#of course jude would NEVER join them i can already see him sighing and leaving the room

[5mary5]

Ik that ikevil mc (kate) is from London meaning she speaks English as her first language (lets all ignore the fact that the game is voiced in japanese for a moment) and she propably doesn't speak a second language but I just can't help but wonder what would crowns reaction be to an mc who has a foreign language as their mother tongue?? Like imagine mc hitting her toe on the table while at breakfast with the rest of crown and cursing in a language they dont understand;; I think that the initial reaction would be something like : 👀👁👁 especially liams! He would be SO curious to know what you just said! chances are that victor already knows about the fact that you can speak more than one languages but he would still be suprised, also I honestly can't imagine william having a different reaction other than his usual smile 🙂 hmmm maybe he would comment about their darling Robin being smart or something? Anyways I couldn't stop thinking about this it literally has been inside my head running around in circles for atleast a month now and I finally stopped procrastinating and wrote it ✍️

[laequiem]

She kills my self control - Chapter 4

/Includes dialogue from The Cruel Prince, Chapter 11

I should be enjoying this. A mortal affected by the most banal fruit, a proof of her inferiority. The usually defiant mortal girl, the girl who haunts me day and night, completely at our mercy.

Yet, I am not.

cw: unhealthy coping mechanisms (alcohol, sex); physical abuse; nsfw

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Chapter 4. Sweetest taste is never gonna leave you

Why do my friends always go too far? First, Nicasia slapped Jude, and now Valerian is choking her with an everapple. I was already walking towards them, eager to watch Jude make a fool of herself, but I sped up my walk when I realized Valerian would not stop. He would keep going until he watched the light vanish from her eyes.

When I reach them, I push Valerian away from her. She’s covered in tears and snot.

“Ruin my fun, will you?” Valerian snarls at me.

I should shove the rest of the fruit down his throat to shut him up. Instead, I take the salt from Jude's basket and grin. I unscrew the container, then dump the content. My friends laugh.

“What’s wrong with you, Valerian? If she dies, your little prank is over before it begins.” I scoff.

Her tears have now dried as the everapple properties kick in. She stops fighting back. For the first time since I have known her, she is smiling at me. I ignore the tightening in my chest at the sight.  

I should be enjoying this. A mortal affected by the most banal fruit, a proof of her inferiority. The usually defiant mortal girl, the girl who haunts me day and night, completely at our mercy.

Yet, I am not. I am angry at my friends for going too far. Angry at myself for letting them, but also for not being able to ignore it. I ought to let them do as they please with her, this kind of humiliation is what we do. As I try to decide if I should put an end to this, Nicasia speaks.

“You’re wearing too many clothes and they’ve grown dirty. You should take them off.”

I do not want them to stop anymore. 

This is degrading and cruel, exactly what I am known for. It is appropriate for me to delight in this. Surely, this is the only reason I want them to keep going.

Yet, as Jude removes her clothes and stands in her underwear, I feel more than the sick satisfaction I get from putting others down. It is a different kind of sick feeling, one I would never admit out loud. 

I drink in every inch of skin, burning the image in my mind. She looks even more delicious than I ever imagined. My very own sweet, poisonous fruit. Were I to take a bite, would I crave her as she craves faerie fruit?

I want to touch her, sink my nails in her soft curves. I want to rip those flashy bits of fabric off of her. I want to take her right here and hear how loud I can make her scream. Use the euphoria she is feeling to make her hunger for more.

I would never, of course. When she begs me in such a way, it will be with a clear mind. It would mean nothing otherwise.

Why do I want it to mean something?

“Come and lick my hands clean,” drawls Nicasia, “You don’t mind, do you? But you have to do it on your knees.”

“No,” I snap.

I can still enjoy myself a little, even if I hate myself for wanting to indulge.

I remove one of my shoes, giving them my best smug grin. I coat my words with the sweetest glamour.

“Jude will come here and kiss my foot. She said she wanted to kiss us. And I am her prince, after all.”

Nicasia looks disappointed, but she stands back. Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Valerian and Locke come closer. I tap my foot impatiently, staring down at Jude. 

“Well? Be quick about it. Kiss my foot and tell me how great I am. Tell me how much you admire me.”

I have practiced the part of the snappy, spoiled prince for long enough. I know I am good at it. Yet, as I try to sound impatient and cruel, I fear that my true feelings show through. That my friends might guess that I wish for any sign of kindness from her, any proof that she spares a second thought to me. That I want Jude to tell me she admires me. I cannot fathom why she would, when she bests me in every way. 

“Enough,” Locke steps closer, “I’m taking her home.”

Of course he would use the opportunity to play the hero.

“Are you, now? Interesting timing. You like the savor of a little humiliation, just not too much?”

Out of all my friends, Locke is the one who gets under my skin the most. I believe he knows it, too. Nicasia broke my rotten heart. Valerian is cruel and irredeemable, but were he to stab me, he would do it facing me. Locke, however, would stab me in the back. In many ways, he already has. He delights in schemes, he is a liar, a hypocrite, a cheater. And the cunning little fox is the most observant of them all.

“I hate it when you get like this,” he replies under his breath.

I scoff. This is the only side of me he knows. I reach inside my coat for a pin and take Jude’s hand. The cold of it sends a shiver down my body. I suddenly feel the need to hold her hand between mine to warm it up. How cold she must be right now, in her underthings. Instead, I take the pin and prick her finger. Blood has sodium in it, right? I am not the best student, my knowledge in human biology is limited, but that sounds right.

Hopefully, this can get her safely home.

“Have a nice walk home.”

I immediately turn to the other students, trying to ignore the rage festering inside me at the thought of Locke being the one to bring her home.

“She was enjoying herself, Cardan!” Valerian growled, “Why did you stop it?”

I rolled my eyes and sighed dramatically. “Is this really the way you want her to die? Surely, you would enjoy gutting her even more.”

“Drowning sounds mighty appealing too,” Nicasia pipes up.

They both laugh and I join them. One of the girls from our class is holding on to my arm, joining the conversation with us, but my mind keeps going back to Jude’s cold hand. Instinctively, I look towards where Jude and Locke left and see that he has her wrapped in a blanket. 

 -----------------

Jude and Taryn did not come to the next few lectures. When Jude starts coming again, Locke walks her home afterwards. He is dating both of them. 

“She tastes super weird. Bitter. Like poison," Locke muses one day, "Her sister does not, it’s like she's a poisonous plant trying to keep predators away."

"Too bad it does not work on you," Nicasia mutters.

Somehow, it does not surprise me. After all, Jude Duarte is all swagger and daggers, aposematic to her very core. She is nothing like the easy girls Locke usually goes, but perhaps he likes the challenge. Perhaps he only wants to pit the sisters against each other and see what happens. 

The knowing looks he gives me whenever she is around tell me another story. The way my heart twists when I see them together, my brows twitching despite my self control. Sometimes, I think he knows about my nightmares, those where he takes what he wants from Jude while I am forced to watch. About my daydreams of shutting her fierce mouth with mine. Certainly, he notices how picky I have become with who I tumble at parties.

[clockworkgraystairs]

Christmas Dinner || Jurdan X-mas in July

AHHHH there is more Christmas!Jurdan!!!!!!!!! 🎄🎄

Rating: T

Summary:  The Duarte's are hosting their Christmas dinner and Vivi sets a trap for Jude to bring his boyfriend and introduce him to the family.

I guess this can be considered a little prequel to You got me trippin? 

This is also my first time posting somethin in 1st person sooo...let’s see how it goes lmao

Tags:  @jurdannet @jurdannetrevels @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @sweetlyvillainous @aesthetics-11 @thesirenwashere @jurdanhell @demydreamer-otaku-and-book-lover @nightbringer @b00kworm @mysweetvillain @thefolkofthefic @yafandomsdotnet @vanessa172003​

[if you wish to be tagged/untagged or if I forgot to tag you pls let me know!]

A massive thank you to Becca @sweetlyvillainous​ for betaing this for me!! Love u 🧡

Masterlist             Read on AO3

This is a terrible, terrible idea I keep repeating myself.

If I’d shown a little more steadiness with my sister I wouldn’t be in this situation. I knew she was nervous about presenting her girlfriend to the family, specially to our father. And because she is extra as hell, she couldn’t choose another date that wasn’t on Christmas Eve. For weeks now she’d been texting me, grumbling about how was she going to be able to pull it off. I told her to relax and just go with it.

What I didn’t expect though, was for Vivi to arrive out of nowhere to the school where I work, talking nonsense about me bringing a fake date to dinner with hopes of taking the attention away from her. 

After spending 15 minutes trying to convince her it is not necessary for me to do that, her insistence is such I end up babbling how bad that idea is since I already have a boyfriend, and fake dating someone else would certainly create problems.

Big mistake.

Looking at me with something like betrayal in her eyes, now she starts questioning me about that boyfriend who I’d never talked about before. I bite my lip. When it comes to personal stuff I prefer to keep it private, even with my own family. I have my reasons. 

And just because luck is not on my side today, in the middle of her inquiries I hear a faint “Hey, babe!” behind me. I groan. Of course. Of course he had to arrive in that moment. 

We both turn to look at him. Cardan approaches us wearing that mischievous grin reserved only for me, so different from the polite smile he uses with his students. His hair is tied up in a bun as he also wears it for work, few curls escaping it in the most adorable way. 

With a pang of panic, I notice Vivi noticing how dumbfounded I’m looking at him. Her eyes light up in a way that I know means nothing good. I frown at her. 

“I was looking for you on the cafeteria, one of your students told me you were here.” He pauses. “I- didn’t notice you were busy though, sorry.”

“Not at all!” Vivi says with exaggerated enthusiasm. “I’m Jude’s older sister, Vivi! You must be her lovely boyfriend.”

“Oh, yeah I am. Nice to meet you!” If I didn’t know him so well I wouldn’t notice the slight blush on his cheeks or the way he looks at me in contained alarm.  

It’s too late by the time I put the pieces together. When I realize what is about to happen, my sister is already handing Cardan a rolled piece of paper.

“I came to make sure Jude invites you to our family Christmas dinner! She’s so absentminded sometimes isn’t she?” 

I’m going to kill her. Slowly.

Horrified, I stand there and see Cardan take the invitation, grinning. His polite, charming smile.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” He says. “Thank you so much Vivi.”

My sister turns to me and whatever look it’s on my face makes her hesitate. Although, not enough. She claps her hands once and makes an excited squeal. “Well I must go now! But I’m so excited you’re coming to join us Cardan, see you there. Ciao!”

With that she turns and leaves.

-

So here we are. My boyfriend driving by my side, as we are about to arrive to my parent’s house.

My knee bounces without control as I twist my scarf between my fingers. At any moment now, I’m sure my heart is going to bolt out of my chest. 

“Jude dear, is everything ok?” He asks. I notice I’ve been quiet almost the entire road.

I turn to look at him. He looks dashing, even if it’s not a strictly formal dinner he always finds a way to dress as it was. Black ensemble and green scarf that stands out his pale skin, though his nose and cheeks have a touch of color because of the cold weather. 

“Yeah it’s just... My family is a little,” I pause. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

We are not the type of family that introduces romantic partners, ever. My twin sister tried to do it some years ago with a terrible and embarrassing outcome. At some point in the middle of breakfast, she’d asked her daddy to pass the salt. Both our father and Locke moved to grab it at the same time. What came next, well… if that Locke dude had restrained himself to make a sarcastic and really tacky comment about it, maybe he would still be welcome in the house. Alas, he is not. 

Ever since that day, every time someone brings a guest to the house my father gets in a mood that is pretty uncomfortable for everyone. Sooner or later he makes everyone run.  Not exactly the first impression I want Cardan to have. 

We’ve been together for some time now, about eleven months. But the topic of introducing our families has never been on the table so far. I know he comes from a problematic family even if he doesn’t talk much about them. As for me, I have to admit I’ve grown so attached to him that I’m terrified of Madoc, or any other of my relatives, scaring him away.

He takes my hand in his, warming it, and smiles softly. “It’ll be ok. Breathe.”

I sigh, hoping he’s right and grip his hand tighter.  

The inside of the house looks as if Santa’s bag had exploded. There are lights and ornaments everywhere. Even the tree is bigger than previous years. A delicious smell of food fills the place. As I stare in awe I hear voices coming from the living room.

“Jude? Is that you?” Hurried steps sound in the wooden floor and a few seconds later my little brother appears wearing an absurd red and white onesie. He crashes against me and I laugh, hugging him back.

“You do realize that’s for little kids don’t you?” I ask. “It looks good on you, though.”

Oak scoffs and pulls back. “Well of course it does. I look good on everything.”

Cardan chuckles next to me and for the first time my brother notices him. His eyes and mouth open widely, blinking at him and then turning back at me. Once. Twice.

“Jude,” He murmurs. It cracks me up how shy he can get around new people. “Who’s this?”

Ah, here we go. I take a deep breath and grab Cardan’s hand again. 

“Don’t be rude,” I warn him. “His name is Cardan. Cardan, this is my brother Oak.”

Cardan greets him, extending his hand to him. Oak shakes it, visibly puzzled. “And Cardan is…?”

“My boyfriend.” 

A slow, mocking and devilish smile spreads on his face. I swear to god that kid was taken out from the movie Cheaper by the Dozen. All the shyness is suddenly gone.

“You and Vivi are really trying to give dad a heart attack today aren’t you?” He turns to Cardan and adopts a serious expression I almost believe. “Please tell me Jude doesn’t call you daddy.”

“OAK!” I hiss. I look at Cardan and he gazes back with amusement, I notice he’s biting back a laugh. 

“WHAT? I need to know earlier if I need to take my phone out, last time I didn’t have time to record when dad…” He motions with his hand. Yeah, I remember.

“She doesn’t.” Cardan affirms. Mimicking my brother’s mischievous smile he asks. “Is there a story there I need to know?”

Oak hesitates, even though I’m sure he’s dying to spill it out.

“Taryn would kill you.” I remind him.

“She’s not coming. For what I’ve heard, either it’s Locke’s turn to visit his family or something about dad running him under the car if he dared appearing. I’m not sure.”

Great. 

“What if I beat you at Mario Kart?” Cardan asks, pointing at the console resting next to the tv. 

Oak squints at him. “Are you challenging me?”

“It’s not a challenge when I know I’m going to win.”

Turning to me, my brother grins. “I like him.”

-

I know this is the first time I’ve brought someone home, but still I don’t know if I should be offended at my parent’s surprised faces. Oak had to tell my mother twice that Cardan is my boyfriend before she nods in understanding.

On his side, Cardan is being the full gentleman. To be fair he always is, but I notice the extra effort he’s doing today. It warms my heart. The only sign of nervousness I notice in him are occasional deep breaths he takes when he thinks no one is watching.

We get to meet Heather too, who is adorable and I honestly don’t know how on earth she fell in love with my lunatic sister. In a matter of minutes Cardan is already friends with her which helps with her evident tension. Vivi seems to relax as well. 

Christmas music plays on the background as we eat. This is probably my favorite part of the evening. Don’t get me wrong, I love gatherings with my family but food calls me on a spiritual level. Cardan knows it too, chuckling at my excitement while I’m serving us mashed potatoes. 

“So, Cardan.” My father starts, serving the wine. My heart leaps in my chest, oh no. “You met my daughter at work?” 

He nods. “Yes sir, I arrived there about two years ago. I teach preschool and first grade.” Winking at me he adds. “Jude used to hate me.”

Madoc turns to me, frowning. “What happened?” I roll my eyes, classical worried dad.

I take a long drink from my wine and shrug. “Nothing, he stole the ‘best teacher award’ from me, on his first six months. I’m pretty sure he bribed the students that year.”

To my surprise, my father barks a laugh. We all stare at him wide-eyed. 

“Keep repeating that to yourself, love.” Cardan teases. “It was a clean triumph.”

“You’ve always been competitive Jude, that’s no secret.”  Vivi adds. “It’s nice to finally meet someone who can pull up with that.”

I turn to glare at her. You and I are going to talk later. She sticks out her tongue at me. 

“Do you guys have sex?” 

“Oak!” My mother shouts as my father and I both choke on our wine.  

-

When Cardan parks the car outside my apartment it’s already past midnight. 

Surprisingly, this turned out to be one of the best Christmas celebrations I’ve ever had. My boyfriend somehow managed to not only avoid any uncomfortable moments around my family but also to wrap them up around his little finger. With jokes and tales about us the night had passed incredibly fast. 

Toasts were made, hugs and gifts were given. By the end, we were sprawled on the floor wearing silly sweaters and watching the merciless Mario Kart match between Oak and Cardan. It ended up in a tie. Rematch was already set for New Year’s Eve.

It was everything I never thought it would be.

“Well, did Vivi’s plan work?” Cardan asks.

I turn to find him already looking at me with a knowing smile on his face. Still, it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“C’me on, you weren’t really planning on inviting me to your family’s dinner. Something was surely going on the day she gave me the invitation.” 

Sighing I whisper. “I’m sorry.” 

He knows me too well, more than I even know myself sometimes.

“Don’t be, it’s not a topic we usually discuss.” He shrugs, reaching my hand with his. His thumb makes slow circles on my skin “Still, I should’ve asked if it was ok with you. Forgive me if I crossed a line.”

“You didn’t. I just wasn’t planning for you to meet my family yet.” I regret those words the moment they leave my mouth, knowing how they sound. Cardan doesn’t let go of my hand but he stops his ministrations. “Wait, that wasn’t…”

“Jude, it’s ok.” He says, turning to the windshield. I know him well enough too, and notice the touch of sadness behind his words. 

“No it’s not. Please listen.” I insist, my heart is beating fast now. That look on his eyes is exactly what I tried to avoid the whole night. “The reason why I wasn’t thinking to introduce you to my family is that they’re ridiculously hard and annoying with every new person that visits. And this is the first time I took someone home and…I don’t know, I-”

“You thought I’d leave?” He turns his gaze back to me, warily. 

At the beginning of the day I did. But I don’t find the words to admit it, so I don’t answer.

After a moment of silence he asks “Do you want to know why I agreed to go?”

I swallow and nod. Cardan inhales deeply..

“We’ve been together for some time now. And you know, you must know, I’m not playing around Jude.” I start to say something but he silences me with a soft finger against my lips.  “I love you. If I agreed to whatever scheme your sister had in mind it was because I wanted to show you that I’m not going away. No matter what.”

“My family…”

“They love you. It’s only natural for them to ask what my intentions are… and maybe tease us about it too. I’m willing to admit your dad is a little scary. But not enough to make me run away.” He winks, cupping my face.“There is nothing on earth that would make me want to run away, Jude. That’s how much I love you.”

Feeling my eyes sting I blink. “I love you too.”

We’ve said those words before. But I find that they acquire a different meaning, somehow deeper. My chest is suddenly too small to hold everything I feel for this man. He’s not going anywhere. He loves me. I’m grinning like an idiot and I’m proud of it. 

I lean to rest my forehead against his. “Since it’s our first Christmas together… and you already met my family.” His smile widens at that. “Would you like to stay the night?”

“There’s nothing I would like more.” Cardan angles his head to give me a kiss that I accept gladly, coiling my arms around his neck.  “I usually spend Christmas alone, I guess it’s time for new traditions.”

We remain entwined for some minutes, it fastly turns into something hotter and desperate. I’m already straddling his hips when I pull back a few inches. I bet my lips are as swollen as his. He is looking at me with hunger… and love.

“How about a tradition in which we spend Christmas night undressed and watching some crappy Netflix movies?” I suggest.

My toes curl when he leans to bite my lobe and purrs. “Yes, please.”

[raviliuz]

"Here comes the sun" Blaise Zabini x Theodore Nott

Muggle, retro au

@lifesucksandiwanttobeamarauder I finally translate that fanfiction, I hope you like it 🥺

The dark-skinned boy has tried to sit still from three hours already. It is incredibly hard for him, because of his amazing hyperactivity. In all honesty, sitting here as a model doesn't count to his dreams or favourites activities but he couldn't deny to Theodore's asks.

Just because of that — his bloody weakness for the older boy — he must stick up there and pose to Theodore's new painting. Blaise perfectly knows that person on that work of art won't be even similar to him. But it will be beautiful, perfect as everything that has been made by gifted hands of Theodore Nott.

There's music, playing quietly at the background, played on a gramophone, restored by Blaise himself. He gifted it to his friend as a birthday present two years ago on an incredibly warm and short night, 22th of June.

He has so many memories with that slight, passionate boy.

"Theo," he says suddenly, breaking the silence. He sounds like a dissatisfied kitten and when he doesn't notice any reaction, he repeats meowing "Theo, I'm bored."

The other boy finally pays his attention to Blaise, not his reflection on painting, which is created on a canvas (too small in Theo's opinion).

"Blaise, you really can't stand it for a while more?" Theodore asks and there is a nuance of desperation and melancholy in his voice, "I want to end it."

And Blaise has already known, he loses again. He won't be able to deny his friend the pleasure that results from looking at the painting — finished, after hours of working.

"I'll stand it, Theo" he sighs and in his mind adds 'always for you'. At this moment all he can do is begging and praying that Theodore is not able to read minds, just like some characters in their favourites comics.

"Nah, Blaise" slight boy says suddenly and leaves his paint palette and set of brushes on the cupboard, promising himself that he will wash it carefully within a few minutes when paints won't be already dry "I know you don't want to."

"It's not like that" Zabini starts to explaining himself chaotically because he doesn't want hurt Theodore's feelings, "I love watching your painting and you while you're painting. And I love that you have a passion and you're so talented. I just... It's May Day and we are sitting in your room..."

"It's alright, Blaise" Theodore interrupts his with the most beautiful, in Zabini's opinion, smile — that carefree, happy and only a little faraway one.

"We should do something and bring Hope with us to take many photos and place them in our albums with dumb yet cute captions" Theo proposes with a light laugh.

The younger, but taller, better built and more mature, of boys, stands up and brushes off invisible pollen from clothes. He reaches his hand to Theodore to help him stand up.

"Wanna go?" he proposes and even if Theo doesn't know where he agrees without a single question.

It doesn't matter where they go, it will be awesome as always if Blaise is with him.

He catches Hope and puts it on his neck. Theo loves his polaroid camera with whole his heart, even if it isn't the newest and all the better photos were made by Blaise.

Blaise is still holding Theodore's hand in his (definitely larger and rougher), like he doesn't care about rubs of paints in many different colours on Theo's hand and now, also on Blaise's one.

He pulls his friends outside and enters the garage like he is in his own house. Theodore knows what he means without words and grabs his bicycle with a big smile on his slim face.

Meanwhile, Blaise grabs his skateboard, which, only in the form of rebellion against sentiment, he did not give a name. But he perfectly knows that by his skateboard, people could see a different side of his personality, which he doesn't show often — bloody sentimentalist who loves very clichéd books or movies and constantly remembering beautiful moments, and it doesn't matter if that happens a year ago or two hours ago.

The skateboard has its best years far behind its. The picture which was printed on the underside of 'his love' (although, of course, incomparable to that of the boy just standing next to him) has almost completely faded and crumbled, peeling paint seems not so good, to put it mildly, but in Blaise's opinion, it adds the special character and charm to his skateboard. Every scratch and every cooked screw tell a story and Blaise thinks it definitely better than new skateboard — probably glamorous but without its own character.

Blaise isn't similar to Theo, not it that topic. He has never had boxes filled with various craps, which refer to many different events and happenings. He doesn't have special notebooks with tickets, a diary or millions of notes with quick sketches, created under the influence of a sudden flow of wen. He doesn't keep every notes and message on scraps of papers, which have been hand down on lessons, in hope that the teacher wouldn't see that. In first, even having a photo album was strange for Blaise. It shows, that he likes looking back at past and that feeling, which sometimes accompanies you right before falling asleep, when you remind yourself one of those pleasant situations from childhood, isn't foreign for him. It was all he was trying to defend himself against, but only for a time.

For a time when on his way stood that quite frail and nerdy boy. Theodore showed him being sentiment isn't something bad just as singing songs out loud in public places. As compensation, Blaise showed him the magic of comics and all these beautiful, charming in their area, which he discovered while taking a walk daily. Blaise pulled Theodore out of his room and dragged him away from the easel to lead him everywhere he can.

"To our place?" Theodore asks and gets on his a little too small, colourful bike. The seat creaks quietly under his mass but none of the boys pays any attention to this.

"Exactly, now ride, my carriage" Blaise screams and catches up on Theo's seat so the movement of the bicycle can drag him.

"Pff, flax" Nott giggles and Blaise find it as the most sonorous, melodic sound in the whole world.

They ride slowly through all that musty hole, also known as Torquay, or — their home. The road even if it's really old and it remembers when they as children drew chalk on a street, is not in a bad condition. A worse fate befell the road signs — some of them are smeared with sprays, and some are knocked off the ground, due to a car accident or a group of probably drunk but still strong young people.

There are many houses near the road. They are quite poor and definitely not as modern as houses in the capital. At some time, before he started taking daily walks, Blaise dreamed about living in London. Or rather, to be able to tell others that he lives in London. It's another thing which distinguishes him from Theodore — the older boy sees beauty everywhere, in everything and in everybody. Blaise envied him with this skill, for him the world has been boring or just ugly and people have been cruel sometimes.

The sun is warming their backs when they slowly ride on a well-known path. They pass Mrs Shermik, so out of courtesy from four meters away from her, they shout to the old woman joyful 'Good morning'. As they turn into a lane, which is fortunately dry as it hasn't rained much lately, Theo starts humming under his breath.

"Hey Jude, don't make it bad" he looks at his friend (nearly losing control of his bike) and Blaise quickly understands what he means.

Blaise joins to his singing and adds next line:

"Take a sad song and make it better".

Someday Blaise would have worried. He was worried about what people would think, he was afraid someone would hear them. But not now. Now he doesn't care when the words flowing from the depths of memory, and when the song ends, he starts another, definitely his favourite — "Blackbird". Neither of the boys has a perfect voice, singing is definitely not their hidden talent, but that doesn't matter. And that is wonderful, isn't it?

Here Blaise can no longer skate further — the ground is too uneven, even ploughed by the tires of wheelbarrows and carts of people from the neighbouring village. The dark-skinned man rejects Theo's offer to simply get his bike's rack and chooses to run next to the boy. The basketball team and two trainings a week are finally coming in handy — thanks to this, his condition is really good and he doesn't gasp like an old man with asthma after twenty meters run. Theodore, noticing how well his best friend is doing, accelerates, forcing Zabini to run, which he accepts with a groan. Nevertheless, he catches up with the older boy and promises himself that as soon as they get there, he will get his revenge.

After five more minutes, they are a destination of their travel. The place they describe as "their", although they are well aware that they are not the only people who come here, is exactly as they remember it — beautiful.

It was Blaise who discovered them during one of his walks over three years ago. He perfectly remembered how it happened.

That day he was trying to find a rather fast but shallow brook, which he remembered from his childhood. Before Draco's move to London, they told Draco's parents that they were going to the field, but in fact, they went to the brook and walked back and forth on a tree that had fallen over the river. He remembered just as well how Draco's mother, on her way to the store, noticed they were not on the field, prompting a search. When their parents found them by the brook — wet but in unusually good moods, they were already too worried to be upset with them.

After searching for more than an hour (during which he definitely fulfilled the daily, maybe even a week, step norm, but he didn't care) he found a place from his memories, although it was difficult to recognize its. The brook had dried up completely, leaving only a faint riverbed and tree roots washed out of the ground, but the place has definitely retained its charm.

Theo drops the bicycle, leaning it hurriedly against one of the roots, and lays down on the grass, staring at the almost cloudless sky, hidden only by tree branches. Blaise, slightly out of breath, rests his hands on his knees and stays like this for a moment. When his breath normalized he comes closer to Theodore. There is a snap and a Polaroid camera gracefully named Hope spits out a photo in which the image hasn't shown up yet. Theo enthusiastically grabs a small piece of paper and starts waving it so fast that it is about to reach orbital velocity. After a while, the picture clears up the silhouette of a younger boy, who was about to lie down next to his friend. Blaise looks at the photo and asks smiling, even though he already knows the answer:

"For your or my album?"

"Of course mine," Theodore replies quickly, grinning happily, "Why do you need your own photos? They will be much more useful to me."

The dark-skinned boy can't help but messes Theodore's hair in one move of his hand. However, Theo is not annoyed by that, he reacts to it like a cat, moving closer and silently demanding further caresses, which the younger one does willingly.

They are sitting like that (or rather, Blaise is sitting and Theo's half lying on him) till the sunset. There is a flower crown on Blaise's head, made by Theo with field flowers collected by him. And of course, Theodore took a photo of Blaise in his work of art.

It's getting dark. Butterflies, which were flying around them flew away and gave way for beautiful moths and fireflies. Theodore stands up energetically and starts jumping on protruding trees' roots, chasing insects to take a photo of them.

"Theo, please be careful," Blaise says attentively but the only response is 'don't worry' screamed by Nott.

Blaise unwillingly starts remembering his childhood. Times, when he wasn't Theodore's friend and all that connected them, was the same neighbourhood, chalk and short-term relationship of their parents. Then they found that as a stupid and loathsome. Nowadays, at their seventeen's, just as weird. But they weren't friends. After all, Blaise was friends with Draco and the teacher in primary had repeated that it's better to have fewer friends but true friends. So Blaise fraternizes with Malfoy till he moved to London.

It's not that now Blaise finds it as a mistake or holds any grudge with Draco. But nowadays he thinks that it is not good to withdraw from others.

When Draco had left and moved to London, Blaise had thought they now he stayed alone but on that moment, Theodore slowly crept into his life. Nott sat next to Blaise on school basketball pitch and started reminding happy moments from times when Draco lived in Torquey.

And later he showed his painting to Blaise and dark-skinned boy couldn't believe someone his age could do something that beautiful. A week later Blaise sat down with him in the canteen and sometime later also on most of the lessons so he could distract him from learning to read their favourites comics.

Now, Blaise would imagine his life without his always laughing and only sometimes a little faraway friend.

His thoughts are interrupted by a quiet scream.

"Ouch!"

Blaise, worried, stands up imminently and run through Theo. He is curled up in a fetal position between roods of the biggest tree. Zabini hugs him tightly and Theodore accepts that willing, cuddling to his chest while holds back tears.

"Ah, Theo" Blaise whispers, still cuddling the boy in his arms, "I asked you to be careful."

"I'm sorry, Blaise" he answers, sniffing.

"Don't apologize to me, silly" Blaise couldn't stop himself from nuzzling his friend's cheek.

"But you are worrying now and you warned me that I might get hurt..."

"Shhhh" Zabini interrupts him and places his fingers on Theo's mouth to shushes him "I always worrying about you, no matter if you get hurt or not" he admits truthfully and after a few seconds of silence adds "Please, stop crying.

He stops hugging Theodore, although he wants to do it forever. Blaise squats in from of him and gently grabs his friend's head. He wipes away tears, flowing slowly on fairy (although all that time, spends under the sunlight) skin.

He wants to not cry because of sadness or pain, wants him not to have reasons for a cry.

He wants him to be always happy, even if that meant that Blaise wouldn't be on his side.

Wants, wants, wants.

But the world isn't always beautiful, even if Theodore thinks so. Sometimes the world is cruel, ugly or just totally boring. The same about people who live in it.

Do it's really important to find your refuge. A place, a person or a hobby, which will be like an escape from all evils in that world.

Blaise thought that his escape is comics. Reading them has dragged him into the world of superheroes where he could use his imagination and think about meaningless things for hours such as what superpower would he choose (flying, of course). Besides that, the world in comics is just easier. It isn't hard to differentiate who is good and who's bad. Good people fight with bad people, that's all. The Justice League cares about Gotham and saves innocent people from Joker, Deadshot or Darkseid. In the real world, it would be an unsolvable matter with billions different threads and complications so even the best detectives wouldn't be able to decide who is guilty.

Comics world is just easier.

Lately, Blaise has got to understand that the whole beauty in that world is locked in its confusions, problems and ambiguities. Because the world is beautiful, even if sometimes it's cruel or ugly.

And the one who made him understand that is his only real refuge — Theodore Nott.

He is the one who makes reading comics even better.

He is the one with who Blaise could do anything and it would be incredibly good.

He is the one with who Blaise wants to talk about 'good old times' and makes new memories to remember.

He is the one with who Blaise wants to stay forever.

Theodore Nott is the one who Blaise bestow that hot and unique feeling which, no matter what since says, comes from the heart.

And that feeling, now makes him do something, he has been dreaming about for that long. Blaise gently and unsurely grabs the head of the person, who since a year isn't only a friend for him. He delicately raises Theo's head a bit upper to look him straight into his eyes. Their lips touch slowly and gently. Both of them don't feel so confident with what's going on but they will worry about that later. Now, Blaise doesn't have the time and desire to thinks about the consequences. Not now, when he feels the structure of soft lips of his love.

When the dark-skinned boy doesn't notice any objections from the older boy, he let himself do a light, carefully move with his lips. He doesn't want to scared Theodore, knowing how delicate and artsy person he is. He would ever forgive himself hurting Theo.

If he only knew how long Theodore was waiting for it and how much he enjoys that kiss, even if Blaise's lips are rough and chapped.

Blaise gently moves away and hangs his head down, looking at too long grass. He's afraid of seeing Theodore's reaction for what he has done because he's afraid of rejection and ending that important relationship.

However, Theo, likes he doesn't see his friend insecure, giggles lightly and grabs the younger boy cheeks, turning his face to him.

"Oh, finally. How long might I wait?" Theo says with a delightful smile.

"Really. You... Me..." Blaise mutters like he doesn't know what he wants to say.

"Yeah, silly" Theo chucked and hits an end of Blaise's nose with his "You're definitely my favourite person in that universe. And every other, alternative universe too."

Blaise, still can't believe what's happening, hugs his boy and kisses him quickly. The kiss is one hundred per cent cute and totally not sultry. Because feelings as sultry and desire don't fit Theodore, even in an alternative universe where Bruce Wayne become the Devastator instead of Batman. It just does not fit.

"Yeah, and you're my fav person."

They sit in silence for a while, but it's nothing wrong. The silent can be calming and comfortable, it can say more than every word in the world.

The air is getting cooler and owls' chirps become more ominous, so finally, Blaise breaks the silence and says:

"Theo" mentioned boy turns to him and glance at Zabini, "Is your knee still hurting?"

"It's not that bad" Theo shrugs but Blaise quickly understands that it's not good either, "But can you ride the bicycle? I'll drive on its carrier."

"But what with my skateboard?" Blaise asks inconvenience.

"I'll carry it, please" Zabini's only answer is a sigh but not the irritated one. He doesn't know what would Theo had to do to irritate him.

"Alright, but please, be careful."

Blaise raises Theo's bicycle from the ground and helps the boy to climb up to the luggage carrier and then he carefully sits on its seat. Theodore holds Blaise's skateboard (which he has named against his will — Faith) with one hand and the other one is embraced around Blaise's stomach so Theo can stably stay on the carrier. Well, maybe not only because of that.

"To me?" Blaise proposes and slowly leaves their place.

Theodore automatically nods but then he understands that Blaise can't see him so he quickly says 'yes' some times.

Boys are leaving, slowly and without unnecessary haste, but that moment is different than every previous one, they have spent here. Now, they're leaving their place not as just friends.

From Theodore Nott's album:

"4th of May, 1984 —

My favourite day to remember"

[gemma-lemma]

Flaming Hearts - A Nalu Fanfiction

Chapter One

“Yes, yes, exactly like that, Miss Lucy. Perfect!” The photographer cheered, changing his own position with every picture he took. Lucy was currently in a studio, white linen behind her and giant lights in front of her to cast the perfect scenery for the beautiful dress she was displaying: a dark red one, that was bound in a chokehold around her neck and had a high slit on each thigh. She wore high heels in the exact same shade of red and translucent white gloves that reached up to her upper arms, but no jewellery. The photographer had decided that Lucy’s own beauty was already splendid enough. She had just giggled and told him to stop making her blush.

“And now put a hand on your hip! Pout! Smile! Squat down! Perfect, Miss Lucy. You are fantastic!”

She might have looked good, but Lucy still felt like she was a mannequin in a showcase. She didn’t really like the photo shootings for all the magazines, though she enjoyed wearing the new dresses. She would much rather have met her friends for a cup of tea or simply read a book today, since it was Sunday, but her father had insisted on her to go. He said it was good for publicity, and Lucy knew that every time he spoke of publicity any fight from her side was useless.

Jude Heartfilia was a businessman, after all. As the head of the great Heartfilia Konzern, a company that produced and distributed all kinds of chemical products, from medicine over skin care to make up, he had little time for his family, which in this place consisted of just Lucy. Her mother had died years before, and Lucy just couldn’t shake the feeling that her death was part of the reason why her father avoided her company so much and would rather work every waking minute. After all, she looked exactly like her mother Layla. Same big brown eyes, glowing blonde hair, curvy figure. It was genetics, really, though Lucy made sure to support those lucky genes with a healthy diet and lots of exercise.

»One last dress, Miss Lucy. We’re almost done.” The photographer announced and she went back to her room to get changed. That was part of the deal they had made. Lucy stood model for the dresses, but she would still get her privacy while getting changed. She had never liked to get changed in front of others, not even the maids who would help her into the complicated dresses for her father’s parties, so it was a relief that she could do it by herself here.

The new dress was of a light rosé colour, with a heart shaped décolleté and reaching down to her shins. The bodice was tight around her chest until her waist, and changed then to a flowing skirt embroidered with beautiful flowers and butterflies. It was more comfortable than the red one, though the high heeled sandals that came with it were anything but that.

“I’m ready.” She called, and a girl entered to change her make up from the darker tones for the red dress to lighter ones that suited the light one. She also changed her hair into a half-up-half-down style and curled the flowing locks with a curling iron.

“Here you go, beautiful as always.” The girl smiled, and Lucy smiled back. The last dress took the longest to photograph, probably because it suited her the best, much to her dismay. She had been sick of modelling already when they were only at the second dress.

When the shooting was finally over, and Lucy had changed back into her own black shirt and red skirt, combined with a pair of black over knees and a red purse, the photographer held her up one last time, shaking her hand enthusiastically.

“Thank you so much for coming today, Miss Lucy. I’m really looking forward to the article The Sorcerer Weekly will write. Hopefully, we will have once again the pleasure of working together!” He chattered cheerfully, but even though Lucy gave him a nod and a polite smile, she couldn’t share his enthusiasm. The Sorcerer Weekly might have been a big number regarding celebrities and business people, but when it came to women their portraits were rather sexist. They wrote about their skin care routines or what their secrets for their perfect bodies were, which wasn’t a wrong thing to do, but still quite annoying when it was the only thing they wrote about women when at the same time they asked men about the secrets to their success or what they would recommend young businesspeople to boost their own businesses.

Photoshoots like that always drained her and she couldn’t quite comprehend what could be so interesting about her showing off dresses she would never wear again. She had a great body, so what? So had countless other women. It wasn’t even an achievement, just lucky genetics. That was what she disliked the most, wasn’t it? Everyone cared for her beauty and her seemingly perfect body, but nobody really acknowledged her brains. Lucy was smart. She loved to read, and she studied astronomy for fun alongside physics and chemistry, which she needed to take over the company one day. Many of her teachers had said that her intelligence was way above the average, and she quite prided herself in that. It bothered her that all those magazines and talk shows only cared about her looks and whether she had already found a husband or not. She wasn’t even looking for a husband, and would much rather spend another few years realizing herself, but she was well aware of her role as an idol. And she didn’t like the fact that all those young girls only ever got to see her beauty, but never once heard a word of her intelligence. She would love to show them how important it was to cultivate one’s intellect or to care about one’s grades rather than their looks.

“Miss Lucy, are you ready to leave?” The driver asked politely, shaking Lucy out of her thoughts. She hadn’t even realized that she was already standing by the edge of the street, in front of the car door he held open for her. She nodded and gave him a small smile, before she entered.

Once the car started, she decided to check her phone, feeling a little lighter at the sight of the messages her friends had sent during her shooting in their group chat Fairy Tail. She didn’t even remember how they had found such a strange name, but she didn’t really mind. It sounded funny, and thoughtless, and so unlike everything else in her life.

 Levy: sent a picture

Levy: Hey Ladies, what do you think of that? It’s a party thrown by Sting Eucliffe, this super-hot singer I was telling you about. It’s this weekend, and the perfect opportunity for a girl’s night out.

 Upon further inspection the picture Levy had sent was, in fact, a flyer, held in silver, blue and purple tones and with a picture of Sting Eucliffe himself up front, showing a wide smile and finger guns. On it there were written his name, the date, and the location.

 Juvia: Yes! I’d love to come! I even heard he’s single!

Erza: Isn’t that that blonde twink who only recently left Sabertooth to become a solo artist? What a snob.

Levy: Yes, exactly. Except, he’s not a twink, Erza! He sings really good, and not even you can deny that he’s good-looking.

Juvia: He has a voice like an angel, you uncultured strawberry!

 Lucy let out a chuckle before replying. The bickering of her friends always eased her tight nerves a bit.

 Lucy: I’d love to come, but I’m afraid my father won’t let me… He doesn’t like such events.

Erza: Then we’ll sneak you out, like we did before.

Levy: Of course! We can’t go without you, Lu!

Juvia: And we’ll dress you up again, so that nobody recognizes you. You still got the wig, don’t you?

Lucy: Of course I still got the wig, you guys gifted it to me. I would never throw that away!

Levy: Naww, you’re so cute!

Lucy: But do you think that will be enough to hide me from the paparazzi?

Erza: Of course, and if anything happens, we will cover for you to run away.

Juvia: Yes!

Lucy: Thanks, guys! This means the world to me!

 Smiling, she put her phone away. They were already driving up the lane that led to her estate.

When the car halted, a maid was already there to open the car door for Lucy, and she gave her a gratuitous smile, before climbing up the steps to where another maid, Leto, was waiting.

“Welcome home, Miss Lucy. How was your photoshoot?” She smiled politely and made a small bow.

“I’m glad to see you too, Leto. The photoshoot was alright, I guess. The photographer was very enthusiastic.” Lucy answered with just the same polite smile, though it seemed a little tired.

“Aren’t they always?” Leto said warmly, and Lucy nodded in agreement. They were, and she wasn’t sure if it was because of her name or if they acted like this around any kind of celebrity.

“Seems so.”

“Mr Heartfilia is in his study. He wanted you to join him there as soon as you came back from your photoshoot.”

“Did he say why?” Lucy sighed, mentally already preparing for the uncomfortable encounter. It was almost noon, and all she wanted was to get back to her studies and maybe eat a bite. She had a big project coming up and didn’t want to waste any more time by doing pointless stuff like being photographed and complimented.

“I am afraid not, Miss Lucy, but he does have guests.” Leto answered as she led her up the stairs, feeling sorry for the girl. She knew her all too well, knowing how busy her life was and how little room she had for herself.

“Guests? Anyone I know?” This caught Lucy’s attention. Guests at the estate were rather unusual, and when there were any, she never got to meet them on purpose. She had once accidentally encountered a business partner of her father, who was storming off due to some deal that hadn’t worked out the way he had wanted to. After his temper tantrum Jude decided to hold meetings of that kind in the company rather than at his own home.

“I don’t think so, Miss. They arrived right after you left, and have been exploring the house since, but I don’t recall having seen them around here before.” Leto explained and made a small bow when they arrived at the doors to Jude Heartfilia’s study. Lucy took a deep breath and knocked, wondering about why her father’s guests would roam around the house. Did he hire a new team of bodyguards?

“Yes?” Jude’s voice sounded, and she entered.

The study was big, with high ceilings and made of dark wood. It was full of bookshelves and diplomas hanging on the walls. In the middle, right in front of a giant window, was Jude Heartfilia’s heavy wooden desk, and behind it, in a big leather chair, sat the man himself. He wore a dark brown suit, his blond hair, that was just a little darker than Lucy’s, combed back meticulously, and his piercing gaze directed right at her. It made her feel immediately uncomfortable, since usually he barely looked up from his work when he requested to talk to her. But today everything seemed to be different.

“Ah, Lucy. You’re back.” He stated and Lucy nodded, averting her eyes.

“Yes, father.”

Only then did she see the woman sitting in one of the heavy chairs across from Jude. She had big blue eyes and gorgeous white locks, which she had bound up in a high ponytail. They must be dyed, Lucy thought to herself, because the woman could only be a few years older than her. She gave Lucy a welcoming smile as she took in her black turtleneck and suit. As far as Lucy could see, she wore a skirt that fitted the blazer rather than pants.

A little farther, half hidden in the shadows of the bookshelves, Lucy spotted a man, wearing a black long-sleeved sweater and dark grey cargo pants. He had his arms crossed behind his back, and apart from his salmon-coloured hair Lucy couldn’t recognise anything about his face.

“This is Miss Mirajane Strauss, head of Strauss and Co.” Jude introduced the white-haired woman who in turn stood up and held her hand out for Lucy to shake. Frowning, she took it and realized that the woman would be visibly higher than her even without her heels.

“Strauss and Co. as in the security agency?”

“Exactly. I feel flattered that you have heard of us already.”

“Only bits. I have heard you’re supposed to be the best.” Lucy smiled, meaning her words as a challenge. When she could get rid of those who claimed to be the best, her father would be out of options.

Mirajane returned a smile so sickly sweet that Lucy knew she had understood the meaning of her words exactly but didn’t take it as an insult. That was interesting. “That is what people say, though I would not be so audacious as to say so myself. I like to let my records speak and my clients decide.”

“I have hired Miss Strauss and her people because of certain threats I have been receiving lately, and since I will be gone more often for business trips in the near future.” Jude explained and watched Mirajane stand by the side of his desk.

“Death threats?” Lucy questioned, not quite comprehending the reason for the sudden situation just yet. But death threats were nothing unusual among their circles, so what could have been so bad that he hired someone like Mirajane Strauss?

“Among other things, yes. In order to not restrict your freedom, they will accompany you every time you leave the estate and will guard the estate itself at all times, too.” In order not to restrict your freedom, Lucy could have barked out a laugh. Jude did not care for her freedom, he cared for her publicity meetings, for photoshoots and interviews. If it was just about her freedom or even her studies, he would gladly keep her at home with the best teachers he could find.

“I understand.” Lucy nodded, and so did Jude. She was dismissed and went to her own study in order to begin with her studies, and to start making plans on how to get rid of her new babysitters once again.

  Lucy: Guess who just got a new set of bodyguards.

 +++

 Natsu knew the girl was special the moment she entered her father’s study. The way she carried herself, the way she smiled and talked. She hated the idea of bodyguards, and if it hadn’t been obvious from how stiff she had become the moment she realized who Mirajane was, he would have known at least by her files. Or the deadly smile she had sent her boss. A challenge, no doubt.

Lucy Heartfilia had a track record of getting rid of both bodyguards and suitors within only a few weeks. It seemed that her game had even levelled up over time. Be it her scaring them away by being bratty and insufferable, or simply by proving them not fit for the job of protecting her by sneaking out in the middle of the night and getting photographed by some paparazzi, she had gotten rid of them all. That’s why Jude Heartfilia had contacted Mirajane, whose agency was said to be the best. Especially after the death threats and the failed attempt to break into the estate, which he probably hadn’t told his daughter about, he just needed to be sure that the heir to his company was in safe hands.

“My daughter is to be guarded at all times, do you understand, Miss Strauss?” His deep voice cut the silence, and Natsu turned his gaze from the door to the man. Mirajane nodded, gifting him her sweetest smile. It was part of her work concept, to be sweet and seem innocent. In reality she was the most dangerous person Natsu had ever encountered, and they both had been high tiers in the military before taking on their job as bodyguards. She believed that potential threats would underestimate her for her good looks and sugary words and make the mistake of coming forward, which gave her the opportunity to not only keep them far from her protégés, but also eliminate the threat emanating from them one way or another, constantly. And so far, her tactic had always worked, without exception. Dangerous men seemed to just love to underestimate kind women.

“Do not worry, Mr Heartfilia. You made the right choice to entrust Miss Lucy to us.”

“Well, well. I guess time will tell if your words are as honourable as they sound. You can go catch up with the rest of your team now.” He dismissed them and Mirajane stood up, made a polite bow, and motioned for Natsu to follow her. While Lucy’s words had been a challenge, his were a warning. If they couldn’t deliver the way he wished, he would get rid of them immediately.

Once the door fell shut behind them, the white-haired woman let out a sigh. “So, what’s your impression?” She asked, and Natsu started walking down the hallway. While Mirajane had been signing legal documents alongside Mr Heartfilia, he had taken a quick look around the house, so that he would be able to know his way around once the job actually started. He knew exactly where Mirajane wanted to go to next.

“Of the girl or her father?” He asked.

“Tell me both.”

“He seems to care for her safety, obviously, but not the way a loving father would. He cares the way an owner of some precious artifact would, and she knows. Their relationship is awful, to say the least, and believing the research I did it’s not even surprising. She hates how planned out her life is, and even more than that she hates bodyguards.” He stated and watched as Mirajane chuckled softly.

“Oh, that seems about accurate. You remember what we talked about the other day?”

“About how I’m to act around her?”

“Yeah. Be careful. I have a feeling that she will make it harder on you than the others.”

Now it was Natsu’s turn to sigh. Yes, she probably would. But he wasn’t Natsu if he would let that get in his way.

Stopping in front of the girl’s study, he raised his hand to knock, waiting for her soft voice to call them in.

Lucy Heartfilia’s study was very different from her father’s. It was packed with books, too, but where his seemed to be a bunch of classics that were bought solely for the purpose of making him look wealthy and intelligent, hers seemed to be personal. There were novels, and books about all kinds of scientific ranges or biographies about scientists and activists, and a whole shelf was packed with just what must be her old schoolbooks. Her desk was of lighter wood and an almost white colour, but even larger in space than his, and there were pens and markers of all colours neatly organized on it, right next to a big computer screen. In front of the chimney on the side wall there was a small coffee table, surrounded by armchairs and a small couch. On the table there was a staple of novels. The room seemed cosy, and personal.

“Oh, Miss Mirajane. I wasn’t expecting you to come and see me.” Lucy smiled confusedly and stood up from the chair behind her desk, starting to walk around it. Natsu couldn’t help but let his gaze roam her body again. It was gorgeous, to say the least. She had all the right curves in all the right places, wasn’t too tall either and seemed quite delicate. Her beautiful blonde locks framed her pretty face, and he could see that she wore only little makeup to accentuate her natural beauty. The girl was absolutely stunning.

Mirajane giggled. “Please, call me Mira. You don’t have to be so formal around me. I’m here because I wanted to talk some things through with you personally and thought that you might feel better if your father wasn’t present.”

This seemed to make the girl insecure, and she furrowed her brows in confusion.

“Sure. Would you like to take a seat?” She motioned for the armchairs in front of the chimney and Mirajane nodded. Once they were sat down opposite each other, Natsu went to stand behind his boss. Lucy gave him a polite smile, which he returned.

“To not beat about the bush, I’m sure you already noticed Natsu.” Mirajane introduced him and he nodded when she glanced up to him.

“He is my best man, and while my whole team will constantly care about the safety of you and your family, he will be your personal bodyguard. He will accompany you to university and to all kinds of other events. I’m afraid he will even be there when you just meet friends, as your father requested.” To Natsu it was obvious that Lucy hated every word coming out of her mouth, and yet she kept up a perfect smile. She didn’t blame Mira, he realized, even though she would make her job as hard as possible.

“What I wanted to ask you was, do you have a boyfriend, Miss Lucy?” Mirajane continued, earning a confused look from Lucy. For a moment, she didn’t seem to know what to say.

“Why is that relevant?”

“Because of the current situation, it would be an advantage if it wasn’t too obvious that Natsu is your bodyguard. Since he will be around you every time you leave the estate, a practical tactic would be for him to pretend to be your boyfriend. Only if you are comfortable with that, of course.” She quickly added, but Lucy didn’t seem entirely convinced yet. “You would not have to do anything you don’t like, just introduce him as such. If you do not want to go with this possibility, we can arrange some other cover story, of course. Our job is to take care about your safety while keeping you as comfortable as possible, so please don’t hold back with criticism.”

Lucy stayed awfully quiet for some minutes, thinking it all through. Eventually she nodded, giving Mirajane a smile that seemed a lot more honest and also mischievous than all the smiles she had put up before. Natsu swallowed hard at the wicked gleam in her angelic brown eyes. “If this is the best possibility, then I should not be the one to turn it down.”

“Great. I will leave you two to talk everything through then and check up on the rest of the team. I wish you a nice afternoon, Miss Lucy.” Mirajane stood up and bowed, before leaving the room in calm strides. When the door clicked shut behind her, Natsu turned his gaze towards Lucy.

“Will it be possible to tell the truth to my closest friends?”

“I’m afraid that I might have to advise against it.” Upon hearing his voice for thew first time, Lucy gave him an odd look.

“Just advise? Then I will tell them.“ She said, such finality in her voice that he knew, no matter what he would say would not find any soil to grow on.

“Is there anything else you would like to talk through or ask?” She questioned and stood up.

“No, Miss. I will remain here in the study with you, though.” She nodded before turning around and returning to her studies. Natsu decided to roam through her bookshelves in the meantime.

 He was currently studying an entire shelf full of astronomy books, wondering how someone could ever read something like that without banging their head against a wall, when Lucy cleared her throat behind him. Startled, he turned around, only to find her standing only centimetres beside him. How had she gotten there so quietly?

“Do you like astronomy, Natsu?” She purred, staring right up at him with her big brown doe eyes. He tried not to let it show how much impact they had on him.

He shook his head. “Can’t say I do, Miss. If anything, I’m more of psychology guy.”

“Psychology, huh?” She responded, inching closer. “Call me Lucy, will you?”

“If you wish me to.” He swallowed. What reaction was she trying to get out of him?

“I do. I’ve had psychology classes for some years myself. Loved them, though I had no time for them anymore upon entering university.” She murmured, curious eyes roaming over his chest muscles and biceps before she raised them to stare right back into his. “Have you ever been to university, Natsu?”

“I’m afraid not. After finishing high school, I went straight to the military.”  He responded, not sure as to why he was even telling her. He usually didn’t talk about his personal life to his clients.

“The military? So, you really are a tough guy…” Lucy stated, laying a hand on his arm. Only then Natsu realised that she was purposefully manipulating him, bringing him out of the concept. He shook her arm off and hardened his gaze.

“Yes, I am. May I help you with anything, Miss Lucy?”

Looking up at him, and seeing the change in his expression, Lucy smirked. The game had begun.

“Please, call me Lucy.” She repeated and turned away, walking back to her desk. With furrowed brows Natsu stared at her retreating figure, swearing that her skirt was higher up than it had been in her father’s study.

She wanted to play games, huh? Good thing he was a player then.

Hey Sweethearts, it’s me. I’m writing this fanfiction because, obviously, I love Fairy Tail, but also because I am not a native english speaker and I want to up my english game. I would really appreciate some feedback!

Have a lovely Day, your Duchess

[acciomanorian]

The One Where Cardan Got Kicked Out of the Bar Part 2

Here you guys go! Chapter 2 of my Jurdan bar fic, The One Where Cardan Got Kicked Out of the Bar. I hope you guys enjoy it!! Part 1

If anybody had been looking at the lone tree in the park in middle-of-nowhere Canada, they would’ve seen what appeared to be a young man and woman appear out of this air, almost as if they had walked out of the tree. 

Cardan and Jude looked around at their surroundings, trying to get a grasp on where they were. “Are you sure this is the place we’re supposed to be? I don’t see a bar anywhere around here.” Cardan shot Jude a dubious look, before taking another look around. 

“Did you bring us to the right park? It said the bar would be across the street.” 

“Of course, blame me. It’s not like you gave me the directions so that I could ‘poof’ us here. I believe those were your words, Jude dear.” Jude glared at him, stomping away in the direction of the sidewalk. Maybe a different perspective would help them find this bar. 

“I will blame you!” she called over her shoulder. “You are your stupid overprotective antics are the reason we have to find some remote bar, instead of going to a wildly  overpopulated one, with lots of dancing and alcohol.” As she reached the curb, the faint sound of music reached her ears, as well as the sound of engines revving. 

Behind her, Cardan was muttering to himself, probably claiming that it wasn’t his fault that other men didn’t know when to take a hint. “Shut up for a minute and listen.” Jude grabbed his arm, pulling him closer to the road, not that it would really make an impact, his faerie ears being much more sensitive than her mortal ones, and therefore picking up sounds easier. 

“Music,” Cardan said, grinning as he turned to Jude. “We are in the right place after all.” Grabbing Jude’s hand, he started to pull her in the direction of the music, the direction of the bar. 

Rounding a corner, they came face to face with what looked like an oversized wooden shack. Parked outside were about a dozen motorcycles, lined up while their masters sat inside. A sign on the door said “All Are Welcome, Be It Criminals, Thieves, or Otherwise”. Yes, Jude thought, this is the place. Jude signaled for Cardan to open the door, and they slowly entered the bar, unsure of what to expect. 

The first thing that caught Jude’s eye was the stage in the back, lopsided and broken in some places, but still inhabited by two hulking bikers, singing into a microphone. The second thing, or rather person, was a giant man walking towards them, easily a foot taller than Cardan, making him a beast compared to Jude’s small stature. She felt Cardan’s tail against her wrist, invisible to all, but still present as far as Jude was concerned. It was a warning, she knew, to not try anything against the giant in front of them.

Jude shot Cardan a nasty side eye, a small growl informing him that she had it under control. 

“Welcome, newcomers. I’m Axel, the owner of the bar, Handlebars. Can I get you something to drink? We have about any drink you can imagine, and our bartender is really good at mixing up those fruity drinks everybody loves.” That last part was directed at Jude, who was a big fan of disappointment. 

“Kettle One if you have it, on the rocks.” Axel shoots Jude a look, obviously not expecting her to order that, but his gaze softens as he notices the blade strapped to her thigh, the black of the brace stark against her tan skin below her shorts. 

“And I will take a watermelon daiquiri, if you will. Tell the bartender to go a little heavy on the rum. The mortal alcohol does wonders for my body.” Another glance was shot at Cardan, but there was no judgement, as if Axel himself enjoyed the little umbrella drinks too. 

“Yeah, just give me a minute, and I’ll be right back with those.” Axel walked away, leaving the couple to themselves. 

“You better check to make sure those aren’t poisoned,” Jude whispered to her husband, as he snuck a hand around her waist. They had been here 5 minutes, and Cardan was already claiming dominance. Jude shook her head, even as she leaned into the touch. 

“You underestimate me. I'm practically watching the bartender make the drinks right now.” He laughed softly. It wasn’t long before Axel returned with their drinks, handing them over before ushering Jude and Cardan further into the room. 

“Daiquiri,” Axel said, getting Cardan’s attention from where he had been staring at the karaoke singers. Jude laughed at the nickname, but Cardan returned his attention to the owner, even as he pinched Jude’s side. “Are you interested in karaoke?”

Cardan raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. Faeries can't lie, so whatever Cardan wanted to say was something he would never want to admit out loud. “Cardan,” Jude sighed. “Just say it. Yes, you are interested in karaoke. I’m sure you could go up on that stage and sing whatever song you wanted.”

Suddenly, the rock music that had been steadily thumping through the speakers was replaced with the opening chords of a popular mortal song, that even those in Faerie has heard of. The two men on the stage grabbed microphones, and began belting out the lyrics to “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by the mortal musician Cyndi Lauper. Soon the whole bar was joining in, Cardan and Jude watching in amazement. 

Once they finished singing, Cardan drained his drink before making his way to the stage. Jude watched as he whispered to the biker in charge of the music, before picking up a microphone and stepping on stage. 

“Hi.” He was nervous, something Jude had rarely seen of her husband. It didn’t last long, though, as the music started, the opening chords of one of Cardan’s favorite mortal songs playing, something that Heather had hooked him on. “Some nights, I stay up, cashing in my bad luck…”

It wasn’t often that Cardan sang, and sometimes Jude forgot how good he was. As he reached the chorus, he was joined onstage by a couple of the bikers who had sung the last song, creating a melody that Jude found surprisingly pleasant, considering it all. 

Jude heard a cough from behind her. Axel was still standing there, watching her face even as she watched Cardan. “So, your man seems to have found his thing here, what about you? What do you like to do for fun?”

“I fight.” As she said this, she noticed a target board on the wall, typically used for darts. Grabbing the knife from her side, Jude threw it straight at the target, hitting a perfect bullseye. 

“You wanna try a round in our ring? You look as if you could give a couple of our fighters a run for their money.” Axel pointed to a curtain on one wall, from where Jude could hear grunts and the faint sound of fists hitting skin. She grinned, striding for the curtain and pulling it back. 

Jude felt a hand on her waist. Cardan. His song must’ve finished while she was talking to Axel. “What are you thinking?” he asked, looking beyond the curtain.

“Just how I could take these men down easily,” she laughed. “What do you think Husband, ten dollars a win?”

“As much as I know you could handle yourself, I would rather you didn’t, Wife. A bar fight is what got us kicked out of the last bar, wasn’t it?”

“But Cardan, the difference here, is that this is sanctioned fighting, meaning that it’s approved. It’s not you putting a guy through a wall. And quite frankly, dear king, I don’t really care.” With that, Jude made her way through the curtain, calling out to the men waiting for the next fight. 

“Ten dollars to the first man that can beat me in hand to hand combat. Any takers?” Jude looked around, sizing up her competition, even as several of the men laughed. 

“What’s your name, Princess?” Asked one of the bikers, a man wearing just a vest and pants, his arms out on full display. 

“Jude. Are you in, or what? And no qualms about hitting a girl, please. I’ve been itching for a good fight.”

“You know what, sure. I’ll fight you, Princess… and let’s increase this total. You win, and I’ll give you $100.” Jude looked back at Cardan, and nodded her head. 

He still looked dubious, even though they both knew that Jude was the one coming out victorious. She was the only one who had been trained by a redcap, the only one who had battled a snake king and won, who had controlled an entire kingdom through any means necessary, the head of the Court of Shadows.

Jude stepped into the ring, throwing her weapons into the bin provided, even the ones she had hidden on her body. A fair fight was a fair fight. The man across from her did the same, taking off his vest too. 

“You ready, Princess?”

“Beyond ready.”

A man in the corner announced their fight, “In one corner, we have newcomer Jude, and in the other, 5 time champion, Destruction.” Jude eyed the man, Destruction, scanning him from head to toe. “Folks, the fight begins in 5...4...3...2...1! Let it rip!” 

The fight was quick, much quicker than when she fought her adoptive father. One second, the biker was rushing her, hand readying to throw a punch. The next, he was on the ground, bleeding from the flurry of punches and kicks Jude had landed, and unconscious. Of course, Jude was declared the winner… and a line began to form, the rest of the bikers waiting for their turn against her. 

With a signal to Cardan, he began to collect the money from the fighters, the profits from Jude’s wins. And one by one, the men were dragged from the ring, unconscious and/or bleeding. Grinning like crazy, because they had finally found a true opponent, even as Jude smiled, wiping the blood from her mouth from the few punches that had landed on her. There was a small cut on her forehead as well, from a ring one of the bikers had worn, but Jude welcomed the pain, let it drive her through fight after fight. 

Two hours later, Jude and Cardan returned to the main room, considerably richer. They made their way to the bar, where they ordered their own drinks before yelling across the bar “Drinks on us!” 

“You know, if you enter that ring again, I might have to step up the stakes for those who try to fight you.” Jude turned around, to see Destruction standing behind her. “I’m thinking of free drinks for life, what do you think, Axel?” The owner nodded from where he was talking to Cardan. “You know, Princess, you fight a good fight. Where’d you learn to fight like that?”

Jude smirked. “Let’s just say that I had a good teacher. Don’t think I could say the same about you, huh?”

Destruction only laughed, before grabbing his drink, and raising a toast throughout the whole bar, “To Jude, the only girl who could take us all in one go.” The whole bar yelled “To Jude” before knocking back their shots.

“You guys are welcome back anytime, just so you know,” Axel said, getting up from his barstool.

And they did. Handlebars became Jude and Cardan’s nightly haunt, Cardan joining in on the karaoke, even as Jude continued her fighting, remaining victorious night after night. 

One night, Jude was sitting at the bar, watching Cardan sing on the stage with his new friends, when she heard the bell on the door ring. It wasn’t unusual for that to happen, with bikers coming and going, but Jude still looked, always aware of her surroundings, and Cardans. She almost dropped her glass at who had walked through, her hands immediately going for her weapons. Madoc.

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[riot-in-reverie]

Villainous Neighbors

if you have name ideas let me know! this is just the place holder

this has violence but not much. i’ll post pictures in a different post because this is one the computer. 

@b00kworm @jurdanhell @cardan-greenbriar-tcp

Sorry if you didn’t want to be tagged

Chapter One 

Jude’s POV

The crowds cheering and applause was almost deafening. I watched the body before me crumple and collapse, beaten and broken onto the bloodstained ground. His limbs sprawled in unnatural directions. I drew my attention away from him and to the crowd. I raised my bandaged fist as I cried out in victory; The blood of my opponent dripped down my arm. I turned in circles so everyone could see me. I wanted everyone to see how I won. How I beat the brute now laying at my feet. The cheering crowd just made my smile grow and I stood there basking in the glory before quickly walking out of the makeshift arena and into the otherwise crowded space. I pushed through the drunken crowd and out of where the fighting pit was stationed. If you could call it a fighting pit. It was just a ring of people that made the illusion of a caged area.

 I was heading straight to the man that gave me my money. I never cared to learn his name, it didn’t matter anyway. I memorized what he looked like so I didn't have to know his name. Short, stocky, brown hair unevenly cut. As soon as I found him I took the envelope that he was already holding out to me. While looking at it I noticed that it was addressed to Mirth. 

Mirth was my stage name. I had used Mirth since I was little and had started participating in unlawful activities. I was now just too lazy to try and change it. I looked back up to the small man 

“It’s all here?” I asked while waving the envelope. 

The man nodded “Yes ma’am every cent”

“Good” I didn't bother checking it more than that. They had underpaid me once and had suffered the consequences. No one was going to cut me short. I had worked too damn hard my whole life to be paid less than I was worth. I seriously doubted they dared try and do it again after what had happened. I nodded to the man in farewell and left the place. I really hated it there all the gambling, drinking, false deals and all that shit. The only thing I liked was the money and the occasional chance to get away from my personal relationships. Of course the loud crowds and fights didn't allow lots of peace. The most peaceful part of this place was the luxurious rooms that big business owners talked about whatever the fuck they talked about. I never went there, that wasn’t my scene. I mostly spent my time in that small, loud, part in the back. I went through the parting motions of getting my jacket and changing shoes before stepping out into the delightfully cool night air. I sighed and tucked the envelope into a hidden inside pocket of my beloved leather jacket. 

As I walked down the suburban streets the only sounds I could hear were the soft clicking of my buckle up boots and swish of my ponytail as it brushed against the back of my jacket. As much as I love cheering crowds, rocking parties and other fun stuff that just happens to be loud I also really enjoy the quiet. The world stands still for a moment and you get to enjoy the small things. It's even better when it's dark. The dark has always been a favorite of mine. There is just something about the cold and the quiet, the unspoken, the soft silken dark, not seeing the color but the true presence, it's terrifying but beautiful. Maybe that's why I like it. Because for those moments I can forget for a while. Forget who I am and who I am supposed to be. Thinking if things where different. I never had the chance to be soft. I had to be bloody knuckles and broken glass. I had to protect those close to me. I wanted others to be afraid of hurting me. I sometimes wonder what it would be like if things were different and we had grown up with our parents. I would have gone to school instead of begging on the streets. I would have joined clubs instead of learning to pick locks. I might be dating a guy I love rather than a grade A jackass. 

Everything was just so different for me and the worst was that I like it. I like breaking bones and stealing. I like it when people look at me in fear. Maybe it's just the way I grew up. I could blame it on that right?

I pulled myself out of my thoughts before I went to a more dangerous place. Who knows what lies in this very twisted mind of mine. I seemed to have brought myself back to reality at a good time because I was coming close to our apartment. The apartment I shared with my sisters. The apartment I paid for. It was okay, it has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Vivienne complained that we should buy a house since we have enough money. It's true that we have enough money. Thanks to me but it would be too suspicious for three teenage girls to buy a house all on their own so for now we have a nice apartment. I unlocked the door and went inside. I guessed it was probably about 10pm so Oak and Taryn were probably asleep. I walked in and saw Vivienne on the couch watching some show. I didn't care enough about what it was to ask. I hung up my jacket and started to take off my boots. 

“Did you win?” Vivienne said by way of greeting. She didn't look away from the TV. I'm not sure if she just wasn't interested or too worried about injuries. Sometimes I'd come back barely able to walk. She knew of my fights and even though she wasn’t happy about it she was more tolerant about it than Taryn was. 

“Course I did” I answered and kicked off my boots as soon as they were loose enough. 

“I’m going to bed you should too” I locked the door behind me and walked softly up the stairs so I didn't wake anyone. I pushed my door open and was immediately chucking clothes off. I threw my jacket onto the fuzzy chair in the corner of the room, changed into my old but comfortable pajamas and took my hair out. I stood in front of the full length mirror that was just propped up against the wall because I was too lazy to get a stand for it or hang it up or whatever you're supposed to do for it. I brushed my long willow tree colored hair out while staring at my too pale of a face. I sighed before crashing onto my bed that was pushed up into the corner of the room. Just another day in the life. I think I was asleep before I even hit the mattress. 

Cardans POV 

I stood there as the elevator moved steadily upward. I looked at my reflection in the polished silver walls. I was dressed in my usual business attire with the lose hanging white buttoned shirt, leather pointed shoes that I could see my reflection in, black pants that the store advertised as "dark grey" with no pockets forcing me to have a briefcase, and thanks to fucking stereotypes I had taken off my very stylish rings off leaving circular indentations on my fingers and most of my makeup. I tucked a strand of stray crow black hair behind my ear and started to unbutton the top button of my shirt. I don't know why I did it. It just became sort of a little good luck thing and whether it worked or not it made me look just a bit sexier. 

I heard the elevator doors ding and slide open. I picked up my briefcase and stepped out of the elevator into a large office. Looking around the office it had a whole wall of windows overlooking the city and a small sitting area that was completely pointless because the desk was literally five feet away from it. Sitting at the desk pouring over papers was a man that seemed to be in his mid forties. I stood there for a moment waiting for him to look up, after it seemed clear that he wasn’t going to acknowledge me anytime soon I cleared my throat. The man looked up at me with a shocked expression, the wrinkles under his eyes (no doubt from working late nights) creasing in worry. 

“Mr. Greenbriar I wasn’t expecting you till nine”

“I thought I’d stop by early” I said glancing at my watch that read half past seven “Aren’t you going to invite me to sit down?”

“Yes yes of course please have a seat” He gestured to the leather chairs across from his desk. I sat down in one and put my briefcase in the other. 

“Well I’ll get right to the point. I am supposed to get paid at the beginning of every month, correct?” 

“Well yes but…”

“And today is the first and yet I haven’t been paid. It also happens that today you scheduled a meeting. Should I be worried Mr. Smith?”

“Greenbriar I have talked to some of my people and we have decided that we won’t be paying you anymore”

I leaned forward in my seat. I had a feeling this was going to happen “Really?”

“We’re perfectly fine on our own, your protection is not needed. I’m not paying you protection money when there are no ongoing threats. We have state of the art security systems and we don’t need help from a teenage boy”

He obviously didn’t think of me as a threat. What an idiot. Soon enough he’d learn. “Hmm you seem awfully confident in your decision. Are you sure you're powerful enough to do this?”

“What does power have to do with it? I am in charge of a powerful business, yes, and am friends with other powerful businessmen so I suppose...”

“Power is everything” I interrupted. I looked back at his stupid little sitting area. It had a chess table in the middle. I crossed over to it and picked up a king turning it over in my fingers. Mr. Smith started to say something but I continued before he could start “Life is like chess. There are powerful people, powerful people who hire others to protect them, there are people who strive to be the king, there are people who move too fast, there are people who move too slow, there are impulsive people who don’t think before they move, and some people sacrifice everything. You just have to learn the rules and then you have to play better than everyone else, but no one ever wins that way and no one ever tells you about the other way. How you can break the rules. I break the rules and I'll tell you what Mr. Smith” I looked up and smiled a smile that hid dangerous secrets. “I'm going to be the deadliest piece on the board.” I dropped the chess piece on the floor and grabbed my briefcase. “I’ll expect your call in the morning” 

The walk home was less than pleasant. I should have drove then I wouldn’t be here cold and tired. I had more stuff to do once I got home or maybe it could wait till tomorrow. 

I was thinking about stuff on my to do list when I noticed someone in front of me. It was kinda dark so I couldn’t see super clearly but it seemed to be a girl about my age. Any other day I would have gone up and talked to her but tonight is just not that night. I turned the next corner and got to my house in the next couple minutes.

 I locked the door behind me and went right up the wooden stairs to my room where I quickly changed into my silk pajamas I got a few weeks ago. I looked at the clock. It was about nine to early for bed and too late for productive work. That left one option, my favorite. I quickly went downstairs and to the kitchen pulling out a half finished bottle of wine, turned on Criminal minds, and sprawled out on the couch. Just another day in the life.

[princebugs]

stolen dance. (reed900)

small note before this begins--- this oneshot is based off of some art made by @jude-shotto !!! pls go follow them theyre amazing

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"Fucking--- shit," Squinted eyes gaze into his dust-ridden reflection before him, his phalanges evidently not nimble enough for this simple task he had to complete; tying a tie. Perhaps he was skilled in this in another life of his, but ever since he was a young kid, he was never able to finish any sort of tie. Whether it be a regular ass tie, or a bowtie--- tying that shit? Not Gavin's thing; he would just force his father to tie it, when his dad was still in the house, that is.

Cue another long-winded groan, and he gives up. The tie had gotten all sorts of messed up during the actual wedding, due to him having to lift it up to wipe away the tears dripping down his cheeks. Weddings were emotional, alright? Tina could barely get through her vows to North, and Gavin felt too many emotions at once--- anger at her for leaving Gavin so easily (not in the romantic way, he didn't like her like that), sadness for seeing her go away into her new life, and happiness for seeing his best friend finally finding someone that cared about her so dearly.

Nonetheless, it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Jealousy.

When the fuck was it gonna be Gavin's turn, huh?!

He threw the abandoned, wrinkled tie behind him, not really caring to see where it landed, and he points to himself in the mirror. "You, Gavin Reed, are a fuckin' delight to be around. You will find someone eventually. And, your ass looks GREAT in these pants, so don't go in there and look all depressed. You're gonna walk into that stupid dance-floor, immediately sit the fuck down at the bar, drink champagne, and hope for the best--- because Gavin Reed isn't a desperate man!"

A proud grin stretches across his visage, confidence washing over all of his insecurities as he turns around to leave the bathroom--- of course, taking a quick look at his ass along the way.

You're damn right it looks good.

He straightens out his suit jacket on the way out, before noticing that someone was in the bathroom stall directly behind where he did his little pep talk. Freezing in his tracks, the air is silent in the room for several moments.

"...I'll give you twenty bucks after this if you don't tell everyone about me talking about my ass."

"Deal."

Done and done with that, he walks out of the bathroom.

A brief exhalation, and still meandering with a new surge of confidence, his hues breeze over the area, searching for a very specific lady of the hour--- he wasn't letting her go on that honeymoon without stealing a dance from her, duh. That's just how they rolled, ever since highschool prom.

His train of thought is broken by someone speaking to him, and he inclines his cranium to the side to catch a glance of who wished to partake in a conversation with him--- oh. Connor, and Hank.

Connor was wearing suspenders along with his bowtie (stupid phckin' neat android who could tie a tie--), and his jacket was placed on a chair just a few feet away from them. His hair was done as it usually was; slicked back except for a few baby hairs. His smile was as bright as ever. "Gavin! We were wondering when you would come out of there. I queried to Hank that you might have had a bad lunch, and were possibly disposing of i--"

"Connor, stop that shit," Hank interrupts before Gavin gets the chance to, and Gavin almost laughs at his appearance. Listen, it's not everyday that you see Hank Motherfuckin' Anderson dressed up nicely, and Gavin actually has to cover his mouth to stifle his laughter. He didn't catch sight of him beforehand, so he was just seeing this--- this monkey suit of his.

He couldn't deny that it did look good on the Lieutenant, but nonetheless, it was fuckin' hilarious. "So, Hank, did you borrow that suit from your grandpa, because it looks just a lil' dusty riiiight--"

"Don't even touch me, Reed. Don't even think about it," Hank's coarse voice states, causing Gavin to retract his palm from almost wiping off the other male's shoulder. Gavin snickers anyways.

"Sorry, sorry. I'll bug you about that shit later, after the wedding," He actually has a tone of genuine joy, his childish smirk turning into a bright grin.

Connor beams at that. "Wow, Detective! You actually... don't look pissed off for once. I'm quite impressed."

His cerulean irises roll in slight irritation, but he keeps smiling. "Listen, today's a good day for me, alright? My best friend got married, for fuck's sake--- speaking of Tina, where is the secondary bride? I need to get my dance from her real quick before I dash outta this place. It smells like my nana in here."

"Don't tell North that," Markus joins in on the conversation, looking as pristine as ever with his tuxedo (suit jacket abandoned), and his sapphire-and-emerald optics practically sparkling in the light. Gavin almost blushes. Almost.

There may have been a possibility that Gavin used to have a minor, MINOR, crush on Markus. Who could blame him? Look at the guy--- he was too pretty. If Gavin was the president during the revolution, he would've let the androids live free just because he would have gotten entranced in everything that is... Markus.

He gave up on that MINOR crush soon enough, and now they were just mutual friends.

"Oh, shit--- she isn't around here, is she? North'll kill me if she heard that," Gavin glances around himself, emitting a sigh of relief. North was the one who planned the majority of the wedding occasion, and if she heard any complaint about it, she wouldn't hesitate to snap a certain-coffee-infused-relatively-short-detective's neck. Phew. "Coast is clear, y'all."

"Tina and North are actually sitting down right over there," Markus turned around to point over towards the newly-wedded couple before continuing, "be careful what you say, of course. North could still commit a murder tonight." Markus chuckles, but Gavin gulps.

"Alright, see ya, losers," The human begins his sauntering over towards Tina, ignoring any possible looks that were given his way (he was hoping it was merely because he put just a little extra sway in his step to catch people's attention), and then tapping Tina's shoulder once he made it there.

"North? Mind if I snatch away your wife for a dance?" Gavin bit down on the inside of his right cheek, extremely nervous about merely asking her that. He had met North beforehand, of course--- he was just very afraid of her. She didn't generally like humans, besides her partner, and he didn't generally like androids; it was a match made in HELL.

Surprisingly, North smiled softly, gesturing for Tina to go ahead and stand up. "Go ahead, I'm sure she needs as much time with her best friend as she can get."

"Sweet. C'mon, Tina," Finally taking off his jacket and placing it around an empty chair near his current area, as well as pushing up his sleeves, he then holds a palm out for her to take, and Tina laughs.

"Dude, are you taking me for a waltz, or something? Don't be so fancy," Tina, that beautiful bitch, giggled before giving her wife a kiss on the cheek, then taking Gavin's hand. "This doesn't make me any less gay, you know that, right?"

Gavin stuck his tongue out in disgust, a little 'bleugh' sound emitting from him, "Gross, man. Plus, you're totally not my type," he says as he leads her to the dancefloor. People are already dancing there, but once they see the grey-black vest of Gavin, and the sleek black dress of Tina, they move out of the way. Perks of being the best man and one of the brides, eh?

"Yeah," Tina began, peeking behind Gavin's shoulder as they swayed around to the rhythm, their hips shaking at a leisurely pace, "in fact, didn't your type just walk right through that door?"

His eyebrows furrow momentarily, his head turning to look behind him, and---

Yowza.

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keep reading on ao3!!!

[agnes-writes]

"Light on her feet" (Jurdan One-shot)

I had to write something to celebrate the release of The Queen of Nothing, and so I did, and my trashy Jurdan ass had its way. No spoilers for QoN, though it is set after everything's calmed down, and we just get more Jurdan domestic fluff. Hope you enjoy reading!

Oriana was to blame, as she always was.

Faeries were obsessed with perfection, with the need to look beautiful, elegant, above and beyond.

And that was how Jude found herself in a ballet class with Taryn at a quite young age. Oriana tried to convince Vivi to join them, but after the disastrous bathroom explosion, she decided that it was a lost cause.

And so, Jude suffered.

She often envied Taryn at her natural ability to appear graceful, regal, even for a human in Faerie. The way her hands and limbs swept fluidly through the air as the piano piece hit its crescendo, landing cleanly en pointé.

But Jude was nothing, if not competitive. As she gained Madoc's affection with her skill with a blade, she gained Oriana's grudging respect with her steady determination to dance, until she could nail every single move blindfolded.

The more she danced, Jude found a strange release for her frustations, similar to that to sparring. Pent up emotion flowed out of her once the music began, and by the end of the song she was panting, sweaty, and drained of intense emotion. Jude never quite stopped dancing, sneaking in-between her classes and her training for a song or two, to not get rusty.

But that bore no consequence to any of the things that happened to Elfhame, and so, Jude's skill in the art of dance remained undiscovered by everyone except Vivi, Oak, and Taryn.

In her exile in the mortal world, Jude found herself dancing more and more frequently, when she was not fulfilling errands for the local Faefolk. She locked herself in her small room, pulled up a song from a website called Youtube, and danced, because she could not kill nor attack. Vivi even introduced her to new music during her stay, which was a welcome change from the classical piano pieces that begun to wear on her nerves. Jude took a particular liking to pop artists, even, taking to the catchy beats and lyrics. Jude liked to make up her own routines for the songs, her own little story in her own world, she thought to herself, where no one would understand but her.

No one knew of Jude's secret talent.

Until of course, someone did.

Jude pulled out the tiny little device from a box in her dresser, an item she barely uses unless she needs a release and she is sure she was alone. She plugs one earbud in, scrolls through the list of songs, and presses Play.

A familiar song blares through her ears and Jude lets a small smile slip past her lips. She saw the music video for this song when she visited the mortal world, and managed to recreate it, even adding her own steps.

Jude closes her eyes and lets the music guide her body, letting them flow out on her own accord. When the chorus comes, Jude lets loose, performing jumps and stunts she's perfected through the years. Delicate touches on her arms, a flick of a wrist, a turn of the heel; Jude was built for this song.

The song comes to a close, and Jude was panting and sweaty when soft applause comes from behind.

She whips around to find a grinning Cardan leaning on the doorway of their room.

The door she forgot to lock.

"Bravo, my dear queen," Cardan teases, his eyes alight with amusement.

"How long have you been standing there?" Jude demands, heat rising to her cheeks as anger and embarrassment war in her chest.

"The entire time, my love. Why didn't you tell me you could dance?" Cardan asks, straightening himself. He walks to Jude, reaching out to brush the sweaty hairs off her face.

"It was never relevant to the situation at hand," Jude replies, her face still a flush of pink, but Cardan thought it to be more of shy flush than anything else, and it made him smile.

"Never relevant, huh... Well, Jude, it's quite relevant to me."

Jude's eyes shot to his, and she raised an eyebrow.

"And why is that, oh wise High King?"

Cardan's smile grew fonder, and he tucked a strand of loose hair behind Jude's ear.

"Because it's you. And it looked like you loved every second of that. And whatever you love... that is quite relevant to me." He leaned in and brushed a chaste kiss on Jude's lips, then pulling away to gauge her reaction.

Cardan noted how vulnerable Jude looks, her eyes still closed, slightly parted as if still feeling the ghost of the kiss.

And so he kisses her again.

"And what was that for?" Jude asked.

"Advanced payment." Cardan grinned, and Jude felt wariness flood her body.

"For?"

"My dance lessons, of course. You can't expect me to let myself fall behind my Queen, can you? I'd hate to be a disappointment on the dance floor, and much less, be humiliated in front of our subjects, they'd lose what little respect they have left for me."

Jude snorted, causing Cardan to pout.

"Our subjects have quite enough respect for you, Cardan. And I never agreed to any lessons." Jude said, raising an eyebrow, which made Cardan pout even harder.

"You can't persuade me with that look, Cardan."

"I can try."

Jude doesn't know who she was kidding. She sighs and nods, glaring at Cardan.

"Alright, but if I get any hint that you aren't taking them seriously, I will kick you out of the castle."

Cardan's face bursts into a delighted smile.

"Great! And one more thing, Jude," Cardan said, pulling Jude closer. "Try to leave the door unlocked more often. I loved watching you dance."

Jude's cheeks flood with color and she smacks his arm, but she doesn't protest.

Cardan counts that as a yes.

"Do you want to start now?"

Cardan nods, and though he knows he's wearing nothing to suit for dance, he couldn't afford to lose an opportunity to see Jude dance again.

"Well, I mean, we could start with the waltz. That could be useful for court parties."

"Lead the way, Jude."

Jude moves in front of him, puts one earbud in Cardan's ear, taking out a tiny device from her pocket connected to the earbuds with a wire, and browsing the playlist before settling on a song. She straightens as the music starts placing her hand on his shoulder and placing his on her waist. Their other hands were clasped firmly together.

The song was quite unfamiliar, the beat echoing and the singer's voice breathy, but even Cardan knew it was a love song. Jude chose a love song for them to dance to.

The smile on his face must have looked ridiculous at that point.

"Step, step, ouch—" Jude grits out, causing Cardan to blush.

"Sorry."

This repeats several times.

"Step—Cardan, don't move away from me, the earbud's..."

"The earbud fell." Cardan said sheepishly.

Jude sighs and puts it back in Cardan's ear. Much to his surprise, Jude pulls him in closer, her chin resting on his shoulder. His hands snake around her waist, and Cardan feels Jude bury her face into his neck.

"I'm afraid you're a lost cause, my dear King." Jude whispered into the crook of his neck, her breath tickling him. Cardan's heart started hammering, and his grip on Jude's waist tightened, trying to feel her warmth more than he already did.

"Perhaps I need a better teacher." At that, Jude chuckled, and the next song played.

Cardan buried his face in Jude's hair, inhaling her scent. Memorizing the feeling of her in his arms, the curve of her body. Cardan smiles into her hair. Jude smells like home.

And so, Cardan closed his eyes and swayed to Jude's rhythm.

And burned every single second of their dance in his mind.

Alone, swaying to the music only the two of them could hear.

Home.

[beaaatle-blog]

John Deacon x (Female)Reader SMUT

Roger and the reader are best friends, and when he persuades her to come and meet the boys, she becomes pretty close with another member of the band...

ATTENTION: This gets pretty hot & smutty towards the end but i got lazy and cut it off. If y’all want a part two though, I might do it ;)

I got this idea AGES ago but procrastinated a hell of a lot. (Special thanks to @reddifreddi for getting me through this and constantly giving me new ideas 😂)

Also, this is quite lengthy. But the chemistry between Rog & the reader and the fluffy John parts are too good to miss, believe me.

Okay guys. Enjoy ;)

“I fucking hate parties!” you proclaimed rather loudly, sighing and ignoring the amused smirk plastered on Roger’s face, “you know this!” He let out a chuckle and shrugged his jacket on, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Come on (y/n), it’ll be fun!” he half-pleaded, raising his eyebrows and smiling over-enthusiastically, “you can meet the boys, have a few drinks. It’ll be cool.”

“You’re so annoying,” you mumbled, grabbing your keys and coat (and making a massive point of it). “You know what, fine. As long as it gets me out of this bloody apartment.”

“Attagirl.” teased Roger as the two of you walked out the door, locking it behind him. “Honestly though. You’ll thank me for this.”

“Highly fucking doubt it.” you snapped, already walking down the corridor to the stairs. Rog had talked you out of a cinema trip for this, and he sure as hell was paying the price. But his bribe of paying for all of your drinks was too tempting to miss.

The bar was only around the corner, thankfully, and when you got there it was completely empty. “Looks like everyone else is having a good week,” you muttered, making your way to the bar with Roger close behind. He laughed, doing his best to disregard your bad mood. You both ordered drinks before slumping down in the nearest booth and putting them down. Roger put his arms behind his head and leaned back, looking around. “The lads should be here in a bit. Not sure about Fred though. He’ll probably still be planning his outfit.”

You laughed slightly, resting your chin on your hand. “Cute.” You felt Roger’s eyes on you and raised your eyebrows, turning to face him and grinning at the expression on his face. “Not like that, you dickhead. I’m not stupid.”

Rog smirked, folding his arms (in front of him this time) and deliberately looking away. “Interesting.”

You rolled your eyes and chose to ignore his knob-ishness, leaning back slightly to fix your hair, and caught a glimpse of the door. A tall, slim, extremely good-looking ginger had just entered the room. And you were living for it.

“Holy fuck Roger,” you uttered, eyes wide, “please tell me he’s with us.”

“John!” shouted Roger, waving him over and grinning maybe a bit too widely. In this moment, your fight or flight response had gone to shit and you just stayed completely still, turning around and pretending to be deep in conversation with Rog. “You moron!” you whisper-shouted through clenched teeth, death glaring him, “you could have at least told me to do something with my hair! Or wear something not scruffy!”

Roger replied only with a smirk before turning his attention back to John as he sat down, having just been to get a glass of beer. “Heya mate, how are you?”

“Honestly? Shattered.” He laughed and put his drink down before taking his coat off, shoving it on the seat next to him, and turning his gaze to you. “Hi, by the way. I’m John.”

“(Y/n).” you replied quickly, trying to be smooth but probably failing massively. “Nice to meet you.”

“And you.” He smiled.

A slightly awkward silence ensued, but Roger was quick to intervene. “John’s our bassist. And a bloody brilliantly one at that.”

You raised an eyebrow slightly. “Bassist? I thought you gave off more of a singer vibe, in all honesty.” He fought a grin and you couldn’t help grinning ever-so-slightly yourself, your gaze dropping to the table. “Me singing never ends well, (Y/n). Rog can back me up on that.”

“Aww yeah. He’s on the same level as you belting ‘Hey Jude’ in the shower after a drink.”

“Roger!” you coughed out, physically choking on laughter. A small chuckle came from John and he ran a hand through his hair subconsciously, which you definitely did not watch from the corner of your eye. He still had that stupid grin plastered on his face. That bloody stupid grin. Maybe if you just kissed it away, it wouldn’t come back.

“Right, I hate to interrupt your embarrassment, but I’m going to ask the bartender if i can borrow the phone. I need to make sure the others aren’t dead.” And with that, he clambered over you out of the booth and just fucked off over to the counter, leaving you and John alone. He 100% knew what he was doing.

After a brief pause and awkward smiles, John spoke. “So, you and Roger, eh?”

You raised your eyebrows. “Oh no, no, no way. We’ve known eachother since we were 4 and it would be way too weird. Plus, he’s annoying as hell. And frankly not my type at all.” John smiled slightly at that and shrugged, resting his chin on his hand. “Fair enough.”

“What about you? Are you seeing someone?” You tried to sound genuinely interested, taking a sip of your drink.

“Unfortunately not,” he said, scrunching his nose with a little smile, “my last relationship ended over which of us was paying for dinner. It wasn’t the best, really.”

You smiled against your wine glass and put it back down, making eye contact with him again. “Let’s hope we don’t have that problem today, eh?” The two of you smirked ever so slightly, but then, there was Roger.

“They’re at Fred’s house!” he proclaimed from across the empty bar, covering the receiver of the phone and making faces. “Cheeky bastards! They’re getting shit-faced without us! They’ve got champagne and everything!”

“Of course.” John chuckled, turning to face Roger. “Are we going then?”

“After I’ve finished my drink, you knob.” replied Roger, muttering something down the phone before putting it down and making his way back over. “On second thought, pass us it (Y/n), we might as well take them with us.”

“Fairs.” You slid his glass across the table before picking up your own and fastening your coat again. John did the same, and the three of you braved the trek to Freddie’s.

The minute you opened the door you were greeted by an already wobbly Brian. “Truth or dare!”

”It’s nice to meet you too.” you muttered in disbelief and slight amusement, turning your gaze to see Freddie sat cross-legged on the floor next to an empty bottle with a cat on his lap. They’d been playing spin the bottle with two people. God knows how that went.

“Christ,” muttered Roger, rolling his eyes and shutting the door behind him. “This is (Y/n), by the way. Great first impressions.” Freddie smiled and ran a hand through his hair, yawning widely. Roger smirked. “Make room Fred, we’re joining in.”

“Truth.” you said to Brian, putting your drink on the table and slinging your coat across the banister. “(Y/n) you wimp! I had a really good dare in mind!” he whined, leaning against the wall for support.

“Come and sit down mate, you’re going to fall.” you laughed and grabbed his arm, pulling him to sit down with Freddie. John and Roger followed and joined the ‘circle’.

The game was interesting, to say the least. The rules changed about 10 minutes in and after 2 hours and 3 bottles of prosecco, Roger and Brian finally made out on Freddie’s order.

You sat watching the events, in love with the group of friends. Your head resting on one hand, you laughed to yourself as Roger and Freddie drunkenly argued over the last bit of pink gin, when you felt a hand on your shoulder. You turned your head to see John, his soft eyes glistening ever-so-slightly in the lamplight.

“Are you holding up okay? You look tired.” he offered, a very small grin still evident on his features. His face was scarily close to yours and you could see tiny, faint freckles dotted over the bridge of his nose.

“Yeah, I’m just worn out. It’s been a long day.” you smiled and he nodded, smiling back. “I feel you.” his gaze darted from your hand to the bottle of gin to Freddie and Roger. “You given up for tonight aswell?”

“I don’t trust myself!” you laughed, rubbing your temple slightly. “Especially not in a group of guys. I have a tendency to sing and dance on tables.”

“The same could be said about me,” he said, chuckling shyly. And at that moment he moved his hand to just behind your hip, so that if the two of you got any closer he’d have his arm around you. He fucking knew what he was doing.

You turned your head to face him, acknowledging the move he’d just made, and the two of you looked at eachother for a second before Freddie chimed in.

“(Y/n)! Dare or dare!”

You grunted softly in slight annoyance, turning to Freddie and smirking to yourself at the look on John’s face. “Give me your best.”

Freddie leaned back onto Roger, who was now sat behind him, and put his head on his shoulder. “Roger, darling, help me come up with one.”

‘Shit,’ you thought. He’d chose Roger, of all people. And that man knew everything about you.

“I don’t know Fred, it’s hard to think,” he slurred, rubbing his eyes. “Ask Brian.”

Brian started at the mention of his name, smiling brightly. “I have one! It’s so good. You’re going to love this.”

Considering he’d been absolutely pissed since you walked through the door, you were fucking terrified. To say the least.

Brian giggled and tried to run both of his hands through his hair at once, nearly poking himself in the eye. “I’m proud of this one!”

“Spit it out then,” Roger basically wailed, leaning his head on Freddie’s in a feeble attempt to fall asleep. It didn’t really work.

You looked at Brian. Brian looked at you.

“Snog John!”

An annoyed, amused “Jesus Christ” slipped out of your mouth before you could stop it and you laughed softly. “I have to say Bri, I expected better.”

Roger and Freddie were still in almost theatrical shock at what Brian had said. “Brian that’s genius!!” said Roger, beaming at him from over Freddie’s head. “Go on (Y/n), get it!”

“Shut up,” you mumbled half seriously, hiding your red cheeks with your hands. Thank god it was dark in that room.

John was making frantic eye contact with Brian as if to say ‘give me a warning next time, dickhead’ or maybe even a ‘you’re a knob, but i’m thanking you for this’

“Get on with it!!” Freddie complained, which you couldn’t help but laugh at. “Calm down, Fred.” you mumbled through a subtle grin, turning your head to face John’s again and looking him straight in the eye. Gently, you placed your hand on his cheek and got a little bit closer. You made eye contact.

“I wasn’t expecting you to do it,” he said softly, staring right back at you, sounding almost nervous.

“A dare is a dare.” you teased, glancing down at his lips and then back up to his eyes. “You up for it?”

“Definitely.”

And with that, he closed the space between you. Immune to the loud wolf-whistling coming from the others, you closed your eyes, butterflies erupting in your stomach and feeling like they were performing some sort of mad tap dance routine. You inhaled sharply as he slid an arm around your waist and placed his hand on your lower back, pulling you in further. Literally everything about the moment was perfect. And it probably went on for longer than necessary.

“Alright alright, we get it,” mused Roger, probably a feeling a bit jealous and lonely. “I’m bored now.”

You smiled against John’s lips and the two of you parted for a split second. You looked at eachother, half impressed and half expectant. He had a twinkle in his eye- one that you’d seen a few times before. You smirked and tangled your hand in his hair before grabbing his hand and leaning in to nibble on his bottom lip. He got the message and chuckled in realisation, pecking you on the lips before standing up and stretching slightly. “Is it alright if I use your bathroom, Fred?”

“It’s upstairs, dear.” Freddie muttered sleepily. ‘Smooth bastard,’ you thought, watching him as he exited the room. He turned around to smirk at you and you stood up and faked a yawn, shoving your hands in your pockets. “I’m going to go and get some water, guys, I feel a bit sick.” Brian nodded in acknowledgement and Freddie let out a quiet snore, but Roger was sobering up a bit and he looked at you intently, eyebrows raised. You winked at him as you walked past, and you swore you saw his jaw drop as you left the room and shut the door behind you.

Within a few seconds, John’s arms were around your waist and you leaned up to kiss him feverishly. The kisses became quicker and sloppier and before you knew it he was pushing you against the wall, hands cold against the skin of your waist. You groaned softly and gently pushed him away, resting your hand on the back of his neck. “Upstairs. They’ll hear us.”

He nodded and you grabbed his hand, the both of you practically scrambling up the stairs and into the nearest bedroom. The world seemed to come to a pause around you as he quickly pulled off your shirt and began to kiss your neck, caress your back, pull you closer by the waistband of your jeans. Every touch and kiss felt like a fiery sensation against your skin, sending shivers up and down your spine. You were so mesmerised by the situation that the only thing you could do was moan quietly, and John certainly wasn’t complaining.

Things got more heated and you grinned smugly as you felt him getting hard against your leg. You kissed him for a little longer before tracing your fingers down the crotch of his jeans, making sharp eye contact. “May I?” you mused teasingly, tugging the bottom of his t-shirt with your free hand. His eyes, you’d noticed, seemed a lot more twinkly yet piercing than earlier, and they followed every move you made. He let out a breathy chuckle.

“Skip the bullshit, (y/n), you know what I want.”

The statement caught you off guard and you grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him in, kissing him even more passionately than before (if that was even possible). His hands roaming your body, the two of you basically collapsed against the wall.

It was going to be a long night.

•

The next morning, you woke up delightfully sore in many, many places (which you had to admit, you didn’t expect from a man of such a polite manner). Looking over to see that John- in all his bare-chested, bruised glory- was still asleep, you smiled slightly to yourself before patting him gently on the chest. “John. Wake up.”

He stirred slightly, his eyelashes fluttering as he opened his eyes. When he saw you he immediately smiled. “Morning (y/n).”

You smiled as he rubbed his eyes and propped himself up on his elbows, admiring you. The way your hair had a gentle wave to it after your slept on it. The way your tired eyes lit up when you smiled. The faint freckles on the bridge of your nose.

“This might be a stupid question,” he said softly, watching your reaction with care, “but can I take you out for a drink tonight?”

Letting out a soft laugh, you smiled lovingly and brushed his frizzy mop of hair out of his face. “Of course you can. We’ll need to settle who’s going to pay though.” You smirked. He smirked back.

Gently, you pressed a kiss to his chest before cuddling up to him and resting your head on his extended arm. He held you close, and the two of you drifted back to sleep.

And it was perfect.

[thethaumaturgeworld]

Jude’s Last Strike (The Thaumaturge World Teaser)

The fire wasn’t exactly the worst part of Jude’s week, but it came as a close second.

On the bright side, Jude now understood the universal law of returning books to the school library on time. Because that’s how this whole mess started. A library book.

Jude was a thirteen-year-old student at Havendale Primary. Upon first meeting Jude, you couldn’t tell that he was a troublemaker because he seemed like such an average teen. Bright brown eyes, strawberry blonde hair, and freckles, nothing out of the ordinary. He was smaller than most kids his age, which was an advantage when hiding from teachers, policemen and disgruntled neighbours out for revenge.

His Dad often turned to Jude’s Uncle Aaron, telling him he was a bad influence. Aaron would just laugh it off, of course. But there could’ve been some corruption there. Aaron had told them many stories of the dumb things he did in his younger life. Pranks he used to pull, things that he thought was smart at the time but later discovered could’ve killed him. The real rebel inspiration, however, belonged to Jude’s late grandfather.

William died three years prior, coincidentally a month before Jude’s rebellious attitude had spiked. Nobody is sure of the cause of his death, but Jude knew something that nobody else had. He still couldn’t quite explain it. When he had reached his grandfather’s house a few blocks away and saw the ambulance, he’d have sworn he had seen something scuttle across the road.

At first, he thought it was his imagination. Then he thought it might have been a bearded dragon. Upon closer inspection, that theory was squashed. The creature had scales that were dark cream in colour. A lamp like object on its head similar to an angler fish. Jude only saw it for a second before it disappeared into the bushes. It was real, and it had come from the house in which William Blake was found dead.

The real story began on a Monday, as a class of seventh graders left their classrooms for break time.

Jude was pretty tired after a whole day of boring lectures from different teachers. He knew a fair share of the topics discussed in class; he just didn’t care enough today to listen to the things he didn’t know. Before he made it around the corner to get to the staircase, he felt a hand grab his arm.

“Hey! wait for me!” Henry Jones said with exasperation, “I was caught at the back of the row, and you sped off like a runaway car. Are you trying to avoid me?” He smirked at him at the last sentence.

“I am not avoiding you,” Jude rolled his eyes at the other boy, “I forgot.”

“Your own friend?” Henry placed a hand over his heart, “I am wounded.”

Jude snorted in laughter, “Don’t expect an apology any time soon.”

Henry pouted but then just shook his head, looking up the staircase, “We have… history after this?”

“Ms Jacobus? Correct,” Jude replied.

They headed up the stairs, into the mostly empty hallway. Henry placed his backpack in the row in front of the classroom. Most students were making their way back so they could join the rest of the school on the field, chattering amongst each other. Jude placed his own backpack next to his friend’s.

That’s when he noticed Henry’s eyes following his every move. He looked at him, confused.

“What are you looking at? Does my face resemble a steak?” Jude asked.

He shrugged in response, “Just wondering what you’ve got up your sleeve for today. Any plans?”

Oh. Right. Reputation.

“I thought I should tone down on the surprises today,” Jude explained, “So my sleeves are all empty.”

“Hey, Blake!” He heard behind him. He knew who it was before he turned around. Amy was making her way toward them, her school monitor badge set blinking on her white shirt collar, mocking him.

“Anything you want?” Jude asked.

“Yeah,” Amy said slowly, “The library book? Do you have it with you? Karla’s been stressing about it all morning. It’s two days late, you’re gonna have to pay.”

Jude tried to avoid looking at Henry, “Library book? The ghost story one?”

Amy crossed her arms, “Unless you have other books that are past due, yes the ghost story one? Please return it today… okay? Give us all peace of mind so Karla won’t have another anxiety attack.”

Jude flashed a thumbs up, “It’s in my backpack.”

Amy smirked as she looked over Jude’s shoulder at Henry, “Good, and good luck.”

She turned around and swiftly walked away. Jude turned toward Henry, who was positively glaring at him. Jude shrugged, grinning. “Whoops?” He said.

Henry groaned, “Why!? You told me you returned it!”

“I forgot,” Jude responded, already rifling through his backpack to look for it.

“I asked you if you gave it back and you said yes!” Henry stuck his hand in his dark brown hair, much like Jude’s father would do if he was frustrated. He sighed, “You have it here, though? Right?”

“I’m looking! I’m looking!” Jude said, “Hold your horses!”

“I cannot be stable! You know that!”

“Ah yes; Henry Jones, my dear unstable friend.” He rifled through his books until his hand closed around the library book. He smiled and showed it to Henry, “We’re in luck.”

Henry sighed in relief “Great,” He said, “Let’s go return it.”

They reached the bottom floor where kids from grades one to seven were already on the field. Jude could see a few familiar faces; Abu and Hansie were playing ball closeby. The ball almost hit Imka. The girl turned around and started to shout at them. All good fun.

They finally arrived at the school library.

When they entered, the line at the front desk was long, and Jude almost decided to turn back. Karma, art thou a heartless snitch.

“I’m gonna return this,” Jude said “You can look around. Looks like I’m gonna be a while.”

Henry nodded “Yeah, I’ll be over at the Comic Book section.”

Henry left for the comic books and left Jude standing in line alone. He tapped the book against his leg as he waited. The line shortened way too slowly. He really didn’t want to wait this long and waste his break.

He was considering ditching the library and come back during the second break when the librarian called ‘Next!’ and realised he was the next one. He stepped forward and placed the book on the table. He was just going to turn away when Mrs Botha grabbed his wrist. He sighed. Of course. He turned to face her. She let go of his wrist slowly, peering at him over her golden spectacles.

“It’s late,” she said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes, it is,” Jude admitted, “Would you also be interested in knowing the colour of the sky?”

She sneered at him, “Five Rand Mr Blake.”

“Fine,” Jude sighed, “I’ll bring it tomorrow. Can I be excused so I can enjoy what is left of my break, or will you prefer to keep me in your clutches?”

Mrs Botha’s glare hardened. “Go,” She hissed.

Jude left as fast as he could and looked for Henry. He walked passed the kiddies’ section, avoiding Karla as she organised some books. He saw the Comic Book section up ahead. All of a sudden, a strange feeling overcame him. He saw something scaly move in the corner of his eye. He turned around. A strange creature was making its way around a bookcase and right towards the Computer Lab.

Jude’s eyes widened when he recognised it. Now that he was closer, he could easily make out the bat-like ears and large, yellow eyes. This one was a lighter colour than the one from three years ago, though, but looked to be the same species. A part of Jude wanted to turn around and pretend it never happened.

Alas, he followed it like an idiot.

He supposed a part of him hoped that by following, he’d find an answer to what had happened to his grandfather. Finally, there would be no more ‘maybes’. This creature could hold the answer, and he needed answers.

Jude saw as the creature zipped into the Computer Lab and with little hesitation, Jude followed. He cautiously observed the room. Old school computers were lined on the tables with cables and mouse pads. The blinds over the windows were closed, and everything looked normal. There was no sign of the angler gecko.

He considered leaving. Little did he know that he was at a crossroad. The decision he made now, will directly impact the rest of his life.

He can get Henry and leave. Spend some time with him and finish this day’s school work. Pretend this never happened. But no… he couldn’t. This creature would keep coming back, and he’d just be forced into another encounter one day anyway. With that thought in mind, he proceeded forward into the room. He scanned the room carefully, a strange feeling crawling down the back of his neck.

His chest burned as he moved slowly into the place. Something was holding him back. He shakily bent down and checked under one of the tables. There was nothing. No sign of anything out of place.

The burning in his chest intensified, his ears buzzed. It felt as if the walls were closing in. He got off the floor and headed to the door before he could think. He looked back and saw nothing. Maybe he was going mad after all. He shook his head and left the computer lab, quickly making his way back to the library.

“What took you so long?” Henry asked, placing the comic back.

“The… the line was long,” Jude said, eyes darting to the computer lab. Was it just him or was there sound coming from there? No, he was just paranoid.

Nevertheless, he grabbed Henry by the elbow and dragged him out. Henry made sounds of protest but was shushed by one of the assistants. They exited the library, and Jude picked up his backpack.

“What was that all about?” Henry asked.

Jude nervously smoothed down his hair, “It’s nothing,” He said. He forced a smile as if to prove his point. He jerked his head toward the staircase “Let’s enjoy the rest of break while we still have time.”

They started to make their way down the hallway. What happened next took them entirely by surprise.

There was a loud booming sound from behind them followed by the sound of screams. Henry and Jude whipped around. Jude lost his voice. Bright red flames moved at an abnormally fast speed across the fabrics of the library curtains. The fire roared aggressively. The alarms blared to life around the school. The principal’s voice was heard in the distance.

“This is not a fire drill. Everyone must gather on the sports field immediately. Do not to panic, and proceed calmly.”

“What about Mrs Botha?” Henry asked “And Karla, Miranda, Chris-”

“I don’t think this is our place to interfere, Henry,” Jude said, “We should leave and go to the field.”

“But… Karla’s in there,” Henry said, “Chris is a first grader!”

“We don’t have any experience,” Jude replied “There’s no point. We’ll only die, Henry. We’ll be helping nobody.”

“You’re always prepared to take a risk,” Henry said. Jude was horrified to see his friend move toward the burning library.

Even though his entire being screamed to grab Henry and run, he knew there was no stopping his friend. It was one of the things that they shared along with freckles and being shorter than most of their classmates.

Jude followed Henry reluctantly into the burning library, cursing himself for doing so. When they were inside, Jude stared around. The fire crackled on the walls and, electronic sounds came from the lab.

The lab… Jude’s eyes found the door hidden behind a burning bookcase. He didn’t see the angler-gecko anywhere. Whether it made it out already or if it died in the explosion, Jude wasn’t about to find out. He saw something else move from the corner of his eye.

While leading the other kids toward the exit, Mrs Botha stumbled away from the bookcases, a small boy in her arms. That’s when she set her eyes upon Henry and Jude.

“Move!” She shouted “Move outside! Now!”

Jude didn’t hesitate. He grabbed Henry and pulled him along, Mrs Botha following soon. The boy in her arms coughed, eyes darting around the room as they made their way out of the library. When they got out, coughing and shaking, Jude took time to see if everyone made it out. To his immense relief, they did. Karla was standing there, looking frazzled.

There were cuts on all of them, but Mrs Botha definitely took the brunt of it. She had a bruise forming over her eye, spreading to her temple and her glasses were shattered and bent. It was then that Jude realised the way she was looking at him.

Her face seemed to be filled with hatred, her glare beyond murderous. Jude knew the only reason she hadn’t tossed him off the third floor yet was she was carrying a first grader.

But the message was clear. Jude Blake was her main suspect.

“All of you — follow me to the field at once,” She said, “Before there’s another explosion that kills us.”

“Kills us?” The first grader asked.

“We’ll be fine,” Mrs Botha assured him. They headed toward the staircases, Mrs Botha telling them to form a line. Jude was relieved when they finally arrived outside of the school building, heading for the field. Every Havendale student stood there for roll call. Principle Mollow had the list and was calling out names.

That’s when he noticed them. His face turned to shock and surprise “How in heaven’s name did you get out of there alive!?” He asked.

“Long story,” Mrs Botha said, gently putting down the young boy, who stood there, shaking. A fifth-grade girl that must’ve been his sister raced toward him.

“Did everyone get out?” Mollow asked.

Mrs Botha nodded. “Continue the roll call with the others, though.” She gave Jude another dirty look before limping over to the nurse, who had a paramedic kit ready.

That’s when he heard the sound of fire truck alarms blaring. A red truck was speeding towards the school, and the sirens that followed meant there were cops as well. He looked back at the building, thinking of the strange creature. He’d observed that thing a few times before, but this was the first time it caused havoc. Actually, there were a few creatures he had seen this past week.

He’d convinced himself that it wasn’t real, but it became more and more real as time went on. The ghoul he’d seen crossing the street last week Wednesday. It had saluted him and then disappeared into thin air, right in front of him. None of his schoolmates had seen it.

Then there was last Friday when something small, fluffy and round had stolen his favourite pen. He felt pretty confident that hamsters weren’t into taking stationery. He tried to ignore it. But he was starting to wonder… maybe ignoring it wasn’t the best decision?

[yume-x-hanabi]

Gaius Comparisons #4

Tag for previous entries.

Scenes analyzed here: all the events in Kanbalar and when you seize the airship, as well as the Zenethra.

Rowen: They seem to be struggling.

Leia: Shouldn’t we help them?

Jude: …

Milla: Their diversion will be for naught if we join them. [she adds “We have no choice but to leave it to them.”]

Man: We have to save His Highness!

Soldier: Don’t let them lay a finger on His Highness or the civilians!

Jude: The people really do love him.

Alvin: If I’m not mistaken, your job here is still to help Milla win.

Jude: That’s right. Let’s go, Leia.

Leia: Gotcha.

Commentary: go go, Kanbalar NPC! I love how they support their king♥

[After fighting the flying ship’s robots, the party is still facing some Exodus and Elympion soldiers, but Gaius and the Chimeriad show up with some soldiers.]

Wingul: We’ll take over from here. [“It’s over. The ship is completely under our control.”]

Jude: Gaius probably didn’t need us after all. [“Gaius and the others would have probably managed on their own.” Same thing, except he includes the Chimeriad.]

Ivar: Lady Milla? Are you unharmed?

Milla: Yes, thanks to everyone but you. [BUUURN]

Ivar: What? Grr…

Gaius: The ship is ours! [“Our operation is a success!”]

Soldiers: Hoorah!

Gaius: Let's return to the castle.

Milla: Here, let me help you up.

Commentary: We just need a Gaius Side to play this part from their point of view.

Gaius: How long until we can set sail? [he says “Wingul” at the beginning]

Wingul: I have every available man working to get the ship's systems under control. It may take a few hours.

Jude: Looks like we still have some time.

Milla: Let’s rest until then.

Commentary: I think you can talk to him after that but I don’t have the Japanese line for that. Nothing of note here anyway.

Agria&Leia

Agria: So I heard the pimple wants to be a nurse. I bet it’s ‘cause of that boy! [just “you,” though not the most polite form]

Leia: S-So what of it?

Agria: Don’t play innocent with me. It’s obvious that Jude gets you all hot and bothered. [“your head is full of perverted stuff about that boy”]

Leia: What?! That’s ridiculous!

Agria: But you know, I have to admit my opinion of you has improved.

Leia: Huh? Really?

Agria: If you think with your heart instead of your brain, you’ll end up killing some patient on accident! It’ll be hilarious! [she just laughs] You don’t even care if your efforts end up killing people!

Leia: That won’t happen.

Agria: Oh, that’s right. That boy’s got the hots for Maxwell, the older woman. [“granny Maxwell”] That means no lovin’ for you! Ah ha ha ha! [she’s a bit more crass here]

Milla: Huh?

Agria: Huh? Who’s there? (Leia flees) Hmph, lame.

Commentary: Agria is Agria, no matter the language XD

Presa&Alvin

Alvin: Hey, good lookin’. Come here often? [“Hey. Are you sure this is the time to be idling?”]

Presa: Think you can charm your way back into my life? You make me puke. [“When you talk to me casually like that, it makes me feel sick.”]

Alvin: Cut me some slack, will you? After all, we finally get to fight side by side again. [“Don’t get angry.”]

Presa: I’d sooner kill you.

Alvin: Easy there. Come on, it’ll be just like old times. [“Don’t say something so scary. Let’s get close like we were before.”]

Presa: You expect me to forget how many of us died because of you?

Alvin: That’s ancient history.

Presa: I was captured too, you know… Do you have any idea what I went through?

Alvin: … [he sighs]

Presa: I thought I’d found my place in the world by your side. Don't expect me to forgive and forget. Being tossed away once was enough. [“Never raise my hopes up ever again.”]

Wingul: Presa, I request your presence. I need your opinion on how to integrate the Rashugal soldiers into our own.

Presa: Sure, I'll be right there.

Alvin: See? Your new friends need you. You’ve found your place after all.

Commentary: Presa ;A;  I don’t know which version of Alvin I hate most here, but he’s pretty despicable in this scene, completely brushing off what she went through and thinking he can just waltz back into her life like nothing happened. I wish there’d been another scene like that where they can talk about it seriously, like late-game, after he’s developed and is no longer trying to escape responsibility for his actions. But we all know the game robbed Presa of that chance on the Hallowmont -_-

Wingul&Rowen

Jude: I wonder what those two are talking about. [“Rowen and Wingul…?”]

Wingul: You wish to speak with me?

Rowen: You told me earlier you have a booster implanted in your body. Why would you do such a thing?

Wingul: Why? Hah. If you have to ask, then you'd never understand.

Rowen: But you're still just a young man. How could you throw away your life?

Wingul: Heh, haha. The answer is simple: I await my opportunity to kill the King.

Rowen: What? That is your reason?

Wingul: Gaius is worthy of the throne. That is undeniable. So I was left with only two options. Resist or submit.

Rowen: You are a strong young man.

Wingul: No, you're just a weak old one.

Rowen: I have given a lot of thought to what you said earlier. It would seem that Gaius is capable of leading his people down the correct path.

Wingul: Are you saying you'll support him?

Rowen: Gaius may be Rashugal's only hope now that it has lost its king. I shall summon Rashugal's finest warriors here before the battle with Exodus. With your permission, of course.

Wingul: A wise decision.

Commentary: Wingul please. ... I understand the game trying to only give us the party’s (pretty limited) pov on the Chimeriad, I guess it’s more realistic like that, that they don’t know everything, but it’s still really frustrating as a player not to get all the details. Here we have the Battle of Mon Highlands summed up in twenty words, and it’s barely telling us anything when it’s actually such a huge event in Gaius and Wingul’s lives. This limited pov is really getting in the way of fleshing out the antagonists, which is a shame because this group is so interesting and lovable!

Talking to Wingul before launching the attack.

Wingul: Relay this to all troops: We believe the enemy base to be an enormous structure. All soldiers should review their indoor combat procedures.

Auj Oule Soldier: Yes, sir!

Wingul: I anticipate difficulty getting the word to everyone. Call in all of the relay team reserves.

Other Auj Oule Soldier: Yes, sir!

Milla: I see you're keeping busy.

Wingul: Of course. 99% of a battle is won before it starts.

Milla: So at this point, the fighting is just a formality?

Wingul: I leave nothing to chance. That's why I haven't accounted for your group at all. All I expect from you is a distraction. Should you die in the process, my plans will not be disrupted.  [“Don’t worry, ~”]

Elize: What?

Milla: Fair enough. [she adds “We have no objection to that.”]

Elize: Was that true for Jiao too? Did his death not disrupt your plans?!

Wingul: It was not, and it did. Jiao's strength was a trusted resource, not a destabilizing factor like your own. He was a man who not only bested me, but even challenged Gaius one-on-one.

Elize: Oh...

Teepo: Were you two friends?

Wingul: Friends? Ah, this must be how a child sees the world. It doesn't matter what we were. What matters now is that our military strength doesn't waver from his loss. [he doesn’t say the first italicized line. What he says here is “I will fill the gap left by Jiao’s loss. That’s what my booster is for.”]

Milla: You certainly don't make your emotions easy to read.

Wingul: You'd be wise not to waste your energy trying. The time of battle is at hand. Rest while you still can.

Commentary: I love the trust between him and Jiao, considering their rocky start. Another thing I would have liked to see developed more in depth...

Leia: What are Rashugal soldiers doing here?

Rowen: I summoned them here, although fewer came than I had hoped.

Jude: Ah, looks like Ivar's still here, too.

Milla: That fool. He abandoned his duty to Nia Khera.

Wingul: Your Highness, perhaps a few words.

Gaius: Once, we turned our swords upon each other and fought for control of Rieze Maxia. Today, we come together not as enemies, but as allies. We have already located the enemy's headquarters, a ship known as the Zenethra. Fear not the battle to come, brothers. United, we will not falter. [“Trust yesterday’s enemy.”] Together, we shall reclaim our world!

Wingul: Launch the ship!

Auj Oule Troop: Y-Your Highness! We have detected a high energy channeling circle surrounding all of Rieze Maxia. Here it comes!

Leia: What's happening...? It's like my mana is being sucked dry!

Milla: I know this feeling.

Jude: They're using the Lance of Kresnik to absorb the entire world's mana!

Wingul: The Spirit-fuel Plan.

Gaius: I won't let them hurt our people. I will protect Rieze Maxia! Make us airborne!

Commentary: Look at this guy, still standing up when everyone’s on their knees. Anyway, Gaius is pretty good at short inspirational speeches. You can feel his charisma here 8)

Milla: Sorry I’m late.

Elize: It was just like the Lance of Kresnik, wasn't it?

Wingul: No doubt the Zenethra was the actual source of that light.

Milla: And I think that it put another hole in the schism.

Presa: You're right. At least no ships were able to come through this time. [“But no ship came in like last time.”]

Alvin: Maybe they sent the mana they gathered back to Elympios.

Jude: Looks like your fuel-plan theory was right.

Alvin: It seems like the only time that I'm right is when I'm talkin' about a worst-case scenario.

Agria: Wait a minute. Hahaha! Well, lookie there!

Ivar: Enemy ship approaching! Everyone, brace for impact!

Milla: There's our welcoming committee.

Gaius: Silence all of them!

[Battle]

Jude: They just keep on coming!

Wingul: Is this all you've got? Pathetic!

Milla: Gaius!

Gaius: Helmsman! Maintain course and ram into the Zenethra!

Ivar: All right, fine, if you say so. Just don't try to blame me if we crash and burn!

[anime cutscene where Ivar crashes the airship into the Zenethra, and Muzét blasts some airships with Gravity]

Commentary: Pretty faithful here. Another scene where I would have loved to play Gaius...

[I named this screenshot “everyone is judging you, Ivar”]

Jude: That was incredible.

Muzét: I seem to have regained my powers thanks to your tethering.

Milla: I never imagined you would possess such power.

Leia: Of course! She’s your big sis!

Elize: I’m glad you’re on our side. [I have bad news for you Elize…]

Muzét: I am happy to lend my powers to your cause. [“I will lend you my power here.” (here outside)]

Milla: What are you planning to do?

Muzét: The mission would fail if the ship were to fall, yes?

Milla: I see. It sounds we’ll have to continue asking for your assistance. [“Then I can leave it to you, right?” she... kinda sounds a bit unsure she should trust her]

Jude: Thank you, Muzét. Take care.

Muzét: Be safe. Milla, never forget that you are Maxwell.

Milla: …

Rowen: We must act quickly, while the enemy reinforcements are being blocked.

Milla: We should split into two groups.

Jude: I know. "Do what must be done", right? [“I know, Gaius.”]

Gaius: We will put a stop to their plans right here. Our targets are Gilland and the Lance of Kresnik.

Ivar: At your service, Lady Milla.

Alvin: You again? [“You’re still there?”]

Teepo: Hey! Stay out of our way! [“You’re in our way, so stay away.” Not too different but the “stay away” wording is pretty childish.]

Ivar: Hahaha, but of course! I shall join Gaius' capable crew!

Milla: What?

Wingul: Think you can fill Jiao's shoes in the Chimeriad?

Ivar: Easily!

Gaius: ...

Ivar: Just watch me! [He’s actually rewording his previous line more formally.]

Gaius: Let's go.

Ivar: Guess they know a winner when they see one, phony! [“I won’t lose to you, phony!”]

Presa: Get over here, idiot.

Ivar: How rude! But, I shall let it slide.

Presa: Al...

Alvin: What?

Presa: Try not to die.

Milla: Let's go.

Commentary: And to think the writers were originally planning to make him an official Chimeriad member here... ngl, I’m glad that didn’t happen. As much as I like Ivar, he doesn’t fit into that group at all, and it’s much funnier to have them just glare at him and then abandon him when he gets in trouble. Since it’s Tales Trivia Tuesday: his outfit was designed with that setting in mind. If you look at his legs, it’s pretty similar to how Jiao and Wingul’s pants are styled. And the Chimeriad all have set solid colors (black, yellow, blue, red); Ivar is wearing white for that reason. Though in the end his outfit fits very much with Nia Khera NPC’s, so it really worked out in the end.

Gilland: Guh! No, not now. Not when we finally created a spyrite. Damn it.

Alvin: The only thing you really want to do is gain favor with the outside to boost your influence. What’s the point in making these spyrites, or whatever you call them?

Gilland: Spyrites are different from spyrix devices. They allow us to wield incredible power without consuming spirits. Elympios is overflowing with people and technology. And we need spyrites to sustain ourselves. [“That’s why Elympios, which is overflowing with people and technology, need them.”]

Jude: What are you talking about?

Gilland: As spirits have become scarce, so has the mana in Elympios. Our world is now doomed to fade away.

Rowen: So that is why you implemented the Otherworld Reactor Plan. [“I didn’t know there was such a reason behind the ORP.”]

Leia: But it’s your fault for getting hooked on spyrix to begin with. Now you have to live with the consequences.

Gilland: But if spyrites become commonplace, the people of Elympios will have all the mana they need.

Milla: Isn’t it a bit late for that? You were the ones who chose to rely on spyrix 2,000 years ago!

Gilland: That wasn’t me! Gwaaah!

Alvin: Hey, are you okay?

Gilland: My death is not going to change the fate of Rieze Maxia! O-Our plan can proceed so long as the schism exists. Everything you’ve done is for nothing! Ergh! Ahhhh!

Leia: Is he dead now?

Rowen: Perhaps that was the price he had to pay for using Celsius.

Milla: It was a high price to pay, even for that much power.

Alvin: Well, I’ll be taking this back. Gillandor Yul Svent. Goodbye, Uncle.

Gaius: Has everything been settled now?

Milla: You just missed it.

Jude: This doesn't feel right. Not at all.

Milla: Exodus must abandon their plans. They must be forced to for the sake of Rieze Maxia. [“We must destroy Exodus’ plan for the sake of Rieze Maxia.”]

Jude: Right.

Milla: Good to see you all again.

Gaius: Maxwell.

Milla: Even you won't interfere here. I'll destroy it.

Wingul: Such power! What the hell is this arte? [in Long Dau he says “Damn”]

Elize: It hurts! Make it stop! [“We’re getting squished.”]

Jude: Did Gilland set a trap for us?!

Agria: Come on! Use your artes, for crying out loud! [she calls her her trademark “babaa” (hag/granny)]

Presa: I can't. It's far too powerful!

Gaius: This is nothing I can't handle. I'll break through this arte!

Jude: Break through? That's it! Use the Lance of Kresnik! It has the power to dispel artes!

Milla: That's true! [“The Lance…”]

Leia: Can we even do that? Isn't it out of mana?

Rowen: If everybody here can just focus their mana into the Lance, then maybe...

Agria: Ahahaha! So you're saying we should willingly give that thing power?

Wingul: It could mean the death of us.

Gaius: We're dead either way. We have no choice.

Agria: Damnit! Hurry up already!

Presa: I... I can't take it anymore.

Gaius: Now Maxwell, activate the Lance.

Jude: Milla...

Milla: There is no need for everyone to risk their lives.

Jude: Wait, what? Don't do it! No! You can't do this!

Alvin: What are you doing?! Aren't you supposed to stick around, to help protect the world? There are still so many things left you need to do!

Milla: With the schism gone, Exodus' plan will come to an end. Isn't that right?

Alvin: What?

Milla: You’re still here? I told you to leave with Jude and the others. I’m sorry. I dragged you into this.

Undine: Well, well, you’ve certainly changed, haven’t you?

Milla: I just want to live as Maxwell, that’s all.

Sylph: And that’s an excuse to off yourself, huh?

Milla: I know it conflicts with my mission.

Gnome: Then don’t! Don’t do it!

Milla: I don’t want to disappoint Jude. When he’s watching me… I want to be like this. I want to be the Maxwell that he respects. [“that he loves.” wtf translators]

Efreet: What does Maxwell have to fear?

Milla: So that’s what it was. I finally understand. I’ve become afraid. Afraid of loss.

Leia: This can’t happen. [“No, Milla…”]

Elize: Milla…

Teepo: Don’t do it!

Rowen: Please reconsider! [“Milla!”]

Jude: You can’t do this. Milla. If you leave us, then what? You can’t! [“If you were to disappear, then I…”]

Milla: You’ll be fine without me. [“Don’t make that face.”]

Jude: …

Milla: Farewell. Goodbye, Jude.

Jude: Mi— Millaaaaaaa!

Commentary: I don’t know why these translators keep removing the word “love”, but I don’t like it :( Note how they also made Jude’s line near the end less personal.

Milla is so strong, though. By then she’s realized the truth about herself, and even if it conflicts with her mission, she wants to protect her friends, who she’s become afraid of losing (a nice call back to the scene in Fort Gandala where she was ready to let Gilland kill Elise and Driselle if she had to). She’s changed so much, while still keeping the fundamental part of herself, what makes her so strong. She really is an amazing character.

[jess-the-vampire]

Sky And The Forces Of The Multiverse, Chapter 9

Previous / Next The next morning sky found herself woken up by someone shaking her body, which meant she either slept through her alarm, or her alarm hadn't gone off yet. Her eyes were droopy and she wanted to go back to sleep, but instead felt a sense of deja vu when her blue eyes met familiar green ones. She screamed, taking in the sight of galexia as she remembered she was supposed to be waiting for her to get back last night. She passed out didn't she? Galexia looked fine though, in fact she looked more then awake and before sky could even ask what happened galexia was already filling in her words, "You feel asleep when i got here so i went to bed and then got up and dressed before you awoke! You should have seen dinner with the lucitors! It was FUN!". Sky gave her a look before rubbing her eyes, "I've eaten with them before, anyways is luna up yet?". The girl happily nodded, "Oh, she left to train hours ago! You should have seen her!". Sky shot up and off the bed, "Wait? She left where?"

"The training room? She says she's a knight now....is that her cover? What's my cover?". Sky struggled to reach her closet, picking out something random before searching for a hat to match. Galexia's eyes wondered over her many hats, but kept her focus on the cover she'd been talking about. Sky glared at her as she leaned over her shoulder and put her new clothes down her bed, wanting the girl to leave so she could actually get dressed, "Um look, I-I don't have a cover for you yet...uh....what do you want to be?". Galexia blinked, unsure quite yet as sky sighed, "You...don't think this is still a dream right?". "When did i think this was a dream?" "Nevermind, here, you can be...a foreign exchange student from earth. Mom won't mind, well...she shouldn't mind at least....", Galexia seemed content with that, and that was enough for sky, "Ok so, can you please leave my room?". The girl complied and sky groaned, another day, another babysitting job. She changed before joining her sister, who smiled at her outfit as sky dragged her alongside her. At least she could get some breakfast before facing whatever doom she had to deal with today, and at least galexia was still wearing her make-up for her cheekmarks, though more then likely luna made sure of that. Guess sky was going to have to order more of that. "I like your hats..looks scary.", lexi said casually, and sky shrugged, "Um thanks....i make them sometimes....". She looked over galexia to find something to compliment about her when she saw her earrings, "hey wait are those....bottlecaps?". The brunette smiled wider, as if she'd been waiting to be asked that all day. "Oh yeah, i made them last night, they were just so PRETTY!". Sky was gaping at them but she went on, "Mom and me made cute jewelry out of stuff all the TIME, she's gonna love all this cuteness". The girl was clearly about juda's age based on her features, but sky could'nt help but be baffled she was going to be a queen. Was this another Dirhhennia case? Did she have another sibling to overpass her? Because sky knew she was nothing special, but the girl next to her had been so off since they first met she couldn't help but wonder what in the heck was going on in whatever world she was from. Though how likely she was to get anything from her didn't really seem possible. Galexia suddenly pulled out something from inside a jacket she was wearing, a nice green notebook with some stickers on it. Pulling out a marker from inside her jacket, she immediately started scribbling as they walked, and sky proceeded to stop questioning it to go back to her previous thought process. Servants passed by, paying no mind to her but plenty to the gal who kept bumping into them as she scribbled into her notebook, not even phased as she bumped into them. Sky watched her put the book back into her jacket and made the choice to gab onto her arm and move her along faster to the kitchens. Grabbing some mini pancakes on the way out with some milk, as lexi picked out a fruit bowl, they made their way out of the kitchens. Sky reluctantly picked up some health snack for luna as well, just in case, though it's likely she has already eaten by this point. Sky wasn't one for training, everyone and anyone knew that, but she was more then familiar with the training grounds for their knights. In fact why her mom didn't consider training her here was something to think about. Then again it would've been more awkward being watched by a bunch of knights who were eager to train themselves, and forcing them not to train as probably worse then the kids. All around sky could spot monsters and mewmans of all shapes and sizes lifting weights, clashing swords, and chatting. If Melanie was here she'd probably compare it to some of the weird stuff she saw in teen "high school" movies. Luna was easy enough to spot, no one could mistake that blonde hair, even if it was now tied up in a bun as the girl was doing push-ups on one of the mats off in the corner. All alone, counting how many she'd done, and doing them with ease. With one hand. Making sure to avoid all the guards, who were on the best behavoir in the presence of the princess, as she made her way over. Luna didn't take notice of them, continuing to count to herself, even as galexia took a seat next to her and munched on her fruit. Sky waved her hand out in front of her to get her attention but luna was more interested in finishing what she started then be interrupted by these girls. Her pace not even wavering as she continued to kept count. "61...62....63....64...65....". Sweat was dripping off her body and sky turned her head to the side as she made her was to 70 and finished her workout. Was it too late to accuse her of actually being a shapeshifter? Sky reluctantly held out the granola she picked up and watched luna chug down a bottle of water she probably had picked up earlier, down. Catching her breath before grabbing it with a nod as her way of saying thanks before eating, "Good to see you up.....sorry, this tends to be part of my normal routine back home...". She sighed and took another sip of water, "Hope you don't mind of course, but since i'm apparently a knight in training now, no reason I can't be here...". "No it's fine I guess, might as well make yourself at home..". Her tone of voice was still less then enthusiastic and luna pressed her knees to her chest, "We're going to have to make a schedule to figure out when we can talk and what we're going to do each day, we need time to talk, and do what we need to do everyday.....i don't know how busy you were before, but considering you have lessons with our mom.....we need to work our way around all this mess. Have you called on your demon frie- judas? Yet?" "No, i haven't, i'll call him later...or text him...he's bound to be busy and yesterday was so chaotic I wanna wait just a bit....", Luna finished her snack and tossed it into the nearest trashcan from where she sat with ease, before turning back to the girls. "I've been around our knights back home, never used their training area since i had my own, but this place is quite....well...more active then I expected?". She reached up to tighten her hair's bun, eyes looking around the room, "If my mom is...y'know....the leader? and she's out, i'd think more of these guys would do their own things or be in charge of roles in her absence...". "Aww no no...her second in command is in charge for now...", sky's causal tone made the girl raise an eyebrow, "What? You don't think she'd have a second in command? Of course she has to! Mom sure won't do it and other mom..? Yeah no....". This made luna take another look at the crowd, "Ok, then whose the second in command? Most of the people in here look too young and no one in here seems to be wearing anything that shows any command...". Then galexia suddenly pulled out her notebook and showed off a picture of.... "Here she is!!!". Luna looked utterly perplexed at the scribbled drawing of a woman with green hair in a ponytail coming from her shiny helmet, her blue-green shades, and her dark skin. "Kelly?", Luna blinked before turning to sky, who gave her an odd face back, "Uh yeah? That's her alright...guess lexi met her earlier or something.....what's your problem?". "Oh no no, it's nothing I just....nevermind...anyways, as far as today goes, you two can go off and do...whatever you need to do....I'll stick around here, we can meet up at lunchtime. Talking about anything we found out or...something, you fine with that?". Sky shrugged, "Fine, whatever....i'll just text jude and stuff, i dunno how he's gonna hold up with his guests but hopefully he's in a mood to talk....you just do...whatever you were doing...". "You mean blending in?" "Yeah that." "I'll be fine....though....", she turned to galexia, a look of both bewilderment and confusion lined on her pretty face, "I suggest you keep an eye on her...". Sky gave her a puzzled look, yeah the other girl was strange but her drawing portraits of people wasn't THAT strange was it? Nonetheless, they probably outta split groups before they drew any suspicion. She stood up, urging galexia to follow her as luna went back to work, happy they talked for once without any arguments between them. This time. - Judas's end was a lot less boring. Ever since this morning he'd been active, getting his normal chores and work done, next to constant sessions to keep an eye on the girls and his brothers. Mason was assumed to still be in his garden and landon...was more then likely off brooding somewhere then anything by this point since yesterday was full of nothing but torture for him. Then again, it was also probably very possible thanks to Judas, Landon could be more or less hiding from mason with the girls, who now suddenly wouldn't leave him alone as part of his new "Wing man" status. The thought both amused judas, and made him feel a little bad, though most of his focus were shifted to the girls. He had definitely taken a liking to sunny despite the incident, she was rather likable and in the end she was still just a kid. Celeste on the other hand was a lot harder, she did nothing without showing some reluctance to doing it, and it seemed she had no actual idea how to smile. In fact the grumpy look in her face was probably her resting face by this point. Judas almost wanted to question Landon if they even did make up but then again, maybe this was normal for Celeste. He knew his mom staking guards on them was going to be an issues, both if the girls got discovered for having marks, for having wands, or for lying about where they came from and who they are. He didn't have much of a choice though, even as the prince his mother was still way more above him and those guards were not easy to move or convince to leave. At least mason was too occupied in trying to come up with idea for landon to get too involved in the girls though, which was a plus for judas, but less so for his brother. He felt very guilty for sicking their younger brother on him, but then again, landon was so painfully unsocial that some good MIGHT come from the whole thing. at least, Judas sure hoped it did. He was exhausted last night, his brain felt like dough and by the time he flopped on his bed he was out. He almost slept through his alarm this morning, the screeching noises it made eventually forcing him up and back to his routine. Though granted his routine was going to be shifted a little with the official addition of their guests. For one, he had breakfast with them, choosing to stay by them as much as he could as to try and speak to them, though he had to be careful with the guards around. Afterwards, it was landon's turn. Landon was less busy then he was and though he was reluctant about helping, anything that allowed him the chance to stay far away from mason for now was more then fine with him, though i would'nt surprise judas if the boy kept his distance from them thanks to Celeste's teasing. He still looked partially upset about the phone call and whatever mason had walked in on, but he seemed to feel better the less people brought it up. Sunny seemed to think he was alright and her smile never waved despite him and Celeste's moody attitude, trying to socialize with them and smiling alongside them. At least one of them should keep some kind of eye on them as much as possible just to be safe, while in the meantime they did what they needed to do. Judas kept his compact in his pocket, pulling it out every time it buzzed, he needed to hear from sky. If they were going to get anywhere, they needed a plan, and for now they didn't have one aside from keeping the girls secret and just keeping an eye on everyone. Which was probably not going to get them far in the long run unless the culprit practically blurted out their plans to them. Though so far, this was already off to a better start then yesterday. Judas was still nervous about everything but his head was a bit clearer. He found himself for the moment in the library of the underworld, taking some time to look into anything of interest. Hew'd already skimmed through a few different spellbooks and frankly he didn't know why he thought he'd find much here to begin with, the high commission would never let anyone have any kind of spell that allowed anyone to do what sky's wand did, for obvious reasons. Though so far, the fabric of time and the multiverse didn't seem to be collapsing, so that was a good sign at least that the presence of the girls wasn't going to cause impending doom to rain down upon the world. Though he could almost be certain the commission would notice something was off soon enough. He tossed the book he was reading into the pile and sighed, perhaps he should start somewhere else instead. He thought about asking his father considering his mother would be immediately suspicious if he was up to anything with sky again, but even then his father would probably blab to his mom anyway. Family in the lucitor family was odd, though his grandparents on both sides were great, they were some of the few relatives he could actually talk to, the rest being either dead or barely around. Even his uncle wasn't an option because he was taking a job in another state and he knew next to nothing about magic. Not to mention those that were distant were distant because they didn't want to be associated with the family. and sky thought her family was a wreck. he found himself pacing, trying to think of his next course of action when finally, his compact buzzed in her pocket. The part demon felt relieved to hear from sky as a text message appeared, he quickly read her response before texting her back. Sky: So, we have no plans....I think for now, we're just gonna keep in contact and work along as we go i guess.. Judas: That it? Sky: Guess so.....i mean, unless you have a plan? Judas: Well no, but we need to figure out how this happened....if you think it's the commission, we need to get that kinda info out of them...somehow. Sky: Well, they're suspicious of me apparently, so, don't think I'm gonna be any help Judas: What? Sky: They're suspicious that i destroyed the archives, we heard the recording jude, i'm their prime suspect.... The boy bit his lips, fangs picking the soft flesh as he took a moment to think about the situation before  texting her back. He would call her, but he'd get in big trouble since he was in the library and hades knows he doesn't need to lose his phone again. Judas: Well then, maybe let us take the reigns for a bit, keep yourself out of trouble... He could already imagine sky's face on her end, a look that said: "Keeping me out of trouble? Ha ha, very funny.". So when there was a bit of a silence, as sky hadn't texted him back, he immediately tried to make up for his last text message. Judas: Look, for now, just work on your studies, help your mom, and just be careful...we can take care of it... Sky bit her lip, thoughts of what luna said last night to her re-emerging and she grumpily texted back her friend. Sky: No, let me help, let me do something at least... To be honest, judas was right, if she was under suspect she was probably better off not making herself more suspicious. But at the same time, what use would she be doing nothing this whole time? This was her wand that supposibly caused this after all. Also luna surely would be utterly annoyed if she did completely nothing instead of trying to help get her back to whatever utopia she came from, especically after telling her to "Take charge" or whatever else she'd been telling her. Judas: Well, then...perhaps you can figure our why you're wand's all fritzy.....wouldn't be weird or suspicious of you to do something like that right? Sky: Ok, i can try. Judas shoved the thing back into his pocket, only to jump up at the sight of someone standing directly in front of him. Making him fall back onto the floor and yelp in pain. When he was able to get a proper look at the situation, he met the eyes of his grandfather, who immediately helped him back onto his feet. "I'm sorry judas, didn't mean to scare you...i've been looking for you this morning for a word and i didn't want to bother you until you were done speaking to your friends.." "Oh uh.....ok...", his grandfather placed his hands into his pockets, looking down to the floor, " Sorry judas, and sorry about dinner as well...I probably should have waited till after to talk about it, I know your folks are sensitive to people wanting to cure you...". Judas's ears flickered as he put his hands out, "No no no, it's fine, I know you're all just...trying to help and....well i'm not king yet anyway, they need to know..". Fans dug into his lip as his eyes darted around the library, "I mean, a shocker is.....decent...compared to other stuff...". Sky tazing angel was still fresh in his mind despite everything and though that was the wrong call then, here.....well....if could really knock angel down, then there was a chance it could help him. At least, it could take him down if his arm did end up going nuts at least. It's interesting, 17 years of his condition with no serious consequences and you'd think him and his folks would assume it was harmless. It randomly appeared and it was a nusence, but it also seemed to show up when he was in danger or in certain emotional acts. 17 years, and despite it being annoying, it had never harmed anyone innocent. and yet, it was scary, it scared his parents, it scared everyone around him. Judas was like a walking horror to everyone. "It's not exactly a cure, but....I know you and your family just want to be prepared, and I think, we need a proper plan.", the old king started pacing, "Your family doesn't want to hurt you and I don't either, hades forbid someone lays a finger on you. But your folks need to have more of a plan if something DOES happen, we can't do nothing. You know if worst comes to worst, they have to hurt you to stop you.... and if we don't do something....those people out there will...", He stopped moving, his back to his grandson. "those idiots out there, who think you can't be king because of that curse? all they see is that lousy curse....you're a smart young man whose more then capable to handle this place and all they think of is you'll destroy us all because you can't help it....", he turned around, facing judas with a ferocity, "Then again, that's what they always have thought of every lucitor heir before you......look, you're going to be king soon judas, we can't keep waiting anymore for a solution because your folks don't want you hurt, if you're going to run this place we need to make sure that thing is under control and if it comes down to it, we need to stop it." The older man continued to ramble, it might of gotten tiring considering how often he did it, but this was normal to judas. After all his father's anger issues came from somewhere and Dave sure showed it when he wanted to. You could always tell how passionate he was during times like these, and his family tended to always be one of the biggest things he was protective and passionate about. If you crossed his family, he wouldn't hesitate to play dirty,  and he was not one to hide how he felt about anything. Judas could remember countless times his grandfather would complain bout this and that, in fact this was unlikely the first time he talked about this subject in particular. But Judas just let him ramble on a bit more before speaking himself. "I know...I know....trust me, you don't have to remind me....I-I'm scared of myself enough as is..", rubbing his arm, he managed to look his grandfather right in the eyes, "When i'm king, I'll show them I can do it, just like you did....curse or no curse....i'll try at least...". he rolled up the sleeve of his cursed arm, holding it in front of him, "My parents have considered options, you know my mom and safety, but i'm still open to other suggestions....well, as long as they don't put me to death..." His shoulders sinked, trying to make the old man feel better,  "It does means a lot, you're still trying to come up with solutions, it's much better then the tranquil darts and the chains suggestion at least". He watched his grandfather's face shift to one of guilt, ashamed of himself, " I was desperate at that time, I guess to them it made you sound more like an animal we had to lock up and I never wanted to make it sound that way...". He felt judas put a hand on his shoulder, "I kinda assumed after that, you were gonna stop...but here you are...". "I just...I don't want another member of my family to go through that, thomas being the first half monster to take a throne was hard enough on him. And I just don't...and your parents just....sigh....", judas pulled him into a small hug, "Well, we can't cure me or help me if we give up right?". He smiled a little, "Right...". They detached and Dave crossed his arms,  "I'm sorry for laying this all out on you, again, but your parents aren't trying anymore and....sweet lucifer i hope this next one works, we don't need to worry about a cure right now, we just need to make sure we can stop it, if this stops it....then you'll be no threat...a cure can come afterwards.". Judas watched his grandfather's expression and sighed, he had an idea and spoke up, "You heard about the guy who insulted me at the ball didn't you? That's what brought this up all of a sudden....". Dave shrugged, not a shocked look on his face as if he had expected this eventually, he'd been caught., he shoulders slumped,  "Don't tell your parents, but i always make sure someone is keeping an eye on you....partially for safety purposes but I never feel your father tells quite everything that happens...get the feeling he's worried i'll freak out...though...guess he's not wrong.". "Miss going to balls?" "A little...". "A little?" "Ok, a LOT...". Judas gave him a knowing smile as the man huffed, " Look, he was insulting my grandson and if i had been there i'd have given him a piece of my mind, but since i'm out of luck. Next best thing is to show him how wrong he is...". The boy smiled, it was an easy take to tell which side of the family provided landon's current issues, though he couldn't help but find his grandfather's over-protectiveness just a little charming.  "I'm sorry, your poor old grandpa here is rambling and whining and wasting your time....", he leaned on a table nearby, "I'm not the king anymore, so my priorities lie elsewhere...I was so angry when I found out." "You know retirement should also be a big priority right?", Judas piled up the books he was done with in his arms and handed them over to a demonic librarian, who used their wings and flew off to put the books back in their proper places. "Pft, why deal with retirement when you can help your grandson show up some racist bullies?", His teal eyes watched his grandson as he leaned next to him, "I'll let you know when we get the device from our friends, if it doesn't work, well, we can't say we didn't try....". "Well, worst it could do is shock me and nothing happens....which is..painful....but then again considering i'm the host....If i have a harder time moving so does it..", he felt his grandfather run fingers through his hair, "thanks for taking my offer, I know your folks are just protective of you....i just.....you're an adult now...they can't baby you anymore...this curse is yours, and you need to be allowed to make your own decisions. Especially when it's something as dangerous as what your curse could do...". "They're just looking out for me....but they seemed to have eased off knowing it was something that wouldn't servery hurt me......you would have done the same for my dad...", he snorted and agreed, "Yeah, guess I would've...". They sat in silence for a bit when his grandfather looked at his watch, "I better get moving, sorry for getting so upset....I didn't mean to come here and ramble so much, you were probably busy weren't you? Before I showed up?". "Oh, no no, it's perfectly fine...we.....we needed to have this talk sometime soon, before I'm crowned...", he watched his grandfather start to head out, "Right, and uh....please don't tell your parents about the "spying " thing, they're upset at me enough for even suggesting a new cure method..." "Don't worry, i'll keep it a secret, as long as you actually take at least a little more of a break and enjoy retirement for once.", his grandfather rolled his eyes and laughed, "Never". As he was about to head out though, judas called out for him and the elder turned around, "Yes?". "Hey, before you head out? I want to ask you.....what do you think about....alternate dimensions?", his grandfather gave him a strange look and shrugged, "Why would you care to know? Thinking about other realities were you weren't cursed?". Judas nodded quickly and he continued, "I don't think they're honestly something anyone should be trying to get involved with, it's a complex system and tampering with stuff like that can change thousands of other realities, honestly it's no wonder that stuff is taboo, you could ruin billions of lives by just leaving a footprint on another world". He gave him a strnage look and judas stood his ground, "You're not thinking of-.". The boy shook his head, "Heck no, but it would be cool to think...somewhere out there....we didn't have to worry about well...hurting me at all...right?". The man nodded, suspicion dropping, "Yeah...it would be...". After he left, judas fixed his sleeve and grabbed his stuff, it was lunch time and he had to meet up with the girls. Making sure he left nothing behind as he headed out the door to find the dining hall, holding his wrist the entire way. - Luna was starting to blend in rather well among the other knights in training, and by blend in she meant keep to herself and draw no attention to herself whatsoever. Quietly listening to the gossip spread among the young adults, there was little of interest. Most of it was "Teen drama this" and "Teen drama that", talking about whose dating who and whatnot. As though that kinda stuff mattered when you're training to be one of the queen's knights. She'd rather listen to the sharpening of swords. No wonder back home she only got involved in situations like this if it were a part of her training, it all seemed so dull, so pointless. There were so many other important things at hand and this was the kinda stuff teens wanted to talk about, as if these would matter much once they became knights. Was this normal for Sky? For now she found herself in their locker room, luna planning to head out as training seemed to be over and the rest of her mates were on break for lunch. She might as well go find where lexi and sky went, or perhaps use her new position to do a little digging herself. Grabbing her things, she prepare to make an exit when she heard a whistle which froze her and everyone else in their tracks, "CADETS! IN LINE!", Luna watched the locker room but their way to head against a long way to form a line against it and she immediately followed suit. This seemed to be normal for most of the knights judging by their reactions and at first she wondered if there was an emergency when something quickly told her otherwise. The door swung open and the blonde felt herself tense at the sight of a tall woman will long green hair in a ponytail, shades, a rather large golden sword, and blue and black spiked armor. Kelly was a sight for sore eyes and she must have been very excited based on her smile. Luna stared at her, still in shock at the sight of her. She's heard of kelly before, many times, but seeing her was a whole other thing. Nonetheless she brushes it off in favor of not looking ridiculous. "Didn't mean to scare all of you, but I heard we got a few new recruits just recently and there was no way I was gonna skip them!", the trainees talked among themselves as she pulled out a list, "don't worry it's only three, then you all can go to lunch...". She read down her list, "Joey!", a large monster lady stepping forward, and luna watched as kelyl shook her hand, admired her grip and welcomed her aboard before having her stand next to her as she called out the nest name on her small list. "Sirius?! ", a shorter mewman with dark hair and darker skin stepped forward, rise and repeat, though his size didn't seem to matter much to kelly. She early welcomed him and he stood next to joey as kelly took out her list one last time, "Luna?". Luna stepped forward and hoped her marks were still properly covered up as the woman shook her hand, "Nice grip, I can tell you've worked with swords before....". Luna simply nodded, "I also love your eyes, full of determination, i can tell, welcome, i hope you're ready for knighthood.". She dismissed everyone else to turns to the three cadets, " You're new so you wouldn't know it, but i always greet new recruits that way. You'll get used to it, now that jackie is finally coming back soon, more and more are signing up to be trained, but until then, you're all stuck with me.....you know your schedules right?" They all nodded. "Good, because until jackie gets back, you'll have to attend my training sessions to set you all up and i don't suggest missing those. Now you three go get some lunch i'm going to be looking forward to working with you all, hope you all don't disappoint me...". The other two recruits left and luna followed behind, looking back as kelly nodded to her and she walked out of the locker room, lost in thought. She shook her head, she needed to focus on the task at hand, thinking about home didn't matter right now. Finding Sky was easy enough, as she was snacking in her bedroom, galexia hanging off the side of the bed, drawing. The girl digging through her mother's book of spells for anything of use as she chomped down on a bag of chips. Luna had already picked up a sandwich on the way here as she was technically an employee now and therefore treated to her own food. She took a seat on the bed herself, glancing to sky who hadn't really acknowledged her as she skimmed through the book. "Mom still has her spellbook in this universe?", She looked it over then went back to focusing on her food, unwrapping it to eat. Sky nodded, shoving more food into her mouth, "I guess i'm trying to figure out if mom wrote down any secret spells or something...I dunno, i'm stumped where I even go with this....you sure we shouldn't have my mom look it over or something?". Luna's look said that she wasn't sure, but she spoke otherwise, "I don't want to be tricked by the high commission again...the wand stays...". "Fine fine fine, so....what did you do then? I don't know a ton about what the knights do most of the time...", luna wrapped up her uneaten sandwich, slightly annoyed as she spoke, "It's not much to worry about, I just finished warm ups, spend time around the folk listening out for info, talked to the second in command for a bit. Nothing remarkable....". Sky didn't say anything in return, going back to her book, the tension in the room cut be cut with a knife and galexia's sudden words startled the other girls. "We could talk about other cool stuff! We don't have to talk about stuff you guys are bored by!", Luna simply crossed her arms, turning away her head, "It's not boring to talk about plans and our current mission to get back home, it's important!!". But galexia shook her head, "But you guys don't talk about anything else, it's just a lotta BLAH and BLEH!! Then you guys sit in silence and do nothing for a long time till your brains go all goopy and globby!." She rolled off the bed and jumped to her feet, waving her arms around, "We could talk about other cool things!! Like all the stains on the ceiling that look like animals! Or that the underworld shampoo smells like cherry blossoms! Or we could talk about the cool shocky bracelet your demon bro got!". Sky shook her head, "What? What exactly did you get into in the underworld?", the girl's eyes lit up as if she'd been waiting to be asked that all day. "Oh that's easy, Celeste almost died because of this big ole plant! And then we got sent to our rooms but i squirted shampoo all over the floor before jumping into a pile of ripped clothes! And then we ate giant bugs and vegetables and then the purple kid was offered a bracelet an-" Luna held out her hands, "Wait, slow down, you almost died to a plant? And what now?". Then she felt the blunette next to her grab her hand, "Then she made a mess, got some new clothes, and i guess went to dinner and judas got a....bracelet...?". Galexia nodded. "Ok, thanks for telling us i guess..". "You're welcome!!!". Sky tried to go back to reading, but galexia just stood there, staring, "what about you guys?". They exchanged looks but the blonde shook her head, "Lexi, no offence, but some of us aren't as eager to give out our life stories, we barely know each other. And besides, it's hard enough to tell if you're paying attention or not...you just kinda seem to be doing your own thing most of the time and we just....It's actually kinda hard to explain...". The green-eyed girl simply blinked, "But isn't it better for us to get to know each other more? My mom and dad like meeting new people, they do it all the time!". "Yes well, it's not the same for all of us, if you want to talk about yourself...it's fine, but....I want to focus on other things.". She went back to her food, opening it back up, making a napkin spread on her lap to catch the crumbs, and began eating much to lexi's misery. "Aww, that suuuuckkssss...". She flopped onto the floor, "Finneeee...". Now that sky was thinking about it, out of all the girls, lexi reminded her most of how her mom used to act as a kid. She was bubbly, active, and always trying to do things simply because she'd rather have fun then do any actual work. Except this wasn't some 14 year old girl, this was now all encased inside a 17 year old with green eyes and wearing trash for jewelry. Sky watched her mope and put the book down, making her way over to her and sitting on the floor next to the sad girl, "You know, I know how you feel....I've never really been into all the boring stuff about being queen and all that....you kinda just rather....have fun and be a normal kid...". She pulled out her wand, looking it over, "You turn fourteen, then you gotta do this, then you gotta do that...and everything then is about being queen and whatnot..". Luna finished her chewing, "You act as though that's a bad thing, being born into he royal family is not exactly common among anyone. You both should be excited! You're given an amazing opportunity and since you are, you should be happy to prove your worth to it. Not just anyone can be queen after all, it's an honor and all you have to do is get prepared for it.". Her tone seemed oddly happy, as though she was looking back on her training with a certain fondness the other girls didn't share. "And your somehow don't find the preparation to be remotely boring or exhausting?" "Not if you actually make an effort, like it or not all of us were born to be the next queen. The most you can do is make sure you're the best queen you can be instead of lying around and complaining about it, that's sure not how our mother got on the throne in all of our homes...". She finished eating and collected her trash, "Just because something is boring doesn't mean it's not important or not worth listening to, usually the most boring stuff tends to be the stuff you need to listen to most." She threw her trash into the bin with perfect accuracy, "Granted, when i'm back home what you do is your problem, but I happen to have been training to be an excellent queen since I was little . So forgive me If i don't see the problem here with training. You're going to be queens soon after all, if you don't take it seriously you're just asking for more issues.". Sky grumbled but Luna chose to ignore it, "Sorry, but that's the gist of it, we don't have time for fun and games, there are more important matters at hand.". "You're kind've a buzzkill, you know that?". "Well, considering back home i'd always carry first aid kits, maps, and lock picks every time kids my age asked to hang out with me, i think I've been made more then aware that i don't seem to have ever been the "Fun" kinda of person.", She summoned her own wand, "It's fine though, I've gone this long without that kinda stuff and I turned out perfectly fine. ". She suddenly used her wand to change her outfit expertly, going from her workout outfit to something nicer much to sky's added displeasure. "And yet you made me give you a new outfit last night...". Luna simply smirked. "I just wanted to get under your skin a little, am I fun yet?" Sky didn't bother to answer as the girl changed the subject, "Anyways your lesson is soon so i suppose me and galexia are going to be working together in the meantime...I know you still don't trust us but at this point I doubt you think we have plans to go anywhere....". Sky gave the two of them a once over, "Fair enough....but what the heck are you even going to do? We literally have no plans here besides just kinda sorta trying to get more info?". "Well, perhaps that's a good place to start, working our way up, gain their trust...get more info...", the way she said it almost sent chills down's sky's spine, she just said it so naturally, as if she had done stuff like this before. Though considering how she spoke earlier about wanting to be the best queen she can be, she probably shouldn't be remotely surprised if this girl got into some crazy stuff. She could almost imagine her kissing up to a higher up to get what she needed. "The point is, we can talk to the people here, we blend in now....just head to your classes, and let us talk around, get to know everyone....", She nodded to galexia, "I can keep an eye on her on my own, you focus on what you need to do and we do the same..". Sky twiddled her wand in her hands, don't you think that'll look kinda suspicious? You running around and asking people private questions they unlikely know about?". Luna's look was mischievous, her wand turned back into a ring, "Not if you know what you're doing..". - "You know, the last time it was just the three of us together eating, didn't quite end well...", judas carefully eyed the door of the private dining room , where the guards were still perched, hoping they couldn't listen in but speaking carefully just to make sure. Celeste shrugged, "Well as long as your creepy arm doesn't come back, i'm sure we'll be fine..". Judas frowned but Sunny gave him a reassuring smile as she took another bite out of her bug sandwich, " I think you'll be fine, I'll make sure not to run off again...". Landon had basically dumped the girls on judas for lunch without a word, probably glad to be rid of them and away from judas considering how frustrated he was. Well, dumping might've been too much for what he did, as he indeed, had kept his distance and basically walked off somewhere else when judas took his "Shift". The girl's hadne't said anything about their time thugh whether it was because there was something they didn't want to say or there was nothing to say at all judas was unsure about. "I took my grandfather's offer, on the bracelet, he'll let me know when i get it....", his fork played with the noodles on his plate and sunny's smile shifted, "daddy looked really worried about you, does this really happen a lot? With...you know?". He simply nodded, "They're my parents...they worry about me, i'm sure you guys have gone through similar things...". Sunny nodded but Celeste said nothing, simply eating and keeping to herself as judas kept on eating. "I'll be fine....don't worry about me, I've been dealing with this my entire life, you guys need to worry about yourselves..", he gave a smile but sunny could sense the pain behind it, she quietly went back to eating, trying to change the subject. "So what do you guys like to do for fun around here? Well I mean, i know fun things to in the underworld but what do you guys do?", Celeste groaned but Judas seemed to appreciate sunny's attempt to lighten the mood a little more. "Ah, well, I guess when we're not doing prince things we're normally just spending time with lucy, hanging with our parents or sky, we also i guess...play in our game room. Ping pong with our folks is honestly really fun, though since there is five of us we usually let mason ref the game a little since his big wings had knocked over the table multiple times....i don't think he minds it though. Plus me and my dad make a great team, I think at first we were worried since landon's no master at magic but mom is pretty powerful as well, so it's even to us....". "Isn't using magic kinda...cheating?", the two demons turned towards the grumpy gal, "Like who in the heck would let you use magic to play in sports? What is supposed to be fair about that? You guys are basically just trying to out-cheat each other..". "Well, it's not about competition much, it's usually for fun....we...well we like to mess with each other a lot...", he smirked, "At this point it's less that we actually play ping pong and more of us trying our best to frustrate the other as much as possible, when you have siblings, you know.". Sunny giggled, "Well, me and my brother are a little different, we don't mess with each other...or fight really.", she watched the boy nod along with her as she talked. "My baby brother has always been kinda scared of stuff and prefers comfort and stuff.....we're less like you and your bros and more...protective and comforting..", the boy's face turned back to his food, "Eh, you'd be surprised how protective we can be for each other, but honestly I wish we were more like that....at least I wish we got along as well as you seem to. Me and landon can kinda get on each other's nerves sometimes, i'm sure you've already noticed..". "I'm sure he loves you though....", Sunny's words seemed to make the boy feel a little better as he continued to eat, wrapping the noodles around his fork and slurping them down, "Yeah, i'm sure he does too.....so...speaking of ping pong, you guys up for a game? With landon leaving the way he did last night, our folks just went to bed....but perhaps, you both might be interesting in playing with us, well i guess for now..er..me? You both have played before I hope?". "Of course! We'd play sometimes back home too! But Justin gets nervous about balls flying at him so we don't really use magic or anything, so i'm not exactly used to doing the style you guys usually do.", Celeste shrugged, "Whatever, break from all the other nonsense i guess....your parents joining?". The demon shook his head, "Nah, not right now, no doubt they have things to take care of, but they may join us later, they're usually BEGGING to take a break when they're supposed to be doing other things". He leaned against one of his hands as he sat his elbow up on the table, "But if we don't have them, we're going to need to invite someone to make the teams even....landon i doubt wants to play considering last night, i'm keeping mason as far away from you as possible, and my grandparents aren't exactly an option at the moment as my grandma can never hold the paddles and my grandpa has other stuff on his mind and i'd rather he didn't get a good look at you two either..". He bit his lip, "Sky is probably at her lessons as well and luna and galexia are probably busy over there and i don't want to get too into whatever they may be up to...". Celeste grumbled, "You guys don't have any other friends you could invite? Like, at all?".  The prince only twiddled his thumbs, all three red eyes looking off in the opposite direction, "Well, it's not to say we don't have any friends, we're just not exactly hugely popular with the public a lot of the time....". "What about that girl you were texting?", Sunny asked innocently, making judas's heart sink. "Girl?". "During dinner, you were texting a girl weren't you? Maybe she can come? I'm sure she'll think less of us then your relatives..". Judas put both arms on the table now, still looking off to the side, " You mean nora? I uh...sorry, i don't think she can come either, not that i think she'll be suspicious of you it's more just as....she's not very social? and her parents have never been sure of me...the arm, you know...". Celeste looked him over, scanning him over with one eyebrow raised, "She your girlfriend or something dude?". Judas's brows furrowed, "No, she's not thank you, she's just somewhat of a distant friend. Not that it matters, I doubt I can convince her to show up, so maybe we should do something else then..". The small demon girl took a sip of her juice and looked between the brunettes before thinking, "C'mon, i bet someone out there would hang out with you! Who else do you know?". "Don't you dare suggest angel..." "Landon's crush?" "Landon might have his number, but i sure don't, plus landon is already upset enough...". "Well do you know any other people...?". "I shouldn't have brought it up, i'm sorry. I was hoping to maybe do something fun and i forgot we don't have a ton of people to choose from to be our fourth... maybe after my folks are off we could do something like that but for now...I guess...we can do something else.", his tone became awkward and embarrassed, though whether it was because he forgot there was three of them or because of how little of people he seemed to know wasn't obvious. Probably a mix of both to be honest. Sunny frowned, so much for helping him feel better, if anything she seemed to just make him feel a ton worse. She looked off the celeste who wasn't paying much attention, her eyes off to the side and playing with her food as the silence grew. "Well, we could still play with just the three of us! How about this? You and me can play and cele here can ref! Just like how your little brother does it! That way none of us are left out! We could even play in shifts!". Judas looked up and nodded, "Yeah, sure, that could be fun........yeah, i mean, if you both still want to go have some fun together of course! I hope I didn't well, upset you both or anything.". Sunny shook her head, "It's ok, i have trouble with friends back home too, it's nothing to be sad about. I mean, we're friends now aren't we?". Celeste grumbled but the boy seemed to appreciate her words, nodding, "Yeah, I guess we kinda are by this point, i uh....let's finish eating and i'll show you where to go ok?". Honestly he probably should go back to the mission or find some other prince stuff to do, but he finished his normal stuff, his chores, and his most important prince stuff. And yesterday had been such a fiasco in terms of working that playing a simple game sounded so much more refreshing right now. Time to just have pure fun, get to know these girls, and take some time to think on other things. He could feel the weight of everything else hammer down on him so much that he was practically begging for something like this. Entering the game room made him smile, with his soon to be crowning in the near future, he had less and less time to think about stuff like this. But seeing it again made him feel like a kid again, as it always did when he and his family played together in here. They had a ping pong table of course but there was a basketball hoop, some arcade games, Foosball, and a number of other things. His father told him some of these used to be in his room when he was a lot younger. Sunny looked impressed when she stepped in and as the body guards positioned themselves in front of the game room door, Judas figured she probably lived in the butterfly castle and hadn't been to the underworld castle nearly as much. He suddenly found himself wondering what exactly his dad would do if he had become king of mewni. He was trained to handle the underworld but what would have happened if he ran mewni, a monster on mewni's throne, sounded rather interesting. The citizens of mewni here were already rough enough about monsters and mewmans getting married, half-monster kids, and heck they were still rough about sky being next in line since she seemed weaker then other mewmans. How the heck did sunny's world work? Was it a utopia where everyone gets along? Sunny would probably tell him if he asked but that was probably not a good idea with the guards nearby though judas kept the mental note in his mind. Sunny had already run over to the paddle shelf to pick out a paddle, taking a pink one out as just simply used his powers to grab a purple one. Celeste, simply took a seat nearby to do...whatever she was exactly supposed to be doing. She watched the two demons giggled as judas served, surprised at sunny's ferocity as she hit the ball back, "You were totally taught by our dad right? Though i could see ms star having some hand in this with you jumping so much." "Hey, i'm short! Plus jumping makes it more fun!", They seemed almost about matched based on how little the ball got passed either of them, laughing and bonding quite well. Celeste was questioning when she even showed up to be honest, she barely had to even do anything at she watched them, bored. Then again, why did she want to hang out with them anyway? She barely knew them, she didn't like them. For what reason did she even have to care if they were having fun without her? "C'mon, you gotta do better then that!", judas challenged the girl, whose three red eyes dimmed as much as his own. "Don't make me use my tail jude, that thing can pack a punch and you know it!",They kept playing for a little more when they found themselves tied and decided to end it there to let Celeste play. Celeste thought about turning it down at first, but took the paddle from judas's hands to play herself, well less took and more "Snatched", but still. She wouldn't admit to being a bit happy to play. Judas found himself looking to his compact in the meantime, no doubt sky was at her lessons already with her mother and there was no telling what nora was up to. He found his mind wandering a bit, sky had yet to properly tell him what angel used his compact for, just that it wasn't anything that mattered and they needed to focus elsewhere. Though he still wasn't pleased angel got his hands on the compact in the first place, he practically used his bit of kindness in letting him speak to the queen and he stole his stuff. Granted, Star brushed him off but it still sucked. He was going to have to keep a closer eye of it from now on, clearly his pockets did nothing to keep a spider prince's grubby hands off it. Was angel always this much of a pickpoketer now that he thought about it? He didn't see him often every since he got banned from all royal events for the trouble he caused so there was only so much he knew about the guy aside from his kingdom and how he viewed the treatment of monsters and his people. He found himself wondering if they could've been friends years ago if things were different. They didn't exactly hate each other after all and the boy did seem to have some form of respect and care for judas oddly enough despite everything. Sigh, no point in thinking about that kinda stuff now though, clearly they both had their own things to worry about. He had his mother and judas had a plethora of problems that beat at his mind every day of his life. If only things were simpler, like when they were all still too young to ever deal with matters like these. He wouldn't have to be so pressured to fix his "Problem", Sky wouldn't be so pressured to be better then her mom, Nora might've had an easier chance getting to make friends, and angel could stop trying to handle matters he probably wasn't ready to handle. His thoughts were stopped, however, as a ping pong ball directly hit his face. Right on his third eye, catching him off guard and instinctively grab onto the spot in pain. That's what he got for not paying attention like he was supposed to. Sunny gasped, running over to him, Celeste following her. Judas grumbled, knowing full well based on where he sat which side of the table had to have hit that ball, and he resisted the urge to shoot the brunette a look. "Sorry sorry sorry....", Sunny looked him over, "I missed the ball! Are you ok? I've had my eye hit a few times too and i know it's painful...". Judas brushed it off, "N-no no...it's fine it's...ah...", he briefly caught a lash of light as sunny handed him an ice pack, something she probably conjured from her wand, he mumbled a thank you and put it over his eyes, enjoying the relief it brought. "Man i'm gonna have to stop hanging out with just the two of you, seems i get injured for it a lot.", he let out a weak laugh and though it was meant to be funny, sunny still seemed upset. "Is your eye going to be ok?", The demon nodded, "I've gotten worse then this....not the first time my eye has been hurt either....". Celeste mumbled an apology under her breath and stared off to the side as sunny acted like the protective sister she was, showing she indeed probably had a brother back home she comforted and cared for. He could easily see her doing this for him, though since judas was still a stranger to her she held back just a little, not entirely sure of her limitations. "Hey, no need to fret over me so much, just give my eye a moment and we can play again, i'll get cele here back with some....proper ping pong butt kicking." He shot the girl a challenging look, "You guys play pretty well, I haven't played proper ping pong in so long i almost forgot what it looks like.". He removed the ice pack, eye feeling a bit better as it opened, "Ah, That's better, thanks sunny, does my eye look ok to you guys? Just to be safe?" Both girls nodded. "Good, c'mon, time for some payback!", He got his hands on sunny's paddle and happily took his spot on the other side of the table as Celeste made her way over to hers. She was making a face, not wanting to feel intimidated by him. He was right though, she didn't stand a chance against him. Though part of her blamed his probable half demon strength for how easily he was able to score points against her more then anything. She felt so tempted to cheat, use magic, how did sky put up with this smug looking dude anyway? As another ball zipped past her, she found herself thinking of something. Maybe she could distract him somehow? Though would he even fall for that to begin with? She put on her best face as she picked up the ball from her side. "So, your brother......i'm gonna assume by the sappy love song he was playing he has a crush on someone?". She served but Judas kept his focus on the ball more then what she was saying, waiting until he scored another point before answering her question. "What's it to you?" Celeste picked the ball up and tossed it to him to serve, "Just asking, is that a problem?". She found his eyes staring her down, skeptic of what she was doing, "I think Landon wants to be left alone right now, yesterday got him really upset...". He had to assume mason was probably still bugging him with dating advice on top of everything else, and at this rate his brother wouldn't date till his was 80. Sunny's ears twitched, looking at him with innocent eyes, "How come, did something happen?". "My brother's just not well...a very social person, i mean granted, i'm not always the most social either but between the three of us he's always had a harder time talking to people and making friends...crushes are no exception.". He put down the paddle and ball, "He and sky are the same age you know, and he's just dealing with things. Then again, we're all dealing with things....I guess it's just harder for him in some ways...". He look a better look at Celeste, making her cross her arms, "You seem about their age too now that I think about it? Sorry, i don't think I've asked either of you that." He was met with silence, making him change the subject. "Are we gonna play or not?", the mewman grumbled, fiddling with her paddle. The boy raised his eyebrow again, "Are you sure you still want to play, it's not any offense to you it's just you haven't scored a single point yet and game should be almost over soon, we could just stop and come back later if you want?". The girl simply shot him a dirty look, "Don't tell me we're done, we're done when we're done. Serve lucitor, i'll kick your butt and then you'll be sorry..". She was feisty, did she get that from his mom, or star? It didn't quite feel like either of them. At least, he hoped not. The girl looked like them, but she didn't feel like them. Bright clothes or not her eyes seemed fiery instead of the bright ones the boy was familiar with in terms of his mother. Guess in retrospect she was not exactly in a place she could be super happy but at the same time he wondered how she could store up so much anger in that little body. But then, before he could think about it, he could hear yelling from the other side of the door, followed but grunting and yelling. He felt a sudden dose of urgency, and he almost attempted to try and shield the girts in case it was an attack. But then the noise stopped, and there was discussion heard outside of it. Was something else going on out there? Then the door opened, almost casually, and judas was almost prepared for a dozen of different people to enter. Sky, his parents, his grandparents, perhaps his brothers, heck he even could've expected angel to pop in for some odd reason. What he didn't expect was the sight of a familiar green flying ponyhead trapped in the arms of two demon guards. His heart dropped. "Loki?"

[winchestergirl-13]

Day In Paradise

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Prompt: “Just Another Day in Paradise”

Word Count: 1,170

Warning: fluff, like one swear word, implied sexy time (nothing happens), mentioned Sam x Eileen

A/N: This was written for @charlotteswinchester‘s writing challenge. This is set in a AU and I used the song “Just Another Day in Paradise” by Phil Vassar; some lyrics are bolded while others are embedded in the story (the lyrics were too long and told the story too much to leave as they were, so I implied that they are there). Enjoy!

Dean woke up in the morning at 8:25 on Tuesday to the sound of his kids screaming for whatever reason, the phone ringing for a moment before being picked up, and their dog, Parker (he was a Sheppard mix), barking, probably at the mailman out the window. He had a feeling that he was bringing by some bills that were overdue. Getting up, he slipped on his robe and made his way downstairs where his wife (Y/N) was making breakfast as Jude and Charlie, their four year old twins, were chatting away at the table.

“Good morning, baby, how are you?” Dean asked as he placed a kiss on (Y/N)'s cheek before reaching into the fridge for the milk.

“Morning babe. I'm good. Sleep well?”

“Yeah. Got a half hour to take a shower before I have to get ready for work,” he replied, taking a sip of the milk. He pulled it away with a look of disgust. It had gone sour.

(Y/N) started laughing at Dean's reaction and groaned playfully when he twisted the top back on and put it back in the fridge.

“Gross dear,” she shook her head as she served breakfast for her family. After breakfast, the kids went upstairs to get dressed before she took them to daycare for the day and Dean went to shower before heading down to the mechanic shop he owned with his father and uncle. She decided to get some laundry done, but there was a problem. The load from last night didn't finish its cycle. The machine broke.

“Damn it,” she cursed, kicking the machine hoping it would start.

“Whoa, hey now. Baby, don't kick it. Look, I promise I'll fix it when I get home, okay?” Dean promised, placing calming hands on her shoulders. “Well, I can add “fix washing machine to my list of about a million other things” he thought to himself, smiling when (Y/N) blew out a breathe before relaxing.

“Okay. I love you,” she wrapped her arms around his waist, her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, placing a kiss to the top of her head. “I love you, too.”

Well, it's ok. It's so nice It's just another day in paradise

If Dean was being honest with himself, there was no place that he'd rather be. Their life was built with two hearts and one dream. He wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Every night before they went to bed, Dean would get down on his knees and pray to God, asking the Lord for just another day in paradise. His life wasn't what he'd call “perfect” but to him, nothing else was better.

Friday night, (Y/N) was held up in a meeting at the college she worked at as a (insert teaching style) and she got home late. Dean was waiting for her at the door and one look at his watch told him that they'd never make their dinner date at the restaurant they had their first date at. (Y/N) started to cry a little, saying it was her fault, that if she had just gotten out earlier.

“Hey now. Baby, it's okay. We'll just improvise and go out tomorrow. I'll call Jo, let her know that she doesn't have to come tonight and see if she can come tomorrow, while you go get comfy, okay?” Dean stated, cupping her cheek, his thumb catching the tears rolling down her face.

“Yeah, that sounds great,” she sighed, a happy smile playing on her lips. Well, plan B turned out to be some Domino's pizza twenty minutes later in he candle light in their kitchen. Jude and Charlie having gone to bed about an hour ago. After dinner, Dean took (Y/N) by the hand and they were literally tippy-toeing up the stairs to their room. With the kids asleep, they decided it was time to make a little love that was overdue.

(Y/N) had just gotten Dean's shirt off when their door opened. Charlie was standing in the doorway, her little brown bear clutched in her hand as she knuckled at her eyes. Tears were slowly falling from her dark green eyes.

“Oh sweetie, did you have a bad dream?” (Y/N) asked, already knowing the answer as she knelt in front of their daughter.

“Uh-huh. Mama, Daddy, can me and teddy sleep with you please?” she nodded her head, asking softly. They weren't going to deny her that.

“Of course honey. Mommy and I were just getting ready for bed ourselves. We didn't go to dinner, so Jo didn't come by. But she will tomorrow. You climb under those covers and we'll be right back, okay?” Dean replied, picking her up under the arms and gently tossing her onto their bed, taking in her light giggles. She gave a nod and crawled under the covers in the middle as they walked into their bathroom and got ready. There was always tomorrow.

By morning, Dean will wake up and find that Jude had joined them at some time in the middle of the night, curled around Charlie like he was protecting her. (Y/N) laid on the left side of the bed, her arm draped over their kids. Dean smiled and placed a kiss the each of their temples before getting up and fixing the blankets around them. He'd make breakfast while they slept.

Yeah it's ok. It's so nice. It's just another day in paradise.

As Dean made breakfast, he couldn't help but think that he was so lucky to have this life. There literally was no place that he'd rather be. He and (Y/N) had found their dream house, fixed it up, and it took both their hearts to make it their home. He placed the food on the larger serving tray they had and made his way upstairs where he could hear his family just starting to wake up. Walking in, he found (Y/N) sitting up, hair a mess and a sleepy smile as she watched Jude and Charlie play with Parker before catching Dean's eyes. He wouldn't trade this for anything. He made sure to thank the Lord again that night and again asked for just another day in paradise. Well, it's ok. It's so nice. It's just another day in paradise. Well, there's no place that I'd rather be Two hearts And one dream I wouldn't trade it for anything And I ask the lord every night For just another day in paradise

Come Monday, the same routine played out. He woke up to the kids screaming and their phone ringing. Sam calling to make sure they could make it Saturday for the barbecue at his and Eileen's place. The week went by, (Y/N) came home late again Friday due to another meeting, but it was okay. Dean had dinner waiting for her when she got home, Jude and Charlie exclaiming about how they helped. It was perfect. It was just another day in paradise. Oh yeah, it's just another day in paradise

[heartslogos]

seas who could sing so deep and strong [107]

“Step in line,” the Empress says, “As soon as the technicians have figured out stabilizing Garuda and make that warframe’s schematics available to the tenno pool I will be the first to get her. I’ve always wanted to try transference with a Garuda. But by the time the Orokin had her design finalized and ready for mass production I had already been deployed to Earth as a Saryn. And there was no way that I was going to leave Alpha, they might have never let me come back.”

“You can’t hoard Garuda to yourself,” Punk says, “I want to try interfacing with one, too.”

“Among all of us,” the Empress gestures in a neat triangle, “I am the one most suited for Garuda. Punk, I love you dearly and treasure you as an adorable companion and amusement, but if you come between me and that warframe I will cut you off without remorse or hesitation.”

“I also want to try Garuda,” Kore says, joining the conversation for the first time since the argument broke out, “I feel like she’d be more compatible with me than my Valkyr.”

Valkyr’s rage and her vengeance is too powerful. It’s all consuming. As a Valkyr Kore relishes the power and feels so vividly alive, but at the same time she can’t think. All of her thoughts race and move towards one act of violence and immediate satisfaction to the other. She can’t plan, she can’t think ahead, she can’t protect Judge the way she needs to sometimes.

Garuda seems more precise. Controlled. Tactical.

“Excellent. Then our order shall be me, then Persephone, and then you,” the Empress says.

“What? How come Percy before me? She only just joined this conversation one second ago.”

“Women and children first.”

“I am a child!” Punk throws his arms up in exasperation.

“Oh, Jude,” the Empress smiles, and pats Punk’s cheek, “You are unquestionably juvenile but you are no child. And there is only one person in existence that I would follow behind and currently he has about as much interest in Garuda than he has in the world around him. Alpha?”

The three of them turn to the Oberon that’s been quietly kneeling on the ground some yards off.

Oberon’s long shimmering royal blue and crisp white skirts are elegantly fanned out on the ground around Alpha, as his metal fingertips glitter in the light as he untangles some sort of small baby brush animal from a thorny bush.

“Alpha,” the Empress calls out again.

She sighs fondly when there’s no response and repeats, “Alpha.”

Oberon’s head suddenly turns towards them, hands stilling, shoulders jerking back. He tilts his head.

“Do you want a Garuda?” the Empress asks.

Alpha’s response is to turn back to the animal he’s working with and continue unraveling thorns and leaves and branches, returning to his intense focus on his self-assigned task.

“See?”

“We can all use her at the same time,” Punk says, “There’s no reason why we can only deploy one Garuda at a time.”

Kore rolls her eyes and the Empress sighs, shaking her head.

“If I am a Garuda, and you are a Garuda, and Persephone is a Garuda,” the Empress says, “Who is the one keeping us alive and providing back up when there’s a dip in synchronization or some sort of failed calibration?”

“Garuda’s damage output increases the more damage the frame has sustained,” Kore says, “That means we’re all going to be running this frame through heavy fire on purpose and we’re going to have to manage our warframe’s energy pools while trying to keep level. The three of us trying to figure that out at the same time together without any real back up is suicide. And with your luck the Zanuka would drop in for us. Empress maxes her first, then me, then you. Ideally, if you go last then the two of us will know what to expect when you start in on it.”

-

“Your thoughts?” the Empress says as Judge follows her onto the newly constructed relay.

“It’s…red,” Judge says. It’s certainly a very different aesthetic from the other tenno relays. “And it kind of feels like this is some sort of battalion outpost. Like this place exists in the middle of a war zone.”

“The entirely of this solar system is a war zone,” the Empress replies, “But your point is made. Yes, it does have that atmosphere, doesn’t it? The other relays seem very relaxed in comparison. Cool. Business like.”

“Yeah,” Judge says, looking around at the orange and gold banners, the flames and torches, the scorched stones that decorate the warm metal of the relay. “The Steel Meridian designed this place? It feels more Red Veil.”

“The Steel Meridian is not known for aesthetics, Hades,” the Empress says, “And of its allies the Red Veil knows how to use images best. Say what you will about them, but they certainly have a mastery of dramatics. Mercury is one of the more contested planets, quick to change hands. It seems fitting that its relay gets designed with these conditions in mind.”

Judge sticks close to the Saryn as she guides them through the relay. It’s not just the colors that are different. The entire layout of the space is rearranged.

Automatic doors slide open and Judge looks up at the new and open main room, seeing the large glass panes revealing the darkness of space outside. All of it is heavily contrasted with the metal bowls of flame and burning stones.

In the middle of the room there’s a red countdown holograph projected along with some sort of -

“Razorback?”

“No one wants the Tenno factions rebuilding anything,” the Empress says, “Of course the Corpus and Grineer have set their sights on this relay to destroy it once more. Better now to crush hope and to nip this before it is fully fortified. Come. We must report to the Arbiters, new intelligence on the incoming invasion should have been distributed to the factions by now. And I would like to hear it from Hexis before I hear the Steel Meridian’s colorful version.”

[oxfordcommafag]

all the warm colors

yes hello this is a short story i wrote be gentle (sorry it’s a lil long) 

***

This is the place I know like the back of my hands. The trees have sheltered me since I was little, with the branches and leaves whispering in my ears with every sway of the wind. This is the place where we would run to after school despite our parents’ objections. It was home when there wasn’t a home to go to.

Except, tonight, it’s a mystery to me.

The trees do not sway. They do not whisper to me. They are silent, unmoving, and for the first time, I feel like a stranger in these woods.

I trace my fingers alongside the rough bark of the tree. White pine, I think, and look towards the canopy, searching for any piece of recognition, but in the darkness of the night, my mind is anything but clear.

White pine, I think again, although this time the words escape my lips.

I stop walking and grab my notebook from my pack, fishing my phone out of my pocket and switching on the flashlight. I skim through the pages of my notebook, mind racing, trying to pinpoint the location.

Up ahead, there’s a snapping sound followed by a shout, and my head jerks up from my notes.

“Fuck, Tanner, I can’t see anything anymore. Gimme the flashlight.”

“Use your own damn phone, Jude.”

The two shadows—Tanner and Jude—are fifteen yards ahead of me, just barely illuminated by Tanner’s scanty phone flashlight. Everything—coming back here, to the woods, to the clearing—was their idea. Tradition, Jude had called it. Although this year, it was just a bit different.

I inhale sharply and block out the thought. I look back down at my notes.

“That’s your own fault,” Tanner is saying.

“Yeah, but if you hadn’t forgotten the drinks we wouldn’t have had to go back, and we wouldn’t be in this mess, now would we?”

“Oh, fuck off,” Tanner groans. “I drove us here, so I can just as quickly leave without you.” There’s a pause and then Tanner says, “How’s it going back there, navigator?”

Distracted once again, I close my book and shove it back into my bag.

“There should be the clearing about fifteen yards to your right,” I call to Tanner, quickening my pace to catch up to them.

Sure enough, the clearing’s there, seeming to appear out of thin air.

“What would we do without our little forest walker, huh, Adam?” Tanner claps me on the back, a little too hard, and I stumble forward a bit. I don’t respond, just shrug my bag onto my shoulder a little more and step over the thickett into the center of the clearing where our campsite sits, untouched.

“Remind me again why we didn’t leave someone here to watch our stuff?” Jude questions, but it’s more directed towards Tanner.

“Who’s gonna touch our stuff?” Tanner responds. “No one’s been back here for a while. And besides, Adam knows the best way to and from here.”

Jude lets out a defeated sigh and throws his pack onto the ground where it opens up, spilling its glorious contents: a dozen cans of bud lite and coke.

“And to think that I almost sprained my ankle three times just to get these,” Jude says, using his phone flashlight to scan the ground for any stray cans. I walk over to the fire pit and begin to kindle a fire, and within ten minutes we’re all lounging around the embers wrapped up in our sleeping bags with our backs propped up against the trees, music humming in the background. Tanner reaches for the bag and grabs two cans and cracks one open, slurping up the bubbles as they ooze out of the top. After his hefty gulp he tosses the other one to Jude and turns back to guzzling down his own drink. I roll out of my sleeping bag and reach over to Jude’s pack and take a beer for myself, trying to act unbothered. I tap the tab gently and meticulously, making a mental note to grab extra water for everyone later.

“Mmh,” Jude murmurs. “Cheap beer, my favorite.”

“Piss off if you don’t want it then, asshole,” Tanner says. “That’s money out of my pocket.”

Jude raises his hands in defense. “Don’t worry, it’s all good. I’m eighteen. My standards are low.”

“Cam,” I chime in, “would not stand for this mediocracy.”

“You know what, Adam?” Tanner says, and there’s a hint of mischief in his voice. “You’re right.” Tanner throws his sleeping bag off and reaches into Jude’s bag and pulls out, this time, a can of coke and shakes it like there’s no tomorrow and pops the tap, letting soda explode all over the three of us and quickly pours the rest of his bud lite into the soda and chugs the can, smashing it onto the ground once he’s done. I’m covered in sticky beer, but I manage a chuckle as Tanner lets out a long, putrid belch.

“There you go,” he says, bowing as Jude howls with laughter. “Typical Cam fashion.”

“Bravo,” Jude cheers. “Way to make an absolute fool of yourself. And thanks for the shower.”

“You’re just jealous,” he rebukes, “because you could never stomach it. Cam would be proud.”

I run my fingers through my sticky hair, catching Tanner take out another beer and toss his empty one to the side. I feel uneasy, but it’s not from the beer. Ignoring it, I reach over my head and pull off my shirt, setting it down beside me to dry. I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone, glancing at the time. 7:32. My thoughts settle down.

One hour and ten minutes until a year exactly, I think. What the fuck are we doing getting shit-faced? I look back down at my chest, still slick with beer. A wave of guilt and revulsion runs through my body, and I sit up sharply.

“This isn’t what Cam would want,” I mutter, almost to myself.

“What do you mean?” Jude asks.

I want to reply, but I’m not sure what to say. This all just feels wrong.

The fire crackles, breaking the silence.

“Of course this is what Cam would want!” Tanner cackles. “Are you serious? His three best friends chilling with some cold ones, per tradition, getting ready to party it up.”

Maybe that’s what you want, I think, but instead say, “I don’t know. It feels too quiet here. Like we’re disturbing the woods. Maybe…maybe Cam doesn’t want us here.”

“Well,” Tanner counters, turning up the music, “if I were him, I would certainly be wishing that I could join the party right now. And it’s just getting started.”

He pulls out a packet of Marlboros and hands one to each of us. None of us smokes. We just take it for the looks. Vintage street rat, Tanner calls it. I hold mine in my hand and twirl it through my fingers absentmindedly while Jude and Tanner stand up and began to howl with the music.

“This is for you, Cam!” Tanner shouts into the night. I want to get up and join them, to feel the buzz drown out all of my inhibitions, but I can’t shake my uneasy feeling. It’s the first time here without him, so the woods just feel vacant. They feel lonely, unfamiliar. I feel my thoughts begin to race (and there’s no stopping them this time), and my heart starts to pound (is this how he felt?). So I reach into my bag and pull out my notebook again, browsing through my notes. Years of mapping and rambles of notes and paintings—paintings with colors I haven’t touched in a year—litter the pages, and I know exactly where we are so I flip to the page, all the way in the back.

(Did he come to this spot?)

Hazlett Forest, it reads in my scribbles. December 12, 2013. It’s an old page, but it’s one that Cam and I put together. I continue reading.

The clearing; white pine and heavy, mossy ground. Thirty paces east from the little stream,  152 paces east from the lake.

I stop reading.

(I don’t want to think about the lake.)

I turn the page where there’s a polaroid clipped onto the outside of the page. It’s me and Cam in the clearing, all but fifteen years old. We still both had our braces, and Cam’s clunky glasses are sitting crookedly on his face matching perfectly with his crooked smile. That stupid, stupid grin and those stupid glasses. Sometimes I hate myself for not taking more pictures of us, because now I only have years-old pictures and sometimes I think I’m forgetting what he looks like and sometimes I’m scared that I’ll forget him all together and sometimes—

I slam the book closed and smack the back of my head onto the tree behind me, trying to silence the thoughts. I glance over at Jude and Tanner. Jude’s taken out his ukulele and is fiddling lazily with the strings and Tanner’s lying down, snoring lightly. Typical. Jude looks up and I catch his eye, and he nods in silent agreement.  He reaches over to the speaker and turns the music off while I begin picking up the empty beer and soda cans. After, I take a look at the time. 8:39. Shit, it’s been that long already? How is that possible? Throwing the thought to the side, I kick Tanner gently awake.

“Hey, it’s almost time,” I whisper, and Tanner stirs.

“I gotta take a leak,” Tanner mumbles, slowly getting up.

“Can’t you wait, like, five minutes?” I say impatiently.

“Dude, I gotta go when I gotta go.” Tanner begins stumbling away as I wave my hands indignantly.

“You’re gonna miss it,” I hiss, but Tanner waves his hand dismissingly.

“Forget it, Adam,” Jude says. “If he wants to miss it, it’s on him.”

“Fucking asshole,” I spit. “That’s all he’s been today.”

“We’re all just—you know—a little overworked,” Jude reassures me, and he takes a look at his watch. “One minute.” He smiles hopefully, but I can’t get over how selfish Tanner’s being. He was the one so adamant to do this, both he and Jude, and he’s going to miss it all, the most important part, all because he’s taking a fucking piss, all because—

“Adam,” Jude murmurs beside me.

“What?” I snap, turing to face Jude. He’s staring off into the distance, frozen in place.

“Adam,” he says again, raising his hand and pointing a finger to the treeline. “Is… that Cam?”

I squint into the distance and scan my eyes over the trees, and in the center of it all is, unmistakably, Cam. Even if it’s just his silhouette, there’s no mistaking his head of curly golden hair.

Heart racing, I scramble to grab my phone out of my pocket and turn on my flashlight, shining it into the distance.

“Cam?” I shout, pointing the flashlight at him. It passes over his figure, but in a flash, he darts away.

“Wait!” I hollar, and I’m suddenly running like a madman towards the tree line, faster than I’ve ever ran before, screaming incoherently. My mind’s a blur, and all I’m thinking is It can’t be him it can’t be him it can’t be him but at the same time I’m shouting at my legs to run faster, faster, to catch up to Cam to just make sure and so I could see him one more time so I wouldn’t forget him—

My foot catches on a root and suddenly I’m no longer running but flying through the air and I crash to the ground, skidding to a stop. I sit up and brush myself off, scanning the area frantically for any sights of Cam.

But he’s gone.

And I’m alone.

I crumble to the ground and sink my face into the earth, letting out a sound that’s half way between a groan and a scream.

“I’m so sorry,” I whimper into the earth. “Please come back.”

But he’s not coming back, not now, not ever again, and so I sink farther and farther into the ground, waiting for the day that the mosses and grasses grow over me and swallow me whole.

But, of course, that doesn’t happen.

There’s a tap on my shoulder.

“Adam?” a voice says softly. It’s a million miles away. Or maybe I’m a million miles away, but either way, I somehow manage to slowly lift my head up from the ground. Jude’s standing beside me illuminated by his flashlight. His eyes are hollow and glassy, and his face is filled with concern.

“He’s gone,” is all I can manage to mutter.

“I know,” is all he responds as he reaches down and hoists me up from the ground. But somehow, it’s comforting. If Jude saw Cam too, then maybe he’s still out there. Maybe he’s not completely gone.

Jude carefully guides me back to the campsite, and by the time we get back to the clearing my legs have stopped shaking. That is, until I see Tanner standing aloofly by his tent. Before Jude can stop me, I’m hurling myself at Tanner, shoving him hard in the chest.

“Where the fuck were you?”

“I—” he starts, but I cut him off sharply.

“No! I don’t care if you were taking a fucking piss! This is your fault! You never show up for anything!”

“Is that what this is about?” he shouts, enraged. He shoves me backwards, harder. “Do not blame me for this. It is not my fault that Cam’s dead.”

“You didn’t fucking show up when you were supposed to!” I scream, tears swelling in my eyes and blurring my vision.

“What were you doing, then?” he counters. “Working on some stupid painting and ignoring his texts. How is that any better? And you!” He turns and faces Jude, who takes an apprehensive step back. “Care to explain what you were doing?”

“Shut up!” I shout, because I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to think about the night we all destroyed our lives. The night when Cam called us all, frantic, sobbing, scared. The night when he finally, finally tried to reach out but no one responded. The night when Tanner didn’t pick Cam from from tech crew because Cam’s parents were out of town, even though he promised, or when I was too preoccupied working on my art project to pick up the phone because couldn’t I just focus on me for once? Or when Jude couldn’t answer because he was too busy making out with Cam’s girlfriend.

The night he never went home and instead ran into the forest—to the lake—looking for something to hold onto.

They say he slipped. Hit his head. And then he drowned. And all of us could have stopped it.

I remember looking at the texts and dismissing them so easily.

Hey, the first one read. Tanner isn’t here yet.

Tech crew sucked. Like big time.

U busy?

Yes I am, actually, I had thought. I was selfish. In that moment, I had betrayed our ten-year long friendship. I had tossed my phone to the side. I didn’t see the rest of the texts until the next morning.

Pls.

Can we talk or somethin?

?

Adam?

The last text had ripped out my insides. He was begging, pleading for me to answer in his last act of desperation, and I had ignored every text. And so had every one of us.

“Can we just go home?” I say finally, collapsing down onto the ground.

“It’s probably best to wait until morning,” Jude suggests, nodding to the beer cans.

I look back down at the time. 9:02. What a long night it’s going to be.

Morning comes after a tantalizingly long wait and we pack up quickly and silently. Jude tosses the two leftover bud lites into his bag and settles for a coke as he hops into the passenger seat of Tanner’s Cutlas. I take to the back, shoved tightly in between all of our camping gear. The car is silent the whole ride home.

I make sure to smile to mom when I get back exclaim that everything went great and tell her the bruise on my forehead and the scratches on my arms are from typical teenage roughhousing, not from running derangedly after my dead best friend.

I make my way slowly up to my room and try to preoccupy myself by packing my backpack for school tomorrow. No one else is going to be thinking about Cam. Everyone else has moved on and is looking forward to bigger and better things. And yet I look around my room and all I see is Cam. The dozens of paintings and ancient easels caked with dry paint stacked up in the corner room are a constant reminder of the night I killed my best friend, but I haven’t had the courage to throw them out yet. I never wanted to touch a paintbrush after that night. I still don’t.  

I turn my back to the corner of abandoned art and shove my computer and notebooks into my backpack, more angrily than I intend to. Maybe he’s still out there, maybe he’s still waiting. That’s it: he’s probably waiting by the lake, waiting for all of us to return, and I realize that I have to go back,  I have to see him again, just one last time.

Maybe then the thoughts will stop.

I’m standing by my locker after school the next day when Jude walks up to me.

“What’s the rush? Your text seemed kinda urgent.”

“We gotta go back,” is all I say. I haven’t been able to concentrate all day. It’s just a constant stream of We gotta go back we gotta go back we gotta go back rushing through my head and I can feel the bubble of anxiety inside of my stomach about to explode.

“What do you mean?” Jude asks.

“To the forest,” I say impatiently. My heart is starting to pick up and I feel my hands starting to get clammy. “We have to go back. I’m freaking out, Jude, and I can’t take it anymore.”

“Look,” Jude says slowly, “I get what you’re saying, but I don’t think this is the best way to go about it. I think it’s best—”

“You don’t get it, do you?” I hiss, cutting him off before he can get any further. I know what he’s going to say and I don’t want anything to do with it. “He was my best friend.  And I can’t believe I just—just ignored him so easily. I didn’t want anything to do with him that night and I was so selfish and I’ve never been so sorry for something in my life. He was ripped away and he’s never coming back and there’s nothing I can do about it. It just hurts so fucking much.“

“You weren’t the only one who lost a friend that day, you know. He was my friend too, and Tanner’s. And I miss him just as badly as you do. Death is a part of life and we have to move on.” I shoot him a look that could cut glass, but Jude takes another breath.

“Why don’t you try talking to Dr. Clark again? Maybe we all could use it.”

I shake my head quickly. “I don’t need that psychoanalysis bullshit again.”

Jude runs his fingers through his hair, visibly annoyed.

“Fine. I’ll go with you. But this isn’t going to get better unless you help yourself first.”

“How can you be so fine about this? We just saw our dead friend the other night.”

Jude shifts his feet awkwardly. “Look, Adam. We were all a bit buzzed. Maybe…you know…maybe nothing really happened.”

“You sound like your mom talking,” I grumble.

His silence is all the response I need.

“You told her what happened?” I mutter through gritted teeth, getting more frustrated by the second.

“Well…yeah. I mean, I was visibly upset when I came home, and she questioned, and—you know how my mom is—it kinda just spilled out.”

I exhale sharply and slouch against my locker.

“Forget it. Forget I ever asked. I’m going on my own.”

“Adam, wait,” Jude starts, but I’ve already swung my backpack onto my shoulder and I’m darting through the crowd before he can say another word.

I throw my bag into the passenger seat of my car and rev the engine, feeling my hands and fingers throb as I grip the steering wheel. It’s a ten minute drive to the forest from school, but it seems as if I get there in two. My mind’s a whirl and I feel the pull of the trees as soon as I step out of my car. They’re calling me, beckoning me forward. No, Cam’s calling me.

Cam, is all I can think. Just let him be there. The trees leer over me, still unfamiliar, but I rush in anyway, letting my feet guide me to the lake.

There’s nothing but cold, damp foliage when I make it to the edge of the water. It laps at my shoes, soaking my feet instantly. I take a step back, glancing desperately to the left and right, looking for any sign of Cam.

But of course he doesn’t show, and I’m left standing by the edge of the water with a hollow pit in my stomach.

I don’t know what I was expecting.

Jude was right, about everything, and I just didn’t want to listen.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I kick a wad of mud as hard as I can, sending it sailing into the lake.

“What the hell do you want?” I screech, my voice raw. I’m  slowly going insane, slowly drowning in my thoughts, slowly losing who I was. I take a defeated step back and crumple to the ground, letting myself sink into the mud.

I bring my legs up to my chest and let my chin rest gently on my knees. Picking up a stick, I absentmindedly draw in the dirt while I watch the water in the lake lightly ebb and flow, ebb and flow. I think of everything I said to Cam, and everything I never said. My thoughts start to rattle and shake, but this time I let them.

Why don’t you paint anymore?

You know why, Cam.

Enlighten me.

I don’t want to say it. Don’t want to think it.

I’m waiting.

I take a breath. Because you made painting easy. You made everything easy. It was always us together. CamandAdam. And now I don’t know what to do and I don’t want to forget you but every time I pick up a paintbrush my mind goes back to that night and it makes me want to throw up every time I think about what I did.

You were going to be an painter, Adam. What about that? Adam, painter extraordinaire. Don’t give that up because of me.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” I whisper, aloud.

It’s not going to make me disappear.

No no no, I think. Please don’t make me do this.

I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the thoughts, but they keep coming. And they’ll keep coming. They’ll never end unless—

I stop and grit my teeth.

Fine. You win this one, Cam.

I stand up, and despite the wave of dizziness that courses through by body, I start running, and it feels like finally, finally, I’m running towards something.

A half hour later, I stand at the tree line once more, carrying a canvas bag. The trees loom over me, and for a moment, I almost turn back. But I take a deep breath and, instead, I step forward.

I know this place like the back of my hand, I remind myself. The trees have sheltered me since I was little, and they will continue to do so.

With every step, I feel the trees becoming more alive, humming with energy. It doesn’t quite feel like a mystery anymore.

I feel the objects in the bag jostle around every time I take a step, reminding me why I’m here. I had rushed home to grab them, startling both of my parents as I busted through the front door and up the steps to my bedroom. My paint supplies were still piled up in the corner of the room where they had been for the last year, untouched, unmoving, unwanted. I walked over slowly to the pile, hesitant at first, my fingers twitching with anticipation. My chest ached as I crouched down and picked up a tube of red paint. I felt a familiar memory slip into the back of my mind, one of childhood games of tag with Cam during sunset, and my lips twitched into a nostalgic smile. I dug through the rest of the pile and pulled out the tube of yellow, and then of orange. Red, yellow, orange. All the warm colors. Cam’s favorite. I held onto them for a split second longer, allowing the memories to bubble, and then I shoved the paint into my canvas bag.

I’m at the lake now, and everything’s calm. The water’s like glass, slick and unmoving, waiting patiently for me. I close my eyes and tilt my head towards the sky, allowing the fear to wash over me, but then allowing it to subside. Are you there, Cam? I ask, but I know I’m just trying to stall the inevitable, and I force my feet to step forwards, despite the fact that they’re trying to tug me back, despite the fact that every fiber of my being is screaming at me to run away again. But I won’t do it. I’m tired of running.

I crouch down by the water and pull out the tubes of paint, fiddling with them in my hands. These were his. They were always his. Every time I painted and used these colors, I was thinking of him. They were never mine, and they never will be. I gently untwist the caps, one by one.

“Don’t worry, Cam,” I say aloud, “I think I’m gonna be okay.”

With one last exhale, I squeeze the tubes of paints together, holding my breath as they form into vibrant stream of sunset, and for a moment I’m stuck in time, watching contently as all the warm colors sink slowly away from sight.