#like what crime did I commit in a prev life

[ladydisofdurin]

Girl help the nz arctic winds are destroying my will to live

[howlingday]

He keeps getting good another chaptrr

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"Honestly, can't you do anything right?!"

"I'm trying, okay?" Ruby whimpered after yet another of Weiss' 'honest criticisms' as she called them. Really, they were just Weiss yelling for about a half an hour. And it ended the same way, too.

"Well stop trying and start doing!" Weiss then stomped away, leaving Ruby alone in the dorm, yet again.

This wasn't what Ruby thought Beacon was going to be like at all. She thought she would be going on adventures, making friends, and having fun while learning how to become a huntress. But all she was learning right now was how out of her depth she truly was.

If only Yang was here, but it seems she had something better to do with Blake today. Just like yesterday. And the day before. And the day before that.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Ruby opened it to find Jaune standing there with sad eyes. "Is... everything okay, Ruby?"

"Yeah, just... me and Weiss are still trying to figure things out." Ruby said, clearly lying to cover for her partner.

"Oh, okay." Jaune said. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really." Ruby replied.

"Do you wanna... hang out with my team until your team gets back?"

"Yeah." Ruby perked up, making Jaune's tail wag. "Yeah, I'd like that."

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

"Oh, hello, Pyrrha~!" Weiss called sweetly, walking up to the more famous student. "How are you this afternoon?"

"I'm fine, Weiss." Pyrrha replied. "I'm just out grabbing medicine for Jaune while he's studying."

"At least your partner studies." Weiss said with a grumble. "My supposed 'leader' would prefer to play video games instead of putting in the effort to learn."

"I... see..."

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to vent." Weiss apologized. "But she can just be... so... frustrating!"

"Well, have you considered how she might be feeling?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she's certainly younger than us, so maybe she's just not sure what direction she should go. You remember being her age, don't you?"

"I do, but she never had it as difficult as I did!" Weiss huffed. "She never had impossible expectations to live up to like I did."

"Really? What her home life like before coming to Becaon?"

"She probably goofed off at her old school, too."

"Probably?" Pyrrha quirked her brow. "Do you know what school she went to?"

"Well... No." Weiss admitted.

"Do you know why she built her weapon the way she did? Or who taught her before she applied to her old school." Weiss was quiet. "Weiss... Aside from her name, what do you know about Ruby?"

Weiss had no answer. She never considered Ruby to really be her partner. Until now, she saw Ruby as just some kid who lucked her way into being her partner, as if it were some cruel twist of fate as punishment for some crime she didn't commit. This was the first time she considered that maybe, just maybe, Ruby was just as unhappy with Weiss as her partner as she was with her.

"I... should probably ask her." Weiss then said.

"I think that would be a good idea."

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

"Hello, again~!" Pyrrha chimed as she opened the door to her dorm. "Oh, hello, Ruby."

"Hi, Pyrrha~!" Ruby smiled, sitting on the floor across from Jaune, books out and open between them. "Jaune and I are just studying."

"Oh, really?" Pyrrha stepped aside to reveal the icy glare of Ruby's partner standing behind her.

"Weiss?!"

"Ruby," Weiss took a deep breath before speaking further, "would you like to study with me?"

"Um..." Ruby scratched her head. "I'm kinda already studying with Jaune."

"Oh..." Weiss wanted to say more, but she thought better than to start anything in someone else's dorm. And what Pyrrha said. "Then perhaps I could... study with you, too."

At this, Ruby looked to Jaune, who smiled, and she gave a smile in return. "Yeah, we can do that, too!"

[pardi-real]

[AKNK] Butler in Wonderland / Chapter 5 - The King(?)'s Rampage

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[Devil's Palace, Backyard]

I went out to the backyard... This time there are various pedestals and seats set up. Perhaps... Is it based on the 'Courtroom'? 

As I was wondering about it, I saw butlers showing up from behind the pedestals.

*Close-up* Miyaji: "You there, stop. From here on out, you are in the domain of the 'King of Spades'... Outsiders are forbidden. If you want to save your life, you'd better turn around."

*Close-up* Flure: "That's right! You should turn back."

> "Oh, Miyaji and Flure…"

Flure: "I'm not 'Flure', I'm a 'Card Soldier'! Fufu, the costumes are really well-made, aren't they?"

Miyaji: "Yeah. All the costumes this time are very nice."

Apparently, they are 'Card Soldiers'. Then who is the 'King of Spades'? I was thinking about that... Until suddenly, from the far end of the yard, I heard the sound of a loud musical instrument.

Ammon: "Heeere he comes~ The King of Spades!"

Trudge… trudge… trudge… *Soldier's march*

Boschi: "Good grief, Why all this trouble… I mean,  Why bother carrying him on a palanquin?"

Bastien: "It can't be helped, Mr. Boschi. That's how the staging is."

Boschi and Bastien come in with a palanquin on their shoulders. On top of the palanquin.... There is Muu, wearing a crown.

Muu: "Fufu! It's a very nice view~ Wearing a crown and looking from a high place... I feel kind of strong!"

Boschi: "Hey Muu. Don't go wild on the palanquin..."

Muu: "Heheh, the current me is not 'Muu', I'm the 'King of Spades', you know. You Card Soldier guys have no rights talking back at me!"

Boschi: "...He's getting a little carried away there huh, that Muu. "

Bastien: "Well… This is his first time being in charge of people. No wonder he is so worked up."

Muu: "Hey, hey, hey! No whispering in front of the king! If you don't do as I say, I'll punish you~ ♪"

Bastien: "Hm… pardon me, King."

Boschi: "Good grief, I'll remember this."

> "So Muu is the 'King of Spades' "

Muu: "Oh-ho? There is a stranger in my court, huh. Card soldiers! Please catch the intruder!"

Ammon: "Yes'sir ♪ Here, here! Imma catch you~ ♪"

> "Err… You mean me?"

Miyaji: "Yeah. That's why, I'm sorry, but…"

Flure: "Please be taken into custody before the king!"

> "I see, so that's the plan…"

I followed their instructions and... decided to be detained quietly.

[A few moments later]

Muu : "I see. So, your name is (name)? Fufu ♪  You look like a very kind person, but… I won't overlook the crime of entering my property without permission!  You will now face a trial!"

> "A trial?"

Muu: "That's right! Of course, I'm the judge. Defense side! Are you ready?"

Miyaji: "Yeah, ...No problem."

Flure: "I'll be sure to defend Lord (name)!"

Muu: "How about the prosecution side?"

Ammon: "Nothing amiss! Imma drive you to a corner, Lord (name)~ ♪"

Muu: "Good! Now, let's take Ms. (name)'s trial... Before we begin... I'd like to commence a trial for 'another person's crime' too!"

Bastien: "Hm…? 'Another person's crime', you say? "

Boschi: "Hey… was that in the script?"

Flure: "Nope… It's my first time hearing that."

Miyaji: "Then… It's Muu's 'ad-lib'…"

Ammon: "Heheh. Sounds kinda interesting, yeah?  King! So, whose crime are you gonna judge?"

Muu: "Fufu… About that… Mr. Bastien, the Card Soldier! Please stand on the defendant podium!  Now, I will accuse you of your crime!"

Bastien: "..........Hm? My crime, you say…? Hmph… what an unexpected turn of events… Excuse me next to you, my Lord." 

> "Su, sure…"

Thanks to Muu's sudden accusation against Bastien… I was standing on the defendant podium, and now Bastien followed suit.

Miyaji: "So... King. You said you're going to judge Bastien's crime.... What crime did he commit?"

Muu: "Yes, I did. That's because....I saw it! I saw Mr. Bastien… He was eating chicken tenders in the kitchen at night!"

Bastien: "Ugh…"

Ammon: "I see... So it's the crime of secretly snacking! Yes, he should be punished for that~"

Miyaji: "Objection. The accusation is based only on eyewitness testimony. I don't think one person's testimony alone is enough to convict…?"

Ammon: "Oh. Then, I too, have seen him snitch some snacks."

Boschi: "Yeah. I've seen it too."

Flure: "A-actually me too…"

Miyaji: "........ I did, too."

> "M-Mr lawyers…?"

Muu: "Fufu! Seems like he is definitely guilty! "

Bastien: "Sigh… I guess there's no other choice."

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[lautakwah]

omg jing yuan !! as soon as i met him i knew he was gonna be a fav of mine, and his deal with the finches just sold it. i really love his cn va. he was also really fun to play as for that little stint he was part of your party, i got the awakened dan heng card Right before that final battle which felt perfect and now they have this guy and im like i NEED him his mechanic lags my entire laptop. the xianzhou luofu has been very fun to get to know so far, i do love what dan heng/dan feng and jing yuan have going on, and i guess blade is part of that? i love edgy characters but ironically he's felt like the most boring of the cast so far... but that means i still have two of the quintet yet to meet i think! i cannot guess who theyd be right now. the timelines theyre working with are so funny to me like i guess dan hengs supposed to be 700 years old but also still a teenager? being eternally 17 sounds like some horrific curse. which im still not entirely sure of what he did but that seems undeserved. speaking of which reincarnating (?) and then ending up befriending someone who looks more than passingly like your old life's old friend (the trailblazer and jing yuan's visual similarities are a coincidence im sure but its funny to me) is such a neat concept i hope they touch on. + SEELE AND BRONYA!! they were an amazing part of that storyline i want them on my team so bad. I just got the missions to go back and see whats up with them so i'll have to check it out... when i first continued the story to get to the xianzhou seele was visiting and i thought the game would make her disappear after the warp but she was still there... i was like we've taken this kid 500 million light years away from her home planet we've committed a crime here. ANYWAY this is a mile long i hope u have a good weekend nd get rest o7

yeaaahhh jing yuan's va is so good!! i love playing on cn tbh the other dubs dont hit the same idk... i dont have him tho (f) and both times his banner was on i didnt have enough jade to pull for him 😭 first time bc i spent everything on seele, second time bc of sparkle KHFDKJGFDG literally my roster is almost all the girls (not you topaz. and silver wolf was bc i lost 50/50 💀) and barely any guys (i have dhil and luocha and dr ratio bc he was free... all the others i skipped and im gonna skip aventurine as well LOL) can u tell im a lesbian :'))

and i thought dan heng was like in his early 20s??? but none of it rly gets explained so KFDJKDG we do know viyadhara when they reincarnate become children again and then age up before they go through the whole egg-reincarnating thing again. but like in his prev life he was several decades old and looked the same anyway, yet blade/yingxing at the time was like. an old man (the only "mortal" among them 😭). and then baiheng and jingliu were around the same age as jing yuan? wait actually jingliu is older since she's his master but yeah. it IS interesting to see how their dynamic has shifted tho but you'll see (if you havent gotten to that part yet in any case, i think if you finished the tingyun/emanator of destruction part you should've already known abt most of this due to companion quests!)

also YEAH KDFJHKJFDGD it's so funny that characters from different planets can visit the astral express even when they're not on/near their home planet like oh... i guess we kinda abducted you, lol. although, hey, look at it like this: you can show them entire fields of grass or something which they don't have on their home world...! (and obvi you can just take them back to their home world in a snap 😌)

also my weekend was great!! went to a film festival and talked to friends and had a good time overall fdkjghfkjdg idk if i already said this but saw zhu yilong on screen twice (!!) and also met the director of the movie he was in it was super fun <3 def needed that lol

[livvyofthelake]

1, 3, 6-8, 13, 16, 20-22 (didn’t think of a Thing to ask abt so go wild!!) (sorry if this has sent several times my app keeps crashing <3)

1) the character everyone gets wrong

oooh another one of this question lemme think of another one to complain about…. um. ty blackthorn…. i know you don’t know him but you should have a basic level of familiarity with his sherlock holmes swag and necromancy realness and ghost guy slay like. just based on my posting… i don’t like fandomy interpretations of him that make him like. soft and cutesy and uwu whatever like that boy is a huge fucking cunt he’s the worst… he’s a supervillain in training it’s ridiculous stop calling him your soft little baby or whatever the hell…. like you sound insane not even cassie is babying him like that get serious

3) screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

i’m saying this cuz i know you were there too so you’ll get it but literally the 2021 pre s4 era of bylertheorism posting was so awful fr….

6) which ship fans are the most annoying?

wow see prev response….. no but like i’ll give a real answer. um idk i already complained about a few things but i’m gonna pull out a nicheish one due to the fact i saw a sofia wylie tiktok today and it made me think about hsmtmts. um i think ricky and gina shippers ruined everything sacred about that show and tim federle needs to die for the crimes he’s committed against me for them. this is also true about jiara but i’m beyond caring about obx and hsmtmts is like. THE show that got me through summer 2021. it was so rough oh my god. ej and gina were all i had. and now i don’t even have them anymore we should all kill ourselves. not to be a person that cares too much about ships. idk you had to be there maybe. and by there i mean like. you had to be me i guess

7) what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

damn speaking of outer banks. jj. that boy should kill himself i don’t even care. or jesper shadow and bone. i promise i’ll like him more when i read about him but as a netflix original comic relief man…. i just can’t get behind him. also that actor was in a movie i hated so he should have to do like. 100 hours court ordered community service picking up trash in parks. that’s just one girl’s opinion

8) common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

can i talk about my shadowhunters. ok well i’m going to. it’s like sorry about your mental illnesses or whatever but i don’t think projecting them onto kit herondale is necessarily the way to go babes. he exists in a fantasy universe where he can put a little tattoo on his body and instantly gain speed, the kid hangs out with werewolves and his mom can do magic. i don’t think he is taking adderall. plus shadowhunters can’t take medication anyway so L + ratio + i can tell you’re either 16 or the most annoying adult alive. sorry if you’re 16, i promise when you stop being 16 you will feel better about life. like fandom lovessss to headcanon him with the most boring shit imaginable. oh you headcanon that this character who lives in a universe where MAGIC IS REAL has adhd? that’s cool i headcanon that he’s a virgin but makes up elaborate lies about it so none of the bad guys who are constantly after him can use him as a virgin sacrifice. i just made that up but it’s still more fun than being like ohh this character is training to be able to kill demons but the most important thing in his life is remembering to take his medication!! like booo 👎 nobody wants to read about medication in fantasy…. unless it’s like some sick ass herbs and potions like my buddy gaius makes. whatever.

13) worst blorboficiation

can i say will herondale. you know what don’t even worry about it. i’m gonna say tom holland spiderman. i don’t engage with literally any of that but i am an internet user in this day and age so it is unfortunately thrust upon me. sorry to that man but i hope peter parker dies goddamn. today’s writers just don’t hate their protagonists enough they always wanna keep ‘em around as long as possible it’s insane. arthur conan doyle had the right idea i think. like kill that dude!!

16) you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

i hateeeeeee fandom himbo characterization. ESPECIALLY. when it comes to my beloved arthur bbc merlin. he is not. a himbo…. we should all kill ourselves.

20) part of canon you found tedious or boring

no offense to cassandra clare’s infernal devices but. i’m so so sorry tessa i love you forever it’s just. well.

21) part of canon you think is overhyped

i’m just gonna say barchie. can’t fucking stand this season sorry abby that i made you watch this show only for its final season to be a flop ass barchie season.

22) your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

i think we all need to talk more about how in city of fallen angels clary had a pink cell phone. that was a nothing detail i just think about it a lot and i didn’t know what else to say here.

[aclanby-anyothername]

a clan by any other name.

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leaf-bare, year 1. moon 10.

the moon came and went, and the rogues never arrived. however, that doesn't mean the threat was clear; there was a definitive scent marker outlining their territory, far at the other end of the woods.

in response, the clan make began to take their border patrols far more seriously. there was always at least one or two warriors on guard duty as the others slept. the air was tense, but besides that life continued as usual.

cave, seemingly safe from further harm at the paws of the rogues, relaxed. he slowly began to recover, but he was left with large scar on his leg, a permanent reminder of what had transpired that fateful night.

the clan was still wary of him, but they all agreed that helping him recover was the best course of action.

mothpaw's warrior ceremony grew closer by the day, something dustcloud was painfully aware of. he had told no one of his plan; he intended the leave the same night, as soon as he could sneaky away from the others after the ceremony.

a violent pang of guilt shot through him every time someone so much as smiled at him, but he had made up his mind.

the time dustcloud had spent in the clan seemed to fly by before he had time to make any of sense of it, and that last moon was no exception. as dustcloud's last day grew closer and closer, he found himself wishing for even one da longer to spend with them.

his nightmares increased in frequency, and he found his waking hours spent poring over his past, trying to make sense of it all. truly, what crime did he commit that was so heinous as to deserve this curse? or rather, what was he DESTINED to do, off in that far off future dustcloud couldn't even imagine?

he found himself half-praying to starclan as he had many times before; he wanted with his whole soul to cry out to them, plead with them, beg them for help … but, just as he had every time before, he shut the stars out of his heart. he could not speak with them. he was so, extremely terrified of their answer. he would rather not know at all, to the detriment of himself.

… i would know, wouldn't i?

… apologies. this part affects me more than most. i need just but a moment, please pay me no mind.

…

it's just …

during this time, i ...

never mind. let us continue.

the half-moon came with little regard for dustcloud's turmoil.

dustcloud: ( … maybe if we just - postponed mothpaw's warrior ceremony, even for just a day?)

( … yes, i know i can't do that. how incredibly selfish of me.)

"… mothpaw, please step forward."

mothpaw's original plan, of course, was to conduct herself with the utmost seriousness, a poise befitting the strong, intimidating warrior she ever so clearly was.

mothpaw's plan never came to fruition; she was so excited that she practically bounced forward. the entire clan collectively looked at her with a smile that they hoped mothpaw couldn't see.

mothpaw: (… the others don't understand. it's been my dream to be a warrior since before i could really even speak properly. not only that, but … )

(i HATE how i was always one step behind everyone. i hated being the baby. at no point was i ever taken as seriously as everyone else.)

(this is the last milestone before we're all equals … THEN they'll have to stop treating me like a baby!)

(though, now that i think about it … i know it was out of love. and sometimes, i even enjoyed it! it felt nice knowing that, even if you couldn't handle something for yourself, you always had a big group of friends and family to swoop in.)

(so … i guess it's kind of bittersweet after all?)

(oh, i'm not worried about it right now! i'm a warrior now, and i'm so, so excited!)

dustcloud: (dammit, what does she have to look so happy? i can't … i can't just leave her like this.)

"… i, dustcloud, mentor of mothpaw, call upon the heroic warriors of old to look down upon this apprentice."

it was the most confidently he had ever said those words. he hated that especially.

dustcloud: (i don't know if i can do this. i can't - looking at her - looking at EVERYONE'S faces is just - i can't ...)

"mothpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, to protect and defend your family, even at the cost of your life?"

(please say no please, please say no i)

mothpaw: "of course i do!"

dustcloud: (SAY NO - i can't, i can't do this -)

dustcloud: (st-starclan! i can't go on like this anymore! not now ...)

(SHOW ME THE TRUTH! whatever it is, i'll bear it. please, just TELL ME!)

(LET ME HATE MYSELF! LET ME KNOW HOW AWFUL I BECOME, THE PAIN I'M MEANT TO BRING! I'LL TAKE IT ON!)

(I CAN'T - I CAN'T LEAVE THEM!)

(PLEASE)

(…………..)

(what)

(what is happening)

(what is)

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[scribble-dribble-writes]

Loveless - (12)

<<<Prev Next>>>

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Pairing: Attuma x Okoye

Word Count: 1800

Warnings: none

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Chapter 12

This felt different. Okoye only knew of the Dora Milaje her whole life. Losing the rank so brutally without being able to defend it for a crime she didn’t commit, a part of herself died that day. She could never go back to it, to this position she had devoted her whole life to. Nothing made sense as she tried to retrace her footsteps, replaying the moments to see if only she had done something differently. Being a civilian made it all the more difficult. She would see the throne room glisten in the tower far away and remember her pledge, her vow to protect the royal family. But now none of that mattered, she worried constantly even when it was not her role to do so. But with such long years of service, your mind convinces you to believe that the family you protected were an extension of yours. When in reality, you would always only ever be a guard. A duty. A position. Replaceable. If only she had held onto that thought to keep away from them and never saw Shuri as a fellow sister or the Queen as a mother in the place of the one she did not have. This loss would not have impacted her as much. It wouldn’t have torn open her heart as she lost two of her most prized possessions that day, her bond with the queen and her most beloved spear.

But this felt different, as she held her daggers in her hand, pouncing on the Talokan warrior that stood tall ahead of her, a mischievous grin on his face. They were both enjoying this, that the crowd around them did not matter. She used to spar for the sake of being better, to protect the throne but never to flaunt her skills. This moment however, was for just that, it was just for them. He was a worthy opponent but on the other days she kept watch over him, he proved to be a good friend.

He could understand her anguish, of losing one’s purpose in life. But through him, she was beginning to see life for what it could be, that even warriors deserved their time in the sun. He blocked her attack, his vibranium spear vibrating upon impact. “I liked you better with your spear.”, he told her as she swiveled  to attack next. She defended his strike as she put away her daggers. She shrugged her shoulder, opening her hands to show they were empty. He shifted his weight but the grins on their faces stayed. “What’s the catch?”, he asked in her language. He had been getting better. “You’ll have to find out.”, she called out to him. He ran towards her, his spear held high, ready to come down with a mighty force. She waited, till he got close enough, his arm coming forward, she pulled a small cylinder from her back pocket. The button clicked and the object expanded. The sound of clashing metal, his thunderous laugh, her face an inch away from his as she blocked his strike with her spear. She could feel her soul reverberate with new found energy, from the adrenaline that spiked her blood. “I can never best you, warrior.”, he said with a smile.

After all the pain, in this instant, she felt joy. The thrill of excitement running through her body, she stepped back and held out her arm. He clasped his around hers, leveling his gaze to look into her eyes. A solemn nod. It eased her. His larger frame, his kind eyes because when he held her, he did so to never hold power over her, the way her husband had done but instead to show her he viewed her as a worthy partner. That even though it may not last, she did not know how long he would be here before he was sent away on the next mission but she knew that she had found an equal in him.

He put away his spear while she retracted hers. “Now I’m extremely hungry.”, he told her as he got up having secured his belt in place. “Maybe we can try something new today.”, she thought of the varied dining options that were available. But as she turned to the perimeter of the fence that enclosed the sparring zone, she caught a glimpse of Aneka. She usually held a happy disposition but today it held uncertainty. Okoye felt her heart sink, had there been an attack or a call for help that she disregarded. Was Shuri safe? Her heart felt uneasy, all the joy she enjoyed a moment ago vanished. She stopped near the fence, not intending to find the exit in the urgency she felt. But the panic set it, ever since the day she lost Shuri on the bridge, these moments had become frequent. Shorter breaths and fading reality. She grappled for the pole to steady herself but she missed. Her hand however had found soft landing. His hand enclosed around hers, rooting her to the moment, his cold skin cooling down her nerves. “Breathe.”, he told her softly. Her eyes found his and in it calmness. She pulled herself together, patting him on his shoulder for his aid, she turned to go. But he didn’t let go, he helped her up as she got over the fence.

Once when he was out hunting, he touched an electric eel that had wound itself around his spear. It stung him with a bolt of electricity that ran through him, leaving his fingers thrumming with energy. The same energy that sizzled through his skin as her hand left his. He had been taught to hate the surface world, but off late he had only been enjoying it. The warmth, the smell, the food and the need to not be hidden. But as he thought about it more, all his memories on the surface involved her and maybe that’s why he had begun to grow fond of it. He watched her walk ahead as he followed. The change in her expression was enough to know what she was feeling. He had nightmares as a child, that one day he would wake up to see Talokan destroyed as he slept. Unable to fulfill his duty to the Prince and his people. He could sense she was readjusting to the aftermath of losing her position. As he edged closer he watched as she dissolved into disbelief.

“Aneka, don’t lie to me.”, she gasped. “Ayo told me to tell you.”, Aneka stuffed her hands into her pockets as though she didn’t know what else she had to say. “Is Shuri safe?”, she had to be near the princess, she will not let that man near her. “Yes.”, Aneka responded. But her vision began to turn cloudy, recounting the endless fights she had with him, warning him to know his place. Now he had only come back with the years of hatred he had kept well stored.

She walked with him but her usual zest and snarky comments were missing. He wanted to know what was on her mind, so he tried. Distracting her, asking her if she was fine but all she did was hold him at a distance with a polite smile. He had nothing to hide from her, he had answered all her questions and shared stories he had never told anyone else. About the time in his adolescence that he was instructed to hide his soft heart and instead opt to put on a burly front. As he grew older, he knew keeping his heart hidden would only do him harm. He told her of his oyester farm that he used to cultivate rare pearls. But in return, he had been kept out of hers. He knew nothing of her past.

“Your favourite animal?”, he asked trying to get her to speak again but her eyes only grew distant. “Rhinos.”, she responded looking away. But he noticed the gloom that surrounded her. “Sadness can be shared.”, he spoke, which got him her attention. She looked at him, wondering if he was a true confidant. “I had one as a pet. Looked much like you.”, she told him, a glimmer restored in her eyes. “Is that a compliment?”, he trudged on in the hopes he could still make this day pleasant for her. “Take it as you wish.”, she laughed and he saw it as a victory. But the walls were beginning to rise again and he was struggling to hold on. She took a seat to overlook the fields, cattle grazing the green grass as the sky began to shift to mark the end of the day. He sat next to her. “Will you never tell me anything of your past?”, he asked. She sighed. “What is there to tell but bad choices?”, she looked at the changing clouds. “Is this a bad decision?”, he asked, placing a hand over himself  glancing her way. She found his gaze and her features softened. “This is one of the good ones.”, she smiled and he eased. The heart he kept locked up, coming loose. “Then tell me.”, he said softly.

Talking about her feelings was an activity she never indulged in. The one time she did, her husband had told her she was weak, unfit to protect the throne if she could not keep her emotions in check. But now as he sat by her side, asking her what was wrong. A fear gripped her heart. An uneasiness that made her feel like she wanted to hide away anything she felt, even those moments her heart felt at home in his wondrous smiles. She had always been strong, but admitting things to him meant inviting him into the parts of her life she wanted to keep hidden. Not because she didn’t want to share but

“I don’t want to look weak.”, He heard her say quietly that it would have been missed with the bellowing breeze. His eyes widened, they were mirror images seeing each other for the first time. Sharing the same grief, loneliness and fears. Connected and yet set apart. He tipped her chin to look at him, he was lost in the beauty that she kept hidden deep within, the resilience of her heart and the softness of her mind.

“For everything the world took from you, you grew stronger through it. But if you need a shoulder to lean on, I’m here.”, he said it like a secret. Like an offer that only held valid for her. The spot on his shoulder marked with her name. For no one else but her. She smiled, her eyes brimming with tears. She didn’t speak, but neither did she push him away. She edged closer and placed her head on his shoulder. The warmth tying them together.

“I had a husband once.”, she began

---

Sharkboy is the biggest softie 💖💖😩🥹

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[saikokirakira]

Steven Has a Girlfriend (Steven Grant x Bakunawa!Reader Intro pt.2)

a/n: i know, i know. it's been dull and short. layla's up next, and i promise it'll be more interesting. next update will be next tuesday, same time. :)

Prev: I. Steven pt.1 | Next: II. Layla pt.1 | AU Masterlist

warning: steven being a sweetheart; bakunawa committing steven hate crime; proofread and edited one (1) time

It was odd.

It was definitely odd.

Steven’s dating life has always been bleak and ended up with a lot of confusion on his part.

But his relationship with you has been running… way too smoothly.

Since the first ‘date,’ you conveniently showed up to his work, having looked him up on the National Art Gallery employee list.

Steven mentally heaved out a sigh.

At least he wasn’t being a creep since he did exactly the same thing, only bad at it.

All searches he pulled up were your works rather than where to find you.

“I heard the best guide is here in the gift shop.”

Steven’s heart swelled at you remembering what he said at dinner three days ago.

Most of your dates were showing up during Steven’s lunch break every other day and him showing you his favourite exhibits.

Being your own personal tour guide — it was almost too good to be true.

Steven’s sleep disorder was still running rampant with him blacking out for a few days.

He finds some texts in his phone of him still oddly replying to your messages every day.

He also noticed how you would also go missing for a few days.

Steven believes it’s you acquiring a few art pieces or delivering finished pieces for clients.

There was absolutely no reason for you to suspect each other of any secrets.

It was simply two individuals in a casually going on dates with each other.

When you and Steven hit the one-month mark, he wondered if both of you were going too slow.

You knew right away that Steven was uncomfortable.

How couldn’t you? Bakunawa berated the guy's timidness in your head all the time.

Yet the serpent deity was also the very reason why you were able to find Steven, so you weren't in the right spot to argue.

“Steven, is there something you want to tell me?”

Steven immediately stiffened up before fidgeting from where he stood.

You held his hand and sat him down on the park bench.Spit it out, wimp.

You mentally shushed Bakunawa in your head, then smiled assuredly to Steven.

“Why are you dating me?”

Okay, you did not expect the question.

And Bakunawa was also iffed on your behalf, hissing threateningly.

The deity seal marked on your back began to slither over your shoulder.

Even though it did nothing, you still gripped at your wrist with your free hand as if it would stop him from moving.

You controlled your shared temper with the deity and squeezed Steven’s hand.

“Because I like you, silly.”

Steven smiled, his cheeks growing warm. Then he raised your joined hands, bringing them to his lips.

“I’m… not well.”

He proceeded to tell you about his sleep disorder, his missing time, why he was always late for work.

It didn’t make sense to you. You and Steven texted every day.

“I guess I still want to talk to you even while I’m asleep.”

“Then we’ll make it work.”

“What?”

WHAT?

Mastering it for the past decade, Bakunawa’s roars barely made you flinch now despite the booming volume making your ears ring.

“Nobody said this will be easy, Steven. I like you; you like me. We’ll work on our issues together, okay?”

Steven can only nod dumbly.

You proceeded to lean in. “Can I kiss you?”

“Please do.” Steven nodded with fervor.

He actually met you halfway out of his own eagerness.

It was sweet and shy with a little yearning for something deeper, something more passionate.

In due time. You mused to yourself.

A clink of coins a few feet away broke the cloud of your romantic spell.

"Hey, old chap! I got meself a girlfriend!”

You laughed at Steven’s gleeful cheer and glanced at the elderly man donned in golden statue clothing.

He was busy entertaining a group of tourists but managed to give Steven a side glance.

If he could smile, he would probably return Steven’s cheers.

“Let’s go, puppy.”

Steven happily held your hand right until you drove him home to his flat.

[xinxiaogato]

— live to tell the tail

summary. you unfortunately lived in a universe where general gorou had found out ms. hina was… himself. and just your luck: gorou’s first impression of you was a crazed devotee of the ms. hina fan club, but you had only been in the wrong place at the wrong time. will you live to tell the tail?

love interests. gn!reader x a watatsumi general, an inazuman vagrant, the balladeer, and the kreideprinz.

warnings. infinite pet puns, referenced character death, weapons, swearing, blood, alcohol, harassment, and mentions of war.

word count. 744

chapter four ⌇ pug life

꒰ 🗒 series m.list | prev. chapter | next chapter ꒱

welp, guess i can check "going to jail" off my bucket list, you thought aimlessly as you stared up at the wooden ceiling that was rotting away from groundwater.

"how are prisoners supposed to get any air down here?" you grumbled, pulling a face and tutting disapprovingly. "whose bright idea was it to build the detention center underground...?"

"mine."

"eek!"

you sat bolt upright on the rock of a bed you had been lying on in your cell to discern the leader of the tenryou commission's forces, kujou sara, towering over and bathing you in her shadow from the other side of the bars.

i swear i'm just a side character, you pondered in mild disbelief as you inched off the bed to stand. why is this happening to me?

oh, wait, it was my bad.

"madam kujou—"

"save the fabricated pleasantries," she stated with a calculated stillness in her expression. "you speak quite boldly for a person who committed an unforgivable crime.

oh, archons, it did not seem like you were getting out of this one any time soon no matter how much you begged and sobbed. you didn't have a lawyer on your side, and hotaru was probably halfway through the process of getting a new editor. you wished you had brought a spoon with you as a last resort, but how were you supposed to anticipate any of this?

"madam kujou, the general of the watatsumi army has arrived."

it was unfortunate that there was nowhere to shamefully hide in your dingy prison cell as gorou strode into the detention center with his fists clenched tightly by his sides. there were still so many unanswered questions concerning your first encounter with him.

"sir, this is the person we've taken into custody on your behalf," a soldier of the shogunate declared, clanking his knuckles against the metal bars you were stuck behind.

all of gorou's senses heightened when he recognized your face, which you awkwardly hid behind a curtain of hair to avoid his inquisitive eyes.

"my... behalf?" gorou restated carefully, his cheeks dusted a light pink. that was when you noticed the stench of alcohol wafting through the air.

was gorou drunk?

"yes, numerous witnesses have reported that they witnessed someone attacking you in the street near the aisa bathhouse," a second soldier explained thoroughly. "they also engaged in disorderly conduct in public. this prisoner's outward appearance is the most equivalent to the citizens' testaments."

"is this the person?" sara questioned gorou sharply.

you and gorou met eyes again, but this time, you prolonged your gaze to surmise what was going on in his mind.

would he spare you?

you didn't think he even got a scratch from the "altercation" anyway, so it would be petty of him to keep you locked up...

"attacking me?" gorou parroted flatly after his eyes flitted away from yours to sara's. "this person didn't do anything of the sort."

gorou seemed to suddenly grow wings and a halo right there and then! were you perceiving the birth of an angel?

"however, i cannot testify that they were not disturbing the peace of the city."

...you then sincerely hoped your next blink would be your last.

"i see," was all that sara had to say.

a moment of silence held everyone's breath before gorou cleared his throat. "if you don't need my presence any longer, i will be leaving," gorou announced abruptly, delighted to leave as soon as he could before the alcohol made a fool out of him.

"thank you for your time, general gorou," sara concluded, flickering her attention back to you. "we'll take it from here."

gorou snuck in one last glance in your direction as if he could find an answer by looking at your face before marching back the way he came from.

you balled your hands into fists, your nails digging a bit into the skin of your palms, to attempt to stand your ground.

"'innocent until proven guilty' is a thing here, right?" you asked.

or maybe it wasn't. after all, you were on the raiden shogun's previously forlorn playing field, not the land of promised freedom or the city of flourishing commerce.

"we are due for an explanation," sara maintained.

well, maybe if you didn't immediately toss me behind bars...!

you let that thought simmer down and drift away. you had to choose your internal battles more wisely.

"okay, so it all started with a really attractive woman."

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[marauderundercover]

Taking Chances Chapter 6: Let’s Play a Game (Overprotection)

Prev

AO3

Marinette ended up not staying for dinner. She talked to Bruce for a little bit, but he had to leave for some WE emergency and Marinette wasn’t really up to bonding with the boys- her brothers- yet. But that was fine. It wasn’t like she was desperate to get to know the man and wouldn’t be able to after this trip because she had to stay in Paris because of Hawkmoth. No, she wasn’t upset. Not at all. It didn’t hurt her feelings. Nope.

---

Walking into Madame Soleil's Wax Museum with Adrien by her side, Marinette is hit with a major wave of deja vu. And not a good deja vu. No, the memories of the last time she was in a wax museum with Adrien were awful, humiliating and- feeling a hand wrap around hers pulls her from her spiraling thoughts. Glancing down, Marinette tries (and fails) to hide her grin. Adrien is holding her hand. Adrien is holding her hand!

“Hey Marinette!” A familiar voice calls, a hand squeezing her shoulder, making Marinette squeal and whirl around.

“Dick? What are you doing here?” She asks, frowning at the boy- her brother- as he stands there with a huge smile.

“Well I heard that a new wax figure is being revealed today, and I thought I might come and see it.” He says with a nonchalant shrug.

“Really? Who?” Adrien asks. Dick’s smile twitches slightly as he glances at Marinette, making her frown. Was he seriously about to play the overprotective big brother card? Really?

“Jagged Stone.” Dick finally says, glancing at their entwined hands. Marinette tries hard not to roll her eyes. Come on, her crush is finally holding her hand and her brother (who she’s known for a day!) is seriously trying to ruin that for her?

“Oh cool! Do you think he’ll come to Gotham to see it, Mari?” Adrien asks.

“I think he’s definitely scheduled to make an appearance in Gotham in the next couple days. He’s picking up his new suit in person.” She whispers, grinning at the idea of seeing her “Uncle” in person again. He’d been touring for several months and she hadn’t been able to see him for awhile, just the occasional video call.

“So! What figures did you guys want to check out first?” Dick asks, wedging himself between the two and forcing Adrien to drop her hand. Glaring at her brother, Marinette scoffs when Dick just smiles innocently.

“The hall of heroes and villains sounds cool.” Adrien suggests, looking around Dick to see Marinette.

“Hmm. Okay, but if the Nightwing figure is in his disco costume, I reserve the right to melt the statue.” She says, frowning at the choked noise Dick makes. “Are you okay?” She adds.

“Oh, uh, yeah, yeah I’m fine. What’s 1so bad about that costume?” He asks, a hurt expression on his face.

“Have you even seen it? The only worse costume is Riddler’s.” Marinette says, adding a shudder for dramatic effect. Walking past the local celebrities room and the pop stars room, Marinette’s eyes widen as their small group walks into the hall of heroes and villains. Walking away from Dick and Adrien, she’s almost instantly drawn to the Batman figure. She reads the little plaque about the artist and frowns, turning to Dick who had moved to stand next to her.

“I thought it’d be taller.” She says, scrunching her eyebrows in confusion when Dick starts choking on air, gasping for breath as broken chuckles flood out of him. “Ookay then.” She mutters, turning and walking back towards the villains. Nightwing was, luckily, depicted in his most recent costume. As was Robin. Which meant the only real fashion tragedy (besides the god awful helmet Red Hood wore) was the Riddler. Pulling her sketchbook out, Marinette circles the wax figure, occasionally making notes and sketching out slight adjustments to the man’s costume.

“His costume might be terrible, but it’s still better than half of the akumas.” Adrien whispers, leaning over her shoulder. Marinette looks up at him, eyes wide as her face heats up with a blush.

“I, uh, um, yes. Yeah.” She says, trying not to wince at her lack of speaking skills. “I mean, at least we can rule out any fashion designer in Paris as Hawkmoth. Because if Hawkmoth was a designer, that’d almost be a bigger crime.” She adds, smiling as Adrien laughs.

“Good to know you’re not moonlighting as Hawkmoth, m’lady.” He says with a mock bow. Marinette snorts, then covers her mouth, embarrassment rushing over her. Adrien just shakes his head, wrapping an arm over her shoulders.

“In case you forgot, we’ve definitely seen each other at our most embarrassing.” He says, making her groan.

“Oh god, no. I tied us up with my yoyo!” She moans, turning and burying her face into his chest so she doesn’t have to look at him anymore. Her face heats up more when she feels him chuckle and wrap his arms around her.

“I’ve always thought that was paw-sitively adorable.” He says, laughing when she groans again. She pulls away slightly, looking up at him with a timid smile. He smiles back, starts to lean forward and-

“Hey guys! I heard they’re about to unveil the Jagged Stone figure. Come on, let’s go! Don’t wanna miss it.” Dick says, grabbing each of their hands and pulling them towards the exist (and successfully separating them again). Marinette tries not to glare at Dick. She’s about to have one less brother.

---

Dick Grayson wasn’t used to having a little sister that he could protect. Sure, he had a little sister. Cas was awesome, but she could also kick his ass without breaking a sweat. No, he’d never had a little sister to protect. Someone he could watch out for and support. But now….now he has Marinette. And he’ll be damned if he lets some little punk take advantage of his little sister. Ignoring Marinette’s glare, he positions himself right between her and...the boy. He’d need to ask Timmy to do a background check on the kid later. Especially if he thought he was good enough for Marinette.

“So are you guys big Jagged fans?” He asks, trying to pull the two back into a conversation. He narrows his eyes at the smile the kid gives Marinette. It’s too...adoring. Too much. She’s only...what, fourteen? Much too young to date. Especially this kid.

“Mari’s a bit of a fan, I think. But, personally, I much prefer Jagged’s designer.” He says, and Dick turns to him, missing the way Marinette’s face turns bright red.

“Are you talking about MDC? I love them! Their work is amazing! And Jagged Stone says that he’ll never have another designer. I heard that there’s a possibility of them opening their commissions again. God, I hope they do. I’d do anything for something made by MDC.” Dick rambles with a wide smile, deciding to ignore the kid for a minute in order to ramble about his favorite designer. As the group walks into the pop star room, Dick steps back and glares at the kid. He’d stepped just behind Dick and was apparently trying to hold Marinette’s hand again. Not on his watch. No siree. No one’s gonna hurt his little sister.

---

Bruce sighs, running his hands through his hair. He’d been checking the street cameras in Paris, trying to figure out what time Ladybug and Chat Noir patrol so that he can set up a meeting. Try and offer help, or maybe even offer to take control of the situation. Anything to get rid of Hawkmoth. But instead, it was like the heroes didn’t exist. He’d read reports of the heroes patrolling before, so why were they so quiet this week? The only akuma from the past couple days wasn’t even taken care of by both of them. Ladybug did it alone, and seemed worse for the wear when she came out of the battle. Where was Chat Noir? And why did it seem as though they had gone into hiding?

---

Marinette was five seconds away from committing her first murder. Okay, probably her only murder, unless her other brothers decide to be as involved in her love life as Dick is. Because Dick won’t have the chance to be a problem for much longer. Because Marinette was honestly going to kill him. Right as she turned to finally yell at him, and tell him to knock it off, the lights flickered. She pauses her tirade, glancing to gauge Dick’s reaction to see if this is normal. And if his worried glances back at her are anything to go by, this is not normal.

“Let’s play a game! Solve my riddles and you all can leave freely, but make a mistake and someone will pay greatly! Take one out and scratch my head, I am now black but once was red. What am I?” A man’s voice asks, Marinette frowning as the Riddler walks in, a wide smile on his face. Ten goons walk in behind him, all of them carrying guns. She was used to the akuma attacks almost every day, but didn’t Gotham’s rogues have anything better to do than attack every place her class went? With guns? Come on. Riddler smirks and points at Adrien with his cane.

“A match.” She blurts out, ignoring Dick frantically shaking his head. If nothing else, she should be able to work with Adrien to get everyone out. But she knew his style. And riddles weren’t really his thing.

“Oh goody. We have a volunteer. Tell me, what has to be broken before you can use it?” Riddler asks, stalking towards her. Thinking for a second, Marinette tries to suppress a smile.

“An egg.” She says. Riddler narrows his eyes.

“I have 13 hearts, but no lungs or stomach. What am I?” He asks, Marinette frowns, running through possible answers in her head.

“A deck of cards.” She finally says.

“Buzzy, come over here and hold onto our friend.” Riddler says, gesturing to one of the goons. The man comes over and grabs Marinette’s arm roughly, she winces. That’ll definitely bruise.

“I answered your riddles.” Marinette says, deciding that now's as good a time as any to start distracting the man.

“And how did you answer them so quickly?” He asks, the frustration clear on his face.

“What do you mean? Were they supposed to be hard?” Marinette taunts, ignoring the choked sound Dick makes behind her. She knew what she was doing. She did. She had to.

“Why you-” Riddler starts, stepping forward and pulling his hand back as if to hit her. Squeezing her eyes shut, Marinette waits for the slap. The slap never comes. Opening her eyes, Marinette’s jaw drops when she sees the Riddler’s fist held tightly in Dick’s hand.

“Don’t. Touch. Her.” He says lowly, a dark look on his face. Well that was unexpected. Riddler opens his mouth, probably to start spouting more riddles or other nonsense, when the goons blocking the exits drop. Noticing Red Robin and Red Hood picking off the other goons, Marinette throws her elbow back into the gut of the goon holding her. Not waiting for him to recover, Marinette stomps his foot and twists out of his grip. Grabbing his arm, Marinette manages to yank the man off balance and toss him to the ground. A hand on her shoulder makes her jump back and prepare to hit the person.

“Whoa, whoa, it’s okay ma’am.” The voice attached to the hand says. Marinette whirls around, ready to tell off the person, but immediately stops when she sees Red Robin.

“Sorry!” She yelps, jumping away from him. And she was too. She was determined to hit the person who grabbed her shoulder, so locked into battle mode, but she had managed to stop herself. Glancing around the room, Marinette notices Dick talking to Red Hood, his usual smile back on his face. That’s good. That’s normal, that’s right. The sudden blaring of the akuma alarm makes Marinette want to scream in frustration. Really, right now? It’s definitely already dark in Paris which means- Chat Noir. Ignoring everyone else, Marinette runs over to Adrien and grabs his hand.

“Akuma?” He asks, his voice low. She nods and tugs him towards the bathrooms, unaware of the eyes following them out.

Next

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[sagefzy]

PART FOUR: POPCORN AND GREEN TEA

perfectionism | prev | next

You tapped your foot on the pavement, anxious to finally meet the eyes of your old friend. The feeling of excitement was almost overwhelming all your senses, the only thing you could focus on was the plain, faded brown door in front of you. Quickly, you sent Suna a text to let him know of your arrival, however in the corner of your eye, you suddenly noticed two figures approaching. You shrugged it off, thinking that it was just two guys passing by on a walk, but rather than walking past the house, they stepped up the driveway slowly drawing near you.

Hearing Ennoshita's words in your mind about being aware of your surroundings, you discreetly glanced back observing the two. But, much to your surprise, it was the exact two guys who bombarded you at the supermarket yesterday. Well, actually, more like the one blond who smashed a shopping cart into your heel, blubbering apologies and looking away, while the other one stood there and watched the whole incident play out.

You watched them for what seemed like forever. Could they possibly be Suna's friends? No, the whole thing seemed too coincidental, surely that couldn't be the case. Not willing to take the chance, you took out your phone once more in hopes to get Suna to clarify that those were, indeed, not his friends. Unfortunately for you, it appeared that the universe had decided to make you a pawn in its game because the two of them were, indeed, his friends.

You let out a heavy sigh, you could already tell that the next few hours would be nothing but awkward stares and embarrassing conversations. Not wanting to ruin your one day of freedom- the one day where you didn't have to listen to your dad's constant yells, telling you how much of a disappointment you are- the one day where you didn't have to sit in front of the piano all day just to feel some sort of gratification. It was then that you decided to just ignore the situation, and pretend as if the blond wasn't the reason that the back of your foot was wrapped in a bandage. For all Suna knew, this was you guys' first encounter, so be it.

Right as the door opened, your eyes were drawn to the tall green-eyed boy who you used to spend every day with as a young kid. "Y/N, so glad you're here!" Suna smiled, as he went in for a quick hug. "Those two behind you are Atsumu and Osamu." He introduced, pointing to the two that were now directly behind you. The blond looked absolutely horrified, stealing brief glimpses at the bandage that hugged your heel, the other one, however, stared back with a nonchalant smile. "They may have almost the same face, but the one with the ugly piss-colored hair is Atsumu, and the normal looking one is Osamu."

You grinned back at the two, showcasing your brightest smile, hoping that they'd get the message to not bring up the fact that this was not your first encounter. You were going to introduce yourself to the two, but the blond seemed to beat you to cut. "How come Samu is the normal one?" He whined.

Suna snickered, "Because Osamu doesn't act like a dramatic brat who needs his hand held every damn second of the day."

Suna's blunt words made you softly chuckle, there was something in friendly banter that just made it so pure and innocent. You looked up at the two, noticing that the blond's expression had softened after hearing your giggles. With the brief moment of silence at hand, you decided to take this as the moment to introduce yourself. "I'm Y/N, it's nice to meet you Atsumu and Osamu."

"Well now that we got introductions out of the way, why don't we go inside and find something to do," Suna suggested.

"Rinny, can we watch a movie?" You asked excitedly. The last time you had watched a movie was when you hung out with Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Ennoshita before leaving Miyagi, and your dad hardly ever let you engage in anything other than school work or piano, making it a rare treasure.

Suna nodded, "Watching a movie it is."

As all of you entered the house, you couldn't help but hear the blond, Atsumu mutter to his brother, "If I called 'm Rinny I think he'd punch me on the spot."

A smile quickly reappeared on your face as you heard his brother respond, "I don't know, I'll give ya one thousand yen to put it to the test."

"No, I think I'll choose life," He giggled.

You found your way to the couch and swiftly pulled out your phone, eager to let your friends know your current situation. The whole scene sounded like something straight out of a book.

You clicked your phone off and turned your attention to the aroma that seemed to be emerging from the kitchen. The familiar scent, caramel popcorn and green tea, jogged an almost forgotten memory of your childhood. An unlikely duo, yet even as a child you couldn't get enough of the weird combination. No one would've ever thought to put the two together, but it just worked.

You almost laughed at the sight. Suna walked out of the kitchen juggling three bowls of caramel popcorn, three bottles of energy drinks, and, of course, your mug of green tea. Since he had such little grace, you got up and lent a helping hand. "No, no you're my guest and you're injured go sit back down," Suna scolded.

"Well it's too late, I'm already here, so I'll just take some of that off your hand," You said while grabbing the mug of tea and the three energy drinks. You walked over to the twins and handed them each their bottle.

"Say what happened to yer foot over there?" Osamu asked with a smirk on his face.

"Oh yeah you never told me what you did to your foot, Y/N," Suna added as he placed the remaining bowls on the side table.

"It's not a big deal I just scraped myself with glass while unpacking," You blurted. You hoped that the lie was convincing enough, but to be honest, scraping yourself with glass sounded way more believable than being run over with a shopping cart.

"I see, sorry to hear that," Osamu responded in an almost surprise-like manner. You thought that maybe he expected you to call out his brother, however you decided to stick with your initial decision of ignoring the situation to save your night from awkwardness. His expression only got more surprised as he realized the unusual food combination you were eating. For only eating caramel popcorn with green tea, he looked as if you were committing a crime against food.

"Green tea with caramel popcorn?" He asked.

With no shame you nodded your head. "Don't knock it until you try it, it's my favorite combo in the world. I can never get enough of it."

Suna sighed, "Yeah, it's no use to convince her otherwise it's been more than a solid seven years since i last saw her and she still likes it."

The night ended almost as quickly as it started. Although you were initially worried about it being awkward, your worries were soon rested once Osamu started explaining his love of cooking. You both talked endlessly about all sorts of sweets and savory foods you both enjoyed indulging in. However, his twin, on the other hand, barely talked as he aimlessly played around with his phone.

Your eyes noticed the time on the nearby clock, the numbers displaying that it was near midnight. Your stomach instantly knotted, if your dad wasn't asleep, you for sure were going to get an ear full when you arrived home. You picked up your phone, and smiled at Suna and Osamu who's chest softly rose up and down as they slept.

You stood up quietly, getting Atsumu's attention. You didn't expect him to do or say anything since he'd been quite dull the entire night, but it seemed like this was a night of surprises. "Yer not planning to go all the way to the bus stop by yerself now are ya?" He asked.

"Well I'm not waking either of them so they can escort me if that's what you're asking," you responded "But, you're more than welcome to join me if it'll put your mind at ease." You fully expected him to not care, however he grabbed his jacket next to him and stood up, walking over to where you stood by the front door.

He quietly opened the door, careful to not make a creaking noise. "After you," He said as he directed you out of the house. The crisp winter air hit your face, your whole body jolted from the sudden change of temperatures. "Don't suppose yer cold now?" He asked, probably noticing your shivering. You replied by shaking your head and continued on the trail to the bus stop.

The rest of the walk was mostly silent, neither one of you knowing what to say. This was definitely uncharacteristically of Atsumu, anyone who'd even slightly know him would expect him to be chatting your ear off with overdramatized commentary. However, things seemed to be different in this situation, there was an eerie feeling about you that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Of course, it didn't help that your first encounter with him was him, in fact, running a shopping cart into you, but it wasn't just that. Maybe it was the way you presented yourself, in an almost sickening sweet-like manner. It all felt artificial, like a facade.

"Well this is it," you said, snapping him out of his thoughts, "Just in time for the last bus, thanks for walking with me." You turned around to enter the vehicle but before you could, a hand made its way to your arm. You immediately flinched at the contact, pulling away at the light hold he had on you.

"I'm sorry I just- i um," He started, trying to find a way to word what he wanted to say. "I wanted to say that 'm sorry for yesterday, it was kind of a shitty thing to do, and 'm also sorry for not really talking all that much today, ya seem really nice and I'm usually not this bad when it comes to meeting new people. And, I totally ruined the night by ignoring you I-"

You lightly laughed, "It's alright, plus any friend of Rin's, is a friend of mine, and you didn't ruin tonight at all, I thought it was perfect." You both smiled back at each other, not saying anything for a moment. You cleared your throat, "Um, I'll see you around, have a good night, Atsumu."

He watched as you entered the bus. A small smile made it on his face as he watched you wave goodbye from the bus window. He waved back and muttered under his breath, "Good night, Y/N."

The bus ride was only about ten minutes. Anxiously, you opened the door to your house, hoping that by some miracle your dad would be sound asleep. The old door slightly creaked, you peaked inside and all your worries flushed away as you saw your dad passed out on the couch. Granted he was passed out drunk, at least that's what you gathered by the four bottles of empty beer that laid at his feet.

Even for you, life wasn't as perfect as it seemed. As much as you wanted it to be, as much as you led people on to think that it was, it just wasn't. The worst part of it was that deep down, you felt accountable for it all. Maybe if you would've been just a little better at piano, you could've achieved your perfect life.

You reached your bedroom and exhaustedly plopped down on your bed. You glanced at the picture of your mother on your bedside table. Her long hair glided down her lavender dress, her face gleaming with a smile. In one hand she held her violin and the other held an award deeming her the best violinist in the nation. She was talented, beautiful, intelligent, and made your dad happy. She was absolutely everything you weren't, and your dad made sure to remind you everyday.

Life before she died was perfect. You could never recall a memory of you being sad around her. Before you closed your eyes, you whispered, "I wish I was perfect like you."

fun facts !

Whenever Atsumu doesn't know how to address a situation, he just goes on his phone and plays angry birds.

If you're ever bored, Osamu will talk forever about all the different ways you can cook the same recipe.

Suna can never stay awake during a movie night, he always falls asleep somehow.

Before getting into volleyball, the twins' mother tried to get them into violin, however that quickly failed once Atsumu broke his bow on the second day of lessons.

perfectionism ©

smau written by @sagefzy

tagist: open just send an ask :)

[sunflowerheartsandstarryskies]

The Devil and the Mermaid - Chapter Four (Lucifer x Mermaid!Reader)

Author’s Note: The inspiration here came from a dream of mine, also one of my favorite shows “The Legend of the Blue Sea” has some heavy inspiration in here as well. Thank you so much for the support of the series! I will also create a tag list for this story since I saw people interested in that. Again I love reading your guys’ comments and if you want to be part of a tag list for this series please let me know :)

Warnings: None, maybe mild violence? (You shove a guy out of the way)

Taglist: @th3gl1tt3rgam3roff1c1al, @magnet-girl, @roxytheimmortal​

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You were covered in darkness, but you were adjusted to the darkness, you lived in the dark with your clan who usually swims in the parts of the ocean where the light just barely touched your skin. 

However instead of the comforting warmth and assurance, you had when you were a woman swimming with your clan, your family, it was a lingering warmth and a reassurance that had made you realize you were dreaming and not of your memories. 

“(Y/N) you have met an interesting fate having fallen for Lucifer,” a voice echoed around you. You looked around in the dark space to search for the voice but found no answer to that.

“I would not have known of your existence if you hadn’t gone out of that water, it’s strange what this world has created once I left it.”

“Are you the moon? What do you mean by that? All I know is what I have been taught and seen when I was in the ocean”

“You could say I am the moon, but I am more than that and also less than that at the same time. I affect the world around me indirectly but you have caused quite a stir where I am at with your involvement with Lucifer, I wish you the best of luck and the best of health.”

With that, you were startled from your sleep by pressure on your shoulder, and you opened your eyes to see Lucifer smiling at you. Once he saw you were awake he went to say, “Good morning my dear, have a good dream?”

“Funny you should mention that, I heard a voice say that they were the moon, I think anyway. I don’t quite remember what they said but I remember your name,” you say as you start sitting up from the bed.

Lucifer sat down next to you as he took in what you said, humming in thought, he turned to you and patted your shoulder.

“Well the only one I know that could do that, would be my Dad, but I don’t know why he would want to talk to you.”

After a couple of days, you have gotten well versed with different aspects of human life and culture, mainly you are not allowed to eat spaghetti with your hands. You also have gotten interested in the tv that had got you basically hooked on the subtleties of different subsets of human culture, one being that if bad men are about to hurt you you can beat them up.

“Anyway, darling remember when I was talking to you about my consulting job for the police?”

You nodded remembering the different stories of his workplace along with his partner, Chloe. She seemed weird but nice from what you heard from him. 

“Well, I have to go in today there is a case that the police department says they need my help with,” Lucifer continued, “and I want you to come with me.”

“I would like to, is it going to be like what I saw on tv with how they deal with violence?” you asked.

“Kind of, it depends, now love let’s get you ready for the day and we can get going.”

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

You and Lucifer walked into a one-story house it looks plain and forgettable with its beige outside paint and white shingled roof. There were also some beautiful hydrangea bushes in the front, and you noticed them because they were the only splash of color in the whole property. There were police officers around the property and you saw one documenting the bushes. You tilt your head as you were stalling to enter the house and saw footprints underneath the bushes. 

“(Y/N) are you okay? Come on,” Lucifer urged on. He leads you into the home, and you immediately see the crime scene.

 It was an execution. Plain and simple. The victim was a young woman from what you saw, and she was shot point-blank in the back of the head as she was sitting on her couch, she probably knew the killer, since the tv was still on. 

The aquarium was direct across from the living room, and you saw the fish in there was trying to get your attention. You can hear the voices of the fish repeatedly crying out, “He hurt her! Help her! He was her friend” You looked at the aquarium and the fishes seem to surround you as they try to talk to you through the glass. ‘Can you show me what he looked like,’ you broadcasted to the fish. 

Lucifer was looking at you confused at what you were doing and was about to talk to you when he got interrupted.

“Oh no, you did not bring a civilian to a crime scene” you hear a voice coming towards you. 

“Ah detective, how good to see you again, and this is (Y/N) she is my assistant and friend,” Lucifer says. 

You turn your head away from the aquarium and saw a stressed blonde woman coming towards you, and you realized that this must be Chloe Decker. She tilted her head with furrowed brows and a hand to her hip as she eyes you. 

“Why would you need an assistant?” Decker questioned.

“You know there are always things that I could miss out on while we’re out here and plus don’t you want someone who can put me in line and in order for once?” Lucifer replied.

“That’ll be the day,” Decker snorted.

You tugged on the jacket sleeve on Lucifer to get his attention to you, and he leaned for you to whisper to tell him the thoughts and profile the fish given to you about the person who committed the murder.

“Oh that’s brilliant, darling, see Detective my assistant just gave us a solid lead to go off of. We have a suspect!” Lucifer exclaimed as he grabs your hand and leads you out of the crime scene.

“Wait a minute can you tell me what means?” Decker ran off to you two.

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

So the three of you ended up at an apartment building on the opposite side of Los Angeles waiting to interview the suspect that the fish had identified to you at the victim’s home. 

Lucifer ended up filling into Decker that you had deduced based on the footprints outside the house and the way she was killed, it was someone she knew intimately enough to let the person in without a second glance. You just confirmed that for him with the description of the man the fish saw kill their owner, Blaire Wright. He also found that there was a single picture of him and the victim together faced down so he connected the dots to realize that the relationship must’ve turned to an obsession for the man and had gone possessive over the woman. The old “if I can’t have her nobody can” cliche, which made Lucifer quite bored about that trope but you can’t always choose what happens in your cases. 

You all made your way to the apartment building, Decker went to find out from the landlord about the suspect and you and Lucifer were ordered to stay out in the parking lot. You spotted the man that matched the description the fish gave you and the picture Lucifer showed to verify it. His name was Oscar Grant, and he’s suspected to have developed an obsessive behavior over Ns. Wright … and he was heading your way.

Lucifer seemed to be aware of it as he straightened himself and walked over to where the man was walking into the parking lot. 

You felt a strange sensation of being submerged in the water again, you felt heavy and light all at the same time. You couldn’t hear what the two were saying, but you felt the danger and sensation of a cornered animal, and that’s when you felt that you had to move. So you did. Grant pulled a gun but as soon as he did you grabbed his forearm and threw him towards the dumpsters that were ten feet away from him. You may have used a bit too much of your strength. There was now a new dent behind Grant that there wasn’t there before and a shocked looking Lucifer next to you and staring at the gun in between you and the culprit.

You heard Decker walking behind you and you heard her go with a bewildered voice, “How in the-?”

When he came to a few seconds later, he was given his rights by Decker and placed in the back of her car off the police department. While you were walking up to you and Lucifer’s ride you felt a lingering gaze on your back throughout that entire encounter. You just shook your head in an attempt to get rid of that feeling. 

Later on, Oscar Grant ended up confessing to both the attempted murder of you and Lucifer and the murder of Blaire Wright. Decker relented upon the idea of Lucifer bringing you to cases because you ended up being a pretty good asset. 

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

Now you were back at Lucifer’s penthouse and you were in pajamas lounging around the bar area in his place. Lucifer was down at the LUX club area taking care of some business that he needed to get done as he told you. 

There was a small pool that he had in his apartment which you found, and you can hear the call of the water no matter its state. So you took off your clothes and went in the pool, your tail and scales came as soon as you were submerged and your whole body was singing with happiness as it felt alive again. 

The more you spend on land without the return of the love that you came out of the water for, your heart will stop beating unless you step back in the ocean. You forgot to tell Lucifer about that specific part of the deal of you coming on land because you didn’t want him to feel the pressure of returning a love that might not be real, to begin with. 

You begin to worry about what might happen if he found out you didn’t tell him the whole truth of your situation to him. You didn’t want him to concerned for your fate, because you never know what might happen there might be a happy ending for you both.

As you were swimming in the small pool brooding in your thoughts you heard the elevator ping, so you peaked your head over the corner of the pool. When you just saw it was Lucifer and no one else you let yourself be seen by him.

“Well hello there, I see you have found my pool then?” Lucifer greeted you. You beamed at him and nodded fervently at that.

“Y’know I never actually saw you as your original mermaid self? Is it alright if I watch you swim?”

“Um sure if you want to, I’m not the most beautiful, there are others in just my clan that have amazing scales and tail fin,” you state.

“Let me be the judge of that, love-” he cut himself off with a mouth agape look as he marveled at your full beauty.

Your tail was massive and the scales decorating and protecting your body were glittering with a rainbow of colors complementing your skin tone. It made you look heavenly and the flowing tail at the end made you look that way even more so.

You became self-conscious at the way Lucifer was just staring at you, so became to fidget under his heavy gaze in the water.

Then he spoke gently, “You are beautiful, absolutely gorgeous. Thank you for letting me see your true self like this.”

“Thank you Lucifer, that means a lot to me.”

The brooding can wait, you have time to be hopeful and to think about that happy ending.

[sagewritesmore]

PART FOUR: POPCORN AND GREEN TEA

perfectionism | prev | next

wc: 2108

You tapped your foot on the pavement, anxious to finally meet the eyes of your old friend. The feeling of excitement was almost overwhelming all your senses, the only thing you could focus on was the plain, faded brown door in front of you. Quickly, you sent Suna a text to let him know of your arrival, however in the corner of your eye, you suddenly noticed two figures approaching. You shrugged it off, thinking that it was just two guys passing by on a walk, but rather than walking past the house, they stepped up the driveway slowly drawing near you.

Hearing Ennoshita's words in your mind about being aware of your surroundings, you discreetly glanced back observing the two. But, much to your surprise, it was the exact two guys who bombarded you at the supermarket yesterday. Well, actually, more like the one blond who smashed a shopping cart into your heel, blubbering apologies and looking away, while the other one stood there and watched the whole incident play out.

You watched them for what seemed like forever. Could they possibly be Suna's friends? No, the whole thing seemed too coincidental, surely that couldn't be the case. Not willing to take the chance, you took out your phone once more in hopes to get Suna to clarify that those were, indeed, not his friends. Unfortunately for you, it appeared that the universe had decided to make you a pawn in its game because the two of them were, indeed, his friends.

You let out a heavy sigh, you could already tell that the next few hours would be nothing but awkward stares and embarrassing conversations. Not wanting to ruin your one day of freedom- the one day where you didn't have to listen to your dad's constant yells, telling you how much of a disappointment you are- the one day where you didn't have to sit in front of the piano all day just to feel some sort of gratification. It was then that you decided to just ignore the situation, and pretend as if the blond wasn't the reason that the back of your foot was wrapped in a bandage. For all Suna knew, this was you guys' first encounter, so be it.

Right as the door opened, your eyes were drawn to the tall green-eyed boy who you used to spend every day with as a young kid. "Y/N, so glad you're here!" Suna smiled, as he went in for a quick hug. "Those two behind you are Atsumu and Osamu." He introduced, pointing to the two that were now directly behind you. The blond looked absolutely horrified, stealing brief glimpses at the bandage that hugged your heel, the other one, however, stared back with a nonchalant smile. "They may have almost the same face, but the one with the ugly piss-colored hair is Atsumu, and the normal looking one is Osamu."

You grinned back at the two, showcasing your brightest smile, hoping that they'd get the message to not bring up the fact that this was not your first encounter. You were going to introduce yourself to the two, but the blond seemed to beat you to cut. "How come Samu is the normal one?" He whined.

Suna snickered, "Because Osamu doesn't act like a dramatic brat who needs his hand held every damn second of the day."

Suna's blunt words made you softly chuckle, there was something in friendly banter that just made it so pure and innocent. You looked up at the two, noticing that the blond's expression had softened after hearing your giggles. With the brief moment of silence at hand, you decided to take this as the moment to introduce yourself. "I'm Y/N, it's nice to meet you Atsumu and Osamu."

"Well now that we got introductions out of the way, why don't we go inside and find something to do," Suna suggested.

"Rinny, can we watch a movie?" You asked excitedly. The last time you had watched a movie was when you hung out with Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Ennoshita before leaving Miyagi, and your dad hardly ever let you engage in anything other than school work or piano, making it a rare treasure.

Suna nodded, "Watching a movie it is."

As all of you entered the house, you couldn't help but hear the blond, Atsumu mutter to his brother, "If I called 'm Rinny I think he'd punch me on the spot."

A smile quickly reappeared on your face as you heard his brother respond, "I don't know, I'll give ya one thousand yen to put it to the test."

"No, I think I'll choose life," He giggled.

You found your way to the couch and swiftly pulled out your phone, eager to let your friends know your current situation. The whole scene sounded like something straight out of a book.

You clicked your phone off and turned your attention to the aroma that seemed to be emerging from the kitchen. The familiar scent, caramel popcorn and green tea, jogged an almost forgotten memory of your childhood. An unlikely duo, yet even as a child you couldn't get enough of the weird combination. No one would've ever thought to put the two together, but it just worked.

You almost laughed at the sight. Suna walked out of the kitchen juggling three bowls of caramel popcorn, three bottles of energy drinks, and, of course, your mug of green tea. Since he had such little grace, you got up and lent a helping hand. "No, no you're my guest and you're injured go sit back down," Suna scolded.

"Well it's too late, I'm already here, so I'll just take some of that off your hand," You said while grabbing the mug of tea and the three energy drinks. You walked over to the twins and handed them each their bottle.

"Say what happened to yer foot over there?" Osamu asked with a smirk on his face.

"Oh yeah you never told me what you did to your foot, Y/N," Suna added as he placed the remaining bowls on the side table.

"It's not a big deal I just scraped myself with glass while unpacking," You blurted. You hoped that the lie was convincing enough, but to be honest, scraping yourself with glass sounded way more believable than being run over with a shopping cart.

"I see, sorry to hear that," Osamu responded in an almost surprise-like manner. You thought that maybe he expected you to call out his brother, however you decided to stick with your initial decision of ignoring the situation to save your night from awkwardness. His expression only got more surprised as he realized the unusual food combination you were eating. For only eating caramel popcorn with green tea, he looked as if you were committing a crime against food.

"Green tea with caramel popcorn?" He asked.

With no shame you nodded your head. "Don't knock it until you try it, it's my favorite combo in the world. I can never get enough of it."

Suna sighed, "Yeah, it's no use to convince her otherwise it's been more than a solid seven years since i last saw her and she still likes it."

The night ended almost as quickly as it started. Although you were initially worried about it being awkward, your worries were soon rested once Osamu started explaining his love of cooking. You both talked endlessly about all sorts of sweets and savory foods you both enjoyed indulging in. However, his twin, on the other hand, barely talked as he aimlessly played around with his phone.

Your eyes noticed the time on the nearby clock, the numbers displaying that it was near midnight. Your stomach instantly knotted, if your dad wasn't asleep, you for sure were going to get an ear full when you arrived home. You picked up your phone, and smiled at Suna and Osamu who's chest softly rose up and down as they slept.

You stood up quietly, getting Atsumu's attention. You didn't expect him to do or say anything since he'd been quite dull the entire night, but it seemed like this was a night of surprises. "Yer not planning to go all the way to the bus stop by yerself now are ya?" He asked.

"Well I'm not waking either of them so they can escort me if that's what you're asking," you responded "But, you're more than welcome to join me if it'll put your mind at ease." You fully expected him to not care, however he grabbed his jacket next to him and stood up, walking over to where you stood by the front door.

He quietly opened the door, careful to not make a creaking noise. "After you," He said as he directed you out of the house. The crisp winter air hit your face, your whole body jolted from the sudden change of temperatures. "Don't suppose yer cold now?" He asked, probably noticing your shivering. You replied by shaking your head and continued on the trail to the bus stop.

The rest of the walk was mostly silent, neither one of you knowing what to say. This was definitely uncharacteristically of Atsumu, anyone who'd even slightly know him would expect him to be chatting your ear off with overdramatized commentary. However, things seemed to be different in this situation, there was an eerie feeling about you that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Of course, it didn't help that your first encounter with him was him, in fact, running a shopping cart into you, but it wasn't just that. Maybe it was the way you presented yourself, in an almost sickening sweet-like manner. It all felt artificial, like a facade.

"Well this is it," you said, snapping him out of his thoughts, "Just in time for the last bus, thanks for walking with me." You turned around to enter the vehicle but before you could, a hand made its way to your arm. You immediately flinched at the contact, pulling away at the light hold he had on you.

"I'm sorry I just- i um," He started, trying to find a way to word what he wanted to say. "I wanted to say that 'm sorry for yesterday, it was kind of a shitty thing to do, and 'm also sorry for not really talking all that much today, ya seem really nice and I'm usually not this bad when it comes to meeting new people. And, I totally ruined the night by ignoring you I-"

You lightly laughed, "It's alright, plus any friend of Rin's, is a friend of mine, and you didn't ruin tonight at all, I thought it was perfect." You both smiled back at each other, not saying anything for a moment. You cleared your throat, "Um, I'll see you around, have a good night, Atsumu."

He watched as you entered the bus. A small smile made it on his face as he watched you wave goodbye from the bus window. He waved back and muttered under his breath, "Good night, Y/N."

The bus ride was only about ten minutes. Anxiously, you opened the door to your house, hoping that by some miracle your dad would be sound asleep. The old door slightly creaked, you peaked inside and all your worries flushed away as you saw your dad passed out on the couch. Granted he was passed out drunk, at least that's what you gathered by the four bottles of empty beer that laid at his feet.

Even for you, life wasn't as perfect as it seemed. As much as you wanted it to be, as much as you led people on to think that it was, it just wasn't. The worst part of it was that deep down, you felt accountable for it all. Maybe if you would've been just a little better at piano, you could've achieved your perfect life.

You reached your bedroom and exhaustedly plopped down on your bed. You glanced at the picture of your mother on your bedside table. Her long hair glided down her lavender dress, her face gleaming with a smile. In one hand she held her violin and the other held an award deeming her the best violinist in the nation. She was talented, beautiful, intelligent, and made your dad happy. She was absolutely everything you weren't, and your dad made sure to remind you everyday.

Life before she died was perfect. You could never recall a memory of you being sad around her. Before you closed your eyes, you whispered, "I wish I was perfect like you."

fun facts !

Whenever Atsumu doesn't know how to address a situation, he just goes on his phone and plays angry birds.

If you're ever bored, Osamu will talk forever about all the different ways you can cook the same recipe.

Suna can never stay awake during a movie night, he always falls asleep somehow.

Before getting into volleyball, the twins' mother tried to get them into violin, however that quickly failed once Atsumu broke his bow on the second day of lessons.

perfectionism ©

smau written by @sagefzy

taglist: open just send an ask :)

@shephard17895 @art-junkie-13 @vhsryuu @qualitygiantshoepsychic @everytimeswift @kritiiiii

[oss-crime]

Chapter 5-Escape of the Witch Salmhofer; Scene 2

Original Sin Story: Crime, pages 176-180

--She was rarely in a good mood on days when she had that dream of being chased by something.

But that wasn’t the only reason that Meta Salmhofer was in sour spirits.

She’d woken up earlier than planned at the sound of someone banging on her bedroom door and shouting angrily.

“Oi, wake up, Meta!”

…It was Raisa Netsuma’s voice.

Apparently that coarse, white-haired woman had no concept of tact.

Ultimately, Raisa violently kicked the door open to enter without waiting for a reply from Meta.

“Morning, Meta—You look unhappy. That my bad?”

“…Well, you’re certainly not the first face I want to see in the morning.”

Raisa’s entire face was covered in painful looking burn scars, which extended down past her neck. If she were to take off her clothing one could likely see similar scars covering her entire body.

She led a band of savages called the “White Army” in the Magic Kingdom of Levianta’s south-west region, after having immigrated here with her father from the country of “Jakoku” in the far-east. At present, she was one of the top brass of “Apocalypse”, just like Meta.

Meta didn’t care for her much.

It wasn’t because her appearance was so hideous. She simply felt Raisa was unsuited to being a top member with her wildness and lacking of real strength.

The one who decided to add Raisa to their “allies” was their leader, Pale. Meta didn’t think she had such an open mind as he did, but at the very least she could rest assured that Pale wasn’t going to get any untoward ideas about Raisa with that appearance of hers.

“Our base in the north has fallen,” Raisa said, expressionless. She might have been genuinely angry, or she could also have been smiling; her facial muscles barely moved, so it was hard to tell.

“Ah, I see,” Meta replied bluntly.

The Royal Army—the group that had originally been called the peacekeeping forces—had become more lively as of late.

It was nothing they could help.

Pale wasn’t the sort to overlook the state of things at large. He’d taken advantage of the political upheaval occurring in the royal capital to simultaneously reinvigorate Apocalypse’s efforts.

Thanks to the havoc now being orchestrated by all of their “friends” in other regions, the entire kingdom was being swallowed up in a tide of chaos.

Pillaging, rapes, murders…This world, having lost all sense of order, was now becoming Pale’s utopia.

What would be awaiting them when it was complete?

…Only Pale knew that.

But at the very least, this world’s morals, its ethics, its laws…there existed no small number of people who believed all of them foolish.

.

--Meta was one such person.

She could only remember fragments of her memories from when she was young, but whatever the case she had rooted in her heart the knowledge that she was an orphan and had lived her life alone, and the awareness that she hated everything in this world.

Her only clear memories were after she had turned twenty years old.

She didn’t know how she had ended up so, but she was confined by a farm owner, and sexually assaulted by him on practically a daily basis.

Meta herself only discovered this later, but…the man had been ensnared by the power of the “Inheritor of Gilles” that she held. At the time she still had no idea how to use her power, and had put it into operation without meaning to.

One day, when Meta awoke she saw the farmer naked and bound in rope beside her.

She realized that there were several armed men surrounding them.

A bespectacled man who looked to be the leader of this group stepped forward, and crouched before Meta.

He handed her a single knife, and wordlessly smiled.

She stood—and then stabbed the farmer with the knife in her hand over and over again.

This…was her first murder that she could remember.

And her meeting with Pale.

.

--Whatever the case, it was clear that the government couldn’t just let be all of the atrocities that Pale, Meta, and the others had committed up to this point.

The new head of the senate, Gammon Loop Octopus, had increased the numbers of the peacekeeping forces, restructured the organization, and then sent it out to crush Apocalypse as the Royal Army.

Currently they were…fairly evenly matched.

But if it kept up like this, they would eventually be overcome by the gap in combat power between them.

The royal army’s heavy carriages were a force to be reckoned with. Neither Meta’s seductive powers nor Raisa’s flames could penetrate their bulky armor.

They would need to decide on a plan now.

Would they strike all at once and hijack the royal capital before they could be done in?

Or would they take a defensive approach?

“Go recapture our base in the north for now,” Meta ordered Raisa.

“Hey now. You make that sound like it’ll be easy.”

“If it looks difficult, just stall the Royal Army, at least. I lend you half my Red Devotees to go with your White Army.”

“But then our western flank will be stretched thin.”

“You just leave that to the Baron.”

“Got it.”

Raisa turned on her heel and left the bedroom.

…Now then—

Meta stripped out of her sleepwear, leaving her completely naked.

--Time to go see my darling.

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[ellewritesathing]

(Un)Requited  -  I.L. III

Summary: Isaac Lahey had gone through many twists and turns in his life, but none of them compared to the whiplash he got when you asked him to tutor you. With a few weeks until the end of the semester and the big dance coming up, he’s hoping to figure out a way to ask you to go with him before it’s too late.

Masterlist Prev. | Part 3

Word-count: 3.1k+

A/N: i really need to work on updating this fic but i’ve finally figured out more or less what to do with this story line so hopefully my updates will be a bit more regular!!

Whenever Isaac thought he was getting better at functioning around you, you always found a way to prove him wrong. 

It had been a week since you developed the Get The Girl game plan, and he’d been spending a lot of time with you ever since. Isaac had left notes and corrections on your algebra homework that made you smile, figured out the kind of jokes that made you laugh, and had gone to your house a few times to study together (and only once had any actual studying been done). Magnus still hated him, but he was slowly but surely winning over Max and the rest of your family. 

You even sat in the stands whenever he had lacrosse practice and committed his schedule to memory - when Isaac knew full-well that you knew nothing about lacrosse. 

Things were looking up. At this rate, Isaac might actually have the courage to ask you out and have the tiniest, most microscopic chance of you saying yes. 

And then the weekend came and you took him to the mall to buy some new clothes and get a haircut. 

It was nothing too serious - Isaac had even said something that made you laugh over lunch - but now he was sitting in the salon chair and you were running your hands through his hair while the two of you waited for the hairdresser. 

Isaac knew it was an absent-minded gesture while you thought of what to do with him, but he couldn’t help the way it made him feel. He was surprised you couldn’t hear how his heart beat out of his chest every time you started combing through a new section, almost as surprised that you hadn’t noticed that he wasn’t paying attention to a word you said. 

“So what do you think?” you asked, dropping your hands on the top of Isaac’s shoulders (sadly). The touch still made him malfunction, but it was easier now that your hands were still and your eyes were focused on his in the mirror.

“I, uh- I think that sounds like a good idea,” Isaac said, trying to look like he’d been listening. He’d meant to, honestly, but it was literally impossible for him to focus around you.

Two social steps forward and about a billion back.

“Really? I thought you’d hate bleaching it,” you said. 

Isaac’s heart nearly exploded. “Bleach?” 

“And a mohawk.” 

“Oh, you’re messing with me for zoning out,” Isaac said. Though he would have been perfectly content to have a bleach blonde mohawk if it made you happy, he pretended to be cooler than he actually was by nodding at your reflection in the mirror. “I see how it is.” 

“It was too good an opportunity to pass up,” you laughed, lifting your hands back to his hair. “What I was thinking is a little shorter on the sides but keeping the top as it is. It would break my heart if we cut off your curls.” 

“Well, we wouldn’t want that,” Isaac said, too softly to be a part of his cool guy routine. Your teasing smile faded into something a bit more genuine. “Sounds good. For real this time.”

Before you had the chance to answer, the hairstylist came over and started occupying your time. As happy as it made Isaac to hear you laughing and talking with them, an ugly pang of jealousy shot through him. 

Derek had explained to Isaac when he turned that sometimes he’d feel emotions that weren’t necessarily his own. Those emotions were why anchors were so important, because otherwise Isaac would drift in a sea of emotions and they’d eventually consume him. At the time, Derek was talking about anger, but Isaac knew this had to be a part of it, too. 

Isaac just wanted you to be happy, he didn’t care who it was with or if it had anything to do with him. 

He spent the better part of the appointment trying to convince himself that he wasn’t a jealous bastard that didn’t deserve the time of day, and by the time his blowdry was done, he was back to his normal semi-functional self. 

You beamed at his hair as he stood up and ruffled it slightly, only to be laughed at by the hairstylist. Isaac couldn’t hear very well over his heart beating so loudly and with his ears recovering from the force of the hairdryer, but he could have sworn the hairstylist said something about you two being a cute couple on your way out. 

Isaac didn’t have time to dwell on the comment, though, because soon enough you were dragging him into stores he’d never been to and picking out things for him to try on. 

It was awkward at first. Isaac had lost the ability to talk to you as well as the ability to make a decision. The result was a clumsy collection of clothing and a very awkward moment before Isaac closed the changing room door with you on the other side. 

After a brief pep talk, Isaac started trying on the clothes. They weren’t bad, they just weren’t what he would normally wear. He hadn’t exactly made it easy to shop for him what with his inability to speak but he still couldn’t help feeling out of place in the stuff you’d picked out. 

When he came out, you were sitting on a bench, leaning your head against the wall and scrolling through something on your phone. You brightened up when you saw him and his heart melted, but he shook his head and placed the clothes on the return counter. 

“You didn’t like any of it?” you asked as you got to your feet. 

Isaac shook his head and sighed. “Nah, it’s not that it’s just … I haven’t really worn anything that wasn’t Camden’s first.” He blinked a few times. Where did that come from? There was no way you wouldn’t realize he was a loser now. 

“Oh,” you said quietly, dropping your gaze to your shoes. “I should have-” You looked back up at Isaac and gave him a smile. “You wanna get out of here?”

“Yeah, I’d go anywhere with you,” Isaac said before he could stop himself. He made a mental note to ask Erica to slap some sense into him when he got home.

Instead of groaning and calling him cheesy, you laughed and looped your arm around his. “Come on. I’ll buy you some ice cream on our way out.” 

The ice cream had sent shivers up your spine so, somewhere between the store and parking lot, Isaac had given you his jacket. You wore it as you drove him home, and Isaac couldn’t help but think how much better it looked on you than it did on him. 

Isaac tried to think of an excuse to not get out of the car once it was parked outside the loft, but he came up empty. He was about to thank you for the ride and the attempted shopping trip when you started talking. 

“It’s Erica, isn’t it?” you asked, staring through the windshield at where Erica was harassing Derek at the entrance to the building. She was having the time of her life and Derek looked ready to drink. 

Isaac let out a laugh. He wondered if she wanted money or if she was just having fun giving Derek a migraine. “Yeah, that’s her.” 

You bit your lip as you stared out the windshield. After a moment, you turned to look at Isaac with a somewhat indecipherable look on your face. “I think she’ll say yes.” 

“Wait, what?” Isaac asked. He had no idea what you thought Erica would say yes to, or how you got there from asking for her name. 

“Yeah, I don’t think you needed to cut your hair or change anything to get her attention,” you said, still not making any sense. “When you ask her to the dance, I think she’ll say yes.” Isaac tried very hard not to frown at you, but it probably wasn’t working because you kept talking before he could say anything. “You’re a really great guy, Isaac. If she doesn’t see that then she’s crazy.” 

“Right,” Isaac said slowly. It was the only thing he could think of to say. He had no idea how to untangle the mess he’d gotten himself into or how to explain to you that he and Erica were the farthest thing from romantic prospects. “Thanks.” 

“Yeah, of course,” you said with a smile. “I’ll see you after practice on Monday?” 

“Yeah, sure. See you.”

Isaac got out of the car, feeling dazed and confused, and waved at you as you disappeared down the street. How had he gone from feeling like he had a shot with you this morning to asking Erica to the dance? 

---

“No way,” Erica said, not looking up from the nail she was painting. 

She’d refused to stop painting them, even though the smell of the open bottle made everyone in the loft feel nauseous. Today, she’d picked out a metallic shade called Black and Blue - no doubt because anyone who got close enough to see the color would be left black and blue. 

Isaac attempted to come closer but stopped when Erica slid the bottle closer to him. “Come on, I never ask you to do anything!” 

“Oh, please. You ask me to do crap for you all the time.”

“Name one other time.” 

“Two hours ago you asked to copy my English homework because, and I quote ‘it’s a Crime and Punishment that I have to read this,’” Erica said. She looked up at him with a sly smile. “And you say you’re not witty.” 

It didn’t take a genius to see that Erica had won that angle of the argument, so Isaac changed tactics. “What if I cover for you next Thursday so you can go to that concert Derek said you’d only go to once he was dead?” 

Erica hummed and looked back down at her nails. She touched up her left ring finger before looking back up at Isaac, knowing that he’d use that time to think up several other options to offer her when she said no. “Is it really that important to you that this girl knows I’d never in a million years date you?” 

“Not how I’d phrase it, but yeah,” Isaac said. He slid into the seat across from Erica and carefully placed the lid over the bottle. 

Erica looked at him for a hard moment and then sighed. “Fine. Then I’ll find a reason to talk to her and tell her you’re not my type.” 

Isaac leaned over the table and kissed her cheek before racing out of the room to ensure he didn’t end up black and blue. “You’re the best, Erica. Have fun at the concert!” 

“Concert?” Derek asked, catching Isaac’s arm as he ran past him. 

“Definitely not,” Isaac said with a grin. He leaned in and kissed Derek’s cheek for good measure. The poor man was so off-guard that Isaac shook out of his grip without using any supernatural influences. 

---

Isaac had come up with a plan. It wasn’t a very good one, but it was the only one he had. He’d go to practice and try to be the best player on the field to impress you, and then when you guys were sitting on the bleachers and he went through his homework, he’d explain this whole scheme to you. Hopefully, the speech he’d prepared would be eloquent and he wouldn’t just throw up words all over you, but that was a risk he had to take. 

The ‘being the best player’ part kind of failed because, aside from all his issues, Isaac was very distracted by a chemo-signal in the air: nervousness. It was everywhere, but particularly near the bench and bleachers. 

He tried to put the first failure aside as he showered and changed into a shirt he thought you’d like. Instead, he went over his speech once more in his head to make sure it sounded halfway decent. 

Hey, so I know this is really weird but I need to come clean: I’ve had a crush on you ever since our brothers first dumped us on each other when we were kids. I’ve never wanted to ask Erica to the dance; I’ve only ever wanted to go with you but I never thought I had a chance with you so I lied. It was stupid, but I can’t change that now and I guess what I’m trying to say is … will you go to the dance with me?

Isaac groaned and hit his head against his locker. The speech was awful, but if he didn’t tell you the truth then he was pretty sure he was going to combust. 

He was still trying to psych himself up to talk to you when he walked back over to the bleachers and heard you laughing. Then he picked the chemo-signal up again. You were nervous. 

And you were talking to Stiles Stilinski. 

That ugly feeling of jealousy shot through him again, and Isaac worked to convince himself he was overreacting as he made his way over. 

“Hey, guys,” Isaac said evenly. He smiled at you and shot Stiles a very deliberate look. “What’s up?”

“Stiles was just telling me this story about one of your away games. Did you really fall off the bleachers right before the match and sprain your ankle?” you asked, mouth pulled up in an amused smile. It wasn’t malicious but it felt different than the one you usually gave him. 

“Uh, yeah. I guess I did,” Isaac said stiffly. “Back in freshman year. Did Stiles tell you about the time he drove his Jeep through the other team’s equipment and forced us to forfeit?” 

You whipped your head around to laugh at Stiles. Again, not maliciously. Just different. This time it was more like you and Stiles had a secret that Isaac didn’t know about. “No way, seriously?”

“Seriously. But in my defense, Scott was distracting me,” Stiles said, not sounding very defensive. He had a surprisingly easy smile on his face that made Isaac want to punch him. “But, uh, speaking of Scott, I should probably get going before he starts asking strangers for rides and becomes a seven o’clock special.” 

You laughed again and gave him a matching easy smile. “Can’t have that, can we?” 

“Definitely not,” Stiles said. His eyes flicked over to Isaac for a second before turning his attention back to you. “So I’ll see you on Friday?”

“Yeah, looking forward to it,” you said. Stiles started heading down the bleachers and you let out a small sigh before gathering up your stuff. He looked at you over his shoulder and you waved at him. 

It was amazing how such small movements made Isaac feel sick to his stomach; a smile here, a laugh there, and now a wave. 

Isaac adjusted his backpack and tried not to look as jealous as he felt. “So what’s on Friday?” 

“Oh, uh-” You pushed a piece of hair behind your ear and shrugged. There was a strange kind of nervousness rolling off you. “Stiles asked if I wanted to go to the dance with him so I suggested we do a trial run before then.” 

“Like a date?” 

“Yeah, like a date,” you said. Your expression was funny; it looked like you were trying to figure something out how Isaac felt about it, but Isaac didn’t know why his feelings would matter. “What do you think of that?” 

Isaac thought that everything made sense now. You’d never been interested in sports, and yet you came to every one of his lacrosse games and had the entire practice schedule memorized. Like an idiot, Isaac had thought all your questions meant you had taken an interest in him. 

Clearly, he wasn’t that far off. You still weren’t interested in lacrosse, you were just interested in Stiles. 

The same Stiles who hated him, made fun of him, and kept him from joining Scott’s pack for the longest time. Everything Isaac did, Stiles found a way to do better - despite being mind-numbingly human.

Stiles had a particular charm that Isaac couldn’t stand but everyone else seemed to love. He was witty, and kind, and some might say he was even good looking. And Isaac thought, most of all, that after going out with a guy like Stiles, there was no way you would ever want to go out with him.

“I think that’s great,” Isaac said with a tight smile. His heart was beating out of his chest and if you were like him, you would have known he was lying. 

But you were human - you didn’t know. 

Still, you frowned. Either Isaac said something wrong or you felt conflicted about something. The frown was only there for a second before you replaced it with a smile only slightly different to the one you usually wore, closer to the nervous one you’d given him when you asked him to tutor you. “You do?” 

“Yeah,” Isaac lied again. If there was one thing his time with you had made Isaac realize, it was that having a place in your life - even a place as a friend with unrequited feelings - was better than no place at all, and he wasn’t going to screw that all up by telling you how he felt. He took a deep breath. “But, uh, do you mind if we talk about this some other time? Derek texted when I was in the locker room and he needs my help with something at the loft.” 

You blinked a few times, trying to piece together the quick change in pace. “Oh, uh, do you want me to drive you?” 

Your pained expression almost made Isaac spill his guts right there. He couldn’t risk spending any more time with you. “No, he’s coming to pick me up.” 

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow?” you asked, eyebrows knitting together as you looked at him, despite the smile on your face. 

“Yeah, sure. Not like those problems are going to solve themselves, right?” Isaac asked. He did his best to give you a reassuring smile. 

Your smile faltered for a second, but then it was back on your face and covering up any other thoughts. “Right.” 

Isaac left pretty quickly after that, with one thought clear in his mind: Out of everyone in the entire school to go out with, why did you have to pick Stiles Fucking Stilinski?

Tagged: @lettherebelovex​  @britty443​  @ietts  @magnus-the-fabulous-entp-bane​

[judgmentofcorruption]

Episode 10–The Court Ends; Scene 8

Judgment of Corruption, pages 316-322

--At some point, the mansion had started to burn.

The militia had set fire to it in revenge for their friends burning from those inexplicable flames.

Gallerian took the doll back with him to the study.

There was nowhere left to run.

Whether he jumped outside or remained in here, he didn’t have much longer to live.

“Michelle, I’m—I’m so sorry you got caught up in this,” Gallerian said to the doll.

“—It’s alright. At least I’m with you, Papa.”

Now that he had lost his contract with Adam, Gallerian couldn’t hear that doll’s reply.

Even so, he continued to speak to her. “Still. I am a little bit glad. …As long as I can be here with you, I don’t even fear death.”

“I feel the same, Papa.”

“I wonder, if I had been able to restore you—or if you had been able to grow up without being caught up in that incident--what would you have become…”

“I would have become a judge like you, Papa! And I would have married someone I liked—and had a child.”

“Even if I die now and fall to hell—It won’t be an issue. I have plenty of money. And ‘money is the best lawyer in hell’. And if I have money, I can collect the ‘Vessels of Deadly Sin’, even down there. When I do, I will come to get you. As long as we’re together—No matter where we are, it will be a Utopia, I know it.”

“Yeah!”

As for what would happen to Gallerian after his death—depending on the “Master of the Hellish Yard’s” judgment, he may very well go to hell just as he said.

To contract with a Vessel of Deadly Sin was a grave crime. Even if what was inside of it wasn’t a demon.

And he had committed many other sins besides. He had sacrificed a great many people for the sake of his own happiness, so I was certain that would not be forgiven.

Even if those deeds were done out of one’s own purity, that was still, in the end—greed, Gallerian.

.

There were reasons why Elluka—or rather, Ma, birthed Gallerian.

One of them was so that he would collect the Vessels of Deadly Sin by making him contract with Adam.

But that was ultimately just a bonus to her.

It was something she could have done even without Gallerian.

She simply wished to become pure.

Perhaps to Ma, Gallerian was nothing more than a process by which she could do so.

Ma. Her nickname. There were several meanings to that word.

Sorceress, Mem Aleph (meaning water and beginning), and—mother.

.

The flames steadily began to enclose the house.

Eventually—from this burned out mansion they would find.

The corpse of a solitary “parent”.

.

If I stick around, even I’ll get caught up in the flames.

I’m just a normal bat, so I don’t do well against fire.

I’ve “observed” Gallerian’s life up until now—but that ends today.

I once more set out to fly up to the moon—

“Wait a second.”

.

Gallerian called out to someone.

It wasn’t to the doll. It was to someone else—

.

Yes…he was talking to me.

.

Gallerian’s hand swiftly shot out.

And before I had a chance to flee—he had seized me fast.

“I want to talk to you in the end, before I die,” he said with a grin.

Ridiculous.

There’s no way…that Gallerian could have noticed me.

No one noticed me.

Even if they did, they were supposed to think of me as merely a normal bat.

That—was one of the Rules of the world.

“You’ve always been flying around me. I don’t know when you started—maybe you’ve always been there, from the moment I was born. Weirdly enough, no one outside of me ever seems to notice you there. So eventually I just resolved not to pay you any mind.”

…But if the “Rules of the world” were breaking down?

In other words, these bizarre changes in the world—their manifestation was something brought on by the breakdown of the Rules.

So it wasn’t out of the question for a forest to rapidly dry up, and there was no helping a tiger being born to a human family. Maybe there was even a pattern of humans being born to snakes. Dead soldiers ran amok without any connection to the Demon of Gluttony, nights would be abnormally short or unusually long—

So—

.

There was nothing strange at all about a human appearing who could converse with a “god”

.

“—Yes. I have been observing you this whole time,” I replied honestly.

He seemed able to hear what I was saying.

This wasn’t Adam’s power. That contract had already been severed.

“There are countless people in the world. Why did you choose me?”

“Because you were Elluka’s son. She had impurities mixed up into her will. Including a fragment of the consciousness of a ‘god’ that’s a colleague of mine. That’s why I was interested in you.”

“I see. Then that would mean that you yourself are a ‘god’, or something like it.”

“You’re accepting this quite readily.”

“It’s a bit late to wonder at that now. Until this point I’ve been fairly involved with demons like ‘Adam’ and other strange beings. Even Ma—That’s right, while you’re here there is something I’d like you to tell me.”

“No. I can’t get involved with humans. So I can’t answer any questions outside of the ones that pertain to me.”

And yet, Gallerian asked anyway. “What’s this secret Adam mentioned, the one Ma and Bruno hid from me? Surely you must know, don’t you?”

“…I can’t. It’s a Rule.”

“I’m dying soon. Surely my hearing it won’t have any impact on the world this late in the game?”

“…You would gain nothing from hearing it; it would be meaningless to you.”

“Then isn’t that all the more justification for it? If it won’t mean anything, then there’s no reason not to tell me.”

“…”

Perhaps I had spent a little too long observing him.

Or, perhaps I simply couldn’t deny that I may have had something close to this “compassion” that humans had, when it came to Gallerian.

Well, alright…

.

I granted him one piece of knowledge.

.

“…”

Gallerian was dumbstruck.

“Didn’t I tell you? It gains you nothing.”

Once I realized that the strength had left his hand, I slipped out of his grip and flew away.

.

Then I made it out the window and headed for the distant sky.

--Midway there I looked down to the ground, and spied a figure about to head into the burning mansion.

.

And on seeing that, I deeply regretted having shared that information with him.

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