#luckily i did give out a bunch of cuttings to family members back when it was still healthy and pest free

[tripably]

Yesterday I reorganized my house plants in a way that made me really happy

Like I'm So Proud

But also So Disappointed because it's not like literally anyone will ever notice :-D I had to physically drag my partner around our living room and dining area to quiz him about what used to be where and where is it now and what has changed pots and why these changes have been excellent etc. He did good but it's like with all compliments - it doesn't quite feel the same if you have to ask for it.

So let me give you* a litte tour because I really want to talk about this some more 🥰

Now here we have most of my Pothos collection. The pale one on the far right, 'Lemon Lime' or something, used to be next to our tv and most probably didn't get enough light there, but definitely was always in the way when doing laundry. I don't have the energy to explain it in detail but we need to hang our washed clothes to dry next to our tv and though the pothos looked really pretty there it was unpractical as all hell. It's also not at the prettiest health of its life but I mean it was only just moved here, so it's not really set yet. Anyway I love that it has darker green at the edges of some leaves but is mostly a neon colour. Really pretty 🥰

The one in the middle is not doing well. It never has. I'd like to say that I don't know why but I've been neglecting it its whole life so that's probably why :-D I think it's an Epipremnum pinnatum so not a golden pothos but it's in the same family and I think of it as one anyway. It keep growing leggy stems with no leaves, and I keep cutting them off. Once I've got back to watering it appropriately, and if it still keeps doing that, I'll have to figure out the real root cause. For now, I'll try to just give it more love.

The one on top right is really pretty on the other side but I'd like it to be pretty on all sides so it was high time to turn it around to encourage more balanced growth. I'm pretty sure it's a 'Pearls and Jade'. It's a really good girl.

The one on bottom left is, to the best of my knowledge, a 'Manjula'. It's doing surprisingly well considering it also has been neglected nearly all of it's life. Perhaps I gave it good enough care in the beginning, or perhaps it has developed Stockholm syndrome. Good for him, I guess. Yes it's s he. No, I couldn't say why.

This one is a sweetheart, a 'Marble Queen'. It used to be next to my pc and got neglected severely in a really bright spot, so it lost nearly all of its leaves near the bottom of the pot. As of yesterday, it is now the first and only pothos I have that is encouraged to grow the way all vines are supposed to - upwards along a "tree trunk". We'll see what happens. She's a beauty on a good day. Don't tell the others but it's a bit of a favourite. I hope I handled it with enough care and didn't damage it when wrapping around the pole. I want to take cuttings of it to make sure it survives but I also don't want to do too much at once, so I'll have to do my best to stay patient and hopeful.

These are a bit of an odd bunch. The emerald palm (also known as zz plant) is one of my biggest successes in the sense that it can barely fit anywhere because it just keeps on growing. It's so pretty. I love it.

The cathedral cactus was a gift from an ex-colleague of mine as a cutting, and is prized for that reason specifically. I'm not the biggest fan of where it is right now, but the emerald palm is making my life difficult and my house just isn't big enough. Anyway, I love the purplish hue on the plant <3

Then in the corner we have my experimental greenhouse/closed environment. On top of the jar we have a common orchid, the substrate of which is made of bark and some green moss from my backyard. Inside the jar we have some more moss from my backyard, and the plant in there is a silver vine. It is thriving!! The orchid "bowl" on top is a new addition though, we'll see what happens from now on. The bottom of the bowl has holes so i'm thinking that while the silver vine transpires moisture through its leaves, it will help the orchid to have just enough water in the substrate to keep growing and staying alive without the risk of overwatering. But that the bowl and the orchid still work as a kind of a lid, meaning that most of the water will stay in the system, keeping humidity high and the silver vine thriving. And then every once in a while I'll need to add more water into the system, and I can do it just by watering the orchid from on top. As said, we'll see what happens. Side note: this is the longest-surviving orchid I've ever had; usually they flower for a while and then slowly start dying on me due to a mix of overwatering and neglect. This one has been in my care for months and is still alive. A modern day miracle, really.

Now this dracaena I got as a stem cutting at school in like 2019 or something. It used to be where the 'Marble Queen' is now, but it had definitely outgrown the spot. It's an easy one to keep alive.

Behind it we have two more pothos. The first one, I think, is another 'Pearls and Jade', so severely neglected that it probably won't survive. I honestly completely forgot about it, as it was buried behind a pile of books on my pc table. Next to it we have a plain but beautiful 'Jade'. I got a cutting of it from my grandma in like 2017. It's been with me through quite a few periods of neglect and pests and general shit, surviving mostly because I've had the foresight to take cuttings in time 😅 It is my most prized house plant and more important than many of my other possessions. All my friends have received potted cuttings of it as housewarming gifts, so I should be fairly safe in terms of keeping it alive one way or another. Decentralized investment or some shit.

Now here we have five saint paulias, all with pink flowers. They are at the moment doing their best to recover from anthropogenic drought. They're used to it, and I think they flower almost all the time as a result of it. Flowering, after all, is often induced by the plant realizing its own mortality and jumping at the last chance to produce heirs. I got them from my mom a couple of years ago when she and my stepdad sold my childhood home and didn't have space for them at the new place. According to her, some of them are as old as me. I used to neglect the poor bastards already back when I lived home and was occasionally in charge of caring for them.

The money tree at the far end of the window sill is leggy and unstable and ridiculous and precious. <3

Here we have some more saint paulias, plus some placeholder pots for future saint paulias. These are also from my mom. I'm really happy with this area in our home right now, with the spices and dried chilis and dried mushrooms at the back and the blue-flowering fuzzy leaved beauties in front.

This here is my cuttings station. It would be a perfect place for so many plants if it weren't for the dining table that's way too close to it. We might have bought a table that's a smidge too big for the space 😅 so far I'm the only person who's ever knocked a pot down from that windowsill, but I'm not willing to have guests live through that experience at my house. So, only cuttings it is. This is also the place where problems are created and purposefully ignored. You'll see.

Off to the right of middle of the picture we have some more saint paulias forming roots so that they can be repotted. They'd grown so uncentered that I decided to just cut them out, remove some of the lowest leaves, and stick them in water. It's going extremely well; the first one was cut a few months back and would be ready for potting any day, I just need to defrost my potting soil first. The second one was cut yesterday. There's also one more saint paulia hiding, already in a pot (the white one) that I got as a leaf cutting from my partner's grandma. It has very pretty, multicolored leaves and cute pink flowers, and it's not doing well. I'm trying to first aid it into a bit of a better health before repotting it, and I haven't really thought much further than that.

There's also a bunch of pothos cuttings that I don't know what to do with - I should probably give them to someone as it's clear I don't have any room for new pots. But it's winter so I can't send them by post, and my local friends already have what they want from here. And, I always keep safety cuttings on hand in case my neglect kills one of them. At the moment, I only have the classic golden pothos as a cutting - the one furthest to right. I'll need to figure out a place for a pot once the cuttings have rooted. In the future.

At the other end we got some more money trees. One of them is an accidental cutting from the leggy one on the other windowsill. The other one is a cutting from Spain back when international travel with undocumented plants wasn't illegal within EU. I hope they don't start growing any faster, because I don't know where to fit them next.

Also, and it's not very visible in this picture, I've decided to give propagating an avocado yet another go. I don't know where to put it if it succeeds, other than in a bottom-watering pot with a tank. Let's not make that into a problem right now.

This here is another 'Pearls and Jade', I think. It's also very pretty, which is why I'm keeping both. This one's been here forever and I've tried to have it grow in a balanced way, but yesterday I decided to be done with that and embraced the one-sidedness. So I stuck in that beautiful, curly branch and some sticks to keep it upright, and we'll see where we go from here. I was told yesterday that we have a ps5 coming soon and that it might have to be placed on this very spot. I'm preparing notes for the negotiations.

And finally, the saddest little silver vine ever to live. I should have taken before-and-after pics yesterday before I cleaned it up, it was so incredibly ridiculous. Most of the vines were dead or dying, crumbling and saggy leaves everwhere, half of the branches dead st near the substrate. Now it's just small. This is the spot where the lemon lime pothos used to be btw; this dwarf of a vine should not become a problem during laundry time any time soon 😅 and I really love this pot, specifically here. I'm not expecting the plant to survive but of course I'm hoping <3

Ok thank you listening <3 If anyone actually did read through all of it, please let me know which plant or placement or picture or detail is your favourite <3 Mine is the half-broken wall clock in picture 6 👀 It's only half broken because it actually tells the time correctly if you just ignore the numbers and concentrate on the direction of the hands - like, clearly the picture was taken at 8:30 😁

[thebookworm0001]

Bragging Rights

Summary: After traveling, Ellana and her companions settle into camp for the night. But her friends aren't keen to go to sleep quite yet. With the help of a little to drink, they decide it's time to get to know each other a little better, and earn some bragging rights while they're at it.

ao3 link

The noise around the fire was raucous. Ellana had collected an eclectic bunch into her inner circle. She couldn’t claim that any of her companions were particularly serene, though some were less boisterous than others. All of them had their own unique view of things, and a unique way of sharing them. She tried to balance things out as well as she could - it was usually a good idea to keep Sera and Vivienne far away from each other, for example. Both were experts at getting under your skin in their own unique ways, and both were as like to turn those skills on each other as anyone else. Better to give them space to use them where there was plenty of room to escape the fallout. Cole was quieter, but unnerved most other members of her party. Blackwall did well with him, though, and could be a good influence when he wasn’t feeling cheeky. But pairing Varric, The Iron Bull, and Solas? She wasn’t quite certain what had possessed her to make that grouping, aside from Cassandra being out of commission due to a shoulder injury and Varric getting antsy about the red lyrium they had been steadily destroying in their travels. Putting a group of storytellers together, however, would always lead to some kind of shenanigans. Assuming they didn’t rip each other’s worldviews to shreds, first.

Luckily, they’d had an easy day - enemies were few and fell quickly, and the bandits they had been seeking was easily dealt with. Leaving them free to indulge in some wine and whatever spirits might be found at the forward camp, and in playful teasing. What had started as a retelling of battles - Solas of those he’d witnessed in the Fade, Varric of those he’d been in with Hawke, and Bull of various skirmishes with the Chargers - had quickly turned into a contest. Who’d seen the largest battle, the most intense, the most ridiculous and survived. Then, who had the proof to back it up. Ellana was pleased to simply watch, shaking her head as they sniped back and forth about how no one could have possibly survived so many silent sisters or argue how giant spiders really weren’t so egalitarian as Solas would have them believe.

“Spiders,” Solas said, “are usually content to live and let live. Deepstalkers, on the other hand.” He slid a leg of his trousers up to reveal a collection of overlapping circles. She knew those scars. He’d set up for the night in a shallow cave, set his wards, and gone to the Fade. He’d been woken up by a family of deepstalkers that had not taken kindly to another moving into their home. He had scars from more lethal encounters, but the clear teeth marks left a distinct impression. 

Varric raised a finger at the group, bidding them pause, then fumbled for the hem of his shirt, pulling it up. It caught on his head briefly before he wriggled out of it, the rest of his chest now free from the low-cut tunic. He swung the finger back to his torso, pressing it deeply into the space just below his right collarbone where the  skin was oddly shiny. A place that had already been visible before removing his shirt. Ellana couldn’t help but think he was trying to compete with Bull’s own lack of a shirt. Ridiculous. “Tried to shoot Bianca while drunk,” he said, “Snapped the bone clean in two.” 

“Lover’s quarrel?” Bull teased. Neither of her other companions looked amused. 

“Something like that.” Varric drank. “What, don’t tell me you’ve never stuck yourself with your own weapon.” Bull’s lips curled into a smile, and Varric groaned. “Oh, not like that, Tiny.”

“Oh, it’s anything but tiny, I assure you.” Another round of groans. Ellana couldn’t help but scoff quietly, though it came with a smile. Varric moved again, shifting and wriggling in his seat until she saw boots fly into the air. 

“Alright, how about this.” He threw a leg into the air, where a thick blanket of hair was interrupted by several clean lines of skin, parallel and twisting.

“I didn’t know you shaved, Master Tethras.” She heard the smile in Solas’s voice. And the sound of a boot hitting his side. 

“Ever found a nest of dragonlings before dinner time? I don’t suggest it. They get cranky when they’re hungry.” A closer look found the scars to be slightly sunken into his skin - the dragonlings had taken some of Varric with them. Her own leg panged in sympathy. Bull inclined his head slightly. If anyone could respect a dragon taking a chunk out of someone, it would be him. He was not to be outdone, however. 

Bull yanked his large, billowing pants up, up, and up. Past his knee, his thigh, until he was one good pull away from showing off his ‘weapon’. He shifted his leg to expose the inside of his thigh, where a scar, white and raised and gnarled, curled around the impressive muscle. A fair bit of the leg had been cut out, leaving the skin to twist around the missing flesh. Varric’s once-shattered collarbone and Solas’s deep punctures seemed rather dull in comparison, then. 

“How about you Kitten? Got any goods to show?” Ellana snapped her head up and Bull leaned toward her, one large arm draped over his exposed leg. A wicked smile warmed his face, and, suddenly, Ellana realized all her companions had, at some point, relieved themselves of some article of clothing in their poorly-veiled pissing contest. Varric, what little shirt he had and both his boots. Solas, his tunic and a leg of his trousers. His pale skin gleamed in the firelight. Her mouth went dry as she realized all eyes were on her. 

Varric narrowed his eyes, studying her, then leaned back. “Nah, Violet’s got all that fancy Dalish healing,” he drawled. “Not to mention Chuckles here. Cassandra would have his head if he left so much as a scratch on her.” He waved his hand in the air, as though to chase the idea away. Then he downed another swig of his canteen. A canteen she didn't recognize, and suspected was responsible for the dark stains on his discarded undershirt. Bull drank from his own, and nodded sagely. His eye twinkled with mischief. 

“Mmm, maybe not his head. Can’t have the anchor get wonky and not have the resident expert on weird shit around to help calm it down. Maybe just an arm. Or a pinkie toe. Or something else.” Bull pitched his voice low and waggled his eyebrows. Solas scoffed, but heat filled Ellana’s face. She walked toward the fire, rolling her eyes, and swiped Bull’s drink from him. He held his hands up in surrender, a shit-eating grin still decorating his face. 

“Pinkie toe?” Bull turned his attention to Solas, face scrunched up in an expression that was equal parts confusion and disappointment. 

“That’s the part you stick on? Yeah, pinky toe.” He shifted his weight, drawing attention to his bad ankle. “Shit��s more important than you realize. Can’t balance worth a fuck without one. ��Least for a while.” Solas seemed to consider the information for a moment before nodding. 

“I believe she could be convinced to let me keep my extremities, given extenuating circumstances.” Solas sipped from his wineskin, and Bull raised an eyebrow. When Solas did not continue, he waved an arm out in invitation. 

“Such as?” 

“Perhaps a very large bear,” Solas said, deadpan. Varric let out a harsh laugh.

“Cassandra tortured-me-over-a-book Pentaghast giving you grace for a bear? I’ll believe it when I see it.” Varric held out his canteen as if in a toast, then downed the rest of it, disappointedly holding it over the ground when not so much as a drop would fall from it before tossing it haphazardly behind him.

“A fade-touched bear, perhaps. With very long claws.” Solas smiled at her from behind his drink before taking another sip. She smiled back. Why he was drawing attention from her, she didn’t know. But she was glad for it. Bull, however, noticed. His eye darted between them both, and he settled back against the rock behind them.  

“Aw, I’m sure she’s got at least one good story. Can’t have magic all the time, right?” He lifted one finger and aimed it at her head. “What about that one? Don’t even have to take your clothes off for it.” She flushed again - now thankful for the chill in the night air. If he was going to keep teasing her, she might’ve needed to remove a layer or two. Which was, perhaps, the point. Ellana rolled her eyes, but slid her fingers across her hairline and pushed her dark locks back on her head. A jagged scar followed the edge of her hair, ever so slightly sunk into her skin. The pale edges caught in the firelight, appearing almost opalescent. It was a small thing, especially in comparison to the wounds her companions carried, but the injury had been deep. Bull pursed his lips.

“Not bad,” He said. Ellana shrugged. “Where’d you get it from?” The sound of plate metal clanking flashed in her mind. Sunlight glaring off unsheathes blades, a sharp pain in her skull. Then fire. First, between her and the suits of armor. Then behind her, climbing into the trees and eating into the brush. 

“Hit my head,” she said, and let a stray lock of hair fall over the scar.

“No shit,” Varric laughed.

“Don’t tell me you tripped into a tree or something,” Bull drawled, disappointment and disbelief coloring his words.

“No.” She said, and swiped his drink. “It was a statue, and I didn’t trip.” She took a swig from Bull’s wineskin and recoiled. It was ale, shitty ale. The maraas-lok she’d shared with him had tasted better. And she’d nearly coughed up a lung after a single drink. Somehow, she’d expected a stronger - and less rank - drink to be in his pack. He chuckled and took the wineskin back.

“Well, don’t leave us hanging,” Varric said. She realized both he and Solas had set their drinks to the side, now watching her with rapt, if fuzzy, attention. She sighed, and wrapped her arms around herself.

“It’s really not all that interesting, but alright. I struggled with my magic, when I was younger. When the other mages in my clan had already mastered summoning vines and small storms, I had yet to even break through the veil. The Fade was always just out of reach - I could feel it, but…” She shook her head. “Nothing. So I started sneaking off. There was a place in the woods where the veil was thin. I thought that maybe I could, well-” Ellana shrugged. “Anyway, there was this statue of Fen’harel not too far away. The rest of the clan avoided it for the most part, and so did the humans that passed through. It felt…  safe. I could stay there for hours with no one to watch me struggle to even light a candle. I did that for a while, actually. Trying to call on magic at the feet of the Dread Wolf.”

“Let me guess,” Varric said, leaning forward to aim a finger at her. His eyes narrowed in concentration. “It bit you. Weird shit like that always happens with elves and forests.” Ellana rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway.

“No, the statue did not bite me. And there wasn’t any weird shit, just templars.” The air grew colder, the amusement at Varric’s jest leaching from the air. Even with most of her companions having little love for mages as a whole, they understood the danger templars posed to a young elf on her own. As had she. The discordant melody of rust and steel as they marched through the forest still rang in her ears. She remembered sliding her sylvanwood dagger from its sheath, the leather grip, molded to her hands from long hours of practice, suddenly slick with sweat. Then the scream of her cloak as an arrow ripped through the fabric at her shoulder. How the world exploded in white and heat as she shot up, the wolf’s stone jaws splitting the skin and, she would later learn, her skull. “I hit my head trying to get away. And for whatever reason,” she flipped a hand palm up and summoned a small flame, the same heat and bright orange-yellow light that nearly consumed the forest now tame in her hand, “this came with it.”

She ought to have come away with more than just a mark to her head. The fire had licked up her legs, kissed her cheeks. She’s become intimate with the pain her power could cause within moments of  it finally settling, snapping into place. And had spent much of the frantic journey out of the forest writhing in an aravel as her grandmother and other healers had worked to heal the damage. They’d done well - the scar on her head was all that remained of her injuries. A reminder for herself of what could happen should she lose control again. But that was information she’d share another night, perhaps. There was a fair chance that Bull would request she join them in discarding their clothes to prove the lack of any other meaningful marks from that night. 

“I’m guessing the fire didn’t just stay in your hand?” Bull quirked an eyebrow, his distaste of magic thankfully quelled by curiosity.

“Wouldn’t have kept them off me if it had,” she shrugged. “Besides, Fen’harel isn’t known to hand out easy escapes. I’ll take a forest fire over some of the other consequences he’s handed out.”

“I was going to say, Daisy didn’t make him seem like the helping kind.” That he wasn’t. Not that she could blame a trickster god for his nature, but there was a reason her people prayed that the Dread Wolf did not catch their scent. 

“Do you believe that he was with you, then?” Ellana’s attention was stolen by Solas. His question was quiet, tentative even. Though he’d become significantly less pointed and arrogant in his discussions with her about her people’s beliefs, his own perspective often seeped through even his most well-meaning inquiries. That he stared at her now with only a somber press of his lips was unlike him. Though his melancholy was keen to grow as much as his levity when he drank. Perhaps that was all it was. She offered him a small smile.

“I don’t know.” She shrunk the flame, and let it dance between her fingers, angling her hand this way and that. “We say he’s the only one of our gods free to roam our world. Maybe he thought I needed a lesson on straying too far from my people. Or maybe I was simply lucky to escape. I suppose I can thank him either way.” Solas’s brows drew together, his thoughts circling behind his eyes as he focused on the flame in her hand.  She adjusted it once again, pulling all the heat and light into a small orb, then sent it shattering in a cascade of sparks that fizzled and disappeared into the air. “Couldn’t do party tricks like that without him.” She laughed as Bull and Varric scoffed. They’d had close calls with some of her larger ‘party tricks.’ But Solas was smiling softly on the other side of the fire, so whatever critique they threw her way was well worth it. 

“Try out one of those tricks with the next diplomat,” Varric siad, “see how Josephine feels about them.”

“Careful,” Bull said, a wicked smile curling his cheeks, “Some of them may get off on that.” A groan spread through the camp, and Bull let out a laugh that shook the trees. Varric made a show of taking a healthy swig from his flask, as if the liquor could wish away whatever image his overactive imagination had conjured. Ellana reached out her hand and begged for the drink, hoping for the same, only for him to turn the offending thing over to show a meager drop falling from the lip. She groaned with a wide roll of her eyes, and Varric stood to comfort her, a hand reached out toward her shoulder. He didn’t make it. Nearly as soon as he was upright, he was tilting to the side like a weight had been tied to his wrist. Ellana surged forward to catch him before his face found the ground. Only for sharp pain to lance through her skull. A curse loosed from under her breath, echoed by another. One that was deeper, and in elven. Above her, Solas stood, chin in hand. He stretched out his jaw, looking as though he were yawning for a moment, teeth glinting in the firelight, then he looked down, brows drawn. His eyes, glassy as they were, cleared when he saw her hand rubbing into the sore spot at the top of her head. 

“Ir abelas, I did not mean-”

“It’s alright,” she said, letting a laugh color her words. “You’re softer than a statue, at least. See,” she lifted her hand and turned her palm to him, where her fingers were colored a pale orange by the firelight. “No harm done.” The hurt had already faded to a dull ache, soon to be forgotten with the next breeze of easy conversation. And Varric, somehow, had wandered to Bull’s side, where he leaned against the Qunari’s giant shoulder as he begged for a drink from his still-full wineskin. 

“I ought to have been more careful.” She shrugged, but it did nothing to convince him. Tension still held his shoulders, concern still pinched his face. She offered a small smile.

“You can heal me if you’d like,” she said, and took his hands in hers. Best ensure he let her finish her sentence before he jumped at the chance. “But truly, I’m fine. If you must make it up to me, I have a much better idea anyway.” She squeezed his hands, then released them. She backed up a step, careful not to lose her balance and risk a repeat performance. Fine she was, but she had no desire to bruise her head this evening. The million muscles in his face twitched as he considered his options, his own empty wineskin exposing the way his thoughts churned in his mind. They settled, eventually, and he nodded. 

“What do you have in mind?” Ellana bit her lip to hold back a smile, and nervousness suddenly appeared as Solas’ eyes widened. 

“You never did share how you got that scar.” She pointed to the one on his forehead. The one that looked suspiciously like he’d had a bad run in with the corner of a table. Solas laughed. A true laugh that set her ears and heart ringing. His eyes closed tight, the crows feet at their corners taking flight, She made a quiet promise to herself to try to make him laugh more often.

“Ma nuvenin, I shall tell you how I got the scar.” His eyes sparkled with a bit of mischief, and she suddenly wondered if what she was about to hear was anything at all like the truth. But, she decided, as he kept hold of her hand, bringing them both to settle onto the ground, what did that matter? He could posture and peacock all he’d like, showing off as much as Dorian ever did, though he’d never admit to it. In the end, she would be lucky enough to brag that she’d brought a genuine smile to his face. And really, she’d much prefer that, aching head and all.

[dawnsbitties]

hi! may i have a Honey Wyvern, Blue Amphipetere, Razzle, Trot, melody, and a Flare?

- Dawn looks up from some papers she’s reading over alongside Lyel, her face brightening as she sees you. “Well hello there! Always glad to see a friendly face around here!” She tells you, putting away the papers for now as Lyel runs off to do chores. As you tell her why you’re here, she smiles even brighter. “Looking for more family members? That’s just fantastic! I’m sure we can find some that’ll fit in with the rest of them!”

- She leads you to a side room first, where upon entering your eyes are immediately drawn to the huge fake tree in the middle, several different Melody bitties are hopping around, singing and playing, and looking closer you realise there’s even a few Blue Amphipetere bitties who are playing along with the Melody ones! Dawn tells you to try and sing or whistle if you can, or to play some music to them. Doing the one you think would be the best, you spot that all the harpies have stopped to listen in, a few of them bobbing along to the tune, but one of them flies down to be closer!

- After a bit longer listening in, she joins in on the music, clearly loving it! And then you both are surprised when a Blue Amphipetere joins in with you, seemingly not wanting to be left out! But then a noise cuts off the lovely tunes as the dragon bitty turns around to start scolding whoever did a horrible job joining in - it’s a Honey Wyvern! And by the looks of it, the brother half to the first dragon! Once their squabbling has settled down, you ask them if they would love to join you and your family, getting three eager nods of agreement! Success!

- Dawn then leads you outside, showing you a bunch of Trot bitties running in a race with some Flares overlooking it all or sunbathing! The Melody sings out, getting the attention of one of the Trotters, who immediately runs over to happily greet you! You chat a bit with the Trot, and also the Flare when he comes over to join in with your conversation and you happily chat away. After a bit, you tell that you’re going to be adopting the Melody bitty but would also love a Trot and Flare bitty. The Trotter seems more than happy, but the Flare says he’ll only join.. If you can find the Razzle he hatched alongside!

- Accepting the challenge, you move over to the ambush bushes, hearing giggles, rattles and leaves rustling about, but see no sign of any scales or tails. Letting out a thoughtful hum, you turn your back to where one of the bushes is giggling more, waiting a bit… And then turning around, watching the startled face of the Razzle who’d been trying to sneak up on you! She’s been caught! She pouts in annoyance, but after a bit admits defeat, saying that now you have to adopt her! Luckily, the Flare comes over and happily says you won his challenge, meaning this was the right Razzle! You’ve found all your bitties!

- Going back into the centre, it’s no issue filling out all the paperwork for the new family members, Dawn happily looking over it all before giving it the all clear! You’re surprised when Rio the Floof shows up, holding out a care pamphlet that is meant for you to know how to care for the Melody bitty the best. “You have a Trot, who will help you out, but I am very protective of any feathers who leave the centre. I am the main Melody bitty rehabilitator after all!” He tell you. Nodding in understanding, you promise to take good care of her, and with a nod from him you finally have the all-clear to head out and home with all your new bitties, all of them chatting away about their new homes… Well, all except the Honey Wyvern who is fast asleep.

[idkthisisjustforfanfic]

that makes four.

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PART 2

The first days of Harry staying at your house were overshadowed by Maeve’s 5th grade spelling bee victory. The fake gold medal was a mainstay around her neck for a new nights at the dinner table until she eventually forgot about it.

Luckily enough, neither of your daughters seemed to be thrown too off kilter by his presence. Maeve was just young enough to not know much about who Harry was or the band he’d been in--though she was ready and willing to brag about having a celebrity around.

CeCe--in true sibling rivalry fashion--decided to draw her own medal with crayons and ask you to cut it out so she could wear it around the house. If Maeve gets one, so do I.

With potholders on and the oven door open, you apologized. “I can’t right now, honey--give mommy a few minutes and I’ll help you.”

Harry materialized at the bottom of the stairs, eyebrows raised when he said: “What do you need, CeCe?”

“I have to cut this out!” She said excitedly, running over to the drawer where the scissors were kept. She whipped them out and turned around quickly, Harry’s eyes bulging out of his head when he hurried over to grab them from her.

“I’ll cut, you watch,” he laughed, exchanging a look with you when CeCe climbed up to sit at the island. She hummed in agreement, handed over the paper and watched as he lined it up to start snipping.

“CeCe,” he said her name inquisitively. “Is CeCe short for anything?”

“Cecilia Rose L/N,” she smiled. “Pretty, right?”

“Very pretty,” he smiled. “Same last name as your mum.”

The last part of his sentence was a statement, a quick glance in your direction when you turned off the oven and shouted towards the stairs. “Maeve! Dinner’s ready!”

Your call went unanswered into the big house--you had no clue where she was or if she’d heard you. When Harry finished cutting out the paper medal, he handed it to CeCe who beamed with pride and put it around her neck.

Hands on your hips, “CeCe, will you please find your sister and tell her dinner is ready?”

She took one big breath and then screamed, “MAEVE!”

Both you and Harry flinched at the noise but laughed. She held onto Harry’s arm when she hopped down from the stool, shaking her head in disappointment. “Good god that girl,” she huffed, heading to climb the stairs when she yelled again: Maeve!!!! Dinner!!!!

“She’s a handful tonight,” you said, almost feeling guilty as her footsteps stomped on the floor overhead. “Thank you for that, though,” you said, motioning to the scissors in his hand. “Want a glass of wine?”

“S’not against the rules?” He teased.

When you shot him a look, he smirked and let out a laugh. “I’ll gladly take one. It’s fine, though. She was ready to stab someone flinging the scissors around like that.”

“They just had scissor safety in art class not too long ago.” You told him, pulling the cork from an already open bottle of red. “Sometimes I think she barely listens to anyone--she just does her own thing.”

“Not the worst way to be,” he smiled, picked up the glass when you slid it over on the granite. An awkward beat when he took a sip, smiled in your direction when you did the same. You could hear Maeve and CeCe fighting upstairs, offered him another guilty smile, but then he asked: “do you plan on changing your name?”

“My last name?”

“Yeah--L/N is your married name, right?”

It felt a bit nosy, a bit intrusive for the fourth night he was sleeping under your roof. You shrugged your shoulders casually, unsure how to answer. “Just haven’t gotten to it.”

He’d been quiet so far, out most of the day once the girls were gone for school and he’d return before dinner. Kept to himself--or at least out of the way--and was always helpful when he could be. Bringing groceries in? He carried a few. Needed a hand with clearing plates after dinner? He would gladly help.

Maeve and CeCe came rushing downstairs and were more willing to do the gratitude thing than they usually were, forks in hand when Maeve turned to you. “Oh, by the way, Auntie Shelli is taking us out for dinner tomorrow night.”

“She is?” You smiled at Maeve. “I haven’t heard about that.”

“She promised last week, she said Friday.”

“Okay, well I can check with her.”

“Are you doing anything tomorrow night?” Maeve asked.

“Not a thing,” you said, shaking your head. You’d been looking forward to it all week--maybe a bath and a glass of wine, maybe even a movie if you were feeling adventurous. Zoey was typically after you to do something: dinner, come hold Benny for an hour while she took a shower. You were totally up for helping a friend, but it’d been a minute since you had some me-time and if Jeff’s mom had already offered to babysit, you weren’t going to say no.

CeCe turned to Harry excitedly. “What are you doing tomorrow night? Are you coming to dinner?”

He smiled in her direction but shook his head. “I’m actually going over to a friend’s house.”

“What friend?”

“CeCe,” you laughed, embarrassed by her prying. “He doesn’t have to run everything by you, you know.”

“I know,” she said simply as she shrugged her shoulders innocently. “Just thought maybe it was one of my friends. I don’t know if we have the same friends.”

Harry laughed at this and smiled when you rolled your eyes. “I don’t think you know her.”

You watched Harry for a second, wondered if it was a girlfriend or something of the sort--Jeff hadn’t mentioned anything like that. Why couldn’t he stay there, with that friend?

“Well you should come with us and Auntie Shelli one day,” Maeve said. “We usually get ice cream and she lets us get a bunch of toppings and she doesn’t even care if we’ve had dinner yet.”

You let out a short laugh, the details of their time with family members always slipped out when you least expected it. “He’s busy, girls, remember?”

Harry shrugged, “we could get ice cream soon.”

You looked up at him, forked into a bite of dinner and said quietly: you don’t have to.

He didn’t--Harry didn’t owe you or your daughters anything except common decency and kindness. Helping you clean up after dinner or bring in the groceries was enough of a repayment for a guest room and his own bathroom.

“Maybe next week?” He ignored your comment and smiled at the girls.

“Next week!” CeCe chirped back, brushing her hair out of her face with a grin.

You figured they’d forget--swept up by the excitement of something else by the time next week rolled around and Harry would be off the hook. You smiled in his direction, apologetically and pleading, but it wasn’t until the next night that you realized he was serious.

Jeff’s mom had picked Maeve and CeCe up, you had just poured a glass of wine and went to sit in your office to go over any unread emails when he knocked on the door.

“Hey,” he offered a smile, leaned against the wall and put his hands in his pockets.

“Hi,” you turned to see him, unsure what he wanted or why he was popping in. “What’s up?”

“Uh, just wanted to let you know that my plans fell through--so, I’m just gonna be home--here I mean.”

His correction was quick, a subtle misstep through words.

You pressed your lips into a thin line, nodded slowly as you took in the information. He’d be here--in your house and just hanging out. While you had planned for a quiet night, having one other person somewhere in the house wouldn’t kill you, right? Maybe he’d lock himself away in his room and leave you to your emails, then you’d slip upstairs and end the night with a bath before your children returned with a sugar high and stories for days.

“Okay,” you said. A pause when he nodded, looked at you and then down to the floor.

“Do you want to have a drink?”

“I’ve got one,” you lifted your glass and then faltered. “Oh, together--sure, yeah.”

He held back a laugh, motioned for you to lead the way once you stood up from your desk. He trailed you back through the living room and into the kitchen, got himself a wine glass when you found the bottle you’d already started on the counter.

Was this weird? You couldn’t tell. The house was quiet and for a moment it felt like neither of you knew what to say when the only sound was the cork coming out of the bottle.

“I can venmo you for groceries, too, since m’drinking your wine.” He lifted it and poured, you watched the liquid rise in the glass until he looked up at you, waiting for a reply.

“No, it’s fine.”

“M’eating your food, drinking your wine, sleeping in your house,” he let out a laugh but put the stopper back in. “I feel like I could at least pay you back for some--” he looked down at the bottle and studied the label, “cabernet.”

You pulled out a barstool and sat, a sigh when you waved him off. “S’fine--I’m still making my way through the sorry your dad died and sorry your husband left you bottles.”

His lips pulled up at the side when yours did too. “Where do they make those grapes?”

“Somewhere far away from here,” you nodded, a long sip from your own glass when he moved to sit beside you.

“So how much did Jeff have to beg you to let me stay here?”

You looked over at him, hesitant to admit your own reluctance. You knew he and Jeff were close--you’d long been hearing stories about their nights out or big wins as a team. You’d even been invited to the release party for Harry’s first solo album, but you couldn’t find a babysitter and back then your ex couldn’t be bothered.

“I got a few pleading text messages after he first brought it up,” you smiled.

He laughed and nodded. “Well, it’s a big help. My house is over in Malibu but s’not ready yet--the only guestroom in Jeff’s house shares a wall with the master and something about that felt...weird.”

You narrowed your eyes at him playfully. “You didn’t want to hear Jeff and random women hooking up?”

“Not in the slightest,” he shook his head and bit back a smile. “Figured I’d stay with his parents for a bit but then Irv and Shelli told me they loved me but their rules are strict: their children, grandchildren, and your children. Those are their only guests.”

You nodded, it wasn’t news to you. “One time my dad stayed over after a party and Irv almost hit him with a golf club in the morning because he’d forgotten who was on the couch.”

“Yeah, so, sounds like a good idea that I’m here.” Quiet again when he moved the glass around, then he said: “you know, I would be happy to take them to ice cream or something one night--give you a minute to yourself.”

You smiled, the offer was sweet and apparently he had no idea that he’d just ruined your one chance this week to have that. “You really don’t have to--I’m sorry that they’re so...fascinated by you.”

“No, they’re great, very sweet. Maybe I can tag along when Jeff watches them next and learn the ropes.”

You nodded, reassured by his understanding that watching them would take skill. “There’s a lot to learn, they can be quite the handful sometimes.”

“Yeah?” he tilted his head. “Tell me more about them.”

The way he looked at you stirred a feeling in your chest that you couldn’t quite place. Maybe it was just the fact that he seemed interested enough to ask about them, he already seemed more invested than their father had been over the last year. You also would never turn down an opportunity to humble-brag about the tiny humans you'd created.

“Well, Maeve is pretty straight-edge. She’s always cared a lot about school and she likes it--which is weird, cause she didn’t get that from me and she definitely didn’t get it from my ex-husband. Like, she actually gets excited to come home and do her homework.”

He laughed, sipped from his glass and said: “Right, I’m sure she didn’t get her drive and determination from her mother who started her own successful business.”

You brushed off the compliment with a roll of your eyes and a laugh. “The weird preteen-angst thing is new, though. I have no idea if that’s because of losing my dad or losing hers,” you picked at a thread on your sleeve.

He was quiet for a moment, like he didn’t know what to say to that.

“And CeCe,” you saved him the trouble, “she’s a fireball. She is so strong-willed it actually makes me nervous about when she’s a teenager. She might actually drive to Vegas and get married or something. It’s just her world and we’re living in it.”

His dimples appeared on his cheeks when you shrugged. “Well, you’ve clearly done something right with them. Jeff's always loved being an uncle."

“I appreciate that,” you said honestly, a pause before you admitted: “My ex was never that hands on.”

“Right,” he nodded. “Is that why things ended?”

You let out a short laugh, again unsure if you were sharing too much. Would you wake up and regret the fact that you'd poured a glass of wine, and apparently your deepest secrets, all out on display?

“That, along with the fact that he was cheating on me for a good 18 months, I think.”

“Wow,” he nodded slowly, his lips pushed out in thought when he dropped your gaze. “What a dick.”

“Yeah, better I found out now than later on, I guess.”

“So that and losing your dad this year--”

“Yeah it’s been shitty,” you cut him off, another sip of your wine to avoid having to say more. He looked at your glass, now nearing empty, and reached for the bottle.

“Then you definitely deserve another one of these,” he laughed, fingers pulling the cork out again. “No wonder you got so many sympathy wine bottles.”

He poured himself another too, eventually he followed you into your dad’s old office when he asked what hid behind the mystery door on the first floor.

It was the only room you hadn’t redone yet, something about keeping his records on the book shelves and his papers on the desk felt like it kept him here. He’d chosen the green for the walls and you apologized when Harry’s eyebrows shot up at the sight.

“Great man,” you nodded, turning on a light switch, “terrible decorating taste.”

Harry nodded slowly, wine glass still in hand and a smirk fighting it’s way onto his face. “S’a bright color, yeah.”

He let out a laugh when he made eye contact with you, a disapproving look on your face when you walked over to the desk. “All these strewn about--probably some important information about you over here somewhere.”

He came over and lifted a paper. “Harry Styles is one of the most thoughtful, caring, and funny people I know.”

“Really?” You tugged at his arm to get a better view of the paper. Your dad’s handwriting was almost illegible, a date scribbled on top and another few words halfway down the small notebook page, nothing about Harry and nothing that seemed all that important.

“I hope that’s what he thought of me,” Harry smiled, his eyes flickered to where you still had a grip around his wrist. “Your nails are digging into me.”

“Sorry,” you pulled back immediately. “Sometimes I have to grab CeCe like that in the store or she runs off.”

He kept your gaze for a second, but it felt uncomfortable and made you nervous, so you cleared your throat. “Feel free to come in here and use this stuff,” you motioned over to the piano and the guitars he had in stands. “No one uses it, so--it’d be good for it to get played.”

“You don’t play anything?”

You shook your head. “No--he’d started to teach me guitar when I was young but then my mom died, just never picked it up again.”

You were thirteen when it happened, a car accident on the 405 and you didn’t go to school for weeks. Your dad had always been your main support--they divorced when you were ten--but after that you grew even closer, which is why losing him was so hard. He’d been a friend and a parent and the best grandfather who helped pick up the pieces when things with Luke started to crumble.

Harry was quiet, a simple nod when he went over to the piano and sat. You felt the need to shift the topic of conversation to something less depressing than the unfortunate events of your life.

“Are you writing a lot for the album still?”

“Yeah--we’ve got a few things written that might end up on it, but, mostly just experimenting with some new sounds.”

He pressed a chord down on the piano and looked up at you. “How do Maeve and CeCe seem to be handling it all?”

“Which part?”

“Both.”

You shrugged. “They’ve asked a lot about where their father is and why he hasn’t visited. And they understand that their grandpa is gone, but they’re sad, I think. CeCe’s had more nightmares than usual.”

He smiled a little. “And how are you doing with all of it?”

You let out a tiny laugh, mostly out of discomfort with the sudden seriousness in his voice and the way he already pulled more out of you than you’d planned. “I’m fine.”

He lifted his brows but played another progression of chords. “Wouldn’t blame you if you’re not.”

You took a sip of the cabernet and watched as he hummed along to whatever he played. When he looked up at you and waited for a reply, you smiled. “Some days I want to pull my hair out and others I need a good glass of wine. I kind of oscillate between those two lately.”

“Well, I’m always happy to split a bottle with you.”

You nodded, tried to fight the smile on your face when he laughed but then gave in. “Good.”

**

You woke up the next morning with a bit of a headache from the third and unexpected glass of wine. The girls were home by 9pm and unfortunately for you, the weekend was busy with play dates and birthday parties and grocery shopping.

Monday had you back in the office and recounting the first week to Tristan over an iced latte and a breakfast sandwich you’d grabbed after school drop off. Now it was cold and you were approaching the mid-day slump you were all too familiar with.

“I just can’t believe you’re alive still, to be honest. You know--seeing as you thought he’d be a serial killer or something.”

You looked over at him with narrowed eyes. “I didn’t think he was a serial killer.”

“Just a pedophile?”

“Alright,” you waved him off. “I can admit that it’s been fine--good, even. It’s only been a week, though.”

“Right,” he shrugged. “Halfway there. Maybe week two is when he goes crazy.”

You ignored the teasing from your friend and looked back to your computer. “Do you know if Kailee ordered the new bottles for the matcha face mask?”

“Yesterday afternoon,” he nodded. “And we also got the labels in for them as well. They ship off to the packaging plant on Tuesday.”

“Good, and numbers are up from last quarter which is really good. The meeting with the investors should go well.”

“Yeah, I mean, our entire profit has doubled since this time last year,” he smiled in your direction, a subtle reminder that the late night emails on top of the worst year ever had already proven to be worth it. “You should be very proud.”

“I am,” you admitted. “Of us. All of us.”

“Yes, what kind of boss would you be if you took all of the credit?” He teased.

“A bad one, but I’m also the type of boss that leaves at lunch time to go home and change since I have a meeting this afternoon that I forgot all about.”

He looked you up and down when you stood.

“It’s with people from Anthropologie about carrying some of our products in store--so I don’t think I can wear athleisure.”

He laughed and kept typing. “Fair enough. See you at 2pm, though, for the website meeting?”

“Yes,” you promised as you grabbed your keys. “Please don’t let the place burn down while I’m gone.”

“Might throw the match myself,” he waved you off, a laugh at his own joke when you headed for the elevator.

You were proud of the company you’d built and the office you’d been able to purchase two years back, but you were more proud of the energy that buzzed through the halls and the people who made work feel less like work and more like the adventure of a lifetime. You tried to be the cool boss who brought enough coffee for everyone, gave good time off but still expected hard work and drive to be the core of the business.

It took a while to settle into the role, though. At first you were sure you’d be seen as a spoiled rich kid who got a loan from her father to start a company--but it only took one year to repay him when you started getting placements in health food markets across LA. When Kourtney Kardashian posted something about your raspberry toner, the rest was history.

You’d always been passionate about making people feel good about themselves and focused your entire brand on building people up, not tearing them down. The world had enough of that as a mother of two daughters, you hoped it’d be something that would change that narrative, at least for them.

The drive home was quick and the sun was shining, which put a pep in your step as you hopped out of the car in the driveway and headed for the side door.

Harry’s car was still here--you’d left earlier than usual but didn’t expect him to be home. If anything, you figured he’d left shortly after you and planned on staying late in the studio. Jeff had mentioned something about laying down new tracks.

“Hello?” You called into the kitchen and looked around, he wasn’t in the living room or out by the pool. You found a laundry basket at the top of the second floor and figured that maybe someone had picked him up, but the sound of muffled singing pulled you down the hall and closer to his guest room.

The door was cracked only a bit, the sun streamed in from the windows and you could hear the running water of the shower. It was wrong, maybe, but you pushed the door open and stepped inside, smiled to yourself at the fact that he was singing a Carole King song that your dad used to play on repeat when you were a kid.

The room was clean--you hadn’t been in it since you’d pointed out the linen closet in the bathroom and showed him how to use the TV remote. His bed was made--maybe not the way you would have made it but the throw pillows were arranged in a way that showed he tried.

A buzzing on the dresser pulled your attention away from the bed. His phone, a message from someone named Bria Whitmore. Another message, then a third. You took a step closer--who on earth was texting him this much without a reply? A girlfriend? Someone he probably slept with or something of the sort.

“Hi,” his voice pulled your head around quickly and sent your heartbeat through the roof.

“Jesus, hi--sorry--I was just--”

He was in a towel, the fabric wrapped loosely around his waist and hair was slicked back from the water. You looked away from the tattoos that littered his skin and looked down at the laundry basket.

“I was just seeing if you had any laundry you needed me to do?”

It was clean, but he didn’t need to know that.

“M’good,” he smiled like he didn’t believe you. “Why are you home?”

“Had to change--forgot about a meeting,” you let out a laugh and tried to slow your pulse. “Figured the pilates mom look wasn’t the right vibe.”

He nodded, moved around you in the center of the room to pull out a t-shirt from a drawer. You saw him look down at the cell phone you’d been eyeing.

“Your phone went off,” you admitted, the laundry basket still pressed up against your hip.

“Yeah?” He smirked over his shoulder.

“I was just making sure it wasn’t an emergency--I wasn’t, like, snooping.”

A dimple appeared on his left cheek again, he tugged the fabric over his head and then shook out his hair.

“S’not an emergency,” he said. “Just a friend.”

You didn’t know if that was code. Were twenty-somethings calling their booty-calls friends now? You figured you’d ask Tristan later.

“Why are you home?” You tossed the question back at him.

“Schedule changed--went for a run after breakfast and now just, showering, y’know,” he looked down at the towel that separated you from an even more awkward moment.

“Right, sorry, I...am leaving,” you pointed to the door. “Changing, back to the office, home tonight.”

“Sounds good,” he smiled. “Figured I could make dinner, if you wanted. I make a mean chicken taco.”

You took a few steps backwards to the door. “You cook?”

“I do,” he smiled. “Hard to believe?”

“No,” you shook your head. “That would be great--if you want, but you don’t have to.”

“I’d love to,” he nodded. “I’ll see you tonight, Y/N.”

“With more clothes,” you smiled, immediately regretting the bad joke and the attention it drew to the stuffy air and the butterflies in your stomach.

“Definitely more clothes.”

You made a face at yourself once the door was shut, idiot. At least you hadn’t accidentally seen a picture of someone’s boobs. You were sure he got plenty of those.

You pushed the thought out of your head and thankfully Harry didn’t smirk at you too much when Jeff came to pick up the girls for ice cream the next afternoon. They hadn’t forgotten, but luckily Jeff had offered to take them out one night and it seemed like the perfect opportunity for Harry to tag along. That way he could stay true to his word and the girls would stop pestering him every time he popped down to the kitchen.

Zoey had been begging to bring the baby over to get out of the house, and now she was sitting in the other room with Benny on a play mat on the floor. Maeve, CeCe, Jeff and Harry stood in a line, eagerly awaiting the green light to pile into Jeff’s car.

“Okay, so Uncle Jeff can text me if you need anything, see you around 7pm?”

“Yes ma’am,” Jeff said, a salute in your direction that pulled a giggle from both of your daughters.

They’d been fighting more lately, CeCe tried to take the medal from Maeve’s room one night over the weekend and suddenly it was like world war three. You were shocked that they’d gotten it together enough to spend some time in each other's presence, even with Uncle Jeff chaperoning, but you were eager for the quiet and hopeful the screaming matches wouldn’t return once the ice cream and dinner date was finished.

“Love you, be nice to each other, okay?” You leaned down and used both hands to hold CeCe’s head in place when you planted a kiss on her forehead, then Maeve. A hug for Jeff, “only one ice cream cone this time.”

He laughed but obliged, you moved down the line to Harry, an awkward nod in his direction when you realized that whatever type of acquaintanceship had slowly started to bloom between the two of you was hardly grounds for a kiss on the forehead or even a hug.

He apparently sensed this too, a playful smile on his face when he lifted his brows. “No farewell for me?”

Jeff let out a quick laugh but Maeve and CeCe took off for the car, racing to see who could get out the front door fastest. “Alright, don’t kill each other,” you reminded again, waved them all off with an embarrassed smirk and then watched as Harry helped CeCe buckle into her booster seat.

“So,” Zoey appeared beside you, Benny in her arms as she looked out the window. “Seems like things are going well.”

“Yeah,” you shrugged casually. “He’s been nice.”

“He seems friendly,” she wiggled her brows when she met your gaze. “Flirty friendly.”

“Just friendly,” you laughed and headed for the kitchen to pour yourself a drink. It might have only been Tuesday, but the week promised to be a busy one. You wiped up a runaway drip of wine on the rim, fully aware the words about to leave your mouth would push Zoey into gear. “But I did see him shirtless yesterday.”

“That sounds amazing,” she shifted Benny in her arms, eagerness in her voice. “How was it?”

“I mean--he also caught me snooping in his room, sort of.”

“Sort of?”

You tried to downplay it. “I came home from work in the middle of the day to change and I heard him in the shower--which is weird cause I didn’t think he’d be home.”

“So you went in there?”

“Not the bathroom--I just peeked into his room and noticed it was really clean. Which is weird, right? He’s a kid!”

“He’s not a kid,” she rolled her eyes at you. “Your kids are kids. He’s twenty-four. I looked it up.”

Your eyes were wide when you turned to head for the couch. “You looked it up?”

“I was curious! He’s a celebrity living in your house and he’s very attractive and you have been harping on his age.”

“Because it felt weird at first.”

“And it doesn’t now?” Her tone was hopeful when she laid Benny back on his play mat and kneeled beside him.

You took a gulp from your wine glass. “Less weird, but only because he’s mature. He’s helpful around the house--he cooked dinner the other night--and he’s good with the girls.”

The corner of her mouth pulled towards the ceiling, arched eyebrows when she clarified. “He’s good with the girls?”

“He’s just nice to them--I was worried that they’d annoy him. I mean, I doubt that he was excited to hear that two of his roommates were six and ten.”

“Okay--but why did you see him shirtless?”

Right--she’d gotten you off track. “Because...I went in his room and then saw his phone buzzing and then he came out and caught me looking at his phone.”

“You were looking through his phone?!”

“No! Not the actual texts, just to see who was blowing it up. I only looked at the lock screen.”

“Was he annoyed?”

“No,” you shrugged, shame laced through your voice. “He was casual. But then he put his shirt on and I left him alone and went back to work.”

“So there’s sexual tension,” she shimmied her shoulders and pulled a laugh from you, she nuzzled down into Benny’s face but then gave him a pacifier.

“No.”

This brought her gaze back to you, more serious now. “Y/N, you are not a creep if you admit that you find him attractive.”

“I can admit that he’s handsome,” you chose a new word that felt more detached. “But who cares? He’s literally just a house guest. A friend of a friend.”

“Right, but he was just flirting with you like there’s no tomorrow.”

“No he wasn’t,” you denied her accusation. When she stared at you expectantly, you took a loud sip and let the obnoxious noise ring through the now empty house as if it would preclude you from saying any more.

“You truly, seriously, one-hundred percent haven’t noticed any type of flirting?”

You averted your eyes for a second, ready to dismiss her question and tell her she was crazy. There was nothing going on between the two of you.

But then you thought on it, thought about the way he asked about Maeve and CeCe and remembered the way your stomach seemed to twist itself in knots when he smirked at you and when the dimples appeared on his cheeks.

“The look on your face is enough of an answer,” Zoey teased, bouncing side to side when Benny made a noise. “Isn’t that right, Benny Boo? Someone has a crush.”

“There’s no crush here--he’s just,” a shrug of your shoulders when you didn’t know what words to use. You didn’t want to add fuel to her fire and you certainly didn’t want to give her any more of a reason to keep bringing this topic up.

“Dreamy? Beautiful? The perfect rebound post-divorce?”

A flutter of your eyelids in annoyance when you stood to head for the kitchen. “No,” you said, making a face in her direction. “He’s just cute.”

“So cute!” She followed behind and egged you on. “A crush is perfectly harmless, a little bedtime rendezvous is totally not a big deal.”

“I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves, here, okay?”

“Oh come on,” she laughed. “You mean to tell me you haven’t already thought about if he’s good in bed?”

She came to sit next to you at the island, folding her legs beneath her. When you sipped at your wine and tried to hide a smirk, her face lit up. “I knew it, I knew it! I don’t blame you, at all, by the way. He’s gorgeous.”

“I’m just horny, number one,” you admitted, leaning forward to rest your elbow on the granite counter. “And seeing a man actually be good with kids is a breath of fresh air.”

“Yeah, Luke didn’t set the bar high with that one.”

“Absolutely not.”

A pause of silence when evening air blew through the open doors to the patio. There was music audible through the trees, wafting in from the backyard of your neighbors.

“I think you should fuck him.”

“What?!” You turned towards her quickly, your voice quieter when she smirked and looked over at you. “Are you out of your mind?”

“You have a ridiculously attractive man living in your house and he hangs out with your kids and now he’s starting to cook? It’s like a lifetime movie waiting to happen.”

“That doesn’t mean I should have sex with him!”

“Do you want to have sex with him?”

You were quiet for a second, kept her gaze but then rolled your eyes and shook your head. “I’ve had a bad year,” you made an excuse for the pulsing in your veins whenever you were alone with him. Nothing more, nothing less.

“When does he leave again?”

“I don’t know--at the end of the week, I guess. It’s not happening, so don’t get any ideas.”

“Alright,” she seemed to relent, “You do you. I just think you deserve a little feel good time.”

“That sounds gross,” you wrinkled your nose, pulling a laugh out of her.

She was able to change the topic, told you all about the way Benny was getting better at lifting his own head and he was screaming a lot less when she put him down for some tummy time. Your phone dinged, though, signalling a new text just when you were about to pull out leftovers and heat them up.

She watched when you opened it, got excited when you smirked at the screen.

“Who is it?”

You almost didn’t want to show her, but you knew she’d pry it out of your hands with force if you didn’t share. You flipped it around, watched as a smile spread across her face.

A picture of Harry and CeCe, both with sunglasses on as they ate their ice cream. Maeve and Jeff were in the background, the line at the ice cream shop down the street wasn’t too long. You were kind of surprised he was willing to go with them, wouldn't it create a buzz in the headlines?

Zoey gave you a knowing look.

“It’s just sweet.”

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t know,” you smiled a little at first, but the happiness faded from your face when you pulled yourself back to reality. “I feel stupid thinking that he’s flirting with me. He could be with a supermodel if he wanted to. One with perky boobs and who’s, like, twenty. Not someone who’s old enough to be his mom.”

“You are seven years older than him,” she made a disgusted face. “You could have been, like, his babysitter, not his mom.”

“Oh, that makes me feel so much better.”

“You’re being stupid about this!”

You paused with tupperware in your hands, turned around slowly. “I am not being dumb about not having casual sex with the popstar boyband kid living under my roof. I think not having sex with him is objectively the responsible thing to do here.”

“Why do you always have to be so responsible, though? You have been doing that forever, okay? You’re the business owner mom who’s always been incredibly family-oriented.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, not in the slightest! But you’re more than just a mom.”

You bit at your cheek and dropped her gaze, put the tupperware down from exhaustion. “I just want my children to have a normal life. I only had one parent and I thought they were going to have two and now that ship has sailed.”

She nodded sympathetically. “But that doesn’t mean you did anything wrong! You never relaxing and having a good time will only teach them bad work-life balance.”

You rolled your eyes at her comment, tried to fight the smile when she waited for you to fold. “I love you,” she said. “I want you to get laid or have a drink or let your hair down once in a while.”

You held up the wine in her face. “Already halfway there.”

She reached for the bottle of wine and shoved it towards you with skeptical eyes. “Try harder.”

You let out a laugh and took another sip once it was refilled, pushed plates into the microwave and sat there with her until Jeff’s car pulled back into the driveway and the girls came tumbling back into the house.

“Mom, Harry said he could teach me how to play guitar,” Maeve grinned up at you, an affectionate hug caught you by surprise, but so did her words.

“He did, did he?” You eyed Harry as he walked in with Jeff by his side, sunglasses still on his face despite the sun lingering just above the horizon.

“We’ll start a band,” Harry nodded in her direction, kept his eyes shielded as CeCe ran into the backyard with a noise of excitement.

“And Uncle Jeff said he’ll sing.”

“You’ll definitely get far, then,” you teased, pulling an offended look from your childhood friend. “He’s obviously the best singer in the house.”

Harry nodded in playful agreement. “Could put me out of a job any day.”

“Maeve!” CeCe called suddenly, pulling everyone’s attention to the backyard. “Come play squishball!”

Harry looked down at Maeve and she looked up at him, you were unaware of whatever unspoken communication was transpiring between them. “Should we?” He asked.

“Definitely,” she giggled, hands on her hips.

Zoey was also confused, but she watched as Maeve and Harry headed for the patio. Harry finally took his sunglasses off, handed them to your older daughter before he spoke. “CeCe, we need to have a meeting.”

“A meeting?” She asked, she groaned in disappointment but walked back towards the house, bat dragging on the grass behind her. Jeff laughed and folded his arms over his chest, unaware of whatever deal had already been struck between them.

“You two are both really great at squishball,” Harry admitted, his voice suddenly more serious than before. “But I think we need to up the stakes.”

“Up the stakes?” You could tell by the look on CeCe’s face that she had no clue what that meant.

“Winner of this game gets the medal I won from the spelling bee,” Maeve explained.

You were about to protest, head outside and discourage any type of betting or gambling or whatever the backyard made up game was leading towards, but Harry went on to explain the rules. “CeCe gets a head start running bases, just because of her tiny legs.”

Maeve nodded, “and she gets a free home run to start off.”

CeCe smiled wide and put her hands on her hips, pulling a laugh from Harry as she copied her older sister. “I like the sound of that,” she said. A sure-fire way to make her win, you realized. But what was in that for Maeve? How had your previously grumpy pre-teen become a team player in a matter of hours?

It wasn’t long before Zoey gathered up her things and put Benny in the backseat, giggling and excited yells floated in from the backyard when you hugged her goodbye. Jeff stayed past sunset and offered an excited high five when CeCe won, completely unaware at how easy they’d made it for her.

But he soon left, too, you climbed the stairs behind your two little athletes, got them washed up and in bed before it was 9pm--not bad for a weeknight. You were sure Harry would have retreated to his room, too, but he was sat by the fire pit on the patio, a near empty glass of wine in his hand when you came back out.

“Care to explain?” you leaned against the doorframe and smiled. He adjusted in his seat but shrugged his shoulders when you admitted: “I never thought I would hear the end of it with that stupid medal.”

There was a confident look on his face when he met your eyes in the glow of the fire pit. “Figured I can teach her a few chords on guitar and that would take her mind off of taunting CeCe.”

It was smart, you nodded slowly and watched him. Give Maeve something that would get her really excited, but only if she’d give up something else. Bargaining--a classic parenting trick. You eyed Harry with a level of skepticism.

“How are you so good with them?”

He smiled at that, apparently flattered by the compliment. “They’re good kids,” he said simply.

“I’m aware,” you laughed, “but you don’t have to spend so much time with them.”

“I like it,” he shrugged. “It’s kind of nice to be around a family, you know?”

The words pulled emotion to your chest. Did you really look like a family to him? No husband, no grandfather, two irreplaceable roles and now you were trying to fill all of them just to keep your kids afloat.

“And besides,” he stood from his chair and grabbed the now empty glass before he came closer to you. “Something about being here just feels right.”

You looked up at him, felt the same rush of heat to your cheeks but hoped you were safe in the cover of night. He smirked, like he knew what he was doing to you but was too much of a gentleman to call you out. Hesitation when you felt some type of magnetic force between you, the distance simultaneously felt like inches and miles.

You smiled softly, embarrassed by the way your pulse picked up and the thoughts that flew through your head. What would happen if I, does he ever think about, am I crazy if I want to?

He brushed past you and walked to the sink, placing the wine glass down quietly before he turned to face you once more. “Is it as bad as you thought?”

Confusion, you wiped your sweaty palms on your pants. “Sorry?”

“Having me here,” he motioned around, the dimple on his left cheek was visible even in the dim light. You rolled your eyes, dropped his gaze for a second when he let out a quiet laugh. “I hope that it’s only as miserable as you thought--m’just aiming for not worse than expected at this point.”

You turned to face him and put your hands on the granite, thankful for the fact that the island was now between you, the ticking of a clock on the wall kept time when you tried to piece your words together carefully.

Was he flirting with you? A similar to question to that he'd asked only a few nights earlier, this time with more of a smirk on his face and a lilt in his voice that made sent a shiver down your spine.

“It’s better,” you admitted with a nod and a teasing smile. “But don’t tell Jeff that.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, held your gaze and then nodded. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

There was silence for a second, you almost offered to pour him another glass of wine but then he said: “Only a few more days, though.”

“Yeah,” you nodded, the fantasy shattered on the floor between you. “How’s the house coming?”

He winced, a quiet laugh when he shook his head. “Everything’s been pushed out a few weeks, actually. But--it’s fine, I’m probably just going to stay with a friend or something, you know, don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

You brought your lips into a thin line, unsure if what you were about to offer was appropriate or weird or just plain awkward.

“Oh...well, I mean, if you want to stay here longer, you can.”

His mouth pulled up on the side, he brought his gaze back to you and shifted his weight on his feet. “Yeah? You don’t mind?”

You shrugged, again hoping to play it cool or not come off too eager. “If that would be helpful,” you trailed off.

“Yeah, very helpful.”

“Cool.”

“Cool,” he nodded, pulling another smirk from you.

A few more weeks, tops.

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[cursestothemoon]

I Won’t Say I’m In Love

i.

Fred Weasley x Fem!Slytherin!Reader

Read the summary here

Warnings: Language, suggestive themes

Word Count: 2569

SERIES MASTERLIST

MASTERLIST

(i found the picture on google, there is a name on it but other than that i am not sure who owns it. I do not.)

The leaves, newly fallen from the on coming of Autumn, crunched under the feet of hurrying students. Hogwarts had begun it’s new school year, witches and wizards were hurrying from boats and carts to get into the castle and catch up with friends. Just outside of the dining Hall was a sea of students, chattering with friends, everyone staying in clumps of like colors.

Gryffindors stayed with their own, as did Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs were the ones to intermingle the most, having friends in almost every house. Then there was the house of Salazar Slytherin, a proud bunch, robes of green tightly knit together leaving no room for outsiders or stragglers, not that the other houses (excluding Hufflepuff) thought highly enough of the green and silver house to make friends.

Y/n L/n, a proud member of Slytherin stood proud with her friends and housemates. Her chin was held high, a playful smirk painted delicately on her features as she listened to Blaise Zabini give a recount of his summer holiday. Blaise had always been a nice boy, his mother was a beautiful woman who was familiar with the front page of many high end wizarding fashion magazines. Then there was Lily Webberforth, another pureblood from a family of wealth, she was in Y/n’s year and a cherished friend.

“Father said he’d be purchasing a new peacock for the manor, though he couldn’t decide between albino or not.” Draco informed.

Draco Malfoy had wormed his way into the group during second year, a good kid...when he wanted to be, but absolutely snotty otherwise.

“Y/n, how about you wear my jersey for the first game of the season?” Adrian Pucey asked, arm slinging around Y/n’s shoulders making her internally cringe.

She was never a fan of being touched and Adrian seemed to be all for it when it came to her. They were in the same year and he’d been trying to convince Y/n to make it official since third year. She preferred to play with him rather than commit to him. It was easier that way, being able to differentiate her feelings from an early age, she knew she didn't particularly like him, but they had a few good nights and now she can’t shake him. He had become rougher over the years, harsh and controlling with an affinity for blackmail.

“No my clothes are just fine, Pucey, thanks.” She shrugged off his arm as Lily snickered at the exchange, finding joy in giving Adrian a look that told him ‘better luck next time’.

Adrian, not the biggest fan of rejection then turned to Lily in hopes of getting a jealous rise out of Y/n.

“What about you, Lils? You’ll wear my jersey won’t you?”

Lily shook her head, “I’m on the team with you, clear why you're not in Ravenclaw isn't it?”

Y/n laughed at the comment and moved to stand next to Lily, away from Adrian. Luckily, he got the message, for now, and left to find Marcus Flint.

“Have you seen the twins yet?” Lily asked, leaning closer to Y/n to make sure she wasn't overheard.

The girl gave her a questioning look before asking, “Why would I go looking for them?”

“Their hair’s come in nice, looking a bit shabby last year, remember?”

“Yeah, they’ve finally cut it?”

Lily shook her head, her eyes glowing with excitement, “Even better, it’s grown out a bit longer. Real nice looking, George looks rather well I’d say.”

“I always figured you had a thing for him.” Y/n laughed.

“Oh please, you and I both know that you love how much attention Fred gives you.”

Y/n tried to respond, really she did, but she was both out of words and interrupted by Lily again.

“Look, here they come.” Her voice was quite as she nudged her head in the direction behind Y/n.

Y/n turned slowly, in no rush to give Fred Weasley the satisfaction of having him know they were talking about him. When she did finally meet his eyes she couldn’t help but agree with Lily, his hair had grown out quite handsomely and he seemed to have reached an impossible height, well over the six feet he towered at in the previous year.

“Ladies.” They greeted simultaneously, Fred eyeing Y/n as they neared.

She gave a silent nod to them as Lily vocally greeted them with a reserved, “Hey.”

“News is that the first match of the season has our houses against each other. Shame isn’t it, Poppet? You can’t cheer for me.” Fred asked, arms crossing in front of his chest and lips stretching to a smirk.

Anyone could tell Fred was proud of his large frame, as a beater he worked hard for his toned arms, and thick biceps but his height was a complete natural gift bestowed upon him by the gods and he wouldn’t waste their generosity.

Y/n snorted, “Oh yeah, makes me feel empty inside when I can’t cheer for you, Weasley.”

“I know, no need to tell me. I fill you right up don’t I?”

The comment made her sneer at him, but she was unable to say anything back as her house was called into the Great Hall for the beginning of the year feast. Fred watched her leave as George poked fun at his inability to charm his way into her heart with innuendos and sarcasm.

It annoyed Fred, it was common knowledge that you had been with a few guys, some people even going as far as giving Y/n an undeserved title for it. Unfortunately, common knowledge happened to be a common rumor made by people who disliked her. Fred didn’t know this however and her constant rejection made him wonder, what did all those other guys have that he didn't?

Y/n and Fred had a back and forth relationship, neither being afraid to throw jabs at the other with the underlying tone of flirtiness yet both of them knowing the line not to cross. Fred thought she was ethereal, the way she seemed to glow as she walked through the halls had him weak in the knees. Her voice was buttery and soft, a velvety quality that seemed to grasp onto each of his heartstrings. Fred was head over heels for her and he hated it so he used sarcasm and a condescending tone to combat his feelings. Over time this developed into a false belief that he really didn’t like her, she was cunning, sly, and so easy to hate when he couldn’t love her.

--

Lily and Y/n sat in potions class, potion already brewed and completed as they gossiped in hushed tones and watchful eyes.

“So, anything new with Weasley?”

Y/n didn’t need a first name to know who her friend was referring to and she groaned.

“No, and there never will be.”

A loud groan emitted from Lily’s lips, “When are you gonna stop lying to yourself? I can see right through you.”

“There is no chance, no way that I’d ever fall for him.”

“You’d never fall for him or you’d never let yourself?”

The following silence was just as good of an answer as any, and Lily gave her a smug looking knowing she had won the argument.

Class ended shortly after that exchange, Y/n and Lily now having a free period chose to hang out in the room with the goblet of fire, watching as people put their names in. It was only last night that Fred and George had voiced their complaints quite loudly at the age restriction and Y/n was excited to rub it in Fred’s face that she was of age. Of course she wasn’t going to put her name in the goblet, she had better things to worry about than some tournament.

Lily and Y/n entered the hall at seemingly the wrong time, seeing as Fred and George had run through the doors leaving the girls in their dust. The whoops and hollers from bystanders made Y/n roll her eyes much to Lily’s amusement.

“How can you not be annoyed by their arrogance?” Y/n asked incredulously.

Her friend shrugged, “They are amusing.”

Y/n ignored the comment as they neared the twins.

“It’s not going to work.” She sing-songed loud enough for them to hear as she walked by.

Fred and George heard the comment and made a b-line for her and Lily. Fred plopped down behind Y/n, his face turning to meet her eyes, George doing the same to Lily.

“You don’t think that, do you Lily?” George asked Lily with a feigned look of childlike innocence.

“Come on, Poppet, have a little faith in me.” Fred said, a sarcastic look of pleading falling over his features.

For extra effect Fred jutted out his bottom lip making Y/n laugh at his ridiculousness, and oh how he loved to have her attention to himself.

“It’s incredibly dimwitted.” Y/n answered.

Lily nodded, “See that there?” She pointed to a white line around the goblet as she continued, “it’s an age line. Dumbledore drew it himself -”

“Meaning something as pathetically dimwitted as an aging potion isn’t going to get past it.” Y/n finished.

Fred tsked as he shook his head, “That’s why it’s so brilliant.”

“Because it’s so pathetically dimwitted.”

The twins stood up abruptly and Y/n’s eyes followed Fred’s figure. The way his jaw flexed as he drank the potion and his hair flopped when he jumped down from the bench with George made Y/n lose grasp on her emotions for just a moment.

He was good looking, she couldn’t deny it. Fred Weasley seemed to be built by the gods, his hair burned as that of Ares’, and his face chiseled to the likeness of Apollo. But Y/n had been there and done that with pretty boys, all of them were the same and wouldn’t give in to another one. She refused to let herself fall for him, afraid of the repercussions of really loving him.

The fire let out an angry growl that brought Y/n’s mind back to that room and what was happening, with good timing too as she then watched George and Fred get thrown a few feet in the air and land away from the age line. They sprouted long grey beards and got into a tussle on the floor.

The sight made Y/n giggle before she quickly regained her composure and acted as unbothered as possible making Lily roll her eyes. It would’ve been a fairly enjoyable time, regardless of what Y/n would’ve told Fred, but Adrian Pucey walking into the hall made her shrink in her chair as she grimaced.

“Go, don’t think he’s seen you yet.” Lily whispered, eyes trained on the other Slytherin.

Y/n nodded and hugged the walls as she made her way to the door, hopefully, unseen. She celebrated too early, and her face fell as she heard the unmistakable tone just as she made it through the doors.

“Running away from me?” Adrian called, his smirk evident in his words.

She stopped, turning to look at him as she spoke, “Don’t be so surprised. You ought to have realized by now your company isn’t wanted.”

“Come on Y/n, give us a chance. You know you want to.” He said coming closer to her.

“Really, Adrian, I don’t.”

Adrian reached out to pull her under his arm and forced her to walk with him, the act making her tense up but he didn’t seem to mind. He leaned closer to her ear, his breath hitting her skin making her incredibly uncomfortable.

“You’re mine, you know that don’t you? And no fucking ginger is going to get in my way.” He growled.

“You’re disgusting.” She spat, eyes burning with the anger of Hephaestus’ greatest fire.

Adrian laughed as he leaned closer to Y/n’s ear making her give an uncomfortable shiver, “Careful, darling, your feelings are showing.”

--

“Miss me, poppet?”

Fred Weasley’s voice was chipper and cheery as he greeted Y/n in their first class of the day. He had just woken up and it showed, his red hair looked as though it was hastily brushed through with his own fingers and his eyes still a bit puffy. He looked positively endearing as he took a seat at his table with George, just behind Lily and Y/n.

“Ridiculously.” Y/n mumbled, not looking up from her Herbology book.

“We’re only a few weeks in, what could you possibly be studying for?” Fred asked as he leaned over his desk to catch a glimpse at what you were looking at.

You glanced at him momentarily before looking back at your book, “Just giving myself an idea of what to expect.”

“Not a bad idea.” George said, considering doing it himself.

Fred gave him a funny look before turning his attention back to the girl in front of him, chin resting on his hand propped up by his elbow on the desk. She wasn’t paying attention to him, instead focusing on the book in front of her. She was slightly to the side allowing Fred the perfect view of her face without giving her the satisfaction of knowing he was staring at her.

Y/n’s hair fell in gentle waves down to kiss the top of her hips, she had fring that framed the length of her face and parted in the middle that was incredibly voluminous. Her eyes were focused with intense determination as she read, face relaxed as she was completely absorbed in what she was doing. Fred noticed early on that she rarely laughed, a genuine, eye crinkling, giggle but instead always had a look of unbothered casualness. He couldn’t understand this, not in the slightest, seeing as he was sure he had smile lines forming already.

He wanted to know more about the ethereal Slytherin, he craved it with everything in his being. Something about her drew him in, held him in place and refused to let him go.

Deep in thought, Fred failed to notice her eyes now looking at him with a curious glint and her hand coming out to poke him with her index finger.

“Alright, Weasley?” Her eyebrows were furrowed and Fred shrugged off the bubbly feeling he got in his gut.

He smirked, “Aw, do you care about my well being? Georgie hold me I may swoon.”

George laughed and shook his head at his brother, Lily joining in on the laughs as she watched Y/n’s face contort to one of distaste.

“Oi, Freddie’s got himself a girlfriend.” Lee Jordan, a close friend of Fred and George’s called from his table on the other side of the greenhouse.

Fred gave a short chuckle, his defenses coming up instantaneously as he tried to ignore the burning of his cheeks. And maybe if he hadn’t been so keen on putting down any and all rumors of him having feelings for Y/n he would’ve noticed the shy smile that graced Y/n’s lips as she turned her face away from the boys.

But alas, he didn't, and instead opened his mouth to shout over to Lee.

“My standards aren't that low, mate. I’d just as soon shag a goblin, Godric knows they’d be less bothersome.”

Taglist

@freddieweasleyswife​  @anywherebuthere​ 

[nat-20s]

what’s poppin everyone please have this fun lil writing warmup/short story inspired by me thinking “Dancing in the Moonlight” was definitely 100% about werewolves

~*~

“So, this your first transformation?”

The counselor? Leader? Tour guide? Asked this with a perfectly jovial tone, as if the typical social mores surrounding, ugh, lycanthropy, didn’t apply to her. They didn’t know what exact title to call her, and her name tag just said “Luna”, which, reflecting on it, either was a joke on her part or a reflection of her parents’ sense of humor.

Picking at the scabs from last month, they cringed and replied, “No. Uh. Second.”

Luna lets out a low whistle. “Oof. That sucks. Guessing you got bitten rather than inherited the ol’ wolfman gene?”

“That’s...kind of personal?”

Unlocking the front door of the log cabin that served as King Harvest’s Headquarters, Luna shrugs and says, “Shit, sorry. Forgot the whole weird stigma around your source of the once monthly nightmare, as if it fuckin matters. Also, I know, I know, ass out of you and me. Hey, you got any dietary restrictions? Gluten, peanut allergies, the like?”

Voice flat, they tell her, “I’m vegetarian,” and waits for the obvious response.

As they wander through the cabin towards the kitchen, Luna flipping on the light switches, generic club music starts to filter in. Instead of the obvious response, Luna asks, “You like veggie burgers? Or maybe pasta? I’d offer salad, but that’s really not gonna cut it for tonight.”

“I ate before I came.”

With a snort, she tells them, “Oh yeah? Did you have about 4000 calories?”

“No? Why would I have?”

Sweeping out her arm, she gestures at the food laying out on the counter and tells them, “Then eat up! 4000 is really a minimum for the night if you don’t want to feel like someone physically beat out all of your energy in the morning. 6000 is more the target area, but we got, hmm, about 15 minutes before things get uncomfortable, and half an hour max before things get dire.”

They glance down to the food, and, admittedly, the broccoli alfredo does look pretty appealing. Still, they have to ask, “Is this a cult?”

Luna lets out a bark of a laugh that has nothing to do with her (maybe) being a werewolf. “Okay, first of all, what kind of cult is like ‘fuck yeah, we’re a cult’? Secondly, despite the first thing, I can say that we’re not a cult. I know how “King Harvest: Center for Movement Therapy” sounds, both clinical and vague enough to be suspicious as hell, but I didn’t come up with the title, blame my long deceased dad for that one. Plus, ‘King Harvest: Bitchin’ Wolf Dance House’ probably wouldn’t look good on the grant applications.”

“Grants?”

“Oh yeah. This bad boy’s been publicly funded since its opening in 1972. Hence no membership fees.”

“Is that why animal control is giving out your business card? Are they one of your sponsors?”

“Nah, that’s just Jack. Me ‘n’ him go way back, hell, to his park ranger days.  I mean, yeah, I think he’ll campaign for us, but mostly I think he just hates capturing a wolf in the night only to have a naked, trembling human in the morning, and he knows that our program significantly reduces the odds of that happening, at least in this neck of the woods.”

They let out a hum, then glance back down to the food. As appealing as it down look, they’re still about..30% convinced this is an elaborate organ harvesting operation. Or sketchy sex thing.

Apparently sensing their hesitation, Luna says, “You got a favorite chip?”

“Salt and vinegar.”

Grabbing a sealed family sized bag from the overhead cabinets, Luna tosses it to them. “If you come back next full moon, either eat enough in advance or have a real meal here. That being said, excuse the turn of phrase, you should wolf that down. It’s sure as hell better than nothing.”

They catch it, and the bag opens with a puff of air that speaks to a reassuring lack of tampering. As they toss a chip into their mouth, Luna grabs a water bottle from the fridge and places it down next to them. “So? Any questions for me? We’ve still got about ten minutes before we have to go out there.”

Rolling their eyes, they tell her, “No. None at all.”

“Great! Soon as you’re done eating we’ll get you started.”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Yeah, no shit, smart-ass. Seriously, what are your, we haven’t got much time.”

“I don’t know? The whole..thing? I mean, how is it supposed to..work? Like? At all?”

“You ever see Amok Time?”

“Is that relevant?”

“It’s a yes or no question babe.”

“And if I say no?”

“Then the explanation is going to be a lot more technical and take a lot longer, ultimately to likely make less sense.”

“...I’ve seen it.”

“Great! So, Pon Farr is basically this chemical blood imbalance that results in fuck or die disorder, yeah? But then Spock neither fucks nor dies, and eventually the vulcans get their shit together and find out that an intense fight can serve the same function, and the blood fever chills out. Lycanthropy operates on a similar enough basis for comparison. You’re compelled to act out on energetically heavy base instincts, returning to the ways of the wolf or whatever. Traditionally, that’s done through running and hunting, which has, historically, been a crapshoot at best. Theoretically, sex can also get the job done, but I’m sure you can imagine how that gets extremely dicey extremely quickly. Either restraints or isolation has been implemented for a while, but, c’mon, they’re bandaid solutions, and they’re far from foolproof. Luckily for us all, my grandmother decided to connect back with her ancestors, and there was a handful of stories having huge festivals to deal with ‘moon violence’. She tried it out, and, yeah, dancing works.”

“That sounds…”

They don’t know how that sounds. Made up, mostly.

“Like a bunch of hippie bullshit? Yeah, it kind of is, Grandma Josephine was a huge hippie, but it’s hippie bullshit that works. In fact, let’s go see the others, it almost always makes things clearer.”

Figuring that whatever they’re about to see can’t be worse than their transformation last month. They head through the sliding glass door out the back, the thump of the music suddenly loud enough to be felt in their chest. The sight that awaits them makes them drop their chips and let out a gasp. Barely able to speak, they exhale out, “None of them...they’re not wolves. How..how??”

Indeed, the roughly forty people jumping to the pulse of whatever they’re listening to (some to the in house DJ, some, apparently, to what’s playing over the large headphones they have adorned), resemble the image of a wolfman much more accurately. They bare claws, fangs, elongated snouts, upright ears, and  serious amounts of hair, but they’re on two legs, and moving like humans. Some of them are even singing along to the lyrics, which really shouldn’t be possible.

Luna grins, making it obvious that she’s used to this level of shell shocks. “Ultimately, you do have to give into some damn rigorous instincts. But dancing is a human instinct, not a canine one, so you end up, well, humanoid. Pretty nifty, huh?”

“And they all..they all keep their minds? I didn’t...they don’t blackout?”

“Not since we banned alcohol in the 90s! Here, watch this.”

Luna nods her head at the DJ, and the DJ, obligingly, turns down the music for a moment. The members of the crowd not listening to their own music pause, then look towards the door. She cries out, “Hey gang! HOW WE ALL DOIN’ TONIGHT?”, and gets a mix between a howl and “WOO!” cried back. The DJ then turns the music back up, and the general movement of the crowd resumes.

They should be more skeptical. They want to be more skeptical, they were just minutes before, but it’s hard to disagree with something right in front of you. “This will work for me? I just..have to dance?”

“Well, it’s not guaranteed. Few things are. But we have yet to have someone turn violent on us. If you start to fell yourself slipping from consciousness, though, I do ask that you start heading further into the woods, as to not hurt other guest. If you find yourself just getting tired, there’s beds inside, and a fair amount of pillows around the edge of the quote unquote dance floor, if you end up in more of a nesting mood. Also, I recommend taking off your shoes before you start.”

“What? Why?”

Luna gives a pointed glance at the dancers’ feet, which, ah. They’re about twice as large as normal and at least twice as sharp. The converse on their feet would be no match. “Ah.”

“Ready?”

They shove off their shoes and place the remainder of their chips aside. “As I’ll ever be.”

Good thing, too, as they’re starting to feel an uncomfortable pressure in their chest that was the prelude to disaster last month.

Luna strides to the center of the dance floor, which is really a plush lawn surrounded by forest. The crowd naturally moves around her, and she yells out, “Aiyana! Play my song!”

Aiyana gives a nod, and the opening notes of “Dancing in the Moonlight” start to sound out. “Seriously?”

Luna shrugs, grinning like a fool, and says, “It’s a classic!”

“It’s cliché at best.”

Luna shrugs, and then begins dancing. She’s hardly elegant, but she is dazzlingly joyful in her uncoordinated movements. As the song reaches the first chorus, she gives a twirl, and in the split second it takes, she’s transformed. They blink in shock, not knowing you could transform that seamlessly, that quickly, that painlessly. Luna in half wolf form is just as expressive as the human Luna, and she gives a nod over her shoulder as if to say Come on.

Feeling somewhat foolish, they start to bop their head to the tune. Luna lets out a huff and grabs their hands, spinning them around and forcing them to get moving. At first, it’s them indulging Luna, but as they let themselves get lost in rhythm, they feel a stretching sensation in their face and limbs. It’s not unpleasant, more like when you wake up and work out the tension in your spine. They open their eyes and look down at their hands, now covered in fur in and made for slashing. It didn’t hurt. It didn’t hurt, and they’re still themselves, and they had no idea that full moons could be like this, maybe for the rest of their lives.

They turn their head to the night sky, and their body can’t help but continue to dance. Despite all their fear, all their dread, “movement therapy” worked, and they can admit, at least to themselves, that they feel warm and bright.

[atinysunbaby]

Meant to be | Choi San 🖤

Warnings : Cursing, violence, mention of rape.

Words count : 2.2 k

Previous 《 Prologue

Masterlist

Chapter 1

Present

My cheeks are burning from the salty tears escaping my eyes. A tightening feeling in my chest growing by the minute. The sobs keep escaping me, making my body move uncontrollably. Chocking from the sharp inhales and shaking from the cold temperature. This moment, forever will be imprinted in my mind. Those images I wish I could forget, unfortunately will hunt me till my last breath.

I suppose it's what most people feel too when they lose their parents. I wanted to deny it, but I saw their bodies. They were cold, bruised, bloody and no longer held any signs of life.

The last time a saw them, I didn't bother much to say goodbye to them. Only telling them to enjoy their little vacation in the woods. I was more exited about being alone then making them know how much I loved them. Now it's too late, I'll never be able to see their faces again, hear their voices, feel their arms around me when I need them the most.

I woke up to my cellphone ringing this morning, answering grumpily, thinking it was my mom who disturbed me from my sleep. It was actually the cops telling me to come to the hospital, but I wish it would've been her instead. I wish she could annoy me every morning now, but it's over. She isn't here anymore and neither is my dad.

I'm in my room, at this moment, crying my heart out. I ran out of the hospital immediately after seeing their corpses. They wanted me to identifie them, but I left with people screaming for me to comeback. I guess they probably know from my reaction, that it was indeed my mom and dad.

People keep calling me on my phone, but I don't answer. I'm laying on the floor, looking at the ceiling, waiting for my sadness to subside. I know that won't happen anytime soon, but it's the only way for me to calm down. Being surrounded by people telling me how sorry they are for my loss. A bunch of fake assholes making me feel even worse about the situation definitely won't make anything better.

Slowly my eyes get heavy, I try to fight the exhaustion but fail miserably. I fall asleep on the cold floor of my room, my window open and the sound of rain filling my ears. All of this crying definitely used up a lot of my energy.

The car crash, I wasn't there and I have no idea of what happened. But I see it, something is in the middle of the road and dad just told mom a joke. They're laughing.. until they hit that thing, an animal maybe. It goes right through the window and kill my dad instantly, but as for my mom. The car rolls off the road and fall down a small cliff. Mom's still alive, she's in pain, blood everywhere, she's crying for her husband to open his eyes and answer her. She keeps screaming that she can't feel him anymore? His presence? Her breathing is getting worse the more she panics. Suddenly the door on her side opens and something stabs her in the chest, putting a end to her desperate cries. Blood is streaming down her chin, her eyes looking directly through mine while she takes her last breath.

I open my eyes to see nothing but darkness. I frantically search for a sign of light, I reach around with my hands. My eyes are open wide and my breath shaky, until my fingers brush against an object. I stop every movement, slowly gripping it and letting a breath of relieve when I realise it's my phone.

I turn it on to see a ton of messages and missed calls. One standing out, my aunts name, my mom's sister. I never talked to her, but mom insisted on giving me her number. I look around my room and stand up to look outside the window, only to notice that it's night time. The reason of the darkness and freezing temperature. I close it and turn the lights on in my room. Then I sit on the corner of my bed and hesitate a few minutes while looking at the screen in front of me. My fingers finaly press on call. A few rings later, Aunt Kath's voice is heard. "Y/N! Y/N is it you?"

"Yes it's me.. why did you cal-" I'm cut off by a loud sob. My eyes widen in confusion, but I soon remember that my mom, her sister is no longer a part of this world. I sigh and wait for her to stop crying on the other side of the line. "S-sweetie- where are you? Are you safe? You're not alone ar-"

"Kath, my parents just died. I'm obviously not partying right now, but I'm okay.. I guess.." She stays silent for the next few seconds, my blunt answer probably wasn't expected, but it's understandable. "Sweetheart-I uhh.. you have no one to stay with right? So.. your mom made me your godmother, i-in case anything happened to her.. will you come live w-with me, here in Korea?"

It takes some time to process what just came out of her mouth, my eyebrows are furrowed. Many feelings are fighting to take control of my body, but the one that wins is frustration. "W-what?.."

"She told me to take care of you if she wasn't there anymore... It was just a precaution, but I guess it really happened." She says with a small voice, trying not to upset me further. Judging from my lack of response, she can tell I'm not that excited about this new information. "I asked you, but it ins't really a choice that you have. It's an obligation, you can't stay alone out ther-"

I hang up, not wanting to listen even for one more second. I need some time to think about it. She's right, I don't have much of a choice. I turned seventeen not too long ago and I don't have any family member here. At least none that I know of. I sigh defeated, once again pressing on my godmother's contact.

She picks up not even a second later, as if she knew I was gonna call her back. She doesn't say a word, waiting for me to start talking. I clear my throat after freeing my lower lip from my teeth. "How will I get there? How about my clothes and everything else in the house? My parents' funera-"

"I'll take care of everything you don't have to worry, just bring the necessary and I'll transfer some money on your account so you can pay for your plane ticket. As for the ride to my house, my boyfriend will pick you up" She spend a whole hour explaining to me how everything will go and I agree after hesitating for a while. If my mom gave Kath the role of godmother, she must trust her. So I will trust her too, anyways I don't really have a reason not to. She's been nice till now and she'll even welcome me in her house, she's taking me in. "Thank you Kath, I really appreciate it. I don't know what I would've done if I was all alone."

Days later

I prepared all my stuff, ready to fly to Korea. It took me a while to accept, but eventually I warmed up to it. It's an opportunity for me, to start over. A new life full of adventure, new environment and culture. I want to explore the world so why not start there.

Unfortunately though, I had to say goodbye to all my friends. We cried and spend the last few days together. We promised to text each other everyday and not to forget about one another. Sad thing is, my friends aren't the only ones I need to leave behind. It's hard to leave the place I grew up in, my house, my neighbourhood, my city, everything.

In a few hours, everything I ever knew will all be in the past. Only the memories will stay, the rest, all gone. So the day my parents died, I didn't only lose them, but my life too. The life they gave me. Now, I have to make a new one, by myself.

Landing in Korea

The flight was boring and quite annoying, I didn't know what to do. A baby cried for what felt like years and a couple had an argument at some point. Then the person next to me started to snore so loudly I thought the plane was crashing. I'm glad to finaly be on the ground, the loud voices of people speaking indistinctly seeming to sooth me from what I went through previously.

I sit on one of the chairs in the airport waiting for James, my godmother's boyfriend. He'll drive me to their house, apparently Kath arranged a room for me already. She doesn't have any kid, so she's looking forward to having me over.

"Y/N!!" I jump from the chair almost falling on my ass. I luckily manage to stay on my two feet and not make a fool of myself. Upon hearing a chuckle, I turn around and see an old looking dude smirking at me, maybe in his late forties. "Umm.. Hi can I help you?"

"James, I came to pick you up remember?" He asks while pointing at himself. I'm still unsure, he's looking at me weirdly. I can feel an odd vibe from him. It makes me feel uncomfortable, but I push it aside and nod before following him.

We enter his rusty jeep, the doors creaking when moving. Despite the outside looking a bit ugly, the inside is clean. The only negative point would be the smell, cigarette and..alcohol? Paying a bit more attention to the smell though, it doesn't only come from the jeep. The man next to me is even worst, it seems that he might shower rarely. Subtly, I bring my sweater paws to my nose, looking outside to distract myself.

"So, Y/N! How you holding up?" His loud and deep raspy voice makes me jump for the second time. I turn a bit a towards him not to be impolite and think before answering him. "I guess it's a bit easier then I expected. I didn't think that I'd feel any better, but after a few days it prove me wrong. But I feel bad, to already move on.."

He hums next to me, nodding his head lazily. I wait for him to add something, but the car is filled with silence. I'm relieved he doesn't speak further, not really being in the mood to have a whole conversation, especially with someone I don't know. So, slowly I turn back around towards the window. My mind drifting to the events that happened in just a few weeks, everything is so fucked up. Fortunately, Kath and James decided to help me.

About an hour past since we came out of the airport. We just entered a forrest, James informed me that it'll take a while still. He insisted that I should go to sleep and when I'll wake up, we'll be home. I ponder for some time, but eventually agree. It doesn't take long for me to fall asleep due to not being able to get much sleep in the plane.

I wake up when the car come to an halt, a man's voice coming from next to me. Curses escaping his mouth, confused I open my eyes. The events from the previous hours coming back to me, tears threatening to escape my eyes. My body shaking slightly from fear, uncontrollably.

The ride was a lot longer then what James had told me it would be and I slept, only to be woken up by a hand covering my mouth. Horrible things happened in that car and it wasn't a nightmare, no mather how much I wish it was one. He said he would tell Kath it took us some time because of the traffic and the airport. Then he threatened to kill me if I open my mouth.

I can't let him see me crying, I don't want him to have another reason to hurt me. Despite being terrified and completely drained from energy, I swallow the bill in my throat and wipe the tears from my eyes. While I'm breaking down, next to me James is whistling and turning the car off. Announcing with a loud scream to Kath that we arrived.

"Omg! Y/N! Sweetie you really are here." Kath comes out of the house shouting happily, her arms open, waiting for me to give her a hug. I rush to open the door, but a hand grabs my arm. His nails dig in my skin and I whimper, both from fear and pain. "Remember. You talk, you die."

He puts my bag in my hand, pretending to be helping me. Finally I escape the horrible vehicle and run into my godmother's arms with a heavy heart. The second she engulfs me in her warmth, sobs spill from deep within me. She cries with me but not for the same reason. She cries because she lost her sister and now I'm here. I, cry because I've lost my parents, I lost my house, my friends. Because I've been raped less then an hour ago. Because I feel completely broken and hopeless. The new life I wanted for myself, only starts with even more problems then I had before.

Next 》 Chapter 2

[rhys-writes-sometimes]

Music Worth Making Part 1: Bright Forever

Requested: nope!

Warnings: abuse, child neglect, shitty parents, death, food, terrible writing

Series Summery: When the reader’s life is ripped away from them, they’re distraught. But with her two best friends and three certain ghosts, maybe the afterlife isn’t so bad after all. 

Chapter Summery: The band Sunset Curve was about to have a life-changing concert when they ate some bad hotdogs and died. 25 years later, you’re best friends with the girl who discovers them. 

Words: 3,026 

A/N: This is pretty much just introducing the characters and their relationships to one another. Things will get more interesting in the next few chapters.Also, the reader is non-binary! <3 lyrics are italicized Part 2 ______________________________________________________

Hollywood 1995

“Don’t look down, ‘cause we’re still rising up right now, and even if we hit the ground we’ll still fly, keep dreaming like we’ll live forever, but live it like it’s now or never.”

The teenaged boys finished their soundcheck, earning scattered applause and even a “whoo!” from the employees working at The Orpheum that night. The band didn’t try to hide their smiles as they took a bow. 

“Thank you, we’re Sunset Curve!” one called out.

“Tell your friends!” another added. 

“Too bad we wasted the tightest we’ve ever played on a soundcheck,” one said as they set down their instruments. 

“Wait until tonight man, when this place gets packed with record execs.”

The boys all nodded, thinking of all the chances of fame they would have after that night.

“Okay, well, I’m thinking we fuel up before the show. I’m thinking street dogs?”

Two of the other boys liked that idea, but the other one had other plans.

Jumping off the stage, he started to make his way over to a young woman who was wiping down tables.

“Hey Bobby, where you going?” the one who had suggested they go get street dogs called out.

“I’m good!” he called out to his bandmates, then said to the girl: “Vegetarian. I could never hurt an animal.” 

“You guys are really good,” she said with a smile as the other three guys joined their band member at her table. “I see a lot of bands. Been in a couple myself. I was really feeling it.”

The guys all smiled. 

“That’s what we do this for,” one of them said. The tips of his chestnut colored hair almost reached the top of his shirt with cut off sleeves. “I’m Luke, by the way.”

“Hi, I’m Reggie.” Reggie had black hair and was wearing a leather jacket with a red flannel tied around his waist. An interesting combination, but somehow the outfit worked. 

“Alex.” A boy with blond hair spoke up from where he was hovering just to the side of the group, wearing a pale pink t-shirt.

“Bobby.” The boy who had first walked over to the girl had brown hair and a sleeveless jacket over a t-shirt. 

“Nice meeting you guys. I’m Rose.” The girl smiled at all of them again as Luke licked his finger and stuck it in Bobby’s ear. 

“Oh uh, here’s our demo, and a t-shirt, size beautiful.” Reggie handed Rose a CD and a t-shirt, earning a small groan from Alex. 

“Thanks. I’ll make sure not to wipe the tables down with this one.” 

“Oh, good call. Whenever they get wet, they just kinda fall apart in your hands,” Alex informed her.

“Don’t you guys have to go get hot dogs?” Bobby asked, clearly wanting to talk to Rose without the other three around. 

“Yeah.” Luke leaned closer to Rose, as if to tell her a secret. “He had a hamburger for lunch.”

-----

“Man, I can’t wait until we eat someplace where the condiments aren’t served out of the back of an Oldsmobile,” Alex grumbled as he put a pickle on his hot dog. “Hey, sorry, I got some pickle juice on your battery cables.”

“No problem. It’ll help with the rust,” the man cooking hot dogs said with a slight chuckle.

“That can’t….okay.”

The three made their way over to a couch to eat. Before they could dig in, however, Luke started speaking. 

“This is awesome, you guys. We’re playing The Orpheum! I can’t even count how many bands have played here and then ended up being huge,” he said with a slight chuckle. “Eat up, boys. ‘Cause after tonight, everything changes.”

They all bit down hungerly into their street dogs.

Alex was the first to notice that something was off. “That’s a new flavor,” he said, a small amount of worry creeping into his tone.

“Chill man. Street dogs haven’t killed us yet.” Reggie tried to calm down his friend.

Luke hesitated for a moment, then took another huge bite.

-----

Los Angeles 2020

You made your way through the hallway, walking fast, faces pass, weaving around people as you tried to reach your locker. You smiled as you saw your two best friends waiting for you.

“Hey, underacheiver,” Flynn said in greeting.

“Hey, disappointments,” you joked back to them. “Okay, Julie, I know you don’t want me to ask, but have you figured out what you’re gonna do today?”

“I’ll know in the moment.” The frizzy-haired girl fiddled with her bracelets as she spoke, the only clue that she was nervous for her proformance later.

“Really, Jules? That’s all your giving us? Mrs. Harrison said-” Flynn was cut off from scolding one of her best friends.

“This is my last chance, I know, I was there,” Julie finished. Flynn smiled softly for a moment, but it turned to a grimace of disgust as she noticed a girl handing out flyers. 

“Ugh, what is she handing out?” she questioned.

“Desperation?” you said, only half joking. Julie and Flynn snickered. 

However, you put on a smile as the girl walked up to the three of you. 

“Here you go. My group’s performing at the spirit rally tomorrow. I’m sure you guys have nothing better to do,” she said, her eyes sweeping over you critically as she handed the flyer to Flynn. 

Flynn put on a bright, sarcastic smile. “Oh my gosh, Carrie, thanks!”

“Oh my gosh, Flynn, don’t bother coming!”

The three of you rolled your eyes at Carries retreating back. However, someone else caught Julie’s eye. 

“Nick?” you asked, looking between Julie and the blond-haired boy she was staring at.

“Still?” Flynn asked. “You know they’re gonna get married and have a bunch of unholy babies.”

“Nick’s a sweetheart.”

“Yeah, you’d actually have to talk to him to know that,” Flynn said with a small smile. “And only one of them has to be a demon to make a demon baby.” 

You nodded your approval of this statement as Flynn called out “Demon!” in Carrie’s direction.

The three of you turned towards the lockers and laughed quietly. 

“There’s that smile,” Flynn said, lightly poking both you and Julie’s face. “Now come on, let’s go prove everybody wrong.”

You flinched slightly as she put her arm around you, but tried not to show it.

-----

“Okay, we have one last proformance,” Mrs. Harrison called out. “Julie.”

You squeezed her hand slightly as she stood up and walked over to the piano. 

She sat in silence for a moment, before saying “I’m sorry,” and running out of the room, with you and Flynn not far behind. 

-----

“I’ll be back to pick you up at 5:30. Have fun at practice, Danny!” you called out after your little brother as he ran to join the baseball team. This was a daily routine for you; drop Danny off at practice, go to Julie’s to study and eat, pick up Danny, go home and endure torture. 

You let your mind wander as you walked to Julie’s house, which luckily wasn’t very far from the sports fields. Walking through the front door, you let your bag fall to the ground as you went to go get something to eat. 

-----

A few hours later, you were walking back to the sports fields. 

“Hey, Danny,” you said once you saw him, ruffling the boy’s hair. “How was practice?”

You paid attention as best you could as he rambled on about what had happened that day, but if you were honest, you didn’t understand a thing about sports. You were just glad your brother had found something that made him happy.

You closed the front door as quietly as you could, not wanting to wake your father. You tip-toed into the kitchen to start making dinner, as you did every night.

“Olivia, is that you?” you mother asked. You winced. 

“Yes, mother,” you sighed slightly, afraid to tell her that you had changed your name to Y/N.

“Hurry up and get dinner started. My feet are tired from cleaning all day.”

You wanted to roll your eyes at the excuse that was very obviously a lie, your house was a mess and you knew you would be expected to clean it later, but you didn’t want to get in trouble. So you fell into a robotic sort-of motion that you had developed as a way of hiding your emotions and thoughts from your parents. 

Thirty minutes and one burnt fingertip later, dinner was ready and waiting on the table. 

“Wake up, Harold, dinner is ready.” Your mother shook your father awake. You knew if you tried that, you would be slapped across the face. By both of them. 

However, your father just sat up sleepily and lumbered over to the table. You stood over to the side as your family ate, not being allowed to join them. 

“Goddamned roast beef is overcooked again,” he grumbled. You blinked back tears. Such a small thing shouldn’t upset you, you knew, but it did. 

You endured the criticism on the meal you had worked hard to make from your mother and father for the next half-hour. Your father declared himself full and snapped his fingers at you. You whisked his plate away before taking your mother’s, too. She never ate after he finished. You took Danny’s too, but only because you knew that your parents disapproved of him still eating. 

“Hey,” your father said, his voice already low and dangerous. “Give your brother back his plate. He wasn’t finished yet.”

You set the plate back down, nodding and shaking slightly. “My apologies, father.”

“Don’t appologize to your father, appologize to your brother!” your mother exclaimed, grabbing Danny’s hand from across the table and giving it a squeeze. 

“It’s okay, really, I was done,” he hurried to say.

Your mother frowned at him. “Are you sure, darling?”

He nodded. 

“Well, okay then…” she said, still frowning slightly. “You may be excused.” 

He ran off to his room. You took his plate. 

Heading back to the kitchen with a small sigh, you started making a meal for yourself out of what was left, leaving enough so that your family would have leftovers. 

You ate silently, thinking about how nice it would be to have a caring family. Of course, Danny cared, but he was too young to stand up to your parents, and you never wanted him to have to. You would protect that boy at all costs.

Holding in a sigh, you cleaned up from dinner, and then pulled out the duster to start to clean the house. You were stopped, however, by your mother. 

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“I- I’m cleaning the house…”

“Didn’t you hear me say earlier that I cleaned it? Are you insulting my cleaning job?”

“N-no, I-”

“You what?” Without waiting for an answer, she slapped you across the face. You struggled to remain emotionless; your face stung. 

You thought it was over, but then your father joined in.

“What’s this Jennifer? Is Olivia insulting your hard work?”

“It’s Y/N…” you muttered quietly. Your father overheard and put his face uncomfortably close to yours.

“As long as you’re living under my roof it will always be Olivia. And even if you could change your name, that doesn’t change your gender, freak,” he spat. 

“I know,” you whispered. 

He slapped you.

“Don’t talk back to me.”

Blinking back tears, you stood still as they walked away. Eventually, you remembered the duster in your hand. Placing it back on the shelf, you walked back up to your room, hoping you would be able to escape them for the rest of the night.

-----

The next morning as you and Danny were walking to Julie’s house to go to school, you heard something you hadn’t heard in a long time: music. Julie was singing. 

“Wake up, wake up, if it’s all you do, look out, look inside of you, it’s not what you lost, it’s what you’ll gain raising your voice to the rain.” You smiled. It had been so long since you last heard her voice, and her music was a gift to the world. 

You walked into the studio alone, Danny having gone to talk to Carlos. Julie looked up with small tears in her eyes, seeing you standing there, smiling. She smiled back. 

“It’s so nice to hear you play again.”

Julie smiled wider. “Thanks.”

Just then, Flynn burst in. 

“Carlos told me you’d be out here. We need to talk.” She crossed the room to where the two of you stood by the piano. 

“Are you okay?” you asked, noticing the tears running down her face. 

“No, I’m not okay! One of my best friends just got kicked out of music! I’ve been up all night thinking about what I was gonna say. Might’ve drank seven sodas, but I need to get this out.”

“Wait, I have something to tell you-”

“No. It’s my turn to talk.” Flynn took a deep breath. “You can’t give up music. You’re music’s like a gift, that would be a tragedy. So you’re basically, like, cancelling Christmas, and I love Christmas!”

“Flynn-” you started to say, but she cut you off. 

“Uh-uh! I don’t know why you’re siding with her, Y/N. I know you like hearing her play.”

You knew Flynn didn’t mean to hurt you, but her words stung a little. You nodded once and retreated back into yourself slightly. Flynn was too emotional (and sleep deprived) to notice. 

“When we were six, we promised to be in a band together. Double Trouble!”

“I never agreed to that name,” Julie said, laughing slightly.

“That’s not the point. Jules, if you leave the music program, we’ll be apart forever. That’s just what happens. Sure, we’ll see each other in the hall sometimes, but we’ll have different lives, make new friends…” Flynn said the last part quieter. You could tell she hated the thought of losing one of her best friends.

“That’s not true,” Julie reassured her, but Flynn wasn’t finished.

“You’re right. I won’t be making any new friends. I’ll only have Y/N, and they’re amazing but I’d miss you Jules! And the only time we’ll contact each other is when we’re liking each other’s posts on Instagram. Every time I’ll be hitting that little heart, my heart will be breaking because one of my best friend’s left me, and… do you have any soda? My head hurts.” 

“Can I talk now?” Julie asked tentatively. 

“Fine.”

“I just played the piano and sang again. Y/N can confirm it.” You nodded when Flynn looked at you excitedly. 

“What? Why didn’t you just say so?” She asked, practically bouncing with joy. 

“She was trying to, but then your seven soda’s kicked in,” you answered with a small laugh. 

Flynn was grinning from ear to ear now. “I’m so happy for you! And me! And Y/N!”

You all hugged, but Flynn pulled away quickly, gasping. “We need to tell Mrs. Harrison that you can play so you can stay in school and my life won’t be that sad picture I just painted for you!”

You giggled as Flynn put her arms around both of you. “Y/N, our girl’s back. Double Trouble lives again!”

“Still not our band name,” giggled Julie. 

-----

“Did you end up getting back into the music program?” you asked Julie at the end of your study session for the day. She looked down at her shoes, and you knew what the answer would be before she said it:

“No. No I didn’t.”

You tried not to look too disappointed for her sake. “Oh. I’m really sorry, Jules.”

“It’s…” she sighed. “It’s okay. I can reapply next semester.”

You hugged her. 

“Oh hey, I almost forgot to tell you,” she said right as you were about to walk out of the door. “We decided not to move.”

Despite the news that one of your best friends was no longer in the music program, a smile lit up your face. “That’s great!” you said, pulling her in for another quick hug. Then you walked out the door, not wanting to be late to pick up Danny. 

-----

“Check it out, yeah we make ‘em say Wow!” Carrie bowed as her band, Dirty Candi, finished their dance number. You were at the spirit rally, saving a seat for Julie and Flynn, who were nowhere to be found. 

Suddenly Flynn plopped down beside you. 

“Oh hey, where were you?” you asked the girl.

She tried to blow a piece of hair out of her face, frowning slightly when it wouldn’t move. “I was in the band room. I wasn’t feeling very… spirt-y.” You both chuckled slightly. 

“Where’s Jules?” You looked around for the other girl, but couldn’t see her. 

As if in response to your question, music filled the gym as someone started to play the piano on the stage. You looked up to see Julie, alone on stage, with a spotlight on her. 

“Sometime’s I think I’m falling down, I wanna cry, I’m calling out, for one more try, to feel alive,” she sang, her voice echoing slightly as it filled the room. You smiled, happy she was singing again. 

Then suddenly, there were three boys on stage with her. 

“Whoa!” Flynn exclaimed.

“Where did those boys come from?” you asked in amazement. Julie seemed a little shocked that they were there too. One of them, the lead guitarist you guessed, started singing the second verse. 

“In times that I doubted myself, I felt like I needed some help,” he sang. 

“Whoa, he has a really good voice,” you said, your mouth hanging open slightly. 

You found yourself staring at him as the song went on. You could tell that he really enjoyed playing, and found yourself getting caught up in the music. 

“And rise, through the night, you and I, we will fight to shine together, bright forever!” Julie harmonized with the boys, finishing the song. You started clapping with the rest of the crowd that had gathered to watch, proud of your friend.

Then, as suddenly as they appeared, the boys were gone.  

[elionwriter]

PROMPT / DRAPLE OF A POSSIBLE FUTURE FIC (PART 2):

"I need your help, Mando" says Greef Karga in his holo-message one day. "I know how busy you are lately, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't so important and I didn't need someone I trust on this". When Din answers the call he learns the details of the mission: Greef had taken so much at heart the renovation and improvement of Nevarro that he had made contact and tried to help cells of patriots of other planets that wanted to attempt the same. One of said groups, on a backwashed planet of the Rim, was having some troubles with a Crime syndicate that thought their efforts would do bad for business. Din's mission was to meet these people and help them plan a strike against the criminal organisation.

Upon reaching the planet and looking around, Din sighs, thinking that it would take a miracle to rehabilitate the place. Everything and everyone is so dirty that he wonders how an epidemic hasn't broken out, the people looks like little, feral animals rather than sentients and he's pretty sure there are some commercial traffics going on that had been banned long before the Empire. Then again, he isn't really surprised, the laws and enforcements of the New Republic don't reach this part of the Galaxy, these planets don't even have representatives in the Senate to speak up for them. They're on their own.

It's as Din is waiting in a crowded square for his contact to arrive that he catches a set of eyes fixed on him. He had felt someone following him from the moment he had left his ship but they hadn't come out yet. He looks down at the creature staring at him with hudge magenta eyes, three of them, and quickly realises it's a child, a girl. She's of a species he has never seen before, with bright yellow skin and feathers covering her head (the yellow and fluff or her feathers is dampered by the grease and dirt), she has four feathery arms and bony legs. She smiles brightly at him and waves. "Need anything, kid?" He asks. "You're sooooo shiny and cool! Can I be your friend?" She asks, voice full of awe. There is no deception in that statement and Din chuckles at it. Patiently he tries to shoo away the child telling her that he is waiting for someone and that things are about to get dangerous.

She's completely undeterred by his words, smile still plastered on her face. So he follows a different line: "Shouldn't you go back to your parents?" " No." "Are they around here?" "No" "Aren't they worried you're out here on your own?" "No" He considers it a moment then asks "Do you...have parents?" "No" she answers with the same airly smile of before. "Anyone that takes care of you?" "No" "A home to go back to?" "No" "Friends...?" "Everyone is my friend. Do you also want to be my friend?" Din sighs, starting to loose patients, wondering what the hell is his contact waiting for to show up. Before he can say anything else the kid points at his blaster "Did you kill anyone with that?" "Yes, I did." "Cooool! Was it a really bad guy? Did a lot of blood come out?" As a last resort Din pulls out a handful of credits and proposes "If I buy you something to eat, will you leave?" She thinks it over a second and asks "can I have caramelled Meiloorun?" Din nods "Even the big one?" Din gets her the treat and watches her skip away happily. It's not long after that he is approached by the right hand man of the organisation he's supposed to aid.

He is brought back to their headquarters and they discuss matters out. Din is surprised to find that they are a group of very level minded and shrewd kids with very good projects for the future and feels more prompted to help them out. They study a plan to strike against the criminal organisation and call it a night. Din is welcomed to stay at their place. As he steps out of the run down building to catch a breather and take a look around he finds the same kid from before waiting for him outside. He asks how long she has been standing there and finds she had been standing there for almost the entirety of his stay. "Hadn't we agreed that you would leave?" He asks "I did leave. Then I came back!" Din sighs. She asks for his name but luckily doesn't really wait for an answer before giving her own. "My name is Ky'lla. Are we friends now?" Din tries very hard to mentally create an interference over the name. Learning her name is definitely not wise and he wonders why she is so stubborn on the idea of befriending him of all people. But as he notices the way she studies with shiny eyes his armour he thinks he starts to understand. "Are you following me because you like my armour?" "Yes! I like shiny things and this is the shiniest thing I've ever seen! Also, you're big and buff and you're really nice too! You bought me candy! Nobody ever buys me candy!" She says excitedly. Din known he shouldn't ask but the question is out before he can stop himself. "Where do you come from? What happened to your family?" She thinks it over a moment then points her finger towards the sky "My homeworld is in that direction. I came here with mom, but mom died a long time ago'. It's sad but I have a lot of friends now." Something tells Din that all the "friends" she talks about are just a bunch of random strangers and passer bye; that befriending everyone she meets is the kid's subconscious response to her loss. "Don't you remember the name of your planet? Or of any planet nearby?" "No. But I am pretty sure it's in that direction" she says pointing in a different position of the sky altogether. "And...were the people of your planet all of your same species?" "Yes, they were." Great, Din thinks, there's really nothing he can do for Ky'l..THE KID considering he has no idea where "there" in space is and has never seen anyone of her likes before. He sees her yawning. Well, there is one thing he can do. "Do you have anywhere to sleep?" "There's the back alley a few streets over with comphy sacks..." She answers and Din pushes her inside the building "tonight you're sleeping in here" he says directing her towards the room meant for him. She flops over on the bed and asks "can you tell me a story?" "Go to sleep" "But if you killed people you must know stories of battles and duels! Can you tell me the most scary one you know?" Din sighs but for some reason finds himself flopping on the floor, near the bed and telling her what they told him, the first nights he was brought into the covert, of the Mythosaurs and how the Mandalorians learned to tame and fly them. He falls asleep as the words and memories cling to him, as he envisions the pendant with the Mythosaur skull he had given Grogu. The pain for loss of him spreads through his tired body like a fresh wound. Ky'lla falls asleep whispering with awe the word "Mandalorian".

In the morning, he wakes her up, gives her a few ration packs and tells her that she really must stop following him now. For the first time she looks actually sad, but doesn't protest as she goes.

Din catches up with the rest of the group and together they prepare the assault to the criminal syndacate's main objective. At first everything goes as planned but quickly things get messy. Din realizes he has to expose himself more than he intended. Firing up the jetpack, he flies up to the targeted power generator and places a frag mine over it. He fires at will at all the enemies that try to approach but one expecially sneaky killer works his way behind him and, preparing his sniper rifle, aims at a junction in between Din's armour. Din notices him a moment too late as the trigger snaps. He braces for an impact that doesn't come. He looks at the man with surprise and finds terror and bewildermente on the other's face as well as he tries to fire over and over. The rifle is insistently empty. Din takes the moment and turns it to his advantage firing his own blaster which knocks the assassin down cold. "I was the one to steal the rifle's charges. Was I good or what!?" Chirpes in a familiar voice. Din is only partially surprised to find Ky'lla popping out of nowhere, proudly waving the rifle's cartridge around. He wants to thank her, ask her how in kriffin hell she managed that and scold her for putting herself in danger's way for him but his pragmatic mind refrained from that. He quickly pulls the child in his arms and flies them both away from there moments before the charge on the power generator goes off in a hudge explosion. "Whoaaa" Ky'lla exclaimes over his shoulder as flames and electric shocks destroy the surrounding space. The patriots cheer happily below as the last standing members of the criminal syndacate run away.

Din is celebrated like a hero but he pays the compliments no mind. One of the young women of the group cuts off a ringed finger from one of their victims and tosses it to Din "there's a hudge bounty on this one! You should collect it, it's the least we can do to thank you." Din accepts the prize and parts ways with the group, Ky'lla following him around like a shadow. When he reaches his new ship and opens the ramp to it Ky'lla takes a shy step backwards and says "I guess it's goodbye, then. It was nice being your friend..." Din smirks at her from behind the helmet and says "Do you really think I don't know you're just going to sneak into the ship somehow? Let's save time and come in." Ky'lla looks at him in disbelief "you really mean it?!" Din signals her to follow and with a high pitched squeel she goes to hug his legs. "I've got some friends, I'm sure one of them will accept to take care of you" he says, even as part of him already knows that the kid will stick to his side.

Din prepares the launch sequence and soon they are travelling in hyper space. He sends Ky'lla to immediately take a shower in the 'fresher and in the meantime he sends a message to Karga to report on the end of the mission and to prepare the money for the bounty he collected.

Ky'lla comes back to the cockpit looking ten times brighter and fluffier than she did before. "Since I'm staying with you for a while, can you teach me to fight like you do?!" Asks the child. "I could be very good! With four arms I could grab the bad guys from the scruff and tickle them to death!" She says stating her case. "Do you really want that? It's a difficult and intense training..." "Sure! And can I have an armour like yours too?!" "You must become a Mandalorian and earn each piece of it to have one." He says carefully testing the ground. "Then that's what I want to be: a Mandalorian! Can I?" "Well, technically everyone can become a Mandalorian..." "THAT'S AWESOME! Till yesterday I was no one and now I'm gonna become a Mandalorian!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The child starts running around bursting at the seams with happiness. Din laughs. "I want to learn everything there is to know about Mandalorians!" She exclaims and Din sighs out a "Yeah, so do I" "Why, don't you know everything about them already? You are one" He explains that there are very few Mandalorians left, that a lot of their history and culture has been wiped out and that he had very limited access to what was left growing up.

Eventually, the kid tires out and falls asleep in her seat. Din looks back at her and replays all the recent events in his mind, trying to figure out just how he found himself with a new kid under his responsibility. This had been a wrong move. The last time he did so broke his heart and even if it was the right thing to do, he doesn't know if he can get over that same loss again. His latest adventure however lights up a sudden and inspired idea in his mind. He reaches for the console and sends out two holo messages. One to Luke Skywalker and the other to Bo-katan Kryze asking her where to meet up and stating with confidence that he has a proposition for her.

[everyothermouse]

A lil group portrait of the time au adventuring gang!! Them <333

Basically tol fucked up as a kid and is now on the run from the law, but realized that since his life was so crazy he could live off of telling stories of his wacky adventures. When he met Jay he wanted him to come with him, and when he found out jay couldn't come cus he was virtually a demon/god/magic magnet he decided he NEEDED to bring him to capitalize on how it'd make more cool stories. And yeah it worked so since then he's been collecting wackos to aaa go crazy aaaa go stupid (and also bcus safety I numbers or whateva, pop and pip are also criminals and pastel and jay are crimes against god <3) more about each individual under the cut!

Doin them from left to right :)

Pastel: died when she was messing around with some friends and got stuck under a big rock and left to starve. But because of a fluke in the underworld her God decided to resurrect her, a right usually only belonging to saints. Because of this she's now poorly pretending that she totally did something to deserve being revived (she tells a different story every time someone asks, she thinks it's funny) to avoid being persecuted for suspected witchcraft. She met Jay when they were both drunk and they had fun fucking around in the city, and she spilled the beans to him that she was revived for no reason. She regretted it, but jay didn't kill her because even though he's religious he knew what it felt like to be magically cursed and have everyone be pissed at u for it. Also she's really funny with jay so tol begged her to come with them to add more Comedy(tm) to his memoirs

Pop: a time traveller and angel who is trying to hide both of those facts but only really succeeding at hiding the time travel thing. When they were a kid they traveled to this time with his friends Lustre and Cherrybomb, but when they were attacked by the vicious royal guard they weren't able to escape without leaving Lustre behind. Cherrybomb super repressed that memory, and while pop recovered from some minor injuries they vowed to never time travel again. Yeah they only kept that up until they were like 15, but they still couldn't bring themself to go back to when they left Lustre. But now they're 26 (well technically they're like 33 but in their time their supposed to be 26) living with their boyfriend cherrybomb and have years of time travel experience under their belt, and they're ready to go back. Except they can't go back because they created a travel block for themself by accident because of how upsetting the event was, so instead they traveled as close as they could, about 10 years in the future of the time. Now they search for any form of closure, all they need to know is what happened to their friend, and they will do whatever it takes to find this out. But angels aren't super welcome in the past, especially not with uncut wings, so it's not exactly easy for them to navigate this time period. But after a while of their search they met two lovely children (well young adults), a demon and a "cursed" (nowadays they call em spiritually gifted) and felt so bad for how much the world seemed to be against them they decided they could travel with them, just for a bit, to protect them. They tried not to get attached. They failed. They're in it for the long run now aren't they TwT also as they explore this time and learn more about the gods, they start to realize that they might... be the God of longevity???? Or at least an older version of them became them? Time travel is fucked man

Btw Lustre plays a big role in this plot, her hyper futuristic knowledge, 'blessed' white eyes, and strange God gifted clothing would all lead to him rising to a much different role than fugitive rather quickly, but they're not who this post is about ;) also I'm gonna go bottom to top for the 3 in the middle let's go

Lune: just a little guy :) lune is a young rancher/gardener who worships the God of the wood, who kind of goes missing sometimes and is lowkey the least loyal God but shhhh he loves them. Lune and tol were childhood friends (along with their pal cleo) but on one of their little excursions tol took something very important to a very powerful king, and refused to give it back. As retribution the king destroyed their entire town, and cleo put all the blame on tol, tol and lune both knew lune had to take the side against tol in order to not have the town turn on him. So yeah he moved with the town to bring up a brand new farm, long awaiting the day when tol would come home and say that things were OK and they could settle back in town together, hopefully with cleo too. That didn't happen, but tol did come back and peer pressure lune into part time adventuring with him! So yeah generally lune just runs his lil farm and prays, but when tol comes to pick him up he gets a chance to go be free to act batshit crazy, just like when he was a kid 🥰

Pipes: DEmon! One time lune and tol had a little squabble so lune was like 'im gonna get a new best friend and ur gonna regret this' and tol was like 'yeah right, u live with a bunch of criminals right now no one's gonna wanna be ur bestie dumbass' so lune just walked into a cave at night and dragged out this little nonverbal demon because demons who live alone in caves don't have high standards for friends. Even tho it was just a ploy to make tol jealous lune went super hard on it and now pipes is actually friends with the gang lmaoo

Tol: like I said with lunes, stole something important from a king as a kid, monarch got pissed, blew up the town, town got pissed at tol for it, and since then he's been on the run because he's too stubborn to give back the damn thing (they could have just attacked HIM for it, but since la queen decided to fuck with his town, his family, tol thinks he doesn't deserve to have it back.) He had to run from town to town and got into a lot of danger in his attempts at finding places to hide, but he lacks fear and tended to fight stuff off. As a kid he found that he could get enough pity to be welcomed into towns if he told people he had to fight a monster to get there, so he told stories at every town and camp he went to of his hardships. But as he got older, those he stayed with beckoned him to keep talking, and more and more people said they had heard of his adventures. And that's when when it clicked, his shining ticket to true freedom wasn't a place, it was his stories. They gave him food, shelter, fun, memories, a life. So he made it his mission to never settle down, to make his life as crazy as possible and to talk about it as much as possible, and if he ever ran out of energy to adventure, he'd spend the rest of his dying days writing and writing his entire life story. He thought this was a life he'd live alone, but one day he sought refuge in jays little lonely house because he thought it was abonded, luckily though Jay had just been praying for a second chance at life and decided that considering the timing, tol must be that second chance. So yeah jay patched him up, found out on his monthly supply route he was harboring someone very wanted, and took care of tol even harder because he didn't know or care why he was wanted, he just knew that anyone who had a drawing of them as a child on a wanted poster definitely didn't deserve it. So yeah they're besties now.

AAA I wrote out a really long description for jay but tumblr glitched and I lost it :'O ble here's a shorter rewrite cus I'm not writing out that whole thing again >:P

Jay: brought up in a church village,, he was born with the curse, which allows him to tap into magical properties very easily, and be very easily controlled, manipulated, and possessed by them. This allowed him to be very connected with his god (the god of longevity) but also meant he was often treated as a security risk and a monster by the adults of his town since he could let in evil spirits so easily. He spent most of his time praying and he became obsessed with acting on compulsions (repeated prayer, overscrubbing, scratching himself, touching religious things until he felt like he touched them "right") because he believed they were messages from God and would prevent him from becoming evil (look he was a teenager and everyone told him he was a monster his whole life leave him be.) He gets possessed twice, mage as a rep of the town is like "either have ur cursed removed or leave town forever" (uncursing is only hypothetically possible, it's hella dangerous) and he's scared itd sever his connection to his god so he leaves and he's upset bcus his entire life plan was built around his church, so now he's livin alone on a hill and leaving like once a month, he stays up there and sews and prays mostly, he sort of works on himself and becomes vaguely mentally stable, so he prays for a second chance at life since he lost his original path and needs a sign where to go, and then boom tol shows up and the rest is history. Now he has his own little family and things are going great :) other than the still getting possessed like once a week but shhhh

Pip: in between the entrance to hell and the religious central of the continent is a little town that sides with neither. They mostly fuck around and find out, and in this town lives a monster researcher and her less formal wife, pip! Pip is just a silly goofy little guy livin life, and when the crazy bunch shows up she feels like he's finally found her people :3 and for the first time the group gains a member who's begging to join them as opposed to the other way around

Ya and together they all go on wacky lil adventures with demons and monsters and monarchs and what not.

Tldr pastel is a funny lil dead guy, pop is a time traveller and the Adult of the team, lunes a lil farmer man, pipes a hobo demon they picked up off the side of the road, tols a little criminal demon adventurer, jays a religious weirdo who tol dragged out of his hermit hut, and pips an insane little guy

[cottoncandyjester]

Joining rin’s gang is no easy thing

Warning this contains: dark topics, Rin being a little feral, talk of noncon

“I said no. How many times to I have to say it stop asking”

Rin hissed out as he was doing his clown makeup infront of the bathroom mirror. You have been asking to join his gang for months now and each time it’s the same..flat out rejection. He was about to leave to meet up with his gang and luckily you were stubborn and weren’t giving up

“I thought you said anyone can join! I’m in that anyone group”

“Actually you are a special case, the answer is no y/n just drop it we aren’t some kids club” Rin said firmly and you huff3: “I know that! What is the real reason you won’t let me join?” You asked and Rin slammed the makeup brush on the table barley even able to do his makeup cause you were pestering him.

“Y/n, there are murders in there. People who do violating things, things I order them too so if I were to tell you to kill someone would you really do it?” Rin said lowly and you got serious giving him a nod.

“Let me join Rin.”

“I’m a different person when I’m with them, so different. You ready for that?” He stated and you gave another firm nod.

It wasn’t long til Rin and you walked inside the building disguised as a clown rental. Rin was dressed in a jester like outfit face painted up, after walking down a hallway he kicked open a set of doors

“My babies!”

“Boss!”

He was soon surrounded by loss of people all dressed up as clowns and each having their own special theme, you awkwardly moved over to a corner waiting to be introduced or something. It didn’t take long for someone to notice you

“Are you new sweetheart? I haven’t seen your face around here” you heard a gentle tone and looked up to see a tall male leaning down smiling brightly at you, he wasn’t dressed in makeup or crazy clown attire instead he had a black lab coat with rainbow polka dots all over.

“I-um, y-yeah” you stammered out nervously shocked to see someone who looked downright gentle and pretty in a gang. Rin finally turned back to you and grinned “ohhhhh BB~” he chimed out standing tall and gazing at Rin “yes boss?”

“Can you have our new comer tested? The rest of us are gonna start the other preparations” Rin chimed out now humming excitedly as he swayed side to side much like a child.

“Certainly, come with me okay there honey?” The one named BB chimed out soft grabbing your wrist and pulling you along.

“Your name is BB?”

“That’s the one that was picked for me after I completed the test we all have a real name and a clown name” he explained as he walked you to a medical room before letting you go and turning to a shelf.

“What am I getting tested for?”

“STDs or anything with that. A lot of members get intimate so it’s a safety thing take a seat on the examination table for me please” the male stated as he held an empty syringe in his hand wiping your arm with an alcohol wipe

“You don’t look like a member”

“I don’t do the things they do, I’m simply a medic patching them up and what not, now stay still okay?” He asked as he pressed the needle in taking some blood from you making you wince lightly.

“What’s the test to join like”

“I’m sorry, I can’t say” he said as he took the syringe and poured your blood into a machine that tested it. While you two waited for the tests to print he ended up making you a clear glove balloon filling it up with rainbow glitter, he also ended up feeding you a bunch of snacks he had stashed away. Of course you were clean and once done BB walked you to the spot humming softly as he did, he took you outside to a garden area that led out into a thick woods area. Outside stood Rin and the others, all having different weapons in their hand.

“Good luck sugarplum” bb said before giving you a hug “look for a maple tree marked with a star symbol, in the leaves should be something to aid you..please be careful” he whispers before letting you go and softly pushed you infront towards Rin who was tossing and knife in the air catching it skillfully

“Last chance y/n, you sure you want this?” Rin asked out and you gulped giving a nod making him sigh before turning to the group flashing a smile “okayyyy! You know the rules! you got an hour to catch the bunny, if you do you get to violate them until you’re satisfied but if time runs out the bunny wins and they are a part of the family!” Rin cheered out making your heart beat faster as all eyes were on you and your body looked ranging from hunger to bloodlust and even a murderous excitement filled their eyes.

“Ears please tutu” Rin demanded and soon an excited pastel clown girl skipped up to you placing bunny ears on you “please lose, I’ve been itching to try my new toys on a girl!” She cheered out before skipping back to her area. Rin walked up to you eyes no longer having that sweet loving look but instead had a murderous excitement

“If I catch you, god knows what I’ll do..so run okay? Run really really fast and make sure you hide cause if I catch you..” Rin paused now holding you close “I’ll cut your stomach open and fuck the hole until you die..” Rin whispers in your ear before pressing a kiss to your cheek now pulling back

“Now! What do bunnies do folks?”

“They hop!”

Everyone cheered as Rin stabbed you right in the leg digging the blade in deep and leaving it in there “a weapon for the bunny..to make it fair now hop along bunny, you have a five minute head start”

You were crying in pain and panic filled your eyes as you realized what will happen if you were to lose..why did you think this was a good idea? With a shaky huff you ignored the pain and ran for the woods remembering what BB said about the tree, maple tree with a star. Okay got it

After five minutes Rin set a timer for an hour “alright, time to play!”

[srose-foxfire]

Damirae - Vet AU

A/N: Hi! Welcome to my page this is my first ever Damirae fanfic, so I hope you enjoy!

-- -- --

“Thank you again for what you did for Titus, Dr. Roth.”

“It’s my job Mr. Wayne. Please stay safe. You be a good doggie, okay Titus? You were the best patient I ever had.” Raven knelt down to pat the great black Dane on his head, he barked at her happily before his owner Damian Wayne click his tongue to signal Titus to follow him. Raven looked up to the young man dressed in a fancy black suit as he gave her a small smile. Both dog and owner exited the clinic.

Not turning her back toward the two girls that worked the reception desk Raven crossed her arms over her chest, “can I ask why his paperwork was thicker than what our patients usually sign after discharge?” Earlier when Raven had come out of the examination room to say her farewell to Titus, she found that Damian was signing off the discharge papers, but he had a bigger stack than what was usually the norm. She eyed the two girls, with a stern look letting them both know she wouldn’t like whatever they were going to say.  

“Girl, we all just added some blank papers with a signature box in the bottom for him to sign!” Roxy exclaimed unashamed she cost the young man much valuable time.

“What for?”

Roxy only gave Raven a dumbfounded look, like she couldn’t understand why Raven would be surprised at her actions, “what for? What for? Girl, he is Damian Wayne! Like the hottest, most eligible bachelor in Gotham! His dad is Bruce Wayne, one of Gotham’s multi-millionaire and owns Wayne Enterprises. I can die happy having the chance to be in front of a god like Damian!”

The second receptionist, named Mayra only snickered before looking up to Raven, “don’t mind her Rae, she just one of those crazies calling themselves a member of the ‘Damian Fan Club,’ but seriously you never heard of the Wayne family?”

“I’m not much for social media or newspapers articles, besides the last nine years I have been focusing on completing my veterinary degree.”

“Well now’s a good time to get out then,” Mayra stated, really hinting on the idea that she should get out more.  

“Sounds fun, but I rather focus on my patients right now.” Raven said as she left them both to go back into the procedure room and look at the animals they were caring for. She had entered the room and looked through various folders they had on the counter, she found the one belonging to Titus. Raven opened the folder and reread his report for what felt like the hundredth time.

Damian had brought his three-year-old dog in an emergency, Titus was shot during a drive by. The poor young man was devastated that his animal friend had gotten hurt and didn’t know what to do. Raven who was on duty when Damian came in holding Titus in his arms, took Titus from him and reassured she would do everything in her power to care for his dog. Luckily the bullet only managed to graze over the dog’s shoulder. There wasn’t too much damage, all she needed to do was clean the wound to prevent any infection and help him get out of his state of shock. As a precaution Raven held Titus for two nights to observe him and make sure there wasn’t any other dangers. Now three days later Titus got to return home with his master. It warmed Raven’s heart that she was able to reunite them again.  

-- -- --

It’s been over a month since Raven met the infamous Damian Wayne. Well Raven hadn’t really spoken to him personally since Titus was discharged. One of the main reasons she kept hearing the young man’s name so often was thanks to Roxy who couldn’t stop talking about him. She would speak of the countless rumors the media had written about him. The girl sounded she was under a love potion of sorts, speaking of her fantasies she had on Damian. Immediately, Raven would leave the lobby of the clinic whenever Roxy would start her fantasizing lectures. To make matters worse Roxy had the audacity to build a small little altar with Damian’s picture cut out from a magazine article with pink hearts doodled around him.Of course, this didn’t bode will with Raven, this was a pet clinic and if their patients ever saw Roxy’s little corner of honoring the young Wayne; let just say they would be losing some credibility that the staff took their job seriously.

Raven was in one of the examinations room, cleaning the counters and all the surfaces to have it ready for their next patient, when she heard Roxy literally scream. “Oh my god!” Raven dashed out of the room as quickly as she could wondering what the hay Roxy was screaming for this time. Thankfully when she reached the lobby room, the clinic was empty, today they didn’t have as many patients as other days. “He’s here!” Roxy squealed.

“What’s wrong with her?” Raven asked, she didn’t care that her voice sounded very irritated at the moment. She wanted to make her point across to her coworker that this behavior wasn’t acceptable at the clinic.

“Damian is back. He is just been standing there for over half an hour.”

“What?”

Mayra who had her arms crossed over the reception desk shot Raven a look before motioning with her head towards the door. “Yeah, I thought he was going to come in and have us check his dog or something since he brought his pooch along. But they are just standing there. See for yourself.”

Raven cautiously moved behind the receptionist counter and shot a quick glance through the glass door to find Damian, leaning up against a light pole looking down at his phone, while his dog sat beside him. Damian was wearing a black turtleneck, paired with a dark grey jeans. God he was very handsome. Raven couldn’t help but continue to stare at the young man, as he glances away from his small screen to kneel before his dog and pet him lightly on his head. A smiled crept up her face when she saw Damian give his dog a most genuine smile, before Titus moved in to lick his master’s face. Raven could see how much the young man loved and cared for his dog. This is why she choice this career, she wanted to be someone to help and care for people’s animals’ companions because these beautiful creatures are part of a family. It brought Raven joy to see Titus was doing well, he will live many years to come along his benevolent master.

Raven sighed and looked back at Mayra and Roxy. “Well pay it no mind, we have work to do. For all we know he could be waiting for someone and that just happens to be the meeting spot.”

“You don’t think he is out on a date?!” Roxy practically yelled; thankfully the glass was thick enough to minimize her cry or else Damian could had heard her.

“Why should we care if he’s out on a date or not? Roxy go back to work and leave the poor man alone.” Raven added.

“As member of the ‘Damian Fan Club’ it’s my responsibility to make sure no harm comes to Damian and make sure whoever becomes his wife is right for him!”

Raven couldn’t believe this girl, she raised an eyebrow at her, “Seriously?”

“She’s serious.” Mayra who was keeping quiet during one of Roxy’s little fangirl phase. “It’s actually a thing. The club exists and all, bunch of crazies like Roxy here that want nothing more than to go to bed with Damian.”

“You witch! We take our role as Damian’s fans very seriously!”

Raven couldn’t help but feel flabbergasted at the little brunette, “Roxy, I have heard you speaking of the fantasies you have about him.”

“Well Raven, we are allowed to dream, aren’t we? Besides I know very well I am not meant for such a handsome prince like Damian Wayne.”

“Go back to work, I am gonna go finish up room 3 and 5. Then check on the animals we have staying overnight.” Raven said as she looked back out the door and found heat creep up to her cheeks when she noticed Damian catch her gaze towards him. Quickly she turned around and walked towards the door that led to the examination rooms.

-- -- --

It was now 6pm and everyone had already left for the day. Raven was busying herself making sure she jotted down any new appointments on her agenda. Afterwards the young vet made her rounds around the kennels. There were a few animals staying overnight at the clinic, she pulled out their files and adjusted them on a shelf organizing so the overnight staff knows which patients needed more attention depending on their case. There was a back door the overnight staff used to enter from. Soon enough Garfield Logan, the supervisor of the night shift had arrived; Raven went ahead and handed him the full reports on their overnight patients. After she discussed what they were monitoring in each of their patients, Raven went inside the staff’s locker room and changed from her work clothes to her civilian clothes. Raven finally called it a night and said her goodbye as she went for the front door with her shoulder bag.

Once exiting, Raven found Damian was still leaning up against the pole, she was grateful he hadn’t noticed her due to the fact he had his gaze pinned to his phone. Though Titus recognized her, as he stood up and started wagging his tail. Raven quickly turned around; locking the glass door, afterwards she then reached for the metal folding security gate and pulled it towards her to lock the clinic. Unfortunately for her, this gate was due for some maintenance and sometimes instead of smoothly sliding along, the bottom part of the gate would always get stuck. Today of all days the damn gate decided to mock her and really give her a hard time as Raven kept tugging the gate; mentally begging it to obey her. She cursed under her breath, giving in to her defeat. Raven pulled out her phone and was about to call Gar to come help her with the damn gate.

“Here allow me to help.”

Her finger was about to press the call option, when Damian stepped from behind her. She looked up to him and just realized how his eyes were a beautiful emerald color, they held so much warmth in them. Damian gave her a soft smile, before handling her Titus’ leash. Raven had to blink a few times to remember where she was before grabbing the leash, as the young man before her stepped up and gave a good hard tug onto the gate sliding all the way across the door. Needless to say, Raven was impressed how strong Damian was, she noticed how his black turtleneck was tight and his tight muscles were begging to be free from the cloth containing them. A light blush managed to creep onto her cheeks at the idea of a shirtless Damian. What was she thinking?! Raven shook her head a couple of times to get these wild thoughts far away from her mind, she then looked up to Damian gesturing with her head to allow passage towards the thick key lock. Damian side stepped, taking back Titus’ leash as he allowed her to open the lock and passing it through the slotted area to secure the gate.

When Raven finally locked the gate, she looked up to the man beside her and gave him a small smile, “thank you, Mr. Wayne.”

“Please call me Damian, Dr. Roth.”

“Then you may call me Raven, what brings you here? Is Titus unwell?” Raven asked as she bend down and patted the dog’s head, he responded back her gesture by licking her hand. His tongue was very ticklish that Raven couldn’t help but giggle, she looked up to find Damian was smiling down at her. She looked away from him when she could feel heat worm it way towards her cheeks, she prayed her face wasn’t flushed that Damian would notice.

“No, he is doing well. Actually…” Raven looked up to find Damian was looking to the sides as he rubbed the back of his neck. It looked cute nevertheless to Raven, she couldn’t help but snicker very silently at the very nervous young man before her. Finally, Damian turned too face her and extended his hand towards her to help her stand up. “I was wondering if we could invite you out to dinner? As a thank you for what you did for Titus. There’s this restaurant down the street that offers outdoor dining… I mean if that’s all right with you and if you aren’t busy tonight?”

“Actually, I had nothing planned for the evening. I would love to join you both.”

- -   - -  - -

That was five years ago when Raven had gone out on her very first date with a guy. The sun was coming up over Gotham’s skyline as she looked out the window thanking the universe for the life she had received. Raven had gotten up just a few minutes before the sun was even up, she was wearing a light blue tank top, with a pair of cotton navy blue very short shorts. Just then she heard a stir come from the bed, Raven turned around to find her husband was moving in his sleep. The covers covering him had slipped down his body, exposing his sculpted chest and abdomen, gosh he was so handsome. He was even more beautiful under the sun’s morning light as it highlighted his perfect face. Even after all this time Raven couldn’t help but blush whenever she saw him naked. Her female coworkers -especially Roxy- at the clinic wouldn’t like to admit it but they were jealous that the fact Raven didn’t even try but manage to bag Gotham’s most eligible and hottestbachelor.

Closing her eyes, Raven turned around again to stare out the window as she continues to hear Damian stir in his sleep. Still keeping her back turned she could hear him groining and moving the sheets to the side as he steps closer to her. Damian walks behind her, placing his strong muscular arms around her waist, then pecks her on her cheek before resting his chin on her shoulder. “Good morning Mrs. Wayne,” he says into her ear as Damian begins to trail the tip of his tongue along her neck down her shoulder, just the way Raven liked it. She couldn’t help but blush at how he addressed her. They been married for over two years and she still felt like their relationship was still new to her, exactly like how she felt five years ago. “How long have you been up?”

“Mm…not too long,” Raven answered him as she turned to face her husband and wrap her arms around his neck. She looked him up and down seeing he was only wearing his black cotton boxers’ briefs. Raven then met his emerald gaze she was so entranced with. He gave her a warm smiled before leaning in and placing his lips softly onto hers. 

The kiss was soft much like their first kiss, when Damian had come to her apartment to pick up Titus after she dog-sat for him while he was away on a business trip. He was acting very nervous and after being decline of receiving the payment he was offering Raven for her service. He muttered something under his breath in another language and leaned forward to steal her first kiss. Afterwards Damian confessed to having feelings for her since the moment they met and asked if she would give him a chance. Raven answered him she started developing feelings for him as well, before she could say anything more Damian captured her lips once again. One thing led to another that they made love to each other that night. Since then Raven knew she wanted nothing more than to spend her life with Damian.

Now coming back to the present Raven pulled away from their kiss and lightly trail her fingertips over his bare chest; tracing a scar that was over his heart. Damian mentioned to her that as a child his grandfather would make him train day and night just to teach him self-defense. Some trainings were very brutal that most of his scars came from his own grandfather’s hand. It saddened Raven the least to know Damian has been hurt by members of his own family. All she could do for her husband now was kiss his healed scars and hope any painful memories could be covered by her love for him.

Raven wrapped her arms around his waist, then buried her face onto his hard chest; slowly pushing Damian towards their bed. When he was stopped by the foot of their bed, Raven let go and took a small step back before pushing Damian to fall on the mattress. Her husband sat up giving her a sly smirked she so loved. Raven then moved closer to him swaying her hips very seductively. She placed her hands on her hips before finding the waistband of her shorts, Raven never once let her amethyst gaze leave her partner’s emeralds. Keeping her movements very slowly Raven pulled down her shorts. Stepping out of them she walked over to Damian who reached for her waist and bringing his wife down onto his lap. Raven rested her knees on either side of his hips, she then gave him a devilish smile before she pulled her tank top off, now only wearing her cobalt blue lace undergarments before him. Raven could see Damian’s eyes were filled with hunger and desire, he started trailing hot messy kisses just beneath her collarbone. Lightly leaving bite marks to signify she belonged only to him, which Raven didn’t mind at all. Damian then lightly started kissing the top of her plump bosom, she knew she was playing with fire when she was seducing him a few seconds earlier now as punishment Damian was teasing her. Raven didn’t know how much longer she could last.

“I love you beloved,” Damian whispered as he continues to caress her skin with his lips. His hands were running circles on her bare back, before resting and gripping her hips.  

Raven let out a moan, before grabbing either side of her husband’s face having his emeralds looking into her amethysts. “I love you too, Damian.” She said softly as she pulled his face to have their lips meet once more. Raven felt an immense happiness consumed her as she shared these moments with her husband. She thanked whatever universe or destiny had made their paths crossed five years ago.

She couldn’t imagine her life differently.  

__________________

A/N:

Hello!! If you reached this far first all… THANK YOU!!! I found many amazing completed fic and ongoing fics here on tumblr and wanted to try my hand with my own ideas to show my love for Raven and Damian. I am currently writing two other fics for a separate fandom but will probably start sharing one-shots of Damirae here on tumblr. I have a couple Damirae fics that are on the longer side, those will be posted on my Wattpad page under my user: s03Rose .Those fics are still in development because they will have a plot line to follow so when I get halfway the storyline I will post little snippets here.

On the side note, I started writing fics for my own enjoyment because I want to be a writer, I have original ideas already started but first things first I must practice my writing to see first if it makes sense and if it’s entertaining to read. Also this was my first ever writing a fic filled with some small ‘smut’, I read fics that were on the mature side and wanted to try my hand at writing these sort of scenes. Again I am no good but practice will aid me. I don’t know when I will upload another Damirae fic since I have work and other ongoing personal projects. Please bear with me but do know I will try to update every second week. Till next time!

--Simona R.

[raven-moon33]

@dorkshadows @earl-of-221b @melonmass @antidotefortheawkward-art @videogamelover99 (I’m tagging a bunch of people in case Tumblr eats my post again.)

Hello everyone! Happy #jttwfestival2020! I’m so excited to be participating in this event, and am so thrilled at all the new content we’re already getting. Here’s my fill for the prompt Day 3: Role Switch! 

I will be cross-posting this on AO3 as well, so feel free to leave a kudos or comment there if you happen to swing by.

Basically, Golden Cicada/Sanzang is the super powerful protector of the group while the other four are severely weakened from their various positions before the journey started and can’t protect themselves all that well on the road.

Some notes on this AU thingum:

- Golden Cicada is asked by Guanyin to help with the journey. He agrees and takes the name Sanzang as his human alias and to hide his true identity from demons who might cause them trouble. (He’s referred to as both Sanzang and Golden Cicada in the story, so let me know if that gets to be too confusing.)

- He wears two golden bracelets that limit his powers so that he can stay on the mortal plane in a semi-human form for as long as the journey will take, although the strain of having his powers limited in such a way is sometimes quite tiring and even painful. (He’s still more than powerful enough to protect the group however, so don’t y’all worry).

- Wukong, Bajie, Wujing, and Bailong are all well aware of who their protector is, but they’re not aware of the whole bracelet/limited powers situation. (At least, as far as Sanzang knows).

Anyways, now that we’re done with all that, on with the prompt fill! I hope you all enjoy! :)

Sanzang was deeply regretting his decision to accompany the pilgrims on their journey. Although the four other members of their group were each powerful in their own ways (especially the monkey, good heavens) they still needed him to guard their journey onwards. 

In order for the four celestials-turned-demons to redeem themselves and potentially achieve enlightenment, it was vital they had a guardian overseeing their journey, ensuring they remained on the righteous path, and protecting them from the many dangers their road took them towards.

Perhaps if they were taking this journey earlier- 

before Bailong was weakened by decades cut off from the sea- 

before Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing lost most of their celestial might from the years of being slowly corrupted from their own demonic behavior and the consumption of human flesh- 

before Sun Wukong was trapped under a mountain for five hundred years, once one of the most powerful creatures in existence, withering like a lotus flower locked away from the sun until he became a mere echo of his former self- 

perhaps then they would not have needed a protector from the hordes of demons and mortals who sought to end their journey before they could complete it for one reason or another. 

But they were not. This was now, and the things of the past could not be changed, only dealt with. So they continued on, however reluctant they might’ve been to do so.

Although the presence of a guardian for the pilgrims was clearly necessary, it most certainly didn’t need to be Golden Cicada himself. The only reason he volunteered to be the guardian of the scripture pilgrims at all was because Bodhisattva Guanyin herself asked it of him, and he never could find it in himself to say no to her. So he took the name Sanzang for his temporary human form and released Wukong from the mountain, beginning their journey west.

So now he was here, less than a year on the road with four demons who clearly didn’t want to be on this journey at all, trying desperately to prevent Wukong from killing. Again.

“Wukong! Stop!” He raised his hand to intercept the golden cudgel, only just stopping it from caving in the cowering bandit’s head. If Wukong was at his full power, the cudgel likely would’ve destroyed Sanzang’s hand (if not more) for the trouble, but as it was the hit left not much more than a stinging sensation reverberating up his arm, easily ignored. 

Wukong’s eyes blazed with frustration (whether from Sanzang’s interference or from his own inability to power through that interference as he once might have, Sanzang couldn’t be sure) but his mouth was still tilted in an easy grin and his posture remained casual.

“What is it, little bug? I was just going to give him a tap, a tap! I swear!”

Sanzang couldn’t quite hold back his scoff. “You and I both well know that a ‘tap’ from you is enough to kill an entire army, let alone a single man. I thought you agreed that you wouldn’t kill anymore humans, especially not while on this journey?” 

“If they can’t handle someone fighting back, then these bandits have no business trying to steal from people on the road in the first place.” Wukong’s grin became a little more feral when his eyes shifted to the bandit still cowering behind Sanzang. “Or is it alright that they’ve been going after traveling families and elderly folk?” His voice deepened a little into the demonic tone he only got when he was truly angry. “Children?”

“Of course it’s not alright.” Sanzang said with a soft sigh, his grip on the golden cudgel tightening a little to get Wukong’s eyes back on him. “And you know that’s not what I’m saying.” The silence between them grew into a large, tense thing, Wukong’s eyes blazing with the fire of his fury, singing with the memory of his days of havoc, and for a moment Sanzang wondered if they were going to fight once again, like they hadn’t since the very early days. 

Back then, Wukong was still so wound tight with frustration at the situation- being freed from the mountain only to be trapped on a journey he wanted no part of, Sanzang having to rescue him from demons so lesser Wukong once probably wouldn’t have even noticed them amongst his horde of monkeys and demons, not even being able to fly on his cloud to make the journey easier or shorter at all, weakened as he was by the weight of Five Finger Mountain- that he’d more often than not lash out at Sanzang over everything, physically and verbally slashing at him with every method available until he either tired himself out, they became distracted by something else, or they managed to reach an uneasy compromise built up of tense silence and avoided glances.

It got better with the addition of the others to their group, levying the tension and anger somewhat with the presence of others who likely better understood and who could commiserate with Wukong’s frustration, but still sometimes there would be an aborted swing of his staff, a grinding of the teeth as he seemed to resist the temptation to bite at Sanzang’s outstretched hand. 

But it was getting better, slow as the progress might be. Recently, Wukong even let Sanzang bandage some of his wounds after a particularly rough encounter with a mountain demon, the first time he’d accepted such help from anyone in the year they’d been traveling together. 

Sanzang was surprised by how deeply he hoped they wouldn’t slide back into those early days. 

It was not only because the constant war of wills had been exhausting, but because he genuinely hoped they could become something approaching friends before the end of their journey together. Sanzang had already become fond of the four demons he watched over, troublesome as they could be at times, but the other three took their cues from the Monkey King. So long as Wukong and Sanzang remained at odds, the others kept their distance from him, figuratively if not literally. (They did share a campfire more often than not, after all.) 

And besides that, physical altercations with Wukong were always draining, more than nearly anything else on their journey. 

He wasn’t sure if it was because Wukong was still just that powerful (weakened as he might be, it would still be suicide for most to challenge him) or if it was because Sanzang refused to use more than defensive tactics against him when they did fight (regardless of their personal issues, Wukong was still his charge, and he would never knowingly or willingly bring or allow harm to any under his protection), but whatever it was, fights with Wukong could leave him weakened enough to warrant a brief visit to Bodhisattva Guanyin to regain his strength, and he hated leaving the group even for handfuls of minutes, talented as they were at getting themselves into trouble even when he was there.

But luckily, Wukong didn’t seem to want a fight either. With a brief glance at the golden bands wrapped firmly around Sanzang’s wrists, the anger seemed to leech out of the monkey completely. (Not for the first time, Sanzang wondered if Wukong knew more about the bracelets than he was letting on, but now wasn’t the time to question him about it.) 

Wukong rolled his eyes and took a step back, tugging his staff out of Sanzang’s grasp. He twirled it until the golden cudgel rested across his shoulders, both arms hanging off it casually.

“Right right, ‘doing wrong unto those who have wronged will not undo their wrongs, only add to your own’, and all that. You need to get some new sayings, little bug, if even those of us who aren’t listening have them memorized.” He walked off before Sanzang could retort, disappearing through the trees and returning to the road the bandits attacked them on. Sighing, out of frustration or relief or maybe even both, Sanzang turned back to the bandit still frozen to the ground behind him. As soon as he saw Sanzang’s eyes on him, the bandit hurried into a kowtow, bowing over and over again as he muttered a shaky litany of ‘sorry’, over and over again, interspersed occasionally with ‘thank you’ and ‘please spare me’.

Abruptly feeling very tired, Sanzang knelt down in front of the bandit, placing a gentle hand on the back of his head as he bent down to stop the frantic movements. The bandit froze and fell quiet instantly, face nearly pressed against the dirt despite the feather-light touch Sanzang had on him. 

Sometimes, when he was feeling a little too tired or stressed or frustrated to completely hide the parts of himself the bands couldn’t quite suppress (or when he simply chose to stop hiding himself), everything around him could feel the heavy weight of his presence in the air. The insects in the trees would go silent, the plants in the forest would still their slow growth, and all mortal creatures would stop and tremble and hide in a desperate bid to avoid being seen by whatever now crouched among them, the entire world holding its breath as if waiting for the strike of lightning or the crash of an avalanche to swallow it whole. But, luckily for the bandit bowing beneath him, Golden Cicada was not cruel. 

“You have lived a hard life, Chenglei,” the bandit flinched when Golden Cicada used his name, but otherwise didn’t move or make a sound, “but you know in your heart that it does not justify your actions now.” Golden Cicada gentled his tone, feeling the loss and grief twisting the man’s heart, feeling the beginnings of a demon’s bitterness rooted there in the ashes of love and gentleness. 

(Loss wrought such devastation on a soul, and there was so much of it in the world; was there truly any wonder as to why so many demons wandered the world?) 

“You have lost much, but you know those you’ve lost would be ashamed to see what you have become without them. Do you truly seek to dishonor their memory?”

“No.” The man sobbed out, shaking as his tears stained the dirt beneath them.

“Then go,” Golden Cicada said, standing up and stepping back, “and do better. Live the way they would’ve wanted you to.” The bandit didn’t waste another moment, scrambling up from the dirt and escaping into the forest, running as far and as fast from the road (and from Golden Cicada) as he could. With a small wave of his fingers, a cicada sprung from a nearby leaf and buzzed hurriedly after the man. Golden Cicada had given the bandit a chance, a choice, and it was up to him what he did with it.

But whether he chose to turn from the dark path he walked or continued along it despite Golden Cicada’s interference, he would be sure to face the appropriate consequences; Golden Cicada’s messenger would make sure of that.

The bandit now long gone, Golden Cicada sat down in the shade of a large oak tree, relaxing into the familiar lotus position. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and he drew himself back into himself. The heavy presence of the air eased away until it was locked completely behind golden bands and a human facade once more. 

After a brief moment of silence in the newly lightened forest air, the insects began to cautiously chirp and chitter once again, birds hopping nervously onto new branches and singing soft tunes to one another, the trees groaning as they carefully continued their slow growth. 

Sanzang released his breath in a long sigh, eyeing the cuffs around his wrists. They were mostly unremarkable looking, plain and nondescript even with their golden appearance, but that rarely meant much when it came to celestial tools.  

They were given to him by Bodhisattva Guanyin back when he first agreed to help with the journey, and if it weren’t for the bracelets he wouldn’t be able to accompany the pilgrims at all, especially not for as long as the journey was likely to take. He recognized the necessity of wearing them, yet still he couldn’t help but loathe them at times. They locked away the majority of his powers, the majority of himself, shrinking him into something small and muted enough to exist on the mortal plane in a form he could pass off as human when he needed to, while still giving him enough power to help the pilgrims when they needed him.

The bracelets tethered him to the world in a way he hadn’t been bound for almost as long as he could remember, and although he could technically take them off whenever he desired, they still felt like chains trapping him, keeping him away from the sky and the freedom he’d enjoyed for an eternity (yet still for not long enough). 

The heaviness of his own body startled him at times, his bones filled with mortar and his blood as viscous as honey, and he thought often about how he could understand at least some of Wukong’s frustrations. To be a creature of the sky suddenly bound to the unforgiving grip of the earth was a unique kind of torment not easily likened to any other.

He could take off the bands whenever he wanted, free himself and stop feeling like he was too big for his own skin, form itching with the need to be drifting amongst the stars and being the stars and forming the stars and dying with the stars all at once, but he also couldn’t take them off. 

As Bodhisattva Guanyin warned him the single time he removed them, (back when a surprisingly powerful demon had his charges captured and was going to kill them, actually going to kill them, and Sanzang in his neutered form might not have been able to save them in time but Golden Cicada in his full glory most certainly could) the bracelets could only be removed and replaced a limited number of times. 

Rebinding his power weakened the bracelets significantly, powerful as they were otherwise, and eventually his own form would be too much for the bracelets to contain. If the bracelets broke before the journey was over, there was no telling what would become of the pilgrims left without the guardian and guide they needed, and he was determined to see this journey through to the end for them. 

(Come to think of it, Wukong hadn’t picked a fight with him since the time he briefly took them off. Wukong hadn’t been there when they were put back on as far as Sanzang knew, couldn’t have seen how excruciating it had been to lock himself away again after that brief taste of full freedom, but again he wondered if Wukong had managed to glean some understanding of what they were during that incident. Sanzang would have to question him about it soon, for his own peace of mind if nothing else. Something about the thought of any of his charges knowing, but especially Wukong, made something unpleasant shiver under his skin. He hoped none of them would ever know.)

It had only been a year, but already his investment in the pilgrims’ fates had gone from being for Bodhisattva Guanyin’s sake only to being entirely about his hope to see them succeed. 

He had become so fond of them even in such a short time, and although he missed his old life amongst the celestials without these bracelets leashing the very essence of him, he found he dearly wished for his charges to succeed and achieve enlightenment themselves far more, even if they themselves didn’t seem to care much about it, judging by how often they complained and conspired against him when they thought he couldn’t hear. (The fact that none of them ever made a serious attempt to abandon the journey was often the only kernel of hope he had as the nights grew longer and the road stretched ever on.)

All these swirling thoughts of his were interrupted by something soft being stroked across his face. 

Although he couldn’t see what caused it, he’d spent enough time around Bodhisattva Guanyin to recognize the feeling of a willow branch on his skin. She remained invisible, and although he could see her if he summoned his power once more (straining the magic of the bracelets binding him) he knew she would’ve shown herself if she wanted to be seen. 

He recognized her visit for what it was (a gentle reprimand), so he closed his eyes and folded his body into the lotus position once again. The minutes passed peacefully between them, her silent presence as comforting as it always was, warm and gentle as spring rain, and they needed no words between them. 

He breathed in, felt the knot of anger and anxiety and frustration and panic coiling in his chest, building from the time he’d last given himself to properly meditate, and he breathed it out. 

With each breath he felt himself relaxing more and more, the tight clutch of fear easing until it disappeared entirely. Soon he was empty, mind calm and quiet like it hadn’t been for a good many nights, and he felt as much like himself as he could, bound to the earth as he was. 

There was one more feather-light touch to his head (chastising, yet fond) and he could almost hear her saying you must take better care of yourself Golden Cicada; if you yourself are not at peace, then how can you help them find their own? before her presence faded and was gone completely. When he opened his eyes, all that remained as proof of her being there was a small lotus leaf filled with crystal clear water. 

Smiling at this generous gift, he picked up the leaf and took a small sip. He drank barely enough to be able to taste it, yet still the subsequent warmth and strength suffusing his body was immediate. (He didn’t realize how weak and tired he’d been feeling recently, not until energy lit him up once more). 

With care, he expertly twisted the edges of the leaf together until it closed up, protecting the water inside so he could safely store it in one of the hidden pockets in his robe. He would use it in their stew that night, as he knew they would be facing danger again soon and wanted his charges to have as much strength as they could before that happened. With one last look at his surroundings, Sanzang stood up, brushed himself off, and moved to return to the road where his charges were (hopefully) waiting for him.

When he returned to the site of the bandit attack, what he saw both surprised and warmed him. 

The bandits hadn’t really been aiming for their group when they attacked, as their sights were focused more on the wagon of a traveling family who’d been on the same road. Although the combined efforts of Bajie, Wujing, and Bailong were enough to scare away the rest of the bandits while Sanzang prevented Wukong from killing the man he’d chased into the forest, it appeared the family and the wagon hadn’t managed to escape entirely unscathed. 

The cart had somehow been flipped onto its side, flinging all of its contents into the grass beside the road, and while the horse pulling the wagon didn’t seem to be harmed, it had gotten loose and was now running down the road at a panicked gallop. The eldest of the group (likely the father of one of the parents), appeared to have broken his leg after falling from the wagon, and the two young children, a boy and a girl surely not more than five years old, were crying from their place stuck in a tree, where they’d gone to hide while the bandits fought the pilgrims.

But it was not all this that made Sanzang suddenly feel so warm and fond. 

It was the sight of Wujing carefully lifting and righting the cart onto the road as Bajie helped the father of the group pick up the family’s scattered supplies. 

It was Bailong quickly shifting into the horse form he generally seemed to prefer on the road to chase after the frightened mare, calming it down and leading it back to the family before it got too far to catch. 

It was Wukong soothing the scared children, carefully lifting them out of the tree and returning them to the ground, letting them cling to him until their shaking stopped and patiently calming them down so their mother could tend to their injured grandfather. 

A small smile painting his features, pride in his charges glowing brightly in his chest, Sanzang quickly strode over to help the mother set the elderly man’s leg.

Perhaps there’s hope for this journey after all. He thought to himself. 

Somehow, somewhere, he felt like Bodhisattva Guanyin was laughing.

(A/N: Thank you all so much for reading! Let me know what you think and once again, happy #jttwfestival2020!)

[the-daily-multi-fandom-post]

Hi :) Could you write enzo (tvd) x reader please? His girlfriend lost her humanity after someone she loved was killed, and enzo try everything he can for her to get it back (and succeeds)

Yes! Here it is!! ❤️🖤❤️

Request still open.

⚠️⚠️Warnings ⚠️⚠️ torcher, death, loss of humanity, sad, angst. Angsty with a happy ending?

Fandom: The vampire diaries

Pairing: Enzo x reader

Posted: (7-10-20) 1:05 am

Y/n’s world crushed when her brother was killed by Damon Salvatore. Damon was being an asshole and decided he was going to kill some random person, just because Elena didn’t want to be with him. He drained Y/ns brother dry of blood. What was worse was he knew it was Y/ns brother. He knew that Y/n was a friend of Elenas. That maybe if he killed her brother it would make Elena feel upset. But that wasn’t the case.

Y/n walked into her house that she shared with her slightly younger brother. -he was only about a year or two younger than her.

“Jackson!” She called, sitting her bag on the sofa as she walked through the living room to the kitchen to grab a blood bag. - her brother knew she was a vampire.

“Jack?” Y/n asked as she noticed a puddle of blood on the hardwood floor in the kitchen.

“Oh my god.” Y/ns voice broke as she fell down beside her brother. Her arms wrapped around him as tears went down her face.

He was the last member of her family. All her other family either didn’t talk to them or was dead.

“Please, don’t leave me.” She cried as she held onto him.

She already knew was dead so she didn’t even try to give him any of her blood.

“Please!” She sobbed into her brothers chest. She could see the two puncture wounds on his neck. She knew who did this, which made her sick to her stomach.

“Don’t leave me. Your the only thing I have left.” She cried for hours until she couldn’t no more. Her phone rang, but she never answered it. She couldn’t pull herself away from her brothers cold dead body.

A couple hours later she heard knocking at the door, but didn’t answer it. Whoever was knocking on the door let themselves in.

“Y/n, love. You never answered my calls. What’s goin- Oh my god. What happen?” Enzo asked as he bent down to H/n holding her brother.

“He killed him.” She cried holding onto her baby brother as if it would bring him back.

“He knew if he hurt me he would hurt Elena. But he went to far, Enzo.” She cried as she held on her brother tighter. Afraid to let go.

“Damon did this?” Enzo asked as he looked down at his girlfriend of 3 years.

She nodded as she wiped her teary eye.

“I’m going to make him pay.” He whispered looking at Y/n. She shook her head as she looked down at her brother. He noticed her take a deep breath then close her eyes.

“Y/n, Love.” He started slowly as he noticed what she was doing.

Grabbing her shoulders he shook her.

“Don’t, y/n. Cutting it off isn’t going to help not won’t bring him back.”

Y/n smirked as she opened her eyes back open. Her once bright y/e/c eyes were dark no emotion left in them.

“No, but it will make it easier for me to kill Damon.” With that she fled out the house to find Damon.

Enzo cursed as he grabbed his phone ringing Damon as fast as he could.

“Mate, you fucked up.”

“How did I fuck up? I feel good. I just had a fresh bite, and I’m feeling free as hell.” Damon slurred.

“Are you drunk, mate?” Enzo questioned as he started towards his car to go to the Salvatore house before his love.

“Just a little bit. (Knock knock). Hey look someone’s at the door. Probably my next meal. I’ll call you in a few minutes.”

“Damon, don’t.” Too late Damon hung you.

“Y/n, what can I do for you?” Damon asked allowing what he thought was his friend. But right now she wasn’t not a friend. She saw red. She was going to murder the oldest Salvatore is she could.

“You killed him. You killed my brother. So,” she starred at the man with a murderous glare.

“Oh, we’re talking about him. Yeah, didn’t really mean to. I mean, i just snapped and had myself a taste. Didn’t really know he died.” He chuckled looking at Y/n.

She growled as her y/e/c eyes turned red Veins appearing below her eyes.

“Look, we can talk this out can’t we. I mean, you saved him didn’t you.” Damon noticed the lack of humanity in her eyes and started to get nervous.

“I’m gonna kill you. But first a little bit of torcher.” Vamp running over to him she snapped his neck.

He thumped down to the floor “dead”.

Y/n grabbed him and pulled him to her car. Putting his body in the trunk and driving to her parents lake house in a different county.

Damon groaned as he slowly woke up. He tried to move his hands, but couldn’t his hands were chained down to the metal chair. He looked at his arm and noticed a IV going into his arm. He figured the IV was full of Vervain because he was burning from the inside out.

“Awe, look who’s awake. I thought you’d never wake up.” Y/n smirked as she walked over to Damon with a wooden stake in her hand.

“Your not gonna stake me.” Damon spoke confidently.

“Oh really, well..” she stabbed him quite literally in his back. Make him scream out in pain.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I think I just back stabbed you.” She giggled.

“Bitch.”

“I prefer murdeous psycho bitch. Actually, because that’s what I’m about to do. Become a murderous Psyco bitch.”

She pulled the stake from his back twisting it making it hurt worse than what it needed.

“Look at what I stole from Jeremy. You see I know how to use a gun. Always have, my family. Well, my late family. Which is dead, by the way.” Y/n held the pistol with wooden bullets pointed it at Damon’s knee.

“I don’t think you need to walk for a while.” She said shooting him twice in both knees. He was hissed and yelped in pain.

“Now, the torcher is just beginning.” She whispered as she bent down put her face in his.

“How does vervain feel going through veins?” Y/n asked as she sat in a chair in front of the oldest Salvatore.

“I stings, you asshole.”

“Well, I don’t think stinging is good enough.” She laughed.

Walking over to a bucket with a bunch of vervain in it. She put on gloves she grabbed the vervain and walked back over to Damon.

“Open up.” She smirked. Shoving the vervain in his mouth.

“Ahhh!” Damon screamed in agony.

“This is just the beginning, Damon. Nobody is going to find us. Ever. Nobody knows where we are. And I ditched both of our phones. So they won’t be able to track us. Plus I have sage burning. So not even the most power witch will be able to find us.” She rambled with a smirk on her face.

This went on for days. Y/n would torcher him, drain his blood, replacing the blood with vervain, shoot him with the wooden bullets. Making sure not to puncture his heart. But to keep the torcher going as long as she could. That is until someone came knocking on the door.

“Company I wonder who that could be. Doesn’t matter.” Y/n said grabbing the stake and stabbing Damon in his ribs.

“Get up and walk.” She demanded after she unchained the man.

He was pale and weak. Barely able to walk. But did as he was told.

She dragged him by the chains and pulled him up the stairs to the front door where she seen Stefan, Enzo, Caroline, Bonnie and Elena standing.

“Oh, joy more people.” She sarcastically spoke looking at her friends and boyfriend.

“Oh my god.” Bonnie gasped looking at a bloody and weak Damon.

“What, oh this?” She giggled wickedly.

“This is nothing. You should see my brother. Spoiler alert, he’s dead.” Y/n laughed with no emotion.

Everyone in front of her noticed the lack of emotion.

“You can’t come in. I’m afraid. You see I had a special witch bitch friend of mine do a spell where nobody can come in here until Damon’s dead or until I decide they can. So, Bonnie. Elena, You can’t even come in here if you tried. And the rest of you well. You see your all vampire so I ain’t worried ‘bout. But how bout you enjoy the front stage view of me killing Damon.”

“Y/n, you don’t have to do this.” Stefan started looking at his brother and then to his friend.

“No, I do have to do this. He killed the last of my family. Do you understand how it feels to have all your family killed in front of you?!” Y/n yelled as she looked at the younger Salvatore her eyes starting to become glassy as some emotions started slowly coming back to her.

“Yes, I do.” Elena said breaking into the conversation.

“You have no part in this. It’s your fucking fought that my brothers dead. If you would’ve just said the goddamn truth about loving them both of them. My brother would be alive. I would have my humanity. But you know I like being without my humanity. I mean do you know how good it feels to bite into someone and not worry about draining them?!” Y/n bellowed as she made her way in front of the group.

“Y/n, love. Please let’s talk about this.” Enzo spoke softly looking at his broken girlfriend in tears.

“Please, let me be there for you. You don’t need to do this. It’ll hurt him worse if you let him live. He will have live with the guilt knowing her killed the last of your family.” Enzo tried to get her to not kill Damon.

Yes, everyone there was mad at Damon. But they weren’t going to murder him.

“No!” She bellowed holding her head as more feelings started breaking through the barrier.

“Just stop! Make it stop!!” She sobbed holding her head as all the things she has done in the pass three days come back to her.

“Come in.” She whispered to the four people in front of her.

“If you don’t get him, I swear to any god out there I will kill him.” Y/ns eyes flashed black and red.

“Just think about your family. Know they are in a better place. They wouldn’t want you like this.”

She felt Enzos arms go around her as Stefan and Caroline but their arms around Damon and taking him away.

“I’m so sorry.” Y/n cried as she felt all her humanity come back to her. Hitting her like a  title wave.

“It’s okay, love. It’s gonna be okay.” He kissed her forehead as he held her in her arms.

And it was okay. Y/n took her time to try to get back to normal. Luckily she wasn’t alone. Enzo was there the whole time for her. Anything she needed he was there for her. He loved her too much to just let her go.

[kerikaaria]

If I Never Met You: Chapter 10

(??? X Reader) Idol!AU, Manager!Reader

Genre: (PG13) Fluff, angst

WC: 3k

Warnings: Injury (I don’t use much detail but just in case that would bother anyone), someone’s rude

Series Masterlist

Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11

“I already told you, I really don’t need all of you to help me move.” I addressed the seven eager boys trying to pile into the van with me and Sejin oppa. It was rather impressive that they all managed to be awake at 6 in the morning. “It’s basically just my clothes and a couple personal belongings and that’s it. At most just one, maybe two of you would be plenty.”

Well, that was a mistake to say. Now they were commencing a rock, paper, scissors match to decide who got to come with me. I shook my head and climbed into the passenger seat of the car, not bothering to wait and see the outcome.

I sighed as I looked at Sejin oppa who just chuckled. “Well, at least they’re excited,” he said.

“I think even that word is an understatement,” I replied. “They see me every day anyway, what’s so exciting about me moving next door?”

“Because they’ll be able to bother you literally 24/7,” Sejin responded. “And if you think they won’t, then you’ve got quite a surprise coming.”

“Is it too late to turn back?”

Sejin slowly nodded. “Looks like you’re stuck with them whether you like it or not.”

I turned my attention to the back door of the company van opening and saw Hoseok and Seokjin climb into the vehicle. I rolled down my window to address the five boys who would have to just wait for us to return. “We’ll be quick, like I said it’s only a few things. Now get inside before you freeze.”

We drove off to the college, where this would likely be my last time visiting – unless I were to go to pick up Jin of course. It felt a little bittersweet. I didn’t dislike the college, and even though I was not super fond of school in general, I liked what I was studying. I just found something I liked more, so I had to move on from it.

With the four of us, it literally only took one trip up and down to gather my belongings. The room was a single-person one so it was very small and couldn’t fit much, and I didn’t need many belongings in the first place anyway.

It was December 20th, college finals were all finished and the boys who were still in school were on their holiday break, so it was a good time for me to move into my new home. The boys were going to have a couple days where they could visit their families if they wanted to, which I was really happy to learn about. They all moved away from home to become trainees, so I could only imagine how much they missed their families. I knew I was really missing mine.

It was just as fast getting my belongings into my new home. And of course, as soon as we set the items down, the rest of the group entered through the doorway, carrying food with them.

“Guys”- I started.

“We have to have a housewarming party for you, noona!” Namjoon cut me off.

“We don’t have time for this, though,” I responded. “You guys have lessons in two hours.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make it quick,” Yoongi responded.

“It’s tradition to eat some jjajangmyeon when you move,” Hoseok said. “We can’t let you move in without eating this with us!”

I sighed. “Okay, fine. We can eat this food together. But then I want to get my stuff put away, and you guys need to get to work so don’t think about staying long, okay?”

They agreed to my conditions as they placed the really delicious looking food on the table and the nine of us ate together.

After we ate, they took a look around my still empty apartment.

“Hyung,” Jimin addressed Sejin. “Can’t some of us just move in over here with noona? That way we're not as crowded.”

My eyes widened at his suggestion.

“Absolutely not,” Sejin responded immediately. “There’s only one bedroom here. And you cannot be living with a girl. It’s just not appropriate.”

“She is our manager though,” Taehyung chimed in. “It’s not like she’s some random girl. I wouldn’t mind living here with her!” He smiled.

“I want to live with noona, too!” Jungkook added.

I facepalmed and shook my head. Even if it were an option to consider, there was absolutely no way I was living with the hyper maknae line. Not that I didn’t love them, but that’d be like babysitting a bunch of toddlers 24/7, and without the help of the other members. Nope.

“Alright guys, time to go!” I quickly started to shoo them all out of my new home before more of them would say they wanted to live with me. As bad as I felt for the seven of them sharing a small room, it really would be bad if they lived with me and people somehow found out. I could just imagine the headlines about it now.

I got almost all of them out of my room, saying goodbye to Sejin as he left. But a very stubborn Jeon Jungkook wouldn’t leave.

“Jungkook-ah, why are you still here?” I asked him. Please don’t say you want to live with me again.

“I want to help you unpack.” He smiled at me.

“There’s not really that much, though.” I looked at the single suitcase, 2 boxes, and 1 bag of clothes sitting on the floor.

“Well, then this will be really quick, won’t it?” He said as he started opening up one of the boxes.

I sighed. “Well, just don’t touch the suitcase,” I said, giving in. It really was super sweet of him to want to help and since they still had an hour left before needing to go to the company, I didn’t really have an excuse to say no.

It took us a whopping 30 minutes to get everything in its place, and by the time we were done, you could still hardly even tell anyone lived here at all. I was not looking forward to what it would cost me to buy all the things I was missing, especially when I looked at my completely bare kitchen. But at least the room came with a television so I wouldn’t be super bored at home.

“Thank you, Kookie,” I said. “You’d better go back to your hyungs, you have to get going soon.” I placed my hands on the either side of his face and lightly kissed him on his forehead as a thank you. Ever since the birthday party they threw for me, these types of gestures started to become normal for us, at least in private. I wasn’t going to have weird rumors going around the company.

When I had first given Taehyung a kiss, it hadn’t gone unnoticed and the other two maknaes started to complain about wanting kisses too, saying I was showing favoritism. Although it wasn’t like I did this all the time - they became sweet gestures here and there. They were like my brothers and I was a person who enjoyed hugs and skinship, so I didn’t mind it.

Jungkook hugged me before saying goodbye and leaving. I told Bang PD-nim I didn’t need a full day to move and get situated, but he insisted I take a day off, so I technically didn’t have any work to do today. I still wanted to check on how the social media was going, though.

We opened both the YouTube channel and Twitter account for the boys this past week and started posting there. Sejin asked me to be in charge of keeping tabs on the posts, mostly because I needed things to do but also since it was my idea. I wanted to keep an eye on comments for now to get a gauge for what people thought, but I knew we probably couldn’t keep up with them sooner or later. The SoundCloud account would be opened in two days along with a few songs, but that was going through PD-nim mostly since he had to authorize any songs that were released.

There wasn’t anything particularly interesting going on with their social media, so I quickly got bored with nothing else to do. I decided I’d go to the company anyway and probably go watch one of the boys’ lessons.

Seokjin should be starting his vocal lesson right about now, so I could go listen to him sing, if he didn’t mind. He usually didn’t, he said it encouraged him to work harder when I enjoyed listening to his voice.

I made my way through the hallway leading to the vocal lesson room, when I heard someone talking loudly.

“WHAT? SERIOUSLY?!” They said. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where, but I think I’d heard that voice before. “That brat is a full-time employee now?!”

I didn’t need to guess who they were talking about. Luckily, I was around the corner, so they hadn’t spotted me. They were probably standing at the coffee vending machine I knew was in the hallway. But that was the direction I needed to go, so I stayed planted in my spot.

“Shh, don’t talk so loudly,” a second voice said. “But yeah, I just heard that the president officially hired her. Crazy right?”

“I can’t believe it. She is going to do nothing but hold that group down, I swear,” the first speaker said. “She doesn’t even know her place. And the nerve that she had to think that she had better ideas than us, when it’s not even part of her job. Sejin better watch out because it won’t be long before she thinks she can just step all over him.”

Definitely the woman from the meeting. My gaze was glued to the floor as I heard them go back and forth a few times, continuing to talk about me. I closed my eyes and just tried to remember what Sejin told me about ignoring people like her, but it really was a lot easier said than done when you’re in the situation.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, so I jolted my head up to see who was there, scared that the people talking had seen me. But the hand was gentle, just like the person who looked at me with concern in his expression.

Yoongi stared directly into my eyes. He pushed my shoulders back with his hands to straighten my posture, then lifted my chin to keep my head high. He leaned towards my ear to whisper, “Ignore them. We’re going to walk right past them, together. And you’re going to keep your head held high, not sparing them a single glance. Their words mean nothing, and you’re going to show that to them.”

He looked at me expectantly. After a deep breath, I nodded and he led me around the corner. I felt my stomach doing flips, because I knew I didn’t actually feel as confident as I was trying to portray myself. But the fact that I had Yoongi next to me definitely helped, so I tried to focus on him and only him as we started walking.

Not two seconds after we turned the corner, they suddenly cut off their conversation. I glanced at Yoongi out of the corner of my eye, and he turned to me to offer me a small smile. But his expression quickly changed to his poker face. He tried pulling me behind him a bit, and I turned my gaze forward to see why.

The two were walking towards us, the woman who I definitely recognized from the meeting from a few weeks ago seemingly headed towards me. By the time she reached us I was almost completely behind Yoongi, but she still managed to “accidentally” spill her very hot coffee all over my arm and side.

I couldn’t stop myself from crying out in pain as I backed away from her on instinct.

“Oops, I’m so sorry,” she said, not even trying to sound sincere.

I could see Yoongi about to say something to her, so ignoring my pain, I quickly put a hand on his arm as if to tell him to stop and replied, “It’s fine. It was obviously an accident,” I said very blankly as I stared her straight in the eyes, making sure she knew that I knew that was a lie.

Before anything else could happen, I pushed Yoongi forward a bit so we could continue walking down the hallway. After turning the next corner and knowing they could no longer see us, I finally let go of the breath I had been holding back to let the pain I was in show.

“We have to get that treated right away, noona,” Yoongi said urgently as he eyed my arm up and down to examine the damage.

“I-it’s fine,” I stumbled out.

“No, it’s not,” he said, taking his jacket off. He carefully wrapped it around my shoulders so it hid my burn and the stain on my shirt, and he quickly but gently guided me towards their dance studio.

“Wait, why are we here?” I asked when we arrived at the door.

“There’s a first aid kit in the room, just in case we get injured during practice,” he responded.

He opened the door, urging me inside with him. “It’s a standard kit so it should have burn cream. Go sit on the couch,” he ordered while he ran to another corner of the room to find the first aid kit.

I did as he asked, thankful that no one was currently practicing here. He rushed back over to me and gently removed his jacket to take a look at my arm.

“Geez,” he breathed as he pulled out a soft towel from the kit to absorb any liquid that remained. I flinched and hissed at the pain from the touch. “I’m sorry,” he said as he carefully continued.

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault,” I replied, doing my best to refrain from reacting any more.

After it was dry, he got out the burn cream.

“I can do it, Yoongi,” I said.

“No,” he insisted. “I’ll be gentle, I promise. Just let me do it.”

His tone had a finality to it, so I didn’t argue back. But as he started to gently apply the cream, I did find it in me to say, “I’m supposed to take care of you guys, not the other way around.”

He looked me in the eyes at my statement. “Noona, you being my manager doesn’t have anything to do with this right now.” He turned his focus back to my arm. “Right now, you’re my friend, and I’m taking care of you.”

Despite my pain, I couldn’t help but smile at that. After he finished dressing my arm, including gauze which didn’t feel very good against the injury but was necessary to keep the burn cream from rubbing off, his eyes widened for a second in realization. “Is your stomach okay?”

I looked at the stain on my shirt. “Um, I think so. I don’t remember feeling burning there. Let me check really quick.”

Yoongi turned around so I could lift up my shirt to get a better look. “No, it looks fine. The material must have absorbed enough of the heat.”

“Good,” Yoongi said, turning around just as I let my shirt back down. “You should probably go to a hospital to get that better checked out, though.”

“I’ll be fine,” I replied. “What could they do that you haven’t already done for me?”

Yoongi didn’t look satisfied at my answer, but responded, “Alright. I can’t force you.” He glanced at my arm and shirt once more, then grabbed his jacket sitting on the couch to hand it back to me. “You can borrow this to cover it.”

I smiled at him. “Thank you, Suga.” I put on the jacket, being careful to not agitate my arm. Then I wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my head on his chest. “For everything. Thank you.”

He returned the hug, placing one hand on my head and the other on my back while resting his head on top of mine. “Of course, noona.”

We stood there like that for a moment until the door to the studio opened, revealing Jimin, Hoseok, and Namjoon.

“Well, that’s a unique sight,” Namjoon chuckled as we let go of each other.

“Hi hyung, hi noona,” Hoseok greeted. “What’s going on?”

I shook my head. “Nothing, really. We were just talking.”

“How did you get hyung to give you a hug?” Jimin asked.

“I bribed him,” I said with a smirk.

“Yah, that’s not true,” Suga retaliated. “I’m not heartless, I can give hugs.”

“Then can I have a hug, hyung?” Jimin walked toward him, his arms spread wide and big smile on his face.

“No,” Suga responded with a deadpanned look.

I giggled at the scene. “I’ll give you a hug, Jimin.”

“Yay!” He wrapped his arms around me tightly. He bumped the burn on my arm in the process, so I bit my lip to keep from reacting, but it only hurt for a split second. After he let go, I sat against the front wall of the room. “Well, since I’m here, I might as well watch your practice.”

Hoseok’s face brightened. He really loved having an audience to show off his skills to. “Wait, isn’t that hyung’s jacket you’re wearing, noona?” he asked, pointing at me.

“I have a song to write,” Yoongi said as he walked out of the room, keeping his eyes on me.

I smiled to let him know I was okay, then turned toward Hoseok. “I was cold, so he let me borrow it.”

“Bye, hyung!” Namjoon called to him as he opened the door.

Only a few seconds after he left, I got a text notification on my phone. It was from Yoongi. “Take care of your arm. Let me know if you need anything.” I smiled and went to put my phone away, but got another notification before it got to my pocket. “Oh, and no rush on returning my jacket.”

Series Masterlist

Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11

Tags: @calling-dips-on-j-hope

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[faithylilac]

“And then.... when all hope was lost, I stepped in and saved the bake sale!” The cloaked stranger shouted, loud enough for the whole tavern to hear. All heads turned towards him as he continues with his story, almost everyone was captivated.

The three that were not captivated on the other hand, were the members of his adventuring party. He changes the story of how he meets the party every single time he tells the story. Who’s in this party you ask? Just a bunch of weirdos that happen to find each other, they don’t share the same goal, but they sure do a lot of stuff together.

“Dax, we’re going to the Inn across the street to check in. You continue with your story.” The one with a white Bob said. The story teller continues and the party members get out of their seats and head out.

“Wait, he was in the party before me. Why am I in his stories?” Echo, the tallest one said.

“I don’t know, It’s not worth correcting anymore.” The white haired one said with a sigh

They adventurers walk into the inn, it smelled like wet dog but it was the only inn in town that wasn’t smart enough to ban them from it. “I need two rooms dog.” Echo said. It wasn’t something he would normally say, but his mind was still stuck on the smell it just came out.

“We only have one room, luckily for you and wife and son, it has three beds.” The inn keeper told him.

Faithy, the white hair one started snickering and elbowing the blue Nymph with them.

“Of course, that’ll work for my family. How much?” Echo didn't have anything better to do, so he played along with it

“Did you say family?” He asked with a stern face.

“DOM TORETTO?!?” They all said in unison.

“Family is everything, the room is your’s for tonight. From my family to yours.”

“Thank you Dom Toretto, me and my husband need to get this little whippersnapper to bed.” Faithy said, while ruffling the Nymph’s hair then quickly shoving both of her party members upstairs.

They walk into the room and it’s nothing but twin beds. They look at each other then Back at the room. Echo opens his mouth to speak, but is quickly cut off.

“You are not turning into a bug to sleep at the end of the bed again.” Carter, the Nymph said.

“I was gonna say, I’m sleeping in this form. I need to stretch my legs when I sleep every once in a while.” Echo replied. “That and I look too hot right now.”

Carter and Faithy turned to each other and nodded, Echo was very hot at the moment. “Dax can sleep on the floor then. If he cares enough he can make his own bed.” Faithy decided. She was the leader after all.... sometimes. Sometimes some else is, it kinda depends on what happens.

Back at the tavern, Dax has everyone dancing the chicken dance. How did we get here in such a short time? I don’t know, I wasn’t narrating that part. Oh but that’s not all, he’s also gotten his hands on the deed to the tavern. He drunkly told the owner that he needed the deed because he’s a god and needs it as a sacrifice. It was a weird request but the owner handed over, hoping for some sort of blessing from the mischievous god.

“I pray that this place burns to the ground!” An angry stranger burst through the front door with a torch and drop kicks it towards the bar. Dax just so happened to be giving a musical performance on said bar and was lessed than please.

“Yo dude, you got something against parties?” Dax said, jumping off of the counter.

“He’s been buying up all the taverns in town and has been slowly raising the price of Booze!” The stranger shouted. Dax looked at the tavern owner who was sweating bullets. “That’s pretty evil, but not evil enough to burn down the place.” He said with shrug.

The man had steam coming out of his ears in anger. “He’s also bribed the local government to let him up on his taxes, while raising them on us to compensate!”

Dax broke the cup that was in his hand and slowly turned towards the tavern owner. Dax picks up the torch and just shoves it into the owner hands. “You burn it down, or I burn it down. You get to choose.” He said, his 3D eyes now darkened with anger. The owners sighs and starts running around and starts lighting tables on fire.

The patrons yell in delight and grab some fire wood from the fire place to assist with the arson. Dax is very pleased with himself because he owns the deed and can press charges against the actual owner for property damage and get lots of money. Wait, what would a god do with money? Beats me, but hey it’s shiny.

Back at the inn, Faithy wakes up to yelling and a bright light coming through the shutters. She hops out of bed and opens the window to find the building across the street on fire. “FOR THE LOVE OF Gjhar feiiled!” She yanks the sheets out from under carter, tossing him into the air and he goes flying.

Carter wakes up in the middle of the street, roof tiles stuck on him and a tavern on fire. “Oh Dax had fun without us.” He said with such disappointment. “More like he got us banned from another town!” He heard Faithy yell from the window.

Faithy approaches Echo’s bed with her mace in hand and gently wakes him up by shaking him. What did you think she was gonna do? She’s not violent. Echo kicks Faithy in the face with his giant platform shoes. “Yo where’s Carter at?” He apparently didn’t notice Faithy’s bleeding lip, but that was fine. “He already went outside.”

Dax walks out of the bar and sees carter. “Isn’t it past your bed time? Also when did you start wearing roof tiles for clothes?” He asked his blue pal.

“Faithy said we should leave without a guard escort” carter replied. Faithy in fact did not say it, but was quite obvious what she was thinking. “Let me just drop this report by the guard tower and money should be sent to me within a week!” Dax said without a care. And with that, Dax started whistling while walking down the road.

Carter finished taking off his new accessories when Echo Jumps down from the sky holding Faithy. She is still in fact bleeding, but she’ll be fine; More cool main character scars. Echo then drops Faithy with no warning and dusts off his hands.

“Domestic violence is my favorite way to end the night.” Echo said sarcastically.

Then... DOM TORRETO burst from the inn with a glock. “FAMILY IS EVERYTHING! HOW DARE YOU TREAT YOUR WIFE LIKE THIS!” He points towards Echo.

“If we want to be fair, Faithy did throw me into the street.” Carter just had to butt in. All to protect the person he likes to flirt with the most. Dom Torreto then changes his aim towards the priestess.

“How dare you hurt your child! Family is everything!” He shouted in a fit of rage.

“WHOAH WHOAH WHOAH! Listen here buddy. She’s not my wife and this isn’t our kid, he’s ducking blue.” Echo shouted, pointing to Carter, who has a mischievous grin on his face. “Oh and I’m gay. dude.” Echo added, like sprinkles on top of ice cream.

Dom started tearing up, but he put the glock down. “I see.... you may leave then.... happy late pride month.” He says before disappearing back into the inn.

They all just look at each other in confusion. “When’s Dax getting back?” Faithy asked Carter. “Ehhh, I don’t know. Maybe just wait outside of town for him?” He suggested. “Awwww!!!! But I wanted to get run out of town again!!!!” Echo whined.

Carter placed his hand on Echo’s tall shoulder and looked him dead in the eye. “I’ll never run you out of my mind.” He said with a wink. “Oh you know it baby.” Echo replied. We’re they dating? I don’t know, they won’t tell me. Probably not, flirting with your friends is really funny.

But here comes Dax, being chased by maybe twenty guards. “GUYS I GOT THE MONEY!!!” He shouts, waking up the neighborhood. Weird enough, they weren’t woken up before this, they were screaming the whole time. “GAY PEOPLE! GET THEM!!!” One of the guards shout, getting the rest of his squad to notice the party as well!

“BOOK IT!” Faithy shouted and they all flee out of town and into the forest. Did they loose the guards? Why does the narrator ask so many questions ? Find out on the next episode of.... THE PARTY PARTY

Be gay, do crimes.

Thank you Dax and Carter who helped out the most this chapter <3

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