#oh and owls. love those guys. one nearly flew into my head once

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Wait!!! You said that you love birdwatching, me too!! What have you seen so far and which ones are your favourite?

-🎂

*casual birdwatching! as in i watch birds when they're around!

the list of birds ive seen in the wild is too long to list... and i dont think i can name a favori-roadrunners Its Roadrunners. im a roadrunner fan. meep meep

[bleachanimefan1]

Oblitus Part 38

I Can't Help Falling In Love With You

25 Days Until Extermination...

Four hours ago...

A giant fish monster roared as everyone stared with shocked and surprised looks on their faces as they stood at the shore from the beach, watching. The monster tossed someone high into the air as they tried to fight it. It was Lucifer. It wrapped it's tentacles around him and shocked the fallen angel, knocking him unconscious for a moment. His eyes began to feel heavy as he tried to fight off the sleep.

His gaze drifted over to the hotel guests, seeing his daughter, Vaggie, Alastor, he was wearing one of those old 1920's swim suits except it was red and black stripes and a large sunhat, Anna, who was wearing a black two piece, Angel, Husk and the rest, watching. Helsa and her brother Seviathan were lying on the sand, unconscious and beaten up. Then Lucifer's gaze stopped at Lilith who had a horrified look on her face. He smiled with a dazed look, drifting in and out of consciousness. She was still beautiful, as the day he first saw her, especially now in that sexy swimsuit of hers.

The monster tossed Lucifer high to the air and opened it's mouth as he began to fall, ready to eat him. Lucifer felt time began to slow down around him as he stared at everyone on the beach.

"I guess, you're wondering how I got into this situation. It is all because I fell in love. Let me rewind it a couple of hours back, leading to this moment."

Loud noises were heard as a couple of demons jumped, startled, as they passed by Lucifer and Lilith's mansion. Lucifer dodged an ancient looking vase as it was thrown at him. He quickly used his magic to stop it before it shattered on the floor, setting the fragile vase down, gently.

"Lilith, you know that this is an ancient relic from the past and a favorite of mine-" His eyes widened as he saw his wife picked up his angel sword and tossed it, nearly hitting him when she did. It stabbed the wall beside him, inches from his cheek.

"Lily, I don't know what else there is to say. I'm sorry!"

"I won't forgive you until you apologize to our daughter!" Lilith screamed. "I want you to take your stuff and get out!" She picked up some of Lucifer's clothes and a suitcase and tossed them at him and shoved him right out the door.

"Lily-" Lucifer was cut off as Lilith slammed the door in his face. "Please..."

In the city, two owl demons with dark black feathers walked out of a taxidermy shop. They had a majestic and graceful appearance to them, like royalty, in fact, they were. They were the Ars Goetia. It was Stolas and his daughter, Octavia. The prince stopped when he noticed someone lying on the ground, realizing that it was Lucifer. Octavia saw him as well. He looked so sad and pitiful that it was pathetic.

"Dad?" she asked. Stolas handed his daughter some money and she took it from him, confused.

"Via, why don't you go buy yourself something nice? Maybe, one of those songs that you like so much. I'll be right with you after I have a talk with him." he told her. Octavia shrugged and walked off heading towards a music shop while Stolas turned back to the king and walked over to him. As he got closer, Stolas saw that the king was in the process of digging a hole in the ground.

"Lucifer, what are you doing?" the prince questioned, concerned. Lucifer stopped and turned to the owl prince, now noticing him, but then he went back to what he was doing.

"What does it look like? I'm digging my grave," he replied. "Want me to dig you one, too?"

The Ars Goetia prince stared at the king with a shocked look. The poor guy. He's absolutely lost his marbles...Stolas sat down on the ground, after brushing the dirt and a few pebbles out of the way, next to the king who was literally digging his own grave. Lucifer was lying face first on the ground, as he was shoveling dirt on top of his head. Stolas sighed.

"Let me guess, your little wifey kicked you out?" he asked, softly. Lucifer made a muffled whining noise.

"I guess by that noise, I'm right," Stolas confirmed. Lucifer growled and pulled his head up, now glaring at the prince, sneering.

"Don't act all so high and mighty, considering your own situation. Your wife hates you! All because you slept with an imp, an imp of all people! A lower class rank citizen!" Stolas' eyes began to glow red. Lucifer's eyes widen as he saw his feet slowly began to turn to stone, now slowly going up to his knees, stopping.

"I know! And I don't regret it, not a single bit. My marriage was miserable but the only good thing that came out of it was my daughter. Should I say the same for yours?" Lucifer said nothing.

"I don't care what other people think of me, they can say all the shit about me that they want. But, I'm not going to let you talk about my Blitzy like that, not after what's he's been through. So I'd advise you to shut up." Then he release his power that he had on Lucifer, his legs turning back to normal.

"Why are you even here?" Lucifer asked. Then he noticed Stolas staring at him, his eyes widen in realization. "You fucking knew this entire time that this would happen!" he shouted.

"Well, yes! And who do you think is to blame? Certainly, not that little human at your daughter's hotel," Stolas answered. Lucifer silently looked down as Stolas continued. "You've gotten no one else but yourself to blame. All because you can't let go of what happened to you in the past."

"Shut the fuck up, Stolas!" Lucifer growled.

"I know what's going to happen because I've seen it," the prince explained. "You're daughter's hotel is going to succeed. But, I also see something very troubling as well. A great battle is going to happen. An army is coming. Mass destruction and chaos is happening in the city, followed by time being destroyed. Someone's life, who's going to be in danger...yours." Lucifer's eyes widen.

"What?" he asked, shocked. Time being destroyed? How is that possible?

"I see you fighting one of your brothers, a crazy one but also very paranoid at that, but losing very badly, trying to defend your wife and daughter. However, someone intervenes...the human woman from the living world."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me..." Lucifer replied in disbelief. "That meddlesome pet?" Stolas smirked and chuckled.

"That "meddlesome pet" is the only thing to stop you from getting killed." he explained. "Oh, and by the way I will need my grimoire eventually given back, once you've used it to return the human back to the living world."

"What do you mean "your grimoire?" Lucifer asked. "It was mine, before you stolen it!"

"Stolen is such a strong word, I'd prefer "borrowed without permission." Stolas replied. "And speaking about the human, her life's in danger at this very moment right now, as well as your daughter's." Lucifer's eyes widen.

"They're at a beach...-" Stolas tried to explain but Lucifer quickly got up. Two large white wings sprouted from his back and he quickly flew off. "I know which one that you're talking about. Thank you for the talk!"

Stolas coughed as dirt scattered around him when Lucifer took off and waved it away with his hand. He sighed.

"Angels always in such a rush." he murmured under his breath. Then he frowned when he saw something as a vision flashed in his eyes. It was a disturbing vision of Angel Dust.

"That poor soul doesn't have much time left..."

Four hours later...

Time sped back up as Lucifer began to fall, landing right into the sea monster's mouth and it's jaws slammed shut. Charlie's eyes widened in horror as well as Lilith's.

"Mom?" the princess asked worried.

"He'll be fine," Lilith answered her. "He will be." Nothing happened and they saw the monster starting to swim away.

"I'm going over there if he doesn't come out." she muttered under her breath.

The monster was getting further away as nothing happened. Lilith's eyes turned red and she quickly ran, heading towards the beast. She jumped high into the air until she reached the creature, hitting it right in it's eye. It let out a loud bellowing shriek and open it's mouth. Lilith leaned over, looking inside of the creature's mouth. Her eyes widen as her mouth dropped slightly in disbelief when she saw Lucifer sprawled out on it's tongue as he rested his head with his head, with a smug grin on his face.

"Took you long enough, beautiful." he said. Lilith frowned and reached out to him.

"You asshole!" she screamed. Lucifer laughed and reached out grabbing her hand and she pulled him out of the monster's mouth. She slapped him across the cheek with her hand. Lucifer grabbed it before she could hit him again.

"I know," he told her. "And I'm really sorry. Now, let's go back over to our daughter so I can tell her that, as well as apologize to that human pet of hers."

Lilith's eyes widen shock before she smiled.

"What changed your mind?" she asked.

"I had a talk with an old friend," he told her.

[drabbles-of-writing]

Bad Days

This is part of my Four Years AU

AO3

Masterpost

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

They say time heals all wounds.

They never said how much time it takes.

Hours? Weeks? Months? Years?

Luz hoped that ‘time’ meant a long, long while.

Because it’d been three years, and she still didn’t feel any better.

,

Every now and again, Luz would have one of ‘those days.’

A day where, at any point, everything weighed down on her like a pile of trucks. She’d feel like she was being crushed into the ground, emotionally and physically.

Sometimes she’d wake up feeling like that. Sometimes it’d hit her when she went to bed. Sometimes she’d feel it in the middle of the day.

There were no real triggers for it. They seemed to switch up every now and again.

There was a difference between feeling down and wanting to curl up in a hole and lay there for the rest of your life.

It’d just happen .

It was a lot more frequent the first year in the Isles. Having to call off plans or school because Luz could barely muster enough strength to get off the floor was an occurrence everyone was prepared for.

They became rarer, eventually. Luz could go more days her happy-go-lucky self, pretending her sudden mood swing hadn’t ever happened.

But they never went away. Not completely.

The worst part was that Luz barely got any warning beforehand. By the time she realized what was coming on it was already too late, and she was struggling to keep a straight face as those dark thoughts tore through her mind like starving piranhas.

Luckily for her, she rarely ever had them alone.

,

“Alright, King, Luz, pack it up.” Eda sighed, looking around at the empty market. “It’s too cold to be out with no good customers.”

“Finally!” King exclaimed, pulling his scarf closer around himself and hopping off the table into the good few inches of snow that had stuck to the ground.

“Gotta say, you and Lilith are getting more...experimental with the junk you find.” Luz said, setting down a box on the table and beginning to pack away the items.

“Lilith made a few of them, take that out on her.” Eda said with a wave of her hand. “She’s lucky I took pity on her and said she didn’t have to come and suffer with the rest of us.”

“Don’t lie, you just wanted to spend time with us,” Luz grinned, pulling her coat tighter around herself as her palisman, Snowy, picked up a bendy string with googly eyes and put it in the box.

“So sue me,” Eda shrugged, eyeing Snowy as she flew to the other end of the table to grab at more junk.

“Call it a thank you present for my kid,” Eda said simply, inspecting a weird wrench-like object. “Been a while since we had time to sell at the marketplace again.”

Snowy suddenly snapped up, letting out a loud chirp and flying frantically across the table, ruffling Eda’s hair.

Eda, confused, turned towards what the palisman was panicking about.

Luz was suddenly stumbling back, knocking against the table and her hand clutching her coat tightly.

Her eyes had gone wide and glazed, staring at nothing.

Eda knew that look.

“Luz!” She exclaimed, rushing to the girls side as Snowy nuzzled up to her neck, trying to bring the girl back to them.

King jerked up from a pile of snow he was making on the ground, worried.

Eda came up behind the girl and gently grabbed her arms, turning her slightly as she worriedly looked over her expression.

“Another one?” Eda asked quietly.

Luz blinked, looking like she’d forgotten Eda was there. Her breathing was heavy, like something was crushing down on her chest. She looked up, and Eda realized she was beginning to shake.

“Yeah,” Luz said quietly, leaning her head against the witch. “Sorry,”

“Don’t you dare apologize, kid.” Eda said firmly, catching King’s eye as he stood by Luz’s feet, looking up and placing a hand on her leg.

Eda raised a hand and summoned her staff. She gently held Luz’s shoulders as she guided her to the floating staff, setting her down in front of her, where the witch could see her.

“I can clean up, if you want.” King said, pointing to the stand.

“Eh, that stuff was never gonna sell anyway,” Eda said, getting onto the staff behind Luz, who looked like she was in a comatose-like state. “Come on,”

King nodded and climbed onto the staff behind Eda, rarely taking his eyes off of Luz.

The girl’s head was at eye-level with her now, making the rise off the ground and into the air a little difficult, since she had to peer over her to see.

Eda didn’t complain.

She kept one hand on the staff and another around Luz, holding her in place. Thankfully, Luz only seemed to be in a state of shock this time, instead of a meltdown.

This did little to comfort her.

,

The ride felt too long and too fast at the same time, and when they landed, Eda was quick to rid herself of her staff and keep her hold on Luz, like the girl was going to fall over at any moment.

“Hi guys--”

Hooty’s cheerful smile fell slightly, and for once, he shut his mouth and let both of them in.

Probably from the beat-downs everyone else in the house had given him when he decided to be a pain during one of Luz’s episodes.

Luz suddenly jerked once they entered the threshold of the house, squeezing her eyes shut and pressing closer to Eda, hands shaking.

“Your okay, kid,” Eda said quietly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“Took you long enough to return,” Lilith scoffed from the kitchen, poking her head in. “Being stuck here with Hooty is a night--”

From Luz’s expression, and the death-glare Eda was giving her, Lilith was quick to shut her mouth.

“Again?” She asked quietly, frowning sadly.

“Go put away the stand,” Eda demanded, gently guiding Luz through the house. “I’m taking her to bed.”

Lilith didn’t argue, for once.

Eda led Luz up the stairs, keeping her slightly ahead. King stuck behind them, nearly getting kicked in the face by accident multiple times.

Eda opened up Luz’s door and led her inside. She had outgrown her sleeping bag a while ago, so Eda had finally allowed a mattress in the old closet, with thicker blankets for the winter.

Lilith would tease that she spoiled her.

Snowy flew off Luz’s shoulder and landed one one of the coat hangers, silently watching the trio.

Eda walked Luz to her bed and slowly lay her on it. Luz cracked open her eyes and curled into a ball, hands behind her head as she drew her legs close.

Eda sighed, chest twisting painfully at the sight of Luz. She was fully trembling now.

‘The coat!’ Eda remembered, feeling even worse as she slowly reached out again.

“Sorry, kiddo, you probably don’t want that coat--”

Luz peeked out for a moment and seized Eda’s wrist. The witch froze, still as stone as King hopped up onto the mattress and hovered by Luz’s feet, unsure.

“Please don’t go,” Luz whimpered, crossing her free arm across her chest. “Please don’t leave…”

Eda let out a breath, shoulders relaxing as she sat on the edge of Luz’s bed, stroking a finger over Luz’s hand.

“Of course,” She said quietly. “I can stay.”

King crawled up behind Luz and lay with his back pressing against hers. She relaxed a bit at this and closed her eyes, murmuring her thanks.

If you told Eda three years ago that she’d be holding the hand of a traumatized human kid in the closet of her own house, feeling more helpless than the day of her first curse, she would’ve asked why you were so specific and call it a trick.

Point was, this wasn’t exactly where she thought she’d be.

To be honest, she was expecting to be bound in jail or petrified by now, having died knowing all she’d done was be a nuisance and waste her life away. Just like her father said.

She definitely preferred this alternative.

,

“Eda?” Said a hoarse voice.

Eda looked back at Luz, snapped out of her thoughts. She hadn’t noticed that Luz was crying, since she had been hiding her face.

Now her cheeks were streaked with tears and she was sniffling.

How long had they been there, again? She couldn’t remember.

“Yeah?” She replied softly. “Do you need something? Water?” She suggested.

“No,” Luz croaked. “I-I wanted to ask you something,”

“Ask away,” Eda said immediately.

King flicked his tail, but didn’t move. Eda genuinely couldn’t tell if he was awake or not.

Snowy definitely wasn’t. That owl couldn’t relax for the life of her.

“What...what did you mean when--” Luz took in a rattly breath. “When you said that taking us-us to the stand was...a thank you pr-present?” She asked, twitching her fingers around Eda’s hand that she still refused to let go of.

“...oh,” Eda said, clearing her throat and glancing around before looking down at Luz, who was giving her wide, searching eyes.

“Well, it was what I said it was. A thanks,” She said. “For...well, everything.” Eda shrugged. “You may not like staying here, but I like having you around, y’know?” She chuckled weakly.

“I wasted all my magic before you came along, but you already knew that. You make living like this...not so bad. No offence to King,” She added, glancing at the demon.

“You mean a lot to me, Luz.” Eda said, squeezing the girl's hand. “And I missed having the little moments where we didn’t have to worry about, well, all this.” She said, vaguely gesturing around them with her free hand.

“So...I just wanted to say thanks. You deserve a calm moment,” She said softly. “But that kind of went out the window, didn’t it?” She shook her head. “Ah, well, we can try another day…”

Luz kept her eyes on the witch the entire time she spoke, trying to soak in all her words, even in her current state.

“You...you think I don’t like it here?” Luz asked, near silently.

Eda blinked down at Luz, head tilted ever so slightly.

“Aren’t you at least anxious to be here?” Eda questioned, confused. “I mean, you're always worried about going home and even now, you still search for any ways to get back to the human realm. Aren’t you...impatient?”

Luz’s eyes widened, dismayed.

“I love it here,” Luz said sincerely, her voice scratchy. “I...I’ve always loved it here.”

Eda watched Luz for a few moments, surprised. Then her face softened into a smile.

“Of course you do, it was silly of me to think otherwise.” She said. “I just thought--”

“I want to go home because of my mamá,” Luz cut her off, drawing her gaze downwards. “There’s nothing else in the human realm for me...just her.” Luz said mutely.

“She only sent me away because she was worried about me. I,” Luz swallowed thickly. “I miss her…”

Eda sighed and leaned back, running her free hand through her hair.

“I know you’ll make it back to her, kid.” Eda assured her. “You’re stubborn, you get it from me.” She teased lightly. “I know if anyone can find another way to the human realm, it’s you.”

Luz offered an incredibly small smile, but it quickly fell again. She exhaled and pulled Eda’s hand closer, resting her head against it and shutting her eyes.

She had calmed from her episode, though it was clear it hadn’t truly left yet.

“You're not gonna leave, right?” Luz asked quietly.

“I don’t have anything going on, I can stay as long as you need.” Eda reassured the girl.

“N-no, I meant,” Luz shook slightly. “You're not gonna leave me alone, are you?” She asked, beginning to tremble again.

“I...I lost my mom...and-and I almost lost you, too. I-I don’t...I can’t--”

Eda turned, placing her other hand on Luz’s shoulder. The girl cracked open an eye, tears already forming at the corners.

“I’m not going to leave you anytime soon, okay?” Eda said, smiling down at the girl. “I’ve still got a lot left in me. I’ll always be here, for however long you need me.”

Luz sniffled, fresh tears spilling from her eyes as she sat up. She wrapped Eda up in a hug, pressing her face into the witches shoulder.

Eda stiffened for a moment before relaxing and reciprocating the hug, one hand cradling the back of Luz’s head.

“It’s alright, kid. It’s alright.” Eda murmured, holding the girl close as she shook with muffled cries.

“Thank you,” Luz choked, nearly suffocating the woman. “For-for everything,”

“Hey, don’t mention it,” Eda said, nuzzling the girls head. “Call it a show of good will.”

Luz hiccuped and curled tighter. King woke up with a ‘weh’ and looked around, sleepily crawling over to the two and leaning against Luz’s side with a yawn.

“No ‘thanks mom?’” King mumbled, opening an eye with a smug little face.

“That was one time,” Luz muttered, though she didn’t move from her place.

“I know, and I’ll never forget it.” Eda chuckled, Luz shaking slightly from her light jostling. “You’re not immune to torment.”

Luz snickered slightly, and Eda felt her heart swell.

“I love you guys,” Luz murmured. “I know I’ve said that before, but…”

Eda rested her chin on the teenagers head, rubbing circles on her back. King mumbled something intelligible as he tucked closer into Luz’s side.

“We love you too, Luz.” Eda said softly. “I love you. Don’t you ever forget that, okay?”

“Okay,” Luz nodded, her body finally relaxing.

Eda stayed like that for a long while.

She pretended the pit of worry in her chest wasn’t there.

That she wasn’t worried Luz could face an early end by the Emperor's Coven.

That she wasn’t worried Luz might get cursed, at any time.

That she wasn’t worried Luz would face Emperor Belos again.

That she wasn’t worried about the fact that if Luz made it home...would she really come back? Would she go out of her way to visit the Boiling Isles?

Would she decide making her own life in the human realm was better than whatever this barely-functioning family had?

Eda had never worried about the outside world all that much before. She never even worried about being caught. If she was finally subdued by the Coven, then so be it.

Now every little thing scared her. Terrified her that she’d be forced to leave Luz early, petrified that Luz could be the one leaving her.

Loving a kid like Luz was bound to end in a bonfire.

And yet, Eda couldn’t bring herself to care.

Whatever the future may bring, these last few years were worth it.

If only to love and be loved by people she could truly, finally, deem worthy of it.

[raspberryfanfics]

concepts pt II—hyuga hizashi

Summary: All of the world's unproven things could be explained in concepts: fate, freedom, fear, love...and a girl obsessed with birds made Hizashi question everything he believed in and made him believe. He didn't question it, he just let it be. After all, change is just a concept too.

Word Count: 6108

ON FFN HERE Part I HERE

They all made chunin that year, and Hizashi found himself struggling to keep his emotional distance from Asuka.

It seemed that every time he looked at her, she grew even more beautiful. Her once flat and unshapely body had now developed soft curves and toned muscle. She was even faster than before, her legs long and lean to help carry her at incredible speeds. Her hair was now usually braided into a ponytail to keep it out of her face and it trailed behind her when she leapt from tree to tree, becoming even closer to flying.

She was now able to use the wind-riding jutsu much more proficiently and it was now more common for her to spar in the air rather than on the ground. They all had their fair share of scars now. Some on their arms from rather tough enemies, some from surgeries after they were exposed to toxic chemicals, and some from each other. Yet their team's bond was unbreakable and stronger than before.

However, he was furiously failing to keep the distance he promised the heir of his clan.

It was hard to avoid her. Sometimes he noticed that he would be cold to her but she wouldn't care, because she knew just as well as he did that he would always find her again. Once he had a new training idea, she was the first one he went to. And when she'd sneak into his bedroom in the middle of the night and talk about her mission or birds with such passion in her eyes...how was he to continue to be cold to her when she made him feel so at home?

She took his sudden changes in attitude to be moodiness and still treated him the same. It was usually later in the day where everything would be normal again.

They each were promoted to jonin one by one in the course of four years after several missions led by Kazane-sensei. On one of the S-ranked missions, the four of them stumbled upon a map in one of the scrolls of their assassinated targets. It appeared to be a map in a language that he didn't understand. However, when Kenji examined the scroll once more, he understood it immediately.

According to their teammate, it was the signs and symptoms of strange diseases understood by a skilled medics. However, the procedure and symptoms apparently made practically no sense and were organized into several chunks. Kenji spent a week trying to figure out what it meant, even consulting Tsunade, who was also very confused.

One day, when Kazane-sensei and Hizashi were meditating, Asuka bird-watching, and he was reading, he jumped up and shouted. "I know what it means!"

The three immediately looked up and he spread pages of lined paper onto the ground, pinning them with kunai.

"So most of them provide strange snippets like right here, it says the nerve was damaged severely and the word nerve was underlined. So to try and remember this, I put the abbreviation for "nerve", which is "N" on this paper, then went to the next one, which says "sutures in the nose" so I shortened that to "intranasal" and abbreviated that to "IN". Those ones were super obvious but some of them like the missing symptom for a disease were harder to find."

"You lost me, Kenji." their sensei admitted.

"Nevermind. If you take the chart abbreviation for each section it spells out into complicated instructions to a ninja falcon cliff! It's a map to find the ninja summons of falcons written down by a med-nin who probably wanted to keep it a secret!"

And with that statement, Asuka nearly fainted. 

He caught her as she fell back but she clearly needed to hear more, and she couldn't do that if she was unconscious. She recently also acquired a contract with ninja owls, and it was clear she was hungry for more. With a writ from the Hokage, she was granted permission to leave the village in search of the ninja falcon.

Sixteen-year-old Hizashi and the other two bid their teammate goodbye at the gates of Konoha, supplying her with emergency contact gear, extra weapons, summoning scrolls within summoning scrolls, and items that were supposed to bring luck. She assured them she would be fine even as Kazane-sensei reminded her to do things in the way she used to back when they were genin. They were reluctant to let her go, knowing that it could be half a year before seeing her again. Yet this was her passion and if she succeeded, she would be a stronger ninja, something they all wanted to be.

After hugging the other Kenji and Kazane-sensei, she quickly threw her arms around Hizashi, taking him by surprise.

"I know you don't like hugs," she softly as his frozen hands shook, then slowly wrapped around her waist. "But I'm really gonna miss you, Hizashi."

He blinked, burying his face in the crook of her neck into the soft fabric of her dark grey cloak. It was true that he disliked hugs, but having her in his arms was a completely different story. "I'll miss you too, Asuka. Please be safe."

"I will,"

They seemed to linger for a few moments, even as the other two watched their interaction carefully. She then pulled away and ran off, speeding towards the distance. She leaped and turned around mid-air, giving them a final wave before disappearing.

He felt disappointment flood his body and admiration as her flowing cloak and hair escaped his immediate sight.

Kenji put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, a grin plastered on his tanned face. "Oh man, you really got it bad, don't you."

"I—I'm not supposed to—"

"Have you told her how you feel yet?" his friend asked.

"I don't have—"

"I have my own Byakugan that see through the lies you tell yourself, Hizashi."

The young jonin sputtered, his face reddening. Kazane-sensei rolled her eyes and shoved her hands in her pockets. "Come on, Kenji. Let the poor guy try to actually sort his feelings out himself. He'll tell her when it's ready."

"Is it really that obvious?" he said a little bit too loudly.

They both gave him an identical look and he groaned, burying his face in his hands.

Four months later, he was nearly asleep when a bird was tapping at his window. It was Suisen, the tiny swift that destroyed his twin brother in the Chunin exams. At first, he thought it was a dream. But when he opened his window and let her in, she quickly flew onto his lamp. "Asuka is back."

His heart pounded in excitement. "Did she summon you to get me?"

"Nah, I thought you'd like to know. She's back home, finishing up cleaning. I think if you get there fast enough, you'll still get there."

He didn't need to be told twice. "Thank you, Suisen."

Hizashi cranked open his window as she disappeared with a poof and silently leaped over the rooves until he reached the window of her apartment. She lived on the highest floor, close to the sky and the roof. Her light was still on when he crouched on the sill of her window, knocking on it three times. When she didn't answer, he slowly pushed it open with a little bit of chakra and crept in. No one was in her bedroom and he was slightly worried.

Suddenly, the door opened and she was standing in a towel, dark hair dripping, and completely oblivious to the fact that he was in her bedroom.

"Asuka," She screamed, throwing her hands out to make hand seals, nearly losing the grip on her towel. He quickly looked away and raised his palms up. "Wait! Wait, it's just me."

His best friend relaxed and put her hand over her chest. "Lord Kami, you scared me, Hizashi — wait — Hizashi!"

Her face lit up and she hugged him once again, damp skin pressing against his clothes. He had to push her away, knowing that nothing was under her towel. She seemed to suddenly realize this fact too and blushed hard, stammering.

"Let me put something on."

Asuka took a few clothes out of her drawers and headed back the way she came, coming out once more with a loose shirt and shorts. "How did you know I was home?"

"Suisen," he replied, still trying to grasp his mind around the fact that he was home.

He wasn't supposed to miss her so much.

Every day he thought about her, wondered if she was ok, or if she missed him too. His nights were restless even though in the day he prayed he could go back to sleep just to see her in his dreams again. Then he wondered if she would even come back. What would he do without her? And even then, he thought about her hair and her birds, her cloak and her smile, he was pretty much a wreck while she was gone.

"I—I thought Suisen went back. She didn't tell me that she would find you—"

"I'm glad she did."

"Oh?"

"Yea. I really missed you, Asuka."

She smiled, brown eyes beaming warmly at him. "I missed you too."

"How did it go? Did you make a contract with any falcons?"

Her face lit up and she started on the tales of her journey, nearly falling off a cliff several times, being soaked to the bone, getting lost, and finally making it to their habitat, only to be tested if she was worthy. She talked for an hour, the light in her eyes shining as she talked about something she was passionate about. Usually, she didn't say much and they could understand each other through glances alone, but she could go on forever about birds. Sometimes he would zone out, the sound of her voice morphing into music and the way her lips moved entrancing him. Though she looked exhausted, she had enough energy to finish her story.

"The falcons can see even farther than you can," she whispered.

"Don't tell me I'm being replaced." he joked.

Asuka laughed, shaking her head. "Unfortunately, they don't see tenketsu points. Otherwise, you would have been screwed."

"Do they have crazy families?"

"Oh, yea. That falcon family would be crazier than yours besides the fact that they don't inflict terrible pain to those who disobey them."

It was a weirdly morbid joke that made the two silent for a moment, but Hizashi started laughing and she was on her way to apologizing until she burst too. They laughed, clutching their stomachs and rolling around, trying not to wake up her neighbours. Then he realized how pretty she was when she was laughing like that and stopped admire her.

When she noticed that he was no longer laughing, she stopped too. Her eyes fluttered to his lips, then back to his eyes. He prayed she would do whatever her eyes were saying she wanted to do. He prayed for her to have less self-control than he did because right now, he knew he didn't want her enough to kiss her but wouldn't stop her if she did.

Yet Asuka was never one to be bold in situations like these. Even in the rare seduction missions, she wouldn't even have to play the innocent girl because it came so easily. In a mission where she would have to show a lot of skin and crawl her fingers up an old man's arm, they would be screwed. When she looked away embarrassed, he wasn't surprised. It didn't stop Hizashi from feeling disappointment though.

He coughed awkwardly, reluctant to go but unsure of what else he could do. She smiled weakly at him when he crouched at her windowsill.

"Goodbye," her soft voice echoed through his ears.

"I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

She nodded and he waved a final greeting before jumping out her window, feeling light and airy, almost as if he could fly as she did.

Months later, he found himself winded up in one of the most intimate moments he ever had. The two lay side by side, staring up at the sky, which was littered with flecks, shimmering above them. Nothing touched his skin but blades of grass on their open training field, and the soft breeze of the summer night. He was fully clothed but he never felt so exposed in his life.

Hizashi didn't know much about stars and neither did Asuka, but she explained to him how birds sometimes knew where to go by looking at them. It was one of the few things about the feathered creatures she couldn't figure out: how they found their way home no matter what.

She reached out her hand as if she could touch the brightest stars and he briefly wondered how soft her fingers would feel if he wrapped his around them. Yet instead, a small owl flew past and fluttered silently around them, landing near her, looking around for prey before flying off again.

"Back in the academy, I thought your obsession with birds would be a phase. I've been proven very wrong. You have a way with them and you don't even seem to try."

She shrugged and sat to look back in the direction where the owl left. He now only saw her face, rather than stars in his vision.

"I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I respect them. I always have seen them as equals." she paused for a moment. "For the longest time, I've wanted to be like them. They're free. They have no bounds. I wished so badly that I could fly as easily as they did."

"You said all of that in past tense. Do you not wish to fly anymore?"

Asuka chuckled. "No, I do. But I can almost fly, and for me, that's enough. I wanted to fly because of the freedom, but even birds have their limits. They have more limits than humans do. I didn't want to be caged but the truth is, all of us are in one. For them, they cannot swim or go past our earth into space. For me, my limits are the same as birds and the laws of the shinobi. For you, it is your clan. I am happy with my cage. It satisfies all my needs, there is enough space, and enough unknowns to last me a lifetime."

"You always talk about freedom, but if you are caged, then how can you be free?" he asked.

"Freedom is a concept," she explained. "We all are restricted by one thing or the other. It is only freedom when you don't feel like you are restricted. I feel free even within my restrictions, therefore I am free. Yet if I were to be put into your place, in your clan, I don't think I would be. Do you feel free?"

"Sometimes," he said. "When I'm not at the compound, I feel it completely. I'm free until I take off my forehead protector and see my cursed mark. Or until I see my brother without one. When my parents don't look at me anymore."

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok," he smiled weakly. "Around the team, on missions, and with you, I usually just forget about it."

"Do you hate them?" she asked.

"I try not to. It's hard, that's for sure, but there is little I can do about it." Hizashi then hesitated.

"What is it."

"I—I hate my brother."

"I can hate him with you,"

He laughed softly. "It's ok, my hate is powerful enough for one person. It's just that I see him and try to find things I'm better at than him. And I am better than him. I learned all the techniques faster, became jonin quicker, and I know that we're identical, but I feel more attractive than he is."

Asuka rolled her eyes. "You have no idea how odd that sounds coming from a person like you."

"Anyways, I think about all the ways I'm better than him, but then I remember he doesn't have a curse mark and it outweighs everything."

She thought for a moment, staring down at him with sad eyes as he watched the stars.

"What about our team?"

"Hmm?"

"You have our team. Does that outweigh your seal?"

"Asuka I—"

"Does being on a team with me outweigh your seal?"

He felt himself at a loss for words. When he thought about it, she was right. Having such a close bond with his team outweighed the seal. Being close to someone as wonderful as her by itself outweighed the seal.

She blushed, looked away and sighed, threading her fingers around the long grass.

"Hiashi…he likes you. I—I can't."

"Since the academy, right?" she murmured. "It's just an infatuation. And it's not like he even knows me. How could he have real feelings for me when he knows practically nothing about me?"

"How do you know he doesn't have real feelings for you?"

"Are you defending him?"

She didn't seem angry, just surprised. He nodded, thinking selfishly that if she were to like him back, it would be easier for him to avoid her.

"May I ask why?"

"I'd rather not say."

Asuka crossed her legs and he propped himself up on his elbows. The moonlight hit her face at a perfect angle, highlighting her soft cheekbones and illuminating her eyes, making them appear almost silver. Her lips seemed incredibly welcoming at the moment and he wondered if they felt as soft as the looked. Would he be more satisfied by a quiet gasp if he kissed her jaw and sucked her neck or if she pressed her thin frame onto his, winding her fingers into his hair?

"H—He doesn't look at me like you do." she breathed. "You look at me li—like you—"

"Like I what?"

When words didn't arrive, he felt his stomach drop. Yet he suddenly tensed up much more when her hand reached up to his jaw and her thumb brushed lightly against his cheek, turning his face to her. His heart pounded in his chest so loudly that he couldn't hear his own thinking. Did she think about doing that? Was it easy for her to just touch him like that or did she contemplate on it, like he did every time he was around her?

"You care," she whispered. It wasn't a comparison anymore. She didn't say "like he cared". She knew. And the way she said it, he knew that she didn't mean it platonically.

She knew that he was in love with her.

It was something he had denied to himself until the very moment. He knew this as his skin heated before her hand even touched his face and as he found himself dizzy around her. When the thought of losing her made his chest hurt so much that he felt like he had to hold it and cry. How just being around her was probably the best thing to ever happen to him and how he wanted her to be around for the rest of his life.

Her whisper may have been quieter than his raging thoughts, still deafened by his pulse, yet the two words rang in his head over and over again.

Hizashi swallowed, slowly raising his hand to grab hers, locking their fingers, and painfully choosing to lower them from his face and back to her side. He let go of her hand and a new set of voices rang in his head again.

"Stay away from Asuka,"

"Hi—Hizashi?"

"I can. I can make you do whatever I want,"

"I should go—"

"Am I wrong?" she said, sounding hurt and so innocent, looking at him with big sad eyes that made him feel disgusting.

"No," he choked. "You're not wrong."

"Then why?"

And they both knew that deep inside, he knew she returned his feelings. Two people who loved each other should hardly be a problem, but it was. He lay back down from his elbows and rubbed his face with his hand.

"I don't want to hurt you—"

"You know I can handle pain, even emotional,"

"I—You—What if you realize that I'm not worth being around—"

"We've been teammates for five years."

"I have orders!" Hizashi choked, trying to keep the tears at bay. He wasn't going to cry in front of her. "I can't make any advances on you."

She was silent because even she knew that orders from the main family weren't to be taken lightly. "For how long?"

"Since you beat Hiashi during the chunin exams."

"That's when you started trying to avoid me."

"I know."

"I'm not an object."

"I told him that,"

"Yet it's an order nonetheless." she sighed.

"I'm sorry, Asuka."

He sat up, deciding that it could be a good time to leave.

"If—If you didn't have these orders, wo—would you have kissed me by now?"

One last sentence rang in his head.

"You better keep your word, brother."

"Yes, I would have," he said honestly. He wasn't going to lie to her, especially when it was a truth, not an advance. When he wasn't going to let himself go any further, she deserved it.

"Then if you don't make advances, is there anything about rejecting one?"

He blinked a couple of times, running her question in his mind over and over again. "No,"

She leaned in closer, darting her eyes between his and his lips. He prayed she would break the distance. Once again, he wouldn't lean in until she kissed him. Asuka hovered over his lips, so close he could feel her breath, so close that they shared the same air, and so close that he was scared she would hear his heart beating out of his chest.

It seemed to be forever when she finally closed her eyes and kissed him, wrapping an arm around his neck and slowly joining their breaths together. He sighed in relief and wrapped his arm around her waist, lightly pushing her to the grass and savouring her lips. They were just as soft as he imagined them to be but the fireworks exploding in his chest and the dopamine rushing through his system were completely unexpected.

When it was time to pull away, they lingered around each other, eyes still half-lidded, faces still pulling towards each other like two positive ends of a magnet, almost touching, but never there. They didn't want it to end.

"Asuka…"

"Hizashi…"

"May I walk you home?"

"You don't have to ask."

It was silence on the way to her house, unlike the other times he walked her home. Yet it was a comfortable silence, one that was warm and welcome.

She pecked him on the cheek just before walking inside, beaming radiantly.

"Goodbye,"

"I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

She nodded and smiled, then closed the door.

On his way home in his daze, he didn't realize that her small summoning owl was trailing him. His strength was his sight, not his hearing, and the owl also knew how to keep in the blind spot of his, even when his Byakugan wasn't activated.

What he did notice, however, was his brother standing at the entrance of the compound with his arms crossed. Hizashi was not one to be scared of another. He was scared of concepts. He was scared of dying without purpose, others controlling his fate, and unimaginable pain that was enough to strip him of his humanity. Yet as he stared in the identical yet much too different eyes, it was clear that he was scared of his brother because he could be all the concepts that Hizashi was ever afraid of.

"You broke your word."

Funny how the same vocal cords can sound so cold when they come out of another's mouth. Or how someone you are more powerful than can still hold more control over you.

"I did not,' he replied steadily.

"Then what was your session in the woods today?"

"You watched me?" he growled.

Hiashi didn't move. "I have watched you uncountable other times. It appears that you never came to your senses after all."

"I did not put forth advances. It is she who has chosen to kiss me. Do not blame me for the fact that she knows I'm a better shinobi and a better person than you are."

"Don't lie, you kissed her back."

"I did."

"That counts as an advance."

"You did not specify."

"Must I spell it out for someone of your calibre?"

Hizashi ground his teeth together. "If you truly had feelings for her, you would consider the fact that she can make her own decisions."

"Oh, I know she can. I'm not stopping her from falling for you. I'm stopping you from letting her. I can't control her, but I sure as hell can make sure you don't lay another finger—"

"You make her sound like she's your property! You probably don't even remember the type of bird she summoned to defeat you in the chunin exams. You don't care for her at all."

"Her name was Suisen. She's a swift, a White-throated Needletail to be exact. I know more than you think."

He blinked a couple of times, surprised. "You can't have actual feelings for her, can you?"

"I can."

"Wow, I'm surprised that you even had any emotion left inside of you, Hiashi-sama. Looks like you've changed. Next time work on treating women as equals and brothers as humans. Or maybe try to give people a choice and to stop lying about caring for someone you don't know—"

Hizashi suddenly felt a fist hit his face, faster than he could react.

"You don't know what you're talking about, branch filth." his brother spat.

In his years of knowing him, even though Hiashi never defended him or did anything good for him, he had never sunk so low to call him by his status in the clan. Furious, he went to punch, but Hiashi's Byakugan was already activated.

Everything turned downhill from there. Two brothers, similar in skill, equal in rage, threw gentle fists, weapons, and chakra towards each other. It was a battle to kill.

Yet Hizashi was just a little stronger than he was, so Hiashi slowly started to lose. It was until the branch member was about to close a tenketsu point until a searing pain erupted through his head.

It was indescribable.

The pain could not be explained and he wasn't aware of anything anymore. He suddenly could not use any of his senses. He didn't know if he was screaming or not. He couldn't tell if anything was happening because he couldn't hear himself, nor could he feel his vocal cords growing sore as the pain in his forehead masked it. The agony started to subside in what felt like an eternity.

When his sight started growing clearer, he saw elders looking down at him with disgust. His brother's mouth was open in shock and he was staring at his hands. His own father stood over him and looked at his state without any sympathy, then at the bruise on the heir's cheek.

"Do it again," he demanded.

"Father," Hiashi's voice shook. It was the first time Hizashi had ever heard him falter. "I—I ca—is it really necessary?"

"Do it!" he bellowed. "If you are ever to rule the clan you must be able to inflict the curse mark like I taught you to!"

"Please Hiashi," he whimpered, "Please don't,"

"Address him with the proper suffix, branch scum,"

"I—I'm sorry, Hiashi-sama,"

"Son, do it now! Don't show branch members any mercy. You let them beg, but you do not ever grant their requests. They must know their place within the clan."

But Hiashi didn't move. He shook. For a moment, Hizashi was relieved, glad that his brother really did have some compassion, even after inflicting the seal on him himself. Yet his father quickly brought his hands together and the pain was present once again, this time even worse than it was before. Those hands were experienced. They had struck pain into countless branch members, rather than just one.

He wished he could pass out but he didn't. He wondered if this was the end for him. Would they even find his body? His hands gripped at his hair, his scalp so numb that he didn't know how much he could have ripped out. It could have been days when the pain finally started to ease. Yet it was still night, the footprints still fresh on the dirt.

Hizashi couldn't hear it but he felt a warm presence drift near. A huge bird landed by his side and a girl jumped off, gathering his forehead protector and pressing an ice pack to his head. It didn't completely ease the pain but it helped and he blindly reached out to whoever had provided him with the relief. She took his hand and let him squeeze it as hard as he could, even when he may as well have crushed her bones.

The girl carried him onto the back of the bird, he decided it could only be an owl from the silence, and they flew off.

"Asuka?" he breathed. "Is it you? Am—Am I alive?"

It was only then when he heard her sobs as she wiped his tears away with her finger. It stung when she touched his cheeks from the tears he didn't even know he had shed. The rush of wind blowing past them as she held him on top of her owl soothed the pain on his skin but did nothing for the agony in his temples.

"You're alive, Hizashi. I'm so sorry. I'm so so so sorry." she cried. "You're going to be ok, we'll be at Kenji's house in seconds."

"It hurts," he whimpered. "It hurts."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry,"

She apologized over and over again, though he didn't know or ask why. The owl fluttered by a window and rapped its claws along the glass until their teammate saw. Kenji was didn't have his prosthetics on so he stumbled out of bed and used his hands to propel himself towards the window at an alarming speed, cranking it open so she tumbled in, dragging Hizashi with him. She still pressed the ice pack to his head and tears were still streaming down his face.

"What the hell happened?" Kenji asked as he strapped on a pair of legs and removed the ice pack from Hizashi's forehead and replacing it with the back of his palm. His eyes widened when he realized that it heated up seconds after removing it. "How did he get this fever?"

Asuka cried even harder. "It's not a fever. It's the curse mark."

And the seal was still glowing.

His groans filled Kenji's apartment and his parents rushed in the room, shocked to see their child's teammate clutching at his head, another teammate crying over him, and the pain he seemed to be in. The medical ninja quickly explained the situation and took out his summoning scroll. He bit his finger and with a poof, a small needle and a vial labelled "morphine" appeared. After measuring a small amount of the drug, he took out a tourniquet to find a vein in Hizashi's arm. However, his skin was so pale and the veins already protruded from the tension and all he had to do was look to inject the morphine into his system.

Hizashi's screams and moans were finally reduced to small whimpers.

"I've been working in the hospital for almost 5 years," Kenji broke the chain of unspoken words. "I admit, I may not ever be as talented as Tsunade, but that also means I have dealt with more traumas, cases that don't require 12-hour surgeries, far more patients than she had at my age because I treat everyone, not just the serious ones. In these five years, I have heard screams louder than his and eyes swollen shut from crying but I don't think I have ever and will never see someone in so much pain, physical and mental. I would even go so far and say that the curse mark functions by combining the user and the receiver's emotions, throwing it into the mind, and turning it into pain. Usually, someone would have passed out from how much of it he was experiencing, and I think he endured it without falling unconscious because that was just a part of the torture."

The medical-ninja switched the melted ice pack for a fresh one. "Hizashi, please tell us what happened."

The deathly pale sixteen-year-old looked at Asuka for permission and she nodded. "It's your story to tell, not mine."

"Wait, what do you have to do with this—" Kenji interrupted, then saw the way they were gazing at each other. "Oh...oh...oh shit."

"Hiashi has liked Asuka since the Academy, as I'm sure you know. After he realized that she would never see him the same, he, uh, he ordered me not to make any advances on her."

"But you did," their teammate sighed.

"No, I did," she said. "I—I did. It's my fault. If—If I hadn't then none of this would have happened. You wouldn't be—"

"It's not your fault," Hizashi said soothingly, slowly sitting up. "You can't blame yourself."

"But."

"He's right," Kenji replied. "Is it ok for you to tell us what happened next?"

He took a deep breath. "I don't know why, but Hiashi was watching us. We argued and I told him that he was emotionless and called him out on the way he was treating us. He punched me and we started attacking each other. I was about to knock him out before he—he activated the cursed seal."

Even his forehead hurt by thinking of it, and Hizashi winced in pain. They set him down and lay his head back on the pillow. He continued to tell them what happened, how Hiashi refused to activate the seal again so his father did, and how he begged for them to stop.

"What about you two? What's gonna happen now?" Kenji asked. "Will you still be together?"

"No," said Asuka.

"Yes," Hizashi replied at the same time.

The two looked at each other uncomfortably, then at the medical ninja.

"Don't look at me! I'm worried for you too and you probably need to figure out what you'll be from now on. Dating? Secret lovers? Friends with benefits?"

The kunoichi nearly passed out of a nosebleed at his last comment. "N—No. I won't let us go on. You can't suffer more because of me."

"Are you breaking up with me?" he asked, failing miserably to bring light into the situation. "Wow, I'm glad you thought of me as your boyfriend in the first place."

"I—"

"What if you do keep whatever you have going on?" Kenji asked. "I'm rooting for your safety, but if you guys can be safe and dating or whatever, I want that for you two. If you keep—er…this, will Hiashi continue to activate the curse?"

"I don't think he will choose to. I can only hope that he has enough humanity left to let us be."

"Do you really think so?"

"He's my brother. Hopefully, he will put aside his anger and remember that."

Originally wasn’t going to post the other parts on Tumblr but I caved.

[writer-and-artist27]

Befriend Me

I don’t own anyone or anything except the concept of the story and the mentioned pianist in-story. Isshinta Asakura, better known as (cough cough cough) Uzumaki Shinta (cough cough cough), Gekkō Miyako, and Gekkō Keisuke belong to @langwrites​.

Written as a whim and a passing muse, because a certain redhead deserves a companion in the afterlife. Also this serves as an unofficial drabble/side-story to The Sea and Stars, since asks for this original ask game stopped after a while and I just got the idea and went with it.

The theme this time is the piano version of Home from RWBY. Because it’s Lang’s favorite song from the Volume 4 Soundtrack and I found it fitting. :)

“So you’re the guy who’s been stealing my act!”

Shinta tried not to jolt from his seat up in the clouds, looking up from his window into the real world to meet bright green eyes. “Um,” he started politely, “your act?”

The apparent blue-haired man blinked, appearing to have not expected the confused reply. “I mean, there’s only so many windows up here. I thought I was the only guy who flew down to haunt the place every now and then.” He stood back up to rub the back of his spiky head, laughing. “But I guess that was an awkward way to start a conversation now, huh?”

“I don’t believe it was even a conversation,” Shinta said as politely as he could, doing his best to avoid a stammer. Even after so many years of adjusting to life after death, he still wanted to curse his mind for thinking like the 15-year old boy who couldn’t even muster the strength to aid Tomoe-chan in the end. Tomoe-chan… No… she was Miyako now.

He glanced back at the window one more time from habit before making eye contact. “Asakura—no,” he shook his head, adjusting his long red ponytail. That clan was no more. To—Miyako made sure of that. “Uzumaki Shinta,” he amended instead, shrugging his shoulders. “Could I get your name?”

The blue-haired man was staring straight at him again, before beaming. “Johan! Johan Anderson. Johan is just fine.” He offered a hand towards Shinta, and Shinta stared at it for a moment before taking it and shaking as firmly as he could without rustling his sitting space in the clouds. “So, fellow ghost, Shinta?”

Shinta wondered how Johan was still grinning, even with the large slash mark hidden behind the slightly rusted Leaf hitai-ite tied around his neck. A ninja. The slash said more than enough at a possible story, but Shinta held his tongue out of habit. The dead didn’t ask one another about the methods on how they passed from the real world out of common courtesy. “Ghost,” he agreed mildly. “Do you visit loved ones too?”

Johan’s smile turned a bit more wistful as he let go of the handshake. “All the time.” He proceeded to plop himself down on Shinta’s cloud to sit next to him, glancing down at the same window all the while. “The way I died… well,” Johan laughed, a bit bitter. “It wasn’t great. I hurt my best friend.” He wasn’t looking up at Shinta now, his green eyes dark while still focused on the window. “I protected him, but I didn’t even know of his feelings until now. So, I watch over him to make up for it.” He laughed again. “Silly, huh?”

Shinta shook his head immediately. He knew the feeling of leaving someone behind with regrets, even if his experiences with Miyako were different. “No,” he said quietly. “Not at all. I feel the same.” He turned back to the window, making out some forest foliage before turning his head back to face Johan again. “Do you want me to move the window to where your friend is? Or open it so you can fly down and visit directly?”

“Really?” Johan chuckled, mirth in his voice again. That was better. “Thanks for the offer. Sure, move the window. Or, give me a sec,” he reached over past Shinta’s haori to wipe at one of the window panes that served as the main map for the window to follow, “I got this.”

The glass instantly clouded over with Johan’s action, and Shinta watched out of curiosity and interest as the forest changed to that of the inside of a dojo. Besides him, Johan grinned. “Here we go…”

The image beyond the panes blurred a bit more before voices could finally come through.

“Strike-one! Strike-two! Block!”

Shinta froze almost immediately. That was Miyako’s voice.

“Hah, hah!”

“Tomoko-chan, you are faltering again! More force in that swing! Strike again!”

“Y-Yes, Miyako-shishō! Hah!”

“Block again!”

“Hah!”

Shinta blinked at Johan just as the other man turned to him, apparently having noticed his shock. “I’m guessing one of your loved ones is down there?” Johan pointed at the window, grinning sheepishly. “I mean, I forgot to mention that I watch over my niece there too, so I guess we’re even in that case!”

“Niece…” Shinta echoed in disbelief, turning his eyes back to the window from a lack of any words.

It had been years, but the spark of light that was originally in Uesugi Tomoe’s eyes was still present in Gekkō Miyako’s, just brighter now. Her smile too, was softer. “You are improving, Tomoko-chan.”

The girl standing across from Miyako was sweaty, panting in her training gi and clenching her shinai, but she was giggling. “Th-Thank you, Miyako-shishō.”

Miyako chuckled in return, a warmth in the sound that Shinta could barely connect to the Tomoe he was originally engaged with. “Tomoko-chan, again, you do not have to call me ‘shishō.’ ‘Miyako-bachan’ is more than sufficient.”

“I mean, Tomo,” Another person spoke up, and Shinta nearly threw his neck out to stare at the other child walking into the dojo area with Miyako’s likeness, grinning. Miyako’s daughter. “Keisuke” was the name. Shinta still questioned the reasoning behind that one. The eyes were enough proof of the blood relation, but the hair… “It’s still Mom. You don’t have to be so stiff.”

Tomoko’s blue eyes widened to an almost comical degree as her kenjutsu stance laxed. “But, but, Kei, it’s a respect thing…” she squirmed, trying to straighten herself while turning back to Miyako. “I-I mean, you teach me a lot of things, Miyako-shi— bachan!” She flailed in time to Johan’s quiet laughter. “From tea ceremonies to meditation to swords! Shishō just…” A bright pink colored the girl’s face. “It just seems fitting.”

Kei laughed in time with Miyako’s warm chuckle.

“D-Don’t laugh, I’m being serious…” Tomoko clutched her shinai with puffed cheeks. “Mugu.”

“Aren’t the kids adorable?” Johan cooed, and Shinta, even through the confusion, vaguely realized that he was still there, glancing at him. The sparkles bouncing off of him this time were hard to miss. “Tomoko-chan’s still shy but so cute! I still can’t believe how lucky Judai got!”

The names gently bounced off of Shinta’s head before the words sank in. “Tomoko…is your niece?”

Johan noticed his confusion again, with no time in-between sitting silence and replying. “Kinda.” The grin on his face this time was proud. “She’s the daughter of my best friend, and she calls me ‘Uncle,’ so she’s my niece!”

That was quite a thought to sit on. The daughter of Johan’s best friend was also the apparent niece of Miyako. Who shared the same character of “Tomo” in name as Miyako’s original identity. “…Uncle,” Shinta repeated, blinking.

“Uncle!” Johan put his hands in the clouds behind him while glancing up towards the sky, avoiding looking into the sun. “She’s a sweetheart, really.” His shoulders slumped. “She’s done a lot more than me, and she still tries to visit me when she’s not busy. Makes me wonder where she got it all from, the sweet.”

“I can certainly believe that,” Shinta said mildly, glancing back to the window in time to see Kei hand Tomoko a water bottle. “Considering Tomoe—Miyako-chan’s face down there.”

It was about time for Johan to stop his train of thought too. The blue-haired man turned on him so fast to the point of Shinta questioning if he’d get whiplash from his spiky hair flying around. “Miyako? You know Miyako, Shinta?”

From old memories, or perhaps habit, Shinta flushed, tugging on his ponytail. “We…we were once betrothed. Before she came to be ‘Miyako.’”

Johan’s expression changed to that of compassionate realization. “Oh,” he said, before turning back to the window. “I guess it’s a small world, huh?” He laughed again. Shinta didn’t know if it was sad or happy or both. He could at least take some relief in how Johan didn’t ask any more questions. “The daughter of my best friend Judai is friends with the daughter of your previous fiancé. What a world.”

Shinta mustered a smile back. “What a small world indeed,” he concluded solemnly.

Without thinking, he glanced back down at the window again. Tomoko had put away her shinai via leaning it against a wall in favor of chasing after Kei, who was laughing, probably from some kind of teasing joke, but Miyako—

Miyako was looking up towards their window.

Shinta lurched back from shock. Did she notice?

Those same black eyes were continuing to stare, an amused smile on her face before she lowered her head, shaking it. “No, it must be something else,” she picked up her shinai absently before shouting. “Girls! Back to training! We still have an hour before lunchtime!”

Kei threw her head back in time for Tomoko to collide into her from behind. “Ow, Tomo,” she sighed. “Darn.”

“Aaaaaah, I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay. Don’t get your heart rate up about it.” Kei proceeded to reach out towards her friend’s hair to ruffle it.

“Surprised, huh?” Shinta glanced at Johan as soon as Johan rocked forward to rest his hands on his knees. “The living do notice us. Like that.”

That was new. There was never a moment in the times before, when Shinta looked through the window, that that happened. “All the time?”

“Sometimes.” Johan rolled his shoulders forward in a shrug, still resting his hands on his knees. From Shinta’s point of view, he looked like a curled up blue owl. “Judai nearly did when that little girl was born. I wasn’t expecting Tomoko-chan to reach out to me like that anyways,” he laughed loudly. “I know it sounds weird as all hell, but it’s nice, being noticed.”

Shinta glanced back down at the window again. Miyako had gone back to her instructing, and Kei—

Kei was the one staring this time. Shinta could only find himself gaping as she grinned and gave him a small thumbs-up before turning back. “Tomo, you’re slouching again!”

“E-Eh?! Where!”

The smile was already blooming on his face. That was the first time someone noticed him, and it was Miyako’s daughter. Of course. This was the same feeling Johan must’ve had.

“I get it,” Shinta said quietly. “I get it.”

Johan turned his head to beam in his direction, green eyes bright like before. “Hey,” he leaned in with that same grin. “Wanna exchange stories?”

Shinta smiled. A friend. It was a nice thought. After death, Shinta never thought of entertaining that kind of relationship again. Now was a better time than any. “Alright. Who should start first?”

[what-even-is-thiss]

So I have this idea. Remember when the new sanders sides video didn't come out yet? Well, I saw some people talking about what houses they would be in and some of them said that Patton would be in Slythrin, now I was like "why would you put Patton in slythrin? He's not a bad guy!" but then I saw their explination and I was like woah... that makes alot of sense and I can't write it but like could you do a tiny ficabout how the other sides would react to Patton being chosen to be in Slythrin in p1

p 2 just like a little tiny fic that people do but like in a harry potter au?

Writing a fanfic in order to procrastinate writing another fanfic?

Yeah, that sounds like me.

No warnings I can think of. Let me know if I should add some. Forgive me for putting Virgil in a house. I’ve already written a fic about him being a squib and I wanna see our witch boy be a witch.

Tip Jar

1,791 words.

 Quadruplets. The teachers heard there would be quadruplets. Those who had lived to see the Weasley twins actually lost sleep the weeks before the new school year as they thought about what horrors four identical wizards could unleash upon the castle.

The brothers were hardly thinking about school at all, which is why they had to practically be dragged to Diagon Alley.

“Now why don’t you all pick out a snack or something and I’ll be back? Don’t spend it all on something you won’t want later.”

They all watched their dad walk off, piles of parcels in hand.

“We tire him.” Virgil said, tucking his new wand into his boot.

“Impossible. We’re a delight.” Roman said, flicking a sickle in the air and catching it.

“You’re going to break your wand.” Logan huffed. “Why would you put it in your boot?”

“Ollivander said it’s unyielding. Doesn’t that stand for anything?” Virgil said.

Logan sighed with that sigh that meant what was about to say was just so obvious. “Honestly Virgil, do you really think that…”

“BIRDS!”

Virgil, Roman, and Logan jumped as Patton yelled and ran for the window display with owls in it. The argument was quickly forgotten before it even started.

“Yes Patton, those are birds.” Logan sighed, walking towards the shop.

“I’m gonna get one.” Patton said with determination.

“You nerds can look at birds.” Roman said. “Virgil and I are going to the broom shop.”

“Oh Roman I don’t wanna…”

Roman grabbed Virgil by the wrist and dragged him down the alley before he could protest any further.

“Roman, I want a cat!” Virgil exclaimed.

Logan and Patton shared a small smile and went into the pet store together.

After a good amount of convincing and diverting of attention, mostly on Patton’s part, all four of them left with a pet and a new broom and didn’t have to choose one or the other.

They all sat in their room. Virgil and Roman were tossing a quaffle back and forth between their beds while Logan read from his new spell book and Patton attempted to bond with his new barn owl.

“Why do I humor you again?” Virgil asked. “I don’t even like quittich.”

“No way!” Roman said, tossing the quaffle harder this time, “We’re going to be the stars of the Gryffindor team, I know it!”

“You don’t even know what house you’re in yet.” Logan said, taking a bite of apple and never looking up from his book.

“Yes I do. Virgil and I are going to be in Gryffindor while you go to Ravenclaw and Patton goes to Hufflepuff like dad did. It’s so obvious.”

“Well what if one of you went to Slytherin?” Logan said.

Roman caught the quaffle and then dropped it. “I have told you before, nobody in this family has ever been in Slytherin. That’s why I know Virgil is going to be with me.”

“With our luck we’re all going to end up in different houses.” Virgil said, folding his arms and falling into a sitting position.

“Oh of course not guys!” Patton said happily. “Hey you guys I think I’m gonna name her Honey.”

The attention turned to Patton, Logan, and Roman’s new owls and eventually escalated into Virgil having to keep his black cat from eating Roman’s.

“But why can’t I bring my broom?” Roman whined.

“Because first years can’t bring their own brooms, halfwit.” Logan said.

“Now play nice.” their dad said.

They all got hugs and kisses goodbye. Even Virgil, who looked like he wanted to puke.

“So how do I tell you apart?” The girl sharing their compartment asked.

“Logan and I wear glasses!” Patton said happily.

“Because we fell in a cursed well when we were five and became nearsighted.” Logan said, glaring at Roman.

“We were five! It was an accident! I’ve said I was sorry at least a hundred thousand times by now!” Roman said, throwing his hands in the air.

“Anyways,” Logan said angrily, “you can tell which one is Patton because he’s always happy.”

“And you can tell which one is Virgil because he’s always slouching.” Roman said.

Virgil glared. “And Roman is the one that’s full of himself.” he said.

“Who can tell that from how I look?” Roman asked.

“Oh, they can tell.” Logan said.

“Well I never…” Roman began.

“Hey! I got a Ginny Weasley card!” Patton said, holding the chocolate frog card up in the air.

“What? Let me see!” The girl cried out, launching herself across the compartment.

The trip across the lake was everything they dreamed it would be. All of them seemed nervous waiting for the hat except Roman.

“How can you not be nervous?” Virgil hissed. “They’re going to put you in front of everyone while a magic hat judges you.”

“Because I know which table is going to be cheering for me.” Roman said.

“Don’t jump to conclusions. Dad keeps telling you not to do that.” Logan scolded.

Logan was called up first. He was also the oldest quadruplet. They had been named in alphabetical order.

The hat covered his eyes and Logan stood there properly for almost three entire minutes before the hat yelled out a name.

“Gryffindor!” It called out.

Logan’s look of shock was identical to his brothers’ as the Gryffindors exploded into applause and he shakily made his way to the table.

Virgil and Roman shared a worried glance as Patton stepped up to the stool. Roman took his brother’s hand out of instinct and they both began to sweat up a storm. This wasn’t expected. What was even less expected was when the hat, after deliberating even longer than for Logan made its decision.

“Slytherin!” It yelled.

Roman nearly fell over. Virgil looked really scared. Patton looked over at his brothers and tried to smile, but it looked like he was going to be alone. they could tell he was upset. An outsider would think he was as happy as ever, but his brothers could tell. He wanted to cry.

Roman squeezed Virgil’s hand and feigned confidence as he marched up to the stool. The hat deliberated for about two minutes. Not nearly as long for the two older quadruplets, but still an uncommonly long time.

“Ravenclaw!” It finally said.

From the Gryffindor table Logan gave Roman a poisonous glare as he walked to the cheering Ravenclaw table in the middle of the room.

Virgil could barely move, he was shaking so badly. Normally he was the one that looked the most calm but now? He couldn’t even move. A professor, he forgot which one, gently guided him to the hat and he obediently sat down.

The hat deliberated. And it kept going. All Virgil heard in his head was “hmmm.” and variations thereof for over six minutes.

A hatstall. He just had to be a hatstall. It wasn’t even telling him what it was thinking about. He sat there, tears threatening to form in his eyes. He wasn’t going to be sorted. He was just going to sit here forever, or be expelled, or..

“Hufflepuff!”

The table in between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor erupted in cheering. Screaming and celebrating of every kind. They got a hatstall. Something that might only happen once every fifty years or more. A prefect from the Hufflepuff table came over and lifted Virgil on his shoulders and placed him right next to him at the table once he saw that the boy was too shocked to move.

“I… don’t belong here!” Virgil exclaimed.

“Nonsense. Of course you do.” the boy said, roughing up the younger student’s hair.

The four Sanders boys were uncharacteristically quiet that night.

Logan shuffled up to Gryffindor tower convinced he was going to hate it. He soon realized how wrong he was.

He wasn’t the only one there that liked reading, turned out, and the armchairs were at just the right angle to curl up with a textbook. Maybe… maybe he could become accustomed to this.

Roman walked the many flights of stairs unhappily and folded his arms tightly.

“What kills all things?” The knocker at the top of the staircase said.

“Time!” Roman called out. “Time!”

“That was quick. Well done.” The bird said before letting the students in.

The other Ravenclaws looked at their confident new classmate in awe. Hmmm. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Virgil looked around the common room near the kitchens and listened to the prefect brag that no non Hufflepuff had been inside there for a thousand years. Well, that couldn’t possibly be true. And if it was the streak would have to be broken. Patton was gonna love this place.

Patton loved this place. The chill of the common room was so lovely, and that was… was that the giant squid? Oh my, yes. Look at all these calming green colors. What did Roman have against this place again?

The next morning at breakfast all of them got a package. Virgil got his dad’s old black and yellow scarf. Roman and Logan got house hats from family friends, and Patton got a brand new pin to put on his backpack with a note attached that read:

“Patton, I always suspected you were a Slytherin. You are so good at keeping the others out of trouble I hardly have to do anything. I’m not worried. You’re the first Slytherin in the family and I am so proud! I can’t wait to tell everyone about it. Keep keeping them out of trouble for me. -Dad”

Patton would keep that note near him for the rest of his life. He always knew where it was, even when he did fail to keep the others out of trouble.

A paper airplane flew across the room and hit him in the head. He unfolded it and read the note inside.

“Hey snake face, meet us by the kitchens. Verge says he has something to show us.”

He was really going to have to talk to Roman about his nicknames.

After classes were over they all sat on tables in the kitchens while the house elves worked around them.

“So you’re not angry?” Patton asked as he sipped on Pumpkin juice.

“If any of you should be angry at someone it should be me.” Virgil said. “I got dad’s old scarf. I think we always thought Patton would get it.”

“Well the only person I’m mad at is Roman, but that’s probably unjustified.” Logan said.

“Probably?” Roman asked. “And I’m not mad. I probably shouldn’t have said so many things about Slytherin.”

“That’s okay.” Patton said.

“Are we even allowed to be here?” Logan asked.

“Not technically” the other three said in unison.

“Oh, for the love of Merlin.” Logan mumbled.

[j-writes-and-suffers]

NaNoWriMo Day Five

To his relief, Philip was feeling much better when he woke up on Wednesday morning. The tickle in the back of his throat had faded, and he could actually breathe through his nose again. He managed to be dressed, gather his things and show up on campus a whopping ten minutes before the booths were supposed to open. As an actual prepared and functional adult, Lucien already had everything set up, and was sitting patiently at the booth when the younger man arrived.

“Hey! Sorry I’m so late, I’m… really bad at mornings.” Philip hurried over to sit next to Lucien, looking around the booth. On the table before them, the cards were sitting in a little ‘take one’ tray, with a stack of free bookmarks next to them. Nearby was a clipboard with a sign-up sheet, and the whiteboard already read, ‘What is your favorite book?’ The peppy blond was clearly impressed. “Damn, you’ve got this shit down… why am I even here?”

“To socialize, because I’m awkward and out of touch.”

“Right! I can do that.” Philip nodded, bouncing on the edge of his chair. “Kids will be out and about soon, right?”

“Any minute now.” Lucien was testing the handful of pens he’d brought, making sure they all actually worked.

The day went by quite smoothly, with Philip’s energy and loud mouth attracting curious kids throughout the morning and well into the afternoon. They got plenty of votes on their whiteboard, and Lucien had nearly filled the sign-up sheet. There was only one hiccup; near six p.m., when the duo were almost ready to pack up, one more curious student wandered by. She was a bigger girl, with incredibly thick winged eyeliner and clearly home-dyed pink bangs. Slung over her shoulder was a battered messenger bag with the Tardis on it, and buttons running down the length of the strap. As soon as she came trotting into view, Lucien retracted from the table, sinking down in his seat and trying to disappear.

Philip leaned in, whispering, “What’s wrong, man, allergic to bad dye jobs?”

Before Lucien could reply, the girl was right in front of them, grinning broadly. “Hi!”

“Uh, hi…” Philip found himself pulling back; despite the table between them, his personal space still felt violated. “How are you?”

“I’m good! Do you guys discuss a lot of cryptozoology in book club? What about supernatural occurrences? Magic?” Her too-tight Hot Topic t-shirt was screaming at the seams, struggling to stay in one piece as she bounced around in excitement.

“I mean… I suppose they would if they were reading a book about that stuff. I’m not really the expert on that.” Philip turned to ask Lucien for details, but the older man had disappeared from his seat.

“They should!” She nodded firmly, pulling a battered spiral notebook from her bag. “Magic is real, and it’s very important to study! I have all sorts of notes about potential cryptid sightings in the area, and I’ve been compiling a list of spells to summon them. Do you want to see?”

Philip bit back a ‘hell no,’ instead forcing an awkward smile and mumbling, “Suuuure. Why not?”

That was a mistake. The girl proceeded to spend the next twenty minutes talking his ear off about her studies of Wicca and how she was absolutely positive she wasn’t the only magic user on campus. She begged him to study with her, help her learn more about the supernatural energies in the area and figure out who it was. The only thing that saved Philip was his phone going off. It was actually just a telemarketer, but he pretended to be having a serious conversation with his mother, going on about the well-being of a fictional great aunt and cousins until the overbearing girl got bored and shuffled off. Not thirty seconds after she was out of sight, Lucien reappeared at the table, settling back in his chair like he’d been there all along.

“You fucking traitor!” Philip turned to glare at him. “How could you leave me alone with that?”

“I’ve sat through her shpiel before, and doing it again might have killed me.” Lucien remarked. “I was intending to warn you about her, but I’d gotten optimistic and assumed she wasn’t coming.”

“Well who the hell is she? And what’s her problem?” Though normally very chatty and friendly, Philip’s patience had been worn right to the bone, and he was now in a pretty bitter mood.

Lucien sighed, running a hand through his hair. “That’s Shelby Mitchell. She’s a delusional junior who’s been the bane of my existence for the last two years. I don’t know what drugs her mother was on while pregnant with her, but the girl is an absolute lunatic. Dead set on hunting down and cataloging all the ‘mythical creatures’ that live in town. In reality, she’s probably the weirdest thing on campus, save for maybe Professor Noctus…”

Philip scrunched his nose in distaste. “Sounds like a grade-A pain in the ass.”

“She definitely is, and she’s been haunting the book club ever since she enrolled here.” Lucien grumbled, scowling in the direction Shelby had walked off.

Philip was honestly a little surprised; he’d never seen Lucien genuinely upset about anything before. Sure, there was his feigned offense during their banter last night, but he’d clearly been joking. It was strange to see those usually lively green eyes shadow over in distaste. “Can’t you like… kick her out?”

“No, she hasn’t broken any school or club rules. Sadly, it doesn’t violate policy to be incredibly annoying.”

“Well, we’re supposed to be done by now, anyway. Let’s just pack up and get the hell out of here. You don’t have to deal with her just yet.” Philip was doing his best to lighten the mood, gathering up the leftover bookmarks and cards as he spoke. He jotted down the final tally of votes for ‘favorite book’ before wiping the whiteboard clean. “Do you wanna carry the supplies or drag the board?”

Lucien shrugged, “Whichever is easier for you. I brought them both out myself.”

Philip’s cheeks flushed pink; he felt a little guilty for being too late to help with setup. “I’ll take the board.” he offered, knowing the boxes weren’t full enough to be heavy.”

The older man nodded, climbing to his feet and stacking the boxes in his arms. “Come on, this is the fastest way back to the library.” He lead Philip past the academic building, weaving a barely-worn path through the trees on the edge of campus.

“Ooh spooky,” Philip joked, waggling his eyebrows as they trudged through the shadowy forest.

Lucien scoffed, rolling his eyes. “If it scares you now, you’d best be gone before sundown. I once saw a whole owl. Truly horrifying.”

“I was joking, smart-ass.”

“I don’t know, you look pretty scared to me.” Lucien teased.

“I am not!”

“You’re awfully defensive, too. It’s okay, I won’t judge you for being a pansy.”

Philip huffed, “I am not assho - oh fuck!” His protest was cut off as he tripped over a tree root, bringing both him and the whiteboard crashing down in a pile of crunchy leaves.

Biting back a laugh, Lucien set down his boxes, kneeling down to help the younger man up. “Are you alright? That was quite a fall… You didn’t turn your ankle or anything, did you?”

Philip gave both legs an experimental jiggle before shaking his head. “Nope, the only thing hurt is my dignity.”

“Good. Then pick up the whiteboard and keep walking. I’d like to get back to the library this year.”

“It’s not my fault you have longer legs than me!”

“What was that? I can’t hear you from all the way up here.”

“You’re not even that tall, asshole!”

“Yeah, but you are that short.” Lucien grinned mischievously, now walking backwards through the trees. He had switched direction partly to better keep up the conversation, and party to give Philip a chance to catch up. “So, I suppose you’ll be playing in the dodgeball game Friday?”

Philip immediately perked up, his defiance fading. “Yeah! You should come watch!” He was eager to show off; despite his size and general clumsiness, he was actually not a terrible athlete. Dodgeball had always been his favourite game in high school - he was notorious for catching anything that flew in his direction, and fights had broken out before over whose team he would be on.

“I might.” Lucien shrugged, “Depends on the weather, and how much I have to get done for Saturday.”

“Oh! Do you have a float in the parade?”

Lucien shook his head, shifting his boxes to one arm to adjust his glasses. “No, I’m helping make the food for the picnic. Despite being a chronic bachelor, I’m actually a decent cook. I just don’t usually have anyone to cook for.”

“You should make me dinner sometime.” Philip blurted out, not really thinking as he spoke. He stopped dead in his tracks, turning bright red. “I-I mean. If you want to. Platonically. If you want it to be platonic. Honestly you could give me a can of cat food and I’d be okay with it. I just wanna go to to dinner with you. If you wanna go to dinner with me. If you don’t I’ll put this whiteboard up and you never have to see me again. You - you don’t have to answer now. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that. Oh my god why am I still talking I can’t shut up when I’m nervous.”

Lucien chuckled, raising an eyebrow. “You done?”

Philip nodded sheepishly, staring down at his shoes.

“Good. Then I’d love to make you dinner sometime. Maybe next weekend? This week is awfully busy.”

The younger man looked up, an incredulous smile spreading across his face. “Are… are you serious?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t lead you on like that. I’m not that much of an asshole.” Lucien smiled back. “Come on, let’s get out of the scary woods. We can talk more inside.”

“I told you, I’m not scared…” Though his tone was indignant, Philip couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he continued walking.

“Riiiight.” Lucien laughed, turning around forwards as they exited the woods, heading up the steps of the library. He held the door open for Philip as usual, following the younger man inside and setting his boxes on the circulation desk. “You can leave the whiteboard down here for now. It’s not worth the trouble of moving it upstairs. I’ll make the student workers do it next week.”

Philip laughed, “Is that all you use them for, manual labor?”

“No, they also make sure the computers don’t blow up.”

“Right, I forgot. It’s good to know I’m smarter than you at something.” Philip smirked.

Lucien raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think I’m smarter than you at all?”

“Well, you’re like… you read lots of books, and you have to be really smart to know all that Dewey Decimal shit, and I’m… kinda dumb.”

“I don’t know,” Lucien mused. “I think you’re a lot smarter than you think.”

Philip’s face lit up, and he leaned in a little. “You do?”

The older man nodded. “I do. You’re pretty charming, in your quirky little way, you’re technologically savvy, and you don’t come across nearly as dumb as you make yourself out to be. But I do think you need to work on being a morning person. If you’re late to every obligation that starts before noon, you’ll find yourself on the receiving end of more pink slips than a Valentine’s Day lingerie model.”

“Yeah, I… I know. I’m really trying.” Philip squirmed, not having expected to be criticized. “I just… I have so much trouble dragging myself out of bed in the morning.”

“Have you tried cocaine?”

Philip’s discomfort faded again as he laughed, “Dude, I don’t have the money for cocaine.”

“Ah, true. I hadn’t factored in budget. I guess you’ll have to go the boring route then, cold showers and coffee.” Lucien smiled. “Or, here’s an even better idea: go to bed at a reasonable hour.”

“Are you sure there’s not somewhere I can find cheap coke?” Philip pleaded.

Lucien couldn’t help but laugh. “Just go to bed, dumbass!”

“But I like staying up late!” The feisty blond whined.

“Well, I’m guessing you also like having a job, don’t you?”

Philip sighed dramatically. “Yeaaaah.”

“Then get out of here, and go to bed!” Lucien gently nudged the shorter man towards the door. “Go on, shoo!”

“Wait! I almost forgot!”

“What?” Lucien raised an eyebrow.

“Will you come to the poetry slam tomorrow? I… I’m gonna be reading a few of my own works. I’d really like to have somebody I know in the crowd.” Philip begged, surprisingly sincere in his desperation.

“Of course I will. But if you’re late, I’ll boo you off the stage myself.”

“Okay! Thank you!” Philip spun around, giving Lucien a quick hug before ducking out the door and heading for home.