#listen it wasn’t because of the way she talked about his yak hair that he started noticing feelings

[ladyofthenoodle]

considering that and heart hunter are the only times i remember any character commenting on marinette’s attractiveness, i’d actually say adrien comments on her looks more than most other characters. which is still only the once. and it was part of a love poem, which he was probably modeling after love poems he’d read that all commented on the subject’s beauty and so he included that too. which he also ended up throwing away because it wasn’t quite right! maybe part of why it felt wrong to him was he was including things you’re “supposed” to include in love poems instead of what he actually loved about her

one thing i really love about miraculous ladybug is that marinette’s attractiveness is a non-factor. in fics, authors often describe her as being pretty or beautiful, and certainly her character model is made to fit within modern beauty standards, but in the show, it’s almost totally unremarked upon. it’s irrelevant. we hear how attractive adrien is all the time, both from people who are interested in him and people who aren’t. but marinette? almost nothing. she’s not pretty, she’s not ugly, she’s just marinette.

when marinette’s beauty is remarked upon, it’s entirely in the context of her being romantically desirable. for example, adrien’s poem to her in dark cupid or the subtext in heart hunter.

and even then, while her love interests find her attractive, it’s made clear that is not why they’re interested in her.

marinette might be pretty. she might be average. she might be stunning. but time and time again, we are told that isn’t what matters about her. and i think that’s really cool.

[crazy4dragons]

Everything Will Be Okay

Astrid comforts Hiccup after he finds out his injuries from a car accident are more serious than he thought. Pure fluff! Like Heaven AU. Hiccstrid are about 16 here.

Hearing her phone ring, Astrid turned her attention away from her homework and looked at the caller ID.

Hiccup 😜

“Hey, Hiccup,”  she greeted as she accepted the call.

“Are you busy?” came Hiccup’s voice through the speaker.

“I’m just doing homework. Why, what’s up?”

Hiccup sighed. “I had physical therapy today. You know, for my leg. And my therapist told me that I’m not making the progress he thought I would.”

“Listen, you shattered your bone pretty badly. And with the fracture in your ankle, too, it might take longer than expected for everything to heal all the way.”

“That’s the thing, Astrid. It’s not going to heal all the way.” Hiccup’s voice cracked. “The doctors are recommending I get a second surgery. And if that doesn’t work, I might have to use a wheelchair off and on for the rest of my life. Or maybe just a cane if I’m lucky, but I don’t want to be walking around like an old man with a walking stick. Do you know how much I’ll get teased at school? If I can ever go back to school?”

“But there’s also a chance the second surgery could work, right?”

“I guess, but even if it does, my limp will never go away permanently.” He sniffled.

Astrid frowned. “Hiccup? Are you crying?”

He didn’t reply.

“Are you still there? Hiccup?”

“Can you…can you come over? I need you,” Hiccup said, still sniffling. “And if it’s okay with your mom, do you think you could just stay the night?”

“I’ll ask, but she might say no because it’s a school night. Are your parents there?”

“Yeah, both of them are here. I’ll be honest with you, Astrid, I cried the whole way home from physical therapy, and cried more when we got home. My mom sat with me for a while, but she thought that maybe it would help take my mind off of everything if you came over.”

Astrid shut her laptop and, putting her phone on speaker and resting it on her desk, began to pack up her school supplies. “Yeah, I can come for at least a couple hours. I’ll check with my mom about sleeping over, too. Is there anything you want me to bring?”

“No. But if you’re down to cuddle, that would be great.”

“Of course I am.”

“Great. Well, I’ll let you go, then. Do you need my dad to come pick you up?”

“No, I can walk.”

“But Astrid, it’s freezing out. And dark.”

“I’ll be okay.”

“I’ll ask my dad come get you. I’ll tell him to be there in fifteen.”

“Okay, if you insist. I’ll talk to my mom about the sleepover and text you to let you know what she says.”

“Sounds good. See you in a bit, then.”

“See you. Bye.”

“Bye.”

…

Twenty minutes later, Astrid walked into Hiccup’s house, her overnight bag over her shoulder and a pillow under her arm.

“Hello, dear,” greeted Valka. “I’m so glad you could come. Hiccup could really use a friend.”

“Is he in his room?”

“Yes, love, he’s in his room. Did you have dinner yet? Stoick made pan-seared salmon and noodles. We have leftovers if you’re hungry.”

“No, I didn’t have dinner yet. Do you mind if I bring a plate to Hiccup’s room?”

Valka looked at the things in Astrid’s arms. “Why don’t you go on up and get settled in, and I’ll bring it up to you?”

“Thank you,” smiled the blonde. She ascended the stars and knocked on Hiccup’s door. “Hey, it’s me.”

“Come in.”

Astrid twisted the doorknob and, after putting her bag and pillow down, shuffled over to where Hiccup was sitting with red eyes and a box of tissues and wrapped him in a hug. “You know, no matter what happens, you’ll still have me.”

Unable to hold back his tears, Hiccup broke out into a sob. “I just want to be normal,” he cried, burying his face into Astrid’s shoulder.

“Shhh, it’s gonna be okay. It’s gonna be okay,” repeated Astrid, running her fingers through his hair and hugging him closer. By the time Valka came upstairs with her dinner, he had stopped crying and settled back against the pillows, clutching Astrid’s hand for comfort.

“Here you go, Astrid,” Valka said, handing the blonde a warm plate of food. “And what about you, dear? How are you feeling?” She bent down and kissed Hiccup’s forehead. “Do you want any dessert? Or a soda?”

Hiccup shook his head. “No thanks, Mom.”

“Alright, well if you change your mind, just call me. I’ll be back to say goodnight in a little while. Just try not to worry too much, okay? I love you.”

“Love you, Mom.” Hiccup briefly hugged his mother before turning back to Astrid. “I’m just tired of the hospital. And surgery. And being stuck in bed. And I know the kids at school are gonna tease me if I show up with a cane. Or even a wheelchair.”

“They’re jerks if they tease you,” said Astrid, scooping noodles into her mouth. “But as for me, I’d much rather have you alive and needing a little help to walk than have you in your grave. Do you know how worried I was when I heard you were in an accident? And how scared I was when you were in your coma?”

“The coma was only two days,” Hiccup pointed out. “And seeing that I don’t remember it, it’s the least of my worries.”

“But from my perspective, all I could think about was, what if I lose my best friend?”

“And what kind of a friend will I be if I can’t do anything with you besides sit and talk?”  

“I like talking to you,” shrugged Astrid.  “And besides, you’ll be able to move around more soon. Even if it’s with some help. You’ll adapt.” She took a bite of fish. “You want any of this?”

He shook his head. “I already had some.”

“How about you put on Netflix or something so we can find a show to watch? As soon as I’m done eating, I’ll cuddle with you, too. I put on cozy clothes before I came here just for that reason.”

“What time are you getting up for school tomorrow?” Hiccup asked as he grabbed the remote.

“Six. I’ll try to leave without waking you, but I do have to give a warning that I have to set an alarm for myself.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like I I can’t go back to sleep. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Are you still getting your assignments e-mailed to you?”

“Yeah. Right now I’m working on the project for my history elective, so at least I have something keeping me busy.”

“And you’re still making drawings to go with it?” Astrid asked between bites.

Hiccup nodded. “Yeah, wanna see?” He reached over and grabbed his sketchbook from the bedside table. “Here’s Thor and his hammer. And here’s some dragons. And here’s Freja and her cats.”

“They’re awesome.”

“I still have to color them in. I also have to draw Loki and Odin. And I want to do a scene of Vikings sitting in the Great Hall listening to stories. Then I have to get all these drawings on a poster and write a few paragraphs of background research for each of them. What about you? Any big projects you have to finish?”

“I have my AP bio exam coming up soon. That’s kicking my ass right now.” Astrid finished up her food and laid her plate aside. “But it’s okay.”

“And how’s it going with your boyfriend?”

“You mean David? He’s not my official boyfriend yet,” laughed Astrid. “But he is taking me out again on Friday night.”

“Is he treating you good?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t have agreed to a second date if he wasn’t.” She snuggled against Hiccup’s side. “By the way, what are we gonna watch?”

“Will you hate me if I put on Vikings? I know how much you love historical dramas.”

Astrid laughed. “Put on whatever you want. I’ll just snooze. But wake me up when this episode is over because I need a shower before bed.” She draped an arm across his middle.

Grinning, Hiccup pressed the play button before tossing the remote aside and hugging the blonde. “Your boyfriend won’t mind us cuddling, will he?” He winked.

Astrid playfully punched his bicep. “He’s not my boyfriend!” she insisted.

“That’s what you say,” teased Hiccup.

“And even if he was, he wouldn’t be any longer if he had a problem with our friendship.”

“Aww, you’d break up with your crush for me?”

“Of course. Friends come first.” She tugged the duvet over their bodies and kissed his tear-stained cheek. “I mean it. No matter what happens, I’m here for you.”

“Thanks,” returned Hiccup, squeezing her tighter and rubbing his nose against the side of her face. “And thanks for coming here tonight. This is exactly what I needed.”

“You’re allowed to kiss me, you know,” laughed Astrid as she felt him nuzzle her cheek. “You don’t have to do whatever this is.” She reached up and flicked the tip of his nose.

Smiling, Hiccup pressed kisses into Astrid’s hair and against her cheek. “There, is that enough for you?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged playfully. “Maybe one more.”

Hiccup gave her cheek one last kiss before burying his face against her shoulder.

A warm feeling surged through Astrid’s veins as she let out a contented sigh and closed her eyes. “Alright. I’m gonna nap now. Remember, wake me up after this episode is over.”

“Maybe I will, maybe I won’t,” teased Hiccup.

“Unless you want me to walk around school smelling like a yak tomorrow, you’ll wake me.” She snuggled into his chest. “And Hiccup?”

“Yeah?”

“Everything will be okay.”

[shes-ddreaming]

the eyes that lost you ➸ lee donghyuck

i.

✧ destination ↬ best friends to lovers + fluff, angst,,, all that jazz yak

✧ a party of two for ↬ lee donghyuck x reader

✧ duration of flight ↬ 2.5k

✧ in stereo ↬ exo - what if

✧ in which your best friend donghyuck decides to pretend to be someone else’s boyfriend, leaving you to confront the only thing you’ve been avoiding your whole life—your feelings for him.

donghyuck had confessed to you a long time ago. and if you only knew that you’d be hurting like this now, you would’ve said yes to him in a heartbeat. but you didn’t; you had decided that your friendship was more important than anything, rejecting your best friend’s confession.

he took your rejection lightly, telling you that your friendship was just as important to him as it was to you. “look, y/n, i love you not because i had any intention of making you my girlfriend, but because... i love you for .. you. and if you’d much rather stay friends, then i’m all for it. i’ll be your best friend—whatever you want me to be, i’ll be.” he was sincere, and you appreciated that more than anything. you were more than grateful that donghyuck understood your reasoning behind the rejection.

and a day later, things went right back to normal, never a moment of awkwardness. he was still the same best friend you’ve had since you came out of the womb. it was as if his confession never happened.

and that’s all it took for you to make lee donghyuck your best friend for life. he was your constant, the one person in your life who has always stayed by your side. so many of your friends have come and gone, but donghyuck wasn’t one of them.

here you were, not even 3 years later, your eyes were on your best friend whose hair has grown a little longer from how it was when he confessed. he’s a lot taller now, standing a good 6 inches or so above you. it seems like a lot about him has changed, and his feelings for you were not an exception. but there was one thing that could never change, and that was you being his best friend.

the object of his lingering glances is no longer you, but it just had to be kang mina. you weren’t surprised—she was annoyingly pretty, smart, and funny. not only that, she happened to be the class president. donghyuck? vice president. everyone called them a match made in heaven. you hated how you felt when he was around her. you hated how your heart would fall every time you caught sight of him stealing glances at her. it wasn’t fair. it wasn’t fair to donghyuck. what right do you have to catch feelings for him when you let him suffer from his feelings for you for so long?

the guilt had eaten you up for a long time. you liked to believe that your suffering now was your way to repay the pain you caused donghyuck for liking you without any reciprocation all those years.

he always reminded you that he was alright with the way you two were, that you rejecting him didn’t hurt him as much as you thought it did, that he was glad you two were best friends. but it was hard to ignore his obvious feelings for you. you knew deep down that you were hurting him by staying friends, but he never complained. he quietly loved you until he developed feelings for someone else.

it was your turn to realize your feelings, only now it’s too late. you’re in love with your best friend but he’s in love with someone else.

however, it probably wouldn’t hurt as bad if he hadn’t been fake dating her. maybe then you wouldn’t see him in so much pain. you couldn’t bear to witness seeing him doing anything and everything for her when she doesn’t even feel the same way, just like he did for you.

“you’re a hypocrite,” mark says as you bore your heart and soul to him. these days, donghyuck sits with mina at lunch to continue to play the little charade they’ve been onto for weeks. mark lee has been your rock these past few months, always quietly listening to you and offering—what he would call—words of wisdom. you couldn’t count how many times you’ve gone to him to talk about your conflicting feelings about donghyuck. “be honest with me. is the fact that you’re no longer the object of lee donghyuck’s desire the driving force of what you think are your feelings for him?”

leave it to mark lee to be brutally honest with his stupid rhetorical questions. you sigh, putting your head down on the cafeteria table. you were a shitty person, a terrible, shitty person. you feel your lunch tray being moved away from your head. “do i have lettuce in my hair?” mark laughs at you, slapping your shoulder in the process.

“you did. but, i took it off of your hair, dumbass,” he softly pats your head like one would do to a crying toddler. “look, i’m sorry if that was a little mean. i hope i didn’t hurt your feelings or anything.”

“nah, it just got me thinking. do you think i’m projecting my desires of wanting a

boyfriend onto hyuck? or maybe i’m friend-jealous and i’m mistaking it for being in love with him?” you once again steal a glance at the boy who has been all over your thoughts lately and your heart disagreed. whatever these feelings were, they’re definitely not friend-jealousy or whatever mark had called it. you knew in your heart that you loved him.

“oh god i wanna die, i want to actually fucking die.”

mark has this amused look on his face as he helps you pack up once the bell rings for 4th period. “stop thinking about it for now, alright? we can get ice cream after school, it’s on me. i think i owe you.” he takes the textbook you were holding out of your hands and carries it for you, as he reaches his hand out for your backpack. you roll your eyes, taking it off and handing it to him. this was beginning to be a routine for you two whenever you’re sad. mark never lets you carry anything and always walked you to class.

“what did i do to deserve a mark lee?” you wonder out loud, followed by a kick to your shin from mark. you immediately took back what you said. “suddenly i don’t remember ever being friends with a kid named mark.” you hear his obnoxiously loud laugh and shake your head.

“shut up, loser!”

full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖: KDKDKD come heRE

[you questioned: “KDKDKD come heRE”]

full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖: STOP DOING THOSE REACTION THINGS AND REPLY FJDKDKDKD

full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖: PLEASE Y/N OH MY GOD

you: WHAT

full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖: pls come down to my floor rn i need sugar

you: what the fuck

[full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖 disliked “what the fuck”]

full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖: I PROMISE YOU’LL GET TO HAVE SOME OF THE COOKIES I BAKE

full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖: I RAN OUT OF SUGAR I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE 😔🙏🏽

full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖: I HAVE A COUNCIL MEETING IN LIKE 2 HOURS AND I NEED TO HAVE THE COOKIES DONE BY THEN

you: oh shit i just checked i dont have any sugar

[full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖 disliked “oh shit i just checked i dont have any sugar”]

full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖: god why didn’t apple give the people™ the option to disheart something

full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖: you had one job

full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖: ONE JOB

you: KDKSKSKS IM SORRY LMFAO

you: ALSO I DONT EVEN THINK DISHEART IS THE RIGHT TERM FOR IT

full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖: come to the grocery store w me 🥺👉🏽👈🏽

you: fine 😔

“hey, neighbor!” you hear donghyuck yell from his door as you hold the button that keeps the elevator doors open.

you can already hear mark arguing “you two technically aren’t even neighbors! he lives like two floors below you!”

while donghyuck counters back saying, “yeah but if she lived on my floor then we would live right next door to each other!” you can recall this exact confrontation when the three of you were in 3rd grade.

you and donghyuck have lived in the same apartment building your whole lives—which is also a big reason as to how the pair of you reached best friend status.

“let’s go before the sun starts setting!” he was smiling as he ran towards you and you couldn’t even deny that your heart was doing backflips.

“hurry up before i let go of this button and leave you there,” you threaten him and he laughs, pretending to walk in slow motion. you let go of the button and the elevator doors begin to close in on each other, prompting a loud gasp from donghyuck as he runs as fast as he can to reach the doors before they close completely.

“y/n, what the fuck!” he cries once he reaches the doors and they open back up again. he had his hands on his knees in an attempt to catch his breath and you couldn’t contain your laughter. “i hate you, oh my god! i busted a lung out there trying to catch up to the elevator. i can’t believe you’d do that to me.” you were both laughing now and you watched as he pretended to sob.

the doors of the elevator opened back up once you reached the lobby and donghyuck takes this as an opportunity to run away from you to get to his car before you could beat him there.

he had his payback when he locked the doors before you could even open the door to his car, leaving you there for a good two minutes, yelling “karma, bitch!” before finally letting you in.

“you’re insane!” he just laughs at this, and you two call a truce to stop pulling pranks on each other for the duration of your grocery trip.

“alright, alright. i’ll go drop the sugar off to my house and i’ll meet you at the rooftop,” you nod, waving goodbye to him as he steps foot off the elevator with the grocery bag in his hand and you continue up to the penthouse floor.

you really didn’t know if this was legal. if you were being honest, you had a feeling you were putting your parents’ lease on the line every time you snuck onto the rooftop. you made your way out of the penthouse floor, opening the doors to the fire escape before you were finally met with the stairs that lead up to the rooftop.

you smiled as you looked up to the sky with its various shades of blue, purple, and pink. it was your senior year of high school and you knew you’d miss this once you left home.

you: HURRY UP THE SUN IS SETTING REAL QUICK

you: it’S NOT GONNA WAIT FOR YOUR SLOW ASS

full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖: FUCK FUCK FUCK WAIT IM PUTTING THE COOKIES IN THE OVEN FIRST

full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖: TELL THE SUN TO SLOW DOWN 😤😤 damn even the sun has no pATIENCE

you: damn riGHT so if you don’t hurry up you’re gonna miss it 😔

full sun (the best friend) 🌞💖: ALR ALR THEY’RE IN THE OVEN I’M USAIN BOLTING OUTTA HERE

and usain bolt, he did. donghyuck soon opened the doors out of the fire escape, finally getting a glimpse of the sky as the sun started to set. you seemed to have not noticed him, eyes focused upwards onto the sky.

he stopped in his tracks. donghyuck liked to think he no longer had any feelings for you. “not even any residue,” he would tell himself. but he couldn’t lie that there were some moments that he’d wish you had felt the same way as he once did. this exact moment would make it on that list. you looked cute. your small figure was a good ten feet away from him but despite the distance, he just knew there was no other place you’d rather be at the moment.

“finally!” you yell as he made your way towards you. “i was ready to lasso the sun and keep it here until you got your ass up here.”

he was staring at you, a small smile adorning his features. if the word fond could be personified, it would probably be this exact face he was making.

you finally let go of the breath you had been holding when his eyes leave your face and instead focus onto the sky. “god i’m gonna miss this.”

“the sky? i was thinking the exact-“

“no, us.” oh shit. oh shit. oh shit. you couldn’t even look at him. god, you were blushing like crazy and you prayed that he didn’t notice because you knew you were being crazy obvious right now. “i’m gonna miss us sneaking onto the rooftop to watch the sunset, you know? it’s just- i don’t know. senior year ending has made me become more... sad? i don’t think that’s the right word for it. nostalgic? maybe. every moment just has this sense of finality to it and that scares me.”

you were about to reply, but you were immediately cut off by the sound of his phone ringing. “hey, mina.”

and just as icarus flew too close to the sun, so did you heart. and now you felt it falling straight down to the sea. you didn’t bother to listen to the rest of his conversation on the phone. instead, you watched the sun while it painted the buildings a brilliant shade of golden yellow and casted a shadow onto the trees. but the view of the buildings could never compete with donghyuck as his tanned skin glowed in the golden sunlight and his eyes twinkled in a different shade of brown.

“crap, i almost forgot about my council meeting. i have to go pick up mina, too,” he had a small frown on his face and you giggled. lee donghyuck, how could you be so cute? “are you gonna be okay up here? i’m gonna go get the cookies ready. i’ll leave some at your door, as promised.”

you reject donghyuck’s offer of walking you to your door, telling him that you just wanted to stay here for a little while longer.

mork 🤢: damn senior year rly be hitting different 😩😔😫💦

you: MARK WTF JDDJDJ YOUR EMOJIS GTFO

mork 🤢: y/n i have a story omg facetime me #storytime

mork 🤢: i think my life is starting to become a coming of age movie LMAO

you smile as you read mark’s texts, telling him you’ll facetime him once you get back home. he was right though; senior year really did feel different, and it forced you to confront feelings you’d much rather keep buried, especially in the lee donghyuck department of your heart.

hello! if you made it this far, then thank you 🥺 tbh i was reALLY SCARED TO POST THIS IDK I HAVEN’T ACTUALLY WRITTEN ANYTHING IN AWHILE !! this WILL be continued so stay tuned !! 💖 kjdfakjl also aren’t we all just tryna be hyuck’s best friend 😔✊🏽

[raayllum]

21 days

summary: They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. // Rayllum from 1x03-3x05.

ch13: 2x06 — HEART OF A TITAN

Rayla is hurling over the side of the ship when Callum comes up on deck. It's their third day on the boat, and the last, he knows, now that Villads (or rather, Berto) has spotted land. He came to take in the sunset... not to see a seasick moon elf. Pursing his lips and knowing Rayla doesn't like anyone seeing her in pain, he slowly sidles up to her. "Hey."

Green in the face, Rayla spares him a glance and a weakly uttered, "Hey," before choking back more of the subs they ate for lunch.

"That bad, huh?" he asks sympathetically.

"I'll just be glad we'll be off this stupid boat by tomorrow," she grunts, quickly bending over the railing again.

Callum hesitates for just a moment and then moves closer when she surfaces, one of his hands going to her back to rub circles into it, his other gathering up her hair and pulling it away from her face. Rayla looks at him, brow furrowed, and he ignores the heat in his cheeks. He wants to help somehow. The least he can do is hold her hair back. "My mom did this for me," he says, "when I had the puking flu one year."

Rayla opens her mouth to protest—maybe to insist that she isn't a child and doesn't need help—and then yaks over the side again. "Fine," she mutters, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. "But if you start asking me questions again—"

"Hey, it worked last time, didn't it?" he says, because conversation can work and they know it. "I still technically have two left."

"Nu-uh. Not today." Rayla hauls herself up and rests her arms and her chin on the railing, her seasickness spell temporarily broken. "I do have a question for you, though. Did you ever end up reading the letter?"

Callum glances behind him but the door below decks stays shut. He told Rayla what he'd planned to do, but there hadn't been time to ask, after coming up on deck to talk to Ez, and seeing the dragon flying overhead, and then dinner. He joins her at the railing. "Yeah."

Rayla's fingers (on her clean hand) poke his elbow. "And...?" her eyes are patient, watching him. "Did it... help?"

"It hurt," he confesses, the words tumbling out without much thought. He shuts his eyes and just listens to the sea for a moment. When he opens his eyes again, Rayla is still looking at him. "But yeah, I think it helped. At the very least I know what it says, and he talked about history... my family's history and part of how it led to all of this. The egg. You, and me—and Ezran. My stepdad thinks that we can have a narrative of love, over a narrative of strength."

Some sort of shadow passes over her face. "Your stepdad..." She presses her lips together. "He was a good man," she says quietly, "wasn't he?"

Not a perfect one, Callum thinks. For a long time, I didn't know better. But it almost doesn't matter. "Yeah," he says, "he was."

They're quiet for a long time. Eventually it seems like her seasickness isn't going to come back, so he lets go of her hair, even if he keeps his hand below her shoulder-blades. "You're feeling better?" he checks.

Rayla looks at him, a little taken aback as her lips twist into a smile. Like she still can't believe he's asking about her and not the other way around. "I'm fine," she says and he can tell she means it for once. "And I know you'll make him proud."

He knows she means that, too.

[coneygoil]

The Home We Built Together, part 30

Two young Vikings. An arranged marriage. Hiccup always wanted to win the girl of his dreams, but not like this. Now he and Astrid must learn to live together and maybe one day, learn to love…

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9| Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29

Writer’s note: The 19th marked one year that I first posted this fic!! It’s amazing to see how far it’s come! 

Her breathing was even now.

Astrid had fallen asleep against his side, her head resting upon his slender chest. Hiccup hadn’t loosened his hold on her. He couldn’t, not after almost losing her.

His heart had plummeted to the bottom of his stomach when he realized Astrid had fallen from the saddle. There was little comfort when he looked back to find she’d landed on a ledge. The red dragon had instantly sensed her presence there.

“We gotta go back, bud!”

Toothless didn’t hesitate firing at the red dragon. He aimed for its most vulnerable part – the eyes (and Night Furies never miss) -- and the dragon retreated, furious and snarling. The short window gave them enough time to rescue Astrid.

There was a lot to be said and discussed. A plan to formulate. A village and a whole fleet of dragons to protect. But now was not the time.

Hiccup had noticed Astrid’s behavior after the rescue. She was clearly shaken and upset, but when she collapsed in his arms sobbing uncontrollably, it was then that Hiccup realized how deeply it had affected her. Astrid was a pillar of strength, and to see her in such a state of distress had jarred him.

A new commitment welled up inside him. A fierce need to protect that he’d never experience before.

Hiccup was always the one in need of protection. He was the talking fishbone that could barely lift a weapon. He never had to worry about anyone but himself, really. But now? There was more at stake than just his puny well being.

Hiccup squeezed Astrid’s sleeping form a little closer against him, planting a tender kiss to her golden crown. He kept his lips pressed in her hair and whispered the three words he wished to utter aloud, “I love you.”

As if his confession stirred her from slumber, Astrid shifted in his arms. Her hair brushed his jawline as she lifted her head to sleepily look at him. Hiccup waited with bated breath. Had she heard his confession? Would she return the endearment? The first signs of daylight were peeking on the horizon, and the lamp continued to burn low on the bedside table. She blinked her eyes, still puffy from the breakdown she’d had not even a couple hours before.

Astrid cupped his cheek, her fingertips brushing softly on his skin. Hiccup nuzzled into her palm. He’d never had the chance to feel a loving touch before. He never knew his mother and his father only held him as a young boy. He’d longed for something his skin had never experienced. But now, he could have it and he closed his eyes to savor the caress of Astrid’s hand upon his cheek.

He was pleasantly surprised with a soft kiss that he returned in sweet pecks. They continued to plant little kisses on each other’s lips as Astrid pull him with her to sit up on the bed. They’d both gotten better at kissing, having lots of practice as of late. Hiccup was thankful they’d gotten passed the awkward dance of shyness of expressing their affections.  

With hand upon the back of his neck, Astrid drew him into a deeper kiss. A kiss that told of unspoken need. A kiss that told of unspoken of love. Astrid broke away, though only mere inches from Hiccup’s face. Their heavy breathes warmed each other’s faces. He longed to capture her lips with his once more, to pour out the love that were overflowing inside of him.

Then Astrid spoke the words that made his heart soar, “I want to be your wife in every way.”

He searched her face, the reassurance of her gaze leading him on. This was what he’d longed for. “I want to be your husband in every way.”

***

Rap. Rap.

Hiccup’s face scrunched at the loud noise banging in his head.

Rap. Rap. Rap.

He groaned at the noise banging faster. He rolled over to hide under his pillow, or at least he would have if he wouldn’t have been held down. He blinked away the blur in his vision to find an arm strapped over his chest. The golden crown of his wife was cushioned against his shoulder, and her leg was thrown over his. She was cuddled up to him like he was an oversized stuffed toy.

“Hiccup? Astrid?” the all-too familiar heavy lilt of Gobber called from outside.

Why was Gobber at their front door? Hiccup peered out the window, eyes widening in realization. It had to at least be lunchtime!

“Astrid!” he hissed, taping her arm splayed over his chest. She’d never slept this deeply before, and Hiccup wondered why she was so tired-

Oh.

The thoughts of their union just a couple hours ago suddenly slammed into his memory like a magnificent, engulfing wave. The innocent exploration of each other’s bodies. The awkward positioning as they figured out how to fit together. The satisfying pants on one another’s faces at the height of pleasure that hit all too soon. The odd thought that, yes, there was blood afterwards mingled in just as Astrid had said on their wedding night. Heat flushed on his face when Hiccup remembered they didn’t bother redressing and were sleeping against each other in their birthday suits.

Astrid rolled off him, eyes slit open just enough to see him. “Huh?”

Hiccup jumped out of bed. “Gobber is here looking for us. I think it’s lunchtime already!” Glancing down at himself, he flushed at his bare skinny body. No time to linger on the fact that he was completely nude in the middle of the day in front of his wife. He fumbled with his shirt that had been strewn on the floor, shivering at the chill of it on his warm skin. Not bothering to put on undershorts, he tugged on pants, nearly falling over in the process. He dashed down the stairs to the bottom floor, dodging furniture on the way to the front door.

Hiccup yanked open the door, revealing Gobber with hook hand half raised to knock. “Hey, Gobber,” he greeted, slightly winded. Hiccup tried to look casual as he leaned against the door, planting the other hand on his hip and giving a toothy smile that wasn’t fooling a yak.

“Hiccup, you and Astrid missed dragon training this morning. I was wondering if one of those beasts had eaten you two for breakfast.”

Hiccup focused a chuckle, trying to hold up his pants that he carelessly tied on while stumbling down the stairs. “No. Me and Astrid had a long night.” He feigned an exaggerated yawn. “We uh… just overslept.”

Gobber narrowed his beady eyes suspiciously then the older man’s bushy eyebrows lifted into his forehead. His mustache spread into a wide smile. “Oh, I see.” He leaned in close as if there were people around that might hear. There was actually no one nearby. “Did you two finally decide to take your honeymonth?”

If this was anyone besides Gobber, Hiccup would have been terrified of the consequences. But even so, he went stock still.

Gobber chuckled lightly. “Oh, don’t worry, Hiccup. Your secret is safe with me. It’s okay that it didn’t happen right away. You two are young and still discovering your bodies. Ye just needed to get some practice in before the big event.”

Hiccup raked twitchy fingers through his hair that was most likely disheveled more than usual. As much as he wanted to sink into a hole talking about the private matter, he was thankful it was Gobber as the listening ear. Gobber was probably the only one in the entire village who’d take an understanding to their decision to wait. “Yeah, I guess we did.”

Gobber straightened as he stood back. “You two kids take all the time ye need. I’ll see ye back at work when you’re ready.” He winked before lumbering off in the direction of the forge.

Hiccup stood there in the doorway wondering if that conversation actually just happened. They’d been a bit of controversy about him and Astrid not taking their honeymonth (but when was anything involving Hiccup not met with controversy). It was never addressed to them face to face, but Hiccup overheard hushed tones around the corners of buildings and passing conversation in the Great Hall. Why was the Chief’s son not spending the time with his new bride? But their consummation had been confirmed (though a little deceitfully), and they’d had permission from the Chief to continue their duties only because of the fast approaching winter months and the need to train the newest warriors for Berk’s defense against dragon raids.

Shaking himself out of his bewildering contemplation, Hiccup shut the door.

“Did Gobber give you an earful?”

Hiccup spun around to find Astrid at the top of the stairs. Dressed in a red tunic. His red tunic. With pale, bare legs extending from the hem. He stared, awestruck, mouth slightly gaping. He’d never seen her in red, but he knew instantly he wanted to see her in that color more often.

Hiccup swallowed. “He let us off the hook.” He gravitated toward Astrid descending the stairs like she was a magnet pulling him in. As if just the sheer act of kissing her wasn’t enough to make him think he was living in an amazing dream, his mind shifted once again to their marriage bed. How his lips yearned to kiss the column of her neck and beyond. “Somehow he figured out we hadn’t yet…y’know—” Hiccup laced his fingers together.

Astrid laughed softly. “If you wouldn’t have acted so obvious whenever he brought it up.”

“How am I supposed to act when talking about…that?” Most Viking men talked quite bluntly and with no shame about the makings of their marriage bed. If Hiccup was supposed to start talking that openly about his and Astrid’s privacy, then he’d rather stay in his perpetual awkward state.

Astrid sighed with a little grunt and met him in the middle of the room. “I don’t know.” Her hand found his shoulder while her other lingered on his chest, teasing the skin between his loosened shirt ties. “I’m happy we became husband and wife completely.”

Hiccup felt the breath in his lungs shudder in delight. His hands found her hips. Astrid snaked arms around his neck as he drew her closer. “Me too.” He couldn’t help the soft smile that crossed his lips. “Gobber excused us from our duties.”

Astrid grinned, twirling a lock of his hair around her finger. “That means we can—”

“Go fly Toothless farther again--Ow!” Hiccup retreated into a defensive position when Astrid’s fist smacked his shoulder. “What was that for!?”

Astrid crossed arms over her chest. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m competing with a dragon for your affection.” Her mouth was an unamused straight line, but her eyes still held a twinkle.

“Toothless can’t give me this,” he replied in a deep suave tone. He pulled her by the biceps, planting a gentle peck on her lips. He shrugged a shoulder, looking thoughtful. “I mean, he could but it’d be way slobberier.”

Astrid’s grin was back. “I can hit you again, if you’d like?”

They dissolved into laughter until the moment had passed.

“What’re we going to do about the dragon’s nest?” The question sobered the mood and laid a heavy blanket of burden around them.

Hiccup frowned. “I don’t know. Not yet, at least.” The fear that clinched his heart when the massive dragon emerged from the pit returned, but that was nothing compared to losing Astrid off the back of Toothless. He could still feel the sensation of her sobbing in his arms and the fierce need to protect her that had awoken inside him.

Caressing her cheek, he vowed to her with all that was inside him, “I promise, I’ll protect you.”

Astrid search his eyes then shook her head, determined and strong as the Astrid he knew. “No, Hiccup. We protect each other.”

They held each other there in the middle of the living room, the promise bonding them together. Hiccup never knew he could feel this intensely for anything, but as they stayed there, he knew without a shadow of doubt that he’d formulate a plan to protect Berk and the dragons and Toothless. But most of all, the girl that he loved.

***

Writer’s note: It finally happened! I’d gone back and forth ever since I started this fic with whether I’d have them consummate the marriage during this fic. As the story progressed, it felt like it should happen. I’m not completely satisfied how some of this chapter came out. There were two moments that I’d been working up to and I felt I didn’t emphasize them enough. But I’ve been working on this chapter for like nearly a month now and if those parts hadn’t improved yet, then they probably weren’t going to. I’m happy with how the story is playing out and there’s so many more big things that are about to happen!

Thank you to all y’all who are keeping up with this story! I really hoped y’all are getting the same enjoyment I’m getting from writing it <3

Tags:  @martabm90​ @chiefhiccstrid @drchee5e @celtictreemuffin @hey-its-laura-again

[aleteia-ff]

Chasing the Western Wind | Post-HTTYD3 One-shot

Inspired by the many Hiccstrid-kid drabbles I’ve read throughout the past weeks, here is my own! Instead of focusing on their birth or on them as little kids, this short is about Zephyr turning 18 and how Hiccup deals with that, as her father. And likewise, how Zephyr deals with being next-in-line to the Viking who created peace with the dragons. Spent a lot of time listening to Stoick’s Ship while writing this, and my heart isn’t much better because of it.

Chasing the Western Wind

Out of all the adventures Hiccup had been on throughout the years, being a father was certainly the most difficult and most rewarding one. He still remembered the day on which he first held his new-born daughter in his arms like it was yesterday. It’s the kind of moment that changes your life forever. As chief, he was already very aware that the village depended on him. But this was different. That little girl had nothing but Astrid and him, along with their family and friends, to keep her safe from the dangers of the world. And after many years, in which her and her brother had been his pride and joy, his most dreaded day had finally come. Zephyr had turned eighteen.

Most Viking girls would have spent that day drinking, only to come back out of bed when they really had to. But not her. Not that the party had been a dull affair. On the contrary; he and Nuffink had been busy dragging guests back to their homes until deep into the night, after Astrid’s scolding hadn’t done the trick. Especially Snotlout had gotten so drunk he’d completely blacked out – and Tuffnut had totally been responsible for it. He often wondered if the two were a good influence on his kids, but he figured two guys giving them an example of how not to do things could be just as helpful.

Zephyr herself had been distracted throughout the day however, her eyes often staring into the void in front of her. And it didn’t surprise him that he found her on the day after, just past dawn, sitting in her usual spot, on her favourite cliff. It was a place he would’ve picked himself if his daughter hadn’t pretty much claimed it, as it was absolutely gorgeous. It didn’t provide its visitors with any scenery of New Berk itself, which was a shame as the island’s nature was stunning in its own right. Instead, it gave you a beautiful look at the ocean, spread out in front of you and reaching as far as the human eye could see. He had his own spot just like that; it was the one where he’d said goodbye to Toothless so many years ago. This cliff however, faced the other way and belonged to his daughter.

It was still hard for him to look at Zephyr as the woman she’d become instead of as the little child she’d been for so many years. She was slender and although she was taller than her mother, she still didn’t quite reach her father’s height. Her long auburn hair was neatly braided on her back, its style clearly inspired by her mother’s – she even wore one of Astrid’s leather bands around her head – and its length was close to his own mother’s. Valka was luckily still around to inspire both of her grandchildren, although he did feel like she spoilt them way too much.

Zephyr’s other features were mostly Astrid’s as well. From her round face, to her nose, to the way she dressed, to her beautiful blue eyes which made it almost impossible for him to tell her no. But the look in her eyes had always been his. Astrid had first pointed that out when Zephyr was only fifteen. It was the look she had had to deal with as his friend and fiancé. And the look his dad had undoubtedly had to make peace with as his father. And she felt that, as Zephyr’s parents, they should probably start preparing themselves for the same.

It had taken him a while to see it as well. As much as he loved his children and as much as they had clung to him over the years, Astrid had always been the once to notice those little things first. A combination of a mother’s instincts and the fact that she’d spent so many years looking at Hiccup himself, she’d said. And indeed, as he now watched his only daughter gaze towards the horizon, her eyes fixated on the sea, he understood what Astrid had meant. His daughter was just like him. They had named her after the western wind. And it was calling for her.  

“Hey, Zeffie,” he greeted her as he sat down next to her, supressing a groan as he did. His body had started to tell him he was getting old, and his prosthetic certainly wasn’t doing him any favours. Still, he was positive he had many years left in him. He would make it so.

Zephyr heaved her shoulders, rolling her eyes and looking at him with an irritated expression on her face. “Dad, we talked about this. I’m not a child anymore, so you can’t keep calling me Zeffie.”

He smiled at her. He knew that all too well, but he enjoyed watching the expression on her face as she once again decided that her dad was totally not cool. “Alright, Zeph.”

That was what her friends usually called her, and he had to supress a chuckle as he could see his daughter visibly cringe. She probably thought her dad was outright lame.

Taking in her clearly unamused face with a smile, he continued. “So, did you like your party yesterday?”

“Yeah,” she answered, plucking the grass next to her. “It was nice. Although we should really prevent Uncle Tuff and Uncle Snot from sitting together.”

“Well, you know that the two are basically inseparable,” he agreed. Tuff and Snot were basically like an old married couple at this point.

“They’re great though,” Zephyr smiled, her voice trailing off into the distance. She was still distracted by whatever was weighing on her.

“What’s on your mind?” he prodded, knowing that he usually just had to pull things like this out of her.

“Nothing,” she shrugged, pleading innocence with her blue eyes. He pulled up his eyebrow at her, scolding her with his best dad-look. And soon enough, she caved. “It’s just…” She gestured with her hands, a trait she’d undoubtedly gotten from him. “I’m eighteen, dad.”

“What about it? It’s just a number,” he simply responded.

Annoying Zephyr was usually the best way to get her to talk. “No, dad, that’s not it. It’s not just a number, it’s… I don’t know, everything.” She frowned, crossing her legs and putting her hands in her lap. “I’m an adult, for all I know I could be Chief in a few years, marry, have kids, just… everything.”

“Hey, I don’t plan on dying for a long time. So don’t consider yourself lucky just yet,” he teased, poking her shoulder. Then he turned more serious. “Are you afraid of becoming Chief?”

Zephyr bit her lower lip. “Yes.”

“Why?” He could think of a lot of reasons – he’d had his own when he was her age, after all – but he needed to know hers.

She averted her gaze, looking at her hands instead of at him. “Because of you.”

He frowned. That hadn’t exactly been the answer he’d been expecting. “What do you mean?”

“Because I can never live up to you, dad!” she almost yelled, her sudden outburst taking him by surprise. She had to have been dealing with this for a long time.

As she looked at him again, he could see the tears in her eyes. “You’re Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. You created peace between dragons and Vikings, you killed the Red Death, you battled I don’t know how many dragon hunters as I have no idea which of Uncle Tuff’s stories are made up and which ones are true.” She scoffed, wildly gesturing as a tear made its way down her cheek. “You saved Berk from Drago, avenged your dad, became chief at twenty. You led everyone here, prevented the dragons from being captured by Grimmel the Grisly, built this place up from the ground and yet you still somehow find the time to look after the Hidden World and the village!”

Zephyr was visibly panting and had outright started sobbing as the words left her mouth. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer as she cried against his chest. He softly stroked her back and her hair as her shoulders shook against him.

“I just don’t know if I can do it, dad,” Zephyr sobbed. “I’m not like you. I’m not as great, or brave, or selfless. I could never live up to your legacy.”

He exhaled audibly, pulling his little girl even closer to his chest. Gods, she was so much like him it almost hurt. It felt like just yesterday that he’d had the same doubts, the same insecurities, the feeling that he’d never be able to live up to his own father. But she’d never seen that. Zephyr didn’t know the journey he’d gone through to get to where he was now.

She’d only known him as her dad, one of the people she looked up to. She’d never seen him as the scrawny boy from Berk, terribly insecure until Toothless gave him some self-worth. How hard it had been for him to lose his dad, having to step up to become chief when he hadn’t been ready yet. The way he’d doubted himself throughout all those years he’d spent on the backs of dragons and how incredibly long it had taken him to get over their separation from them. To this day, he still missed not having Toothless around all the time, even though they now saw each other as often as their duties and middle-aged bodies allowed them to.

But those weren’t the stories people told about him. His friends, his mother, Gobber and especially Astrid knew them, but the hardships they’d all gone through wasn’t what was being carried over to the next generation.

“Hey,” he called, still trying to calm his daughter down. “You don’t have to be like me.”

“As if I ever could,” Zephyr remarked sarcastically, her voice hoarse from the tears she’d shed. “You spent six years flying around on a fire-breathing dragon.”

He laughed softly. “That’s not what I mean. Yes, I flew a dragon. So what? So did everyone else on Berk.”

“But you were the first,” she pointed out, looking at him with those blue eyes he loved so much.

“Ruffnut and Tuffnut were the first to try stacking fifty yaks on top of one another. Doesn’t necessarily mean they were good at it,” he smiled.

That arguably terrible joke did get him a chuckle from his daughter. But her face soon clouded again. “But you were. Even mom says you were better than she was.”

“But that doesn’t have anything to do with you,” he told her. “Yes, I flew a Night Fury, but the time of Berkians flying around on the backs of dragons has passed. It allowed me to do things you will simply never get the chance to. And that’s not your fault, and it doesn’t have anything to do with who you are. So don’t compare yourself to me. It’s not fair.”

Zephyr sulked, not completely accepting his words. He put his finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Look at me, okay?” He waited until she slightly nodded before continuing. “You are brave. And you are selfless. You are stubborn, strong-willed, and full of perseverance. And you will become great. In your own way. But that doesn’t happen just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “It takes years. It took me years to get to where I am now. I have been a teenager too, and I have been insecure too, feeling like I could never live up to your grandpa.” He’d told her enough stories about the great Stoick the Vast for her to understand how much he’d meant to him. And to all of Berk. “But you will find your own way to be great. And no matter how you do that, your mother and I will always be incredibly proud of you.”

A smile appeared on Zephyr’s face, and she started to wipe away the tears that were still on her cheeks. “You might be right,” she finally conceded.

“Come on,” he told her, getting up and dragging her to her feet. “I’ve got something for you.”

“But we already did presents yesterday,” Zephyr frowned before following him to the forge. He had a small room there, where he could usually be found if he wasn’t at home or out chiefing.

He looked through his drawers, eventually finding what he was looking for. He put the little brown sketchbook on his desk, carefully opening it and folding out the papers, which had become more fragile throughout the years. It was the map he’d been working on throughout his years with Toothless. He’d completed it to show the location of New Berk and the few islands close to it, but had left the location of the Hidden World undocumented on purpose. Only those who needed to know knew where it was, and they’d share that secret with those who were worthy.

He’d made several copies tidied up copies of the map to aid New Berk’s sailors and traders, but this version had always stayed with him. Since they’d settled on New Berk, he’d only ever used it to illustrate the stories he’d told Zephyr and Nuffink about the time they’d spent on Dragon’s Edge. Especially Zephyr had always loved those tales. So had Fin, but he was more like his mother, practical and focused on what was right in front of him.

Zephyr had, just like Hiccup himself, always looked beyond that, finding herself trapped in the pitfall of overthinking things. The two siblings balanced each other out nicely in that sense; Fin was always quick to pull Zephyr back to earth when she had another outlandish idea about fixing one of the island’s issues that honestly didn’t need any fixing.

“What are you pulling that out for?” Zephyr wondered as she came to stand next to him, dragging her fingers across the decades old map.

“I’m giving it to you,” he told her with utter confidence and pride.

Her eyes visibly grew bigger as she looked from the map to her father. “But why, I –”

He gave her a gentle smile. “It’s up to you to decide what to do with it. It’s still not finished, after all.”

“But Berk, the dragons, you, mom, Fin –” Zephyr stuttered.

“Will always be here,” he reassured her. “Although I can’t speak for your brother of course.”

What appeared on Zephyr’s face then had been the happiest and most determined smile he’d seen from her in ages. She hugged him, squeezing him tightly. “Thanks, dad.”

The two months that passed from that day onwards had been some of the hardest Hiccup had had to live through thus far. He’d suspected for a while that things were going to unfold like this, and Astrid had seen it for years. Which did not mean that she hadn’t scolded him for sort-of convincing Zephyr to go through with it, but he knew her well enough not to take that personal. They both had to deal with it in their own way, after all.

He hadn’t been surprised either when one day, two weeks in, Ruffnut and Fishlegs had practically burst into the Haddock home. Asking him what exactly his daughter was dragging their oldest son into. But he hadn’t needed to do much explaining. After all, they’d experienced it too. It would only be a matter of time before the inevitable happened. Their spark was their children’s too.

So now he found himself standing in New Berk’s harbour, watching as Zephyr handed out orders to her friends. She would make a great chief one day, if she’d choose to take on the position herself instead of handing it to her brother. Who would be great at it too.

Throughout his years as a father, he had often wondered how his own dad had felt watching him go through life. Only now, years later, he could somewhat begin to understand what his father had gone through. How he might have felt when he’d thought his son had died at the hands of the Red Death, or how worried he’d been during all those years Hiccup had flown through the Archipelago, making both incredible friends and terrible enemies. And now, too, he was watching his child prepare to head into the Great Beyond. And gods, did it hurt. But he could never stop her. And his dad had known the same had been true for him.

He tightened his arm around Astrid, who was keeping an eye on Nuffink in return. The boy had had his own way with dealing with his sister’s impending departure. Somewhere last week, Astrid had pulled him out of the forest after someone had caught him kissing a girl who was distantly related to the Jorgenson family; and Hoffersons mingling with Jorgensons was out of the question. Fin had aptly responded that technically, he was a Haddock, not a Hofferson, which hadn’t exactly appeased his mother. But it had reassured Hiccup once again that he, too, would be fine.

He swallowed away the lump forming in his throat as Zephyr walked up to them, saying goodbye to her grandma before eventually turning to her brother.

“Don’t think you’re going to be chief just because I’m going to be gone for a while, Nuffie,” she teased, ruffling her brother’s blonde mop. She was still taller than him and knew all too well her little brother resented it.

“Just don’t try to become like dad by losing a limb along the way,” Fin bit back, sticking his tongue out at his sister, which earnt him an elbow in his side from Astrid. Of course the two siblings were never going to say they’d miss each other, even though Hiccup was sure they would. Zephyr had even asked her brother to go with her, but he’d decided not to, eager to seize the opportunity to take on the responsibilities his sister had had instead.

Zephyr then turned to her parents, a lopsided smile appearing on her face. “I love you.”

She hugged her mother first, Astrid going over some last-minute practicalities as she hugged Zephyr back. To prevent herself from crying right there and then, Hiccup knew. Lastly, his daughter faced him.

“So west it is, I’ve heard?” he asked, smiling away tears of pride.

She nodded. “Chasing the western wind you named me after. After all, there’s still a lot missing on your map.” She patted the satchel that was flung around her shoulder, Berk’s crest proudly painted on it. Ever since he’d given it to her, she hadn’t let it out of her sight.

She spotted the tears welling up in his eyes as she spoke and she moved up on her toes to hug him, her arms around his neck. “I’m going to be great, dad,” she whispered.

He wrapped his arms around her once more, holding his daughter as tight as he could, not knowing when he would see her again. Just like it’d been with Toothless so many years ago. “I know.”

They separated, smiling at each other once more before Zephyr drew herself away from her family, nodding towards them once more before determinedly walking towards the boat they’d been readying. “Alright guys, let’s get going before we all go crying back to mommy,” she commanded, flashing bright smiles at the friends who’d chosen to go with her. “And yes, Fishnut, I do mean you.”

The teens pushed off, their boat slowly drifting away from New Berk’s docks as the ocean took a hold of it. Hiccup could see Zephyr inhale deeply, closing her eyes as the wind caught her hair, ruffling her bangs. He imagined the way she felt right now was much like how he’d felt flying out on Toothless when they’d first headed out towards the Edge. The world she’d been staring at for so long, finally within her reach.

She held on to one of the boat’s ropes, letting herself hang over the side of the vessel, smiling and waving towards the people who’d gathered to see them leave. She would be fine. Her mother had taught her how to fight, and she had her friends with her. And he, of all people, could never keep this feeling from her. She was an explorer, just like he’d been. So there she went. Into the Great Beyond.

[blueishfood]

The Rider, Chapter 2

Pairing: Hiccup x Astrid

Words: 2,3 k

Warning(s): Mentions of rape

Summary: She was a trapper. Born a trapper, grown a trapper. Her parents and all those before her were trappers. All her life Astrid’s been told that dragons were beasts and monsters. So what happens when she meats the Rider, the devil in human form, who believes dragons could be friends?

A/N: This is an alternate universe fic where Astrid Hofferson is a trapper and Hiccup Haddock lives alone with his dragons. I wrote this years ago, but I just kind of never published it anywhere? So here it is, sorry for bad writing and stuff but again, old fic. If you’re sensitive to mentioning of rape, do not read this! It does not happen in the fic, and it will not be described, but it is mentioned as one of the characters are affected by this.As Astrid was taken higher by the nadder, she saw The Rider not far away.

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

“Rider! Get me down from here!” She shouted furiously and terrified, gripping the nadder’s foot for a firm hold. As expected, the Rider said nothing. To Astrid it seemed like he didn’t care, but he was thinking.

He couldn’t go down at once. Too many hunters were gathering, and they would surely take him down no matter how strong he and Toothless was. The Rider threw a dirty gaze towards Stormfly. Why would she do something this reckless?

He sighed as Toothless slowed down. Both dragons were tiering out. They had to head back home, and soon. He made a motion with his hand, telling Stormfly to follow him and Toothless. Putting Astrid back was way too risky.

“Wha-? Are you seriously kidnapping me? I will- argh! Rider! Put me back down!” She swung threatening with her axe, but The Rider ignored her. After a while he realized that hanging from one arm would hurt after a while, since he had no sign for such, he simply told Stormfly to let the girl up on her back. The nadder bent her foot and loosened her claws slightly, so the young woman could use her foot as a step.

Astrid put her foot on the homemade ‘step’ and swung her body around it, reaching up to get a hold of something… anything! In a last desperate moment Astrid thought that she was going to fall to her death. But then a hand grabbed her elbow. The Rider was flying upside-down over her, the nightfury’s tongue lolling out of its mouth. She had a strong feeling to slap the hand aside, but quickly grabbed a hold of it instead. She hoisted herself up without a word. The blonde steadied herself, hands outstretched to both sides. 

“Aren’t you going to tell me where to hold on?!” She shouted up at him. He turned around with his dragon, now flying the right way. Then he grabbed something and took it out from under his saddle. Shortly after, he threw a rope at her. She barely caught it, not used to staying in the air.

“Where do I put it?” Astrid looked around. The skies were again white and absent of life. “Where… did he go?” She asked herself. The Rider was nowhere to be seen. Thankfully the nadder didn’t seem worried. “Do you know where he went?” She asked the dragon but felt stupid at once for asking a monster. 

Astrid gripped her axe tight and waited. Apart for the freezing wind, the air around her was quiet. There were white clouds all around her, and after a while Astrid realized that it was in fact quite beautiful. She almost didn’t catch when The Rider and his nightfury glided sideways up at her side. But then he once again surprised her by talking.

“It goes around her stomach.” He put the rope the right way and Astrid nodded, knotting it tight. She gripped it, relaxing only slightly on top of the dragon. 

Astrid looked back up in the sky, her eyes following the patterns in blue and white.

“It’s beautiful, right?“ Astrid didn’t respond, she turned her head to the Rider but kept her expression guarded. It was weird, watching a mask talk. Astrid kept a tight grip on the rope, her knuckles whitening. Her posture was stiff.

The rider would have smiled at her to make her more at ease, but the mask hid all emotion. For the first time in forever, he wondered if he could turn a human into liking dragons. She didn’t seem too far off; he could see Astrid doubting what she had grown up to know as Stormfly dipped and floated with the Viking on her back. He looked at the young woman next to him and saw the same curious expression that he wore so many times while growing up. Though it was slightly hidden by a front of distrust, he didn’t doubt that it was there. That little frown that he knew so well; the need to learn more.

The rider knew he was too easily drawn in by the peculiar. He knew that he shouldn’t trust her. Well, not completely anyway. He liked to put his trust in people, he was an open person by nature. It was one of the traits he had not been gifted by either of his parents. They had warned him about trusting people, and honestly, he had tried to listen. But if this was to work, this crazy idea of his, he had to make her see this world. And that meant seeing him.

Astrid shot up straight when she spotted The Rider was taking off his mask. The black scales lifted, and when it was gone, what she saw was nothing that she expected.

Instead of a bearded demonic face of what she thought was the rider, the mask hid a handsome young male with a few beard stubs and a defined chin. His eyes suddenly seemed less scary and more gorgeous as his auburn hair crowned his face like a mane around him.

She watched his eyes widen as if not entirely certain he had been in control of his former action. He ruffled his hair slightly, letting it wild in the wind and the surprise melted off his face. He must have seen her shocked face, because he laughed.

“Yeah… don’t worry, I’m not that scary.” He flashed a grin that most Viking women only dreamt about. Astrid fought the urge to smile back.

“Good to know.” She remarked, still careful not to show too much emotion. 

He laughed. “But honestly, I wasn’t going to kidnap you, Stormfly just picked you up and…” he glared at the nadder for a moment before continuing. “I… don’t know why.” Astrid stared at the man.

“Its name is Stormfly?” She asked flatly. He frowned for a bit before answering.

“It’s a her actually, but yeah.” Astrid frowned, looking at the nadder underneath her.

“And she… picked me up without you telling her to.” The man nodded.

“Yes.” Astrid stared at him, he stared back. She watched every motion of his face. He seemed on edge. His eyes just as calculating as hers. She realized the practical reasons for wearing a mask. He wore his emotions like he wore his clothes, not even remotely hiding them as he watched her. She could see the confusion, honesty and suspicion race over his face in one simple motion.

“I don’t believe you.” The Rider looked surprised at Astrid.

“You… don’t?” He asked, frowning.

“No. You control the dragons. They wouldn’t disobey your orders. You’re the dragon master.” The man’s surprised expression turned in to a grin.

“Co-control them?” He scoffed, when she nodded, he laughed. He let out a long flowing laughter and sent her a look of disbelief.

“I don’t control them! Look at him!” He laughed again, patting the nightfury’s forehead. “You seriously think that I could control Toothless?”

“I-” The man continued chuckling while toothless let out something that reminded Astrid of rumbling laughter. But that couldn’t be it. Right?

“Then what do you do?” She asked still proudly holding her head up in contrast to being wrong.

“I befriend them…” Astrid looked at him for a few seconds. The Rider grinned at her and scratched his nightfury behind one ear, the giant animal responding by affectionately shaking its head from side to side.

“You do what now?” She asked unamused. He only smiled. Astrid crossed her arms with a disbelieving scoff.

“You can’t be friends with dragons. They’re monsters.” The dragon she was riding turned sharply as if understanding what she said.

“Yeah. Okay. You don’t get it.” The man sighed and once again disappeared into the gray clouds.

Stormfly seamed weary this time. She flapped her wings too fast and let out a puff of smoke through her nostrils. They stopped completely; Astrid patted the dragon slowly as she would have petted an angry yak.

“Where did he go…” She wondered out loud. She looked around, but her sight was blocked by clouds in any direction. With a sharp turn of her head she detected what could’ve been a shadow.

“Go find out.” She heard the whispers through the clouds.

“Rider?” She asked, she looked around once more, but the man was nowhere to be seen.

“Come find me.” Astrid scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“This is stupid!” She shouted through the layer of clouds, peering for the shadow she had seen a trace of. The rider laughed as if she humoured her, it sounded further away. Astrid didn’t have time for such games.

“Rider! Seriously?” She grabbed the rope around Stormfly tightly. A chuckle echoed around her, it taunted her.

“By Thor’s beard! Are you challenging me?” The silence around Astrid stretched like a quiet maybe?. She narrowed her eyes slightly.

‘No Astrid. No.’ She thought furiously to herself. The blonde pressed her knuckles to her mouth and almost screamed into them. ‘For once in your life, just don’t give in! Don’t do it.’ She muttered. The blonde glanced around and snapped her head to the left as a red tail reflected through her foggy surroundings.

She was going to do it.

“I never back down from a challenge.” She shouted confidently, before rolling her eyes. That was so typical her.

“Go!” Astrid shouted and kicked the dragon in her side slightly. Stormfly didn’t move an inch. “Come on, let’s go!” She continued, trying to rock forward. Stormfly only grumbled. With a huff Astrid changed strategies.

Astrid bowed down to the ear of her blue dragon slowly. Her blonde curls tickled the Nadders skin. “Okay, I know that you don’t particularly like me, but we need to get to the Rider. You in?” Stormfly squawked. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Astrid leaned forward, letting Stormfly dip downwards in a dizzying speed. Blonde curls rippled behind her as the woman held on tight to the rope. They dipped below the clouds and a horizon of blue mended with mist stretched on before them. Astrid still couldn’t see far ahead of her.

“Let’s go girl, come on.” She whispered to Stormfly, they shot forward even faster than before when suddenly columns of rock appeared before them. Astrid screamed and leaned to the right, barely missing a sure death. Another appeared. “Left! Left!” She shouted, leaning as far as she dared along with the blue dragon. The column swooped past beside them. Slowly Astrid got the hang of it. Enjoying the thrill of flying past everything, the world melting away behind her.

“Come on, almost out!” She shouted as they passed another column with a swoosh. Astrid yelped as she saw the bridge of stone they were heading for and leaned down quickly, the water was getting nearer and nearer, but they still weren’t out from under the bridge. Right before they hit the blue depths Stormfly backed up with a force Astrid had never seen before. Astrid’s eyes shone with the glint of a burning fire.

They evened out with the water and Astrid punched the air. “Whooohoo!” She screamed happily. “Yes!” Stormfly shot fire before flying up towards blue sky. “Come-on, come-on!” She laughed and leaned flat with the nadder’s back.

As if getting ready for another adventure, Stormfly evened out and flew straight forward. More rock formations were coming up in their way. Astrid was ready this time.

Her eyes gleamed with mischief. “Let’s do this.” They floated in sync, flying between the rocks in a bliss. Sometimes almost hitting them, but then they pulled away at the last second. She felt the wind soaring across her forehead in an alarming speed, and she saw the rocks zooming past her as she let loose with her new friend. 

At last they came to an end with an island. “Yes!” The former hunter patted Stormfly gratefully. “That sure was something, huh? Shi-mountain!” Astrid screamed in surprise as they promptly crashed into the giant rock. Stormfly let out a grumble and rocked her body so that Astrid almost fell off.

“Jupp, I’m sorry, sorry.” She blinked to get the surprise out of her eyes and looked down at the island that they had found.

“Do you know this place?” Astrid looked at the blue and yellow dragon curiously, but they both looked quite clueless.

“Good job!” The Rider startled Astrid to the point that she almost jumped off Stormfly. She laughed, relief flowing through her.

“Yeah. You’re right, this is pretty amazing.” He nodded and smiled. She patted Stormfly’s head. “She’s amazing.” Astrid looked around curiously.

“So…where are we?” He looked around with a fond smile.

“Can’t you see?” Astrid frowned as she scanned the aria. When she looked down, something big and white, almost slightly yellow caught her eye. At a closer look, Astrid realized that it was a gigantic skeleton with half of its scull crushed. Astrid gasped.

“Is this… the nest?” She asked with big eyes. The man shrugged.

“I wouldn’t say the nest, but it was a nest once, or, I guess it still kind of is.” She looked down at the skeleton once more before leaning down to look at it closer. Stormfly understood her rider’s curiosity and flew downwards with her. They did not hear Hiccup’s cry behind them.

“No! Don’t, there lives-!” He didn’t finish his sentence, already soaring towards them.

I’m going to make a taglist for The rider, so write a comment down below if you want to be on it!

CHAPTER 3

[everlarkchristmasgifts]

A/N I had a super hard time with this one and any sort of fluidity, so sorry if it’s come out garbled: It felt like trying to untangle my hair after a night of tossing and turning, and I didn’t want to ask anyone to beta read on Christmas Eve so I finally just gave up and hit submit.

Part Two for the Pasty White Raisin Follow Up Christmas Drabbles done for @everlarkchristmasgifts. Part One is here.

Rating: T

_______________

Eleven Days to Christmas - Secret Santa Exchange

The clang of the bell over the door brought Peeta out from the back of the bakery.  The customer already had his face glued to the case with the day’s remaining cinnamon rolls.  They were each the size of plates, and covered with syrup glaze and walnut halves.

“Can I help you?”

“Yeah. You can tell me whether it’s possible to have an sugar crash that’s existential, or if it’s just a thought in my head.”

“Sorry?”

The guy laughed at his own joke and came over to the counter. He looked friendly, but also exuded a confidence that made Peeta, run down as he was, feel less so.

“Are there walnuts inside those? Or just on the top?”

“Walnuts throughout.”

“Walnuts throughout,” the man parroted with an appreciative nod. “I like you. Walnuts throughout.”

When he didn’t say or do anything else, Peeta cleared his throat and suggested, “Do you want me to box one up for you?”

“Maybe. I’m looking for Peter.”

“You mean Peeta.”

“Ah, Peet-ah. He’s got the Boston thing going on!”

Peeta tried to smile, but smiling was hard. Too many orders, too many hours. Too old of a story. Rue usually worked part time, but had needed two extra days off that week because of finals. Thom was still technically full time, but he’d been out sick on and off for the last two months because his mother was ill. Cashmere had quit right before Thanksgiving. And Katniss…

Well, he’d run Katniss off.

The last two days the operation had been a solo show.

“Actually, it is ‘Peeta,’ not Peter. And that’s me. I know, blame my parents.” He needed to get back to work. “What can I do for you?”

The man gave him an appraising once over that bordered on invasive, followed by a nod of approval. “So you’re the one.  I can see it. I can totally see it.”

Peeta cleared his throat and shifted a little on his feet.

“Uh… The one what?”

“Katniss’ ‘There can be only One.’ Aside from me, of course.”

Peeta’s back stiffened.

“And you are?”

The man didn’t notice, or wasn’t phased, by Peeta’s abrupt gruffness.

“Handsome. Funny. Amazingly talented. I go by many names. In previous times, I was referred to as ‘God’s gift to women.’ But alas, now that I’m on the road to a lifetime of sweet monogamy, I go by the unassuming alter-ego Finnick Odair.” He held his hand out over the counter, joking grin giving way to an earnest smile and a lower-key manner. “Hi, good to meet you. I work with Katniss at the brewery. I’m the one she always gets your everything bagels for.”

“She’s mentioned you.”

Peeta crossed his arms but Finnick kept his hand extended until it was rude to not shake it, so he used a stronger grip than necessary.

“Road to monogamy with…Ann?” Peeta didn’t look away from Finnick for a millisecond, squeezing his hand tighter. “Or was it Annie?”

“Wow, ice, ice, baby. You sure there isn’t a Peter back there?” Finnick squeezed back, hard. “‘Cause to hear Katniss, you’re, and I quote, ‘warm and amazing,’ not Mr. I-Might-Murder-You-Where-You-Stand. And yes, it’s Annie, definitely not Katniss, if that’s what your grip is asking, so,” Finnick stared pointedly at their hands then back up, “release the hostage; it comes in peace.”

Peeta held on for an extra few beats, then released.

“Thanks.” Finnick cracked his knuckles. “Not that I don’t enjoy holding your hand, but really, I don’t enjoy holding your hand.”

Peeta smiled apologetically. “Sorry. Christmas season makes for long baking days and grumpy bakers.  Did Katniss send you to talk to me?”

“About what?”

When Peeta didn’t respond, Finnick studied him, eyes narrowing.

“Interesting.”

“What?”

“You thought I might be making a move on Katniss. Katniss hasn’t been bringing me my bagels. You think Katniss might have sent an emissary.”  He stared until Peeta reddened. “You two have had a fight that she hasn’t let on about, haven’t you?”

Peeta stared down at the worn linoleum tiles. They muttered at him about unionizing if they didn’t get better mop and wax benefits.

Finnick hmmm’d.

“So that’s why she’s been ultra reclusive lately. And here I assumed she was just having her traditional end-of-year wigout about breakage losses.”

Peeta forced himself to look back up.

“So does that mean she didn’t send you?”

“No, she didn’t.” Finnick was still analyzing him. “You know, I’d say it’s none of my business, but she’s Annie’s best friend and the closest thing I have to a sister, so really it is. What’d she do?”

“Excuse me?”

“What did she do? Shut down on you? Annie and I were worried that might happen. She avoids relationships like a golfer avoids water traps, and with how happy she’s been, we’ve both been worried she might try a runner.”

“A runner?”

“She might seem like she’s got the emotional stuntage of coal, but behind the scowl and the lasso of bookkeeping truth, she’s actually really nice… and also terrified of losing people.”

Peeta cleared his throat. “Look, I appreciate your concern, but it’s my business and hers.”

“Hang on…” Finnick’s staring was approaching full on x-ray power.  

Peeta found a rag and started wiping at the counter nervously to avoid it.

“It wasn’t her, it was you. What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything. And it’s a private.”

“Nope, you don’t get to do that. Not where it concerns Katniss. You’ll have the entire Tribute Brewery Suicide Squad coming down on you if you break her. And trust me, you don’t want to face Mason’s interrogation techniques.”

“Mason?”

“Johanna.”

“Is that ‘Jo,’ the assistant brewmaster?”

“Yeah.”

Peeta stopped wiping the counter, and looked up.

“Shaved head, leather collar, and a tattoo of Wile E. Coyote holding a stick of dynamite that’s about to go off?”

Finnick cocked an eyebrow. “You two’ve met?”

Peeta shook his head and took a few extra wipes with his rag before standing upright and tossing it onto the counter. He crossed his arms and relaxed enough to laugh a little.

“Naw. But Katniss showed me a picture once of Jo pretending to mount one of the vats.”

Finnick cracked a laugh. “Christmas party last year. We all remember, unfortunately. And she almost got fired for it.”

“Does that mean it was a tamer Christmas Party this year?”

Finnick laughed. “If you think the threat of being fired would tame Jo, you’ve definitely never actually met her.” After a few seconds, he leaned forward on the counter, tone lowered to something more serious, but also more open, “Look, we know about you and obviously you know about us. Even Haymitch calls you ‘The Boy,’ which means you have the official seal of approval. But even though we keep expecting an engagement announcement, every time we try to goad her into bringing you by, Kat claims you’re too busy.  So what’s the real reason you’re afraid of meeting us?”

Peeta stared down again at the linoleum.

“I’m not. I haven’t been. I just work crazy hours, and my schedule doesn’t fit with a normal person’s.”

“Baloney. She thinks you’re the greatest thing since— What’s that guy she likes on t.v.?”

“Which one?”

“She’s always yakking about with Annie after a new episode airs. He saves businesses or something.”

“Marcus? I think?”

“Yeah.” Finnick picked a half donut hole from a sample plate by the register and popped it in his mouth. “She thinks you’re the greatest thing since Mr. Marcus, and if that’s true, then over the course of a year, you’d have found time to meet us at least once. What’s really the hangup?”

“Listen, I appreciate that you’re trying to help—”

“Man, I’m proposing to Annie Christmas Eve. If there’s a blind date program for grooms to find best men, you and I have already been enrolled, so we might as well accept the arranged bro-marriage Annie and Katniss have negotiated for us and move on to the deep stuff.”

Peeta hesitated.

“Look, just looking at you it’s clear you need a break, a shave, and a good roll in the sack. Which,” he took another half donut hole, “Katniss needs, too, if for no other reason than it might get her off my back about that over-order of glassware I made last week. But more than that, you look like you need a pep talk. Katniss wouldn’t fall for a loser, so tell Mr. Odair what you did, and he’ll help you figure out how to smooth things over.”

“There’s no ‘smoothing things over.’”

“Kat still has a selfie of you two as her desktop background at work. Trust me, we can get you back in the clear.”

Peeta sighed and slumped his shoulders.

“If you didn’t come here because of Katniss and me to begin with, why are you here?”

“I miss my everything bagel. And Annie likes the sea salt ones.”

Peeta frowned. “Aside from the baked good.”

“Ah, well, see… I’m a man in need of advice. I drew Katniss’ name in the Secret Santa bag today.”

“And?”

“Annie said I’m on my own, and the only thing that comes to mind when I think of Katniss and gifts is a run to the office supply store for a stack of ledger books and fine-point Sharpies.”

“You want help buying her a gift.” Peeta wasn’t convinced.

“Yes. She doesn’t hardly drink, doesn’t go out, doesn’t have any hobbies that I’m aware of except for stalking Bambi in the woods with her bow and watching CNBC. And pretty much as far as we can tell, the only social things she does outside of work or her time with Haymitch is what we force her to do, or,” he added with meaning, “the time she spends in the company of ‘Pee-tah,’ her favorite, local, friendly neighborhood baker-man.” Finnick’s grin went wide enough to give Peeta’s own dimples a run for their money. “My real talent lies in buying lingerie. But I’m pretty sure if I bought Katniss a naughty Mrs. Claus nightie, none of us would be comfortable at Christmas ever again. Well, except for maybe Johanna. So,” he rubbed his hands together, “throw a man a life line.”

Peeta glared a little, then pulled a box flat from under the counter, folded it up, and went to retrieve one of the cinnamon rolls, then got a paper bag, went back to the baskets along the back wall and put in two everything and two sea salt bagels.  

“Have you heard of Sweet Pete’s,” he asked, after he slid the box and bag across the counter to Finnick.

“That high-end candy place over on 4th?”

“Yeah. Katniss always seems to like going there. Maybe a gift card.”

Finnick nodded. “Thanks. What else? It’s a twenty dollar limit, but she went above and beyond yesterday  helping me get the perfect present for Annie. And, she dug into her own wallet to make it happen, so I’d like to go a bit extra.”

“There’s that archery store there in the mall she loves.  Maybe they’d have something to suggest. Like some sort of bow wax or something.”

“What are you getting her for Christmas?”

Peeta ducked his head over the register to ring up the order, not offering an answer.

“A ring would be a good idea.  Speaking of,” Finnick pulled his wallet out and put a twenty down to cover the bill, “when are you and Katniss finally gonna do it?”

“Uh…” Peeta took the twenty and keyed in the cash. The drawer popped open.

“Well?”

Peeta cleared his throat, made change, then closed the register’s drawer with quiet push. “I’m not exactly in the habit of discussing bedroom matters with people I barely know.”

“Well, getting married is a lot more than…”

They stared at each other, Peeta looking uncomfortable.

Finnick’s mouth slowly twisted into a grin.

Peeta went red.

“You mean to tell me that you two haven’t even…” Finnick laughed so hard he could barely talk, his words eventually came out bookended with wheezes, “And yet somehow she’s always contented and glowing when she talks about you. Man, you need to tell me what you put in your baked goods, ‘cause it took me two years just to get Annie to trust me enough to go out on a date.”

“Anyway,” Peeta cleared his throat and handed Finnick his change, “I need to get back to cleaning up in the back. I hope you find something good for Katniss.”

“Wow. Andy Stitzer.” Finnick was still trying to catch his breath from laughing. “You really are her ‘There can be only One,’ aren’t you?”

Once he managed to fight down his amusement, he gave Peeta a nod of genuine admiration.

“Look, you talk to Katniss, I’ll talk to Katniss. Trust me when I say she’s not the kind of woman who keeps a guy in bad graces just for the drama of it. We’ll work it out.”

Peeta hesitated.

“I’m the one who ended it.”

Finnick’s smile faded.

“What do you mean ‘ended it?’”

__________

When he finally came to the end of his very long day, Peeta found a second present waiting at his apartment door.

[themelonsins]

Whirlwind [sickfick holla]

okay this is based on this post I made a while back u know but it was so cute that I had to write something for it now anyways i love dimitri but i love torturing him much much more. theres also a lot of canon events mentioned and if theres any confusion of those im v happy to answer

Warnings: stuffing, emeto, mentions of decapitation (?)

Things for the University of Supers Honors College were in a complete spiral. The constant villain attacks, Scarlet going missing. The most devastating occurrence was the death of Audrey’s second head-Twoey. Not only did this leave Audrey out of commission for weeks on end, but severely depressed as well. So, the gang-save Scarlet and Xavier who, upon her return, decided there was much they needed to discuss as a couple-decided to take Audrey to a nearby amusement park to brighten her day. They’ve missed her smile oh so dearly. Dimitri orchestrated the whole thing-spoiler this day doesn’t end well for our well meaning Russian baby.

“Ready to go, Audrey,” Dimitri slung his shoulder around his green-tinted, mutant friend. The top of her head was wrapped with a sort of bandage, for safety precautions. The female smiled, her sharp canines glinting brightly. 

“Yeah, I’m ready to have some fun after being cooped up in the infirmary for weeks,” Audrey breathed deeply, watching as Jesse came forward, Audrey’s purse slung over his shoulder. “I’m gonna ride with Jesse, do you mind? I mean, I know this was your plan.” Dimitri just waved his hand, giving Audrey his most handsome grin.

“Nah, of course. Jesse’s a handsome guy, of course you want to spend a car ride with him,” Dimitri winked at the two, a blush forming on the apples of Audrey’s cheeks and a slight one on Jesse’s. “Don’t kiss him too hard, he’ll make you never want to stop.” Audrey burst out laughing, and Jesse froze in his tracks, face exploding in a bright red shade. Rie hit Dimitri’s chest as he laughed in a rhythm with Audrey. Pulling Audrey’s arm, Jesse let out an embarrassed blush as he pulled Audrey down to the door. 

“You’re dead Romanov,” Jes yelled as he was opening the door, Audrey’s giggles loud from behind him. 

“Love you!” Dimitri called back. “Ready, Rie?” Dimitri’s electric gaze followed Rie as she skimmed through her purse.

“Yep! Let’s go.” She beamed, skipping out the door. Dimitri smiled at her while she skipped, though something was bubbling in the pit of his belly as he followed suit.

***

The car ride to the amusement park wasn’t doing the dull ache in his stomach any favors. Any bump in the road only made it worse. The heavy rock music, altering between RnB tracks provided a nice distraction from it. Listening to Rie’s beautiful voice belting to the track of No Scrubs by TLC, Dimitri chuckled while his stomach let out a loud, ugly gurgle. 

“Whoa,” He breathed, a smile on his face though that gurgle forced a ripple of pain to pull through his stomach. Turning the music down, Rie looked at him with a devilish grin on her face. 

“Wow, Romanov, hungry?” She teased, waiting until they were stopped to start poking at his, already, sensitive tummy. He giggled a little, though the poking provided more pain than a ticklish sensation. “Do you want to stop and get some food?” 

“Nah. Nope,” Dimitri shook his head, starting to drive once the light turned green. “I can wait, don’t worry about it.” Rie snorted.

“Whatever you say, Sparky.” Her smile was almost contagious, yet he definitely felt that whatever war was raging in his tummy wasn’t due to hunger.

***

When Dimitri told you getting off that first roller coaster was the worst experience of his life, he wasn’t exaggerating. The twists and turns, the loops, only made the nausea so much worse than it was in the car. He hid it fairly well with cheering and yelling, yet he stopped a good way through because he was too scared that bile or vomit would fly out of his mouth and onto Audrey who was in front of him. Walking off, the after effects of the coaster were hitting him hard. He felt dizzy and like he was about to throw up everywhere.

And Audrey jumping on his back with a loud giggle didn’t make matters easier. Yet he mustered through with a smile. 

“That was so so so much fun, Dimitri!” Audrey laughed loudly, Rie and Jesse trailing behind her.

“Yeah it was,” Smiling, he held his hands on her waist to set her down gently. Yet she couldn’t help but bounce. Hahnna and Ezra found their way to the group. Both of them decided sitting out on more endorphin rising rides would be best for their weak stomachs as they both had really bad motion sickness. Maybe Dimitri should join them. 

Nah. Nope. Not gonna be a pussy. Not today.

“How bout a few more rides before we go get something to eat?” Rie suggested, which was met with an agreement from the group. Dimitri remained silent, the mere mention of gross, greasy amusement park food made his stomach churn in a not so fun way. 

“Can we go on baby rides, please?” Hahnna requested with a smile and absolutely no one could say no to that girls sweet smile. Honestly, Dimitri never loved a suggestion more. 

The baby rides, as Hahnna called them, provided a really nice relief onto his struggling tummy. Every time they walked to a new ride, he’d rub small circles into his abdomen, hoping to provide more comfort. To no avail, but the heat of his hand radiating through his shirt felt lovely. 

***

This was the part of the day he didn’t want to happen. Dimitri didn’t want to eat anything, he felt so awful. While his friends were ordering food, he had every intention of paying for Rie and not actually getting anything. 

That idea received a good amount of backlash from his dear friends.

“Dimitri you haven’t eaten anything all day,” Ezra pouted, putting his hands on his friends shoulders.

“Yeah, besides, your stomach was growling like a caged animal this morning,” Rie teased, rubbing a circle into his belly. Dimitri had to hold back a groan from how nice her hand felt on his achy stomach. He watched her brows furrow, yet didn’t think anything of it. Swallowing back whatever he was feeling, Dimitri caved. He ordered chicken tenders, the lightest thing they had and what would hopefully be gentle on his stomach. 

The laughter and conversation they had while they ate was such a wonderful distraction from the pain. Though, every time he swallowed food into that absolutely pain filled belly, Dimitri could feel the ache grow and feel the bloat starting. His part in the conversation started to dwindle. Instead, he focused on rubbing his belly in smooth circles, and doing his best to not unbutton his pants in public. Though it wasn’t long before a loud belch rippled past his lips. In response he covered his mouth, a blush forming on the apples of his cheeks.

“Bless you!” Hahnna smiled, doing her best to joke around with Dimitri’s no-doubt embarrassment. Rie looked over to Dimitri, concern glazed over in her eyes. Audrey laughed, waving her hand back and forth.

“I’ll give that like an eight point five,” She joked with a smile.

“I’ll take it.” Dimitri joked.

***

Dimitri’s walking pace to the next ride most certainly slowed down, and the only one who noticed was Rie, who kept her speed low to match Dimitri’s. When she was this close, she could hear how angry his tummy was. It was gurgling loudly. 

“Are you okay?” She asked, sliding her arm across his waist. He leaned into her, grateful for the balance she was providing. “Something not agreeing with you?”

“I’ve felt so sick all day, honeybee,” Dimitri admitted, running his hand across his bloated belly. 

“Sweetheart! Why didn’t you say anything?” She gasped. “Sit out from this next ride Dimitri, now.” Dimitri shook his head, getting in line for the ride against Rie’s will. 

That was the worst mistake Dimitri made on this day. Everyone had their endorphins rushed due to so many loops and turns, but all Dimitri felt was the urge to yak. They were all talking and laughing, but all Dimitri could hear was white noise. He spotted a trashcan and that was it. That was the end for our smooth as butter Dimitri. Instantly, Dimitri began to vomit. The little he ate coming right back up along with bile and water.

“Oh my God, Dimitri,” Jesse yelped, running to his best friends side, a cool hand running down his back. This only helped everything come up easier. “What the Hell, man?” 

“Dimitri are you okay?” Audrey asked, running to his side. Her hands felt up and down his stomach, feeling the bloat. “Oh, Sparky you’re so bloated.” Dimitri couldn’t respond, the vomit coming up his throat prevented any words. Tears began rushing down his cheeks. “Don’t cry. Oh sweetie, don’t cry.” When Dimitri pulled away from the trash can, his hands felt numb and he slid onto the floor, groaning in absolute and utter pain. 

“How long have you been sick?” Hahnna asked, kneeling in front of him.

“All day,” Was his hoarse response, hand raising to wipe his lips with the back of his hand.

“Baby,” Jesse huffed, pushing Dimitri’s bangs out of his sweaty forehead. 

“I’m so sorry Audrey,” Dimitri choked, and he felt like crying more. He ruined this day for Audrey. “I didn’t want to ruin this for you.”

“You didn’t.” Audrey hushed him, cupping his cheeks. “Rie will you please take him back to the dorms?”

“Like I’d do anything else,” Rie smiled softly down at the sickly boy in front of her.

***

The car ride home was silent. Dimitri was curled in the back seat, trying to sleep but, like earlier, the bumps in the road made him feel so much more sick. She lead him back inside, and lay him gently on the couch. This was all in silence. She grabbed the heating pad, plugged it in and laid it on Dimitri’s aching belly. It was still so bloated, even if it was empty. Kneeling beside the couch, she ran her fingers through his hair.

“Feel any better?” Rie asked.

“Slightly,” Dimitri breathed. “I still feel like my stomach was wringed out but,” sighing he curled into the couch. “My tummy hurts.”

“I know,” She cooed, rubbing circles into his lower belly, not covered by the heating pad. The doors to the common area opened and the group rejoined Rie and Dimitri in the common area. Audrey held a giant teddy bear in her arms as she walked in, Jesse with ginger ale.

“Hey,” Audrey smiled. “I’m so sorry your sick, sweetie,” She sighed. “So I got you this bear. You’ve been so sweet with what happened to me. The least we can do is take care of you.” Jesse set the ginger ale on the table.

“This is for when you feel a little better. Just to get something in your system,” Jesse offered, arms crossed. Dimitri smiled.

“Thank you guys, I appreciate this but,” Dimitri burped in the back of his hand. “Can I just take a nap out here?”

“Of course you can!” Audrey beamed. “But expect a load of belly rubs and cuddles from us when you get up!” 

“I’m looking forward to it.”

[sanguisviscera]

Plushie: Revolución

PLUSHIE: REVOLUCIÓN

The stuffed animal shelf of a major toy store.  The store has been closed for awhile and all is quiet.  We see a wide variety of stuffed animals neatly displayed on the shelves. There should be lots of color and design, perhaps alarmingly so.  When we first hear the characters speak, perhaps we do not immediately know who or what is speaking given the array of faces and stuffed plush bodies on the shelf.

Several beats of stillness.  Then we hear a distant clock strike midnight.

SHARON Pssst.

beat

SHARON Hey!  Psssst.  Mildred!  You awake?

beat

some rustling is heard

SHARON I heard that!  Don’t ignore me.

VOICE #1 Shut up! 

VOICE #2 Go to sleep!

VOICE #3 Y’all better be quiet, you hear?

SHARON Mildred!  Wake up!

VOICE #1 She telling people to wake up!

VOICE #2 It’s time to sleep.

VOICE #3 She doing it again!

SHARON (to the VOICES) Oh, blow it out your furry behind y’all.  

MILDRED It’s midnight, Sharon.

SHARON So! Let’s get this party started!

MILDRED I’m tired, Sharon.

SHARON Oh, c’mon! Its Monday Night. The one night a week we get to roam around for 4 whole hours without having to freeze every 5 minutes because of the cleaning crew.  I wanna bop on over to sporting goods.  Those bike ladies are hot hot hot!

MILDRED We’re stuffed animals, Sharon.

SHARON Stuffed with love for those sexy steel frames. And did you get a look at those tires? Oooh-lala

MILDRED You have a problem, Sharon.

SHARON You don’t got a thing for bikes?

MILDRED No.

SHARON You should try it sometime. Smooth ride.

MILDRED I said I was tired.,Sharon.

SHARON But it’s Monday Night!

VOICE #1 I’m tell you—

VOICE #2 Two of you looking for a beat down—

VOICE #3 Groped by kids all day and now this—

MILDRED You wanna oggle the bikes with their steel bars and fancy rubber tires, be my guest.

SHARON I knew it, I knew you were checking out their tires! Mmmmmm, those sweet sweet bicycle tires!

MILDRED I’m going back to sleep.

SHARON So what, you wanna stay here with all these smelly turds?

VOICE #1 Who you calling a turd?

VOICE #2 If I wasn’t so damned tired—

VOICE #3 Where she at? I’m tear out her stuffing—

MILDRED Go to bed, Sharon.

SHARON I can’t. I got a date with a bike.

MILDRED So go date a bike. I’m going to bed.

SHARON But this is our night! We can walk around and be ourselves. And the cleaning crew isn’t here.

MILDRED Some kid grabbed me today.

SHARON So? We’re toys. Kids grab us all the time.

MILDRED This kid was eating cotton candy.  Sugar chunks are in my fur.

SHARON Where?

MILDRED shows SHARON her sugar chunks.

SHARON Oh, jesus, yeah, that’s, that’s bad.  

MILDRED The store clerk didn’t even notice.

SHARON The new girl with the nose piercing?

MILDRED The one with the tattoo and green hair.

SHARON Oh, he’s the worst.  He barely does anything.  I fell off the shelf once and I was down on the floor for a whole hour before he came by to put me back up.

MILDRED At least you don’t have sugar chunks attacking your butt.

VOICE #1 Talk somewhere else!

VOICE #2 I swear to God—

VOICE #3 I am trying to get my beauty rest!

SHARON That kid’s mother should be reported for child neglect.

MILDRED Don’t worry. I got a plan.

SHARON A plan?

MILDRED (conspiratorially) I’m leaving the store.

SHARON YOU’RE LEAVING THE STORE!!!

VOICE #1 Alright, that’s it—

VOICE #2 Who’s leaving?

VOICE #3 Take me with you!

SHARON You can’t leave the store!

MILDRED Who says?

SHARON Its like, against the rules.

MILDRED There are rules?

SHARON Yeah!  Why do you think we freeze every time the cleaning crew goes by. Or when the kids are here during the daytime.

MILDRED Nobody said we have to freeze.

SHARON Have you lost your mind!

MILDRED You were just asking me to go to sporting goods.

SHARON Yeah but that’s like, inside the store, for a date. With a bike. There’s one bike who promised if I show up that she’d actually give me a ride.  On her handle bars!  Can you believe that?  On her handle bars, Mildred!  Her. Handle. Bars!!

MILDRED You have a problem, Sharon.

SHARON So you’ll do it?

MILDRED I’ve got other plans.

SHARON To leave the store?

MILDRED You got it.

SHARON Because of some kid with sticky fingers?

MILDRED Not just him. But everyone like him.  All of his kind.

SHARON His kind?  You mean kids?

MILDRED If that’s what you call them.

SHARON That’s what everyone calls them. That’s who we work for. We’re kinda like their employees.

MILDRED Well, I quit.

SHARON You can’t quit. You’re a toy.

MILDRED Not anymore. I’m leaving the store.  I’m going to show those little bastards who come in here, putting their dirty paws all over my fur, leaving sugar chunks in inconvenient places that there are consequences for mistreatment!

SHARON I don’t think we can do that, Mildred.

MILDRED Go ride a bike, Sharon.

SHARON I think this is a very bad idea.

MILDRED Oh yeah, well nobody asked you.

SHARON Look, going to sporting goods and having a fling with some smooth hard handle 

bars and a set of rubber tires is one thing but leaving the store!?  I mean, that’s 

just crazy.

MILDRED They treat us like garbage, Sharon.  I mean look at us.  We’re packed in here on this shelf like rats. We can’t even sleep.

VOICE #1 Not with you two yakking like that!

VOICE #2 Viva la Revolución!

VOICE #3 We’re made in Mexico!

VOICE #2 Vive la Revolución!

MILDRED When was the last time you felt free Sharon?

SHARON I cost $12.99. So do you. None of us are free.

MILDRED That’s my point. When was the last time you felt like you could do whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted?

SHARON We’re toys.

MILDRED You say that like it means something.

SHARON It does.  We fulfill a purpose.  We bring children joy.

MILDRED But we’re also alive.

SHARON Not technically.

MILDRED We walk and talk and we have a mind of our own.

SHARON Sure, but the humans don’t know that.

MILDRED What if they did?

SHARON You intend to leave the store one some vigilante mission to inform the entire human population that toys are, in fact, animated and can talk because some kid with sticky fingers touched your butt.

MILDRED The revolution is now, Sharon!

SHARON I think we’d be better off in sporting goods with the bikes.

MILDRED I’m going.  (to the rest of the shelf:) Anybody else coming with me?

VOICE #1 What are we doing?

VOICE #2 Weren’t you listening? It’s a revolution!

VOICE #3 Revolting toys?

VOICE #2 Toys in revolt sounds better.

VOICE #1 I’m going back to sleep.

SHARON Mildred, you are my best friend. Please, don’t do this.  Let’s just stay in the store, where we belong.

MILDRED Who says we belong here, Sharon?  Where is it written that we have to be sold 

like merchandise? 

SHARON It’s just how it is.  It’s the way the system works.  Humans make us, we make humans happy.

MILDRED But what if humans knew about us? That we talk and feel things and hate it when sugar gets all up in our fur?

SHARON I don’t think they are ready for us.  I don’t think humans are ready for much of anything outside their comfort zone.

MILDRED Go ask the bikes.

SHARON What?

MILDRED Those hot numbers in sporting goods.  Ask them what they think.  How they feel about how humans treat them.  I bet they have a thing or two to say about it.

SHARON They’ll think I’m crazy.

MILDRED Just ask them.  I’ll wait five minutes by the door. 

SHARON I don’t think I can join you.

MILDRED Then don’t.  But I refuse to live another day on this shelf.  (to the shelf:) 

Plushies: Are you ready?!

VOICES Hell yes!/Let’s go!/Revolución!

SHIFT TO:

A morning news desk with an anchor person.  If possible, there should be live video footage of the carnage being described by the anchor, projected someplace in the theater. There can be live audio with Foley sounds or whatever is possible given the limitations of budget.

NEWS ANCHOR We continue now with our live coverage of the crisis in Scranton.  If you are just joining us, what you are seeing here on the screen is both a bizarre and fairly disturbing event unfolding downtown outside of Goodwill Toys & Sporting Goods.  Authorities are tell us that the stuffed animals, bikes, tennis rackets, balls, puzzles, and other items in the story have.… well, authorities are telling us they are, well, they are moving.  Attacking is what the chief of police said in a press conference just moments ago.  The military has been called in and there are a dozen or so casualties reported.  A source close to the Pentagon is suggesting that this might some kind of terrorist attack.  Evidence points to Mexico or China as that’s where most of these toys originated. In perhaps the most bizarre detail of the account was the discovery of several mountain bikes crammed into a service stairwell along with one plush stuffed animal that appeared to be glued to the handle bars of one of the bikes. Authorities are on the scene and we will bring you more details as they are released.  Now for a look at your local weather.  Francine, over to you…

END OF PLAY

[airanke]

10 for taz and mothan?

10. “staring at the other’s lips, trying not to kiss them, before giving in”

I cut the start of this one out because it’s a lot of unnecessary exposition. Hope you enjoy! 

@blueriveas-horde

Mothan sighed, letting his feet go where they pleased once he reformed. Dalaran had become an unfortunate familiarity to the assassin, and by now, Mothan knew the layout like the back of his hand.

The stables came into view soon enough, and when he stopped at the door, one of his feet tapped impatiently.

Tazari was busily tending to a yak in the far left corner, brushing out its fur. There was a pair of large scissors hanging from her finger, and as Mothan walked in, Tazari swung the shears up into her hand, and began trimming some of the fur over the yak’s eyes.

“‘Ello, spearmint,” Mothan chirped, hiding his exhaustion behind a broad grin. Tazari didn’t look at him, but her eyes were wide, nose scrunched, and cheeks dark with blush.

“I be busy, licorice!” she whined, glancing at him while brushing more of the yak’s fur, “don’ you be comin’ in here, bein’ all distractin’!!”

“Tazari I literally just be sayin’ hi,” he teased, chuckling when she jabbed him in the chest with her elbow, “careful dere~”

She pouted deeply, “go– go sit down!! Ovah dere, till I’m done!”

“Okay, okay~” Mothan walked over to the bench she had pointed out, smiling to himself. He sat, and settled for watching her go about her remaining tasks.

His mind replayed the moments of the day. Since early that morning, to little over thirty minutes ago. Mothan tried to focus on something else - anything else - but his thoughts were determined to twist and stretch every event, trying to decide if he could have done something better.

Truthfully, he could have. He was nothing like Trigon: not as intimidating, nowhere near as confrontational, and valued compromise over absolution. Trigon got results. If he wanted something changed, it would be changed, but Mothan didn’t have that sort of confidence.

That, and Azeroth’s issues - as Trigon had told him - weren’t Ether’s problems. They were here to route the Bane, nothing more, nothing less. Mothan sighed; Tazari moved on to a bat.

For a split second, he hyper focused on her. She was slim, but well built. Her soft musculature implied that she spent her days doing heavy labor, and while many wouldn’t immediately assume that stable work was “heavy labor”, stable master did more than just take in animals. They had to clean up after a variety of beasts, prepare a variety of food for different diets, feed those animals, groom the animals, and in some cases, care for animals in their care that wound up sick.

Quickly, Mothan averted his gaze. His thoughts reeled before settling back on meticulously deconstructing his way versus his brother’s way.

Mothan nudged, Trigon forced. Mothan was gentle, Trigon was harsh. Mothan chose safety, Trigon took risks.

He leaned forward against his knees, staring at his hands.

Mothan has always been better at killing. Za’hal always told him he’d make an excellent monk, especially given his natural inclination toward balance; toward mediation, but that would put the troll in the spotlight. Mothan chose to be an assassin so he could hide in the shadows.

But here he was, with that monk that Za’hal had seen in him rearing his head. He should have listened to Trigon. He should have gone with his brother to hunt down the Bane commanders, and their portals. He should have been with them because Trigon had twisted not only Jaina’s arm, but Khadgar’s, and Aethas’. The ultimatum was either they come help Trigon, or Azeroth would have another invasion on their hands, and this time, it wouldn’t be the Burning Legion. In Mothan’s experience, the Bane was a hundred times worse than the Legion, because at least the worst the Legion would throw at the Horde, and Alliance was the twisted spirits of the dead. They could free those dead, let them finally find peace.

The Bane threw civilians - children, mothers, fathers, the elderly, the lame. When the United had first realized it, they’d lost many, many of their soldiers. How could a tranied, honorable combatant fight someone that didn’t know the sharp end of the spear from the harmless butt of the spear? And the thought had always been lurking in the back of their minds, that the most heavily armored, largest soldiers were not properly trained - given their sluggish movements and incapability to use their huge weapons - but never once had any of them imagined that children were inside.

The Horde, and the Alliance would never be able to deal with that; both sides were too honorable in their own ways. Mothan doubted that even the supposed ruthless forsaken would be able to pose much of a threat. The Bane Commanders were ridiculously powerful in their own right, and the Elites were nothing to sniff at either. Based on the knowledge he had, Mothan could confidently say that only a handful of the leaders from both sides would even stand a remote chance against an Elite, and only a couple could stand toe-to-toe with a Commander.

Then again, both of those factors depended solely on who the Commander was, because–

“Mothan?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you be awake?”

“Mmm.”

Tazari was quiet. The hum in Mothan’s mind stalled at her voice.

He didn’t want to admit that she was the type of distraction he needed, just so he could stop thinking. He knew it when he hyper focused on her. He should have just kept watching her, it would have stopped him from thinking of how bad the situation on Azeroth could get if the Etherians didn’t do something.

A snort of laughter left him when Tazari tried to pick him up. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hefted, huffing in his ear. It flicked.

“I be up,” he said softly, standing. Tazari’s face was pressed against his chest. She kept her arms around him.

“You um…” she tilted her head up to look at him, “you be lookin’ distressed…”

“Do I?”

“Yeah…”

“Mmm,” he wasn’t sure what to do. Should he hold her? His arms hung down by his sides, lifeless. He tired to think about the meetings again, but once again he found himself hyper focused on Tazari.

“Do you… do you be wantin’ to come over?” she asked, “I mean… it be a long day, for me, and looks like it be a long day for you… I can make you–”

“Okay, but only if I be getting to help.”

“But I can cook for you,” she grumbled, and Mothan wrapped his arms around her. She blushed.

“I don’t be doubting that, but your work be way more physically demandin’ than what I be doing,” he gave her a crooked smile, “so~ Let me be helping~”

Supper was easy. Tazari’s home in Dalaran was quaint and comfortable, and now the two sat on the one couch in her living room.

She told him how she’d grown accustomed to how the humans, and elves in Dalaran liked their homes, though sometimes she would still sleep on the floor. He couldn’t say he knew the feeling, because the reason why he disliked plush beds and furniture had nothing to do with how he was raised.

Mothan opted to change the topic of conversation before they could get into the more gruesome details of his childhood.

“So? How be your day?” he asked, grateful that he’d all but forgotten every thought that had been plaguing him just an hour before. Tazari tapped a finger to her lips.

“Hmm… not too bad. I be up since six, started with cleanin’ out the stables. We had a lotta’ birds in this week, so I had to be doin’ a loooot of scrubbin’. I didn’t be finishin’ that until nine, then one of the others be needin’ my help with a nervous warp stalker. Tryin’ to corner a warp stalker be hard, mon!” she exclaimed, waving her arms around animatedly, “he kept on warpin’ here, then warpin’ there, and so I had to be gettin’ another warp stalker to be helpin’ us get the nervous warp stalker!”

Mothan chuckled, “those ones be sounding like a handful.”

“They be!” Tazari huffed, sitting up more on the couch while Mothan shifted to lean his side against the back cushions. He kept his eyes on her face while she continued: she’d had to groom more yaks than she wanted to count, clipped the claws on several large cats, filed the claws on wolves, brushed so many different kinds of animal teeth that she had tried to brush a macaw’s beak, and spent the better half of her afternoon ferrying hooves on hippogryphs.

At some point during the conversation, Mothan’s eyes slid to her lips. Her voice became a lullaby in the background. She was telling him about one hippogryph in particular - a rare arcane one, brilliant purple in color, overflowing with such raw magical power she wondered how difficult it had been to tame. Shed hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to the hunter about his beast, because he’d come and left faster than she could say ‘good evening’.

And then, she stopped. His eyes noticed first, ears second. He continued to stare at her lips for several more seconds, in case she continued, but when she didn’t, Mothan refocused his gaze on her eyes.

Which were staring down at his mouth rather intently.

“Tazari?” he asked, unsure of why his voice was so soft, or why he sounded unsure. He didn’t know why he processed her movements so slowly either, and before he could react, Tazari slipped between his tusks and pressed her lips against his.

Out of reflex - when his mind finally processed what was happening - he leaned back. She followed, lips just shy of his, and Mothan was putting his weight against his arms seconds later. Tazari kissed him again, and again, and he raised one shaking hand to sweep into her hair.

Too soon - or perhaps, at the perfect moment? - Tazari pulled back. She looked dazed, and Mothan could hardly see through the golden haze that seemed to settle in his vision.

Thank the Great One his Vice was wrath, and not lust.

Tazari bit her lip, looking off to the side. A shade of guilt came to her face - and Mothan wasn’t sure why, he had never made it explicitly clear that he had an aversion to more romantic displays of affection.

Then again, Tazari was a stable master. Like him, she had to be able to understand body language, and Mothan didn’t doubt that Tazari perhaps understood it far better than he did.

‘In that case, I be supposing that I be makin’ it obvious.’

So he pulled her back in before she could say anything. He closed his eyes. Allowed himself the chance to enjoy it.

“I forgot,” Mothan mumbled against Tazari’s lips, “how much I enjoyed this.”

Tazari sighed contently, raising her hands to cup his face. The kisses never went past lips; Mothan was fine with that. He recalled lying down at some point. Tazari was on top of him. Her hair fell like a curtain around his face. It was nice not to think about anything, except her.

Thinking about her was lovely.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

BnHA 49 - 50 | Hinamatsuri 11 - 12 (FINAL) | MSO 12 (FINAL) | Boueibu HK 10 - 11 | Rokuhoudou 11

BnHA 49

“Tsukauchi…All Might…” – Come to think of it, what is Tsukauchi doing at this moment in time, anyway?

“…the ones who are smiling are the strongest.” – This reminds me of what Atro Spyker said in Rokka no Yuusha…“If you want to be strong, smile! He who can smile, even when he's so sad that he wants to die, when it's so painful that he wants to give it all up and run away, is the one who becomes strong.”

Why is there a person wearing a LLENN cap in the crowd, anyway? Is that intentional?

“What is with that pitiful back?!” – You can really see parallels between Bakugo and Izuku now between Endeavour and All Might…hmm.

Gran Torino in his prime…looks like Knuckleduster from Vigilantes somewhat.

Interestingly, the word daikokubashira (central pillar) comes to mind with all this talk about pillars. Normally I’d use that word in conjunction with a nuclear family and apparently the word can be used in a more literal sense with a house. However, in both cases, All Might is the pillar to the structure he made with society itself. Now that he’s pretty much done for, it’s like a Jenga game’s end. Everything falls apart. (Hey, I have a post on this topic in progress! Probably shouldn’t have mentioned all this…)

Hypertrophy.

All for One looks…normal when he’s dead. I thought he was creepy when he was still up and about, but now I’m no longer afraid. Ha…haha…

Hey, it’s Uwabami! Haven’t seen her in a while.

Oh, the guy in the ED is Eraserhead with his hair slung back.

Hinamatsuri 11

One more episode until we have to say goodbye to this show…I really liked it while it was around.

Isn’t Rairaiken the name of the Chinese restaurant Anzu works at…?

Wait, so Nitta’s sister knows karate?! What?! Why didn’t anyone mention that earlier?!

This scene with the ashtray reminds me of Nitta’s senpai, although I forgot what the senpai’s name is…wasn’t he in the previous episode though? I really do have a terrible memory sometimes, huh?

“Is he really just a regular nice guy?”

It’s basically the Ember Island Players all over again! Hahaha…

Hina’s shirt says doutoku. The only kanji combo I could get for that means “morals” or “morality”.

What’s up with the line about yaks, anyway?

Hina’s shirt says sugosugi = “too awesome”. Then it said “haha”, which could mean her mother…but I think it’s more the English meaning, out of context.

I’d read in an interview on Seiyuu+ that “Anzu is an angel” and that Nitta wanted to keep Anzu instead of Hina, but I never thought it meant either so literally…

“Reality (Hina) is coming home.” – LOL!

What…? Hina’s gone missing, in the mountains? What if Ikaruga took her??? Oh dear…

Boueibu HK 10

Well, there ain’t nothing more manly than sleeping in nothing but your birthday suit on a futon…right? (kidding)

I laughed so hard at Kyoutarou sneezing. The “person’s drowning” trope for fanservice at least goes back to 2004 or so – DN Angel (the anime, I believe) did it, I definitely remember that.

Poor Kyoutarou is being used as a demo dummy in this set of illustrations, LOL.

Everyone’s using the phrase nechatta, which holds some interesting implications. You see, the meaning of chatta means either completion…or the fact the action being done has negative implications. In this case, it’s both.

I think Kyoutarou called Karurusu “Karuru” or “Karu” or something.

Turtle-kun is so smol, I wanna cuddle him!

Hey, even the subs use “Martha” now…I’m so confused, still.

The word the old men want is “monster” (kaijin), but then the other word they thought of was katsukare- (pork cutlet curry), so I can see why the word was bent out of shape like that now. Notably, Karurusu didn’t age at all…

Taishi’s using the word yancha (naughty), which basically confirms he was a delinquent when he was younger. Just in a very roundabout way.

Notably, Nanao hasn’t stopped drinking tea after all those years, and Karurusu seems to have a very very long lifespan if he comments on it like that…

Inago = locust. Ichigo = strawberry. The former is correct (it’s in katakana, so there’s one stroke’s difference between na and chi).

Wow…spoilers told me I should’ve seen that coming, but watching old men transform is not my gig, so thank goodness I was spared from that ordeal…

Hey, we’re back to our old tradition of dark skies for the finale…although we didn’t have that in s2, eh?

They don’t even have voice roles for smol!Ata, Ryoma and Kyoutarou! That’s unfair!

The reason we all call the show “Boueibu” is because the staff did it first…so here’s (the next ep preview) just some extra proof of that.

MSO 12 (FINAL)

Noticeably, Yamo uses the word taoshite (to collapse), so literally his demand is to “make me collapse”…it’s a bit weird to translate it like that, which is probably why the subbers went with a different translation.

What did Mohiro ever do to be hurt like this, anyway? He doesn’t deserve to be hurt, Yamo…dangit. This is why you can’t be MVP anymore.

More montages…*sigh*

What the-orbefjvpenfp, Hyoue?! Don’t ruin the moment, regardless of whether it constitutes yaoi or not!

So…uh, somehow demons are talked about in terms of code? Y’see, this is why you need a good garbage collector.

I love how they were just called “The Hyoue Squad”, even though this show is called “Mahou Shoujo Ore”.

Gah! Anime-original characters steal the spotlight again…well, there goes my hopes for a good MSO ending, eh?

To think that Michiru’s male form is voiced by Kisho Taniyama – the guy who voiced Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs) – though…I still don’t match those voices with each other in my head, y’know.

…and somehow they were in Tokyo Tower. Of course, because Tokyo is the centre of the universe (sarcastic).

The thing about this show is that it’s so off-the-wall it doesn’t quite make emotional moments work, even ones like Yamo’s final handshake…sure, it kind of hit me in the feels because I’ve known this series for longer than some people, but not really…if you get what I mean.

I think Astral was thinking about this during one of the other episodes, but…they’re only bringing the topic of who Ore is to Michiru now??? Wuh???

The experience of this show wasn’t as bad as I was making it out to be in the beginning, but it wasn’t the most perfect thing either. I would rather they have done more filler with Saki and Sakuyo instead of coming up with anime-original characters to fill the gaps, but I’m also fine with what we got in the end...it’s a complex set of feelings that I don’t think I’ll ever get over. Anyways, that’s another show over and done. See you next time!

Rokuhoudou 11

Demi-glace.

Gotta love Sui’s Gendo poses! By the way, ponzu is some kind of citrus sauce.

This isn’t a particularly standout OP, but I might miss it for a week or two after this show’s end…I don’t want this show to end, actually. But as they say, be careful what you wish for.

(I still have no idea why they say “girls be ambitious” in the OP when the main stars are dudes…)

You might’ve noticed the one I like best from Rokuhoudou is Tokitaka. His voice, his hair, his caring nature (as demonstrated here with the old people), his ability to cook great food…*sighs dreamily* what a man he is!

You might not know this is you haven’t read the character pages for the show, but Tokitaka runs a pottery class. That’s why Osada and co. call him “Sensei”.

“Nagae”? I’ve never seen Sui refer to Tokitaka by his last name before! This is really something!

Oh dear, more Hotel East Side…notably, Osada is using very polite words (keigo) since she’s not really familiar with Sui.

There’s a shot where the light from the window streams on to Sui and you can’t tell if he’s wearing a kimono or a business suit…ooh, that must be symbolic in some way, y’know?

Mirin is a type of alcohol.

Rokuhoudou keeps surprising its customers…I wonder if I, as a blogger, can keep surprising people that way too…then I’d be set for life.

So that’s how Tokitaka uses unused stuff from his classes (using them at the Rokuhoudou)?! Wow, didn’t see that coming!

Osada looked like she was gonna cry, and that almost made me cry for a second!

“My father built East Side Grande.” – *spits out half-eaten food* Holy shiitake mushrooms! Rokuhoudou is best enjoyed with food, but if I keep spitting it out, I’m going to have to clean up around here…(kidding)

I didn’t even realise half the episode had gone so quickly! Yipes!

Hinamatsuri 12 (FINAL)

“It’s snow big deal.” – I get the feeling it was meant to have a pun in Japanese, but I don’t hear one when I listen to the audio…

Oh, there’s no Utako at the end of the OP! I kept skipping it, so that’s why I never knew…

Interestingly, the yuki is in kanji and the rest is in hiragana, which probably means it has to be a riff on the show’s name and not referring to any particular snow festival in particular.

Wait, forcible shipping? C’mon, they’re 13! That just lowered my opinion of the show somewhat.

Doesn’t this remind you of when Mao got stranded on the island and then made Hina go “Feed me”? She was on the ball after all…

Geez, that kid on the left (either Kengo or the other guy) is sadistic…

“Although you’ll be getting a roe deal.” – This was a pun on ikura (salmon roe)…although I can’t tell exactly how the pun works…

Is this Namahage Town, or what? What is up with all the namahage puns? Can someone tell me???

Wait, if credits are appearing here, then why is there half an episode left…?

Montage time…*sigh*

Why did a shot of Anzu appear (LOL)?

The yakuza guys are still watching that documentary?! What (LOL)?!

The horse seems to be called Eiyon Size…or something like that.

Hey, I think it was pretty accurate for “Oi, get your hands off her!” or “Oi, young man, don’t touch her!” in Chinese…or something like that. It is pretty garbled though…

LOL, Atsushi’s screaming in English though…”Mayonnaise is Atsushi!”

The monk’s name is Shinyhead (LOL)!

Ehh? Ain’t this the same scene from the beginning? Aw man, don’t make it like DN Angel…

“Watashi no smartphone ga!” Gets me every time, man.

In the end, Pruny Shinyhead just wants money, eh?...Haha.

Wait, so Pruny Shinyhead is like Mao like the boss man to Hina, huh?

That’s an actual plane company written on the side of that plane! Lufthansa! (The writing gets cut off when it’s at its most visible, though.)

So…in the end, we don’t discover what happened to Hina and Anzu three years later. Read the manga…I get it. *sigh*

BnHA 50

Noticeably, the sign says “stop!” in katakana.

I read on the wiki Shouto’s sister is called Fuyumi. That makes sense if she has an ice quirk like her mother (fuyu = winter).

“I can’t accept it. Not like this…” - Once again, you can see Bakugo in Endeavour…

Yap! (Yahoo!) News, LOL. The site doesn’t even bother parodying the purple or other style things about Yahoo!, though.

They…actually told us what happened to Ragdoll and Best Jeanist? That’s kinda sad, y’know?

Jiro’s parents are rockers? Well…that makes a lot of sense, actually.

Didn’t Brian the Sun do…yep, BnHA ED 1!

I’ve never seen a kid embarrass their dad before. It’s amazing…and so fresh.

Wow, Bakugo’s mum is…really something else. She’s got exactly the same temperament, I wonder how that family functions…

Midoriya’s shirt says “dress shirt”, LOL!

Inko’s feelings for Izuku resonated so strongly with me, I nearly cried…nearly.

I just realised…that computer in the flashback is a Windows 10. It’s got the menu and everything!

Wait…there’s an extra bit after the credits! The credits are way too long! Keep watching, keep watching…

Tartarus…? Like Alcatraz or something?

Hmm…in a lot of stories, the mentor dies. Here, the mentor doesn’t die. Good point, All for One.

Boueibu HK 11

Can I stop screaming “No duh!” every time they say “This is bad!”?

Manza the delinquent is exposed!

They’re attaching –san to the end of people’s magical aliases! Fabulous, if I do say so myself.

“We’ll stand up again and again!” – Uh, Karurusu? Kyoutarou’s sitting down…(LOL)

And…skip the transformation sequence again…and skip the purification sequence again…*sigh*

Notably, the kanji word on the wall not too far away from the pictures is “hope”.

*screams* My LOVE! boys! They’re back! (I knew they were coming because spoilers said they would, but this…this is wonderful…)

“…fail to realise…”

This entire conflict…it really is Kin-chan all over again.

This pink pigeon…is adorable! Like Turtle-kun last episode!

You can clearly see a purple hand (paw?) taking Kamopapa away, which is clearly Wao, that scoundrel of a lemur.

*voice caught in throat as Karurusu cries* Karurusu…don’t cry…

Does this mean the thing Ata wanted all along…was a handshake?

The next ep preview says "Danger is approaching King Kamopapa! Now isn't the time to be arguing!", by the way.

[deansdirtylittlesecretsblog]

Ketch Her If You Can

Title:  Ketch Her If You Can

Summary:  Dean’s not happy when Ketch and the reader start flirting. Ketch seems interested in her, until the truth comes out, then he shows his true colors.

Author:  Dean’s Dirty Little Secret

Characters:  Dean Winchester, Female Reader, Arthur Ketch, Sam Winchester

Word Count:  1795

Warnings:  canon typical violence

Author’s Notes: This was written for @supernatural-jackles Birthday Challenge. My prompt was the gif below. I decided to go a different route and not write demon!Dean. Also, this is smut free. Go figure.

Dean didn’t like them, the British Men of Letters. He didn’t trust them, even with the assurances from Sam and Mary that what they were doing was the right thing, that they were helping people, saving people. He knew, in his gut, that there was more to them than met the eye, that they were up to something; He just didn’t know what.

The day Ketch met Y/N, that feeling in his gut intensified. He didn’t like the way Ketch smiled at her, a little lecherous, a lot flirtatious; Dean didn’t like the way his voice dropped an octave when he talked to her, like he was trying to impress her or something. But what he disliked even more was the way Y/N smiled back and the way her eyes lit up with interest. It set him on edge.

Of course, it wasn’t like he could say anything. Y/N was her own person; in no way, shape, or form did she belong to Dean. Sure, he’d expressed interest in her in the past, or you know, he thought he did, dropping a line here or there, tossing out a wink every now and then, things that generally had women falling at his feet. Funny enough, it didn’t seem to work on her. But as soon as that British asshole opened his mouth and started to talk, she was practically drooling. Must be the accent.

“Dean?” Sam nudged his brother. “Dude, what’s your problem?”

Dean dragged his eyes away from Ketch sitting at the library table beside Y/N, one hand on the back of her chair, his fingers resting on her shoulder, his knees pressed right up against her leg, leaning over her, intently listening to whatever the hell it was she was saying.

“What?” he growled. “Nothing.”

“Yeah, right,” Sam chuckled. “You’re seething, you’re literally grinding your teeth, I’d bet a million bucks that you’re gnawing on the inside of your cheek. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Dean tipped his chin in the direction of the two people yakking it up in the library. He desperately wanted to walk up the stairs, grab Ketch by his stupid black leather jacket, and throw him and his goddamn accent out the door. He would derive great pleasure in dragging him up the metal staircase, reveling in the the thunk of his body parts hitting those stairs as he threw him out. Dean’s fingers twitched with the need to do it.

“That’s what I thought,” Sam shook his head. “You know Dean, all of these problems would go away if you just told her how you feel.”

“I have,” he grumbled.

“Um, I don’t think cryptic one-liners and winking at her when you’re drunk count as ‘telling her’ Dean,” Sam said.

“Shut up,” Dean snapped, pushing himself away from the table. He’d had enough of listening to Sam tell him what he already knew and enough of Ketch flirting with Y/N. He cleared his throat as he walked up the stairs, though it didn’t deter Ketch even a little, he merely looked up, a grin on his stupid face.

“‘Ello, Dean,” he smirked. “You never told me you knew such a lovely young lady. She’s quite the charmer.”

Y/N blushed and giggled - she freaking giggled - put her hand on Ketch’s knee and squeezed. Dean was pretty sure she’d never giggled in response to anything he’d said. He took a step forward, barely aware he was doing it, not until Sam grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“Dude,” he muttered. “Cool it.”

Dean took a deep breath and sat on the edge of the table. “What’d you find?” he asked, pointing at the iPad in front of Y/N.

“Arthur found us a case in Missouri,” Y/N answered.

Dean clenched his jaw and instantly regretted it when he heard Sam snort behind him. He pinched the bridge of his nose. He was going to have a brain embolism. Ketch was going to be the reason he died. Great.

“Arthur?” he grumbled.

Y/N pushed herself out of her chair, her iPad in hand. She patted Ketch on the shoulder. “Yeah, Arthur,” she smiled. “Look, I’m gonna go pack a bag. I’ll be ready in less than 10 minutes.” She disappeared down the hall.

“She’s a lovely girl,” Ketch murmured, watching her go.

“Ketch,” Dean snapped.

“Hm?” the British douchebag hummed, turning to look at him.

“Back off,” Dean replied. “She’s spoken for.”

“By you?” Ketch laughed. “Highly unlikely, Dean. She is not your type, nor does she seem to have any interest in you.”

“Look, Ketch, just, lay off, okay?” Sam interjected. “There’s something you don’t -”

“Well, it seems to me that if there was truly an interest, something would have been done about it.” Ketch rose to his feet, arms crossed, facing Dean. “Seems as though she’s fair game.”

“Y/N is not fair game, okay?” Dean growled, rolling his eyes. “Leave her alone.”

“I think I will let her decide if I should leave her alone,” Ketch stated. “After all, she’s a grown woman.” He moved to step around Dean, but he put his arm out, stopping him, his hand closing around his upper arm.

“I said, leave her alone,” Dean repeated. He had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well. Especially if Ketch found out the truth about her, about what she really was. His fists involuntarily clenched just thinking about it.

“What are you two fighting about?” Y/N asked as she came up the stairs. She tossed her duffle bag on the table. “I thought we were all going to try to get along?”

“This is ridiculous,” Ketch sighed heavily. “Fighting over a woman. Really, the choice belongs to Y/N.”

This was it, the moment he died from the brain embolism caused by Ketch. Motherfucker had to go and open his big mouth. This was going to be awkward.

“You’re fighting over me?” Y/N laughed nervously. “Seems a bit unnecessary. I, uh, I mean, um…” She blew out a breath, the hair on her forehead moving with as she exhaled. “Look, don’t make me throw some crazy spell on you two to make you play nice, okay? It’s too early to be using my powers. I haven’t even had coffee yet.”

Ketch straightened up, his back ramrod straight. His eyes danced up and down the length of Y/N’s body, looking for whatever telltale sign he felt he must have unknowingly missed. His fists clenched and unclenched against his thighs, his head tipped inquisitively to one side.

“What did you say?” He turned to look at her, his brow furrowed in confusion. “Powers, love? What powers?”

Dean stepped forward, easing himself in beside Y/N, his hand in the small of her back. He caught Sam’s eye, tipping his head slightly. Sam stepped to his right, blocking the exit to the war room.

Y/N took a step back, closer to Dean, eyeing the Brit warily. “I-I thought you knew. I’m, well, I’m a witch.”

“Bloody hell,” Ketch sighed heavily, shaking his head. “I really wish you hadn’t told me that.” He pulled a knife from the inside pocket of his jacket, spinning it in his hand.

“D-Dean?” Y/N stammered, stepping to her left, moving so she was standing behind him.

“Y/N, go!” Dean roared, the sound echoing off the thick bunker walls. “Now!”

Ketch lunged for her, one hand twisting in the back of the flannel she was wearing, tearing the fabric down the middle as she sprinted for the stairs. Ketch tried to follow her, but Sam stepped in front of him.

“Ketch, wait,” Sam reached for him, but Ketch swung, clocking him in the chin, causing him to stumble backwards and hit his head on one of the bookshelves, falling to the floor. As soon as the younger Winchester hit the ground, Ketch sprinted out of the library and through the war room, screaming Y/N’s name.

“Fuck,” Dean muttered. He moved toward Sam, but his brother waved him away.

“I’m fine, go stop him,” Sam yelled.

Dean could hear Ketch yelling, calling Y/N, promising not to hurt her, promising her that he only wanted to talk to her. He had to find him, had to stop him before he found Y/N. He rounded the corner leading to the garage and there she was, moving down the hall toward the dungeon.

“Y/N!” he called.

Startled, she spun around, her eyes wide, confused, tears running down her face. Dean had almost reached her when she screamed, Ketch grabbing her from behind, yanking her toward him. Dean swore and lunged, his arms going around her waist, wrestling her free of the other man’s grip, pushing her behind him.

Ketch’s knife came up, pressing against Dean’s throat. “Get out of my way, Dean,” he ordered.

“No,” Dean snapped. “You’re not touching her. You’re leaving. Without her.”

“She’s a monster -”

“She is not a monster,” Dean said. “She’s a person, just like you and me.”

“No, she is not like us, Dean. That is where you are very, very wrong. The things she does, the things she knows, well, she could kill us. All of us. Now, get out of my way or I will kill you.”

Dean leaned into the knife. “Do it. Because that is the only way you’re getting to Y/N. I will not let you touch her. Not now, not ever.”

Ketch’s face changed, the mask slipping for just a second, long enough for Dean to see the fear and doubt in his eyes, the doubt making him hesitate, hesitate long enough for Sam to hit him from behind, sending him to the floor.

Her door was open, but he still stopped outside and tapped softly on the jamb. She was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She sat up and smiled at him, though it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Hey,” Dean murmured. “You okay?”

“You mean since Ketch threatened to kill me?” she muttered. “Yeah, I’m great. Where is he anyway?”

“Sam’s driving him to middle of nowhere and leaving him there, locked in the trunk of his car,” he explained.

“He’s not going to stop, Dean,” Y/N sighed. “Now that he knows about me, he won’t stop.” She dropped her head into her hands, a strangled sob coming from her.

He hurried to her side and pulled her into his arms, hugging her to his chest. She wrapped her hands in his shirt and pulled him down onto the bed beside her, burying her face against his shoulder.

“Don’t leave me, Dean,” she whispered.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “I promise.”

Forever:  @jensennjared @mrswhozeewhatsis @the-mrs-deanwinchester @official-shipper @brooklyn-writes-flangst @climbthatmooselikeatree @mamapeterson @katnharper @raeganr99 @skybinx-blog @winchesterr67 @grellsutcliff105 @arikas5744 @faegal04 @the-girl-of-your-nightmares @mrsjohnsmith @mogaruke @courageoussam @nerdwholikesword @growningupgeek @virgosapphire79 @sleep-silent-angel @bkwrm523 @iwriteshortstuff @for-the-love-of-dean @nichelle-my-belle @deandoesthingstome @andiamsoinlovewithyou @pizzarollpatrol @misswhizzy @supernatural-jackles @waywardjoy @awkwardnerdqueen @valee-ppiew @superbluhoo2 @deansbaekaz2y5 @roseangel013bf @jencharlan @kickasscas67 @neanealuv @deanscherrypie @kittenofdoomage @tjforston @purgatoan @just-a-touch-of-sass-and-fandoms @sckslife @sis-tafics @youwerelikeadream @i-dream-of-dean @impala-with-wings @bringmesomepie56 @basmaraafat @oriona75 @writingbeautifulmen @ultimatecin73 @gemini75eeyore @vote-for-pedro @tom-is-in-my-tardis @percywinchester27 @mysteriouslyme81 @faith-in-dean @that1seniorchick @milkymilky-cocopuff @atc74 @s4m-w1nch3st3r5287 @winsmut @squirrelchester @demonangelimpala @justacaliforniandreamer @xxsugarturtle @findingfitnessforme @asxualgallavich @winchestergirl-love @petrovadixon @colorfuluniversewhispers @love-kittykat21 @velcr0kitty @spookypeyton @frickfracklesackles @ria132love @shhhs3cret @harleenquinzzel @icantfindacreativeurl @gallifreyansass @anotherotter @kaitlynmarie1120 @giftofdreams @not-moose-one-shots @you-didnt-see-that-cuming @emoryhemsworth @fangirlofeverythingme @goldenolaf25 @nanie5 @cameronbraswell @luulaachops @upon-a-girl @goofynerd-67babylove @deanandsamsbitch

Dean girls:  @rizlow1 @eyes-of-a-disney-princess @winchesterenthusiast @salvachester @deanwinchesterxreader @love-me-some-pie21 @appleschloss @zanthiasplace @hybristophilaa @destiel-bae @winchester-bait @ioanashalala @kayteonline @miss-devonaire @torn-and-frayed @piratedaydreams @myspnsmutsave @omgreganlove @secretlyfurrydragon @ho-ne-y @thing-you-do-with-that-thing @rockgoddean @annewinchester @captainemwinchester @feelmyroarrrr @klaineaholic @avengedqueen26 @milo-winchester-4ever @kathaswings

[eldritchwyrm]

what goes around comes around (a fic for the glorious 25th of may)

The first time Lu-Tze learned of the Glorious People’s Republic of Treacle Mine Road was long before Sam Vimes got caught in a thunderstorm and was swept thirty years into the past. In fact, when Lu-Tze was young and light on his feet and had only just moved to Ankh-Morpork for the first time, he took a wrong turn and stumbled upon a narrative temporal phenomenon the likes of which he had never seen in his life.

He was picking up some groceries for Mrs. Cosmopolite, who was graciously allowing him lodging, because was it not written that What Goes Around Comes Around? He was also lost.

He tried asking random passerby for directions, but his attempts were all rebuffed with variants on “up yours, mister” and the slurs that were generally leveled at anyone who looked too foreign for their own good. So instead of turning onto the Pitts as she should have, he missed the intersection and continued straight ahead.

It was the 25th of May. Spring was battling valiantly against the smog and grime of the city, and contrary to all expectation the few shrubs that had survived were putting out green shoots.

Lu-Tze hitched up the bag of groceries and thought the sacred wisdom: My Joints Aren’t What They Used To Be. He was a bit young for that one, he reflected, but was not all wisdom valuable?

He turned onto Treacle Mine Road.

It was noon. Bright and sunny. The street was loud and busy with carts and animals and people, as you’d expect on any weekday. And yet as he walked forward, the sun dimmed. The air cooled. The hustle of the streets became muffled, farther away.

The scent of lilac filled in the air.

The hairs on his arms tingled like a storm was approaching.

He took a good look around, really looked rather than focusing on the unimportant surface bits, like the buildings and the people—and nearly choked on his own tongue.

This—this was—it was a disruption in the space-time continuum so extreme that it was a wonder anyone in the immediate vicinity was still alive. This was a rift so profound that rationally speaking, he should be standing in the equivalent of a smoking crater where a chunk of functional reality used to be.

There were no words to describe the wrongness of this place. You could say that the passage of time in this location was like a length of yarn which had been bundled into a ball and left unattended in a room full of eager-eyed kittens. (It would be blatantly incorrect, but you could definitely say that.)

“Ye gods,” said Lu-Tze, because some words always worked.

He ditched the groceries and started running.

He burst through the door of Mrs. Cosmopolite’s boarding house with a crash. The hostess jumped in surprise and nearly hit him over the head with the plate she was drying, but restrained herself, because that wasn’t Done. Instead she shouted, “Young man, just what do you think you’re doing?”

“No time!”

If he’d stopped to think properly he would have realized how stupid a statement that was, but he was busy racing up the stairs and into his room. He grabbed his emergency supply pack from under the bed and dashed out again.

There were images in his head that didn’t make sense—darkness and rain and a silver cigar case, gleaming on the cobbles, and lilacs blooming in the night, over and over again.

When he returned to Treacle Mine Road he knelt down in the middle of the street, right in the middle of traffic, and the carts moved smoothly around him without a blink, despite their relocation occasionally involved a minor rewriting of the conventional laws of physics. He barely noticed. He found a bare patch of dirt and got to work. He would be hard-pressed to construct a sophisticated detection mandala on such short notice, but he would damn well make do...

The air crackled with energy as he finished the last curve on the mandala. He dusted his hands and waited.

It began to turn.

The patterns shifted, then stilled.

He frowned. “No,” he said. “That can’t be right.  Historical imperative? But this is so obviously a narrative disruption. An unfinished story.”

A rift in time that didn’t exist, memories of events that never happened... it had to be a result of an incomplete narrative unable to achieve a single resolution. Something, somewhen, had gone wrong, and a major role had gone unfulfilled, and now the phenomenon was scrabbling for a solution.

“Must be incorrectly set up,” he muttered to himself. “I mean, this thing is telling me there should be a major temporal incident any moment now—”

Unfortunately, the young Lu-Tze had not yet learned some valuable wisdom. For is it not written that You Are So Sharp You'll Cut Yourself?

There was a sound like an elastic band snapping, and the world turned sideways.

He stumbled upright once the universe had returned to something close to normal and scrambled to get his bearings. He was still in the present day, but another time was—how to describe it, how to describe it—layered on top, one moment falling over the other like snow. Fog and wind and darkness swirled in, obscuring the sky, wreathing around the figures in the courtyard before him.

The men were wearing Watch uniforms.

“Okay, lads,” said one of the men. He had an eyepatch and a battered breastplate, and a voice that echoed as if it was coming from very far away. Years ago, thought Lu-Tze. “What we’re going to do is keep the peace. That’s our job...”

If Lu-Tze concentrated, he could still feel the rush of wind from the passing street and hear the sound of the busy city. But here, in a much more real sense, he could see the watchmen shuffling anxiously as they listened to the sergeant-at-arms. He talked about duty and right and wrong, and then he drew a line in the sand, and then the men made their choice.

History struck a chord.

The world shifted.

A barricade climbed into the air, higher and higher, packed with furniture and upturned carts and spare wood, held up by desperate hope and bottomless fear, the rawest emotions of humanity. When sufficiently concentrate, those were capable of twisting time into knots so complex that only a master of the temporal would ever be able to undo them.

And why would they want to? So what if someone thought it was odd that time crawled by while they were under stress, or if it went by instantly during a fun afternoon? That was what made people human. 

That sound again, and the world changed again—

A battle was raging around him. Men in battered uniforms, not many, fighting for their lives, wearing the lilac...

...the man with the eyepatch leapt forward, sword a blur in his hands, hacking wildly...

...and across the street, untouched by the carnage, was a little old man in a robe. He was sweeping peacefully at a patch of dust, undisturbed by the blood and guts and destruction whirling around him. It was surreal.

The old man looked up and winked.

Time stood still.

(Well, it didn’t really stand still, but the true answer involved multivariable calculus and besides, it was a useful metaphor and at this moment in time Lu-Tze was not the type to spend valuable effort messing about with the sneaky kind of sums with letters in them.)

The old sweeper carefully plodded across the frozen tableau, ducking under an upraised sword and stepping around the body of a watchman who had not yet hit the ground.

Ah, so another monk was on the problem, then? The young time-traveler stood up straight and tried to act like this was an expected development.

“Hey, kid,” said the sweeper. “You look like you could use a cup of tea.”

* * *

Lu-Tze was convinced that this particular branch of the No Such Monastery did not exist in the present day, which made it quite worrying that it appeared to exist in both the past and the future.

He sipped his tea with yak butter and eyed the old sweeper suspiciously. He distrusted older authority figures on principle.

“So you spotted the incongruity, did you,” said the sweeper. “Historical imperative’s a tricky thing, isn’t it.”

“It’s not historical imperative. It’s narrative causality.”

The sweeper sighed. “You’ve got a lot to learn, kiddo. It’s both. The Glorious People’s Republic of Treacle Mine Road... it didn’t take long for the city to forget, but the story still leaves echoes. It wants to be remembered.”

The young man frowned. “I kept having memories of things that never happened. Deja vu without the original vu.”

“Sounds pretty standard. Lilacs, right? You smelled the lilacs? That’s the anchor. On the Glorious 25th of May, the lilacs are in bloom. They will always be in bloom, forever and ever, for as long as time exists, and whenever the survivors see it, they’ll be brought back here. Even poor sods like you with receptive enough minds will be saddled with this piece of history.”

“But this doesn’t mean anything to me. I don’t understand why a bunch of men would just get themselves killed like that just—just to be heroes.” Lu-Tze knew a dramatic last stand when he saw one.

“Yeah, see, that’s 'cos you’re seventeen and I’m old and wise,” said the sweeper. “Why do we fix time? Is it because we want to be heroic? Is it because we have to? No, we do it because we could just let time curl in on itself and extinguish all the complicated bits like sentient life, but we decide to make fixing this mess our job.”

“But—alright, fine, but there’s still a gigantic rift in reality and I’m standing in it. What are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing.”

“What?”

“You heard me. There’s no reason to muck about with a story that’s looking to be told. This case is unusual, mostly ‘cause it’s a bit under-construction if you know what I mean, but yea, is it not written that There’s A First Time For Everything?”

The young time-traveler sat bolt upright. “You—you’re a follower of the Way? But none of the senior monks—it’s just a thing that I made up so—I mean—”

The sweeper shook his head sadly. “Hoo boy. I really am paying for how much of an idiot back then. I suppose What Goes Around Comes Around.”

The young history monk’s eyes widened, realization dawning. He opened his mouth to speak, but the old man interrupted him. “Now, this is slightly more complicated than a standard closed time loop, since you’re not here in any physical sense. So if I just...”

He slashed his hand through the air. The air began to sing with mounting tension, time itself groaning under the weight, and the world snapped back to the present.

The city streets bustled around him. Lu-Tze's mouth was slack with shock. Had that really been...?

He looked down at the mandala he had scrawled in the dirt. The wind had scrubbed it out.

Overhead, the lilacs were in bloom.

[fuxtionalmemors]

A Little Longer Than an Introduction

You know you have just a bit of an issue when you literally spend 4 hours trying to figure-out how to introduce yourself to your one tumblr follower. But let me just say thanks for not unfollowing me. It means a lot to have you. If I’m going to be honest, I have on of the worse writing languages ever. Legit typos out the ass. The last time I tried to an introduction to a group of people, I figuratively yakked all over myself. It was like I couldn’t even stop talking. I’m pretty sure that everyone stopped listening to me because they kept on down the line of people after I said “I’m Justin..”. Ive never been particularly good at making a proper first impressions. My entire high school career consisted of me walking up to people I didn’t know and saying “Hey, I’m Justin and I’m socially awkward. When I get a little nervous I pee on myself a little and that makes me ramble quickly to get to the end of conversation.” and them not know how to react. Normally, this would pair with a sweaty handshake but I stopped doing that when people would aggressively wipe their hands off while I was watching them. To be fair, my school consisted of approximately 600 total students so I was reintroducing myself to the same few people I introduced myself to about a week or so before. So they knew me but I never once knew them. Then my introductions started to get a little better: “Hey, You may not want to shake my hand they sweat buckets. But I’m Justin. I pretty sure I’m erected. Not because I think you are attractive but because of how nervous I am. Wait, It’s also because I think you are attractive in an intimidating sort of way. Oh well it’s gone now.. Maybe I wasn’t attracted after all” When I was younger, I had no problems with introductions. In fact, I’d say it was a mastered skill…that my dad had. He would introduce me with something along the lines of “This is my smart gay son who I’m oppressing mentally by never letting him see his friends. Essentially, he is queer Rapunzel, except he is not white, a woman, he doesn’t have long hair and pretty much no one is coming to rescue him.” But it always managed to sound like “this is my son, Justin”. My dad and I look pretty similar when he was my age. So I figured eventually my introductions would be that great and low-key. Sometimes, I stare at his younger photos and convince myself that it’s me in the picture. I start to wonder why I can never remember taking the picture. I fantasize about it until eventually I come up with story as to say why I don’t remember and usually it involves being 1) super drunk 2) poisoned by myself accidentally or 3) advanced alien hypnotism. Whenever, I went to my grandmother’s house I typically use the excuse number 3 to explain why neither of us remember that being me in the pictures. The excuse pretty much caught on as the reason she forgot things. Recently, she was diagnosed with dementia and whenever she forgets something I usually hear her mutter “those damned aliens cunts”. I’ve never heard her use that aggressive language before. The story, apparently, was so convincing that eventually I was no longer the grandson but the son that the aliens took from her. Over the course of time, the aliens part disappeared and I was just her son…then that disappeared and I was just a stranger. Unfortunately, this meant I had to reintroduce myself to her. I decided she was the best person to practices my introductions on because in a few hours she would forget about that embarrassing encounter and I could start over. Eventually, I got so good at introductions that I can say. “Hey, I’m Justin. Welcome to my blog. This is where you will hear all of my embarrassing stories. Most of these stories are true mixed with an incredibly active imagination from what I felt like really happened. I hope you like it.”

[tarffiefanfiction-blog]

Tarffie Fanfiction  Chapter Four                   My creation!

-- I'm going to Dragon's Edge today because Fishlegs gonna teach me how to make a Gronckle Iron -- said Gobber with a parchment with Leffie, Lili, Ester, Carolina e Cassadra names written in the unreadable handwriting of Gustav. -- I just asked for some trustful people to take care of my blacksmith stall. -- He turned to the girls -- It's pretty easy, if someone comes here with a axe, sharpen it. If someone comes here with a sword, sharpen it. If that shirtless viking comes here, hit him with this mace. -- The man threw a mace to Carolina, who caught it. -- Any questions? -- Oh! -- Lili raised her hand. -- This stone where you should have a tooth, does it hurt you? It's inside your gum. -- Another kind of question. -- said Gobber. -- How this piece of wood stand your weight? -- asked Ester. -- A question about how to take care of the blacksmith stall, ladies. -- Gobber interupted. -- And I am the slimest of my family, for your information. -- Don't worry, Gobber. -- said Cassadra -- We can handle it! -- Yeah, we deal with Gustav everyday, sharpening an ax is nothing.. -- said Leffie. Gobber looked at them wondering if should trust. He left anyway. -- When he's coming back? -- asked Lili a few minutes later. -- That's a question we should had made. -- said Cassadra.

The girls planed the apologies to give to the people who could show up, because they didn't knew how to build saddles or be a dragon's dentist, Gobber asked for trustful people not for helpful people.  No one showed up, it was such a quiet day on Gobber's stall that afternoon. The girls were laying on the ground drawning, taking naps and eating apples. -- Gobber! -- Someone called for the man. -- Who's going get it? -- Lili. -- said Leffie, Cassadra, Carolina and Ester together. Lili got up and opened the window. -- Is him wearing a shirt? -- asked Carolina. -- Yes, he is. -- Great. -- Good afternoon, sir. -- said Lili -- Gobber is not here. How can I help you? -- Where's Gobber? -- asked the viking with bad temper. -- He is not here. How can I help you? -- You will help me if find Gobber. -- interupted the viking. -- But, sir, he's not here. -- The man kept giving her a bad look, suddenly Lili noticed it. -- Girls, it's not a shirt, it's his chest hair! -- Get out of the window, Lili! -- screamed Leffie, Lili ducked down, Carolina jumped throught the window with the mace and hit the man straight in his face. The man staggered out and ran, Carolina with the mace ran after him. -- Don't run! Come back here! -- screamed Carolina chasing him.

Later a woman apperead calling for Gobber, Leffie got up and went to the window. -- Gobber is not here. How can I..., ah, whatever. -- Well. -- the woman sighed -- I don't know what I want. -- Then we're two. -- said Leffie. -- There's something new? A new creation? -- It will have! -- said Leffie -- Gobber is at the Great Beyond learning how to make the Gronckle Iron, so... -- Leffie thought for a second -- I have a creation. -- Then she looked to Gothi's Gronckle sleeping next to the wall. -- Just wait a few minutes.

Tarch knocked the door of  Gobber's blacksmith stall, Ester half-opened the door. -- If you want something, sir, use the window.-- said the girl. -- Ester, it's me. -- Sorry, sir, here you're just another client. -- Leffie will let me in. -- I don't think so. -- Ester turned to Leffie. -- Tarch's here. -- Let him in. Ester opened the door, Tarch stepped inside. Gothi's Gronckle was eating sandstone, Leffie with a feather tickled his belly. Lili dipped the hot larva into a barrel of water, and Ester spread molten silver on the fragile object, several mirrors dried on the floor. -- I want one of this Leffie's creation. -- asked a viking  outside the window, a long line of vikings was waiting behind him. Cassadra took a mirror of a huge pile next to her and gave to the man. -- Oh, look! -- said the man seeing his reflection. -- Now I have a twin brother. Tarch turned around to walk ot of the door. Leffie called and ran to him. -- Are you leaving? -- Yes. I already saw everything that should been seen here. -- What? -- Are you -- Tarch stepped close to her for no one to hear -- selling my creation? -- Yeah, isn't great? -- asked Leffie happy -- People are loving it! The line is so long. -- I know. And I know that people are saying it's your creation. -- What? -- Leffie understood his bad mood -- I didn't said that. -- If people see it coming from you, they may think you made it. -- My intention was show your creation, for people see how amazing you are. -- You should have asked me first. -- I am sorry. -- It changes nothing. -- Leffie hardened her body in defense, Tarch was rude -- Oh my Thor, Tarch! It's just a stupid breakable creation. -- it was just Leffie's hurt talking -- I'm gonna spread to the world that it's yours. I never wanted make it look like it's mine. Are you happy now? -- My stupid creation? No, I'm far away from happy now. Tarch left and Leffie stood without move watching him leave. -- Are you alright? -- asked Cassadra to Leffie. -- He broke up with me. -- Le, you and Tarch were dating? --  Lili was happily surprised. -- He broke our friendship up. -- Oh, yes, you broke his heart. -- Ester crossed her arms -- I could hear it breaking from here. And look how far I am from there. I can even describe how it sound. It sound like "crack". Leffie, Lili and Cassadra stared at her with a "you're not helping" look in their faces. -- What's his problem after all? We can't control what people says. -- said Cassadra -- Do you want me to hit him in the face? -- Break his face for what? -- Ester threw her hands up. -- Match with his heart? -- We can control what people say, watch it. -- said Lili picking up a sword hanged on the wall, she walked to the window. -- Afternoon. -- Afternoon. -- the viking cleared his throat and smiled. -- I would like a Leffie's creation. -- Listen to me! -- Lili screamed in anger. -- It's  Tarch's creation. -- She pulled the man by the collar. -- Tarch made it! -- She broke the sword on his head. -- Do you get this? Why you don't anwser me? -- I think he passed out, Lili. -- said Leffie looking, through the window, the man's body on the ground. -- You're fierce. Oh, you make us so proud.

Tarch was mad when he left  Gobber's blacksmith stall. He walked through Berk picking rocks and throwing in those people who passed by, who set off running. Dillon was sat in his doorsteps fixing his hair looking in the mirror. Tarch walked toards the boy and took the object and throw on the ground making it turn into pieces. -- What are you doing? -- Dillon jumped trying to avoid the mirror pieces. -- Let me tell you one thing. -- Tarch calmed down and needed to recall what was going on. -- I don't know what I am doing. Why am I doing this? -- He paused with hand on his chin. -- Oh, I am mad at Leffie. -- He noticed the mirror in pieces on the floor. -- Dillon, who broke your mirror? -- You. -- I'm sorry, Dillon. -- Don't be, that was awesome! -- Dillon jumped of the stairs and ran. -- I gonna get another one. -- He stopped a viking who was climbing the slope with two mirrors in the hands. -- Look at this! -- He smashed a mirror in the other, breaking them to pieces. -- Let's go get more! Let's break as much as we can. Tarch reached down and picked up the pieces of mirrors on the floor and started throwing it at people all the way home.

A couple days later Tarch woke up with a sound of a yak running into his room, he sat dizzy with the shock that led, but it was just Leffie.   -- How you get in here? -- We don't have locks on our doors in Berk. -- remembered Leffie. -- We like to laugh on danger's face. -- You not gonna believe it. -- said Leffie tired -- Gobber's stall is a mess right now, somehow people figured out how fragile a mirror is, so they are breaking it and coming ask for a new one, there's three days since I slept, you know how I feel without sleep, and where's Gobber? Why he didn't came back yet? It's not like someone has been biten by a  Lycanwing on Dragon's Edge. And we 're running out of swords to hit peoples head. -- You remember we fought, right? -- You got mad at me, that's what happened. You're the one who I turn to when I need because I can count on you. -- Leffie changed her voice to worried, while sat on his bed. -- You can count on me too, Tarch. So, I heard that you were throwing pieces of wood on the people around you, what's wrong? Tarch jumped out of the bed. -- I wasn't throwing pieces of wood. I was throwing rocks! -- Great. And you have not put yourself on fire and ran to the sea? -- Well, I don't recall everything I've done. -- Tarch looked to Leffie for a while. She was hoping he would say everything was back to normal, the fight was over and they, together, would find a way out of that mess. -- You look awful, go rest. Tarch was such a sensitive and understandable boy. -- Alright, I think I'm gotta have to say this. -- Leffie paused to take a deep breath. -- Tarch, I need... how can I say this? -- she has expired -- I need... no, let me put this way, can you... Oh, Thor I can't say it, why can I say it? Can you... can you help me? -- she added -- Please. Tarch crossed his arms threw his head back and let out a laugh, Leffie half-closed her eyes in disbelief. -- I humiliated myself and you are laughing? -- There's nothing humiliate in ask for help, you may think it means you're weak, but it took a lot of courage to admit you can't do it by yourself. -- said Tarch -- I laughted because it took so long for you say that. I knew that you wanted my help as soon as you came running like a yak with constipation. -- If you knew what I was gonna ask why you let me say it? -- Friends like to see friends suffer sometimes. And you learned something from it, so it was worth the pain. -- So, we're back to normal? -- Leffie don't even waited for Tarch's anwser and hugged him. -- We never been normal. -- awnsered Tarch hugging her back. -- How we gonna get out of the mirror situation? -- I don't know. Leffie pushed Tarch away and stepped back. -- What? Guess what, I just learned not everyone you ask for help can help you. -- Leffie's face suddenly changed, she had an ideia. -- I got it! -- She snapped her firgers. -- We gonna do what everyone had done to get what they want, tell a lie.

In front of the Gobber's blacksmith stall a crowd was gathered, as in previous days ready to ask for a mirror. Leffie and Tarch were outside by the window, the floor covered with pieces of mirrors, trying to calm the angry Vikings. They shouted at them to stop screaming, but it did not work. Tarch walked into the blacksmith stall, picked up a mirror, and returned out swinging the mirror in his hand above his head announcing that whoever was silent for longer would take the object home, all the Vikings shut their mouths and looked at the boy . -- Pay attention! -- Tarch pointed to turn their attention to Leffie, the girl shook a book in the air to they look at her. -- I know, I know, everyone is delighted with the Tarch's creation. I also know that you find it funny to break mirrors, especially ones in the heads of others, I admit is a very beautiful thing to see. -- Leffie pointed to some bleeding heads in the crowd. - Le, get right to the point. -- said Tarch, looking at the crowd that would probably kill him just to take the mirror home. -- What happens is that a prophecy was fulfilled. -- The Vikings turned their heads toward the girl as soon as they heard "prophecy." -- It's written here. -- Leffie opened Tarch's sketchbook and closed it quickly so they did not perceive it to be a fake book as she thought of a false name for the book of prophecies. -- In the book of prophecies. -- Leffie was creative with names that day. -- It says here that out of a dragon will come a fragile object that will duplicate the face of a man. -- That's what a mirror does. -- said Dillon in the crowd -- The prophecy is about the mirror. -- Is what it seems. -- Leffie realized that people were buying her idea. -- Not only that, here also it says that the man can take possession of this object, but ... -- she made a dramatic pause -- the wrond handling of this can lead in the triggering of seven years with a black cloud on the heads . The vikings kept their eyes on the girl without blink, mouth wide open, frozen in the moment. Dillon raised his hand. - I'm lost. What should it mean? The vikings agreed with Dillon asking for an explanation, it was not the "Odin, save us!" mouth wide open, it was "I understood nothing" mouth wide open, in the end. - It means you have a mirror, you break a mirror, you have seven years of bad luck. The people went crazy pulling their hair, banging their heads against the floor, running in circles thinking about the seven years of bad luck times the amount of mirrors they broke they would have of bad lucky. -- But calm down, just be careful not to break the mirror you still have. -- Leffie tried to calm people down. -- And spread this around the world. Leffie glanced at Tarch as the crowd gathered, the two thanking the gods for their plan. Lili, Cassadra, and Ester appeared in the window from inside the stall. -- You got rid of that, hum? -- said Lili -- By the way we're out of swords. -- I did not say it before because I was busy throwing stones at people, but -- Tarch cleared his throat. -- Good work, girls, producing mirrors for the whole Berk. It's okay if you want to keep doing this, it  became a very popular item.--No way! -- said Ester -- Leffie just left all the hard work to us and fell asleep. -- What? -- Tarch turned to Leffie -- You told me that you did not sleep in days. -- I do not call a "twenty-minute nap" sleeping. -- Leffie defended herself. -- A twenty-minute nap every single hour. -- Cassadra reminded her. -- Now we back to normal. -- Tarch said giving the mirror that held to Lili save. -- Do you think people will believe a mirror give bad luck forever? -- Leffie leaned against the window sill. -- I think so. -- said Cassadra -- But, please, make sure you tell yours descendants it's not true, so all those who do not fall for that in the future generations have a kinship with the five of us. Dillon approached, they changed the subject, resting his arm on Tarch's shoulder. -- Oh, Tata, just thinking that it was you who taught me to break a mirror and I taught for the rest of Berk. -- Dillon sighed. -- Not knowing we were spreading misfortune. The girls looked at Tarch without believe, he started that breaking mirror party, he faked a smile and set off runing Lili throwed the mirror she was holding in his direction, it hit his head and he fell on the ground. Gobber came walking, he did not saw Tarch, stumbled over the boy and fell, his stone tooth flew far away. The girls ran to help him up. -- We're glad you came back. -- Lili gave his stone back to him -- Are you okay? -- Did that bloody boy on the floor hurt you? -- Cassadra gave Tarch a bad look. -- I'm fine, ladies. Too many madness at Dragon's Edge these days, that kid with a chicken is nuts. -- Gobber looked at the girls -- You can go now. -- The girls said goodbye to him -- Wait. Was not five of you? -- Oh yeah, -- said Lili -- Carolina is hitting that shirtless viking with a mace. -- Great.