#oc: noa

[simplegenius042]

Music Monday & "Every Friend Group Has The..." Template

Tagging @josephseedismyfather @voidika @imogenkol @socially-awkward-skeleton @inafieldofdaisies @aceghosts @cloudofbutterflies92 @cassietrn @direwombat @noodlecupcakes @adelaidedrubman @raresvtm @derelictheretic @davrinsgriffons @shallow-gravy @strangefable @statichvm @carlosoliveiraa @g0dspeeed @wrathfulrook @starsandskies @ladyoriza @la-grosse-patate @thewanderer-000 @omen-speaker @alypink @shellibisshe @josephslittledeputy @skoll-sun-eater @afarcryfrommymain @strafethesesinners @turbo-virgins @florbelles @minilev @justasmolbard @yokobai and @seedsplease + anyone else who'd like to join.

Music Monday for The UnTitledverse, An Old Ballad Of Chance And Ember Hearts Trilogy and A Radioactive Calamity Of Love, Bombs & Gore. This time I'm doing another special round but for my favorite songs from Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss (or Hellaverse as I've heard it be called) and how those songs fit into my wacky worlds and stuff. Plus a "Every Friend Group Has The..." Template for Life, Despair & Monsters. Anyway, enjoy listening to the first batch of songs and you'll find the template below the cut:

Smile Tunes is a crossover fic (is it really a crossover if their in the same universe?) for Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss in my The UnTitledverse series, focusing on both story lines (which eventually overlap) through the connection/interaction of three OCs; Samuel Who (the Morningstar's adopted son royal advisor who had been tasked by Lilith to look out for his adoptive sister, I mean, the royal heir, Charlie Morningstar), Killian "Krunk" Glass (a shark demon runt from the Greed Ring, now an IMP employee who's basically demolition expert aka the EXPLOSIVES GUY (TM) and occasionally makes the assassinations "look like an accident", despite not knowing how accidents occur for humans), and lastly Kingsley (who seems to be an exorcist, a really tall one, is assumed to have gotten lost in the Pride Ring since the last Extermination and has a bit of the old amnesia to boot, he mostly stays at the Hotel), with Kingsley being a central plot line for both Samuel and Killian to investigate, while Killian and Samuel get involved in romance and since Samuel is basically part of the Morningstar Royal Family, he's able to visit the HB plot line, just as Killian can enter the HH plot line because he's doing the most work for Samuel on the "investigating Kingsley" sub plot. Anyway, focusing on Killian, he's basically the demolition expert aka the EXPLOSIVES GUY (TM), and is often tasked with cleaning up after the group to at least make some of the assassinations look like an accident. Killian likes his boss Blitzo well enough, though is kind of sour about the whole Stolitz situation as he's all about "EATING THE RICH" (until he meets Samuel and eats out the rich), he begins on neutral terms with Moxxie and Millie (who don't hate him but are distant from him mostly due to his slight resemblance to Chaz Thurman) but he begins to bond with them over time (Moxxie and Killian start bonding over their respective roles as weapon and demolition expert, while Millie and Killian start bonding over a shared disdain towards Chaz). He and Loona mostly grunt at each other with head motions/gestures (Killian's wise enough to not upset a short-tempered Hound Demon, in addition to the fact Loona's the boss' daughter), though he does occasionally snicker at her insults. He really, really, really loves his job. Have a listen to the Jingle below:

"When you want somebody gone and you don't wanna wait too long Call the Immediate Murder Professionals! Hand grenade or cyanide, we'll make it look like suicide! The Immediate Murder Professionals! We do our jobs so well, because we come straight up from Hell! We'll kill your husband or your wife, we'll even let you keep the knife! We're the Immediate Murder Prodession-!"

("Kids die for free!")

In the first book of my original trilogy An Old Ballad Of Chance And Ember Hearts, the main antagonists to my pair of protagonists is a trio of Kin who hold control over the cosmos/stars and are entities full of contradictions and paradoxes; their names are Noir, Nova and Noa. They follow the protagonists through their in the Multiverse, acting as nuisances towards both of them. Did I mention that Noir, Nova and Noa may or may not be the same person who came from one or the other or not at all while also maybe or maybe not being brother & sister/father or mother & son/s or daughter who may or may not be in a relationship because they may not be related or maybe they are related or-

Anyway, those deranged and messy and questionable and ambiguous trio dynamics aside, how 'bout some envisioning of Noir singing this song with Noa and Nova when confronting the two human explorers encroaching on their territory:

"Inside of every human* is a lost cause, ha But we'll dress them up for now with just a smile ("Wicked smile!") And we'll chlorinate this cesspool with some old redemption flair And show these simpletons some proper class and style ("Class and style!") Oh, here below the ground, I'm sure your plan is sound."

[* Noir would be speaking with the two protagonists, who are the first HUMAN travelers of the Multiverse, so demon wouldn't make sense in this context].

Last song with my Fallout New Vegas Courier Six OC Ryder as the focus and (one of) her love interest's sister Marissa "Ress" Bishop as a support. I detail this as more specifically Ryder chasing her never-ending ambitions no matter the cost, which results in her committing actions that leave her isolated, used by bad influences, feeling lacking/empty inside and seeking out new highs to satisfy or distract her from that endless pit (gaining more power/influence/knowledge for the former and sex/drugs/violence for the latter). Ress acts as the person trying to temper this to a least less harmful degree, even while she's definitely contributing to Ryder's behaviors as well, as she too has wants a satisfying life making a name for herself while indulging in her vices, though not to the extent of Ryder's ambitions. Michael Kovac's section of lyrics describes Ryder while Chi-Chi's section more-or-less kind of describes Ress. [TW: Please read the warning at the beginning of the video... unless you're just listening to it, though the lyrics have heavy subject matter in them]

"Til death do us part But we're already past that phase This is a brand new start And I think I deserve some praise For the way that I am Despite having overdosed, and ending up comatose I don't give a damn I've let my emotions go, fuck being a sober hoe This is the mantra, this is my life You're playing with now till the end of the night Surrounded by fire, the passion ignites A hit of that heaven and hell, a hell of a high!"

"I'm addicted to the madness This casino* is my atlantis We're forever gonna have a fucking reason to sin Let me leave my soul to burn and I'll be breathing it in I'm addicted to the feeling Getting higher than the ceiling And we're never gonna want this fucking feeling to end Just concede and give in to your inner demons again!"

"Yeah, you fell in love But you fell deeper in this pit While death rains from above So count your blessings 'cause this is it You're not letting it go So what if I misbehave, it's what everybody craves You already know So come if you're feeling brave, and fancy yourself a mate You want it, I got it, see what you like? We could have it all by the end of the night Your money and power, my sinful delight A hit of that heaven and hell, a hell of a delight!"

"I'm addicted to the madness This casino is my atlantis." "We're forever gonna have a fucking reason to sin." "Let me leave my soul to burn and I'll be breathing it in." I'm addicted to the feeling Getting higher than the ceiling And we're never gonna want this fucking feeling to end Just concede and give in to your inner demons again!" "Just concede and give in to your inner demons again."

"I'm addicted to the madness This casino is my atlantis. We're forever gonna have a fucking reason to sin. Let me leave my soul to burn and I'll be breathing it in. I'm addicted to the feeling Getting higher than the ceiling And we're never gonna want this fucking feeling to end Just concede and give in to your inner demons again!"

("One, two. One, two, three, c'mon!")

"I'm addicted to the feeling Getting higher than the ceiling And we're never gonna want this fucking feeling to end Just concede and give in to your inner demons again!"

"I'm addicted to the sorrow When the buzz ends by tomorrow There's another rush of poison flowing into my veins Giving me a dose of pleasure that resides by the pain I'm addicted, I'm dependent Looking awesome, feeling helpless And I know I'm raising cane by every highway in hell Maybe things won't be so terrible inside this casino."

[* Casino instead of hotel since the Lucky 38 is where Ryder's base of operations tends to be since she came into the Mojave.]

This friend group from Life, Despair & Monsters includes Monika (from Doki Doki Literature Club), her sibling Haoyu Anabuki, their (future) boyfriend Icarus Galatos, his rather delinquent alter Xavier Tulip, his more sweeter idealistic alter Hatsukami Hinode and his friend Marinette Dupain-Cheng (from Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Chat Noir) as...

Blank Template below:

[loony-lupus]

So, I drew my BSD OC character, Noa. Trying anime after learning new things. I'm not really happy with her hair. I need to think about her design more.

"Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay. To mould me man?" (c)

A foreign ability user named Cohen and his sister Noa visited the Agency. Cohen has the ability "I," which allows him to temporarily animate any objects. For example, tables, chairs, statues, etc. But he must manually "unanimate" them. The weakness of his ability is that objects left animated for too long will go insane.

He came to the Agency because his brother, Levi, stole their family heirloom - a golem, the best matter with which "I" works in symbiosis. Cohen is dying of an illness. He must pass on his ability to another, but finding the golem is a priority.

The main plot twist, of course, is that his "sister" is the animated golem. She does not know about this since the master ordered her to forget and believe in her familial relationship with him - the golem unquestioningly follows the orders of the master and this includes subconscious self-deception. Noa is an ancient creature, but her age matters little because when her master "turns her off," all the memories she has lived are erased from her memory. With a new "turn on," she needs time to gradually gain an independent mind and begin to feel. Unfortunately, this process is rapid enough to cause terrible problems with controlling emotions and feelings, which always lead to blind violence on her part when she can not cope with herself...

In some ways, she is naive, but she highly values ​​life and human life in particular. Human beings amaze her with their complexity and their achievements. And life in general is full of exciting colors and aspects for a once inanimate object. However, there is a person who will do anything to prevent Noa from gaining freedom, and it is not even Cohen...

"I" is a reference to a chapter name from Gustav Meyrink's novel "Golem." Characters are not based on any writer, but they have references to "Golem" chapters' names.

[heart-buzz]

my leopard gecko OC, her name is Noa 💕 she'll hug you, steal your wallet, and then apologize and give it back because she's in therapy for that sort of thing

[seranavolkihars]

married 🔥

[bobapixels]

お金稼ぐ 私はSTAR

[obviouschangeling]

A dump of some of my OC's that I've made in Vroid studio (and myself at the end.)

Winzy, the first girl with the all pink hair, is my most recent one, and part of my never ending battle of trying to make black girl hair in modeling software.

But! In order the characters are:

Winzy Duke

Noa

Lohen

Willem

Rue (not an OC, but the character from Princess Tutu. But I'm proud of her model gdammit, her hair was a nightmare.)

Syla

Ten

NID

and me~

[li-an-nie]

YOU'RE TWO YEARS OLDER THAN HIM KAISER

ACT LIKE AN ADULT FOR ONCE 🤡🤡🤡

from this awesome soccer meme

[teojira]

[Light] [Noa x GN!reader oneshot]

Summary: Noa wakes you up at an ungodly hour to go into the overgrown city.

Words: 2.5K+

Warnings: Mutual pinning (neither of you know yet), romance, Reader is insecure, self indulgence at its fucking finest. Gender neutral but Noa thinks you're pretty :)

A/N: I'm so in love with him it actually hurts LMAOO, literally a ache in my chest. I was listening to Light by sleeping at last while writing this <3 hence the title, I hope I got the energy right!

You weren't quite sure what Noa was planning, he had woken you up early, maybe an hour or two before sunrise.

Groaning and rolling away from his poking, he moves to trail a hand down to your side, jabbing his fingers there.

Your eyes fly open with a yelp, staring daggers into his head. You turn to him, and he has a small smirk on his face, laughing silently about the pout of your face.

He's already dressed in his normal attire, his feathered adorned to his person, a sling wrapped around his shoulder as well.

Noa watches your face take him in, and he hopes to anyone who's out there, to Caesar you can't tell how flushed he gets under your gaze. It's bad enough that everyone in the clan side eyes him because they know of his feelings for you. He hasn't worked up the nerve to tell you himself. He doesn't know what to do. He's both simultaneously enamored with you and your differences, but in the same vein, you're so different.

Sometimes, a part of him wishes he hadn't fallen for you. It'd be easier. It's easier to just be your friend and your protector, but falling for you was as easy as breathing.

You move to stretch out our limbs, groaning as you twist and turn, eyes still half lidded. The noise gaining his attention, his previous thoughts disappearing.

You're pretty like this, he thinks. You always do though, no matter what you're doing.

"What the fu-

Noa shoves a finger against your lips, gesturing for you to be quiet.

'I need you to come with me, important.' he signs, moving to grab at your hand, pulling you up. He forgets his strength a lot and yanks you into his chest. Your head knocks into him, and you yelp. In his defense, he didn't mean to!

"Sorry." He sniffs, using a large hand to rub at your forehead to soothe the ache there.

"This better be worth waking me up."

"It will be, come on."

Noa leads you down to the horses, a hand on the small of your back, pushing you to go faster.

"Noa, what is the rush? Is everything okay?" You dig your heels into the soft earth beneath you, looking at him with concern.

He's been unusually impatient.

It's early as hell in the morning, no one else is awake. Not even Dar is up and about and that woman is constantly moving.

"Everything is fine, you worry too much."

"I worry a normal amount, thank you very much." You stick your tongue out at him, moving a hand to rub at your eyes, to get rid of the crust lingering.

You both arrive at the hut where the horses are kept, you linger back as Noa goes inside to grab his. He's fast and efficient, checking the satchel strapped to the animal to make sure he has everything he needs for this impromptu trip he's taking you both on.

It's cute the way he gets in the zone, his eyes trained on his task.

Yawning, you're not processing Noa's words until he's right in front of you in the saddle. That was fast.

"Come, come. Do you want to ride with me or ride alone?" Noa always ask, and he knows the answer by now.

You always ride with him, just like you always go with him anywhere.

It's a running joke in the clan that you're Noa's shadow, always at his heels, asking if he needs anything or if there's something you can do in general.

You've come a long way since then, finding your place in the clan. Not needing to follow Noa like a lost puppy, but as it turns out, you can't shake the habit of being around Noa when you can. Without thinking, you find your way towards him.

A part of you is still insecure about your place among them, knowing just how different you are. Noa is your only true companion, you think. Dar is loving, but you're worried she doesn't like you, same with Anaya and Soona. No matter how much they say they love you, years of differences have made you insecure.

So you cling to Noa like a lifeline, despite knowing you shouldn't, surely he doesn't want to be around you all the time. It's not fair to him.

But Noa never let it show that he finds your differences bothersome, you couldn't lift what the others could? No worries, he'd adjust it for you, making you a pulley to help or helping you himself when he had the time.

Or if you didn't know how to fish or hunt, he'd take you and Soona, and Anaya would come with all three encouraging you and helping you learn. He'd ask his mother to teach you how to make garments and how to farm the earth. He always looked out for you, even if he wasn't around.

They never made you feel like a burden, Noa never made you feel like a burden.

How were you not supposed to love him? In every universe, you're sure you were to be in love with him in every single one.

"Help me up?" You ask sheepishly, lifting your arms up so he can grab onto you.

"Of course."

It's been about an hour or two, give or take on the ride to the overgrown city. Not that you'd know. With the warmth of Noa against your back and the steady movement of the horse, you've fallen asleep again.

Noa snorted when he realized, your body slumped into his, your hand loosely holding the saddles horn in a feeble attempt to not fall off.

He has to wrap an arm around your waist to make sure you didn't fall off or that what he tells himself.

Noa would never admit it, but he cherishes how easily you trust him, how comfortable you are with him, it makes him feel important, makes him feel loved. He'll give you shit for it, but nothing makes him happier.

You're only asleep for the last hour of the ride, breathing softly as Noa leads you both past the overgrown city, the hooves of the horse being the only noise being made.

"Here, wake up." He slows down the horse, pulling to a stop in front of a looming building, covered in greenery. He has not so great memories of it. Almost falling to his death would do that to you. But he won't take you that high. He'd never put you in danger.

His arm slips from your waist, moving to rub up and down your side as he tries and wakes you up for the second time today.

You let out a grumble. He feels it in his chest, and it makes him chuff, but open your eyes, blinking rapidly to get the sleep out of them.

Once he's positive, you won't fall without him propping you up. He demounts with an ease, his feet hitting the ground in a soft thump as he turns around to face you, holding his hands up so you can use him to get down yourself.

You move to grab his hands with your own, ignoring the spark that runs down your spine at the contact.

There are so many differences between you and Noa, too many to even begin to count, but the way his hands are similar to yours, the way he immediately holds you so gently, makes them seem insignificant. Is this what love is? It's weird.

Noa sets you down on the ground, smiling softly at you, then moving to wrap the reins around a piece of metal protuding out of the ground to ensure the horse doesn't go anywhere. Something he didn't use to do, but after the events of the last time he came into the city, he's not going to have that mistake happen again.

"We'll start climbing here." You crane your neck and balk at just how tall the structure is, it's a good couple of stories up, he's insane.

"Uh, Noa, I don't think you remember, but I can't really climb that high."

"I carry you, like I always do." He says it nonchalantly, shrugging with a shoulder.

"Noa, I'm heavy, no." It's always embarrassing when he carries you. It makes you blush, and you're terrified he can hear your heartbeat.

The look he shoots you is devastating.

"You always say that, you are not." He argues, looking offended on your behalf.

There's no point arguing with him about this.

You sigh and gesture for him to turn around so you can climb onto his back.

He does just that, crouching towards the ground.

You're always afraid of choking him out when you get on his back, so you take extra care to gently wrap your around around his neck, sliding your legs around his waist.

"Are you ready? It'll be a bit of a climb."

You let out a 'mhm.' Your brain too occupied with taking in his warmth and his scent, mind all fuzzy at holding him.

"Hold on tight." He squeezes your thigh.

The climb is uneventful, mostly you filling in the silence with what you've done in thr last few days, Noa nodding and offering a hum here and there.

He finally stops, jostling you a bit to look at what he's come to show you.

A smile creeps along your face. It's Eagle eggs, four to be exact.

Despite the Eagle clan hand raising plenty of the birds, they don't do well breeding with their intervention, so to see a clutch is rare.

"Pick the egg that speaks to you the most."

You stare at the nest of eggs, taking in each one's complexion. It's hard, you have no idea why you have to choose. You figure Noa just wants your input, so you take it seriously.

Within a minute, you decide to point to the biggest egg in the center. The eggshell is freckled, and it stands out the most among its siblings.

"I like that one." You say softly in Noas ear. He nods and scoops it up, taking care to put it in the sling.

"Was that it? Can we go home now?" You rest your head on his own, holding back from nuzzling into his soft fur.

"Yes, this is all I needed today."

After making a slow descent down the crumbling tower, Noa helps you get back onto the horse, throwing himself behind you. He moves the egg sling to be on his back, in order for you to be comfortable. (He wants you to lay against him so bad again)

The way home is filled with a comfortable silence, only breaking when you see fit.

It's always nice to spend time with Noa, but this particularly feels different, like something is innately changed in your relationship. You're probably imagining things though.

Noa stops shortly before the village, it not being more than an acre away.

Noa swings a leg off the saddle, falling down and reaching for your waist to lift you down as well.

He breaths out your name, continuing after a moment. "Before we go, I need to give you something. Close your eyes."

You lift an eyebrow at him, but do as you're told. It's Noa, you trust him with everything in you, so your eyes slide closed.

Noa ruffles with something, cursing quietly under his breath. It makes you giggle, you had been teaching him some human vocabulary, alot of curse words included.

You're a bit startled when you feel him brush your hair away from your face, his thumb gently brushing against your skin. The blush that threatens to overtake your face is insane, and you hope he thinks it's just because the sun is beaming down on the both of you.

You feel something be placed over your head, sliding down and stopping at your chest.

Noa takes a second to readjust it, making sure it's snug and resting comfortably on you.

"Open now."

Peeling your eyes open, you're greeted with a blinding smile by him, and your mouth goes dry for a second at it. Yes, he has always been handsome, but the way he's looking at you now, the way his eyes are shining with happiness, it's a lot to take in. He's so handsome and he doesn't even know it.

Noa doesn't notice your internal dilemma over him, nodding his head towards your chest, still beaming with pride.

You snap yourself out of your Noa fueled daze, eyes going down to your chest.

It's the egg you chose.

Confusion fills your brain for a second.

"This is your egg, why am I carrying it?"

Noa told you all about how his egg was crushed the first time he got it, and how a downward spiral that moment had lead to.

Even though he had Eagle son now, you had figured he still wanted his own, to say he had done it for his late father.

"No, this is your egg."

"What?"

"Your egg, your Eagle to raise."

"Noa-"

"Noa, nothing. You are part of us. You get an eagle."

"Noa, I'm not. This is special to your clan. Someone else should have my egg." You try and carefully slip the sling from your neck, but Noa beats you, his hands inclosing around your own to stop you.

"You are apart of the clan." He murmurs, pushing your hands down until they're at your side. His hands then come back to your face, holding your cheeks gently.

"You're not an outsider."

The lump in your throat is suffocating, your eyes well past the point of welling up. Salty tears having no consideration for how embarrassing it is for you to cry over this.

Noa hums, this thumbs coming up to brush them away, still smiling, his eyes willed with warmth and his smile just the more softer.

He pulls you in then, resting his forehead on yours, a hand against the back of your head.

You let out a shuddering breath, smiling so hard it starts to hurt.

"You're apart of me."

"Noa! My Eagle hatched!" You're sprinting to him, he just got home from exploration with Anaya. You've missed him, even more than usual.

You move to grab his hand, trying with all your might to pull him off to drag him to the Eagle area.

Anaya shoots a look to Noa, a smug smirk on his face.

"Noa you go, your mate needs you." He teases, dismounting his horse, grabbing Noas reins from him.

Noa sputters, quickly signing that no, you two are not mates, at least not yet. He hasn't even asked if you liked him yet! He's told Anaya this on the trip, many times, after many rounds of teasing.

You don't understand their signing that well yet, so you tug at Noas hand again, intertwining your fingers.

"Noaaa, come on!" You whine.

Noa is sure he'd do just about anything you asked of him, and then some. So he gets off the mount and runs with you.

Anaya snorts, shaking his head good-naturedly.

"Not mates, as if."

[heart-buzz]

profile for Noa. why am i making these? idk it helps me to keep my OCs organized i guess.

[teuzmoonlit]

Ushio Noa ❤️

• ブルーアーカイブ

• AIイラスト ✍🏻

[bobapixels]

[ohwaitimthewriter]

The Memory Keeper

Chapter 1 : List.

Pairing : Noa x human reader

Warning : A bit of mourning. Otherwise, all clear for this one!

Summarize (please I'm so bad at writing these!): A woman, allowed to live as long as the virus keeps running through her body, living on autopilot for 260 years, is going to see her life takes a new turn, finding hope in something that might come to put an end to her wandering.

Words : 3.2k

A/N : It has been a long time since I've written something and it feels pretty good to get back at it with this story! I hope you'll like it and do not hesitate to share your thoughts or like/reblog, it's always appreciated! As English isn't my native language, I'm sorry if you find mistakes or weird wording in there, let me know if you find some and I'll be glad to correct them!

Enjoy your reading 😊

The Memory Keeper masterlist.

It wasn't going to be a difficult day. The list was ready, the tasks the same as the day before and the day after. You had to go to the river: catch a fish, fill the flasks with fresh water, bathe… You had to get on your horse and on the way back, stop at the 16th tree on the right, get off, walk 30 steps and fill the bag with blackberries. You had to avoid the brambles and avoid tripping over the prominent root. Get back on the horse and ride home.

Prepare the fish: remove the head and tail, the skin, gut it and remove the bones, light a fire to cook it. Yes, evolution had done many things, but it must have missed the episode where it was necessary to improve the human digestive system. So the fish still had to be cooked.

The garden had to be tended. Over the years, it had evolved too. It had been a long time in the making. A vegetable garden, tomatoes, green beans and, you couldn't quite remember how, artichokes had found their place too. An apple tree was easy to grow. It took time, but it was easy. And then there was this little gem you'd stumbled upon one day: a rosebush. It was an important one. You had to take care of it too.

You always had to do something.

Your hands knew what to do and how to do it. Your legs took you where you needed to go, and at that particular moment, they had led you to your horse. You had to remove his saddle and bridle, check his hooves and remove any stones that might have got stuck on them. Run your hand over his belly to loosen the skin compressed by the girth. And don't forget to give him a drink. When it came to eating, he found everything on his own, except perhaps an apple, which you gave him from time to time to thank him for his help. He knew how to ask, too. In fact, he huffed and gave you a nudge.

Okay, an apple.

He followed you to the apple tree and you climbed onto his back. You could reach the branches, but it was always difficult to keep your balance. Especially when your right hip wasn't working properly. And you sighed. It really wasn't convenient.

You had to go on with the list, what was next?

“ Hearing my voice at least once and speaking so I don't forget.”

This was important. You had to remember how to speak. The world had forgotten, but you must not. You had no right to forget.

“Say something new.”

And you looked around.

“It's cloudy today.”

Which meant rain wasn't far off. Your horse was now grazing beside you.

“You should take shelter.”

You smile, you'd said one more sentence today. Your horse's ears twitched as if to say “I do what I want” and you shrugged. After all, he was the one to decide. But you didn't want to get wet in the rain. You patted his neck and went off to find shelter in your wooden hut.

You've lived here for a long time. A very long time. So long that you no longer needed a torch to light up the big room when night fell or when the clouds darkened the place. You knew exactly where the shaky table was, the armchair with its deformed, hollowed-out seat and even the little plastic pot you kept forgetting to put back on the table to avoid getting your feet caught in it. And despite the years, you never tripped over it.

You were right to come home. You'd just had time to put the water flasks and the cooked fish on the table when a torrent of water hit the floor. The end of the list would have to wait. The timing was perfect, as your stomach signaled that it was time to fill up, and the smell of the wood-fired fish made your mouth water.

Settling back in your armchair, you ate the fish, watching the rain fall against the hut's only window. Eating with your hands was no longer as disturbing as it had been at first. There were a lot of memories that had slipped away over time, but you almost smiled when you thought back to the embarrassment you'd felt the first time you'd had to eat like that. If you'd known back then where you'd end up…

A sigh.

Drops tumbled against the window and some seemed to challenge themselves to get to the bottom first. They were following the path traced by others before them, but obviously not all roads were good ones to take. Some raindrops went straight down, others tried to cut off their opponents' path, and still others weaved in and out to create their own path. Then a raindrop caught your eye. It seemed the most likely to win the mad race. It glided and slalomed proudly until it landed delicately on your windowsill, blending in with its sisters who had landed there before it.

You turned your eyes to the last piece of fish, which you brought to your mouth.

You took one last look out the window, and that's when you caught sight of it.

A shadow.

A shadow had just moved past your window. The rain kept on pounding against it and you could see the trees in the distance stirring in the wind, and you were sure you saw the shadow moving, quickly to the right, but the shadow was gone. There were only raindrops, only the wind, and you could even hear the dull roar of an incipient thunderstorm.

A deep breath. You had to.

Then a sigh.

The rain and wind must have played a trick on you. If the storm picked up, you definitely wouldn't be able to finish your outdoor to-do list. But that didn't matter, there was still plenty to do inside.

First you had to tidy up. Keeping the interior clean and tidy was important, so you couldn't leave the water bottles on the table. You grabbed them and stepped over the little plastic pot that stood between the table and what you could call a kitchen. At least, that's what you would have called this part of the hut back in the day, because there was only a broken sink and a cupboard without a door. You passed the front door and it rattled against the latch in the wind. You had managed to install a branch across the door, allowing you to keep it closed in bad weather. However, as it didn't close very well, the wind always managed to rattle it between the branch and the latch. But you got used to the noise. So you walked past the shaky door to put the water bottles in the cupboard, and when you heard a suspicious rustling sound, you jumped, staring at the door.

You frowned at the unusual sound. You had been holding your breath, but the wind suddenly whistled through the doorframe, which was sorely lacking in hermetic seals. So you breathed out, taking a calmer breath. The wind. Mother Nature was definitely testing your nerves tonight.

Well, you still had to change your clothes. Night was coming on and you couldn't possibly sleep in your day clothes. You stepped over the little plastic pot again and made your way to the wooden chest beside the fireplace to find a t-shirt and a pair of jogging shorts with a hole in the left knee. Maybe one day you'd find a stray piece of fabric while walking through the forest, so you could mend it. But you hadn't yet got to the list asking you to explore the surrounding area.

There were 7 lists divided into 4 sections, themselves arranged in 12 categories. It was your way of keeping track of time. You no longer counted the days, let alone the years; you'd long since lost the very notion of time. But to grow crops, harvest the fruits of the forest and simply follow nature's millimetric events and be able to anticipate them, you needed a reference point. The lists, though mostly identical, were that reference point. Hanging on the wall with pieces of wood you'd carved yourself, they determined your days and the things you had to do.

You didn't really know when or how you'd started making these lists. But judging by the ink, half washed away by the years - some of the lists had even gone back to being blank - it must have been a long time ago.

You put the current day's list back in its place. Tomorrow, you'd have to complete it while carrying out the next one. But there was one more thing you needed to do indoors before settling into your armchair for the night. One last important thing.

From the chest, you took out a picture frame. The corners were worn, the wood had crumbled and you had to handle it carefully to avoid getting splinters in your hands. You set the frame down on the floor by the fireplace, knelt in front of it and reached into the jar on your right to pick a rose petal, which you placed carefully in the right-hand corner of the frame.

You struggled to swallow.

That's where it always got complicated.

Once again, you reached into the jar and pulled out 7 petals. You always needed 7 petals. You placed 6 of them in a circle on the dry twigs in the fireplace and began humming a song whose words you'd long since forgotten. But you remembered the feeling. You felt a lump in your throat, and you often wondered how you managed to keep the song going.

You hummed, and on the last petal, with the help of a needle, you delicately traced his initials. You had to be careful not to press too hard, you shouldn't pierce the petal, just brush against it enough to see, if you concentrated hard enough, the outline of the letter you were drawing. You also had to blink a few times to see clearly what you were doing. It was important to get it right. Once you'd written the letter on the petal, you laid it at the center of the circle.

It was always at this moment that your hands shook. You needed a moment. Just a bit of time.

You had to wipe your hands over your eyes, the most important thing was to handle the two flints on the floor with care. Your hands had to be steady, not shaking. You interrupted the song to get your breathing under control.

Inhale.

Breathe out.

Grab the flints.

Inhale.

Exhale.

A sharp stroke.

The clatter of the stone threw sparks onto the pile of twigs and a flame sprang up. You started humming again as the fire slowly consumed the wood until it reached the petals of the circle.

A tear.

The fire continued to progress and you stared desperately at the petal in the center, quickly ridding yourself of the tears that were blurring your vision. The flame touched the edge of the petal and you watched the letter “C” burn away and disappear into the ashes.

The flame faded as the twigs gradually disappeared and, once gone, you slipped the petal on the frame back into its jar.

Now you had to put the frame away. Your fingers brushed the edge of the picture inside of it. Despite the years, you had managed, by some miracle, to keep the photograph almost undamaged. At least, sufficiently intact that you could still distinguish the shape of an ape in the center of the picture, despite the cracks.

He was a force of nature. You had taken this photo on a December day, you still knew because you could still discern the white flakes clinging to his dark fur. Back then, you loved taking pictures.

What did they call you again?

The memory keeper.

Even after all this time, it still made you smile. You gently squeezed the frame between your fingers, keeping it balanced on the knees you'd just tucked in towards you. This way, he was a little closer to you.

You made an extra effort to remember the day. He was standing high enough to see everyone around him. He must have been talking about something important; he always had that powerful, soul-piercing stare when he was saying something important. But he always looked…

“Grumpy.”

You concluded your thought in a whisper that knotted your throat. Grumpy. You almost expected to hear him growl, his ego bruised, every time you reminded him that he was sometimes a little too grumpy. “Grumpy because a lot on my shoulders,” he'd snap back at you. “No, grumpy because you're old” you'd always reply, your eyes always playful. And you were the only one who could say such a thing, with the only result being an amused snore coming from him.

And you felt yourself take a deep breath. Of all the pictures you'd taken, this was the last one you had left. You had to put the frame back in the chest, so your fingers tightened even more around the wood. Your head tilted slightly forward, closing your eyes as the wood touched your forehead.

Tonight was difficult.

You took another deep breath, and before the knot in your throat hurt too much, you straightened up and went to put the frame in the chest.

“Caesar, tonight is really difficult,” you whispered, watching the shadow of the lid close over the frame.

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

It had been a restless night. When your eyes opened the next morning, they felt heavy and swollen, and you found yourself rubbing your eyes to try and make the heaviness go away.

Today, there was much to do. After changing from your night clothes to your day ones, you removed the branch blocking the door and let the sun shine in, warming your skin. The fresh early-morning air caressed your skin and you took a few seconds to smell the distinctive light scent that follows a thunderstorm.

No sooner had you taken a few steps forward than your feet bumped into something hard, causing you to lose your balance. In a fraction of a second, you found yourself on your butt on the ground, a stabbing pain in your right hip that had failed to move to stop you from falling.

“Ouch!” was the only thing that slipped out of your mouth.

You straightened up slightly, remaining seated in the grass, to see what had caused your fall and a pile of apples laid exactly under the wobbly small porch that covered your front door.

God, what a dummy not to have put that away last night. You thought to yourself, looking down at your hands full of dirt. You'd have to go to the river to clean it up, and now you'd just have to take your night clothes with you because you'd also have to wash the ones you were wearing-the mud from the storm must have dirtied your current clothes.

A pile of apples. You thought as you rubbed your hands together.

A pile of apples. You glanced at your right hip. Pfft, if you'd made Caesar break it to put it back in its place, you'd never have fallen today. In fact, you'd have avoided more than one fall.

All because of a misplaced pile of apples.

A pile of misplaced apples.

And like a light bulb switching on, your gaze suddenly fell on those apples that actually had nothing to do there. You hadn't gathered them the day before.

Then you heard it. A muffled purr came gently from behind you. Surely you should have turned around, stood up and dealt with it, but you'd found yourself rooted to the spot, eyes glued to those apples, waiting as an orangutan appeared in your field of vision.

And you refused to look at him, your hands balled into fists to keep them from shaking. You weren't afraid. No. But for some obscure reason, your brain had simply decided to freeze.

The orangutan once again let out a rumble, softer this time, and held out his hand to you.

“I'll help.”

His voice made you blink several times. You did your best to snap out of your stupor, but this time your eyes agreed to look at him, and the orangutan seemed delighted.

Just one more moment. It took another second, just one, to see your hand slip into his and before you knew it, you were back on your feet.

“Raka, we must go.”

The second voice surprised you a little. It sounded familiar and your eyes fell on a chimpanzee, a little further away, who had just finished saddling a horse. You frowned, your horse? You were trying to determine whether it was really yours, but the distance didn't allow you to be sure. There was only one way to find out.

So you whistled.

The horse shook its head and the chimpanzee didn't have time to grab the reins before your horse galloped off to meet you. They were going to take your horse… in exchange for a stack of apples?

You grabbed the reins and stroked the horse's neck as he snorted. He chewed the bit and blew heavily through his nostrils.

For a fraction of a second, you forgot about the two large apes who, from the sounds they were making, weren't particularly happy to have lost a chance of obtaining a second means of locomotion: in your peripheral vision, you could see another horse quietly grazing.

Your hands still knew what to do, and it didn't take you long to remove the bridle and bit from your horse's mouth.

“He doesn't like it.” you said simply.

And only silence answered you, so you showed the bridle to the two apes.

“The bit, he doesn't like it, he's not used to it.”

Your answer didn't seem to convince them. They stared at you, dumbstruck, and if you paid close enough attention, you could almost see their mouths hanging wide open. And that left you bewildered. What didn't they understand? You'd heard them talking, so that certainly wasn't the problem.

“You can't take my horse.” You went on, starting to remove the saddle.

It was becoming increasingly obvious that they were staring at you as if you'd just landed from the sky.

“If you want a horse, there's a wild herd to the south, past the river.” And you pointed in the right direction.

They remained silent as tombs, but the chimpanzee followed the direction you pointed with his eyes.

“Just be careful, the group's stallion isn't very friendly.” You thought it important to tell him.

Your gaze fell back on them and the orangutan, Raka, if you'd heard correctly, hadn't moved a muscle. The chimpanzee, on the other hand, was staring at you thoughtfully, as if he was trying to put together a puzzle with a missing piece. He then moved towards you inquisitively, perhaps, confused?

“Echo, speak?”

It was certainly the most surprising sentence you'd ever heard in your life.

[aru-art]

all the 2024 wips i never got around to finishing. woe artblock be upon ye

[bogkeep]

[OC] dori & noa concept art

[crownedinmarigolds]

A shiver goes up your spine as a feeling of dread envelops you. The time for spirits is at hand, which means that it's time for a Hecata family reunion! Noa Hidalgo and Nythanel Loken-Hidalgo along with their beloved coterie bid you welcome to their manor for a festive Halloween get together! Please give your love to Crystal the Nagaraja, Bravo the Tzimisce, and Cori - a vulture with more understanding in their eyes than many animals should have.

It's time for another Vampire the Masquerade community collaboration! Please please please draw your Hecata clan characters alongside ours (these characters belong to me and @thesixthplaneteer) so that the family can have a big portrait at the end of the evening!

Like the other collaborations, I will take all submissions at the deadline and smush them all into one final collab piece - the deadline will be October 30th!! (A Wednesday!) I tried to answer how to submit here in case you were curious! It would be great for you to post a PNG of your character beneath a cut when you reblog the piece just for easier management!

(For reference, Crystal is 5'5" and Bravo is 6 foot!)

IF YOU WANT TO DRAW AND FEEL LIKE YOU CANNOT DRAW DO NOT LISTEN TO THAT VOICE THAT IS THE DEVIL DECEIVING YOU! Please draw your OC next to them if you want to I would cry and love to see it!

[velting]

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚Heartwarming˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

⋆★⋆Noel Noa, Chris Prince, Lavhino, Marc Snuffy x Fem Reader⋆★⋆

Context: You are the Russian coach and player in the NEL and have a hard time socializing, lost in thought you stumble in a problem

જ⁀➴

SFW || Fluff || Love Triangle||

Side Note -> Zenon Martyr is going to be the ALTERNATIVE version of Zenit Saint Petersburg in Russia football team.

ִֶָ 𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ

Inhale……. Exhale………

Taking one step each time she passes through the liminal halls of the facility, her dark gaze falls upon the tiled floor, slowly continuing her tranquil life, and luckily she didn't have to do much other than making sure her team gets a good review on others, then she could finally breathe. Training wasn’t a struggle for her but training a bunch of foreign teenagers into shape was one thing to hear, of course she knows that not all boys are naturally flexible but doing constant stress from time to time could loosen their blood flow in their streams.

For her it wasn’t a problem, she was once a ballet dancer, well if you count Russian ballet any easier then you’ll be dead wrong. She didn’t have much growing up, Russia was not a heavenly place to live nor is it the best to be born either, for her it was always cold, alone. But she never complained, she couldn’t complain even if she wanted too, but she knows her home county was filth. Camps, sickness, abuse. Enduring all hardship that slapped on her face. Who could blame her? Life was hell as it is, always wishing her life could do something more than just some random ballet dancer. She had never been on a stage before, always in the training room where the grown woman abused them for their lack of agility. She once remembered one of the coaches made all the girls be on their tiptoes for an out straight.

But she can’t dwell on the pass anymore, she’s now a coach. A football coach at that. Ditching her ballet in her teens and slowly climbing the ladder in success in her name. But she will alway be reminded by the hardship she was shown in learning football. All sports are the same, no matter the activity. They hit you, they laugh at you, mock, cry, cheer. It was always the same to her, She never made friends either. Always having this default state that creepted others out, nor was she social either. She couldn’t remember when was the last time she had a conversation with anyone, or having a conversation at all.

Just give out orders, tell her team what to do, help make progress and be done. That’s how it has always been. She notices how other coaches alway had a bright smile. Or in Noel’s case some good feedback. She always wonders if any of the coaches could help her into being social rather than looking ghostly pale on the sidelines.

Chris Prince is a good example, he was a very charming English man, he was like a ray of sun, smile so bright that he wanted to make [Name] wear sunglasses every time he was near radius.

Lavhino has a charismatic tone to his play, he saw the good in things majority of the time. Laughing and joking with his teammates, a style that [Name] was jealous of. Wishing she could have his confidence in games and with other people. They talked once but couldn’t remember how long that was. She hopes she can talk to him again.

Marc Snuffy was an intelligent man. Making his ways with riches and having the best life there is to offer. It wasn’t until she realized that one of Snuffy’s friends passed away not too long ago. She never had a proper interaction with him but deep down she wanted to comfort the man of what he’s been through, it’s not easy seeing a loved one pass away. She knows how that feels. Always Living in a cold harsh climate all her life she saw eyes of death many times on the road. Whether it be through malnourishment, food poison, or the cold climate, and sadly both her brothers were victims off, she couldn’t get angry but if she did then who would care? Emotions were useless from where she was.

She shook her head at the thought and continued her mindless walking. She soon started to think about Noel Noa. Quite the quiet guy for her. He seemed very pristine, and patient but if there's one thing he lacks it's leadership, she once saw the interaction with the japanese and germans on his team. Some couldn’t get along. Including one of the new gen who have undying hatred with one short player.

She knows her team better not to start fights or have some sort of resentment on others, including with newcomers. She continues to think more about the coaches and remembers the young french coach in PxG. Julian Loki. It amazed her to think someone as young as him is even here. Despite all odds, she never really talked with him or even interacted with him to begin with. Only small exchanges like a wave or a peace sign.

But despite everything she has full respect for the guys, all strong and simple minded with their team and as a coach. It’s even a surprise that Ego, the one that made Blue Lock, invited her as the coach of the Russian stratum of Zenon Martyr. She thought that it was for the male coach but surprisingly it was for her. Apparently, they wanted a Female coach in blue lock.

Which shocked her for the most part, but she accepted neither the less. It’s not an everyday thing to get accepted into a foreign country by someone in power. But to her it was something she always dreamt about. She alway wanted to see the famous cherry blossoms, never once has she seen pink trees and the thought of it just made her giddy on the inside. Spring was very scarce, if not never happens up in the northern part of Russia, unless you're in rural parts in Russia like Moscow. But other than that she can’t wait to see Japan for the first time after NEL.

When she arrived she was given instructions on what to do in blue lock, the facility known for beating JFU and wanting the best coaches in Europe to compete one another for the U-20 world cup. What really disappointed her was the lack of female staff, and girl bathrooms. No doubt that this is a male dominated facility, so seeing a woman was really scarce here unless it’s her and Anri, who was kind enough to give her her own room and bathroom without disturbance. Anri was a sweet person. [Name] can tell by how confident she looked, she wondered if all Japanese women were this classy and diligent. If only she could return the favor of hospitality to her.

“Blyat. Where am I?” Oh yeah. She forgot that she was supposed to go back to her stratum to train her teammates, wasn’t very professional for a coach to get lost easily, and she couldn’t understand the Japanese language but thankfully she had these translating earpieces to hear what they're saying in Russian. She looked around and saw if she could get a clue of where she was. Looking around she saw a way leading to another, deciding where to go she chose to go……

➺ NOEL NOA

Right.

Her steps echoed through the halls as her sharp gaze fell upon one of the entrances of the doors. Upon opening it she saw one of the coaches slouchy sitting on a chair. Noel heard the doors to his room open and close. Cautious, he turned his hazel gaze upon the woman that had entered unexpectedly.

“Oh. I didn’t know you were coming here, much less company for me.” He spoke unamusing. [Name] ignored his words and looked around before looking at him with that sharp ghostly stare. Anyone who looked at her always felt uncomfortable by her presence but Noel didn’t see what was wrong with looking at her since she wasn’t doing or saying anything remotely harmful to anyone.

“Izvinite. This is the vwrong room,” She apologized and was about to turn around before Noel’s voice stopped her in her tracks. “Wait. Why are you here on the German side to begin with?” Still confused, she looks at him before looking down.

“I…. got lost.” She admitted. Noel noticed from her tense figure and approached her. “How?” Is all he asked.[Name] just gaveout a hum before telling him the details.

“I vwas lost in thought before my feet started to vwalk on their own, I thought I vwas going to the Russian side. Sorry to disturb you.” Her accent comes out thick under the translation.

Taking in the information he thought it’ll be best if he could walk her back to her own stratum then getting more lost here, it is a pretty big facility so knowing it by one go is technically impossible, and it seems she doesn't remember where she’s going to begin with. “I’ll walk you down there.” He offered.

[Name] was surprised by his genuine offer. Not many people helped her so hearing his words was something she was not expecting. “Da, I vwould appreciate that.” She offered her hand for him to take. Noel was surprised but took her hand with his anyway. Upon making skin contact, he felt her cold skin making contact with his hands.

“You're cold.” He pointed out. [Name] only nodded from his statement. “Da, I barely get warm. No matter the temperature, my body grew cold over time the moment I was born. I lived a cold life.” She looked ahead as they began to walk.

“I see.” He nodded. He looked over at her facial expression and saw a small beauty mark under her ear. Maybe unnoticed by her but it was a nice touch to her character. “If I’m not being rude, can you tell me more about your childhood?” He asked. Listening closely to her side of the story. Noel didn’t know anything about her due to her cold gaze. In his eyes he can see she grew up in a bad environment. And taking in her body language; she always looked down and sad for some reason.

“I don’t think there’s much to say. I grew up bad. Vwhen I was a little devochka I always grew up cold, two bratya with me. One old and one young. One died from starvation and the other from the cold. My otetz vwas drunk. He beat me and my bratya. It vwasn’t easy for little girls to live peacefully. I Lived in Norilsk. Bad vweather, bad people, bad life. It vwasn't until I vwas 15 vwhen I quit ballet and began my journey to play football.” She looks away.

Noel wasn't really prepared to listen to all that in one go but from what he heard he can feel and tell that she's still struggling in past lives. To see someone who grew up so cold could also look so beautiful.

Noel could admit, she was really breathtaking. She is a hidden gem to some people.

“Sorry to hear. It seems you had it rough.” He soothed his fingers across her palm for her to relax. [Name] sighs and looks up at Noel.

“Am I a bad person?” She asks. Noel being the honest man he is, shook his head. “No, why would you say something like that?” He was genuinely confused on why people think she's a terrible person. She does no harm to others and keeps to herself majority of the time. It's just her lack of socialization and gaze which makes everyone turn away.

[Name] sighs and looks down again. “People hate it vwhen I look at them. I've done nothing to harm except trying to help. That's vwhy I think I'm bad.” She admits, without realizing it a small tear slowly cascades down her pale cheek. Noel notices it and wipes it away, causing her to look up at the tall male with shock.

“You were crying there. I couldn't help myself.” He sighs.

“I- thank you for that…. I thought I'll never cry again…. But I vwas vwrong.” She put her hand on where he touched her and she swears she could feel her cold heart melt.

“Hmm, it seems we're here.” The warm feeling of his palm released and put them in his pockets. [Name] wish that warm feeling could last forever but sadly all good things must come to an end.

“Ah, Spasibo Noel. I… enjoy being with you.” She admits, feeling her cheekbones rose a little.

“It wasn't a problem for me, how about we grab coffee some other time to communicate?” He offered, to which she gladly nodded. “Da, I vwould love that.”

Noel nodded as he started to turn back but before he left for good, he said his last words to her. “And you should smile more often, it looks nice on you.” And went away.

[Name] didn't know what he meant until she felt her lips in an upward motion, finally realizing she had just smiled at Noel. A pink hue was splattered on her cheeks as her cold heart began to pound uncontrollably.

“…… thank you…. Noel…..”

ִֶָ 𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ

➺ CHRIS PRINCE

Left.

She didn't know where she was headed to be exact but if she at least finds a way then she hopes she can find her stratum eventually.

Her cold gaze fell upon one of the doors and hoped it was one of her designated rooms, but upon opening she was met with the bright English man drenched in sweat.

“Ah… this is the England stratum…” she finally realized. Nethertheless she entered and wanted to see if Chris is available to engage in conversations with her. She doesn't know how to properly talk out a conversation but the practice would be good for her.

“138….139….. 140!…. Haa! That's a new record!” The English man shouted in triumph while lifting weight. Finally giving his muscles a little rest before lifting again, he sighs in relief as he does some stress to release his blood flow, slinging a towel over his shoulder and picking up one of his famous “Chris Prince” water and chugging it down.

He was so out of thought that he didn't even realize that [Name] was right behind him.

…..

“Chris-”

“PFFTT!! AHEK! AHEK OH MY GOD AHEK YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME!!” Chris choked on his water as he slowly backed away from the woman trying to keep his composer still. After the last cough he made he sternly looked at her while whipping the towel on his lips.

“A little warning could've been great?! You almost killed me back there!” He shouted out, grunting as he wiped his templates as he looked back up at the woman who seemed to only be looking down in what seems to be distraught.

“My apologies Chris. I didn’t know how to approach you in a vway, I vwas trying to talk to you about something.” she looked at him to see an amused mix in with confusion plastered on his face. Taking a seat on the bench he had a well knowing grin forming on his lips.”Hm? What did you want to say?” Ushering her on with her words. [Name] slowly looks at him before pointing.

“Is it alright to sit next to you?” She pointed at the empty spot on the bench. Reluctantly he nodded and made room for her to sit, thanking him she took a spot next to his. And so she then started to look down again and started to twirl the ends of her hair.

“Chris…. I just vwanted to say that…. You're amazing….” She admits, as he can feel himself choking on the air from her words.``Ahem I was what?!” His pride and ego started to shoot up through the roof from her encouraging words. “Go on! Say it again!” urging her to speak more.

[Name] then starts to twiddle her fingers in a nervous manner. “You’re like a sun; Chris… You are always bright and smile. Make people happy vwherever you are. I vwish to smile like you and make others happy…. I’m alvways cold. From vwhere I’m from…. Emotions are useless….”

Chris heard her stride of the story and couldn’t help but smile at her kind words about him. “Aww really? I’ll be damned, coming from someone cold as you do warm my heart.” He then placed an assuring hand on her shoulder. [Name] stopped and slowly looked at him before speaking…

“Chris…can you teach me?” She asked silently, “Teach Me how to make others happy?” After she said those words, Chris couldn’t hold back and let out a roaring laughter. “HAHAH! You want me to teach you how to make others smile?” He pointed at her. To which she nodded with a hum.

“Da, I vwant to make others smile….” She repeats again. After laughing away Chris finally calms down and takes a breather.``Sigh Well that was something to ask about, but teaching a hottie like you could boost my reputation!” Without hesitation he grabbed her hand and lifted her to stand up.

[Name] was surprised that someone like him could hold her hand without complaint but in her mind she was glad that Chris was willingly able to help. It was when he held up one finger for the lesson. “First you need to greet yourself properly. Since you do have a history record of sneaking up on people” He whispered the last sentence. [Name] nodded, wanting to see how far she could succeed in this little training.

Chris stuck out his left hand and began. “Hi! I’m Chris Prince, what’s your name?” He introduced himself. [Name] slowly grabbed ahold of his hand.

“Now what do you say?” He urged her to continue through the lesson. “Um…. oh… uh…. My name is [Name] Bogdanova, I’m from Russia.” She spoke quietly. Chris nodded “Okay we’re getting somewhere. How about you be more vocal, raise your voice a little so others could hear you! That's how people know you're sincere.” He smiled. [Name] nodded and started to take more lessons from the englishman.

Through each step [Name] was making great progress on becoming more vocal of her speech. “That’s great!” “Almost!” “Keep trying to do fine!” Chris encouraged her which made her more vocal a lot. She couldn’t help but her heart started to melt away from the cold inside her. Maybe it was Chris who was encouraging her by lighting up the ice inside of her.she didn’t know why but it made her proud.

“Okay for the next and last step! Try to smile!” She put a smile that she swore rays of sunlight shine behind him. Confident she tried to smile but couldn’t get her cheekbones to listen. “I… I can’t…..” she shyly said looking away. Chris was patient and tried to help the best he can. Putting a hand on her shoulder and the other under her chin to look at him

“Of course you can. Think about something that truly makes you happy, whatever it is, whether it would be football, or food, or someone close!”

After hearing those examples [Name] didn’t have much to smile about, she didn’t have a special someone, nor she didn’t like any food other than earl gray tea, but that’s not something to smile about now was it? Slowly her eyes adjusted to where Chris was. To her, he was handsome and bright. He took his time to help train her to be more socialized. Not many take the time to talk to her anyways, so him being here right here and right now just made her cheekbones accommodated and finlay lifted her lips upwards.

“Whoa…” Chris was in complete shock to see her finally smile. It was small but it was progress to him, and the way she smiled was in a cute way. He could totally see her smiling like that again. “Your smile is nice.” He admitted a small speck of blush appears on his cheeks, taking in her beauty that he had never seen before.

[Name] quickly covered her mouth and felt the smile on her mouth. “I… I smiled….:” she gasped. But then I let go and continued to smile. “I actually smiled… T-thank you Chris.”

Then Chris smirked, having more of a cheeky side to him. He knew he was the best. “Heh, no problem. How about a little reward for you?” He grabbed both of her shoulders, [Name] nodded as she continued to smile, not questioning his motives.

“Sure, what is the reward?” She asked, “You’ll see. Close your eyes.” Listening to his words she closed her eyes. Slowly Chris begins to lean closer and closer to her face. Hoping that this was worth the wait.

He leaned closer… and closer….. Closer…

Agi busted down the door and shouted. “Chris! They’re fighting again!- Oh?!”

Chris blushed, With an angry face he looked up at him and shouted.

“GET THE HELL OUT! I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING!”

ִֶָ 𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ

➺ LAVHINO

Forward.

At this point she was headed straight, so going forward again wouldn't hurt anybody. Well she hopes nobody gets hurt, but other than that she kept her stance straight and moving forward.

It took some time for her to actually make it to a door from a different stratum than her own. Without saying a word she opened it and noticed that this was the training room for Spain.

She sighs once again from her lack of directions. But in the corner of her eye she noticed someone training in the room, her curiosity got the best of her and entered the training room without a sound. There she saw the shirtless Brazilian male doing a handstand. A ball on his feet kicking it upward.

[Name] was impressed at the creativity and ability he showed while using this technique. She knew how to do a handstand when she was young and trained in ballet but it mostly hurt her and was never remotely close to creativity.

So seeing Lavhino do something so complicated yet fun made her heart swell.

He then did a fantastic front kick and landed perfectly on his feet. With such momentum the ball traveled upward and came curving down.

Impressed with his agility moves, he let out a groan of relief. “Did pretty good but it could use some work. Welp! Time for uma pequena pausa- AHH!” Lavhino shrieked when [Name] appeared in front of his view. Clutching his chest and beginning to gasp for air from that shocking moment.

“You did vwell.” She says in the most stoic monotone voice that anyone heard from. After calming down he sighs and looks up at [Name] with sweat dripping down his head. “Hey belleza! I didn’t see ya there! Didn’t expect anyone to come here to begin with.” rolling his eyes at the last sentence before smiling up at [Name].

“So what made you come here?” He asked, trying to keep his optimistic side. [Name] shook her head. “Nett, I vwas trying to find my stratum until I came here. You play very nice Lavhino.” She said while looking up at him.

“You are like a bird, free and happy. I vwish I could be free like you.” She admitted slowly looking away. Lavhino felt kinda prideful from her words and snickered. “Heh! If you wanted to watch me play then you could've just said so!” He pointed at himself with a smirk. [Name] nodded and then looked around. Noticing the various equipment and footballs scattered around.

“How….” She whispered.

“Hm?” Lavhino raised a brow at the girl with a hum.

“How do you be happy vwhile playing? You see the light in things, very bright and full of life. I alvways vwondered if I could be free like you, but…. I don’t know how…” She silently sulked.

Lavhino could help but grin at her statement. “Heh! There's no need for you to worry belleza! If you need a little lesson, then I'm the person to help!” Speaking confidentially and putting a hand on her shoulder to assure her that he can be of help.

“Really?” She was surprised that someone as lively as him was willing to help her. But she wouldn't say no to a chance like this.

Lavhino nodded. “Of course! But there's one thing I need to do!” Reaching in his pocket he took out his mobile phone and typed in something.

After a few seconds, he put on some Salsa Romantica music. This completely caught her off guard by the choice of music, but he increased the music and held out his hand for her.

“Do you know how to dance?” He asked with a grin. [Name] was confused by his statement. “I… know how to do ballet.” she shyly said not sure where this is going.

“Eh! Close enough!” He grabbed a hold of her wrist and pulled her towards him, she gasped as she was chest to chest with him, he smirked as he held her hands in a motion. “Just follow my lead.” He whispered to her. She didn’t know what was going on anymore as Lavhino began to lead the dance and she could only follow. Trying to mimic his footing and hearing slow music accommodating the atmosphere made her heart swell. She had never felt this kind of experience before.

He begins to make her twirl and bend her back to do a head dip it shocked her, but she continues to follow his lead, the movements begin to increase, and [Name] could only clutch onto him for support, but slowly she started to get the hang of this.

“Yeah! That's it! You're doing great!” His words of encouragement started to make her feel proud of what she's doing and continues to dance alongside with him. And when the climax of the song came Lavhino picked her up from the waist and threw her up in the air.

“Whoa!” She loudly accumulated before coming down and casting down onto Lavhino’s arms safely and did a last-minute twirl before being her back and having one of her legs lifted on his hips while keeping a secure grip on her waist just as the music ended.

Both of them trying to catch their breath from that intense moment before Lavhino speaking out with a smirk.

“So did you enjoy yourself, belleza?!” He could help but look at [Name]'s eyes that twinkled by his amazing acrobatics.

“Y-yes…. I… never danced like that before, it vwas fun” A hint of amazement was heard in her voice, something that Lavhino was proud of.

“Well, we can dance all night! If you want!” He couldn't help but wink at her. Something about him just made [Name]'s heartburn from his fiery passion. It was amazing he could keep going from such intense play like this.

But dancing all night with him didn't sound so bad. She doesn't have to suffer from all day leg workouts like before and she can finally be free from her restraints of posing. For some reason the corners of her lips shot upright. Giving the male a soft smile to his surprise.

“Whoa! I didn't know you could smile?!” He pointed at her features. [Name] blinked before remembering that no one saw her smiling or giving out the slightest emotion and feeling that smile just send a heatwave of joy through her system.

“I… I guess I am. I didn't think I ever smiled before…...” she held her reddened cheeks before looking at the male in front of her.

“I think you made me smile, Lavhino.” She whispered shyly but enough for the male to hear. This made him blink “Huh? Me?” His face could be seen with a cheeky grin on his face. [Name] nodded and explained about how she felt.

“From vwhere I'm from, girls don't dance freely. They alvways have to dance perfectly if they vwant to become better ballerinas. It vwas never easy, my body vwas alvways cold and thin…. If vwe do one mistake then they hit us, that's vwhy I never thought that dancing vwould ever bring me joy. But you showed me so much, you showed me how to enjoy dancing and that I shouldn't hold back… thank you for that. It's as if you showed me the light of it all. Something I vwish to alvways see. Thank you Lavhino….”

After explaining her story, Lavhino couldn't help himself but pat her on the head. “Hey, I'm sorry for all that crap you've been through. But you're not there anymore! You're here! Enjoying yourself and being proud! How about we drop this sappy story stuff and get back on our dancing! I can teach you how to do the tango next?!” He snickered.

[Name] could help but smile once more, she really did enjoy being with Lavhino. He was like fire. Flames that burn bright and can reach into people's hearts. He really is the ideal person for what it means to have fun.

“Yeah, I would love that…”

“Heh! Now grab on because this is going to get more wilder!”

ִֶָ 𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ

➺ MARC SNUFFY

Backwards.

What's better than retracing your steps, it is best to start where you came from so heading back was a reliable option on her part. Slowly taking each step on the tile floor trying to remember what path she came from. There were many doors and sadly she doesn't know which one was. Still continuing onwards to what she believes is her destination.

Trying her best to focus on where she's going, she then stumbled into a problem. She doesn't realize which door is her section of Stratum.

She believes she went into the wrong stratum since there was a different door than what she usually sees, but maybe she just noticed the new door. Curious, she decided to take a look inside.

Walking in without permission is what she's against doing but her curiosity was getting the best of her, and she'll apologize for interrupting if it's the wrong door. Slowly she opened it up and was met with an unexpected scent of delicious food.

Couldn't help herself but take a giant whiff of the scenes accommodating the room. Whatever it was, she couldn't seem to hold herself and walked in, closing the door behind her. There she noticed another person was in the room with her, lounging on the black sofa. On the coffee table was dishes of Japanese cuisine and sweets.

It wasn't until she realized that someone sitting on the sofa was Marc Snuffy. Finally putting two to two together, she's in the Italy stratum and this was their meeting room. Ah, no wonder the doors increased and seemed out of place.

She was about to leave undetected, but Marc noticed her before she could even turn around. “Ah, I didn't know you invited yourself here [Name], is there a reason you came here?” He seemed genuine in his question as to why the Russian coach made herself present here on his Stratum.

[Name] looked at him before looking down guilty like. “My apologies Marc, I vwas only trying to go back to my stratum but it seems I've gotten lost instead.” She spoke out.

Marc couldn't help himself but chuckle at her stature and sense of direction of this place. No doubt that this is a large facility so her getting lost was bound to happen. But he didn't think it would come true.

“Heh, no worries. Why don't you come join me?” He spoke out giving the grip a genuine smile. [Name] was surprised that Marc wasn't even offended at the slightest but yet solicited her arrival.

“If it's not too much to ask or a bother for me to intrude, then guess it's an honor for me to be here.” She spoke monotonously. She couldn't help but look at the variance of dishes displayed on the coffee table, something in her mind wanted to taste some of them but didn't want to be rude. Marc noticed her stare at the food on the coffee table and decided to invite her along.

“How about you come sit next to me” He asked her to which she nodded and sat on the black sofa next to him. Now having a very good view of each exquisite dish on the table, she couldn't help herself but gulp in hunger.

“I asked Anri if there was anything to eat since I skipped breakfast, but it turns out she got more things than asked for, so now I'm stuck with plates of food that I don't think I could finish!” He then looked up at [Name], a tiny drool cascading down her lips.

“It’ll be nice to have some company to help me to eat with.” He urged her, [Name]'s eyes slightly widened and looked at Marc. “Ah, sorry. It vwould be very rude for me to come here and eat this food that Anri prepared for you.”

Marc quickly shook his hands to turn down her statement. “No no! It's totally fine, I'm inviting you here to eat with me. Since we didn't have much to speak about when we played against teams.” He spoke assuringly. [Name] was quite before slowly nodding to his words.

“Okay. You don't mind if I try this?” She picked up a seaweed sushi between her fingers, showing it to Marc who nodded. “Sure thing, all these foods are indeed famous Japanese dishes.”

[Name] brought the sushi up to her nose to take a small whiff, a scent of fish, vegetables, rice and seaweed in one formation. She then plopped one in her mouth and slowly chewed it. The flavors of the sushi exploded into flavor in her mouth. Tasting a sensation that she never knew before. Her eyes began to sparkle as she plopped another in her mouth, and another.

‘Soo gooood!’

She couldn't hold herself from stuffing her cheeks with many sushi variants. Marc couldn't help but snicker at her swollen cheeks stuffed with sushi, to him she looks like a curious chipmunk. In an adorable way and he couldn't help but watch.

[Name] then stumbled upon a light green paste on the side of the plate. Curious, she picked it up and slowly brought it to her mouth. Marc saw this and tried to stop her from consuming the green paste. “Wait I wouldn't eat that if I was-”

Too late, she already put it in her mouth.

“-you….” Marc then saw the giant whiplash that was exposed on her face. [Name] cringed and made a sour facial expression. Not liking the burning bitter paste that was wasabi. It burned her taste buds and made her nose flare. She didn't want to waste the food on her mouth so slowly she swallowed the disgusting paste down her throat which made her throat even more burnt. "Bleh… that's horrible….” She still cringed at the aftertaste.

“Oh! Here, drink this.” Marc held up a cup to her, thanking him she drank whatever was inside that cup. Apparently, it also burned her throat but had a scene of flavor kick to it. “Damn, I didn't know you could drink Sake like that.” After she was done drinking, she put the glass down on the table and looked away.

Marc noticed the change of movement from her and was concerned if sake wasn't her go to drink. “Hey you alright?” He asked concernly. [Name] just looked down on her hands and fiddled with her fingers. She slowly looked up at Marc with a small blush creeping up to her cheeks.

“I vwanted to thank you…. I never tasted something like these in my life…” she said. Marc was confused of what she meant and asked what happened. “Did something happen [Name]?”

She slowly shook her head. “Vwell, I never grew up to anything delicious like these. Vwhen I vwas growing up all the food and vwater vwas poisoned and tinted vwith lead. Vwhen I became a football player my meals vwere very strict on my diet. I had to have the same cabbage soup or grilled potatoes eating to make my body into a professional…. After eating sushi… I thought my taste just lacked flavor. Instead, I never tasted something so delicious…” she confronted him.

Marc saw that struggle on her face and couldn't help but feel pity. She lived a different life than anyone and was probably mistreated by others. That face looks like she has seen death multiple times and yet she still stays standing. As if she MUST stay standing or else she doesn't have a choice. “God [Name], coming from you. It's awful to hear, I couldn't imagine being in a place that treats me like shit. You're very brave.” He put a assuring hand on her shoulder for comfort. She couldn't help but feel better by his soothing words.

“Spasibo Marc. I've learned to fight it in me. Sorry for me telling you all this.” She looked guilty. Marc smiled and patted her back. “It's fine. I'm glad to be an open ear for you to speak. I just thought you hated us but it seems that everyone has their differences, including facial expressions.” He joked but [Name] didn't find it funny in her case.

She thanked him again for comforting her, looking back at the table to spot out a pink colored ball wrapped in a leaf. Curious got the best of her and learned to grab it. This time without making a mistake she examined it and took a small sniff. It smelled sweet but she knows not to get tricked again. She licked the pink rice in her hands and found it sweet in her case.

Without saying she finally took a bite of the mochi, chewing it softly and swallowing it down.

It's as if a firework went off on her mouth and her cheeks turned pink.

Her cheekbones started to go upright and her face turned flush, a whole new flavor that she never knew ever existed in her life made a whole thing change. “Soo good!!” She squealed in amazement and continued to chow down on the sakura mochi.

Marc was surprised to see a whole new side of her, for the first time he finally gets to see her smile. It really suited her and she seemed really happy about the Sakura mochi. He noticed that she's going faster with eating and growing concerned he tried to warn her.

“Y'know I wouldn't eat that much if I was - hmp!” A Sakura mochi was placed on his lips. [Name] brought a Sakura mochi to him, trying to let him eat the sweetness. “Eat, these are good!” She said her face was already stuffed with Sakura mochi and wanted Marc to try them out.

Marc blinked before taking the mochi in his hand and smiled at [Name]'s unpredictable astonishment. But he can also see she can be quite the messy eater seeing some rice stick to her cheek, he couldn't help but grab her chine to look at her.

Confused on what he's doing she felt his hand brush off something on her cheek. “Ah sorry, there was mochi stuck to your cheek and wanted to get it out.” He said, flicking the rice off his fingers.

[Name] swallowed and was pleased by his kind gesture. “Spasibo Marc. You're an incredible person.” She whispered but loud enough for him to hear. Marc couldn't help but smirk and brought her closer to him, pulling her over where her arm met his chest. [Name] doesn't know what he's doing but didn't question it.

“Y'know you're beautiful when you smile” he said close to her ear. [Name] couldn't help but blush from the closeness between them, it wasn't until Marc slowly came closer to her face, just a inch close before brutally interrupted by the bang on the door.

“OI! Pops! We were looking for- oh?!” Lorenzo made himself present in the meeting room where he saw a sight for him to see. He couldn't help but crackle at his coach.

Marc eyes begin to twitch at the disturbance that entered in and interrupted their moment. “Has anyone told you to knock first, Lorenzo?!”

“You were totally going to make out with her!!!”

[Name] just slowly looked away and continued to munch on her mochi.

‘Soo gooood!’

ִֶָ 𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ

Ball……

Why is there a ball?

After thanking Him for the help He had given the girl, she was now going back to her rightful Stratum.

That is until a ball slowly made it to her feet. Confused, she bent down and picked up the object off the ground and looked around to see who left it, that is until she saw the blonde kid from PxG.

Charles was messing around until he kicked the ball a little to hard in the hallway traveling down to someone's feet but he gasped when he saw the Russian coach pick it up and slowly look at him.

Like a deer in headlights, his heart began to rapidly increase when he made eye contact with the coach, petrified by her stare he slowly took steps back, NOT wanting to be near her any longer.

[Name] then begins to go after Charles with the ball.

“AHHHHH!!!”

Terrified he began to scream and run, “GO AWAY GO AWAY!! WAHHHH!” tears were running down his face when he finally made it to his Stratum and entered through a door, locking the moment he closed it.

“Charles what happened? Why were you screaming?” Tabito looked at the petrified blonde who backed away from the door and hid behind his teammates for cover.

“SHE GON GET ME!!”

“Who's going to get you?” Ryusei questions.

And to his answer, a knock came from the door.

*KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!*

“AHHHH! SHE'S HERE!!!

ִֶָ 𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ

Russian Translation:

Blyat = Fuck

Izvinite = My apology/sorry

devochka = girl

bratya = brothers (Pural)

otetz = father/dad

Da = yes

Nett = no

Spasibo = thank you

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Ended

© 2024 Ｖｅｌｖｅｔｅｅｎ — do not repost, copy, translate, modify, etc my work on any platform !