#like the light novel confirmed that they dont tell each other anything??

[atomicpinks]

kagehina was never the same after their fight in the training camp arc

[lovelookspretty]

not so bad

college!rafe cameron x reader au

— in which rafe and y/n absolutely despise each other in public but crush in secret. rafe is failing his humanities class & is assigned y/n as his tutor . . . maybe all it took for this relationship to form was just a bit of forced proximity and some time.

warning(s): raging hardcore sex. jk guys ! sex yes. 18+ mdni ! dont read the end if u arent comfortable. also some assault ngl from creepy guy

authors note: erm i needed conflict but the whole light stalker situation feels kind of corny so pls do not pay attention to that. also yes lowkey i got uncreative with the dialogue when y/n was giving rafe head ( that yes i just took it out completely ) SUE ME IM TIRED 😭

one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight | nine | ten

the days go by until you’ve reached saturday. you’ve been nothing but excited for what rafe has in store for the two of you. it’s been racking on your mind whether you and rafe are dating or not—is this saturday a friend date? or a date for . . . more?

you try to keep your composure when you’re around rafe or lorenzo. aria and elara are the only ones you’ve expressed your feelings to about the weekend. they both agree it’s a date date but suggest not to overthink it.

you know they’re right but for some reason, the thought of an official date feels so overwhelming.

in the library, you stand in an aisle of books while trying to find one in particular for one of your professors. it’s a recommendation, really, and he suggested yesterday that you bring him a copy from anywhere. you plan on giving it to him before you get ready for the date.

a pair of hands graze the side of your arms that send shivers. you don’t have to look at the person to know that it’s rafe. his scent is all you need.

“hey,” he whispers, appearing by your left side to take a look at the book in your hands. “reading something new?”

you chuckle but shake your head. “i wish. i’d give anything to read this for the first time,” you mutter under your breath as you stare down at the novel. when you look up at him, you add on, “just for my professor.”

you hand it to him because you can tell he wants a look closer. he takes it into his own hands, reading the title aloud, “the time traveler’s wife? what’s it about?”

you glance up at rafe, knowing he might not be up for a long explanation. with a small smile, you keep it brief, “it’s about this guy who time travels and his wife who has to deal with it. it’s really messy, but it’s just about love finding its way back, no matter what.” you shrug lightly, “kinda beautiful actually. one of my favorites.”

rafe raises his eyebrows as he hands the book back to you. “sounds interesting,” he comments. “aria’s still fine with me stealing you for a night right?”

you almost snort laughing. he and aria have this joke where rafe has to ask aria for permission to take you out, like you’re aria’s child. aria gives rafe things like pretend curfews, rules, etc.

“yeah she’s still fine with it,” you tell him. “i think she found her own date for tonight or tomorrow night. i forgot.”

rafe looks surprised. “aria? a date?”

“i know,” you say, and you walk him over to the stairs that leas down to the first floor of the library. “she’s mentioned him here and there for the past week—i don’t know much on the guy. just that he goes here and they met in english.”

rafe connects the dots that aria and the boy met in english, but that they also share an english class. it’s a little slow process but he gets it.

“wait, he’s in our english class?”

“yeah,” you confirm with a laugh. “which still, doesn’t give us much about who it is but he seems nice enough if aria’s going on a date with him.”

when you reach the bottom of the stairs, rafe turns to you, “well i’m gonna go pick enzo up from practice ‘cause he wants to go shopping real quick before he leaves for his lacrosse thing. you’ll be ready by six right?”

“obviously,” you mumble, and rafe chuckles softly, leaning in to press a kiss to your head. he ruffles your hair. “wait, why are you in the library then?”

he shrugs, beginning to walk away. “knew you’d be here.”

his words pierce through your mind. it makes you smile. you look down at your book with a hopeful glint in your eyes before heading to the front desk.

you really had no idea how to dress because rafe refused to tell you where you two were going on a date for days. fortunately before you got ready, you were complaining to rafe that you can’t dress for a place you don’t know about. you managed to get it out of him eventually.

‘ gee okay we’re going to a restaurant. it’s fancy but don’t be nervous. just be pretty ’

a fancy restaurant; so this really is a date date. this could go either really bad or really good depending on the food in there, but thankfully rafe also admitted what kind of restaurant it is.

you’re nervous no matter what rafe tells you to be, given your experience in this kind of environment. you’ve been to some around kildare, but each time just feels different. and this will be your first with rafe. you’re bound to feel tense.

he looks to you once you’re parked in front of the restaurant. “you ready to go?” he asks.

you nod, “ready to eat and drain your wallet.”

he shakes his head with a chuckle, and you’re glad he understands your humor. “you’re stupid,” he says as he gets out of the car, then jogs over to your side to open up your door. “don’t say a thing.”

“you’re such a gentleman,” you comment anyway, and you step out of the car while taking your hand into his. he helps you out before he shuts the door and locks the car, stuffing his keys in his pocket.

he keeps a tight grip on your hand but he squeezes it once. “c’mon,” he murmurs, leading you out of the parking lot.

he leads you into the restaurant where you wait for him to settle all the details about the reservation. you’re led to a table on the second floor. it’s right above the bar on the first floor but it’s right against the railing so you’re able to peek and see who comes in or out, and you especially note that you’re able to see when someone comes up or down the staircase.

you settle in your seats and are given water and their menu to start with, but you and rafe are ready to order your drinks at the very least.

“i’ll give you a few minutes to look over the menu. if you have any questions or need recommendations, feel free to ask,” the woman says with a kind smile before she leaves to come fetch your drinks.

it’s left to you and rafe at the table. you can tell that even he’s a little anxious but he’s putting it aside well.

“i haven’t been to a restaurant in so long,” you try to ease both of yourselves as you look around at all of the people who are just settling in, leaving, or staying for their next meal. “where did you find out about this one?”

“just around the corner from the new café, i’m surprised you didn’t notice,” he says, in which you scrunch your nose at. you honestly have no sense of surroundings that you didn’t catch it before.

“i’m glad you asked me to come,” you tell him after a few moments, and rafe widely grins at you as he nods.

“c’mere,” he whispers as he reaches his hand out on top of the table. you can’t help the smile on your face when you take your hand into his, though your gaze trails up briefly to who walked up the stairs and appeared behind rafe.

“—y/n?”

it takes you a moment but your eyes widen when you realize who’s standing there beside their own date—“aria?” you say back.

rafe furrows his eyebrows in confusion at you, turning around in his seat to see if aria really is there too. he’s dumbfounded to find that you aren’t kidding.

aria can read the expression on your face and her own falls, realizing the mistake she’s made. she’s interrupting you two.

aria is silent as she and her date get led to a table beside you, as per aria’s request so it’s easier to talk to you. when they’re seated, aria holds her purse in her lap and leans toward you.

“i didn’t know you were coming here for your date!” aria whispers, and you can tell she’s in a panic, “i’m so sorry!”

you look to rafe and stare at him with a look that can only tell him that you know this is a bad thing. really? there goes your alone time.

“we can make this a double-date!” her date suggests. aria looks to him, then at rafe with an unapologetic expression. “i’m reggie!”

“reggie—?” you question as you look to aria for help.

“you didn’t tell me your roommate was here, ari,” reggie says to her as he unfolds the napkin and places it on his lap happily.

aria is clearly bothered by the so that as she slowly unfolds her own napkin. “yeah ‘cause i didn’t know, if it wasn’t already obvious enough,” she grits through her teeth. she leans forward to speak to reggie directly, “maybe we go look for another restaurant?”

reggie shakes his head, “but we’ve already made our reservation here and we’re seated! what’s the harm?” he looks to you and rafe. “you guys wouldn’t mind a double, would you now?”

rafe’s gaze is already on you when you face him. you know that this reggie guy is off to a bad start so far, and sitting beside them of all people is going to be difficult. respectfully, you guys are supposed to be having this night together, not with them.

“guess not,” rafe says with a smile, though you can tell he’s upset. the server comes back with your drinks and you sit quietly while she places them in front of you both. “thank you.”

“thanks,” you mutter, then take the glass of water and begin downing it gulp by gulp. rafe eyes you carefully when he’s going for just a sip of his water. even aria, reggie, and the server are watching too.

you set your glass down and press a hand to your stomach, feeling off about this whole thing. you should’ve talked with aria earlier to discuss where each date is going to take place so stuff like this can be avoided.

regardless, you and rafe order and decide to converse with aria and reggie while you’re there anyway. it’s agreeable that it’s strange to be there at the same time on the same day at the same place, but there was a light joke thrown in that suggests they all become friends from then on.

“hey, you’re roommates with lorenzo agosta, right?” reggie asks rafe. the blond boy only gives a silent nod in response. “i’ve been to some of his games, he’s pretty good! his girlfriend is that little uh . . . elena?”

“elara,” rafe says as he looks over the railing to see if their waitress has come to bring their food to them yet. “they’re not really boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“oh,” reggie notes with a nod. “so that was some debate between you two.”

you feel exhausted just hearing him. he yaps so much—does he like the sound of his own voice this bad or something?

but you remember what he’s talking about. right; he’s in your class.

“yeah,” you reply dryly. “all in good fun.”

“never thought i’d see this pairing outside of that class after that,” he says, and he’s referring to you and rafe. “let alone on a date.”

aria gulps down her drink as she raises her hand, “check!”

reggie looks at her with his mouth gaped open, “already—?”

“—yep!”

you eat your food in silence as reggie goes on about school. you and rafe are sharing glances with each other constantly, seeming unable to find a moment together that it’s actually irritating.

aria seems tired of her date too. whether or not she’s into the fact that he’s . . . very social, she must think that the time to be social isn’t for a time like this. you can tell she’s embarrassed as she picks at her food.

at some point, aria actually stands up and clears her throat, announcing, “i need to go find a restroom, i’m not feeling too hot.”

she walks over to the hallway just a few tables down, and she disappears without a word.

rafe wipes his mouth with his napkin and stands up, alerting the two of you, “me too. i’m gonna get some air.”

“in a bathroom?” you ask him.

“in a bathroom,” he confirms, leaving his seat to use the men’s restroom. you watch the path he takes until you can’t see him anymore. guess they really can’t take it.

it’s silence amongst you and reggie when you look back at him. he’s seemed to quiet down, and his energy is depleted after watching them excuse themselves. even his own date.

you collect a piece of your food on your fork and slowly lean forward to bring it into your mouth, then chew, contemplating if going in the restroom next will be the best choice, even if it means hurting reggie.

suddenly he twitches, turning to you to reach over to your hand, which you feel like yanking away immediately, but you just stare at him in bewilderment.

“hey i’m sorry if i’ve been talking everyone’s ear off.” his tone is different, it’s serious, and his expression is too. “i didn’t realize how badly i could be bothering you and rafe since this is your date after all.”

you blink twice. acknowledgement? coming from him? this is the first. you try to continue staying unbothered as you reach for your drink.

“not the best at making friends,” he says with a slight chuckle. “and you just make me nervous i guess.”

you stop the flow of the drink as you stare forward. you gulp down what’s remaining in your mouth before setting the glass down, looking at him.

“nervous?” you ask him.

“you’re just pretty,” he says, and you slowly pull your hand away from him. “i’ve seen you in our english class.”

you feel off about this whole thing. “okay,” you mutter under your breath, but he grabs a handful of the table cloth.

you’re stunned at the aggression within him, and your hand instinctively reaches up to grab the table cloth to pull it down as much as you can so he doesn’t damage the restaurants property.

when he sees your hand within view again, he takes it instead, with force, “you can’t be sitting here with a guy like rafe cameron—i mean, what’s the appeal?” he snorts, “he doesn’t know how gifted you are. you’re at the top of all our classes.”

our classes?

“he can’t handle someone like you, he can’t satisfy you.”

you lean forward, staring at him directly. “get. the fuck. off of me,” you say through your teeth, but he keeps a firm grip.

“i’ve had my eye on you since the first day of school. he doesn’t know anything about you.”

“and you do?” you ask, and knowing that he said that must mean he knows a good deal about you, at least. it’s fucking creepy. who is this guy? “let go of me,” you tell him.

suddenly it’s so fast that you don’t see it coming.

rafe dashes across the floor and finds you, but rips reggie’s hand away from your wrist in one action. reggie seems to be raising his hands in surrender when he knows he’s caught, but rafe keeps two handfuls of reggie’s collar.

he’s heated, and you look to the side to find that aria is standing at the end of the hallway, devastated at the turnout of the two dates.

she realizes she should do something so she finds you quickly, and you get out of your chair to hold her hands. she checks your wrists for any marks.

“did he hurt you?” aria keeps asking in a panic, and you just watch as rafe handles reggie.

“i just held her wrist man, i just held her—” reggie is trying to say before rafe throws him to the ground.

he turns to you and aria, reaching his hand out.

you stare at his hand, then back at him, then take it. aria is connected with your other hand as rafe leads the two of you all the way down the stairs, then to the front of the restaurant.

“go outside, alright? i’m gonna pay the check,” rafe says in a hurry, and he reaches deep in his pockets for his keys, fumbling with them as he passes them to you. “go in the car already, okay? i’ll meet you there. aria, let reggie pay your check. just stay in the car.”

“okay,” you mumble as rafe leans in to press a kiss to your head before he leaves to call a server over, so you take aria’s hand and rush to where you remember rafe’s car is.

aria is in a fit, crying as you and her run across the seat, “i’m so sorry y/n! i didn’t think he was like that!”

“it’s fine aria, just c’mon,” you tell her as you open the door of the truck, scooting inside and urging her to come in with you in the backseat. “up, up, up.”

she has to hold onto the car door and the seat, lifting herself up and into the spot next to you. she shuts the door behind her.

you refrain from crying when aria begins to face her mistakes from that night. but you can’t blame her for choosing the wrong guy; it’s not like she knew before today that he is the way he is.

rafe soon joins you in the car and doesn’t question why you’re in the backseat with aria. he’s quick to start the car and go back home.

you stare at aria sound asleep in someone’s bed. it took a bit to get there, but all her crying stopped after the constant reassurance for half an hour. guess sleep got to her fast.

your arms are crossed but you rub the side of your arm as you look around the dorm.

“she’ll be safe,” a girl says from behind you. you turn around, finding one of aria’s friends there. you’re grateful to have already met aria’s other friends earlier in the year so you can have her fall asleep in her dorm room tonight. “i promise.”

“thanks for this, i really do appreciate it,” you tell her. “tell her to text me when she wakes up?”

“of course, goodnight,” she says, and you return it, slowly making your way out of the dorm so you can let her sleep too. you blow off some steam from this past night, and you begin walking to your dorm.

the memories replay in your head again and again. ‘ i’ve seen you in our english class . . . ’

where else have you seen me?

“hey,” a voice calls to you from across the hall. you’re startled by it ripping you away from your thoughts, but you look up to find rafe standing in his doorframe. you walk over to him immediately, clinging to him like a magnet once you’ve touched his skin.

you wrap your arms around his torso and press your ear to his chest, so he frowns, his arms coming around to embrace you.

“stay the night in my room,” rafe whispers, his hand coming up to rub his thumb against the top of your head. “enzo’s not in there tonight. he’s away for a tournament.”

you don’t even need to think about what’s best for you. you know what is.

“okay,” you say, because it’s him.

“do you wanna talk about it?” he asks you as he climbs onto his bed with you. you’re sitting up with your legs crossed, kind of just staring out.

“i don’t know,” you say, and he gets underneath the blanket. “no.”

he only sighs as he grabs an end of the blanket and pulls it over you at the very least. he lays his head down on his pillow and keeps his arm wrapped around your waist for comfort.

he closes his eyes. “do you want me to turn off the light?” he questions, referring to his lamp that he’s keeping on since you’re still awake. he can’t tell when you’ll lay down to fall asleep either.

“does it bother you if it’s on?”

he shrugs, “not if you want it on.”

you think about it for a moment, grateful that he’ll fall asleep with his light on if it helps you. “i can turn it off,” you volunteer, and he adjusts his head on his pillow as you reach over to his nightstand. “you have your nightlight anyway.”

you’re referring to the plug-in in the wall across the room. you don’t know whether it’s rafes or lorenzos, but it’s amusing to know that one of them need it to say the least.

“stop,” he whispers. “goodnight.”

it brings a smile on your face as you turn off the lamp and get under the sheets. you can’t see much, but you can make out some things with the nightlight on behind you.

you face rafe and lay your head on the pillow carefully, though you can’t sleep yet. you’re just watching him doze off on his own.

“goodnight,” you whisper back.

you close your eyes and try to keep tonight out of your thoughts—at least the positive bits. rafe surprising you at the library just because he knew you would be there, his constant load of messages of him expressing how excited he was for the date, the tugging at him so he’d admit where you two were going, even when rafe was handling reggie for you.

reggie. his name and face are burned in your mind.

you don’t feel yourself fall asleep until you’re mid-dream. the events of the night replay twice for you, but this time, rafe isn’t here to save you.

reggie’s reaching for your hand, gripping it, pulling it. you hear his laughter like an echo. he’s grinning at you, but there’s something uncanny about him this time. the way he’s looking at you.

you receive the stalker feeling from reggie, it is loud and clear. he’s been watching you since the first day of school and you didn’t even know it—what times has he been around to see you without you noticing?

your eyes snap open and you realize you’ve been crying as you sleep. you whine softly as you reach up to touch your cheek. your fingers get wet immediately, and you blink out the tears that have been building up most recently.

rafe feels your movement while he’s half-asleep, but he wakes himself up enough to open his eyes and breathe in a great deal of air as he checks up on you.

his hand on your arm becomes more focused, and you can tell he’s awake.

“are you okay?” he asks you, not thinking much of it until he reaches up to touch your face, and he instantly reacts to the tears streaming down your face. “y/n?” he reaches up and over you to turn his lamp on. when he looks down at you, he sees the state you’re in.

you don’t even mean to be crying but now that it’s here, it’s like you just can’t make it stop. you choke out a few sobs when there’s no point in hiding it anymore. “i had a nightmare,” you manage to get out in between.

rafe’s heart clenches at the sound of you, and he pulls you closer to him, wanting to offer whatever comfort he can. “c’mere,” he says quietly, “it’s okay, i’m here. and i’m not going anywhere. you’re safe with me.”

his words only make you cry harder, grateful that he’s willing to open his arms willingly for you. “it was reggie,” you tell him about your nightmare. “we were back the restaurant and he was trying to grab me again but it was so . . . aggressive and scary and . . .”

rafe listens to your words. he remembers the way reggie was with you tonight. rafe pulls you tighter against his chest, his hand rubbing soothing circles on your back. “hey, it’s okay.”

you want to just go to sleep peacefully, to forget about the guy, but your mind won’t allow it. you assume it’s because you didn’t properly process any of it before. you were so keen on making sure aria was okay that you set your own feelings aside.

“i just wanna sleep,” you mumble, wiping your eyes with your wrist.

he wants nothing more than to take away all your pain and worries. he looks at you, his eyes soft, and gently tilts your chin up to look at him. “you can sleep,” he says, “i’ll be here for you y/n. always.”

you look up at rafe and stare into his eyes, feeling his sense of care. all you want is him, to take your mind off of it. it’s a different method than usual to distract you, but it’s also used as a way to tell him thank you.

you lean in to press your lips against his.

rafe's heart flutters as he closes hie eyes, his hand reaching out to gently cup the side of your face. he deepens the kiss, running his tongue along your bottom lip before pulling back.

his breath is fanning over your lips as he looks down at you. he brushes a strand of hair behind your ear, his fingers tracing the shape of your face. “you know, i’ve been thinking,” he begins, his voice barely above a whisper.

“maybe we should just . . . forget about everything else for tonight. just you and me, okay?” he says, his eyes searching yours for understanding and agreement.

at his words, you want nothing more than him right now. you lean in for another kiss but this time, it’s hungrier. there’s more desire.

he catches your lips on his and his hand coming up to cradle the back of your head as he rolls onto his back, pulling you on top of him.

you sit up briefly to pull your shirt over your head, then lean back down to connect your lips with his again, your legs tangled with his. he kisses you softly, sweetly, his hands roaming over your back and sides.

rafe pulls back slightly, his lips still brushing against yours as he whispers, “i want you so bad, but only if you’re sure. i don’t want to rush anything.”

“i’m sure,” you promise him. “i need to get my mind off of this.”

with a nod from you, rafe moves his hands to your hips, helping you move to straddle him as he shifts so that he’s leaning back against the headboard. he leans in to kiss you again, his hands moving to your breasts, his thumbs brushing over your nipples.

“fuck,” you hiss at the contact.

“god, you’re so beautiful,” rafe breathes, breaking the kiss to bury his face in your chest. he takes one of your nipples into his mouth, his hands squeezing and massaging the other breast. he sucks hard, his teeth grazing against the sensitive peak. you lean your head back on your shoulders.

rafe releases your nipple with a pop, his eyes locked on yours as he moves to the other breast, giving it the same treatment. he looks up at you, his face flushed, his lips swollen from kissing you. “tell me what you need,” he whispers, his breath hot against your skin.

your hands come up to cup his face, and your thumb traces his lips as you kiss him again, biting down on his lip softly, then pulling away. “i need you rafe,” you tell him.

“you have me,” he whispers.

you lift your hips up briefly so he’s able to pull his sweats and his boxers off together, and he kicks them off to the edge of the bed. you lower yourself down on his cock without putting it in yet, dragging your clothed cunt back and forth against him. all that’s separating you two is your underwear.

“fuck,” he groans, leaning back against the headboard again, his eyes fluttering shut at the feeling of your wetness through the thin fabric of your underwear. he can feel himself already dripping with pre-cum, and you haven’t even fully touched him yet.

“please,” you whisper against his lips like you’re begging for him to be inside of you already. you’re rocking your hips back and forth against the underside of his cock. you’re ready for him.

“you’re such a fucking tease,” rafe groans, reaching down to pull your panties to the side, “fuck, you’re wet too," he adds as he rubs the head of his cock against your entrance, teasing you back.

he finally relents, pushing inside of you slowly, watching as your eyes flutter shut and your mouth drops open in pleasure. “you feel so good,” he says.

"you’re so tight, mmhf, and wet—god, it’s like you were made for me,” he grunts, picking up a steady rhythm, sliding his cock in and out of your wet cunt while you moan.

he flips the two of you so you’re on your back with him hovering on top of you. he easily lifts your legs and lays them over his shoulders, making you gasp at the new sensation as he pushes inside of you deeper. “is this how you want it?”

you’re a moaning mess but you bite down on your lip to keep them all from coming out. “just like that rafe, please,” you whimper, savoring the feeling of his cock repeatedly pushing in and out of you at a steady pace.

“fuck, look at you,” he groans, his hands gripping your thighs tightly as he pounds into you, “so pretty and fucked out, just lying there and taking it.” he leans forward, burying his face in your neck as he fucks you harder.

you cry out at the new pace, and you wrap your arm around his neck to pull him closer.

his teeth sink into your neck as he fucks you even harder, the headboard slamming against the wall with each thrust. “you're mine, all mine, and i’m gonna fucking ruin you for anyone else.”

you feel yourself about to cum within the next minute, and you’re clinging to the feeling with everything you have. it feels too good to lose grip on.

rafe takes the opportunity to pull out before you do, and he lowers himself down to be eye-level with your pussy. he dives right in, his lips around your clit as his fingers toy at your entrance before slipping in. he wants you to cum from his mouth.

your mouth gapes open at the feeling of his long fingers being able to slide into your pussy with ease.

he smirks up at you, two fingers curled to hit that right spot inside of you as his tongue works your clit, determined to make you cum harder than ever before.

he sucks harder on your clit, his fingers thrusting into you even faster until you finally release.

he moans as he tastes you, fingers still pumping into you softly as you ride out the aftershocks, his tongue easing the intensity. “such a good girl for me,” he praises.

he keeps his fingers inside you, holding you through the aftershocks, his thumb pressing against your clit to keep the pleasure going as he looks up at you with a satisfied smile, “let’s get you cleaned up so you can go to sleep y/n.”

you realize he’s only made you cum, but not him. “wait, what? already? what about you?”

he shakes his head as he gets off of the bed. “it’s not about me angel,” he tells you. “plus, you look fucked out and satisfied. that sight is more than enough for me.”

before he goes to grab some tissues you assume, you reach for him and grab his wrist to stop him. he looks down at you, in which you tell him, “but i want to.”

he pauses and looks at you, a look of surprise flicking across his face as he looks down at you, probably not expecting you offering him a blowjob just to make him cum. then again, after the orgasm he just gave you, perhaps he shouldn't be so surprised.

“please.” you tug on his arm to get him to come back to bed with you. “lay down,” you murmur.

he smiles at you, a little bit amused before nodding and pulling his wrist out of your grip. he crawls back onto the bed, lying down so that his head is on the pillow while looking at you expectantly.

you watch him move, your heart racing in a mix of arousal and excitement. he can see the flush spreading on your cheeks as you inch closer to him. he could only smile at you, realizing that despite your bold act earlier, it’s still taking its toll on your nerves.

you take a look at his cock in front of you. it’s big, and it’s pulsating for you. you slowly move forward and press your lips to the tip first. he sucks in a breath. he could feel you moving forward slowly, taking him into your mouth inch by inch and it’s making his head spin.

you try not to gag at the feeling of him filling your mouth. you wrap your hand around his base and pump him as you suck. using your tongue, you swirl it around his tip.

after a bit, your mouth quickly leaves his cock and sucks at the tip of his ballsack instead. you suck on them one by one.

he moans at the sensation, his hand reaching down between his legs to tangle into your hair. he whispers his approval, letting you continue with what you’re doing. his brain overloaded with pleasure it’s hard to form any words or even sentences. he’s completely at your mercy.

you take that as approval to continue and spend a minute or two lavishing attention on his balls—licking, sucking, and worshipping them. then you go back to his cock, kissing your way back up before taking him back into your mouth, faster and deeper now.

he lets out a string of incoherent words and sounds as you do. his fingers tighten in your hair as he struggles to keep himself from thrusting forward and choking you. he’s so close already, and you’re not even halfway through your technique.

the vibrations from your humming send him over the edge. he starts thrusting forward, fucking your mouth with no regard for your comfort or safety. he’s too far gone, lost in the pleasure you’re providing him.

he starts to cum, his cock throbbing as he shoots load after load down your throat. he tightens his grip on your hair as he bucks his hips up against your mouth, keeping you there as he cums, groaning.

you swallow everything he gives you, never breaking eye contact with him until he’s spent and still. he collapses back onto the mattress, a heavy panting escaping his lips as he tries to recover from that orgasm. he’s never felt so spent right after sex before. he looks down at you, his body going weak again at the sight of you still there.

you smile, satisfied, content even, as you look up at him with half lidded eyes. “was that okay?” you ask softly.

“fuck, that was amazing,” he gasps out, trying to catch his breath. he watches as you go to his dresser to retrieve the box of tissues he keeps, and you make your way back to him.

you hand a tissue to him, but he just pulls you closer to press his lips against yours, needing to feel you again. there’s a slight blush on your cheeks as you pull away.

rafe is tired, but he’s staring at you like he’s in a daze, “you're going to be the death of me, i swear.”

sobbing omg that was all so fast paced

@sublimepenguinpeach-blog @lalalalala33 @darkcolorexpert @babyflockaaaa @lifeofleasaasa @ilyrafe @mkiverd @wxn-drlst @maybankslover @xxbirkindoll2 @chiliwhore @wearemadeofstardust0 @thepopcultureaddict @mounthings @ijustwanttoreadlols @karmasloverrr @lilithblackkk @drewsdirtyslut @rafesno1bae @mfdoomdickrider @pillowprincess4him @lanascokedeal3r @evilsturniolos

[healthmessenger]

The Actual Coronavirus diet…according to HealthMessenger

On March 23, the World Food Programme issued guidelines on the “do’s” and “dont’s” of eating while on quarantine. In last week’s article, I gave my take on each of the 7 tips on keeping a healthy diet in the face of coronavirus…according to the WFP…   

Some of you subsequently reached out to ask what my guidelines would be. Even though I have not personally contracted the virus…yet…and havent had to quarantine, I did preventatively tweak my diet;

Full Disclosure…

As some of you already know, I strongly advocate for low carb diets, especially when tackling auto-immune diseases such as type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, etc… . I myself have recently adopted a modified Ketogenic diet in an attempt to rebalance my macros to boost my immune system. The “modified” part comes with the addition of low GI fruits(strawberries, raspberries, kiwi, apples, pears, apricots, tomatoes) and low GI starches(sweet potatoes) around workouts in order to maintain a high metabolic rate. I have also started supplementing with Vitamin D in order offset the lack of sun exposure. That’s enough about me though… . Let’s see what the science has to say…

Low-carb nutrition and immune function

On Number 15, 2019 a study published in ScienceImmunology showed that mice fed a Ketogenic diet for seven days were protected from a lethal flu virus by increasing the number of specialised immune cells in their lungs. But interestingly, this protection only came once the mice had metabolically adapted to the high-fat diet. Giving exogenous ketones without the metabolic adaptation did not confer the same benefit.  Obviously, that’s a far cry from saying a keto diet will do the same for influenza in humans or for COVID-19, simply because 1)Humans are not mice and 2)something tells me we can’t do the same study where we purposely infect people with a lethal influenza strain. To be completely honest, the paper is incredibly dense with detailed discussion of the immunologic and genetic responses, but I think the basic conclusion is good enough. The metabolic adaptation to a ketogenic diet can affect the function of the immune system to the point where it can prevent a lethal infection. But one question we should ask is, if we follow a diet that is proven to help with weight loss and metabolic health and may also beneficially affect immune function, wouldn’t it be worth trying? What do we have to lose?

Quality, quality, quality…

So, now more than ever, you might want to jump on a low-carb diet. I am not going to debate which LCHF diet is the best, simply because there is no clear cut answer to that question and also because I have partially answered that question in a previous article. Having said that, the quality (nutritional density) of the food you choose must prevail over the underlying food category (fruits vs vegetables vs meat vs etc…) promoted by the diet you eventually decide to pick. I don’t care wether you are vegan, carnivore or anything in between, the quality of the ingredients/foods you pick must be of the highest quality possible. That is as organically grown as available in your area. You are better off eating a grass-fed, grass finished steak over an “enhanced” apple(genetically modified with added sugar). Vice versa, you are better off eating an organically grown apple from your grandmothers’ apple tree over an antibiotic treated piece of meat. The same rule of thumb applies across food categories. Simply pay a  bit more attention to the labels and do not hesitate to ask your well-intentioned butcher/gardener.

Cook your Food

France’s health and safety agency (ANSES) convened an expert group to investigate whether the COVID-19 disease can be potentially transmitted via contaminated food.

In light of the scientific knowledge available, ANSES has suggested transmission through food could occur if a person infected with the virus prepares or handles food with dirty hands – and contaminates it.   

“This could concern all types of food (animal or plant products),” ​noted the agency​. “Furthermore, while there is no evidence to suggest that consumption of contaminated food can lead to infection of the digestive tract, the possibility of the respiratory tract becoming infecting during chewing cannot be completely ruled out.”​

As with other known coronaviruses, the novel coronavirus is sensitive to cooking temperatures, ANSES continued. “Heat treatment at 63​°C for four minutes (temperature used when preparing hot food in mass catering) can therefore reduce contamination of a food product by a factor of 1,000.”​

ANSES has reiterated that cooking food and observing good hygiene practices when handling and preparing food are effective at preventing contamination of the novel coronavirus.

Load up on fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds

This one sounds like a no brainer…until you adopt a low-carb diet. Studies after studies have shown that the consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds is obviously a common recommendation when it comes to strengthening ones immunity.  I would recommend 2-3 pieces of low GI fruits(below 50) per day and at least 5 vegetables(below 30) a day. As far as nuts and seeds are concern, choose raw over salted. Portions will vary on an individual basis. A hand full per day is good rule of thumb though. Forget about the rainbow 

Stay the hell away from refined carbs and sugars

I know how tempting it can be to reach out to cookies whilst binging on the latest Netflix series, awaiting for the quarantine to end …but please…dont… .

Laboratory evidence suggests sugar impairs white blood cell function and triggers acute rises in blood sugar, leading to an increased risk of infections and complications. Therefore, it would make sense that we want to limit these blood sugar elevations. Refined carbohydrates and simple sugars are two of the biggest offenders for blood sugar spikes and should therefore be eliminated.

This is not to say that studies show avoiding these foods results in fewer infections. (We don’t have that clear evidence.)

However, one simple solution is to use the measurement of your own blood sugar as a guide. If higher blood sugar is associated with more complications, it makes sense we want to limit that. I suggest measuring your blood sugar either with a regular glucometer or, even better, with a continuous glucometer (CGM) if you have access to one. If the foods you eat cause your blood sugar to rise above 140mg/dl (7.8mmol/L), consider eating something different.

Again studies show that a low-carb, moderate protein, higher fat diet effectively reduces blood sugar and can even reverse type 2 diabetes. We don’t have proof that this will “boost your immune system,” but it may help keep blood sugars in check which may be associated with decreased infectious risk.

Chicken soup/bone broth

Treating colds and the flu with chicken soup may be the most popular urban myth of all time. Surprisingly, it may not be 100% a myth. One study showed chicken soup “inhibited neutrophil migration,” which the authors suggest could improve our ability to recover from infections. However, this is one of those instances where laboratory findings may not translate to clinical improvements such as fewer or less serious infections. But it’s hard to argue with a tasty homemade soup with chicken(grass-fed), a few low-carb veggies, and plenty of real salt. Immune booster or not, it sounds like a great meal for a period in self-isolation.

Herbs and Spices

Turmeric

Turmeric is a spice commonly used in Indian and Asian cuisine, including curries. It contains a bright-yellow compound known as curcumin, which emerging research suggests might enhance immune function. However, there isn’t any convincing evidence showing that it helps fight viral infections yet. On the other hand, adding turmeric to your food adds flavour, and taking a curcumin supplement is unlikely to cause any harm in otherwise healthy people. If you have any medical conditions — especially if you take blood thinners — check with your doctor before supplementing with curcumin.

Echinacea

Echinacea is an herb that can reportedly help prevent the common cold. But is this reputation well-deserved? A recent systematic review of randomised trials found that echinacea may possibly have a mild protective effect against upper-respiratory infections but doesn’t appear to reduce the length or severity of illness. While it’s impossible to say whether it might offer any protection against COVID-19, it appears to be safe to take on a short-term basis. If you’re at high risk, you may consider taking it for the next several weeks.

Garlic

Garlic, a popular and pungent herb with a characteristic aroma, is widely believed to have antibacterial and antiviral effects, including helping to fight the common cold. A 2014 randomised controlled trial did find that people who took a garlic supplement had fewer colds and recovered more quickly from colds than people who didn’t take garlic. Although this is encouraging, this is just one study. Other high-quality trials are needed to confirm whether garlic is truly beneficial for the common cold or other upper-respiratory infections. For now, enjoy garlic for its zesty flavour and unmistakable aroma rather than counting on it to boost your immunity during the coronavirus pandemic.

Supplements

Vitamin C

For decades, Vitamin C has been used to help prevent the common cold. Among other functions, this vitamin can help maintain healthy skin that provides a barrier to germs and other harmful invaders. In addition, some — but not all — studies suggest it may improve the function of certain white blood cells that fight infection. In addition, there is conflicting evidence about the potential mortality benefits of high dose Vitamin C for patients with sepsis, the most severe form of systemic infections. While it’s unclear whether taking a Vitamin C supplement is beneficial for COVID-19, for most people there’s no harm in taking up to 2,000 mg per day (the upper limit set by the National Academy of Medicine).

For smokers and high-risk individuals, it’s definitely worth considering. Vitamin C is water-soluble, so your body will excrete whatever you don’t need into your urine. However, at very high doses, Vitamin C may cause diarrheas or increase the risk of kidney stones (especially in men), so be sure not to exceed 2,000 mg daily.

Vitamin D

As both a hormone and a vitamin, Vitamin D plays a number of important roles in health. In recent years, people have taken very high doses of Vitamin D with the intention of boosting immunity. But is this an effective tactic? A 2017 systematic review of 25 randomised trials found that taking a Vitamin D supplement seemed to have a mild protective effect against respiratory-tract infections in most people, but provided much greater protection in those who were very deficient in Vitamin D. If your Vitamin D levels are low, you may have a better chance of staying well if you supplement with 2,000 IU per day (or more, with medical supervision). Many — perhaps even most — people are deficient in vitamin D. So it’s probably wise to take a Vitamin D supplement right now, especially if you’re at increased risk for COVID-19. Of course, your body can make Vitamin D on its own when your skin is exposed to sunlight, so try to get some sun whenever you can. How much sun depends on the time of year and your location. A good starting point is 15 minutes of exposure to a large body part (such as the torso or back). Just remember to avoid sunburns, as excess sun exposure carries its own risks

Zinc

Zinc is a mineral involved in the white blood cell response to infection. Because of this, people who are deficient in zinc are more susceptible to cold, flu, and other viruses. One meta-analysis of seven trials found that supplementing with zinc reduced the length of the common cold by an average of 33%. Whether it could have a similar effect on COVID-19 isn’t yet known. Taking supplementary zinc may be a good strategy for older people and others at increased risk. If you decide to take zinc, make sure to stay below the upper limit of 40 mg per day, and avoid administering nasally, due to the risk of olfactory complications.

Fasting

With all the focus on how certain foods affect your immune system, you may also wonder, what about fasting? As counterintuitive as this one may sound, fasting protocoles are proving more and more effective at boosting immune functions..

One study in mice showed that fasting, or more specifically refeeding after a fast, restored immune function that had been suppressed by chemotherapy. During the fasting period itself, however, fasting appeared to impair the immune system, especially in the elderly. This is a very important caveat to keep in mind, especially if yo have already been infected by COVI-19. Fasting should only be used a a preventative tool. 

Over the long term, intermittent fasting and refeeding will boost the immune system. Keep this in mind in preparation for the next pandemic. Sorry but yes, we will likely face other, more or less severe, pandemics in the coming years/decades. Better be safe than sorry.  However, during an acute pandemic, where the immediate risk of infection is higher than usual, it may not be a good time to try fasting, given the potential for a temporary decrease in immunity.

This may sound surprising for those who have heard the phrase, “starve a fever.” The theory is that humans have evolved to not feel hungry and purposely avoid food during an acute illness as a protective mechanism, which may in turn limit nutrients the virus needs to replicate. To be clear, this is all conjecture without any quality supporting evidence.

Other evidence suggests that ketones are beneficial for immune function, and perhaps that could be why some recommend fasting. But considering all of the data together, if that were the case, you are better off adopting a keto diet and not fasting. Based on the limited data available, I suggest not fasting longer than 36 hours during the outbreak of the coronavirus, especially if you are older than 60 years old. It’s logical that you can continue with shorter-duration time-restricted eating, although there is no data on this either.

There you go…my official guidelines on keeping a healthy diet in the face of coronavirus…

Coming up next: Why you cannot “catch” a virus

Until then…take care of you and your loved ones.

To Your Health

The Health Messenger

[krawalito]

Reylo and my meta/predictions

So i was watching almost every video i could find on youtube and read almost every meta i could find online regarding reylo, kylo/ben or rey since i joined this fandom.

So first of all this fandom rocks.

And now i make my own meta and predictions for the last episode. While i don’t like to to adore myself with borrowed plumes i like to thank all of the people inspiring me on tumblr and youtube.

So first of all what is SW about? its about family, love, hope, friendship dozed with a little action. SW is not a pure action movie. SW is not a pure drama and its neither a pure comedy. So what to expect when a movie is about family, love, hope and friendship paired with some war and action? Well, there will be loads of love in it. i am not even sure if the so called Antis just refuse to accept that or if they are indeed not able to see it. but enough of them and lets start with my results of the investigation. I call it investigation because the last month really felt like it haha.

So what do i think happens in ep 9?

Definately Relyo. I have absolutely no doubt it will happen which was different when i came here because i was afraid of another jonerys tragedy (no i am not comparing GOT with SW but a ship is a ship and it broke my heart)

I am convinced that the force brought these two together and we all know that the force is strong. Why did the force do it in the first place? Because its out of balance and the chosen one which was assumed to be Anakin failed. Why did Anakin fail? It was his possesive love for Padme and a few other reasons i am not going to mention here though. Love made him weak. We could now argue love makes kylo/ben weak too but its the opossite. And why do i think that? First of all Ben is not Kylo. Ben is Ben he just chose to give himself a different name but deep down its still the same person. Its like in real life when people try to be someone else because the pain is too much to cope with. With Ben though its much more complex which deserves its own meta.

So who makes love stronger and not weaker? Ben Solo.

Who is Ben Solo? First of all he IS the last male skywalker. Thats a fact which has also been confirmed multiple times. No idea why people still questioning that. He is a troubled young men who is strong with the force and falls in love with Rey. Sounds familiar? Look around happens all the time in real life too. And we learned that SW is about Love. People who watched and i mean who really watched all the previous movies will agree with me on that. I mean Anakin and Padme? Han and Leia? Lukes love for his father? Obi Wans love for Anakin? I could go on and on and on...

Coming back to the force and why it brought Rey and Ben together. When the force chose Anakin it failed. why? Because the force did not know that it needs two. The Ying and yang if you will. This is simple physics actually. Put one on a scale and it gets out of balance. Why Ben? Because he has this Skywalker blood which seems to have a certain importance in the Galaxy. Why Rey? Oh i can already hear people screaming because she is a skywalker, too. NOPE. She is not. Why isn’t she? Does it make sense to have two Skywalkers bringing back the balance to the force? NOPEbecause Luke and Darth Vader/Anakin couldnt either. They both failed. but they did not fail REDEMPTION!

Yes, there will be redemption. There has to. You cannot have an inbalanced person bringing balance back to the force. How will he be redeemed? First of all its Ben who needs redemption not Kylo. There is no Kylo. He needs to truly want it. but what will initiate it? LOVE. Love from his family and Rey. I do not really know how this will happen but i expect that Luke and Anakin will play a role in it too. The Skywalker saga would not come to an end if not all of them ending it. so i really really hope we will see them in whatever way possible. Maybe in the world between worlds, who knows.

Who is Rey?

I truly have no idea but what makes the most sense from my perspective is she was created by the force in some way. Ben did not lie to her when he said they were filthy junk traders selling her but i highly doubt they were her real parents. i also think that someone bought her and was trying to hide her for her own protection. From what? from the dark side of course. She would have made a good new apprentice. Who was the person who brought her there? i have no idea. I dont think it was Luke or Han, they would have remembered and since both are dead i would have expected it to be mentioned. Maybe it isnt important enough and we will never learn the truth or it will be a big surprise and it was leia or someone else we do not expect it to be.

I dont think she will ever go dark and i also believe that dark rey is either a vision or it wont even make it to the film. Rey can have dark moments here and there but not to a large extend. She is light, she believes in people, she fights for love and she fights for what is right. that is also the reason why i do not believe she is palpatines granddaughter. There was no indication so far so that would be a total gamechanger and i doubt we have enough time for that plot. What i do believe though is he knows about her and is trying to win her for his side. The novel indicates she heard a voice saying „kill him“ but she refused. I could be wrong though and this is exaclty what happens. i wont like it i am totally honest here but i trust J.J.to make it make sense.

Palpatine alias Darth Sidious. He is pure evil. The latest poster and trailer indicates he is coming back.

but how? I dont think he will be an incarnation or himself but spiritual. His mind is alive but not his body. So what does he want? What he always wanted evil power. He thought Anakin will bring him all this power but we all know how that ended. He sees another chance, another skywalker and another person strong with the force. If he could win the both of them he will gain even more power than expected. I have no idea how this will all playout but i could imagine he promises both something they are longing for. How can he be deveated? With Ben and Rey.

Yes, Ben and Rey will team up.

first of all because they have to. Sencond of all because its their fate and third of all because they love each other. How? He needs redemption first and the rest happens naturally.

I believe his redemption arc will start at the end or middle of the second quarter. Or maybe even later in the movie. In the beginning of the film he will remain dark and he will fight against rey. Not because he truly wants to kill her. He loves her he would never do such thing but because they will fight on opposite sides. I also believe they both try to avoid the force bonding/galaxy skype. They might have dreams or visions or i dont know but they will try to avoid it. Which makes them DESPERATE!Because that is not what the force wants and neither is it really what they want cause they are CONNECTEDand that is why their relationship is VERY VERY COMPLICATED. What would be awesome is if Leia senses it somehow and rey and herself have a great chat about it. i would loooove that. I really hope that happens. She has to tell her that she wants someone to wear her mothers dresses. Gosh if that happens i will die in my seat.

So when will we see a kiss? Or their commitment to each other? When do they finally say it?

i really struggle with this one but i think it wont be so obvious and it wont happen in the last 5 mins either. I was thinking about the „i’ll come back to you i promise sweetheart“ quote a lot recently. I am convinced that Ben will say those words to Rey. I think he will do something dangerous and she will be upset. They wont kiss when he says it but i could imagine he will touch her face while he says those words. It will be breathtaking. and that is the moment when i say „i told you so and so did my 9 year old kid (i dont have one but a child can figure Reylo out). I dont even know if there will be a kiss. I would prefer it but if they make it Pride and Prejedice 2005 like its fine. As long as it is 10000000% clear where this leads to. I also think there will be a child or more. But i also think we will not see them. It will be mentioned i guess. Or it will be a vision. Could be anything. But there will be future Solos/Skywalkers. The reason is simple. Disney did not buy LF to end the Skywalker saga for once and for all. They have to leave this door open to have a chance to make new movies related to it. i am fine with that as long as it wont have anything to do with D&D.

So why do i believe reylo is a thing, canon, endgame and one of the best love stories in years (at least for me)

Because it makes sense and its obvious. Its obvious since the TFA. Why? That!

and that!

„it is you“... yes, she is from your visions/dreams Ben

yes rey, its the voice which sounds so familiar and yes thats your prince right there.

and dont get me started with TLJ

yeah we all know what you guys wanted to do in that elevator

this is pure.. so pure

this is not the end for the two of them...

[bigskydreaming]

fhalkfhaklfhlkak i hate this

TW really truly literally ruined the word ‘spark’ for me. Like the whole damn word. I hear it now and I’m like, NOPE, like...idk, some people who cringe when they hear the word moist or panties. Apologies to anyone who hates those words and cringed, i dont actually know if thats a thing or if like, I just have weird friends. Probably just the latter.

But anyways, Im just like...lmfao. Its so visceral too? Like I have this one original project, Waveriders, that I’ve been fiddling with off and on in the background of other projects for awhile, might have talked about it on here, idk, I don’t keep track. 

Basically its a far future sci-fi novel/setting for linked shorter works set on a gas giant that was settled by humans who figured that they can’t possibly be stepping on anyone’s toes there, its a freaking gas giant, hello, no one’s home, right? They literally have to make their own ground by using technology to form anti-gravity wells in the habitable zone of the atmosphere and like, make floating cities and then these kind of buoys scattered across the planet that create these electromagnetic currents that flow in specific ‘routes’ between the cities, and people travel between them in these flying ships that use magnetized hulls and solar sails to ride these currents, and blah blah blah, yada yada yada, bc like, why would I resist an opportunity to have floating cities and sky pirates and ancient cyborg machine dragons? Doesn’t make sense. 

Anyway, so couple thousand years after settling this planet, and by then for Plotty Reasons there are people who have what’s called waveriding abilities, like they can ‘hack’ certain wavelengths or types of energy and manipulate them in various ways, but only one kind of energy per person, and they each have their own little names and niches. 

So, y’know, basically just like ATLA, except for like, its energy powers and there are cyborg machine dragons and floating cities and sky pirates, obvsly. Plus areas of totally fucked up gravity called the badlands that are all like, criminal underworld metropolis because normal people are like lol nope, we like it when up is up and down is down, all of this is very just...nope. And also because shocking and totally unexpected plot twist, they were totally wrong about the planet being uninhabited just cuz it didn’t have Earth type ground...like, so in addition and on top of and in conjunction with all of the above and whatnot, there are these beings called Chaos Angels, that are basically like sentient quantum waveforms that can take any shape or appearance, but just, have no physical substance and yet are really good at faking that they’re not totally there when they fuck with humans, which they do a lot, because well. Why not, y’know?

But other than that, its exactly like ATLA. I’m a derivative hack. I disgust myself, truly I do.

BUT the point of this particular synaptic misfire aka ADHD ramble, is that so, okay, these different types of not!benders are all called waveriders as an overall umbrella term, but with ten different subsets of this in total, right? So people who can ‘hack’ light and manipulate it in various ways are called brightriders, and people who are tuned into soundwaves are called echo-riders, and some can manipulate the more electricity-skewed side of the electromagnetic spectrum and those are shockriders and the ones who skew more to the magnetic side are steelriders but I’m probably gonna change that because it sounds like a porno? Yeah no, just saw it outside of my notes for the first time and can confirm, definitely sounds like a porno so they’re not gonna be called steel-riders, but they will be called something steel-rider-esque. You get it.

And then there are the five weird ones that people aren’t totally quite sure how their waveriding shticks work because the kinds of energy they hack aren’t like....the kinds that work in the same way as the others with their easily discernible and patternistic wavelengths, and scientists and scholars are always arguing like but skyriders aren’t even in the same FIELD as the other waverider types because gravity isn’t even an actual ENERGY, just because we talk about gravity waves doesn’t mean they’re remotely the same thing as lightwaves, they make no SENSE, and I’m just like hahaha, I am your god, fictional scientists. Fucking deal with it. Plus it does make sense, you just don’t know the Secret Rules and Logistics that I do, pfft. 

Anyway, so the other types are boomriders who hack kinetic energy and skyriders of course obviously manipulate gravity, and then the last three are really weird, and super rare and thus don’t really have set names and just have lots of nicknames and are often just thought to be rumors. So those are the bio-riders who manipulate chemical energy though it often gets mistakenly referred to or just handwaved as being ‘life energy’ as though that’s a thing, ugh future way advanced people are so dumb sometimes, honestly. But so they can manipulate biological processes in various ways and do things with healing and also hurting, and basically just don’t piss one off ever. Like. You’ll die. And then there’s the psi-riders, who are essentially psychics and hack brainwaves, and I’m not at all bitter that I lack the balls to just go for broke and call them ghost riders like I want to, because ghost riders obviously sounds way cooler?? But also, Marvel would definitely sue?? Because they’re just, like that. 

And like, the last of the Weird Ones are the ones so super rare and also so hard to actually....tell if someone actually IS one, that most people think they don’t actually even exist and are just an unsubstantiated like, theoretical idea some scientist had once while high and then just, never shut up about so eventually the idea caught on. And those are the quantum-riders, or luck-riders, basically they theoretically manipulate quantum wavelengths in ways that are almost impossible to identify, like theoretically they wouldn’t even know they were doing it? Anyway, so lots of times, what are actually quantum-riders are just jealously thought to be like, really fucking lucky assholes. Even though the way their powers work really don’t have anything to do with luck or even probability, specifically, like that’s a simplistic approximation and its more like they manipulate possibilities but also shut up me, nobody cares.

ANYWAY, people who can count and who actually bothered to would probably notice by now like the funky little geniuses they are that all of those still only adds up to nine. And that’s because of the last one, the one that SHOULD go up in the brightrider, shockrider, notpornIswear!steel-rider hierarchy or taxidermy or whatever the fuck. And these are the ones who manipulate what’s essentially thermal energy, or more accurately the microwave-skewing side of the ultraviolet spectrum whereas brightriders are just the ones who skew more to the infrared side of it.

And the long and short of all of this Unnecessary-ness and the source of my fit of pique and ensuing ramble-palooza....is that ORIGINALLY, they were SUPPOSED to be called sparkriders.

But OBVIOUSLY I can’t call them that anymore, because like. I tried, and I was like ugh you drama queen slash whiny pissbaby, it was just a shitty teen supernatural show and SPARK WAS NEVER EVEN CANON, do not let THEM win and ruin a perfectly good classification name! But I did. I did let it ruin them, and its. Well. Its a problem, because I kept thinking up ways to kill off the sparkrider characters for absolutely no reason at all instead of like....thinking up ways to make the plot do what it was outlined to do in their parts of the story.

This may come like, way out of left field, and just SHOCK and STUN and BEWILDER some of you, like....no way, srsly? But yeah, true story, among my many canon mental neuroses like ADHD, PTSD, magical depression hour and super fun anxiety like....there is a tiny possibility (aka actual diagnosis) that while I don’t talk about this much, or ever really, I do have a smidge of ye old OCD? Its not like, a big thing and doesn’t really affect my daily routines and that’s pretty much why I never usually bring it up or list it alongside the rest of the crap on my neurodivergence resumé or whatever, because like, there’s already WAY too many misconceptions out there about what OCD actually is and what constitutes it, and tons of people are always jokingly but also thinking they’re kinda half serious, like ‘oh I’m so OCD about this and this and that’ and its like. LOL. Are you though? You sure?

Anyway, but point being, the way mine manifests for me is like...not actually a problem? Like, I don’t actually have any REAL complaints about it at all, just half-assed little fits of pique ones like this, which is the other part of why I never bring it up, because too often ppl just can’t fathom that OCD or even any kind of neurodivergence can be...WANTED, or a good thing, and lololol, that’s ableism, folks. But its true, I don’t actually mind mine at all, even if it occasionally makes things frustrating, when I get stuck like I am now. But the flip side of it is....its actually a pretty huge part of my creativity and just the way my mind works in general....like, what people accredit to me being particularly insightful about character analysis or drawing connections or stuff like that in meta or fics or my novels or worldbuilding...that’s what it is. That’s my OCD in action. 

My brain like...REQUIRES that I find patterns in....pretty much everything. Even day to day mundane stuff too, though like I said, its mild enough there that it doesn’t fuck with my routines too much, but like, I have to order things into nice, neat patterns and groupings. And if there aren’t any that are immediately obvious, I kinda pretty much HAVE to dig deeper until I find some on a slightly deeper level, something beneath the surface or first glance, and keep going until I find something.....or worst case scenario, I have to like....add stuff and embellish and fill in gaps with my own ‘content’ until I have the rough edges rounded off into something that CAN be stacked neatly atop some other part of the story or whatever it is I’m focusing on? And the obsessive-compulsive part for me is like, lol, I gotta find it SOMEWHERE, SOMEHOW. 

My brain literally won’t shut off or grudgingly accept being diverted to a different subject until I’ve made some kind of pattern or flowchart or classification system. It will literally keep me up for hours, going over the same things over and over from every angle until I find SOME way to....reassemble or restructure it in some nice, neat little order of some type. I mean that’s basically what it is. My brain insists on me forming some semblance of order out of any glimpse I have of what I would otherwise term creative chaos. And it won’t give up until it gets what it wants, which when you throw in my ADHD and how often I’ll get derailed off on slight tangents but with my OCD then sooner or later forcing me back to the original focus, rinse and repeat ad nauseam....like. LOL. I learned to operate on very little sleep from a pretty young age by necessity, its just...my brain, dudes. Its just like that.

But the perks are like, I pretty much think this is WHY I’m so creative....because my brain, for as long as I can remember, has always just kinda....forced me to be? Also probably has a lot to do with well...eh, I don’t need to talk about that right now. Whatever. Anyway, point being, so....I do like the end results very much so, and for all its....Why Must You Be Like This eccentricities, I’m quite attached to my brain and would not be very likely to agree to a trade even were one possible. I mean don’t get me wrong, I could do without the PTSD and anxiety, if we’re just, like....talking some pruning shears or whatever, but the actual creative machinery, I’m keeping. Ultimately it just means I really fucking like patterns and finding patterns or making patterns where previously there were none, or at least none that were easy to spot.

But ugh, man, these are the rare times when I’m like omg, just call it a day, we don’t ACTUALLY have to come up with the perfect replacement name for that one relatively small and insignificant detail of a much larger story that isn’t even in the Top Ten list of my main priorities at the moment. And my asshole of a brain is just like....yeah no, we gotta. You know the rules dude, you decided it was official, that name didn’t work anymore and was never gonna, so now we gotta find a replacement or else things will be UNEVEN?? The pattern will be...missing a piece? There will be CHAOS AND ANARCHY IN THE STREETS THAT RUNNETH OVER WITH BLOOD? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT??

And so I’m like....literally sitting here googling synonyms for spark because I’m just like that sometimes, lmfao. Oh and of course its gotta be a GOOD replacement, naturally. I can’t just shoehorn in a somewhat acceptable substitute that in the back of my mind I’m expecting to only be temporary, until I come up with something better. See, because my brain will KNOW, and it will NOT be okay with that, because that is CHEATING. And my brain, apparently, has strong feelings about cheating, which is weird and fairly unexpected of me, IMO.

Anyway, kudos to anyone who actually read through that instead of scrolling, I honestly have zero idea why I felt like sharing it, I just did and thus I did. *shrugs* 

[dead-inside-mcgee]

The doctor and the demon Part 2

Summary: Henrik discovers where Chase went. He finds himself trapped in a castle. 

If your looking for Part 1, just go to my blog and search beauty and the beast. 

________________________________________________________________

It was two weeks after Chase left that Henrik started getting suspicious. The first snow would most likely be today, and Chase still wasn’t back. Henrik slipped on his coat, planning on going out to search for his friend when a knock on the door interrupted him.

 Looking through the peephole, He sighed, putting his hands in his hands, once he saw Dark standing in front of the door. Henrik’s first thought, was to not answer and climb out the back window. Unfortunately, Dark had other ideas, and let himself leave.

 “Dark, can't say it’s a pleasure,” Henrik said with a deadpan look. He silently cursed himself for not getting a lock on that door. It was a small town, not much crime, but he didn’t think about nosy neighbors.

 “Oh, don’t be like that, Henry,” Dark waved his hands and said this, as though they were old friends.

 “I know you love to see me.” He put an arm around the smaller man and closed the door with his foot.

 Henrik slipped out of his grasp. He took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself, and in the sweetest voice he could muster, he said, “Well you can’t stay long. I’m heading out soon.” He gestured towards his coat.   

 “Well, where ya heading.” Dark made a move to put his arm around him again, but he was quicker this time. “I’m sure I can be of some assistance.”

 “I’m going out, to find a friend of mine,” He answer truthfully seeing no reason to lie.

 “Well. Why can’t come along?”

 Henrik back away towards the door, Dark put his hand on either side of his head. He leaned in close.

 “I don’t need you to,” Henrik said. “Beside’s, you’ve overstayed your welcome.” Henrik opened the door and ducked under Dark’s arm, causing him to fall into the mud below.

 He slammed the door shut and rush to grab a chair and jam it under the door. He made a mental note to get a lock and snuck out the back window.

After some sneaking around, and ducking into corners, Henrik made his way into the forest. He could faintly see tracks in the soft dirt. It had just begun to snow as he entered the forest.

 Henrik would often go through these woods to find herbs and spices, for medicine (and dinner at times). He knew his way around and he knew the path to the other town fairly well. He has gone on personal trips there to help some injured person, in need of professional help.

 Following the track marks, left by the cart, he quickly realized Chase had taken a wrong turn on a crossroads, that was closer to their town. Henrik bit his thumb.

 There were about three crossroads on the way to town. If you missed even one, you could get extremely lost. That's why he was always so worried for Chase’s safety.

 Knowing that standing here and panicking would get him nowhere, Henrik trudged along the path. It was mid afternoon, when he found the first clue on where chase went, and he didn’t like it.

 He could barely see them, but in one area there was a pack of wolf prints surrounding the cart and the horse. It seemed like, once the wolves surrounded them, Chase fell of the horse and ran in a completely different direction.

 He laughed despite himself. He realized how much he was acting like a detective from one of his favorite novels. It was a funny thought to distract him from Chase’s possible fate.

Shortly after he found a trail of Chase’s footprints, it’s began snowing. He cursed and picked up his speed. He cursed himself for not searching for him sooner.

 The faint wolf prints following Chase’s, worried the doctor, but the remains of a burnt branch gave him hope. Soon the outline of a fence came into view, he ran faster knowing Chase could be safe.

 His hope was drained when he noticed the blood, splattered on the bars. Even if it was just a small cut, Chase could die of an infection within days. His stomach dropped into a pit.

 With his last bit of hope, he opened the gate. There was a cobblestone path, so Henrik couldn’t even tell if Chase made it this far or he meet his fate before he got in and something else dragged him away.

 No, no. Henrik shook his head. If he died back there, there would be more blood splattered about.

 Sucking in a deep breath he forced his way down the path. Glancing at each of the statues, his hope diminished. He could stand here all day and stare at them, but he need confirmation.

 Not thinking, Henrik opened the doors to the castle at the end of the path. The inside seemed to be colder than outside. Pulling his coat tighter he looked around and called out.

 “Hello?” He immediately felt stupid. Was some crazy sociopath going to come up and say “Oh, hay come in. We have tea?”

 He laughed at his own stupid thought.

 “Someone's here! Should we scare them away?” Henrik heard someone whisper.

 “No, they might be the one we’ve been looking for,” another voice said.

 “If anyone is there, can you tell me if you’ve seen a friend of mine?” Henrik asked, then added. “His name is Chase.”

 “Chase? Isn’t that the name of the guy, boss threw into the dungeon?” The first voice asked.

 “What dungeon?” He asked.

 “Dahm it, Marvin!” The second voice whisper yelled.

 “Down the stairs, to your right,” The voice, that was probably Marvin, said.

 Henrik followed those instructions, he found the dungeon was even colder than outside. He hated that Chase has most likely been here for weeks.

 The first cage, Henrik noticed a figure huddled in the corner.

 “Chase?!” He called out.

 The figure shifted and looked out. It was Chase.

 “Henry?” Chase mumbled.

 “Hold on, I’ll find away to get you out!” He turned to try and find a key, when he was stopped by a tall figure. He felt like he’s been in this situation before.

 Slowly looking up, he realized the figure before him was too tall to be human. He couldn’t see the creatures face, but he could feel it breathing heavily

 “And what-” the creature leaned in closer, “-are you being here.”

 Henrik’s heart was beating faster, in fear, but he held his ground.

 “I am here for my friend,” he stated as contentedly as he could.

 “Your friend stole from me. He deserves to be locked up,” the creature growled.

 “What did he steal?” he asked.

 “Something that was very important to me,” the creature stated. Henrik glared the best he could; not satisfied with with that answer. The creature noticed this and continued. “A red rose.”

 Henrik’s stance flattered. Guilt and anger welled up inside him.

 “Let him go,” he said firmly.

 The creature laughed, or at least it might have been a laugh (it sounded like a dying cat).

 It leaned in closer. “And why, would I do that?”

 “Because-” his voice cracked, “-I was the one who asked him to bring me a rose. Let him go and take me in exchange.

 “Henrik no!” Chase screamed.

 The creature laughed again. “It’s a deal!”

 Before he could really react, Chase was snatched out of the cage and he was thrown in. He could hear Chase yelling as the thing carried him off. He teared up a bit.

 By the time the creature returned, Henrik had given into his emotions and was crying.

 The creature tilled it’s head in a confused manner.

 “You didn’t even let me say goodbye,” he sobbed.

 The creature grunted and left the dungeon. He was going to head to his own room when he was stopped by a candle stick.

 “I would like to suggest something. If I may?” Marvin said.

 The creature gave a grunt and Marvin continued.

 “I was th-thinking, b-boss, since this man will be staying with us for a while, we could… we could,” Marvin trailed off, nervously.

 “Get on with it,” the creature said.

 “I was thinking.. Maybe we could move him to a nicer place. To make him more comfortable and maybe-” Marvin paused again, “-and maybe you two could get along.”

 The creature gave him an annoyed look and growled. Marvin flinched.

 “I suppose your right,” the creature grumbled and turned back around.

 Back in the dungeon Henrik had already sat down on the pile of hay and was crying silently. The cage door opened with a long creek.

 “Come on!” The creature beckoned.

 Henrik obeyed. “Where are you taking me?” He asked.

 “To your room.”

 “My room?”

 The creature turned and looked at him. “Do you want to stay in the dungeon?” He asked.

 “No,” Henrik said, shaking his head.

 “Then stop asking questions!”

 After a long pause Henrik asked another question.

 “Do you have a name?”

 The creature stopped walking and was silent for a long time. “Anti,” He finally said.

 After going up a flight of stairs and passing multiple statutes, they stopped at a door.

 “This will be your room,” Anti said. “Feel free to explore the manor, it is your home after all. You my go where ever you like, except the west wing. It is forbidden.”

 “What's in the west wing?”

 “It is forbidden!” Anti said louder.

 The inside of the room was warm. The walls were painted light blue, the bed had darker blue sheets and blanket. It was a nice room, but Henrik didn’t like to think of it as home. Without Chase, how could he call anything home?

 “You will join me for dinner.” Anti stated.

 “I’m not hungry,” Henrik said, sounding like a bratty child.

 Anti bore his teeth, trying to keep clam. “I’m sure you’ll be hungry later. You’ll regret not coming.”

 “I don’t want to come. Leave me alone.”

 “Um.. boss,” Marvin, who followed them up here, said, “I think we should give him some space. He just got here after all.”

 Anti ignored him.

 “Fine then! Starve!” He screamed and slammed the door hard enough the shake the ground.

 He turned to Marvin and the group of other appliances that followed them.

 “If he doesn’t eat with me he doesn’t eat at all,” he said then stormed off.

  Henrik buried his face into the sheets. Maybe if he fell asleep this will all turn out to be a bad dream.

A little while later, Henrik heard a knock on the door. “Go away!” he yelled into the pillow.

 Whoever was on the other side of the door knocked again, harder this time.

 He groaned. “There’s not even a lock on that door,” he yelled.

 “Well I’m sorry. I’ve been told it’s rude to open someones door without knocking,” a voice said, the door opened.

 Henrik didn’t see anyone enter, but he could hear something moving along the floor. He looked down to see an old clock, a candlestick, and a feather duster.

 “Heyo!” the candle said. “I’m Marvin!”

 The clock sighed. “My name is Jackie.”

 “You may refer to me as google,” the feather duster stated in a monotone voice.

 “Your.. talking to me,” Henrik said. He felt stupid after saying that.

 “Yeah you are! Isn’t that cool,” Marvin cheered. “Well cool for you, not really for us.”

 Jackie mumbled something, then spoke up. “We’re here to take you to dinner.”

 “I told him I didn’t want to eat.” His stomach growled, disproving his last statement.

 “You won’t be dining with him tonight. After you rejected him, he locked himself up. You’ll be dining with us,” Google said.

 “Won’t he hear us and get upset?” Henrik asked.

 “That's what I said,” Jackie complained.

 “We will be taking the risk tonight,” Google said.

 “It’s going to be awesome!” Marvin chimed.

[akatsukigadaisuki]

Beautiful Disaster Chapter 15

GUYS I FINALLY UPDATED MY MULTICHAP STINGUE FIC AFLDKGGHG OKOK

this is a huge thanks to @hauntedpotatocollector​ who was the main source of my motivation to update/finally finish this chapter after like nearly two years. 

idk if i should put the ao3 link since tumblr has that weird bug... but my ao3 is SeraphOfTheGay and you should find it on there! 

but anyways, enjoy! this took days of looking back on old chapters to see wtf i was doing and changing/adding a lot of things so i hope it’s worth the read! thank you all for your patience and support <3

They say certain types of weather can be a strong trigger for nostalgia, which is why Rogue isn’t surprised when a sudden thought pierces his mind, nagging him like a woodpecker pecking away at his brain. It’s a question that pops up as he’s casually walking towards the home of his three friends, the ones whose conversation he’d supposedly zoned out of a few minutes ago.

The slight breeze, warm weather, and faint sunlight peeking through the clouds remind Rogue of a time when he was out at a market shopping area. The memory was very blurry, so he couldn’t recall much of the details, but he remembered getting on a horse carriage to control the vehicle that’d gone astray, and while doing so, had gotten extremely sick. After all, Dragon Slayers were prone to motion sickness.

So what he wondered now was this: How was he able to ride the bus without becoming sick? He was sure he’d get motion sick in some way, which was also another reason why he’d been avoiding the bus since school began. He hadn’t even thought about this when he agreed to Sting’s suggestion of taking the bus with him, as if it was something that wasn’t significant at all when really, it should’ve been.

Carefully, he snuck a glance at Sting and Natsu, who were laughing together at whatever they were talking about, and wondered about their motion sickness condition. They were Dragon Slayers too, were they not? So how were they able to ride the bus daily without turning green or puking their guts out?

“…favorite is Paper Towns,” Natsu was saying when Rogue finally returned from his palace of thoughts. “What about you, Gray?”

“Ah, I liked that collaboration he did with two other authors. The book was called Let it Snow,” Gray answered, and a lightbulb flickered in Rogue’s mind, realizing what they were discussing.

“Oh man, I didn’t know he did a collab! I gotta read that at some point,” Natsu said, tilting his head as he took a mental note of it.

“I’m glad I got you into his novels, considering how you don’t even like reading,” Gray said smugly.

“Can you guys stop talking about books already?” Sting pleaded with exasperation. He grasped strands of his hair, exhaling. “I’ve heard things about that John Green guy and it seems like he fucks with your emotions or something. How about we talk about video games for a change?”

A minimal silence followed as Natsu’s face scrunched up contemplating this idea, and Gray took this moment to shoot a glance at Rogue, noticing his strained expression. “Hey, you alright?”

It took Rogue a moment to realize Gray was talking to him, and when he did, he snapped out of his daze and looked at his friend, blinking wildly. “Oh, y-yeah! I was just thinking about something, and actually,” he went on, before losing the chance to speak, “I have a question for Sting and Natsu, if they don’t mind answering…”

Gray nodded, his raised eyebrows hinting at his curiosity. “Oi, morons! Rogue has something he wants to ask you, so listen up!”

Sting and Natsu immediately stopped what they were discussing and turned towards him, giving Rogue their full attention. “Yes?” they said in unison, grinning widely. To Rogue, they looked almost like twins in that moment––same energy, same wild, windswept hair, same dorky smile.

Rogue then swallowed, slightly nervous. Having everyone’s eyes on him made him falter as if their gazes were weighing him down, but he was able to keep a decently steady composure, or at least one that was enough to get his words out. “You both are Dragon Slayers, correct?”

“Hell yeah we are!” they boasted, again, at the same time. But there was a twinge of uneasiness before they said that, sparking Rogue’s attention.  

Rogue decided not to think too much of it and just nodded, touching his chin with his fingers. “And Dragon Slayers have motion sickness… right?”

Sting and Natsu gave each other an odd look, their smiles receding, to which Rogue panicked a bit, wondering if he’d said something bad. However, almost immediately, Gray spoke up, slightly easing Rogue’s tension. “Are you asking because they were fine on the bus?”

“Yes…” Rogue confirmed, watching the others’ expressions. There was a natural yet somewhat forced happiness, as if what they were discussing held some sort of abnormal malice. “Um, was that not a good thing to ask?” he added quickly, sensing the discomfort he thought he’d raised in the air.

“No, you had the right to be curious,” Sting said finally. Rogue didn’t take his eyes off of him for even a second, afraid that he’d miss something important. “It’s just, we can’t discuss it in public, because the reason why we’re fine is something that isn’t really allowed. Or normal.”

“What he means is—“ Gray began, but Natsu cut him off.

“We aren’t allowed to reveal ourselves as Dragon Slayers.”

Rogue’s jaw dropped as sweat began forming on his temples; he blinked twice, trying to comprehend what Natsu just said.

“See, there’s no one around,” Sting followed up, gesturing to the desolate streets around them, “so when you asked if we were Dragon Slayers, we were okay with admitting it, even being proud of it. I mean, being a Dragon Slayer is one of the coolest things to be!”

“Don’t confuse him, just explain the motion sickness fiasco already,” Gray said, catching on to Rogue’s puzzled expression.

“We have this friend named Wendy,” Natsu stated, still serious like earlier despite his usually cheery personality. “She’s also a Dragon Slayer. In order for us to blend in around us and not be completely sick to our stomachs whenever we’re on a vehicle, she made us Tr— uh, Trolly… Taro… Toya…? No, wait, I got it! Troia pills. It has her magic that can allow us to not get sick, but we can only eat them in small amounts otherwise it won’t last for long and we’ll become immune to it. Anything longer than a short bus ride to school would still affect us, which would be bad.”

“Oh,” was all Rogue said, his eyes blown out wide. That part made sense. But why in the world were Dragon Slayers supposedly a forbidden species? And wait, did the others not know he too was a Dragon Slayer? Then, if he was one, how come he was fine despite not taking this Troia pill or whatever? Rogue yearned to ask more questions, but everyone seemed fretful and he felt awful for ruining their cheery mood, so he simply said, “I’m sorry for asking, we don’t have to discuss this further.”

“No need to apologize,” Gray assured him, giving Natsu a strange look. “I mean, it is kind of a sensitive topic, but you probably didn’t know since you’re new. Dont worry though, Sting and Natsu aren’t mad at you or anything, if that’s what you’re concerned about.” He smiled, turning towards them. “Right, guys?”

A smile stretched on both of their faces and they gave Rogue a reassuring thumbs up. “Yup!”

Rogue forced a small smile in return. They’re definitely like twins, he thought. He did feel that they were being genuine with their reassurance, but still, he felt bad. He had no idea that this was such a taboo topic, and if he’d known sooner, he wouldn’t have brought it up at all. Everything was getting stranger, and Rogue didn’t even know where to start looking for answers. If such a place even existed, that is.

The silence Rogue expected to follow that intensity never came. Although that discussion had seemed really strained, things progressed as if it never happened. Gray went on to talk to Natsu about something, and as Rogue tried to eavesdrop and/or join in, he was interrupted when Sting bumped his shoulder.

“Hey,” he said, in the softest voice, looking ahead at the sky above them, which was slowly turning to hues of crimson and orange.

“H-hey,” Rogue responded, a little startled.

Sting remained silent, and Rogue normally would’ve felt uncomfortable, but for some reason, a calmness overtook him instead. He followed Sting’s gaze up to the sky, watching as the brightness reflected in Sting’s eyes. In that moment he couldn’t tell what was more beautiful—the sky, or its reflection in someone who had eyes the same color as it.

Rogue could feel Sting’s warm skin against the thin fabric of his shirt, and it gave him a tingly feeling, like Sting was lighting little sparklers in his veins. Sting’s clothing style was very bold, to put it lightly. He didn’t cover a lot of his body, probably because he had a really nice figure. His muscles were so defined, his physique toned with skin that was practically glowing. Rogue could feel every part of Sting’s arms press up against him, and Rogue closed his eyes in that moment, melting into the calmness and thriving off the slight contact between him and Sting.

The moment, however, was short-lived, because Sting decided to say something finally, causing Rogue’s eyes to pop back open.

“Is there something you’re worried about, Rogue?”

Sting’s eyes never met Rogue’s, but Rogue could tell somehow that he wanted to look at him. He probably thought Rogue wouldn’t answer if he did.

Rogue looked on ahead before answering, seeing Gray and Natsu push each other around as they walked, clearly distracted. Logically, this was a good time to bring up all those questions he had, but then he remembered Sting being extremely confused when he talked about this strange feeling before, when he asked about them knowing about each other in the past, so he completely shut down the idea of mentioning it any further.

“It’s nothing,” Rogue lied, biting his lip. “But… I appreciate your concern.”

Rogue did not like lying, but found himself doing it a lot whenever someone asked him about what was on his mind. He didn’t think he could handle the atmosphere of that tense feeling from before, plus, he preferred this side of Sting instead ––calm, peaceful, serene––and did not wish to fracture this nice moment they were having.

He snuck a glance at Sting then, mostly to check if he believed what he said, and felt his heart beat oddly when he saw the look of determination in Sting’s eyes. They were captivating, the alluring sapphire making him want to spill every secret he’d been keeping. The intensity of Sting’s look almost made Rogue confess, but he held himself back, breaking away from Sting’s eyes. He thought he’d owed him a little explanation though, and didn’t want Sting to think he didn’t trust him, so after he swallowed the lump in his throat, he started speaking again.

“Well…” At that, he could’ve sworn he saw Sting’s eyes sparkle, “I wanted you to know…” he took a deep breath, preparing for how Sting would react, lowered his voice, and said, “I’m a Dragon Slayer too. A Shadow Dragon Slayer.”

“Wh— Wait, seriously?” Sting exclaimed so loudly that even Gray and Natsu, who were a few feet ahead, turned back to look at them. “No freakin’ way!”

“What is it, Sting?” Natsu called, his head still turned as he kept walking. This caused him to walk into a pole, and he yelped in surprise. “Ow!”

“Pole, one, Natsu, zero,” Gray commented, snickering.

“Shut it, Frosty!” Natsu spit out, rubbing his sore nose.

“Awww, do you want some ice?” Gray offered, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I’ll burn you, Droopy Eyes,” Natsu snarled, bashing his head against Gray’s.

“I’d like to see you try, Lame Brain Lizard,” Gray retorted, pushing hard against Natsu to match his force.

“Seriously guys?” Sting huffed out when he and Rogue had caught up to them. “I don’t know what’s more lame, the nicknames or the petty fights.” He let out a sigh, and then looked on ahead. “Oh hey, we’re almost back home!” He began to walk forward, when suddenly, he was gripped by the handle of his backpack and yanked backwards.

“Hey, you never told me what happened earlier!” Natsu, the culprit, yelled, shaking Sting wildly.

“I can’t… tell you… out here! Wait… till we… get home!” Sting wheezed out, stumbling. “Let me go!” He was starting to get dizzy from all of the rapid movement and had to grip onto Natsu’s scarf for support, which caused Natsu to nearly topple over. Natsu reached for Gray’s shirt to stabilize himself but ended up pulling him along into their chaos until they were all tangled in Natsu’s scarf.  

Rogue watched as the three of them shouted at each other and dragged each other around, and it made him think of a group of playful children who didn’t have a single care in the world, freely doing whatever they wanted to their heart’s desire. They were like a small, close family, and seeing them like this squeezed Rogue’s heart in a warm, fluffy kind of way, making him smile.

It wasn’t long before the four of them reached a mediocre-looking house, which Rogue soon learned was the home of his three friends. Sting, Natsu, and Gray had successfully managed to get untangled from the mess a few minutes ago, and now they proudly stood in front of the main entrance, grinning. Rogue didn’t expect much of their house, really, but despite the way it looked on the outside, the inside was exquisite. Or at least, as exquisite as a house occupied by three energetic, teenage boys can be.

“Welcome to our home!” Sting announced the minute he switched on the main lights.

Rogue sucked in a breath, not expecting what those lights revealed to him. The first thing he noticed was the kitchen, which was big, and cluttered with dishes and various packaging. Across the kitchen, there was a living room, occupied by a big TV, its stand surrounded by Xbox controllers and game discs. The couch looked worn yet comfy, and as he looked past the living room, he spotted two more rooms which he guessed were the bedrooms. Overall, the house was messy, yet exceptional.

“Wow…” Rogue marveled, giving their living space another once-over. He could see Natsu grinning from the corner of his eye, while Gray and Sting simply watched him as he checked out their home.

“First things first, WE EAT!” Natsu proclaimed, throwing his bag on the floor. He rubbed his hands together, staring at the kitchen as if food would appear and deliver itself to him.

“Is there ever anything on your mind besides food?” Gray asked with a sigh, tossing his backpack next to Natsu’s. “I actually think we don’t have anything left, so we should probably go grocery shopping before anything else.”

“Aw man, but I’m hungry NOW!” Natsu whined, frowning. “And to answer your previous question, Gray, there is one other thing that’s on my mind besides food.” Rogue noticed a sly smirk forming on his face, but before he could see anything else, Sting grabbed his arm and pulled him aside.

“Sooo Rogue, do you wanna join us for grocery shopping or would you like me to stay home with you while Gray and Natsu go out?” he asked, not letting go of Rogue’s arm.

Rogue pondered this for a moment, the thought from a few seconds ago disappearing out of his mind. Admittedly he didn’t know everything about those two, but he did believe one thing: they probably couldn’t handle going out alone together without some chaos occurring. He knew that much from the library incident. Also, the thought of staying in the house alone with Sting made Rogue a little nervous, but not in a complete bad way. There was also some excitement mixed in there, but he had to be responsible here. Either way, the faster they got done with shopping, the sooner they could start on their project. Natsu was his partner anyway, not Sting, so there wasn’t much he and Sting could do if Gray and Natsu were out on their own.

“I think it’d be better if we went along, you know, to prevent any disasters from happening?” Rogue supplied after some time, rubbing the back of his head. He hoped what he said didn’t sound too offensive.

Sting’s bubbly laughter made that doubt vanish out of his mind. “Hahaha, you’re so right! Alrighty then, off to the grocery store we go!”

“Hold it.” Natsu stopped them as they approached the front door, a serious expression on his face. “You owe me an explanation, Bumblebee.”

“Huh?” Sting blinked, slightly startled.

Bumblebee? Rogue thought, feeling a smile tugging the corner of his mouth. That’s actually…kinda cute.

“Don’t give me that look! You were gonna tell me something when we got back inside, right?” Natsu reminded him, his arms now crossed against his chest.

“Oh! That’s…well––“ he looked at Rogue in that moment, as if asking for permission through his eyes, and Rogue simply nodded. “Rogue is a Dragon Slayer too! A Shadow Dragon Slayer!”

“WHAT? SERIOUSLY? THAT’S SO FREAKIN’ AMAZING!!” Natsu shrieked suddenly, causing Gray to punch him in the shoulder for being too loud. Rogue could tell that Gray was intrigued and maybe surprised as well, and Rogue laughed nervously, playing with his sleeves. Hopefully this revelation wouldn’t affect them too greatly or change the way they thought about him.

“Now that’s something I didn’t see coming,” Gray said, looking at Rogue more closely.

“Looks like Gray is the only one in the group who isn’t a Dragon Slayer,” Natsu teased, sticking his tongue out as he winked.

“Aw come on, don’t make me feel left out like that you jerk!” Gray moped, a slight frown on his face. He didn’t look too upset though, to which Rogue was thankful for.

“Is that how you knew that Sting and I were Dragon Slayers? And why you asked about the motion sickness thing? I bet you’ve learned to control your motion sickness or something because you looked totally fine this morning!” Natsu went on, not over this revelation.

His questions made Rogue come to a halt. He hadn’t even thought about that—Natsu was right, how did he know that Sting and Natsu were Dragon Slayers? He’s never seen them use their magic before, and he’d only started talking to them yesterday, so how?

“I—well, um, you see…” he was struggling to find the words now, his head throbbing with more unanswered questions.

“Ooh, maybe its a special Dragon Slayer connection where we can all sense each other’s magic or something! It probably just kicked in now that our bond is stronger, right?” Natsu offered, and Rogue decided to accept it for lack of better knowledge.

“Could be,” he replied, nodding. His stomach lurched, but he tried to focus his mind on something else, not wanting to cause a scene in front of them.

“I actually kind of figured,” Gray said then, making the three of them turn to him.

“What? How?” Sting wondered, his eyes widening. “Didn’t you just say you didn’t see it coming?”

“Well, yeah, but then I remembered something. Yesterday, when we were sharing each other’s emails, Rogue said his was shadowdragonrogue7. So I thought he might be a Dragon Slayer.”

Natsu and Sting stood there, dumbfounded. “How…how did we not realize this sooner?” Natsu muttered, looking at Sting. All Sting could do was shrug, not being able to find the words for this predicament.

“We should get going now,” Gray said with a chuckle, and Rogue breathed out a sigh of relief, glad that this conversation was over for now. He had more things to think about, and it was still hard for him to accept this whole Dragon Slayer thing, but he decided to let it go for a bit and enjoy this upcoming shopping trip with his friends.

Friends. Every time Rogue thought of them as that, it made his heart flutter. He couldn’t have been luckier, to meet three caring, friendly people who took him in without hesitation, and made him feel like he’s always belonged. He’d surely have to thank them at some point, maybe even do something for them in return for their kindness. He hoped they could stay friends and still hang out even after this project ended.

“Rogue, you comin’?” Sting asked with a smile, pulling him out of his thoughts. Rogue nodded and swiftly followed the others out the door, their bright smiles illuminating the path in front of him.

_______________

The grocery store wasn’t too far from their home; at best it was no longer than a twenty minute walk. Natsu had showed them a shortcut, a path that seemed a little dangerous considering the massive highway with no pedestrian walkways that they had to cross, but they ended up making it across just fine. Rogue found Natsu shouting “Told ya so!” multiple times to Gray, who had been the most worried about getting hit by a car or something on the way down, very amusing.

“Shut up, Natsu! I get it already!” Gray grumbled, grabbing Natsu by the scarf. “Don’t make me freeze your mouth shut.”

“You know I could easily burn your ice off Gray, plus, if you did that, how would you k—“

Sting interrupted him, yelling, “Natsu, watch where you’re going!”

Natsu turned around, realizing he nearly bumped into an elderly couple.

“Agh, sorry!” he yelped sheepishly as Gray let go of him.

The elderly couple just smiled at him and walked away, and Natsu took that as a sign of ‘apology accepted.’

“Good thing we came along,” Rogue whispered to Sting, who smiled at him in response.

The four of them entered the store then, and immediately Rogue was captivated by all the scents filling the air. This place was some sort of international market, consisting of goods from all over the world. Although there were various foods that one would be eager to try from another country, all Rogue could think about was the different kinds of chocolate he could get his hands on.

“Okay guys, who’s got the shopping list?” Sting asked, looking around to see where they could start.

“We ain’t need no shopping list! Just grab whatever ya feel like eating!” Natsu suggested with a huge grin.

“If we did that, we’d run out of money faster than you go through the food you eat,” Gray told him, shaking his head.

“How about we split up? Rogue and I will get some snacks, and you and Natsu can get stuff we can cook for meals, like vegetables and meat.”

“I’m all fired up!!!” Natsu exclaimed, reaching for Gray’s hand. He pulled him to the frozen section in the back, already starting without a second thought.

“Well that settles that,” Sting said. “Let’s go, Rogue.”

“Right!” Rogue said, following Sting down to Aisle 4, where most of the snacks were located.

“What’re you in the mood for?” Sting had asked, grabbing boxes of assorted chips and cookies.

“Chocolate…” Rogue said subconsciously, reaching for a box of pocky sticks.

Sting laughed, and Rogue noticed a slight blush on his face. “A chocolate lover, huh? We’ll definitely be buying some chocolate then.”

Rogue felt like his eyes were literally sparkling as Sting showed him this one kind of chocolate called Dairy Milk, which was popular in the country of India.

“I think you’ll love this one, it’s really good,” he said, and Rogue took it without a second thought. As long as it involved chocolate, he didn’t have to think about wanting it or not. The answer was always yes.

“Or should I say, it’s dairy good,” Sting said then, and Rogue couldn’t stop the giggle bubbling up in his throat. That pun was awful but somehow…it’s funny, he thought.

“That wasn’t bad,” Rogue said, meeting Sting’s eyes.

“Oh, you butter believe it!” Sting replied, holding up a bag of buttered popcorn.

Rogue felt like the smile on his face was permanent now. He watched as Sting ran to grab multiple boxes of berries, and was surprised and slightly confused when he laid down on the floor, covering himself with the containers.

Before he could ask what he was doing, Sting said, “Look, I’m berried alive!”

Rogue burst into a fit of laughter, feeling so light and fluffy and free. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt happy like this, so full of life and unbridled laughter.

“I know my puns are cheesy,” Sting stated with a smile, holding up a packet of cheese, “But as long as you think they’re funny or even decent, I’ll continue to make them.” He stood up and put some boxes of berries into the shopping cart, then returned the others to the shelves.

“Please do,” Rogue responded, watching him. He figured he should help, but there weren’t a lot of boxes left to put away. Plus, watching Sting do something like this fascinated him in some way, like he was under a trance. There was just a nice flow to his movements, a fluid motion that made Rogue feel warm and calm.

Once the mess of berries was cleaned up, the two of them looked around to see if they were missing anything else. As they checked out a small section of sweets, they heard an all too familiar voice not too far away, and turned their heads towards the sound.

“Natsu, get off the shopping cart!” Gray yelled from across the aisle, struggling to push a cart full of items and one too exuberant Dragon Slayer.

“You’re just weak, Gray! You can’t even handle this weight?” Natsu retorted, laughing maniacally.

Rogue blinked twice, surprised even though he should have expected this.

“What can I say?” Sting said from beside him, picking up a box of graham crackers, “A shopping trip is never boring with those two around.”

Rogue was inclined to agree to this statement. Whatever they were doing, it seemed fun. He wished he could be that bold sometimes, to be able to speak his mind, be open about his feelings and just completely be himself, but it’d take a while for him to get even close to that level. He couldn’t focus on that too much now though, because there was another box of chocolates practically glowing in front of him, calling out to him to grab it and eat it up.

Sting got close to him then, his shoulder brushing up against Rogue’s. Rogue’s breath caught for a moment, and he could’ve sworn he felt his heart beating in his ears.

“Rogue, I just got a great idea,” Sting whispered, not bothering to leave even a centimeter of space between the two of them. His eyes flickered between the graham crackers and the chocolate he must’ve noticed Rogue was practically drooling over. “Let’s make s’mores!”

Rogue was about to agree, to tell him that it was a splendid idea, when suddenly, the world seemed to stop completely. Everything went silent with the exception of a high pitched ringing in his ears, his blood felt cold in his veins, and a lightheadedness overtook him, his body abruptly too heavy to support. As he gasped and reached for something to hold onto, which ended up being Sting’s shoulder as he later found out, everything started spinning, plunging him into a suspended-like state, as if he were floating inside an ocean, lost, helpless, and unable to breathe.

“S’mores are the best part of camping,” said a familiar voice.

A figure that looked just like Rogue started smiling, holding an item of food that resembled a s’more.

“Hey, Rogue?” the voice said, taking a bite out of the s’more-looking thing.

“Hm?” Rogue-look-alike-who-had-the-same-name-as-him said.

“Are you a campfire?”

“What?”

“Cuz you’re hot and I want s’more!”

“STING…YOU DIDN’T!!”

“I JUST DID.”

“Wh…what’s happening? What was that just now?” Rogue cried out once he found his voice again, the death grip on his lungs slowly loosening. He clutched his head, fingers scraping into his skin, leaving scars. He could finally move, and his breathing returned, coming out in fast, hitched puffs.

“Rogue…hey, are you alright? Talk to me!” a voice yelled in worry. It sounded very distorted, like an octave too high. Two arms were holding him up, but he could barely feel them, just the vibrating and numbness spreading into his body.

“Jeez, what’s happening? You two are making more of a ruckus than we are!” another voice yelled. “Seriously, there’s a bunch of boxes everywhere, even Natsu and I don’t make this much of a mess!”

The rest of the conversation only rang in his ears, so he couldn’t hear or understand what they were saying. Rogue shook his head rapidly, clearing his mind. When he finally calmed down enough to breathe normally, he realized he was clutching hard onto Sting, leaning against him as if letting go would cause him to fall into a deep, never-ending abyss from which he’d never return.

“Should we take him to a doctor?” Rogue recognized this is as Gray’s voice, once his ears regained their hearing.

“There’s no need, I’m okay for now,” he said quickly, his trembling hands still holding onto Sting. He wasn’t completely sure if that was the truth, but the weird pain from earlier had suddenly dissipated, and the only thing that bothered him now was what that whole ordeal was.

“What happened dude? Are you okay?” Even Natsu was nearby, worry evident in his tone.

“I’m sorry…I have no idea what happened just now. Sting was talking about something and suddenly…I heard voices…saw something strange…”

“We’ll take you home,” Sting said, holding him tighter. “I think you need some rest.”

“But…your shopping…did you get everything you needed?” Rogue asked, his voice raspy, barely a whisper. He didn’t want his situation to cause any trouble for them, especially after all they’d done for him.

“We got what we need, and hey, you don’t need to worry about that. Just focus on you right now, okay?” Sting told him, swinging one of Rogue’s arms across his shoulders. “Gray, Natsu, I’ll meet you guys at home. I’ll see you guys in a bit.”

“Be safe!” Natsu yelled as Sting made his way out the doors, carefully supporting Rogue. As Rogue slipped out of consciousness, he barely missed Sting telling them to buy more chocolate, and a small smile stretched across his face as his mind went dark once again.

________________________________

When Rogue came to, he was in a bed that had a distinctly familiar scent. It made him wonder where he was, but there were no lights on, so looking around wasn’t much of an option. To compensate, he felt around for something recognizable, but nothing his fingers brushed upon was something he owned. So he wasn’t in his own bed, that’s one thing he knew now. He decided to get up and figure this out, but as he sat up, something cold landed in his lap, surprising him. He picked it up and touched it, trying to see what it was through the small illumination coming in from the crack under the bedroom door.

It didn’t take long for him to discover that the cold slush was an icepack, one nicely wrapped in a towel, which had probably been sitting on his forehead for a while considering that most of it was dripping wet. The memory of earlier hit him then, making him shudder. At least, for now, he felt a lot better since then, almost as if that whole crazy thing never happened at all. He didn’t know how much time had passed since that moment, but he hoped it hadn’t been too long, since he did have the project to work on.

Wait, does this mean I’m still at Sting, Natsu, and Gray’s place? he wondered, pushing himself out of bed. Slowly, he made his way to the front of the room, being very careful not to trip on anything, and pulled the door open.

When he entered the main area of the house, he was blinded by flashing lights. At first he thought he was experiencing some sort of epilepsy, but soon realized that it was coming from a video game that Gray, Natsu, and Sting were playing. So he was still here.

He peeked over the edge and saw the three of them sitting on the rug, each with a controller in their hands as their fingers rapidly smashed different buttons.

“Sting, you’re such a cheater! Stop using Minato, his flashing is annoying as hell!” Gray was shouting, his dark hair a ruffled mess. He also wasn’t wearing anything except his boxers, which made Rogue wonder what was going on.

“Ha, you’re just mad cuz you can’t keep up! Natsu and I will show ya!” Sting boasted, pressing buttons to begin what seemed like the next match.

Rogue decided to stay put and watch from the shadows, curious about this game they were playing. He was never a confrontational type anyway, so he decided to enjoy the view from where he was until one of them noticed he was there and invited him to come join them.

Less than five minutes had passed when Sting’s chill, cocky attitude was replaced with some sort of rage, one that wasn’t scary yet still intense.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS? MY CHARACTER GLITCHED AND MY COMBO DIDN’T FREAKIN’ WORK!” he whined, tossing his controller at the couch behind them. “Gah, I hate tournaments against you guys sometimes!”

“Want me to hold that ‘L’ for you, Sting?” Gray said in a teasing manner, poking Sting in the cheek. Rogue observed this closely, noting that Sting had very squishy-looking cheeks. That softness reflected in his current outfit; he looked really comfy, dressed in an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants, a change from his normal clothing style.

“You’re a jerk!!” Sting practically exploded in frustration like a little science-experiment volcano, grabbing a nearby pillow and smacking Gray’s face with it.

“Oooh, pillow fight!” Natsu said once he had his eyes off the screen. He dropped his controller and reached for a pillow, a sadistic grin spreading across his face. As soon as he stood up and got into a predatory-like position, getting ready to leap at Sting most likely, he caught sight of Rogue and yelled, “Rogue!! You’re awake!”

Sting and Gray immediately stopped wrestling with the pillows and scrabbled their way onto the couch, peeking over the edge of it.

“Rogue! How are you feeling? Did you get enough rest? Was my bed okay? Were you comfortable?” Sting rambled on with questions, almost going on longer if Gray hadn’t smacked him in the back of the head.

“Chill out for a sec.” He looked at Rogue, a soft expression in his eyes. “I hope we didn’t wake you with our loudness. And sorry for Sting’s rage quitting, it’s not as bad as Natsu’s but it’s almost on the same level.”

“I do NOT rage quit!” Natsu argued, pointing a finger at Gray.

“Oh really now, Mr. I-should’ve-won-against-that-Akatsuki-combo?”

“You kept spamming it! That was a jerk move, Frosty!”

“It’s badass, that’s why!”

“Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean you can spam it!”

“Do you remember how many vases we had to replace because you broke them?”

“That never happened!!”

“I have proof—“

“Guys, enough already!” Sting stopped them, pushing their heads apart from one another. “So, Rogue, you hungry?”

Rogue’s stomach beat him to a verbal answer when it grumbled loudly, and Rogue blushed in embarrassment, clutching the fabric of his shirt.

“Come on, let’s go eat what I made and begin working.” Sting turned off the Xbox and stood up, making his way into the kitchen. Rogue had been so drawn into figuring out what the others were doing that he didn’t even notice the delightful scent coming from behind him.

“Whatever you made, it smells really good,” he said, sniffing the air.

“I hope it tastes as good as it smells!” Sting said sheepishly, bringing a steaming hot pot over to the dining table.

“Oooh Sting did you make curry?!” Natsu asked, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.

“Why yes, yes I did,” he answered, lifting the lid off the pot. Clouds of steam escaped into the air, giving the atmosphere a humid feel.

“You’re the best!” Natsu cheered, reaching for the serving spoon, only to have his hand slapped away by Gray’s. “Hey, what gives?!”

“Jeez, do you have any manners? Let Rogue have some first,” Gray scolded, clutching onto Natsu’s hand.

“Oh no, it’s okay, he can have some first!” Rogue insisted, shaking his head.

“Nah it’s cool Rogue, you go ahead and take some,” Sting said, holding his arm out in front of Natsu before he got the idea to hurl himself across the table to take some.

From the corner of his eye, Rogue caught a glimpse of Gray’s fingers intertwining with Natsu’s, or at least that’s what he thought he saw. He couldn’t be completely sure of it because Sting’s torso blocked the view when he reached to scoop some curry and rice onto Rogue’s plate, making Rogue blink in his daze.

“Okay, now you can have some,” Gray told Natsu, whose eyes were practically shimmering in delight. Their hands were apart, so Rogue figured he just imagined what he thought he saw.

Natsu swept in and took a huge spoonful of curry, licking his lips in the process. He grabbed nearly half of the rice out of the cooker and tossed it into the mix on his plate, then reached for his chopsticks. Before Rogue could even say ‘thank you for the meal,’ Natsu had finished his food and was rubbing his belly in content.

“Do you even breathe while you eat?” Sting asked in worry, sitting down after he and Gray had taken their share.

“I dunno, but Gray sure takes my breath away!” Natsu commented smoothly, which caused Gray to turn red. Gray was probably caught so off-guard by Natsu’s statement that he almost didn’t realize that he froze his chopsticks from the shock of embarrassment.

Before Rogue could understand what was happening, Gray pulled the book of demons out of his backpack and slammed it on the table, causing their plates to rattle.

“ANYWAYS, LET’S START ON THIS PROJECT ALREADY!” he squeaked out, shaking his head in an attempt to cool his face off.

“R-right…” Sting said, scratching his cheek. He began eating as Natsu took the book and opened it to the first page, getting ready to read it aloud since the rest of them were still finishing their meals.

“So what I’m understanding is that there are nine demons. We already picked which ones we want, but do you want me to go through the other ones?”

Gray refused to speak and Sting’s mouth was full, so Rogue built up a little confidence and answered. “That might be a good idea. Just in case we don’t find enough information about the demons we picked, we can decide on a back up one if that’s okay with you guys.”

Sting nodded, and Gray just gave a thumbs up as he stuffed his face with more food.

“Jeez Gray, lighten up a little. I didn’t think what I said would affect you that badly,” Natsu said, bumping his shoulder. Gray’s only response was a measly sound of some sort, and Natsu just shrugged it off. “Anyways, I’ll go ahead and read them and summarize it as much as I can.” He cleared his throat, turning to the page that had the first demon listed.

“Kyouka has some sort of body-manipulating curse. Not much is known about how it works exactly, but I wouldn’t want to be victim to it. Next is Jackal. He creates explosions, ones that are very destructive. Ooh, I wanna fight this guy! After that we have Tempester, who can control a bunch of natural disasters. Yikes, wouldn’t wanna get on his bad side. Then there’s Franmalth, who can absorb and manipulate souls. Holy shit…that’s insane! Torafuzar can summon poisonous water and he has bladed arms. Haha, he looks like a shark! Ezel has a bunch of limbs that he can turn into swords. Kinda like Erza, but she could totally kick his ass. Then there’s Seilah, who can control any person or object. Spooky… Keyes is a necromancer, whatever that means. And finally, not including the one under the hidden flap, there’s the one you guys picked, Silver Fullbuster. The book just says he’s an undead human exorcist mage who utilizes ice devil slayer magic…”

“Wait, what did you just say?” Gray finally spoke, nearly choking on his last bite.

“Gray… could that be…” Sting started, but Gray stood up suddenly, with so much force that his chair left a dent in the back wall.

“I’m sorry, but I need a second to think… Excuse me…” He ran towards the front door, and threw it open, running out with even bothering to close it behind him.

“Hey, Gray, wait!” Sting called, shoving the last spoonful of curry into his mouth.

Rogue stayed calm, but he felt paralyzed. He didn’t dare move another muscle, didn’t dare to say a word. He could feel the tension in the air almost as if it was a tangible, physical thing and not just a feeling.

From the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of Natsu running to the door and looking around for any sign of Gray, but apparently he’d completely disappeared.

“Where the hell are you, Gray?” Natsu shouted into the night, clutching onto the doorframe so hard it nearly shattered.

“Natsu…calm down, we’ll find him,” Sting said softly, coming up to him.

“I’m going after him. You two stay here,” Natsu yelled, completely ignoring Sting’s statement. “Don’t wait up on me if I’m late. I’m not coming back until I find him.”

He slammed the door shut as he left, startling Sting. Sting sat on the couch in defeat, still in shock from what just went down.

Rogue shakily let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding in, and sat in the deadly silence of the once energetic, noisy household.