said, his eyes soft.

“Maybe Gon.”

The two said this in unison, then laughed. Their laughter caused (Name) to look up with a confused smile. “Hmm? What are you two giggling about?”

“Nothing, sunshine, go back to playing with your bunnies.”

After her time was up, (Name) pouted as she was led out of the petting zoo by Kurapika. “Don’t be sad (Name). We can get back in line if you want.”

She shook her head, perking up. “No, there’s other things I want to do. Come on!”

Leorio watched as she dragged Kurapika along, his smile fading a little. The blonde was blushing as (Name) giggled, squeezing his hand tightly.

‘They sure are getting close again.’ Leorio thought, his heart twisting in his chest. ‘I’m… glad she’s happy.’

The three did many things, including riding rides, snacking on amusement park treats, and taking pictures.

Kurapika nearly doubled over laughing at the picture of their roller coaster ride, where Leorio screamed as he clung to (Name) for dear life.

“It’s not that funny…” Leorio said with a pout, tapping his foot against the cement floor. (Name) snickered.

“It is pretty funny, Leorio.”

——————

(Name) sighed as she lapped at her ice cream, holding Killua’s hand with her free one. They were walking out of the park after a long day, and they were all pretty tired.

As she walked, (Name) turned her head lazily whne she heard a sound, quickly dropping her ice cream to sprint towards the noise when she saw what was happening.

“No, DROP IT GON!”

The boy had picked a corn dog off the ground taken a bite if it. “Hey, it’s not bad, I just watched someone drop i-“

(Name) smacked it out of his hand. “How many times do I have to tell you to not eat things ofc the ground? You’re going to get sick, sweetheart.”

She gently wiped the crumbs from his face with her handkerchief, before cupping his cheeks. “Oh, what am I going to do with you?”

Kurapika watched this exchange from the corner of his eye, his cheeks a soft pink. (Name) was always so motherly and caring, making sure neither of their younger friends got hurt or did anything stupid.

It only made the thought of getting her pregnant and starting a family with her seem more and more tantalizing. ‘I can’t… I can’t settle down and have a family. I can’t let my anger fade away…’

But it did stick in his mind, the blonde cursing himself for wearing jeans and not his usual tabard. It was harder to hide a boner in tight pants.

(Name) pouted as she crouched down to clean up her spilled ice cream, Gon hovering around her. “I’m sorry, (Name)…”

She gave him a smile. “It’s okay, Gon. I should have been more careful.”

“But.. the only reason you dropped it was because-“

She stood, dropping the ice cream in the trash before patting his arm. “I promise it’s fine. I can get more ice cream later.”

As Gon pouted and now took her other free hand so she was walking with him and Killua, Kurapika snuck away. Leorio raised an eyebrow as he watched the blonde turn a corner, but he didn’t say anything. (Name) was too distracted comforting Gon to notice.

When they reached the car and were beginning to load up, (Name) glanced up, blinking before counting heads.

“Wait… Kurapika?”

She looked around, not spotting her blonde hair friend. “Shit, where is he? He didn’t get kidnapped did he?”

Leorio snickered at that. “I doubt anyone would be able to successfully kidnap him, (Name).”

She raised her eyebrow at him, causing Leorio to clear his throat.

“He has a lot of enemies, Leorio. What if his…”

She pointed to her eyes. “What if they changed color and someone saw? Oh Kurapika…”

Leorio jumped up when he noticed tears falling down her chubby cheeks. “Hey, hey (Name), he’s probably fine. I saw him walking away after you dropped your ice cream.”

She stared at him incredulously. “What if he was being lured away? Leorio you have to tell me these things!”

“Tell you what?”

She turned her head to see Kurapika jogging over, carrying a brown paper bag. (Name) gasped, instantly running to him and nearly tackling him in a hug.

He yelped, catching her in his arms. “Woah, what happened? Did someone get hurt?”

She looked up, and his gaze softened at her tears. “You… I thought something happened to you when I saw you weren’t here…”

He cupped her cheek, swiping her tears away with his thumb. “(Name)… I’m sorry, I should have told you I was leaving. I wanted to surprise you.”

“Surprise me?”

Kurapika blushed, holding out the paper bag. “For you…”

She blinked, taking the bag and opening it. “Oh, Kurapika!”

Inside was a small plush bunny and a bag of pastries. “I saw you eyeing it when we were at the gift shop, and when I saw you dropped your ice cream, I wanted to get you more. But the stand was closed. I hope these are okay inst-“

He went quiet when she stood on her tippy toes to kiss his cheek, his face turning a bright red. “Kurapika, this is so sweet. Thank you.”

She gave him a hug, the blonde quickly wrapping her tightly in his embrace. “I’m… I’m really happy you like it.”

Unknown to (Name), Kurapika has decided on courting her in the traditional Kurta way, and the first step was gift giving.

Kurapika was very happy on their way back to the hotel, holding her gently and laughing when she hugged the plush to her chest.

————————

The days passed by, and now they were on the road back home. (Name) was a lot more comfortable sitting in his lap now, and he was having an easier time controlling himself.

When they reached home, Kurapika almost felt… disappointed. This meant that she’d be taking her van in to the shop to get the seat fixed. He wanted to hold her in his lap more, but he couldn’t be selfish like that.

“Ugh…”

(Name) groaned as she sat on her couch after unpacking. The kids had already passed out on the beanbag together, snoring. It was nearly midnight, and Leorio had decided to stay the night so he could take (Name) to get her van fixed in the morning.

“Tired?” Kurapika asked, sitting next to her. She nodded, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Yeah… exhausted. The trip was fun, but I’m happy to be home.”

He nodded, playing with her hair. She leaned into his touch, smiling. It was a nice moment, Kurapika feeling himself relax next to her.

Nothing lasts forever though. Kurapika flinched when he heard his phone ringing. (Name) waved her hand, telling him to answer it. He nodded and stood up, walking into the hallway.

(Name) felt her eyes getting droopy as she waited for Kurapika to finish his call. When she heard his familiar footsteps approaching the couch, she glanced up. Her heart sunk at his expression, suddenly very awake.

“I… there’s another informant that wants to meet with me in a week. I’ll be gone for… a few months.”

Kurapika could tell (Name) didn’t like this by her face. “A few months? That’s so long…”

He swallowed, looking away. “I know, it is. But I’ll be going.”

She nodded slowly, looking down at her lap. “Your mission always comes first, I already got that.”

He felt his chest ache. Kurapika wanted to try and reassure her that she was also very important to him, but he couldn’t get the words out. He clenched his fist, sighing softly. “I’ll… I’ll call you every day if I can.”

This surprised her. She felt a bit hesitant to trust him, after all, the last time he promised that he ended up ghosting her then breaking her heart.

“Okay. It’s not like I’m going to stop you from leaving or anything.” (Name) said, leaning back against the couch. “You’re your own person, you don’t need my permission to do things. You just stay here in between missions.”

For some reason, that hurt Kurapika a lot more than her yelling at him or being angry with him would have.

“… it’s in a week. I would uh…”

He twiddled his thumbs. “I would like to spend time with everyone before I leave.”

He meant to say he wanted to spend time with her most of all, but his body wouldn’t allow him to say it.

“Sure, I’m not busy.”

He smiled, and she gave him a tired smile as well. “I’m going to bed now. Goodnight, Pika.”

He watched her walk upstairs, says filled with love and longing. “Goodnight, (Name).”

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changingplumbob · 8 months ago

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Foster Household: Chapter 9, Part 8

CW: Mental Health Struggles - Guide to content warnings

Chad: How are you today Carson

Carson: Not good. I mucked up at school

Chad: Oh? It’s not exam season is it

Carson: No. I just... I was painting and Ariadne came to talk to me and then the bell rang and all my intrusive thoughts started up and she didn’t finish what she was saying. She probably thinks I’m a rude idiot

Chad: Carson, remember how we talked about mind reading?

Carson: Sort of. It’s like imagining what another person is thinking

Chad: Yep. It’s also a notoriously unreliable train of thought. There’s no way for us to know what someone else is thinking

Carson: Unless we ask?

Chad: Exactly. So while it might be easy to imagine that everyone is thinking the worst of us, it doesn’t make it true. How have you found talking to her when the intrusive thoughts are more quiet?

Carson: Good. Really good. I held her hands and it felt great

Chad: Have you read up on asexuality at all?

Carson: Oh I have and it was good! Like just... exactly what I feel and think has a name. It was... validating. Yeah, validating. I don’t know how touch averse I am, I guess I’ll find out with time

Chad: I’m glad to hear that. Is there anything else you want to discuss before we get to today’s workshop?

Carson: No I’m good

Chad: Great. So last time was all about identifying your symptoms and thoughts. Today we’re going to revise that and discuss some ways to apply reasoned arguments to those thoughts

After he had finished with Chad, Carson hoped on the ferry home and gave his mum a call.

Carson: Hey Mum, my session is all finished. Do you need me to grab anything on the way home

Kayleigh: Oh sweetie I’m sending the new address to your phone

Carson: New address?

Kayleigh: YES! The movers came while you were at school and we’re all set up

Carson: So strangers were touching my stuff? Mum do you know how many germs they could have left?

Kayleigh: We got you some brand new stuff to, don’t worry. You’re going to love it. If you want to clean anything I can help, okay?

Carson worried all the way to the new house. People touching his stuff? When he got there he was pleased to see there were no internal stairs though, much safer. Kayleigh showed him his room and while he was apprehensive he couldn’t deny that his mum had done a good job of preserving his things. Once he was settled Kayleigh left him to do his homework. The light here was much nicer to, but he’d probably have to be careful for mold with his room sitting above the water. Could sharks break through floors like Lachrymose Leeches if they smelled food on him?

Harvey: How’d your appointment go? Are you liking Chad

Carson: Yeah he’s really chill. Helps me not feel so stressed

Kayleigh: I’m sorry we didn’t give you a heads up about the move but we didn’t want you to make yourself sick with worry before we were here

Carson: *sighs* It’s not cool mum

Harvey: It wasn’t just her, we decided together. Be mad at both of us if you are

Carson: Do sharks break through floors?

Kayleigh: I don’t think so but if you want to know I’m sure your sister knows

Harvey: She is a marine biologist

Carson: Yeah I might do that

Kayleigh: And we’re hiring a maid. They’ll come every weekday and clean however much of your room and bathroom you want

Harvey: You’re so smart sugar

Carson: Oh watcher, could you wait until I’m out of the room before kissing? Yeesh

Our first visitor was eldest child Charlie!

Harvey: You found us!

Charlie: Too easily. The paparazzi are going to find you here you know

Harvey: As if, I don’t think they know where Sulani even is. Come play chess?

Charlie follows her dad to the back porch, gives her mum a kiss on the cheek hello, and sets down to play. Harvey however is not a great player and the game is soon over with Charlie the victor.

Kayleigh: Alright my turn

Charlie: You think you can win

Kayleigh: I taught you how to play remember

Charlie: Yeah with a long gap and more kids in the middle

Kayleigh: I’ve been tuning my skills for promotion, you’ll see

Indeed Charlie does. Although she does her best to distract her mum during the game with claims of spotting sea monsters in the distance, Kayleigh is the final victor of the night.

Previous ... Next

#sims 4 #the sims #simblr #my sims #ts4 #active simblr #R0910 #CarsonFoster #KayleighFoster #HarveyFoster #CharlieNishidake

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artistic-shapeshifter · 1 year ago

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Faes of the Stars Chapter 3

@afloofwithmultipleinterests helped me write this chapter~ much thanks to her~!

Chapter 3

Ana opened her eyes to a pressure against her ribs. She yawned and turned her head to see Eclipse pressed up against her as much as he could. His face was hidden as he slept, Ana simply watching his breathing for a moment before smiling.

He seemed like such a cuddly one, that was for sure.

She turned her head to look at the egg. It still sat there. Motionless. She hummed a bit, leaning her neck over to readjust some of the blankets and moss to make sure it was warm. She hummed again, her ears twitching forward as if she was listening to the slightest sound from the egg. But she heard nothing…

She held back another sigh as she heard a squeak of a yawn from Eclipse. Ana turned her head to see his head lift up, rubbing his eyes with a paw.

“Morning kiddo.”

“Morning…” Eclipse mumbled sleepily.

“How’d you sleep?”

Eclipse laid his head back down, cuddled up against her before he spoke.

“Okay…you’re really warm…”

Ana couldn’t help but chuckle, it didn't seem like this one was much of an early riser…though he could have just been tired…a lot had happened after all.

“I’m glad I was able to keep you cozy honey.”

Eclipse gave a sleepy but happy hum as he stretched and rolled onto his back to look up at her.

“What are we doing today?”

Ana softened her smile, leaning her head down to gently boop his belly with her snout, earning a few high pitched giggles.

“You are going to go to Mr. Kylin’s class for the day. Learn some things and maybe make some friends. I’m gonna take yer sibling over there and do some research at the library.”

“Do I have to? I wanna stay with you!” Ana turned her head to look down at the youngun, the surprise that he already looked up to her so much. He’s hardly spent a day with her…. She sighed. “Another time, ok? I promise. I just want to make sure I know how to take care of you kids. And I want you to make friends and learn anything a young dragon is gonna need to know.” She watched Eclipse lower his frills, clearly disappointed, but nonetheless, he had nodded in agreement. “Okay! Then we’ll play together right?” Ana couldn’t hide her smile. “Course sweetheart. Whatever you wanna do. Now come on.”

“Coming mom!”

After Ana dropped Eclipse off, she made her way to the library with the egg held against her chest with her paw. She looked through the shelves filled with books on millions of topics. She lowered her ears…Where was she to even start? “Do you require assistance?” Ana flinched, turning her head to see the odd one in charge of the library. A robotic being. Colorful and looking rather…old. Najada has mentioned him being of dwarven tech. “Oh…CC. Uh, I’m just looking for books on fae dragons….just so I can take care of this little one.” She nodded down toward the egg. It was hard to tell what CC was actually paying attention to. But his head tilted toward the egg in her arm. Then back up to her. “You are looking for egg care. Please, return to your quarters, I shall have the books you require delivered.” Ana blinked, flicking her ears back. “Oh you don’t have to-” “The egg should not be moved. It should stay in the warmth of the nest.” Ana blinked again, surprised by that. Yeesh…technology was something else alright.

“Ah right…thank you.”

She left the library, staring at the ground awkwardly as she tried the conversation. Parenting advice from an emotionless sounding robot…what next?

As promised, CC had delivered the reading material to Ana. He hadn’t stayed, much to Ana’s relief.

She stared down at the egg, moving and fluffing the moss that surrounded it.

Ana hummed in worry. She knew nothing bout hatching an egg after all…she looked toward the doorway. Kylin and chica promised to bring Eclipse back after classes. And that should be soon…She huffed again and pulled a large book to her. One about Fae dragons.

“Better learn now before you enter the world huh kiddo..?” She chuckled dryly to the egg. Though it gave no reaction. As usual…

She hummed and continued reading. Unaware of the egg’s sudden slight wobbles.

Her ear twitched at a sudden cracking sound. Ana turned toward the egg, her eyes widening seeing a piece of shell fall off.

“…Yer hatching…oh my god…oh my god yer hatching!!” She panicked. Alone with an egg about to hatch and she had no clue what she was doing

Ana wasn't prepared to raise a lone baby dragon by herself! What does she do? What does she do!?

"... Keep calm," she told herself. "It's only one baby dragon, it's not like it'll be that hard, right?"

As the egg broke open, two little baby dragons broke the egg clean in half, one resting on the yellow half of the sparkly egg, and the other resting on the blue half. The dragon pups started whimpering due to the cold, unable to feel or smell their mom anywhere. With that Ana gasped... TWO BABY DRAGONS!? Oh gods, she wasn't prepared for this! The Adoptive mama dragon rushed gently over to the new kin, unable to know what to think at the moment other than the babies certainly needed her fluff to warm them.

The two of them nuzzled against her fur, chirps and squeaks coming out of the golden hatchling while the white and blue one pressed up against Ana.

Her initial shock wearing off now, she actually got a good look at them. She couldn’t help the smile that grew on her muzzle.

One certainly looked more similar to Eclipse. Much more brightly colored. The little frills surrounding its head like a little lion. Talkative too for a newborn. The blue and pale white one stayed close to her chest fluff, only giving the occasional chirp in response to its twins constant chatting.

“Well…look at you two…” Ana muttered, allowing her instinct to take over as she began licking the two clean.

She never picked up on the clacking of claws behind her, the cockatrice returning with her eldest.

“Miss Ana!” Chica called as Eclipse trotted beside her. “We’ve brought Clipsey back-”

“Oh my…” Kylin clacked his beak, seeing the broken shell and hearing the constant chirping. “Did it..?”

Ana turned her head. “They’re here.”

Eclipse's eyes widened stunned that his baby brother or sister- .. Wait.. sisters?! Brothers?! Brother and sister!? There were two!

"Oh WOW!" The young dragon exclaimed excitedly, his tail wagging happily behind him as he carefully bounded to look at the babies. "I got two sibs to play with now?? i thought they weren't supposed to hatch for another week!" he whisper-shouted, ecstatic for his baby sibs' arrival.

The small dragon gently laid a close but safe distance from the babies, earning a bit of a chuckle out of Ana at the wholesomeness of the moment... sure it may be hard... but it would be worth it to ensure these babies had a mother to raise them right.

"Daw.. they are just adorable lil' chickpeas aren't they?" Chica cooed like a loving aunt. "how long ago did they hatch?" she asked, looking back up at Ana with a big smile on her face.

“Not even five minutes ago.” Ana snorted. “Caught me off guard that’s for sure…”

“Ohoho! I should let her majesty know right away! She will be ecstatic for you Miss Ana! The proudest! Oh, I should hurry. These little ones will need a look over and no one is better than a dragon with previous mother experience!!”

Kylin quickly rambled, before turning to his pupil. “Oh chica, do stay here and help miss Ana for the time being! I shall return post haste!”

“Oh sure Ky-“ the elder cockatrice was long gone.

“Lin…”

Ana chuckled. “For an old bird, guys got a lot of pep in him…”

Chica sighed. “Tell me about it…but uh…how are you doing dear?”

Ana flicked her ears back at the question. She looked down at Eclipse who admired his siblings with his tail swaying.

She lowered her voice to the reptilian chicken. “Nervous…still hoping I’m not biting off more than I can chew…just wanna give these kids a chance…”

Chica nodded in understanding. "Motherhood is a big job, sure... and at times it can be far from easy.. but with them being raised by a dragon like you? I just know that the universe gave them the perfect caterer in respect of their biological mother.. there will be mistakes, everyone makes them. but as long as you don't give up on them.. they won't give up either." the peppy cockatrice assured her with a smile. "i just can't wait to hear what their names are once they've been decided!"

The more cool colored baby dragon let out a high pitched snort, kicking the brighter colored one in the face, to which it barked at as if having faced similar behavior in the egg. the blue crooned in response, the kick being the result of trying to bury himself in the fluff. Ana softly picks the starry looking one up by the scruff. readjusting him so he wouldn't smufficate himself. the small pup let a whine and mouse-like growl in response, grumpy to not getting his way.

“So much attitude in such a small lil thing...” Ana snorted.

Eclipse giggled. “What are you gonna call em?”

Ana looked at him before back at the twins. “Once yer grandma looks em over I’m sure I’ll have something by then…”

And as if on cue-

“Oh let me see the darlings!”

In came the Queen, a smile on her muzzle. As she moved to Ana’s side she gasped softly.

“Oh my goodness…they’re absolutely beautiful.”

Ana smiled up at her. “Guess I got lucky to get twins huh?”

“I’d say so. May I?”

Ana nodded, watching as Najada picked up the golden baby and looked it over. She hummed and smiled before cradling the golden one and picking up the blue one and repeating her examination.

“Well, I’m proud to say, two beautiful and perfectly healthy baby boys! You’ve got quite the trio here.”

"Baby boys?" eclipse excited, repeating in a question as if to make sure.

Najada chuckled with a smile. "Yes! Two baby boys. I'm sure you're very excited to play with them when they're old enough, hm?"

"Yeah!'' The dawn-like dragon cheered aloud which spooked the little ones a bit, causing them to bleet much similarly to baby lion cubs. eclipse gasped softly before gently lowering himself down to nuzzle them.

"Aw i'm sorry!" he whispered. "forgive big bro? its okay...." Ana helped with the nuzzling, licking over her three adoptive babies in the process.

Najada smiled softly, before turning back to Ana. "Being a first time mom, adoptive or not, don't feel like you have to face this all by yourself. I know you're determined, independent.. but being a single mother of three can be a lot for a dragon. This old soul and company are gonna help you every step of the way. "

Ana nodded. "Right...Thank you."

Najada bowed her head with a smile. "You'll do fine...trust your instincts and don't be afraid to ask for help.."

"Yea. I will" Ana nodded, taking in a deep breath to try and ease the pit in her stomach.

Najada hummed, pressing foreheads with her own adopted daughter. She looked down at the babies. "Any ideas on names then?"

Ana looked over her boys. She lowered her ears in thought, moving a paw over the golden baby and brushing his cheek with a finger. "Well...I got an Eclipse...so I think Sunny would fit perfectly for this one and..." She looked at the blue one. "...I like Moon for you..."

"Well he does rather look like a Moonberry doesn't he?" Najada chuckled. "Those are darling choices."

"Ohhh! How cute! Little starry babies!" Chica cooed

Little Sunlet out a soft whine similar to a crying puppy, sniffing the paw if trying to find what or whoever was attached to it... it wasn't his mama, but it didn't seem harmful. Meanwhile moon chuffed sleepily, not really thinking much, not investigative or curious yet.. just having the desire to be a sleepy little thing. "How long will it take before I can play with em' mama?" Eclipse whispered to the derg curiously, his tail flicking back and forth. "I can't wait to teach em to fly- oh- or wrestle with em', or- or-" Eclipse shook his head. "there's just so much to look forward to!"

Ana hummed a chuckle, lowering her head to nuzzle Eclipse.

“I think it’s gonna be a bit hun…just be patient. You’ll have plenty of time to be a big brother.”

Eclipse let out a purr, nuzzling back against her.

“Aww..okay.”

Najada smiled at the scene. “Well then, I think I’ll let you rest. You’ll all need it with these little ones around.”

The rainbow dragon bowed her head.

Ana nodded back. “Night Najada.” Chica gave a wave with her wing. “Goodnight Ana. Goodnight pumpkins~!”

That night was a good night, which turned into a good week... after the week turned to the first year, from seeing the babys' eyes open for the first time, to going from bleeting to hearing their first babbling attempts at speaking, Ana thought she couldn't love her new family any more than she already did... Today however, just on the cusp of the second winter... the first steps into childhood happened... quite literally, proving Ana wrong.

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mischiefmanaged71 · 3 years ago

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The Love Hypothesis (20/22) - Stephen Strange x Reader

Summary: Y/N Y/L/N is a PhD student who wants to prove to her best friend that she has moved on and dating. With no way to prove it, she kisses the first man she sees, which ends up being none other than Dr. Strange, known as one of the most unapproachable and critical professors in the university.

A/N: AU! Stephen Strange is a Professor/Doctor at Columbia University and reader is a Ph.D. student (Reader - 28, Stephen - 34). Credits to Ali Hazelwood for the original story. This work is a piece of fiction. I have no ownership over anything, this is ff.

Pairing: Stephen Strange X FEM! Reader

Word Count: 1K

Series Masterlist

“Hayden sent a message.” Natasha said, looking up from Y/N’s phone that she grabbed from the table as the woman relaxed in the chair with her eyes shut.

“Technically it’s from Strange.” she mused, causing Y/N’s heart to skip a beat. “He lost his phone charger and can’t text you, but he and Hayden are on their way back.”

Y/N nodded, relief flowing through her. “Where is their layover?”

Sam replied, “It’s a direct flight. They’ll arrive ten minutes after us, even thought they only left a while after. Privilege.”

“Did Hayden mention anything about...”

“I’m sure Stephen will have some updates for you. We can wait for them.” Sam smiled encouragingly.

She sighed, leaning against his shoulder, “You know me so well.”

Y/N played with her fingers, folding them in and out as Sam looked out the window.

“How are you feeling?” she hummed in response to his question.

“Better.” she straightened her posture, sighing “A lot better, actually.”

Natasha smiled, “I’m glad to hear that. Especially because it sounds genuine.”

A grin splayed on her features, Y/N rolling her eyes.

“So, I hope with what you’ve learned here, there will be some developments when we land?” Sam hinted.

She nodded, “I’ll talk to him. It’s time we finally cleared everything.”

A beep from her phone clued Y/N into a notification. She tapped on the email bubble and opened one, reading a CC from Professor Xavier, Re - her project. A flutter rushed in her stomach at the several responses from associate professors interested in her research after seeing her talk. Four total from cancer researchers!

“Y/N, look who I ran into.” she shot to her feet, spotting Hayden standing over Natasha and Sam, and particularly Stephen walking up behind them. He looked tired after many hours awake and just as handsome as he looked straight at her. Y/N recalled the words he spoke last night and a warm flush composed her face. Her heart lumped in her throat.

“How are you?” Stephen directed at her.

She shrugged, “Good. At least as good as I can be.”

He nodded, “That’s good. I’m glad.”

“Hear me out.” Hayden’s voice cut through, “Dinner. Tonight.”

“Actually,” Stephen piped up, looking straight at her, “I was thinking of retiring early for the evening-”

“Woah-” Hayden cut him off with a smile, “ I thought we could all get dinner together. How does Chinese sound?”

“I’m not getting dinner with you. I have better things to do.”

“Yeesh. You’d think he would have better manners for his closest friend.”

Stephen shook his head, “Oh, I have much respect for you. There’s just a limit-”

“I see how it is.” Hayden nodded, shrugging to Y/N’s side, “Pretty sure that threshold doesn’t account for you. And seeing as I have your entire schedule up here.” he tapped his head, “I know you have nothing planned.”

“Y/N and I are busy.”

“Y/N?”

She glanced between the two men. “Um...I like Chinese food.”

“Perfect.” Hayden smiled.

Everything morphed into the background as his sight set on her and she could see the apologetic look Stephen wore.

‘It’ll be fun’ she mouthed.

‘It’ll be torture’ he replied.

She huffed out a laugh, drawing her friend’s attention to her as she hid a smile.

***

“We should probably address the elephant in the room.” Natasha addressed.

The notion stirred something in Y/N’s stomach as she glanced at her friends.

“Which is that Sam and Stephen hate each other.”

Albeit, it wasn’t the predicament she was thinking of.

“They don’t hate each other.” She replied, shrugging when Natasha sent her a pointed look. “Okay. Alright, there was one instance. An incident that I’m sure we have all forgotten.”

Sam coughed, growing uncomfortable by his friends statements.

“When Stephen called Sam’s work ‘sloppy’ and a ‘misuse of research funds’?” Natasha invited.

The table grew silent, a groan rising from Y/N as Hayden raised his eyebrows at the comment.

“Great, we can clear that up. How do we feel about fried rice?” Y/N clapped her hands.

“I won’t have fried rice.” Stephen replied.

“Stephen.” Hayden said, coughing to nudge a response from him.

Stephen’s frown deepened, “I have no recollection of the event, but it does sound like something I would say.”

Y/N perked an eyebrow, catching his gaze. She nodding, encouraging him to continue. “Whatever it was that I said, I am sorry. It wasn’t personal. I’ve been told I’m antagonist and unapproachable by a reliable source.”

A huffed laugh escaped her as she hid a smile.

“Great!” Natasha clapped her hands, “Egg rolls for the appetiser?”

They would need to have a talk later. A discussion about Tom and many other things. For now, it would just be like they had always been around each other. It was easy to slip back into things, despite the vast differences in their relationship.

“I want egg rolls.” she glanced at Stephen, “Although, I suppose you would hate that sort of thing. It’s actually edible.” she fixed a smile, a glint of mischief there.

“Smartass.” he muttered just as the waiter took their order.

“Look at ‘em go.” Sam murmured to Nat which Y/N caught, her smile faltering at the attention.

“It’s sweet.” Nat replied.

“I guess that is what happens when you’re in love.”

Y/N’s heart fluttered as she looked down, forgetting to breathe.

“They’ve only been dating for a month.” Sam responded.

Hayden spoke up, “No, they’re been together for ages. He’s probably studied all her favourite things and habits and compiled seven databases to-”

“Alright, we get it.” Stephen piped up.

“He didn’t.” Y/N laughed, “We only began grabbing coffee at the beginning of the Fall semester.”

“Yeah,” Hayden nodded, “But you knew each other from earlier. Stephen’s been into you since you first met the year before you started your Ph.D. When you came for your interview and he’s been pining over you ever since.”

Y/N shook her head in confusion, unassured of what she was hearing until she looked at Stephen who stared at her. Was it apologetic? Panic? All she knew was the silence settling over them as Stephen looked at her.

Is mine a good enough reason to go to grad school?

It’s the best one.

And then, something so simple fell right into place and made everything seem so easy. It seemed simple enough then. She had been right after all.

“Yes.” she smiled, “I guess he has.”

TAGS:

@goldencherriess @severuined @thewinterpoet2 @pasta-warlord @typical-bistander @judig92 @captainbarness @gaitwae @sleutherclaw @angstsfordays @mavsketch @mando-is-the-way @samisubi @liar-liar13 @evelynrosestuff @stanny-uwu @colorfuly-blog04 @frostandflamesfanfic @katsuphobic @fiadh-bell @awmysherl @sourgrapes-aa @orighami @apple-and-berry @blue-aconite @kaykay0315 @hunterofshadows04 @ohchoices @empty-canvas @99queenrory99 @savage-rhi @shutupwylow @singhfae @loki-is-loved @jotaros-bara-tiddies @cottagecore-cat @simpforreadheads @levitationcloak @hospitaldaydream @elicheel @supervengerslock @clockblobber @multi-obsessed-fanfic-writer @classicrebound @sherlockstrangewolf @veryladyqueen

#stephen strange x reader #stephen strange x y/n #doctor strange #doctor strange x reader #doctor strange x y/n #marvel x reader #the love hypothesis #the love hypothesis au #stephen strange series #stephen strange

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juliasjustanidiot · 4 years ago

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𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 | c!technoblade

the struggles of parenting - c!technoblade x reader

synopsis: technoblade thinks he wouldn’t be the best dad when you tell him you’re pregnant. However, he won’t know until he does it!

pronouns not mentioned, suggests female.

tw: female pregnancy, demon child

wc: 1.7K

italics represent future activities. This can also be seen as a continuation off of the scent of estrogen which was written previously by @faithajo24.

as you stared at your partner, you noticed the look of uncertainty plastered on his face. you patiently waited for him to process the news you had just told him. you honestly didn’t think it would take him ten whole minutes to process the fact that you were pregnant.

what’s there to process? you have a kid growing inside you, boom. you supposed there was also the lugging around a child that you would have to eat double to feed. going to the bathroom more frequently, random mood switches, and constant feeling of dizziness whenever you stand up, but techno didn’t have to deal with that. all he had to do was make sure you had every single food you craved-- which may change by the hour, but that’s not that big of a deal. he also had to rub your swollen feet sometimes, but hey, he signed up for that when he decided to knock you up.

in eight months, there would be a ton of wailing, a whole lotta shit around the place, and nights of listening to loud crying, trying to figure out what the small child wanted. it wasn’t that bad for him. sheesh.

“techno?” you called out after the twelfth minute passed. he just continued to stare at your stomach with wide eyes. the piglin hybrid hadn’t moved from his spot.

“this is not good.” were the first four words he chose at that moment. a large amount of hurt began to settle as you stared at your partner with disbelief.

“what?” was all you could manage to mutter. an expanding feeling of sadness overwhelming you. techno stared up at you meeting your gaze.

“we can’t be parents! i can’t raise a-a” he struggled to form a sentence, failing at getting out how he felt. the shock of practically being rejected consumed you, any happiness you were feeling before all completely disappeared.

“is there something wrong with raising a kid with me?” anger bubbling through your words.

“you? god, no, y/n! it’s not you! it’s me!” he corrected, standing from his chair, reaching out for you. his heart throbbed as he watched you move away from him.

“fuck you.” you uttered, turning on your heel to go to the exit of techno’s cabin. suddenly, you felt a grasp around your wrist, restricting you from moving any further.

“no, y/n. i’m sorry. that came out wrong.” he paused for a moment. he opened his mouth only to close it.

“yes, techno?” you said, your words laced with poison. whatever he wanted to say, he should get it out now before you start lighting things on fire with your new crazy pregnancy mood.

“i just don’t think-” he sucked in a breath, hesitating. “that i would be the greatest dad.” you cocked your head to the side, listening to his reasoning.

at this point, you weren’t sure if you should be angry at your partner for thinking he would be a terrible parent, sad for thinking himself unfit, or happy that you weren’t the problem. you decided to feel all three. “why?” was what seemed to spill from your mouth.

you didn’t understand how technoblade, the man who took in tommy when he finally recognized dream’s abuse, technoblade, the man who let ranboo move in around the area when he had nowhere to go, technoblade, the man that you loved with all your heart, couldn’t see himself as an amazing father to your child.

techno just stared at you, his red eyes expressing his affection for you perfectly. “why don’t you think you’d be the greatest dad?” you repeated, awaiting an answer patiently.

“well… there’s-there's feeding the kid!” you almost let out a howl of laughter. “what do you even feed something that small? it’s ridiculous! if i were to shove anything down that small of a throat, it would choke and die, alright? what more can i say?”

“please don’t shove anything down our future kid’s mouth.”

“i wasn’t planning on it, but it was just a thought and it can happen.”

“alright, kid.” you settled yourself on a chair in front of your kid who sat in their own chair with a chest in between the two of you to act as a makeshift table. “what do you eat?” you mumbled, staring down the smaller version of your now one month anniversary husband, but less piglin, and more cute like you.

the child just gawked at you with a big toothless grin, absolutely radiating with cuteness. “fuck, techno. it’s doing it again.” you called to your husband who was on the floor above, enchanting some armor for your little one, insisting that they needed protection despite the fact that you’ve told him numerous times that the worst thing that could happen to them is tommy getting ahold of them.

“y/n, don’t look them in the eyes! it’s when you look at them there that they get you!” he called from above.

“too late!” you hollered back, sucked into the action of looking your kid directly in their soft eyes.

with a sigh and a grumble, you heard the creaking of techno’s footsteps coming down the ladder to find you propped up on a chair and staring at your child indefinitely with an expression of utter joy as if you were entranced in their absolute adorableness.

he stalked over, picking up the tiny thing compared to him and holding them against his chest. the baby let out a squeal of extreme happiness. he took the spoon you had set down on the chest in front of you and grabbed a spoonful of the supposedly edible concoction you made for your baby.

you watched in awe as techno spoon-fed your child with a calm, affectionate look towards them. it made your heart swell with solitude.

“and-and changing it! changing the shit holder- the diaper! whatever!” he counted off the next reason.

“the… shit holder?” you asked with a look of half amusement and half confusion.

“shut up, alright? i have no clue how to be a dad.”

as you tried to tug the snuggie on your smelly child’s lower half, you struggled and watched it come undone for what you assumed to be the eighth time.

techno walked over and with a grunt said, “you’re doing it wrong.”

you huffed, “ho’kay, if i’m doing it wrong, you do it then.” you said with some attitude stepping to the side from the changing bench he installed for when your baby needed a diaper change.

he let out a small chuckle before taking over, your baby’s face lighting up when they saw they’re father in their line of sight.

swiftly and efficiently, the diaper was on. correctly. way better than you’d ever been able to do and way faster.

“you’re doing that from now on,” you hummed with annoyance, taking your child into your arms and kissing them on the cheek. “i’m not smelling baby shit for more than 30 minutes, trying to put on a diaper when my husband can do it in one.”

techno was about to protest, but stopped and held a smirk on his face. “then you’re throwing these out from now on.” he pointed to the already used diaper.

your mouth hung open before you closed it and bitterly responded with a “fine.”

“crying. what the fuck am i supposed to do if it cries?! what does it want? food? a diaper change? bouncing? fetch?”

“our kid is not going to act like a dog.” you pointed out.

“what the hell does it want when it cries?!”

the hours of wailing you had to deal with while techno was out somewhere was exhausting to say the least.

you had been left at home with your child for a couple of hours and when they started crying, it went on for hours until they got what they wanted. you had absolutely zero clue whatever the hell they wanted.

you have tried everything. you even managed to get phil, ranboo, and tubbo over to try and help you, but everything the four of you tried never seemed to work. you had come to the conclusion that your child was a demon from hell that would stop at nothing to get what it desired. if the shoe fits…

“have you tried putting your baby in rice?” ranboo suggested with a tone that made him sound like he was being completely serious.

“i’ve heard bouncing a child works! i dunno, i haven’t tried it. we’ve never had to deal with michael like this.” tubbo offered. “he mostly just makes little oinks and hops around everywhere.”

“maybe just throw the whole kid away. honestly, it worked for me.” phil shrugged.

“oh! i have nukes if we need-”

“what the fuck-” you spat as you stared at the three of them with shock. “we are not drowning my kid in rice, i already tried bouncing- it didn’t work, and phil, we are not throwing away my kid. and lastly, we are not fucking nuking my kid. at least, not without techno’s input. i can’t believe the three of you are parental figures.”

a few more minutes passed with more bawling, when your husband finally arrived home. “i could hear my baby from outside the house, why is it crying this time?” you, phil, ranboo, and tubbo all turned your head to techno with expressions that made you all look dead. “yeesh, you guys look terrible.” he commented.

“yeah, thanks, babe.” you mumbled, exhausted.

“you guys obviously haven’t tried hard enough,” techno mumbled, “because-” as he reached for his kid and put them in his arms. the demon in your demon child completely disappeared. “it just wanted attention.”

“what the hell?” you heard phil groan.

the three of you joined him in the groan, making you all sound like the undead. “it wanted you, techno.” you complained.

“good luck with that thing. i’m going to sleep. don’t call me next time it does that.” phil got up and dipped immediately, heading to his cabin.

tubbo and ranboo looked at each other and sighed. “we’ve got our own kid at home and i’m just glad he isn’t a demon like this one.” tubbo sighed.

“and michael’s literally from the nether!” ranboo added. “see you guys!”

and with that, they left you and techno and your child that was exuding happiness in his arms alone. “you are the worst.” you grumbled and climbed up the ladder to go to bed.

“i’d just be a terrible father.” techno said, shaking his head disapprovingly. “i wouldn’t know how to deal with it at all.”

“oh, i believe you, babe. i really do.”

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

written by me & edited by @faithajo24

taglist: @aiyncel @etheriaaly

#technoblade #technoblade x reader #technoblade x fem!reader #dreamsmp #dsmp #dream smp #julia-moron #tubbo #ranboo #philza #dadza #technodad

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selfawarejester · 4 years ago

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It's The Vanilla And Spice That Does You In (Cora Hale x Reader)

Hey, Kit! Thanks for the first request dearest 🥰🥰! (I remembered that you wanted more Derek, so here you go!)

pairing: Cora Hale x Reader

rating: nothing saucy, they just sleep in the same bed.

You and Cora were never the closest people in the pack.

As a human, you gravitated to Stiles and Lydia — even though the strawberry blonde was a banshee, she was still more on your side of the scales than the others’. Scott was someone you’d spent many an evening with, third-and-fourth wheeling to whatever crazy theory Stiles had been plotting up in his room, which eventually led to you being accepted into the nerdtastic duo… and you don’t regret any of it.

Allison was a tad too serious, and you’d only really become friends with her after she broke up with Scott, which yeesh, but she still offered to help you learn how to defend yourself which you appreciated immensely. Similarly, Isaac was a friend, but you weren’t that close.

The Hales were a whole different can of beans. Derek used to be this terrifying entity that made you have a heart attack every interaction you had, but now was just a bitter, deeply flawed man that you used to crush on when you were a kid. Peter was the creepiest of all creepers, and you gave him a wide berth in every way possible.

Cora… well, she was nice enough. It was a distant kind of politeness, the kind that made you think it was just out of routine and not because she actually cared about being nice to you — the same way she opened doors for Lydia, or unscrewed jars for Stiles (though she did make fun of him mercilessly for it), or offered to walk with you and Isaac to Biology.

So, it happens during a pack meeting; or we’ll, right after one. You’re talking about implementing patrols, just to come out ahead of whichever serial killer was coming after all of you next. Stiles and Isaac had ended up arguing, of course — “Maybe this is just you being paranoid, Buzzfeed Unsolved.” “Hey, that is a great show, and it’s not my fault if you wanna be lazy, Lahey!” “Ha, big words from the guy who won’t be doing any legwork!”

And slowly, sides started to form, at which point Derek interceded and suggested that everyone go home for the evening and sleep it off. Stiles, Scott and Lydia took the chance and ditched everyone, eager to get away from the tension and finally introduce the girl to Star Wars.

Allison rolled her eyes, and leaned over to you. “Stiles is gonna regret it when she starts pointing out the scientific inaccuracies.” And you have to laugh, remembering the torturous night that she decimated Total Recall. But what shocked you was the chuckle that came from the other end of the couch, and the quirk of Cora’s lips as she browsed through her phone. You brushed it off, assuming that it was a meme or something.

“So. Do you need a ride home? It’s on my way.” Allison asks, and you refuse, citing that you wanted to help Isaac with biology.

“Oh, why didn’t you ask Lydia-?”

“Nope!” Isaac calls out from the kitchen, puttering in with arms stacked high full of snacks. “She’s mean.”

Allison… has to agree and leaves you to your studying.

Unfortunately, y’all are bad at it.

After a good thirty minutes of rage-quitting, Cora finally gives in with a loud groan that startled both of you. You hadn’t noticed that she was still there.

“Move over, dimwits, I’ll help.”

So, maybe you were ignorant or she was just great at hiding it, but she was great at Biology. Not Lydia level, but she understood the concepts well enough that she was able to tailor the explanation differently for you and Isaac. By the end of it, you were grinning widely, feeling like you actually understood something.

You thank her, saying as much, and there’s this underlying fondness to her smile — a very rare, pretty thing that you found yourself wanting more and more of — and jostles your shoulder with hers. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Well, what’s going on here??” You all groan in unison, and ignore Peter leaning over the back of the couch to gaze intently on his niece… who’s sidled up to you pretty close. “You know, Ms. L/N, we have strict rules for our little girl.”

“Shut up, Peter.” Cora growls, throwing a venomous glare that you can’t help but try (and fail) to mirror. “Yeah, don’t you have other teenage girls to perv on?” Isaac chimes in, backing you up. Peter holds up his hands in mock surrender, before returning to his usual schmooze of I know better than you.

“All I wanted to do was tell you that the storm is getting really bad.” All of your heads’ snap to the window— god, it was really coming down. You had to walk back in that?? You’d die of hypothermia, if you didn’t slip or get in an accident.

“Sorry, Y/N, my music was turned up too high.” Cora says quietly, right next to your ear. A shiver goes down your spine, and you convince yourself it’s the cold, and shake your head. “Hey, it’s okay. You couldn’t focus, I get it.” And then you turn back, frowning at the lightning that lights up the loft for a moment. “But there’s no way I can go home tonight.”

“You can stay here.” You whip your head to Cora, wide-eyed but genuine behind you. You’re too thrown off-guard by her proposition to notice how quick it came, but Peter and Isaac do, sharing a sly glance before the teenage wolf realizes who he’s doing it with and grimaces, shaking his head. “Yeah, you can bunk with Cora.”

“Oh, I don’t wanna impose… I can sleep in Isaac’s.” You offer. You don’t want to impose, but you recognize the burgeoning bundle of emotion in your chest, and it won’t be helped by sleeping the same room as the gorgeous Hale. Cora shakes her head, pushing herself to her feet. “Won’t work, Isaac’s room is messy as hell-“ “hey!”

Peter slinks forward. “I would offer, but considering my history…” He turns his sharp look onto his niece, who’s scowling at him again.

“It’ll be easier this way. C’mon.”

She holds out a hand, and you take an embarrassingly long moment staring at it, before taking it and letting her haul you up. She urges you up the stairs to her room, shrugging off her jacket and kicking off her shoes with no hesitation, while you’re standing next to the doorway like a statue. She slants an elegant eyebrow, and your heart flutters because oh my god-

“Are you coming?” She asks slowly, before dropping onto the bed. You gape, pulling off your jacket and ditching your boots with no little trepidation. You sit on the bed with shaky moves. “Okay, why are you so anxious? I’m not going to make fun of your movie, I swear.” “W-what?” “The… movie? I asked you in the hall?”

Oh, she had? Okay. Okay, yeah, you could do a movie! You picked something funny, cheesy, a little kitschy — you wouldn’t be offended if she decided to tear it to shreds. But she doesn’t, just sits there and laughs at the jokes, and raises an eyebrow at the bits that don’t land. But she watches it seriously, much seriously than you, and when you bring it up, laughing and drunk off of Sprite, she just levels you with a serious look and says in a voice that sends shivers up your spine again. “It was important to you, why would I make fun of it?”

Now you know which of the Hales is the one with the game. Further proof is how Derek immediately barges in and glares at both of you. “That’s enough.” He bites out. “Sleep.”

You’re glad for the interruption, but Cora mutters something in Spanish under her breath, and you’re almost positive it was a curse.

You clamber down to the floor, pulling the extra pillow with you when Cora grabs your hand. “Whoa, whoa, where are you going?” You blink, and point downwards. “…to sleep?” And she laughs, pulling you back up. “Do you have any idea how much colder the concrete’s gonna get overnight? You’ll freeze. Just sleep here, I don’t mind.”

You should know better, you really should, but she’s so sweet that you relent and slip in beside her.

You usually can't sleep well in other people's homes - it took you months before you could even nap on Stiles' couch - but you don't even remember falling asleep.

All you can recall is the morning sun slipping through the slit in the curtains, falling on the wall opposite you thankfully and causing you to stir.

There's a delicate arm around you, but you know Cora's much stronger than her frame gives away. Her face is buried in your hair, which doesn't seem comfortable, but you can her breathing evenly. She smells great, like vanilla and spice... just as alluring and mysterious as the woman herself. Your cheeks color as she makes a content sound and cuddles into you closer. Her eyelashes are really long, closed and brushing across rosy apples cheeks. She never needed make-up, and it was obvious now, with her freckles in full display, with petal-like full lips that you gravitate towards...

You flinch when the door slams open again, a panting shirtless Derek glaring at you again.

"Rain's gone. Bye."

"Go away, Derek." Cora says, voice much too crisp and clear for someone still sleeping.

"Stop putting the moves on someone three feet from my room, and I will." He hisses, making Cora lift her head and give him an impassive look that sends him stalking off.

"He's got a point, you know." She says, shifting to sit up against the headboard, brushing silky chestnut locks away from her face. "How about breakfast at the little diner down the street?"

You grin as you realize what she's been playing at, very carefully poking at your boundaries and checking out your reaction, since yesterday.

"I'd love that."

#this got way longer than i expected #i hope you like it kit!#cora hale x reader #derek hale #peter hale #isaac lahey #teen wolf #cora hale #stiles stilinski #lydia martin #scott mccall #allison argent #teen wolf fanfiction

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hivequest · 4 years ago

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Taking a Risk » Mallek Adalov/Reader

Wordcount: 2.3k words

Warnings: Swearing, fluff, stressed out reader, chillboy Mallek. TYping quirk only used when texting cause I could not be bothered lmao Originally posted on AO3

A/N: One of my favorite things that I’ve written, ever. I love Mallek and he’s for sure one of my favorite Friendsim characters. When I wrote this I was really feeling those Quarantine Woes

You didn't know what you were doing here. You felt out of place in the worst possible ways. It was a weird, squidgy feeling like stepping on wet grass. But not like the fun kind where you were running around in a sprinkler on a hot-as-balls summer day. No, this was the bad kind of wet grass that you stepped on without knowing it was wet. Why weren't you wearing shoes?

This analogy is stupid. The point is, you're feeling bummed out.

And what better way to not have to deal with that than hang out with someone you knew wouldn't push you into talking about all the ways crashing on this planet sucked! The point is, you're on your way to see Mallek. Mallek is absolutely the kind of friend who can tell when you just need to sit down and veg out. You had been so caught up in everyone else's bullshit that you weren't looking after your own damn self. So now you were doing that.

All it took was a quick text, asking Mallek if he had any company. He texted back only a moment later with a no, obviously not. You asked him if he wanted any. Not really. You ask him if you can come over anyway. Obviously.

You smiled at the palmhusk in your, well, palm. You could already feel the chill vibes of your hacker friend. Friend? Was that the right word for it? You didn't know anymore. When you first met there were definitely some sparks there. You could still feel them now and it made weird butterflies flutter around in your stomach. When you slapped his phone out of his hand and he sent you ass over applecart into the slimy depths of sewer water and he saved you, tits out and all.

You shook off the weird wistful feeling of maybe possibly crossing the friendship barrier and told him you'd walk to his hive. You'd been moping in some bookhive, not your usual hang-out spot with Tagora or Tyzias. This was some upper caste bookhive with purple bloods and some indigos and definitely not where you were welcome if the looks you were getting were any indication. They ranged from snooty to downright murderous. Yeesh.

Your phone -palmhusk, stupid troll names- beeped again. You got another text from him and those cheery fucking butterflies were back. God, you had it bad.

yeah were not doing that lmao;

im not going to let my robobuddy walk out in the sun

do you even know what time of day it =

just stay put ive already got your location ill pick you up;

And like a good little friendsimp. You park your ass on a chair and wait. You hadn't released your moping had taken up most of the night. But with the quick look around, yeah, no, this place was nearly empty by now. Just some older bluebloods trying to cram before their Ordeals and get shipped off-planet. Again: Yeesh.

You kept your ears open for the telltale sound of Mallek's limo. It was a sound you were getting used to these days. He always seemed ready to drop whatever coding shit he was working on to come to see you. You tried not to think too hard on what that might mean. No need to get your hopes up now. It's probably just your bad mood making you imagine some context where there's nothing. Yeah.

Damn, that shit hurted.

Just as you were about to add that to the reasons you were considering just screaming your lungs out who cares whose listening? you heard the wonderfully familiar sound of an approaching elongated scuttlebuggy. If that wasn't enough of a clue as to who the ride was for the quiet of the bookhive was very abruptly disturbed by a series of rhythmic beeps.

Holy shit was that the Tetris theme?

You shoved your palmhusk into your hoodie pocket and yanked the hood over your head. Even if the sun was only out a little bit you didn't want it anywhere near your freshly healed skin. You had no kind cowgirl to nurse you back to health right now if you got your asscheeks baked by the flaming death orb. You peeked your head out and even with the blinding light of Alternia's suns you could Mallek had opened the door and was waiting for you.

Aw. No, shit. You're in a bad mood don't get all heart eyes at him. Don't make it weird.

You took a few steps back into the bookhive, ready to make a run for it. You turn to a sitting indigoblood, who is just staring at you disdainfully for keeping the door open. You give her a two-fingered salute. Godspeed young cosmonaut. She gives you a one-fingered salute. Close the door you insufferable bulgebiter. Fair.

Taking a running start, you book it out into the heat of the Alternian sun and dive for the open car door. It's then that you realize he's halfway parked on the sidewalk to lessen the amount of time you'd have to spend in the sun. Aw. That also means that you came barreling like a cannonball at something that was like two feet out of the door. FUck.

Your face meets carpet and you can already feel the rugburn starting to set in. You hear a startled wheezy laugh from above you, a sound you know better than anyone else on this planet. You smile. It's not like you had any dignity to begin with.

You say hello to him as you peel yourself off of the floor of his car.

"Hey, there robobuddy. You stuck the landing this time," He smiles down at you as he reaches over you to shut the door, closing the space out from natural light and leaving you both lit by his colorful LEDs. You shrug and tell him you've been getting a lot of practice landing on your face these days. The look he gives you is still smiling but there's some level of disbelief at the dumbassery that is your whole existence.

"I know you can get yourself into it. Nothing too bad this time, though, right? No drones or broken bones?" He sounds concerned which is nice but he doesn't drown you with his concern. He leans back on the bench of his limo, keeping an eye on you as the vehicle begins to move on its own. You've been staying out of big messes but the little messes are starting to mess with you. He makes a sound of understanding the sounds as it comes from deep in his chest. Whoa. "Believe me, I've been there. Glad you're not cracking under it though."

He smiles and you can see his little fang and you can feel your heart melt a little. And also you're getting a bit teary-eyed and now Mallek looks alarmed. Shit. You try to quickly explain that you're fine, just, alien allergies am I right? He must be using some new air freshener to mask the musty smell of his limo. Since doesn't use it enough. Ha ha?

He isn't buying it.

With a rare show of cerulean prowess, he lifts you up off of the shitty car rug and sets you on the seat beside him. He feels uncomfortable and you can tell. Ah, goddammit you made it weird. You didn't mean to. Fuck. Fuck now you're feeling even worse. You thought you were starting to balance out. You're with Mallek now, shouldn't everything start to quiet down like it always does? Fuck. He doesn't say anything at first, just leans back against the seat and stretches his arms across it, letting you lean on him if you choose to.

...You choose to.

Your head finds itself somewhere between his shoulder and his collarbone, and you just. Shove your face there. Then scream.

To his credit, Mallek doesn't even flinch. He doesn't wince or shy away from you as you let out every bit of anger, sadness, and frustration out against his sweater. He just sits quietly, staring straight at the blacked-out windshield. You get the feeling he's needed to do this more than once.

Screw this planet. Screw everything about it that makes all of your friends suffer. Why can't you just get them away from all this bullshit?! Why do you have to deal with everyone's bullshit! You love them, you do but holy fuck they're looking to you like you can undo all the damage this place has done to them when you've got literally no god damn idea what's happening at any point ever!

And then, just like that, it fades into the background. Your throat hurts. Your head hurts and you think you might be crying. But it feels lighter. Better now that you've gotten some of that aggression out. You aren't like the trolls on Alternia. You can't kill people when you experience an Emotion™. But that doesn't mean you don't get pent up with rage.

Mallek realizes that now. He lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and his left hand slowly moves down from the back of the seat the rest against your back. His thumb brushes against your back, the claw drawing little patterns against the fabric of your sweater. His sweater. He tries not to think his sign your chest. This isn't the time.

"Feeling any better?" He asks and you don't know how to answer. You kinda don't want to. But you nod anyways, and you feel some tension leave his body. You knew he was worried about you. You apologize for making him witness your meltdown but he just makes another deep-chested hum. "Nothing to apologize for. I got the feeling you weren't feeling great. I could tell from the texts, you didn't use nearly enough ugly emojis."

You scoff and smack a hand against his chest and once again you hear that wonderful laugh from him. Hey! Your purrbeast emojis are adorable, thank you very much! And you'll not hear another word of it or else you'll send him pictures of rocks and rocks exclusively. No more memes.

"Jokes on you I'm into that shit." You laugh and thump your head against his collarbone. You thank him for being with you when were needed it. And picking you up to make sure you didn't deal with it alone. You don't want to make it weird but...yeah.

He doesn't respond this time, just letting you both enjoy the silence and the comforting sound of the engine. You should almost be at Mallek's apartment by now. It's as you're settling in for the last bit of the drive that you notice that the limo isn't moving. And hasn't been for a while. Your head pops up in confusion and the little GPS display on the back of one of the seats says... yep.

You're already at Mallek's.

But then why is the engine still on? That can't be good for the environment. Do these things even run on gas or is it bugs? Bug gas? Gross.

You notice then that the rumbling is coming from behind you. Like. From where Mallek is sitting. He doesn't look away when you turn to him, just kind of tilting his head to the side with a little bit of a cerulean hue to his cheeks. Oh. Oh, the sound is coming from him. He's purring. That's.

That's adorable.

You feel yourself soften even more when he lifts his arms, silently offering a hug if you want it. Is this platonic? Is this more? You've never had too much trouble identifying what people wanted from you. (Debatable.) If was overtly flushed you could shut it down or divert it to something very much friends only. (Like your every exchange with Zebruh.) But did you even want to do that to your hackerman? You could feel yourself screaming, no, absolutely not. But at the same time, you didn't want things to change. You didn't want to make his issues any worse than they already were. He didn't have too much longer on the planet and you knew it would tear him apart.

But then he turned those blue eyes to you. He looked just as unsure as you were but he was willing to take the risk. He shoved himself so far out of his comfort zone for you and was asking you to be selfish. To want something for yourself and do something for yourself. Not put him or anyone else's wants first. Just your own. And so you did.

You crawled up into his lap, pressed yourself as close to him as you could and clung to him. His arms didn't hesitate to wrap around you and you could feel a shuddering breath from above you.

"We don't have to put a label on this... not yet. Or ever. Either way is chill with me. I just... yeah." He gave up with a little shrug of his shoulders but you knew what he meant. Unless you could find a way to fight fate he was going to go off-world. He was going to leave you and you doubted you'd be able to go with him. You'd probably get gored by a drone for even trying.

But even if it was just for now, just for a moment, you were going to take it. You were going to let yourself have something, have someone who would care for you no matter how long or short your time was. You'd take it. You had stomached some of the most horrible things on this planet but Mallek had always been a constant. And you got the feeling he thought the same way about you.

So, you'd take it. Whatever comes next, you'd take it. You listened to the sound of his purring, in no hurry to move to get inside the apartment. Mallek felt the same.

You exhaled.

You would be okay.

#homestuck #hiveswap #hiveswap friendsim #mallek adalov #friendsim #homestuck imagines #hiveswap imagines #reader insert

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twotapbuz · 4 years ago

Text

This fic was inspired by this post by @swampythesweetsketch. I’ll post the fics for the rest of 1010 as soon as I finish them.

You were hired to be a personal bodyguard for Eloni

Along with the standard supplies(1010-themed uniform, flashlight, pepper spray, body camera), you were given a watch that would alert you to Eloni’s location whenever he was in trouble

This along with the job wouldn’t be out of the ordinary if it weren’t for the fact that neither of the other members of 1010 had personal bodyguards

You would soon learn why after your fourth concert

You had been approached by two lost fans that were looking for the meet & greet table when your watch suddenly began to beep rapidly. “Eloni must be in trouble,” you thought as you excused yourself from the duo and quickly hurried to the idol’s location. Eloni had somehow gotten to an alley near the venue. You weren’t really sure what to expect. Had a fan tried to kidnap him? You had heard stories from other security staff about crazy fangirls trying to take them or at least pieces of them. You reached the alley and found Eloni being hoisted by a group.

“Freeze!” you said while holding up your pepper spray. This diverted the group and they looked at you. “Drop the robot, now.”

“And if we don’t?” mockingly replied one of the “fans”.

“I’ll send this video to Neon J and have you banned from any future 1010 events.” you tapped your body camera. The threat of not seeing “the loves of their lives” caused the group to practically drop Eloni and they all scattered.

“Thank you.” Eloni got up. “You’re the first guard to catch them before they threw me into the trash”

“No problem, just stay away from alleyways.” you began to write an email, informing Neon J that Eloni had been safely retrieved. “ We wouldn’t want to-wait... the trash?” you stopped and looked up at him.

“Yeah, they usually throw me into the trash. One time I got thrown into a nearby pond.” Eloni admitted, embarrassed.

“And how often does this happen?”

“Around every other concert.” Eloni began to lean on the alley wall

“Yeesh, no wonder Eloni needs a personal guard,” you thought. “Wow. I knew the fans were a bit crazy, but I didn’t think they would go this far.” you tried to pick out your words carefully, trying and failing to not upset the robot.

“I just don’t understand why they hate me so much?” Tears began to fall down Eloni’s face. you froze, unsure what to do, before moving to comfort him.

“Hey, I’m um really sorry about what’s happening to you… if you want, I could maybe give you some advice?”

“Really?”

“Yeah” you looked at your watch. “We should head back to the venue, Neon J is worried about you.” Eloni wiped the tears off his face and began to walk beside you

“I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s not a problem.”

You unofficially become Eloni’s PR Manager:

After that moment, you would help Eloni with his image before every event(it was the only time you would see each other as you had no reason to be near Barraca Mansion, and giving Eloni your phone number would be unprofessional).

“You’re supposed to be the funny guy of the group, right?” Eloni nodded. “Well, give me a joke. Let’s see what you got.”

“Ok. What did the fish say when he swam into a wall? Dam.” Eloni shot finger guns at you. You stared at him. “Why do fish live in saltwater? Pepperwater makes them sneeze!” Eloni said, less confident.

“...I see. In the nicest way I can say this, you need new material, Eloni.”

“What? But I spent hours researching jokes on the internet!”

“That’s the problem. Everybody has heard of these jokes. If you want to be funny, you gotta be original. Here.” you handed Eloni a piece of paper. “There’s this restaurant in Dream Cast called The Mind Palace that hosts comedy hours every Saturday at 7 pm. I was going to go, but something came up, so you can have my ticket.”

“Really? Thanks!” Eloni smiled

-----------

“So, how was the show?” It was the Monday after the show and you were curious to hear Eloni’s new material.

“It was great! They’re definitely gonna love my new material!” Eloni pulled out his phone and began to show you a video. It was 1010 doing a tour around Vinyl City. Eloni paused the video and pointed at himself. He was dabbing. Between the Eloni in the video dabbing and real-life Eloni looking so proud, you couldn’t help but chuckle and this adorably dorky display. Eloni liked your laugh.

While the new material definitely got Eloni some fans, it still wasn’t enough. So you began to inquire about some of his hobbies

“Another way to get people to like you is to seem relatable. Do you have any hobbies?” You asked

“I bake in my spare time”

“Perfect! We can make a YouTube account and post some of your recipes there. Cooking channels are very popular, I even follow some myself.”

Your advice ends up working and Eloni begins to have his own fan club

He’s given the same love that his brothers are.

You’d think this would be the end of your job, afterall, you were hired to keep Eloni safe from angry fans, but now they all love him.

Instead, the lack of necessity for your job is strangely never brought up by Neon J and you continue business as usual.

You’ve got a crush on Eloni:

You recognize that you’ve got a crush immediately

Ever since Eloni became popular, the two of you’ve had fewer opportunities to talk to each other as he was constantly approached by fans

Having to stand by and watch Eloni be constantly flirted with made it pretty easy to realize your feelings

You decide to ignore these feelings

After all, your relationship was purely professional

Ok maybe all those times you accompanied him all over Vinyl City were just excuses to hang out, but still, your relationship was professional

And his number was saved in your personal phone and you two often texted each other

Even if your relationship was more than professional, Eloni had a lot more choices than you and you didn’t want to ruin what you had

Eloni realizes he’s got a crush:

It first started when he saw a stage technician flirting with you. Eloni got annoyed by this, but he didn’t know why.

It took a while for Eloni to realize his feelings. He at first mistook his crush as just being glad that you were his friend

Eloni also began to think about you a lot. Not just about your advice, but he also began to be reminded of you wherever he went.

It wasn’t until the middle of a baking stream that he realized that he had a crush on you

Eloni tries to flirt with you:

Attempt #1, the 1010 style:

Eloni decided to make his move.

“Hey, Y/N!” You turned around to face the green robot. “Have you thought of joining 1010? Cause you're definitely a ten out of ten.”

“That was a really good one! You should definitely use that during the concert.” You replied, unable to tell the difference between Eloni asking if his lines were good and him flirting with you. Eloni hid his disappointment, but I guess that’s what happens when you use someone as practice for your pickup lines.

Attempt #2, the sweet way:

Eloni decided to take a more “traditional” route by giving you a box of homemade chocolate. And by giving you a box of chocolate, he would place it on top of your locker and would tell you it was him when you opened it.

Eloni waited for you to show up, but you never did. He was about to search for you when he was suddenly stopped by Neon J.

“Troop, this is Emiro.” Neon J gestures to the robot next to him, “He’ll be your bodyguard for tonight.”

“What happened to Y/N?”

“Y/n had an allergic reaction to something they had been eating. Thankfully, they had an epipen on them, but they're taking the rest of the day off.” With that, Neon J left Eloni with the realization that you were probably allergic to the chocolate he made. He was definitely not telling you that he made it.

Attempt #3, third times the charm:

This time, the rest of 1010 decided to devise a plan to help their brother.

They knew Eloni would probably never confess outrightly and while his feelings for you were obvious to Neon J and them, it would take a bit more effort for you to notice.

NSR was hosting a party on the anniversary of the company's creation. And with parties came a lot of security.

You and several other members were assigned to go undercover as party guests and report anything suspicious

This meant that instead of your usual attire, you wore a dress/suit

You still had your watch(the Eloni signal) with you as it also doubled as a radio that you could use to notify staff of suspicious activity

You had been casually chatting with other NSR staff when your watch had started to beep rapidly

Eloni was in trouble

You immediately rushed off to find him, it had been months since he last needed to signal you so it must’ve been bad

You turned around the corner to where Eloni was, only to be met with Haym.

“Haym?”

“Oh hey Y/N! How's it going?”

“Hello, Haym. I’m sorry, but I can’t really talk right now. I’m looking for Eloni, but my watch says he’s right here.”

“Don’t worry, I know where he is!” Haym proceeded to push you into a nearby room. You try to open the door only to find that it was locked. You tried to call someone on your watch, but it was gone. Haym must’ve taken when he pushed you.

“Haym, what the hell is going on! Let me out!” You said while banging on the door. He was kinda your boss, but you had a much more casual relationship with the other members of 1010.

“Y/N?” A voice said behind you. You turned around only to find Eloni. You could tell because of the green eyes and cheeks, which dimly lit the darkroom.

“Eloni? Is that you?” You couldn’t really tell due to how dark it was.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good. Do you happen to know why Haym locked us into this room?”

“Well, my brothers thought it would be funny if….” Eloni hesitated.

“Please tell me this isn’t some messed up version of seven minutes in heaven.”

“What, nonono!” Eloni’s fans began to whir loudly

“Right, sorry. Not like I’d have a chance anyway,” you mumbled that last part

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, Well it’s just you're a famous idol and you’ve got a lot of fans, you know?

“Who cares if I’m famous! That doesn’t make you any less incredible than you are. You’ve made me so happy and you helped me become popular! You were my first fan and I would love to go on a date with you! Eloni froze after realizing what he said.

“Wait, you like me?”

“Yeah”, Eloni blushed, I have for a while. I understand if you want to forget that this happened. I’m really sorry and I-“

You cut Eloni off with a kiss.

“Don’t worry. I feel the same way.”

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

“I’m going to the roof to stargaze. Would you like to join me?” Eloni asked. You had managed to unlock the door, and by unlock, you kicked the door open.

“Well I’m supposed to be out on the lookout for suspicious people,” Eloni’s face began to slightly falter. “But, my main objective is to keep you safe, so It’s best if I go with you. After all, you know how crazy fans can get.” With that, the two of you headed towards the roof.

“Well, that was really cheesy,” Zimelu said, peering his head behind a corner, before getting smacked by Rin.

#nsr #no straight roads #nsr x reader #eloni x reader #1010 #nsr 1010

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thelastspeecher · 3 years ago

Note

For Monster Falls AU, 14. Bitter

14. Bitter

Prompt List

———————————————————————————————————–

Still in his pajamas and barely awake, Stan walked into the kitchen. Fiddleford and his annoyingly cute younger sister Angie were up as well, and judging by their groomed appearances, had been for a while. Angie sat at the table, her head in her hands, every inch of her body tense.

I see why. The red, black, and yellow scales that had appeared on her body yesterday were over even more surface area. They completely covered the parts of Angie’s legs not hidden by her pink sundress. Even her feet were scaled. Man, at least my scales haven’t gone that far yet. Stan frowned. Huh. Why have her scales covered more of her than mine have of me? I started transforming ages ago. Fiddleford, standing by the stove, hamboned something.

“Hardboiled,” Angie muttered. Fiddleford looked over at her in shock.

“You only eat eggs over medium,” he croaked. Angie’s body somehow tensed further.

“Chalk it up to a symptom of me turnin’ into a monster, then,” she snarled. Fiddleford wisely didn’t respond, instead turning back to cooking. Stan took a seat next to Angie.

“Hey, Fiddledork, if you’re making eggs, I’ll take mine hardboiled, too,” he called. Fiddleford grunted wordlessly in response. Stan looked at Angie. “I usually go for soft-boiled, but hardboiled sounds good.”

“Good fer you,” Angie ground out.

“Not a morning person, huh?” Stan commented. Angie looked up at him, fury in her eyes, a brilliant blue like Fiddleford’s.

“Normally, I am,” she said. “But forgive me fer bein’ a bit grumpy in the midst of transformin’ into some sort of creature.” She let out a soft but threatening hiss.

Okay, time to stop with the teasing before she rips your throat out.

“Yeah, I was pretty peeved by the scales, too,” Stan said, trying to mollify her. “They itch like hell, don’t they?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt anythin’ itch half as bad,” Angie said passionately. She dragged her hands down her face. “Not even that time I fell face-first in a patch of poison ivy.”

“Yeesh. And I thought the sunburns I got as a kid were bad.”

“Oh, I got plenty of those, too. Irish heritage ‘n all.”

“You’re Irish?”

“Irish-American. But yes.” Angie frowned at him. “Ya do know my last name is McGucket, right?”

“Well, I’m a bit of a dumbass. I mean, I thought Irish people all had red hair.”

“It does run in my fam’ly,” Angie said. She looked at a lock of her caramel-colored hair. “I don’t have it, but my older sister does, ‘n so does the auntie I’m named after.”

Damn, she moved on from being pissed fast. Maybe she’s just glad to be distracted from the whole “turning into a monster” thing. Fiddleford placed a bowl with hardboiled eggs in it in front of Angie.

“What about mine?” Stan asked. Fiddleford glared at him.

“I’m workin’ on ‘em,” he ground out. He stormed back to the stove. Angie picked up one of the eggs and began to peel it. “I’m disappointed ya don’t even thank the person what brought ya breakfast, Angie.” Angie dropped the egg back into the bowl.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she snarled. “I’m sorry that my manners aren’t exactly perfect right now. I have scales coverin’ my legs and goin’ past my belly button!”

“I didn’t-”

“No, ya did!” Angie slammed her hands on the table. “Ya did mean to be passive-aggressive just now, and ya did mean to mislead me ‘bout why ya wanted me here! So, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I ain’t feelin’ as sweet as usual, I’m sorry I’m feelin’ just a tad bit bitter. Does that make ya happy?”

“Banjey…”

“Don’t you ‘Banjey’ me!” Angie snarled, standing up. “You don’t get to sweettalk yer way out of this, Fiddleford Hadron McGucket! You don’t get to use my childhood nickname to remind me of the good old days. I’m turnin’ into some sort of monstrous creature ‘cause you chose to keep the truth from me!”

“Banjey-”

“I ain’t gone by that since middle school! Call me Angie or call me nothin’!”

“Angie,” Fiddleford said plaintively. Angie glared at him. Fiddleford held his hands up. “I didn’t know it would spread to ya. I had no idea.”

“You shouldn’t have assumed it wouldn’t! You barely know anything ‘bout it! Hell, ya don’t even know what’s caused it! How could ya know it wouldn’t spread to me?” Angie demanded. Fiddleford winced. He began to turn back to the pot of water on the stove that the eggs were cooking in. “Don’t turn away from me!”

“Angie, do we really need to have this conversation? Haven’t ya said everything what needs to be said?”

“No, I haven’t!” Angie shouted. Stan winced and scooted his chair away from her. “I ain’t done near enough yellin’ fer the sit’ation!” Ford walked into the kitchen.

“Is…everything all right?” he asked warily. Angie looked at him.

If looks could kill, Ford would be six feet under right now.

“No. You ‘n my brother thought it would be smart to ask me fer help on somethin’ ya know next to nothin’ ‘bout. Somethin’ ya know so little ‘bout that ya didn’t realize it would spread to me! And the two of ya decided to keep me in the dark ‘bout all of it, instead of givin’ me what little information ya have so’s I could make an informed decision!” Angie screamed. Ford sighed.

“Please, calm down. We can have a rational discussion about this,” he said gently. Stan and Fiddleford stared at Ford in horror.

Dammit, Sixer. Never step in when a woman’s having an argument. And even I know better than to tell her to calm down.

“You…” Angie clenched her hands into fists, hissing again. She took a deep breath. “From what I’ve gathered, yer more socially awkward ‘n anyone I’ve met ‘fore, so’s I’ll give ya a way out. Leave the room ‘n the conversation now, and I won’t rip ya limb from limb.”

“There’s no need to be hyperbolic.”

“Oh, I ain’t exaggeratin’,” Angie hissed. “I’m more pissed ‘n I’ve been in my entire life. And I’m someone what’s rather prone to bein’ angry.”

“I was referring to your threat to maim me.”

“That weren’t hyperbolic, neither. Who knows what sort of vicious creature I’m turnin’ into?”

“Ah. I see.” Ford adjusted his glasses. “Well. I would like to say that I felt it would behoove us to debrief you the moment you arrived, rather than wait like Fiddleford suggested.” Fiddleford crossed his arms.

Now both the McGuckets look like they’ve got plans to bury him in the backyard.

“But ya still didn’t want to tell me anything until I arrived,” Angie said. “Which, fer all we know, I was exposed to the transformative agent the second I walked in through the door!”

“I keep my work secret, lest it get stolen by others.”

“Oh, son of a-” Angie threw her arms up in the air. Now that she was visibly too frustrated to say anything, Fiddleford spoke again.

“Angie, even if Stanford did allow me to tell ya the truth ‘bout why I wanted ya here, would ya have believed me?” he asked. Angie crossed her arms and looked away. “You wouldn’t have.”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

“If ya didn’t believe me, ya wouldn’t have come to help.”

“No, I wouldn’t,” Angie repeated through a clenched jaw.

“So what ya would have had me do?”

“Tell the truth in a way what would have convinced me!”

“How?” Fiddleford demanded. Angie glared at him. “Tell me how to phrase it in a way what ya would have believed without seein’ it fer yourself.”

“That ain’t my job!” Angie burst out. “The burden of convincin’ me doesn’t fall on me!” She stormed over to Fiddleford and jabbed him in the chest. Despite being much shorter than her brother, the force of her fury made her seem larger than him. “That burden falls on you.”

“I-”

“If ya wanted me to come help, you should’ve told me the truth! And if I didn’t believe ya, well, that ain’t my problem, it’s yours.”

“Angie-”

“Let me finish!” Angie screamed. There was a pop. Two long, curved fangs abruptly descended from her upper jaw. Angie let out a gasp. She covered her mouth with her hands.

“Fascinating,” Ford muttered. Angie looked at Ford. Tears shone in her eyes. She sprinted from the kitchen.

“Way to go, Poindexter and Fiddledork,” Stan said, getting up from the table.

“I- she needs her breakfast,” Fiddleford stammered.

“Not from you,” Stan said firmly. He picked up the bowl of hardboiled eggs. “I’ll bring it to her.”

“Why do you care so much about Angie?” Ford asked. He raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps the magical creature she is turning into is alluring to the species you are becoming.”

“Don’t turn this into some weird thing, Stanford. I just feel bad for her, okay?”

“You so rarely display this level of empathy for strangers.”

“Son of a-” Stan rubbed his forehead. “Shut the fuck up.” He looked at the stove. “It’s boiling over, Fiddledork.” Fiddleford looked at the pot of water just in time to see the bubbles crest the top and spill onto the heating element. Stan strode out of the kitchen.

I can’t tell Ford why I feel so bad for Angie. That her getting stuck in a shitty situation ‘cause of her brother reminds me of all the times I got the short end of the stick as a kid ‘cause of Ford. As he walked through the living room, he caught sight of his backscratcher leaning against the armchair. He grabbed it. She needs this more than me right now. And I’ve got three more in my room anyways.

#klafjnknjdlsfakjnsdf this wound up being so much longer than I planned rip #but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out c:#Monster Falls AU #Stanley Pines #Angie McGucket #Fiddleford McGucket #Stanford Pines #ficlet #my writing #ask #vulpixen

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honeyflies05 · 3 years ago

Text

another monday, another post of my live thoughts

and to the people who read these and like my posts: I love you

okay boys and girls here we go

starting out with the emergency okay

GIVE THEM A SHOW??? 😀

that’s what u get for setting her on the ledge of the BALCONY

ravi😩

my mom and I are not buying the logic that she fell and caught the sign

now how in the hell did Lucy-

did he even put milk in the cereal???

IT *COULD* USE MORE MARSHMALLOWS THANK YOU

eddie smiling💕💖💗💞💘💞💗💓💘💝💞💖💓💘💞💞💖💓💖💘💗💘💝

awww bad things are happening😐

HOLY SHIT THIS IS INSANE

BUCK SLEPT OVER DJCJCIDNDNSJDBJDNAIWJEWJDNDJDNSJSODNDJW

thank you

Bobby and Eddie Moving Through Trauma Together💘💕💖💓💞💗💘💗💞

byeeee jonaaaahhhh

🎶EVERYDAY ITSA GETTING CLOSER🎶

they’re killing it with the soundtrack lately

ah yes, the stupidity of man😐

nah that’s kinda fucked that no one helped him🤨

THE TOW TRUCK MY GOD

now how did he get a bowling ball stuck-

hen’s like “NAH I HEARD SOMETHING”

HENS FACES💀

i love hen

time isn’t a social construct I understand either bestie

are they,,, are they giving Lucy a backstory??? that’s more than i thought the writers were capable of

KAAAAREEEEEEENNNN

I MISSED KAREN

💕KAREN💕

Karen and hen’s mom teaming up against hen in poker💕

I hate impatient people

EUGH EUGH KFKCNDMS

FJICNDMSMSJDJJSSJSSJDCUNDNSS

hey guys great episode! I’m glad it ended there otherwise that lady could’ve gotten seriously hurt!

not looking forward to this

EUGH

if ur gonna steal a stop sign u SECURE said stop sign🙄

now why are we pulling the stop sign?? usually when u get stabbed with something you don’t take that something out🤨

this better not be another dream-nightmare thing

chris<3

forgot I haven’t said that yet

CHRIS THINKING HE MAKES EDDIE SAID😭

WHATS WRONG WITH JEE

if jee has leukemia I WILL DIE

what if

what if jee has leukemia and they make buck out to be a donor but then his parts ARENT defective and yeah

and then we finally talk about that again because it needs talked about

had to explain the whole Daniel arc to my mom tbh

buck being a Concerned Uncle

NOT THE GUY ON THE ROLLERCOASTER

yeesh

buck helping lucy learn is kinda nice u know

i hope this doesn’t backfire

can we please have a madney get back together arc please

THEM BOTH TALKING ABOUT HOW THEYVE HURT JEE UNINTENTIONALLY

yesssss therapy session

frank hittin the facts

buck just randomly in Eddie’s house mfkcicndndjdidnsj💝💕💖💖💕💝💕💖💘💞💘💕💝💕💖

BUCKS DRAWINGS💖💓💓💝💝💕💗💝💝💕💝💝💗💖💝💕💓💕💗💖💝💓💕💓💖💗

i can see why this is Oliver’s fav episode

JEES OKAY💖💘💗💘💗💘💗💓💞💝💝💖💕💕💞💓💘💖💕💕

Athena being distraught at the general public is a great trope and I need it every episode

Athena bossing people around🤤

Athena babe? u good??

Athena don’t beat the kid up

THE GIRL SHE SAVED AWWWW

how many people HAVE they inadvertently saved?

like buck with the tsunami

buck’s gonna bring this back to eddie I have a feeling

and it’s gonna help eddie Move On

love bobby and athena

i miss harry

and may

we haven’t seen much of the Kids Of The 118 recently

taylor: lucy donato!

buck: hwhat😀

…find someone??

CHRIS IS GONNA RIDE A HORSE AWWWW

horse riding lessons for chris💖💓💗💓💗💞💗💞💗💝💖💕💞💘💓💗💖💞

I TOLD YALL BUCKS GONNA BRING IT BACK TO EDDIE

probably was u buck, probably was u

CHARLIE

THEYRE GONNA TALK ABOUT EDDIE BEING SHOT???

C H A R L I E

this episode was amazing and I can see why it’s Oliver’s fav omg

#911 on fox #911 fox #eddie diaz #evan buck buckely #evan buckley #911 thoughts #honey thinks #a lot happened in this episode #I think u can pinpoint the moment my tiny little fragile heart was stitched back together #and I’m glad nothing’s wrong with jee but I still think that would be a good plot #ao3 here I come #I’m gonna write it #maybe #lol #sorry

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one-leaf-grimoire · 4 years ago

Text

knight au ➼ chapter 16

warnings ➼ none

synopsis ➼ The Black Bulls and CLK have a joint training session. Julius holds a meeting and is confronted by Augustus

ao3 link (18+ content) ➼ here

masterlist ➼ here

author’s note ➼ I am really excited about the next few chapters! Also, this chapter features Wraith, and OC who belongs to @hobgobbin

“Come on! Are you really that out of practice?”

Lisa waved her hand, dismissing the worry, her breaths about four seconds behind her racing heartbeat. “I-I’m fine-” she managed to say, her lungs feeling like two deflated balloons. They had only been in this joint training session for 15 minutes, and she was starting to get tired. Damn it! She thought, frustrated. All that time doing nothing while I was injured hurt my stamina. She drew in one more deep breath before straightening up again. This is what I get for being reckless, I guess.

Sei watched Lisa recover, blinking a few times in the bright sunlight. Suddenly, someone bumped into him, sending him stumbling a few feet. “Hey! Watch it!” he snapped, looking up to see Finral Roulecase, one of the knights from the Black Bulls squad, on the ground where he had fallen. The Crimson Lions were conducting a joint training session with the Black Bulls, hoping to foster more unity between sects of the organization. The Black Bulls did not have the… best reputation, but they were getting along with Sei’s squad.

“S-Sorry, Sir!” Finral stuttered, jumping to his feet before turning angrily to his opponent. “Asta! Maybe hold back a little?”

The short, grey-haired kid gave his senior a goofy smile. “SORRY! I’ll try! It’s hard to hold back with this ol’thing!” He swung his gigantic black claymore over his shoulder, letting out a loud laugh. Sei couldn’t help but stare at it for a moment. Fuegoleon’s greatsword, the Leo Rugiens, was dwarfed by that thing. It wasn’t the biggest he had ever seen, but for a claymore, it was monstrous. Yeesh. He seems too short to wield a sword like that.

“OUCH! Hey, what was that for, you twerp!”

“AH! I’m sorry!”

Sei turned around to see a tall, brown haired Black Bull marching towards Leo, Fuegoleon’s younger brother, with fury in his eyes. There was a bruise upon his cheek, where Leo had hit him with the blunt side of his blade, but the younger boy seemed to be more terrified of his foe. Sei quickly moved between them, sensing that this could get ugly. This is Gauche Adlai, right? He thought, glad to see that Guache halted at the sight of the senior knight. “Hey! You two, you’re not actually supposed to kill each other during this practice. It’s practice after all, right?”

Gauche scoffed, rolling his eyes before turning away. “Whatever. I’m not the one who hit me in the face with a sword.”

Sei wanted to deck the guy in the face, but held himself back. Instead, he just sighed and turned to scowl at Leo. “It was an accident! He was strongarming my blade, and it slipped-”

“I know, I know.” Sei patted the boy on the shoulder. “Go switch out with Finral and fight Asta. The poor guy needs a break.”

Leo’s eyes lit up. “Yessir!” he shouted before running off to face the other energetic boy.

Geez, I wish Fuegoleon didn’t have that stupid meeting, Sei thought to himself, crossing his arms before turning to survey the scene once again. The air was full of the sound of blades clacking and knights grunting. But among the sounds of fighting, there was also laughter and happy chatter, despite the occasional sore loser. It’s only me looking after this bunch. Yami’s at the same meeting, after all.

......................................

“This is supposed to be Patri? Doesn’t look like him at all…”

Yami Sukehiro, captain of the Black Bulls, chewed on his pipe as he stared down at the paper he had just received, along with the 8 other captains. This meeting had only just begun, but he was already tired of it. Joint training is today, he thought. I wish I could beat up some of those Crimson Lions along with my squad…

“Trust me, this is accurate.” Yami looked back up as Julius spoke. He was standing at the head of the table, crown and cape discarded in favor of a more casual outfit. The older man looked troubled, but determined to set a plan in motion that would end the threat posted by Patri and his followers. “I saw him with my own eyes, after all.”

Yami raised an eyebrow. “Even the pointy ears? He looks like an elf.”

“Yes, even the ears.” Julius sighed. “He was experimented on and tortured while in captivity. Subjected to things that… changed his very body.” His brow furrowed, his heart pained by the thought.

“...that’s the reason why he wanted to hand you over? To gain his freedom?” Charlotte Roselei, captain of the Blue Roses, asked, her eyes lingering on the picture. “Why didn’t Diamond just send one of their own assassins?”

“They’d rather have someone else do their dirty work,” Fuegoleon answered before Julius could answer. “It’s cruel… but that doesn’t forgive his actions.” Under the table, he clenched his fist. Because of Patri, Lisa and Sei both got hurt. I could have lost both of them. I’m thankful that it wasn’t more serious, but still… It would have hurt to see someone as young and promising as Lisa be killed, and Fuegoleon couldn’t even begin to comprehend how he would suffer if he lost Sei.

“...If his goal is truly to escape Diamond for good… then why don’t we just extend a pardon?”

Everyone’s heads snapped towards William, who sat at the other head of the table. As the captain of the Golden Dawn, the most decorated and illustrious squad in the Kingdom, he was highly respected by all, but right now the others weren’t sure that they believed he would suggest that.

Julius sighed, closing his eyes for a moment.

Patri…

He couldn’t help but remember the day Patri joined the squad, alongside William, Yami, Nacht, and Morgen. They were all so bright-eyed, so eager to prove themselves.

I failed all of them… in the end, I couldn’t protect Morgen, and I let Patri be taken away.

“It’s more than just escaping Diamond… Patri blames his pain entirely on me.”

As he should.

“To him, as long as this Kingdom survives, with me at the helm, his pain will never be avenged. This is larger than just me and him… we can’t let him continue. A pardon will do nothing but add insult to injury.”

Opening his eyes, Julius stared out at the captains, determination gripping his heart.

That’s right… I can’t let myself wallow in guilt. There are too many people depending on me, I can’t give up. I’m not innocent, but neither is anyone else.

And besides…

Lisa looked so beautiful in the moonlight.

I have a future now. One I need to preserve.

“You will make sure that your squads are all familiar with this man’s face. He can’t leave this kingdom, he has nowhere else to go. We know the names and faces of a few of his associates, as well, so it won’t be long before we corner the Eye of the Midnight Sun.”

The captains nodded, eager to find the man who had almost robbed them of their King.

“Julius! One moment!”

Julius turned around from where he had been saying goodbye to the captains as they filtered out of the conference room and left down the hall. Now, none other than Augustus was waddling towards him, beckoning him away from the door.

“Yes, of course.”

Julius quickly moved to meet the man. “How are you?”

“Fine, fine!” Augustus replied quickly. He seemed to be rushing to get to some point, almost too jovial. “Even better, now that I have a moment to chat with you!.” He chuckled, and Julius inadvertently bristled.

...he’s up to something, isn’t he?

“About the ball… I was worried at first about this woman of yours, but after talking to your cousins about her and her family, and then seeing her-” Augustus laughed again. “She was quite enchanting… you’re a lucky man, Julius.”

Julius chuckled nervously, wondering why Augustus had waited almost a week to bring this up. It was true, everything had gone according to plan; at least, that was what Augustus was letting on. Julius couldn’t help but wonder if the man was secretly suspicious still; the thought made his pulse quicken.

If Augustus knows something, then Lisa is in danger-

“In fact, you’re a little too lucky.”

Julius blinked, Augustus’s words grounding him once again. “...what do you mean?”

Augustus narrowed his eyes, twirling his pathetic little beard between two fingers. “I mean, don’t you think it’s improper for you to court a woman more beautiful than the one I am engaged to? I mean, my fiancee is pretty, but like I told you before, she’s tall, and pales in comparison to- er- what was Lady Payne’s first name?”

“...E-Elisabeth-” Julius replied slowly.

“Elisabeth! She’s simply divine… so…” Augustus finally smiled again, deviously. “I propose… the two of us trade. I marry Elisabeth, and you can take my fiancee.”

Julius sucked in a breath, immediately starting to get angry. “Switch? Augustus, that’s absurd-”

“I don’t think it’s absurd!” Augustus interrupted. “It’s more absurd for you to walk around with a pretty young wife on your arm while I’m stuck with a homely spinster!”

“Augustus,” Julius clenched his teeth, willing himself to stay calm. The mere fact that Augustus had been drinking Lisa up that evening like she was some sort of eye candy was enough to make him scream, paired with his willingness to cast aside his own fiancee on a whim. But he couldn’t lose his temper now, not when things were so delicate. “Our relationship is different. It wasn’t arranged, we are in love with each other.”

“That’s not a problem! Listen-” Augustus stepped closer, lowering his voice and reaching up to pat Julius’s shoulder. “It would really only be in name… you can see Elisabeth whenever and wherever you’d like! We would share… That’s what friends do, right? She would belong to you and all that… although...”

Julius looked down to see Augustus lick his lips slowly. It looked like some wretched slug was poking its head out from between his lips.

“She would still be my wife-”

It was instinctual. Julius’s hand reached up and grabbed Augustus’s arm, prying his hand off his shoulder. Augustus yelped at the pressure, trying to yank himself free. But he couldn’t; Julius’s grip was like a vice. Augustus looked up into the man’s eyes, and for the first time in his miserable life, felt true fear.

“...we aren’t friends.”

Julius’s voice was flat in comparison to the anger that swirled within his eyes. He looked down at the little man, and his grip clenched again. Augustus was too scared to cry out.

“Don’t ever bring this up with me again. It’s out of the question. And if I catch you looking at her… well. I’ve killed men for less.”

Julius didn’t want to say anything else, he didn’t even want to be in the man’s presence anymore. His grip loosened, and Augustus took many steps back. The man panted lightly, still in shock of what had just been said to him. But for the first time in his life, Augustus couldn’t find anything to say. He just stood there and watched as Julius stormed off down the hall and out of sight.

Share…

Today had been a relatively good day so far, despite the stressful meeting. Not only did they have to discuss the Eye of the Midnight Sun and Patri, but plans were made for a very important upcoming visit from the royal family of the Spade Kingdom. Everything ended up being squared away, but now Julius’s good mood was ruined.

Share… SHARE?!

He stomped up the stairs to his room, slamming the door behind him. Finally, he had some peace and quiet, but his mind was plagued by the interaction he just had. With a groan, Julius collapsed face-first into his bed, exhausted both mentally and physically.

Not only do I have to protect everyone in this Kingdom, but now I have to protect Lisa from that creep.

Even if everything went well, and Lisa came here to live with him as his wife, she wouldn’t be safe. Not 100%. Julius was never going to forget what Augustus said today.

Maybe I should go see her tonight.

He rolled onto his back, his head turning to look out the window. Seeing her would be the comfort he needed; To know that she was safe in his arms, the only place that he knew he could protect her all the time.

Of course, she didn’t need to be protected all the time, as Lisa often told him herself. She was a knight, after all.

........................................................

“Wraith’s here! Dinner time!”

All the Black Bulls suddenly dropped their weapons and ran to the front door of their barracks, all jostling against each other in the entrance trying to get in. Lisa blinked, standing awkwardly with the other knights from her squad, not sure if they were invited.

“Hold on! There’s enough for everyone! Haha-”

A short man had appeared, dragging a cart behind him, loaded with every vegetable you could imagine. The Bulls obviously all knew who he was as they swarmed around his cart. At one point, he looked up in time to spot the other squad standing there. “You guys come get some, too! You’ve all been working hard, after all.

“Awww we have to share?” the blonde young man with a perpetual smile, Luck, whined. Wraith shot him a warning glance before turning to smile at the Crimson Lions again. “Come on! I just harveseted these this morning. You can stick ‘em on a skewer and roast them over the fire pit if you want.”

“Go on. I’m sure you’re all hungry,” Sei encouraged, and his squad finally moved to join the Bulls around the cart. He smiled a bit before walking up next to Wraith. “Thanks for doing this.”

“No problem, this is supposed to be inter-squad bonding, right?” Wraith said. “There’s no better time to bond than over a meal.”

“Right.”

Lisa smiled to herself as she sat with the others around the fire pit, watching the skin of her sweet potato start to wrinkle as it was roasted. Everyone was in a good mood, still energetic from their vigorous training session. The light from the flames flickered pleasantly across their faces, the sky above them slowly shifting into night.

“Guess who?”

A pair of big hands suddenly reached out of the darkness behind Wraith to cover his eyes. He let out a yelp of surprise. “Yami?”

He turned around and grinned when he saw that Yami was back, a smug smile on his face. “Captain! Welcome back!” the Bulls chorused.

“Here- I saved some for you.” Wraith handed Yami a skewer as the man squeezed in next to him, one of his arms draped casually over the back of Wraith’s seat. “How was the meeting?”

“Boring. And top secret.” Yami winked. “I have news, though. The Grinberyall family is coming to visit this weekend. Something about signing a new defense treaty. But security is going to be tight.” His eyes glinted a bit in the flames as he looked at the faces of all those seated around him.

“The Grinberyalls? All the way from Spade?” Sei repeated in disbelief.

“And their whole court, apparently,” Yami added. “Julius said that each squad should send some knights to help keep everything under control.”

“OOOH! I want to go! Captain! Pick me!” Asta suddenly shouted, raising his hand and nearly bounding out of his seat. His mouth was still full of food.

“...we’ll see.” Yami rolled his eyes, suddenly spotting something interesting. “You there… what’s that creepy thing on your head?”

It took Lisa a moment to realize that she was being spoken to. “H-Huh? Me? OH-” She sat up straight, nearly choking on a bite of sweet potato. “Er- uh- it’s a birthmark- sorry if it’s creepy, sir-”

“Hey! Leave my squad members alone,” Sei cut in, kicking Yami in the leg. “That’s my job.”

“Fine. At ease,” Yami jokingly said, his eyes lingering on Lisa’s mark for a moment longer.

Lisa nodded, quickly redirecting her attention to her sweet potato. As the night went on and the fire dimmed, her mind shifted to a new set of thoughts.

I hope I get to go to the gathering…

#knight au #tkwptkh #julius novachrono #julius novachrono x reader #julius novachrono x oc #oc: lisa #yami sukehiro #other's ocs #fuegoleon vermillion #william vangeance #heehoeoheeohe #fic #black clover

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dragynkeep · 3 years ago

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Hi, hello! 2016 story anon here. I didn’t know that manga was non canon… wow. When people told me about it way back when it first came out we all thought the manga itself was canon, so that’s… great. Also, saw your post about the queer rep, and when Scarlet was legit confirmed by Miles. Apparently I established Scarlet’s relationship two years before he was confirmed gay instead of one like I first thought. Yeesh. I’m glad you’re not getting much if any flack for Team AZRE tho. I guess since I’ve been dealing with this for a year I just… assumed it was the norm? Super glad it’s not.

Thanks for the advice, Owl & Luke! Moderation is on. I didn’t even know AO3 implemented that! Luckily most were guest reviews/comments so I just deleted them, but the mod will really help with the registered users. I put a little note in my tags asking for new readers to look at the CH1 notes. I’ve stopped live updating over on FF since August, but damn if they weren’t persistent on PM. Can’t do much about user reviews though, sadly. Maybe I should just delete my works on there. You’re def right, it’s not writer friendly at all, and is such a hassle to go through posting chapters. I feel bad for the peeps over there that are my “regulars” but at this point it’s either them or my sanity. Just a shame. I’ve been on FF longer than AO3, and I actually used to prefer it over AO3.

If I build up the confidence I’ll definitely send a link, thanks so much for offering to read it! Ngl the main pairing is a super obscure crack ship so I stick to my corner, might not be your cuppa. CH61 is going out next week! Also the beginning chapters are not as polished. I’m kinda embarrassed by it sometimes. I still go in and tweak them, but I’m never quite satisfied. I have converted many to the ship though. No regrets, of course!

yup, all the manga outside the official rewrite are non canon which is good because a lot of stuff in there is very questionable especially in yang’s blatant racism against blake but like. you can’t just pick & choose miles. why is 99% of it non canon except for the bit you like because it gives you queer rep that you didn’t even have to put any effort into because someone else did it for you!

it’s definitely not the norm that you’re getting this much obsessive shit over a character who’s barely a character’s sexuality & i hope it dies down for you soon. ♥ i honestly thought fanfiction.net was a graveyard, it was so surprising to me that people still actively post there but i would say a move over to solely ao3 wouldn’t be too out of pocket considering it’s much more user & author friendly. hopefully your readers will follow you over though!

i adore obscure crackships, a lot of mine are so definitely drop it when & if you feel comfortable love. ♥ i definitely get being embarrassed over earlier pieces of work, that’s me looking back at my old shit like ... * hovers hand over the mass delete button aggressively before backing down. * wheeze.

#rwby #rwde #scarlet david #owl.txt #answered #q

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bssaz97 · 4 years ago

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The Grimm Hound tries to kidnap Oscar only for Gerald and the other Grimm pets to stop it before it gets away.

Jaune: Oscar! *draws Crocea Mors and revs up the Hoverbike*

Yang: Wait no! He’s using Oscar as a shield!

Jaune: Wait… is this one like…?

Ren: *points Stormflower at the Hound* Let him go!

The Hound: (growls and grunts) …..No.

Ren gasps in horror, both Yang and Jaune’s eyes widen in shock as well. This Grimm had not only exhibited a capacity for high intelligence, but also could speak.

The Hound begins to walk away with the unconscious boy in hand, but before it could move any further, it stopped in its tracks.

It smelled a new scent, several. They weren’t human or faunus. There were Grimm nearby….

*whistle*

“Oi dipshit!”

The Hound turns towards the direction of the voice and is immediately met with a can to the face. The offending object falls to the ground, clanging on to the street.

“Up here!”

The Hound looks up and sees that the voice was coming from up high on one of the light posts… from a Grimm parrot.

Eric: Ha! And they were saying you’s was smart! My beak! Can’t even dodge a tin can!

The Hound: (growls)

The Hound crouches down and instantly it leaps up at the light post in anger.

Eric: Oh shit! *flies away*

The Hound: (growls) *leaps to the ground*

Jaune: Eric?! What are you doing here?!

Eric: Asking myself the damn same question! AH! *avoids a swipe from the Hound* What the hell’s takin’ so long you big lug?! Get over here already!

The Hound is about to strike once more at the flying pest. But before he could, another scent appeared. It was approaching, no… charging. Fast!

Before it could react, the Hound gets rammed by a large mass that hits its left side, causing it to slides on the street.

The Hound shakes its head and looks forward, sniffing the air. This was another Grimm. A BIG one!

Rising on its two hind legs, the large mass reveals itself to be a larger than average Ursa Major.

But to some, it was referred only as-

Jaune: Gerald!

Gerald: *ROAR!*

Eric: *lands on another light post* About fuckin’ time ya got here! The hell took ya so dang long?

The Hound: (growls)

Gerald: (growls)

Gerald lands back to stand on all fours again, preparing for another charge.

The Hound having no patience to waste any more time here, it forced its body to contort until two wings formed on its back.

Leaping to the air, the Hound leaps into the air with Oscar and-

“SQUAK!”

The Hound growls as if feels one of its legs being held back, turning it meets the gaze of a very large Nevermore, staring at the Hound with its cockeyed gaze.

Jeremy: SQUAK!

With a mighty tug the Hound found itself being pulled along and thrown back towards the ground at high speeds.

*CRASH!*

The Hound: (groans and growls)

The Hound gets up, still holding onto the farm boy that its master wanted. It shakes head for any rumble off and before it can do anything else, the Hound gets leaped onto by a mere Beowul from behind.

Ben claws at the Hounds’ face and neck, then bites down onto its neck, causing the Hound to cry out in pain!

The Hound let out an angry roar! It reaches behind its back and grabs onto this damned traitor’s fur sinking its claws into its skin.

Ben: *Pained growl*

The Hound now having a tight hold of the Beowulf, flings the beast over its shoulders and into a nearby wall!

Ben: *pained whine*

The Hound: (growl) ...Bad Dog!

Ben struggles to get up, it lets out a howl but the Hound steps on his chest. The Hound lets out a loud roar to assert dominance, expecting the Beowulf to whimper or back down. What the Hound instead found was that the Beowulf stared coldly at the Hounds gaze, even going as far bare his teeth at it, showing it that there’d be no surrendering.

The Hound: …Foolish.

It cocks back its claw, planning to finish off this defiant Beowulf off once me for all.

But before it could, the Hound smelt a familiar scent. It found itself being rammed into again by that damned Ursa once again.

The Hound found itself being in a wrestling match with this Ursa, its overall size giving a clear advantage. It tries to claw at the Ursa’s sides but Gerald has been in many fights before with other Grimm, so his fur was thick and not so easily pierced.

Gerald slams the Hound into the ground and sinks his teeth into its muscular neck!

The Hound: *Pained Roar!*

Gerald doesn’t relent, and keeps biting until he tears a piece of flesh from the Hound’s neck!

The Hound lets out a howl of pain, slowly turning into a painful whine.

The Hound: …Finish… it.

Gerald spits out the flesh that he had in his mouth, he stares into the Hound, as it lays down vulnerable… weak.

Gerald: (growls)

The Hound feels the Ursa press it’s paw firmly against its body, leans down towards him and…

Grabs the unconscious Farm Boy from its grasp.

The Hound could do nothing, it lay there not having the strength to even fight back, having sustained such serious injuries from the many Grim that now surrounded it.

Gerald holds Oscar by his jacket collar, he releases another menacing growl towards the Hound, a warning.

Then after the Hound later it’s head back down, Gerald and his pack left the Hound on the ground in its shame.

Eric: I still think ya outta finish off that bastard by the way.

Gerald: (growl)

Eric: Oh don’t ya give me that! Ya know damn well that I ain’t crazy enough to try to finish the job myself.

Ben: (pants… barks!)

Eric: I was plenty useful! Given that I had ta distract his ass when you bastards were takin’ forever to get here.

Jeremy: SQUAK!

Eric: I hate all ya’s…..

Yang: Jaune. What the hell did we just see?

Jaune: Pretty sure it was a Grimm throw down.

Ren: But how did they know we were here?

Gerald: Rah! *drops Oscar in front of them*

Jaune: Instinct? Look, let’s just get Oscar out of here and continue to evacuate Mantle. Sound good?

Yang: Ok… man, am I glad we didn’t throw out the big guy when he was just a cub. Or his brothers.

Eric: *lands on her shoulders* Oh please. You wouldn’t be able to resist our good looks Toots.

Yang: *eyes turn crimson* Call me that again, and I’m turning you into fried Chicken…

Eric: Alright! Alright! Yeesh, and you’re supposed to be the funny one. *flies off her shoulder*

Gerald: Rahhh!

-Fin-

A/N: Never done a Grimm brawl of this magnitude before, I hope it reaches up to y’all’s standards. It was really fun to make this and hey, I’m glad that I was able to make something with Gerald and everyone in it again!

#rwby #jaune arc #lie ren #yang xiao long #rwby: gerald the ursai au #gerald the ursai #rwby gerald #grimm pack #eric the parrot grimm #jeremery the nevermore #ben the beowulf pup

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daddyjackfrost · 4 years ago

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i'm not sure if i have anyy suggestions that you'll want to write, but i'll send them in as they come to mind

so excited for your writing ^^ no pressure though, best of luck with your studies!!

y/n is studying (something difficult, maybe pre-med or med school?) and is feeling a little drained and self-doubtful. she gets up from her space to take a second and is reminded of a time she spent with <whichever haikyuu boy you'd like to write about>. they hadn't gotten to spend much time together as a result of their busy schedule, so the memory of this weekend is especially special to her. start flashback of fluff they had met for dinner, spent time together, cuddled and slept (not 18+) together. they both woke up early but opted to stay in bed together, content in eachother's company, making small talk, laughing softly, fluffy stuff. y/n had brought up her struggles to <haikyuu boy of choice> and he'd been there for her to confide in. she knows its her dream, but casually wonders if she isnt cut out for it. he actively listens, offering comforting touches, until she's finished and then helps her talk it out until she's back up in confidence. more fluffy morning end lashback of fluff y/n feels better having remembered <hq boy>'s pep talk and resumes her efforts.

yeesh, idk how long/short/detailed/vague suggestions are supposed to be, so sorry! 😅 i'll try to be more vague, if you'd like, in the future

hi!! omg u r SO cute i’m in love. anyways, i love your suggestion! it’s amazing. and don’t worry, the more detail the better!

for this request, i’ve chosen Daichi. because i’m a daichi whore i believe in daichi supremacy

Warnings: none :) fluff, daichi x f!reader

alright, anyways, enjoy!

You stared at the piles of paper on your bed. You couldn’t even begin to recall what the different colours of the paper meant. You were just glad you had written it down on your phone.

“This is ridiculous,” you whispered to yourself.

Your back was aching, your muscles were sore, and your eyes burned from the constant strain. You had a final coming up and it was killing you in more ways then one.

“Is this even worth it? I mean, really, what are the chances of me getting into med school?”

You groaned and fell back on your pillow. You dragged your hands down your face. You had been spiraling down a tunnel of self-doubt and it was affecting you. You had begun talking to yourself even more than usual, especially since you cut contact from everyone for a couple of days.

Your phone chimed beside you and you turned your head to face it. You had promised yourself to turn it off, except you forgot.

Well, you didn’t forget, you just didn’t want too.

You picked it up and your eyes fell on the message that your boyfriend left you.

From: acab but not him🙄❣️

‘good evening, beautiful. make sure to eat something, yeah? and get some fresh air. you’ve got this babe, i believe in you❣️’

You smiled at the message. Unknowingly, a few small tears formed at the corners of your eyes. Daichi had a week long training camp that coincidentally aligned with your final. Now, Daichi was in Tokyo and you were cooped up in your room.

Daichi had made it his job to send you texts almost every hour to remind you he loved you and to eat. You didn’t think you could love him even more.

Due to his own busy schedule, Daichi and you hadn’t been able to spend too much time together before he left. But you knew that as soon as you had taken the final, you were going to spent three days in his arms.

You sent a quick text back, telling him you loved him and that you were going to get something to eat now.

You slowly slid out of bed, making your bed and your bones make noise out of agony. Your knees cracked and you looked down. “Just break,” you prayed.

When nothing happened, you huffed out an annoyed breath and made your way to your kitchen. You and Daichi had moved into an apartment two years ago, and you loved every part of it. Your home was your baby.

As you walked, your eyes fell upon the black leather jacket that laid jumbled up on the couch. Your thoughts immediately flashed to the weekend, the last time you had seen Daichi.

It was Friday night, which meant date night for you and the police officer, and it was perfect.

You parked your car outside of the Miyagi Police Station, waiting for Daichi.

You stood outside, enjoying the light breeze. Daichi had texted you to give him a couple minutes. Today was Friday, which meant date night for you and your lover.

You heard some ruckus and lifted your head, meeting Daichi’s warm gaze. He had a large grin etched onto his face and you felt your own lips pull into a smile.

Daichi walked up to you and pressed a quick kiss to your forehead. “Hello, darling.”

You brushed away the few dark locks that fell on his forehead. “Hello, officer.”

Daichi’s eyes slightly narrows at the use of the word. He absolutely loved and hated when you called him officer. It did things to him.

“Come, let’s go. I’m starving.”

You nodded and pulled away from him, walking to the drivers seat. Daichi always insisted you drive when you picked him up because he wanted to ‘get his full of you’ because he was at work. You never truly understood it, but you liked his heated stare on you so you never said anything.

You and Daichi ended up going to your favourite restaurant. You went here a lot, and were now on first name basis with the manager and half of the employees.

You and Daichi both ordered your regulars and ate peacefully, with some small talk here and there. A hungry Daichi usually resulted in a quiet Daichi.

After dinner, you drove to the park by your house to get some fresh air and to work off some of the food you just ate.

Late night walks with Daichi were your favourite little activities you did with him. Daichi loved late night walks with you too. He loved watching the moon glow on your skin as you stared adoringly at the stars.

Daichi held your hand in his, gently swinging them. He wore black jeans and his favourite grey shirt, with his black worn out leather jacket you had gotten him a couple of years ago.

You kept your eyes on him. His skin glistened in the moonlight and you found him as beautiful as the stars that twinkled above him, if not more.

“What’re you thinkin’ bout, love?”

You turned your head, finding it completely unfair that someone so beautiful stood next to you.

“You,” you mumbled truthfully.

“Is that so?” Daichi’s voice came out teasingly.

You let go of his hand and skipped forward until you stood a couple of feet away from him. You pointed at him and he stopped, hands in his pockets and a smile on his face.

“You, Sawa, are the love of my life.”

Daichi’s eyes widened slightly and a flush of pink now rested on his face. Daichi cleared his throat but couldn’t help the grin that had replaced his smile.

“And you’re mine.”

You grinned at him and then continued to walk until you reached the hill that overlooked your neighborhood. You crouched down, and then sat down, pulling your knees to your chest.

Daichi soon followed, except he sat behind you, and spread his legs so you were sitting between them. He pulled you close to your chest, until your back rested completely against his chest.

You tilted your head back, resting it on Daichi’s shoulder. One of Daichi’s large, warm, hands laid on your stomach, rubbing softly. The other was playing with your hair.

This is it, you thought. I’ll never love anyone the way I love him.

You looked up at the stars. You had always had a fascination with the balls of of heat and energy. When you were a child, your dream was to become a star. You’re not quite sure when that dream led you on the path of medicine, but it did.

Daichi stared at you. It didn’t matter that you two had been together for almost six years, Daichi could never get over how beautiful you were.

The way your hair glistened in the moonlight, the way your eyes twinkled, as if you held the stars in them yourselves. Daichi stared at you the way you stared at the stars.

With complete and utter adoration.

Daichi’s eyes landed on your hands. He watched as they slight shook, and how your tried to make them stop.

He frowned. Your hands only shook when your were stressed.

As swiftly as he could, Daichi grabbed your shaking hands and held them together, complete engulfing them in his own.

“You’re shaking, love. What’s the matter?”

You froze. Caught.

Even though you should have been calm, happy even, since you sat under the stars with your lover, the final that loomed over your shoulder had your nervous system in shambles.

Daichi’s thumbs rubbed the backs of your hands as he waited for your response.

“I’m just nervous,” you mumbled. You hated speaking about up-coming tests or finals. You always had really bad anxiety when it came to any form of testing, and Daichi knew that.

He knew everything about you.

“What about?”

You sighed and extended your legs. Daichi had a way with words. Even when he didn’t speak much, his presence and silence alone spoke tenfold.

“Nothing, really,” you let out an awkward laugh. “You know I’m always a little bit nervous.”

Daichi wanted to press on the matter. He wanted you to speak to him, he wanted to be able to share your stress. But he also knew that you would talk to him when you were ready.

Daichi pressed a soft kiss on your neck. “Talk to me when you’re ready, love.”

You nodded. “I will.”

Daichi kissed the small space behind your earlobe. “Let’s go home, yeah?” You nodded, agreeing. Daichi stood up and then put out his hand for you. You grabbed it, and let him pull you up with ease.

You two began the journey home, reaching in a couple of minutes.

You and Daichi changed into your nightwear. You were wearing one of Daichi’s shirts, and he was just wearing grey sweatpants.

You couldn’t keep your eyes off his body, but managed to look away before he caught you.

Daichi slipped under the covers, and then lifted them. He patted his chest. “Come lay on me.”

You immediately obliged, jumping onto his chest, causing Daichi to let out a small grunt.

You let all your wait drop on Daichi’s body. Your head was in the crook of his neck, and your chest lay flat against his. You could feel his heartbeat against yours and it took you a moment to realize that both your hearts beat at the same time.

As one.

Daichi slid his left hand under your—his—shirt, rubbing your back. It was these moments he wanted to truly cherished. He knew you were stressed about the final that was coming up. He had put the date in his phone when you mentioned it.

Daichi realized that today had been the quietest days you two had had. But he didn’t mind. He loved everyday with you. The quiet, the loud, the hectic, and the crazy.

Daichi began to hum. He could feel the knots in your back, and he knew you should have a nice relaxing weekend before you began to study.

Before he knew it, Daichi heard your soft snores fill the air.

A wide smile broke out on his face. Daichi absolutely adored your sleeping face. All your worry lines disappeared and you looked the most at peace when you slept in his arms.

Daichi slightly pushed himself up. He wanted to be able to see your properly. His brown eyes softened at the sight of your hand against chest. You often called him a creep for staring at your sleeping face, but he always just shrugged it off.

After some time, Daichi found himself driting off to sleep, but not before he tightened his hold on you and kissed your forehead. “Sleep well, my love.”

Hours later, your eyes fluttered open, but you immediately cringed and shut them again.

The sun was facing directly at you. You had forgotten to close your blinds.

You tried to adjust your posture, but immediately stopped when you heard a low rumble from Daichi. No, you felt it, and you froze at the vibrations.

“Don’t move, love.”

Daichi’s voice was low and husky, and slightly dry. You lifted your head and found yourself still laying on his chest. Daichi’s arms were securely wrapped around you, his eyes were shut.

The sound of his morning voice hit you right in the stomach and you couldn’t help but brush your fingers against his cheekbones.

Daichi’s eyes shot open. His dark brown eyes met yours, and for a moment, everything stopped.

You looked so beautiful, Daichi thought.

“Good morning,” you whispered.

Daichi smiled at you and let his head drop back on the pillow. “It is a very good morning, indeed.”

You used your hands and slightly pushed yourself up, so you were now straddling Daichi’s waist. His eyes opened and landed on your nervous smile.

“What’s wrong?”

Daichi grabbed your hips and pushed himself up, so his back was against the headboard.

You now sat on his thighs, and his hold on you tightened a little bit.

You stared at the man in front of you. Even after having you sleep on him for hours, he still looked perfect. It pissed you off, especially since you knew you probably had some drool on your chin.

Daichi leaned forward and pressed a small kiss to your forehead. “Talk to me.”

You nodded and began to play with your fingers.

You couldn’t help but think of the final you had to take in a couple of days. It didn’t make sense, you thought. You had taken finals and tests before, but for some reason, the one you had in five days had disrupted your sleep and taken over your life.

“I’m so nervous for the final, Sawa. I feel like there’s a knot in my stomach and it keeps tightening. I can’t breathe.”

Daichi began to rub the skin above your hip with his fingers. He listened attentively. He was gonna let you talk first, getting everything off your chest.

“I know I always complain and then end up doing well, but what if this is the one I flunk? What if this is the one I end up failing? It’s so nerve wracking. I don’t even know if I wanna do this anymore.”

Daichi’s hands slipped under your shirt and he slowly began to massage your back and shoulder muscles. He wanted to offer you physical comfort.

He knew you were often a mess of nerves and anxiety a week before any test, and no matter how many times he assured you that you would do fine, you always ended up getting caught up in your head.

“I know it’s my dream. But at this point, dropping out sounds ideal. There’s enough doctors in the world, right? Maybe I should do something less nerve wracking.”

You sighed and closed your eyes. It felt nice to finally get your thoughts off your chest.

Daichi’s hands squeezed your hips in response. He hated hearing you talking yourself down. It made him feel so helpless, because for him, you were his everything. He had the upmost respect and belief in you.

“Y/n, love, from everyone in your life, you are the only one who doesn’t fully believe you can do this. I know medicine is a very hard and competitive occupation, but you know I believe in you. If anyone can power through this, it’s you.”

Tears had pooled in your eyes. Daichi had always been so good with words. You knew that Daichi had always been mature for his age, meaning his patience and abilityto comfort you was far better than anyone else’s.

His compassion and understanding was his greatest qualities. His calming aura always managed to break through all your walls. It was what made him such a good captain.

“What if I fail?”

You had mumbled your question, hoping he wouldn’t have caught it.

But he did.

Daichi leaned in and kissed your nose “You won’t. And if you do, then you fail. You shouldn’t be scared to fail, y/n. You should be scared to give up. If you fail, you can always take it again.”

You sighed and lightly nodded. Although you appreciated his words, you knew they would only comfort you for a day or two.

“Thank you, Sawa.”

You tried getting up from his lap, but Daichi had other plans. He grabbed your hips tightly and leaned in, kissing your lips.

You didn’t hesitate, you just began to kiss him back eagerly.

Daichi’s right hand slid up your back, pushing you into him.

Your lips moved together in sync, and you brought your hands to his hair, clutching the soft ends tightly.

Daichi slightly pulled away, only to gently kiss your lips again.

Before you could deepen it, he pulled away again.

“It’s not easy, y/n. But accomplishing your dream never is. You’re gonna do great, just like you always do. I believe in you, and it’s time you do as well.”

His words wrapped around your anxious thoughts and completely anguished them.

You nodded, your nose brushing his.

You closed your eyes and let your head drop on his shoulder. Daichi wrapped his arms around you again, pulling you flush against his chest.

You stayed in that position for hours.

You in Daichi’s lap, with his hands running up and down your back as he comforted you with his words of love and stories to keep your mind off everything.

You blinked a couple of times, trying to recall what exactly what exactly what you were doing.

As you recalled Daichi’s words, you let out a small breath.

He was right, you thought. You weren’t going to fail and you were going to be okay.

You grabbed the leather jacket, and slipped it on. It smelled of Daichi and it was exactly what you needed right now.

You walked into the kitchen and grabbed a packet of ramen.

As you made the noddles, you unknowingly smiled the whole time.

Thinking of Daichi had lifted your spirits and you felt better.

He loved you, and he believed in you, and for you, that was enough.

MAN, THIS SUCKS. I HAD TO RE-WRITE IT LIKE FOUR TIMES GODDAMN.

anyways, i absolutely love and adore daichi, and this is kinda eh😬 so forgive me. I’d been swarmed w work the past week and have no creative juices left.

i will write about this handsome man again.

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu asks #haikyuu scenarios #daichi #daichi sawamura #haikyuu daichi #fluff #haikyuu!!

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inscribed-in-asteroids · 4 years ago

Text

AN: WHAT’S UP? Got chapter five ready to go! More info is always on AO3, as well as better formatting.

Title: The Ripple Effect

Characters: Odessa and OCs, feat Entrapta and Hordak

Pairing: Entrapdak

Read on AO3.

Inicos

LINEAGE LOG: DAY 1

Today marks the start of our journey! I have brought the essentials for potential excavation of bodies or relics, as well as the brain from the Prime clone aboard the Velvet Glove. It may be needed to see if there are differences in the formation, even if they’re genetically similar. But, admittedly, it’s more to keep it someplace out of the way. I am not sure what we may uncover, but this is bound to be illuminating.

LINEAGE LOG: DAY 7

I’ve been informed by my father that Mermista was none too pleased to hear that Tristan had come along on this expedition. He and my mother assured her that he was perfectly safe. Seahawk made the error of agreeing with them, however, which led to Tristan having a long, long argument with his mother over it. I don’t find any problem in him wanting to explore space, but not every parent is the same. I suppose she merely wants to look after him. But if she really wanted to, a week is a significant amount of time before deciding to check if he was at his father’s.

LINEAGE LOG: DAY 36

There hasn’t been much occurring outside of the ship. As we have been supplied with enough rations and crystals to charge Celeste, we have no need to dock onto any planet to replenish. However, Hydrangea asked if we could stop on occasion to see some planets. I told her that she could ask me any time if she felt a desire to explore nearby galaxies. We have opted to land on— Whoafuckshit! Asteroids… Oh! Maybe I can document it as it happens—

Annnnnd one made a large dent. Never mind. Guess we’re landing for sure.

LINEAGE LOG: DAY 273

I contacted my parents earlier today. They asked how everyone was faring, and I informed them that it’s been rather standard. No fits of madness or lucidity. My mother sighed with disappointment, but I told her that if it changed, she’d be the first to know. My father told me that Adora wishes me well, again. She’s a sweet woman—has been since my infancy. How she got four terrors for children, I’ll never understand. Well, that’s from Catra, but that’s neither here nor there. She and my father share equal blame for the damage to Etheria, and she has made an effort to right her wrongs. Yet she’s more… forgiven is not the proper word. Perhaps, excused? I don’t resent her for this. It’s easier to blame what continues to be unfamiliar. However, it’s an interesting observation, isn’t it?

Time in space is a bizarre thing. It ceases to be linear. It curves. Warps. Molds around one’s cells—living, breathing matter and energy, and it performs relative to that.

Odessa feels like it’s no time at all to be traveling through space with her friends.

But she was used to this since she was born. Tristan and Hydrangea experienced a little bit of an odd hiccup when it came to living without the concept of time as it was on Etheria. Hydrangea took to meditating quite often to keep a semblance of consistency, while Tristan took to exercising in an unorthodox training room. Hordak was thorough in ensuring that physical prowess was kept up while traveling through space, so it was one of the first things she pointed out.

Tristan could sleep as often as he wanted, and he never put up a fuss, but Hydrangea became rather irritable when she realized the lack of sunlight meant her circadian rhythm would be thrown off. Odessa decided to create a fake sun in Hydrangea’s sleep quarters that gave the feeling of waking up to gentle sunlight, replacing the atomic clock with one marked by Etherian time. It helped a bit for her to feel normal, and, she knew, Hydrangea was missing her parents.

“It’s too late to take you back,” Odessa said during breakfast. “But I hope you’re not disappointed with the direction of this mission so far.”

Hydrangea smiled gently, brushing haggard feelings aside, “Don’t worry. I’ll eventually get used to it. You know I’m here for you!”

Odessa is glad to have company that didn’t mind a little change. She and her family revel in constant traveling, but it can be hard for people who don’t go through it as much.

Walking through the halls, Odessa knocks on Tristan’s door, “Hey, are you up?”

A tired groan reaches her ears.

“When you’re ready, come to the dining hall. We should go over some things.”

A grunt of understanding is given, so Odessa takes her leave. She can’t help but shake her hands in excitement, tempted to skip down the hall.

She looks down at her communicator when it beeps. Turning it on, she answers, “Hey, Mom!”

“Hi, cupcake! How are you?”

“Doing fine. We’ve been making good time. We should be arriving soon.”

Hordak pops into view, “Are all your vitals still in excellent condition?”

“Yes, I’ve been monitoring all of us.”

“Good work, Odessa,” he praises.

“You know me, I’m not into screwing around,” Odessa replies, tossing her hair.

Entrapta grins wide, “We know you’re not, my little brownie bite!”

“Yeesh, Mom,” Odessa says, blushing, though she can’t help but smile.

“Okay, honey, we’ll let you go,” Entrapta tells her. “Tell your friends we said hi! Message us when you’re set!”

“You bet,” she tells them, giving a thumbs up.

“Byyyyeee!” Entrapta sing-songs, as Hordak waves.

“Byyyyeee!” Odessa mimics, waving back.

With a beep, the communicator goes quiet. She wants this mission to come to fruition. Odessa knows their journey has just barely begun—it has so much potential for failure as much as it does for success. If she could find enough information about her people, she might be able to learn more about them as a species. It’s a longshot, but she needs to make an attempt.

She is relieved that her father hasn’t asked her anything deeper than the common query of wellness. He is attentive to health above all else. And she wants to know if that’s intrinsic to their nature, or if it has to do with his… former debilitation. It has to be on some level, or it could be due to personality. If she could learn the true ways of their race, she might be able to find out how to give them their best opportunity to live.

Her hair wraps around her recorder, bringing it to her face. She clicks it on:

LINEAGE LOG: DAY 550

It’s been a long time since we left Etheria, but we’re finally near our destination! I have informed my uncle, Kreed, of our imminent arrival. He told me that everything has long been prepared for us, and he’s looking forward to seeing me again. I’ve been jotting down, as you know, what I hope to ask and, perhaps, what he may answer.

Odessa turns when she hears footfalls. Clicking off her recorder, she looks up at her friend, “Hi, sleepyhead! I didn’t think you’d ever get up.”

Yawning, Tristan stretches toward the ceiling, fingers spreading out. “Hey, the universe doesn’t chastise the well-rested. Were those your parents?”

“Yes, they say hello.”

“Aw, I would’ve liked to say hi back,” Tristan says.

“Should’ve woken up sooner,” Odessa teases. She pats his arm. “But we’re not too far from Inicos—so you’ll be talking to them eventually again.”

“How far?”

“About several hours,” she explains. “It has changed a little since I’ve been there, so I’m excited how it looks now!”

Tristan gives another stretch of his arms, swiping them up then down as he yawns once more. Trying to get something to pop. “Glad we’ll be landing soon. I know it’s been a while, but I worry about Gea going a little stir-crazy again.”

“I adjusted everything in her room, but I don’t disagree,” Odessa admits. “Although, she’s been fine since then and she hasn’t come to me for it.”

Tristan shrugs, not bothering to say he thinks otherwise. Odessa understands the needs for physical accommodation, but Hydrangea’s emotional and spiritual needs are depleted in the never-ending darkness of space. Hydrangea always acts like she’s put together, and much of the time it’s true; but she refrains from voicing her negative opinions when she’s trying to be a team-player.

Hydrangea is already in the dining hall when they arrived, drinking tea. She smiles at them, “Hey, you two!”

“Hey,” Tristan says. “How are you holding up?”

“Fine, why?” she asks.

“No reason,” Tristan replies. Best not to pursue the issue. If she’s faking ease, let her.

Hydrangea simply smiles at him, appreciating the question. She turns to Odessa, “So, what’s the plan?”

“The plan is that we’re going to be entering Inicos’ orbit in the next few hours, that’s our plan!”

Hydrangea claps her hands, “How exciting!”

Tristan shakes his head, putting a hand over his face, “It just occurred to me you could’ve woken me up when we’re closer.”

Odessa pulls him to her side, giving him a light shake, “I’m pumped! Aren’t you?”

“Of course,” Tristan says, rolling his eyes and smiling. “But that can’t be it, right?”

“No,” she replies, releasing him to look between her friends. “Celeste has lasted this long on fuel, but when we land, we’re going to have to use signals to find where they are, and wait for them to get us.”

“Why?”

Odessa’s grin widens, thrilled.

Water stretches far out beyond their sight. A dark, vast blue that envelops the entire planet. Celeste skims the top, spraying brilliant white foam against its shining surface. Slowly, Odessa commands the ship to lower until it has settled onto the ocean.

Hydrangea stares out the window. The sunlight from above is a welcome vision. Pressing up against the window, her claws clicking gently on the glass, she takes it all in. Turning to Tristan, she says, “You should feel right at home here.”

“Eh, you see one ocean, you’ve seen them all,” Tristan shrugs, inspecting his fingernails.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss this one,” Odessa tells him. She touches her communicator, and the screen begins to beep. Within minutes, they watch water churning away from them, the waves causing the ship to move in rhythm with the slight push. Breaking the surface is a large glass dome, rising high in the air. Celeste bobs back and forth, and the distant hemisphere reveals equally tall buildings within its spacious grounds, supplanted deep within mortar and bedrock.

Tristan and Hydrangea gape up. Tristan laughs in disbelief, “Okay, well, you never mentioned this.”

Odessa smiles, “And ruin the fun if you ever came here with me?”

Beneath the glass is the foundation of metal, holding it aloft; from which, a slab slides away from the bottom of the dome. From this opening, a bridge elongates towards them. Odessa steadies Celeste as the spaceship is jostled carefully onto its ramp, pulling them back into the entrance. As it approaches, they note the flashing lights within.

Moments after coming inside, a siren blares a monotone tune. Celeste gives a slight shake, and they feel gravity tug them upward.

The sun gleams brightly above, before that same pull of gravity shifts the dome downward, water sloshing beside the glass until it is submerged in a torrent of bubbles.

Hydrangea sighs. It was nice while it lasted.

Once the dome settles, Celeste opens up. The trio walk down the bridge, and Odessa smiles at the people waiting in front of them, “Hi everyone!”

“Odessa!” comes the barrage of greetings.

Odessa waves to the clone standing directly in front of her. Eyes a remarkable amber, Kreed waits with his arms held behind him. Bedecked in gentle beige, his tunic ends an inch above the floor, a golden sash with cerulean trimming at the edges tied around his waist. His feet are sandaled, which they found to be better suited for an environment that’s nothing but water outside. An older clone than the rest, he shows signs of aging that aren't too commonplace among the rest of her relatives. She long surmised that the majority of them were young by contrast. She attributes part of that to his firm but mellower personality, a patriarchal figure where there are none. “Hey, Kreed!”

Her uncle holds her tight to her chest, pulling back to look at her, “Was your trip uneventful?”

“Yes, unfortunately.”

He laughs, before addressing the rest of the trio, “Hydrangea! Tristan! So good to finally meet you both! Physically, I mean.”

Hydrangea shakes his hand, “Hi, Kreed! It’s nice to be here at last.”

“Come, come, we have prepared a feast for your arrival!”

“Nice,” Tristan says, eager to get settled in.

Hydrangea looks around, morose.

Tristan touches her shoulder, “How are you, Gea?”

“I’m alright,” Hydrangea says, giving a reassuring smile.

Tristan stares at her, slowing his strides.

Hydrangea glances at his feet, and mimics his pace, allowing their friend and her family to continue forward on their own. She looks up at Tristan, “I really am okay.”

“Yeah, now,” Tristan tells her.

“Odessa did so much for me already, I don’t want to disappoint her,” she replies.

“Odessa doesn’t get offended over crap like that,” Tristan reminds her.

“I know but still…”

“Gea, if you have problems, Des is here to help out,” he says.

Hydrangea knows that he’s right. The last year and a half have been hard on her, being away from her mothers, her people, her home. She is here to aid Odessa in anything that she needs. She wants to be a good friend, and she figured that this wouldn’t be much to handle. She’ll admit, she didn’t prepare herself very well for it, even with Odessa’s assistance.

“I understand that she’s meant to help out—and she did do a lot for me already,” Hydrangea answers. “But it felt a little redundant to even bring it up time after time.”

“I think it would offend her more if you didn’t inform her that she was unable to give you what you needed.”

Hydrangea gives a soft chuckle, “That’s true.”

“Look,” Tristan says, touching her shoulder, fingers moving around the spikes. “It’s not like it matters anymore right now, because we’re here. But if she asks us to go on a trip again, you should think about being more open about what you need to be comfortable.”

“I know,” she sighs. Then she pats his hand with hers, a small, gracious smile on her lips. “Thank you. I’ll do better.”

Tristan returns the smile, and affectionately pats her shoulder.

Resuming their walk, they note that Odessa and Kreed had halted their own steps to wait for them. Their apologies are dismissed, as Kreed and Odessa didn’t mind the two conversing amongst themselves.

The dome continues to descend, and Odessa looks to the left, watching a school of fish swim by the glass, “You’ve expanded.”

Kreed smiles, “Yes, we did! It took a couple of years, but the results have been magnificent. We’re creating more habitable spaces throughout the planet.”

“That’s exciting to hear. Has the alternative plant source been beneficial?”

“Most certainly, my dear niece,” Kreed replies. “We have been able to move forward with our latest projects using the natural resources of this planet as fuel to power everything.”

Odessa listens in rapt attention as Kreed explains each aspect of their home in impressive detail. From the large dome that blocks out harmful UV rays, to the plumbing system, sewage plant, recreational and education centers, they have made this place their home without interfering with the natives of the planet.

Arriving at their destination, opulent doors, wreathed with marine imagery, akin to Salineas, open for them. But there’s a monstrous look to it—with towering statues made of silver metal, the Delphican people’s greatest warriors of legend and history are highlighted the best way they know how: long, powerful arms ending with webbed hands, clawing the air. Their naked bodies are streamlined and muscular, hairless scalps gleaming when light shines on them. Their eyes are black, forward-facing but protruding ever so slightly enough to make it noticeable they’re different from the other humanoids that occupy their world. Their mouths are open in preparation for battle, ferocious teeth bared at their enemies.

Tristan stands to admire the artwork, giving a nod of approval. “Damn, that’s pretty hot.”

Hydrangea turns to him, narrowing her eyes and pursing her mouth, “You do know they’re attacking something, right?”

“Yes,” Tristan answers, forefinger pointed up. “And that’s what makes it hot. Oooh, do you think they do commissions?”

Hydrangea lets out a short, breathy laugh, “And what would they do for you?”

“I think that’s pretty obvious, Gea,” Tristan says. “I want them to make a statue of me . Just as naked and just as cool.”

Hydrangea laughs as he poses, and Tristan gives an inward sigh of relief.

A large table stretches out across the room, a sea-green and white carpet laid beneath its legs. Marbled walls rise high above them, ending with a cathedral ceiling, painted with creatures that remind Odessa of what Tristan would show her on deep-sea cameras on Etheria, none of them friendly, which is how she enjoys it. On the wall itself, oval windows take up half of its height, revealing a trimmed yard behind it, showing off a scape laden with roses, daffodils and several prospering fruit trees.

Hydrangea perks up, “Oh, a garden!”

Kreed smiles at her, “We make it a priority to have plants here. It helps the air.”

Hydrangea stares out the window, with Tristan joining her. She remarks, “There are a couple species I don’t recognize.”

“Yes,” Kreed says. “We have acquired new types from either Odessa or some of my brothers from different planets.”

“Amazing! I’d love to see more of your collection. Is all the soil the same?”

“In this area, yes,” Kreed replies, ears twitching up with interest, walking toward her. “For the time you’re here, you’re welcome to explore our gardens.”

Hydrangea, pleased, launches into a discussion about the caretaking, which Kreed entertains with aplomb. Odessa is suddenly tackled from behind, and she reaches around to grab the offender with both arms, raising up a young boy of 14, grinning down at her.

“Hi, Dessie!”

Her annoyed expression fades, beaming, “Nano! You’re lucky I didn’t break you in two.”

Placing him down, Nano jumps at her waist, excited, “I couldn’t help myself! I missed you!”

Odessa hugs the boy close, patting his head, “It’s good to see you again. I brought my friends this time.”

Nano, eyes an unusual bright shade of orange, turns to Tristan and Hydrangea with equal enthusiasm, “Hey! Welcome to my home! It’s about time you two came by.”

Hydrangea smiles at him, “Thank you, we’re happy to be here.”

Nano turns to Tristan, sizing him up. Then he grins, “I’m going to have so much fun kicking your butt!”

Tristan laughs, arms akimbo and smirking, “Are you?”

“You bet! I’ve wanted to race you foreeeever! Can we do it now?”

“You may have your contest after dinner,” Kreed interrupts.

“‘Kaaaaay,” Nano replies, though his grin doesn’t leave, giggling.

Various seafood has been placed on the table a few moments later, arranged to show the best of freshly caught fish and crustacean. Odessa and Tristan, used to being adventurous eaters, have no qualm with any part of the meal. Hydrangea, though she can eat it, looks for plant-based dishes, which, thankfully, they accommodated for her.

Nano plops next to Odessa, kicking his legs, scales reaching down to his feet. He’s one of the more interesting cousins in terms of appearance, having the agility, speed and strength of a clone, but the exterior switches from skin to scales, with webbed fingers and toes at the ends of his limbs, all bluish-green; his face has paler shades of color compared to the rest of his body, and his gills are closed on his neck for now. He hums to himself as he piles food onto his plate. She had checked on him last time she was here, monitoring his vitals for irregularities in either his gills or lungs. The main difference seems to be that he has to moisturize more than the average cousin, and he doesn’t seem capable of growing hair on his scalp or face like his clone half, but he doesn’t seem to have any new problems.

Opening his mouth, revealing sharp canines lined along the gums, Nano chews a large chunk of meat. He turns to Odessa, cheeks puffed out from food, smiling with his lips and eyes closed.

A surge of sisterly affection tugs at her heartstrings, and she chuckles, “Be careful there, don’t choke.”

Swallowing, Nano wipes his mouth, giving a wide grin, “I don’t choke!”

“You did earlier this week,” Kreed says, cutting his food with a knife and fork. “Mindfulness is important.”

Nano gives a quick nod, before turning to Tristan, “Hey, hey, hey, are we going to race?”

“After dinner, sure,” Tristan says, then yawns. “Or, you know, maybe after sleep.”

“Aaaww, you said after dinner,” Nano whines.

“If our guests are exhausted, they’re free to sleep,” Kreed chastises.

Odessa smiles at her uncle, “Don’t worry about it. Tris slept all day, he can go for it!”

Tristan gives her a mild glare, “Of course, Des. Why wouldn’t I?”

She sticks out her tongue, satisfied.

Nano was more than excited to race. He was jumping up and down along the dome, feet light in the ground. Tristan, despite genuinely feeling like he could sleep more, wasn’t going to crush his expectations, nor did he have the intention to.

Hydrangea stares up at the artificial sunlight coming from above, “Do you think it could be warmer?”

“I feel fine,” Odessa says, glancing up. “But I could ask Kreed for you later.”

“I don’t want to impose on anyone—”

Odessa waves her hand, “Oh, Gea! They don’t mind, really! And if you didn’t dislike it, you wouldn’t say anything.”

Hydrangea sighs, “You’re right, I know.”

“‘Course I know!”

Approaching a smoothed pearl-colored tower, Nano yells at the people located at its top, “Hi!”

A clone peers down at them, waving, then pointing to the dome’s glass.

Nano gives a thumbs-up from the ground, and he turns to the trio, “Alright, they’ll open it for us!”

Hydrangea holds up her hand to her face, “Are we rising to the surface or…?”

“Nope! There’s a tube that runs through the bottom that launches people out. We needed to bring you guys the other way because of your ship.”

“Ah, so we’re racing underwater,” Tristan remarks.

“Yeah! Is that okay?”

“Fine by me,” Tristan answers, beginning his stretches.

Nano copies his stretches, wanting to be professional.

An opening in the ground forms, and the faint sound of suction movements comes from below. Nano beams at the three of them before jumping in feet first, form perfectly straight. Tristan salutes his friends before hopping in as well. Hydrangea and Odessa jog over to the glass, and a burst of bubbles shoot out when they emerge somewhere below them.

Nano swims up to the glass, tapping it then his wrist.

Odessa nods, then signs to Tristan: Are you going to keep that form?

Tristan doesn’t often have a smug appearance, but at the question, a smirk tilts the corner of his mouth. Behind his lips, his teeth sharpen, as well as his skin, darkening to ashen grey, reaching up toward the sides of his neck, where the flesh opens, water gushing out. His legs morph together as water circulates around them, dissipating with a flourished motion, revealing a long shark tail.

Hair floating away from his face, Tristan’s eyes are wholly black, and he grins at Nano’s shocked expression.

Nano turns to Odessa, signing with excited movements: You never told me your friend could do this!

It’s not something Tristan makes known to everyone, his penchant for taking a shark shape as he swims. It’s a trait inherited only by royals, should they so choose, and the last to use this disposition was his grandfather, the former King Selachus.

Hydrangea signs to them all: Alright everyone, play fair!

Or don’t, Odessa chimes in.

Flicking Odessa on the shoulder, Hydrangea signs: Who is going to signal?

Nano signs back: The guards know what we’re doing. They’ll be watching.

As Odessa beckons Hydrangea to follow her up to the towers, where they can get a better view, Nano and Tristan line up against the dome, staring ahead. Nano raises his arm up, waving before placing it back to his side.

Odessa takes in the tower, simple and clean walls, with weapons stacked in a corner, near a chest and a small writing desk for messages. Its purpose is clearly to observe anything from below, and she and Hydrangea can see both Nano and Tristan. The guards standing inside don’t do much but give nods in regard to their being here, and continue to stand.

Suddenly, there’s a loud noise resonating out of the dome. An object shoots out above them, a fair-sized dart torpedoing ten kilometers away. Nano holds out his hand to keep Tristan in place, signing: We have to wait for it to stop. Then they’ll let us know to go.

The object, which flashes a slow red in the distance, finally stops. A split second after there’s a blast—

The boys shoot off, even faster than the measuring pod, a blur of white froth and dark shapes. Odessa and Hydrangea peer closely at their retreating forms. The water is clear, so they don’t lose sight of them, and the height helps keep track of their movements underwater. They could’ve swam on the surface, but Nano prefers being under the waves, and Tristan is flexible about location. However, from the look of it, despite Nano being smaller and more spry, Tristan’s strength is also an advantage, keeping an impressive pace.

Hydrangea turns to a guard, “You don’t happen to have binoculars, do you?”

He raises a brow before opening a chest nearby and handing her a pair.

She smiles, “Oh, thank you!”

Odessa doesn’t ask for any herself, as she has no trouble following their forms. Tristan’s frame is notable, even intimidating, much of the time, and in this form, he stands out. Nano continues to be faster, and she has to commend that he isn’t wavering.

They notice that the pod is moving, darting toward the surface. Tristan and Nano don’t break their speed, immediately changing to chase after it. They crash through the surface—a whirlwind of bubbles torrenting from the intensity, and again as they return. Hydrangea gives an excited ‘ooh!’ and Odessa grins, enjoying the competition. If the boys were holding back, they certainly weren’t anymore. The pod keeps up with them, continuing its languid red flashing. Tristan and Nano tear through the water, fast approaching the dome’s end. Nano kicks in rapid succession, gaining some momentum.

Then Tristan jets further out, having saved some energy to push at the last possible moment.

Tristan touches the glass first, faster by 60 seconds. He grins with pride, turning to Nano with a thumbs-up.

Nano, pouting, crosses his arms.

Tristan gives the boy a gentle pat on the back, causing Nano to crack a smile.

The pod settles slowly between them, and Nano takes it with him as he swims back to the entrance.

Odessa and Hydrangea watch the two pop up from the ground, landing on their feet. Hydrangea thanks the guard for lending the binoculars, and walks down the stairs with Odessa.

“You both did amazing!” Hydrangea cheers, applauding.

“Thanks, Gea,” Tristan replies, blushing a little. “But I don’t know if it’s really that big of a deal when my opponent is a little kid.”

“Actually, it is,” Odessa clarifies. “Nano is really fast, even for his age. Delphicans, even young, are quicker than even the fastest Salinean, so consider it a true win!”

“Really?” Tristan asks, surprised.

“Yep!” Nano exclaims.

Odessa waved a hand, “I didn’t mention it before because I wanted to see what would happen.” Tristan tends to hold himself back, especially if he feels there’s no point in giving it a chance. To see him go all out was a treat.

Nano is full on smiling now, shaking his head, “Well, I thought I could beat you but you really got me! I’ve never lost before.”

Odessa smirks, “You had to learn to lose someday.”

Nano places his hands on his elbows, “Yeah, I guess…”

Was he not as good as he thought? He’s been used to being the fastest, especially among his peers. It’s a little odd...

Tristan flips his hair back, slicking it away. With an encouraging smile, he replies, “You did great too! Give yourself credit.”

A spark of admiration takes over Nano’s eyes. Hero worship at its finest.

“Hey, Mom!” Odessa says.

“Odessa! There you are! Did you make it to Inicos okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. I was meeting up with Kreed, had dinner, and then Nano wanted to race Tristan.”

“Ooohh, you were already so busy!” Entrapta says. She turns to her right, “Hordak! Say hi to our baby!”

Hordak sits beside Entrapta, smiling at her, “Hello, Odessa.”

“Hi, Dad,” Odessa replies. “How’re things at Etheria?”

“Work has been progressing smoothly,” Hordak says. “We’ve begun new construction on both Beast Island and New Chelicerata.”

“That’s awesome,” she tells them. She glances to her left, motioning her friends over. “Gea, you hear that?”

“I did!” Hydrangea answers, looking at Hordak and Entrapta. “How are my moms? Is everything okay at Plumeria too?”

“Never better!” Entrapta shouts. “We’ve been keeping occupied since you all left. Scorpia has been helping us a lot! She says she loves and misses you!”

“And Perfuma,” Hordak adds.

“Right! And Perfuma too!”

At that, Hydrangea smiles, more than happy.

Hordak looks at Odessa, “Has your uncle shown you the portal yet?”

“I’m sure he will soon,” Odessa replies. “There’s a lot to see!”

“That is good to hear,” Hordak says. He turns to his right, “Imp, don’t play with that!”

He leaves to go handle whatever her brother is doing, and Entrapta leans in to the communicator, “Your father misses you.”

Odessa gives a warm smile, “I miss him too. Both of you.”

“Have you asked Kreed anything about the clones?”

“No, that hasn’t occurred yet either. I intend to do it very soon.”

Hordak returns, holding Imp in his arms, “What else has transpired on your journey?”

They regale them with details of the rest of the day, finding that they’ve needed to talk to each other more than they believed. Hydrangea interjects during appropriate moments to inquire about her parents further, where Tristan does not.

Eventually, they bid goodbye, and head to bed after a tiring day, excited for tomorrow’s venture, and everything afterward.

Hydrangea and Tristan were impressed with the ingenuity of the dome. Their rooms have been modified for their needs and wants, giving them individual freedom as guests of Inicos. Everything was incredible: from the water systems that converted salt water to fresh through advanced hydraulics, the use of the planet’s natural gifts to aid in creating everything they saw from their furniture to their food to landscapes and buildings, and occasionally being sent what they could not make here through a portal.

But what they couldn’t help except be amazed by were Nano’s aquatic brethren.

Standing at nine feet tall, his mother, Esynad, greets them this morning outside of the dome, swimming lazily past the glass, before hopping inside from the tube. She is misted with a special chemical concoction of the clones’ design, allowing natives of Inicos to partake of the dome’s atmosphere without trouble.

Possessing scales that glisten in the sun, highlighting flashes of purple when she moves, she is considered to be a stunner among even her kind. Though, to Hydrangea and Tristan, she was beautiful to them as well and could see why anyone would’ve considered being her partner. But here, on Inicos, the ‘women’ choose who to mate with. All begin life with total androgyny, with no true way to separate them outwardly. Yet at maturity, a select group of Delphicans become large enough to be considered the females of their kind, and use the female reproductive organs each one holds. Afterward, they were asked to choose who to mate with by overlooking battles of strength and cunning between those who are ‘male’. It couldn’t be simply anyone—the males had to be near equal to the stature and power of the females and granted permission by whomever they pursue.

Esynad had received hundreds of suitors, all which failed her expectations. Fickle with her hand and undeterred by their pleas, she ignored them. Years had gone by and she continued to reject everyone who attempted to court her. Those who dared to fight one another in her presence, without her blessing, were punished swiftly. Esynad had no qualm being ruthless with those who displeased her.

When the clones arrived, the Delphicans were reluctant to share their space, but once they proved they had no interest in doing much of anything except stay above the surface, and remained neutral in territory disputes between separate pods, the Delphicans were accepting of their occupancy.

Eventually, they realized there was a higher benefit to working together and coexisting harmoniously. Esynad, being a de facto leader, made it her business to cooperate with their newfound friends. This led to her meeting Kreed, who took it upon himself to help his brethren and the people of Inicos. Not a few months later, she announced that he would be her permanent husband.

Kreed had been an unorthodox decision, both from being another species and that she refused to have him battle with anyone, saying that it was unnecessary, for she would have him alone. However, being customary, Kreed abided by their rules and triumphed over every single challenger. With that completed, they were given freedom to be together, and it eventually became part of their culture that clones could participate in the rituals of Delphican folk.

In time, due to the existence of hybrid children, it became apparent that it was important to adopt aspects of the clones as well. As they had no way of going about it on their own, they called on Hordak to inform them of his own child-rearing process. There was less fighting amongst each other for mates, and it became a community for raising offspring, however they were born. If bloodlust suited anyone, on either side, they were allowed to do battle; but the parents of said hybrid children were off limits for coupling, forming into monogamous pairs.

Esynad was still no one to trifle with, but being part of a partnership mellowed her a fair degree. She turns to the trio, a gentle smile on her features, dark eyes reflecting the kindness.

Odessa comes up to her, “Esynad! You’re looking spectacular as usual.”

Esynad lightly taps Odessa’s shoulder, “You’re so sweet, young one.”

Nano rushes to his mother, hugging her leg, “Are we showing them to the portal?”

“Yes,” Esynad replies, giving a slow wave of her hand. “Please, follow us.”

Kreed and Esynad both decided to take the liberty of escorting them, the six of them walking through the halls.

Kreed looks over his shoulder, “Odessa, I understand that you arrived in Inicos with some intended purpose. Is it too early to ask you to illuminate the subject?”

“No, it is not,” Odessa begins, glancing between her relatives. “I wanted to ask about Horde Prime.”

This gives her aunt and uncle pause, turning to appraise her, mildly bewildered.

Understanding her niece prefers forthright conversation, Esynad asks first, “Why would you want to know about that?”

“I’ve asked my father and have gotten no answer. I’m simply curious about what we are.”

“We…” Kreed trails off, thinking. He resumes his pace toward the portal. “We are clones of Horde Prime. No longer soldiers or invaders. But we continue to be—and always will be—clones of Horde Prime.”

Odessa walks alongside him, “But there must have been something before Prime? A way of life and culture that he may have passed onto you all?”

Kreed frowns, keeping silent. Giving him time to think on it, Odessa opts to glance around at the vicinity. The hallways have narrowed down to a singular direction, and the doors slide open, showcasing a portal in the center of the room. Wires, pipes and insulated cables align themselves upon the walls, or on the floor out of the way of roaming bodies. But they all hook up to the portal, or are connected to machines that deal with energy.

Eyes slightly wide, Hydrangea remarks, “That is a larger portal than the rest of them.”

Esynad looks at her, “Yes, we receive gifts from our family throughout the galaxies. Oftentimes, they are normal-sized, but on occasion, we do receive something that is larger or numerous in number. To accommodate, we’ve made a portal bigger than the normal scale. It’s why we couldn’t bring you three right away, but this will allow you all to traverse back easier.”

Kreed nods, “Indeed. We have made necessary preparations for when that time comes, whenever it may be. Until then, you are welcome to stay here for as long as you like.” He looks at Odessa. “Did you really travel all the way here to ask about our once-leader?”

“No one on Etheria could provide an answer,” explains Odessa, readying her recorder in her hair. “They suggested here to start.”

Exhaling through his nose, Kreed motions for her to come with him, as her friends discuss other things with her relations.

“Your determination is not without merit, Odessa,” Kreed says. “However, this is not a question that is worth exploring.”

Odessa comes right up to him, unafraid to be invasive, “Is it because you have no information to offer me, or that you are unwilling to divulge it?”

“Judging by the sound of your tone, my niece, you would be wise to consider the ramifications of your query,” Kreed replies, hands behind his back.

Odessa turns lightly on her heel, holding out her hands, “I have considered it. I’ve considered that this is something that we need to understand.” She spins on her foot, meeting his eyes. “There’s so much about us that we don’t know, even with all the technology and magic in the universe, there is no viable method out there that can explore deep memories.”

Kreed is one of the oldest clones that she is aware of. Talon’s age is astonishing as is when compared to other lifeforms, but Kreed is a grand total of 150. And still going.

There are slight changes in his appearance to the rest of the clones, where he is beginning to show signs of age. But the differences are so minute, the wrinkles visible when one strains the eyes to catch them, as they are fine lines, that they matter very little. His strength and agility is not remotely impaired by the fact. His physicality, unmarred by time, continues to put him above many species she’s encountered, as well as Inicosans, and especially Etherians. How old can their species become? If there were hundreds of him hanging above her head on the flagship, how long had he terrorized the universe? If he could conceivably live over a century, what else could he do?

“I conducted a study back on Etheria about your brothers,” Odessa tells him. “Everything about it suggests promising brain activity, and I want to test my hypothesis further. But to do so, I must have more information about us.”

Kreed glances at Esynad as she approaches, holding Nano in her arms, “This information… if given, what do you intend to do with it?”

Everything.

She wants to do everything with it.

She has to know what they are capable of, beyond a past of destruction and a present of rectifying mistakes. There’s a future for them that is complete. Hopeful.

“I simply want to learn more about us.”

Kreed closes his eyes, inhaling. Slow and easy. He is more than aware that Odessa is a personality that pushes toward the truth. A scientist and inventor like her parents both, she inherited their tenacity, and, for better or worse, their tunnel vision. She has shown incredible potential. What she lacks in social tact, she more than makes up for with her ability to observe and act on those observations.

Since she was young, he has been keeping track of her as well. The moment she asked for blood samples of her relatives at the age of five, he knew that she was different. She has spent countless hours of her youth being encompassed by superior science and keen minds. Trained and nurtured to ask questions, find answers, and adapt based on the result. Being a hybrid had nothing to do with it. What set her apart from all the children of clones was Odessa’s desire. A desire for what, he may never know. But she yearns for more. She longs. Until it’s found.

He has lived a long time, and he doesn’t know a clone similar to him. But he knows age isn’t the thing to contest. What the wise seek in peace, the eager seek in tumults, and how long someone has been alive doesn’t matter there. It’s all about who a person is. However, if anyone can withstand such a journey, it would be her.

Tristan and Hydrangea come together to stand at either side of Odessa. Friends that he has seen grown up over communicators, and their loyalty to her is impressive. Hordak wouldn’t allow anyone to be around his child that may be a threat to her safety, physically or emotionally. He wouldn’t either. So he looks at each one for a moment, exhaling.

“I, like your father, and my brothers, know nothing else except Prime.” Kreed says, voice measured. “He is part of us, forever, even as we build our lives on things besides him. You know that.”

Odessa nods, eye contact not wavering.

“There is… space…”

“Space?”

“Space. In our heads.” Kreed explains. He puts a gently closed fist against his chin. “Did you note that in your study?”

“No. My experiment involved photographic memory,” Odessa says, intrigued. She leans in, “What do you mean by ‘space?’”

“It’s… an expanse,” Kreed draws another breath, then out. “I’m unsure of whether it is due to being connected to the hivemind for so long, or if this is an aspect of ourselves as a species… but in my head, there’s a void. A void that contains the knowledge we possess, but it can be filled further. The mind cannot grasp all information in the universe. It would drive a person mad. However, my mind feels similar to a larger space—perhaps a deep cavern or pit, where it stretches outward past what individuals may expect it to end.”

“The brain is a powerful organ, though,” Odessa adds. “It can store a lot more data than we can ever hope to calculate.”

“That may be,” Kreed tells her. “And I do not doubt your research. We learn new information every day. But everything has its limits, including the mind and what it can withstand. What it can hold. All three of you can keep receiving new facts until the day you die, but learning new things weakens as you age. It stands to reason that the brain, then, is finite.”

“So, this void inside your mind, does it end?” Hydrangea asks.

“I believe it does,” Kreed replies. “You see, eventually, there’s a point where everything must stop. You can be a savant on many subjects at once, or dedicate your senses to partaking of a single subject and becoming an expert on that. The mind can learn and learn and learn all it wants, but once you hit that proverbial wall, you cannot go past it. It’d be too intense of a breakthrough. Yet, for us, I can only guess that we all have the similar proclivity to recollecting more information than most could even conceive because it’s a bigger space.”

Odessa breathes out. A mind that could hold more knowledge than ever thought possible… “Talon informed me that when you are all ‘born’ there’s a wall there, too. That you cannot remember anything before that point, and everything after that is what you keep. Is that a fair assessment?”

Kreed nods, “Yes, that’s correct. I cannot remember anything before being released. That is our starting point. Afterward, it's an endless space.”

“Although, as someone that’s been alive longer than the others, is it possible you have knowledge that they don’t?” Odessa says, tone a little more enthusiastic. “Can you remember anything else from your time with the Horde?”

“Aside from what you’d expect? No.”

“I see,” she says, glancing at her companions.

Esynad touches her husband’s shoulder, looking down at him, “Perhaps our niece would benefit from visiting Rulvam.”

Odessa’s eyes widen slightly, “Rulvam?”

Tristan raises a brow, “I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned that before, Des.”

“I haven’t!” she says, louder from excitement. Turning back to Kreed, she asks, “What’s there? We have other family members living somewhere we didn’t know of?”

“Several of your uncles have gone on to other planets after settling on Inicos for a time,” Esynad explains to them, voice low and soothing. “Rulvam is a planet a fair distance from us, about the length that it took you to arrive here without a portal.”

Kreed adds, “The only difference between Rulvam and other planets we’ve made home, is that there is no portal in place.”

Hydrangea’s brows furrow together, “They don’t own a portal, or theirs isn’t working? Like yours had been?”

“The reason is unclear,” Kreed admits, glancing up at his wife. “Some time ago, we stopped receiving all communication from them. We sent out signals, to no avail; the last transmission we obtained was a positive one, telling us on Inicos that the planet was being changed for the better, and new projects were underway to bring out the best of Rulvam. Aside from Etheria, we don’t come into contact with any of our sister planets too often.”

Nano, who had been quietly absorbing the conversation, speaks, “That had been four years ago now, right?”

“That’s correct,” Kreed says, smiling at his child.

Odessa is bewildered. A planet with relatives that she’s never been to before. That’s amazing! It’s another lead that, hopefully, will uncover more about their kind.

Tristan shifts his gaze at Odessa. She’s already thinking of something new. But if there’s anything that stays consistent, it’s her inquiring mind.

Hydrangea looks at her friends, aware that they’re all pondering the same question.

Why did Rulvam stop communication?

LINEAGE LOG: DAY 730

I spoke with my aunt and uncle today about the concept of memory! It proved to be an exciting trip. In a few days, we will be taking the portal back to Etheria, as it’s now completed, and save ourselves a healthy amount of time. They didn’t mind us being here, but I believe it’s time to return to Etheria. I never mind the constant travel through space, however, it will be profitable and convenient to visit my parents sooner than later. Then, we can begin planning our next journey!

#fanfic: The Ripple Effect #entrapdak #entrapdak fankid #spop

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