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calling4glaives · 3 years ago

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Personnel File 5: Libertus Ostium

Next in line is Libertus Ostium, one of the glaives we know the most about. We'll mainly focus on Kingsglaive here, and only brush lightly on his appearance in Comrades. As always, thanks @capsource for the caps, unless otherwise cited.

From the facebook blurb:

Name: Libertus - Latin - freeman/freedman (as opposed to someone who is enslaved, see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberto for more elaboration), or with a little bit of creativity could possibly be Libertas, which means freedom or liberty.

Ostium - Latin - doorway or opening, as in the pores of a sponge or openings in or between organs, or as the mouth of a river. Also seen in the Ostium Gorge just outside Insomnia.

Equipment:

[[from the wiki]]

- Weapon - Libertus’s weapon is a very unique axe-like blade with cutouts to presumably lighten it and a handle rather like Nyx’s kukris with a similar ornamentation, secured to his person by an interesting combination of straps in his field uniform. It was possibly lost when his leg was broken, as he uses Nyx’s kukri to warp (which makes sense, as that axe doesn’t look very aerodynamic) and it is not seen again after that.

- Field Uniform - Libertus wears a variation of the third common uniform type (as does Pelna): a thick, ornately shaped breastplate attached with studded leather straps on top (not unlike Nyx’s shoulder pieces) and plain leather straps (in his case, brown leather) under the arm; thigh and elbow pads (that look rather like cut-off sleeves and shorts) attached with matching leather straps; pauldrons on both shoulders that consist of three overlapping plates; the Kingsglaive badge on both arms; a padded cushion around the neck and a lack of an exterior belt around the waist. Libertus further augments this with three beaded looped strips tipped with claws or teeth that hang down from the back of each pauldron and look rather like the ones on Nyx’s Galahdan Kukri. His gloves, as with most of the named characters, are also unique, with metal diamond-shaped pads on the knuckles and reinforcement on the fingers.

-Standard Uniform- Libertus wears the standard undershirt with the reinforced shoulders and sword and crest down the front. He also wears a watch on his left wrist. His standard uniform is fairly standard, except for the silver stripes between the buttons, a feature shared only by Nyx and Luche, perhaps denoting rank. When he rips off his badge off his standard jacket, it’s on the left shoulder as it is for all the (non-mage) standard uniforms. [[It’s odd that he doesn’t wear his jacket in the briefing scene and when Crowe departs on her mission, but rather just throws it on over his shoulders. If the glaives can do battle in them, surely he has enough range of motion to use crutches in them, unless he has some other injury as well. He wears his jacket properly several days later when Crowe’s body is found.]]

- Casual - Libertus wears a gray sleeveless undershirt and gray hoodie under a black and red matching leather jacket with three-quarter sleeves and knee-length shorts. He wears black sneakers (one larger than the other to accommodate his cast) without socks. His very ornate tiered necklace made of knotted leather strips is strung with squat, faceted diamond-shaped and thin vertical beads in the center hung from metal rings, and huge round ones on the edges. [[The leather, hood, and pattern of the necklace (almost like the lapels of the glaive uniform) almost seem to suggest the glaive outfit - perhaps purchased as a point of pride before he left.]] He still wears his uniform gloves as well.

[[Perhaps as a sign of his improving health, while Libertus in uniform uses two crutches, in his casual clothes he only uses one]]

- Tattoos and Braids - [[See this video for a great look]] Libertus again has similarities to Nyx - the poofy swept-back hair up front, longer hair, braids, and tattoos, but is mostly his own in the details. His french braids are only on one side, and are connected at the ends by a cylindrical bead, while his regular plait on the other side with its more standard beads is all but concealed in his ponytail, another unique feature. Most of his tattoos are shaped like stacked arrows ornamented by dots - on his forehead (2), left shoulder (2), right forearm (3), and right calf (2).

Background: Libertus is one of three glaives absolutely confirmed to be from Galahd (Nyx and Luche being the others). In addition to his word, we have pictures of him as a child with Nyx on his corkboard. It seems they grew up in a jungle area next to the river and knew each other well.

He has been in the glaive a long time, and seen many people die. He obviously loves his home and is a very good fighter - he is fighting fairly deep into the battlefield alone and uses nearly every form of magic (invisibility, shield, lightning, and warping, though he apparently only warps under duress), second only in number of magics to Nyx (who also plays with fire). In a deleted conversation from the Yamachang scene, he apparently revealed he takes the pills because it’s the only thing that stops him from seeing his dead friends.

And despite 12 years of horrifying front-line combat, after a short break of saying screw this when his sister-figure dies alone and uselessly and is told via heavy implication that Lucis doesn’t want to figure out why she died and nothing will be done about it because the peace talks will end any chance for settling scores (“I'll see the armistice does not interfere with a full investigation. She was a good soldier, her death will not go unanswered”) - he almost immediately takes up arms and leadership again in a hopeless fight. He does take a short trip home, apparently, but steps back up for running the Kingsglaive during the Long Night with little break, always with his home and friends in mind.

Personality: Libertus is a loyal friend under a lot of stress and very tired of fighting. Even probably knowing that he’s dead, he does trust and wait for Nyx. He is kind; despite his pain, he takes time to be friendly to Iris before he leaves the Kingsglaive, and obviously was a large figure in Crowe’s life after she was orphaned. He is a good leader, and earns the trust of Cor and Noctis’s companions in the World of Ruin.

He is outspoken in defense of his friends and homeland, as evidenced in his berating of Yamachang over his culinary departures and everything he does in Crowe's name. While his temper may get the better of him sometimes, he's strategic enough to quickly find a secretive resistance group shortly after quitting, and during the Fall of Insomnia figures out about the traitors, Drautos's identity and a way to fight him even without magic, and commits to it quickly.

He does have an arc of resentment or jealousy toward Nyx at the beginning, though that could be displaced anger at himself and the war, as Luna is able to use the word "hero" to deter him from following her at the end.

He was designed to be heroic from the beginning, with another deleted scene having originally had him break his leg while rescuing civilians, perhaps deleted so as to reduce the number of people on the battlefield, or perhaps to emphasize his role as a counterpart to Nyx, each rising as the other falls.

Behind the scenes - Liam Mulvey is the face, voice, and mocap actor for Libertus, as well as the mocap actor for Clarus and Regis’s death scene and at least 14 other characters in Kingsglaive. He’s also fantastic and very friendly to the fandom. His Twitter.

Anything else we're missing for the final commander of the Kingsglaive? Things we got wrong? Theories you have, or headcanons you enjoy? Please let us know.

And, as always, good luck with your content creation! We'll see you for Legends on August 7-14.

#kglegends22 #kingsglaive #Libertus Ostium #ffxv #ff15 #deep dive #edited #edited 2022.9.12 to add the silver (rank?) stripes on the standard uniform

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realcube · 4 years ago

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The Maid Café || Saiki K x Reader

summary: nendou and kaidou keep pestering saiki to visit their favourite maid café but he shuts them down every time. however, after a bit of prying they manage to convince him to give the place a try and while they are there, you just so happen to be on shift.

tw// cussing, maid café, (she/her) reader

key:

“non italicised text” = somebody besides Saiki speaking

“italicised text” = Saiki telepathically communicating

‘italised text’ = Saiki’s thought

‘Of course Nendou and Kaidou would be into maid cafés of all things — not cat cafés, not internet cafés — it just had to be maid cafés.’

Saiki’s internal monologue began as Kaidou continued gushing on about the cute lady he met at the café a few days ago as an argument to why Saiki should join them next time they go. Not to say Saiki wasn’t listening as he felt extremely sorry for whatever lady had to tolerate Kaidou’s advances and his prayer went out to her but besides that, he really couldn’t care less about the maids or the café.

Until, his attention was involuntarily aroused at the vocalisation of his name from Nendou, “Saiki’s definitely in for Friday, I’m pretty sure I sold him when I told him that the sandwiches there are almost as good as the ramen we usually get.”

‘No, you didn’t. I won’t be coming to join you on Friday. I’d much rather stay--’

Somehow Kaidou managed to cut off Saiki’s internal monologue with his annoying voice, “Don’t be silly, Nendou. You’re not going to win Saiki over with such a ridiculous comparison, one that he clearly doesn’t care about.”

‘Am I delusional? Is this a hallucination? Or did Kaidou just say something logical and based in reality?’

Kaidou’s aura immediately changed to dark and sinister as a mischievous smirk crossed his face, the background squawks of the crows suddenly became much louder for some unknown reason. “Instead, you must locate your opponent's weak point before you can recognise the crucially important moment to exploit it. The process takes patience but it is one I have learned from my many years rebelling against Dark Reunion. Now, young Nendou, watch and learn.” He finished with a dramatic flip of his school jacket which was slung over his shoulders as a cape.

‘What was all that about?’

Saiki wondered before Kaidou turned to him, much less brooding than he was a few seconds ago, and said casually, “Your loss if you don’t come, Saiki — you’ll be the one missing out on some of the best desserts in our whole town — not to mention the coffee jelly.”

✿✿✿✿✿

‘How do I always end up losing to these people? I am a psychic for god’s sake!’

Saiki mentally cursed himself out as he stood shamefully in front of the maid café, wearing a carefully curated outfit — including his germanium ring — created especially to hide his identity from anyone from his school that might pass by the café and spot him in there through the window or something. Honestly, he wouldn’t be caught dead in a maid café, or so he thought.

However, all the reviews he read along with both Nendou and Kaidou’s thoughts helped him conclude that this place’s coffee jelly and general dessert selection is nothing to sneeze at. In fact, his favourite Tumblr blog - DeadlyDesserts11037 - visited the place and gave it a 5 star review, recommending everybody who happens to pass by the town to definitely check the place out. After that, he was sold.

Saiki looked over at his friends and couldn’t help but facepalm in response to their bright red, thrilled expressions. “Good grief, please don’t tell me you are both that excited over ladies in maid outfits.” As you might’ve guessed, Saiki didn’t really understand the concept of a ‘maid café’, so he simply assumed the male obsession with maids had something to do with the objectification of women hence he obviously did not want to take part.

“Saiki, you’re seriously just built different if this doesn’t touch your soul.” They both brushed the pink-haired boy’s comment off, completely mesmerised by the sight of a particularly pretty maid-lady walking by the window — probably on her way to serve a table — carrying a notepad in one hand and a plate with a scrumptious-looking coffee jelly on top.

Saiki followed their gaze, his breath hitching at the sight. He was speechless; no sarcastic comment, no running commentary, nothing. Just..woah! If he had known that the girls that work at this place were so gorgeous and the food looked so delicious, he would’ve came a long time ago.

He wasn’t even sure which one he wanted more; the girl or the jelly. In a way, one wasn’t complete without the other because the coffee jelly which she held high next to her head brought out her (E/C) eyes while her shapely figure highlighted the defined curves of the jelly. Drool was quick to start forming at the corners of his lips but he was even quicker to wipe it away; he was starving.

“We’re going in.”

✿✿✿✿✿

To Saiki’s dismay, it was not the stunning (H/C)-haired girl who he had caught a glimpse of through the glass that ushered them to their table. Rather, it was a slightly less gorgeous maid-lady who had long, bright purple hair which was clearly a wig.

Fortunately for him, after she left Kadiou, Nendou and himself to take their seats, she rushed off saying that someone will come take their orders whenever they are ready.

Even with his psychic abilities, there wasn’t much he could think of to alter fate so the pretty coffee-jelly lady would end up serving their table, and besides that, he was way too caught up in gawking at all the mouth-watering desserts they had pictured on the menu.

Simply glancing over the menu brought a stupid grin to his face, he wanted to try every delectable treat presented in front of him. However, he knew he must exhibit restraint, which was fairly simple as he knew deep down there was only one thing on the menu that he was truly after. You guessed it — coffee jelly.

Usually, he couldn’t care less about what his friends comrades were going to order but in this case, he was tempted to try convince both Kaidou and Nendou to order something he liked so he could take a bite of whatever they were having, “What are you two going to order?”

Yet again though, he was ignored as Nendou and Kaidou were both too busy checking out other types of snacks to care about the ones on the menu.

Then, a movement out of the corner of his eyes caught his attention so his head jolted from the menu to his new target, the beautiful girl he had saw through the window earlier. Previously, she was holding a coffee jelly but now she was basically empty handed, until she approached the table and pulled out a notepad and pen, “May I take your orders?” She asked in the most calming, melodious voice Saiki had ever heard, the sounds that left her mouth were nothing short of angelic. Which made sense since her serving their table must’ve been god’s gift to Saiki for all his hard work.

Chills, Saiki got literal chills before he mused, “A coffee jelly, and two brownies for the pair of clowns.” His blood ran cold; curse his smooth sarcastic comments! Most of the time, he was able to filter himself but due to the nerves that arose while talking to you, he probably shouldn’t be surprised that he had a little slip of the tongue. But now, you probably think he is a bitch that insults people on the regular; which he is, but not usually aloud! Plus, he couldn’t even tell what you were thinking due to his germanium ring and your distant expression, awful combo!

While he was in the middle of feeling bad for himself and considering teleporting away home, a miracle happened, you burst out laughing. And somehow, your laughter was even more silvery than your voice.

Saiki had zoned-out from pure shock for a moment before coming back to reality, noticing that you had started jotting down something in your notepad, a sweet smile still lingering on your face despite the fact you had stopped laughing. “Alright, so one coffee jelly and two brownies. Anything else?” You asked, glancing back and forth between the three equally unique and strange men sitting at the table.

“That’ll be all, thank you.” Saiki telepathically communicated as he usually did, considering actually using his mouth to speak for a change so he didn’t seem weird but in all honesty, he couldn’t be bothered. In any other situation, he would’ve gotten a drink of water or perhaps hot cocoa but right now he was way too afraid of making another error in his speech to request something else.

Silently, he extended his arm to hand you the menu he was given when he entered the café, along with the ones Kaidou and Nendou were given too. His actions single-handedly shooting down your plan of leaning across the table to ‘take the menus’ but in reality it is just a subtle way of showing-off how nice your torso looked in this maid outfit, a trick you learned from your supervisor.

You nodded, closing over your notepad and making your way over to the kitchen, being sure to swing your hips just a little bit extra to impress the pink-haired megane at the table you just took an order from. You mentally cursed your stupid brain though for always crushing on guys/gals who don’t seem the least bit interested in you. In this case, the guy’s attention was divided between his star-struck friends and the desserts on the menu, rather than you which was an unusual sight in a maid café considering that most people would only come to ogle at the waitresses.

✿✿✿✿✿

“So, Saiki.” Kaidou finally landed back into reality after a large chunk of the waitresses roaming around were now in the kitchen which he didn’t have viewing access to, “What did you order us?”

‘So, he was fully aware that the waitress came to take his order, he just chose to ignore her and left me to order his food. What a child, it must be a side-effect of his eighth grade syndrome.’

Saiki couldn’t help but sigh, “I ordered you both brownies.”

Kaidou stuck out his bottom lip to form a pout as he crossed his arm over his chest like a toddler, “I hate brownies.” He muttered to himself, realising that if he wanted something done right, he’d have to do it himself.

An amused smirk tugged at Saiki’s lips but he resisted the urge to laugh, ‘I know.’ He thought, his masterplan to eat more food without looking greedy falling into place. “Oh well, more for me then.”

Suddenly, Nendou spun his head around to abruptly join the conversation, “Hey guys, did you see the hottie that was serving our table?” He inquired with starry eyes, as if he was a kid in a candy store.

Saiki nodded, ‘Obviously I did, you moron. I was the one who ordered the food for goodness’ sake!’

Kaidou shook his head, his eyes lighting up as he leaned in close to Nendou, “Nope! I was busy looking at the other girls, but tell us!”

Nendou chuckled at Kaidou’s enthusiastic reaction before glancing to the side, outstretching his arm and pointing at the waitress that was now approaching the table with the food in her hands. “There she is!”

‘Don’t point at her, you idiot!’ Saiki mentally insulted his friend but instinctively followed the guidance of the tip of his finger until his eyes landed on your shapely figure — accentuated by the nature of the maid outfit — slowly heading toward his table, holding the coffee jelly and the plate of brownies in the same graceful way you did when he saw you through the window.

The gleam of your gorgeous hair, the movement of your luscious lashes, the gentle bounce of your upper body, how your perfectly manicured nails clutched the base of the jelly glass; everything about what he was seeing made him believe that if/when he were to die, this would be his ideal first sight as he passed through the gates of heaven.

Before he knew it, you had reached the table and placed his jelly down on the table, gently nudging it towards him, “One coffee jelly for the cute boy with antennas.” You mused, making Saiki’s heart flutter in a way he was unfamiliar with. Then, you placed the brownies in front of Kaidou and Nednou who sat opposite from Saiki, “And two brownies for the clowns.”

If it wasn’t for the fact the pair of clowns were too busy leching over you in your maid outfit, they’d probably be curious as to your choice of words but luckily for both you and Saiki, they were way to entranced by your visible bra strap to care about the little nickname.

Saiki felt a light blush creep onto his face, which only got worse as you discretely sent him a playful wink before turning on your heels to stroll back to the kitchen, “If you need anything else, just give me a wave.”

All of them hummed agreement in unison until the waitress was out of sight, giving Saiki a moment to process the events that had just went down. Not only did you refer to him as ‘the cute boy with antennas’ but you also winked at him, if that wasn’t a clear sign you were interested, what was? However, Saiki still had his doubts since this was a maid café after all, perhaps you were just trained to do that with all your customers.

Luckily, the had the foresight to slip off his germanium ring to read your mind and that helped him come to the conclusion that you were either interested in him or you were just very competitive as the whole time you were serving the table your thoughts were along the lines of;

‘I’ll adjust my skirt- Ha! You looked! Try resist falling for me now, you hot lil’ megane! Your heart is mine and I know it! See, I’ll fidget with my corset too-- just make a move already, pinkie!’

Although he didn’t appreciate being called ‘pinkie’, he had no right to judge what was going on in your brain. All he could do is be thankful that you didn’t say that aloud.

✿✿✿✿✿

You sighed as you noticed the pink-haired boy and his little posy exit the establishment without so much as a goodbye, or even a wave!

It was disappointing as you had already mentally planned your future with this guy and he had the audacity to do the real life equivalent of leaving you on read. But oh well, it would be approximately a week until you developed a crush on a random customer that lasts for around 30 minutes and for the time being, you can focus on doing your job.

You glumly shuffled over to their table to gather their plates to be washed, then a piece of colourful paper attached to the empty jelly glass caught your eye. As you held up the glass to inspect it further, you realised that it was a sticky note with a message written on it in black ink and neat, cursive handwriting. It read:

‘Dearest waitress,

Thank you for the excellent service, we (myself) tipped accordingly.’

You hadn’t finished reading yet but you were curious as to what he meant by that, and apparently you service must’ve been exceptional as the writer had left a whole ¥2000 tip. That’s a huge addition to the demonia fund.

Followed by this charming little message was an extra tip for you; the writer’s phone number! Meaning that this little sticky note was something you had to protect with your life..so you shoved it in your bra for safe-keeping.

But not before taking a moment to giggle with delight at who the note was signed by,

‘Sincerely, the hot lil’ megane (aka Kusuo Saiki)’

#saiki no psi nan #kusuo saiki x reader #the disaster of psi kusuo saiki #the disastrous life of saiki k.#saiki k x reader #saiki x reader #saiki headcanons #saiki k headcanons #kusuo x reader #saiki kusou no psi nan #kusou saiki x reader #saiki fluff #saiki k fluff #saiki k oneshot

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starshine583 · 4 years ago

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New Girl on the Block (4)

(Y’all ready to read the next update??? Enjoy part four of this fic and if you’re interested, feel free to check out the mini series connected to this called the Journal Entries. It’s just little journal snippets from the two dorks that I decided to write for fun :D)

Ch.1 / Ch.3 / Ch.5

Chapter 4: Get to Know You

Marinette slipped on her white, non-flour-covered leather jacket and pushed her pigtails back so they wouldn’t be tucked into her outfit. She then smoothed out her pink dress with a smile, admiring the black flowers that she’d stitched along the bottom. This dress had been one of her stress-relieving projects, but it turned out quite well, in her opinion.

Once Papa had finished teaching her friends how to fold the dough, he put their croissants into the fridge to chill them and instructed everyone to go upstairs and wash up. Marinette dutifully took them up to her room where her personal bathroom was and taught them how to use the shower, but when she tried to lead one of them to her parent’s bathroom as well, they insisted that she take a shower there herself.

“What kind of gentlemen would we be if we forced the ladies to wait on us?” Claude had said light-heartedly, though she could tell he meant it. Allegra’s smirk as she walked in the bathroom to take a shower first was proof of that.

The notion had warmed Marinette’s heart, coaxing a giggle from her each time she thought about it. It might be hard to see sometimes, but Claude, Allan, and Felix truly were a considerate and chivalrous group of boys.

Now, She’s finished her shower in her parent’s bathroom and gone back up to her bedroom, where Allegra, Claude, and Allan had been patiently waiting. Allegra was nice and clean again, wearing the long, purple shirt and black leggings that Marinette had given her, and Claude appeared to have just exited the shower, his damp hair sticking to his face and dripping across his borrowed, black and blue “O.K” shirt. Allan was still covered in flour.

Allegra smiled at Marinette from her spot on the chaise as she re-braided her long, golden blonde hair. “Thanks for the extra clothes, Mari! These are amazing.”

“Yeah!” Claude agreed enthusiastically, holding out his with a grin. “This shirt is awesome!”

Marinette glanced down to hide her blush. “I-It’s the least I could do.”

“We still appreciate it.” Allan replied.

“Oh!” Marinette said, suddenly thinking about the fact that Allan was still covered in flour. “Allan, do you want to use Maman’s shower? You don’t have to stand around waiting for Felix.”

That who she assumed was occupying the shower, anyway. The water was still running, and everyone but Felix was present.

Allan waved a hand. “Nah, it’s fine. I’ll be getting a shower soon if Felix would hurry up.”

Marinette chuckled at Allan’s obvious call to Felix, even more so when Felix shouted back from the bathroom, “You’re the one that let me go first!”

“I didn’t know you would take a day and a half!”

“That’s still your fault then, isn’t it?” Felix shot back.

Allan scoffed and crossed his arms, causing Marinette to offer her parent’s shower again out of guilt. She had been the one to throw flour on him, after all.

“Are you sure you don’t want to-”

The bathroom door swung open, effectively cutting Marinette off, and Felix stepped out with one hand on his hip and the other hand on the towel that was draped across his head. He shot Allan a glare, practically growling the words, “There. I’m out. Are you happy?”

“Delighted.” Allan responded sarcastically.

Marinette might have been concerned about the growing conflict had she not been focused on Felix’s outfit. Or rather, how well it suited him. The black, three-quarter-sleeved shirt that she’d given him, along with the plaid green, button-up shirt she’d provided to go underneath, clung to his waist, revealing his surprisingly slender figure. The dark grey jeans he wore in place of his dress pants didn’t fit the outfit exactly, but they worked well enough, and Marinette eagerly started taking mental notes for future adjustments.

Allan grabbed his clothes and walked into the bathroom, while Felix glared daggers at him until the bathroom door closed.

“Woah~” Allegra crowed, easily breaking the tension. “You should wear casual outfits more often, Felix. They really suit you.”

Claude smirked. “No kidding. I swear you’ve worn the same suit for the whole two years we’ve known.”

Felix turned his glare to Claude with a scoff. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve worn plenty of suits, each one made differently.”

Allegra snorted. “That wasn’t.. That was not the point, Felix.”

Felix narrowed his eyes, the barest hint of confusion finding its way to his features, and Marinette took that opportunity to speak up.

“How’s the outfit? Does it fit alright?” She asked. Hopefully she can find the original measurements for the outfit if it does fit fine, because Felix was most likely going to become a regular customer. Maybe he wouldn’t hire her for actual commissions, but she might end up making something for him on impulse. (as you do)

Felix caught her eye, his glare slowly fading as he registered her question.

“The fabric is extremely comfortable, and the clothes fit perfectly.” He said after a moment. “You said you made these?”

She nodded. “With my sewing machine. I was thinking of putting a green paw print on the shirt too, but I haven’t gotten around to it.”

Felix hummed, idly pulling his towel from on top of his head to around his shoulders. “I see. Thank you for lending them to me.”

Marinette blinked, suddenly finding herself captivated by the way his hair fell across his face. Still being damp, various strands stuck to his forehead and cheeks, and he reached up to brush them away. This brought her attention to his face, which, for some reason, she hadn’t quite noticed before. The defined jawline, the subtle-yet-there cheek bones, the pointed nose- all of his features were sharp. Even his eyes held a silver tint to them that reminded her of steel.

These observations dragged her to one, rather important revelation: Felix Culpa was actually a fairly handsome person.

“Marinette?” Felix said, drawing her from her thoughts. “Are you alright?”

A rush of heat swarmed her cheeks, and Marinette straightened. “W-what? I mean yes! Yeah, I’m totally fine, I.. yes.”

“Hey, speaking of clothes!” Claude piped up, graciously saving Marinette from her own awkwardness. “How’s my prince costume going?”

Marinette twirled around in her rolling chair and grabbed for her sketching notebook. A distraction was definitely something she needed right now.

“I’ve got a few different ideas, but you need to come tell which one you like best.” She explained as she flipped open the notebook.

Claude hopped up from the stray chest he’d been sitting on and practically bounced over to her seat. She let him scan each page, smiling when he started humming “Ooh’s” and ��Aah’s”.

“I can only pick one?! But they’re all so good!” Claude remarked, almost exasperated.

Marinette chuckled. “Well.. I guess I can make all of them for you, but you at least need to choose which one I start on.”

Claude gasped. “You mean you’re going to make all of these for me?”

“It’s going to take a month or so to get them all done.” She warned. “But-”

Claude scooped her into a bone-crushing hug, briefly reminding her of her father. “Thank you, Mari! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re the best!”

Marinette laughed and gave him a light pat on the arm. “You’re welcome.”

Her smile widened as Claude eagerly grabbed the notebook and ran back to his designated chest to look through the drawing again. It was nice to see someone who was also enthusiastic about fashion. She’d gotten tired of talking to people who simply didn’t understand the hype of creating unique styles of clothing.

“You know he’s never going to leave you alone now, right?” Felix commented next to her.

Marinette offered him a glance as she said, “I think I can live with that.”

Felix shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

She smiled at that. Felix may be striking, but that didn’t have to change anything. Lots of people were striking. And lots of people remained friends despite that.

“Oh,” Felix muttered, seeming to remember something, “Where do you want me to put my clothes? They’re still in the bathroom because of Allan, but..”

“Uhm.. I think Maman said she was going to wash them.” Marinette answered. “She wanted to try to get them clean before supper for all of you.”

“Ah, supper.” Claude cut in, heaving a jokingly wistful sigh. “I can’t wait for that. If your mom’s croissants can taste that heavenly, then her full meals must be amazing.”

He sunk against the chest for emphasis, not realizing that there was a gap between the chest and the wall. The sudden weight threw the chest off balance, and it tipped forward, causing Claude to get jerked backwards. He flailed his arms briefly and yelped before crashing to the floor. The front of the chest hit the ground as well, and the impact popped it open, scattering various objects across the floor.

“Oh, Claude!”

“Are you okay?”

The girls rushed to his side to help him up, but Felix shot him a flat look.

“First the kitchen and now her bedroom.” He said curtly. “Should we tear up the living room next? Or perhaps the dining room has more fragile items?”

Allegra rolled her eyes. “Felix, can you at least try to be sympathetic.”

“I am being sympathetic. Marinette doesn’t have the money to replace things at the drop of a hat like we do. It’s rude to behave so recklessly in her home.”

Marinette glanced up at Felix, not sure whether to find his words sweet or offensive. “Trust me, it’s fine. This chest is old anyway.”

Felix’s frown told her that he didn’t agree on the matter, but before he could argue further, the bathroom door swung open again.

“What happened?” Allan asked, his hair still dripping wet. “I heard the crash. Is anyone hurt?”

“Only my pride.” Claude groaned in response. He was sitting up now and rubbing his head as Allegra switched between scolding and coddling.

Allan sighed with relief. “Oh, good. You can’t hurt something that’s not there.”

“Hey!”

Marinette giggled at the comment. “Allan, how is your outfit? Do I need to make any adjustments?”

Allan glanced down at his clothes. She’d given him a maroon shirt with a blue heartbeat line in the center, a black and blue shirt to go underneath, and a pair of black jeans. He didn’t appear to be wearing the second shirt, though.

“Oh, they fit great.” He said, twisted his torso a bit to get a better feel for the new clothes. “I didn’t have time to put on the second shirt, though. I heard the crash and panicked.”

Marinette offered him a smile. “That’s fine. I can just put it back in the closet.”

Allan nodded and looked down at the mess. “So Claude spilled this chest?”

“Yeah, he was being an idiot.” Allegra remarked as she picked up one of the trinkets. “You know. Nothing new.”

“Wow. can you guys lay off for two seconds?” Claude huffed. He reached forward to pick up one of the objects as well, curiosity overtaking his annoyance. “What is all of this stuff, anyway?”

Marinette glanced at the miscellaneous objects to check- she had several trunks that acted as ‘junk drawers’ -and immediately cringed when she recognized a black hat with rainbow colors stitched along the bottom.

“Oh..” It was Adrien’s gift chest. She’d almost forgotten that she had it. “They’re, um.. They’re just crafts, really.”

“Just crafts?” Claude repeated, holding up a crocheted Ladybug doll. “These are awesome!”

Marinette watched them for a moment. “...do you want them?”

The group looked up in shock, and Marinette quickly added, “Y-You don’t have to take them! I’ve just.. Uh.. they’re like junk? I mean, not junk, but this is my junk chest.. Sort of. I’ve just been meaning to get rid of them. So if you want them, you can have them.”

Allegra frowned. “Are you sure? It looks like you put a lot of effort into these.”

Marinette nodded. “Positive. Take whatever you want.”

Although hesitant at first, the group continued to look through the gifts, and little by little, they started to take some. A smile came to Marinette’s lips as she watched the pile of Adrien junk dwindle. She had spent a lot of time on making the presents, but there was no way she’d be giving them to Adrien now. So what was the point of keeping them in her room? To serve as a mocking reminder of how blind she had been while loving him? No thanks.

By the time they were done, the chest only had half the gifts it used to, and Marinette quickly decided that she would donate the leftovers once she got the chance.

“Thanks for the stuff, Mari!” Claude said cheerfully, his hands full of various objects.

Allegra nodded, holding a few things herself. “Yeah, you really do spoil us.”

“Which is saying something, considering we’re rich.” Allan teased, pocketing the two items that he’d decided to snatch.

Marinette chuckled. “You’re helping me more than I am you.”

She stood up and walked to the bathroom to grab the boys’ old clothes. “I’m gonna bring these down to Maman, but feel free to look around until I get back.”

The group voiced their agreements, and Marinette climbed down the trapdoor ladder with the pile of clothes in hand, feeling like another weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

Getting rid of Adrien’s gifts was one more step towards happiness, and she couldn’t wait to keep walking.

~~~~~~

One can tell a lot about a person by their bedroom. How clean they were, whether they were sentimental, which things they found important- a bedroom could quite literally be considered a box in which someone stored their entire personality. That’s why Felix had been anticipating this part of the visit. Someone can be a master manipulator, but their room would always show their true selves. And it only took one look for Felix to know..

Marinette really loved the color pink.

Seriously, she had it everywhere. The walls, the furniture, the carpet- How was she not sick of the color by now? Felix was sick of it, and he’d only been there for about twenty minutes!

Pushing the pink thought aside, he continued poking around her room. Marinette had gone downstairs to pass his clothes off to her mother, so that gave him a bit of time to inspect the space unsupervised. Not that he was planning on doing anything scandalous. It merely gave him the opportunity of observing Marinette’s room on his own terms.

When she told him that her room was up in the attic, he’d been understandably shocked. The attic didn’t sound like a spacious place to sleep, let alone work on homework and other personal things. Seeing it now, though, Felix realized that that wasn’t the case. The attic was actually quite open. There was a desk, a closet, various chests, a bathroom, and she still had a good portion of the room empty. He wondered if that was thanks to the original size of the room or thanks to Marinette’s resourcefulness.

Her cleaning style wasn’t too bad, either. Don’t get him wrong, there were things scattered everywhere, but it was a specific type of scattered, like an organized chaos. He had a feeling that she knew where most of her necessities were.

Felix moved to her desk, where most of the mess was focused. There were papers, sewing needles, scraps of fabric, and pencils spread across the surface. Her interest in fashion certainly shined through, as most of the papers were filled with various sketches and measurements. He found that admirable. When someone usually speaks of their ‘dream job’, they speak of it as a fantasy, one that they never intend to fully pursue, but Marinette was obviously reaching as high as she could to grasp her goal. She even had a mannequin in her room.

“Marinette’s room is so cool!” Claude exclaimed from the loft up top. “She even has a balcony!”

Felix glanced upwards, briefly setting the papers he’d been studying aside. There’s a balcony upstairs? He didn’t recall seeing a balcony on the way in.

“Claude, you have a balcony.” Allegra reminded him with an amused smile.

“Yeah, but mine only extends from the side of the building.” Claude defended. “This one’s on the roof!”

Ah, so that’s why Felix hadn’t seen it.

Allan frowned. “Really? Isn’t that a little dangerous?”

“It’s got a rail.”

“Oh, okay. That’s fine then.”

Allegra chuckled as she brushed her hands against the hat on Marinette’s mannequin. “Marinette’s room is pretty neat, though.”

“I think it’s just Marinette who’s cool.” Allan remarked.

Allegra and Claude heartily agreed, and Felix nodded. “Cool” probably wouldn’t be the exact word that he’d use to describe her, but overall, it wasn’t far off.

“Can you believe we’ve only known her for a week?” Claude asked as he climbed down to their level. “It feels like we’ve known her forever already.”

“Yeah, but I think that’s just how she is.” Allegra smiled. “She draws you in and makes you feel like family.”

“Her parents are the same way.” Allan said. “You can really tell where she gets it from.”

“Where who gets what from?”

Felix, along with the rest of the group, turned to the trapdoor, where Marinette was standing about halfway through. She didn’t have the clothes anymore, but she did have a tray of drinks.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Allegra said dismissively. “What are those?”

Marinette set the tray on the ground long enough to climb through and close the trapdoor as she explained, “Maman and Papa thought you guys might be thirsty, so she sent me up with a bunch of different drinks to choose from.”

“Sweet!” Claude grinned, swiftly walking over in case she needed help. “Do you have Dr. Pepper?”

Marinette smiled and turned the tray to reveal a deep red can of soda. “Yep! I know it’s your favorite.”

“You truly are a blessing.” Claude replied, grabbing the soda off of the tray.

Marinette giggled and brought the tray forward for the rest of them to pick. Allegra chose a pepsi, while Allan snagged a coke, and Felix grabbed the slim cup of coffee that sat to the side.

He took a sip of it, enjoying the warmth of the bitter liquid. It didn’t escape his notice that Marinette had brought up all of their preferred drinks. She even got his coffee right (Black with three sugars).

Despite how scatter-brained she could be, Marinette still paid attention to details, which was impressive. Felix didn’t know anyone else who could space out during an entire conversation, yet remember the exact type of drink everyone ordered during lunch.

“So what do you guys want to do now? We still have about half an hour before supper is finished.” Marinette asked, setting the tray aside.

Allan shrugged. “What do you have?”

Marinette thought for a moment. “Well, we have board games, card games, Mecha Strike 3-”

“Mecha Strike 3?” Claude perked up. “Yes, please!”

Marinette laughed. “Is everyone else okay with that?”

“Sounds great.” Allan smiled.

Allegra shrugged. “I’m fine with it.”

Felix, being satisfied with his inspection for now, sat down on the chaise. “I’ll watch.”

The rest of the group huddled around Marinette’s computer while she turned it on, and after a bit of debating, they decided on ‘winner faces next player’ and started with Allan and Claude. Felix watched the first two games, just long enough to see Marinette cream Allan, before reverting back to his studious ways. He scanned the bedroom again, hoping to catch something new, when his gaze landed on the trunk that Claude had tipped over earlier. With everyone bustling around it, Felix hadn’t gotten a chance to sift through it, but now that they were occupied with Marinette’s game..

Felix shifted in his seat and re-opened the chest. It was only half full, as opposed to its previously overflowing contents, but that didn’t bother him. There were still plenty of things inside, such as shirts, figurines, hats, and other things. He pulled out a jacket and turned it in his hands, admiring the handiwork. The hood, along with the cuffs of the sleeves and zipper were pitch black, but the rest of the jacket was a deep red, save for the black spots that littered it. “Miraculous” was written on the back in cursive as well. Was this supposed to be based off of the Parisian superhero Ladybug? Why would she want to get rid of this? At the very least, she could make a profit by selling it.

What did she use to make this? The material is so soft.. Felix thought as he unzipped the jacket. It was completely black on the inside, save for some tiny, golden lettering near the section wear the pocket would be.

“To: Adrien

From: Marinette”

Felix frowned. How strange. Why would Marinette be giving away things that she made specifically for someone else? He dug through the chest some more, this time looking for names, and what he found was shocking.

Almost every gift had the name ‘Adrien’ on it somewhere, whether it be a card or stitching or marker. Some gifts didn’t have a name, but at that point, Felix felt it was safe to assume that everything in the chest was supposed to be for this ‘Adrien’ person.

That begged the question, though: Who was Adrien? And why would she create so many gifts for him just to give them away?

A small card stitched on the ear of a stuffed cat gave him his answer.

“Dear Adrien,

Happy 19th birthday! It’s officially been five years since we’ve known each other. Isn’t that crazy? Anyway, I just wanted to say happy birthday (even though I’ve already said it) and that I’m really happy we got to meet. Enjoy the cat!

With all my love, Marinette”

Felix glanced up at Marinette, who was blissfully ignorant of his findings as she defeated Claude for the second time at Mecha Strike 3. Did she intend to use all of these as birthday presents? How many gifts were in there? Did she expect this person to have the same interests twenty years from now? He couldn’t decide if this level of planning was due to over-thinking or just plain obsession. Maybe both.

“Hey, Felix!”

Felix flinched at the sudden call of his name, weirdly feeling as if he’d been caught in the act of some crime. He looked up to see Claude waving a controller at him.

“Are you sure you don’t want to play?” The brunette asked.

“Talk to me when you have chess.” Felix replied shortly, going back to the chest. He had hoped that seeing Marinette’s room would provide more answers to her life, but it only issued more questions. Did she have this amount of gifts for all of her friends or was Adrien special? If he was special, what way would it be? Was he possibly an ex-lover? She dated him for a while, and they had a recent falling out, which was why she was getting rid of the gifts. That would make sense.

“He just wants to talk.”

Her words from last week resurfaced in his mind. The person who chased her that day was the only one she reacted bitterly towards. Was Adrien trying to get back together with her?

Was he the reason she left her old school in the first place?

My, my Dupain-Cheng. Felix thought. Aren’t you just full of secrets?

Tag List: @artbyknigit @athena452 @nickristus-dreamer @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @arsaem @abrx2002 @neakco @pawsitivelymiraculous @too0bsessedformyowngood @nathleigh @lusicing @officiallydarkgeek @all-mights-asscheeks @tbehartoo @woe-is-me0 @raeuberprinzessin @lazuli-11 @miss-chaos27 @trippingovermyfeet @sadpotatoondrugs @ladybug-182 @jaggedheart11 @marinahrasauce

#felinette #Felix Culpa #Marinette #New Girl on the Block #Rosemary AU #Quantic Kids

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canyouhearthelight · 4 years ago

Text

The Miys, Ch. 144

After much demand, Kink Night at the Undine has arrived. This chapter is really fun, was informative to write, but if you need to skip it, you won’t miss out on the overall story. So, trigger warnings on this chapter for:

- Bondage (mentions of)

- Pegging (possible mention of?)

- Impact play (discussed, both done wrongly and demonstrated correctly)

- Topping and bottoming

To be clear: These are all mentioned from the perspective of a non-participant, non-voyeur. I would probably overall rate this chapter appropriate for 14 years and older, but your mileage may vary. However, kink in general can be very healthy if done correctly, and this chapter was double beta-read, not only by @baelpenrose but also by @charlylimph-blog for accuracy of the scene. This actually prevented a PROFOUND mistake from making it to queueing, so I am super grateful for their help.

Once I was released from medical after an unnecessarily long lecture from Noah, I found I had a message waiting from Charly with a date and time to meet at the Undine. Right below that was a message from Sebastian with a uniform-slash-dresscode of sorts.

Aw nuggets. I had forgotten what night it was.

There wasn’t time to grab clothes from my quarters, but my office was on the way to the bar, so I stopped by to change. Socks and shoes were a bit of a challenge, since I generally didn’t wear either, so I had to find a vendor to help me fill in the gaps. Granted, shoes weren’t specified in Sebastian’s list. However, there was exactly a zero percent chance that I was going to lend a hand at a kink party while barefoot. Just… no. Nope. Not happening.

I wiped my palms nervously against my slacks when I arrived, not sure exactly what to expect. Charly and I had talked about it, but none of that knowledge wanted to make its presence known at the moment, apparently. Instead, my mind kept drifting to what in the actual hell she had roped Arthur into doing. The door opened entirely too soon to reveal a smiling Charly, who grabbed my arm and dragged me behind her to the small group already gathered.

All of my nerves were forced from my body by the sputtering laughter I fell victim to when I saw Arthur - I still had no idea what he would be doing, but he looked like someone took a post-apocalyptic movie hero and hit a button labelled ‘make him a villain’ a few too many times. The leather jacket and motorcycle pants were fairly innocuous, since I knew he actually owned both and neither were terribly uncommon on the Ark. Same thing held for the boots - they were just practical in the After and several people held on to that preference with a death grip.

“Cloak’s a nice touch,” I snorted, trying desperately to ignore the campier bits of his outfit.

I was dangerously close to losing it when he scowled and adjusted the laurel crown - I mean, really? - resting on his head. “I knew I shouldn’t have cut my hair this morning,” he muttered. “Damned thing won’t sit right anymore.”

Charly clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, one more run through of what everyone will be doing!”

Sebastian nodded seriously and flicked a towel over his shoulder before handing me an apron. “Sophia has kindly agreed to prep the snacks, while I serve and clean behind people. She’ll clear any dishes in between batches, and one or the other of us will do a lap of the floor every fifteen minutes to ensure everyone is hydrated and there’s no need for medical attention.” He winked at the relief on my face.

Cooking, clearing plates, and momming people into staying hydrated. I could do that.

Arthur brushed off his pauldrons, only forcing me to confront the fact that they were shaped like skulls again, before straightening with aplomb. “I will be Dungeon Master, keeping an eye on everything from there,” he pointed to a scaffold that had been put into place over the bartop, “And intervening as needed if things get out of hand.” Without so much as a twitch of question from me, he explained. “Charly and Coffey can’t be everywhere at once, so I get to perch on high, look ridiculous, and play bouncer if Coffey can’t get there first.”

“Yep,” Charly nodded seriously. For all that she normally seemed built out of chaos and energy, this was Boss Lady Charly. “Let’s keep it safe, sane, and consensual across the board. Speaking of!” She pulled two badges from seemingly nowhere. “Soph, Bash, these are for you.” I took one and immediately grinned when I read it. Staff Only - I Do Not Consent. “If either of you want to play, go for it, but otherwise, probably wear those. Sexy librarian and millionaire CEO are tropes that exist, so ya know - no confusion for anyone. Any questions, concerns, cries for help?” When we all shook our heads, she clapped again. “Okay, off you go! Thanks everyone.”

Sebastian tilted his head toward the kitchen and I followed, wiping my hands on my legs again. “Thank you for agreeing to help with snacks. I know Charly already told you, but I am not the greatest at finger foods that don’t make a mess or won’t be too heavy.”

I hummed for a second before making a few suggestions. “Macaroni and cheese bites, they’re about this big.” I made a circle about an inch and a half across with my fingers. “Just pop and go. Pigs in blankets, the kind with cocktail sausages… meatballs, but probably with lamb instead of beef. Dumplings.” I shrugged. “Charly swears people actually bring food to these, so once that stuff starts coming in, it would just be portioning it and sending it back out. We shouldn’t have too much actual cooking to do.”

He nodded and started grabbing ingredients. “So that leaves drinks, plates, and utensils.” When I reached for a rack of glasses, he stopped me. “No. If one of us drops anything that can break, people can get injured. I’ve been stocking up on fiber-based plates, forks, and spoons. Drinks are going to be in those corn-starch gel pouches.”

“Dude,” I groaned. “Those things get so gummy.”

“Straws are real and do exist.”

“Besides, I can already tell someone is going to find alternative uses for those,” Arthur called from behind us. I swear, I could hear him smirking. “You can’t put humans, sex, and flavored liquid in the same room and not expect that.”

I shook my head with a smile, but he had a point. Once we shooed him away, work on the snacks went pretty quick. Judging by the sounds coming from the main room, it was a good thing, too - furniture being dragged, then Arthur’s voice ringing out to welcome everyone. Soon, Sebastian was swinging out of the kitchen door with the first trays, and true to Charly’s word, he came back carrying a plate of neatly stacked fudge, followed by Arthur carrying a covered container.

“Scratch the meatballs, someone brought an actual mountain of sausage balls,” Arthur grunted as he slammed the container on a flat surface before retreating.

“Not even a joke?” I mused.

“Must be slipping,” Sebastian grinned. “I mean, he said ‘balls’ twice…”

“Low hanging fruit!” a voice called from the main room. It must have seemed entirely out of context to the crowd, but Sebastian and I were laughing as we started plating so he could carry more food out to the spots Charly had designated.

A timer went off, so I took the mac and cheese bites out of the oven, snagged a tray of drink-blobs, shoved a fistful of straws into my apron and took off to do my lap of the event. There were already people taking a break, reaching gratefully for hydration. Several times, someone would reach for one and pour it in a partner’s mouth, and on one occasion, a woman offered it up like a gift to a bound man, both biting into it and drinking greedily.

I almost stepped on someone before I realized there was an actual pile of people on the floor. I diverted my eyes quickly from what I thought was an all-out orgy before my brain registered that I wasn’t hearing sex noises - just whispers. Snapping my eyes back up, it took a moment to figure out that I had nearly stepped on the largest cuddle pile I had seen since my apartment on Insert Winter Holiday. Crouching, I balanced what was left of the drink blobs on one hand while holding out the straws with another. In no time at all, the tray was empty and I was heading back for more.

This time, food on one hand, drinks on the other, I exited the kitchen to see Charly wrapping up her rope-bondage safety lecture before starting to demonstrate different knots on a volunteer, with Charly in the role of the top for this scenario. Watching her calmly contort and restrain another human being while calmly explaining the psychology behind it was… kind of terrifying. I had to constantly remind myself that this person volunteered and that Charly was experienced on both ends of the rope.

One more sweep of the room landed me with only a dozen or so drinks left on top of a pile of empty trays. I backed into the kitchen to sanitize and re-load the trays, only to hear Sebastian swearing. “Who the hell brought chili!?”

“Apparently someone thought it was a good idea,” I shrugged, baffled. I mean, it didn’t seem like a good idea to me, but this wasn’t exactly my area of expertise. “Maybe we put it in bowls, set up a little station in one of the break areas, with toppings? Let people help themselves?”

“Bondage potlucks and chili…” He shook his head. “Trying to remind myself that I’ve seen weirder things, but…”

“I can promise you, they are having fun. And they’re hydrated!” I shook my mostly empty platter of blobs at him.

Sebastian went out to retrieve more food from the people who brought it, and I kept rolling sausages in dough. “More fudge!” he crowed. “I snagged a piece of the first batch, and it was amazing.”

“You clearly do not see the irony,” I muttered where he couldn’t hear me. “Oh, heavens, no chili! But fudge… fudge is fine…”

The next time I was able to break free and take my designated lap, a slight bit more chaos had descended as everyone had gotten more comfortable. Several of the more experienced were examining and complimenting each other on their knots and arrangements of their subs. Ivan and Jokul were doing…. Something… that involved Ivan in a gorgeous evening gown and Jokul with a gag in his mouth. I was almost done with my circuit when a thud reverberated behind me and a black cloak whipped by.

“For the love of…” Arthur growled. I thought he was going to dribble the cowering man he was glaring at like a basketball, but instead he brandished a marker and made two quick X’s on a bare pair of buttocks. “Here and here. Only here and here.” With an irritated flourish, he wrote NOT HERE across the small of the attached back. “This will give someone kidney damage. Specifically you if I catch you doing it again.” Ducking around to the face of the person he had just used as a whiteboard, he shook his finger. “And I’m not even going to apologize, because you have a safeword and you need to use it. First, last, and only warning, you two. If that hit had been any more than a nervous first tap, you wouldn’t even be getting that.” Without a word, he snagged the cane sitting on the table nearby and took it with him. “They aren’t getting anywhere near the cane, fucking idiots. Gotta talk to Charly about those two…” he muttered as he blew back past me, so angry he didn’t even acknowledge that I was standing there.

I almost dropped the stack of empty platters when the Imperial March started playing while Arthur stomped back into his position over the bar. “Attention, Deviants! Courtesy of some poor practices I’ve seen, I would like to invite Sir Coffey and his pet fae Charly to give us a tutorial on safe and proper impact play!” Applause started as he beckoned them forward, Sebastian theatrically adjusting the lights to center in front of the stage.

I ducked back into the kitchen as Coffey’s voice rang out over the crowd, explaining yet again safewords and consent before launching into what toys were used how and where. A little public humiliation never hurt anyone, I joked with myself. At least not for some of the people out there.

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#the miys #found family #humans are weird #science fiction #aliens #apocalypse #humans are space orcs #humans are space fae #earth is space australia #post apocalypse #post post apocalypse #original science fiction #original sci fi #original writing

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dimensionwriter · 4 years ago

Text

FlufftoberDay 4: Fake Dating

Axel x GN! Reader

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

Am I deciding to treat the Axel lovers? Yes, yes I am.

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You should’ve have know something was about to go wrong when you saw Screw sitting at their desk with a smirk emoticon on their screen. Nothing good ever comes from that android when they’re feeling devious.

“So, what I am hearing is that you want us to go undercover to this...” you didn’t even want to say it. It was so embarrassing. “Android lovers festivals as a couple. Why?” This wasn’t part of the job. You were suppose to make sure that everyone felt safe, no matter their species. Not play pretend to go undercover.

“Listen, last year there was a few people trying to sell android illegally there. This year, we just want to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen. You two are to just go there and make sure to report anything suspicious,” Daniel explained, leaning back in his chair. You responded with a slow blink as you tried to process what he was saying.

“Where does dating have to come in? Can’t we just go there as, I don’t know, ourselves,” you yelled, trying to get your bosses to see the problem. First, they make Axel and you move in together, now this. What’s next, having to marry each other forever in the name of comradeship.

“Well,” Screw started typing, leaning forward. You just gave up when you saw that. This robot will not talk with reasoning. “This is an android lover convention. It would be pretty odd if a human and an android walked in without being a couple. They are either weirdly alone ooorrrrrr-”

You fell back into your chair to place a hand over your head. Why you? Do they even realize how awkward it will be to pretend to date your coworker? And why do you even need to pretend to date if no one will ask?

“Well, Axel, do you disagree with this?” You moved your hand to look over at Axel who was sitting next to you. His posture hasn’t changed at all since you guys were called in. He hasn’t spoken a word about this.

“I do not mind having to. As long, of course, it gets the job done,” he wrote in that same normal grey times new roman font. You squinted your eyes at it to see the bottom had a slight pink tint to it.

“There it is. Now go take off those old uniform jackets and get ready for a convention,” Screw wrote while clapping their metal hand. Is this even a job anymore or is this a sitcom?

A hand was placed on your back, but you didn’t lift your head off the steering wheel. You thought conventions would be small. This one wasn’t even one you really heard of before, so you believed deeply in your heart that it would be small. So, why are you parked outside of a stadium where there are cars everywhere?

A low whizzing sound caused you to look over to the passenger seat. Axel was sitting with his head to the ceiling. His outfit was a red shirt with a pair of black leather pants. A few chains and necklaces were frappes around him. He wasn't wearing this earlier, did he change?

"Hypothetically typing, is it that bad to date me?" Axel wrote in a small font. His hand wrapped around his knees as he looked over at you.

Oh, no he's getting the wrong idea. "No, you're a wonderful android. You're sweet, nice, and quite hardworking. Not to include it's adorable how you watch baking shows at 3 am when you think I'm sleep. You're a catch that any luck person would like to be with."

His form stuffed up which you translated to most likely from shock. He quickly turned his screen away from you to stare out the window. In the reflection, you could see the bright pink glow emanating from his screen.

"So, you want to go in?" You asked, leaning around to see his screen. It was kind of cute every time his screen went pink.

He didn't look at you, but opted for nodding his head. You tried your best to hold your snicker in as you unlocked the doors.

The stadium was quite large with silver beams shining proudly in the morning sun. The grass around it was glimmering in elegance from the morning dew. Maybe, just maybe, this won't be so bad.

It went bad. It went so bad so so fast. Axel and you walked into the stadium side by side and a man was at the entrance sitting at a table. He welcomed you to the "A.L.C" and his next question was if the two of you were together or individual.

Before you could open you mouth, a low mechanical purr came from behind you. A cold hand was placed on your shoulder causing you to look up to see a circular head with a screen on it, it almost reminded you of those old style television. "I sure hope this delectable thing isn't."

Axel's arm went around your waist and pulled you away from the weird android and into his side. He was a lot more warmer than the other android, weirdly enough.

The man at the desk said that's all he needed to know. He told you guys to go to the backroom behind him and to follow the path. He even threw in a cheeky wink.

Now any person with a brain would instantly connect what just happened together. The other android was just a test for something and apparently you two passed enough to be let into this secret area. This must be what Screw was telling you about.

Axel and you held on to each other until you were out of their sight. You rushed forward through the hallways, looking for the exit that could potentially lead to this 'backroom'.

A light appeared at the end of the tunnel and you two glanced at each other and nodded. This has to be it. So, you ran forward into the light, ready for actions.

And ended up right where you are now. On the stage, in the middle of football field, in metal chairs. To your left was a tall lanky human man next to a dark blue android. To your right, past Axel, was a plump non-binary person with there miniature android.

"Welcome to A.L.C. year 5, everyone," the announcer screamed into the microphone. There had to be at least 2 thousand people and andriods around you that instantly started screaming or whirring. "Today, we found 3 lucky couples that will be yelling about their cross species love."

You ignored their screaming and applauding to glance at Axel. He was sitting up straight as always, but his legs were spread wide with his hands in the middle tightly grasping each other. It's comforting to know that you aren't the only one uncomfortable right now.

"We will kick this off by letting each couple introduce themselves and talk about how they met." Okay, maybe it's time to come up with a plan to get out of here.

Grabbing the edge of your chair, you scooted closer to Axel until your sides were touching. You grabbed his arm and wrapped your arms around it. Leaning on his shoulder, you turned you head, so it was burried in his neck.

"Axel, I'm going to assume you can hear me. We need to find a way to get out of here. This is the complete opposite of being undercover," you whispered in a panic.

You slightly leaned away to see that Axel had put a hand on his screen that was glowing pink again. He tapped his screen a few times and the light went away.

"Sorry, I have to replay your audio. My sensors were distracted at the moment. Give me a second." Aww, poor guy. He was probably so uncomfortable with you touching him like this, but this is the only way to communicate without being conspicuous.

"Best plan of option to get out here without being noticed is to-"

His screen turned black again causing you to frown up. A small cough in front of you caused you to look forward to see the host standing in front of you with a smirk.

"Well look at these two. Guess we spread the chairs to far for these love birds," he jokes the crowed. A bunch of laughter and awws came out making you immediately go into an awkward smile. "Now, introduce yourself and tell us your story."

The microphone was instantly put to you causing your brain to short circuit. You looked up at Axel at what to do, but his screen was still black.

"Well, I'm y/n and this is Axel. We-ummm- we met at work. Well, kind of. I worked in a... bakery that only had human workers and he worked in a bakery that only had andriods. Our bosses thought it was a good idea to combine, so they did. The first shift with Axel, I showed up an hour late with breakfast in my hand, so that wasn't a good impression. He was acting all grumpy and angry around me, but I was- I was determined to make him not hate me, so I was always nagging him... Along the way, we became friends and one day I invited him to my house to watch a movie. I specifically remember picking out a movie that reminded me of our relationship, but had romance in it. Sitting there watching it, I felt that it was a sign that tonight was the night that things were going to change. That night, I confessed that I had fell in love with him and he said he felt the same way. The rest is history."

Was half that a reality and the other half a romance movie you saw a few weeks ago, yes? But they didn't need to know that. All you need was some sappy story to please these people and get this man to move on from you.

"Oh my gosh, did you guys here that? Society tried to keep them separate, but destiny and fate worked harder to bring them together. I think we found a good example of what human and android love looks like. No offense Xeno and Jordan, but I think they beat your ' met on a dating site's story."

Why did you not think of that? Oh gosh, now you just brought even more attention to you two.

"Okay, we have one more story before we will move on to some QnA from the crowd," he said, with a big smile to the crowd. He walked over to the next couple, finally leaving Axel and you alone.

"We got to get out of here, now," you hissed, tugging on his sleeve. He turned his screen towards you and begin to typed.

"My previous plan was to just simply walk off the stage with you. However, now the crowd seem to have grown a connection with us, unable for us to make a quiet exit. I searched up the itinerary for today and this 'couple proof' only last 30 minutes before another event start. It would be safe to endure it and then exit."

Thirty minutes, that's all you have to endure. That's not that bad. Almost 10 minutes has passed already, leaving with about 20-ish minutes for the QnA. Split that between questions for each couple, that would be less than 7 minutes for each.

After the 3rd couple finished telling their story (they met at a park while taking pictures of flowers and went on a date three days later), he moved on to the QnA for the first couple. He gave the crowd 6 minutes for them.

The questions weren't horrible to deal with. They were asking about any difference in species that you found out while dating. You could talk about Axel rarely needing to recharge, so most night he stays up doing stuff. Then there were some questions about favorite things to do for a date. Maybe go along with the bakery plot line and say baking. Ultimately, it ended with them asking for pictures of them hugging. Easy enough.

The man walked away from them and walked over to you, signaling the start of you guys turn. It was pretty much the same thing.

"What's something weird that Axel does in your relationship?*

"He doesn't need to recharge, so sometimes it's weird waking up in the middle of the night to see your boyfriend typing down recipes from a cooking show." Axel gave you a red tinted "No I don't" as that. The crowd just coos at it.

They asked Axel what he found attractive in a human. Even you were slightly curious because you didn't even know if liked humans liked that. Considering his whole 'I don't do emotions' act.

"Their ability to make things feel things they never thought was possible." It was short and kind of mysterious, but was enough for the crowd.

You two whizzed through the next couple of questions, giving them the answers they most likely wanted to hear, but kept them from being more suspicious of you two. That was, until the last questions.

"Hi, I apologized for this weird request, but I must ask. My mother is extremely speciest and thinks creatures of the same species should be together. And when she found out I attend these things, she said that it was just full of sick people who were faking it. I've recorder a lot of all the amazing creatures of there talking about there love and plan on sending it to them. But you story is the most inspiring. Can I have a picture of you two kissing to show my mother that all of this is real? That our love is so much more than anything society may think."

You know that feeling of whiplash from moving to fast. That's what it felt like to listen to her story and then hear her request. You understood trying to stick it to the speciest people, but you can't go around asking people to kiss.

"Oh that would be lovely. The crowd's favorite couple showing a sign of such raw affection that it has to prove to the world that an android and a human can love each other," the host wailed out. He dramatically threw a hand over his forehead as he started to sway. Was this man just male human version of Screw?

"I- ummmm," you drawled out staring into the crowd. So many eyes, screens, and plastic eyes stared back at you with hope gleaming in it.

A hand was gently placed under your chin and tilted your head. You looked up to see Axel's screen glowing a soft pink. "May I?"

Your eyes looked at the crowd before looking back into Axel's screen. His hand was so warm and comforting that it felt like it was melting you into a puddle. He stay in that position, waiting for your consent. You knew that no matter what you did, he would follow you with no hesitation.

You meekly nodded you head and closed your eyes. A screen was pressed against your face, but it felt different. A slight buzz was coming from him that traveled down your lips into your body. The warmth from his hands were nothing compared to his screen. It wasn't soft like a pair of lips, but it held the same compassionate and trust as a normal kiss.

Axel was the first to pull away. You sat completely still as you stated back up at the screen infront of you.

Screaming poured out from the crowd in waves bring you back to the present. You shuffled back into your seat and tried to ignore everyone yelling at you two.

"Wooza. Let that be proof right that to the world of true love," the host screamed with some fist pumps. The crowd went wild again making you internally cringe.

It was for the mission. All of this was for the missions. You can endure a little embarrassment and awkwardness for it. Protecting andriods lives from being sold was important.

But why did it have to include kissing Axel? Oh gosh, what was he thinking at this moment? Was that his first kiss with a human? Do andriods even kiss each other?

Thoughts spiraled through your head that you didn't even notice that the host was wrapping up the first event. Your mind was so full.

"Thank you guys for being lovely hosts. We hope to see you next year," he said. Your eyes was to the sky as your would was escaping your body.

It was until Axel's warm hand slid into you and gave a small tug. You got out of your chair and followed him off the stage with all the other couple.

This was just like the first day meeting. Stuff that wasn't your fault happen and you accidentally made it worse. Now Axel was sure to be mad at you. You should've kept a low profile, but you just had to make a drastic story.

Axel turned right into a dead end hallway that a was a little far away from main one. He placed you against a wall and stood in front of you, blocking your view.

"Are you feeling ill?" He asked, placing a hand on your forehead. "You are feeling quite feverish. I understand it might be quite sickening to relive the... action I had to take on stage. I do sincerely apologize for forcing you to show that level of affection with me."

He was kidding right. You're the reason you two had to kiss in the first place. You amped up the crowd and gave them hope. And he's acting like you didn't enjoy it- at a platonic level of course.

"Axel, first off, I'm not sick, just flustered. You can look up that human emotion. Second, it was a really nice kiss. Like, I’ve never kissed an android before, but it was good, you know. Not sickening in any way,” you rambled. Your temperature was sky rocketing as stared at the screen you lips were on just a few minutes ago.

“Good. That clears it up. I can relate a the same experience to you. I’ve never kissed a human, or anything at this point. Never say a reasoning to. However, I can understand why humans may want to do it all the time.”

Wait, what?

“Axel! Y/N!” A voice yelled from the end of the hallway. You looked around Axel to see an silver android in a baggy sweatshirt running towards you two. Do- do you know him?

Axel turned around and took a step towards the android. They stopped right in front of him and handed him a sheet of paper. Getting a little curious, you peaked at the document to see a list of names followed by a phone number with a location.

“These are the names a person gave me to ‘get an android’. We found them,” they explained tapping the document. Wait, was they talking about the mission Axel and you were assigned. Why was this random android in on it?

“Hey, how did you know about this stuff? And how do you know us?” You question getting in front of Axel to look at this suspicious android. They tilted their head to the side in confusion.

“There’s like 10 other cops here on this mission. Screw told us that you guys were to go undercover and cause a distraction for us to search. Did you not meet someone at the front that helped you with this?” they asked, scratching the top of their metal head.

A person earlier? The only person you met was that android that was flirting with you... that ended up getting you two on stage. So, he was another agent too. Was everything set up?

“Well, I came to show you guys what I found. I’m going to go back to the station and report what I found. Also, good job on the distraction. Didn’t think you would go that far, but yeah. Good job,” they said with a pair of thumbs up. Slowly, they walked backwards before turning and running off.

“Axel, I’m going to strangle Screw and there’s nothing you can do to stop,” you grumbled. How many of your colleagues watched you kiss your partner? How many are going to see Axel and you kiss from those videos?

You glanced at Axel to see his screen flickering between red and pink. “I might not notice if you do.”

You turned away to secretly placed your fingers on your lips. There was still a slight tingle in them that still had your blood rushing. The embarrassment may was worth it... just a little.

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

Did I go a little overboard for this one because I haven’t wrote Axel in a long time? Yes. I miss this little android. Love him to pieces.

Also, just want to let you know that this isn’t cannon. This is the equilivant of an OVA. The main story line is the Mechanical Heart series. But this is just a little something for the Axel’s fan.

#exophilia #monster boyfriend #android #reader x android #android x human #android x reader #mechanical heart #axel #monster fluff #flufftober

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secret-engima · 4 years ago

Note

This. Has been a perfectly terrible day. Can I beg you for a ficbit or a snippet from one of your works, like Team Gremlin or Noctscar or something ? I just - they’re beautiful, and I just really, really need something beautiful right now.

SURE. I don’t have much in the way of snippets, but lemme see what I can find. I might have to throw in something from BNHA cause that’s the fandom the muses are chewing on this exact second.

...

Team Gremlin:

It had been … a very bad few weeks for Qrow all told. And that was saying something. Everything had seemed fine one day, business as usual. Tai was back from his requisite number of missions to keep his license and teaching at Signal again —which he genuinely seemed to enjoy for some reason—, his nieces were as adorable as ever, and Summer was sometimes talking his ear off about maybe taking a teaching position somewhere herself after running a few missions to keep her own license active —she’d been busier lately with the girls than running around kicking butt, but it wasn’t like Qrow blamed her for that—.

Then Leo was found dead in his office. Knifed in the neck, one round discharged from his weapon in the direction of the guest couch, blood pooling all over the chair and low table where the investigators said he’d been dragged from and laid on the floor in some kind of pose. No one unusual had been seen going in or out, there had been nothing on the office cameras —covered by a Semblance of some kind, it was decided, because of the fading, glass-like Aura shards on the floor—. The only warning had been the sound of Leo’s single shot before he died. Qrow had arrived as soon as he could to help investigate, since the primary suspect would … not be one the police even knew to look for. He had helped Dyna —poor woman had been wire tense with rage rather than her usual calm self, and it was no wonder—, search for clues the police would miss, then searched the secret tunnels for good measure.

They had found a Grimm inside one of the deeper antechambers, far too deep to have gotten there by accident, a strange, jellyfish like beast that had been surprisingly hard to kill for something that small. They’d never seen it’s like before, and the thought of it being under the school, where kids were, where Oz and his inner circle were supposed to hold sway-. He’d never seen the otter Faunus more furious as they stood amid the fading Dark dust, her lips twisted, brow wrinkled in a way that had made the black line and red dots of her old bandit tattoos look more pronounced.

They’d found no other signs that Salem knew how to get into the school tunnels, but they rechecked them all and trapped several of the ones leading outward as temporary security measures. With Dyna in place as the new —temporary on paper but soon to be permanent— Headmaster, Qrow had gathered up what evidence they could pry loose from their police contacts and gone back to Oz so they could try to sort this out.

Of course, Qrow’s first impulse was to blame Salem, but Oz had listened to the report of a jellyfish Grimm under the school and his expression had folded into something pained. Knowing. He must have known what kind of Grimm it was, but hadn’t elaborated yet, just told Dyna to investigate all of Leo’s documents, Scroll calls, and communications over the past year, and insisted he would not explain until there was either evidence or not for his theory, for fear of making them biased.

So, with Salem seemingly not the automatic culprit, they had started hunting for info. Summer had offered to come back and help, but Oz had told her to stay on her chosen mission instead.

The pen had been an unexpected complication.

...

Always I Dreamed verse

Summer ducked past her into the shower as Raven left it, pausing to stare at Raven’s tattoos for only a moment before chirping a quiet good morning and asking if she was okay after yesterday. Raven just grunted, because she was combat functional and frankly that was all that mattered. She had already pulled on her clothes from yesterday —all their possessions were in her inventory and she didn’t want questions on where it came from, she’d have to stuff it all in a duffel bag and hide it in the den to explain that away later— by the time Taiyang got up and Raven remembered the uniforms. Raven nudged open the bag while Qrow ducked out of their den and peered over her shoulder, “Everybody has to wear that stuff?” Qrow sneered as Raven pulled out the first button down shirt, “Hardly looks sturdy.”

“It’s just for the school grounds I think, we have our combat gear for training missions and stuff anyway.” Taiyang said as he pulled out a shirt of his own from a different bag. Raven took a moment to glance at his bare torso. He slept in pants but not a shirt apparently, which was stupid, but better than being entirely naked at night. He had a decent build, which she knew from watching him fight yesterday, and a truly appalling lack of scars. Her life had been saved by somebody who had probably never had a truly decent fight in his life before that day. Wonderful.

He also had tattoos, and Raven squinted at them for a moment because despite the differing size and placement, they all looked very much like the ones Raven and Qrow had gotten during a rare moment of total drunkenness at fifteen. He was missing the large asian dragon outline that wound up Raven’s own torso, but he had the blue crow perched as if about to take flight that Raven had, the running blue wolf who’s lower half dissolved into petals, and she thought she glimpsed a blue clockwork rabbit under his right arm. When he turned around briefly to put his back to them, she saw that most of his back had been taken up with the stylized outline of a raven in flight.

She shook her head and looked away. Whatever. Summer possessed a tattoo on her arm similar to the asian dragon winding up Qrow’s arm from elbow to shoulder. Some tattoos were just popular, and blue ink was easier to come by for fill-in tattoos than the black used for outlines.

Qrow must have remembered Taiyang’s words last night about Raven’s uniform being at the top, because he was already rooting down to the outfit right beneath hers —there was more fabric in the bag than that, but Raven wasn’t going to worry about why just yet—. He yanked out a shirt and jacket that looked his size, then blinked when something short and plaid tumbled out with it. Snatching it up, he unfolded it and made a face, “Is this a skirt? With my uniform?”

Summer poked her head out of the bathroom, a wash of steam following her —oh right, hot water showers were a thing, darn— while Taiyang looked from Qrow to the skirt and back. Qrow was busy staring at the skirt, so he missed the expression of pure glee that flickered over the other teen’s face before he casually said, “What, that? It’s a kilt, man. Old Vale tradition.” Raven blinked very slowly, because that was a surprisingly good lie even though she knew it was nonsense —her memory on early canon was fuzzy, but she would have remembered the male characters running around in skirts—. She debated calling him on it for a moment, but she was from outside the kingdoms like Qrow, so technically she had no way to know that Taiyang was lying.

Besides, if Taiyang wanted to poke the bear that was her brother’s temper, better he do it now and get it over with than later when they were training.

Qrow was still making annoyed noises under his breath as he examined the “kilt”, and a glance at Summer slipping out of the shower in a towel showed she was fighting down laughter. Silver eyes met Raven’s with hopeful amusement and Raven looked away. She was still angry that the Story had forced itself into place in her life. With a shake of her head, Raven finished yanking out her uniform —one of? There was so much fabric in there, did the school really waste money making multiple outfits for each student?— and started pulling off her old clothes to put it on. Taiyang made a noise like someone had knifed him just as she dropped her shirt to the floor and she looked up in alarm. Taiyang had whipped around to put his back to her, and she could see the flush of color crawling up his neck and the backs of his ears. He didn’t look hurt or anything, but when Summer wandered in and dropped her towel onto her bed to put on her uniform —huh, she had the same tattoos as Raven, Qrow, and Taiyang, just with the perched crow as a large outline that went down to her mid back and a large blue raven in flight over her abdomen that looked like the smaller one on Qrow’s back—, Taiyang made the dying noise again, snatched up his bag of clothes, and rushed for the bathroom.

Raven had the feeling she should understand what that was about, but she didn’t get it, and when she risked a glance at Summer, the other girl actually looked just as baffled. So maybe it wasn’t some social thing she’d forgotten. Maybe it was just a thing with him specifically.

...

Feather-Light and Fire-Bright verse (BNHA)

Which was why, the next time she spotted a little red feather slinking over to place a trio of shiny buttons on the park bench she liked best, she hastily caught it with one hand. It was very soft, wiggling slightly in her grip, twitching and fluttering almost like a frightened living thing, so much so she shushed it gently on instinct, “It’s okay, I won’t damage you.” Taking out the note she’d spent days agonizing over, she skewered it to the quill of the feather, “I need you to take a message to whoever controls you.” She let it go and the feather wiggled erratically in the air, like a cat trying to wiggle free of an unfamiliar collar before flitting away. Fuyumi resisted the urge to chase it and see where it led. She’d sent her note, now she would wait for a reaction.

She absently took the three coat buttons and put them in her pocket before going home. It would be stupid to leave them as litter in the park, but it also felt like a bad idea to throw them away and possibly anger whoever was watching her. Besides, she had a collection going now, she almost had enough matching buttons to make a full set for a long coat.

A week went by with no sign of her shadow before she finally spotted a red feather again. It lurked on the edges of the park, flitting out into view as she walked by before slipping off in the direction of a more sequestered part of the park. Fuyumi hesitated, saw the feather come back and swirl around her a few times like an excited puppy before rushing off again and decided she was either about to meet someone shy or about to be kidnapped and potentially murdered. Slipping her hand into her handbag to grip the small pro-grade taser inside just in case, Fuyumi followed the feather into the copse of trees that shielded that part of the park from the street and the rest of the grassy area.

The feather slipped away to rejoin … a lot of other feathers, and Fuyumi paused on the edges of the little forested nook to get a good look at her mysterious shadow for the first time. Golden eyes, piercing and almost predatory in intensity, flitted up to meet her gaze as he stood up. He was about her age she would guess, maybe a year older, so lean that if she hadn’t been able to see the muscles of his bare arms she would have called him scrawny. He was wearing a sleeveless hoodie that looked like it had lost a few too many rounds with a washing machine, clean but all faded and stretched and worn looking. His hair was all tousled and pale gold, and the red feathers were clustered on his back in huge wings that looked like they belonged on someone about twice his size and weight. He smiled a little, a practiced thing that was too nervous to be real, but if Fuyumi hadn’t lived her entire life around Pro Heroes and the children of other such elites, she would never had known.

He held up her note between too fingers, not commenting on the wary distance still between them nor making any moves to close it, “Um, I’m not a stalker, just wanna get that out of the way. Sorry if I … came off that way? I’m, uh, not good at introducing myself and I didn’t … really know what else to do.”

#SE asks #hamelin-born asks #snippets #snippet #Secret Engima Rambles #Melodies and Manuscripts #Team Gremlin verse #Always I Dreamed verse #Feather Light and Ember Bright verse

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itsthemoofacewriting · 4 years ago

Text

Amongst the trees

So. I’ve been having horrible writers block, the worst I’ve ever had, but then I saw b00giewara’s art on twitter. It’s so soft and pretty that finally, my mind and fingers ran. (Also, just the thought of post time skip Sanji in Water 7 outfit has me foaming at the mouth).

This sits in the same universe as Potato Peeling, for no reason other than I want it to.

Summary: On a lazy afternoon, there was nothing Sanji would rather be doing than helping Nami with her trees. Rating: T. Slightly suggestive.

This can also be found on AO3 and FFN.

Enjoy!

Sanji had been in the kitchen for a few hours already. Everyone had been fed for breakfast and lunch (Luffy a few more times since between then) and he’d used the lulls in-between to do his weekly inventory. He’d made more progress after lunch, only pausing to serve drinks.

The pantry was done, which took the most amount of time, and he was just about to wrap up with the fridge. As much as he didn’t mind doing the inventory, sometimes it was a nice quiet task, today he felt a bit restless. It was a beautiful day, sunny with the occasional soft breeze that took the edge off from the heat and he’d much rather be out there for once than in the kitchen counting supplies. It was his own fault really; he’d decided to do this.

However he quickly found a good reason to leave when he noticed the mikans were starting to look a bit low.

And thinking about mikans, naturally his mind drifted over to Nami. Which then lead to him thinking about how he hadn’t seen or heard Nami for a few hours either. It wasn’t overly unusual, during the day they both had things that had to be done but considering the lull- it was strange.

Poking his head out of the kitchen door and looking out onto the deck, there was no sign of her. Luffy, Chopper and Usopp were fishing, Franky was tinkering with something, Brook was down for his afternoon nap, he could hear Mosshead’s obnoxiously loud weights from the crow’s nest and Robin was sunbathing. But the sun lounger next to her was empty.

Nami’d mentioned in the morning that she’d wanted to catch up on her maps. Perhaps she was using the quiet afternoon to do that. He’d give her a tiny bit longer so that he didn’t distract her from her maps, but if she hadn’t appeared by the time he was finished, he would take a drink to her and coax her into a break.

With that in mind, he grabbed an empty wicker basket from the pantry and climbed up the ladder to the upper deck.

It was peaceful up there, only the soft wind and distant sound of the crew from the lawn deck could be heard. At first, he’d thought the humming sound was from the crew, it sounded far away, but the closer he got to the mikan trees, the louder it got, and he was starting to piece together where Nami actually was.

It was confirmed when he reached the trees and turned to see Nami bent over and doing something with the soil on the furthest tree from him. She hadn’t seen him yet, too engrossed, and angled away from him. He may have used the opportunity to gawk at her a bit. He may have also taken a few quiet steps to the side so he could get a good view of her behind. But they were together now, so it was acceptable.

“Taking in the view?” She asked, glancing over her shoulder at him and belatedly he realised the humming had stopped. Of course he couldn’t sneak up on the cat thief herself.

“It’d be rude not to.” And even though he’d been caught red handed, he still tilted his head like he hadn’t.

She shook her head at his antics, and his view was cruelly taken away from him as she stood to walk over to him. He could hardly sulk when it was replaced with her sunny smile.

“What brings you into my neck of the woods then?” She asked, taking off a gardening glove to brush a piece of hair out of the way. He wasn’t quite sure why she ever bothered with gloves, she always ended up covered in soil, something that was proven now with the stains on her dungarees.

“We’re getting low on mikans, so I thought I’d take advantage of the good weather to come pick some.” He caught her bare hand in his to press a kiss on the back in greeting, lingering for a second being letting her hand go.

Her cheeks pinked. “Great minds think alike. The weather’s perfect for taking a bit of time out for the trees,” she explained fondly. It was no secret amongst any of them how much they meant to her or how much she enjoyed doing this.

“What are you doing right now?”

“Well, Usopp gave me some compost for the soil, so with that done I’m moving onto pruning.” She’d turned to face the trees, already pinpointing branches and leaves that needed to be taken off. “Want to help? I think I saw Usopp’s shears somewhere around here.”

That was the last thing he’d expected her to ask him, and he was a bit stunned by it, so all he could muster up was a nod as he went in search for the shears.

It wasn’t entirely new territory. He’d helped her with her tress countless times. Held the basket, pointed out fruit she may have missed or perhaps a bad twig that needed to go; it was always assistant work.

Having his own set of shears was a whole new playing field.

As far as he was aware, no one helped with cutting her trees, not even Usopp or Robin and they were the other green thumbs on board. He’d never been bitter or offended by it, it was no secret how much these trees meant to her and he’d respected that.

But this. This new ground made him a bit giddy, how far they’d come since knowing each other and especially since they’d got together. How much she was trusting him. He was more than aware of how big this was.

He quickly found the extra set of shears from where she’d said they’d be and joined her back at the trees, his basket long forgotten.

“Show me what to do, I don’t want to mess this up.” Whilst he was still giddy, he was gradually getting more and more nervous. This was important and he didn’t want to screw it up. He felt like he was keeping his cool on the outside though as he stood next to her, even if he felt like he was about to have a meltdown internally.

Perhaps he wasn’t being that smooth with the knowing look Nami gave him, but she soon eyed his jacket instead. “Firstly, I think you need to look more the part. Let’s lose the jacket, you don’t want to mess that up.”

He followed her command, taking off his jacket and draping it across the railing. It was a pleasant enough day that he wasn’t worried about it being lost to the sea.

“Let’s leave the waistcoat on,” she said, trying to look innocent but he saw straight through it, although he was more than happy to let her have her way. “And the tie, it might come in handy later. But we could roll up the sleeves.”

Before he could do that himself, her hands were at his wrists, nimbly undoing the button and rolling the fabric up to his elbows. Despite the warm weather, goosebumps erupted along his forearms as her fingers grazed along the skin. They’d been together for a few months now, so touch was nothing new between them, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to the casual touches he shared with her now. Don’t get him wrong, everything about their relationship was exciting to him, but it was the simplest touches and how comfortable she was around him that pleased him the most.

“That’s better.” She nodded to herself, hands lingering on his arms before pulling away and taking the shears out from one of her pockets.

“Thank you.” He smiled down at her tenderly and the flush she’d just managed to get rid of bloomed across her cheeks again. He found it adorable how the softest gestures flustered her the most.

“Right,” Nami said, clearing her throat and focusing back on the trees, “it’s quite simple actually. Cut any branches that are damaged, unhealthy or crossing over one another.”

“Like this one?” He pointed out a withered branch.

“Yes!” She confirmed brightly. “If in doubt, it probably needs to go, otherwise you wouldn’t have noticed it.”

He nodded in understanding and with that, they both started pruning. Nami had left him to have a tree all to himself as she worked on the one beside his. She moved confidently, barely batting an eyelid as she snipped away. He, on the other hand, moved more cautiously, considering each branch before cutting it off. She said not to overthink it, but he couldn’t not. He wanted to do a good job; he’d been entrusted with a whole tree.

A few branches in and his free hand was becoming full of branches he’d cut off. He glanced to the side, wondering where Nami was putting hers. She must have read his mind, because she met his curious gaze, smiled, and moved a basket between the trees they were both working on.

“Throw anything you chop off into the basket. Usopp likes them so he can add it to the compost he makes,” she informed him.

Sanji snorted at that, of course Usopp did. He wondered if the three green thumbs on board traded tips.

“Which, by the way, I’m pretty sure he’s sneaking coffee out of the pantry to use for his plants and to add to the compost,” she breezily informed him, already knowing what reaction she’d get from him.

“I knew it!” He said, outraged. His inventory checks had been off for ages and he’d been trying to figure out where the extra coffee had been going. “Now I have to fight Luffy off from the fridge and Usopp from the pantry. The one place I thought was safe.”

Nami laughed at his turmoil. “I’ll adjust the budget.”

He smiled at her gratefully for that.

They descended back into silence after that, and it was nice. It was just as relaxing as some of his tasks in the kitchen, but with the added bonus of fresh air and the sun warming his skin. He’d also say the company, but she spent a fair amount of time in there with him now anyway. But it was a nice change of pace to partake in one of her activities together for a change.

Nami’s hands didn’t falter as she softly broke the silence, “The first few weeks after leaving Cocoyasi village, I thought I was going to lose the trees, the constant change in weather made it hard to look after them.”

Sanji was silent as he let the information wash over him, it’d never crossed him mind before, but now he thought about it, it made perfect sense. “I never thought of that,” he said in awe.

Nami hummed in agreement and shook her head. “Me either! Normally in the winter they need more care and, in the summer, less, but with the fluctuating weather they were all over the place.”

He cut away another branch, throwing it into the basket before moving around the tree. He tilted his head to indicate he was still listening.

Nami continued, “It took a bit of figuring out and by the time I could get a book on it, I’d already figured it out. They’re like temperamental children, I just had to keep my eye on them a bit more than normal.”

Of course she’d figured it out, she was one of the smartest people he knew. “I’m glad you worked it out, the ship would look empty without them.”

“Me too, I don’t think I would’ve dealt with it very well back then if I’d lost them. Everything’d changed so suddenly back then but they were a constant for me, it helped having them.”

He frowned at that; he could only imagine how stressful that must’ve been, but she’d never said anything.

“Not to worry though, it resolved itself and now look at us,” she said, trying to ease the look of concern on his face and changed the topic swiftly, “You’ve done a good job.” She looked at the tree critically but nodded to herself.

She stepped forward and cut off a few additional branches that he’d hesitated over. “Maybe a bit overly cautious, but I knew you would be, that’s why I let you have the shears.”

He beamed at her praise and they moved onto the final tree, working on opposite sides until whatever they could reach was done. They both stepped back, proudly taking in the much neater trees, until they looked up.

“Any chance you’re tall enough to reach the top?”

He wanted to say yes so badly but as he eyed the height, he knew he wouldn’t be able to without actually scaling the tree. “Sorry Nami-san, I don’t think so.”

“Don’t worry, I knew it was a stretch.” She put her hand on his arm in understanding and looked up at the trees. “Bell-mère used to stand us on her shoulders to reach the higher branches she wanted to prune or pick off the fruit. She said it was good for us to learn, but I’m convinced she just didn’t want to haul the stool around with her.”

He laughed with her at that and briefly imagined how adorable the sight would have been until an idea came to mind. He crouched down in front of her and when all she did was blink at him, confusion written all over her face, he elaborated, “I can’t offer to stand you on my shoulders, but I can do this.” He patted a shoulder, trying to encourage her.

She was silent for a moment, stunned at the offer. “As much as I trust you and don’t doubt your strength whatsoever, are you sure you’re up for this?” She asked cautiously.

“Huh?” He blinked at her.

“My thighs are about to be either side of your head. I don’t want to brain myself on the deck when you go down like a sack of potatoes,” she deadpanned, eyebrow raised as she looked down at him.

“It wouldn’t be the first time my head’s been there,” he quipped, leering up at her, eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

She barked a laugh, hand slapping his shoulder half-heartedly in retribution but overall, she was too amused to be angry.

It took a bit of more reassurance to convince her, but as soon as he’d convinced her, he positioned himself and helped her get onto his shoulders. He smoothly rose to his feet, barely wobbling.

Hands down it was the best decision he’d never made. If he could assure Nami’s safety, he could die happily right now. There was so much of her everywhere. Her thighs snuggly sat either side of his head, he could feel the slightest brush of her breasts against the top of his head and her hands were in his hair whilst she adjusted to the new position.

“You okay down there?” She asked, half amused and half cautious, testing the waters to make sure he was okay.

“More than okay,” he replied happily, tilting his head to the side to pillow into her thigh. She was so soft; he was in heaven.

Nami snorted above him, shaking her head and tentatively removed her hands from his hair. When he stood solid, she reclaimed the shears from her pocket and started to snip again.

Before they could dip into silence, he asked, “How often did you tend to the trees together when you were younger?” He loved hearing about her childhood with Bell-mère and took any opportunity to ask about it.

Nami was more than happy to share. “We had a big orchard, so it was almost daily. It could be pruning, picking fruit, or tending to the soil. Although, me and Nojiko spent more time running through it playing games, not so much helping.”

His hand stroked up and down her calf absently, encouraging her to continue whilst he listened. He moved to the side after noticing she’d finished with a section before she had to ask.

“We definitely over pruned when we did help, but she never scolded us,” she continued, throwing a branch down into the basket at Sanji’s feet. “After that she just kept a sharper eye on us.

“Sounds nice.”

“It was,” Nami agreed, “I always ended up covered in dust and dirt. Kind of like now actually, not a lot has changed it seems.”

“It suits you.” And it was the truth. Whether she was in skimpy bikinis or dirtied dungarees, she was the most attractive person he’d ever laid eyes on.

They moved onto the last tree and by now the bucket was almost overflowing with branches and leaves. Usopp would be thrilled, no doubt.

“She sounded like an amazing woman,” he said after a moment, letting the stories Nami had told him of her Mum play in a loop in his head. In a different world, he wished he could’ve met her, to see how similar they both were and see that part of her life.

She didn’t need any prompting to understand what he was talking about. “She was,” Nami agreed, voice filled with warmth. “She’d have loved you -little to the left-” and he took a step to the left, “-she would’ve seen your smooth talk coming a mile away, mind you, but she’d have found it amusing.”

“Like Mother like daughter,” he quipped, squeezing her calf teasingly. Nami gave a snort above him and muttered something he didn’t catch, but continued, “I’d have loved to cook with her.”

“She never would’ve let you leave.”

“I have no complaints about that.” Her home sounded like it held so much warmth, Sanji thought to himself.

“What about you?” She asked, trying to sound confident but there was a waver in her voice. Sanji found it sweet, after all this time she didn’t want to bring up that part of his life. He didn’t mind, especially with her.

“Well, Zeff you’ll win over easily. He tries to deny it, but he has a soft spot for women too. He’ll just spend his time trying to embarrass me instead.” The day would come, he knew it, but for now he was safe. “I don’t remember a great deal of my Mum; I was too young. But I have no doubt that she would’ve loved you too. She was kind like you.”

“See, it’s that smooth talk that would’ve won you brownie points.”

“Even with you?”

“How do you think we got here?”

He couldn’t see her, but he knew she had that smart look on her face that he adored, and he rested his head back on her stomach. If she hadn’t been on his shoulders right now, he definitely would’ve pulled her into a hug.

“Okay, I’m done.” Her hands were back in his hair, shears stowed away in her pocket.

In a similar fashion to convincing her to get on his shoulders, it also took some persuasion on how to get her back down. They went back and forth, until Nami finally agreed (“If you drop me” “Never, Nami-san”) and then she was sliding over his one shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck, and falling into his outstretched arms. To his credit, he stood solid.

“Reminds you of old times, huh?” He cheeked, beaming down at her in his arms.

“At least I didn’t have to fall through the air this time.”

He let her down onto her feet and he expected her to move away, onto the next task but she didn’t move. Instead, her hands dusted over his shoulders, trying to take off any soil that had transferred from her dungarees.

“It’s been a while since you’ve worn this shirt. I like it.” Her hands smoothed across his shoulders, feeling the texture of his orange pinstripe shirt and the way it fit him snugly. He’d filled out in the crew’s two-year gap, so where it used to fit loosely, it sat tighter across his shoulders. He would throw it away, because really, he knew he was pushing his luck getting into it, but when she reacted like that, he was more tempted to never take it off.

“I like your dungarees,” he said softly, his hand fingered the denim straps as hers rested at his waist. There were dirt stains littered across them, but there was something quite charming about that. Although that might just be because of the person wearing them more than anything.

His hand moved from the strap of her dungaree and swept an errant lock away from her neck, his hand filling the empty space, thumb soothing across her pale skin. The quiet, the rustling of the trees and their afternoon spent together all added to the atmosphere until it had them leaning in closer.

They’d done this so many times before that they read each other like a well-oiled machine. Her hands tightened on his waistcoat and he was going left as she went right until their lips met in the middle. It was slow, unhurried, like they had all the time in the world and really, they did. It felt like they did anyway as they embraced, with only the gentle breeze accompanying them on the upper deck.

They parted slowly, and in his case reluctantly, but the feeling soon passed when he opened his eyes to the sight before him. Nami looked truly relaxed, face nothing but content, half lidded eyes looking back at him and wind playing with her orange hair.

That soon changed when he leaned back into kiss her and was promptly denied. Gone was the serene expression, in its place were alluring, teasing eyes. The sudden shift would give anyone else whiplash, but Sanji knew what that look meant- it would only end well for him.

Her hand was on his tie, taking a step out of his embrace and promptly turning on her heel. She pulled him after her, which she didn’t really need to do because he was glued to her back in an instead, but he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t a turn on.

They didn’t go very far, only walking around the trees to occupy the gap between the trees and the main mast. In all honestly, Sanji had never really taken notice of it before, but he was glad for its existence when she pressed him up against the mast and heavily leaned into him. His body pinned between it and hers.

It was intimate and if anybody wondered up there, they’d be hard to spot. She positioned herself between his legs, something he more than encouraged as he made more space for her there.

If Sanji thought she looked breath-taking before, it was nothing compared to the angelic beauty before him now. The sun filtering through the trees casted her in a golden halo and her hair looked like molten gold, oozing around her, and making her look otherworldly. She was surrounded by orange blossoms and it was the perfect backdrop to encapsulate her, she belonged there.

Sanji wanted to burn the moment into his brain but Nami had other ideas.

Their next kiss was anything but slow, it was full of purpose. It was the kind of kiss they usually shared in private, not for someone to stumble upon by accident, but he definitely wasn’t going to complain. He matched her enthusiasm, lips sliding against each other’s and his hands found themselves in the back pocket of her dungarees as hers burrowed themselves into his hair.

“Good spot, right?” She murmured, not waiting for a response before reconnecting their lips.

If he’d had the chance the response, he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to actually verbalize his agreement. He was dazed, head spinning, trying to keep up, and although they’d done this a million times before and more, he didn’t think he’d ever be over it.

Although they couldn’t start anything out here, his body didn’t seem to know that as he shifted, ready to roll his hips into hers and hopefully progress to the bedroom if they could make it there undetected, until he felt something press into thigh.

“Is that shears in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

It was a stupid joke, and it ruined the mood, but it was worth is when Nami broke into peeling laughter. Instead of throwing her head back, she burrowed into the crease of his neck, smothering her laughter so they didn’t attract attention. His arms left her back pockets, winding around her waist, pulling her into a hug instead. It wasn’t what he wanted, but they wind this down.

“That was such a stupid joke,” she said as she started to calm down.

“Yeah, it was,” he said fondly, still soaking in the warmth of her laugh.

“Although I suppose we should stop, otherwise you’ll be in a similar predicament and I still have things to do.”

“Me too.” He looked up at the sky and from the way it was starting to descend, he knew he should really start thinking about dinner. Except neither of them moved, but Nami did rest her hands more causally around his shoulders, matching his hold on her.

“Didn’t pick much fruit in the end, huh?” She joked, looking off to the side at the empty, abandoned basket.

He’d completely forgotten why he’d gone up there in the first place. “This is much better than what I’d expected.”

“Because you had your head between my legs?”

His eyes lit up and his grip tightened on her hips. “One of the perks, of course.”

“Maybe we could do something similar in my room later,” she suggested, in a provocative whisper, leaning closer.

This woman. She was everything he ever wanted. He didn’t give a verbal answer, he was pretty sure he couldn’t without wheezing a few times, but his enthusiastic nodding got the point across well enough, and it made her grin.

She rewarded him for his candour with a slow kiss that was over far too quickly for his liking.

“You free tomorrow? I can probably pencil you in for some fruit picking.”

“You’re too kind, Nami-san. Making time for lowly me in your busy schedule.”

“I’m nothing if not kind, Sanju-kun,” she agreed, winking at him. “Right, I really do have to go, see you after dinner?”

She was out of his arms and walking away before he could reply, grabbing the basket full of branches to sit at her hip as she went.

She knew the answer anyway- it was potato peeling night after all.

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

Urrrrrrrrrgh. I am so soft for these two, they’re so much fun to write being all soft and in love. This was so self-indulgent, and the story doubled in length because of it.

Usopp, Robin and Nami definitely get together to talk about plants/flowers.

I based my research on orange trees, so if there’s some differences, don’t come at me.

For some reason, my writers block has really exaggerated my imposters syndrome, so if this wasn’t your cup of tea, please keep it to yourself. Not sure I could handle it right now.

Also, just to tease because I’m definitely going to finish them, I had two other pieces planned for SaNami week before the writer’s block, they’ll be on the way.

As always, please excuse any errors.

Thanks for reading.

#SaNami #SanNami #sanjixnami #SaNa #opfanfic #opwriting #one piece #Nami #Sanji

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chemiste · 5 years ago

Text

Logan and The Diamonds

a/n: aaaaaah to be a rockstar and have harry styles fall in love with you

mah masterlist bitches

The crowed roared.

The stage shook with excitement.

You and your girls rose up about of the floor, posed and ready for battle. Standing in the center, you raised your arm up to the sky and yelled into the microphone, “I give you, Logan and the Diamonds!”

The beat dropped and you started the song.

Your band consisted of 5 girls, Bonni, Effy, Pearl, and Tonya, then yourself. Your band had been on the cover of the Rolling Stones, TIME magazine, Vogue, and many others. Logan was your stage name, you were the head of the band, lead singer and a cut-throat song-writer.

Roughy a year ago you would have been sitting in your cramp dorm room apartment, pouring out lyrics onto any spare piece of paper you had, now here you were, absolutely smashing it on your world tour with your Diamonds.

Bonni and Effy danced together down the middle aisle of the stage, Effy grabbed a flower crown thrown to the stage and slapped it onto her curly head of purple hair. Bonni laughed and started her verse of the song, throwing an arm around her bandmate and swayed.

Pearl and Tonya were on the right side of the main stage, grinding together. You stood on the left, running a hand through the crowd that was desperate for a simple taste of you and your girls.

Your band was unique in a way not seen for a while. You never wore the same outfit, only coordinating colors, each time different for each performance.

Tonight was sliver, Bonni had on sliver high-waisted pants and a matching crop top. Effy wore a mini romper, sliver sequins shaking with her every move. Pearl had on sliver eyeshadow and Tonya wore a sliver skirt. You went with a biker jacket, sliver studs engulfed your shoulders and back. Your black jeans were tight against your legs and honestly, you looked fucking hot. You felt it too.

You and your girls were on fire.

Harry thought so too.

He’d heard of your band a few months ago when he heard Mitch and Sarah jamming out to your song, Devil in the Daylight, during a break at rehearsal.

After that, his curiosity kept him circling back to your band’s Instagram, keeping up with any news that popped up. Finally, after a few months, he snatched some pit tickets for one of your band’s shows. Sarah and Mitch attended with him as well, and were now laughing and singing to their hearts content, crammed up to the front of the stage.

The song ended and applause followed, the girls moved to different spots on the long runway, waving to screaming fans.

Effy spoke up, “Alight right everyone, you know the drill! Every show we do a surprise cover of a song, I wanna see how fast you can figure this one out.”

Bonni walked along the left side of the runway, flipping a long dark braid over her shoulder. “This song is from one of the 2015s most iconic bands,” she said.

Tonya continued, “If most of you are over 15 and haven’t been living under a rock, you deficiently know the band—“ “Maybe even have a favorite,” Pearl added on.

“We all do,” you said, smirking out to the crowd as the yelled answers.

Sarah and Mitch went through bands with each other as Harry watched you and your bandmates scan the crowd. Harry liked your look, it reminded him of a metal head and the aura you gave off was just a confidence that made him want to be with you or even just be you.

H looked around and took a moment to realize he wasn’t the only one.

People yelled out random bands.

“Mumford and Sons!”

“Fallout Boy!”

“Fifth Harmony!”

“Maroon 5!”

Harry chuckled before throwing all caution to the wind and yelled, “One Direction!”

You head snapped to the area he was in, trying to see who’d said the name.

“Well, my diamonds, looks like we have a winner! 3, 2, 1 lets go!”

The girls lined up in specific poses as the music started, the crowd roared with excitement finally knowing the song.

You started,

I've got fire for a heart

I'm not scared of the dark

You've never seen it look so easy

I got a river for a soul

And baby, you're a boat

Baby, you're my only reason

Harry’s jaw dropped, as Pearl sang Louis’ part, his eyes stayed trained on you. Your body moved with the song, throwing your head back and swaying to the beat.

All my life

You stood by me

When no one else was ever behind me

All these lights

They can't blind me

With your love, nobody can drag me down

You danced to your girl’s singing, happy to be on stage doing the thing you loved most.

All my life

You stood by me

When no one else was ever behind me

All these lights

They can't blind me

With your love, nobody can drag me down

Harry watched, absolutely amazed by how you just dominated the song, no hesitation. You smirked as you ran a hand through the screaming crowd. Glancing over, you watched as Effy pretended to twerk on Tonya who was laughing hysterically.

I got a fire for a heart

I'm not scared of the dark

You've never seen it look so easy

I got a river for a soul

And baby, you're a boat

Baby, you're my only reason

Bonni sang Niall’s part, walking over to where you stood with a bit of swagger, possibly imitated the man she was singing for.

You flipped your hair dramatically and leaned an arm on her shoulder while sticking out her tongue. Harry’s eyes stayed trained on your body as you waltzed down the stage, singing into your microphone.

If I didn't have you there would be nothing left (nothing left)

The shell of a man who could never be his best (be his best)

If I didn't have you, I'd never see the sun (see the sun)

You taught me how to be someone

Yeah

The rest of the girls joined you at the edge of the tongue of the stage, basically within feet of Harry and co. Sarah was freaking out, shaking Mitch’s arm with an enthusiasm H hadn’t seen since tour.

All my life

You stood by me

When no one else was ever behind me

All these lights

They can't blind me

With your love nobody can drag me down

Nobody, nobody

Nobody can drag me down

Nobody, nobody

Nobody can drag me

All my life

You stood by me

When no one else was ever behind me

All these lights

They can't blind me

With your love nobody can drag me down

The Diamonds had now each taken a spot along the aisle, Bonni closest to the main stage, then Effy, Pearl, Bonni, and right at the front, you. The former band boy’s breath caught in his throat as he realized what was about to happen.

Nobody, nobody

Nobody can drag me down (down)

Nobody, nobody

Nobody can drag me (down)

Mitch turned to Harry, “Is she about to—“ He nodded, not able to use words.

Nobody, nobody

Here comes the moment of truth.

“Nobody can drag me dooooooowwwnnnn!”

Holy shit.

She was nailing it.

Nobody, nobody

Like a true lead singer, you took few steps forward and slid on your knees to the edge before signing your part again.

“Nobody can drag me dooooooowwwnnnn!”

Nobody, nobody

Slowly, you lifted your head looking up to the nosebleeds. Harry swore a halo from the stage lights lit up atop your head.

“Nobody can drag me down.”

The crowd was silent for a moment before erupting with applause in excitement and energy. The Diamonds and you rounded together for a big hug, relieved your surprise song did well.

Bonni waved to the crowd signaling them to die down, “I’m glad y’all liked it. Actually we all were really pumped for this song cause we all have a favorite in the band!”

Fans screamed, overjoyed from the news. Effy laughed, “Ya, we all got to sing as our favorites, can you believe that?!”

Oh.

I’m her favorite?

You cackled, picking up a lollipop that had been thrown to the stage and pulled the wrapper off, popping it into your mouth.

Harry’s pants got a little bit tighter at the sight.

“Yeah, you guys should’ve seen Logan in the recording studio, I think she about cried when we decided to this song.” Peal said.

Tonya was soon to jump in, “Exactly, this girl fought hard, no one was going to have Harry’s part except her.” H watched as you brought a hand up to cover your face.

“Oh come on guys, stop it…” You whined into the mic while hiding under your hand. Mitch bumped Harry’s shoulder, “Dude, I can’t believe Logan has the hots for you!”

Right as Mitch said that, Harry knew it was too late.

A few girls beside them looked over to the commotion that a drunken Mitch was making, and promptly freaked at the sight of Harry Styles. Harry groaned slightly as the two girls whispered about the rockstar next to them.

What he wasn’t excepting was what happened next.

“HEY LOGAN, HARRY’S OVER HERE!”

Harry’s jaw dropped open while Sarah bursted out in laughter, fans started talking, loudly, about the man in the crowd.

“Logan! Over here!”

“Harry Styles is at your show!”

“I think he liked your performance!”

“Logan! Logan!”

You were enjoying the lollipop, finishing it and putting the wrapper around the sticky part of the stick when you heard some commotion from the left side of the pit.

As the girls chatted to fans and each other, you walked closer to the bubbly whispers of the crowd calling your name.

Harry watched in partial horror as you crouched down on the stage, roughy 5 feet from where he was standing. He watched your face scrunch in confusion, listening to the conglomerated voices trying to tell you something.

You spoke softly into the mic as to not disturb your fellow bandmates from their conversion with the rest of the crowd.

“What’s wrong guys?”

A few hyper voices spoke up and Harry saw it on your face the moment you knew. You eyebrows rose ever so slightly and you followed the trail of pointing fingers to him.

When your eyes locked, you knew you were done for.

Fucking— oh my, Harry Styles just watched me basically sell my soul to his song.

And he knows about my crush, damn.

You face flushed with warmth as did Harry’s, a pink tint lighting his cheeks. Taking a deep breath, you raised the mic to your lips.

“Hi Harry.”

should i do a part 2?

masterlist

185 notes · View notes

rudysrings · 5 years ago

Note

Okay but if you’re still taking requests how bout one w Jeff wittek w the whole billboard thing w Todd and Natalie but instead it’s Jeff x y/n and David accidentally exposes their relationship and maybe have y/n be the drunk texted since Jeff doesn’t drink 👀 I hope that made sense lol.

A/N: I’m totally still taking requests :) This is one of the best ones I’ve seen yet… thanks for the awesome idea and hope you enjoy!

David had finally gotten his filming done for Monday’s vlog and was currently editing. As usual, it had involved several extreme events, some of which ended up with Jeff covered in crow feathers. Hence, Jeff was in the shower.

David noticed Jeff’s phone light up where he had tossed it on the couch. He noticed that the contact was not just Y/N, but it had a tongue and red heart emoji next to it. (As well as the squatting monkey looking creepily over to the side and a clown, but David figured that was a joke.) On some weird impulse, David tried out Nerf’s birthday and found that it worked as Jeff’s pass code. A wide, scheming grin spread across David’s face as he read what you had sent Jeff. In essence, you were asking him to pick you up, but the way you asked made it obvious that you were wasted.

Giggling, David took a screenshot and sent it to his own phone, deleting any evidence before Jeff came back. When Jeff picked up his phone, flopping down on the couch to scroll through it, David continued editing, looking for a reaction in his peripheral.

Jeff’s eyebrows furrowed, before he chuckled softly. He got up, grabbing his jacket and keys. He was halfway out the door, before he called out, as if it was an after thought, “Gotta go feed Nerf, David.”

Sure you do.

Jeff found you at the bar you often frequented on karaoke and trivia nights, today being the former. You were singing some god-awful rendition of a Katy Perry song, clearly drunk off your ass. Jeff smiled, walking over to the stage.

He gulped as he realized he could see up your miniskirt if he wanted to, not that he would. His eyes were hooded as he took in your halter top and the thin belt you wore over your hips. That fucking belt. You didn’t even need it. It rested on your bare skin, but you loved the way it made you feel all the same, not to mention the way it drove Jeff crazy. He wanted nothing more than to grab onto it, or even bite the sliver of skin it hid. Maybe you would let him another day.

Your eyes lit up with an elated smile as you saw your boyfriend of only a few weeks, pointing to him as you swayed your hips.

“ ‘Cause baby you’re a FIIIIIIIIIIIreewOOOOOork!”

Jeff was forced to watch, completely smitten, as you finished off the song with drunken splendor.

Once you were done, Jeff couldn’t help but notice the sleazy looks and overenthusiastic cheers and applause you were getting. It was karaoke night, for Chrissake, he thought.

Giggling, you let yourself fall into Jeff’s arms. He held you tightly, helping you down from the stage, struggling with his self-control as he took in the now familiar smell of your body wash and realized that your top was backless, his hand meeting the smooth skin of your back, making him shudder.

You sighed into his ear, furthering his lustful haze. “Hey, Jeffrey. You came…”

Jeff had his arm around your waist, and yours around him as he guided you to the exit. “ ‘Course I came, doll,” he whispered into your hair.

Once you got outside, he led you to his car. Jeff backed you up against the door. He looked at you for a moment, and it seemed to you that he was fighting an internal battle.

You eyed his lips, which were full and red from him biting them during your performance. “Can I kiss you?”

“I thought you’d never ask…” Finally, you heard him curse under his breath and bring his hand up to the back of your head, the other to your waist, pulling your lower half against him. His mouth covered yours completely, his tongue slipping into to stroke yours. You gasped at the sudden entrance, grabbing at his hair and tugging, eliciting sinful noises from him.

You slid your hands down his neck, gripping his collar and trying to bring him closer. His lips trailed away from yours, down to your collarbone where he forcefully placed kisses.

In the mean time, you softly kissed his neck, trying not to leave any marks, but couldn’t help yourself from nipping at him, soothing the abused skin with your tongue immediately after.

A catcall from a passing stranger brought the two of you to your senses and you pulled apart. Jeff’s hands remained at your hips and he leaned his forehead on yours, catching his breath.

“Wheree’d that come srom Jeffrey?” You slurred.

Jeff shook his head at your state, chuckling. “I hope I haven’t overstepped. It’s this fucking belt, doll.” He fingered it, and you let out a bubbly laugh at the ticklish feeling.

You’re phone dinged with a message and you pulled it out, seeing that it was David. “He wants help editing.”

Jeff shook his head. “You’re in no state to drive to David’s right now.” He sighed. “And I can’t drive you, because I just left him saying I had to feed Nerf.” He slumped his head onto your shoulder. “Fuck, I wish we could just tell everyone.”

You played with the hair at his neck and said, “We will. Just not right now?”

Out of respect for you, he nodded against your skin. “Just ignore the text and say you were asleep if he asks tomorrow. I’m driving you home.”

Jeff wouldn’t meet your eyes. You pulled his chin up and despite your intoxicated state, managed to say convincingly, “Dontchyu ever doubt how I feel about you, Jeffrey. I don’t wanna hide you. I wanna celebrate us when iss right, ya feel me?”

Jeff smiled, bending slightly to nudge your nose with his. “Fuckin’ right I feel you. You’re fuckin’ adorable.”

***

David really took Erin’s idea of putting the texts up on a billboard seriously. Within a couple of days, he had it up in Hollywood and was inviting everyone to come see it. He invited you and Jeff at the same time, along with Todd, Ilya, Jason, Zane, and Carly.

You were confused as to why you were in the middle of a random street of Hollywood, but with David, you never knew what to expect. You shot a look at Jeff, who had his arm around Todd, as if to say What the fuck is going on.

Jeff simply shrugged, biting his lip as he looked you up and down, telling you subtly that he really liked what you were wearing. You had on a romper that had really low sleeves, so your lacy underwear was clearly visible. You checked him out too, your arm looped in Carly’s, fluttering your eyelashes dramatically and smiling, fanning yourself subtly as joke, to show him how much you liked his current outfit, a sleeveless shirt and joggers. When David asked you guys to turn around, you turned while smiling, but your jaw immediately dropped as you saw a giant billboard with your smiling face on it, beside it, a series of texts. As you began to recognize the messages, your heart dropped to your stomach.

“No,” You whispered.

Y/N: Jeeeefffreyyyy

karaoke nigh

i miss you

i hate that i can’t show you how much

akchually maybe i can… if you come pick me up, then maybe i can show you just how much i miss you l8r 2nite?

or not… if u don’t want that then that’s cool 2 :)

i dranked too muhc

“You muthafucka…” Jeff was smiling for the camera but it didn’t reach his eyes. He pulled you into him, tucking you into his chest.

You pushed him away, accusation in your eyes. “Why would you send him that, Jeff?” You asked low, so that the others wouldn’t hear.

Jeff flinched. You always called him Jeffrey. Though he hated it at first, it had grown on him. He shook his head. “What? No…I didn’t…” He looked over at David. “How tha fuck d’you get that, ay?”

David giggled. “You were in the shower when you got the texts, bro!”

The others had gone quiet.

Feeling humiliated beyond belief, you began walking away from everyone, pulling your car keys out.

A/N: I think I might make a part two to this… sorry it got really steamy. I didn’t mean for it to happen but it just did i guess. Let me know if anyone would read a second part?

#vlog squad #david dobrik x reader #jeff wittek x reader #david dobrik #jeff wittek imagine #jeff wittek x reader imagine #vs #vlog squad x reader #vlog squad imagine

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ericsonclan · 4 years ago

Text

The Effortless Joy of Being with You

Summary: Doug and Sisi enjoy a simple afternoon of gaming and pie.

Word Count: 1789

Read on AO3:

Doug squatted in front of the oven, his eyes focused on the pie made visible thanks to the oven light. The juices from the boysenberries spilled out of the top of the crust and began to coat little sections of it. Any second now and the pie would be done. Doug’s eyes stayed glued to the oven while the faint tapping of the Switch could be heard in the other room along with the music of the video game. After a few seconds Sisi’s voice appeared as well.

“Come on, Zag, just you and me and all these underworld baddies. We got this! We can win!” Sisi cheered on the protagonist of the game as their fingers whacked against the buttons on the joycons.

Doug smiled; he was happy to hear that Sisi was having fun. His eyes wandered over and he debated on peeking his head in to watch Sisi play Hades. But he knew he would see Sisi soon enough, just as soon as this pie was done. That thought made Doug glance over and notice that the juices of the pie were about to slip off the crust and onto the oven.

“Shoot, shoot, shoot!” Doug jogged over and snatched up his bear oven mitts. He turned off the oven and gingerly took out the pie. After examining it for a moment then peeking in the oven Doug let out a small sigh of relief. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world if some of the pie ended up on the bottom of the oven but still it would’ve created smoke and been a pain to clean.

“Everything okay in there?” Sisi called out, sounding somewhat concerned.

“Yep! Everything is peachy, I was just worried about the pie.” Doug replied as he looked down at it. Small drizzles of the purple sauces slipped down the side of the pie, painting the golden brown crust. It was a bit messy looking but still Doug felt proud for making another successful pie.

“It smells delicious,” Sisi walked forward and wrapped their arms around Doug before surprising him with a kiss on the cheek. Doug felt his heart do a little flip at the sudden romantic gesture.

“Thanks, I think it’ll taste great!” Doug moved to hold onto Sisi’s arms but quickly saw that he still had the oven mitts on. “Oops, let me get these off and then we can head back to the living room.” He quickly worked to get off the oven mitts and make sure the oven was turned off while Sisi watched in silence. Doug was wearing one of his favorite shirts: a green t-shirt with a white polar bear with antlers in the center. It was one of many in Doug’s collection of unique shirts. That shirt along with his socks and the bear oven mitts made a warm smile appear on Sisi’s lips. He was such a dork, their dork, and they loved him for it.

“Okay, all set,” Doug moved forward, intertwining his fingers with Sisi’s. “The pie will need to cool for a little bit,”

“Sounds good to me. Now you can see my skills in action,” Sisi smiled as she led the way back into the living room. Her eyes glanced around, noticing the wall of masks that Doug had helped put up. Sisi’s eyes focused on two of her favorites in her collection.

The first was a black fox mask with red detailing around the eyes and within the ears as well as some extra marks of gold that added to the mask’s beauty. The other mask was also a fox except its primary color was white with red detailing that brought attention to the mask’s simple yet expertly done craftsmanship.

As Sisi’s eyes scanned the room looking at the setup with two TVs in the room and different cookbooks and mechanical books that filled the shelves, Doug’s focus was elsewhere. His eyes seemed glued to Sisi’s outfit, a simple waist level leather jacket that covered a plain black tee which led down to a green plaid skirt accented by a black belt. Sisi had always been so fashionable and every outfit that she wore always made Doug’s heartbeat quicken.

“Okay, Dougie, wanna sit beside me or on my lap?” Sisi smiled brightly as she sat wrapped in a blanket that covered her black tights.

Doug felt like words were escaping him as he struggled to speak for a moment. “I’ll take your lap,” He felt his face heat up at his own words as he walked over.

“Okay!” Sisi smiled and immediately wrapped her arms around Doug’s waist while her head rested on his shoulder. With a quick tap of a button she started up the game again.

She was currently in Asphodel battling her way against the Learnean Bone Hydra. Sisi expertly navigated through the attacks that the boss was trying to hit her with using the dash button. Wielding Aegis, Sisi made quick work of the different bone hydras that appeared while the boss was protected by a shield. She used the mighty shield to do strong attacks before running away and tossing it to get some last minute damage.

“Whoa! You’re doing great, Sisi!” Doug praised as his fingers brushed against Sisi’s arms. The praise made Sisi’s heart grow warm and she continued on.

“Thanks, I’ve dealt with this little shit enough times to know what to expect,” Sisi smirked, her eyes shining with determination to defeat this boss. Her fingers tapped against the buttons making Zagreus dash around, dealing a good amount of damage. The perks from Hermes were ones that Sisi always went for whenever they were available and she was glad she had them this time. A few times she had nearly gotten hit but luckily dodged it.

Finally she reached the last bit of the boss’ health bar and pressed down on the ZR button, making Zeus’ lighting rain down from the heavens and crush the bone hydra. Sisi let out a small victory sound as she shot her hands up in the air. “Take that! No one fucks with the son of Hades!” Sisi crowed and pushed the analog stick forward to get Zagreus to move to the next section of the underworld.

“You did amazing!” Doug moved his head back and stole a kiss from Sisi. Sisi paused for a second, clearly surprised by the kiss before a huge proud smile took over her lips. She immediately returned the kiss then brushed her nose against Doug’s. With newfound determination and her heart beating wildly, Sisi progressed forward into Elysium. Once there she immediately jumped into battle, using Aegis to mow down enemies. “Ha ha ha! No one can escape my wrath!” Sisi laughed as she hunted down the wandering souls of warriors that moments ago had turned their spears against her.

Doug stole a glance back at Sisi, his own smile growing. He always enjoyed how passionate Sisi got whenever she played a video game, especially with how calm and laidback Sisi was outside of the world of videogames. Doug snuggled up closer to his girlfriend and watched happily as Sisi continued to climb up through the underworld.

Soon, however, Sisi got distracted by the beauty of Elysium, the lush green plants that grew around and on top of the tiles and the beautiful white clouds surrounding the area.

“So pretty,” Sisi whispered and continued to get lost in the simple striking landscape of Elysium when suddenly an enemy attacked him. “Shit,” Sisi mumbled and tried to turn the tide of battle in his favor but it was too late. Quickly he became overwhelmed by the enemies and the final drops of his life bar slipped away, sending Zagreus all the way back down to the beginning. “Damn it,” Sisi groaned and let his head fall against the soft couch cushion.

“I think you did great,” Doug kissed one of Sisi’s palms which made Sisi’s heart flutter.

“Thanks. Guess I got distracted by Elysium… again,” Sisi took a deep breath then handed over the joycons. “Your turn,”

“Okay,” Doug took the controls and began to navigate Zagreus through the House of Hades, talking to the different residents there. After a few minutes of getting some upgrades he switched to Varatha, the eternal spear. Doug had always preferred this weapon with its long reach and the fact that you could throw it, piercing through enemies before calling it back. Doug made quick work of the first few levels of Tartarus. Sisi continued to give praise whenever he could along with small neck kisses that seemed more distracting than helpful. Doug’s laughter always made Sisi smile though so it was a win win for him and based on the quick hand squeezes or small romantic gestures Doug gave he was clearly happy too.

Soon Tartarus was complete and Doug moved onto Asphodel. As soon as he stepped foot inside Doug began to gush about the design and work that went into this game. Sisi listened happily as his boyfriend took the topic and ran with it, talking about which engine the company had used and how smoothly the game ran. Sisi always enjoyed Doug gushing about anything mechanical, finding the sparkle in his eyes and his smile beautiful.

Doug continued to share as Sisi cuddled up closer into the couch when suddenly an enemy got the upper hand on him. Soon Doug’s panic took over and all his plans seemed to disappear into the back of his mind until the enemy got the final fatal strike. “Argh, you...you... You dick!” Doug huffed as Zagreus emerged from the pool of blood and back into the House of Hades. “Pardon my French,” Doug quickly added, which made Sisi laugh.

“It's fine. If you wanna use stronger words to swear, you can,”

Doug shook his head. “No, I think I’ll stick with my words,” He placed the joycons down and got up. Immediately turning around, he held out his hand. “Pie time,”

“Pie time!” Sisi accepted Doug’s hand and got up, leading the way towards the kitchen. Once they had reached the kitchen Doug slipped his hand out of Sisi’s and began to prepare to serve the pie.

Sisi watched Doug for a moment and felt his heart settle into a calm happiness. Being with Doug always felt so effortless. It was nice, feeling this happy. With that thought bouncing around in his mind, Sisi walked forward. “Let me help,” He opened the cupboard and grabbed the small plates. Doug smiled appreciatively and began to place down the slices of pie. After a moment his eyes met Sisi’s and they shared the same thought. Being with each other felt right.

#twdg #twdg doug #twdg sisi #twdg douka #fanfic #ericson's diner au

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seaofthieves-glacialdragons · 3 years ago

Text

Legend of the Glacial Dragons Pilot: Prologue

Summary:

Years ago, Azura Icewind and her crew sailed the Sea of Thieves with pride. Now her daughter, Stella Icewind, wants to follow in her mother's footsteps as the next Captain Icewind. That is, if she can even make it to the Sea of Thieves in one piece...

Next Part: Here

11 years ago…

A flash of lightning tore through the dark clouded sky as thunder seemed to be constantly rumbling overhead. Combined with the howling wind, it was nearly impossible for the crew of the Icebreaker to hear their captain barking out orders. At the wheel was a middle-aged woman in an ice blue fur-lined coat with ice crystals seeming to emerge from the shoulders, matching boots and gloves and navy pants. She had long flowing auburn hair that reached past her waist and faded to an icy blue about halfway down, as if half of her hair was frozen, and tanned skin adorned with glowing blue markings that were occasionally visible through breaks between her gloves and along her neck. Bright almost glowing blue eyes pierced through the gloom as she struggled to keep her galleon steady in the battering winds. This woman is Azura Icewind, captain of the Glacial Dragons. “Skuggi, how much farther?” she yelled over the storm at a figure glad in purple robes, shaggy black hair tousled and drenched as grey eyes glanced up at his captain. “Should be dead ahead, captain!” he replied in a slight Icelandic accent. “Land ho!” A crewmate cried from the crow’s nest as the silhouette of an island appeared through the thick rainfall, a large peak piecing the thundering clouds. “Prepare to dock!” Azura yelled before staring intently at the island. It wasn’t marked on any of her navigator’s maps. ‘Dragon’s Truth’ Skuggi called it. Azura placed a hand over her chest where her heart would be as a faint blue glow shone through her coat. “I’ll see this through…for both of us…”

Meanwhile…

The sky was clear and starry as the waves calmly lapped at sandy shores. All was silent aside from the slight crunching of sand accompanied by the sound of wood carefully being dragged across it. That and the sound of a 10-year-old quietly grunting as she dragged what seemed to be a make-shift dinghy with a sail attached to it and a rock tied with rope, serving as an anchor or sorts. She let out a sigh as she finally got the boat near the water’s edge. Stella Icewind. A young girl with shoulder length, dark brown hair with frosted tips, ice blue eyes, and tanned, freckled skin. Clad in a raincoat, trousers and boots with a fake pirate hat on, she gazed out at the horizon with a determined expression. Just as she was about to push the boat into the water, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Stella let out a sigh of defeat as she turned around to face an elderly woman clad in a brown dress, that looked like it had been sewn and patched up over many years of use, who smiled sadly down at her. “Nana, I…you see…I gotta…” Stella tried to come up with an excuse but was shot down by the woman slowly shaking her head, “Stella, I know you want to follow your mother out into the Sea of Thieves but you’re still too young.”

“She needs me though…” Stella mumbled. “I’m sure your mother is willing to wait a few more years for your grand arrival.” Stella’s grandmother reassured, “But for now, try to enjoy your time on land. After all, you may start to miss it when you spend the majority of it on the water. Now off to bed. Even pirates need their sleep.”

“Ok…” Stella groaned as she glanced once more at the horizon before following her grandmother inside their cottage not far from the water’s edge.

Present Day…

A now 21-year-old Stella hammered diligently at a now-more-sea-worthy dinghy. Her hair was now chin-length and messy, still retaining the frost-white tips. She wore a white and light blue kimono-jacket with splits at the shoulders which revealed the dark blue shirt underneath, along with blue hakama pants tied with an ice-blue ribbon and blue sandals and white tights. A blue crystal necklace hung from her neck. She let out a content sigh as she placed her hammer down in the golden sands before stepping back to admire her handy work. The sky was a bright blue with the sun shining down; not a cloud in the sky. She took a quick swing from her waterskin before placing it into her rucksack and loading it onto the dinghy. As she did a quick once-over, she could hear footsteps approach from behind. “You can’t stop me this time, Nana.” Stella began without turning around, “Dead or not, I have to finish what she started.”

The day before, Nana had revealed to Stella that her mother had gone missing 11 years ago and was presumed dead. This was the final straw for her and was ready to begin her journey to the Sea of Thieves.

“I know. And I’m not here to stop you.” Stella’s grandmother sighed, “I should’ve told you sooner. I know I can’t hold you back any longer. I knew you’d eventually set out there whether I allowed it or not. All I ask is that you be careful. I lost a daughter. I don’t want to lose a granddaughter too.” Stella gripped the edge of her boat tightly before spinning around and hugging her grandmother, “You won’t. I promise.” Stella’s grandmother gently hugged her back before stepping away, “Now go. Enjoy your adventure and don’t look back.”

Stella nodded, fighting back tears before giving the dinghy one last push into the water. She carefully stepped into the boat and, taking a deep calming breath, she unveiled the sails, immediately catching the wind. As the dinghy took to the waves, Stella gave one last wave to her grandmother before facing the horizon. As she gripped the crystal around her neck, a lullaby that her mother sang to her – which she referred to as the anthem of the Sea of Thieves – came to her head as she began to quietly sing it to herself.

“Cloaked in folds of midnight waters, Side by side, we sons and daughters. We set forth for no king's orders, But we'll sail together. Hold fast, tides are turning. Flames roar, fires are burning. We'll all be returning, If we sail together…”

The Next Day...

“…ugh…”

Stella groggily woke up on an island, lying on her side. In front of her was a lit campfire and just a few feet beyond it was the shoreline with a partially wrecked sloop calmly floating on the crystal blue waters. Tropical plants and trees covered the island. Stella sat up, racking her brain as she tried to remember how she got there. That’s when she remembered. Her boat was attacked by a skeleton ship. The good news was that meant she was more than likely on the outskirts of the Sea of Thieves. The bad news was that her tiny dinghy didn’t stand a chance against the huge ship. Her boat took a direct hit from a cannonball, completely wrecking it. “Must’ve washed up here…great.” Stella sighed as she got to her feet.

“Indeed. You were quite fortunate to survive.”

Stella jumped, not expecting to hear another voice. Before she could question anything, a green glow emerged from the campfire and took on a humanoid shape. In front of her was the ghost of a portly man with a thick beard. He wore a standard pirates outfit – slightly torn – aside from a cloak on his back (along with three swords which Stella suspected was the reason for his ghostly form) and a wooden griffon claw as a pegleg. He also used a cane with a gaping skull on the top. “You look a little worse for wear, my friend. You must be on quite the journey.” He noted. “You could say that. Who are-?” Stella was cut off by the growling of a ferocious monster- oh wait, no, that was just her stomach. The ghost chuckled a bit, “I should eat something, if I were you. A full belly can do wonders for your spirits.”

“Ah, y-yeah…” Stella looked around and noticed a banana lying a couple of feet away from her. She picked up the yellow fruit, scoffing it down quickly. “There, you look better already. Maybe even strong enough to reach the Sea of Thieves.” The ghost smiled, “These days they call me The Pirate Lord, but you may call me Ramsey. Back when I discovered this place, I was just a bold explorer like you. I dreamt of finding uncharted waters filled with treasures and rife with danger, where every sunrise brought a new adventure…”

“Wait…is this…am I in the Sea of Thieves?” Stella’s eyes lit up with newfound hope. “Nearly. You’ve one last crossing to make.” Ramsey replied, “But it seems like you lost your gear upon washing up here.” Sure enough, Stella’s rucksack was nowhere to be seen. “Not to worry though, there’s some old weapons and equipment lying about here that you can use. If you’re up for a bit of work that is.” Stella gave a determined nod, “If it means I can get to the Sea of Thieves, I’ll do it.”

“Well now, I’d say you’re as ready as you’ll ever be for what’s ahead.” Ramsey said as Stella loaded the last of the equipment from the Pirate Lord’s chest into a bag, “Allow me to show you the path…” Ramsey motioned to the fog-covered horizon before slamming his cane into the ground, causing the mist to part and lanterns to alight in the distance. “The Shroud is beginning to part, but you have one more task before your journey continues.” Ramsey continued, “You may be ready to sail, but your ship still needs repairs. Go, and tend to her wounds! After that, I must bid you farewell.”

“Thanks for your help.” Stella smiled, “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have made it.”

“It’s no bother at all. Now go. Adventure awaits!”

Stella nodded before sprinting towards the old sloop. As Ramsey watched the young woman scuttle about the ship, fixing it up, he muttered to himself, “She’s most certainly your daughter, Azura. I wonder if she’ll live up to your legacy…?” With that, he disappeared in a puff of green smoke.

Stella huffed and puffed as she raised the anchor. Once it was secured, she grabbed the ropes for the sails and unravelled them before hurrying over to the wheel, guiding the ship away from the island and through the lanterns. As she sailed, she could see the wrecks of many ships, ranging from sloops to full galleons. As unnerving as it was, she tried not to let it get to her as she pushed on. She jumped as she saw what seemed like a giant shark-like creature briefly surface before diving under her ship. She remembered stories her mother told her as a child of creatures that lurked in the Sea of Thieves, with one of them being a sea beast called the Megalodon. She wagered that was one of them. Her thoughts were interrupted by a large splash on her portside. A skeleton ship. Stella was about to steer away in a panic when she realised that her new ship was outfitted with cannons. “Might as well get some practise with these things.” She muttered and she scrambled down the steps and grabbed some cannonballs from a nearby barrel, loading them into the cannons. Her first few shots missed completely but she managed to land one, knocking a skeleton overboard. Just as she was about to aim the next shot, tentacles shot up from the water beneath the skeletons’ ship and began to drag it down under the waves. “Kraken too, huh? Better them than me…” Stella mumbled, somewhat relieved the monstrous squid targeted the skeletons instead of her. She pushed the ship forward until she began to spot islands off in the distance as the fog began to close behind her. There was no turning back now. But Stella didn’t want to.

“I made it, mom.” Stella breathed, a few stray tears escaping, “I made it…”

“I’m home.”

Sea of Thieves: Legend of the Glacial Dragons

To Be Continued…

#sea of thieves #azura icewind #skuggi nott #stella icewind #ramsey singh #sot ramsey singh #the pirate lord #sot pirate lord #pilot

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kahans · 4 years ago

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(so the background behind this is basically that it’s the night before/of finnick’s 16th birthday and a week before snow held an auction to see who would get to sleep with him first. don’t ask me for that scene because it hasn’t been written yet)

title: victor’s crown book ii: lover’s war (title is a wip shhhh) status: incomplete word count: 1284 fandom: the hunger games characters: finnick odair, mags flanagan, random capitol ocs warnings: nonexplicit allusion to child prostitution other notes: don’t be expecting a whole lot from this lol it was not beta-ed and it was written in like a half hour

o-o-o-o

They come for him at midnight.

Finnick is lying on the couch with his head in Mags’ lap, doing his best to calm his unsettled nerves. He feels a little foolish, curled up next to his mentor like a small, frightened child, but he can’t bring himself to move. His proximity to Mags, the one person anchoring him to his composure in a storm of anxiety, is no longer a privilege. It is a necessity. Her hands, thin and lined with sinew, card through his hair. He tries to focus on the sensation of her fingertips against his scalp instead of the vicious whirlpool of trepidation stirring in his gut.

An hour earlier, Aurelia had come in bearing an armful of supplies to prepare Finnick for his big night. While she assembles her station of makeup, she gives Finnick a list of exercises to perform, for which he is grateful if only because it gives him something to do. He runs a couple of laps around his quarters. He does a few pushups. At Aurelia’s behest, he lugs a few weights up from the gymnasium and works with those until she tells him to stop. He isn’t quite sure what the point was if she wasn’t going to let him get in a full workout, but he suspects his first admirer won’t want to meet him smelling of and drenched in sweat.

While his flesh is still warm and his blood quick, Aurelia begins applying makeup with a swift but deliberate hand. She lines his eyes with a dark pencil and dusts his eyelids with brown. To Finnick’s dismay, she pinches his cheeks and instructs him to bite his lips. When he protests, she says, “I could apply lipstick instead,” and he hurries to comply.

Once his skin has been sufficiently prepared, she gives him an outfit to don: An elegant evening jacket dyed the deep blue-green hue of the sea hangs neatly over a crisp white dress shirt, accompanied by a pair of black pants. His shoes are equally shiny and also look brand new.

“Calliope sends her regards,” Aurelia says. Of all the outfits Calliope has stuffed him in in the past, this is certainly not the worst. Nor the best. Finnick wonders who ordered this made; surely this suit didn’t spring from her wild imagination.

His question is answered when Vesper arrives exactly at midnight. Unlike Aurelia, he is almost glowing with frenetic excitement, bouncing on the balls of his feet like a child who just won a prize. His expression crumbles when he spots Finnick curled up on the couch, suit rumpled, hair in disarray, eyes shadowed and hollow with worry and lack of sleep.

“What in the world are you doing?” he demands, scurrying over to where Finnick is sprawled. Mags’ hand moves from his head to his shoulder, innocuous to Vesper, but protective to Finnick.

“It’s late, Vesper,” Mags says coolly. Something about her countenance must warn Vesper that arguing could end very badly for him, so he rounds on Aurelia instead. “Why did you let him lie down?” He flaps a hand at Finnick. “Get up! Get up before your suit gets wrinkled!”

Finnick doesn’t obey immediately. He glances up at Mags, who looks down at him, expression ever unflappable but indubitably compassionate.

Head up, my boy, she reminds him, not with her voice but with her eyes. You are victor, and you wear the victor’s crown.

“There’s my beautiful grown up victor!” he crows at the sight of Finnick, gleaming and adorned like some kind of relic. They do not allow statues to be erected of anyone except notable Capitol figures in the districts, where their only legal objects of worship are Snow and the ideology his administration represents. But in the Capitol, Finnick has seen dozens, if not scores, of figurines and synthetic replicas of past victors, bronzed and painted and perfect, in every corner and cove of the city. “Aren’t you excited?”

It’s my birthday, he thinks somewhat dumbly. I’m sixteen years old. He should be home right now, celebrating with his family. His father should be letting him try his first taste of District 4′s prized champagne. His mother should be sewing on an official sailor’s patch onto his uniform to designate him as a full crew member of the fishing fleet. Perhaps she would make him the lovely fish-shaped cookies he once so loved, one for each year of his life.

“Well done, Aurelia,” Vesper says. “It’s just what Miss Poppywright wants, I’m sure. Is he ready? Have you gone over expectations with him?”

“Expectations?” Finnick echoes, at the same time as Aurelia says, “Of course.”

Vesper shoots Aurelia a scathing look, but her defiant expression remains unchanged. “He’s already frightened enough, Vesper. Why make him more nervous? He’ll figure things out when he gets there.”

“Yes, and have him be the laughing stock of the Capitol,” Vesper replies sarcastically. He turns and fixes Finnick with an appraising glare. “Finnick, it is your duty to make this night spectacular for Miss Poppywright, do you understand? No mistakes. Just pure charm from you and absolute enjoyment from Miss Poppywright.”

Mags makes a noise of protest in the back of her throat, half rising from her spot on the couch. “Vesper--”

“Margaret,” Vesper interjects, and Finnick coughs back a noise of surprise at the use of Mags’ full name. “I hope you remember that Finnick’s conduct tonight, and for every night after this, will reflect back on all of us.” He makes a little circle with his finger to illustrate his point.

It takes a moment for the implications of Vesper’s warning to sink in, but when they do they sit in Finnick’s gut like an anchor and do nothing to quell his mounting dread. Whatever he did tonight would have an effect on everyone from Aurelia to Mags to his loved ones back home.

A familiar sense of apprehension flutters in him now, of a weight and intensity he has not experienced in years. The last time he knew this kind of panic, he was playing for his life in an arena, where his every decision had been like dipping a single finger in surface of a still pool of water: Even though the initial point of contact was small, the ripples, the effect of the action, could still be clearly seen. From simple disquiet, alarm rises unbidden, a tidal wave gathering out to sea. He instinctively looks to Mags.

“It’s all right, Finnick,” she says, rising from the couch. She stands in front of him, and even though he’s been taller than her since before she became his mentor, he’s never felt smaller. “You’ll be all right. Just remember what Aurelia told you. Listen to what they have to say, and say what they want to hear. That’s all they want.”

Be who they want you to be, not who you really are. The advice offered from Finnick to a nervous tribute seemed to have been spoken a lifetime ago. Look at how much good it did him, a little voice in his head pipes up.

“It’s after midnight,” Vesper says, breaking Finnick’s reverie with a wave of his manicured hand. “It’s not like he’s going off to war or something. He’ll be back tomorrow.”

Mags swallows, inhaling a deep breath through her nose. “Go on,” she says softly. “I’ll see you soon.”

Though it’s almost painful to muster, Finnick manages to put on a confident smile. “Don’t worry about me, Mags,” he tells her. “These people can’t help but love me.”

With a goodbye wink to Aurelia and a half-hearted salute to Mags, he turns and follows Vesper out the door.

#thg #lit #mine

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