#nico loves weird ass people so its fine

[sunflowergraves]

[mixedkid-matchup]

you do not have to answer this!! I'm using you to confess my dubious feelings for the Percy Jackson series bc you also expressed like some weird feelings about it, and I kind of thought the series was untouchable bc of how much everyone I see fawns over it, and I have GOT to get this off my chest to someone who might get what I'm saying. But I have major issues with the writing/premise/series bc it's just feels so deeply colonized and it's bothered me since it FIRST came out and everyone in middle school and high school was reading it and teachers were assigning it. Like the whole premise for the Greek gods being in the US is that they follow Western "progress" and it completely disregards all the amazing things Indigenous did and our way of life, and also removes the importance of place-based culture for both Greek stories and Native peoples (like okay all the Greek stuff moved to the U.S. but wth happened to all our spiritual figures?? The story completelya cts like Native people weren't here and didn't have complex beliefs and ways of life connected to the land, and the gods were just free to take over here with no issues). As a mixed Indigenous kid it just rubs me wrong in all the worst ways and the academic systems love affair with Greek and Roman stuff and Rick Riordan's sheer popularity has been forcing this stuff in my face foreveeeerrrr 😭😭 I was surprised to see your tags about the fandom being weird before too tho since I don't interact with it, so I hope you don't mind this ask and just know I kinda feel the same way!! Ok thanks bye sorry for the rant.

BRO I HAVE HAD THIS RANT ON HAND FOR A LONG TIME ITS OKAY!!!!!!!!!

I THINK IF HEARD ABOUT THIS ACTUALLY. but you explained it way better. like when i first read percy jackson ok fine i was 11, i obviously caught onto the ableism and such but i did not catch onto this until i thought about it when i got older. you're super right. the whole thing about ww2 being caused by demigods was the weirdest shit ever i literally did not remember reading it until i read lightning thief again last year. why did hitler need to be child of hades. THAT IS QUITE LITERALLY HOW PERCY DESCRIBES HADES WHEN HE SEES HIM. LOOKING LIKE HITLER. then what you're saying how they move with the places that are the most progressive and basically take over..... like it's just ..... incredibly misplaced and insensitive.

but about the fandom being weird (its literally encouraged by riordan's book tbh), in heroes of olympus, hazel is a black girl from lousiana in the 1930s?? or 40s idk anyways i think she dies and then nico brings her back. whatever, everyone draws her lightskin and with orange hair, and super skinny, (which she's from louisana. shes darkskin and does not have "caramel" hair i hate white men sometimes.) and shes like 13 btw and in a relationship with frank whos like 16. weird as hell and everyone thinks theyre so sweet. and also rick cannot write meaningful young women. and especially not girls of color. like its WEIRD how piper is portrayed as some pick me girl she constantly feels the need to express shes not like the Aphrodite girls. and rick had to make it weird with aphrodite anyway by making them a whole stereotype of snobby boys and girls who love putting on makeup. they had drew, an asian girl & counselor of aphrodite, straight up mean to piper bc she likes jason. like for no other reason. drew only wants to participate and go on the quest because of jason. and other stereotypes like making leo, latine, be super flirty.

and lets really talk about how annoying annabeth was about the blondes are dumb stereotype because, girl we can talk about misogyny and people not letting you do things because of it, but lets also talk about how you are TWELVE, and the blonde stereotype is tired. i never liked annabeth, she was really tone deaf as someone whos half black. OH AND FRANK. they had this weird ass arc where they implied he was fat because of lack of confidence? like when he got confident he, lost weight... because of a blessing of mars? i dont even know.

like as i get older its more and more annoying to see it. i literally rolled my eyes when i saw rick talking about colorblind casting when people got mad about annabeth. he could of said anything else. how this could reconceptualize annabeth's arc around misogyny and now racism. and purposely alter her character to fit this new black annabeth. but no. people treat colorblind casting as a pinnacle of progressiveness.

[luvingsolace]

Will Solace hcs cause he SOLOS!!!! Stay mad haters

(Both in the demigods world and in a mortal!au)

Hes a bisexual icon

He was short as a child. And i mean. Shorter than the common child. I mean short SHORT. He wasnt known as Will Solace he was known as The Blond Smurf. Shortest in the class type of beat. Everyone thought that he was going to be like 5'7" MAX as an adult.

Got a massive grown spurt when he was like 14 and now hes like 6'1" (people didnt reconize him anymore. Someone started a rumor that some big ass giant took him and pulled him from his head and his feets and that was why he had become so tall. Everyone was terrified.)

He uses guns as his weapon of choice against monsters!! He sucks with close combat and finds the bow somehow boring. Plus! His granddad taught him how to shot when he was younger (Naomi wasnt that happy to see her 10yo with a gun) so he had a sort of emotial bond to that type of weapon.

He specifically asked the Hephaestus cabin to build him a pair of semi automatics and hes this 🤏🏻 close to give them a name and tug their bedsheets for nighttime

He has plague powers. STOP BEING COWARDS YOU ALL KNOW HE DOES!!

He never uses them tho because hes really ashamed of them

Hes a dog dad. By which i mean that he has not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4 but 5 dogs ☺️ One Golden Retriever (named Shiro) that was the Solaces family dog, one light weiner (Burrito) that was gifted to Will by a friend, two pitbulls (Mila and Bee) adopted from the dog shelter and lastly one mutt (sandy) personally saved by Will from an abusive home.

He loves dogs guys he truly does

Hes actually very good as sports! Hes especially great at Volleyball and Basketball, and in his High School hes part of the basketball team.

Hes very close with Leo & Clarisse they are literally bffs

Nico taught him italian swears and hes able to say "testa di cazzo" and "pezzo di merda" as fluently as a native speaker

When he was young he always dressed up as young Anakin

Once he got older he dressed up as Luke, Han and older Anakin

Hes like. VERY protective with people he loves. Not in an oppressive way tho

Hes one FINE mf and i mean it that man Is ANGELIC

He doesnt really see it tho

He decided he wanted to be a doctor when in 5th grade the school organized an obligatory first aid course for the kids. It was very basic but Will instantly fell in love.

He eats. A lot. Like he can eat 2 large pizzas alone and still ask for a dessert. His friends use him as a sort of trashcan because of this. "Oh you cant finish whats in your plate? Just give it to Will! He'll eat everything"

Han Solo was his bi awakening

He likes to bake! Not as much as he loves to eat tho

He surfs (ofc....) and try to make Nico learn it (spoiler: he sucks)

He has tattoos. People lets accept the truth. He does. Hes FULL of them. Big ones, little ones, dumb things, phrases, animals... Everything. He loves them.

He has a... Weird fashion sense. By this i mean its horrible. Yes i know. Its an ugly truth, but its the truth. He couldnt be that level of flawless...

Drew tries to help, she really does, but Will just cant seem to comprehend whats wrong with his fashion sense. Sandals with socks, different prints together, 9374928392 colors together seems all reasonable to him

His average body temperature Is around 37°/38° C. Didnt have much fun during covid times. (Gonna post about this specific hc in the future hehe)

He loves tangled. He LOVES tangled.

Nico forces him to dress up as Rapunzel while he dresses up as Flynn Rider.

Hes also a big fan of Shrek. Watched those movies a ton of times

OK IM DONE IM DONE

[mismashedsocks]

 so riordan made a half assed lame excuse on his lazy/racist writing on piper yesterday and on top of that he made another one on samirah and i’m muslim so i am going to talk about it

damn i’m so sorry these people have been pushing you past your comfort zone about your wildly popular racist caricatures of minorities that have great impact on your young, impressionable target audience. while its fine that if he takes a break for his mental health he still needs to deal with these problems you can’t just take a break and hope they go away.

why does he think everyone is bullying him. if they talked in all caps, cussed at you, or didn’t stop bothering you, i’m sorry they’re just trying to get you to realize how racist your books are, which you keep refusing to believe. i can believe that a few of them were doing it for attention, but it couldn’t be the majority. and my god, god forbid people want you to write your books the way you preferred, without racist stereotypes. 🙈

you can set your boundaries but you keep ignoring the people, you don’t listen. like you put yourself out there as a writer you are open to criticism

why does he keep doing this to seem like the good guy. you give excuses and don’t do anything and just say that its up to you, you can think whatever you want 🥰🥰. like its such an obvious excuse not to take any action.

i’m sorry but no matter how many muslims you’ve interacted with you haven’t gotten the full experience and last time i checked teachers aren’t the kids best friends soo uhm. anyways the rest of it is just him telling his experience with muslimah students so its just there.

so uhm you just said your students ‘unwillingly’ become an ambassador to everyone she knew’. and then you went to talk to them about islam to make sure you were TEACHING THEM YOUR SOURCE MATERIAL CORRECTLY. i’m sorry imagine. these are kids not some scholars you go to consult. there are so many muslims all over the internet and youtube sharing their experiences for you to access on how to ‘represent their experience’ correctly. you’re the teacher here. picture this:as a muslilm, i teach at a public school and while teaching about Christianity in class, no i would double check or some dumb shit with the students. like educate yourself i’m sorry. anyways apparently he blames his mistakes on himself then goes on to deny he ever made any mistakes i can’t.

so this is a blatant lie. 99% of muslims i’ve met have never read all of sahih bukhari and sahih muslim. usually only scholars do that when they are studying islam for YEARS. and FIVE different interpretations of the quran on top of that. ok so sahih bukhari is 9 books that are over 300 pages each and sahih musilm is 7 volumes with also about 300+ pages each. and then the english versions of the quran are 600 pages. and he claims he read five of them. i’m so sorry but no he didn’t. he writes books so fast and he released mcga around the time toa was being released almost one book per year so he did not have a lot of spare time. the rest ig i can let slide. also and if he did do all of that why does he make so many mistakes in writing samirah. and even IF you accept his excuses reading ALL of this source material is great for teaching your class or whatever but not for writing a modern day muslim. you don’t need to lie to us rick ❤️

most of this is just describing what she’s like but his writing did also add in the model minority, smart kid trope. like no they don’t have to be a terrorist or a A+ student who is the best at everything. there is a middle ground to their personality. 

i actually used to love his rep in sam. that’s how i got into the series. i saw a hijabi girl on his website. i got excited and read all of his books. i loved piper, leo, hazel, percy, annabeth, sadie, carter, nico, everyone. now that i look back i was younger and didn’t see anything wrong with it back then. its great that he tried to portray minorities but he did it so badly and now is just denying the faults that his now older readers are trying to tell him.

hey, uhm didn’t you read all of sahih bukhari and muslim? hmm i didn’t think so. anyways the way he dealt with it honestly wasn’t that bad. but the whole ‘whoops’. like why does he keep portraying himself as the innocent old white man just trying his best.

honestly how he wrote samirah as a hijabi was the dumbest thing i’ve ever read. its is totally fine if she wasn’t hijabi, many muslim girls aren’t, and that is their choice. but he decided to make her like a weird middle ground. it was so lazy and inconsistent. in the first book she says she wears it when she needs to, like in situations like going to the masjid. this was fine, since many muslim girls do that. then in the next books she wears it all the time except when she’s in valhalla for some reason. hijabi girls take of their scarves when they’re at home or with family, but making her claim the entirety of vallhalla as her family. that was just demeaning and stupid to me. it takes away its value. and i fucking hated that last sentence. for hijabis, their hijab is important and not a toy or weapon or a MAGIC ITEM. and then on top of that she would have to take it of to hide. he could’ve made it anything else. her hijab isn’t some token item istg.

i love how he admits that they are a big problem and abusive and usually engage with child marriages. i’m relatively he doesn’t understand what the people even meant by it. the practice is a problem that isn’t supposed to be seen in a nice light. the only possible way it could be slightly ok is that if ADULTS agree they 100% do not want to choose who they want to get married to and let their parents choose, and both sides agree. samirah was a child and he decided to make her wedding life decided since the age of 12. and it was ok because amir was conventionally attractive and she loved him. WHAT IF SHE DIDNT. this literally is a dangerous arranged marriage. and arranged marriages are not ok, and mostly perpetuated by victims of it who will end up passing it down their family lines. my parents got an arranged marriage and I HAVE NEVER SEEN THEM DISPLAY ANY SIGNS OF AFFECTION. arranged marriages are not a trope that your can turn around to be a quirky personality trait for your characters.

i’m sorry that’s not how arranged marriages work. most likely if she said something her grandparents would have shut her done and continued with the marriage, as that is what you usually happens. do not portray the small amount of consented, ‘happy’ arranged marriages as the majority. it is a huge problem that many desi/middle eastern cultures are trying to erase. even on top of that he writes situations where she’s going to be in trouble for acting up and ‘jeopardizing the marriage agreement’ and that her grandparents think she’s ‘lucky that she could get the fadlan family to agree to marry their son to her’. these statements are often used in forced and dangerous marriages, so don’t try and justify your actions. if you wanted to show traditional customs in a positive light, there are so many richer parts of samirah’s culture you could’ve focused on and you chose arranged marriage. 😻 all you’ve done is given parents and authority figures a westernized resource to justify arranged and forced marriages, especially with the minimal explanation on how the marriage isn’t forced in the actual books. and yes, your books do condone child marriage samirah is clearly deemed into this marriage ever since the young age of 12. she lived her life knowing she would marry amir. no one has only one crush throughout their life. imagine how she would’ve grown up. sorry you only consider opinions that align with those in you mind.

i’m going to be honest i did like that one scene it was written nicely and accurately but the explanation he gives just ruins the entire thing. the way he just if this strikes you as islamophobic, or samirah as a hurtful, uhm no explanation i just disagree 😽. the way you wrote her is a hurtful stereotype sorry you can’t see it.

oops, you did. too bad you don’t want to do anything about it.

why do you think people are painting you in a negative light, so many of your characters are written on hurtful and negative stereotypes. people aren’t painting it that way, you need to calm down w your ego and listen. dang i’m sorry your best is giving half-assed excuses and not actually doing anything. i’m even more sorry people are mad that a highly privileged author that has a lot of influence is done talking about his racist depictions of minorities in his books. 

dang must be lucky to take a break from the social media, imagine what all the minorities you wrote about have to go with everyday weather they are on social media or not. people aren’t bullying you this is valid criticism you refuse to listen to.

fuck you

obviously these are my opinions do not judge every muslim based on what i’ve said come to me if you have a problem with it

anyways support jewish, muslim, black, brown, asian, hispanic, indigenous, lgbtq+, disabled, and other minority authors and creators.

[diangeloyoyok]

my review on pjo movies

first up with have The Lighting Thief obviously

 Poseidon’s entrance lowkey kinda fire but high key weird

‘it’s been many years’ didn’t y’all just have that winter solstice party together ???

‘if your son if the thief i will send him to the pits of tartarus’ ouch that hurt ngl

logan lerman 🥺

he would’ve been such a good percy if they did the movies when he was younger IDC IDC IDC

i stan black grover and just grover overall

i wish we got to see my bitch nancy

sally and percy sallY AND PERCY SALLY AND PERCY SALLY AND PERCY

gabe to me is just *hmm* perfect in this movie, he’s not as mean in the movies but he’s still an asshole ehehehe

i love Chiron actor i think it’s very accurate

also wtf chiron is bros with the big three lols 😹

y’all know jenna davis?- that’s who the girl who plays ms dodd’s looks like

so they just gonna ignore him and tak ab him while he’s RIGJT. THERE.

‘This is a pen. This is a pen.’

‘Are you guys crazy? This is a pen man!’

the scene with gabe makes me uncomfy bc percy says in the book gabe never hits percy in front of sally but ok 😗✌️

leaving percy was the *mOST* difficult thing poseidon *the GOD of water* has ever done wow percy is that cool

‘You’re half donkey?!”

i am da wittlest minotaur 😳✨🙈

such a subtle entrance to the camp love it

why y’all give percy the pen before he supposed to be a badass and rip the horn off wjth his hands but ig

wait so in this dumbass movie percy doesn’t even do anything to get the horn goodbye

i’m still very pissed that they took the scene of annabeth sayjng ‘you drool when you sleep’ but it’s fine i’m NOT fine

why is no one wearing camp shirts 🤬

they may be wrong but i didnt know it was ‘brUnner’ not ‘brUNner’

it’s kinda cute how when percy first sees annabeth he’s like ‘ooouuu who’s that name now 😌😏”

brown haired blue eyed looking ass BITCH

‘A real horses ass’ laughed a LITTLE

so the poseidon cabin is just *THAT* open poor percy no privacy

oh wait wth they already know his daddy poseidon 🤨

like everyone just knew ????

when did percy get new clothes the fuck

why did everyone laugh and shake their heads when chiron introduced percy what whores

omg luke 🥺

i know everyone knows this but it’s *SOOOOOOOOO* unrealistic annabeth and luke aren’t on the same team. like i’m pretty sure in the first book annabeth said they had a permanent allies type thing with the hermes cabin

‘that’s a sword! that’s a sword’ aw baby luke why’d you have to be evil 🙁🤚

where the FUCK did that bitch tryna be annabae come from

she realky said ‘i love trees🌲☺️❤️’

why does annabeth act like clarisse during capture the flag

also the fuCK WHERE MY BABY CLARISSE

why are there like actual 30 yr olds at camp

luke was so excited when he saw percy get up he said ‘omg no way✨’

so suddenly percy just knows sword play 😀

and deFEATS ANNABETH WE ALL KNOW HE CANT EVEN DO THAT NOW

y’all red heads a bunch of babies

i already know it’s coming

shit no

i hate it

i hate it so much

already ew’d out

‘i definitely have strong feelings for you, i just haven’t decided if they’re positive or negative yet.’

‘well you let me know when you figure it out’

‘you’ll be the first’

why they just drinking nectar for fun?? like bruh you tryna die or sum

after that i can’t watch anymore tonight

it’s been like 3 weeks but let’s not talk about that

i’m not even gonna comment on the campfire scene anymore my god

i like how in movies everyone is like “omg the underworld so scary percy you can’t go that’s so dangerous you will DIE”

and in the books they’re like “yeah it’s dangerous but whateva you 12 yr olds have fun down there bring me a souvenir!!”

why does luke have?? video?? games?? in?? his?? cabin??

WAIT LIKE A WHOLE ASS TECHNOLOGY SETUP WHAT

why is luke the only one in his cabin like where’s the stolls and chris 😳

you mean to tell me luke broke into hermes house just for like funzies and to steal shit?

sounds like travis and connor but ok✨

what the fuck even is the whole pearl plot

i don’t even wanna talk about the medusa scene

percy has an ipod 🤡

“i’ve only been in the outside world a few times” did you fucking practice driving those few times or WHAT

if percy could actually heal people with water wowie imagine how useful

why did percy bring swimming trunks on a quest

can this brown haired bitch shut up already

sally never took gabes last name excuse you 🤣

ofc it’s fucking fox news giving us that bullshit info on sally

they in nashville wee-doggie 🤠

‘hey it’s your mom’ obviously dumbass she has eyes

so they hid in the potty room for like 5 hours? huh

yeah let’s jus facetime lukey real quick 🥰

silly boy percy

“how flipping awesome was that”

does percy even know he can bend water in the first book

that’s gonna be an unexplainable statue for the workers tmrw

lotus hotel baby

the only reason this movie is watchable

vegas be lookin kinda fresh i wannna go

i wanna stay at the lotus hotel this place looks sick asf

lotus flower treats yummy yum

here comes gaga 😮

why they laugjing so much

wonder if nico likes gaga

imagine like 10 yr old nico just straight vibing there

grover pulling out the dance movies yessir ��

“no❤️ percy don’t eat the flower”

why didn’t percy just like grab the flowers and throw them

OOOO KESHA WE LOVE TO SEE IT

TIKTOK ON THE CLOCK BUT THE PARTY DONT STOP NOW WOAHWOAHWOAH

i’m bored ✨

ooo skeletons

charon my queen 👑🥳

“we drowned in a bathtub, all three of us” 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

i wish that was in the movie

i wish a lot of things were in the movie hit that is high

we’re in the same boat in the very same boat

how do you get seasick in an elevator- BOAT?

the way to the underworld is over the styx it’s a river

i know, you show off chicks

sexist much? go make a splash

i’ll splash you

it’s like watching titian’s clash, they’ll kill each other it they’ll kiss if we’re lucky they’ll end up in an abyss

um

anyways✨

hades do be looking kinda cool tho

that’s a cool ring you got there hades

omg mommy sally 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

how did percy not notice the lightening bolt in the damn shield befORE???

“it’s luke shield he betrayed us”

damn she switched sides real fast

this phoney bitch why does she want power and a war sis go plant shit

i refuse to believe hades is abusive sorry sis you ain’t fooling me

god where’s Juniper when you need her

so no fight between percy and aries 🤡

instead we have lukey pukey

omh he’s the lightening thief i did not see that coming ong 😳

^^ me on twitter after it’s revealed on the percy jackson tv show

can this luke character chile

percy pulled a harry styles and said “i’m falling” 😔

i’m thE SON OF POSEIDON I NEVER ASKED TO BE BUT IM THE SON OF POSEIDON

“yeah, i think i am the son of poseidon”

okay 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

omG i goT bUtTerFliEs

how does s-dog jusy know how to get to olympus did y’all get freaky up there or

that’s actually kinda how i imagine olympus looking so

i guess

good job

maybe

what is this ant man why they so small

“i have no connection to poseidon”

p-dog looked kinda hurted 😳

as if zeus would ever compliment percy

has athena ever told annabeth *or any of her kids* i’m proud of you

“i need to speak with him” “just this once”

yet we got poseidon showing up once in awhile just to say hi

7 months? 😀

percy was 7 months old?

now i don’t remember much but i don’t think it was that long luv ❤️

“always”

i thought i was watching percy jackson not harry potter tf is up

sally and percy have my whole heart

g-man got his horns

chiron 🥺✨

missed my main hoe 😍

why are there so many fucking campers

there’s like 500

let’s take a chill pill shall we

annabeth and percy look like siblings in this

 incest 😳

they bouta fiGHTshe better have won

k well that’s it thank the gods 😘

i’ll be back in like 4 months to review sea of monsters i need a break of bullshit

OH ITS NOT OVER

it’s gabe

he pulled a demi

stone cold

stone cold

everyone will be happier without him

[flateshippingrates]

Share Them (With Everyone You Know)

Ship: Solangelo

Words: 1832

Ao3

There was a tender lull in conversation as they watched people pass their table, occasionally they commented on someone’s outfit or repeated a line from a fleeting conversation. The son of Hades was in his own world as he watched an older male walk by, dark hair and bright green eyes reflecting his phone screen. Will and Nico had been a couple for sometime now and it wasn’t as if your attraction to other people stopped when you started dating someone. In fact, it could be argued that this was a tale as old as time, especially when considering Helen going with Paris.

Of course, Nico would never leave Will for some stranger who made eye contact and gave him a half-assed peace sign before moving on. That being said though it wasn’t as if the blond didn’t notice the brush of ego, the small smile his boyfriend gave back, or the way dark eyes stared until the stranger was out of sight. He was, admittedly, good looking with his tall stature and fit frame but it wasn’t like Nico actually knew anything about him. The dreamy look on his face boiled something inside of Will until he gently yet aggressively kicked his boyfriend’s foot with his. “You’ll catch flies if you don’t shut your mouth.”

“Shut up.” Nico suddenly stood, gathering his worn jacket in his arms and gathering his dishes from the table. “We should head back anyway; your shift will be starting soon.”

Will followed his example, clasping their hands with a reassuring squeeze and stepped into a shadow. It had been hard to travel this way before but now it was preferred and how could the blond say no when he realized how good for the environment and their wallets it was. There was no danger in it since it was much more controlled than in the past; plus, Nico had worked so hard to learn the skill in the first place he didn’t want him to lose it.

They still had about an hour before his shift started so they sat on the Hades’ cabin patio, allowing for laziness to slip over them until, like some sort of idiot, Will said, “That guy kind of looked like Percy, didn’t he?”

If looks could kill, the blond would be a pile of dust from the harshest glare directed towards him. Nico inhaled sharply through his nose as he closed his eyes and leaned forward to place his head in his hands. “I love you, but you are so gods damn stupid. Do you want to take it back now or do you need to sit with it for a while?”

“Am I wrong?” Will poorly defended himself, so far from understanding the point that a map couldn’t help him.

“I think you should go,” Nico snapped, standing up for the second time today to end the conversation; there was force behind it. “Your shift will be starting soon anyway.”

“Neeks, c’mon, we’d both be damned fools if we didn’t admit to ourselves he looked like Percy and that you were totally checking him out!”

“Oh, I’m a fool now, am I?”

“When you don’t admi--”

“Is this really how you want to steer this conversation?”

Will was exasperated, slapping his hands against his thighs in defeat, and with one final huff muttered, “Fine, but, for the record, I don’t mind you looked at him. I was just saying it was weird how he--”

“Gods, just shut up and come inside,” Nico snapped with real warning behind his voice this time. It was best to drop it, even the blond could understand that, and silently followed into the cool air of the Hades’ cabin. The exit never seemed as welcoming as it did in times of trouble; he stayed in place though as his boyfriend shuffled to a bowl of fruit, squeezing some clementines to test their ripeness before dropping one into a brown bag. “Take your lunch and don’t be late,” he sneered, “I’ll just be here, thinking about how in love with Percy I still am. Oh, and I just put that instant coffee you like in your desk so you don’t have to keep running back and forth for it.”

“Thanks, I’ll be back tonight.” Will sighed and leaned down for a chaste kiss. “If you’re tired, try to walk around for a little bit before lying down; you’ve been getting too much sleep lately.”

“Yeah, yeah, go to work so I can write this sonnet about my love of dark hair and green eyes.” Then just like that Will was being shoved out the door aggressively enough to let him know he was definitely in trouble, even though he still thought he was right. The man did have dark hair and green eyes like Percy and it wasn’t like those features suddenly became unattractive just because they didn’t work out with Nico’s dark hair and brown eyes.

Perhaps it was better to just say he was wrong--which he wasn’t--and apologize to get through this argument faster? It wouldn’t be the first time he did something he didn’t want to for a subject change. Nico would see through that undoubtedly (he knew sincerity when he saw it) and this would be half-assed if he didn’t exactly figure out what was wrong. The thoughts were swirling around in his head as he wrapped burnt fingers, took temperatures, and listened to the gentle pounding of another’s heart.

It was tough to be Will.

When it was time to take his lunch break, he shut his office door for some peace and pulled out the clementine, along with other items. He peeled back its bitter layer, tossing it out the window so it could decompose, and broke apart the edible parts of the fruit. It was juicy, perfectly ripe, which was no surprise when it was picked with loving, experienced hands. To Will it seemed like all other clementines, he was no good at picking them apart, always forgot how they should feel in your hand, and just knew it was best to let Nico decide for him.

Even after lunch he could smell citrus on his fingers and remembered how it felt to dig his nails into its skin to expose something better. He even found himself wishing he had another one the more he thought about it. There was something about the way the taste lingered when he thought of Nico that made him want to go home. His eyes made acquaintance with his wristwatch that afternoon until, much to his delight, another Apollo camper offered to take the rest of his shift.

It wasn’t too late, barely past sundown, but he knew Nico would probably be lying in bed to decompress from their day. Emotions were overwhelming; depression and exhaustion were blurred when you suffered from bipolar2; when on a downward mood it was hard to find energy for more than one part of the day and even then that could be asking a lot. There was no begging for understanding though and while Will did comprehend from a medical and caring standpoint, he would never truly be able to relate in that way. It was not helpful to pretend he did.

He would tell his boyfriend what he loved about him often, but didn’t force him to believe it; when Nico was ready he would accept the compliment. It was not a personal attack to someone when your compliment wasn’t fully accepted, afterall. It could take a few days for the truth to dissolve into someone’s heart; they had all the time in the world.

Right now though, the Italian was lying in bed, sitting up when Will came in, and grumbled, “You’re home early.” His hair was flattened on one side from his pillow which he tried to fluff back to its original glory with his fingers.

“Yeah, I know,” Will agreed as he kicked off his worn down shoes. “Someone agreed to cover the rest of my shift… The fruit you picked was good; I liked it.”

“I know you did,” Nico replied, stretching his toes and back. It was time for dinner but they usually waited until most people cleared out to go. They were much older now and Will was placing some responsibility onto the next camper in line to be leader of the Apollo cabin (thankful to finally see someone have real guidance).

“Yeah, yeah… move over, my feet are killing me.” He was already halfway lying down by that point and in a blink of an eye was wrapping his arms around Nico’s waist.

“Do you think I don’t know what you like?” He shoved Will’s arm off him so he could scoot further down the bed and prop his head up with his hand; he wanted to face those blue eyes when they talked. Will was completely on his back, exposing his stomach to the other and folded his lips in a shy, nervous way. They stared at each other with tender understanding. They knew they needed to talk about what happened earlier.

“You smell like a clementine.” Will noted.

“I just had one a little bit ago.” Nico licked his lips at the memory; it really was just moments ago and he was sure if they kissed Will would benefit from the vitamins too.

“You’re good at picking them.” The son of Apollo mumbled as he closed his eyes. “They always look the same to me.”

There was a lull between them until Nico placed his hand on his boyfriend’s sun kissed skin. His narrow fingers tenderly held his face and pressed against soft lips; Will could smell the citrus. “You have to hold them to know the difference, tesoro.”

“Ah, I see…” Will sighed through his nose before continuing on with the realization, “You were always good at spotting the difference.”

“I can teach you how,” Nico muttered, pressing his thumb against the blond’s lower lip. He smiled when he felt the way the skin under him expanded when corners turned upward at the offer. Without opening his eyes, his boyfriend reached up to run his fingers through black hair and rubbed at the nape of his neck. Neither were sure how long they stayed like that, their bodies were so comfortable like that it was as if their hearts were always beating at the same time. Then, suddenly and at nothing at all, Will laughed and so did Nico, because it is a well known fact that if you place two violins in the same room and play a chord on one then the other will play the exact same note.

Their heads tilted until their foreheads touched and the blond whispered, “I only want to hold you.” And then, like he was in a fruit bowl, Nico gently squeezed the side of Will’s face, pushed their mouths together when all the bitterness was peeled away until at last there was only clementine.

[dmcdrabbles]

*slides you a nice, shiny red orb* 'ey fam you wanna fuck me up with something about the Reader being 100% totally-has-been-since-forever-in love with Nero, but dumb rowdy angel boy either doesn't see it or is with Kyrie?

I got this one SO long ago and it turned into The Mega Ficlet™ which is super exciting for me because even though it’s not that long, I’ve never written this much for a request before (or for most things lol). I think I just really like angst, even though I have much trouble expressing it (๑•́ ω •̀๑) I hope this sad enough lmfao

–

Pairings: Nero x Kyrie, onesided Nero x Male Reader

Summary:  Your best friend is getting married. Of course you’re happy for him. Why wouldn’t you be?

Word Count: 5,638

Warnings:  angst, recreational alcohol use, offscreen injury

——————————————————————————————

The summer after the Qlipoth was as hot as hell on Earth, the kind of summer that got everyone sluggish, running their daily routines at half-speed. Funny how so immediately after life-shattering disaster normalcy slides right back into place, as welcome as an old friend.

Three months have passed, and Redgrave was well into its repairs. Donations came pouring in from outside cities with the unspoken sentiment of “poor thing, but we would’ve done better”; benevolence with an undercurrent of superiority. Even the Devil May Cry crew- including Dante and his brother- had returned to something approaching ‘normal’, whatever that meant for people like them.

You, on the other hand- you had been benched for most of the past three months after a Behemoth had snapped your femur like a twig. Nico had offered to build you a new leg and seemed only mildly discouraged at your reminder that you didn’t plan to cut it off. It was the second big personal disaster of the year- the first being the Qlipoth roots pulverizing your apartment building, forcing you to move in with Nero and Kyrie. You hobbled around their place and felt like a goddamn burden most of the time. You practically begged the doctor to take your cast off.

Only three months gone and normal had slid back into place like one of Nico’s vinyls, spinning round and round and playing the same familiar tune. This one’s called ‘We’ll Be Fine’.

But disasters came in three for you, they always had.

“Okay, okay, slow down!” You yell, pressing your hands against your knees as you try to catch your breath. Ahead of you, Nero slows to a stop and whips around.

“Tired already, Y/N?” He taunts, laughing. “You’ve gotten soft since we left the Order.”

“I just got my cast off two days ago! I’m a normal amount of tired,” You pant, wiping sweat away from your forehead with both arms. Your right leg is throbbing with pain, but you try to keep your steps even. “You’re just too energetic.”

With the rubble cleared in Redgrave City and most of the populace trying to hide from the heat, most of the sidewalks were prime real estate for training. Whole long stretches for Nero to torture you back into shape with. Just like old times. He could always leave you in the dust, fucked-up leg or not.

“What’s got you so bouncy?” You manage, coughing into your wrist.

Nero’s face twists a little and he cups the back of his head, elbows up to the sky as he stretches. The tension in his face melts away as he contemplates, and you almost want to look away- there was just something so private about seeing him so unguarded. He carried the weight of all his stress in his knit brow and his tensed jaw; you haven’t seen him look this relaxed since before you left Fortuna.

“Hey, what’s that look for?” You ask, taking shaky steps to catch up to him. “You get some other new power I didn’t know about?”

“I wanted to talk to you about that,” Nero drops his arms, swings them a bit as you two start walking side by side. Nowadays it’s so obvious how much of a growth spurt he had- you can remember a time when Nero was so much shorter than you that the morning sun wouldn’t be shining behind his head like that. You have to squint just to look at him.

He rubs his nose, and you stiffen despite your exhaustion. Didn’t take a genius to know what that meant, just someone who knows him half as well as you do.

“About your new power?” You laugh, halfhearted. Weird how even emotional weight slows your footsteps these days. “Did you grow another arm or something?”

“Y/N,” He says, coming to a stop. You just keep walking, trying to keep the jaunt in your step. “I finally asked her.”

“Oh,”

“She said yes.” His voice is so soft.

Couldn’t have expected personal disaster number three to happen so fast. A chronic injury, chugging along with almost-ignorable pain just flaring up fast enough to floor you. Switch the vinyl, play another old song- this one’s called ‘Be Happy for Him’.

“Damn, Nero! Congrats!” You slap his shoulder, “You and Kyrie, getting married? Knew it had to happen eventually.”

A grin breaks out along Nero’s face, and he rubs his nose again. He wraps his arm around your side, yanking you up against his. Like this you barely have to use your bad leg and walking almost feels relaxing again. You’re so close you could tilt your head and rest it on his shoulder.

“We were hoping to have the wedding soon, maybe this month–”

“Why? Any pressing needs?” You joke, petting the air in front of you where a round belly would sit. Nero slaps your hand down.

“No!” He yelps, face red. “We just don’t know how long it’ll be before the next crisis, you know?”

That crease between his brows is back, eyes far off like he was still trying to see the future. Looking for some guarantee that they’d already suffered enough this year and could rest easy for once.

“I know.” You tell the sidewalk, as quietly as if its some kind of secret.

“We don’t exactly have a lot of people to invite, and we wanted something small.” He says, slowly. “About that…”

You round the corner together, finally reaching a part of the city with enough appeal for the people to brave the heat for. You two get more than your share of annoyed glances as passerby weave around the wide blockade you form with your entangled bodies. Nero barely seems to notice.  

“Y/N, you know how long we’ve known each other?”

“Iunno. Nine, ten years maybe?” You wrinkle your nose, thinking back. “All I remember is Credo bringing this little snot-nosed runt into training one day and saying that he was going to join us.”

“Runt?” Nero snorts, “I kicked your ass!”

“Only because you fought dirty!” You jab him in the side and he twists away from it, laughing. “Remember what Credo said when they pulled you off me?”

“'Holy Knights don’t start fistfights’?”

“God, so lame.” You shake your head, willing away the less cheery memories that latch themselves to your time in Fortuna. “So like, a decade. What about it?”

Nero pauses, and realization comes to you quickly. Is it entrapment if he’s got his arm hooked around your shoulders like that?

“You’re the closest friend I have, Y/N…”

Don’t ask this of me, you want to say. Instead you stare ahead, burning the memory of this street into your mind in third-person perspective. You wonder how many of the other people around you are feeling that chronic pain of heartache stabbing at them with every throb. It’s an invisible disease with no risk of mortality; the worst symptom is just a constant feeling of being the dumbest person you know.

“Will you be my best man at the wedding?”

“Really! ‘Will you be my best man’, he says.” You burst, laughing a bit. “You’re making this sound like another proposal! No need to be so formal!”

“You’re such a pain,” Nero grumbles, taking his arm off your shoulder and shoving you. An innocent passerby dodges you by an inch, tossing a dirty look over her shoulder at you. “Will you do it or not?”

“I,” You look at the ground, at the buildings, at the dozens of bystanders watching you squirm. “I think I’d make a pretty shitty best man. I don’t know anything about weddings, you know?”

“You’re not our wedding planner,” Nero protests, “Practically just a witness.”

“What if I don’t want to ‘witness’ you and Kyrie being all lovey-dovey as always?” You quip, trying to sound lighthearted.

“Please?” Nero grabs your hand, turning you around to face him. The two of you are taking up the entire sidewalk- you’re probably shoved once or six times, someone probably yelled at you- but it doesn’t even seem to matter. You stare at him, transfixed. You’re pretty sure you’ve never even heard him say ‘please’ before. “I want you there.”

God dammit. That’s not even fair.

“Okay.”

—

It’s three weeks before the wedding, and Nero’s picking out his tuxedo. You had feigned some horrified shock at the idea- you’d never seen someone force him into formal wear before, let alone seen him wear it willingly. You were half sure he asked you along just to spread the misery.

“If I knew the job meant giving you fashion tips, I would have charged you.” You grumble, shifting uncomfortably on the fitting area couch. Weird how they could spend so much money on interior decorating and still make the place so awful to stay in. Still, it was the only place that had managed not to get destroyed by the Qlipoth, so it wasn’t like you had many options.

“Right?” Nico drawled, foot kicking so fast it practically vibrates. She’s been on edge since the attendant confiscated her cigarettes. She sticks out against the artistic monochrome of the store like a tattooed sore thumb. She leans full on against you, the literal to your metaphor of leaning on her. It’s easier to tamp down the melodrama with her crowing in your ear every other minute. “Maybe the wedding should be trash bag themed. Kyrie would still look cute.”

“Oi, quiet out there!” Nero calls from the other side of the stall. “Nico, what’re you even doing here? You’re a bridesmaid!”

“Maid of Honor,” Nico corrected, “And you need all the fashion help you can get. Now are you coming out here, or what?”

The dressing room creaks open loudly, and Nero takes his first step out. If you didn’t know better, you’d say he looks almost…sheepish. You’ve never seen him look like that before, and it hits you with a sudden rush of wondering how many other sides of him you’ll never see.

At the beat of silence he spins around and looks at himself in the hallway mirror. He seems so much taller and broader in a suit- he’s nearly as big as Dante now and he looks it.

“Nero, you look…” You start hesitantly. The pause could last a second or an hour and you wouldn’t know any better- it’s unbearable. And punctuated with a loud slap as Nico smacks your thigh with her open palm, jolting you out of your seat as you wheel on her with wide eyes. It throbs in familiar pain again and you clutch it mindlessly.

“Damn, Nero! You ain’t look half bad when you’re cleaned up!” Nico locks eyes with you, a broad grin on her face. “You tell him, Y/N!”

“Right!” You blurt, following her lead. “Never would’ve guessed you’d look so good in a suit.”

Nero glances at you over his shoulder, smile softening his features back into that unfamiliar little boyish look. The wedding date’s barreling towards him and Kyrie faster than Nico in her van, but every day his face seems to hold that unguarded bliss for a little bit longer.

“Good thing, I don’t think Kyrie would have wanted me to get married in street clothes.” He turns back to face the mirror, tugging the hem of his suit again like he’s not used to jackets that fit right. “You don’t think the blue is too much?”

“It brings out your eyes.” You explain. You had picked it off the rack for him with that in mind. Nero’s eyes meet yours in the mirror for a moment, and you wonder if you can play off that softness in your voice for some sort of sentimentality.  

My best friend is getting married to the love of his life and I get to be there for every second of it. I’m so happy I could just die.

“Thanks. I guess this one’s probably it then, huh?” Nero looks down at the suit again, pinching it off his body to look at the fabric. It really is a good match, and you tuck away the little factoid that you’ve spent so much time staring into Nero’s eyes that you’ve memorized their lovely grey-blue.

“You don’t even wanna try the one I picked out?” Nico pouts. She pulls a half-smoked cigarette from her shirt pocket and sets it between her teeth. “Fine, fine, go on and change. We’ll see y'out front.”

Nico has the decency to wait for Nero to get back in the stall before she accosts you. She grabs your arm and yanks you up from your seat, dragging you around the corner and behind the racks of suits. These ones are so expensive you don’t have to worry about customers coming by. How clever. Her fingers are like daggers in your bicep when she spins you around.

“Nico? What the hell are you-”

“Okay, listen here.” She whispers, stabbing your chest with one of her little dagger fingers. Her cigarette stays surprisingly steady between her pursed lips. “I know what’s goin’ on with you-”

“There’s nothing going on with me,” You whisper back, slapping her finger down and rubbing your bruised pec. Your heart races under your palm.

“Hey, hey, shut it!” Her voice climbs until an attendant looks over, and she drops it back down into a conspiratorial whisper. “Trust me when I say I feel for you, but you can’t be doin’ none of that-” She clasps her hands together and flutters her eyelashes at you, then snaps back into a stern pout, “Around him, y'know?”

You open your mouth, then close it. Who cares. I’m already obvious.

“I’m not doing it on purpose.” You whisper, and Nico has to lean in even closer to hear you.

“Well of course you ain’t,” Nico slaps you in the arm, glancing around the corner to make sure Nero’s still in his changing stall. “Nobody’s looking that tragic on purpose.”

“Thanks.”

“Anytime. Listen,” Nico’s voice drops into a more serious tone, and somehow it makes you nervous. “I’m gonna help you out here. You work with me, and we’re gonna get out of this with minimal damage. It’s a goddamn miracle Nero ain’t already noticed the little crush you got on him, homewrecker.”

The relief drops back down into the pit it rose from. She might as well have slapped you, would’ve been just as funny and hurt less.

“I’m not a fucking hom-” The dressing room door’s creaking cuts you off, and Nico snaps away from you faster than you can finish your sentence. Nero whistles lowly as he turns the corner, suit folded over one arm and lifting the price tag.

“Damn, Y/N. You really know how to pick 'em. This suit’s the most expensive thing I’ll own.” He sighs and let the tag hang, looking up at you and Nico for a moment. He double takes the expensive suits around you, face pulling into a wince. “I am not trying any of those on.”

It’s two weeks before the wedding, and Nero is practicing old drills with you. You never would have thought he’d be the one to suggest it- back when you two were teenagers he hated those drills more than anyone else you knew. Not that it meant his form was ever sloppy; he just played fast and loose with the rules and his sparring never suffered for it. You, on the other hand, had found comfort in the repetition of the exercises; you would practice them over and over until they stuck in your head like ‘Be Happy For Him’.“I can’t believe you still remember all the steps,” Nero mumbled into his shirt, lifted to wipe the sweat off his forehead. He had shoved Red Queen tip-down into the dirt and you had to stifle the old habit of nagging him about it. No officers to get in trouble with anymore. “I did the drills a lot more than you did.” You snort, starting up the drill again from the top. It was nice to know your body could still make the motions. “Never saw the point in them. Nobody fights like,” Nero picks up Red Queen and copies the four steps of the starting drill, “You follow that pattern every time, you’re gonna get your ass kicked by the first person who notices it.”You roll your eyes. “That’s not what the drill is for, which you’d know if you listened to our instructors.” You switch up the first drill halfway, changing to the end part of the third drill then back to the top of the second. “It’s so you know how to respond to your opponent and always have something to fall back on. And for good blade control.”Nero stops your sword with his own, stepping up in front of you so you can see his skeptical look. “So you just go back to the old moves one way or another. But people and demons don’t exactly fight fair. What happens when you get something you don’t have a drill for?”“That’s what the control is for.” You push down Nero’s sword and straighten yourself back into your familiar sparring stance. “Wanna test it out?”“Thought you’d never ask.” Nero grins, spins Red Queen just to show off. “You gonna be good on that leg?”To answer you dash forward, sword flashing in a flurry of sweeps you already know Nero will dodge. Using unblunted weapons is a bad idea, especially at this speed, but you and Nero spend more time practicing with real blades than fake ones anyway. He recognizes the drill as expected and brings Red Queen down by his legs in anticipation of the final slash. You feint away at the last second, whipping your blade back and starting up a different drill; this one presses him to retreat back step by step.He doesn’t even try to attack. Maybe he can see the slight stumble in your bad leg, maybe he knows you’ve never favored your left so strongly before. You stop your drill halfway again and instead make a slash around his head so fast that he stumbles back afterward, a ‘what the hell?’ popping out of his mouth just as a tiny lock of his fringe falls to the floor. “Your cut was a little uneven,” You explain, mouth curling up into a half-smile. “Blade control.”Nero huffs and shrugs, ruffling the front of his hair for a moment and starting to turn away. At the last second, the dull side of Red Queen sweeps the back of your good knee and you crash to the ground with a yelp. Nero stabs Red Queen into the ground beside your head, plants one black boot next to it, and leans over you with a smirk. “Fighting dirty.”

—

It’s one week before the wedding, and you’re sitting at the kitchen table making wedding decorations. The original plan was just flowers scattered everywhere- Nero and Kyrie both loved them- but bouquets were too expensive for a Devil Hunter’s budget. So origami it was.

“Done.” Trish announced, dropping one last flawless stalk of paper leaves onto the table. You had been skeptical about Kyrie’s choice to enlist Trish and Lady with the decorations, but one glance at their work had you eating your words- they were damn good at this. “Do you need help with the roses?”

You exchanged a look with Nero, staring at each other and then the messes you two are making out of the paper. You laugh and slide over a stack of paper. “Yes, please.”

“So, Y/N, how are you holding up?” Lady asks after a moment of working in silence. Your eyes flick to Nico for a second and she raises her hands up defensively, like she expects you to attack her with some delicate handmade decorations.

“Uh,” You accidentally rip one of the petals you’re working on and you curse under your breath. “What do you mean?”

Lady looks between the two of you for a moment, mouth twisting into an amused half-smile. “Your leg?”

“Oh. It’s fine.” You flex your leg out as if to test it again. It responds with a resounding throb of pain. “Would be even better, if somebody didn’t decide to clothesline me with his sword.”

“Come on, I barely hit you.” Nero grumbles, waving away Lady’s dubious look without glancing up from his rose. He’s starting to get the hang of it.

“I figure after the ego bruises heal I can get started on finding a new place.” You continue, just as Kyrie walks in with the snacks for everyone. She stops short, mouth falling open in surprise just as Nero turns to you with an almost identical expression. It would be funny if it wasn’t directed at you.

“Y/N, I didn’t know you planned on moving out so soon!” Kyrie starts up again, placing food and drinks on the table as she watches you with a strangely worried look.

“Ah, well,” You take your drink and gulp it down to spare yourself some time. “After the wedding I thought it would be nice for you and Nero to have the place to yourselves.”

Nero pulls his mouth in a tight line. “We’re not gonna kick you out.”

“You don’t have to,” You say, awkwardly. “I just think it’s going to be awkward having an extra roommate around.” And I can’t pay my share of the rent if I can’t fight anymore.

“You’re always welcome with us,” Kyrie smiles gently, until Nico groans loudly and makes her jump.

“Aw, come on. Don’t make it weird for’im.” Nico crosses her arms, locking eyes with you and nodding just the slightest bit. “He’s just too nice to say he wants his own place again.”

Lady and Trish’s eyes ping-pong between the four of you, watching the argument unfolding with mild amusement. You drop your own gaze to the table to avoid locking eyes with anyone.

“Well, you can stay with us in the meantime,” Kyrie pipes in. “At least until you get back on your feet?”

“Nah,” Nico fills in for you again, “Because he’s gonna be stayin’ with me.”

—

It’s the night before the wedding, and Nero is sitting with you at the bar. He’s trying to salvage something more relaxed out of this bachelor’s party that he didn’t really want, and you’re doing your best to help. Dante’s plan to “show up at the bar and see what happens’ combined with the only guests being the groom, the uncle, the estranged father, and the lovesick best friend is turning about as well as could be hoped.

“He didn’t,” Nero sounded horrified, but a grin was stretched wide across his face.

“I’m serious!” You insisted, shouting over the music and the chatter all around you. You took another cautious glance all around- you hadn’t seen Dante for well over an hour, but you still felt the need to check. “He said ‘if we can’t take Nero to the strip club, we’re taking the strip club to him’. Word for word.”

“Noooo,” Nero moaned, his entire upper body melting onto the bar even as he shook with laughter. His grip stayed firm around his beer though- he learned well from the last one. “Stripper nuns, though? The hell does he think I’m into?”

“I was afraid to ask,” You take another gulp of your own drink, eyes falling closed to savor the way the alcohol seemed to turn even your anxiety into a pleasant blur.

“How the hell did you talk him out of it?” Nero asks the bar, blindly wiping the condensation off his beer glass.

“Told him he could bring stripper nuns to my bachelor party someday.” You lean your face on your hand, watching Nero’s back shake again. You were pretty sure he was giggling. “It’s hard being a martyr.”

“Martyr?” Nero turns his head, pillowing it on his forearm as he smiles at you. God, he’s so drunk. “You’re my guardian angel.”

“At your service,” You salute sarcastically. The conversation lulls and you rest your chin on your hand, glancing around the room. When you look back down at Nero, he’s still watching you. His smile has faded back into something thoughtful. “What?”

“You finished packing up this morning, right?” Nero mumbles, head bobbing slightly with his words.

“Yeah. Nico already picked up my stuff, so I’m staying with her tonight.” You tap your fingers against your glass. “She offered to start teaching me her gunsmithing too.”

At that, Nero sits back up. “Really? You gonna have to pay an apprenticeship fee or something?”

“Pff, no.” You stare at your glass. “But I’ll be joining her side of the business. For now, at least.”

Nero stares at you for a second, mouth open. “The hell? And you didn’t tell me?”

“Uh, sorry?” You twirl your cup, face twisting into a grimace. “I’m just testing it out for now.”

“Jeez. You’re leaving devil hunting and I’m getting married. What a year.” He sips his beer. “You excited?”

You look at Nero for a moment, not sure how to answer. How do you say ‘I’d rather it all stay the same forever’ without sounding as pathetic as you feel?

The bartender saves you, sliding up to offer refills. You accept, and she turns to Nero.

“I’m still working on it,” Nero sits up, drunk grin relaxing back into that soft expression he got so often lately. “We probably shouldn’t drink too much before tomorrow.”

“Special occasion?” The bartender asks, sliding your drink to you and picking up your old glass to clean it out. You take it in big gulps, a medicine for the upcoming repetitive conversation- you’ve heard people ask Nero about it so many times you can’t stand to be sober for it this time.

“Wedding.” Nero grins. The bartender whoops and tops off his beer.

“Finally some good news in this city. Everyone’s so damn depressing lately.” The bartender picks up a clean glass, clinks it against yours and Nero’s cups in turn. “Congrats, you two!”

The warmth in your stomach cools, then freezes. You fumble, exchange a glance with Nero. “Oh, I’m not–”

“He’s the best man,” Nero explains, red up to his ears. “I’m marrying someone else.”

“Oh,” The bartender says, sounding genuinely surprised. “Sorry, you were just looking at each other all puppy-eyed-”

“Where’s your bathroom?” You interrupt, and you must look queasy because she hands you a plastic bag from under the counter even as she points to the back corner. The second your bad leg takes your weight it crumples under you, and Nero’s arm shoots out to hold you up. You twist out of his grip.

“I’m good, I’m good-” You assure him as you stumble off, not caring who you bump into, breathing hard into the plastic bag. People sober enough to see the way you heave part way for you, clearing a decent path to the bathroom. You shove the door open as hard as you can. To your irritation, it doesn’t even make a peep. You scan the room- empty. You run into a stall. You fall to your knees in front of the toilet bowl.

And you let out a sob.

It echoes through the bathroom, multiplying until it almost feels as loud and as crushing as it feels. You grip the bowl and empty your tears into it, whole body curling into itself tighter and tighter like you can make yourself so small and weak that the pain will leave, satisfied. Every sob forces its way out of you violently. Let it out, you tell yourself sarcastically, the same way you would if you really had just vomited into the bowl like you were supposed to.

You don’t know how long you kneel there, only that by the time you finally roll onto your ass your knees are numb. You’re still crying but at least the roaring in your ears has died down enough for you to hear your phone vibrating against the tile. It must’ve fallen out of your pocket. You glance down, eager to shut it off, but it’s slid far into another stall and you practically have to crawl into it to pick the phone up. At least the gaps under the stalls are massive.

Two notifications- a text from Nero (‘you ok?’) and an incoming call. “NICO” flashes across the screen. Right. She was supposed to be picking you all up.

“Finally you answer!” Nico yells into the phone, and you wince away from it. “You know how many times I’ve been callin’ you, dummy?”

“Sorry,” You whisper into the phone. Another sob shakes you, and you cover your mouth. Too late.

“Hey, you doin’ okay?” Her voice is so much softer than usual and it makes another sob bubble up out of you.

“I’m so tired of this, Nico.” You whisper, voice taking on a harsh edge as you grit your teeth. “I can’t do this.”

“Hey, hey, hey lover-boy, it’s just one more day. One more day and this shit’s over and done with.”

“It’s not!” You hiss, drawing your knees up tight to your chest. When your voice comes out again, it’s rising louder and louder. For a second the music in the bar seems to climb with your voice, then it’s damped down again. “It’s not done tomorrow! Tomorrow is the ‘first day of the rest of their lives’,” Your voice breaks in a half-crazed, exhausted laugh, “And I’m so happy for them! Nobody in the world deserves it more than they do! I should know, I’ve been by their sides for almost a fucking decade!”

“Listen–”

“We don’t have the Order anymore, we don’t have Fortuna anymore, but they have each other and Nero is so, so happy with her.” You have to pause, overwhelmed by another breath-stealing shudder, “I would never want to hurt Nero. I want him to be happy.” Your whole body seems to relax at once, ragdolling you against the stall. “I just wish he could be happy with me.”

“Listen, lover-boy,” Nico starts, but you don’t hear the rest. Through the bottom gap in the stall you can see a pair of black boots, standing motionless just a few feet away. They turn slowly, and by the time you have the stall open he’s gone.

—

It’s the day of the wedding. They planned it for the evening, just a simple ceremony in a simple place with a small group of people and a simple reception. The details blur together like you’re still drunk. Nero hasn’t spoken to you since last night, and you can’t tell whether it’s deliberate. On their wedding day, grooms rarely have time to chat, let alone confront their best man on what they may or may not have heard the night before.

As planned, you and Nico walk the aisle together to your spots. You’re too slow for the music and you know it, but you’re not used to your new cane yet and you haven’t gotten the right rhythm to support your steps with it yet. Nico stayed up late crafting it for you, said you couldn’t just keep fucking up your bad leg by walking on it as much as you do. She’s working overtime to act like you’re just hungover instead of emptied out from an emotional breakdown, and when you can feel present again you’ll be sure to thank her. Until then you stand behind Nero, face schooled into a smile.

How far back would you have to go to save yourself from this feeling? The moment you accepted your role as best man? The moment Nero told you he was getting married? Your choice to follow them after the crisis in Fortuna? The day you and Nero were sworn into The Order? The day you met him?

How many years would you erase to stop yourself from being here this day, this time, standing at Nero’s side and knowing the fact it was a place no longer reserved for you?

Had it ever been?

Nero looks back at you over his shoulder, brow creased up in that soft expression that has gotten so familiar over this past month. Not a sign of fear or regret. It was the face he made when those butterflies fluttered in his stomach, when he told you about being with Kyrie, about the future he wanted together with her. A face that said he couldn’t wait for the future.

But his eyes are sad. And you have to wonder what that means.

He turns as the music started for her walk down the aisle. So beautiful in white, the fabric of her veil fluttering behind her almost reminiscent of Nero’s wings. She glows in the sunlight. The smile on her face crumples into an overwhelmed grin as she looks up the aisle to her groom and his best man, both of whom stood there with faces wet with tears.

As Kyrie and Nero step into each other’s spaces they bubble off the world around them. No pretenses between them, no expectations, just hands meeting and a whisper under Nero’s breath of her name, spoken like the most intimate word in the world.

And you stand there privy to it, like a voyeur to joy that was never meant for you or your ears.

Tonight, tomorrow, a week from now, a year, you can rebuild yourself into something that you hate a little less. You reassemble yourself just like Redgrave City has, piece by piece. You can play that familiar tune “We’ll Be Fine”, because you will be.

But for today? Today you witness their first kiss as husband and wife, and you stumble a little when you let go of your cane to applaud.

[spirit-of-the-void]

Ebony and Ivory (V x Reader Fanfic) Chapter Two

Author’s Notes: Holy crap, you guys are so kind! Im glad you all are enjoying this story so far! Just be warned, I’m kind of changing the timeline to days instead of hours in this. So they have time to rest and do shit. Its important to the plot ;)

Chapter 2

Upon entering the van, you realized right away that it was in fact a mobile home of sorts. On one end rested a leather couch, the area sized to be a small living space. It smelled of cigarettes and metal, yet also with a slight hint of something unmistakably feminine. A perfume or something. It felt cozy, albeit a bit messy. At that moment it was also pretty cramped. Nero moved to the front to sit by Nico while they discussed their course of action, V taking up a chair behind the driver's seat at a small table. His bird found its perch on an old jukebox off to the side, still looking pretty ruffled from his argument earlier. Did the bird and cat have names? You wanted to ask, but mister pretty boy goth was engaged in speaking to the other two about their plan of attack.

The panther settled down near V’s feet, still close enough to touch. You stared back at their piercing red eyes with silent longing. It looked so soft, and you were going stir crazy while waiting for the others to remember you were there. Gathering your courage and accepting the loss of an appendage, you slid to the floor and sat cross-legged, watching the creature’s pelt ripple warily now that you were closer. Upon further inspection, you realized the cat was a dark blue as well, although much more subtle. It growled lightly at you, ears flicking when kept looking at it hesitantly.  

V was still talking to Nero, discussing the Qlipoth roots they had to destroy. You already had the gist of what needed to be done, so you didn’t really have to listen in. You had always been easily distracted—how you had survived this long with a success rate that high you would never begin to understand. You came here to fix a problem and instead you were trying to win over a big cat, one that looked ready to bite you. You wouldn’t say you were stupid per se, but impulse control was definitely not at the top of your list of skills. Your emotions and desires often got the better of you, that was something very apparent even when you were just a human.

While the others continued to talk, you quietly summoned your Void power, murmuring a quiet incantation as you centered the ability on your palm.  

“From the Void into being.”

From that point energy glowed and weaved, creating the organic object you imagined. One of your many abilities, it was meant to be used when you had zero access to food. With the power you had, you could create something from the nothingness of the Void. That something usually just organic material like meats, fruits. If you absorbed something from a world you could easily replicate it. After going to so many worlds there were hundreds of things you could make, though the energy it took to do that depending on the item was too taxing. And it was only organic materials. Only medicines made from organic plants, only food and things of that nature. And here you were, expending energy to create fresh, raw red meat for this panther.  

Responsible, thy name is Y/N.

After you were finished, it occurred to you that the three had gone quiet. You blinked, and turned to see all of them staring at you. V looking curious and lightly bemused, the other two outright shocked.

“...Uh.” You cleared your throat, “Yeah?”

“Holy shit,” Nico whistled lightly, looking pretty excited all things considered, “How the hell did ya do that...?!”

You looked at the meat in your palm—it was even cold to the touch. Fresh, real and just as real as meat cut from an actual cow. You supposed it would be really fucking strange to people who didn’t have such an ability.

“It’s one of my skills,” You replied, holding out a piece of meat for Nero to take, “Here, touch it. It's real raw meat. I mean, I wouldn’t suggest eating it raw but...You could cook it if you had the time.”

Nero pinched the scrap between his fingers, bringing it up to his nose to sniff. You found yourself smiling at his reaction, patiently waiting as he and Nico both mulled over the meat like it was the most fascinating thing they’d seen all day. You remember being that entranced the first time you tried it, you still remembered the first item you ever made—A chocolate bar. You could still make one now if you wanted, but wasting energy was a bad idea and your dumb ass had already expended some.

“How does it work?” Nero finally questioned, handing the meat back to you and wiping a hand on his jacket.  

You fought a laugh, offering back a rueful smile, “I don’t know the specifics myself. I just know if I absorb an organic material, I can take it and remake it as many times as I want from my energy.”

He made an impressed expression, leaning on the inside door of the van, “That’s pretty damn neat.”

Before you could reply, you hear Nico let out a low hum, one full of mischief.

“Ohhh damn there, Nero. You already warming up to the new girl? Do I need to tell Kyrie?” She tsked, shaking her head as if filled with disappointment.

“Knock it off, Nico,” Nero frowned, crossing his arms over his chest and protesting indignantly, “Are you gonna say that any time I’m friendly to girls?”

“You ain’t friendly to me, pretty boy.”

“Give me somethin’ to be friendly about, you maniac.”

“Who’s Kyrie?” You interjected quickly, trying to diffuse a rising argument peeking over the horizon. And by peeking you meant inches from exploding in this small space you all were in. The pair looked at you when you questioned, and you instantly noticed Nero’s expression soften a little, just a slight difference compared to his cocky expressions you were growing to accept as normal. Clearly this person was special to him, no doubting that.

“Kyrie is his fiancé,” Nico answered for him, jabbing Nero lightly in the shoulder, “Focus, lover boy. She takes care of some kids at an orphanage in Fortuna. A total sweetheart—how she ended up with this punk none of us know.”  

She jabbed a thumb at Nero again, making him huff and release a little peeved “Hey!”

So, he wasn’t a twink?! This revelation both made sense and was vaguely disappointing. Was there a straight equivalent to a twink?

Regardless, you did have a task in mind when you summoned the meat. It occurred to you that V had said nothing during this entire exchange, and you glanced over to see him with a book opened in his hand, eyes scanning the page. Completely indifferent it would seem, which was pretty disappointing. If you were going to lose a hand to his pet cat, you at least wanted him to watch it happen, damn it. Still, you turned to look at the creature while Nero and Nico started to bicker a little bit again, completely distracted—you preferred it that way.

The cat looked at you again, nose twitching as you gingerly held out a piece of meat. A quick glance at the bird confirmed he was watching you like you were out of your god damn mind. That was pretty pleasing if you had to say so. You glanced at V again, and if you weren’t mistaken you thought he took a quick glance at you before delving back into his book.

You took in his appearance for a second--he was definitely an odd one. Long black pants, black sandals, black everything. Yet he carried himself with the energy of an old century poet longing for some lost love. Other than the fact that these two demons worked for him, he seemed pretty normal. The concept of familiars was not lost on you, many places you had seen touched on such things. Witches and warlocks often kept demons as companions and helpers, but you didn’t know if those things existed in this place.

Either way, you didn’t want to bother the goth in his musing. You instead turned to look at the bird on the jukebox, holding some meat out to him too.

“Hey, mister bird,” You quipped, “Do you and the cat have names?”

He looked surprised to be addressed by you again, and even more surprised that you seemed to be offering him food. You saw a gleam of interest in his eyes, but his feathers ruffled, stubborn and prideful as he tilted his head up.

“What’s it to you, princess?” He sneered lightly, clawed feet tapping on the glass top of the jukebox, “And no offense, I don’t wanna eat your weird magic meat!”

You sighed. That nickname again.  

“My name is Y/N,” You frowned in disappointment, “Come on I’m trying to be friendly here.”

He cackled a little, shaking out his tail feathers as the panther sniffed the air, still too wary to walk forward and take any food. You glanced at V again, expecting him to still be reading. You were instead startled when you found his dark green eyes meeting yours, a wry smile tilting his lips as you were caught in your expedition to win over his pet cat. If he was watching he might as well help you at the very least. Though you had to take pause—it had been a while since you found yourself dazed after staring at someone’s face. The guy definitely had the looks to make up for his bad fashion sense.

“Do they have names?” You asked him instead, since the bird was not cooperating at all.  

He closed his book with one hand, the soft thud very satisfying to hear.  

“They do,” He replied simply, much to the bird’s obvious annoyance, “The one you’re very determined to feed is Shadow. And the one you called ‘ten piece’ is Griffon.”

“V!” The bird, now dubbed Griffon, squawked indignantly.

He simply tilted his head, giving him an unapologetic look from underneath some long lashes. Boy, he had a smolder going on. It seemed like V was very passive and confident. His mannerisms were very strange, quiet yet carrying a sense of purpose and energy. You found yourself very fascinated in him—he was fairly mysterious to you. And you liked a good mystery. He also seemed fine with you trying to bribe his pet demons, which was always a plus in your book.

You looked at Shadow, holding out a piece of meat again as the cat twitched its nose at you.

“Come on, Shadow,” You said softly, desperately trying not to use the soft baby voice you generally used for cats. This was a demon and you were sure it was smarter than the average house cat and you didn’t want to insult it, “I swear it’s normal meat. I just wanna be friends.”

You heard Griffon snort loudly, head tilted toward you as he said mockingly, “How could you insult me at first chance but wanna be friends with the overgrown house cat?!”  

Oh jeez, he almost sounded offended. Griffon seemed pretty complicated—you had no doubts he hid behind a wall of insults and jibes to hide loneliness. You had seen it before.

“Don’t call me ‘princess’ and I won't call you ‘ten piece’,” You said with a genuine smile, offering some meat to him again while you felt V’s gaze burning into you from your right side, “Deal?”

He paused, and you swore you could hear the wheels in his head turning. You were a pretty patient person, and you could tell he was battling between pride and a million other things in that moment. You thought you heard a low chuckle from their goth master, your gaze briefly landing on him—he was leaning his head on one hand leisurely, watching to see how your little quest played out. Nico and Nero were arguing about Nero paying for his metal arms, but you couldn’t be bothered with that at that moment.

Suddenly you heard the scrape of claws, beak swooping down to quickly snatch the meat from your left hand. You smiled, incredibly pleased as you watched Griffon quickly slurp down the food you had produced as he took up his perch again. Then from your right you felt the brief brush of soft fur on your palm, a low growl sounding from Shadow as they too snatched some meat and slinked back away from you, curling around V’s legs as they chewed. You cheered internally, wiping your hands as you released a slow breath. You were easy to please it would seem—and pleased you were.

You heard V chuckle again, the man sitting forward and resting his hands on his cane as he grinned at you, eyebrow raised.

“Well now,” he remarked, tone so low and smooth it could have put you to sleep, “Don’t you look as smug as a peacock.”

You shrugged, leaning back against the couch and drawing your knees up to your chest, “It’s the little victories.”

“Oh?” He hummed in reply, fingers tapping on that cane, “An optimist are you?”

You snorted, “Maybe. I just find being happy about every little thing makes life a lot better.”

Before V could reply, Nico sat down behind you, her feet brushing against your side as she lit up what appeared to be a cigarette. You tilted her head back to look at her, wincing a little when you were met with a cloud of tobacco smoke. The sudden urge to stand and leave was pretty overwhelming, smoking was definitely not your favorite thing, as much as you liked Nico as a person. You saw V mimic your discomfort, waving a hand through the smoke to clear it away from his face.

“So, uh, Y/N,” Nico commented, blowing another cloud of smoke as she addressed you, “What other kind of funky shit can you do?”

You couldn’t really tell her your range of abilities. Not then at least, maybe later when you knew who was worth trusting. You had your limits like most creatures, but you drew energy from a strange and mysterious source—technically there was a lot you could do, but your body had limits. The power of the Void was heavy and chaotic, deeply hard to wield and a heavy burden at times. Too much at once could damage you, and you had an amount of energy you could use before you started to overextend. You’d be useless if you did so, and it damaged you physically so you avoided such things at all costs. You knew your limits; you weren’t meant to be a magic fix-all for these scenarios. Merely a guiding hand with enough energy to put the steps of fixing it into motion. Thus, why you had the foresight.

So you decided on the safest answer.

“I can provide energy and heal wounds depending on their severity,” You said, tapping your nails on your knees, “Plus I can use the energy to fight, and you already saw the creating aspect. I have a limit though, and passing that limit is dangerous for me.”

Nico let out a thoughtful noise, eyeing you with a mix of curiosity and fascination.

“So like, what are ya then?” She puffed more ash, making a perfect “o” shape with her mouth, “You seem human. Are ya half anythin’? Maybe ya got a demon daddy somewhere down the line.”

You shrugged at that, offering an apologetic smile as you replied, “Nothing that exciting. I get my powers from a deity of sorts—someone down the line probably made a deal for magic and I get the sloppy seconds from that.” Kind of a lie, kind of not. They didn’t need to know you were the one who made the deal.

“Whoa, that’s pretty cool!” Nico blinked, staring at you like you had grown horns, “Never heard of anythin’ like that before.”

You opened your mouth to reply, but was interrupted by V slowly rising to his feet. He was still waving away the smoke, brushing past you toward the door of the van as his companions followed him.

“I’ll be taking my leave now,” He said simply, offering Nero a half smile, “And If I don’t see you along the way...I’ll see you at the bottom of the Qliphoth.”

You felt a slight twinge of disappointment. You knew they were talking of splitting up earlier, but you were kind of hoping you could spend more time with the animals he kept with him. And, well...with him. He was a lot calmer and more collected than Nero, who’s heavy energy was a bit much for you if you were truly honest. As for Nico...the smoking was just too much. Brought back too many bad memories. The sensation of smoke in your face was definitely not welcome.  

You opened your mouth, unable to figure out how to ask if you could go with him. Luckily, you didn’t have to.

“V, take Y/N with you,” Nero put a hand on V’s shoulder, stopping him half out the door, “You could use the help.”

You saw V visibly pause, hesitation now showing in his frame as a couple seconds passed by.

“I assure you, I have the help I need,” He said simply, gesturing with his cane to Griffon and Shadow.

Nero crossed his arms, letting out an annoyed huff, “You’re pretty frail as it is, V. I don’t think your little bird friend can wrap a bandage and shit. You could use the healing energy and extra fire power as back up.”

There was another lengthy pause. Despite your mission here, you felt kind of guilty. You didn’t want to burden anyone or force your presence here—you had gotten the needed information, but this...You bit your lip, exchanging a glace with Nico as the silence stretched a bit longer than you liked. In theory you could have gone off on your own, did your own fighting. It would have been easier without hiding your powers, but these people made your foresight burn. They were a part of everything, at the very forefront of the conflict you were trying to fix. Whether with Nero or V, you'd still be getting the job done...but this was based on preference now.  

You nervously stood, brushing off dirt as you stepped up to address the two men.

“I don’t want to be forced on anyone,” You murmured, meeting Nero’s concerned gaze as you continued, “I’ll try to be useful where I can, but if V is uncomfortable, I—”

“Her presence is fine by me,” V interrupted you, despite how low and docile his tone was. Both you and Nero looked at him, but he met your gaze with one filled with calm curiosity, “I do have my moments of exhaustion. Nero is right, I could use a backup when that happens.”

Was that relief? Sure was. You tried not to let it show on your face.

Nero, however, released an obviously relieved sigh, “Perfect. I’m sure we’ll meet up somewhere along the way. Until then, Y/N, watch his back.”

Griffon let out an annoyed huff, raising a clawed foot at Nero’s face, “What are me and furball here for then? You don’t trust us, pretty boy?”

“Yep,” Nero replied simply, brushing past with an obviously fake smile and a pat on your shoulder, “Be safe, you two. Nico, I’ll call if I need anything.”

As you said that you felt a hand press a small piece of paper into your palm, your head turning to see Nico standing to your right now. You looked at the paper, seeing a phone number hastily scribbled there, along with Nico’s name.

“That’s my number,” She told you, tapping the paper twice, “Ya need anythin’ you find a phone and call, ya hear?”

You nodded, absorbing the paper into your palm after memorizing the number, “Thank you, Nico.” You would definitely call at some point, to see her if anything. Nico seemed friendly enough under the rough persona she projected. You liked that about her. It had been a while since you had any real friends, or friendly people to interact with. You had no idea how long you’d be there, but you were eager to savor every moment of it that you could get. So you patted Nico’s shoulder once and offered a kind smile, turning to meet V’s gaze again.

He gestured with his cane, that half smile still on his lips.

“Shall we?”

You nodded, following him and his companions out of Nico’s van. The door closed behind you, the sun still shining outside. You put up a hand to shield your eyes, but enjoyed the warmth regardless. It would have been a beautiful summer day if not for all the chaos in the world. You gave the van behind you a passing glance as you followed V away, unsure about how you felt about the whole situation. What the hell were you supposed to talk about? Would he even want to talk? Silence made you very nervous, but you didn’t want to be annoying either. You found yourself clasping your hands behind your back, taking small looks at V’s back when he walked. His shoulders were pretty broad for a guy so wiry. He had very slight muscle definition, and upon further inspection he did seem...frail.

Was he sickly? You frowned a little at the thought. He did walk with a cane, though you couldn’t tell if he had a limp or anything. His gate seemed steady, eyes fixed forward and...driven. He seemed very driven.

Or you assumed he was focused. He surprised you enough that you jumped when he spoke.

“There was always the option of staying behind,” He commented lightly, tilting that dark gaze to you with his typical wry smile. He never seemed to lose that little crooked smirk, like he was always in a state of constantly bemused. The only time he was without it was when he was reading that book.

“You seem very convinced that I wanted to stay behind,” You replied, jogging lightly to reach his side, “What’s that all about?”

He let out a light, thoughtful sound, tone light as he replied, “Merely an observation. You seemed to enjoy Nico’s company.”

You hummed quietly in response, taking in the buildings as you and V entered a part of the city still standing, albeit pretty damaged nonetheless. It looked like it would have been a nice city before the disaster. Gothic architecture with high windows, beautiful shops and what looked to be a market place in a city square. Or at least...they were beautiful once before. Now destroyed, bodies littering the streets frozen in their dying moments. You felt your heart sink as you passed them, seeing a child's form still holding a red balloon as ashes drifted from what remained of her.

Focus, the goth boy started a conversation.

“Nico is nice,” You replied after some thought, trying to shake off the images around you, “Nero is too. All three of you have been kind to me. But what can I say? I like animals and poetry.” You sighed softly, rubbing your arm as you added, “I also can’t stand cigarettes.”

He chuckled at that, tapping the book tucked away in his vest with light fingers. You took the time to observe that he had nice hands, elegant and beautiful.  

“That’s very understandable, although I am glad you find enjoyment in my musings,” He said, turning his head away once more, “It's going to be a long journey, so I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot of it.”

You smiled lightly, running your fingers along a building as you passed by, “Can I ask about that? What’s up with the whole poetry thing?”

You saw him pause, both Griffon and Shadow stopping with him as he turned to look at you with a pondering expression.  

“...Strange,” He replied after a few moments, that half smirk coming back again, “You are the first person who asked me.”

Nero and Nico never once thought to ask? You blinked, wondering just why the hell no one had thought it was strange he just reads poetry at all times. Which, mind you, normalcy wasn’t your strong suit either, and you didn’t have a problem with his poetry reading. The more you thought about it, the more it made sense that they wouldn’t ask. From what you saw of Nero’s fighting style...he was pretty god damn extra. And Nico was not normal in the slightest. Everyone in the group was a bit quirky and odd in their own way, and you found that comforting.

“I was just curious,” You replied, scratching the back of your head, “Which, mind you, if it’s a private thing you don’t have to tell me.”

He let out a low hum, giving his cane a light twirl again.

“I find poetry clears the mind and brings focus in clarity in moments where there is none,” He still told you his reasoning, giving you a smoldering glance from under those lashes, “One could also argue a flare for the dramatic.”

Translation: He was just as extra as Nero, just in different ways.

You fought a laugh, clasping your hands behind your back as you replied, “Noted.”  

He hummed in response, starting forward again with a tap of that cane. Griffon soared behind you, landing his talons on your shoulders with a solid “oof” from you both as you stumbled a little to accommodate his weight. He wasn't light by any stretch of the word, he was a big bird. He just barely managed to settle, resting half his weight on your head as he trilled quietly and huffed.

“So, what’s your deal, Y/N?” His voice was loud in your ear, sharp talons scratching you ever so slightly, “Got all those fancy powers and shit, just wandering around a broken city? What were you doing there?”

Griffon was asking the questions you had hoped to avoid. You let out a low murmur of thought, inhaling softly through your nose as you formulated your response.

“I’m...kind of a drifter,” You decided to reply, grasping onto his clawed feet to help steady him as you walked, “I like traveling from place to place, and I like helping people. I had been looking in the ruins for anyone who may have needed help, and to see if I could figure out what was going on. In a way, it worked out." It wasn't a lie. You told yourself that.

You heard him let out a quiet “huh”, shaking out his feathers a little as his beak rested on your head. You smiled, enjoying that Griffon seemed more comfortable in your company now.  

“So, you have the gist of the situation right? Got any more questions?” He asked, tapping your head with his beak.

You winced a little, “From what I gathered...Urizen is a bad boy who did bad things and he needs a spanking in that big tree in the sky,” You pointed at the Qliphoth as you spoke, looking up at the towering behemoth with a disgusted gaze, “A guy named Dante may or may not be up there and need saving. Is that everything or am I missing something?”

Griffon snickered lightly, “Nah, that sounds about right.”

“Great. Then no, I don’t have any more questions.” That was a lie, you had several, but they were all more about personal things than the mission itself. You didn’t want to seem nosy and pry in on their business.  

You saw V smirk at you again from the corner of your eye, but by the time you turned to look he had turned away again. You frowned lightly, wishing you could even slightly begin to figure him out. He was full of mystery and intrigue, mild mannered and polite. But he also seemed easily amused, and pretty extra if you were being completely honest. He was a hard guy to read; mind you, you had only known him a few hours. You had plenty of time to figure it out, right?

You entered a small entry way tunnel of sorts, footfalls echoing as you both approached what looked to be an open back alley in the city. Griffon launched himself from your shoulders, causing you to stumble again and huff. You rubbed the skin there, feeling scratches through the think fabric of your shirt. You didn’t mind Griffon perching, but damn. His claws really did hurt. V looked at you again as Griffon glided ahead of you both, and you were sure you saw his gaze linger on the shoulders you had just rubbed. Upon further inspection you realized there was slight red on the fabric of your shirt from where griffon scratched you.

“Griffon,” He spoke, eyes meeting yours before he glanced at the bird, “Gentler.”

“Whoops, Oops, my bad,” Griffon trilled as he rounded back, seeing what V meant as he swept past you, “Girlie’s got fragile skin.”

You rolled your eyes, “I have normal skin, birdie,” You smiled again, looking at V as you said, “And don’t worry. I’m just happy he doesn’t outright dislike me.” You said that last part quieter, leaning toward V so only he could hear.

V chuckled, “Griffon is a simple creature. A mere bribe of food and he’s already on your side,” He tapped his cane along the concrete walls of the tunnel, the sound echoing hollowly in the space ahead of you, “As for you, Y/N...you don’t' really seem bothered by demons like Nero and the others.”

He was right, you weren’t. Sure, Demons were the enemy in this case and this scenario. But his companions were loyal to him, and in your travels, you had met plenty of kind demons and people who were labeled with bad stigmas. Making assumptions was bad, and you didn’t like doing that. Besides, neither of his creatures had threatened or wronged you—Griffon's taunting seemed harmless enough, and he was done with nicknames for the most part. As for Shadow, you were determined to get close enough to this cat to pet it, that's all you wanted. But V didn't need to know about that strange obsession of yours.

“I don’t make assumptions about people,” you replied, looking down at Shadow as it slinked along beside its master, “Kindness can exist in all manner of things, and your companions haven’t been outright unkind to me either. So why should I be unkind to them?” Empathy always came first before fighting—you much preferred making friends compared to outright hating literally everyone you met. Hell, some of the conflicts you had faced were resolved with just a little kindness and empathy. People would be surprised what you could accomplish if you just tried to help people.

V gave you a respectful nod at your response, a breeze traveling through the tunnel and sending his hair drifting slightly. You looked away, trying not to think about how nice that looked.  

Continuing forward, you and the group came out into the alleyway back into the sunlight. You looked around, seeing more debris and graffiti everywhere you looked. The hairs on the back of your neck started to stand up a little, foresight warning you something bad was about to occur if you kept walking. You held out a hand and grabbed V’s shoulder before you walked further, eyes scanning the area warily as that gentle breeze blew through again. Something was definitely here; you could tell that much. V looked at you, then looked around as well, gripping his cane tighter as Shadow growled and stepped forward, teeth bared and saliva dripping from its maw.

As soon as the cat entered the clearing, Demons began to appear, bubbling up from the ground and materializing into existence. The exit behind you was closed by tumbling rubble, and all other escapes blocked by...a shield of sorts? You stared in shock and confusion, sending what looked like red, magic veins and magic blocking any way out. This was a trap of sorts then. You and V exchanged a glance, and you were surprised to see he was incredibly calm, slightly bemused even. He walked forward slightly, your hand dropping from his shoulder as you warily waited to see what he would do.

Griffon swooped overhead, cackling as he said to V, “Oooh, genius says ‘be careful’! Yeah no shit, Shirley! Ain’t that right, V?” he swooped past your head, causing your hair to blow in that direction as he squawked, “I mean I know you’ve got girl wonder here now and all but you ARE still fragile, V! Wouldn’t take much to wipe you out in a sticky situation!”

You activated your Void power as he spoke, stepping up beside V as the sensation burned through the veins of your hands. You and V exchanged a look, you offering a light smile as you told him, “I’ve got your back.”

He inclined his head, giving you a small nod and twirling that silver cane.

“Excellent.”

Griffon made a noise of pain at your words, swooping by again as he continued, “Yeah well I’m just sayin’ running away is okay. It’s always okay to run away if you two aren’t up to it!”

You rose a brow, knowing damn well running away wasn’t really an option with how these demons were looking. In theory, you could use your Void powers to grab them all and yeet yourselves upward, over the shields and to somewhere safe. But these demons seemed easy enough. Squishy, one might say. The basic bitch of demons. You scrunched up your nose as one screeched at you, sending the stench of his breath your way. Yeah, that was definitely not your favorite thing.

On your left, V pulled out his book, opening it with one hand as he looked out at the demons with a half smile.

“He who desires but act not, breeds pestilence,” He read in that smooth tone, voice lilting and almost relaxing in the situation. He closed the book with a gentle thud, eyes tilting forward again as he inclined his head at the demons, “So it is written.”

You heard Griffon sigh, tone slightly exasperated as he landed on V’s outstretched arm, “Okay, Shakespeare, just remember this,” He shook out his feathers, a low growl in his tone as he continued, "You and I like to exist, so get rid of those demons quick, 'cause killin' them ain't my shtick!"  

You stifled a laugh, watching as he flew forward toward the demons, wings glowing with a bright blue mixed within the dark feathers.

“I got your back, ‘cause dyin’ is whack!” He finished his little improvised poem with a hefty cackle, Shadow stepping forward as well to punctuate it with a roar at the approaching creatures.

A second later, the battle began.

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18136193/chapters/42882122#workskin

Tagged: @silentwhispofhope @just-call-me-no-name @nightshadow4713 @slightlylunatic

[sasukebarmitzvah]

watching every naruto opening and discussing my opinions because im bored liveblog

original

took me a little while to warm up to it idk why maybe because its not as up tempo and its a shonen and i want to get hype but i love it now. love the part where the camera pans around team 7 fighting randos they are babies… also its so funny when sasuke holds out his hand to naruto to help him out of the lake and he jsut fist bumps him. gay boy

Haruka fucking kanata baby!!!!!!!! a fav. like we all know this. i listen to the song just regularly a lot and every time it comes on shuffle im like Oh my god its haruka kanata. read the english translation of the lyrics… sns

this one got stuck in my head for a while lol. i like seeing everyone babie and i like naruto shaking his head at the end to dry off like a dog

DDMnanannaddnnaaaaa naaaaaaaaa nda aaWE ARE FIGHTING DEAMERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OOLI OLI OLIOOOOoohh!!!!! very fun very good also a very good time in the show, hello tsunade

**edgy shonen opening where theres something important in front of a chain link fence**

lol skipping 6-9 bc thats the huge chunk of filler which i didnt actually watch most of

shippuden

heros come back is SO GOOD absolutely one of my favs. banger first of all. i love how its actually choreographed and naruto sakura kakashi are like moving to the beat and i love the part where the animation is like pencil sketchy and theyre running and their bodies warp bro its just cool. the part where everyone dramatically reaches for gaara is fun, also love deidaras moment. anyway i shake my ass to this song eveyrday

distance oh god oh fuck. YOU ARE MY FRIEND!!! the sasuke and naruto stuff where they are little baby at the beginning at the end we return to the same place theyre there and like about to stab each other i’m going to scream. i lvoe the song of course. hello sai! i love team 7s little spotlight moments where they get to pose to the music its so cute. why is sasuke snake jesus? DO you remember that long lost DREAM!!!!!!!!!!

BLUE BIRD YA BANGER ok the whole symbolism. when naruto falling next to sasuke rising is positioned like yin and yang lol. when naruto is falling from the sky but then sasuke comes to mind and he springs into action lol. ok random people from the fillers i dont care about. naruto fell in the lake he picks up the bird feather interspersed with a couple shots of sasuke horgh. additional reading: paper bag by fiona apple

closer is one of the ones where im like eh its ok its not my favorite and then it gets to the chorus and my dumb ass is jsut screaming YOU KNOW THE CLOSER YOU GET TO SMETHING THE TOUGHTER IT IS TO REACHIT. the funniest part where narutos moping and thinking of sasuke and then he just perks up and smiles at the camera like. gay boy. like getting to see the asuma fight scenes in this op, also it was so funny seeing him get all the screentime in this op knowing hes about to die like yeah very subtle

SHA LA LA!!!! LOVE IT i love it i love it soooo much first of all banger second of all naruto looking into the water and his reflection is sasuke. lollllll. metaphor m-e-t-a-p-h-o-r the little prechorus bit in the middle gives me chills. love sasuke walking into the purple pool like a smug motherfucker thats my boy. at the end zooming into sasukes pupil zoom out it’s narutos eye oh the poetry..

signs another one of the ones where im like eh whatever its fine but not my fav but by the chorus i am standing on the table freaking out. like fuck jiraiya but this one got me a lil. the lighting and choreography of the sasuke itachi fight bit is sooooo nice and pretty, love getting to see all the new players in the story. baby ame orphans fading to the shot of yahiko as pain.. :(

this one literally makes me cry. i get chills what the fuck. definitely one of my favs. am i a bitch? maybe. i like the song by itself but like the way the rise/general shape of the melody flows with the visuals its like oh god oh fuck. again fuck jiraiya but like the role his character serves as a link between these disparate groups of people and the way thats used in this opening… how it starts and ends with him writing and this is the arc where naruto reads tales of a gutsy ninja and he learns about how he got his name and jiraiya wrote the book and hes WRITING and im going CRAZY!! i’m starting to tear up watching it rn. the shot of konan and the pains in that moment just before they leap forward. Sayonaaaaaaara aa lksasldfkwpoeifjhnuerIELFeuiertekdjsnlfweiourbg kakashis moment is cool in this op. also love to see the girls getting fight scenes in this op cus they sure dont in the actual show LOL anyway yeah im at the part where the melodys just hitting sooo different oh my god naruto frog eyes

DIVERRRRRRR. FAV literally like naruto is drowning. hes drowning and everyone is pushing him up so he can breathe again everyone is fighting to save him and thnen he s ouf ot the water and then he sees sasuke drowning and he JUMPS BACK IN. FOR ONE PERSON EVEN THOUGH ALL THESE OTHER PEOLE were working to help him out he dives back in for SASUKE whos drowning in the eyehole of obitos mask which is cool. ok yeah this is another one where im like tearing up because THe cymbal is em….. the way The movement of the visuals is choreographed with the song is so much. nico TOUCHED the fucking walls.

this one kinda annoys me i dont know why it just wasnt my favorite. love the sasuke and naruto staring at each other intensely moment though, would this be a shippuden opening without that. also the part at the end where sakura holds up her kunai and it like slashes and covers sasuke and naruto… inch resting…

newsongs so weird i love it. like what the hell is going on. why is naruto running like hes from some weird gmod video from 2013. love the LITERAL choreography, everyone dancing to the song like this is a musical. theres just a lot of weird moments which is fun. love sai naruto and sakura making the seal together to shoot lightning. raikage leaping gracefully across the beach

i do not enjoy this one. i just dont. it just feels like we’re bootlicking which of course we are because this is the war arc and everything is a nightmare

i remember seeing the first episode with this opening and i was excited bc its like… great another naruto pining for sasuke one this is what im here for. a light banger. minato manlet monday. ohh right this was the one where gaara sees his dad again and his OH I SEE SASUKEE

Banger! nico did indeed touch the walls again. i like that this one is like visually thematically consistent thru the whole thing, i like the nighttime dimly lit atmosphere with the bursts of brighter colorful lighting, also whenever i see tsunade i freak out. narutos cute at the end

SUCH A BANGER!!! also very cool visual style, appreciate it for that like the last one, its got that pretty consistent aesthetic with the red sky and the high contrast black blocking its fun and cool to watch. did i mention the song is a bit of a banger. obito passing thru the rock is cool too bad hes an idiot

ok from this one there were two lines i remember always seeing in the english sub that made me freak out. and one of them was like “this red hot love burning my heart” and it was over kakashi and obito fighting like damn OK. also the “i put the candle out with my finger” thing sticks in my head idk why. hate that we have the narutos big meaty claws i mean manly hands moment though. omg its hashirama and madara and then it CUTS TO SASUKE AND NARUTO IN THE SAME POSE LOL OK…

SILHOUETTE IS a banger… not as much so as some of the others but its a lot of fun. very colorful op, we got some naruto pining for sasuke, classic. also love the thing where ppl are running and they age as they do and they sort of grow into their present selves, a fun visual bit. the end where narutos like obito be nice now look at all these people behind me who think youre a meanie please be nice :(((((((((

another one with a really good visual principle ugh i love how the style of the show is integrated w the styles of more traditional printmaking its very swexy and nice to look at

LINE uugrgh i love this one, maybe a fav… naruto chasing after the light and sasuke trying so hard to snuff it out as they both reflect on their memories of each other oh god oh fuck… also i love the bits where it just has all the characters in a row like it reminds me of that one post about how in the endgame trailer they had a shot of all the female characters together to be like Girl power!! and someone was like yeah thats them showing u exactly how many women theyre going to disrespect LMAO but yeah i do love this op. also the song itself being slower w/ the triplet tempo is a nice change of pace

blood circulator hee hee… the version of this with naruto and sasuke moments is A Lot but even just the generic first version is fun. the part where narutos like knocked on his face hes sinking into the tar and hes not even trying to save himself hes just staring at sasuke, but then he sees sasuke distressed and he goes bijuu mode immediately like What did u say about my mans? there is some homoeroticism

i really hate everything about this i hate it all. sasuke is cute. thats it. ok first of all why did choji cut his hair his long hair look was so gooooooood. hinata bimboification? i mean if anything it was fun to watch these fillers just cus it was fun to watch kakashi be the hokage but really goofy and also the Crumbs tossed to the kakairus… but yeah i hate everything temari got bimbofied too like ugh please let her be a dyke :( this isnt even me talking necessarily about the opening this is me just being like i hate the naruto ending. LOL SASUKE AND NARUTOS NO HOMO BRO HIGH FIVE AT THE END LOLLLLL

ok im done

[byunrelatable]

ok on the ask game, 5 + 19 !! this is gonna get long bear with me oof. i’ve confessed to two people, one was a boy that i was once close with but he ignored me after we broke up :”) it’s fine he’s an ass anyway. but the second person is my current gf and holy uh this is actually kinda personal so i won’t go too in depth but we can say i did it bc it was too much not to anymore (pt 1/?)

.hi kam!! i love u thanks for the asks and thanks for sharing your story!! im really glad things worked out with you and your gf, sounds like you two have truly been through thick and thin together, you must have a very strong bond. that makes my heart feel very warm, im so happy for you!!

im going to put the rest of your asks, as well as my responses to the questions, under the cut so this doesnt become a super long post. to answer 5 and 19 in short, i will say that my answer to 5. have you ever confessed your feelings to someone? is yes, and its an embarrassing story, it also involves underage drinking so anyone uncomfy with that should not look under the cut!! and my answer to 19. share a positive memory about the last person you texted, i’ll probably keep that answer pretty short but true to my word, everything is going under the cut from here on out. thank you for sharing your story kam

send me two way asks!!

here’s the rest of kam’s asks:

we didn’t date then bc things were complicated (like i said, pERSONAL) and i,,,, did it a second time with her months later,,,,, i wouldn’t have if my friends didn’t push me to do it but they did annnddd we started dating then!! and haaaaa i uh,,,, did it once more at the end of feb this year,,,,,, bc we weren’t together at the time (this is also very personal so i could tell you abt the whole thing privately if you wanted) (pt 2/?)

in short i woke up and she asked me to be her gf again sOo, lol it’s all fun. aaannnddd here we go okay i literally just texted my gf as i write this oof but i think one of the fondest memories i have is both kinda negative but i view it positively? it was around the end of january in 2016 and we had been talking for a month or so. at the time i wasn’t in the best state of mind. (pt ¾)

i don’t remember the conversation word for word, but i have recollection of crying a lot at school waiting for my exam and just realizing how much i cared abt her and her about me and i think that marks the moment we became best friends rlly and damn who would even think to get to where we are now oof not me?? (pt 4/4 i went all out i’m sorryajsndnf)

what a story!!! like i said before, im really glad it all came together in the end, and that you have such a wonderful supportive gf

5. have you ever confessed your feelings to someone? yeah okay. from seventh grade until 11th i had a huge crush on this boy in my class. he was always doing crazy cool exchange programs. in 8th grade he went to school in coasta rica for a year, we e-mailed (lmao) all the time while he was gone. he came back in 9th grade and i was so so excited to see him again. he left again in 10th grade, and that was a hard year for me. my dad and step mom (who practically raised me) were getting divorced and i was going through some weird shit with an older guy (gross. he’s gross and predatory and i didnt know better cause i was like 15/16). so i started drinking and sneaking out and partying. 

the kid i had a crush on came back in 11th grade and i was ecstatic. we picked up our friendship where we left it off. but here’s the kicker: he was (and probably still is? but probably isnt as much of a hardass about it) a devout christian, and drinking was NOT in line with his values. he had heard from his mom that i had been doing stuff like that, and he brought it up and said he was concerned. i told him i’d stop, because i was young and i had had a crush on this kid for over four years at this point, and our mutual friend kept dropping hints that he was interested, and.. sigh. so i told him i’d cut the partying and he said he had to see it. fast forward to spring, i applied and got into a program which sends students to japan for two weeks, and this kid also got in, and i was STOKED to be in japan with him for two weeks. the first week it was fun. our last night in tokyo, i wanted to spend some time alone with him, and the rest of our friends were planning to buy some sake (we were literally 16 but they did it, they didnt get carded) and drink it at the hotel, and they wanted me to distract him cause they were worried he’d rat them out, and i was so down to try that because i wanted to spend time with him anyways. so i asked if he wanted to go on an adventure–just go get on a random subway line and see where it leads. he kinda blew me off, which stung. then in an effort to get him to hang out with me, i told him what the other kids were planning (they had specifically told me not to tell him). i told him, and said “so i really think we should just go somewhere else so we dont have to be around that.” he didnt listen to me, instead he followed the rest of the group into the convenience store and they were like uhhh, then he went up to my friend hannah and was like “so you’re buying sake huh?” and she looked at me like what the fuck arianna and i looked at her like im sorry i couldnt get him to come with me and he was like whatever and then he left the convenience store and our other friend jay went with him. i assumed they went back to the hotel. so i went back as well but they werent there. when i asked someone else where they were, they said “oh, they went out into the city on a random subway line just to go on an adventure!” the literal exact thing i had suggested. i was livid. moreso, i was really hurt. so i decided to say fuck it and get drunk, cause i had been abstaining from alcohol ALL YEAR for the sake of this ONE GUY who had really played me and led me on ALL FUCKING YEAR and lowkey for the past FOUR YEARS. so i was like, whatever. so i got drunk. then jay and the guy came back from their adventure. i asked my other drunk companions if i seemed sober (bad, bad idea. they were not good judges) they all said i seemed fine, so i went to give the kid a piece of my mind. get to his room and its just him cause his roommate had been with us in the drinking room. so i say, hey i need to talk to you. the first thing he asks is if i had drank, and i said no, like a liar with a big fat crush. then we sit down on opposite beds, and i told him i was really hurt that he rejected my offer to go on an adventure and immediately did the same thing with jay. he gave me a bs excuse like “it was kinda spontaneous” and i was like, thats bullshit. then i poured out my heart, about crushing on him for the last four years, about being a good friend when he dated hannahkate in seventh grade, about always waiting for him to come back, about working so hard to stop drinking just to be the person he wanted me to be. and i told him i loved him.

his response? “thank you for telling me.” and it shattered my heart.

when he walked me to the door of his room, he said “by the way. you were slurring the whole time, and your breath smells like alcohol. i knew you had drank from the start.” needless to say, THAT was embarrassing.

i go back to the room, drink more, eventually everyone leaves and its me and hannah. i tell her what happened, freak out a bit, cry.

the next day we woke up kinda early and went to this man-made island place i dont remember the name of, and we spent the day there. i was really quiet and reserved all day (not like me, then or now). i did not eat. when we got back to the hotel that night, hannah gave me a melon bread, and i said i wasnt hungry. she said “you havent eaten all day. if you dont eat this right now, im going to take your phone, delete [kid’s name] from all your contacts, delete every picture or video you have on your phone, erase him from your life. do you want that?” to which i said, no. and i ate the bread. it was tough love and i needed it. i was a little better the next day.

a few days later in kyoto the kid and i talked on a rooftop at sunset. i felt a little better after that. it was hard going through all of that, after four years of pining for him, but.. it was good. it was closure. i laid my cards on the table, i finally told him how i felt, and he rejected me. and it hurt, but there was nothing left to say, and it finally closed that door that had been slightly ajar for four years. and i was able to move on after that, fairly quickly actually. jumping back into partying cause i didnt have someone to impress kind of helped. well, it also kind of spun my life off in a horrible direction that led to a horrible depressing senior year of high school, but thats another story.

yeesh, that was long. on to the next one!!

19. share a positive memory about the last person you texted the most recent person i texted is my friend named nico. the first memory that comes to mind is last summer, we used to hang out a lot, one night we went to this 24 hour diner called beth’s cafe that we both love. we went at like 4 am and it was so so so fun. afterwards we watched emperors new groove in his bed and then passed out. i love nico so much. we used to be a lot closer in the summer, but at the end of summer i fucked up and we had a falling out. we still are friends and we still talk (i.e. we texted today planning to hang out this week) but.. its not the same. and i really miss the way things were before. golly isnt that bittersweet. now im a lil sad. but thats okay

thank you to anyone who read all that garbage uidsgfihjs

[stoven-harrington]

Where did the time go (during the summer I spent with you)?

Steve Harrington X OC

This happens a year after season 3, so Steve is now 20.

Steve Harrington AU in which Steve is dragged into 2019. With him here in the new modern world, going back to 1986 just might be possible. Time travel, new friends, old friends, with so much at hand, love shouldn’t be on the table. But life doesn’t always go as planned.

Read from the beginning here

Part IV: Explanations to a Stranger

It just had to be me with my luck that I help out some dude that’s a weirdo. 1980s? Who chooses that as a good decade in the 1900s? It’s obviously the 1990s! If you get past the drugs and crime (to be honest, you can’t really avoid that, in any decade), the music was pretty dope and the world was wild, in a good way-ish. But what was he talking about? Dustin? Ham radio? Just what the hell is a ham radio?

I turn around to check on him and sigh. He’s been sitting there with his mouth open for the past minute. What is going on with him? I try to think of something but just as I almost touch his shoulder, my phone goes off to the sound of Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen, causing Nico to bark outside the room. He snaps his head toward the sound.

“What was that?” Man, dude is on another level.

“It’s just my phone and my dog, lemme get it. Nico: Тихо.” The barking ceased and I roll my eyes. Walking over the to the night stand, I barely check the screen as I answer the phone. I didn’t need to check to know who it was to be calling at such a crazy time. “It’s four in the morning over here, Saint. You didn’t sleep did you,” I question, already ready for the semi-excited tone in the other end.

“What? Yes, I slept and-“

“How many hours?”

“I really am in the future and she has a dog,” Steve mumbles, staring at me as horror flashes across his features before he looks around the room.

“Rene, that’s not the point here, I-“ I sigh, ignoring Steve’s eyes bulging from his face for whatever weird reason and focus on the rapid clattering of fingers running across a keyboard on the other side of the phone.

“How long?” There’s a slight pause on the phone, the clattering suddenly stops.

“This isn’t right, I can’t be in the future,” Steve stands up and fumbles to the floor. “Shit.”  I help him up as I wait for Saint to answer, shooting Steve a ‘wtf’ glance before walking away the bed to the corner of the room.

“…four hours but-“ Oh my god, my idiot. God, where would he be without me? I facepalm as I start to rant,

“No, Saint, I get you’re excited about your project but fucking four hours of sleep? No, go to bed and don’t call me until you actually slept for a bit. I tell you this several times: anything less than six hours and you increase your chances of a heart attack-”

“I’m stuck in the future, she has a dog and she’s not even listening to me. I might as well be talking to myself. Great.” I wave Steve away, still in the middle of ranting. Can’t he see me trying to be a supportive angry best friend over here?

“And if I find out you’re mixing energy drinks and coffee again from Casey, I will tear your ass a new one as your best friend. Now, sleep!” Steve chuckles, bringing me back to my situation as I hang up the phone.

“What’s funny?” He shakes his head, a mixture of sarcasm and shock in his smile as he looks at me.

“Nothing, just, I just traveled to the future and you just threatened your best friend to beat the shit out of them. Whoooo what a way to start the morning. And I still need to contact my friends.”  Wait what?

“What are you talking about? Traveled to the future? Man, were you smoking something before?” He groans, dragging his fingers down his face as I sit at the foot of the bed.

“No, god how do I prove this,” he mutters, his eyebrows scrunching up. If he wasn’t such a weirdo, I’d say he’s kinda cute right now. With his poofy hair and dopey look on his face and – I should focus. “Wait, I have an idea,” he says, pulling me from my thoughts. “Where did you put my clothes?”

“In the laundry room, your clothes were covered in slime so I washed it.” I suddenly remembered why I washed them and point a finger toward him. “Hey, you still haven’t told me what the fuck that creature was. If it’s a secret, it’s a pretty shitty secret if I saw it.” He groans again and runs his hand through his hair exasperatedly. He then stares into my eyes, as if he was looking for something. Fear? Anger? Whatever it was, it didn’t last long before he sighs, turning away to look at something else.

“Listen, I’m not supposed to talk about it. Hell, explaining it is so complicated it makes my head hurt just thinking about it. But since you’re so determined and you saw it, there’s no point in not telling you. But you must believe everything I say. Including that I’m from the past” I shrug, crossing my arms. Like hell I’m just supposed to believe him. He’s cute but not that cute.

“Okay but in order to buy all this, I need one shred of proof from you. I think you owe me at least this.” He nods. At least he understands that I can’t just trust him off the bat.

“Fair, its bad to just blindly believe someone, I get it. But I think I had my wallet on me when I was attacked. I can prove I’m from the past if you have the wallet. Did you find it?’ I nod, thinking back on where I put it.

“I think I placed it on top of the washer, either that or it’s in the drawer to your left.” He reaches over and opens the drawer, smiling as he pulls out his wallet.

“Here it is.” He fumbles to hand me his ID, my fingers brushing against his as I grab it and look it over. He leans over to point to the date of birth, the distance between our faces a mere foot apart.  “See? I was born 1966.” Reading the ID, it was issued in the 80s. He wasn’t lying about time traveling I guess but I couldn’t stop myself from cringing a bit.

“Jesus, IDs looked like this back then? Fuck, I feel bad for you guys,” I say, handing the thing back to him. “The format sucks, and the picture looks worse than how they make you take pictures now.” He shrugs in agreement and places it back in his wallet. You can’t really fake an ID like that, especially since it looks like the ID uncle Jose had back in the 80s. And seeing that thing earlier, time traveling doesn’t seem as farfetched as I thought it sounded.

“Alright, I believe you but since you time traveled here, you gotta get some shots.” He raised his eyebrow in confusion.

“Shots? As in…”, He trailed off, miming a drinking gesture. He’s funny. I laugh and shake my head.

“No you dork, I mean like flu shots. No one really thinks about it since time traveling isn’t really a thing yet but time traveling seems illogical.” He tilts his head, his hair swaying by the motion. I didn’t really get the chance to dry his hair when I washed him off but man does his hair look tempting to touch right now.

“Illogical?” Rene, stop thinking about his fluffy hair. Answer the question! Nodding, I bring myself back to the conversation.

“Yea,  when you time travel to the past, you’re bringing a lot of new diseases, viruses, and flu strains to the people there and could easily cause an epidemic. You could kill thousands of people just by your very presence. Then there’s the reverse: when you travel to the future, you’re exposing yourself to even newer diseases and viruses that your body can’t handle. So since I’m believing that you’re from the past, you gotta get some shots pronto, my dude.” I could see the cogs in his head working as he sat in thought. It only lasted for a few seconds as his eyes grew wider.

“Are you serious? How am I even gonna get the shots I need?”

“I can call a friend whose a nurse but it’s a lil early to be calling anyone at the moment. So to kill time, you got any other questions?”

“A few.”

“Spill.” He looks down at himself, lifting the bed sheets before slowly meeting my gaze.

“You said my clothes were covered in slime and I remember being drenched in slime, sooo….,” he trails for a second, ”how did I wake up clean and in new clothes?” I lean back with my hands holding me up, smiling at his reddening cheeks.  Wow, I can already tell he’s gonna be fun to tease

“Well you can kinda figure that one out yourself but if you need me to spell it out for you: I cleaned you up and washed your clothes.” He opens his mouth to speak but I already know what he’ll say. “And yes, that means I saw you naked but don’t worry I kept your modesty by not really paying attention to your junk. As a upcoming nurse, this is more practice for me than anything, so you’re fine.” His cheeks are full on red now but he pushes through that as he stares at me.

“One: you have no shame and I don’t know how to feel about that so I’m gonna ignore that. Second: you wanna be a nurse?” I nod.

“Yup, Guess sticking with my aunt kinda influenced me a bit.” Speaking of nurse stuff, ”By the way, are you feeling a bit of pain, in your leg or head?” He quickly touches his head.

“Well, I threw up after waking up cause I felt a bit dizzy but I have a slight ache in my leg…” Throwing up and dizziness? Ooooh, that doesn’t sound good.

“You might have a mild concussion but I won’t know for sure until I can get Joy to bring her doctor friend to check you out. I’ll give you some meds for your leg in a bit. But, any other questions?”

“Yea, do you think I can reach out to my friends now?” I laugh, he’s got to be kidding me…..right? He starts to glare until I realize that he’s serious. Oh boy.

“Dude, you do realize that it’s not possible to reach your friends from the past right? What am I saying: it could totally be possible, what, with you time traveling and all. But what if it doesn’t work?” He shakes his head and looking into his eyes, it’s filled with determination.

“I have to at least try, Rene.” He gently places his hand on mine. “Listen, what I’m about to tell you is all true. It all started with the disappearance of a boy named Will Byers…”

_______________________________________________________________

“Wait wait wait wait wait wait, so let me get this straight: Eleven opened a portal to this Upside Down and let that creature I saw out by accident which kidnapped Will and you guys thought you guys killed it until it came back? Then your rag tag group of kids and you being mother hen went to help El close the portal by distracting the demodogs? AND thennnnn the mind flayer came back to kill El but your badass ex, her boo, Hopper, Joyce, the kids, your favorite kid Dustin and your now best friend Robin found a Russian government facility hidden under the mall that opened the portal again and poor Max lost her not-a-dick-at-the-end brother to the mind flayer? Now it’s been a year and this shit happens?” He nods, grimacing as he seems to think back on the past.

“Yea, that pretty much sums it up.” I sigh, shaking my head thinking about all the shit that happened to them.

“Damn, Max and Hopper didn’t deserve that. But damn! This shit happens to you guys almost yearly. You guys just attract trouble.” Shrugging his shoulders, he sighs.

“Yea, can’t really avoid it at this point. Hey, what do you mean Henderson is my favorite kid? ” I roll my eyes.

“Don’t play dumb, it’s obvious to literally everyone that Dustin is your favorite. You basically treat him like he’s your kid and you’re his proud mom.” He scoffs, the smirk betraying his so called offensiveness.

“I do not, I take care of all of them but most of them can take of themselves. Dustin is just someone that needs to be looked after a bit more than the others. But, what’s up with the whole mother Steve thing? I’m babysitter Steve, I don’t want to own any of these bad ass kids. They give me a headache.”  We both laugh when Nico trots into the room, wagging his tail as he jumps on the bed.

“Nico, aww my baby,” I say, rubbing his belly as he lays besides me and Steve. Looking over, Steve stares at Nico with caution. What’s that about? “What’s wrong? Never seen a dog before, Harrington?” He never takes his eyes off Nico.

“No, just never seen a Pitbull before.” I offer my hand, able to pull his gaze from Nico to me.

“Well, now you have. Give me your hand, he won’t bite.” Hesitating, he rests his hand on mine and I guide him on where to pet Nico. Nico flips over and starts to lick Steve’s face before he can even touch him, happily panting and wagging his tail quickly. Steve starts to laugh nervously until it starts to sound genuine, the fear washing away into a big goofy smile. Ahhh, he should smile more…

“How could I be scared of you, you big doof?” Nico barks, excited as Steve begins to pet him. “Yea, you’re a cute one.” I start to think back on the time Nico was judged as a pup.

“Lot of people think that Nico is this big scary dog when he’s really just a sweetheart with a heart of gold. Sure, he can attack but only when we tell him too. He’s well trained so he’s safe to be around. Pit bulls really just want to be loved just as every other dog.” I could feel my heart melt as Steve continues to pet Nico, a loving look in his eyes. Ahh converted him into a dog-lover. Success!

“You’re right. Nico is sweet.” Glancing at the clock, we still had some time. I should probably put an alarm on though, to remind me to text Joy. “Hey, you said that was a phone right? What are you doing with that?” Quickly setting an alarm, I smile at him, Nico resting his head in his lap. This would be such a cute picture but I’m pretty sure I should feed this guy instead of watching this cute scene unfold.

“Setting an alarm. I’ll teach you everything you missed on technology later. Come on, let’s go eat something. We got cereal, toast, pancakes, waffles, bacon and eggs. I can make a lot of egg dishes so watcha in the mood for? ”

“Eggs and bacon?” I can’t stop the grin on my face as I nod.

“Ah, a man with taste I see. What kinda of eggs you want: hard-boiled, scrambled, over easy, fluffy omelet, sunny-side up, fried, poached?” He lets out a whistle.

“Man that’s a lot of options. I guess sunny-side up.” I start to heading out the door.

“ ’Kay, Be back in a bit.”

[lemon-patches]

Charmed (2018) 2x01 - Safe Space Recap & Review

Well.

Look at that.

It’s my first review...ever. (AKA i really felt like ranting about this show.)

Let’s hope this goes well. (This very well could turn into me just shouting random theories into the dark void of Tumblr)

I’m not sure how else to start off this but i would like to say that these opinions are totally my own and that you do not have to agree with me or even read the rest of the review if you do not choose to. Free will. It’s a wonderful thing.

This is gonna be wicked long. Get comfortable if you wanna.

Starting off, I’d just like to say that I am absolutely LOVING this new season? Like the previous season (season one) was fine on it’s own. It was campy and a little cheesy and still trying to find it’s footing but it was still enjoyable. (If it hadn’t there wouldn’t’ve been a season two now would there?) In my personally brutal honest opinion, the first season was more of a stream it. A one and done sort of deal.

BUT BOY DID THAT CHANGE WITH SEASON 2.

Perhaps I’m biased because I already adore the cast and I gravitate towards shows with darker content and vibes (ESPECIALLY if it includes the supernatural)

So episode one of season two starts off with Maggie celebrating her birthday. (Happy Birthday Mags) It’s been three weeks since season one’s finale and the Charmed Ones have been appointed to being in charge. Meanwhile, Macy’s also has been accepted for a dream job offer that’s two hours away while Mel really buckles down on this leadership role and Macy is afraid to tell Mel. While two-thirds of the Charmed Ones are getting their party on (same with Harry) Mel encounters a fellow witch who’s Whitelighter has mysterious gone missing. There’s a nice little sister moment and Macy screams that she loves this song. (That’s not important. I just thought it was a cute/funny moment)

The fun times quickly come to and end because the morning after, while sporting some nasty hangovers (except Maggie because that’s just another one of her powers apparently) the girls are attacked by some dark cloaked covered assassin. Which is clearly not a good thing but it does give them a plausible reason not to continue their awkward conversation when Maggie accidentally spills the beans about Macy’s new job.

Back to the murderous cloak guy...

Try as they might, the girls and Harry can’t slow down the assassin (not even with the Power of Three) but it turns out to be fine as a portal appears just in time to save them all. Before I forget, cloak guy also destroys the Book of Shadows. Maggie and Mel escape, Macy gets shot in the leg by the assassin before she begrudgingly Harry behind. Harry, who gets a fatal blow to the heart by the assassin.

The girls are then transported to this secret bunker that the elders had created. They tried to get more answers but Harry isn’t there for info and Eldervarian isn’t just a thing in Riverdale. They’re in witness witch-ness (Let Macy have her puns.) protection. It’s revealed that Macy was shot with some type of poisonous dart and the girls make the risky decision to brave whatever demonic nightmare may or may not be on the other side of the exit door only to discover something much worse.

Hipsters.

(I’m. KIDDING.)

But real talk, suddenly they’re in Seattle at a place called Safe Space (what up, title name?) Curiouser and curiouser, the girls lose their powers and Macy’s wound only gets worse. Maggie and Mel split to get first aid (Mags) and trying to contact Harry and get back to the bunker. (Mel)

Mel has a moment with a dime store witch (who may not be all that dime store. I like her) while trying to contact Harry (kudos to having his number memorized), Maggie runs into a hipster and Macy starts hallucinating a voice after reading a creepy plaque about a mental asylum for witches that compels her to follow it. (Most coffee places have plants or coffee puns. Just saying.)

MEANWHILE, (and this is just a little before halfway into the episode people) Maggie has a bumpy interaction with a boxing trainer who thinks she’s a scam artist at first while trying to get the first aid. Jordan, boxing trainer and medic, offers to help but Maggie just wants and gets the first aid. Mel and Maggie quickly discover that Macy is missing notice the trail of blood drops she left behind.

It’s fine. They find her in like two seconds. What’s not fine is that Macy keeps hallucinating and the poison in her leg is spreading. Harry’s still missing but the girls make their way back to the bunker via a key card that Mel had swiped earlier. The door is hidden, they use the Desenmascarar spell (without magic somehow) while Macy totally blacks out and dreams about “Harry.” It’s um...heated a bit to say to the least.

Back in the bunker there’s a large map of the world on a wall with lights and two of them just turned red. Maggie presses a glowing globe that opens another portal and creates a black goo ball. (It’s important. Promise.) The girls go through the portal and end up at Mary’s Magickal (no, I didn’t misspell that) in Vermont where they stumble upon a house that’s been ravaged and there’s a murdered witch that’s been hanged with the words “DIE WITCHES” behind her.

There’s also rats. Ew.

They find another dead witch (I don’t know if she was hanging too, she’s just in the next shot. RIP. I like your top.) and figure out that lights = witches. A witch board alarm system for witches in trouble. They find more darts and assume that the assassin had been there. Then there’s a third blonde lady that comes downstairs (Witch? I don’t know but how did she miss the sounds of her flatmates getting brutally murdered again?) and remember those rats? Yeah, well they’re people (well, demons) and one kills her via some nasty ass venom. (Toothpaste dude. It does wonders.) 

Macy hallucinates the voice again (It’s Harry and telling her to come home. What is going on???) and totally gives away their hiding spot. Which alert the vermin demon but it’s chill because Mel literally rodent repellent sprays him away...and then runs out of spray for the next one (his cousin, mind you). Classic.

Maggie and Mel are losing the fight until Macy just steps up and straight up barbecues rodent man #2. Her magic’s back but it kinda doesn’t matter because she passes out because of the poison in her spreading and getting worse. (It’s green and black and throbbing and veiny and bleh) And then Harry pops in because he could finally track them due to Macy using her powers and absorbs the poison from her into him. I mean, it’s basic Whitelighter decency but Hacy fans for the win! There’s a tense moment where she doesn’t wake up, another tiny Hacy and sister moment and bam, Macy is up.

They all try to leave but Harry is weak from the poison which is the perfect time for mac daddy of rodent people to appear. Terrible phrasing, I know but the guy is huge. The four of them jet through back and try to leave but oopsie-doopsie, there’s no portal but there is a giant rat man following them. Macy can’t control her powers but decides to bluff with the demon in order to try and buy the others more time. Maggie remembers the black goo ball (marble, it’s a marble but I like black goo ball) and the demon tells Macy that there’s war coming. Marble’s tossed, portal’s open and they all just barely make it out.

Back at the bunker, Harry explains the bunker and the portal and that it was originally for their mother who was an elder. He also explains that the portal removed their aura and powers leaving them untraceable. Except for Macy because of her demon side. Harry tells them that the bunker is a free pass for a new life, denies knowing what the assassin looks like, and oh yeah, died earlier. Woke up in his grave and everything. He tried to get help from his fellow Whitelighters except they’re all dead. (Remember the witch who couldn’t find her Whitelighter?) And it turns out, since all the Elders are gone all the Whitelighters that were tied to them (which was all of them except Harry) are gone too.

Harry is the last Whitelighter. And there’s no one left to protect witches. Just them.

Back at Safe Space, the girls and Harry decided to stick around instead of having a fresh start. In a nice CGI moment, Harry shows the girl the house they thought they left behind that conveniently went through the portal and is cloaked and bound to them forever. Maggie vows on behalf of them all that they’ll hunt down the assassin. Meanwhile, in his solitude in the attic, Harry remembers being killed by the assassin.

The assassin who, eerily enough, looks exactly like him.

WHEW!

Can you believe that’s all just recap?

Like I said earlier I am already loving this new season. It’s darker, it’s grittier but it’s still keeping itself together. And it hasn’t lost it’s humor as there are plenty of laughable moments. And I really commend that because when a lot of shows decide that darker is better, it loses almost all its’ sense of humor which is understandable but I’d still like some faith in humanity and life when I’m done watching sometimes. It’s still fast paced but it doesn’t feel rushed or jam packed. In fact, I had wanted more action and there was clearly already a lot which only makes me wonder about what else this season has in store. It feels kinda weird to say goodbye to Hilltown and I am gonna miss Lucy and Parker, assuming we’re not going to see them for a while...if ever, but boy am I ready for the chaos in Seattle! This very well could be because I am super biased and more a city girl, then close knit town, but I just love the new scenery. There’s just so much more to wrk with. And the vibes, I can’t get over the vibes. I’m going to start sounding like a broken record if I don’t already. Also, Macy, Harry and Hacy are going to be quite the plot this season and not just in a romantic way that drowns out the plot but in a mysterious and romantic way that pushes the plot. Speaking of romances it also seems that Nico and Jada and Parker are out for the moment as this episode introduced some potential love interests with the store witch and the boxer/ medic. It feels like a new show but in a good way. And I’ve never seen the original Charmed (please don’t shun me) but I do know that they’re keeping some plot lines like the destruction of the Book of Shadows. (That’s just something I heard. I don’t know if I’m right) So I don’t know if this new direction is normal or the creators just trying to establish their own version of the universe but i am HERE FOR IT.

And now for my brand new, just thought of it, segment where I write down all my favorite lines and moments!

“All work, no play makes Mel a very dull witch.” - Maggie

The guy hanging upside down in an inflatable bubble ball.

“One drink. One, one, one drink.” - Macy, while dancing. (Also, Macy jumping up and down while sort of...shaking screaming that she loved this song was adorably hilarious for me.)

“You don’t waste anytime killing the buzz do you?”- Macy

“Why are you going into bummer mode when we haven’t even had coffee yet?” - Maggie

When Maggie tells Mel that’s she not going to wait for trouble to come through the door and seconds later a cloaked figure breaks the door down.

“Who the hell invited him?” - Maggie

“Jump now. Think later.”- Maggie

“This is why I don’t leap before I look.” - Macy

“Who says we’re on earth?” - Mel

“I don’t think they have weed dispensaries in Hell.” - Macy

Mel trying to freeze time and getting a high five instead.

 “So we can abandon our lives and become baristas at...Safe Space?”          - Maggie

Maggie trying to get help and find a first aid kit from a barista but he insists that he has to finish his slow pour first.

“Harry’s MIA, Kombucha tastes like barf, and our new friend Swan isn’t very careful with her keycard.” - Mel

“Seriously? Another portal?” - Mel

“Is there anything worse than sitting here watching Macy die?” - Maggie

“Vermont? Seriously?” - Maggie

“Okay, the Elders officially suck.” - Mel

“Where’s a big-ass cleaver when you need one?”- Maggie

“Marbles.”  “As in you’ve lost yours?”- Mel

“There’s a chair at a dusty command center with your name on it.”- Mel

“You had me at dust command center.” - Harry

“To the power of three. Four, actually. This is the magic right here.” - Macy 

“Today was a bad day.” - Maggie “Tomorrow will be better.” - Macy “It has to be.”- Mel

“It will be. That assassin, whoever he is, he’s not coming for us. We’re coming for him.” - Maggie

[keyofshadows]

@akingdomtheorist

So! Ridiculous conversation that’s gonna strike me as funny for the next week, probably. Which I could definitely use, but whatever. Thought I’d amuse you with it since your cupcake started it, lol.

keyofshadows Tomorrow's Eli's birthday. Confetti for all.

akingdomtheorist Adion will make him a cupcake

keyofshadows Awe. He'd be touched. And Adion would get a hug. Also one of those pointy birthday hats.

akingdomtheorist What if the cupcake was shaped like a pointy birthday hat

keyofshadows Pfffff he'd demand to know if the dragon was conspiring with his mom. She used to sew him a replica of Yen Sid's hat every few years and make him wear it on his birthday while she took pictures. From his literal 'I'm twenty minutes old' birthday until he was eighteen. IS THIS POINTY BIRTHDAY HAT CAKE A REFERENCE TO HIS HAT NEMESIS

sstingray yen sid knows about the hats

keyofshadows Is he amused or shaking his head because what is wrong with these people

sstingray secretly amused but won't show it is my wager

keyofshadows I wonder how much Eli was complaining under his breath about it during his lovely summer of responsibility training also I wonder how many dirty looks he was giving Yen Sid's hat while the man was wearing it because whoops

sstingray the master probably noticed it and said something to him eventually.

keyofshadows lmao. "It's not you Sir, honest! It's just...uh...nothing, actually, never mind, I'm supposed to be mopping or something, better get back to that." /slinks off because oh my god, explaining to Yen Sid about the Hat when he has no idea he already knows, pfff. Poor Eli.

sstingray not pictured: ray in the background trying really hard not to laugh

keyofshadows Oh sure, enjoy your amusement now, he'll get you back for it. Someday. Somehow. Maybe. She can babysit his eventual demonspawn, that'll do it. ...Which would be more of a punishment to the kids, actually.

sstingray and she'll get just as much fun out of that as she did watching him

keyofshadows Okay, we totally know what we're doing with Auryn when he misbehaves. Off to aunt Ray's for a pop quiz!

sstingray secretly gives him cookies when they're not looking

keyofshadows Ray's gonna end up with a kid that mouths off just to be sent for 'punishment', you know. Though he'll be more of an actual pain in the ass as a teenager. Amelia says don't worry about that, she and Nico will knock him into shape. With his own Keyblade, if necessary.

sstingray but eli she is not a tool to punish your children with! gosh!!

sstingray well if he misbehaves TOO badly he'll still learn not to cross her

keyofshadows The Grasshopper knows this. But really, it's Date Night and he and Specter really wanted to have some quiet movie time that didn't involve Auryn yelling in the background from upstairs. I should probably feel bad for Ray having to deal with the next generation of troublemakers, but nope. Too busy snickering.

sstingray it's fine they'll watch a movie that eli doesn't want him to see

keyofshadows Which would probably be anything with drunk elephants. Dumbo is Evil. So is Bambi, but for completely different reasons.

sstingray well. if auryn is up for it...

keyofshadows This is Eli's punk firstborn, of course he is.

sstingray welp. pink elephants on parade it is!

keyofshadows And Ray then gets to field ALL the questions, like how can elephants get drunk, and why isn't HE even allowed more than a can of soda a day if whatever Dumbo had was worse - wait, was that elephant beer? Or did he drink funny water? And if he drinks too much soda is he gonna see pink elephants too? Is THAT why he's not allowed too much? Can he have a few cans and find out?

sstingray fermentation is a terrible thing, you're too young kid, maybe idk but i saw this video once of elephants eating fermented fruits and getting totally trashed, honestly who even knows anymore, no, no it's because you'll get a sugar high and it's also terrible for your health, and no

keyofshadows He is completely unhappy with all of these answers, he'll have you know. Except the trashed elephant video, he wants to see that. BUT. He's gonna complain to Nico first (who will tell him to Listen To Aunt Ray She Knows More Than Them) and then he'll go home and whine at his dad BECAUSE AUNT RAY IS BEING UNFAIR FIX THIS

keyofshadows Eli just snickering and yeah, no, you have no idea of the meaning of 'unfair' when it comes to her, short stuff, sorry.

sstingray eli's probably like "that's what she does there is nothing i can do"

keyofshadows Nor does he wish to try, he's too old for another Darkside/Twilight Thorn/Who Knows What That Is pop quiz. He has kids now! (He's never too old, lmao. Kai'll boot him over for laughs.)

sstingray in which kai accidentally initiates a game of corridor ping pong with eli as the ball

keyofshadows Pfff. Kai says he thought he was going to get into trouble for booting the Epic Dork through Corridors, or does that only count when he's kicking him into the Maw?

sstingray nnnnno he'll probably be in trouble for it later but aunt ray has a life too you know she can't deal with your antics all the time!! there are seas to be sailed! treasures to be found! magics to learn!

keyofshadows Good, then can she take Soren with, he needs a way to deal with him this week that A - Does not involve setting his sneakers on fire AGAIN and B - Keeps Ro from rescuing him. Little brother gets seasick, little brother won't be warping over to pick him up. ...The maturity is astounding.

sstingray just for that she'll kick kai into the ocean

keyofshadows This is punishment how? He can swim. Also will probably open a Corridor and drop into it before he hits the water because he's a little shit.

sstingray either way he's off her ship so she'll count it as a win

sstingray not if she kicks him into her own portal and drops him right above the water

keyofshadows This is how you make enemies, Ray. (lmao, as if he'd do more than sulk for a few days before showing up again to get cookies/ask a favor/see what she thinks is a good present for Ro's birthday)

sstingray puhlease she'll take kai on pirate adventures someday

keyofshadows Do we really want a Keyblade wielder pretending to be a pirate. Or even just on the ship for longer than thirty seconds. (Yes.)

sstingray um duh?? how fun could that be

keyofshadows Kai's pointing out it should be Keyblade MASTER by that time, get it right. This from Mr. 'There's no way I'd ever be that good' who eventually is because whoops, Auryn's training is filled with fetching the chips Mastery Exams. I didn't know that traumatizing was another word for fun.

sstingray isn't that the epitome of everyone's time with their favorite aunt

keyofshadows There was just a resounding 'YES', so.

sstingray well there you go!

keyofshadows /snicker

keyofshadows The pirate thing is gonna turn into tradition, just like Ray taking on Eli as an apprentice started that ball rolling for him. She should pop on by one of the rabbit holes of Wanderer's Refuge again and see if she can land anywhere near Fen's time again. Be greeted by a slightly older (no more than 18, probably) Az, who happily informs her about how she's 'retraining' Celia's apprentice Seth, much to her dad's horror. Probably much to Ray's too, lol. 'Wait, wasn't he the boy that kept going creeper on you? That you hated? WHAT ARE YOU DOING'

sstingray no no its not a bad thing retraining is good

sstingray show him the light girl you go though lol god forbid ray ever have kids and they get mixed up with eli's family that's just gonna be chaos everywhere

keyofshadows Fen asks Ray to PLEASE not encourage his baby, he doesn't like Seth, he doesn't trust him, how does he know he's not going back to Celia and telling her things AZ IS NOT READY FOR THIS STUFF. OMG

sstingray also how would even feel about ray showing up again Oh welp

keyofshadows SO MUCH CHAOS.

sstingray that's the thing about light fen, sometimes you just gotta trust someone

keyofshadows Also no one minds Ray's random drop-ins, she's the Refs boogieman, after all.

sstingray and maybe put a tracker on them u know whatever works

keyofshadows He refuses to trust Seth, he's a little shit.

sstingray excellent her legend will live on

keyofshadows Az'll threaten her kids with Ray popping out of nowhere, just for the entertainment value.

sstingray I have a feeling her hypothetical family would get on great in the chaos tho lmao az can be like IT HAPPENS. A LOT ACTUALLY. we should probably do something about that

keyofshadows Just like how she's naming her firstborn son Jalen, also for the entertainment value. She can hear the grumping from the original through the rabbit hole, lmfao.

sstingray listen ray never asked to be an accidental time traveler it's weird ok

keyofshadows Also hilarious

sstingray she'll be sure to tell Jalen that when she gets back

keyofshadows The kid's gonna be the bounciest, most cheerful baby ever. /cackle

sstingray Oh how delightful!

keyofshadows Az thinks so~

keyofshadows Fen's twitching now because apparently Az is over her crush on Leo and he'd actually rather she go drool over the grease-covered boy Not From Here as opposed to the direction she's looking in. /facepalm

sstingray he could always come back :v

keyofshadows Imagine Fen trying to convince Leo to distract his daughter from the weirdo she's currently 'retraining'. For her own good, of course, not his nerves. /dies

sstingray leo is like whoa that is none of my business dude. slowly backs away.

keyofshadows Az is just smirking. Ha ha dad. But hey, nice to see you Leo, still eating sandwiches out of that toolbelt of yours? Somebody made rice krispy treats if he wants any.

sstingray great now that he gets to see her again, yes, and y e s where can find them?!

keyofshadows lol. Just opens a Light corridor and hands him a whole plateful.

sstingray !!! did he ever tell her he loves her cause he totally does

keyofshadows OH GOOD WAY TO START OFF THE AWKWARD BLUSHING LEO THANKS

sstingray thumbs up!!

keyofshadows Fen's trying not to applaud. Go away, you, quit trying to influence things. His wife would swat him.

[mackinmacki]

Tomato Log V: Flight DLC (Gaming Nerds AU)

Rating: K+

Word Count: 3434

Summary: Maki decides it’s time to go see Hanayo, and maybe confess those feelings of hers.

Pairing: MakiPana

Notes: At least three months isn’t six months. Also, I love my references that most people wouldn’t be looking for or get.

Link: (FFN) / Banana’s Awesome Character Sheet Refs

Despite things seeming like they were fine again, Maki still felt uneasy. Though she was getting to talk to Hanayo more, there was still the specter of Rin that put her on edge. They hung out so much: what if they were becoming more than friends? What if they were already dating and Hanayo just wasn't telling her? Why did she have to be so far away?

Her sulking was once again gaining the notice of her roommates, and they weren't shy about bringing it up. "Have you ever played Xenoblade Chronicles, Maki?" This was how Nico started up their conversation one day while the two of them were in the same area. Maki was looking for something to eat while Nico was watching TV.

"What the hell is that?"

"It's a video game. Look, Maki, there's a character in the game named Shulk, okay? I'm gonna call you Sulk. Because you're always sulking-"

"I get it." Maki, not realizing the irony, peeked out of the kitchen and sulked in Nico's direction. "What's your point?"

"My point is that you're a complete drag to be around. What's your problem anyway?" Nico looked away from the TV and smirked in Maki's direction. "Trouble with your fake girlfriend?"

"Sh-She's not fake or my girlfriend!" Maki protested, going red in the face as she retreated back into the kitchen area. It made sense that she was next to the oven, because she was heated. More than that, she was upset with Nico once again demeaning her best friend.

"So it is about her. I knew it." Nico laughed and got up from the couch, heading into the kitchen to confront Maki. "Why don't you actually do something about... whatever's bothering you instead of just moping around?"

"I don't have to take this from you." Maki frowned and folded her arms, leaning against the oven. "You're just an angry little gremlin with delusions of grandeur." That seemed to hit its mark, as Nico's face went red as she practically growled at Maki.

"You... You... You ass!" Maki scoffed at the lame insult, walking out of the kitchen and away from Nico. She had forgotten about the snack, but she wasn't really hungry anymore anyway. Before she could get to her room, she was intercepted by Eli. Apparently her roommates didn't understand what personal space was.

"Nico has a point, Maki. A rude point, but a point nonetheless."

"Were you just listening to us?"

"You two aren't very quiet with your arguments." Eli put her hands on her hips and stared Maki down. "If you're really worried about Hanayo, then you should talk to her about how you're feeling."

"I can't! It's just... weird to say that stuff on Skype." Plus it was just embarrassing in general to admit that she had real human feelings.

"Then just go see her! Gods!" Nico had returned to the conversation. "Aren't you rich as hell? Just get on your private jet and fly it over to her." That... wasn't a bad idea. Why did it have to be Nico who came up with that idea?

"I... have stuff to do," she muttered, rushing into her room and slamming the door. She tried her best to ignore Nico's laughter as she practically flung herself onto her computer chair, booting up Skype. Hopefully Hanayo would be online...

She was! Maki typed out a message, asking if they could cam for a bit. She waited with bated breath, worried that Hanayo would be busy again. Thankfully though, she wasn't, so they had time to spend together. Maki put on her headphones and started the call, smiling the moment Hanayo's face came onscreen.

"Hi Maki-chan!" Her smile quickly dropped when she noticed the worried-looking smile on Maki's face. "Is something wrong?"

"No! Well, yes. Maybe?" This seemed like such a bold thing to request, and her throat tightened at the mere thought of saying it. At the same time though, Maki really did want to see Hanayo in person. Maybe doing that would give her clarity on her feelings. "I... wanted to ask you something important."

"A-Are you quitting SunFall?"

"What? No! Never!" Now that was something she truly could never fathom doing. "I... I was wondering if you were going to be busy this weekend."

"Oh, that's a relief!" Hanayo smiled, then thought about what Maki said next. "Hmm, no, I shouldn't be. Did you want to try another raid?"

"Not exactly." Maki took a deep breath, glancing at the door as if she expected her roommates to be glued to it in anticipation. "I, uh, wanted to know if... if..." She fell silent, a blush steadily forming on her face.

"If?" Hanayo tilted her head slightly, giving Maki and confused expression. It was such a cute look that it made it even harder for Maki to respond, as she was too busy being warmed by her crush's insane amount of cuteness. "If I'm busy?"

"Well, you're not busy, right?" She'd already said that, so probably not. This was just leaving things in suspense: she needed to say something now. "A-Anyway, I wanted to come see you." There: she had said it. It was out in the open now.

"Maki-chan, you're looking at me right now, aren't you?" Hanayo smiled innocently, and Maki just wanted to slam her head on the desk. This was not meant to be, was it?

"Yes, but that's not what I meant. I... want to see you... in person." Realization dawned on Hanayo's face as her mouth fell open. "I-I think it'd be f-fun! We've never gotten to meet before, and you wouldn't have to spend any money."

"Wow, I... Y-Yeah! I'd love to see you, Maki-chan!" Hanayo's surprise turned into a smile. "I-If you really want to spend all that money just to see me-"

"Absolutely!" Maki interrupted before Hanayo could be any more self-deprecating. The amount of money she'd have to spend was more than worth it to see her, and that was the truth. "I really do want to see you this weekend, Hanayo." Any weekend, really. Any day at all.

"W-Well then, I can't wait to see you!" There was a comfortable happiness settling between them as they started to plan. "I hope you don't mind if my roommate comes with me to pick you up. I don't have my own car." That gave Maki pause, but she quickly remembered that Rin was not one Hanayo's roommates, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with that.

"That's alright. You know, you should really get a car though."

"I-I don't really go anywhere, though." Maki laughed and waved a hand dismissively. It felt really good to be able to talk like this again, like the long time friends that they were. Plus they were finally going to meet face to face. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this happy.

Now all that was left to do was to hide in her room until she had to leave so Nico wasn't able to say 'I told you so.'

The plane ride wasn't long, but Maki had been hoping to take a nap regardless. Instead she stayed up the entire time with her nerves on edge. She really was about to meet Hanayo in person for the first time. This was a big thing for her, and she didn't think she was prepared for it.

They'd been friends for so long now, and it took days and days of moping and jealousy for her to actually take this step. What if it was a mistake though? There was the positive that laying it all on the line could make all her wildest dreams come true, but at the same time there was a higher chance that she'd permanently ruin their friendship. They could probably still be friends, even if Hanayo started dating Rin, or was already dating Rin.

Okay, that was a terrible thought. It made her feel ill that her crush might be - likely was - all for naught. She didn't want to give up, though. Hanayo was just the most amazing, beautiful girl there was. There'd never be anyone else like her. 'Oh Gods, I sound like a lovestruck teenager.'

Maki slapped her cheeks as the plane came to a stop, trying to knock out any unnecessary thoughts from her brain. If she was stressed for the entire weekend, it wouldn't leave a very good impression. She surely was overthinking all of this.

Since it was only a weekend trip, she hadn't brought much with her. Everything she had was in a bag she slung over her shoulder and carried off of the plane. Walking with the rest of her first class passengers, she tried her best to think of anything else but the daunting task she had ahead.

She could think about SunFall. After all, there was a new miniquest coming up that she was planning on completing the first day. It wasn't a major update, but there couldn't always be major updates. All it would be was another notch on her completionist belt. She was so close, she could almost taste it.

She almost tasted the door as well, nearly slamming face-first into it while her mind wandered elsewhere. Luckily she halted just before she hit it, pushing open the door and pretending that was all according to plan. She tried to will the blush forming on her face down as she went outside to look for Hanayo.

She wasn't sure what to look for. Hanayo hadn't told her what kind of car her roommate drove, and there were quite a few vehicles - and people - around. None of them were Hanayo, though. Maki looked around the area, trying to find any indication that Hanayo was there. This would be so much easier if Hanayo would just get a cellphone...

"Maki?" Whirling around, Maki found herself being sized up by a shorter, ashen-haired girl. She had no idea who this girl was, but reacting to her name being called accidentally revealed who she was. The girl clapped her hands and smiled. "I thought so. You look exactly like Hanayo-chan described."

"Hanayo?" That got Maki's attention. If this person knew who Hanayo was, then they had to be the roommate that had driven her here. Since she didn't have bright orange hair, that meant she had to be... "You're... Kotori?"

"Mm!" She clapped again, bowing her head slightly. "Minami Kotori, at your service." Giggling, she stuck her tongue out slightly and pointed to a car that was parked right behind her. Maki had seen that car, but there hadn't seemed to be anybody in it. As if she could read her mind, Kotori chipped in just as Maki finished thinking that thought. "Don't worry: Hanayo-chan's in there! She's just hiding under the seats."

"Oh." Maki wasn't sure what to say about that. Was Hanayo as nervous as she was about this? That was somewhat comforting, actually. Not that it made her any less nervous, but it was something. "So, should we...?"

"Of course!" Kotori kept on smiling as she led Maki to the car, pulling open the driver's side door. Maki didn't know which side to enter from, though. She didn't want to accidentally try to take Hanayo's seat or anything. So she peered into the window and saw a familiar form trying to hide herself beneath the seats.

"Cute..." Maki muttered to herself, steeling herself to actually talk to Hanayo in person for the first time. She opened the door and poked her head in, putting on her best 'non-serial killer smile'. "Is this seat taken?" Was that lame or secretly clever? She hadn't thought to research that before saying it.

Hanayo looked up at Maki with wide eyes, a blush forming on her cheeks as she scrambled up to sit on the opposite seat. "N-No! It's empty." This would be funny if she wasn't so nervous herself. Maki just nodded and sat down, acutely aware of Kotori giggling from the front seat.

The beginning of the drive was quiet, with both girls being too shy to even look at each other, except for the occasional sneaked glances. It was up to Kotori to break the ice. "So, Maki, how was your flight?"

"It was alright. Kinda just flew by." For some reason, that response drew another laugh from Kotori, though Maki didn't feel comfortable asking why what she said was funny. Instead they lapsed back into silence, but that wasn't going to deter Kotori.

"Hey Hanayo-chan, didn't you catch a new item in that m and o game of yours?" Instantly, Hanayo tensed up, glaring at Kotori with possibly the most adorable angry face imaginable. Kotori could only smile to herself after she glanced back at Hanayo's expression. That would do the trick.

"K-Kotori-chan, you know that you don't 'catch' items! You acquire them, and it's MMO!"

"Does... Does she not know what an MMO is?" Maki leaned over and whispered to Hanayo, trying not to let Kotori be aware of what she was saying.

"N-No, she does. She's just being a... a..." Hanayo pouted up at Kotori, trying to come up with an appropriate descriptor. "A big meany!" Maki tried her hardest not to burst out laughing, stomping her foot down against the floor and faking a coughing fit. "O-Oh! Are you okay, Maki-chan?"

"Y-Yes, I'm f-fine." She faked another series of coughs until she was positive that she could keep herself under control. Then, after taking a deep breath, she was ready to keep going with the conversation. "A-Anyway, at least she's just teasing, right? My roommates actually have no idea what it is... Or they don't care," she added, thinking bitterly about Nico.

"Y-Yeah, I remember! You said they called it Moonrise, right?" Hanayo shook her head with a quiet 'tsk tsk'. "It's, it's... disgraceful."

"Disgusting," Maki agreed.

"Despicable," Kotori chimed in, smiling to herself as Maki and Hanayo began to talk about SunFall. All according to plan.

Maki wasn't sure why she expected something different than what she walked into. Maybe it was because she coming to a slightly new place, but it was a university just like hers, so really she shouldn't have been surprised when Hanayo's dorm looked pretty similar.

As soon as Kotori closed the front door, one of the dorm doors opened and out popped another girl, who turned to the three with excitement in her eyes. "You're back! And you brought the nerd!"

"Hah?" Maki barely had time to react before the ginger girl was upon her, invading her personal space. "H-Hey, what are you doing?!"

"I'm hugging you, duh." She laughed, giving Maki a funny look. "You have been hugged before, right?"

"O-Of course I have!" She started to turn red as she huffed and turned to face the wall, no longer attempting to struggle out of the hug. Sure she had gotten a hug before. Plenty of hugs, in fact! ... From her parents. That counted, right? They were hugs, after all. Human arms had indeed been wrapped around her torso.

"H-Honoka-chan, p-please let go," Hanayo pleaded, looking incredibly awkward watching the two of them. It was Kotori who once again stepped in to right the ship.

"Honoka-chan, please let go of our guest." Her smile turned into a strange grin. "Unless you'd like to wear the school uniform again." Honoka paled instantly, letting go of Maki and bouncing back.

"Ahaha, of course, of course! S-Sorry Maki-chan!"

"A school uniform?" As much as she was pleased to get her space back, Maki didn't understand what was so bad about a uniform. "Didn't you have to wear one in high school?"

"It's not the uniform. It's what I have to do in it." With that, Honoka ran back into her room, glancing back fearfully one more time before slamming her door shut. Kotori giggled behind Maki, drawing her attention.

"Have fun, you two. Enjoy your LMMOP."

"I-It's MMO, Kotori-chan!" That just got another giggle from Kotori before she went to her own room, leaving Maki and Hanayo alone in the living room.

"Uh... What did she mean by what she has to do in the uniform?"

"I-I'm not sure I want to know." Hanayo squirmed awkwardly, looking at Maki. "Sh-Should we go to my room?" Maki merely nodded, and the two of them headed for Hanayo's room. As they walked in Maki wondered if she was being too stoic and impersonal. Maybe she needed to be more vocal.

Looking around, Maki noticed that Hanayo's room wasn't too dissimilar to hers either. It was a lot cleaner, though. On the wall was a poster for SunFall, while on a shelf was a very nice-looking replica of Hanayo's beast tamer character. "Your room looks nice." That wasn't the most inspiring of conversation starters, but at least she was trying.

"Th-Thank you." She really was a far cry from the silent and powerful beast tamer Maki had originally believed her to be, but she didn't mind at all. Hanayo was too cute for words, and being in the presence of her made Maki's heart beat faster. This crush was going to be the death of her.

She noticed Hanayo's headphones laying on her desk, those flimsy-looking white earbuds that she could never approve of. "You really do need new headphones, Hanayo."

"Y-You've said that before." Hanayo giggled softly, picking up the headphones and holding them carefully. "They've served me well for this long."

"I'm still gonna have to get you some real gaming headphones." She looked around the room again, then turned to Hanayo with a small smile. "It was really nice of Kotori to allow me to spend the weekend here." Originally, she had planned to make reservations at a hotel, but according to Hanayo, Kotori had been insistent that she stay there instead.

"Yeah, I'm really glad you're gonna be staying here." Maki blushed at those words, but it made her heart warm up considerably. "I hope my bed is comfortable enough."

"Your bed?" She stared at Hanayo in confusion. "But where are you going to sleep?"

"The couch. You're my guest, Maki-chan. I want you to be comfortable here." Hanayo's smile was genuine, but Maki was frowning all the same. Sure, she was a guest, but she didn't want to intrude like that. It was Hanayo's bed, not hers.

"But it's your bed, Hanayo. I'm more than happy to sleep on the couch. Besides, I'm just happy to be here with you." That statement hit Hanayo first, as her face begin to burn up. It took Maki a moment, but when she saw how red Hanayo was, then realized what she had said, her own face began to play catch-up. It was at that moment that Kotori poked her head in.

"Ooh, and there hasn't even been a kiss yet." It was soft enough that it apparently only reached Maki's ears, and it caused her to blush harder if anything. She whipped around to stare wide-eyed at Kotori, who smiled at her. "You two don't need to fight over the sleeping arraignments. I already have that taken care of."

"You do?" Both Maki and Hanayo spoke at the same time.

"Mhm!" Kotori stepped into the room, holding a blanket in one hand and a pillow in the other. "You can both sleep in Hanayo-chan's bed."

"E-Eh?!"

"There's plenty of room, isn't there, Hanayo-chan?" That smile was definitely not innocent. Maki was sure of it.

"W-Well, m-maybe, b-b-but-"

"Perfect!" She tossed the pillow towards Maki, who, with all of her regality and grace, let it bounce off of her face and onto the ground. The blanket came next, landing perfectly on top of her and making her look like a very poorly-designed ghost. How mortifying. "I've heard it's going to be cold tonight, so be sure to bundle up. Have fun, you two!"

Maki yanked off the blanket as Kotori disappeared from view, but she was sure that there had been a devious grin on her face. Cold, she had said? Unlikely, since her face was hot enough now to warm a small farm.

"W-Well, w-w-we aren't going to bed yet," Hanayo reasoned, bending over to pick up the pillow and laying it carefully on the bed. Maki gulped and nodded, tossing the blanket on the bed as well.

"Y-Yeah, exactly." It was clear that they were both nervous, and while they eventually got back to hanging out like normal friends, the fact that they were to sleep in the same bed stayed on Maki's mind the whole time. 'Damn you, Kotori! ... Thank you, but damn you.'