#ok so gray red tones of black here and there. reminds me of the colors of a certain dlc incoming

[alien-burst]

THERE IS NO WAY THIS WASN'T INTENTIONAL

[fabdante]

Not to keep on with this but right so I made a post about Vergil and Bernini  and in that post I mentioned what art works and pieces I think represent the other parts of the DmC trio, Kat and Dante. And I just wanted to follow up on that with more focused posts because yall have no idea, I’m very into this whole thing.

First up: Dante

So Dante I go into a good deal in the Baroque essay already so some of this is a rehashing but I just wanted to go more in depth about Dante and Caravaggio’s Davids. 

(David and Goliath, 1599)

(David with the Head of Goliath, 1607)

(David with the Head of Goliath, 1610)

More about Dante, Caravaggio, and especially that last David under the cut! This one got a little long.

Ok so first things first, like discussed in the Baroque essay, Dante is Baroque and the game is based around Caravaggio’s Baroque to a point where many of his paintings are directly referenced. That last David in particular is referenced directly in the game. See below:

so I’m not really saying anything the game hasn’t really done itself here. Dante is the main character, he is represented by Baroque and Caravaggio. That’s his vibe, that’s the parallel. And it’s a very intentional one I mean in Talexi’s art book he discusses picking Caravaggio as an influence and the overlap between Dante’s whole deal and Caravaggio’s own. But I’m like really into Caravaggio’s David’s and want to talk about that and the neat way this plays with Dante’s whole deal so, let’s do it.

To quickly summarize Caravaggio and the background of his last David: Caravaggio was an angry guy who worked in Rome during the Baroque period until he killed a guy for Reasons (probably a bet, possibly a woman, possibly a tennis match or something, probably the bet). He gets kicked out of Rome, does some stuff (joins a knighthood? at some point then leaves the knighthood?), gets word that the pope wants to pardon him. He goes back to Rome with some art but dies on the way at the ripe age of 38. One of the paintings with him that makes it on this trip is the last David. 

What I like about Caravaggio’s David’s is how different they are then other David’s that come up in the art history canon. Just for comparison I’ll share the famous David but also Bernini’s David from the same time period.

(The David, Michelangelo)

(David, Benini. Pain to get a photo of s2g)

The first key difference is I mean, all three of Caravaggio’s David’s are wearing clothes which I think is neat in that I imagine he would be wearing those given the situation. But beyond that, what strikes me about Caravaggio’s David’s is their youth. In the biblical story, David is more the age Caravaggio consistently depicts him at. Which is about approximately preteen or teenage. The second thing that strikes me is the confidence and power displayed in Bernini and Michelangelo’s David’s evoke. But Caravaggio’s are not confident, not the way these one’s are. And especially that last one. 

Caravaggio’s David is unsure. He’s just done this thing, killed this man, but he doesn’t seem to have quite processed it in the first two. But in the third, he is processing it. And he’s not processing it well. This is a David who is unsure. This is a David who seems to pity the man who’s head he now holds by the hair. This is a David who is not strong and unwavering and confident and elegant, this is a child who just killed a man. This echo’s in the games interpretation of the scene, that same worry echoing in Dante’s brow that’s in Caravaggio’s. It’s a sympathetic David in that he seems to be unsure if this choice was worth the personal toll but also in the sense that the viewer is sympathetic to him, they feel bad for this child who has just been forced to make this choice. 

Reboot Dante’s life is not one about choice, it’s not really something he seems to be able to do often. Sparda put him into the orphanage and the orphanage put Dante into the foster care system. And ever since then Dante has had to fight. Not by choice, but by necessity. It show’s in his combat style, in his clearly untrained movements focused on power and strength rather then tactics. Vergil, if you watch him fight, he’s much more elegant, his style reflecting practice and technique. Dante, though, throws everything into his movements to kill as fast as possible. That if he just swings hard enough, this’ll all be over faster. He even stumbles in his combat because he’s put so much power into his swings, it’s my favorite little detail. 

In the game, it’s mentioned that Dante’s first recorded demon kill was when he was eight years old. It was one of the ‘caretakers’ at the facility he was in. I often wonder if that’s the moment that they were trying to depict in this image, the moment after that. I'm not really sold that he looks eight here but I mean you be the judge of that but bare with me. It’s the mood, that moment right after he’s been forced to enter his new reality for the first time. That he is going to have to fight like this the rest of his life. That bewilderment and regret and just general disbelief that he’s done this, that he’s just killed something. That sorrow for the Dante he was before, like that sorrow that David must be feeling for who he was before as well. 

But there’s a second layer here I haven’t gotten to yet. And that’s how Caravaggio’s David is also thought to be a self portrait. No, he’s not David. Caravaggio has painted himself as Goliath. A portrait of Caravaggio for reference: 

(Caravaggio as depicted by Ottavio Leoni in 1621)

Usually this is read as a tongue and cheek thing to the pope, like Caravaggio is offering himself in the ultimate repentance for his crimes. He’s sorry, here’s his head on a platter. But there’s something about it being a self portrait coupled with David’s pity for this Goliath that feels kinda...sad in a way. 

Further context to this is Caravaggio, on the run or not, did not have a studio. He was a solo artist, which is a bit odd for the period at his level. He did not take students, so his techniques died with him. No one else worked on his paintings, they’re all by his hand. This in particular David was not commissioned either, it was done as a gift. So this was a deliberate thing entirely thought through by him, painting himself as Golith, painting David so full of pity and grief. 

It’s sort of this idea of pity for the monster when you yourself are the monster as well as a sort of self hatred. Which reboot Dante is familiar with. Either Dante, preboot or reboot, kind of has this arc about trying to cope with being half demon while hating being half demon. It’s not a part of himself that he likes. The reboot goes further with this though because he doesn’t even have the solace of being half human, he’s also half angel. Reboot Dante goes from seeing himself as a human being to being told no, your not, your the things that you hate and it’s your job to protect people anyway. You are both the out of control monster and a threat, but also their protector. 

In either reboot or preboot this isn’t like the most explicit character beat, though it does come up. In the reboot we see it peak through in moments like Dante’s interactions with Phineas. The ‘my father was a demon and I’m nothing like him’ mentality. The reboot makes this more pressing to in that like, the reboot makes it clear that demons are not a hive mind. While they seem to vary in intelligence and free will and all that, the game does not imply that Phineas and Sparda are alone in their grievances where as the preboot paints demons like Sparda and Trish as complete oddities. But part of either Dante’s rejection of Sparda is always rooted in ‘Sparda is a demon, and I’m nothing like the demons.’

This is interesting in the reboot because, unlike Vergil, reboot Dante is always visually contrasted with demon imagery. His world is very red. His color is red. The colors on him, even the blacks and grays, are warm tones. His devil trigger is designed in such a way that the abundance of reds in it are even more prominent then his initial design. The only time he’s not is the scene with the graffiti where he’s positioned on the side with the angels. But visually it’s still made clear. Dante is the demonic twin, Vergil more angelic. On top of that, characters in the reboot love to point out how Dante reminds them of Sparda. Phineas does it and Mundus really does it (the ‘just like your father, too big for your fucking boots’ line). Which further puts Dante at odds with his identity. As much as he thinks he is nothing like Sparda, he’s his fathers son. He’s the demon half of this twin relationship. 

I think to like Caravaggio’s David’s just...they don’t want to do this. They’re just kids. They don’t want to kill their Goliaths. But they have to. Which is the spot we see reboot Dante in. He doesn’t want to save the world. He doesn’t want to fight for his life as often as he does. He doesn’t want this. But he has to do it. He might say he doesn’t give a shit, but what’s his choice? When has he ever had a choice? He’s the unwilling savior.

This runs through the game to. Dante doesn’t really want to be here. He makes that clear a lot. And his bravado is constantly a cover to keep him from being too vulnerable, too exposed. But it’s that last fight with Vergil where it all falls apart. He did this because Vergil asked him to, and Vergil didn’t even tell him the truth. And just like everything else, Dante doesn’t want to kill Vergil. He doesn’t want to fight him. But he’s provoked him anyway and got himself in this fight and he can’t let Vergil take the throne. David can’t just let Goliath go.

It’s the end of the game where we finally have Dante completely free of his walls and completely bare and entirely unaware of who he is and what he’s supposed to do next. It’s the same sort of vulnerability that I feel is abundant in that last David. Who is he now after all of this? Does he like this person? What’s he to do now that he knows what he’s capable of, knows what he’s done?

What makes him any different then this head in his hands?

[rubykgrant]

I’m gonna write out little high-lights of my RVB Monster AU for Halloween reasons~ Things happen in a mostly normal-world modern setting, but obviously with monsters/fantasy creatures and such. Things plot-related happen almost the same way, but some stuff is earlier/later, shuffled around to work for my own purposes (so some of the key moments still happen, but occasionally in a different order). Here is the beginning, which as always, starts with two morons asking a big question-

“Hey?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you ever wonder why we’re here?”

“Well, that’s one of life’s great mysteries, isn’t it?”

The two men were standing on the rooftop of an old warehouse. The building had gone through several owners, being used as a storage facility, a garage for fixing up cars and various vehicles, a shipping business, a veterinary clinic for large animals and livestock, a recycling center… and possibly some kind of drug lab at one point. It was none of these now, but if a stranger saw the inside, they would assume the new owner was a combination a mechanic/pet doctor, using the left-behind equipment (and considering how shady everything appeared, a stranger would also probably assume this was a front for yet another drug lab). It was still none of these things. In truth, it was much stranger.

One man stood slouching with the late-afternoon sun on his back. The other was leaning against a vent that came out of the roof, in the shadows. He had a red long-sleeved button-up shirt on (despite the hot temperature), and black jeans. His shirt was neatly tucked-in, and his matching red hair was trimmed short in what was decidedly a “going to a job interview” style. His eyes were two different colors. Once, they had both been a soft brown, but now one was glass, the color of the iris some kind of magenta… or maroon. The other eye (the one that was still organic) was a golden-yellow. He looked like somebody who had gone through a growth-spurt some years back, and still hadn’t settled into himself; too lanky and gawky for his own good.

His companion in the sun was a little shorter, and considerably larger, but completely at ease with his shape and his weight. His skin was mostly a warm copper brown… but he had several patches of mis-matched skin tones on his left side; around his eye, his chest, his arm, his leg. Each area also showed several scars, signifying that it was the result of surgery and skin-grafts. His dark brown hair was parted in the center, falling down around his shoulders in long curls, and stubble on his chin. His eyes were so dark, they almost looked black. He wore an old faded baseball shirt (once white with orange on the collar and short sleeves, now a dingy-peachy color), and loose gray jeans that were worn-out at the knees. They were quite the odd pair, opposites in many ways that were obvious (and more that were evident in their interactions), yet it was clear they were used to each other’s company.

“Why ARE we here?” the man in the sun continued, answering the question from his friend in the shadows. “I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence, or is there really a god watching everything? You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night…”

“WHAT?” the other man stood up a little straighter, but remained behind the vent. “I meant why are we out HERE, in broad daylight? Sarge KNOWS it’ll burn me, and there’s not even anything for us to do! The only reason he sends us out to keep watch is because there’s that building over there he thinks is haunted, but we can’t see anything from here… and if there WAS anything going on over there, like ghosts or whatever, they could definitely see US! We don’t have any cover on the roof, but whoever might be over THERE is hidden behind the windows!”

“Oh… uh, yeah…”

“What was all that stuff about god?”

“Nothing,”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,”

They both decided to just skip it, and move on.

“But seriously, why ARE we out here, and why does Sarge care about that building so much?” the taller man waved his arm, gesturing to the building in question.

“I guess he wants to try catching ghosts next, or something?” the shorter man shrugged.

“Then we should just GO OVER THERE, right?”

“Pfff… nah, are you kidding? Just standing around, looking at a building? This is the easiest job I ever had,” he sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Grif, you- OK, first of all! This isn’t a JOB, we aren’t getting paid! Second, you don’t even remember most of your life before a few months ago, you have no basis of comparison!”

“Fair point, but come on Simmons… seriously? What job could I have possibly had that would be easier than this?”

From his spot in the shadows, Simmons looked away for a moment, thinking.

“Hmm… well, I remember reading about people being paid to take part in sleep studies. You just nap and keep a dream journal, or whatever…”

“Oh man, are you kidding!? I WISH that was my life!” Grif kicked at an old rusty can, causing it to fall off the roof. “Instead, here I am, stuck in this stupid building, in this stupid town, in this stupid canyon-”

“Where we have to look at a potentially haunted building, at random intervals, day and night…” Simmons added.

“All because Scruffy the Vampire Slayer is paranoid!”

Despite himself, this caused Simmons to snort laughter. Grif grinned, pleased that his pun was appreciated.

“Even if that building IS haunted… it doesn’t seem like something bad, you know? I never see anybody running out of there screaming bloody murder. If we just ignored it, what would happen? Nothing. It would just be a boring building with boring ghosts, and we’d just be another boring building with boring… whatever we are,” Simmons leaned once more on the vent, glaring up at the sky that was still dangerously bright.

“I think monsters sums us up pretty good,” Griff suggested.

“Right, monsters who don’t do anything. Over there are ghosts who don’t do anything. Whoopty-fucking-doo…”

“You gonna actually SAY that to Sarge? Hmm? Gonna finally stand up to him, use your big-boy voice, and tell the crazy old man you don’t wanna follow orders anymore? Is this beginning of your rebellious phase?” Grif reached over, shoving Simmons lightly on the arm.

“Well… no… but! I’m gonna remind him that me being outside in the day is a bad idea! YOU should get the day shift, and I should get the night shift. It just makes sense,”

“Aww, but Simmons… then we wouldn’t get to spend quality time together, having all these deep and meaningful conversations!” Grif gave him a look of fake-concern, like he was hurt and might start crying.

“Oh, right. I forgot. We’re philosophers discussing the secrets of the universe, life’s great mysteries, right?” Simmons smirked.

“Exactly… like, if you could only taste one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? No matter what you ate, it has the same flavor?” Grif asked.

“That’s a stupid question for a vampire, man. Everything I eat DOES have the same flavor now. It all tastes like blood, because guess what? I have to drink blood. Because I’m a VAMPIRE,” Simmons shook his head.

“No, but I mean, if you could magically taste something ELSE, whether you were drinking blood or eating a salad, or whatever, what would you pick?” Grif pressed on. “I’d want everything to taste like chocolate. Milk chocolate. That’s my favorite, and I’d never get sick of it…”

“Jeez… it would’ve been impossible to get you to chill out if you tasted chocolate every time you tried to eat a person!” Simmons replied, remembering how it had been with Grif when they first found him.

“Yeah, I don’t know what those other zombies were on about… brains and human flesh is GROSS. Chocolate, though? MMM, I could do the zombie-shuffle-walk for days to get some good chocolate,”

“Uh-huh, and  that’s EXACTLY how we caught you!” Simmons almost reached out to return the arm-punch, but managed to hesitate and stop in time… Grif was still in direct sunlight, and Simmons would get scorched if he left his little patch of shadow. Grif seemed to realize this, in that quiet and easy way that caused both of them to somehow pick-up each other’s habits. Grif leaned over to nudge Simmons with his shoulder, and they both laughed together.

[redbokuto]

Awaited Encounter~ Part 8

I stumbled towards the unknown campus with an exhausted expression. It was Saturday, two full weeks since me and Bokuto had our first kiss. Nothing big has happened. I have grown more comfortable with Bokuto’s affection. Meaning I stopped blushing like an idiot every time he would give me a gentle smile.

These two weeks gave me time to think about me and Bokuto’s relationship. I think I am ready.

My eyes wandered around the large building which I assumed was the gym. Before I entered, I noticed a figure slumping in the corner. They sat on the stairs in the front of the building, their face shadowed by their bleached hair.

Black roots ruffled when the figure pulled their red hood off their head. From their jacket, I could tell they must be a member from Kuro’s team. “Is this where the practice match will be?” I watched as the person shivered from my words.

Their head turned in my direction. Cat-like eyes laid on mine, “Yes.” The boy answered before placing his attention on his hands. In his hands was a gaming device of some kind. I don’t play many games, so I don’t know which kind.

Their lack of attention didn’t bug me. I went along ahead, opening the door to the gym at a slow rate.

Sneakers squeaked along the ground of the creamy gym floor. Two colored jerseys scattered across the area.

Even with all the people I could still spot Bokuto’s multi-colored hair. He was doing stretches with another member of his team. Bokuto was talking while the person next to him laughed along.

“You came Akashi!” A voice called out. Before I knew it, a heat source attached onto my body. Their legs wrapped around my frame and their arms went over my shoulders. “Hey Meg.” I greeted with a stiffened tone. I still wasn’t used to how energetic she was.

Ai came after Meg quickly to remove her off my body. “I’m sorry Akashi. Meg, he likes his personal space, you know like most humans.” Ai stated with an eye roll.

Meg pouted and let go of me. Her childish expression reminded me so much of Kou’s, it made me crack. “Ai it is alright. I can handle it.” The eldest gave me a skeptical look. She sighed and let go of the smaller girl.

Meg attached to me within seconds, making her look like a human backpack. “You sure this isn’t too much for you Akashi?” Ai asked again once she saw how strained my face was.

I nodded and adjusted Meg on my body. The woman was like a light monkey. She stayed on my back as I walked with Ai towards the seats.

Meg jumped off me and bounced in her chair, “aren’t you going to say hi to Kou? You know, give him a little boyfriend luck.” I looked towards Kou and winced at the amount of people standing around him.

“Uh, I don’t belive in luck.” I whispered. The sister’s frowned at me.

Ai took my hand while Meg started to push me, “no time to be a pushover.” The eldest puffed out.

“Yeah, Akashi you got this.” Meg cheered.

Resisting was useless. Before I knew it, I was in the middle of the court in front of Bokuto, Kuro, and another player. Kou’s eyes lit up when he saw me, “Akashi! You came!”

Meg gave me one last push, “Yeah.” I managed to squeak out. Bokuto and Kuro looked at each other, then me. “Relax. I swear the people here are harmless.” They said in unison.

Bokuto’s hand reached out and landed on the other player’s shoulder. “This is one of my teammates, Konoha. He is probably the meanest one here, if you can handle him, you’ll be fine.”

I scanned Konoha’s features as he growled at Bokuto. He had pale green eyes and light hair. The man was skinnier then Bokuto but more muscular than me. “It is nice to meet you Akashi. And don’t listen to that idiot, I am not mean only honest.”

Konoha stuck out his hand with something you could call a smile. “Calling someone an idiot is considered mean Konoha.” Bokuto pouted as I took Konoha’s hand.

The pale-haired man shook his head, “nope. That is just honesty.” Kuro held back a laugh as Bokuto yelled at his teammate.

Seeing Bokuto interact with Konoha made me smile. I am glad Bokuto has grown more popular over the years. He deserves loving friends to keep him company. Not that I would describe Konoha as loving.

A few more people joined around me and Bokuto. I scooted closer to the team captain while he introduced me to his teammates. They all seemed nice.

“Looks like you have almost met everyone Akashi.” Bokuto said with a smile. He leaned his head down and planted a quick kiss on my cheek. Everyone was talking amongst themselves, so no one noticed. Almost no one.

“Save it for the bed.” Kuro whispered while jabbing at Kou’s side. Bokuto stuck out his tongue, making childish faces to mock Kuro. My brow twitched as Kuro started to mimic the action. Idiots.

Both coaches called their teams together, making everyone disband. I started to walk back to the seats with the sisters when my shoulder pushed against another.

Cold gray eyes graced mine, as the person who bumped into me stopped moving. They had crisp light blue hair and an undercut. Their skin was tanned, and their body was as fit as Kuro’s.

“What’s with that look?” The man spoke, turning his full body towards me. Something about the man’s voice made my resting bitch face activate. “What’s with yours?” I said with a tinge of annoyance.

The man tilted his head to the side, making his jawline more prominent. From the guy’s eyebrow slit to his tight volleyball shorts. Everything about him ticked me off.

A cold tension floated around the two of us until we suddenly broke away. My scowl melted off as I united with Meg and Ai.

The three of us watched the game closely. While watching the game, I noticed a few things. One, the blue-haired guy I ran into was the main setter for their team. On the court, him and Bokuto seemed like an unstoppable duo. The sight made a bitter taste form on my tongue.

Another thing I noticed was that the bleached haired boy I met outside the gym was also a setter. “That’s Kenma.” Meg interjected when she noticed my stare.

I looked at Meg with a shocked expression before focusing on the boy. “I didn’t think Kuro would be into someone so… anti-social.”

“Yes, because you’re such the extrovert.” Ai remarked with a sarcastic smile. “Looks like both our little brothers like the quiet type.” Ai continued, her smile turning into a fond one.

“That or they love dominating their submissive partner.” Meg giggled.

My cheeks warmed up from her words, “I-I can dominate.” The words died in my throat when I tried to say them. Meg laughed while Ai smirked, “Can you even hold Kou’s hand without fainting?”

“Yes I can!” I answered a little too quickly. Both girls chuckled at how loud my tone was.

A whistle blew shortly after, signaling a timeout. I looked over to Kou’s team as they walked to the side of the court. Bokuto’s hair was dropping down and his back was crunched. Oh no, he’s in his emo mode.

Without hesitating, I walked over to Kou on the sidelines. I don’t know what took over me, seeing Kou sad has always made me act first and think later.

“Are you ok?” My hands were pressed against Kou’s cheeks, bringing his face closer. Kou’s eyes adjusted to mine, “Akashi… I don’t remember how to do a line shot.” Bokuto’s shoulders dropped down further as his face grew disgruntled.

A voice called from behind us, “Bokuto has a few… weaknesses.” The coach stated. My head turned to see the coach and teammates, “yes I know, 37 to be exact.”

The coach’s eyes widen from my words, “well I didn’t count them… who are you?”

I let go of Bokuto’s face and bowed to the coach, “my name is Akashi Keiji. I attend the same college as Bokuto.”

The coach looked between me and Bokuto before snapping his fingers. “Oh, you’re the boyfriend he doesn’t shut up about.”

I looked over to Kou with pursed lips. He gave me a nervous grin and scratched the back of his neck. “You’re very fun to talk about.”

Konoha walked in front of the coach with his hands on his hips. “I guessed you were the boyfriend. I am sorry for the amount of brain cells you must have lost dating him.”

“Konoha shut up!” Bokuto whined.

The coach redirected the two before talking to the rest of the team. I just stood there, watching Kou as he pouted through the entire discussion. “Could you please…” I started.

All heads turned to me. I scanned each face, frowning a bit at the blue haired setter before continuing. “Could you please give a perfect set to Bokuto? You only need one. One good hit from him and he will be usable again. That is all I asked.”

I bowed my head to the setter, gritting my teeth while doing so. I may hate him for an unknown reason, but if it makes Kou happy again, I will do anything.

The blue haired setter snorted when I picked my head back up. “I was already planning on it.” The blue-haired man looked at Kou, a mysterious emotion clouded his eyes.

The game started again. I stayed by the sidelines, slouching on the bench while Kou and that setter ran the game. I could pick up a few traits from the players on both teams.

One, Kuro and Konoha have an unspoken rivalry. Both seemed to get cocky when blocking each other’s teams. Two, Kuro has full trust in his setter, aka Kenma. Kenma seems to be very logical on his decisions. Very cat-like if you ask me. Lastly, that blue-haired setter is quick on his feet.

He makes calculated choices when it comes to setting the ball and who to set it for. That fact alone made me hate him more.

The game ended with Bokuto’s team claiming victory in two sets. Making them the winner.

Bokuto walked over to me, sweaty and smiling. “You see that? I told you I’m the best!” I handed Kou his water bottle and patted his damp hair, “I already knew this.”

Meg and Ai came soon after, next Kuro and Kenma. Kenma shadowed Kuro with a stoic face. “I’ll beat you next time bro.” Kuro stated while pulling Bokuto into a hug. “I doubt it.” Both team captains chuckled.

“Oh, it’s all the Bokuto’s.” The coach commented from behind me.

“Hey.”

“Hey hey!”

“Hey hey hey!”

The three siblings greeted. Me and Kenma winced from their loud tones.

“How’s the soon to be husband Ai?” The coach asked. Ai has been engaged for a couple months now. She and the coached talked about the coming up wedding. Her and Meg went to this college a few years ago so they are well acquainted with the instructor.

Kuro came up from behind me, “you coming to the after party?” He asked as he laid his arm on my shoulder.

Bokuto placed his arm on Kenma’s shoulder, “you must come to the after party.”

Both team captains had a smirk playing on their lips. “Kuro is already dragging me, I don’t need you to as well.” Kenma huffed in a minor tone.

“Kou didn’t tell me about an after party.” I stated innocently.

“It’s not an ‘after party’ per say. Kuro and Bokuto invited two of their old friends for pizza and drinks at their apartment. The sisters are coming as well. Have you met Oikawa and Iwaizumi?” Kenma explained.

I shook my head, “well they aren’t as loud as these two. Actually, Oikawa is but Iwaizumi keeps him in line for the most part.” Kenma continued.

Bokuto let go of Kenma and walked to me. He wrapped his arms around my body, but before he could speak, Konoha interrupted. “Bokuto, there are flowers waiting for you at the front of the gym.”

I could feel Bokuto’s body stiffen around me. He then sighed, “they are still sending gifts.” I glanced back at Kou with a confused look, “who is sending you flowers.”

“Bro here has been getting fan gifts for the past year now. Someone must really have a crush on you.” Kuro butted in.

My lips turned into a frown, “I didn’t know you had a secret admirer.”

“I didn’t think it was important enough to talk about. They are small gifts Akashi; I normally just give them to Kuro or Konoha.” Bokuto jerked his head, signaling for Konoha to agree with him.

Konoha nodded, “yeah that is true. You have nothing to worry about Akashi.”

“Konoha will take them home Akashi.” Kuro placed his hand on Konoha’s shoulder with a forced smile.

“Um, no I won’t. I have a deadly allerg-

“Konoha will take them home Akashi.” Kuro repeated, pulling Konoha along with him.

The last thing I heard was Konoha whispering a curse under his breath as the two walked away. I turned to Bokuto, “are you sure this is nothing?” The gray-haired man put his water bottle down and wiped his sweaty face with a towel.

Bokuto pulled me closer, planting a kiss on my cheek and placing his head on top of mine. “I swear.” Bokuto’s warmth made my body relax. I could feel his damp skin brush against mine as I wrapped one of my arms around his waist.

With hesitation, I pressed the pad of my fingers against his knuckles. Kou’s hand flexed slightly before opening up. I locked my fingers with his, intertwining our hands. Both of us said nothing as I pulled away, keeping our hands together.

I pulled Kou along. He stared at me, surprised to see me leading the way for a change. More surprised by the fact I am holding his hand. He smiled at the sight.

It took a while for everyone to gather together. Kuro returned with Kenma by his side and the sisters greeted Kenma happily. We all walked back to Bokuto’s apartment, chatting amongst each other.

Ai and Kuro threw remarks at one another with the main topics being Kenma and Bokuto. Kenma stayed silent. He played on his device and Meg watched him and cheered. Kenma is also used to the sister’s strange behavior. Though he isn’t as close to the family as Kuro.

For once, Bokuto was mute. It actually scared me a little. Every time I would glance at him, he would be looking down at our hands. At first, I thought it bothered him, but the smile on his face pushed that thought away.

I liked this. Walking with this group and having Bokuto by my side. I haven’t felt this happy in years…

“Beautiful.” Bokuto whispered, grabbing my attention. “You’re smiling again Akashi, it’s beautiful. I love it.”

By this time, we were at the stairs leading to Bokuto’s apartment. I stopped and let the rest of the group walk ahead. “Kou… you are the only one that can make me smile like this.”

My eyes stayed on his, loving the attention he was giving me. Kou leaned in closer to capture my lips. A small squeak left me as Kou’s hands placed on my waist. His body pushed harder against mine, trapping me between his chest and the wall.

One of my hands gripped the clothing on his chest while my other laced around his neck to pull him closer. No one has ever made me feel this way. Everything about Bokuto interests me, from his flexible attitude to his caring nature.

He’s so imperfect that it is perfect! Perfect for me anyways. His hands scaled up my hips, going under the clothing to feel my untouched skin. Every movement he made cause my body to flare. My cheeks were bright red, but I didn’t care. All I wanted right now was Bokuto’s warmth.

Both of us took the kiss slow. Neither one of us have any experience in a relationship as passionate as this one. The naïve side of me would call this true love. The mature side of me would question whether or not this is love.

“Akashi, you make me feel that way too.” Bokuto said breathlessly when he broke the kiss. Small pants escaped my lips, my eyes hazy from a mixture of passion and embarrassment. I nuzzled against the hand that was on my cheek, giving a few kisses to his palm as he spoke.

“You make me feel different Akashi… you make me comfortable with myself. I have confidence as you know but… it’s just different. I don’t know how to explain it, but I really like hanging out with you.”

This is it; this is the perfect time to tell him anything and everything. Even about our past… “Kou…” But I couldn’t.

“Let’s go on a date.”

Kou’s eyes sparked from the news. His expression made me feel less guilty. “Hey hey hey! Can I plan it? Can I? Can I Akashi please!?”

I sighed, “fine Kou fine. Relax ok?” Kou pressed his lips against me with a giddy smile. His hands rose higher on my body, pulling me as close as he could. My eyes squeezed shut at his built-up affection.

“Look Iwa-chan there is a show!” A mocking tone called out. Bokuto parted from me quickly, his eyes glaring at whoever said those words. He soon calmed down, “if it isn’t Oikawa.”

A man with pretty brown locks waved to Bokuto. Behind the pretty man was a more grumpy looking one. “You ruined their moment Shittykawa.”

“The other is Iwaizumi.” Bokuto informed me. He let go of me to greet the other two boys. I stayed behind, watching with a smile on my face.

“The name is Toru Oikawa, and may I say you are pretty.” The man said with his hand towards me. I took his hand and shook it. Oikawa pulled my hand closer to him. His head leaned down but before he could do anything, Iwaizumi acted.

A sharp sound came from Iwaizumi’s hand hitting against Oikawa’s head. “Ow Iwa-chan!” The brunette hissed.

“Stop flirting for one second Oikawa!” A silence settled in the air as Iwaizumi walked up the stairs of the complex.

Bokuto whistled and turned to Oikawa, “what did you do? He never uses your real name.”

The pretty boy sighed, “Sorry that I brought you him like this. It was nice to meet you though beautiful. Now I gotta go cool him down, see you inside!” Oikawa waved before leaving me and Bokuto.

Me and Kou decided to join the others as well. The moment was over anyways. When we walked inside, a dark tension settled on our shoulders. Oikawa and Iwaizumi were on two different sides of the room.

Ai sat next to Oikawa, trying to cheer him up. Meg stood with Iwaizumi, attempting the same thing as her older sister. “Do you have a plan?” I whispered to Bokuto. Kou cringed at the sight, “yeah… maybe. Go sit with Oikawa, ok? Kenma is over there too, you two can bond about being anti-social.”

“That isn’t something you bond about.” I stated with pursed lips.

Bokuto chuckled, “yeah, yeah, now go.”

I did as told. Me, Ai, and Oikawa started with a light chatter. Kenma would tune in once in a while when a topic interested him. On the other side of the room, laughs lingered. From what I can gather, Meg dragged the boys into a drinking contest.

Ai laid her head down on the couch cushion, “you know Oikawa, you should stop flirting with others. You are dating Iwa after all.”

“So, you two are dating?” I asked with the tilt of my head.

Kenma picked up his head and snorted, “have you seen their sexual tension? Not even a knife can cut that.”

Oikawa scoffed, “like you can be talking kitten. When are you going to pounce on that rooster of yours?” I smiled at the irritated face Kenma made.

A small warmth touched my leg. I looked to the side and saw baby owl pawing at my thigh. “Are you going to claw me again?” I whispered to the animal. Baby owl replied with a meow before crawling on my lap and nuzzling against me.

“Fine I guess you can stay here. You make any sudden movements; you get no treats tonight.” I gave a playful glare to the cat. My heart melted when the kitten meowed again and purred against me. “Why are you so cute darling.” I said while nudging my finger against the animal’s chin.

I looked back at the group. Oikawa was laying by himself on the couch and Kenma was back to looking at his gaming device. Ai stood up, “hey Kuro, me and Meg are going to crash here. I’m taking your bed.”

“Ok big sister!” Kuro slurred back.

Kenma sighed, “great, he’s drunk.”

Ai stopped walking and turned to the college boy approaching her. “You haven’t called me ‘big sister’ since we were little.”

Heavy eyes laid on Ai’s, she snorted at his obvious intoxicated state. Kuro put his arms out and hugged Ai, “I love you so much big sister.” He shoved his face on Ai’s shoulder. She froze from the sudden contact before exhaling.

“Kenma, can you take him? Bokuto’s room if you don’t mind.” Kenma got off the couch with a snort and grabbed the back of Kuro. “Come here, come here.” Kuro turned swiftly and gave Kenma a goofy smile.

“Let’s cuddle Kenma.”

“No Kuro, we are putting you to bed.”

“But we always cuddle kitten!” Kuro whined, now putting all his weight on Kenma. The pudding haired boy blushed madly, “I hate when you’re like this.”

The shorter boy pulled the drunk one across the room till they reached Bokuto’s bedroom. Ai went into Kuro’s room, leaving me and Oikawa together.

“How long have you been dating Bokuto?” The pretty man asked, his eyes staying on the celling. “A couple weeks, we are going on our first date soon.”

“Well, aren’t you lucky. Bokuto never dates. He rejected at least half his high school a while back you know. You must be something special.” Oikawa trailed off, mumbling the rest under his breath.

The pretty man peaked up when Iwaizumi came into the living room. The drunk man said nothing. He crawled on top of Oikawa, resting his head on the pretty man’s chest. “Say anything and I’ll hit you.” He grumbled.

Oikawa looked down at his boyfriend and smiled. His fingers threaded through Iwaizumi’s hair as he rested his head on the arm of the couch.

“Hey hey hey.” A soft voice whispered in my ear. I turned my head to face Bokuto, unlike the others he looked normal. “Are you sober?” I asked, placing my hand on his cheek.

Kou nodded, “yeah I’m not a fan of alcohol.” Kou went quiet. He pulled me off of his recline chair and hugged me. “I haven’t told you this… my dad… he died when I was very young. Liver poisoning.”

I knew all this; I was there when Kou’s dad first entered the hospital. “Oh, I’m sorry for asking- “

“No, it’s fine.” Kou tilted his head down to look at me, a smile laying on his lips. “I want you to know everything about me.” Of course you do…

“Anyways, do you want me to drop you off home?”

“Why don’t you sleep over?” Bokuto’s eyes widen from my offer. His shocked look made me frown, “you don’t- “

“No, no let’s go!” Bokuto grabbed my hand and started to pull me out of the apartment. I laughed at how eggar he was. As always, Bokuto is being one of the only lights in my life.

[cobradoesmcyt]

Black Rose (2/4)

Here comes the second part! And “New town, new me” is way more shipy then I remember it being. Anyways, here’s part two!

Grian hummed happily as he walked around New Hermitville, it had been two weeks since he arrived here and he honestly couldn't see how he'd ever be able to live without the peace of the village. It was so serene and calm most of the time, and even when Bdubs was running around planning new builds and looking for materials it was nice. Over the two weeks he'd gotten very comfortable around his two new villagemates, way faster than he thought he would, and he now knew some interesting quirks about the two.

Keralis liked to take it slow and enjoy the scenery, so he tended to keep a camera on him at most times to capture most of those sceneries without staying there for hours. Not that he also didn't do that, because he definitely did, but it was more common he just took pictures.

Bdubs liked telling stories, they ranged from funny and joyful to somber and sad ranging between everything in between. He usually told them when he was doing mindless work, like making room for a new build in the village, but at times he sought out either Grian, Keralis or them both to tell them a story. His most common audience was Grian and his gardens, seeing as Grian usually stayed there and relaxed, making him an easy person to find and tell stories to.

Equally they had learnt stuff and quirks about him, like how he loved taking care of animals and how said animals seemed to love him. Also how he was a good tailor, and how he seemed to just be able to know your style from just a quick look. Another interesting thing was his gardens. He had three over all, but two of them had smaller patches of flowers over it and the last one was just one big garden of plants of all kinds. One of his favorite patches of the gardens was the one filled with poppies, when they asked him about it he told them it was for an old friend.

In a flower pot sitting next to the entrance of the big garden was a wither rose, at first Keralis and Bdubs had been apprehensive about letting him have it but after seeing that it did him no harm they let him keep it (turns out Grian had developed a slight immunity against the black flowers, so one wasn't enough to hurt him anymore). It now served as a reminder as to how he got where he was now, that and his new appearance.

The first notable difference he had was the black patches covering his skin, they were mostly on his arms but it was all over his body. Other than his arms, his face and hands were the most notable. His fingertips were a black that faded back into his normal skin tone before they reached further than his fingers. His face was the most obvious, since all of the bottom part of the right side of his face was black. His right eye had also been affected, swapping the black and white of his eyes around. So his pupil was now white and sclera was black, though his iris was still a breathtaking violet. His wings now also had black speckling along the tips, but only on the top.

The second difference was his clothing. Sure he loved his sweater and casual pants, but he was starting a new chapter in his life so it was time to try something new. His red sweater was replaced by a red open cardigan over a loose white shirt. His gray pants had been replaced by form fitting casual sweatpants. His black sneakers had been replaced by short heeled shoes (he wanted to be taller than 5 feet, which he now is with the shoes...barely) which were also black.

And the last difference was his hair. He had let it grow out, which didn't take very long since his hair grew very fast, and it was now pulled up in a loose bun. He was also wearing a headband with fake flowers, the flowers were all pastel and they varied from blue all the way to pink.

He had gotten very positive feedback from his two new villagemates, both enjoying the style and color pallet he'd chosen. The changes had happened around the start of the second week, so he'd only had the clothes for a bit.

Breaking himself out of his memories he walked up to the river's edge and sat down, he usually went down to the river almost every morning. He enjoyed the water, since that had been his momentary distraction back before the wither rose garden situation. He let himself get distracted by the clear waters before him, world momentarily forgotten. This was another thing he's noticed, he's now more relaxed now. He isn't jumping around getting ready to prank someone, though he does still prank Bdubs and Keralis from time to time, nor is he staying up late working on builds.

Sure he still worked on builds, but it was mostly sketches and small things. He supposes he's just content relaxing for once, he's always been so riled up and itching to do stuff all the time that he's kinda forgotten what it's like to relax properly.

Grian would have thought for longer, had it not been for the sound of rockets approaching. He quickly rushed up from the water and into one of the new Hermitville gate towers. He hid in the tower, but made sure to still be near a window so that he could see what was going on. And once he looked his eyes widened.

Just behind the entrance gates stood Iskall, and he seemed to be agitated. This couldn't be very good, what was he doing here?

"Keralis! Bdubs! Can you come here? I need to talk to you both!"

Said two Hermits came jogging from the village, curious but welcoming expressions on their faces. It was Bdubs who initiated conversation further, "Good day my good sir! What can we do for you?"

"Have you seen Grian?" Asked Iskall, the Swede glancing around all the while.

"Grian? No, can't say we have." Said Bdubs, grateful that he'd gotten a bit better at not showing he was lying, "Why do you ask?"

Iskall huffed out a breath, shoulders sagging, "Grian disappeared two weeks ago, no one's seen him since. No death message has appeared, not since those of him withering away stopped."

"Why would you think he was here?" Asked Keralis, head tilted to the side. "Why not some place with a lot of wither roses?"

"We've already looked everywhere where those are," sighed Iskall, "But there are some wither roses missing from Sahara so we think he made a spot somewhere and used them there, we just can't find it."

"Well we wish you luck finding him." said Bdubs, "We promise to look out and tell you if we find him."

Iskall regarded them for a few seconds before nodding. "Thank you both, have a nice day."

"You too!" Called Bdubs as the brunette flew away.

Grian waited a few minutes before making his way out of the tower. I looked up at the direction where Iskall had disappeared off to, a frown on his face, "Why is he here now?"

At the two’s confused faces he elaborated, "Why is he looking here now? This is quite a big landmark, being you guys’ base. So why is he only looking here now?"

"Maybe he hasn't started looking up until now?" Asked Bdubs with a shrug.

"If that's the case, then why haven't they been looking before now?" Questioned Grian, hunching in on himself as dark thoughts entered his head. "Do they not care about me?"

Keralis was quick to come and comfort him, "No, of course they do. I'm sure they have a good reason." He rubbed Grian's back gently. "We can ask about it during the next Idea meeting if you'd like?"

"Please." Whispered Grian, burrowing into Keralis' gentle hold.

"Ok, then we'll do that." Cooed Bdubs also wrapped his arms around the small Hermit. "Now how about we cuddle for the rest of the day? I think you might need to relax a bit."

The rest of the day was spent much like Bdubs had said, full of cuddles and laughs. By the time the sun was setting Grian had mostly forgotten about Iskall's earlier visit, much to the relief of Keralis and Bdubs. They watched as the small dirty blond fell asleep curled up in between them, their faces turning to frowns as soon as they were sure he was asleep for real.

"I hope Shashwamy doesn't ask too many questions tomorrow," mumbled Keralis, "I don't think I can lie to him for long."

Bdubs placed his hand on the others forearm in comfort, "I'm sure he won't talk about it for too long, he'll probably want to focus on Idea more than talk about that anyways."

"You're probably right, I'm just worried I guess."

"I am too." Admitted Bdubs, "We both know that if the Hermits were to force themselves onto Grian he'd probably go back to the mindset he was in two weeks ago. Hell, technically they're the reason he was there to begin with!"

"Hey, don't be too hard on them." Said Keralis, "They probably didn't notice."

"Which is even worse if you ask me."

Keralis sighed, running a hand through his hair. "We can't just judge them without hearing their side first. They are our friends too, they deserve us to be fair to them."

Bdubs didn't reply and simply laid his head down on the brunette's shoulder. In turn said brunette rested his head against the raven haired man's own, but not before he took off his glasses and hat and put them on the small coffee table in the room.

Tomorrow would be an eventful day, but right now they had nothing to worry about. No important talks to have, no meetings, no nothing, just calm bliss. They treasured these moments, no matter how many they had.

Keralis let out a loud yawn before following his cuddle-mates to sleep, he was ready for whatever tomorrow may bring. Especially if it meant that Grian could start mending his friendships with everyone, he could clearly see how much his small friend missed them.

Over in the Sahara meeting room one chocolate brown eye and one cybernetic blue eye looked at a framed picture of the three Architechs on opening day, the eyes then turned to another framed picture, this one more recent. It was taken almost a month ago, and it was also of the trio. Nothing looked too different, at least it did until he took a closer look at the eyes.

There was a big change in Grian's eyes from the first picture compared to the second one. In the first the violet eyes were bright and full of joy and life, but in the second picture the eyes were dull and almost completely lifeless.

He'd done this, hadn't he? He and everyone else on the server. They had broken, and if not that then at least cracked, the kindest person alive. They had made joke after joke, not bothering to see if it was ok or not. And in the end, that's what took him away from them. Sure, he was still on the server, at least according to Xisuma he was, but they couldn't find him.

Perhaps that was his fault, for not starting to look sooner. But he just couldn't believe Grian just left everything he'd made and ran, even when he saw the broken communicator. Ren had given him hell for not telling everyone Grian was missing, honest to god missing, before now. The ex-hippie has been disappointed, but not mad surprisingly. When asked about it he said, "Can't be mad at him(Iskall) for something I've done too. So I'm choosing to be disappointed in what he, and only he, has done."

The search had started just under two weeks after Grian disappeared, and no luck yet. He wasn't in Hermitville, nor in new Hermitville (heh, if he only knew), or any other place that was searched.

So for yet another night Iskall fell into a fitful sleep, worrying over his dirty blond friend and where he could be. The Swed just hoped that Grian was safe and happy, that's all he wanted him to be. And Grian was both of those, so Iskall had what he wanted.

Even as everyone went to sleep, or at least most of them, the server was still slightly abuzz. The tension from the talks that would happen the next day in the air. Hopefully everything went ok.

Who am I kidding? This is Hermitcraft! Nothing usually goes ok. So who really knows what will happen?

[imagine-loki]

Gifted

Title: Gifted (Sequel to Giftless)

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 56/?

AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: 

Imagine that you are Stark’s niece and you secretly share a strong relationship with Loki since he entered the crew. One day you get hurt so bad during a mission that you are about to die.  Loki knows a spell that will save you and share his immortality with you but you and he will be linked forever sharing thoughts, pain, emotions…

RATING: T NOTES/WARNINGS:  Also on AO3 click here

You came to what felt like a long time later, though of course. “Easy. You’ve been unconscious for awhile,” a female voice told you gently. You cracked your eyes open. It was so hard to get them to open or focus.  You’d drained yourself so far by healing Loki. You were laying on a bed, but it wasn’t your bed, in a suite that wasn’t yours. You worked to sit up. It was so hard and your muscles trembled as you did. “Easy, my lady,” the female voice repeated. You looked over to the side of the bed and saw a small woman standing there. “Drink this,” she handed you a potion, obviously a healer by her demeanor. You drank the potion after probing its contents to make sure it was safe. It was a basic restorative draft. You downed it and three of its friends before you finally started to feel more like yourself.

You looked quickly around the room. It was a gorgeous suite, fancier than your suite at the tower. The bed you were on was huge and so soft and comfortable. Loki was laying on the other side, still with the manacles on his wrists and the collar around his neck though the chains connecting them were gone.  At least he was safe and very not dead. You breathed a sigh of relief, even though he was still unconscious, and still healing. He was alive and he was safe.

“What’s going on?” you asked her, finally able to think enough to form words.

“King Balder wishes for you to get well. He has granted you these rooms as your own. There is a servant outside your chambers for any requests you may have. Take one of these every hour,” she indicated the collection of potions on the nightstand next to you. “And have your…consort take one of those as often,” she indicated the potions on the nightstand by him.

“Thank you,” you replied, bowing your head regally. You had picked up the gesture from Frigga. She scampered out of the suite as fast as she could. The second she was gone, you scrambled over to where Loki was laying to check on your Loki. “Loki?” you asked, checking him over with your healing gift. He was still injured, but not in immediate danger. Before you got to work on him, you went to the mirror in the bathroom. You needed to check your eyes. Jet black. Of course. You had brought Loki back from the brink of death. You had to be careful using any more magic. Really, you shouldn’t use more magic, but you didn’t have many options.  

You sat next to Loki on the bed after you looked at your eyes and held his left hand in yours.

It was then that you looked at the soulbond marks on your arm. They were back in all of their colors up your left arm, though they seemed to be etched in deeper somehow. There was also a swirl of gray added to the green, black, blue, and gold that were the original colors. It was a reminder that the connection had been broken once. You weren’t sure either of you could survive if it broke again. You looked at your other arm and was shocked to see the same swirling pattern of colors up your right arm. Those hadn’t been there before. You’d have to ask Loki about it when he woke up.

You whispered the word of power that was supposed to flare the magic in the soulbond. It didn’t work. The soulbond was too taxed keeping Loki alive to give you additional power now. You looked him over with your healing gift again and healed a couple of bones that hadn’t gotten healed all the way during the initial healing and made sure his cuts were at least closed. That was the best you could do right then.

You reached up and touched his temples, focusing your breathing. You didn’t use telepathy often, not like this. You dove carefully into his mind, apologizing silently for entering without permission. You searched and searched the empty chambers of his mind, looking for his self hiding within his mind. /Loki!/ you called. /Loki. It’s safe now!/ you called to him. He was hiding. Hiding from the torture. You didn’t blame him, it was the way for him to survive.  You finally found the child-Loki hiding at the back of his mind, crying, huddled in a corner with his knees pulled to his chest. /Hello, Loki/ you greeted him, softly, gently. He looked up at you, shocked and confused, and just a little hopeful. You sat down on the ground in front of him. /We’re safe now/ you told him warmly.

/Kat?/ he thought back at you, so lost and small and broken.

You nodded and opened your arms for him. /It’s me. I’m here. I told you I would come find you/

/You came!/ His voice was so full of hope and childlike glee.

/Of course I came, my darling soulbond. I would never give up on you/

/Father would/ he replied sadly.

/Your father is a moron/ you replied dryly, making your tiny Loki laugh. /Are you ready to go back to your body now? It’s safe and I’m there with you/

He shook his head and looked sad. /The rest of me is still lost. I don’t know where he went/ 

You smiled gently, stood, and offered him a hand. /Shall we go look for him together?/ you asked. He jumped to his feet and took your hand. You smiled at him and set off to go find the broken pieces of his mind. You didn’t know how long you walked and searched for, but little Loki was a ball of happiness now that he was safe and you were with him so you didn’t mind walking with him. He bounced along beside you happily. He did get tired at one point, so you carried him on your back for awhile while you looked for other pieces of his mind.

You finally came across a blue-skinned Loki with red eyes and Jotun markings. The little Loki was scared of him, and clutched to your hand. /It’s ok/ you told little Loki. /He’s you too/. You smiled at the Jotun Loki. /Found you/ you told him brightly, glad to see him.

/You were looking for me? But I’m a monster/ he protested, horrified that anyone would be looking for me.

/Never to me. You’re just another side of my soulbond, of my Loki/

He looked so hopeful, yet that fear was still there. /You are not scared of me?/

/Never, my love/ you held out your other hand to him. /Will you come with us to find the rest of you?/ 

He nodded gracefully. /I will come/ he replied. 

You picked up little Loki on your back again, took Jotun Loki’s hand, and you continued on the paths through his mind, looking for the rest of the pieces.

Little Loki cried when you found the next piece. You picked him up and handed him to Jotun Loki. /It’s ok, little one. You don’t have to be afraid/ you had seen this side of Loki only once before. You would have to tread carefully with him. This was the side that had been hurt too often by Odin’s poor parenting and abuse. /Hello, darling/ you greeted him, gentling your voice.

/Mine/ He rushed over to you and wrapped his arms around you in a crushing hug.

/Always, love/ you replied with a smile. /You don’t have to fear. I’m not leaving you. I came to find you/

/You brought them/ he snarled, glaring at the pieces of himself.

/They’re you, silly trickster/ you laughed at him. 

He softened a little, trusting you more than anything /Me?/

You gestured to the others. /Yes, you. We’re looking together for the missing pieces of you. Will you help?/

/I will help you/ his tone focused on you. His everything was focused on you.  That was fine.

You walked for awhile, and herding three Lokis was like herding cats. You were tempted to tell them all to stay and rope them in one place while you found the other pieces, but that would be mean. Tempting as it was.

There were two more Lokis to find. One was Frigga’s son, the studious magician with his stack of books. You laughed at him and told him that Frigga wanted him to come home. He was ok to come with you after that.

The last was your Loki in the tuxedo he wore to the masquerade ball. /Hello, love. I’ve been looking for you/ you greeted him. He bowed and offered you a hand.

/Dance with me/ he bid gently.

/Loki, we have to get back to your body…/

/Surely we have time for one dance?/

/You are a creature made entirely of silliness/ you told him as you went to take your position for dancing with him.

/Mischief and chaos!/ they all protested. You sighed. All of these Lokis were just troublesome. Music started from somewhere and you danced with your Loki. The song was brief, but it was filled with joy and love.

/Will you come home now?/ you asked when the song was over. 

They all looked confused.

/I don’t know how to fix this/ the studious one finally said. 

You smiled gently.  /I do. Frigga taught me/ The hard part was over. They were all together. You said the words of the spell, of the healing magic, binding them back into one Loki, healing his mind and the bruised pieces of his soul. You felt your power flickering when you had finished. /Darling, I can’t stay. Can you find your own way back from here?/

/Yes, love. Thank you/ he replied.

You rose from his mind back to your own body. You pulled him into your arms as he regained consciousness. You knew what would come next. Frigga had taught you that too. He clutched onto you, sobbing out the last of the soul wounds, sobbing all of his pain and fear and hopelessness out. You held him close and promised that you were there for him and that you’d be ok.

Somehow, you would make it out of this mess.

[valiantthewriter]

All Things For You

Part 2. Can be found on AO3

Part 1

Content Warning: Kink Negotiation, Daddy Kink, Verbal Degradation, Bratty Peter

Excitement couldn’t begin to describe the elation Tony felt after receiving a text from Peter on the Thursday after their dinner. That dinner, the way Peter talked to him, the dim lighting in the room making Peter glow, Tony was enchanted, bewitched, and irrevocably smitten. He couldn't help but ruminate on the evening, on everything, really. It was true that Tony was a powerful man. Tony lived at the top of the world, everything at his disposal, be it people or things, but he couldn't seem to possess Peter. He had been waiting all week to hear from the confident, beautiful, sassy boy, whether it was an order or a question or a sweet word. Tony wanted anything and everything from him.

Did you deposit my allowance, Daddy? I want to buy a new outfit for when I see you.

Tony grinned like an idiot at his phone and quickly began typing back.

I did, angel, just as you asked.

Good job <3

What’s your favorite color?

The fact that Peter cared enough to ask filled him with joy and those damn butterflies again. He supposes he should be grateful, after all he was an old man now and this pretty young thing brought him back to life. It’s not like he was ever alone, after all he was surrounded by people every day, be it at the office or at a party of some kind. Though he was never really alone, he was lonely; and then along came Peter.

Red, any shade. I’m also a fan of gold.

Why?

One, because I asked. Two, I’m trying to find a suitable outfit for our date. Does Saturday at 11 work? I want brunch.

Tony could do brunch. He knew the perfect place in the Upper East Side that had amazing french toast and the best mimosas. It had a french country aesthetic and it was just a charming little place owned by a woman from Paris. Tony liked it so much he had his own table reserved for him at all times on the patio, it was a peaceful place away from all the paparazzi and fans.

I’d love to see you then, sweetheart. I know the perfect place to get brunch, so leave that to me. Do you want me to pick you up?

Tony held his breath as he watched the three little dots keep going. What all was Peter typing out?

You can come pick me up. Be here around 10 so we can get to brunch on time. I want you to have a list of terms. Things you will agree to do, be it financially or sexually, and what you expect of me. I’ll have mine, too. I don’t want you in over your head.

He sucked in a breath, heart swelling at the last sentence. Peter cared, he had to in some capacity. Tony could feel his blood pulsing through his veins.

I’ll make sure to have something put together.

Good Daddy. I expect you to wear something nice for me. Don’t text me for the rest of the week and focus on your list. XOXO

Tony’s hands started to shake with nerves- or was it excitement? He wanted to text Peter and talk to him, but he had his orders.

Orders…

Tony was normally the one giving commands, not following them. It felt kind of liberating in a strange way. These were things to think about another day, right now he had to work on that list and in spite of being a genius he had no clue where to start.

-

He was outside Peter's building at exactly 10 o'clock and he had been waiting on him for 5 minutes now. Tony's palms began to sweat as he waiting, anticipation building higher and higher still. He did as Peter asked and dressed up some, wearing a black graphic t-shirt saying “Han Shot First” in red writing and a charcoal gray blazer and matching pants. Tony couldn't change his style completely after all.

Peter walked out of the building at exactly 10:10, strutting his way to Tony's car. The boy looked ravishing again, wearing a simple pair of red skinny jeans (so tight, so perfect) and a white shirt with the Gucci insignia on it. The look was complete with what looked to be a gold Audemars Piguet watch. Clearly, Peter had expensive taste and Tony could definitely work with that. He’d step it up a notch and get Peter a watch covered in diamonds.

The older man stepped out of the driver's seat to open Peter's door, heart skipping a beat as the boy kissed his cheek as a greeting. His cheek was left sticky from lip gloss and up this close he could see a golden sheen on Peter's face that he couldn't decide on whether it was makeup or the boy's natural glow.

“Hi, Daddy. How are you?” Peter asked, somehow making getting in a car a graceful movement. Abnormal levels of grace must be a superpower Peter possessed.

“I'm great now that you're here,” Tony confessed, smiling down at Peter and memorizing his face. Peter smirked up at him.

“Get in the car, weirdo.”

-

Peter took in the little restaurant with a small smile, his gaze traveling from the soft, blue walls to the rustic furniture, and the lovely paintings of the countryside. That small smile felt like a triumph for Tony.

“Hello, Mr. Stark. I have your table ready,” the hostess said, guiding both of them to a table on the patio. It was a lovely August day, a perfect mesh of summer sunshine with a cool breeze. Tony couldn't hope for better. “I'll have the kitchen press the juice for your drinks. The usual mimosas, correct?”

“Please, Mimi. Ask the server to bring out some pastries as well-”

“No pastries, please. Some fresh fruit instead,” Peter interrupted, smiling as Mimi looked between him and Tony, clearly taken aback.

A tingling sensation ran from the top of Tony's spine down to his feet. “As he says. He's the boss,” Tony said with a chuckle, finding it to be too true. How did he feel about that? Well, it was feeling good so far.

Once the hostess left, Peter turned to Tony. “Good job recognizing who is in charge here. Your money is my money and I'll spend it on what I want,” Peter said with a bratty tone, “I'm the prince and you're my bank account. Got it?”

“Loud and clear, prince,” Tony said, voice breathy and eyes wide.

“Good. Now about these terms- thank you,” Peter said with a smile to the server that brought the fruit, looking so innocent and sweet. Seeing both sides of the same coin just made that bratty, snooty behavior all the more appealing. Peter looked like a butterfly but had the bite of a cobra.

“As I was about to say,” he began, popping a berry into his mouth, “First thing, no sweets around me because I'm on a diet. Second, what do you want out of this? I know you're new, but what do you like so far?”

The question took him aback. He thought about this, made a list, but speaking up now seemed like a challenge, like his lips are sewn shut.

Peter sighed, reach across the table to hold one of Tony's hands, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “You can talk to me, you know? The brat thing is a service. I'm still a real person just as you are,” Peter said, voice quiet and expression soft. The change in attitude took Tony aback as he witnessed the hidden sweetness in the boy across from him.

“Thank you...I think I want you to keep on being spoiled. I like spoiling you. I like you calling the shots. It's...it's different, so different from how my life usually is and the role I have to play,” Tony began, looking at Peter for approval. He got a nod indicating that he should continue. “I want you to demand things of me. I want you to keep treating me how you have been.”

“Good attitude, Tony. Just remember this is not a romantic arrangement. This is a business transaction between us. I give you what you want and you give me what I want. Reciprocity. Remember what I said before, about the monetary requirements?” Peter asked and Tony nodded, “Are those truly something you agree to? I'm not the type to take advantage, I'm really not. I can and will work within your terms. What is the maximum amount you're willing to spend for me?”

The answer was so easy for him. “Yes,” Tony replied, “I want this arrangement and there is no limit. I'm a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist after all.”

Peter bit his lip and sized Tony up, head tilted to the side. Tony sat up a little straighter, waiting for Peter's judgement to be decreed.

“Ok, I can work with that. It seems you like level of verbal degradation. How far do you want me to go with that? Do you want me to keep calling you ‘Daddy’? Do you want me to call you slutty or a worm? I can be a real bully if you want me to,” Peter said, giving Tony's hand another squeeze before pulling away to eat more berries.

Tony was about to respond when they were interrupted by their server who brought them their mimosas.

“What can I get you gentlemen today?” she asked, taking out her pen and paper.

“Uh….” was Tony's clever response. He forgot to look at the damn menu.

“He’ll have the eggs florentine and I'll take some type of egg white omelet with vegetables in it. Surprise me,” Peter said for both of them, smiling that sweet smile at their server, who all but cooed over the faunlet, hurrying away to put in their order.

No one had ordered food for Tony since his mother was alive. It made him feel cared for, it made him feel something nameless that swelled in his chest, expanding his rib cage and emptying his lungs.

“So,” Peter started, sipping on his mimosa, “we were going to talk degradation limits. How far do you want me to take it?”

“Well, I know I like the Daddy thing and I'm definitely not a worm. Let's just...keep it Daddy for now, prince,” Tony answered, sipping at his mimosa as well. The champagne did nothing to get rid of the dryness that took over his mouth.

“About sex now. I'm up for it if you are. You have that sexy silver fox vibe that I'm into, it's why I called you Daddy in the first place. So, do you want to touch me, Daddy?” Peter asked, lashes fluttering and a devious grin on his face. Very unfair and sexy of the boy.

“I definitely want to touch you, baby boy. I have some rules for that-”

“Me first. Remember it is always me first in our upcoming arrangement,” Peter reminded, setting his glass down to nibble on more berries. The fruit was staining his pink little tongue all bright red. “I plan on getting tested soon.If you pass an STD test, I am open to oral sex without a condom, being eaten out, anal sex with toys and with you as long as you wear a condom. No fisting, no biting, no attitude. We won’t sleep with anyone outside our arrangement, but don't worry, I'll be more than enough to satisfy you. Got it?”

Those rules seemed reasonable enough.

“I can follow along with that. I don't bottom for sex, at all. I top only. That good with you?” the older man asked, setting his glass down to pop a berry in his mouth. He sure hoped the boy would be good with that.

“Sounds good to me. I prefer bottoming anyways. Do you have any limits I should be aware of?” Peter asked, all business but the embodiment of pure pleasure, of milk and honey and venom.

They were interrupted once more by their server arriving with their plates and fresh mimosas. “Bon appetit,” she said, smiling at the couple before leaving them to enjoy their food.

Tony watched as Peter began to dig in. He was really cute when he ate and he ate with gusto. Peter might be a delectable and sensual being but he still had the appetite of a young man, whether he would admit it or not. That egg white omelet must be good because it was almost gone.

“Limits, huh?” Tony said thoughtfully, taking a bite of his food as he turned the idea over in his mind. Two things came to mind immediately: One, a grown man should be able to rattle off their limits with ease. Two, Peter made a great choice with the food. “My limits are similar to yours. I'd like to add no leaving marks where they can be seen and no disclosing our arrangement to anyone. That good for now?”

“It is. Now for the fun part. Tell me what you like, Daddy? What do you want this little prince to do with you?” Peter asked in a teasing voice, picking up his glass and licking it in a blatantly sexual manner from the where the stem met the glass to the rim, berry stained tongue licking over the glass like it was a cock before taking a sip of his drink. Yeah, Tony was in over his head but at least a strong swimmer. Tony gulped, eyes trained on Peter's mouth.

“I definitely want to see those lips wrapped around my cock,” Tony said, taking another bite of food before noticing Peter's disapproving look. “What? Did I say something wrong?”

Peter scoffed, downing the rest of his drink. “Remember who you're talking to. This is about me. All of this,” Peter gestures between them, “is about my pleasure. Try again.”

Tony looked anywhere but at Peter, feeling truly dressed down by a boy. How did he wind up in this position?

“I'm sorry, prince. I would like to see your lips wrapped around my cock if…” Tony paused, glancing up at Peter to see if he was on the right track, breath catching when Peter waved for him to continue, “if it pleases you.”

“Good answer. Eat your food and I'll tell you what I want you to do,” Peter said, once more sounding like it was an order and not a choice, “I want to suck on your fat cock, Daddy, I really do. I wanna choke on it and drool all over it. But here's the catch- you'll be wearing a cock ring and you don't get to come until I say so. You'll fuck both my mouth and my hole and you get to come after me if you're lucky. Sound good?”

Well, when Peter put it that way…

“Sounds great.” It sounded perfect.

[transjinako]

Gun Isekai

Ok here I’ll post this shit onto tumblr and whatever happens happens  and who ever likes it likes it 

“Was the hospital always this white?” I ask to no one in particular, not particularly caring as I stared out into a white emptiness.

It's no surprise that I don’t get an answer back, I lift my arm up to scratch at my head and instantly feel something missing. The light weight I got used to after years of having it, the IV that had been connected to my arm.

I run my hand over my wrist just to be sure, but there’s nothing, not even a sign that it had been there.

I take another look around, I’m in a bed thats all white, comfortable, calming for some reason. I slowly sit up.

“So...I’m finally dead?” I ask no one again, no one answers me and I look down at my lap.

“Going to cry?” A voice I’ve never heard before asks me. I look up to it’s direction.

Somehow, without my discretion a...something appeared to sit on my bed. It was a vaguely human shaped mass of...Dark. I don’t know how to describe it, but it was like a fault within the world of pure White that I was within. It didn’t seem threatening though, even though it had no face.

It seemed to stare at me, waiting for an answer? I shake my head slowly, but my hands are shaking.

“No…” I answer, though I don’t know that quite myself. “But...is this Death?”

“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never died before.” The thing said to me, its voice had a certain familiarity in it’s tone, like it was talking to me like an old friend.

“Oh...are you dead?” I hazarded, leaning in a little to the shape to try and make something out of it.

There’s nothing really to look at other than what I’ve already seen. “Yes...I suppose we both died at the same time.”

“Sorry….” I say automatically, “I’m...not good at this stuff but...if your hurting for it, maybe I can talk to you...make it hurt less?”

The figure was silent for a few seconds, “Why?”

“Why? Well...I...don’t know how to explain it.” I say, I can’t help but sound dejected.

“You weren’t faking.” The figure says quickly, leaning to me now.

“Huh?”

“...I have been watching, for a long time, watching. I’ve seen your sad, short life and for the first time, I’ve understood the pain of humans. I’ve understood the depth of loneliness. I’ve understood truly impotent bitterness.”

“Uh.” I don’t know what to say to that.

“Thank you.”

“Your welcome.” I say automatically, if not I couldn’t have said anything.

“I’m sure I’ve given humans these emotions,” The figure says and seems to look at its own hands. “Ones just as, if not more terrible than what you have felt. And yet, I never once truly understood them, I just knew they existed. ”

“I...think I know how that feels.” I whisper, looking back down at my lap. “The faking thing, right?”

The figure nods, “Yes. For a long time, I was so sure of myself, but now, I wonder, was I simply doing things, grasping around just to feel something? Was it right for me to do that? Is it even possible for me to feel?

“Being with you, you have given me every one of those answers, even if you don’t know them yourself. I’ll say this, you have shown me true emotion all these years, and just now, you gave me the best one, I think.”

Oh. “What’s that?”

“You were...Kind.” The figure whispers, I wonder if it’s crying.

“I will reward this.” The figure stands from my bed, and raises up its hands. The dark of it’s form spills outward, in every direction.

A feeling both hot and cold passes through me and I gasp, that darkness is quickly covering me.

“I have decided this just now, please, take my body and go to that other world, and...simply be kind. I’m sure, I hope, that this will give you the life that...I now wish you had.”

I can’t even think of something to say to that, let alone speak before my vision blanks out completely.

I wake up with a jolt, slamming my hands on the dirt (?) and taking short, quick breaths of fresh air (???).

My hands curl around the ground and pull up grass. My wonderment toward this new situation is only increased as I see my hands, grey and obsidian, with nails like talons.

I stand up and it seems the surprises just don’t wanna stop. For one, I’m wearing new clothes, all black, a cowled cape that could wrap around my entire body, the outfit under it is...strange, its a close fitting outfit of black and gray and few reds, and strapped to my hip is, a gun???

OK, I tell myself, I need to actually look at myself. Just one thing at a time, the gun can be looked at later.

I hear flowing water nearby, so I quickly walk myself to it. I said I’d take things one at a time but, I simply can’t help but notice how tall I really am. I have no way to measure myself but I’m definitely Tall. My legs move my body in long, fast strides to my destination, it takes no time at all.

I reach the river I heard and quickly look down to it.

“Huh.” I say, looking down at my X shaped blue irises, my features were, and I’m not saying this to brag, beautiful. The face I had was sharp and appealing, my hair tumbled down my shoulders and back in a spiky sort of mess, my ears poked out through my hair like...whatever you might imagine an Elf’s would look like. Not only that, but opening my mouth I could see rows of teeth, my mouth could open quite large too, it was like a sharks.

My body was clearly huge and muscular, and most importantly, it was definitely not my own.

I slowly sit down and put ‘my’ hands on ‘my’ head and force myself to process all of this. My brain surges back to the conversation I had with that...dark figure. I didn’t know what it was, I don’t know why it had come to me, I don’t know how it did any of what it had done but…

It had given me this body, a second chance at life.

My hands slowly droop to my sides and my right arm bumps against the gun.

Oh, and this gun.

I slowly draw the thing, a jet black Magnum, one of those circular barreled ones, it was large too, to fit my now large hand probably. It would never fit in a normal person’s hand. Not only that but...but….

I could feel it.  I could just...feel something coursing through this gun and into me, something connecting me and this gun.

I don’t quite understand it, so, for now, I holster the gun and allow the feeling to dissipate.

Uselessly, I look left and right to try and find...something? Some type of guide, some type of direction to go. I’m like a sitting duck, I just don’t know-

A fearful, blood draining shriek fills my ears.

My ears shot toward the direction before my head can follow, my eyes widen and strain, and I see it perfectly.

I see some uncountable amount of miles away, I lock on instantly, it’s source was a girl. A young girl too, in some lightly colored, lightly armored get up, blood was tarnishing it though, for it had been slashed through by a large, snake like monster, it stood upright from it’s tail, taller than the regular man with hands that dragged on the ground, big enough to wrap around the tree trunks that surrounded the two of them. It snake head poised on the girl, it’s eyes murderous.

The girl looks scared, though accepting as the monster’s hand raises up to strike her dead.

I will not allow that, of course.

My legs move like lighting, shooting me forward as I draw the Magnum as if on some instinct and point it straight at the monster’s arm and pulling the trigger.

A wave of purple black light launches from the gun at speeds far exceeding my run speed, makes quick work of the monster’s arm, lobbing it off cleanly.

It hisses and shrieks in pain and I finally make it to the scene, quickly jumping up and shooting a leg forward into the snake monster’s head, it goes flying and I simply land, I don’t even feel tired.

I marvel at myself, at this body more like, before I hear its hissing again. I feel my expression turn sour at the beast, it seemed to want retribution for it’s lost arm.

I would give it none.

Instead, I level my magnum at it and feel words pass through my mind, at random, or by some instinct once again, I speak.

“Banish.” My voice sounds several octaves lower than my usual voice as a ball of shadowy, seemingly uncontrolled energy shot straight into the monster’s chest. Several, what I could only describe as Magical circles appeared around it, closing in on it’s body, burning away whatever it touched. It shrieked in pain, and I falter for a moment, though I remind myself that this could have been the girl.

The girl.

The magical circles closed in on it till it had gone completely, I look around and don’t see the girl, I do find traces of blood, though, I can smell blood in the air as well.

I look out to the girl’s direction, remembering my eyesight I focus on it and soon enough see that the girl was struggling to get away, limping.

Without a second thought I make to follow her, she isn’t fast enough to warrant a full run, especially with how much ground I covered with what felt like brisk walking, I catch up in a few minutes.

She hears my footsteps and falls over, she quickly turns on her back and pulls a...sword.

“S-stop, Demon! T-take no step further and leave!” She growled, her soft face was covered with swear and riddled with fear. Her bleeding wasn’t getting any good either.

“Didn’t you hear me!?” She growled, the arm holding her weapon shaking. I frown, what does she want me to do, leave her? And...did she say demon? One at a time, one at a time…

“I can’t-” My voice, though still feminine, is a bit lower than usual, I supposed this came with the body, “I can’t just leave you here, is there...any place I can take you, you seemed to be hurrying somewhere.”

She seemed surprised for a second but steeled once again, “D-don’t trick me! I am a Paladin, I would rather run myself through now than to take the help of a damn demon!”

A paladin? Like those, christian warrior people? I bite my lip and only a moment afterwards worry about my sharp teeth breaking the skin, its apparently tough though.

“I...know how I look but, I want to help you, and I also need some help, so maybe...we can help one another?” I suggest slowly, she seems perplexed by me, but her face is too pale for me to think about her thoughts rather than her well being.

“You, v-villain, I will not…” She breaths raggedly and her arm is too weak to hold up the sword anymore, it goes limp. Her blood now covered the ground she laid on and the hand that had been pressed up to the wound.

I can’t contain myself anymore, I slink over to her and quickly gather her up in my arms, my strength is just as I thought, she’s like nothing in my hands. I carefully fix her hand so that her sword was rested on her body. She’s awake, but just barely.

“You are...being sincere.” She remarks, I glance down at her.

“I told you, I wouldn’t just leave you to die.” I say, quickly moving in the direction she had been running toward.

“...S-stop. Thats the village. You will scare people.” She grunted, slowly moving her free hand to point North west. “I live in a cottage, it’s that way.”

I nod, using my enhanced vision to pinpoint it, then I begin moving.

“Why?” She suddenly asks while I carry her

“Why?”

“Why are you helping me?” She grunted, looking up at me with obvious curiosity.

I can’t help but feel self conscious at the staring, though, its also because I don’t have a good answer.

“I…” I start, trying for the first time in a long time to look into my heart for an answer. “I just...wanted to be kind. I think.”

“You think?” She repeats, a smile slowly spreading on her face, she coughed out a laugh. I smile at her nervously.

“How...strange, I was saved by a kind Demon….may I have your name, kind demon?” She asks, it looks like shes about to pass out, in my worry I pick up the pace.

But that question, what should I say? My name...my real name didn’t have much meaning to me, it was something people sparingly called me, something I could easily forget. I...didn’t want that name. Quickly, I thought of a new one.

“Bell.” I said, trying to make myself sound sure of it.

“Bell…?” She repeats, I nod as her head rolls to one side and rests on my chest.

“I am...I am...Maarn. Thank you.” She, Maarn, whispers before losing consciousness.

I couldn’t completely describe what I was feeling but, there was a sort of determination in me now, it had shown up out of the blue when I heard her cry but now it was here, and I was holding it just as tightly as I was Maarn. If I had been on this world for the sake of Kindness…

Then Maarn would be the first person that Bell The Demon would be kind to.

[athedemonsqueen]

I Found You #9 (Finn Balor Story)

“Hello love” He said, as he came into the room. Finn just got out of the shower. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair was messed up from tosseling it. I sat on the floor coloring in my adult coloring book. It has helped me adjust to the new living lifestyle. Finn wrapped my arms around me and placed a small kiss on my cheek. 

“Mmm, hello.” I said, looking up. “Gee this looks fun, huh, you’re quite an artist.” Finn said with a smile. 

“You are too, would you like to join me?” I asked, “Would I?” Finn said with a smile. he rushed to get dressed, PJ bottoms and a funny t-shirt. I giggled, FInn always had some funny t-shirt on. He sat down and began to color with me, an hour passed and we were silent, but I enjoy his company, from the corner of my eye, I studied his entire features. If I looked closely, I could see tiny gray specks in his beard, his skin was much darker for somebody who is Irish. His eyes were a bright blue, they were calm against his grey shirt, even calmer as he concentrate on his picture. His lips were a rosey red, I guess from smiling a lot. His fingers were even perfect, trimmed finger nails and they were shiny. Finn looked over at me and gave me a smile. He knew I was starring at him. 

I smiled back as he leaned over to give me a kiss on the cheek. He nuzzled next to me as we continued to color. Once in awhile he would ask me for a different color. His soft voice calmed me and weakened me to the point where I was enable to color. I began to lay on his lap, I could hear his blood pulse from his veins and his skin-oh his skin- was soft and warm. Everything about him matched that warm personality of his. 

“Where shall we go tonight?” His soft voice came, refering to our first date, which I’m very nervous for. 

“Hmm, well, I don’t know what’s in Miami you tell me?”

“Well, name stuff you use to eat in Seattle...” Finn said, opening another marker. 

“McDonalds?”

“Ew, no processed food.” Finn snapped. “I’m just kidding” I giggled. Finn laughed. 

“Even in Ireland we never ate that.” Finn said, “You’ll be glad to know I only eat the nuggets.” Finn smiled.

“Well, we use to have this awesome lobster shake, it was the in place when people got down with exams, party area I should say.” I said.

“Oh, we have something like that here not even three blocks from the beach.” FInn said with excitement. “I go there with Luke and Karl all the time when we come home from tours.” 

“We’ll go there then?” I said.

“It’s a date.’ Finn placed a kiss on my lips. 

I combed my hair back into a pony tail and sprayed it with hairy spray so the humpidty would not get to it. I put my black sun dress on with my demin cover up. I was extremely nervous at this point. Would if I get another stomach ache? What if I eat like a pig? I tend to do that when I’m nervous. What if the music is too loud and I can’t hear him? 

“Baby are you ready?” Finn knock on the door. “Coming.” 

Finn adjusted himself before coming out of the bathroom. His jaw ajared slightly as he saw me come from the room. 

“I’m pale as a ghost compare to you.” I said. 

“You look really beautiful.” Finn mumbled. I bite on my lower lip as my cheeks turned red. He was dressed in kaki cargo pants and a white short sleeve button down shirt. He looked amazing. He shaved his beard slightly to wear you could see his skin through the ruffles. He made my heart beat fast and my nerves stood on end. I approached him and cuffed his face in my palm and gave me a kiss. 

“I moved from Ireland going back from 2012, I got my green card, and little by little started becoming an American.” Finn said, I could listen to him all day. 

“Must’ve been pretty hard.” I said sipping on some wine. 

“Tough, moving here to Florida I didn’t adjust to well, I lost weight and I got a bad burn on me back.” His accent thickened to the point where I did not understand him. It made me giggle slightly. 

“Well, that just happened...” Finn said smoothly. I burst out laughing as I picked up a crab leg. Finn began to laugh with me. 

“You are too funny.” I said. “Aw, I’m glad I’m making you laugh, I like your laugh, (Y/N)” 

“I always liked your laugh.” 

“Always liked?” Finn’s eye brows darted up. “I always followed you and stuff, but I never commented on anything so....”

“Until on Twitter?” He recalled. “Yeah.” “What made you do that” I began to recall the accounts with Lucy and a flood of fear flush over me. 

“Well, because....” I looked up at Finn with his courious eyes, “Because I saw you.” I said softly. Finn smiled as he leaned over to kiss my forehead. 

“I saw you too.” Finn whispered. The music lowered to Finn’s tone of voice as it became the only thing I could hear. I nestled my head onto Finn’s shoulder and cuddled close to him. His rock hard body made me coo. A sudden low growl came from him, causing me to be awken from my safety feel. His hand traveled up my back prickling the straps. His grip grew tighter on me and his breathing became very heavy. 

“Finn...” I pulled away and for a moment I could see his eyes go from black to blue with an instant. 

“Finn...” I said, putting my hand to his cheek. He placed his hand on my cheek.

“Are you alright?” I asked. He looked up at me slightly with puppy dog eyes.

“What was that?” Finn’s eyes bolted down, fearing of what I might see. A few moments later he shot his head back up and took another sip of his beer. 

“Finn?” I asked. 

“Yeah?”

“Are you ok?” 

“Yeah.” He said, not sounding to re insuring.

“Not convincing enough.” 

“Hey, we better get going.” Finn said.

“Yeah, we better go home.” 

“Not uh, babe, I got something else planned for tonight.” He said, taking my hand before placing a kiss on the palm.

“Nothing dangerous?”

“No, I would never put you in...danger.” He said, before taking me and pulling me close to his body as we walked out. What is he planning? What was that freak moment he had?  

--------

I know cliff hanger, but that’s all I can write until tomorrow, oh I’m such a tease!

@devitts-girl @mylittlepartofthegalaxy @caguayo85 @igobypoet @finnabonthesinnabon @nickysmum1909 @finnbealor

If I forgot to tag you I’m completely sorry for it. Just remind me in the messager and I’ll make sure you are tagged next time. 

[wittyvitale]

A Birth in a Blizzard part 2 (a Fairy Tail fanfic)

Author's Note: OK, I've finally completed the second part of A Birth in a Blizzard. Be prepared, as with all of my stories, this one also has a ridiculous amount of fluff. I'm also thinking of writing a tiny Jerza drabble as an epilogue to this story, since Gruvia is the ship that's primarily represented in this chapter. We'll see. Enjoy!

Juvia was on the largest bed in the infirmary, sweating and screaming in pain. It absolutely killed Gray to see her like this, but he was trying his best to be strong for her. He kept placing washcloths on her forehead that he cooled down with his ice magic. Erza was at the other end of Juvia, coaching her and trying to keep her as calm as possible.

“You’re doing great, Juvia,” Erza said encouragingly. “I’m starting to see the head. Just a few more minutes and you’ll be ready to push.”

“I don’t… I don’t think I can do this,” Juvia exclaimed, tears pouring down her face. “I’ve never felt so much pain before. I really don’t think I can do this.”

Gray grabbed Juvia’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “Juvia, I can’t even begin to imagine how much pain you’re in,” he started. “But you’re one of the strongest, most persistent women I’ve ever met. Remember how long you pursued me, even after I said no, even after I broke your heart too many times than I’d like to admit? You never give up. And because of your tenacity, we’re married and you’re about to give birth to our child. Don’t give up, Juvia, you can do this. And I’m right here with you.”

Juvia began to cry all over again and stared at her husband. “Oh my darling Gray.” She said through her tears.

“Juvia, it’s time for you to push,” Erza replied, breaking Gray and Juvia out of their little moment. “When I tell you to, push as hard as you can.”

“O-ok, I will,” Juvia said, her courage beginning to return to her.

“It’s time, push, Juvia!” Erza exclaimed.

Juvia listened to Erza and pushed as hard as she could. She fell backwards on the pillows and breathed deeply. This process was repeated a few more times until Erza told Juvia that one more push would do it. After pushing with all of her remaining strength, Juvia was rewarded with the sound of a baby crying. She collapsed backwards and breathed heavily while Gray wiped her forehead with a washcloth.

Erza deftly caught the baby and carried the child to a small basin to be washed. When she was done, Erza dried the baby and wrapped her in a blanket. Erza couldn’t help but smile at the newborn; this whole experience made her even more exited for the birth of her own baby in about two months.

“Juvia, Gray,” she began, walking closer to them. “Congratulations. You’re now the proud parents of a healthy baby girl.”

Gray’s mouth was agape and Juvia smiled with tears running down her face. Erza handed the baby to Juvia and the new parents stared at the little bundle intently.

“A girl.” Gray said with amazement, feeling tears brim in his own eyes.

“Hello there, my little angel,” Juvia said softly and tearfully to the bundle in her arms. “Welcome to the world. Your Daddy and I have been wanting to meet you for so long.”

Gray stared lovingly at his wife and child, soaking in the amazing sight before him. He was filled with emotions he couldn’t even begin to describe.

“I’ll leave you two alone now so that you can get acquainted with your new daughter,” Erza said quietly. “But I won’t be too far, so just call if you need anything.”

“Thank you, Erza,” Gray said. “Seriously, I-“

“There will be time for gratitude later. For now, focus on that little girl and your wife.” Erza interrupted. “Like I said, I’ll be around if you need any help.”

Gray nodded as Erza left the room, leaving the Fullbuster family to welcome its newest member.

“Gray, would you like to hold her?” Juvia asked.

Gray, whose eyes were glued to the new baby, was snapped out of his trance and looked at Juvia. “Yes.” Was the only thing he managed to say. Juvia smiled and carefully handed the baby to Gray, who handled his new daughter like a breakable porcelain doll.

Gray couldn’t help but let his jaw drop as he held his new daughter. She was still wrinkly and a little red, but she was the most beautiful thing Gray had ever seen. The baby had her mother’s soft blue eyes and her small patch of black hair was the same shade as her father’s. She also appeared to have Gray’s skin tone, as she did not look as pale as Juvia.

“Juvia, she’s… she’s…” Gray started, not even able to get all the words out.

“I know, love,” Juvia said understandingly. “She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?”

Gray just nodded and continued to stare at his daughter, a soft smile etched on his face.

“We need to give her a name, darling,” Juvia said to her husband. “The Fullbusters have a tradition of naming their children after shades and colors, right? You had your heart set on Violet the last time we talked about names. Do you still want to name her Violet?”

Gray continued to look at the baby, but now his face was etched in thought. “Y’know what? I don’t think so. I think I just came up with a better name. But I want to make sure you like it too, seeing as how you carried her around for 9 months and just spent hours in labor.”

Juvia gave a weak laugh, “Oh, Gray, you’re always so thoughtful. I’m sure I’ll love the name, tell me what you’ve thought of.”

“Well… I was thinking Aurora. The Fullbusters do have a tradition of naming their children after colors. But when I saw our little girl for the first time, I saw every single bright color the universe has to offer. She reminded me of the Aurora Borealis, a stunning force of nature that can contain every color imaginable. So let’s name her Aurora. What do you think, Juvia?”

Gray looked at his wife and was shocked at what he saw; even more tears were streaming down her face and she was sobbing.

“J-Juvia, are you okay?” Gray asked, concern rising for his wife.

“Y-yes, Gray darling, I’m fine,” Juvia assured him, brushing the tears off of her face. “It’s just that your words were so heartfelt and perfect that I was overwhelmed. Aurora… It’s the perfect name for our little girl.”

Gray was relieved and sat next to Juvia on the bed. She held her arms out expectantly and Gray returned the baby to her mother. Juvia gently stroked the baby’s face with her finger, a soft motherly smile on her face the entire time.

“So her name is Aurora Ultear Fullbuster.” Juvia said.

“Our beautiful little girl.” Gray continued. He looked at Juvia and gave her a kiss on the lips, one that, as tired as she was, she returned with full force. There was no way either of them could be happier than they were at that moment.

[ships-sailing-in-the-night]

Wisdom Streaks

Fic prompt: Lucifer finds a gray hair for the first time. Endless teasing ensues.

This was a fun short-one-shot to write, and somehow the ask was deleted, but I hope you enjoy nevertheless!

“No no no!!” Lucifer started to panic as he combed through his hair with his fingers. He was standing in the bathroom with black suit pants and a white buttoned up, however, he hadn't gotten to actually buttoning up his shirt because something distracted him.

“This seriously cannot be happening!” Lucifer put his head as close to the bathroom mirror as possible, he combed through his hair faster, parting it in different places.

“Lucifer are you almost ready?! Our reservation is in half an hour!” Chloe called from the penthouse living room.

“Give me a few more minutes love, I seem to have gotten myself into a hair raising situation.”

Chloe sighed and made her way into the master bath where she found Lucifer dressed in his best suit……well almost. She could see his toned back muscles easily through his white shirt and, in the reflection of the mirror, his bare torso. He was indeed an attractive man, it still baffles her it took her this long to finally be in a relationship with him. So many roadblocks and personal issues got in there way, not to mention the face reveal which had her taking some personal time where they would only see each other in work. Trixie, of course, started to ask questions on why Lucifer wasn’t coming over as much anymore. It was only a couple days but for the 7-year-old who adored the man, it felt like weeks. Eventually, she came to terms with what she had already known, just too scared to accept the facts, and went over to his penthouse that night. They drank whiskey as he allowed her to ask as many questions as she wanted. She asked about heaven & hell, Amenadiel, Maze (who was a demon. Her roommate was a demon and one of her daughters best friends. That took a little more time to wrap her head around) and the whole Charlotte situation. They both thought it would be for the best if they didn’t tell Dan that he slept with an actual goddess. “Like the Douche needs to boost his ego even more,” Lucifer had stated.

Chloe continued to stare at his bare abdomen, thinking of the warmth that was radiating off of it, what it would feel like to stroke her hand down its smooth yet tender surface. If he took off the shirt completely then she would have access to his broad shoulders and his scars….from his wings. That night when they talked she asked Lucifer if she could see the scars again, reluctantly he had removed his shirt and turned around for her so she could see them. She had lifted up her hand and traced over them in the air, making sure not to touch them. Last time she had attempted he had reacted badly, quickly turning around and seizing her wrist like her hand was a hot iron rod about to brand a number on a cattles’ fur. “Don’t please,” he had pleaded her to stay away from. It only reminded him of the pain his father (who was God) had brought upon him. Throwing him out of heaven where he fell and burned resulting in his ‘other’ face, leaving hell and washing up on the shores of LA, having Maze cut off the one thing that made him, him. She wanted nothing more than to stroke his scars, but she waited patiently until Lucifer was ready for that kind of physical contact.

“Bloody mortality…” Lucifers grumbling yanked Chloe out of her thoughts. He practically was parting his hair like the Red Sea trying to find something. Chuckling she walked into the bathroom and placed a hand on his arm. He was too consumed with his hair that he hadn’t seen her reflection in the mirror, causing him to jump with the physical contact.

“Detective, uh huh…yes, I was ummm…” He fumbled, paying more attention to his hair than what excuse he was about to give her for taking forever to getting ready for their dinner reservation.

“Lucifer.” Chloe raised up on her tiptoes and rested her chin on her muscular shoulders. “What’s bothering you? I didn’t think it would take this long just to get ready for dinner.”

“Mortality issues such as pain and human emotion I can handle Detective, but this…” He held up his hand towards Chloe's face revealing the source of all his grumbling; a silver hair no longer than an inch, was being held between his thumb and index finger. “…this is not acceptable and cannot be happening.”

Chloe groaned as she rested back on the heels of her feet, grabbing the gray hair from between his fingers. “When people get older their hair turns gray, happens to everyone and it’s nothing to worry about. Now, as much as I would like nothing more to do than staring at you physique right now, you cannot walk into the restaurant like that, so please fasten your buttons so we can eat. I’m starved and you mister are going to make us late. You got three minutes bud, let’s go!” She gave him a quick peck on his lightly stubbled cheek before turning on her heel and exiting the master bath, throwing the silver hair into the trash can on her way out.

                                            _____________________

By the dear grace of God himself, Chloe and Lucifer managed to make it to the restaurant five minutes early of their reservation time. Lucifer managed to persuade the manager of Madeo Ristorante LA to give them a somewhat private table for their meal tonight. As they walked up to table Lucifer pulled out the chair Chloe and then pushed her closer to the table after she sat down; he took his seat on the opposite side of the round table. The waiter handed each of them a menu and asked if they would like a bottle of wine for tonight's meal. They decided on the house red and waiter left the two to look over choices for their entrees. Lucifer, instead of deciding on his entree, looked Chloe up and down. The candle light illuminated her curled golden hair that fell onto her shoulders, her red lipstick perfectly complimenting her hellfire colored dress. She wore the necklace she wore almost every day, it hanging down into the v-neckline of her dress, just barely into the crevice of her breasts. A smile spread across his face as his gaze met her light aqua eyes that were shining as bright as the stars. He licked his lips, wetting them after becoming dry at the mere sight of her. She creased her brows and set her menu down on the cream clothed table.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” He gave a look of innocence as if he wasn’t thinking of how much he wanted to just get her body out of the dress and take her here and now; however he knew the Detective would not condone that action here.

“Like I'm going to be your entree and dessert for tonight.”

“I thought nothing of the sort,” he gave her an unconvincing look of innocence that Trixie would use if she ate some chocolate cake before dinner without her mothers' knowledge. She laughed and shook her head, looking down for just a moment.

“So, you wanna talk about the whole bathroom and gray hair ordeal?” Lucifer tried to shush her or at least lower her voice, she was quite amused that he was being touchy about this particular topic.

“What? Worried everyone will find out LA’s sexiest club owner is dealing with some aging issues?” Her smile grew wider on her face, making sure to state the last part a little louder. Lucifer, of course, shushed her even more, luckily the waiter had chosen that exact time to return with the wine and also to take their dinner order. They both ordered a pasta dish, with a house salad on the side. A second waiter came up to their table and placed a basket of fresh garlic bread. The first waiter collected their menu’s and allowed the couple to continue their conversation while he went to go put the order in.

“What if all my hair starts to turn gray? I mean that was only one strand but surely there are others waiting to expose themselves to the world. I’m the Devil, I shouldn’t have to deal with these mortality problems.” Chloe groaned and picked up her wine glass, taking a long swig from it.

“Lucifer, it’s ok if your hair starts to turn gray a little. It means you are just becoming wiser.” Chloe took another sip of her wine, setting the now empty class down.

“Really?” Lucifer stated as he grabbed the wine bottle that had been left on the table, popping the cork to refill both of their glasses.

“Yeah, Merlin had long gray hair and a gray beard. He was considered one of the wisest men in the world. Plus, I believed it made him really popular. All the elder folk really took a liking to him.” Chloe grabbed a chunk of garlic bread and placed it in her mouth, savoring the garlic and parmesan flavor on her tongue. She smiled a bit a Lucifer’s face, he looked like he had just been asked to spend an entire day with Dan.

“Ummm, as much I would love to be adored by many people, that doesn’t mean I need a bunch of elderly women following me like I'm some pigeon they need to feed.” Chloe laughed, almost choking on the bread in her mouth.

After a few more dinners the manager appeared with their food and told them to just flag a waiter down for when they were finished. They ate their food peacefully, talking about Beatrice, police cases, and getting to learn a bit more about their younger selves. After completing the pasta entrees, which were excellent, they ordered a berry and chocolate gelato to share. The playfully fought over who would get the chocolate chunks or pieces of fruit with their spoons. Both piece of metal fighting for the dark brown sections in the bowl. Chloe had finished her second glass of wine but didn’t dare allow Lucifer to pour a third, otherwise, she feared she would do something so would regret later.

The bill came at the end of their meal, Lucifer being the gentleman, paid and left a heavy tip for the waiter. He stood up from his seat, placing his napkin that had sat on his lap onto the cream cloth that covered the table. He ran around to Chloe’s side and pulled the chair out for her so she could get up from her spot. Offering his arm she wrapped hers inside of his, feeling ever so slightly floaty from the two glasses. Together they walked towards the front of the restaurant where the manager met them. He asked how their meal was in which both replied was excellent.

“Well, I am glad you two enjoy the meal. He is a fine gentleman, better not let this one get away from you signora.” The manager stated, looking in Chloe's direction.

“Don’t worry ignore Tony, he’s definitely a keeper.” She nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck easily since the heels she was currently wearing gave her a much-needed height boost.

“Such a lovely couple and I see signore Morningstar that your wisdom highlights are starting to come in. May they serve you well.” He winked at Lucifer as he went to open the door for the couple. After the two exited the restaurant he looked down at Chloe.
 “Are they really that noticeable? I only saw once earlier this evening, are there more!?!?!!? Am I going to have to start wearing a hat….oh no I don’t want to look like Amenadiel with that knit hat on his head, it looks bloody atrocious. I might need to make an appointment with Ronaldo to have him help me with my predicament.” Lucifer started to ramble even more about his hair. Chloe just sighed and unhooked herself from Lucifer and started heading toward the valet booth.

“Morningstar,” she told the valet driver. He found the keys toward the Corvette in the box and went out to go retrieve the car.

“Lucifer if you don’t stop this rambling about your hair, which is not going to go completely gray by tomorrow morning then you are not going to be able to have seconds on dessert.” She said seductively towards him, hoping to gain his attention, which in fact does.

“Oh Detective, I would never pass up an opportunity to take seconds on dessert. He sauntered over to Chloe, giving her a seductive grin and the look of lust in his eyes. Once close enough he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to his chest.

“Especially if it happens to be a flaming with a golden glow around it.” He leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead, then one on the side of her cheek, then another on her neck where her jugular was pulsating. She closed her eyes at the sensation that was running through her body, her center starting to heat with desire.

“Mmmmm, Lucifer.” She breathed out heavily until a bright lighted blinded her vision. The sound of his Corvette came up next to them as Lucifer reluctantly withdrew his lips from her neck. He paid the valet a nice tip and opened the door of the car to allow Chloe to step in. Closing it behind her he moved his way to the other side where he sat in the driver's seat. Both buckled in he stepped on the gas and they made their way back to his penthouse. During the car ride back Lucifer once again started to comment about his “gray hair” and how he believed it was spreading fast over his head. Chloe, of course, paid no attention, she was busy planning on how she was going to tell Dan and Maze….for obvious reasons. The whole car ride back she would occasionally catch him looking at his hair in the rear view mirror, which made her smile even more. This was yet another thing to add to the list of ‘What makes the Devil self-conscious.’

[lapinchatain]

Anonymous sequel chp. 5

Jacob hesitated quite a bit before sending a message to Evie before Christmas holidays, asking her if she’d go home with him. They hadn’t really talked to each other during these two months after the “incident” at their birthday party and Jacob wasn’t sure it was him who’s avoiding her or the other way round. But they’d always go back to Crawley for Christmas every year, even after Father passed away. That’s the advantage (or the disadvantage) of being a family: you were always obliged to show up on the same occasions. He wasn’t sure whether it’s a good or bad thing. Both, probably.

“Same as last year,” Evie replied shortly after he sent out the message. “Do I need to get the tickets for you?  See you at Paddington. I’ll email you the tickets later.”

She was totally talking to herself, offhand and bossy as usual, with no regard to his opinion. Not that he cared. She was the one who’s always commanding since they were children, bringing him to the library in town in summer holidays and reading a book alone for a whole afternoon, leaving him bored and tired at the chess table in the hallway, or deciding that they should go to hiking summer camp instead of lying idly on the beach in Brighton, or watching The Addams Family on weekend evenings, eating her homemade pistachio ice cream instead of going to the bowling club. There was once when Father was always away for work when they were in middle school, and she was also the one who decided what meals they would have every day.

“Get some takeaway food if you don’t like it,” Evie said coldly when she saw him push the broccoli in the bacon and vegetable lasagna aside with his fork in his plate, frowning, “Just don’t ask me for money.” Though at that time he was indeed ordering takeaway food a lot, as his cooking skills “suck” and that he really didn’t want to burden her further with chores while she already had the stress for exams to cope with.

Jacob threw aside his phone and slumped heavily onto the bed, covering his eyes with an arm. He shouldn’t have made that stupid move at their birthday party. He had always been an idiot in her eyes, he knew, but it felt like the first time that he truly regretted it. Wait a minute, would she think that he’s a bad person now?

He couldn’t help but let out a groan, feeling like a middle school pupil caught in the act while smoking cigarette for the first time.

Luckily it didn’t really feel as awkward as he had imagined when they finally met each other at the train station. It was a usual cloudy morning, and Evie had just left a coffee shop in the crowded station when he saw her, giving him a paper bag and a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice, a large heavy bag on her shoulder and her navy blue suitcase in her hand.

“Chocolate filled, orange juice,” Seeming to be talking to herself, as if Jacob needed to be reminded what his favorite breakfast was, she gave him a kiss on his cheek, then stepped backward and scrutinized him with a serious air. “Too much sugar is bad for your health.” Then added, “You’ve put on some weight.”

“Bollocks.” Jacob took a huge bite on his croissant, satisfiedly tasting a mouthful of chocolate. “I thought you’d take Henry home this year.”

Evie gave him a dirty look. “Henry’s got his own plans.”

“What plans would be more important than meeting the family of one’s future wife?”

The look on Evie’s face made him know delightedly that his attempt at annoying her succeeded again.

George drove to the train station in Crawley to pick them up, his coat billowed out around him by the wind on the platform, looking somehow embarrassingly comic. For some reason, George didn’t seem to have changed a bit in Jacob’s memories, staying always the same cautious, gentle, slightly awkward and prim middle-aged man, the only difference being some more white hair in the recent years. He’s a librarian in a library in town, widower for many years and had never had children. Maybe that’s the reason why he especially doted on the twins. He used to be Father’s patient before the twins were born and according to himself, Father was his life savior. “I thought it was true when I was little, but after I went to med school, I found out it was just a minor complication.” Evie told Jacob once in her surgeon’s tone. He’d always drop by their house when they were little, bringing them all kinds of little gifts, including the first toy train Jacob ever had in his life. When they were in college, Evie would go to his library during the holidays to write her essays or study for exams and take the afternoon tea with him. “People at the library say he’d always leave every day at 16:59 sharp. How terrible”. She laughed. Jacob didn’t see Evie much different from him, nor could he figure out why he was particularly close to Father.

George left after the dinner and Jacob was washing the dishes in the kitchen downstairs, before realizing that Evie had disappeared at some point. He went upstairs and didn’t see the light on in her room, but instead felt a current of chilly air coming from the attic. He knew where she was now.

“Hey,” Jacob climbed up to the attic and leaned out of its open window. The night wind of late December was freezing down to the bone, while Evie was sitting on the roof smoking with only her gray wool sweater, trousers and socks on. Jacob went back downstairs to fetch her coat and scarf, and put on a black coat from his own room.

“Can I sit here? ”

“As long as you don’t try to kiss me this time. ”

“Too sober for that.”

“That’s true though.”

Evie let him put her coat on her shoulders quietly, giving him the cigarette she was smoking in the meanwhile. Jacob sat down next to her, taking a deep puff and throwing the unfinished cigarette away. The neighbors opposite far away had decorated their roof with colorful bright lights for the Christmas, the warm light from the windows of the house shimmering gently in the cold and silent winter night.

“Hey ! Don’t throw the cigarette butt here! ”

“Just don’t smoke altogether. Gives you cancer. ”

“As if you were the one to lecture me.”

“I’ve never got addicted anyway.”

“You’ve been saying the same since you were 15 years old.”

“Because it’s a fact. ”

Evie sighed.

“Ok, so one new thing on the list ‘things that can get Evie Frye smoke’ apart from parties and exams: ‘I dumped my brother because I made a new boyfriend.’” Evie would always climb up to the roof to smoke alone in the night during the months prior to A-levels, but she couldn’t hide it from Jacob, even though she could from Father. But it wasn’t their only secret, obviously.

“Jacob!”

“Ok ok, I’m sorry.” Jacob said hurriedly. He didn’t want Evie to get angry and leave him alone again, though the roof on Christmas Eve’s night wasn’t a particularly romantic place, not with this glacial temperature. Evie didn’t reply.

“I have thought about saying sorry to you, but I just can’t do it.” She finally said, but wasn’t looking at him. 

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for. We’re not,” Jacob put much thought into finding the right word. “Exclusive. We’ve never been. Hey, give me another cigarette.” 

Evie rolled her eyes, but still handed him another cigarette. He took it, lit it up and took a puff, watching the smoke disappearing quietly into the cold air in the dim light of the night.

“Do you remember the boyfriend I had back in middle school called Jack? I saw him on Facebook the other day, he’s in Australia now.” Jacob broke the silence.

 “You’re still using Facebook?”

“Don’t miss the point here. I mean it’s not like we can make any kind of commitment.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” 

“Ok, I know that you want to be normal.” 

“You don’t?”

“You think I’d be interested?” 

Jacob smiled and gave her the cigarette. Evie took a puff and smiled back.

“Henry has been nice to me.” She said slowly. 

“That’s quite obvious.” Jacob shrugged his shoulders.

“But he’s very serious.”

“And that scares you?”

“A bit.”

Jacob made a hum sound.

“Okay – actually I just want to know how it feels like to be in a normal relationship with someone.” Evie seemed to weight her words very carefully while she spoke, and he could sense that she was tensed. Evie wasn’t one of those people who didn’t know what they wanted. “But I’m just not that interested in – family.”

“God, you’ve only been together for a few months. Don’t tell me that he wants to take you to India to meet his grandparents this summer.” 

“Exactly what he plans to do.” 

Jacob choked on his cigarette.

“What?”

“Yes.” Evie fell in silence for a while. “I’m not sure whether I’m ready for that or not, but I know that if I’m uncertain, it’s not the right time yet.”

Probably for the first time in his life Jacob felt thankful for the sharp judgment and determination of his sister. It wasn’t that he didn’t admire that part of her before, but this time it seemed that this trait was to his advantage.

“Then don’t go.”

“I know.”

They didn’t speak for a while. Evie took the last puff, the golden red weak light quickly fading out and disappearing from the cigarette butt. She carelessly tossed it to the ground, though she had been lecturing him on not throwing cigarette butt away some minutes ago.

“Why is that?” Jacob asked suddenly.

“What?”

“The whole you’re-not-so-interested-in-family thing.” Not that Jacob was interested himself.

“Do you remember that summer, when we went to the south? When we said that things could have been different if Mother was here?”

“Yeah?”

“Sometimes I think, fuck, I wish I could have a normal family.”

It was hilarious to hear Evie swear. Jacob couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“You think I’m abusing you?”

“For god’s sake Jacob, don’t be ridiculous.” Evie paused for a moment. “But you know, what we do – what we were doing – is NOT normal.”

“I know. Do you care?”

“This is like you ask me ‘our mother died when we were born, do you care?’ or ‘our Father threw us to our grandmother and didn’t come back until we were six years old, do you care?’ So, the answer is nor yes, nor no.” 

That was quite a smart answer. “It seems that you’ve finally abandoned your fervent veneration of our father and listened to the voice of reason.” He didn’t know if Evie would be mad at him for saying so, but it was a god damned truth.

“You’re right.” Evie’s reaction still surprised him. “I guess we’d just never have that chance or the will to live that normal life anymore. This is us, this is our life.” Evie said quietly, turning her head around to look at him, smiling. His heart skipped a beat, but resisted the temptation of kissing her. It felt right, it never felt wrong, but he couldn’t be a bad person. However right at this moment she leaned in and pressed a kiss to his forehead, then rested her head on his shoulder. He reached out and took her hand in his, and she didn’t let go.

She was right. They knew it, deep down, that this was the only life they had had, and that’s the only life they would ever have, for better or for worse. But what else could they do? A faint hope was lit up like a little candle at the bottom of his heart, but somehow Jacob felt a slight sadness permeating the air. At least that’s the sadness and loneliness that they could share, and they still had each other’s backs even if they were all alone in this big and lonely world.

“Want some more spiced wine?”

“As if I’d say no.”

***

So I really really like this chapter…the reason why I translated it into English. Damn, I can never get over my personal shit. The twins are wonderful for sharing so much in common with me.

Oh and it’s after writing this chatper that I remembered this quote I saw some time ago: “I’m nostalgic for a life that I’ve never had.”

[scaplivingtogether]

Seven Crimes and Punishments- Living Together: City of Kins: Yingmu

Chapter 9

City of Kins: Yingmu

Soon the light began to tone down, Allen opened his eyes and saw a new surrounding, the sky was blue with clouds up above him, and he's standing on a stoned path that seemed sloped.

"Where are we?"

"I recognized this place anywhere!" Nemesis said in surprised, "We're standing in "The Great Wall of Mukoku"! One of the most famous landmarks of Mukoku.".

"Your absolutely right!" Margarita exclaimed. "...but, wasn't the wall supposed to be red? Why is it a gray?"

"Oh this is the same wall, just different." Jun said, finally showing up.

"What do you mean by that, Jun?" Allen asked.

"What I mean is we're in an alternate universe, just like with Marie and her Capriccio Academy."

"And what universe is this?" Gallerian asked, brushing the dust off his coat.

"This universe is basically made from the ruins of a world that's the same as the one you lived in, same cultures, languages, clothing, etc, etc, the only differences is that this place doesn't rely on magic or demons, the people have natural hair and eye colors so no blue hair or red eyes except when you dye one's hair or wear wigs or contacts, the countries's names and shapes are also different and so are the cities and political leaders." Allen and the sinners are left dumbfounded and confused, tilting their heads to the side. "Here's something that you maybe able to come to terms with." He pulled out to pictures of what appears to be countries and their respective flags. Riliane was the one to point out:

"That's Elphegort and that's..."jurrrrrrr-muuuhhhhhh-neeeeeeeee"..."Germany"...what country is that?"

"It's this universe's Elphegort...well...technically it's not here but y'know...reminders of it, only the country's populace is not green headed."

"Oooooooooooooooooooooooooh." Now they understand.

"As for the wall, this place is known as "The Great Wall of China"...I happened to be the descendant of it's creator."

"You're kidding us, right?" Gallerian asked.

"No, and judging by the scenery, the location we're on is "Yanmen Pass", which will help us get off the wall."

"Why not sent us to the gates?" Riliane asked.

"No need, we're near it, and it's a short cut to the place that I colonized: "Yingmu"!"

"Yingmu?" Allen asked.

"Yes, follow me." Jun walks down the path until he reached down the stairs until he's nearby the gate to a long pile of grass, he opened a path in the woods kilometers from where he's standing. "Come on you guys!" They're a bit skeptical of this Yingmu place, Margarita ran to where Jun is and began running with him hand in hand.

"Margarita! w-wait!" Allen called out as he followed her down the path. "You don't even know what Yingmu is!"

"Come on, we better go before my brother hurts himself." Riliane proclaimed, the sinners began chasing after the three people down the wall's stairs to the the gate then in a a small grassy path where Jun, Margarita, and Allen are roaming on.

"UGH! My pants are getting soaked." Sateriasis groaned.

"Shut up about yourself, Duke." Gallerian snapped.

"You obviously needed a nap." Nemesis sneered.

"Knock it off you three, we're gonna lose them if we don't hurry up!" Banica said while running in the grassy field, holding up her dress. Kayo said nothing while holding her foot wear in both her hands, they start running into the opening in the woods until they're in a vast green forest, there lays a long bricked path that leads to a red gate with green and gold decorations on top, they began walking on a brick path that led to that said gate, on the other side of the gates is a long red bridge Allen's currently running on that crosses over a river that leads to a brownish red wall with another gate on it, the sign on top reads "Yingmu" in Mukokunese.

"Come on!" Jun called out on the other side of the bridge, they did as what the Hybrid said, once they crossed over the large bridge, Jun began to walk to the guards in front of the gate, he said something in Mukokunese. The guards nodded and stepped aside. They opened the gates to which shows a area with red lanterns above and relativity large streets going in three different directions. One street ahead of them is a line of shops and houses with white walls and black roofs, ahead of that is a red bridge over a river and that the bridge leads to a slopped mountain with another set of buildings and a palace colored red, green, and gold...that could be the next district. The second street to the left is a small port that allows people to get around the city via boat and river. And the third to the right is another sloped hill that is covered in stairs, led by a line of red lanterns, leading all the way to a forest of bamboo. The green trees surrounding the place as far as the eye could see, Allen and the sinners are in complete awe by the new surroundings.

"Sweet mother of Held." Nemesis said in awe.

"This place is gorgeous." Kayo said next.

"Thank you." Jun said with a smile as he stepped forward then faced the sinners, "Welcome to my colony: Yingmu!"

"Wow...this...this is...MARVELOUS!" Allen beamed up, his eyes are sparkling in delight, seems out of character but at this moment, it shouldn't matter. "This city is extraordinary! How is all of this made!?"

"I'll explain once we get to my palace."

"Your palace?" Sateriasis asked as he was checking the decorations.

"Why don't you remember? I'm the emperor of this world. Now come, we have so little to do and so much time...wait, scratch that...reverse it." He spread his black wings and began floating to the bridge ahead of them, as the sinners followed them, they came across people in traditional to western clothing that looked like that could be worn be people of 7th century, some gave friendly greetings, others gave weird stares, and they come in different colors of hair; mainly raven, brunette, blonde, and greenette. Sateriasis caught glimpse of some of the women there and tried getting to them, only for Kayo to drag him by the ponytail.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow."

They climbed over the bridge that leads to a long stair case up to the next district, it took them eight minutes to climb up to the district, the ones who are now tired are Gallerian, Nemesis, Margarita, Riliane, and Sateriasis.

"Oh you guys are lazy." Jun teased.

"These stairs are too looooooooooooong!" Riliane panted in exhaustion."

"Alright we'll wait for a few minutes." They rested by the buildings. Kayo looked around and said:

"These people look extravagant up here."

"Oh this is the Aristocratic Quarters, it's where the royalty, the nobility, and the gentry live, for that they deserve a proper view of the city and the great wall from here."

"I happen to be a Duke." Sateriasis said resting his legs.

"Ok, I feel a little better." Nemesis said trying to stand up, they then continued on to the Palace in the Aristocratic quarters until they reached the entrance of it, they were greeted by a lady-in-waiting, Sateriasis tried flirting with her but was smacked in the head by Riliane and dragged him by the ponytail again. they climbed up a few more stairs until they're at a giant red door.

"Behold, the throne room." They looked inside, it was a very glorious site to see, the was are red and decorated in paintings and encrusted in gold and jades.

"This room can make someone feel like a king." Gallerian said, drooling at the site and his hands are staring to look grabby.

"But of course." He flew to the thrown from across the room and sat on his seat there. "So Servant of Evil, what was that question from earlier?"

"Oh right, how did all of this happen?"

"It's simple, I was born from a demon mother and a father who is half angel from his fath-"

"No I mean the city."

"Oh right: A few thousand years after the wall was built, I was born and began living a life on my own, transporting from one dimension to another until I came across the Sun God during the second period, when the world started to fall under the influence of HER, there were 102 kins plus 4 gods surviving, however, the 30 kins weren't willing to go with your boss "Sickle" because they believe they can never find a new home, so I decided to take care of them while "Sickle" kept the other 72 kins who are willing to go, I took them with me along with a chunk of land and a piece of the Great Wall into this dimension and we all pulled together to construct Yingmu, preserving it's wildlife and cleaning it's water, but it is out of view from other realms to avoid ridicule, nation wide panic, and the many wars that may occur in this kingdom...so you see Allen, this city is a sanctuary for kins and demons alike, these people here are the descendants of the 30 kin I rescued, most of them are 12th generation."

"Wow." Allen said in bewilderment.

"Interesting story." Riliane said.

"This city and the palace are enormous, you mind if I take a look around this city?" Sateriasis asked while looking at the balcony.

"But of course, I brought you guys here to enjoy yourselves!" Jun replied with pride. "Wait, you guys are gonna need maps to get around, it is a big city and they're rivers to get to places." He summoned eight maps and gave them one each.

"Um Jun, if it's all the same to you, I think I'll stay behind in the palace, see what inside this place." Gallerian said clearing his throat, Nemesis gave a confusing glare at him.

"Suit yourself, but don't be causing any trouble." Jun replied, seeing Gallerian started smiling in glee and paced into another room by Jun's throne, "...I think I should send someone to look after that guy."

"I will, I know the Greedy Bastard best." Nemesis spoke up. "Besides I like to see what's in this palace anyways."

"Great idea." He concurred, Nemesis then followed her Dad down the same path he took.

"I wanna see if there are food down there in the city." Banica said as she ran to the exit.

"Maybe they're some women that needs chatting." Sateriasis follows the same suit.

"Don't do anything stupid, Sateriasis!" Allen called out as he followed him.

"I'm gonna have an encounter with the Nobility." Riliane said, straightening her dress.

"I thought I saw a clothing shop near by the river, I want to see it for myself." Kayo left, leaving only Margarita and Jun behind in the throne room.

"I'm by myself." She squeaked.

"Hehehe, Don't worry your pretty head, Margarita." He chuckled. "I got something to show you."

"Oh?"

~Meanwhile with Gallerian and Nemesis~

Gallerian was walking through the long red hallways, every where he looked he can see art and gold in it's purest form all around him. "That "room" is gonna be somewhere around here, every palace has one." He thought to himself completely unaware of Nemesis following him from behind. Soon, he stopped when he saw something that caught his eye, a large door with a key hole that was glowing gold from the inside, he walked over there and peaked inside the hole, he let out a surprised gasp when he saw what's inside. "THERE IT IS!" He then proceed to open the door, the room was filled with gold bars, gold coins, gold necklaces, gold bracelets, gems, stones, jewels, everything in that one room: "the Royal Treasury". Gallerian's eyes began to gleam in fiendish greed as he began drooling, he ran inside the room and began stuffing gold and jewels into his pockets.

Nemesis came out of her hiding spot and saw her father's avaricious descent into madness being performed before yelling: "HEY!" Gallerian turned to face is hell spawn.

"Gold...GOLD!..HEH HEH HEH! IT'S EVERYWHERE! HA HA HA!" He laughed manically, he was completely mad with Greed as he fell back and began making a snow angel out of gold.

"So this is how low you can get? stealing gold from foreign royalty!? I expected this type of behavior back home but this?...you're a complete monster!" Nemesis barked at him, he was not listening to her as he puts on golden rings on his fingers, she began stomping towards him in puffed up irritation.

"Damn it, Dad, stop it!" she slapped the gold out of his hand. "This is exactly why the Master of the Hellish Yard hates you, you greedy pig!"

"This is enough to cure Michelle's legs!" He puts on a golden crown.

"First off: It's foreign currency, it's worthless in our world. Secondly: Michelle's been dead for twenty-freaking-years!" He continued ignoring her, she began strangling him by the neck. "STOP STEALING THE GOLD YOU ANIMAL!" Just then they heard a low growl, they froze in place.

"Did you hear that?" Gallerian whispered, they saw some gold shifting to the right. "...Y-yes." Nemesis squeaked in fear as they saw more gold shifting to the left, the floor began rumbling under their feet. "Wh-wh-what di-did y-you d-do!?" Nemesis stuttered as the ground shakes from left to right.

"I-I d-don't kn-know!" Just then a mountain of gold started rising in front of them, emerging from the gold and jewels was a large dark green snout, two large brown horns sticking out of the top of the head, growling through it's large white teeth, and a pair of bloody red eyes with black and gold slits.

"Is that what I think it is!?" Gallerian squeaked in a high pitched voice, the creature lets out a loud roar at them.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWG!

"DRAGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!" They both screamed in unison as they ran out of the room, the dragon began chasing them.

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT, YOU AND YOUR STUPID YELLING!" Gallerian yelled at her.

"MY FAULT!? YOUR THE GREEDY BASTARD THAT WAS STEALING IT'S GOLD!" She yelled back, trying to avoid the snapping jaws of the Green Dragon.

~Meanwhile with Kayo and Banica~

Kayo and Banica are on a boat, streaming through the rivers of town in hopes to find something they want, Kayo hoping to make it to that clothing store she spotted and Banica a string of eaterys. "Mmmmmm, that smell is getting stronger Kayo, can you smell it?" Banica said with anticipation.

Kayo sniffed the air. "Mmmm you're right, it's smells delicious."

"I knew you come to my side."

"Well maybe a small bite, there is this one clothing store around here and I must get to it!"

"Alright." They finally made it to where Banica wanted to go to, they thanked the man who owns the boat and began walking to their destination.

"So many shops and food places but not one that your looking for, Duchess."

"I prefer to be called "Duke" Kayo, It's more fitting for me than Duchess, and you don't have to be formal." They kept walking down the streets filled with busy people until they reached a stoned staircase. "HAAA! THERE IT IS!" Banica said as she ran to an open stand labeled under "Mei's", She looked at different dishes being served, some of them aren't even from the country they're standing in so Yingmu must made a small trade with another realm.

"So many to choose from I must say."

Banica looked inside to see some management, she then saw a sign next to the food that reads: "Manager out for the day, please take one glaze Cornish hen as a token of our apologies, - The manager's son, Mei-Shang"

"You can read Mukokunese, Banica?"

"Yes, I was with this one lady possessing my descendant, Germaine, we traveled through the Akuna region to Jakoku centuries before you were born...what? I maybe in a glass but I can still take language lessons." Banica took one Cornish hen and took a bite out of it. "MMMM! OH GOD IT'S DELICIOUS!" Banica and her mouth are practically in bliss. "You gotta try it, Sudou!"

"O-ok." Kayo took one of the hens and took a small nibble. "Mmmm! Your right it is delicious! and the meat is so tender."

"Nom nom nom."

"I'll take this hen to go, I got a clothing store to get to, you try to stay out of trouble Banica." She took a small box to go and went on her way.

"Ok!" Banica said she grabbed a pair of chop sticks and began to stuff her face with the delicious delicacies that was in front of her, despite what the sign said. Kayo walked up the stairs until she reached her desired location; the clothing store.

"There it is!" She ran up to it, business seems to be booming there, Kayo squeezed past the crowd and walked inside the place. "Ooooh." She was amazed by the patterns hanging on the walls, no two set of fabrics are alike. "These are gorgeous." She said as she rubs a piece of fabric between her hands, such beautiful silks makes the Tailor's heart jump with joy and excitement, even when she's outwardly calm looking, but her thoughts were disturbed but an argument between a shopper and the store's owner.

"Ah! This dress has a hole in it! You told me it was brand new." A middle-aged woman said wearing a lavender cheongsam, scorning an older man.

"I'm dreadfully sorry, I-I don't know how it got there!"

"I've waited weeks for this dress and this is the result?! Your a pathetic excuse of a clothes designer!"

"Excuse me, Maybe I can fix it?" Kayo said, intervening.

"Young lady, this is none of your-" The old man was talking before being cut off be the middle-aged woman.

"Well what are you waiting for? Fix it, I want to see what you can do."

"Right." Kayo took out her eastern pair of scissors from her green obi and grabbed a nearby needle and thread and began patching the hole in a decent speed, snipping and cutting the thread on the dress.

"Oh!" The old man was amazed by Kayo's skill in tailoring and snipping.

"Done."

"The dress is fixed!" The middle aged woman exclaimed with a smile. "Almost as if the hole was never there!"

"My god woman, how did you do it!?"

"It's a talent of mine, I was taught by my mother to tailor."

"What's your name?"

"Kayo, Sudou Kayo of Enbizaka...EH!?" She was then grabbed by the forearms by the old man. "OH KAYO, I MUST HAVE YOU AS MY TAILOR!"

"HUH!? B-B-BUT S-SIR I-"

"OH MY GOD!" Someone outside the store yelled out, everyone including Kayo walked out and saw that a food stand was in complete shambles with smoke and grease coming out, as Kayo remembers correctly that is the same stand that Banica was eating at. Out of the rubble was the said epicurean covered in food, grease, and twigs.

"This is the best food ever!" Banica said as she was eating a piece of lumber covered in sauce.

"YOU MONSTER! YOU DESTROYED MY FATHER'S STAND!" A young man yelled angrily at her, that could be Mei-Shang from the sign.

"Your father's food is amazing though!"

"GET OUT! GET OUT!" The man grabbed a piece of lumber and began to chase her, causing Kayo to face palm.

"Why Banica, why?"

"You know her?" The Middle-aged woman asked. "Sssssssort of..."

"...Soooooooooo will you still be my tailor." The old man begged again to Kayo. "NO! My heart belongs to no one but my husband, your too old for me!"

"What? No I mean be my tailor for my business."

"Oh, That's still a no."

"Aww." The man slouched.

~Meanwhile with Riliane~

Riliane was walking through the streets of the aristocratic district, impressed by the rich structure and architecture of the area surrounding her, In a way it kinda made her feel like she's at home, she walked into a narrow alleyway covered in vines until she reached the other side that seemed to be swarming with children, both rich and poor, some passed her as she walked by towards the garden's gate, there was a square shaped arena like area and a medium sized wall which over looks more buildings and houses, just then she saw two boys around her age in the arena playing with a bouncy ball, they seemed to be playing volley ball of sorts, they stopped once they saw Riliane by the gates.

"Your outfit looks different...you must those strangers our emperor brought in." One of the boys pointed out, he appeared to be an Elphe boy wearing a white dress shirt and navy blue shorts.

"Of course I am one of them." Riliane concurred as she walked into the arena.

"What's your name?" another asked, he's a brunette with a dark green changshan.

"I am called "Princess Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche of the Yellow Kingdom of Lucifenia"."

"That's a mouthful, you got a nickname?" The Elphe boy asked.

"I'm sometimes called Rin...and you two?"

"I'm Ling." The Elphe boy explained. "And this is my friend; Boh."

"Say Rin, wanna play?" Boh asked.

"And what game is this?"

"Volley ball, but we can play something else."

"Mmmmm, Of course." They moved back a couple of centimeters away from one another, Boh did his first kick to Ling who kicks it to Riliane, Riliane uses her head to bounce the ball to Boh.

"Your good Rin." Ling said.

"Thank you, I've have a thing for games and sportsmanship." They continued with their game until Boh accidentally hit the ball over the wall.

"Oops." Boh exclaimed, they go over to the other side and found that it landed on someone's lawn, they seemed to be having a lot of older folks over there.

"Oh, Aristocrats!" Riliane beamed up.

"Yeah, my neighbor must be having a garden party." Ling said.

"Should we ask for the ball back?"

"Oh but I don't wanna be rude."

"Really? Let's see what happens when I walk in and they see the Emperor's guest?" Riliane comes out of her hiding spot and walks into the party, however the people didn't seemed to pay attention to the young Lucifenian, considering that she's blond like some of the folks in the party then that would come as no surprise to why she's ignored. "Hmph! Talk about rude...Oh the ball!" She sees the ball and runs to it, unfortunately a servant accidently knocks it to under the table, "Crap!" She runs over to the table which seems to occupied by an older first class couple and goes under it, while reaching for the ball she accidently brushed her arm against the woman's leg.

"Ah! Oh honey, not in public~." She said in a flirtatious tone to her lover, she appears blond while wearing a red slit dress.

"What did I do?" The man asked, he's a dark blond wearing a black suit, the woman realizing that it wasn't her lover's doing, she looked under the table saw Riliane under the table holding the ball.

"Helloooooo." Riliane said, trying to look innocent.

"AH! GET AWAY YOU FILTHY BRAT!" She started kicking out, driving Riliane out.

"BRAT!? Well I never! Hmph!" She puffed, she walks away with the ball while keeping her nose in the air in a snooty fashion, "Ling! Boh! I got the ball!" She throws the ball at them, Boh catches it.

"Thanks!" Boh said.

"Wanna play some more?" Ling asked.

"No thanks, I feel like trash having to deal with these two people."

"Alright, It's great meeting you."

"Same here." As soon as they went away, she went to a nearby snack table, poured herself some punch and started looking for something to nibble on, "Now to fine some more decent aristocrats to socialize." She said as she grabbed a tiny sandwich, it was smoked salmon with cream cheese.

~Meanwhile with Sateriasis~

Sateriasis was strolling through the buildings of the Aristocratic district, taking a deep breath in complete relief due to finally losing track of Allen, the servant to him was a nothing but a burden to him when it comes to socializing with women. But now the perverted duke is alone, she sees three "women" standing by a large building that seems to look like a bar of sorts, Sateriasis smirked deviously upon seeing them, allowing his instincts to take over as he walks towards them.

"Well hello darlings, what a lovely morning we're having." He said smoothly, earning a bunch of giggles from the "women" in front of him.

"My aren't you a charmer sir." The first woman said in a husky tone.

"But of course, but not as charming as you dear." He winks, causing the "woman" to swoon in ecstasy and fall down.

"He's mine." The second "woman" said as she grabbed his arm.

"Oh but we only just met my dear." He brushes her chin with his fingers. "I will make exceptions however." She giggled.

"Me next! Me Next!" The third "woman" said.

"Of course my darling." He whispers into "her" ear, "A beautiful desert bloom can never compare it's beauty with you, in fact your more of a beautiful red rose than a bloom."

"Ohhh, your voice is so gorgeous." She gasped in lust.

"So...which one of you beautiful maidens would like to..."go first"?" He gave them a devious smirk, they start chatting excitedly as the grabbed onto Sateriasis, fighting over who wants to go first. "Oh my apologies my dears, it's not fair to only pick one, how about I pick all of you?" They started swooning excitingly, all seemed right with the world for him as they walked inside the building they're standing in front of. As he did so, Allen came around the corner panting and showing signs of exhaustion as he seemed to be looking everywhere for Sateriasis.

"AGH! WHERE COULD THAT PERVERT GONE TO!?" He yelled out while gripping his hair, "SATERIASIS! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!? OOF!" He got hit by a ball.

"I'm sorry kid, are you ok?" The boy his age asked, it was Ling and Boh.

"Ye-yeah, it just caught me off guard." He looked at the two boys and they seemed surprised by his appearance. "What?"

"Whoa, you look just like Rin!" Boh exclaimed.

"Rin? as in Riliane?"

"Yeah, we were just playing ball with her earlier." Ling said, "are you here brother or something?"

"Yes, I'm her younger twin brother, I'm called Allen."

"That explains the likeness, I'm Ling."

"And I'm Boh."

"Nice to meet you two, ok, have you seen a man, very tall, very handsome, has purple hair with matching eyes and wears a purple coat?"

"No."

"Well do you know where Riliane is then?"

"Oh yeah! She's at Ling's neighbor's garden party over there beyond the wall." Boh said pointing at the spot.

"Thanks you guys." He walked to the said spot in hopes of meeting with his sister, once there he saw that the place was packed, everyone having a few laughs and talking, he walked in before he was batted by the blond woman in the red slit dress.

"That's for touching me you filthy brat." She walked away with her lover.

"...I didn't do anything!" Allen yelled, but the woman was gone. "I guess Riliane must've caused some trouble here." He kept walking until he saw Riliane chatting with some of the other nobles, finally finding some people she could talk to.

"Then I said to that dumb knight: "When there's no bread, let them eat snacks!" Riliane said with pride in her voice, the nobles around her began laughing at her saying.

"My I never knew a child your age can be as witty and clever as a young woman, brava Princess." A raven headed woman said to her.

"Oh but it was nothing." She said blushing.

"Riliane!"

Riliane looked around for the source of the voice. "Oh hey Allen!" She runs towards him.

"Riliane, have you seen Sateriasis?"

"No I haven't, I thought he was with you."

"That perverted bastard got away from me just as soon as we got to the Aristocratic quarter, I can't find him anywhere."

"A pervert right?" The raven headed woman asked."

"Uuuum, yes?" Allen answered, unsure of what the woman is asking for.

"And is that man careless?"

"Very."

"Only after women who are beautiful, regardless of their occupation and upbringing?"

"Yes."

"Then I know the very exact place where he might be." Soon enough, they went to the spot where Sateriasis walked into, Allen read the sign that was on top of the building but couldn't read it's native language, though he saw a bunch of women inside the place so this might as well be somewhat of a brothel or host joint.

"Is this a bar ma'am?" Allen asked the woman.

"Indeed, and he would be coming out right abooout...now." Just then Sateriasis comes out with a messy shirt and hair with kissy makers on his face, neck, and chest, flushed face and all. Normally he would be extremely happy with something like this, however something doesn't seemed right about his expression, he seemed...distressed and disgusted.

"There you are Duke!" Allen exclaimed angrily, "Did you made love to those women in there? You better not have gotten anyone pregnant!"

"N-no, they're not." Sateriasis stuttered.

"That's good."

"I c-can't even get them pr-pregnant anyways."

"Why? They took medicine?" Riliane asked. "Is there anything wrong Sati? You looked like you saw a ghost."

"Th-those women...they're...they're..."

"SPILL IT DUKE!"

"They're...they're...Crossdresser-er-er-errrrs!." He whimpered in his hands.

"Crossdressers?" Allen asked. "You mean...Men...dressed like women?"

"...yes..." Sateriasis squeaked in a high-pitched voice as he hanged his head down. "They were too convincing."

"Well it'll serve you right on two counts, you abandoned me and you judge people by appearances." Allen puffed. "Just like with your victims and your murderer."

"Now I get it, you walked into a all male brothel, they wear make-up like Jakokunese courtesans." Riliane said looking inside, but was pushed out.

"No minors allowed." Said the host standing by the door.

"Well madam, I think some gratitude is an orde-...huh?" Allen turned and saw that the raven headed woman was gone, vanished into thin air. "Where did she go?...Hm, I guess she left or something."

"Ga-Gallerian will never le-let me hear the end of it if he finds out." Sateriasis's hands were shaking like mad. "He'll laugh at me for all eternity!" Riliane then slapped him hard across the face.

"PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, DUKE! Just process it, forget it ever happened, and move on with your life, the old goat will never find out then."

"Speaking of that, I wonder how things are going at the palace since Nemesis and Gallerian are staying behind."

~Meanwhile with Jun and Margarita~

In the dark hallways of the palace, Jun was holding Margarita by her hands as they wonder through the darkness, they stopped in front of a large door at the end of the hall as Jun began to unlock it. "Your gonna like this one Margarita." Jun said as he opened the door, on the other side was a giant blue rounded hallway, the walls made of thick glass and the wallpaper seemed to be moving, no, it's not wallpaper, it's actual fish and creatures of the deep, a large aquarium under the palace. Margarita's jaw literally dropped to the ground once she saw the aquarium in front of her.

"Oh...my...goodness." She was surprised, she can't even form a proper sentence.

"Do you like it?" Jun asked.

"Like it? I love it! This is the biggest aquarium I ever seen!" She said jumping.

"I was hoping you would." They walked inside, all around them different types of fish, big and small swam around the tube like hallway they're walking in, tangs, tuna, octopuses, turtles, sea horses, clown fishes, squids, star fishes, and many more. There was a small sea horse brushing it's head against the screen to gain Margarita's attention, to which she did, Margarita placed her hand on the glass where the sea horse was brushing at. She giggled on how cute it is. They pressed on through the giant glass hallway, racing a school of blue tangs until they reached a flight a stairs which leads to the surface, they're now on a platform in the middle of a large lake-like pool by the palace.

"This is absolutely amazing!" Margarita said as she jumped. "What I saw was beauti-OOOH!" She nearly fell off, only for Jun to catch her by the waist and hug her, she blushed madly when he did so.

"You ok?"

"Y-Yes."

"Good, I don't want to let you fall to your watery grave."

"I can swim."

"Well they're Octopuses down there."

"Oh." She squeaked.

"Listen Margarita, I know we only just met today, but I got something to show you." The Hybrid dug into his pocket and pulled out a small while box, he opened it which reveals a silver ring with a small yet beautiful heart shaped aquamarine gem on it.

"...A ring?"

"I felt pity for your circumstances from when I first heard your backstory." He places the ring on her slim ring finger. "Clockworker's doll or not I can still make you the happiest person in the world."

"Ohh Jun! Y-your t-too kind! Thank you!" She was so beamed by his kind words, he's the first person to show genuine kindness to her, Kasper's so-called "kindness" was pretty much used on every maiden he was sutured to then later possibly became his whores. Mayrana, or in this case Elluka only used her just for her own gain. Just then she heard three loud noises from afar: two screams; one male and one female, and one loud beast like roar.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWG!"

"EEECK! WHAT IS THAT!?" She was scared, but Jun just formed a mischievous smirk and chuckled.

"Heh heh heh, I guess the Judge and his daughter just became acquainted with Charlie." "Charlie? who's Charlie?"

"You'll see, come Princess."

~Where the noise is~

Nemesis and Gallerian ran into the Palace garden in great desperation and fear, the dragon still close behind them was snapping it's jaws at them.

"UP IN THAT TREE!" Nemesis said as she turned the corner and ran towards a fairly large tree, Gallerian tagged along and started climbing up with his devil spawn close behind, the dragon slowed down once it lost track of the two sinners, lurking around the very large tree for the father-daughter duo running off with it's gold. The two sinners hid within the leaves of the tree, breathing hard in both nervousness and exhaustion from all the running they endured. The dragon sniffed in order to find them, but so far nothing and began to take it's leave.

"Phew." Nemesis sighed in relief, just when they are about to get down, a piece of gold fell out of Gallerian's pocket and landed on a tree stump, making a small ding noise. To their misfortune, it is loud enough to reached the dragon's ears, it turned around and saw the piece of gold on the ground. It smelled it then looked up at the tree to find the two sinners there, hanging for dear life.

"Oooooooooh shit." Was the only words coming out of Gallerian's mouth, the Dragon the proceeds to jump at them, only to miss every time, the two sinners screamed in horror.

"OI CHARLIE!" The Dragon stopped when it heard a voice, it turned and saw Jun with a obviously terrified Margarita behind him, the Dragon started to jump in seemingly joy towards the Hybrid, then stopped to lick Jun's face and started panting and wagging it's tail like a dog, "SIT!" The dragon complied, "Give me claw." It lightly placed the nail of it's fore finger in Jun's hand, "Play dead." The dragon laid on it's side and started moaning as if in pain, "GOOD GIRL!" He then summoned a giant doggy treat and threw it to the Dragon, it or she eats it as Jun started rubbing her tummy. "Did you miss Daddy, Charlie?"

"Th-that's Charlie?" Margarita said squeamishly.

"Yeah, she's my pet dragon, her full name is "Charlotte" but I like to call her "Charlie"." Charlie was sniffing the Marchioness. "Don't worry she's harmless."

"Harmless?...THEN WHY WAS THAT BEAST CHASING US!?" Gallerian yelled as he climbed down.

"Oh gee I don't know, maybe because YOU STOLE IT'S GOLD!?" Nemesis yelled as she pulled on the pearl necklace he was wearing around his neck.

"You stole from the royalty!?" Margarita said in disbelief. "You're a monster!"

"Thank you!"

"HEY! HEY! TIME OUT GUYS! Before anyone throws anyone under the bus let me explain:" Jun started as he got between them. "Because I travel through many dimensions and worlds visiting and collecting stuff, I pretty much don't need the wealth Gallerian took to make me happy, though I will need a vast majority of it in case of a national disaster like illnesses or widespread bankruptcy. But other than that, I just give it away to anyone who wants it. for good or bad, all is right with the world that way."

"Sooooo...you don't mind me taking the gold and jewels?" He questioned as he straightened the pearl necklace.

"Of course not Judge, help yourself, But not all of it mind you."

"THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME BOY!" He boosted in Avaricious glee, but was stopped by Nemesis just as he was about to flee.

"First of all: Don't encourage my Dad, Jun! and secondly: What about your dragon? Why was it, I mean "she" chasing us?" Just then she froze in utter shock as she felt the Dragon sniffing all round her body, the dragon then stopped at her pocket where she normally would hide her revolver, the dragon the snatch the object that was in her pocket...it was a big carrot and ate it, the dragon fell asleep by the tree.

"She's a vegetarian." Jun said smiling, Gallerian glared at his devil spawn for hiding carrots in her pocket, Nemesis mouthed "what" to her dad.

"Forget it, I got a date with the Treasury!" He ran off back into the treasury.

"GODDAMMIT DAD!"

"Don't worry, like Jun said he can't take all the gold." Margarita ensured Nemesis, "In the meantime, I gotta show you this aquarium in the palace!"

"There's an aquarium here?" Nemesis was confused.

"Yeah!"

"Hmmm, Interesting...are they're any octopuses?"

"Big ones!"

"Show me."

"Yaay!"

~Later in the Den~

Gallerian was content with all the gold and jewels he was able to carry with him as he straighten the golden crown on top of his head, Nemesis had fallen into the pool above the aquarium and was happy with an octopus hugging her as Margarita tried removing it with a crowbar. Just then Allen and the four sinners walked into the Den, Riliane was happily eating cake from the garden party, Banica was licking the sauce off her body as she eat pieces of wood, Kayo was happy with the beautiful colorful fabrics she got her hands on, and Allen was trying to calm Sateriasis down while wrapping a blanket around him.

"Hey guys." Banica said lick her fingers.

"I see that you guess had fun." Nemesis said, finally free of the octopus.

"Why are you covered in gold, Gallerian?" Riliane asked as she eat the cake, Gallerian then smelled something...odd...coming from Sateriasis.

"Why does Sateriasis smell like sweat and shame?"

"Ummm, you see...mmm." Sateriasis was quite hesitant, because he knew that if Gallerian found out he made love to a man he'll never hear the end of it, but he took a very deep and stood his ground yelling: "Y'KNOW WHAT!? I DON'T CARE! I WAS FINALLY ABLE TO BED WITH SOMEONE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN CENTURIES! AND I'M PROUD OF MYSELF!" He said with pride in his voice, finally processing his mistake without revealing much else.

"That's nice to finally accept it but you're still in trouble for doing it behind my back." Allen said with a smile.

"Oh so that's it...pervert." Gallerian scoffed, the duke sighed in relief.

"I got a lot of beautiful fabrics at the clothing store, I'm gonna have a great time with these." Kayo said brushing her fabrics with a smile.

"The food here is delicious!" Banica said. "Sadly they banned me from eating at their restaurants after tearing apart one of them."

"I had a lovely time with interacting with people of my status." Riliane said while using a napkin. "I also did make acquaintances with two little boys, what did you three do?"

"Enjoying the riches." Gallerian answered in total bliss.

"Playing with a dragon and an Octopus." Nemesis said hugging an octopus.

"I seen an aquarium here with Nemesis and Jun, then I saw a large Garden." Margarita said while brushing her forefinger on the ring Jun gave her.

"Strange I thought you cut ties with Kasper." Riliane said pointing at her ring.

"Oh no this is a gift from Jun."

"Oh, looks pretty expensive."

"But it's beautiful nonetheless." Margarita then noticed that Gallerian was forming Ev signs on his eyes upon seeing the ring, only for Nemesis to slap the back of his head.

"NO! BAD FATHER! STOP BEING A GREEDY PIG!"

"I wasn't gonna do it!"

"Bull...Crap!"

"Knock it off you two!" Riliane scolded them.

"Stay out of it!"

"Hey hey hey!" Jun said trying to calm them down, "Let's not do this in my palace, please?"

"Fiiiiine." They sat back down.

"...Well, now that I have everyone's attention then I have something to say to you all." He cleared his voice. "You've guys are the most fun around here and I'm happy to have brought you all here."

"Well thanks I guess." Allen said, a little confused to what he's talking about.

"Though with Banica I'm gonna have to pay the owner of that restaurant a good fortune because you dismantled his stand.

"His food was good."

"And it is, regardless I'm giving you guys free passes to the city so you can comeback anytime you want." The Sinners we're happy with the news.

"That's a kind gesture Jun." Allen said smiling, "Buuuuuuut the problem is I made a promise with Sickle to look after the Sinners and my sister." The sinners got closer to Allen about what he's saying. "The point is that I can't trust them to be by themselves for a long time, and I don't think Sickle is informed about us being in this dimension."

"Aaaaaaaand what's your point, hm?"

"My point is that leaving the sinners here would get us all in trouble... and even though this place is amazing, I don't think coming here on our free will would be allowed." The sinners exclaimed in disappointment.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Gallerian growled. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Banica Yelled. "MOTHER OF GOD!" Nemesis threw a fit. "COME ON ALLEN!" Riliane complained. "NO FAIR!" Sateriasis berated. "AWWWW!" Margarita pouted. "HMPH!" Kayo puffed in irritation.

"Well I'm sorry but my job is to look after you guys and help you redeemed yourselves from the sins you committed, it's purgatory not a vacation."

"Your no fuuuun." Riliane whined while kicking.

Jun didn't know how to react to what Allen's telling them, he felt somewhat anxious but he stayed calm, smiled, and said: "Well I understand your concern but maybe I can try to convince dear Ol' Sickle to let you guys visit here."

"Weeeeeell I supposed that's possible." Allen agreed, the Sinners sighed in relief. "I still don't know how he'll agree."

"He'll have to I hope, because I got some big news, and it revolves around Margarita."

"Me?" Margarita said.

"Yes you Princess."

"Do tell." Banica said drinking tea, just thing they heard a loud roaring outside the palace, startling Jun, Allen, and the Sinners.

"IT'S CHARLIEEEEEEEEE!" Nemesis exclaimed in horror, just then they heard another roar outside the palace.

"Another dragon!?" Allen exclaimed in confusion.

"I don't have another dragon." Jun answered, he spread his wings and flew out of the window to see the commotion, at the gates he saw Charlie locked in combat with a large black winged dragon with blue eyes. Jun was in shock at the sight before him, wondering about the other dragon attacking his pet. "SWEET MOTHER OF CHOCOLATE!"

"Behemo sure is ruthless today." Banica said.

"Behemo? You mean the guy in the dress!?"

"You didn't know he was turned into a dragon for his insubordination?"

"No." Just then Jun saw Behemo about to snap Charlie's neck with his teeth, he flew in front of Behemo to stop the crosscresser from finishing off his pet. "STOP!" Behemo then stopped, baffled by the sudden interference. "DON'T KILL MY BABY, YOU BRUTE!" That was enough to subdue the god in all his might, he let go of Charlie. As Jun flew down to tend to Charlie, Behemo shrunk until he was the same size as his human form. POOF! He reverted back to himself, he was wearing a lavender t-shirt with a picture of a eggplant on it, a pair of grey sweats, black socks, and a pair of white bunny slippers. His hair was also messy and is showing signs of fatigue and a five o' clock shadow.

"Brute! BRUTE!?" Behemo snapped at the Hybrid. "I'VE BEEN UP ALL MORNING LOOKING FOR THOSE PUNKS! THAT DAMN SICKLE-WINGED BAT WOKE ME UP EARLY IN THE MORNING LIKE THE ANIMAL HE IS BECAUSE YOU SPIRITED THEM AWAY FROM THEIR PURGENTORY!" He was very cranky today.

"Pfft, wow Behemo, you're a mess." Sateriasis snorted, trying to hold in his laugh. "*Snort* The carpet on your face match the curtains?" He finally burst out laughing.

"Say that again and I'll send the ten plagues on your ass, Duke." Behemo said irritably to Sateriasis, it was enough to scare the noble silent.

"What's the big idea attacking Charlie you bully!" Margarita scolded at the God.

"Me a bully!? That dragon started it! It was getting on to me for no freaking reason!"

"Charlie is a "she"! and that's probably because of the Eggplant on your shirt, she's a vegetarian!" Jun yelled at him after healing Charlie's wounds.

"Ok! Ok! I get it! Look I'm sorry for attacking "her", I'm just so freaking tired that I just wanted to end this and go back to sleep." He stretched out.

"YOU! Better say that to Charlie, pretty boy." Jun yelled, Behemo only sighed.

"Fiiine, I'm sorry for almost killing you Charlie, can you find it in your reptilian heart to forgive me?" The Dragon responded by growling at the fatigued God, "I'll take it as a "No". Anyways everybody grab your things, we're going back in the box, Eh?" Riliane was then groveling at Behemo's feet.

"I wanna staaaaaaaaaaayyyyy." She whined.

"You. don't. live. here. now. let. go. of. my. feet. mortal!" He was trying to shake her off of his ankles. "Sickle has been chewing my but off a couple of times for several centuries now hurry up before he turns me into a newt.

"But Behemo I haven't even gotten to tell them what I was gonna tell them yet!" Jun said.

"Well maybe then you shouldn't hijack the sinners without Batman's approval." He was able to carry Riliane by his shoulder.

"But-"

"NO BUTS! You can tell them next time when you, Allen, I sort things out with Sickle!" He opens a portal. "Now everyone let's go so I can go back to sleep...I SAID LET'S GO BEFORE I TOSS YOU ALL INTO A SCARFICAL MAUL PIT OF HELL HOUNDS!" He yelled a the top of his lungs, scaring the sinners into following him back into the portal to the black box.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye." Margarita said to Jun with concern.

"For now, I think." Jun said in a Melancholy tone.

"MARGARITA!"

"I'm coming! Bye!" Margarita ran into the gapping portal that leads back into the box, leaving Jun and his Dragon alone at the palace gates.

"I haven't even told them about the Engagement Ring I gave her yet, Charlie." He said with remorse as he patted his dragon.

END CHAPTER

[seeasweetsmile]

Chlonath Week - Day 3 : Art

Why do I always make one-shots longer than I expect... ? T_T No matter, here is a one-shot Chlonath whose theme is "Art". I know that the date of chlonath week is far outdated, but to be honest, I still need time to come up with good ideas about the given themes and... most often I always get my ideas only when the special weeks are over lol

Hope you like it, guys !

"Why did I agree to help you, seriously ?" Chloe grumbled as she sat down on a small wheelchair.

She was in the red-headed workshop, arms and legs crossed, and openly stared at the iron pots in which were dry and colored brushes, dirty rags daubed on worktops, as well as various paintings placed one throughout the room.

"Why ? Because I'm a very good speaker ?" Nathaniel joked as he walked past her.

"As if !" She retorted, turning exaggeratedly her head, her nose in the air. “You're barely speaking in class !”

She was right. It wasn’t because of his skills as an orator that he had convinced the blonde but rather his logical deduction. He had just said the right words to her classmate and she had ended by biting the hook. Because, of course, Chloe's oversized ego didn’t hold up when she told him that he had reserved enough room in the center of his painting only for her, that his project would necessarily be the best of the contest with the participation of "Mayor’s daughter", that he would be seen by the greatest artists of Paris, and that the prize of the winner was 3,000 euros.

"So ? What do I have to do ?” The blonde asked. "Don’t move, I'll explain it to you right away.” Nathaniel replied, bringing back a large picture hidden by a piece of cloth, which he placed on an easel in front of her.

The red-haired gently pulled out the fabric and walked away one step to lay his buttocks on the edge of one of his worktops, arms crossed, watching Chloe's reaction at the sight of his work. She was silent and silently detailed her work. Several hand prints of different colors and sizes were dispatched on the board. There were small roses, violet fines, medium orange, gray, black, larger imprints to the magenta, blue, green, brown or red color. Only a white space remained in the middle of the canvas, a sign that, as Nathaniel had promised, it was the place where Chloe should add her stone to the building. 

The blonde girl blinked to catch her mind and pointed at the painting with her index finger.

"Wait, you're not going to tell me that I'm going to have to put my handprints full of foul and chemical paintings on it ?"

"I'm afraid that if, Mademoiselle Bourgeois." He confessed in the greatest calm.

"What ?! And my manicure then ?! I was at the beauty institute last week ! You did it on purpose, confess !" She scowled, frowning.

Nathaniel moved uncomfortably under the discontent of the mayor's daughter who also blamed him for hiding this information. He put a hand through his hair and sighed softly.

"I didn’t do it on purpose. And if I didn’t go into the details it's because, from one, you didn’t give me more time to speak, and two, if I had, you would directly refuse. And since you want to know everything, the theme of the contest is "Friendship".” "Friendship ?” Chloe repeated, blinking. "Yes. I know that we are far from being friends but... I felt bad about asking the whole class to participate in my project and just dismissing you because nobody loves you.” "Pardon ?! I don’t need your pity, Nathaniel ! And then I remind you that everyone adores me !"

The sentence of the mayor's daughter remained suspended in the air for several seconds when neither of the two college students spoke. After taking a deep breath, Nathaniel finally turned her head towards Chloe, and crossed the two blue orbs of her classmate. "I don’t have pity on you, Chloe. We must create what represents friendship for us. And for me, I don’t have much bonds with others, even though I'm not so close to them, I consider the class like my friends. And I sincerely hope that you too participate in my work. So... do you still want to put your fingerprint on it...? Or not... ?"

Chloe sustained the azure gaze of the artist. In view of her pinched lips and her slightly wrinkled forehead, she seemed to be debating inside her choice. After several seconds of heavy silence, the blonde finally slammed her tongue at the palace and turned her head swinging her ponytail up, frowning. "All right, it’s okay. Anyway, if I don’t, your shabby painting never won the victory.” "Thank you, Chloe.” "Hurry up. I don’t have all afternoon free !” She grunted.

Nathaniel advised her to remove her yellow jacket if she didn’t want to do any task -in case, what she did while making a comment on the exorbitant price of his garment. Then he hurried to unhook the board lay flat on the floor, took a jar of yellow paint near a pile of other plastic pots, and brought it back to Chloe's feet. Finally, he asked the mayor's daughter to sit on her knees while he crouched and opened the yellow jar. The strong odor of the paint immediately attacked Chloe's nostrils, which grimaced and groaned in disgust, dragging theatrical her head away. "Just the smell makes me want to vomit...!” "Yeah well, keep it to yourself. So, that's what I'd like you to do : you'd have to plunge your hands into the paint, lift them over the pot and let the surplus fall inside, and then as soon as nothing flow, you put and gently press your palms on the canvas. And be careful that your fingers are well apart. You can do it ?” "You're kidding ? Do you know who I am ? I can do this without any problem !” She asserted, her back straight, full of confidence. "In that case, make, Your Highness." Nathaniel allowed a gesture of his hands.

Her nickname full of sarcasm was not at all appreciated since the blonde glared at him and ordered him never to call her that again. She then turned to the jar of paint, pulled up her sleeves and plunged her fine hands into the yellow liquid.

"Ugh, it's disgusting... !" The blonde droped, wincing a second time. "I swear, if I have pimples or other atrocities on my hands after that, I'll rotting your life until the end of the year... !"

"It's only a month before the end of the year." He replied in a phlegmatic tone.

"Well, it will be still a month of hell, my dear Nathaniel !"

With a brief sigh, he placed his forearms on his thighs and quietly took the talk while hoping that his look was reassuring.

"Believe me, it will not do you anything. It is made specifically for the skin. And then, it's been a while since the rest of the class helped me. Have you seen anything strange about their hands for a few weeks ? Buttons ? Warts ? Burns ?"

"...No." She mumbled after a moment's reflection.

"Then you have no reason to be afraid." He smiled.

She buzzed in response, and Nathaniel didn't know whether it was a negative or positive buzz. Shrugging his shoulders, he finally knelt down and turned to the blonde to watch her work.

Leaning over the board, she was concentrated, and remained motionless for a few seconds before catching Nathaniel's azure gaze with a brief glance.

"After that ? What do I do ?" She asked.

"Now gently take off your palms from the canvas and straighten yourself by quickly removing your hands so that there are no drops of paint falling on it."

With a nod, she obeyed Nathaniel's advice and straightened up, resting her buttocks on her heels, not without sighing openly. "You see, it was't very difficult.” Reassured the redhead in a frank smile. "You see, I can perfectly do these things without problems.” She retorted proudly. In spite of her boastful air and her nose in the air, the artist felt that she was really relieved not to have blundered and not spoiled her project. Nathaniel straightened up to take the board and put it next to him, on his worktop, so that it could dry quietly. Chloe, meanwhile, had also stood upright and stood awkwardly standing, elbows glued to her ribs, broken wrists, as if they were disarticulated.

Looking down at her hands still full of yellow paint, Chloe grimaced. She should do again her manicure and all the proper care to have soft hands and perfect. But as she wondered how she was going to get rid of the remaining paint on her hands, the blonde felt a machiavellian smile stretching her lips gradually. An idea had just germinated in her mind. Calling Nathaniel as she stepped toward him, she instantly raised her hands to gently slam her palms on Nathaniel's cheeks -who surprised him, startled-, and wiped them in an unwanted caress. She ignored the jump that her stomach had just made and cackled while distancing herself from him. "Well, voilà ! There, you are at last nice to look at !" "I don’t think so, no." Replied the concerned, disgruntled, the cheekbones slightly pink despite the yellow paint.

Nathaniel tried to remove the paint from his cheeks but his efforts were unsuccessful since he tartined even more than before and found himself with the lower face all yellow. The sight chloped Chloe again.

"Gosh, if only I could take my cell phone and take a picture..." She laughed.

"Thank you but not thanks.” The redhead grumbled.

"Wait, there's still..." Chloe suddenly warned as she approached a second time and wiped the back of her hands on Nathaniel's gray tee-shirt.

“Stop, this is my favorite tee-shirt !” He protested as he tried to pull away.

But the damage was done. And the bottom of his gray tee-shirt was now covered with yellow canary. The mixture of color still remained harmonious but for the principle, -and because Chloe don’t had manners, he couldn’t help being irritated. "Oh, it's ok." The blonde replied, sweeping her hand. “I've made it much more beautiful than before, if you want my humble opinion.” "I don’t care, of your humble opinion ! You couldn’t have taken the dishcloths that were on my worktops ?” The redhead complained. "And get abominable infections ? No, but do you have any idea how many microbes there are inside your rags ?"

The mayor's daughter did'nt wait for her classmate's answers and went to explore the room to open the only other door that was available at the back of the room. The wooden door led to a mini bathroom which served Nathaniel as a place to wash all of its art utensils. Barely three minutes later, the bitch was back, her hands clean, put on her yellow jacket in silence, then leaned beside the wheelchair to retrieve her handbag, which she wedged on her right shoulder, and turned her head towards Nathaniel. He seemed to be muttering insults between his teeth, his head lowered on his precious garment, but Chloe didn’t bother about it in the least and cleared her throat to attract his attention.

"Is it good for painting ? I can leave ?” She asked. He blinked his eyelids, stammering a "Huh ? Ah, um, I... ", looked down at her now finished work, smiled slightly, nodding, and raised her chin to her. "Yes, it’s perfect. Thank, Chloe.” "Yeah yeah, that's it. You have better to win the first place and get the 3,000 euros.” The blonde answered nonchalantly as she left the red-head shop.

Two days later, when Nathaniel arrived at school with the same gray t-shirt with yellow paint, Rose was worried about his favorite garment and while he replied that he liked it much better like this, Chloe couldn't help to missing a heartbeat and to feel, in spite of herself, her ears as well as her cheeks ignite.

[codyfernaesthetic]

Chocolate part 2

(Part two finally up! Enjoy!)

Feeling the panic rise in your throat, you whirl back to face the stage, still empty, but beginning to move as if going backward. A man appears...disappears...appears...disappears...He looks like Mark, you think for a moment. A horrifying ringing shoots through the air, surrounding you. You cover your ears, but to no avail; it screams louder. You hear creaking, as if reality itself was being forced to bend and contort far beyond its capabilities; warped and molded to fit some twisted design. The world is drained of color, desaturated into a dull gray; flashes of red and blue streaks pulse and blur your vision. The room splits into different parts, shrinking and multiplying; you see them all at the same time, as if staring into a million glitching TV screens with the same image. They begin to converge; making your line of vision smaller and smaller until they become a tiny ball of light which is immediately gone; blown out like a candle. Crushing darkness wraps around you like a python, squeezing every breath from your lungs. That horrible ringing pierces through your ears, stabbing its way into your mind.

In the middle of the darkness, Mark appears inches away from you...no, it can’t be Mark. His skin is gray, surrounded by those flashes of blue and red. His maliciously excited grin seems almost distorted. His black irises borough into you.

“Did you miss me?”

His voice slides over your skin like oil, seeping into your bones, violating every sensibility you have. You try to move, but he holds you captive with a paralyzing gaze; his words become invisible chains weighing you to the black void.

“I missed you...very much,” he continued, savoring every word with predatory pleasure. He clasps his hands behind his back and craned his neck, “I’ve been waiting a long time to see you again.”

A calm realization was able to slip through your panicked thoughts and remind you...you knew him. You’d noticed his influence from the beginning. All those times Mark wasn’t acting quite like himself...all those strange shadow figures and faces appearing in older videos...whenever Mark seemed to slip off the precipice of sanity and become possessed by something...dark, it was him.

And now he was making a personal appearance.

The dark figure’s tone became biting, frustrated, “I’ve been pushed aside...replaced...mocked. And then he had the gall to not invite me to his little adventure with you. No more. Never again.”

For a moment your vision blurred, blue and red painting across your eyes as the creature smiled, “It’s my turn now.”

Suddenly you were jerked into clarity, his growling voice rising. He became slightly less composed, gesturing angrily as he complained, “I’ve been waiting patiently! He promised he would let me in again!” He furiously readjusted his tie, in fact you began to notice his infrequent fidgeting, as if breaking in a new piece of clothing that didn’t fit exactly right, “I’m tired of giving people a choice. But,” he sighed, calming himself, “I suppose I could give you one last option. Take your pick!” he gestured with both hands to either side of him, “Anything of...four different choices--more than he’d ever given you--” he added with a flippant snarl, “and let’s see how far down this rabbit hole really goes. So, take your pick. Show me what you’ve got.”

He took your shaking hand, his touch cold and electric, sending sharp chills into every nerve, “And maybe,” he added, his features softening, “we’ll have a good date, after all.”

As he placed a gentle kiss on your knuckles, four sleek, black boxes on marble pedestals appeared on both sides of him. You’re terrified to choose, you’re terrified to refuse. You were immersed in the world of the devil you didn’t know, and playing his game meant survival. Heart pounding, you step forward to inspect your options. Each one is engraved with thin silver letters all reading the same word: FREEDOM.

You scrunched your face in confusion. What kind of joke was this? You wanted to confront him, tell him your options were a sham; how were you supposed to know which one to choose? But perhaps that was the point...you never had a choice, only the illusion of it. You find yourself drawn to the last box on the right, gazing at the mockery sprawled out in the word FREEDOM. Betraying your fear with trembling fingers, you lift the box’s lid, daring to glance inside. You stare at a piece of silk, its color a stark, ungodly white. You reach inside and pick up the long cloth, the warm softness contrasting the frozen harshness of the world around you.

“Good choice,” he commented softly, “But why do we need to choose in life?”

Before you can blink, you’re sitting at the restaurant table once again across from him. For a moment, you think you see a glimmer of sincerity emerge from his eyes like a flame in a dark chasm, “If dinner is what you want, then I can provide. And I can take you anywhere you’d like to go,” but then he leans in, voice menacingly seductive, “I can especially take you to the places where you don’t want to go. It’s exciting,” he purrs, barely reigning in a sadistic glee, “knowing that there are endless possibilities waiting for you.”

There’s a sudden glitch, a tear in the illusion’s fabric. He erupts, demonically screaming, “I CAN GIVE YOU ANYTHING!”

It temporarily mends, but he’s disoriented, taking deeper breaths, “I’ve been waiting a long time to get some personal time between us.”

His rage slashes into view again, animalistic, “THERE’S NOTHING YOU OR HE CAN DO TO STOP ME!”

“So,” he snaps back into composure, fixing his tie once more, smiling, “now that we’re here together...we can really get to know each other,” he glitched one last time, a raw scream ripping from his throat.

He offers a caring look, just a friend offering what’s best, “You just need to let me in. It’s as simple as that.”

The silken cloth which you had forgotten you were still holding, began to move; taking on its own life. It crept around your arm, almost like an animal nuzzling close to you, showing a sign of friendship, of affection. Its grip was warm, comforting, like a place of safety. You felt every fear melt away, suddenly wanting desperately to feel the silken embrace on your whole body, on your very soul. The table had disappeared, you were enwrapped in a euphoric mist, floating in the dark, now deeply soothing. He was behind you, inching closer with every released ounce of terror until you felt him at your back. You breathe in a contented sigh and lean your head against his chest, all apprehension disintegrated. His hand traced itself down the cloaked arm, and then found its way up to your shoulder; his touch just as cold, yet more like a soothing balm on an open wound than frostbite. Your peace is shattered with a sharp sting in your veins. You gasp wide-eyed at the blistering white viper crushing your arm, sinking its fangs deeper into your skin. You struggle in vain to throw it off, but he holds you still, his bruising grip tightening like the viper’s. You scream into the void, pain overtaking you.

A violent power rips you out of the blackness and searing pain. You stand blinking in the sun, dazed and reeling. He stands before you, the harsh daylight blurring his glitching form.

“You’re never ever going to escape. Not now--”

Suddenly he begins to shake, gritting his teeth and clutching his side. He emits an animalistic roar, a spear of white light slicing open his chest, that penetrating ringing cutting through your mind. You’re then enwrapped in blackness, groping at nothingness, your scream your only defense. The daylight slashes through and wrenches you back to reality. Your heart feels as if it will punch its way out of your chest, adrenalin shoots through your veins, exacerbated by the impossible sight in front of you.

Two Marks, standing on either side. Both of them begging with terrified eyes and rushed voices, “Shoot him! Shoot him now, please!”

A gun, deadly cold and unbearably heavy is in your shaking grip. You frantically look back and forth between them, unable to hold back tears pouring down your face, trying to make the right decision. You close your eyes. You aim.

Time slows to a crawl. The crack of the gunshot...the pained wheezing of one of the Marks...your eyes slowly opening...

Mark runs up to you, hugging you close, assuring you gently, “You made the right call. Come here, it’s ok. It’s ok.”

You barely let him go for a long time, refusing to even release his hand as the two of you slowly made your way towards a little ice cream parlor on the corner. You had apologized over and over again, but he wouldn’t hear it. He let you cry into his chest, slowly stroking your hair to calm you, “It’s ok. We’re here now.”

He was so kind, so gentle and warm. He was Mark, thank God.

You sat down at the outside table and buried your face in your hands while he ordered your ice cream. You took deep breaths, holding back the urge to cry again. When he returns and accidentally bumps into the table, you jump, just holding back a scream. He takes your hands, assuring you once more, “It’s going to be all right. Just relax.”

He smiles and sits down, “We’ll just enjoy some nice, dairy-based treats. And get to know each other; really, personally,” he indicates to the bowl in front of you, “Go ahead.”

You take a long look at him, his smiling eyes and kind demeanor. You return the smile, looking down at your bowl and feeling a kind of childish excitement spring up. You did always love chocolate.

The world goes silent. Your vision turns to hazy gray, tinted red and blue. Your heart drops into the pit of your stomach. You trace your gaze upwards to look into the evil grin of Darkiplier, “Oops...” he offers sardonically, “looks like you made the wrong choice,” his grin stretches into a crazed toothy smile, “But now we’re going to be together...forever.”

Another box, much like the ones he had presented before appeared on the table, this time with the phrase: Try Again? written across the top. Relief washes over you. It doesn’t have to end like this! You can fix everything! You hastily reach for the box to tear off the lid only to have it faze through your hand, your desperate touch never finding it to be real. in your hands. Dark’s cold hand finally grabs yours, squeezing it possessively.

He whispers, and you hear it echo in your mind.

”No more choices.”

[hautekurture]

[self-para] one foot boy

characters → @hautekurtures​

location → nyada campus, new york

timeframe → feb. 23, 2017 morning

summary → kurt looks to refill his tea and goes to heather’s herbarium at the jabir ibn hayyan market. he receives some shocking t instead.

notes → kurt is mean to “heather.” :x and here is the song, if you want to check it out. <3

Morning came but it was gray and damp. Kurt was already moving with his marbled Dr. Martens clunking on the floor. Dressed in an black Moschino cigarettes sweater, and Paul Smith rose-patterned trousers in a fading red to black, Kurt moved into his kitchenette with worry-creased shoulders. On the counter was a square of paper towel. His manicured fingers pressed the side of the towel. Dry.

It had drained the remainder of the water from the tea bag, Kurt peeled back the paper to check. The color was one shade of brown and no matter how good was his eyes, Kurt couldn’t figure out what was what inside. Wrapping it back in the paper towel, Kurt sighed and tucked the square into his Hermès messenger bag, along with his other stuff. Moisturizer, sunscreen, hair comb. Fashion journal and several sketching multi-liner pens. He would take days like this, heading to cafes in Midtown or Chelsea, and draw whatever inspiration he had. 

But ever since he got here, Kurt found himself drawing less. It sucked and there was a guilt whenever he saw the blank white page. Instead of doing something about it though, Kurt closed the cover and turned away. There was too much to do, Kurt thought. It was a nice excuse. 

Jabir Ibn Hayyan Market. How many times had Kurt been here? Too many for his comfort. Shops with their signs beckoned for visitors, students to come shop. However Kurt wasn’t going to have a mall spa day. From asking around, Kurt had figured out where to go for any herbal needs. The door to Heather’s Herbarium rang as Kurt entered. Kurt hated the sound of bells and crinkled his nose, however, that only allowed the spicy bitterness of herbal concoctions to enter his nose.

He clutched his gloved hand to his nose and mouth, trying to block out the smell. There was no one else in, thank god, however that meant the girl at the counter noticed him. 

“How can I help you?” She asked right as Kurt walked up to her while she was talking. With his other hand, he placed the sachet on the counter. 

Kurt reluctantly put his hand down so he could speak. He wasn’t going to make himself look foolish in front of the clerk. “I want more of this, it’s a herbal tea. I’ve had it for years.” Kurt said, choosing not to be specific.  

The girl took the tea bag and carefully poured the contents out into her hand. Kurt watched her as she said, “One minute, let us check this for you. We have some tools in the next room.” She next took off, her flats making dull clinks as it smacked against the wooden floor. 

Kurt was alone in the thin, tall shop and wrinkled his nose again. It smelled like musty vapo-rub. Kurt hated herbs, they were seen always as medicine to a condition he was tragically born with. He tried to close his eyes and remember the tin and the sachets when he first got them.

Kurt was 5, maybe. The Hummels had received two large tins of it, this pungent rooty stuff, from Kurt’s preschool teacher. He had hated it. It tasted weird and made him blank-headed at first but he had grown used to it. The teas helped Kurt cope through the darkest moments of his life, warm in his hands but cool in his mind. With a new life as crazy as this, Kurt needed it. Valentine’s Day, or rather night, flashed in his mind. How upset he got, it was unlike anything before. He didn’t want to repeat how green and hot his cheeks had burned.

A stutter got Kurt’s attention and he glanced over his shoulder, the clerk’s face was pallid but had a hue of mint to it. Kurt tensed as she took a breath.

“I’m sorry, but w-we can’t sell this. We don’t have it here. Actually... You shouldn’t have this, actually.” The girl said. The leftover leaves and bits of dried plants were back on the paper towel. Kurt stared in shock. His lips buzzed with anxiety.

“What do you mean? You have everything here, you are supposed to. I was told--” Kurt’s tone was shrill and the girl put up her hands to explain.

“We have your regular herbs and roots, but whatever this tea is, the ingredients must be from hybridized plants, which are mainly illegal. Sir, I... I don’t know how to tell you this, but your tea contains mood suppressants and... what I can inspect as a power destabilizer. How long have you been drinking this?!” She asked him.

Kurt felt like he had dropped a glass inside his own body.

“For more than a decade,” Kurt answered. His tongue hit each word like a barb. 

The girl’s face lengthened in surprise. Her eyebrows drew up and her lips downward. She stammered, “Aether, then I have no idea how you... Your powers must be so, unbalanced and out of sync-- you’re a Changeling, aren’t you? Your face, it’s green now... With the mood suppressants, too, how did you--”

Kurt didn’t hear the end of it. He snatched up the paper towel with the remainder of the tea dregs and cut off the girl. Glaring at her, he said angrily, “Listen, Heather, that is none of your business. Your business is to tell me whether or not some stupid frigging plant is in stock. Ok? Your job isn’t to ask me about my life. Tell me how I can get these plants and I’ll leave you alone and won’t write a scathing review or get your manager to fire your incompetent ass.”

The clerk’s face flushed green as well and Kurt felt sick looking at her and stepped away, rolling his eyes. Was that supposed to make him feel better, that she had that same complexion as he did? No, it reminded Kurt of the shit he went through because of it. He scanned down to see her name tag--Lila Lily--and didn’t even bother correcting himself. 

Not Heather narrowed her eyes at him. She didn’t like him. Good, Kurt could deal with hate. He had always dealt with hate. “Fae don’t deal with playing around with Mother Nature.” Lila said. 

The quiet implication was there. A witch. Kurt glared at her and turned to leave.

“Y-you shouldn’t go after that, it’s dangerous. In the end, it’ll kill you.” She was warning him.

Kurt hated warnings from others. He knew what he was doing. Coolly, he whipped his head around.

“Honey, I’m an out gay. Me being me is dangerous. No, in the end, I know what will kill me,” Kurt said with a smirk before he slammed the door behind him.