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buckysgrace · 6 months ago

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Fifty Eight

Dancing in the Dark Masterlist

“You’ll never guess what happened.” Kim spoke over the phone on her break that morning, excited to share the good news with someone else. She leaned against the table, glad that the phone was away from the kitchen so no one else had to hear her giggle about it again.

“Hm,” Addi drew out playfully, “I think I might, so I’ll let you share the news.” Kim could practically picture her now, spread out on her bed with the sun shining in. She wondered if it was still snowing there.

“Eddie?” She questioned, feeling like she should’ve known that Susan would’ve shared the news to Wayne. News traveled fast. She wondered how many other people already knew about them. She winced, hoping that Max wouldn’t get any issues because of it.

“Yes,” Addi replied with a laugh, “He’s got a big mouth. I’m so happy for you though, that’s great news.” She said enthusiastically, making Kim glad once again. Thus far no one had given them any issues. She was very happy about that.

“Thank you,” Kim responded as she played with her hair, glancing out towards the way the sun was beating against the pavement. She waved as another couple came inside. They’d had a lot of orders recently for Valentine’s day. She needed to find something for Billy, “I’m so excited. Maybe you could come out this summer and we can go dress shopping.” She suggested.

“I get to be your maid of honor, right?” Addi asked quickly, making Kim smile in response. She was glad someone else was planning it out like she was. She glanced over her shoulder, getting a brief glance of Billy before he disappeared behind the wall once again. She wondered if he was as giddy as she was.

“I don’t see why not,” Kim giggled softly, “I don’t think Max would want that big of a role.” She said honestly. She wanted Max as a bridesmaid for sure, but couldn’t see her wanting to handle the other parts. At least that’s what she thought from what Billy had described to her.

“So who else will you have in the wedding?” Addi asked curiously, making Kim stall for a moment. She honestly had no idea. She’d thought about it a lot, but not very intensely. Mostly she thought about her dress and how handsome Billy would look in his tux.

“I don’t know,” Kim admitted, “Maybe Gina? I don’t have many friends.” She replied as she pressed her lips together. She was still bad at that. Perhaps Billy would be able to find her more friends. He was better at that.

“Oh, please,” Addi hushed her, “You have plenty of time to think about it. Who will Billy have on his side?” Kim thought that question was even harder to answer. She had a pretty good idea, but then again she could be wrong. She had a feeling their wedding would be small. There was nothing wrong with that either.

“Probably Tommy. Russell, maybe?” She suggested as she thought about it, “I think he’d have Steve too. I bet we could talk him into having Eddie up there too if we’re nice enough.” She said with a laugh, trying to imagine all of them at an altar together.

“Can you imagine Eddie in a tux?” Addi replied with a laugh, making her grin in response. It was fairly hard to imagine, but she thought that Eddie would do it for Addi at least.

“Aren’t you two going to prom?” She asked with a smile before she glanced at the time, knowing that she needed to get back to making cupcakes. She looked over again, trying to catch sight of Billy.

“He doesn’t have a tux in mind,” Addi laughed, “I’m glad you finally called to tell me.” She drew out playfully, but it still made Kim feel a little guilty. Even if it was just banter.

“Sorry,” Kim flushed as she played with her hair once again, “I didn’t want to wake you.” She said honestly. Addi snorted at the other end of the line.

“Well, I’m really happy for you two,” She replied softer, making Kim ecstatic all over again, “Congratulations. Call me again soon.” She said, to which Kim agreed with quickly. They said their goodbyes before Kim found herself skipping back towards the kitchen.

“Was that your friend?” Sam asked once she walked back through the doors. She paused by the counter, glancing away from the couple that was waiting as he packaged their order. She played with her hair for a moment before she shoved it back into the net.

“Yeah,” Kim responded gently, “She already knew though. Eddie must’ve heard somehow.” She said with a shrug of her shoulders. It really wasn’t that big of a deal. She was just glad that she got to talk to her for a while. They still wrote, but it wasn’t always the same.

“That’s not too bad,” He replied with a gentle smile, “I’m glad that things worked out.” He finished packing up the box, smiling a little wider as he passed it to the couple and thanked them. She nodded her head in agreement.

“Me too,” She said, pausing for a moment before she leaned against him, “Thank you. Billy told me that you helped him.” She brought up, not at all surprised that Billy had asked Sam first. He really was a gentleman, even if he tried to deny it.

“I just gave him suggestions,” Sam brushed Billy’s claims off, “He did that all on his own. It’s really pretty.” She glanced back down at her hand, staring at the ring that she was unable to take off. She was still too giddy about it, overwhelmed with feelings as she thought about Billy all over again.

“He knows me,” She replied, then felt a little shy as she looked down at the ring, “Thank you. You were never-, judgemental.” She decided on the right word before she spoke it outloud. She really did think she owed Sam a lot. Especially when everyone else had been so against them. He never had.

“You don’t have to thank me either,” He chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, “You deserve to be happy. Both of you. I’m really glad that you found one another.” She nodded as she looked up at him, feeling reassured all over again. Perhaps things really didn’t have to be hard anymore now that everyone knew.

“You’ll walk me down the aisle, won’t you?” She questioned him softly, a little worried that he might decide against it. She wasn’t sure why he would say no, but she thought it was better to ask. Just so she could be sure.

Sam’s eyebrows wrinkled up as he pulled away from her, looking like he wasn’t sure if she was being serious or not. The lines around his eyes crinkled as he smiled

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Gina and Steve brought Jennifer home,” Kim replied cheerily, “We should go see them.” She said as she leaned against the doorway, watching as Billy stacked all of his cigarettes up into a triangle shape. She’d been joining him on a lot of his runs recently and although it got easier each time, her legs and arms still had a numb feeling to them.

“Right now?” He looked at her curiously, a cigarette behind each ear as he faced her. She bit back a giggle, nodding her head as she moved closer to him. She knew he was having a hard time distracting himself, so she figured that visiting their friends wouldn’t be a bad idea.

“What else are we going to do?” She teased him as she brushed her foot against his knee, “It would be nice. Plus, I want to hold the baby.” She said more seriously, still smiling as she thought about how small Jennifer would be in her arms. She was glad that Gina and her had recovered well enough to go home.

“I can give you a baby,” Billy responded with a sly smirk, “Here.” He said dryly as he placed Pearl in her arms, giving her no time to recover from his suggestion. Her cheeks burned as she held onto Pearl, beginning to ponder on how long she’d been in here.

“Hi baby,” Kim cooed as she kissed Pearl’s cheek, “Can we go?” She asked him sweetly, smiling as she held Pearl up to her face. She brushed her fingers under Pearl’s paw, waving towards him playfully.

“Yeah,” He grinned as he sat forward, “I need to brag about proposing to you first.” He replied as he began to stack his cigarettes back inside of the carton. She pressed another kiss to Pearl’s head before she set her aside.

“Is it some kind of bet?” She teased him playfully, watching the way he shook his head and scoffed. She looked back to her ring, still feeling like she was on cloud nine. They were going to have a very happy future together.

“Fuck no,” He laughed as he kissed the top of her head, “I just want him to know I’m better.” He replied with a smirk. He took her head, pulling her forward as he slowly dragged her out of his room.

Rosemary and Sam didn’t say much about them sharing rooms anymore. Billy had practically moved into hers. His jeans had a place with her pants and his shirts were hung up with her dresses. His room was slowly becoming another guest room.

She was thankful that no one made a big deal about them anymore. She felt like they were normal for once, like they had nothing to hide despite their circumstances. It was nice not hiding.

“You’re ridiculous,” She said with a shake of her head, smiling as she followed him to the kitchen, “We were going to visit Steve and Gina. And the baby.” She announced slowly to their parents, looking at the way they were curled up together on the couch.

“Oh good,” Rosemary grinned, “I made that casserole, hold on.” She brushed her hand against Sam’s thigh, giving him a squeeze before she made her way to the kitchen. He adjusted his glasses as he turned his attention to them.

“What time will you two be back?” He asked curiously, still looking like he was unsure about letting them go. She supposed it was fair, they had betrayed their trust a few times.

“I don’t know,” Billy shrugged his shoulders, “What time do you want us back?” He asked, looking a little disgruntled as Pearl raced down the hallway and began to rub against his ankles. Kim had found her a collar with a bell on it, signaling her arrival or departure anytime she moved about.

“Just not too late,” Sam said at last, nodding his head as Rosemary carried the covered casserole out towards them, “You know the usual times.” He replied as his lips grew into a smile. Kim walked towards him, bending over to give him a tight hug before they left.

“We’ll be safe,” She promised, not wanting to give him anymore stress, “And we’ll be back before curfew.” She added, trying to make it seem a little better. Billy nudged her a second later, giving her a disapproving look. She smiled in return.

“I know,” Sam said softly, “Have fun. Give them our love.” He nodded towards both of them, leaving her feeling pretty excited. She liked feeling like her and Billy could be trusted again. Especially after her stupid mistakes.

“Did you talk to them on the phone?” Billy asked once they were inside the car, the casserole snuggled comfortable in the backseats.

“Steve called again,” She replied as she buckled into her seat, “Uh, he sounded a little stressed.” She explained as she thought about the phone call once again. He had sounded more than stressed, very frazzled.

“Yeah?” Billy looked at her curiously, raising his eyebrows before he slid a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. Kim held her fingers together, trying to think of the best way to describe how the phone call had gone.

“I could hear the baby crying too,” She added, “I thought maybe if we went over we could give them a break.” She said honestly. She was sure Gina was still sore, hurting even. She probably needed a lot of rest.

“A crying baby is very romantic.” Billy teased as he set off down the road. She chewed on her bottom lip, moving her hair out of her face as the wind swept against her as he rolled the windows down.

“I’m sorry,” She said sheepishly, “You were stacking your cigarettes up.” She said in defense of herself, enjoying the way his eyes twinkled in amusement.

“I was comparing which brand has the best durability.” He said with a shrug of his shoulders, turning towards her gleefully as the wind whipped around them. She pulled her lips up into a smile as she listened to him.

“Sounds like a fun science project.” She teased him as she turned her attention past him, enjoying the blue from the ocean as it settled over the sandy shore. She really wanted to go swimming with him again. Hopefully it would be warm enough soon.

“Pearl got tired of jumping over boxes,” He mumbled as he fidgeted with the radio until he found something that he was satisfied with, “That was fun.” He added a second later, making Kim smile as she recalled it. Perhaps they could do it again once Pearl was a little bigger.

Billy exited the car first, moving fast so he could pull her door open. She giggled as he took her hands, enjoying the way he squeezed their fingers together before he helped her up. She watched as he crawled into the backseat, unable to keep her eyes from wandering as she took in the curve of his ass.

Kim’s suspicions were confirmed as they walked up the driveway, already able to hear Jennifer crying from the inside. Billy sighed deeply as he held the casserole dish to his chest, looking less than excited about what they were going to do. Kim thought it would still be nice to help.

Steve appeared a few seconds later, looking rather drained as he pulled the door open. His hair was unruly, his cheeks flushed and bags underneath his eyes. He held Jennifer in his arms, bouncing her softly as she continued to cry.

“Hey,” He spoke up, exhaling deeply as he held the door wide open for them, “C’mon in.” His voice was dull, dry as he exposed the messy room. Kim entered slowly with Billy, glancing around at the rather messy house. She was surprised at how fast babies made messes.

“Rosemary made a casserole,” She spoke up first, watching the way Billy’s lip curled up as he continued to watch Steve bounce the baby in his arms. Her cries seemed to only grow louder the more he moved her, “Where’s Gina?”

“Trying to sleep,” Steve sighed as he looked back down at Jennifer, trying to place a pacifier in her mouth, “You can put it in the kitchen.” He replied as he led them in that direction. Kim caught Billy’s eye, wondering if he also noticed that Steve’s pants were on backwards.

“Where’s Tommy?” Billy asked as he slid the dish inside of the fridge. Kim slowly began to place leftover pieces of sandwich wrappers into an empty take out bag. Maybe they’d appreciate it if they cleaned up for them.

“Bastard bought a hotel room,” Steve grumbled, “She’s just colicky.” He said in defense of his daughter. Kim peeked at her, glad that her lungs were at least better. Things could certainly be worse.

“That happens,” Kim nodded along, not having a clue if that really happened or not, “Where’s Gina sleeping?” She asked, feeling like she should visit her first. She wondered if it was hard to move around after giving birth.

“Upstairs trying to sleep,” Steve sighed, “We’ve been doing schedules but it’s not really working.” He shook his head as he switched back to a bottle. Billy leaned against the counter as he pulled out his carton of cigarettes.

“I’m going to see her,” She said softly, “I’ll be right back.” She said as she climbed the stairs, trying to recall which room theirs was. There were more pictures decorated in the hallway, which she thought was a nice touch.

“Gina,” Kim introduced herself as she walked inside, looking around at the semi dark room, “Oh, Gina. What’s wrong?” She asked, hearing Gina’s sniffles before she saw her teary cheeks.

“I feel like an awful mom,” Gina sobbed, “She keeps crying and I don’t know how to make her stop. She won’t latch on to me but she doesn’t like any of the formulas I’ve tried. She seems to want to be held but sometimes she screams worse when we pick her up. I think she hates me.” She spit out all at once, sounding frustrated once again. Kim felt bad as she crawled into the bed next to her, offering her shoulder as a safe place.

“She doesn’t hate you,” Kim reassured her quickly, “She’s just a fussy baby. She can’t talk so we don’t know what she needs. You’re doing your best. Resting is a good idea. You can’t do a lot for her if you’re frustrated.” She said honestly as Gina buried her face into the crook of Kim’s neck.

“I’m the worst.” She whined, grumbling as her sniffles slowly began to die down. Kim moved a little bit, trying to fix the pillows behind Gina’s head so she could get comfortable.

“No,” Kim spoke quickly as she helped Gina get tucked in, “It’s good that you’re asking for help. You don’t want to get frustrated either. Just get some sleep. You’ll feel better after.” She told her with a smile, hoping that Gina would listen to her.

“Can you get me some water?” Gina asked hesitantly, “I asked Steve earlier, but he forgot I think.” She replied slowly, like she was afraid to even bring that up.

“Of course,” Kim replied breezily, “Do you want anything else?” She asked, hoping that Gina would have an easier time once she wasn’t so stressed out. Gina shrugged her shoulders, thinking about it for a moment before she answered.

“Maybe some tylenol,” She said a second later, “Thank you. I really appreciate it.” She added, sighing as she slowly sunk back into the bed. Kim turned on her heel, tiptoeing down the stairs as she quickly retrieved the items for Gina.

When she walked back downstairs for good, Jennifer was still fussing. She wasn’t crying as loud, but she was whining and whimpering. Steve kept cooing, like he was trying to make it better. Billy was sitting fairly far away, looking like he didn’t want to be too close.

“I don’t know what she wants,” Steve huffed out, “I just wish there was a way to know what she needs.” He sounded exhausted, near tears as he looked down at her once again. Kim shifted on her feet, wishing she knew what to tell him. Apparently those baby books didn’t cover everything.

“Do you want me to hold her?” Billy asked, taking her by surprise. He met her eye, shrugging his shoulders as he held his hands out. Steve stared at him for a long moment, like he was trying to decide whether it was a good idea or not.

“Don’t drop her,” Steve warned, “Seriously, she’s fragile.” He said as he slowly walked forward, a guilty expression written on his features.

“No I thought she was a Stretch Armstrong,” Billy sassed back with a roll of his eyes, “Just give me the little goblin.” He held his hands out in a more dramatic manner this time, waiting.

“She’s not a-,” Steve sighed, apparently shaken down as he handed Jennifer to Billy, “I’ll be right back with a new bottle.” He replied, wrinkling his nose up as he shook his arms out. He still looked flushed, like he’d grown too warm while holding her.

“You look cute with a baby,” She teased Billy once Steve was gone, fiddling around loudly in the kitchen, “I think they’re stressed.” She whispered underneath her breath as she brushed her fingers through Jennifer’s thick hair.

“Who wouldn’t be?” Billy snorted as he balanced Jennifer in his arms, “Our baby won’t be demonic like this one.” He said as he met her eyes, sending her a playful wink. She laughed, wondering how he thought he could predict that.

“Mhm,” She drew out, enjoying how soft Jennifer’s hair was against her fingertips, “Maybe we could help them a little bit?” She asked, watching the way he slowly nodded his head.

“Make sure he doesn’t burn the house down,” He said as another loud clang rang from the kitchen. Jennifer stirred, her whines growing louder again, “No wonder you can’t sleep, huh?” Billy asked her, chuckling at the way her lips pouted out.

Kim listened to him, deciding that would be a good idea. She walked hesitantly around the corner, almost afraid of what she would find. She wondered when Steve had slept last, if Jennifer ever slept at all.

“Is everything okay?” Kim asked Steve softly, noticing the frantic way he was testing the milk against his skin, “I mean, you look a little stressed.” She said awkwardly, not enjoying the way he exhaled in irritation.

“Gee, thanks,” Steve replied sarcastically as he looked towards Kim, “It may have to do with the screaming baby.” He winced, shaking his hand off as the milk was clearly too warm. She shook his attitude away, understanding that he was clearly just overwhelmed.

“Right,” She breathed in deeply, “I was just trying to suggest that maybe you should get some rest too. You could take a little break and rest up there for a while.” She said, thinking that Gina might like the company.

“I can’t leave Jennifer here alone while she’s like this,” He grumbled, “I just wish that she would- Do you hear that?” He stopped suddenly, turning pale as if he had seen a ghost. She pressed her limbs close together, concerned with his reaction.

“Hear what?” She asked him seriously, hoping that he wasn’t having some sort of breakdown from lack of sleep and stress. He shook his head, dropping the bottle onto the counter with a loud thud. He turned, paused, and then grabbed the bottle once again.

“Oh God,” Steve pushed around her, panic filling his features as he raced out of the large kitchen, through the dining room and into the living room, “What are you doing?” He demanded, looking at Billy in horror.

“Rocking it- I mean her,” Billy corrected himself quickly, his dark eyebrows pulled together tightly, “Why?” He looked offended, his nose scrunching up as he adjusted Jennifer in his arms. Kim leaned over, looking at the way she was sleeping peacefully.

“She’s not-,” Steve took a step back, nearly dropping the bottle as he held both hands on his hips, “How did you do that?” He asked, mystified as he ran his hands through his hair. The action made his hair stick up in all sorts of directions.

“Well I positioned her here against my arm and my chest,” Billy replied dryly, giving her a soft lift to show how normally he was holding Jennifer, “Not exactly rocket science.” He replied as he turned his attention back towards the TV. He looked rather comfortable, as did she.

“I could kiss you.” Steve exclaimed with a wide grin, his excitement bursting across his features as he held his hands out like it was a miracle. Kim felt a smirk press against her lips as she turned towards Billy.

“I’m getting paid to babysit, not for being a prostitute.” He retorted, shaking his head as he turned his attention back towards the game. Steve still looked bewildered, like he couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“See,” Kim grinned as she stepped towards Billy, “Everything is fine.” She said with a smile as she leaned against the side of the chair. Billy turned his gaze up towards her, smiling smugly as he leaned his head against the side of her arm.

“How did you get her to stop crying?” Steve asked as he moved forward, holding his hands on his hips as he inspected Jennifer over and over. He looked critical, like he was waiting for her to wake up and start sobbing again. She stayed quiet, burrowing herself deeper into Billy’s warm arms.

“I don’t fucking know,” Billy replied as he shrugged his shoulders, “What is this, twenty one questions?” He asked as he moved his head away from Kim’s arm, sounding irritated once again.

“Forty five minutes,” Steve said frantically as he pressed the bottle and the throw up rag into Kim’s hands, “All I need is a forty five minute nap and I’ll be fine.” He held up two fingers, looking like he was debating about saying something else before he muttered underneath his breath and raced upstairs.

“They act like it’s hard,” Billy grumbled, not even rocking Jennifer as she slumbered peacefully in his arms, “You’re not so bad, are you?” He teased her before he brought a can of Coke up to his lips. She moved to the other side of him, joining him on the couch as she got a better look.

“You’re like a baby whisperer.” She said, smiling into his shoulder as she watched Jennifer’s little lips curl into a smile. Apparently she just wanted some Billy snuggles. Kim didn’t blame her.

“All I’m doing is holding her.” Billy responded as he shook his head, looking like it was no big deal. She wiggled up to his other side, taking the opportunity to snuggle with him.

“Yeah, but she’s not crying,” She grinned at him, “Or maybe she just really likes you.” She added, teasing him as she thought about it. She wished she had brought his camera with them. She could’ve gotten some cute pictures of them.

“She is cute,” He smiled as he looked down at Jennifer’s slumbering form, “This is pretty easy.” He said, like he didn’t understand what Gina and Steve had been complaining about. Kim agreed for the time being. She was cute.

“Yeah, until she throws up on you.” She said suddenly, recalling that she had heard about that a lot. She wrinkled her nose at the thought, unable to bear the thought of getting covered in vomit.

“Ew,” Billy grumbled, “You think she does that a lot?” He glanced down at Jennifer, raising his eyebrow like he was waiting to do something. She stayed silent, her little fists tucked up to her chest as she continued to suck on her bottom lip.

“I’m pretty sure Steve’s shirt was covered in it,” She said seriously as she thought about it more, “And babies throw up a lot. I think.” She said, really not knowing. It had been a long time since Max was a baby.

“Okay, that brings you down some cuteness points.” Billy cooed towards her, making Kim sit back in wonder as she watched him. Her stomach fluttered in an odd way at the way he spoke. She was sure she’d never heard him use that tone before.

“You really like kids, don’t you?” She asked, teasing him softly as he turned his attention back towards her. She really could see him being a good teacher suddenly. He shrugged his shoulders, but she could see how much he was enjoying it.

“They’re alright.” He replied, then turned his attention back towards Jennifer who had startled to wiggle around. She stopped a minute later, apparently just wanting a position change.

“Do you want a snack?” Kim asked suddenly as she pulled herself away, “I’m kind of hungry.” She admitted, wishing that they would’ve stopped somewhere before they came.

“Uh, yeah,” He replied as his eyes followed her, “But good luck. I didn’t see anything good in there.” She slowly made her way to the kitchen again, picking up the discarded empty wrappers and throwing them away. She opened the fridge next, glancing at the few cans of Coke and carton of eggs that were inside. The only real ting to eat was Rosemary’s casserole. In other words, it was bare.

“Should we make them food or something?” She asked as she stood up straight again, jumping at how he’d suddenly appeared next to her, “Or order it?” She asked, looking over curiously until she saw the little crib he’d left Jennifer in.

“Or we could make something for us and they can have leftovers.” He snorted as he pulled open cupboards and drawers, confirming that there was nothing anywhere. Except for baby formula and bottles. There were a lot of bottles.

“Maybe they haven’t had time to go grocery shopping,” Kim suggested as she looked around, “Do you know which hotel Tommy is at? Maybe he could get something for them.” She said, feeling bad that their whole house was barren.

“Hold on,” Billy spoke up, rummaging in Steve’s wallet with one hand until he pulled out a large wad of cash, “You wanna shop for them?” He asked mischievously, making her eyes widen at how much he had in his hands.

“You don’t think they’ll wake up and wonder where their baby is?” She asked him curiously, wondering if it would even be safe to do that. She had no idea how to soothe Jennifer if she started crying like that again.

“I don’t think they’re waking up anytime soon.” Billy responded as he stuck the money in his pocket, apparently already taken with the idea. She thought about it for a moment, thinking that it really would help Steve and Gina out.

“Okay,” Kim replied slowly, “Do you know how to work a carseat?” She asked as she walked back into the living room, staring at the alien object. She brushed her foot against it, watching the way it teetered for a moment.

“I guess we’ll figure it out,” He shrugged as he shifted Jennifer back into his arms, “Maybe she’ll like the car ride.” He suggested as he brushed his fingers across her small back. Kim watched her for a moment as another thought popped into her head.

“Should we make sure she’s not like-,” She paused as she tried to find her right words, “Dirty first?” She questioned at last, fearing what would happen if she needed to be changed while at the store. She really wasn’t sure if she’d know what to do.

“Change her?” Billy’s eyes were a little wide as he questioned her, his movements stalling as he turned to look at the slumbering baby. He wrinkled his nose up, apparently not finding her cute anymore.

“When was the last time she went?” She questioned, unsure if there was a written record or not. It seemed odd to ask, but this was also something she wasn’t experienced in.

“Surely they have like-,” Billy paused, “Do babies have a schedule?” He asked next, apparently just as clueless as what she was. Perhaps babysitting wasn’t in their future.

“Better safe than sorry I guess.” She said at last, digging through the rather large diaper bag that had been tossed onto one of the chairs. She pulled free a diaper, then grabbed a thing of wipes.

“So,” Billy paused for a moment, “How do we do this?” He sat back on his knees with her, looking down at Jennifer who was resting on a blanket they had found. They’d gotten as far as unsnapping her little onesie, but her diaper was still attached.

“You just-,” She stalled as she looked down at Jennifer, who was anything but pleased. She blinked at the both of them, clearly unimpressed, “You just change her diaper.” She said at last, thinking that it sounded simple enough.

“How?” He asked once again as she slowly unsnapped both sides of Jennifer’s diaper. She paused, snapping it again before once again unsnapping it. Just so she could remember how it went on.

“Take the dirty one off and put the clean one on.” She replied as she pulled her hands away, hoping that he would be the one to take the dirty one off. She didn’t want to touch it. By the look on his features, he didn’t either.

“You do it if you’re so smart.” He remarked as he shook his head, looking like this was where his baby duties ended. She chewed on her bottom lip.

“I’m just saying,” Kim replied quickly, “Just take it off and I’ll put the clean one on.” She said with a nod of her head, figuring that would be the easiest thing to do. She could attach the clean one while he disposed of the dirty one.

“Do we need to wipe her though?” He asked slowly, “What if it’s something else?” He added, sounding a little horrified as she met his eyes. She raised her eyebrows, sighing as she quickly realized what he meant.

“Oh,” Kim nodded along, “Let’s find some gloves first.” She said finally, standing to search through the bag once again. She finally found a pair for the both of them, strapping up for their own protection.

It wasn’t bad, other than Jennifer clearly didn’t like being handled in such a way. She kept trying to wiggle away, then fussed even more when Kim tried to get her outfit buttoned up once again. She quickly handed her to Billy, deciding that he’d have more luck getting her to calm down once again.

“I feel like we’re babynapping,” Kim said, watching as Billy fumbled with the seat buckle, “You know, like kidnapping but for a baby.” She clarified, watching as Billy finally got the seat strapped in.

“Abducting works too.” He replied as he glanced towards her, grinning like he was amused at her words. She nodded her head in agreement. Abduction was certainly an umbrella term.

“Oh yeah,” Kim drew out, “That certainly does work too. Are we abducting her?” She asked for clarification, fearing what would happen if Steve or Gina called the cops on them. She thought about running in and leaving a note, thinking that it would be safe.

“Do you want to keep her?” Billy asked in amusement as he turned on the car. The music must’ve been a little too loud, because if on cue Jennifer started to cry once again.

“Well,” She stammered for a moment, “I mean no. She’s cute but I don’t want to steal her.” Kim didn’t want to be rude, but she certainly didn’t want a crying baby right now. It would be hard to do a lot of things with her.

“So are we abducting her?” He asked her as he set down the road, driving slowly with the music off. Jennifer’s cries slowly died down, relaxing until she was sleeping once again.

“You’ve got some attitude today,” She observed with a grin, noting how sassy he was, “You alright?” She asked him seriously, hoping that nothing was bothering him. Perhaps it wasn’t the best day to visit. Maybe it would’ve been better to stay at home.

“I think it’s just the cravings,” He mumbled, looking a little apologetic as he turned towards her, “I’m fine though. Sorry.” He said as he reached over and gripped her thigh. He gave her a reassuring squeeze, looking serious as she rested her hand over his.

“I was just teasing you,” She said with a smile, “How much money did you grab?” She asked him seriously, wondering if they should make a list of what they needed. It would be hard, she really didn’t know what Steve or Gina liked.

“All of it.” Billy answered honestly, keeping his fingers across her knee. He slowly brushed his fingers across her skin, sending goosebumps spreading through her body.

“That’s probably his paycheck.” She told him, wondering how much they needed to set aside for their other bills. She was glad she didn’t have to worry about that yet.

“He shouldn’t have left it out,” He said with a shrug, “Plus they can’t live off of breast milk.” He replied as he wrinkled his nose up, making her laugh in agreement. That didn’t sound like the best thing to survive off of.

“That sounds uncomfortable,” She said honestly as she covered her hands over her chest, “Really uncomfortable.” She admitted, a little horrified at the thought. She wondered how Gina did it, how anyone did it.

“I heard your tits get even bigger when you’re pregnant.” He replied slyly, smirking as he turned his attention towards her. She felt her body suddenly warm at the way his eyes shifted down towards her chest.

“You’re funny,” She replied with a flush, “But do they really?” She asked him seriously, not knowing that fact either. She looked down at her chest in wonder, pondering if they could get any bigger.

“That’s what Steve said.” Billy responded as he pulled into the parking lot. Kim didn’t say it, but she thought it was fairly clear that Gina already had large boobs whereas Kim’s had always been small. She shrugged off the thought as she got herself unbuckled.

“I can get her.” She replied as she crawled inside the back of the car. She fumbled with the seatbelt for a minute, trying to get it unlatched for what felt like the longest time. Jennifer stirred a little bit, moving her little fists once again until she calmed back down.

“Good,” He said from behind her, “I like the view.” She turned quickly, snapping her head in his direction as she confirmed that he really was staring at her backside. She shook her head, hiding her grin as she slowly pulled the seatbelt free.

“Seriously?”

“Mhm,” He replied with a cheesy smile, “I really do.” She jolted forward as his hand connected with her cheek, making her gasp as she swatted blindly behind her. He laughed as she slowly began to move the car seat, then froze as Jennifer remained stuck in her spot. Something else must be attached.

“How do you pull it out?” She asked in confusion, worried that she might shake Jennifer too hard. Billy raised his eyebrow before he moved in next to her.

“Uh,” Billy leaned over, squeezing in next to her to look, “I unclipped that thing and pulled it out.” He directed her, his body warm as he leaned against her. She resisted the urge to curl up next to him.

“Like this?” She asked in confusion, her hands not quite getting it the first time. She wondered why car seats were so difficult.

“Untwist it,” He replied gently as he placed her hand over his to do it, “There. Like that?” He directed her, making her hands twitch from the electricity that raced up her arms. She breathed in deeply, pulling her lips into a secret smile.

“Is she heavy?” She asked as she slowly began to move her this time. Billy gave her waist a reassuring squeeze, then kissed her cheek. She giggled softly, enjoying his sweet lips before she began to move Jennifer again.

“Not really,” He stood back, watching as she gently pulled the carrier free, “Do you think she is?” He asked as she straightened out, balancing the baby carrier in both of her hands. She moved gently, trying not to bump Jennifer around too much.

“Um,” She paused, “Maybe after a while.” She said seriously, seeing how the carriers could get heavy. She peeked down at the baby, confirming that she was once again fast asleep.

“We’ll get a cart anyways,” He said as he gripped her waist, then walked forward, “Let’s go.” He directed as he pulled them forward. He took Jennifer from her, giving her arms a little break as he situated the car seat into the cart.

“What should we get them?” She asked, looking down as Jennifer slowly fluttered her eyes open. She stared up at them for a moment, her brown eyes filled with judgment before she shut them again, “I mean, I don’t know what they like.” She told him, looking at the way he thought about it for a moment.

“I guess just stuff we like,” He said with a shrug of his shoulders, “And then we can go from there.” He said, smiling as he gave her the cart. She pushed it along, following him down the different aisles as she did her best to stay focused.

Billy handled most of the vegetable items while she settled on adding little items such as sugar and flour. As well as the occasional sweet. She got some frozen foods as well, thinking back to what Gina and Steve had before.

“Wow that?” Kim asked as she stared at the price, “The great value is so much cheaper and basically the same.” She pointed out, eyes a little wide as Billy put the most expensive hamburger into the cart.

“I doubt either of them have ever had great value items,” He replied with a knowing smile, “Plus, it’s Steve’s money.” He shrugged his shoulders, looking like he wasn’t too concerned about cost. She thought about it for a moment, supposing that he was right. She wondered if either of them had ever grocery shopped before either.

“Do you think our payment could be a candy bar?” She asked as she leaned against him, smiling as he fully engulfed her. She breathed in his strong cologne as she rested her cheek against his. He chuckled, about to respond when someone approached.

“Is this your baby?” The woman looked at them, cooing down at the baby carrier, “She’s so sweet.” Kim stammered for a moment, flushing as she tried to get her tongue to work. She suddenly realized that they probably did look like Jennifer’s parents.

“A bit whiny like her mama, but she’s sweet.” Billy teased, sending Kim a sly wink before she could protest that Jennifer wasn’t theirs. She pressed her lips tightly together, trying to hide the bubbles that were boiling inside of her stomach. She was close to giggling, breaking down at the part they were playing.

“How sweet,” The lady nodded along as she looked back down at Jennifer, “Congratulations to you both. I hope you have many more.” She said, taking Kim by surprise as she leaned forward and placed her palm across her belly. She jolted back, not expecting to be touched in such a way.

“That was fun,” Billy commented, laughing once the woman was out of sight, “Too bad our baby is a stinky cat.” He said as he placed a chaste kiss against her cheek. She laughed, knowing that Pearl was as much his kitty as she was Kim’s.

“She is not stinky.” She said in defense of her cat, then turned and walked down the next aisle.

//////////////////////////////////

“Which one do you like better?” He asked as he brought another taco up to her mouth, barely leaving her time to swallow the bite in her mouth before she took another. She licked the excess grease from her lips, thinking as the flavors melted in her mouth.

“I think the chicken,” She said truthfully, chewing the bite that he’d just offered her, “But the meat isn’t bad in this one either.” She said as she watched him take another bite. They’d stopped for tacos after their shopping, then taken turns feeding each other since then.

They had stocked the fridge but then went ahead and decided to make the meals as they were sure neither Gina or Steve would be able to make it. They cleaned at the same time, listening to popular songs from the radio as Jennifer slept in the makeshift crib. They’d successfully fed her a bottle as well as done another diaper change since they’d been back.

“What should we make next?” He asked as he leaned over her, his long hair pulled back out of his face as he looked down at the remaining items curiously. They’d already made different pastas, set up various soups and steps on how to make protein and vegetables.

“Maybe something easy?” She suggested before she took another bite from the taco, “Maybe like chicken salad. Or tuna. Or egg salad.” She teased him, liking the way he wrinkled his nose up in disgust. She supposed it wasn’t a bad idea, considering the surplus of eggs.

“Yeah, I'll let you do that,” He said gently as he rested his chin on the crook of her neck, “You smell nice.” He mumbled as he squeezed her tightly, then brushed his nose against the side of her cheek. She giggled at the feeling of his cold nose.

“Like what?” She asked him curiously, blinking slowly at the fond look that filled his eyes. It made her heart hammer, her veins spark as she realized just how much he cared for her. It was sweet.

“Kind of like cherries,” He said at last after he had thought about it for a moment, “Sweet.” He replied as he leaned forward, letting his lips brush against hers slowly.

It didn’t last long.

Jennifer’s cries paused them, making Billy groan as he dropped his head. He sighed deeply, making Kim grin as he slowly dragged his feet towards the living room. She took the time to put the finished dishes away, hoping that Steve and Gina would appreciate a clean kitchen.

Billy entered, already having Jennifer calmed down as he took another drink from his water. He sat down in one of the high chairs, mumblings something about Jennifer being far too needy.

“Can I try and hold her?” Kim asked, looking down at the judgemental baby unsure. She didn’t want to disturb Jennifer, but she really did want to snuggle with her. She hadn’t really gotten a chance thus far.

“Yeah,” Billy responded gently, moving his arm just a smidge so she could pick Jennifer up, “She’s warm.” He commented, making her nod in agreement as she held her close to her chest. Jennifer stared, her eyes big and brown as another displeased look settled over her features.

“Hi, cutie pie,” Kim grinned as she sat down next to Billy, holding the little bundle in her arms, “Oh, she really is cute.” She commented as she brushed her finger across Jennifer’s cheek. She just kept staring, like she was trying to figure out if she liked Kim or not.

“She’s not easily impressed,” Billy commented as he looked down at her with Kim, “We like Kim. She’s nice.” He replied as he slowly dragged his finger from Jennifer’s temple down to her nose. Her eyes fluttered, thick eyelashes closing and then opening as a small smile formed on her lips.

“She’s cute,” Kim said with a soft laugh, grinning as Jennifer stretched out once again, “How did you do that?” She asked him curiously, watching the way he slowly raised his eyes to meet her. He pressed his lips into a soft grin.

“My mom used to do that when I wouldn’t nap,” He said as he leaned back into his chair, “Or if I had a nightmare. I don’t know. It just always felt nice.” He replied slowly, leaving her feeling soft as she thought about little Billy and Rosemary.

“When did you two get here?” Tommy’s voice startled both of them, making Kim cradle Jennifer closer at the way she began to fuss once again. She bounced her softly, the same way she’d seen Steve do earlier as she slowly began to calm down.

“Have you been sleeping this whole time?” Billy asked him, his dark eyebrows wrinkled together as he stared at him in disbelief. Tommy’s right side of his face was all red, and his eyebrow was sticking up in an odd way. His hair was fairly unruly too.

“Uh,” He glanced at the time, “Yes.” He said as he wiped at his mouth, like he was afraid he was drooling. He moved his palms over the front of his crotch, like he was trying to hide the fact that he was only in briefs. Kim awkwardly turned away.

“Didn’t you get a hotel room?” She asked softly, but kept her attention on Jennifer’s big eyes as she looked around the ceiling curiously. She listened as Tommy shuffled about, cursing as he slipped on a pair of pants.

“I did,” He said as he tugged a tank top over his head, “But I thought I’d come back and help. I felt bad, you know? I figured she was sleeping.” He explained himself, glancing at the way Kim had Jennifer wrapped up in her arms.

“She is now,” Billy commented as he leaned back against the counter lazily, “She wasn’t earlier.” He said in disdain, turning to Jennifer with his nose curled up. Kim suddenly understood why they got along so well.

The sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs made their conversation stall, all of them turning their attention to the stumbling and cursing as it rang through the room.

“Good God,” Steve stumbled into the dining room, his hair sticking up in every direction and half of his face red. Kim was sure that he had drool stains on his face as well. She felt her face burn, trying to ignore his hairy chest and how he was only in a pair of tight briefs. She wondered if all men only slept in the undies, “How long was I out?” He asked, sounding as if he had been sleeping for years.

“You should shower,” Billy answered instead, “You reek.” He held his nose up, speaking bluntly. Kim looked towards Billy and shook his head, but couldn’t deny that it looked like Steve did have a fair amount of baby vomit littered on his skin.

“Is she okay?” Steve asked in panic, ignoring Billy’s comment as he stepped forward. He looked down at Jennifer, panic filling his eyes like he couldn’t believe that she had been this calm for so long.

“She’s fine right now,” Kim grinned as she watched the way Jennifer’s big brown eyes searched the room, “We put a pot roast on for whenever you two are ready.” She said, enjoying the way Jennifer wiggled her way closer to Kim.

“Two?” Tommy spoke up, looking offended as he furrowed his eyebrows together. Kim felt a little sheepish suddenly, feeling like her and Billy had forgotten that Tommy lived there too.

“Sorry,” She said with a smile, “Three.” She clarified with a nod of her head. Tommy held his hands up, sighing as he reached for a cigarette. Steve quickly snatched it, shaking his head before he moved the carton away to Tommy’s annoyance.

“I’ll pay both of you to live here if you just watch her all the time.” He said seriously, holding his palms together like he was begging. Billy snorted.

“Do I look like a nanny?” He asked seriously, turning to Kim to give her an irritated look. Like he couldn’t believe that Steve had suggested such a thing.

“I’m going to shower,” Steve replied as he gave Jennifer two quick kisses on her forehead, “Then I’ll be right back.” He said frantically, like he was worried that they might all disappear and leave him with the baby before he was ready.

“Take your time,” Billy replied, “She’s not going anywhere.” He replied dryly, making a face at Jennifer that she seemed to return. Kim shook her head, thinking about how good of a daddy he’d be one day.

“Jesus,” Tommy paused for a moment before he placed his freckled hand over Kim’s, his jaw dropping in a stunned silence, “Holy fuck. You proposed?” His tone was full of surprise as he looked at the ring, glancing at the both of them in surprise.

“I did.” Billy said slowly, pulling his lips into a smile as he watched Kim. She felt her lips curl into a grin again as she met his gleeful expression. She brushed her foot against his.

“You didn’t tell me?” Tommy looked at Billy horrified, like it was something he should’ve run by him first. It made her laugh.

“Spur of the moment type of thing,” Billy admitted softly, “I’m telling you now.” He said as he shrugged his shoulders, like that explanation should be good enough.

“Bastard,” Tommy responded with a grin from ear to ear, “That’s fantastic. I’m happy for both of you.” He said as he clapped Billy roughly on the shoulder, making Billy wince as he did so. He brushed Tommy aside quickly.

“Thank you,” Kim said gently, “It was very romantic.” She said honestly, feeling like it couldn’t be anymore perfect. She thought it would be very cute to tell their kids one day too.

“Oh I bet,” He said with a sly smirk, “Our Billy is such a sweetheart. Did he ever tell you how he got Patti-,” He started, only to go silent at the way Billy lurched forward.

“Ah, ah,” Billy quickly cut him off, “Don’t.” He shook his head, giving Tommy a warning look that the other boy quickly understood. Tommy mumbled something as he rubbed at his shoulder, like he was pretending he hadn’t said anything at all.

“What?” She asked quickly as she looked between them, “What happened? What did he do?” She questioned quickly, feeling like she desperately needed the answer to it. Billy exhaled roughly, his cheeks slightly flushed as he shook his head.

“Did you enjoy your time with Uncle Billy and Aunt Kim?” Steve’s voice was the perfect distraction for Billy as they turned their attention to Steve. He was freshly showered, in clean clothes as he walked towards them. He smiled down at Jennifer, giving Kim a soft look before he lifted Jennifer up.

She was flattered that Steve would refer to her and Billy in such a way. She figured that she wouldn’t really get to ever use the aunt card unless Max changed her mind and decided to have children one day. Which she was adamant on not doing.

“Oh,” Tommy sat up a little straighter, “He gets the uncle card but I just get called Tommy.” He sassed back as he looked at Steve in irritation.

“Yeah because you bought a fucking hotel room,” Steve responded dryly as he bounced Jennifer, “You’re so happy now. Did you have fun?” He cooed in response, bringing his finger up towards Jennifer’s pouty lip.

“Did you sleep alright?” Kim asked curiously, hoping that they at least got some rest, “Is Gina alright? I should’ve gone to check on her again.” She said honestly, feeling a little bad that she didn’t peek in at her again.

“Uh, I don’t know,” Steve admitted, having the decency to look a little sheepish, “She doesn’t like that I snore so I slept in the guest room.” He mentioned offhandedly as he continued to rock Jennifer back and forth.

“I’ll go check on her,” She said as she slid out of her stool, feeling like Gina should get some attention on her too, “I’ll be right back.” She said as she briefly kissed Billy’s cheek, giving him a reassuring smile before she climbed the stairs once again.

She tried not to linger on what Gina and Steve had both mentioned. It sounded like they were just too busy, too stressed with the new baby to really take care of one another. She wondered if she should have Billy mention something about taking care of Gina too.

“Hi,” She said softly as she entered the room, pausing as Gina was already trying to sit up, “Do you want the light on?” She asked softly, flipping it on once Gina gave her approval.

“You’re still here?” Gina asked in surprise, raising her eyebrows like she didn’t expect it. She wrinkled her eyebrows together, exhaling as she rubbed her hand tenderly over her stomach.

“We did some grocery shopping,” Kim replied as she sat down next to her, “How are you feeling?” She asked curiously, watching as Gina sat up a little straighter. She nodded her head as she pushed her hair from her face.

“A lot better,” She told Kim, “You didn’t have to do all of that.” She responded with a tired look in her eyes, her bags a little heavy as Kim gently brushed her hand against her shoulders. She felt bad. She hoped that her pregnancy wouldn’t be as bad.

“We wanted to,” Kim said honestly, “It was kind of like playing house.” She admitted gleefully, grinning as she thought about the events of the day. It was a lot of fun. At least for the time being.

“Thank you,” Gina mumbled into Kim’s chest as she hugged her tightly, “I feel so silly.” She groaned, sounding irritated before she exhaled quickly. Kim didn’t think that she was silly at all.

“You are silly,” Kim replied as she tapped the top of Gina’s frizzy hair, “Apparently Billy has the magic touch.” She said honestly, still not quite sure how Billy had managed to make her calm down for so long. Perhaps it was the sleeping trick that he did.

“Well lucky you,” Gina shook her head as she pulled away, “Steve’s former nanny said he was a colicky baby.” She said at last, shaking her head like she couldn’t believe what she’d gotten herself into.

“See,” Kim grinned wildly, “It’s not your fault. It’s Steve’s.” She said as she brushed her shoulder against Gina’s, enjoying the way Gina’s stressful features relaxed.

She helped Gina get dressed, not realizing how weak someone could be after giving birth. Then again, Gina’s insides had been ripped out as Billy had so lovingly reminded her. It was a whole different scenario and the more Gina talked about her terrible experience, the more that Kim felt queasy at the idea of giving birth.

She held an arm out for Gina as they walked down the stairs, unsure of how she managed to walk up them from how long it took to descend. She noticed the hardened look in Gina’s eyes when they were greeted with laughter, the three men chuckling over something that Jennifer had done.

“Look,” Kim introduced sweetly as she took hold of Gina’s hand, “She’s all rested. Did you guys want to eat yet?” She asked, watching as Billy walked towards them. He poked Gina’s forehead softly, making her snort before he wrapped Kim up into a big hug. She grinned as she held onto him.

“Great,” Steve mumbled, watching the way Jennifer stared at Billy with wide eyes, “She’s gonna think he’s her daddy.” He pointed out, apparently not hearing what Kim had said at all. Gina just shrugged her shoulders as she stared at him, like she was waiting for him to say something else.

“I could eat.” She said at last, her eyes stony as Steve continued to give his attention to Jennifer. Kim felt something shift in the air, something that she was fairly certain Steve didn’t notice by the way he continued to play with Jennifer’s little hands. Something was off.

“C’mon,” Billy replied as he wrapped his arm around Kim’s shoulders, continuing to pull her close to him, “We can get it for you.” He reassured softly, giving her a knowing look as he guided them towards the kitchen. She was glad suddenly that they didn’t have to worry about a baby on top of their other issues. She wasn’t sure how they would’ve made it work.

For now, things were fine. She was more than happy with that.

#Dancing in the Dark #Billy Hargrove #Billy Hargrove x oc #Billy Hargrove x fem!oc #Billy Hargrove x original character #Billy Hargrove x fem!original character #Stepcest #tw stepcest #tw pseudocest #billy hargrove stepcest #Billy Hargrove smut

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moviemunchies · 1 year ago

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How do we make the Hunger Games more intense? Welp, we make our protagonist live through it AGAIN and also there’s an active rebellion going on!

Hooray for teen dystopian fiction!

After winning the 74th Hunger Games together (an unprecedented victory; usually there can be only one winner), Katniss and Peeta have to go on a victory tour of the Districts. Because the reason they won is because they played up the star-crossed lovers angle, they need to keep pretending to be madly in love for the Capitol’s media. This puts considerable strain on their relationship with each other, but also with other people–Katniss’s hunting friend Gale reveals his romantic feelings for Katniss, for instance. Katniss is also suffering PTSD from the Hunger Games themselves, which makes everyday life incredibly difficult.

And also! Resistance to the Capitol is growing, and they want to use Katniss as a symbol! After all, she stuck it to the Man during the Hunger Games, right? But that also means people are willing to risk their lives in front of her during the victory tour.

But it gets worse! Because President Snow, wanting to punish Katniss for stirring up trouble, decides that for the 75th Hunger Games, they’re going to pit past winners against each other! Katniss is the only living female victor from District 12, so she has to compete again! But there’s something going on with the other competitors that she doesn’t quite understand…

This installment feels very much like it took a lot of what was key in the first film and amped it up to eleven. Which makes sense–this is a good idea for a sequel! The Games themselves are not as large a part of the actual runtime, which I also think works. There’s a lot more going on than the Games themselves–that’s just a screen for the brutal regime of the Capitol, a gladiator show that they use to entertain and beat down the masses.

But they’re also inescapable? The Hunger Games cannot be forgotten. Not just because Katniss has PTSD, but also because they are a huge part of the system! It is a screen, but it’s a horrible, damning screen that shows how messed up everything is. It permeates every part of Katniss’s life, even though she wants to get away from them. Even when they aren’t literally forcing her to participate in the Games again, she has to keep thinking back to her time in the Games because both the Capitol and the rebellion used her time there as a symbol for something.

When the Games aren’t there, they’re there. It’s an interesting dynamic.

Now I don’t think that Katniss’s relationships with Peeta and Gale are as fleshed out as they are in the books. I’m not sure how I feel about that–on the one hand, it’s a shame, because fully-rounded characters are always nice, and we haven’t had enough time with Gale to really get the full range of how he feels about Katniss, and how she feels back, and how this relates to the whole thing with Peeta. Liam Hemsworth does quite well with what he’s given, though.

On the other hand, the fact is that the love triangle shenanigans were one of my least favorite parts of the books, so I am not exactly crying about its absence here.

Because of the way this story’s structured and done, not only are new characters introduced, but you have reason to care about most of them. The problem with the original is that you know almost all of the other competitors are going to be killed. This one has you realize there’s something weird going on right away. You’re also fully introduced to a couple of political figures who will undoubtedly be important and complex when we see how it all plays out.

[I suppose President Snow IS in the last one, but we get much more of him here in direct interactions with Katniss.]

If you enjoy the first film, this one should scratch your itch for more. It’s not directly about the Games as much as the first one was, because now Katniss is coming to terms with how the Capitol works and her role in it. The rebellion takes center stage by the end of this installment, indicating that the conclusion is going to be more about that than the Hunger Games, and I look forward to that.

[I think turning the third book into two movies would be a good opportunity to expand on the rebellion and how it works, and its history, as I felt that the book didn’t do as good a job on that. I strongly suspect that it does not do that though, and it’s just following the trend set by Harry Potter of dividing the final installment into two parts.]

#Movie Munchies #The Hunger Games #Catching Fire #reviews #dystopia

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wndybyrd · 2 years ago

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heartlcssboy:

Peter turned his hands over in front of him, flexing his fingers in casual consideration until she stepped closer to pinch at his cheeks. Her proximity melted away all thoughts inside his head except for ‘Wendy’. He wrinkled his nose in a disgruntled show at her antics which was completely undermined by his grin. The truth of the matter was that Peter had never been affected by the weather the way others were. He didn’t rightfully know why and he never gave it any thought unless someone pointed it out. It seemed to Peter that everyone else was making a big fuss out of nothing at all, but he was hardly going to say so to Wendy. Besides, rosy cheeks suited her nicely.

Peter agreed with a chuckle, “Yes, that must be it — but don’t worry, my lady,” He bowed deeply to her, his wicked grin growing ever wider. How he had missed this little game of theirs. “Winter won’t last much longer. It never does here, not like in the Other Place.”

All her talk of winter and secrets had his mood darkening. This was becoming dangerous territory and Peter didn’t want to discuss those trickier, hidden things that had slithered to the forefront of his mind. Not with her. Not yet. Not ever. However, it only lasted for a beat before he stubbornly willed them away, his grin firmly back in place. “It wasn’t meant to be a secret,” His words came out sounding playfully contrite, “It’s only a bit of snow.”

“Who says I’m keeping any at all?” It was a silly thing to say — he was keeping secrets, plenty of them that she could never know. It didn’t seem fair to have to reveal one of them over a bit of icy weather, but the prospect of earning one of her secrets in return was too tempting to turn down…

“Alright! I owe you one secret, good and true.” He conceded, folding his arms over his chest and tilting his head in thought. “Hmm….I know! It’s a place. A very special place that I’ve never shown anybody.” A truth, although Tinker Bell did know about it, but she’d found it on her own. True to his word, he hadn’t been the one to show her. “It’s an underground cave and I’ll take you there, if you tell me one of your secrets first.”

the little lady did a spin for him, twirling her skirt as he oh-so respectfully dipped into a jovial bow. he was always so quick to play in her games, seamlessly slipping into the roles she cast for him without hesitation. still, no matter what part he played, she’d always still see him behind the mask : that mischievous glint in his eyes or cattish smirk tugging at his lips always melted through. at times, it felt like he could read her mind, so it was nice to think she, too, could see through him ( even if it was only a little & only sometimes ).

“ a bit of snow is still snow. " she corrected, kicking at the white ground. the girl had no real issue with the cold. london, after all, was much less forgiving in its winter seasons than neverland’s thus far. “ you’re right, though, as usual. besides, snow is fun ! it’s a wonder the others aren’t all building snow-people or having snowball fights. in london, john, michael, & i would always go out sledding after the first snowfall each year. “ before taking peter’s hand three night’s ago, she’d decided it would be no good to dwell on them for it only made her miss the boys. was it wrong for her to leave them in the city when neverland had been their shared adventure, the three of them together. wendy wiped the frown forming on her face, turning her head away until it had been replaced with that pearly grin. peter hadn’t brought her to the island to be sad, it wouldn’t be fair to him.

pleased with his easy surrender, her honeyed tresses bounced down her back as she clapped her hands together gleefully. “ you made it too easy, i hardly even begged. “ she chirped. “ who tamed you into such an agreeable gentleman while i’ve been away. surely not those wild boys of yours . . . unless it was one of those girls. i’ll have to give them a ‘thank you’. “ peter had collected an odd assortment of new playmates over the years. once, she’d once wondered if there was any rhyme-or-reason to his choice in companions. just that once. wendy didn’t like to think that she could have been plucked at random. he’d told her she was special & she chose to believe it was true. had to believe it was true.

crossing her arms, she contemplated the offer. of course, the tricky boy had found a way to turn it in his favor. “ that does sound like a good secret. very well ! i’ll tell you mine. “ she paused dramatically, letting the air of anticipation settle. “ at boarding school, the teachers were awfully dull & the other girls, as it’s a school for only girls, were no fun at all. i’d often sneak into the woods behind it & be a wild, terrible thing. i’d shout & run & climb trees. there was even an old greenhouse, which i made to be my hideout. some nights i’d sleep there. nobody knew of it but me, it was all mine. “ a lie. one person had known. wendy mindlessly fiddled with the wire ring on her finger before tucking her hands behind her back. “ i almost ran away to be the princess of my forest forever. but monsters lived deep within it. ghosts that haunted me, awful beasts covered in fur ‘n’ fangs. i bravely fought them off as best i could with my wit & whiles ! sadly, couldn’t fight them all alone. there’s no good in being alone. “ some bits were a twinge exaggerated as the secret had slowly unraveled into one of her stories. still, the darling hoped that those embellishments would please him more. “ now then, a deal is a deal. let’s see how grand this secret cave of yours is . . . “

#*DIALOGUE : thread 001.#*PETER : promise to not forget me.

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genshin-impacted · 4 years ago

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lost & found // Diluc x Reader (2/3)

Word Count: ~5.0k

Notes: GN!Reader, Seelie!Reader, Diluc/Reader, includes more Mondstadt people interaction such as Klee, Albedo, and Kaeya, see why I had to split it into 3 parts now

Summary: Despite being a seelie, you and Diluc are inseparable. You aren't sure what you are or why you are here, but you know for certain you want to be wherever Diluc is through every adventure and misadventure. (And throughout it all, you get closer and closer to him.)

Alternatively: The two of you lose and find each other over and over again.

[Part 1] [Part 3]

You are satisfied with your life as a seelie, being Diluc’s partner in vigilante justice as the Darknight Hero (though when he goes out as the Darknight Hero, you’re usually hiding underneath his coat, all cozied up) and being able to spend your days by his side. Most days you are content without the answers to the questions of your origins or why you are different because Diluc accepts you for what you are regardless, as his radar for trouble and as his trusted companion.

It is only on the days where Diluc does not speak to you, burdened by the emotions of his past, withdrawing into himself at the familiarity of solitude, that you wish you are not what you are. There is very little you can offer in terms of comfort when compared to the warm arms and reassuring kisses of another person, but you make do with what you have.

You nuzzle into the crook of his neck in a semblance of a hug, and, though it takes a few tries to have Diluc understand what you were doing, your light touches to his forehead are the kisses you bestow upon him whenever his spirits are low.

“...Thank you,” he says to you when you lightly brush onto his temple, smiling when you twirl in the air, happy to have him receive your affections with full translation. He chuckles. “Would you like me to do the same for you?”

The squeaks of surprised embarrassment that follows make him laugh, and you imagine if you could speak, you wouldn’t be able to say anything of coherence with how equally flustered and pleased you feel. You don’t want to conflate any of his gestures, but you think that Diluc’s ability to tease you is a testament to how close you have gotten, even though his remarks make you feel giddy.

(If anyone else were in the vicinity they would think to themselves how rare that they see Master Diluc laughing so easily, though this is a thought that would not have crossed your mind considering this is a Diluc you have always seen. He is more youthful, less burdened, when he is near you. Is it because you are a seelie or is it because he is not bound by expectations when you have only known him for who he is?)

His ability to understand you and his unwavering trust in you despite your inability to do many things is something that you cherish. As such, you find ways to help Diluc wherever you can: temporarily swallowing small items to bring to him, being a literal light in the dark, and caring for his well-being wherever you can. The next time Kaeya drops by the tavern, stating something about treasure hoarders, a big expedition, and something about Dragonspine, he drops off a young girl about eight years old who introduces herself as Klee, and you find yourself in a new position as a babysitter.

And you are happy to glow, squeak, and fly in different shapes to make Klee laugh. You would be lying to yourself if her laughter didn’t make you happy, but it’s in addition to the fact that Diluc can finally rely on you. The grateful glances he keeps giving you over the shoulder when he caters to the tavern guests is invigorating. And if the tavern weren’t so well-lit, Klee would be able to see how you glow brighter in response to your emotions.

As perfect as Diluc may be (no, you are not biased), you find that you are surprisingly better at handling Klee. It’s not as though Diluc is completely helpless-- he responds to Klee’s questions just fine, speaking to her more as though she were an adult than a kid. You think Klee likes it for how she eagerly nods despite not understanding what Diluc is saying. It's just, for once, you may have an advantage because you are a seelie, and Klee absolutely adores you simply for existing. It’s a lot easier to entertain and play with her as a glowing ball of light than as a tavern-keeper, but you consider this a win anyways because you can finally help Diluc in a way that matters, considering the look of relief he shoots you when you’re able to distract her.

Your role as a babysitter goes well… until it doesn’t.

"It was nice playing with you, little seelie!" Klee chimes cheerfully. You coo at her, right up till the point she says, "Let's play another time, okay?"

Where are you going? You squeak, flying in front of Klee as she packs up her things. You nervously look at Diluc, hoping he can see you with how you flash your light like a siren, but his back is turned.

Klee only giggles. "Do you want to come with me too? Let's go!" She says, bounding out the door with terrifying timing when everyone's too distracted to stop her. You watch with growing horror as she runs with arms outstretched into the streets of Mondstadt, and you only have a split second to decide to follow after her before losing her completely. (In retrospect, perhaps it would have been better to tell Diluc, considering how little you could do as a seelie, but you forget that at times, especially in moments like these.)

You follow Klee, glancing around nervously for any roaming hilichurl or abyss mage. Miraculously, the two of you don't run into any enemies, though you did urge her to go around the path when you spot a few of them walking toward you. This is out of my pay grade, you think warily, and if you had a heart still, it would be beating rapidly with the self-contained panic every time you narrowly miss a confrontation with an unsavory crowd.

When Klee leads you into Dragonspine, which you now know to be a snowy terrain whose chill is cold enough to make you shiver, you want to cry. Where are you going? You want to ask, Why are we here? You watch as Klee picks a random direction to go in, and you can only follow her, twirling around sources of heat at every opportunity so that she knows where she can stay warm.

Having Diluc here would be nice, you think, as you float next to the orange seelie that radiates warmth much like a campfire. The fires Diluc would light easily if he were here, the warmth he would exude for how hot pyro users run... You think warily that you're going to make him worry again, having disappeared with Klee, but for some reason, you feel reassured that he'll find you again eventually.

It is many minutes traveling in Dragonspine when Klee puts a finger to her lip and asks you, "Do you think you can find my big brother?"

Here you are, following Klee this entire time, only to find out you are both lost. Next time, you think to yourself, as Klee describes her big brother Albedo and you quietly listen, no matter how Diluc looks at you, you don't think you can ever accept being a babysitter ever again.

(When you're attacked by hilichurls, you think of distracting them as Klee runs to safety, but then she throws literal explosives at them to defeat them soundly and you think that at least there is one less thing to worry about.)

You let your instinct take the lead this time, as something within you pulls in a certain direction. Asides from the basic investigative skills (footsteps here, disturbed bush there), it is a miracle that you lead Klee to the encampment that Albedo had set up for his experiments in Dragonspine. It's not as though the path was particularly hard to traverse, but it did take some backtracking and maneuvering around Fatui camps (will Diluc end up fighting them looking for you, you wonder). You breathe a sigh of relief when you see Klee leap up to hug the blond, doe-eyed alchemist whose eyes widen at her arrival.

“Kl-Klee? How did you get here?” Albedo stammers, looking over her before landing on you. You simply twirl in the air in greeting, and the alchemist can only blink. (You never realize this, but this is one of the very rare moments Albedo is ever flustered-- courtesy of Klee.)

Klee goes on a long monologue about you as well as the adventure to get here, Albedo nodding in understanding ever so often, when you hear the crunch of snow behind you. Your mood lifts along with your body as you recognize the familiar tuft of red hair against the whitest of snow.

“There you are,” Diluc says, setting down his broadsword. He sounds out-of-breath, most likely weary from the fact the two of you disappeared and from the climb to get to Dragonspine. You glow immediately from his evident relief, and you race to him, nuzzling into his neck in an affectionate hug to which he immediately responds by brushing the back of his gloved hand onto you.

How did you find me again? You ask, easily sitting on the hand Diluc offers you.

“Kaeya told me that Albedo was in Dragonspine,” he explains. “Knowing Klee, this was the first place I thought to go to, and I know you wouldn’t let yourself split off from her.”

You nod sagely, though that line of thought would have made sense to anyone who generally knew Mondstadt geography. You look up at Diluc in confusion when he pets you.

“I would have found you anyway,” he says softly, “even if you weren’t together.” You feel yourself grow warm. “I’ll always find a way to find you.”

(Even in this snow? You wonder, even in this frigid wonderland? Through the driest of deserts and coldest of oceans? And you can imagine that if you had asked him this, he would have said ‘yes,’ though that was just what you hoped.)

You coo softly, flying up to gently press your face to his cheek in a gentle kiss, and the smile that Diluc gives you, you think, should be warm enough to melt even the snow on Dragonspine.

When the wind grows harsh in the changing of times, you find flowers of blue and white hidden amongst the fields of grass. And when Stormterror abandons his domain, you lead Diluc to a red, crystalline teardrop that neither of you can touch without protection. You thank the stars Diluc is not a man to shy away from danger, especially when it pertains to the safety of Mondstadt, because he follows you wherever you lead him-- finding teardrop after teardrop scattered across lands festered with monsters.

(“It’s a well-kept secret, despite the way he acts,” Diluc says, leaning on his propped-up arm by the fireplace. He huffs in laughter when you trill-- my lips are sealed!-- and the two of you would watch the embers slowly die out. )

It has become more and more evident as time goes on that you are more than you appear. Your small size and dedication to following Diluc are already indicative of your unique nature as a seelie. What makes you particularly distinct is your penchant to find things or people that many would consider strange. Even before you found these objects, being able to find the elusive Venti would be indicative enough. You don't know what was so strange of him besides his eternally youthful appearance and talent of disappearing into the wind (you thought that was just what people could do, okay?) until Diluc tells you of his godly origins one late night in the winery.

Your proclivity for the unique is something that does not go unnoticed by Albedo.

“I would greatly appreciate being able to tag along on your next journey. I’m very interested in seeing what you, as a seelie, can do,” Albedo tells you. When you meekly titter in Diluc’s direction, Albedo raises his hands reassuringly. “Ah. Don’t be nervous. It’s quite alright if you don’t lead us to anything. It’s all part of the process. Klee has told me much of what you can do, and I’m simply interested in learning more about you, as special as you are.”

Diluc looks to you, waiting for your response as you float in the air, pondering. You cock your head to the side, and he only shrugs, answering the nonverbal question you shoot at him.

“You’re the guide. It’s up to you,” he says, and that is all you need to look back at Albedo (who has been observing everything thus far with keen eyes) and bob yourself up and down in agreement.

“We can meet at Windrise in one week’s time,” Diluc says to Albedo.

Albedo nods, taking one last look at you before pushing himself off the tavern stool, ending the conversation until next week-- that is if Kaeya were not there.

“You aren’t planning to go on an adventure without me, are you?” He says, and Diluc can only sigh.

The week passes quickly and the four of you (Diluc reluctantly allowing Kaeya to accompany the three of you) meet up at the Statue of the Seven near Windrise. You prove yourself once again when you lead Diluc, Kaeya, and Albedo on an off-trail route to Daudapa Gorge. They all follow you, climbing up the cliffside, until you lead them to an unusual hilichurl of blue hair and a talisman on its mask. To keep with the consistency of your battle-filled wanderlust, the unusual hilichurl starts throwing items-- some of which you can recognize from your previous(?) life and some of which you’ve never even seen before. The barrage of things is incessant until fire, ice, and bursting flowers make him escape into his suitcase, leaving behind strange four-pointed stars that glimmer for a moment before disappearing, much to Albedo’s disappointment.

The silence that follows after the oddest encounter you have ever led Diluc to is deafening. You can’t even bear to turn your body to face Diluc who you know is looking at you with a (fondly) exasperated expression. “Trying to outdo yourself every week, aren’t you?” He asks, and if you could, you know that you would be blushing.

Kaeya makes it a point to make your embarrassment worse, as he often likes doing. (You know Kaeya shows his affection through teasing remarks, but oh, what you wouldn’t do to be able to retort back to him once without Diluc having to come to your rescue.) “Your mini seelie finds a lot of strange things, don’t they?” He says, giving you a cat-nipped smile when you bristle and squeak. “Maybe the seelie thinks you’re strange Diluc. Maybe that’s why it follows you around--”

“Shut up, Kaeya.”

“That’ll cost you, you know.”

You watch the two bicker back and forth in a manner that is now very familiar to you, not noticing the alchemist observing you in the background.

“I’d like to test something if that’s alright with you.” Albedo suddenly says to you. “Nothing painful,” he reassures you, even though you hadn’t said a word. “I’ll simply be asking you to do your best to find Master Diluc to test a theory of mine.”

Why Diluc? You wonder.

“Why me?” Diluc repeats your thoughts. “I didn’t realize we would still be under observation after this one journey.” You think Diluc sounds testy-- in a manner that is unlike whenever Kaeya drops by his tavern and more like when fire abyss mages show up on your path. You are alarmed, unsure why you feel the tension rise despite Albedo’s unbothered demeanor.

And while Diluc would never thank Kaeya for his quick wit and way with words, you definitely would, especially when he jumps into the conversation with an easy lilt to his voice to de-escalate the situation (for once). “A-ha, worried that your time with your precious companion is being encroached upon, Master Diluc?” He teases, “Or perhaps you’re afraid you’ll be separated from your precious seelie?”

“Kaeya--”

“Your relationship with your seelie is unique, just as your seelie and its abilities are unique,” Albedo interjects before Diluc could pull out his greatsword. “I’d like to qualitatively and quantitatively define them, if possible.” He pauses, addressing you directly. “I thought this would prove fruitful for you as well if you were ever wondering what your... purpose is, as one might say.”

How rare it is to have an opportunity like this just fall into your metaphorical hands, you think. You are interested in knowing more about yourself. It wouldn’t change much about how you want to stay with Diluc, but there is a sense of peace knowing what you can and cannot do. In Albedo, you see a man of science through-and-through (even though he evidently defies the laws of transmutation you learned from a certain anime). He sees things for what they are, always addressing you when he wants to talk to you, and recognizing that you can speak for yourself. In some ways, he is no different from Diluc, who has never demanded you to be more than what you are as his companion.

If you decide to do something, Diluc respects your decision-- which is why he only watches you quietly as you croon in agreement. You glance over at Diluc to wait for his consent as well, and he can only sigh. (You don’t know it, but he cannot say ‘no’ to you.)

“I have one condition.” When Albedo nods, Diluc continues, “We do nothing to put them in danger. Is that clear?”

“Crystal,” Albedo says immediately, and you almost miss what he says next, as distracted as you are by how Diluc comes closer to you almost protectively. “I’ll converse with you to let you know what you’ll be doing, but there should be no harm done to anyone during this experiment. How does the day after tomorrow sound?”

Diluc heads to Dragonspine without you, for what feels to be the first time in forever. Now that you think about it, has Diluc ever been separated from you the same way you have been separated from him? Even though you’re the seelie, he’s always the one finding you-- have you ever needed to find him?

You want to be able to find Diluc as flawlessly as Diluc can do for you. You want to know, and you especially want Diluc to know that you will always be able to return to him no matter what. Succeeding in this self-given trial of yours will provide definitive proof whether or not you can. With that thought in mind as you float up the slopes of Dragonspine, you think there’s a lot more at stake after all.

You titter nervously when you find Albedo in his camp, and when he spots you, he waves you over as he prepares for the journey with you. “I told your companion to get a headstart,” he says to you. “I won’t know where he’s gone either, so it’s a double-blind experiment. Feel free to use any way you see fit to find him and I’ll follow you.”

You nod dutifully, and when he does nothing else but follow your movement with his eyes, you realize that those were the only instructions you were given. Find Diluc, you think to yourself. Should you start to conjure an image of him in your mind to guide you? That was easy enough to do: half-lidded red eyes that soften when he sees you, red hair you’ve dazed off in more than once, black coat he’s used to shield you from the weather despite your immunity to it, and black boots that are worn to the heel when he follows you.

You are only a few steps away from the camp when you feel a growing panic, for no matter how much you think of Diluc, you don’t feel anything telling you where to go.

When you guide Diluc, even if it’s an impromptu journey, you feel a pull to go somewhere. You’ve once thought it to be your whims but after finding so many other things on purpose and having that same familiar pull, you know that it isn’t just your curiosity guiding you. You conjure up his image, you think of how much you want to find him, and still-- nothing.

How are you going to find him now?

You follow those footsteps, with not much else to go on, and you hope with all your might that perhaps these are the only signs you need to find him. When you reach a snowstorm, your heart falls, only to see that the heat source midst of the snowstorm has been activated. In a place with newly fallen snow and no fireplace, you see a tree with the snow shaken off from its lower branches, and that's when you realize that these are clues that Diluc has left for you.

You look frantically around, following the most likely path he would have taken out, and are met with crossroads. You're tempted to choose a random road and stick with it, but your random choices and the instincts you have been using this entire time are not the same. If you could, you would grunt in frustration, but it comes out as a high-pitched squeal instead (that Albedo takes note of just in case). How were you supposed to-- and then you see footsteps clear as day around the bend of rocks and realize it's Diluc’s.

Does he know, you wonder, that you do not know how to find him? Or did he leave these signs regardless just to make sure you do?

Diluc wants you to find him-- and you find it hard to explain why that means so much to you.

You follow the footsteps, the snow, the branches, and the flames with growing anticipation to see that bright tuft of hair amidst the whitest snow you've ever seen. You're led into an icy opening where heat sources have been activated, and it's hard to contain your excitement when you notice that all of them are activated. You're so close to him; you can feel it.

You rush to the center, hoping to see Diluc-- only to see a gaping chasm where the ice broke, and your heart freezes over.

"Ruin guards," Albedo murmurs, taking note the same time you do that there are various irreparable ruin guards within the hole. If Albedo says anything, if anyone else shows up afterward, you do not notice. The only thing in your mind was the worst-case scenario: Diluc might be hurt, and you didn't know how to find him.

You jet off into the chasm, flying from corner to corner to find him. Every time you see a gleam of red, you desperately hope it is him, but it's just shards of scarlet quartz Diluc must have broken to keep himself warm. Follow it, you think, follow the trail-- quickly!

The path leads to a waterfall where enemies are littered on the ground, including an ice lawachurl right in the river's path. Diluc, you think, following the line of arrows up the snowy hill. You fly up and up and up and as the footsteps fade and you grow colder, you think chillingly that if you were cold, then--

What would you do if he got hurt? What would you do if you could never find him ever again?

No! You think, no, no! Your barely contained composure breaks again with the rising panic. You zip forward, searching for the nearest heat source and praying (to Barbatos, perhaps, or any other god out there that Diluc has yet to tell you-- that he promised to tell you about) that Diluc is there. In the face of your great love for Diluc and the helplessness that comes with it, you have never felt so lost.

Overlooking a tree, you spot an orange seelie-- a heat seelie!-- and speed to it where it slowly looks in your direction. Can you please, you begin desperately, help me find someone? He must have come here before. Red hair, black clothes, big sword? You spot another looking your way and you ask it the same thing. You attract another and you repeat yourself again.

Please, you tell them, I need to find him.

Slowly but steadily, they all look in one direction, and you are off at once. (You forget to say thank-you; you're normally better than that, but you hope the seelies can forgive you just this once.) You fly as fast as you can, begging whoever is listening that the seelies did not mistake someone else for Diluc. And when you see Diluc at the campsite, you finally can breathe again.

Unharmed, his head in a towel to dry off his wet hair, Diluc is fine. You can barely believe what you’re seeing as you numbly float to him, checking him from head to toe for any injuries you can perceive. You don't feel as though you're doing that well of a job though, considering the only thing running through your head that he was safe and what would you have done if he wasn't--

Before you reach him Diluc turns his head to you like clockwork, as if he always knows when you are here. (There are those red eyes again, you think, and wonder if his affection for you will ever run out.)

“Ah, there you are,” he says, almost as frantically as you felt finding him. “I was about to go look for you since you weren't with Albedo." He gives you a smile when you slowly approach him. "I was worried," he says, "I--" He freezes in the middle of his sentence, eyes widening before slowly softening with every passing moment watching you. “Hey,” he says tenderly, raising his hands to cup you close to him. “It’s okay. I’m fine; I’m here.”

If Diluc ever doubted how much you cared for him, he does not have to look any further than the tears that drop down your translucent body, disappearing before they fall off of you. You don’t understand how you can cry, considering what you are (and the lack of tear ducts), but you do anyways, ears drooping as all your worries, concerns, and relief manifest into tears.

I’m so glad you’re okay! Your trills and squeaks are nothing more than hiccups in-between tears. I’m sorry I couldn’t find you earlier!

And Diluc does his best to wipe away the droplets that come from where your eyes would be as he continues to soothe you through them. “You found me,” he says, voice warm like the hands he holds you in. You don't have the strength in you to tell him otherwise when he repeats it to you again and makes you believe it. “You found me.”

You spend the next half-hour or so with Sucrose who calms you down a great amount. Her genuine eagerness for alchemy combined with her shy, nervous demeanor is something that endears her to you quickly, especially when she is trying her best to make you feel better by rambling about her latest experiments.

With the worry for Diluc gone, you feel reaffirmed in your relationship with him. You are sad and will be for a while, that you do not have the talent to find Diluc whenever you can, but you are reassured by your determination to do so despite it.

Getting lost and being found again-- it seems as though that’s the cycle the two of you have started together.

“I apologize for causing you distress.” You perk up from your position above the alchemy table when Albedo walks back to you after a brief conversation with Diluc over the bubbling mechanisms on the table.

“Dragonspine is still an unpredictable terrain and I had not taken into consideration that there would be problems using this area as our testing ground,” Albedo says with a twinge of regret. You can understand him well enough to know that he truly did not intend for the day to be so emotional, so you squeak in response and fly in a loop. He looks relieved when you do, and you think for a brief moment that perhaps he isn’t so hard to read after all.

“Though the procedure was… unexpected, I hope you learned more about yourself as I have.” He waits as you eagerly nod in agreement, and you see him briefly hesitate. “...There’s a type of loneliness in being different. I’m sure you know this very well,” he says quietly as you float. “If you wish to learn more about what you are, feel free to visit any time. I will be happy to help.” The smile he gives you is partly fond as it is lonely, and you can only fly up to gently bump your head against his in response. “Until next time then,” he says with a tone of finality. “Perhaps when your companion isn’t so protective over you.” (Which is unlikely, Albedo thinks, but not impossible.)

Until next time, you say, watching as Albedo walks away into the snowy terrain. You spot Diluc, hands crossed as always as he leans against the darkened bark in a manner that is so reminiscent of the first time you found him. You feel oddly nostalgic as he watches you intently. Then, you do a somersault, and, going full circle, he smiles at you.

“Let’s go home,” he says to you, and you follow him, just as you did in the very beginning when you found him.

(If there is anything that the two of you could conclude at the end of this, it is the confirmed knowledge that the two of you would go till the ends of Teyvat to find each other again.)

[temp taglist]

@thetwinkims @loveyoutothestars @ninqat @winterptilopsis @nya-vivi @just-noelle

#diluc ragnvindr #diluc/reader #genshin impact diluc #genshin impact x reader #diluc x reader #genshin impact #genshin diluc #diluc #kaeya #albedo #klee #sucrose #kaeya alberich #mini seelie #this was supposed to be a one shot lol

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introvertbard · 4 years ago

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More thoughts about Raya and the Last Dragon

I'm starting to see posts about #RayaAndTheLastDragon make the rounds with some Southeast Asians, and here's my thoughts as a Filipino-American:

1) THE DRAGON LOOKS LIKE ELSA. As far as I know, none of the Southeast Asian dragons have that much fur. As I mentioned in my other complaining post: If they have those snow-leopard/puma-looking mounts that are perfectly regal and intimidating, why not use BIG-CATS for your dragon design, instead of... like, the art designer's little housecat??? 2) DISNEY SHOULD NOT BE USING A CRAPTON OF EAST ASIAN ACTORS FOR A SOUTHEAST ASIAN MOVIE. Even without Awkwafina's issues, I saw Daniel Dae Kim, Sandra Oh, and Gemma Chan in the main cast and I went "ohhhhhh no. Kelly Marie Tran is the token Southeast Asian lead in a movie ABOUT fantasy-Southeast-Asia. NOT GOOD, DISNEY." If they have all that money and they reveled in that whole squad of researchers for Moana, why the fuck did they backslide fifty years and go "well, they're all Asian, nobody's gonna notice! WE NEED BIG NAMES FOR OUR BIG MOVIE, LOLOLOL." And yeah, I know there's lots of SEA folks with ambiguous names (Kelly Marie among them), but the main cast is FULL of those and I am not giving Disney the benefit of the doubt that they all just HAPPEN to be SEA folks with nice, compact one- or two-syllable names. Guess which actors suddenly start sounding like TROPICAL BROWN ASIANS??? The ones who play the bit parts, that's who. “But you got Kelly Marie Tran, who else do you want???” Maybe like... the five other lead roles that you gave to East Asian actors??? While I'm on "East Asian versus Southeast Asian," the dragon's name is Sisu and people remarked that it sounds extremely East Asian. Here's some Philippine names for our dragons: -LAHO. A sea-dragon/serpent who causes eclipses ("laho" does in fact mean "eclipse" in Tagalog). He was so entranced by the moon that he jumped from the ocean's depths and tried to eat it. While he is said to be a "god," he acts more like a wild animal--his motive is "MOON SHINY, I EAT!" and human issues such as "we like to see at night" and "the moon controls the tides," and sometimes "THE MOON IS A GODDESS, BRO!!!" don't concern him. The myth doesn't tell you to appease him with offerings or even fight him like a god, either, you just scare him off like a huge version of the neighbor's dog who got loose: Scream and bang on things until he goes home. He has several other not-names--two are "Nono" or "Buwaya," which just mean "ancestor" and "crocodile" respectively. Another Tagalog account calls him Sawa, which means "giant python/boa," compared to the common word for snake as "ahas." -THE BAKUNAWA is Laho's Visayan counterpart, who ate SIX OTHER MOONS before mortals scared him off. Like Laho, the Bakunawa doesn't actually have a name, more like a descriptor/title; "bakunawa" means "bent serpent” and is most often used as “THE Bakunawa.” In some versions, the Bakunawa eats the moon(s) in revenge, after mortal hunters killed his sea-turtle sister. -BUWAYA/BUAYA. Yes, it's "crocodile" in Tagalog. Dragons and crocodiles were seen as close cousins by many precolonial tribes, and Tagalogs apparently used the word interchangeably for both creatures. There was a Tagalog psychopomp called "THE Buwaya," distinct from Laho, who seemed fairly positive since he ferried our dead souls to the afterlife on his back. Also, we needed that help because the way to the afterlife was a dangerous sea-journey in varying directions, like "east where there's no known land," or "up to the sky-world," or "down to the bottom of the ocean." -ULILANG KALULUWA. This dragon has an actual name, and he introduced himself and everything! His name means "Orphaned Spirit." He's a sky-dragon who found the Tagalog creator-god Bathala Maykapal wandering in the barren islands before the world had people, but he was angered at the potential rival to rule the world. They both made claims and fought for possession of it, but Ulilang lost and got killed. Many years later, Bathala's friend Galang Kaluluwa took ill and asked to be buried with Ulilang Kaluluwa, since they were both of the sky-tribe and therefore kinsmen; their bodies created the first coconut tree. Galang Kaluluwa was humanoid, but able to fly and sometimes said to be winged; the spirit tribes seem to align more to "elements" than "species." (Note, I use "friend” loosely because that’s the Christianized version of his relationship with Bathala, but that’s not the point of this post.) -TANDAYAG. Currently means "whale" in Tagalog, but I found some unexpected new information on Wikipedia! Some Palawan people have a myth of their own Tandayag: A great fish, dragon, OR whale, who closes the navel of the world under the sea. If angered by something and not appeased in time, Tandayag may open the world's navel and drown us all in the flood. Noticing a theme? A theme with little fur, who’s prone to anger of the world-ending kind, and has exactly one out of five “names that you’d call people?” Now there are certainly dragons who aren't as powerful as the ones I mentioned; the vast majority of "dragons" in the pre-Catholic Philippines were the ancestors of a ruling clan and their village(s), or regional nature-spirits that people would meet up with on adventures. I actually would have liked the concept of Sisu's self-esteem issues as a minor dragon who’s now expected to rescue/find her lost big-name brethren.

Like, she probably just chilled out at Lake Nowhere, somehow it turned into a city (because she’s immortal and doesn’t realize five hundred years is a LONG TIME for humans, after all), and now everyone thinks she’s a level 10 dragon who causes floods and hurricanes when her actual jobs are still boring, regular LOGISTICS stuff like helping the fishermen for a cut of the haul, scooping folks up when their boat tips over, and checking on the rice paddies.

But uhhhhhh... stories like this in Western society tend to go "WOW, YOU DID SOMETHING HUGE AND WORLD-SAVING! Turns out you ARE ridiculously powerful!" instead of "WOW, YOU USED YOUR MODERATE SKILLS IN CREATIVE WAYS!"

#raya and the last dragon #Disney #southeast asia #the philippines #filipino mythology #kelly marie tran #asian american

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let-me-luve-you · 4 years ago

Text

Winter Storm

Jared Padalecki x Reader

Summary: You play Cordell Walker’s daughter on the new show Walker. Jared takes you under his wing. What happens when a winter storm hits all of Texas.

Warnings: Mentions of a rough upbringing, Texas winter storm, power outage, water problems, some angst, scary weather, fluff, protective Jared, maybe a cuss word somewhere

A/N: As a Texan, this past week has been scary. I have been extremely blessed to not have the problems that a lot are. I was lucky and did not lose power and did not have any pipes burst. This idea came to me after seeing that Jared and Gen were helping others while dealing with their own problems at their house.

HERE ARE SOME LINKS TO HELP OUT IF YOU ARE ABLE TO.

KICK THE COLD - AUSTIN MUTUAL AID

GENESIS WOMEN’S SHELTER & SUPPORT

FEEDING TEXAS

LIST OF ORGANIZATIONS SEEKING DONATIONS IN DALLAS AREA

THE WAY HOME

You do not have to donate to any of these organizations, but if you feel the need to help, here are a few links. ^^^^ There are plenty more out there if you don’t want to donate to these links.

MASTERLIST BUY ME A COFFEE

Winter weather will be hitting Texas this weekend. You can expect lots of snow and ice. It is best to prepare for possible power outages and water being turned off. That is worst case scenario, but be prepared as Sunday will be a cold one.

You panicked. Growing up in North Texas you never had to deal with severe winter weather. You were used to dealing with tornados. But the way they were talking on the news, this weekend was going to be bad.

Thankfully you had the day off and were able to go to the store. You grabbed a case of water and food that you could prepare and food that didn’t have to be cooked to eat. You were still getting used to the adult life as an 18 year old, but since you had been taking care of yourself the last few years, you learned a thing or two in the kitchen. You made sure to grab some snacks as well since they didn’t have to be cooked or stored in the fridge either.

As you pulled up to your apartment building, you got a call from the lead and producer of the show you were on. You still weren’t sure how you managed to land the role of Stella in the new show Walker, but you were grateful. You put the car in park and grabbed your phone.

“Hey Jare.” You said. Jared was the older brother you always wanted, even though he plays your dad and he has moments where he acts like your dad. You didn’t have a great life growing up and to have a male figure in your life to help you in anyway, made you happy. Same thing with Gen.

“Hey Y/N/N. How’re you doing?” He asked.

“I’m doing good. Just got back from the store. Am I needed on set?” You asked in a panic thinking you missed something.

“No, no you’re not needed. Just wanted to call and tell you we are not filming Monday or Tuesday next week. And depending on the weather and roads, we may cancel Wednesday as well.” He informed you.

“Oh. Is it because of the storm?” You asked.

“Yeah. We aren’t sure how bad it’ll be, but we are hoping we are just being over cautious.” He said. “You said you went to the store?”

“Yeah. I just wanted to get something’s so I won’t have to get out. And I got some stuff. I won’t need to cook in case we lose power. Also filled up with gas in case I lose heat and need to warm up some.” You told him.

“Come stay with us. We have plenty of room and we have a fireplace. We just restocked our firewood supply. I don’t want to be worrying about you all weekend.” He said.

“I’ll be okay. Really. Thank you for the offer though.” You said nicely. You really did mean it. You were used to taking care of yourself that when people did want to help you, you appreciated them.

“Well. I have my truck if I need to come get you. If you change your mind, come over. The kids would love to see you.” He said. You heard Gen agree with him in the background. “And Gen would too.”

“Well after the storm, I’ll come over for dinner to see everyone. And I’ll even come another night to babysit so you and Gen can go on a date.” You said with a laugh once you heard Gen immediately laugh.

“Gen says you don’t have to, but I will take you up on both offers.” Jared told you. “Okay. Well stay in touch. They say it’ll start sometime tomorrow night.”

“Y’all stay safe and stay in touch too.” You said. “Bye Jare.”

“Bye Y/N/N.” He said before hanging up. You put your phone back into your pocket before lugging all of the groceries into your apartment. You put everything away before going to change out of your winter clothes.

After changing into some PJs to be comfortable. You decided to meal prep some so you wouldn’t have to worry about it later. And if the weather isn’t as bad as they think it’ll be, you can just eat them throughout the week.

Sunday morning, you woke up and looked outside. All you could see was white fluffiness. You smiled as the world looked at peace. You loved snow. You always thought it brought beauty to the world.

When you walked back to your phone where it laid on its charger, you saw a couple of texts from Jared and Gen. Both had sent you photos of Tom, Shep, and Odette playing the in the snow. Then you saw Jared’s text about possible rolling power outages.

You picked up the phone and called Jared and before he could even say hello, you asked, “What does that mean? Your text... I don’t understand it.”

“It means they’ll shut the power off for an hour to three hours to preserve energy.” Jared said.

“Oh.” You said.

“Yeah, so if the power goes out, don’t worry, it should come back on.” He reassured you.

“Okay. Thank you for letting me know.” You replied.

“Of course. How are you doing anyways?” He asked.

“Good. Just woke up. Felt good to sleep in. I’m probably about to start warming up my lunch.” You informed him. “How are y’all handling it over there? I saw the pics you and Gen sent. The kids look like they’re having a blast.”

“We’re doing good. The kids are definitely loving the snow. I did have to help Gen gather the chickens this morning which wasn’t fun.” He said with a laugh.

“Oh gosh. Yeah chasing chickens isn’t fun. Are they okay? I didn’t even think about y’all’s animals?”

“They’re all in the barn with heat lamps. Thankfully the barn is powered by solar so we don’t have to worry too much if the power goes out since we have a lot of energy stored up.” He said.

“Good that’s good. Well I’ll let you get back to doing whatever you were doing. Thanks again for letting me know.”

“Anytime. If you need something, holler. Okay?” He asked.

“I will. Bye.” You said. You heard his farewell as you went to hang up the phone. After preheating the oven, you took the lasagna and boxed garlic bread out of the freezer. You figured, while the power was still on, you could cook the one meal you prepped that couldn’t be eaten cold until you cooked it and it was leftovers.

An hour later, you sat at the counter charging your phone and iPad while you ate. When you went to take another bite, the power cut off.

“Great.” You whispered. You knew it was only going to be for a few hours, but you were a little aggravated by the inconvenience. You stood up and went and put on thicker sweatpants and your socks. When you made it back to your phone to text Jared that your power went out, you saw you barely had any service. That concerned you in case you needed to make a call for an emergency.

Power just went out. Hopefully y’all didn’t lose power. I’ll let you know when it’s back on. Sent 1:23 pm

You continued to eat as you awaited a response. Shrugging when you finished your meal and put the dirty dish in the sink, you moved to the living room to read a book you started the night before.

Hours later, you still had no power and you still hadn’t heard from Jared or Gen. You had checked social media, but neither had posted anything. You decided to scroll through Twitter and saw the horrors of people’s pipes bursting and roofs caving in flooding their homes.

Seeing people in Austin posting that, you decided to grab a tote to store your valuables in. Sadly, it wasn’t a lot, but the idea of losing what little you had that meant something to you scared you.

You needed to go to your car to charge your phone and warm up some, so you decided to store your valuables in the trunk. Thankfully you had a covered parking space that was right in front of your apartment. When you put the tote in the trunk, you checked to make sure the tail pipe was clear of snow before you started the car.

After spending an hour in the car, you decided it was time for bed. Grabbing every piece of blankets you had, you cuddled up in Jared’s hoody that you stole from him when you filmed episode 2 of Walker and all the blankets. You even had on two pairs of socks on since you got cold earlier.

The next morning, you checked to see your phone still had more than half its battery life left. But what shocked you was still no response from Jared. You got on Instagram and saw that Gen had posted a boomerang of him with his socks on as gloves, but neither had checked in with you.

You were kind of upset by this. You knew they didn’t owe you anything, but it still hurt. Going to the kitchen, you saw it was flooded.

“Oh no. Oh no. Nonononono.” You panicked. You ran to the bathroom and grabbed all the towels you owned and rushed back to the kitchen. You threw them down to try and absorb as much water as possible. You opened the cabinet and saw the pipe that had burst. You grabbed your phone and called the landlord.

“Hey Craig. I had a pipe burst this morning.” You said when he answered.

“Can’t do much with the weather like this.” He said not really caring.

“Can you turn the water off or something? Or tell me where it is and I’ll do it.” You said getting angry.

“Can’t do that either. If I do that, your neighbors lose their water too.” He said.

“Well what am I supposed to do. Just sit in water all day?” You asked with an annoyed tone.

“City’s running out of water anyway so they may shut it off. So won’t be long before it stops.” He said. You got so mad that you hung up. He was useless.

After 3 hours, all of your towels were soaked and you started using some of your clothes to help absorb what the towels couldn’t. You had tried calling Jared to see if he knew what to do but it went straight to voicemail. Same with Gen.

After using most of your clothes to stop the water, you decided to pack a bag in case you had to leave. Plus it would let you know what you could use to absorb the water that still remains. Thankfully your landlord had turned the water off after multiple people called about pipes bursting. All you had to do was finish cleaning up the mess.

Two days later, you were sitting in your car, about to go back into your apartment when you got a call from Gen.

“Y/N. Oh my gosh it’s so good to hear from you. We haven’t had service, plus we lost power and had a few pipes burst. Are you okay?” She asked worriedly.

“I’m okay. Sitting in my car right now so I could charge my phone and warm up a bit.” You told her.

“You don’t have power still?” She asked.

“Nope. And I also had a pipe burst. But I cleaned it up and nothing was damaged. Did you have any damage done? Is everyone okay?” You asked concerned.

“Yeah. We are fine. And just minimal floor damage.” She told you. “Jared is cleaning that mess up while I’m going to the store. Do you need anything? We have some of our neighbors over trying to stay warm and I’m grabbing them stuff too. So I don’t mind getting you anything.”

“I’m okay. I have plenty.” You said. You wanted heat. You wanted to sleep without having to wear five layers, but you refused to ask.

“Well if you do need something, text or call. Hopefully we get service back.” She said.

“I will. Thanks Gen.” you said as you hung up. Ten minutes later you got a call from Jared.

“Pack a bag and bring some blankets.” He said before you could even greet him.

“What?” You asked genuinely confused.

“I said, pack a bag and bring some blankets. Also if you want to bring any food you don’t want to go to waste or if you have water, bring that too. I’ll come in and help you carry.” He said.

“Wh-wait.. what is happening?” You asked.

“I’m coming to get you and you are going to stay with us for a couple of days. I just got off the phone with Gen and she said you had a pipe burst and you don’t have heat. So you are going to come stay with us until your power is back on and the pipe is fixed.” He said. “I’m pulling up. I’ll be inside in a second.” He hung up before you could say anything.

You went and unlocked the door before moving to your room. You grabbed your big suitcase and packed what few pair of pants you had, a weeks worth of underwear, two weeks worth of socks since you hated having cold feet, and the remaining three sweaters and seven shirts you had. It barely filled your suitcase so you decided to throw in a couple of hoodies as well.

“That all your packing?” Jared asked concerned. No one knew how long this was going to last.

“It’s all I got clean.” You answered honestly.

“No way.” He said in disbelief. You shrugged and told him to follow you as you walked into the kitchen. He saw the pile of clothes and towels on the ground. “Oh Y/N. I’m sorry this happened to you.”

“Happened to you too.” You said before moving back to your room. You grabbed a blanket and started to fold it, starting a pile you were taking with you to the Padalecki’s. Once you finished that, you grabbed your pillow too.

“Want any books or anything? You have room in your suitcase.” Jared said as he pointed to it. You shrugged and grabbed a few books you had been wanting to read. After throwing them into the suitcase, you ran to the living room to grab your iPad and chargers.

“We can charge them in the cars if we need to.” Jared said when you thought about not putting them in your bag. You nodded before throwing them in and zipping it up. “This ready to go to the truck?” You nodded once again before he grabbed the suitcase handle and stack of blankets and your pillow with ease. “Go figure out food and I’ll come back to help.”

Once in the kitchen, you grabbed the full water case you had bought a few days before and the almost empty one that you had already opened. You then moved to the fridge to grab the few casserole dishes you had left to eat. You grabbed your travel food carrier and put the casseroles in first before the almost empty case of water in after it. You saw Jared walking back in and asked,

“Is there any food of mine you want? I’ve got everything packed that will definitely go bad before I get back. The rest has already gone bad.” You said while looking at Jared who was looking through your cabinets. He found your snack one and grabbed a few things and shoved them in your carrier.

“That’s all I want.” He smirked. “Ready to go? We can come back in a couple of days if we need to.”

“Ready.” You walked to his truck and he helped you load the water and carrier. As you got into the passenger seat and started to buckle, you said, “thanks for coming to get me and letting me stay with you.”

“Anything for family.” He said smiling at you before driving carefully back to his house.

“But we aren’t family?” You said more as a question.

“You’re my tv daughter, so technically we are.” He said with a laugh. “But in all seriousness, I do see you as family. Me and you have gotten close over these past few months. I can see you as a daughter and I can see you as a little sister.” You could hear the sincerity in his voice.

“Really?” You asked. He nodded his head. “It means a lot to hear you say that. I see you as a big brother.”

“Good.” You saw him smile. “That means you can ask me for anything or do anything and I’ll be there for you. Sorry I didn’t come get you sooner. I thought about it.”

“It’s okay. I tried calling but could never get through. It happens. I’m just glad nothing more serious happened. I’m glad we are all safe.” You said honestly.

“And we are about to get you warm. We have the fire going in the living room and in mine and Gen’s room. Kids have been sleeping with us or on the floor in our room. You’re welcome to make a pallet in front of the fire and crash there.” He said as he pulled into his driveway.

“Sleeping in front of a warm fire sounds lovely right now. Thank you.” You leaned over and gave him a big hug. “I love you Jare.” You said before pulling back to kiss his cheek.

“Love you too y/n/n.” He smiled at you. “Now let’s go take all this in and get you warmed up.”

Tags: @deadcoldhearts

#jared padalecki #jared x reader #jared padalecki x reader #jared padalecki rpf #jared padalecki one shot #jared padalecki imagines #jared padalecki fanfic #jared padalecki fanfiction #jared rpf #cordell walker #walker #walker rpf #walker fanfiction #walker fanfic

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kikyan · 4 years ago

Text

The Forbidden Fruit

Yandere Light Yagami x Female! Reader

“ Don’t worry [Y/N], my brother is amazing at studying! We can ask him some questions and you’ll understand it also immediately!!” Sayu said as she walked inside her nice decorative home with [Y/N] following behind. She took off her shoes and put on slippers, with [Y/N] following her actions. Sayu went to the kitchen where her mom was preparing a meal to fully satisfy the family during dinner and their little guest.

“ Hey, Mom! Is light home yet? Me and [Y/N] need help with our homework!”

Turning to face Sayu, she removed the ladle from the steaming pot and tilted her head to ponder on a suitable answer.

“ He isn’t, I think he has cram school today. He’ll be a bit late so why don’t you guys get started on it now and skip over the ones you don’t know? I’m sure by the time he arrives you’ll be finished with a majority of it!”

“ Hm. . .Okay! Wait, [Y/N] how long can you stay?”

“ The latest I can stay is around 8. I live 3 blocks from here so I should be fine staying this late.”

“ Oh, then you can stay for dinner! In the meantime, let’s go to my room!”

[Y/N] and Sayu ran to her room, Sayu loudly speaking moving about grabbing pens and pencils as she sat down on her bed. Instead of doing her homework, she grabbed a nearby magazine and examined its contents.

“ Hey, [Y/N]! Come look at this!”

“ What happened to homework Sayu?”

“ Later! My big brother will help us so don’t worry! Hey, come look at this though! Isn’t it pretty?”

[Y/N] simply turned away with a pout on her face. She sighed as she reached into her backpack and pulled out her homework and began to work on it by herself. Sayu put her magazine down before chirping a small, “When you finish let me see the answers” and picked up where she left off.

[Y/N] grumbled a small, ‘ if you aren’t going to help then neither will I’ before focusing on a question. Sayu whined loudly before placing the magazine down and joining her friend on the floor.

“ Fine, if you want to do homework, we can do homework.”

“ Good, that is what I came here to do.”

“ You’re no fun.”

Sayu eventually gave in and began to do homework with [Y/N], stumped on some of the problems they ignored them. The front door was opened and soon enough Light entered the room as Sayu let out a happy gasp as she turned to [Y/N], “ Brothers home! You know what that means!”

“ Sayu, while we may need help you shouldn’t use your brother like that.”

“ Oh c’mon, he is super smart and top of his class, he doesn’t mind helping!”

“ Sayu. . .”

[Y/N] kept an emotionless expression as they witnessed Sayu running down the stairs with glee. [Y/N] felt that the least they could do was accompany Sayu to greet her older brother. Once [Y/N] walked downstairs, regret was deep inside their soul when Sayu made eye-contact with her friend.

“ Oh Light! Here, this is my friend [Y/N]!”

“ Oh hello. It’s nice to meet you.”

Light replied with a small smile as he turned to his mother who asked him about his grades and he replied with handing her a parchment in which his mother gasped at seeing them. A smile of delight played on her face as she tilted her head cutely. [Y/N] just turned away and nodded. Light was a bit tired, but he did not fail to see the strange expression on [Y/N]’s face as she looked at him.

“ I know my brother is popular but jeez [Y/N], drool much?”

“ Your brother is strange.”

“ If you mean strange in that he studies a lot then yes!”

With a laugh, Sayu turned away to return back to her room.

“ Isn’t he supposed to be helping us? I don’t think mocking him will do you any good, Sayu.”

Sayu gasped as she ran to Light’s room to apologize. [Y/N] sighed before grabbing her things, it was close to her curfew even though Sayu rarely did anything. Light’s mom smiled as she walked closer to [Y/N].

“ Say, aren’t you hungry dear? Dinner is ready, why don’t you get Sayu and Light and come down to eat? Have a bite before you leave, sweetie.”

“ Are you sure? I don’t want to impose.”

“ Nonsense dear! Any friend of Sayu is welcome here! My husband for once won’t be working that late, it’s rare to see everyone together so this will be great!”

[Y/N] felt a bit strange, her choice clearly had an impact, but still, she would feel even worse for not accepting. She ran upstairs, opening the door to Sayu’s room and shaking her head when she didn’t see her. She went to Light’s room and knocked on the door, after hearing a small ‘ Come in’ from the other side did she open the door. She saw Light in a black long-sleeved shirt and his dress pants. Sayu was begging him to help her with her homework, even pointing to you and saying that you were having difficulties with it as well.

“ Well. . . if [Y/N] is also struggling then I could offer to help.”

“ Why does she get special treatment?”

“ What do you mean, if she knew how to do it then you could just ask her, but if you both need help then I can help you both.”

“ Sayu, Light, your mother says that dinner is ready and that your father is coming home soon, also, I taught you how to do it Sayu, you just didn’t listen.”

Before she could even say anything, the moment the door was open, Sayu, bolted out of the door and ran to greet her father. [ Y/N ] stood there, confused momentarily before shaking her head once again and staring at the door.

“ Sorry, Sayu is a handful at times.”

“ More like all the time, no offense.”

“ None taken, though I think we shouldn’t tell her that.”

“ Maybe so, is Sayu close with her father?”

“ That’s just her typical reaction to anything really, besides we rarely see our father so I guess her behavior is acceptable.”

“ I see, does he work often?”

“ Yes he does, he is a police officer.”

“ Oh, I see. Anyway dinner is ready, your mother asked me to tell you.”

“ I’ll be down in a second.”

[Y/N] nodded, turning away slightly until she laid eyes on a black notebook. It was strange, wasn’t expected of Lights aesthetic, but she didn’t question much about it. Light turned to his notebook before hiding it away and turning to face the door.

‘ Her friend seems to be perceptive. . . I should be fine if I keep up with the appearance of a good role model citizen.’

Light finished his business and went downstairs to where they were all gathered around the table and waiting for Light. Once he made his way to the table, they consumed the meal that was prepared for them, light talk in between bites.

“ So dad, this is a rare sight. Is everything okay at the station?”

“ Yeah. . . I can’t say much but this case is putting a big scare on everyone. We’ve never had anything like the Kira case before.”

“ Kira?”

[Y/N] perked up at name and everyone was a bit surprised to see that she was a bit unaware of the situation.

“ You aren’t aware of the news?”

“ Gosh [Y/N] the whole school talks about it!”

“ I’m sorry for not paying attention to what they say, most of the time no one has anything worth listening to.”

A deep, loud laugh was heard as Sayu’s dad chuckled a bit, before turning to Sayu, “ I think I like your friend a lot more Sayu.”

Light cleared his throat before proceeding, “ Kira is more of a vigilante, he is known for “cleaning up” the streets by killing the criminals in it. Essentially, he is taking justice into his own hands. It wasn’t until the detective known as L broadcasted a video feed that he determined that he only needed a face and a name to kill. The internet is full of information like that, I’m also surprised you didn’t hear about it.”

[Y/N] paid more attention when ‘L’ was mentioned, she started to deduce her own ideas inside. Sayu looked at her friend and with a snarky smile, “ So, are you team Kira or L?”

“ Sayu!”

“ Sayu, we talked about this!”

“ What, I wanted to see what it was.”

“ It doesn’t matter, your father is on this case so it’s disrespectful!”

“ No, it’s alright, anyone is entitled to their opinion. It doesn’t change the fact that we are determined to stop Kira.”

Light stared at his father and his expression, this did not go unnoticed by [Y/N]. She finished her meal and went to wash the plate.

“ Oh dear, please don’t worry about the plate. I can do that.”

“ So can I ma’am, it’s the least I can do in exchange for all the kindness you showed me.”

[Y/N] finished washing her plate and grabbed her bag, thanking the family and putting her shoes on. Sayu’s mother walked to the entrance and thanked [Y/N] for being Sayu’s friend and for everything she has done. [Y/N] nodded and thanked the woman for her kindness and hospitality.

“ It’s late, Light can walk you home. Can’t you Light?”

“ No, that’s okay. I don’t want to impose-”

“ Nonsense, he would be happy to take you. Just a moment, Light sweetie? Can you take [Y/N] home?”

Light nodded before grabbing his coat and headed outside with [Y/N]. As they were walking, silence fell upon them like snow, until Light attempted to lighten the mood and start small talk.

“ Thank’s for looking after Sayu, ever since she met you she has been more excited.”

“ You can say it, she’s been more annoying huh?”

“ Well, I wouldn’t put it like that. . .”

“ It’s okay, besides, it’s Sayu I should be thanking. I recently moved here, and it was Sayu who helped me make friends. I know I don’t look it, sound it, or am that person, but I care a lot for her.”

With a soft smile, Light looked at [Y/N] before continuing his talk. It wasn’t until a bit later did they talk about Kira.

“ I know that we were a bit loud back there, but I want to hear your opinions, who do you go for?”

“ Oh, the L and Kira talk, well, it sounds to me that Kira is doing everyone a favor and killing the criminals, the crime rate will go down from the looks of it, with everyone fearing it, but I think that too much power can get into Kira’s head and he can start hurting innocent people. I don’t have enough information on them to make a decision, but I know that L is a good detective, he might find Kira, or Kira can upstage him, who knows. Personally, I think that he isn’t setting a good example, he kills other while he hates them killing. Ironic really. I have different opinions on both, but I wouldn’t call myself a Kira or L supporter just yet.”

“ I see, I would love to hear your thoughts when you do!”

“ Okay. . . anyway’s this is my house, thanks for walking me back. Thank your mom for the meal and tell Sayu that I wrote her how to solve the problems on her sticky note.”

“ I will, it was nice meeting you!”

“ Likewise. . “

Both separated, Light went home and [Y/N] inside hers. It was dark and cool, she went into her room and looked out the window, Light was walking and for some reason, his lips were moving? Was he talking to himself? His lips were more like, trying to remain quiet, there was no one around and it gave the impression that he was being too cautious. Just what was Light Yagami?

It was a normal day, like any other, someone else died so it was whatever at this point. [Y/N] sighed as she sat in her chair and focused on the board, it was hard to remain awake. Sayu noticed this and leaned over to whisper, “ Didn’t get much sleep?”

“ Pay attention Sayu, I can’t come over everyday can I?”

“ Well no, but I should be fin-!?”

Sayu panicked when the teacher slammed her desk before continuing her discussion, Sayu sent [Y/N] a sour expression as [Y/N] laughed. She stayed up all night this week to read up on the Kira case, L, the killings, everything. It sounded like Kira has a power that is strange to everyone, but they had limits. If anything, she was leaning more towards the L side of anything. Someone who thinks that they have infinite power will more than likely think of themselves as highly. She was just waiting for a chance to prove that. While she didn’t participate in them, she lingered whenever someone wanted to argue about the cases to hear their opinion, in short, they suck.

She was walking one weekend, she came back from the store when she saw Light in town. He was just leaving as well so he decided to walk with her. She was thankful enough and the small talk turned into a conversation, at first he asked a bit about her thoughts and that was when she revealed some of them.

“ What I fear is Kira straying off his ideology and hurting others, other than that I don’t have many issues with him. L is more entertaining in my opinion, this whole battle is.”

“ Oh, well I see. What do you think Kira’s end goal is?”

“ A better society, that’s why he is getting rid of the criminals at least, I only hope it’s only bad guys.”

After a short conversation, they encountered a small dog as [Y/N] went to pet it, for some reason the dog was fixed on Light.

“ I think the dog likes you Light.”

“ You think so?”

“ He seems to like staring at you, or more like someone next to you, but there is nothing there, or is there?”

‘ Did she touch the notebook?’

Light questioned it while looking at [Y/N] as she was looking at something other than Light, she was looking straight at Ryuk. Light turned to look at Ryuk, turning back to [Y/N]. Ryuk moved to the side and while the dog’s eyes followed, [Y/N] did the same.

“ It’s a joke.”

Light changed his expression to one of amusement as he laughed a bit. Deep in his mind he was worried, was she playing with him?

“ You know, I had a friend back then before I moved that told me that animals can sense or see the things we can’t. She mentioned that animals can also see ghosts and impure things. It is rumored that when a dog barks, but there is nothing out there is because they are trying to drive out the evil spirit or alert others. Who knows, it was fixated on something next to you, maybe you’re being haunted or something.”

“ Haha, well, I don’t think we are but who knows, maybe you are right.”

Light glared at Ryuk as he was cackling.

‘ That was a close one wasn’t it Light, to think that this whole operation would have been blown off by a little girl. If anything, you aren’t being haunted by a spirit, more like you accepted the spirit.’

“ Hey, Light, how do you deal with it?”

“ Deal with that?”

“ School and stuff, you seem to work hard to keep up your grades and I dunno, it seems stressful. You must either have a good coping method for it or you really like studying.”

“ Well, I have other hobbies that help me relax, but I rarely get stressed. Why do you ask?”

“ I dunno, don’t want to see you bottle everything up and then explode on us.”

“ You’re really kind, you know that?”

At the sound of this compliment, [Y/N] turned into a darker shade as she looked away. She was never good with compliments but nonetheless, while she was embarrassed, she accepted them.

“ What do. . .you mean. . .”

“ Although you have difficulty expressing it [Y/N], you seem to be emotionally connected with people. I guess it’s rare to see someone so kind, just like you said, it’s hard to find people who have something worth saying you know?”

“ Most people are assholes, excuse my language, but they are like a test. If you can notice flaws in others, you can avoid having those with yourself. If you see someone insulting others, then you’ll try to perfect yourself to not be like them, you’ll try not to insult others but people like them are fair game. It’s just something strange I thought of but, while it would be nice to not have them in society, it’s hard to picture one without since we are so used to it. I guess we kinda need people like them in life for us to be better, I honestly have no clue I’m just a teenage girl after all.”

“ You have an interesting take on your views, did Kira impact it?”

“ Actually, yes. Both Kira and L, the whole battle really. One is fighting for a better society and it gets you thinking if Kira is a bad guy or not, then you have L who strives for order in society but is trying to rid of us the one thing that keeps us safe. I see both really, fear conditions you to not act out since you fear punishment, but laws do the same, if anything its similar, just that this lesson, laws start to morph into morals that society just follows. Both shape society, one is faster and the other takes years to perfect. Anyway’s sorry for geeking out on you, thanks again for walking me home Light. Give your family my greetings, hope to see you soon.”

[Y/N] thanked Light one last time with a small bow before proceeding to enter her home. Light only looked at her before waving off and leaving with Ryuk following Light.

‘ Isn’t she perceptive? Well, if anything at least she seems to be a supporter of Kira.’

“ No, she isn’t, not yet at least. She is stuck in the middle and I want to ensure that she chooses right.”

‘ Since when do you care over who is in line with who?’

“ Well, after all, if I want to make this world a better place I need to know who is worthy and who isn’t. [Y/N] is no exception. She is kind and I think her mindset is compassionate and understanding, but I don’t think that she has enough to convert herself to a Kira worshiper her. Everyone labels either Kira as a savior or as a murderer and I think that we need to clear his name up a bit.”

‘ Oh? Is she really this important?’

“ She seems to understand Kira’s ideology as much as I do, even though I am him. She is more than fitting in my new world.”

‘ Sounds like you’re in love with a teenager who is a couple of years younger than you.’

“ If anything, you should stop talking to me in public, others can’t see you but when I talk to you others notice and it’s weird.”

‘ Love. . . ‘ Light pondered on that thought, sure there were plenty of girls who had a crush on him and more, he didn’t think much of it but it was strange. Was he in love? All those other girls who confessed to him seemed to think otherwise, they never cared much for their studies much less cared enough for anything aside from appearance. Yet here [Y/N] was, a diamond in the rough, someone who would think, had views that he was interested in hearing. She could be someone interesting to converse with even if he wasn’t under the influence of the notebook. [Y/N] wasn’t like most people in society who went on with their day to day life and believed anything, [Y/N] thought outside the box and tried to understand everyone and everything, she would benefit this new world more, but more importantly, she would benefit Light more.

[Y/N] put her groceries away at a fast pace, skipping past the post-it note that read, ‘ Back at 6 ‘. She ran to her room and grabbed her journal and logged into the internet and began to log into the site that was used for supporting Kira.

‘ Kira, one of my bullies was being mean to me, robbed me of my money and went to target others, even threatening to hurt my little brother. Kira please, give justice and rid us of scum like him. His name is XXX and this is his picture.’

“ Needs a name and face and doesn’t have to be in direct contact.”

‘ The police are trying to destroy our peaceful society, we must get rid of them for Kira, they need to understand that Kira is doing what they could never!’

“ Light’s dad is working the Kira case, how far is he into it? It’s probably nothing but. . . there could be something supernatural happening. There is no weapon out there that is used liked that, and that thing with Light and the dog? Should be nothing . .”

[Y/N] wrote in her journal, thinking much about the conflict. If anything, she was more in favor of L, he was a world star detective and she loved crime-solving so of course, she studied up on what was known about him. L was right in most aspects, there are some jobs where being a bad apple doesn’t cut it and even in a job setting, you can’t give someone who is ‘bad’ power that they can abuse. Essentially, the power that Kira has is what is making him think he is some god and that is dangerous, Kira will stop at nothing to get what he wants if that is his ideology and that includes hurting others, even those he swore to protect. L wants to establish order and although he is a bit reckless, he craves for a society that understands right from wrong in a more law centered area, since morals are the individual’s thoughts and ideas.

[Y/N] knew that while those who acted unfavorably deserved worse, death is too sweet for them, but also logically we need them to prove a point to others. [Y/N] sighed when she finished her notes, she suspected a lot but she needed to go over more to hear what she could about the case to reach a conclusion on who she thinks is Kira.

It was like any other day, one that was peaceful as much as you would in a world with Kira and L battling it out, Sayu invited [Y/N] to their house for dinner and for help on their homework. Sadly her father wouldn’t be joining them due to work so [Y/N] decided to snoop around to see what she could find. They were in Light’s room getting help as he repeated what he told Sayu previously regarding the work. Light was busy looking at [Y/N] as she looked at her notebook, she finished her homework ages ago but for the sake of it, she pretended as if she was struggling too. Light was growing concerned more and more, if anything was he feeling love toward [Y/N]? He thought too much on it, if he did love her this would be awkward, he was almost a school graduate and she was barely entering high school, but above all, she was more of a guilty pleasure and she still hasn’t sided with Kira completely. It was infuriating to see someone he cared so much about not understand him all that well, but no matter, he knew what he had to do and his plan was already in motion. He just needed to show her how nice Kira was.

‘ He is staring at me. . . what does he want? I shouldn’t think too much on it but. . . there is something strange about Light. His expressions, they seem so. . . so fake. I wonder what he is hiding.’

Dinner was soon called and [Y/N] stayed behind a little longer to clean up her things, Light trusting that no one would find the compartment to the notebook, but still couldn’t be too safe, could you? Light stayed close as [Y/N] placed her pencils in her pouch, the moment he turned his back, [Y/N] started to look around the room.

‘ For a model student he sure is basic, but whatever, I’m trying to find information on Kira and the case. . .what is this?’

At that moment, she noticed a pen, that seemed to be broken apart but not in any bad shape, as it was purposely broken apart. Was Light some kis genius who had a weird fixation with breaking things? Maybe. [Y/N] was looking around and around, but there was nothing strange. It wasn’t until she stepped on the controller and there was the channel that covered a lot regarding Kira and the criminals, almost as if they were handing them to Kira themselves. Nothing uncommon, it was a popular show after all, but the off-putting thing about the whole thing was how everything fit regarding his persona. Light’s expression when Kira was mentioned as if he wanted it to be acknowledged. No matter, there was nothing of use at all in this room so she went down to eat with the rest.

After dinner, for reasons untold, it was earlier than usual so it was nothing too surprising when [Y/N] offered herself to walk home, leaving the Yagami household to settle earlier than usual. As she was walking there was a sound, a large sound alerted her to turn around as she was met with a face, this person had bloodshot eyes and wore all black, but above anything, they were carrying a bloodied knife. [Y/N] fumbled a bit as she tried to run away and the figure started to chase her down.

‘ W-why now? W-who is he?’

[Y/N] panicked as she ended up getting tackled by the figure, she panicked as she struggled until he lifted the knife to her neck as she let out a small breath. Fearing that even the slightest breath could get her cut. The figure was breathing rapidly, hyperventilating even.

‘ I-is he on drugs?’

Soon, the figure stopped breathing altogether and slummed forward, the knife that he had fallen next to him. His whole body was slumped forward and pressed up against [Y/N]. Her breath escalated, turning to the figure and letting out a large screech and throwing him over.

“ [Y/N]? Hey, what happened?!”

[Y/N] scrambled away from the body as she looked up to see the person who called her name. Her eyes widened in fear as she met those wth concern of Light.

‘Light. . . Light, Light Yagami. .’

“ [Y/N] who is he? Are you alright?”

Nodding, [Y/N] shakingly pointed to the man, Light’s eyes tracing back and touching the man, his felt no pulse. His eyes darted to the knife as she looked over at [Y/N] with concern all over his face.

“ Did he do anything to you [Y/N]?”

“ N-no, I think he passed out beforehand. S-should we call the cops?”

“ Yeah, I’m already on it.”

Light called the cops and explained the situation as [Y/N] glared at Light. Light was the first one to arrive at the scene and he was somewhat calm about. Light has been acting suspiciously this entire time, it’s safe to consider Light a possible suspect. What scared [Y/N] more, was that she could see his face lifting, more as if he was smiling. Case closed, Light had something to do with this, Light had to be Kira.

[Y/N] was in her home taking a bath. The cops came to the scene and took care of everything, to her suspicion, his death was a heart attack. The police assumed that it was Kira once again as this man had no previous health history that put him in any risk for one.

“ I’m sorry you had to experience something frightful, I am only thankful that my son was there to help you Miss [L/N].”

“ Don’t worry about it. . thank you for your work sir.”

“ Of course, Light, see to it that she gets home safely.”

Light nodded and walked her home. It was nothing that far, but they had small talk along the way.

“ Hey Light, do you really think it was Kira?”

“ Possibly, the man had a heart attack as the rest and he was apparently a wanted criminal so if anything that is enough to consider it. If Kira did, how do you feel?”

“ Well, I guess I owe Kira my life, after all, he did save me. Then again, it’s my own experience so I guess that isn’t enough evidence, but I think that Kira is someone who won’t stray off his path and will continue to be justice!”

Light let out a chuckle and turned to the side. He was smiling proudly, he won over [Y/N], he did it. She understood Kira’s ideology and believed in him. She would make a perfect companion in this world he seeks to create. Once they reached her house, [Y/N] thanked him and went inside her home with Light bidding her a good night.

Recalling the end of the eventful night, [Y/N] got out to the bath and changed. She clicked on the T.V and a program started as she wrote in her journal.

‘ Light was there almost immediately after, it wasn’t that far from where I was, his house was close by so they should have heard something.’

‘ Light kept asking me about Kira, and when I told him I was a Kira supporter he seemed happy.’

‘ Kira killed my assailant.’

“ This just in, we have reports of a criminal that was announced on T.V at 7 was killed today around 8:48 PM! Does this mean that Kira struck again?”

“ Of course he did! Kira knows that his loyal followers would present him with scum that the world has! He killed [ Criminal Name ] to show us that he hears us, we must show him more devotion!”

‘ [Criminal Name], that’s who attacked me. . . that’s the channel that was in Lightroom. . .the ability to kill someone with a name and face would be something supernatural, the dog looking next to Light and moving his eyes, Light and his fake smiles, the fact that Kira was changing patterns when it was revealed by the cops this, Light’s dad is a cop. . .Light is Kira. . .’

[Y/N] eyes widened as she tried hard to compose her argument that she would present to the task force, to L himself.

“ Light, you fucking bastard. I caught you.”

The next day, [Y/N] dressed up and went to the police station. She talked to those in front, “ Please you have to let me see L or the chief, I have information that can help with the case.”

“ Sorry, but they are busy. You can leave a message and we can deliver it.”

“ No I can’t risk the information I have, when are they not busy?”

“ It’s the Kira case, now run along.”

“ [Y/N]? What are you doing here?”

“ Light. . . oh nothing. Just trying to get more information on what happened yesterday.”

“ Don’t worry, what happened yesterday won’t happen again. If you want to know I can ask my father, but don’t worry about it.”

[Y/N] nodded before returning home and leaving Light alone to attend his business. It was a shock, Light was there and so was [Y/N], she didn’t realize how hard it would be to tell them that Light is Kira. She also let it slip her mind that Light was the Cheifs son, it would be devastating to hear that your son is a wanted criminal. She was chilling in her room until someone ran her doorbell. She went downstairs and was met with an old man as she smiled and asked for [Y/N].

“ Is this [Y/N]?”

“ Yes?”

“ I see, well please come with me. You have some information present regarding the Kira case? L is interested in what you have to say. With that, [Y/N] smiled before nodding and going inside the car. She was blindfolded during the car ride but that was to be expected. She was also blindfolded when she was taken to see L, but it was taken off when they were in the room. She was met with a man with messy black hair, white long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans, and dark eye bags.

“ You must be miss [Y/N] [L/N] right?”

“ Yes, you must be L, right? Sorry to bother you but I think I know who Kira is. It’s just a guess right now but I think it’s him, no, some part of me knows it’s him!”

“ And who would that be?”

“ Light Yagami.”

“ I see, so you suspect him too.”

“ You do as well?”

“ Yes I do, in fact, I know it is him. I wonder what makes you think that?”

“ Well, I believe that the way he kills isn’t from this world, it can’t be. It has to be something else, while I don’t know what it is, it leaves some trace. I and Light were walking and I know it sounds silly but there was this dog and he kept staring at something that wasn’t there, even Light saw it but I couldn’t! It was strange, he didn’t tell me he saw it, but his eyes were matching those of the dog. Besides, he was watching T.V once and for some reason it was on that channel that broadcasts those criminals and for some reason, [Criminal Names] ended up attacking me the same day! Light’s dad is a cop, so it would make sense for him to access information and such, besides, Light hides behind his appearance. When I was attacked and he called the cops, I swore I saw him smile!”

“ Calm down, I think this is interesting. Your reasoning is good and you’re very observant, but you see I have a similar issue. It’s Light, Light is Kira, but I can’t find any evidence that proves it’s him, therefore I propose something. Do you want to work for me?”

“ I-!?”

“ Ryuzaki, are you sure?”

“ Yes, I am Watari, besides, she is close to Light, if anything she can be the key to get more evidence against him.”

“ I accept!”

“ Why don’t you consider this more carefully Miss, Ryuzaki can manage just fine if you say no.”

“ No, I accept! I’ve always had my views towards Kira, sure he gets rid of the criminals, but someone with that power, I fear who they might hurt to continue this path. Besides, Light has been lying this whole time, he needs to be put away.”

L looked at the female with amusement in his eyes, he was intrigued with her. It seemed that she was determined, something he admired a lot. He nodded and told her of his plan, she would try what she could to gain information from Light and try to get evidence for the task force. [Y/N] was happy to meet L, if anything she was happy that for once she was seen as her age, she was given a responsibility and she would not fail. Since then, she had been reporting to Light, even when L made himself public to Light as well. [Y/N] had been operating in the shadows, she had been visiting Sayu recently, having talks with Light and doing homework with Sayu, luckily everything was fine. [Y/N] met Misa, who was a little too upset with the whole Light kinda paying more attention to her and Sayu, but he was just trying to be a good older brother. All the commotion happened, as [Y/N] did nothing but report. She didn’t buy the whole girlfriend act so she looked more into it.

“ So you think Misa knows?”

“ Yes, Light’s expressions mask annoyance and hatred so I highly doubt he likes her, she either knows and he is keeping her alive for that, or she is being used/went willingly with him. It’s a little toxic, to be honest.”

“ Now we aren’t one to comment on Light’s relationship status [Y/N], but still, this is intriguing. We both came to the conclusion that there was a second Kira, my suspicion of her has risen. Thank you for this information [Y/N].”

“ Of course anything to help out!”

[Y/N] thanked L before heading out. She was thankful for this job and opportunity. Although she didn’t find much, she assisted a lot in the investigation, and it was even worse when L and Watari were killed.

Tears streamed down [Y/N] face as she was informed of his passing by someone else, finding out that Light was the one to take his place. If anything, she was repulsed. Disgusted, the same murderer that killed L and others, posing as the lead detective? There were so many wrongs with that, she had to do something. Miraculously, someone with the name N reached out to her regarding the situation, 5 years later. Light ended up moving in with Misa, but he was always around constantly messaging [Y/N] about his sister and about her. It was no surprise that she was informed of many things, she was introduced to the task force later while L was still alive, talking about how she was someone who went undercover. He would ask her constantly about her thoughts and she would have to answer how she would normally take into consideration that she is communicating with the devil himself. [Y/N] was now a 20-year-old female, working secretly with N, or near regarding everything. Taking into consideration the information that L had and what [Y/N] had to say. They did well to keep [Y/N] a secret from Light though, she was a secret that remained deep within the task force, Light would, no should never know that she was involved. She would speak about what she knew, the death note and possible fake rule, etc.

[Y/N] got a message from Light, asking her out for a coffee to speak about somethings. She normally would brush it off, had it not been for Near saying she should go and see what he wants. She hesitantly agreed, choosing to go. The conversation was one that was a bit bland, for someone keeping contact with the other for so long.

“ How have you been [Y/N]?”

“ Good and you?”

“ I’ve been preoccupied and with Misa, it’s hard to keep track.”

“ That must be a bummer, but hey wouldn’t she be mad? I mean you’re hanging out with a girl now, not your little sister’s friend.”

“ It’s not like we are something after all.”

Light forced himself to say those things. It is true that they haven’t been in contact for so long, but she had been there every step of the way. She had supported him in so much, she wasn’t as smart as him, but she also wasn’t like Misa who was acting than thinking. [Y/N] opened her mind for anything and everything, she was someone who understood a dream and passion and helps both the pros and cons to it, both sides, understanding o anything, someone that was suitable, a role model even in his new world that he was constructing. Light was always interested in her, he just couldn’t say anything. Misa came into the picture and he had to obey and act as the perfect boyfriend. He thought he almost lost his grasp on you had it not been for the fact that you still stayed close to him, almost as if you wanted him too, right?

“ Yeah, we aren’t anything. You aren’t that kind of person for sure, but any leads in the Kira case? I mean, you told me that you were made chief on the investigation, along with L so I am interested in learning what it is you know about Kira, sure I understand that you have to capture him but, I’m sure he had a reason.”

“ You mean a reason to kill L right?”

The silence was in the cafe, [Y/N] panicked, no she didn’t slip up, god that wire that Near had planted in her better be picking this up because this wasn’t part of the plan.

“ I thought L was alive, Light you better not be joking-?!”

“ Now why would I joke about his death, besides N is there to confirm it, isn’t he.”

“ When?”

“ Since you visited the task force. Believe it or not, I tend to keep great tabs on those that matter, I need, or I want.”

“ I see, you knew the whole time. Including what L meant to me and you still had the fucking audacity, why haven’t you killed me yet? Surely I must have been a mole in the plan, some bug worth squashing right?”

“ Because I want you [Y/N]. You matter a lot more than you think to me, in this new world that I am planning on creating, I want you to be the first person welcomed in there, ruling next to me.”

“ What? I thought Misa, who was the second owner would do that.”

“ I needed her eyes, you must have known from all your notes. 5 years ago you suspected me, and now you know. Yes, I did kill L, the Death note is in my possession, I am lying to the police, I am Kira, I am the God of this new world, and you shall be next to me to judge all these souls.”

“ Why me?”

“ Simply put, back then you were struggling to pick a side, I thought I won you over but then I realized, you are better than me at putting up appearances. I see why L trusted you a lot more than us, but one thing I learned is that the mind can be persuaded a lot. I understood a lot more than you realized, you are understanding, compassionate if anything you see both sides of the same coin and I admire that about you. You have a voice in the matter, unlike these brainless fools, you see my true vision, you see me for me. You see past Kira’s actions and more of his motives!”

“ All I see is a fucking murderer, but go off I guess.”

A small chuckle was released by Light as he turned to face you and whispered in [Y/N]’s ear, ‘ The wire you were wearing is of no use anymore, anything I said wasn’t even recorded. Isn’t that lovely, you’re mine and believe me, I will cleanse your mind from his poison.”

“ What about Misa? What about everyone. They will find me.”

“ They will find the notebook that I made, one that has your name in it and they will think that you died. No one will find someone they think is dead.”

“ Kira, you’re nothing but a killer.”

“ No, this was a sacrifice I had to make, and believe it, it was worth it for this, for you. This is the fruit of my labor, of our labor.”

“ I had nothing to do in this ploy-!?”

“ Oh, but you did! DON’T YOU SEE. YOU WERE ON MY MIND THE ENTIRE TIME I KILLED THEM. I DID THIS FOR YOU, FOR US, FOR THE FUTURE.”

Light composed himself before returning back to his usual self.

“ This was a sacrifice we had to make if I told Misa to kill herself, she would. That would be too obvious though, so I’ll keep her around and you hidden. Just like L kept you hidden, history is repeating itself but only for a moment, we are looking at a new era [Y/N] one that I know you’ll understand, one that you will come to understand again. If you think about it, I’m cleansing your mind once again. You’ll experience what it is to taste

The Forbidden Fruit~

#yandere #yandere x reader #yandere x darling #yandere x y/n #yandere headcanons #yandere oneshot #yandere death note #yandere light yagami #yandere light #yandere light x reader #light yagami #death note

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cruelfeline · 4 years ago

Text

I’ve been thinking about various aspects of SPoP, as I am wont to do, and as often happens, I’ve settled on trying to figure out why I feel a certain way. Namely regarding why I, personally, am able to feel so much more compassion towards Hordak rather than towards the Princesses. After all, the Princesses are the ones being wronged throughout this show, aren’t they? Their lands are being invaded. They’re the ones having to fight to maintain their way of life. They’re losing ground because of Hordak’s war.

So... why do I find it hard to care about them? Why are their experiences in this conflict just sort of... well, meaningless to me?

And why, instead, do my tender emotional responses strongly favor Hordak, despite his serious role in starting a terrible war?

Well! As per usual, I’m going to try to talk my way through it.

(and, as per usual, your mileage may vary!)

Let’s start with the Princesses. They range from children to young adults. Seem like reasonably nice girls, despite various flaws. They clearly did not ask for a war, had no hand in starting it, and are clearly on the side of good, seeking to protect innocents and simply return to a peaceful way of life.

They appear perfectly designed to garner sympathy and connection... yet I feel so little for them. I feel little because, despite the show telling me that they’re fighting for their lives, and for their home, despite them being the apparent underdogs in their battle against the Horde, I feel like their lives remain relatively stable. Pleasant. Even enjoyable.

Essentially, I feel like despite everything, they do not truly suffer. Not in a way that is consistent or touching.

The arcs the Princesses go through either deal largely with matters unrelated to the war and subsequently involve less arduous difficulties, or are handled in such a way that any real pain is quickly resolved and loses its impact.

Frosta and Perfuma represent the former. Both are parentless rulers of their kingdoms, but there is no real confirmation that their parents were killed by the Horde, and they themselves seem largely unperturbed by parental loss. They maintain control of their kingdoms throughout the series. Frosta never loses the Kingdom of Snows, while Perfuma, though in brief danger of losing Plumeria due to damage to the Heart Blossom, ends up... well, defeating the Horde with a band of untrained hippies. So while they fight in the war against Hordak, they never really suffer any significant, confirmed personal losses because of it.

In fact, the Plumerian conflict is... kind of played for laughs.

The other aspects of their arcs have largely to do with friendship matters, or self-belief, and are also dealt with quickly and with little fanfare. Frosta learns how to make friends. Perfuma learns how to play with cacti. Afterwards, Frosta spends the remainder of the story essentially being a violence-happy little kid; amusing, yes, but not particularly tugging at my heartstrings. Perfuma likewise settles into “sympathetic friend” and, though she’s involved in Scorpia’s story at the end, also does little to invoke any sort of significant emotion.

we’re just going to skirt around the whole “leashing Entrapta” thing, as it’s not relevant to this discussion

(Spinnerella and Netossa barely even register to me, given their very bare-bones roles in the first four seasons and standard “chipped loved one” narrative (that everyone experiences) in the fifth.)

So, let’s move on to Glimmer and Mermista.

Glimmer and Mermista are arguably the two Princesses who actually lose unique things in the war and suffer because of those losses. And yet, because of the way the show is written, even their pain is dulled in such a way that it just does not facilitate me forming any sort of consistent, compassionate bond with them.

Mermista is the only Princess to actually lose a kingdom. In Hordak’s most visible evil act, Salineas is burned and beflagged, leading to Mermista deeply mourning the loss of her home, her culture, her peop- oh. Hm.

She takes it oddly well, doesn’t she? Apparently, ice cream in a bathtub is how deposed rulers deal with the loss of their entire country nowadays.

And once she’s done with her moment of moping, she’s back in the fight, fueled by Sea Hawk’s shenanigans and her own power ballad (and Bright Moon’s lack of ice cream). There is no extended mourning for her people, no real depth to the loss she has supposedly suffered. There’s not even a real sense of it: we never see the people of Salineas, never know them, never get to feel anything for them. And with them being all but theoretical, the show appears to have no issue quickly forgetting them: Mermista never negotiates on their behalf, or visits refugees, or... anything. She might use Salineas in her future battle cries and as an excuse for increased recklessness, but that homage is the extent of emotion that we see.

Kingdom gone, bathtub ice cream finished, she goes on living life as if little has happened. And, because of her royal connections, she doesn’t even experience a decrease in quality of life: she continues to live in luxurious comfort despite an apparently raging war.

Because of how the writing handles Salineas, and her character in general, I never feel connected to how Mermista feels. Whatever pain she experiences is there and gone in a few scenes, quickly dealt with so the story can continue. There is no exploration, no nuance, nothing to really make me appreciate any sort of depth to her experience. And so I feel little, if anything, for her plight.

Glimmer, then, is the last chance the show has to make me feel something for the Alliance Princesses’ suffering during this war, and while season four nearly does it, the series again ends up falling short.

Glimmer loses her mother. The actual sacrifice is emotional... though that emotion, admittedly, comes mainly from Adora. Glimmer’s pain comes through at the beginning of season four, when she is clearly in mourning all while needing to take Angella’s place as queen. Afterwards, season four does a fairly good job of making the loss meaningful: Glimmer becomes more and more willing to commit dark acts due to a mixture of grief and desperation. It works well, and out of all of the Princesses, I feel for her the most... until season five comes along and pretty much erases Angella from character consciousness.

Angella’s death essentially plays no role in season five. Glimmer does not appear to think back to it. While it drives her actions during season four, it appears to have been all but forgotten now, a particularly glaring shift when Catra, the one who is practically responsible, joins the group without it coming up at all. Glimmer’s other parental loss, Micah, likewise becomes meaningless not because of questionable writing choices, but because he simply never died.

Glimmer’s other problem, her rift with Bow and Adora, is repaired within an episode and never spoken of again. That... falls quite flat for me.

And so, by the end of the series, Glimmer fails to maintain a believable level of distress and thus doesn’t invoke any real emotion in me. The one thing that really mattered, that really hurt her? Suddenly irrelevant in the name of Catra’s redemption. Hm.

And while these are the specific character examples that come to mind, the general situation the Princesses find themselves also fails to carry much weight in my mind. They are in the middle of a war, yet they continue to live in luxury. Skirmishes carry a sense of light-heartedness and sometimes seem almost fun. Battle plans are developed via a game of DnD. There is just no consistent sense of urgency or severity, no believable sense of emotional depth to convey to me that these characters are in truly dire straits. Yes, there are moments... but these moments are so brief, and carry such questionable lasting impact, that they don’t connect with me the way that they should. And as a result, the plight of the Princesses just feels hollow to me.

I just... I just find myself unable to care about them because, when all is said and done, I don’t feel like they are truly in danger of real harm, or that they are realistically affected by their losses. It all just feels so shallow to me.

Now, let’s pivot and look at Hordak. Hordak, whom I still cry over on the daily. Hordak, who has owned my heart for over a year now. Hordak, who invokes in me all of the emotions.

What is the difference between Hordak and the Princesses, other than the glaring fact that he is the instigator of the Etherian war and thus a bad, bad man? What makes him snap my heartstrings in half, while the Princesses barely manage a gentle tug?

The answer is that Hordak legitimately suffers. Terribly. Consistently. Throughout the entire series. While the Princesses experience brief moments of distress that the show quickly sweeps under the rug in favor of witty banter and friendship problems, Hordak is the direct opposite: he experiences only the occasional breath of happiness while otherwise drowning in a constant sea of bitterness, fear, pain, and deep unhappiness.

From the moment we meet him, Hordak is stern and humorless and angry, and while this initially appears to be a side effect of him being a Standard Ultimate Villain Who Never Smiles, we quickly learn that it is due to his struggle. Hordak is constantly struggling against his physical defect, battling an illness that causes him not only significant health problems, but incredible shame. He is likewise constantly struggling to earn the respect and validation and nonexistent love of his god-brother. His sour demeanor, with all of its anger and dourness, originates in the fact that, throughout the overwhelming majority of the series, he is gravely unhappy. He is in ever-present distress, both physical and emotional.

And as the series goes on, does that distress lessen? No. No, instead, he is rejected by his brother, thoroughly humiliated, and brutally “reset” back into his life as an actual cult slave. Rather than having his difficulties minimized like so many Princesses do, he finds himself in ever-worsening circumstances, graduating from (supposed) “disgraced, disabled military veteran” to “enslaved cultist desperate to be loved by his loveless master.”

Any moments of happiness are not only relatively brief, they are taken away as quickly as the Princesses’ moments of difficulty are. Hordak experiences love and friendship for the first time with Entrapta, only to swiftly lose her to Catra’s lies and spiraling madness. He finally begins to win the Etherian War (which is bad, yes, I know), only to realize that his victories stem from Catra’s betrayal before the whole affair culminates in Prime’s nauseating violation of his personhood.

It does not stop. Physically, mentally, or emotionally: not until his triumph over Prime in the season five finale does Hordak stop hurting, and even that is marred by Prime taking control of his body in a final act of nightmarish control before, bless him, Hordak is freed and able to begin his recovery.

In addition to being a series constant, Hordak’s pain is conveyed. It is dramatically shown through facial expressions, through body language, through phenomenal voice work, through scenes that clearly depict real anguish.

The purification ritual is one of them; what other character do we hear scream like that, over and over, due to such terrible agony? His reunion with Prime is another; I will never forget how deeply I could sense his fear, how watching him tremble and beg instilled within me a sort of breathless panic because the scene actually made me want to instinctively protect him... but I could not because, y’know: cartoon.

Hordak’s suffering is not only ever-present, it is varied and developed and communicated to the viewer in ways that result in it making a lasting impression. It is never minimized. It is never ignored. It is painful and horrifying with little reprieve, and it has a deep, life-altering effect on him.

That, friends and neighbors, is why I think I find myself feeling so much more compassion towards Hordak than I do towards the Princesses, despite his less-enticing place on the moral spectrum. Hordak is in pain. Consistently, meaningfully. He suffers, and the story takes it with every ounce of seriousness it can muster.

The Princesses, on the other hand, either experience little hurt or, when they do suffer, do so briefly before the narrative shoves it aside in favor of Catradora other things. As a result, they fail to make the same impression. They fail to garner my compassion because, in the end, they just don’t seem to really need it.

Whereas Hordak does.

#hordak #spop princesses

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mikaze-discord · 3 years ago

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Love letter project ♡

Sooo to celebrate the 4th anniversary of Shining live, I put together a project! I basically got a bunch of people to write a love letter for their favourite boy. Things like, why they like them, how they got to like them and what they like about them were all accepted!

The event was supposed to have 2 fans for each boy but unfortunately I was unable to get two for some of the boys.

Under the cut will be the love letters for all of Class A!!! Please enjoy~ And thank you for all the people who participated in the event and taking the time to write the love letters out.

CLASS A

OTOYA ITTOKI

From @ponzu-penzui:

Hello world! My nickname is Yuki, and I’m here to tell you about the sunshine boy that is Otoya Ittoki. The redhead of the series, Otoya is your seemingly a-typical sunshine in a mascot boy character. But, as we all know with these types, the sunshine isn’t as, well, sunshine as they seem. Or, if you didn’t know, well… spoiler alert I guess. Go watch the anime, or play the otome games, then come back here. Anyways, let’s get started on our journey, shall we? Through the rabbithole that got me here in the first place!

Otoya immediately became my best boy the second I saw him. I’m not quite sure what immediately got me at first, whether it be his red hair and eyes, his voice, or his immediate friendliness, but here we are. I should also mention that UtaPri was my first idol anime, so I was completely unaware what was going to hit me later. And, if you’ve watched the entire anime, you know where I’m going.

Season 4 was an emotional wreck. I cried at least twice. Did I have a newfound appreciation for Otoya after all that heartache? Definitely. Without spoilers, it was incredibly painful for me to watch, but I don’t regret it.

After watching the anime, I soon found out about the existence of Shining Live. So, with no other UtaPri content to binge, I started to play SL in late 2018. After playing for a little more than a year, I tiered in my first Otoya event (Heartwarming Snow Festival), and achieved my first top 200. Ever since then, I’ve tiered in every Otoya event, getting top 200, then top 100.

But, why do I like Otoya Ittoki even to this day? Well, I guess this is the time where I say that, after a certain point, I started to see bits of myself in Otoya. This led me to start to RP him, and, as you probably know if you’ve ever roleplayed a character before, I started to look at the miniscule amount of translated game content (many thanks to the Ohayaho Translation Team) for, well, more content. And content I did receive. Long story short, this only served to solidify Otoya as my favorite boy of not only UtaPri, but from all anime/manga/game content I’ve ever seen/watched. His cheerfulness may have been the first thing that got me in this rabbithole, but his backstory and how he managed to grow up pulled me in even further. And, I don’t think I will or want to get out anytime soon.

Next one from; Anon

As much as we all know our Otoya for how sweet and kind he is, there is so much more to him than just a precious smile. He is uplifting, cheerful towards everyone he meets. He has empathy and goes out of his way to make sure his friends are happy. Even so, Otoya has feelings that aren’t always happiness and smiles. He can feel sad and angry just like anyone else.

The reason I care and love Otoya so much is because he has shown me that I don’t have to always put on a smile. It’s nice to show off your pearly whites, but sometimes, it’s okay to be sad too. There are times in everyone’s life when they feel out of place and that they don’t belong. Otoya also felt this way and that’s perfectly okay. He’s still being the best idol he can be: The idol that Otoya loves the most.

MASATO HIJIRIKAWA

From Anon:

Masato Hijirikawa. Why do I like Masato Hijirikawa? I like him to the point that it feels weird for me to even question why I do. He's just- a good boy. A great boy. I love him. As a joke, I'd usually say that it was his weirdly pretty, bowl-cut hairstyle that drew me to him, or I'd say that he caught my interest when I read that he was "very good with his hands" (wink wonk) in his Shining Live description, and while both of these reasons are still true, it wasn't until I started role playing him in an old server that I really started to appreciate his character more.

Masato, despite his aloof and almost "perfect" initial image, is a very relatable character. When he first arrived at Saotome (in-game) he wasn't necessarily seen as someone with a lot of talent to become an idol, which he acknowledged with grace and worked hard to make up for. He's humble despite his privileged upbringing and is incredibly self-aware of his flaws, which are sources of insecurity for him sometimes (a lot of times). Though it should be said that most of this insecurity stems from not having a lot of control over his early life, which is why it felt so gratifying to see him break free of his metaphorical chains to pursue his happiness without any doubts. He's a hard worker and is willing to accept criticism with open arms, not only for himself but for the people around him. Despite his traditional upbringing and nature, he's very receptive to change as long as it benefits both him and STARISH. He values the people he cares about more than anything, which is why he constantly strives to be a better version of himself every day, not only for himself but for the people around him.

Though his stoicism sometimes makes him seem plain or even "boring" to some people, he hides a warm, hidden passion within that's just as bright as everyone else's. Like the springtime bloom of cherry blossoms after winter, Masato shows his passion and love with no restraint to anyone who takes the time to understand him, and I can very much attest to this. I love him a lot and I hope to see more content of him, STARISH, and the others for more years to come.

NATSUKI SHINOMIYA

From uh....me:

HELLO I’m Z~ also known as the mod of the mikaze-discord/utapri-hcs tumblrs, as well as the organiser for the event! But enough about myself, let's talk about Natsuki Shinomiya.

When I first watched the anime as a youngin, I had already known about the games and their plots but had decided to try out the anime as well since I had nothing better to do.

Natsuki was actually one of my least favourite characters in the anime just because of how they presented him. I just...didn't care for him at all. He was just some random tall guy who loved hugs and almost murder…. Yeah.

I’m sure like most, I had a changing point. Originally, I was a Tokiya rper but...I was just unhappy with how my Tokiya was, I wasn't as experienced in rping with that server being my first rp server i was ever in. I didn't feel like I matched up with the others. I felt my Tokiya was just lacking something, substance maybe. Another person actually had a similar feeling and had changed their character from Camus to Syo and since we already had an Ai, I had just decided to go with the flow and complete the rest of the cute team. Best decision of my life. I’m so grateful for Natsuki and everything I associate him with. Without him, I probably wouldn't have made my tumblrs, I wouldn't have stayed in that server, I wouldn't have gone looking for other servers to rp in. I don't think I would be the same without Natsuki. I just find him so endearing now, he is just a lovable giant who happens to be able to be a disney princess. He is just so darn cute damn it. , just look at his Christmas card, his King card, quite literally just half his Shining live URs. Also, just like his songs just slap. Natsuki to me, is just serotonin. He gave me so many opportunities that I could have missed. I don't even think I would have started this love letter project without him if I’m being completely honest. I genuinely enjoyed all the memories I made as Natsuki. Thank you to Natsuki and to the Mikaze-discord for basically starting me off.

From Luke:

Natsuki was actually the very first character I encountered before I got into utapri. A friend showed a photo of him and told me that I'd probably be into this guy. She sure was right! After installing shining live for the first time and having a familiar face on the screen, I grew curious of him each day and just had to find out why was so attracted to him. The fact that I've seen him so many times in the past was haunting me, telling me that this man actually watched me grow up from a distance without even knowing his name. It sounds weird but I find it rather comforting for someone who doesn't want to be protected but isn't strong enough to defend myself alone.

The thought of having him there was enough to get me through the day and gave me enough reason to wake up to the next. I admit I may have adapted some of his habits after looking after his account for a year but that isn't a bad thing if it means that it would turn me into a much better person than I am now. I guess you could say we've grown together now in a sense, preserving the feelings and just living through the moment no matter how happy or sad it is. What's important is that we're not alone in all things we do and in everything we feel, there will always be someone there to keep us moving when we feel like giving up.

#utapri #utanoprincesama #uta no prince sama #Natsuki Shinomiya #Shinomiya Natsuki #Masato Hijirikawa #hijirikawa masato #otoya ittoki #ittoki otoya

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sadoeuphemist · 4 years ago

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Stories I thought about writing, but didn’t:

my voice is poisonous, a gift from a strange god my parents once befriended. I’m careful not to speak, but I know they’re afraid.

A poison-voiced girl is born to deaf parents, but falls in love with a hearing boy. Their courtship is marked on her end by a thrilling restraint, biting her lip, knowing she could kill him with an indiscretion; he, on the other hand, longs to see her act without inhibition. He manages to make her laugh, sigh, gasp out in wonder - each time he falls ill from the poison of her voice, but is undeterred even in his convalescence, returning renewed in his goal to tease another sound out of her.

Her parents tell her to break it off; she’ll kill him. She reluctantly agrees. He refuses, pleads with her, grasps her hands so she can’t sign. In anguish she cries out his name — but lo! he does not sicken, does not die. It turns out his repeated exposures to her voice have mithridatized him against it. She can speak around him freely! They both agree that this development has taken a lot of the excitement out of the relationship, but it has been replaced with a greater casualness and intimacy that balances it out.

I can see the angels in their true form, a thousand splendid eyes and all. They think it’s funny, and have taken to hanging around my apartment

The angels start making excuses to keep showing up at my apartment, in the manner of the annunciation, but for increasingly trivial reasons. They come bearing tidings about how I should definitely get the turkey wrap for lunch, which brand of fabric softener I should buy, how that quarter I’ll find on the sidewalk is a sign that I am favored by God. They come bearing bad tidings too: The Lord has heard of all the evil in your printer, and has sent us here to jam it. Their presence becomes completely overbearing, but they are insistent. There’s a reason you see us in our true forms, they say, all their splendid eyes shining. Is it so hard to believe that the God that formed every atom of you in the womb should watch over you always, that every mundane moment of your existence in this world is shot through with the divine?

There was a body in the river, ice cold and snow white. Sometimes it was all the way dead. Sometimes it sat up and talked to me.

A king has declared that whoever can complete the following tasks shall marry his daughter: 1) to recover a lost treasure stolen from his family hundreds of years ago; 2) to name the start of the pact between men and horses; and 3) to find a cure to the plague ravaging the land.

Our plucky folk hero helps an old lady who sits by the river; she tells him of the snow white body within, who has sat up and spoken to her at odd times throughout her life. It is the spirit of the glacier: the glacier melts, and forms the river; layer by layer the past frozen in it is uncovered, parts of it living and parts of it dead. Our hero builds many bonfires and melts the glacier faster; the body lives and dies and lives many times over and tells him the three answers. 1) The thief fell into a crevasse and was frozen over; the ice is melted now, and the treasure can be recovered. 2) Iron horseshoes frozen in the glacier reveal the pact is many thousands of years old. 3) The plague is an old one, frozen and released anew with the glacier’s melting; it is carried in the livestock, and they must be slaughtered.

The hero solves the king’s tasks and marries his daughter. Presumably the new king is then faced with the challenge of the rising sea levels; no idea how that plays out.

“We’re all nice to each other here,” they told us, “we’ve got angels in the hills. They like it when we’re nice. And they see everything.”

This one’s tough to summarize adequately. Two men are going door to door, seemingly taking a survey of the religious beliefs in a small town. They finish, sit together in their car. People have been very cooperative. One of the men remarks that the local religious beliefs are disappointingly unremarkable: yes, they believe in angels watching from the hills, but most people believe in an omniscient God watching over them, and whether it is God or his intercessors, does it make a significant difference?

They sit in the car. Perhaps they smoke in the lazy sunlight. They have finished their survey ahead of time. One of them proposes: Suppose we have a picnic lunch up in the hills?

They park at the base of the hill and walk up. Lovely day. They spread out a blanket from the car, stretch their legs out on the grass, take off their coats, loosen their ties. They’ve brought their packed lunch, sandwiches, a thermos of lemonade. They talk about how pleasant all the people were. Their kind of religion seems so ... brittle, one of the men remarks. If I thought there was someone waiting to punish me the moment I stepped out of line, I’d want to do something horrible just to get it over with.

You think so? says his partner. I think just the opposite. The grand problem with religion is that there aren’t enough consequences for wickedness. I know if I saw the wicked being smote down on a regular basis, I would very satisfied in my religion indeed.

Well, of course you would; you’re a sadist.

Me? A sadist? Hardly.

You’re a sadist, his partner says teasingly. A sadist and brute.

They smile at each other. Idle conversation. There is a suggestion that they have visited many such towns and cities, asking the same question, but have yet to receive a satisfactory answer. At one point one of them notes that there’s something in the trees, but this remark is ignored and nothing is ever made of it. The conversation turns back to whether the angels in the hills are real or not. The ‘sadist’ stands up, declares his intent to do something wicked to test them. He marches around, swinging his arms, then looks around at the trees and puts his hands on his hips and laughs.

You know, up here away from society, he declares, I can’t think of a single wicked thing to do!

(Maybe a conversation here about how he could tear branches from trees, despoil the scenery, find an animal to kill; but then again animals in nature strip bark from trees, kill each other bloodily all the time, tear each other to bits, so how wicked could that be, really?)

He looks down at his partner still lying back on the blanket. Unless, of course, I were to do something wicked to you.

Whatever happens next, it is very leisurely. The scene is easy, very relaxed. Lovely day. Calm. Bright blue sky. Clouds float across it, white like feathered wings, and then pass, leaving not a trace behind.

None of us can imagine what life was like before the Clocks came, before clockwork cities, and all their technology. They rebuilt our crumbling society, in perfect, mechanical order.

Brief musings on a hypothetical pre-Clock society. A society built around the sun, all buildings roofless, everyone’s necks craned upward. Cities built running north to south so as not to block anyone’s view of the rise and set. A society built around hourglasses, everyone judging the passage of time by the sand puddling around their feet, knees, waists, clambering up onto growing dunes, waiting for the flip, for the sand to slowly drain away and the furnishings of their homes to be uncovered. Perhaps this was our unimaginable life before the Clocks came: sands stretching far away and bare, the hypothetical counterpart bulb of an hourglass reflected invisible above us, empty and vast with unrealized possibility, waiting to be reset.

When I was very young, I met a bear at the edge of the woods. Before I could play dead, it bowed to me.

Jokey little fic where a child is instructed on the etiquette of bears: when to bow, when to curtsy, when to raise your hands and make yourself as large as possible, when to climb a tree, when to play dead. (Note that grizzlies are territorial, so if they attack you and play dead they’ll leave you alone because the threat is neutralized; whereas black bears are not territorial, so playing dead will do no good because a black bear will only attack if it deliberately wants to fuck you up.)

I was given very specific instructions. Go to the rosebush on a clear night. As the moonlight turns the roses silver, feed them three drops of blood.

After years of trying for a child, a couple turns to an old witch to help. The woman is instructed to eat a rose from a magical rosebush. If she first pricks her finger and stains the rose red with her blood, then she will have a son, ruddy and robust and bold in battle; if she visits the bush on a clear night and eats a rose painted silver by moonlight, then she will have a daughter, as pale and graceful and elegant as the moon.

The woman is uneasy with the implications of this binary, and says so. The witch smiles and gives her a new set of instructions. So she pricks her finger at night, her blood painted black by the moonlight, and nine months later gives birth to a child as black as a rose, who is neither boy nor girl.

Never manged to come up with a plot for this one. The kid grows up to have a career fulfilling all those “Neither man nor woman” prophecies? Eh. Kinda corny. There’s something about gender roles in fairy tales here, but I couldn’t put it together.

Not for the first time, the company time loop drill had gone very, very wrong.

I did actually write a response for this one, but it got too long and I gave up on it. Summary of the rest of the idea I had:

Time resets. Nagle confirms that it is both an actual time loop and a drill; the company is doing a controlled time loop to prepare them for the real thing. People complain. What’s the point of a drill when an actual time loop would let you keep doing things over and over until you get it right? Nagle points out that could take years, subjectively, and that this is a controlled experience where he has a code to abort the exercise if anything seriously goes wrong. He insists they try to make it work.

They go through a bunch of loops. Don’t succeed. It’s highly technical stuff that none of them are trained for. Morale drops. People start complaining, they’ve spent hours at this, they should be off duty by now. Nagle points out there’s a ruling, established with VR training, that companies don’t need to pay their employees according to their subjective experience of time, and officially they’ve only spent 34 minutes at this.

More loops. Morale drops further. People start demanding Nagle use the abort code, threatening to quit. Nagle points out that while they’re in this time loop, their actions are consequence-free, but once he ends the loop they’ll have to live with their decisions for the rest of their lives. Are they sure they really want to quit?

At that point someone loses it and kills Nagle. Shock. Panic. Some satisfaction. He’s reborn the next loop, starts screaming about it - someone kills him again. Complete social breakdown. Eventually some people decide, fuck it, let’s just live in this loop forever. Killing Nagle becomes a standard thing they do at the start of every loop, so that he can’t input the abort code. They go through various reconfigurations of their social group - orgies, riots, open paranoia where everyone colonizes a different part of the building, regressing to primitivism, open warfare between various sects, rebuilding of society along different axes of thought. Everyone starts thinking of themselves as immortal, they start calling themselves things like ‘Chronobog of the Infinite Plane of Despair’ or whatever; the narration gets increasingly surreal.

After god knows how many cycles of this, everyone finally achieves an equilibrium of perfect enlightenment. They know what must be done. They leave Nagle alive, he watches as they move in perfect unison to unlock the server room and overcome all the obstacles and repair the tachyon servers, loop is finally terminated, normal flow of time resumes.

Nagle stands up, gives a speech, starts congratulating them on completing the drill. As he talks, everyone can feel the rapport they’ve built start to slip away - they no longer understand each other perfectly outside of the context of those 34 minutes. Time is moving forward again, and with it introducing unfamiliarity, uncertainty, an impossible onslaught of variables that they cannot predict or prepare for, and they are all moving inescapably further from each other even as they glance around and try to catch each other’s eyes and keep holding on to that feeling of perfect unity - but it’s too late now, they are strangers behind familiar faces, all of them heading in their own directions, going to be returning to their own separate lives; that moment of solidarity they had is past.

And then Nagle claps his hands at them and says, “OK, drill’s over, everyone back to work!”

#fiction #dumping grounds

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ilguna · 4 years ago

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Redamancy - Chapter Four (f.o)

summary: it’s time to forgive and repair.

warnings; swearing, MURDER, GORE.

wc; 8.8k

NOTES; I give reader a last name to fit the world.

–

Even though the Hunger Games doesn’t start until ten, you’re in the betting room at nine. You’re not the first and only mentor to come down bright and early, there’s plenty of others who are already making their way around the room. Shaking hands, exchanging compliments and holding friendly conversation.

You’re not exactly the same way, as you stand off to the side, gnawing on your thumb’s nail. You’ve watched Annie and Marsh’s odds bob up and down plenty of times already, as the gamemakers try to decide where they belong last minute. So far, Annie and Marsh are back to back in numbers, with Marsh being on top.

“You’re stressed.”

Gloss is staring up at the betting board when you look over at him. He’s got his arms crossed, serious and straight-faced. In the past, he would be some type of excited because of their undeniably fantastic tributes. This year is different, as you’ve already discovered many times. His male tribute scored lower than usual, and the girl is higher by one single point.

It’s normal for the careers to score from anywhere between eight and ten, but that doesn’t mean they want an eight. They want nines and tens, because it shows proficiency and dangerousness. Plus, it’s normally District Four who’s scoring eights and whatnot. A good example of that is when Finnick scored the number when he was fourteen.

Today’s seriousness doesn’t reflect the attitude that was being presented last night. Last night was much livelier, a laughing group of mentors on the streets of the Capitol. Of course, as Finnick requested, you all stayed inside and in private rooms for most of the time, but eventually he decided that he wanted to experience the festival the way you guys normally do.

Which is practically chaos, as Gloss and Enobaria feed into each other’s bad thoughts and drag you around the city doing whatever they want. Trying on regular Capitol wear, buying replica crowns that Snow places on the brows of victors. They try different drinks and foods, all a hundred different flavors, some sweet, others sour, sometimes spicy.

The Capitol is a playground to them, and it’s fun to watch them break rules and create their own. Playing games on the sidewalk to see who will chug the next cherry vodka, who will lose a shirt or a sock or a piece of expensive jewelry down a storm drain. The night of the interviews is the only night where you all get to be your true selves.

Even Finnick felt comfortable enough to join in on your antics. It’s always a night to remember, you’re sure that he’ll be using it to tell stories in the future. The year where you cornered Finnick to helping you, and how he saw that you weren’t always who you pretended to be. It’s easy to be professional when you don’t like someone, but it’s harder to contain yourself when you’re surrounded by people who understand what you’re going through.

Of course, it’s only one night. If your tributes die, you get sent home, so you never have the chance to congratulate and celebrate with your friends after they bring home another tribute. You can always say your peace the next year, but by then they’re over it, and they’re ready for another victor.

“So are you.” you playfully punch his bicep, “Look at you, you never cross your arms.”

He gives you a smile, “Whatever, it’s not that much of a giveaway.”

“You’re right, it was definitely your face. You never scowl.” You look at the board again to see that all the numbers seem to be locked, “Careful, you’ll end up with wrinkles. After that, people will really begin to realize that you’re older than Cashmere.”

The board is a little confusing at first to get used to, but after years of looking at it, you’ve grown accustomed to it. At the top reads ‘MORNING LINE ODDS’, and below is a row readied for how many days, hours, minutes and seconds the tributes have been inside of the arena. Which is none at the moment, so instead they have a countdown going on. Fifty-four minutes. Less than an hour.

Below it are more rows and information about the tributes. The left states their district, and then it splits into two. The Capitol doesn’t care about names anymore, just the important parts. Their heights, weights, ages, betting odds and faces are displayed for everyone to see.

For Gloss and Cashmeres tributes, they’re both doing fairly good on odds. The girl has a predicted 5-1 chance of winning, and the boy has a 7-1. In the past, the roles have been reversed, the boys always show a brute strength during their private training so it’s hard not to score like that. Enobaria and Wades tributes are better, even with the repeating numbers. The girl has a 5-1 too, but the boy holds a 3-1 because of his score.

The gamemakers are used to your tributes’ scores teetering on the edge of very good and mediocre, which normally earns them a 9-1 or lower. However, since your tributes have shown promise through personality and matching high numbers, you’re staring at a 7-1 for Marsh and a 8-1 for Annie. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the past scores.

You think that the lowest you’ve seen for District Four is a 20-1. That was a particularly horrible year, and since then you’ve learned to stop the problem before it gets too bad to be fixed. Maybe it’s attitude, maybe it’s not caring for training, you’re there with dead eyes and mean words to put them back in their place. They like to self-sabotage, not a good thing to do when you’re going into the Hunger Games.

On one hand, you’re thankful for the morning line odds, because it gets the betters a sense of direction of which tributes they should sponsor and keep an eye on. But sometimes it seems futile when the sponsors will do whatever they want, or go for the more obvious and favorable tributes--cough cough, Districts One and Two. You can never go wrong betting on the districts that practically get a winner every year.

“Haha.” Gloss says in regards to your age comment, “Where’s Finnick?”

You shrug, “Couldn’t find him at all this morning.”

It’s true, you searched the entire apartment three times before leaving. The living room, the kitchen, the balcony, your bedroom, his bedroom, even in the hallway and stairwell. There wasn’t a single trace of Finnick anywhere, it didn’t even look like he spent the night in his room, but you definitely remember him going in there last night.

Whatever, you’re not all that upset. It’s the first day, and even if there’s a lot that happens on the first day, sponsorships aren’t one of them. The first day relies on the tributes to get used to their surroundings and figure things out for themselves. The second day is when mentors and sponsors begin to collaborate.

Doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be down here anyway. It’s nice to make friends while you can. You’ll just have to talk to Finnick later about him helping you down here. The whole reason why you’ve called on him for help this year is because of the betting room. An extra pair of eyes, ears and hands helps out, it goes a long ass way. Two people mingling is better than one. You can pull more sponsors together.

You glance at Gloss, “Where’s Cashmere and the others?”

“Wade’s here,” Gloss turns, thumb jabbing in the direction. He’s got the spot perfectly right, you’re able to see that Wade is surrounded by Capitol people, all laughing and joking around, “Cashmere and Enobaria will be down here later. They’re sleeping in, I think.”

“Well, after last night…” you trail off with a small smile, and Gloss snorts.

It’s quiet between you two as you watch the time tick down. Thirty minutes left, the tributes are close or in the catacombs at this point. Judging by the small glimpse the gamemakers gave this year, you think that the arena’s going to be sunny. They’re probably dressed in regular clothing, stuff that won’t make the tributes too hot but won’t allow them to get cold easily.

Honestly, at this point, you’re tired of the build up.

“At least your tributes’ odds are doing well this year.”

“Tell me about it. But it came at a price, since yours fucked up during training.” you run a hand through your hair, getting annoyed when it falls back in your face.

“There’s always room for redemption.”

Redemption, what a pointless thing to bank on, “Right.”

You’d tell him it’s good to have hope, but when has hope ever helped you? It’s always a letdown. And out of all tributes that are about to enter the arena, the careers aren’t the ones that need hope. It’s everyone else.

More silence, you mindlessly watch the time tick down. Thirty minutes, twenty, fifteen, ten. Everyone starts getting antsy around five, you and Gloss stand behind the rows of chairs that begin to fill with citizens. Wade comes around and joins the two of you, talking about what he discovered during conversation.

He was going after their opinions on the tributes. And while they have sung good praise of their tributes, as usual, they also couldn’t stop bringing up Marsh in particular. There were constant comments on how they had wished that he would’ve gotten more time on stage. It was new to them, and they liked the new approach.

You figure that other mentors will start telling their tributes to follow in Marsh’s footsteps, and after that the comedy skit will be ruined and you’ll have to find something else that’ll catch attention. At this point, everything possible has been found and exploited until it got old.

Twenty seconds until it hits a minute, which is when they’ll raise the tributes. The games don’t officially start until that minute is over. The clock will flip, and then it’ll start from the bottom up. You clench your teeth, spinning your ring around your finger over and over. Annie and Marsh are in the tubes, submerged in darkness, you can feel it yourself, the stomach lurching and the dread and regret. It’s too late now, they have to fall through on what they’ve built so far.

They’ve got this. They’ve got this. They’ve got this.

The clock hits a minute and five seconds, you can begin to see the tops of tributes heads. You lean forward slightly, eyes searching for Annie and Marsh, and find them easily. They’re close together, maybe two tributes between them, which is good news. They can see each other and decide what they want to do. You hope they discussed some sort of plan at some point regarding how they want to start their games off.

The cornucopia this year is silver and placed in the middle of a field of flowers. The grass is tall too, but thin enough to see where the gamemakers have placed the goodies outside of the cornucopia this year. As the camera pans around the tributes, you’re able to catch glimpses of the arena.

A field of flowers, hills that seem to stretch forever and offer little to no protection. In the distance is… a village? Others must see it too, because whispers break out, predictions on which tributes will immediately run for it. It’s an obvious place to go, Annie and Marsh won’t head there first. They’ll go for a better place.

However, it’s not inevitable, it’ll probably be the first place where the careers will go to get as many people out as possible. For a quick and scary moment, you think that this will be a fast Hunger Games. Whatever happens, just let one of your tributes last until the end.

One last shot before the sixty seconds is over, and it feels like you’ve been stabbed in the heart.

The dam that they showed--the preview--they must’ve edited it or something with how they made it look so small and not at all threatening. You thought it was holding back a small river, especially with the stream of water that was coming from it. But this--this is not for a river. This is for a fucking lake.

“Oh my fucking god.” you lace your fingers, placing your hands on the back of your head.

“Wow.” Gloss utters, “Yeah that isn’t at all what they showed us.”

From what you can tell, the tributes are supposed to be far away from the dam, a couple miles at least. But it’s still big enough to see through the trees, and tall enough to block some of the sky. Actually, it reminds you of the cliffs in your games. The cliffs were a two day walk from the cornucopia, and yet you could see them over the tops of the trees.

No one in their right mind would head towards the dam, especially with the chance that it would break. It’s just not common sense, and Annie and Marsh have shown promise when it comes to thinking logically. Which means that they would have to head the other way… towards the village.

They’re fucked. Everyone in that arena is set up for failure. You give it a couple of days, maybe a week and a half at most. No one in their right mind is going to want to stay next to the dam, but on the other hand they won’t want to get killed. And you can hide near the dam at the beginning of the games, but eventually if you want to head towards the village and clear hills, people will see you coming from a mile away.

You clench your fists, gritting your teeth more as your nails dig into the skin on your palms.

Out of all the arena’s that you’ve seen, this is by far the worst. It’s a trap, there’s no choice but to fall victim to it.

“Well, there goes literally everything.” Wade lets out a laugh.

“The others should be down here.” Gloss says.

He’s referring to Enobaria, Cashmere and Finnick, and he’s completely right. They won’t know what’s happening or the situation until later. By then, it’ll be too late. The bloodbath always costs around seven to ten lives, and if they all scatter towards the village, you think at the end of the day, half the competition will be gone.

The countdown has reached five, you watch as Annie and Marsh prepare to run into the cornucopia. It isn’t a bad choice, they’re good fighters. As long as they don’t go too far in, maybe grab the supplies that are only a few feet away from the mouth, they’ll be golden. You hope they realize this.

The gong sounds.

It’s only been a couple of seconds, and a handful of tributes are already heading towards the village. Others dare to run towards the dam, but they’re all apprehensive and continue to steal longing looks at the cornucopia and beyond that. They’re not the focus of the cameras, though.

The bloodbath is horrible as usual. Annie and Marsh are next to each other, stealing things out of the grass, shoving them into an empty backpack. Sheets of plastic, bread, firestarters, rope, water jugs. You watch with furrowed eyebrows, trying to keep track of the careers and the deaths.

On the side of the screen is a list, one at a time names and districts appear. The girl from Six, the boy from Eight, the girl from Eleven, the boy from Twelve. Two minutes in and four are already dead. Annie and Marsh head towards the cornucopia quickly, a plan already in mind.

Marsh slips inside of the cornucopia, making your heartbeat in your ears, body filling with adrenaline. Stupid move, going inside traps you there. Not even in your games did you go inside all the way. He’s gone for ten seconds, twenty. Annie doesn’t appear to be worried at first, but it changes when a career sets their eyes on her.

The boy from One.

“Oh, here we go.” you cross one arm over your chest, the other covering your mouth.

Annie ditches the backpack, throwing it against the cornucopia to keep it clear of her path. Out of nowhere, she pulls out a knife, spinning it between her fingers to make sure that the boy knows she has it. Her body curls in forward, chin dropping downwards.

She would look threatening, as if she has a chance at winning this fight if it weren’t for the short blade that the boy has. He comes towards her, a smile hinting at the corners of his lips. He swings, she dodges easily and advances forward. Annie isn’t a runner, especially not when she has a plan.

This is life or death, Annie. This isn’t practice anymore. This is for real.

He swings again, she moves out of the way and comes closer, a little out of range. The boy is becoming frustrated, and his swings begin to cut close. Annie side steps, you can see the blade cut through her shirt, when the boy holds his blade up, you can see a glint of blood. Annie doesn’t even look phased.

Where the hell is Marsh? You look at the corner of the screen, reading over the new list of deaths. The boy from Eleven, the girl from Twelve, the girl from Ten. Seven dead, the bloodbath is practically over, Annie and Marsh need to get out of there now.

He swings again, cutting Annie’s upper left arm. She barely acknowledges it, when the gamemakers change camera angles, you can finally see her face. All those times you’ve watched her fight the other kids at the boarding school, she’d be able to sweep most of the kids with her eyes closed. On the days you and Anchor permitted actual harm, she became more serious about fighting.

Annie shifted in those moments. Her eyes dead, locking on the target in front of her. She always has a plan, always ready to move and bait the person in. She’ll tense in sticky situations, but always find her way out of it. She became unlikable when fighting others because of this. Always said that it was an unfair fight.

And she’s about to bring the boy from One down.

The boy swings one more time, Annie moves out of the way in time for him to miss. Not a second later, she’s launching towards him, the knife perfectly aimed for his stomach. He’s quick to try and slash at her, so she has to drop the knife in the grass and grab his wrist instead, falling on top of him.

Annie slams her knee into the boy's left wrist, and uses both of her hands to force the sword in the other hand, down towards his throat. His face turns an angry shade of red, eyebrows forced so close that there’s a deep crease between them. Annie’s face is determined, the kind and polite girl that you saw yesterday evening is nowhere to be seen.

It’s a struggle between them, Annie’s got a tight grip around his wrist, knuckles turning white. She grits her teeth, lip curling, lets up for a moment on the arm, only to go crashing back down. The boys’ locked arm breaks, and the sword slides through his throat. Red, thick blood comes out of his throat, painting his tan skin and the silver blade.

Annie lets out a sound, pulls out the sword, and slams it into his forehead. On the side of the screen, the boy from One appears. You let out a breath, watching as Annie gathers her things. It’s right on time for Marsh to come fighting out, the girl from One trying to stop him. His face is twisted like he’s in pain, but it’s just how he focuses too.

If they knock out District One, Gloss and Cashmere go home. It’s over, and all you have to worry about is the District Two tributes. For the first time in a very long time, District One won’t survive past the first day.

It doesn’t work out like that, Marsh sends a harsh kick to her leg and she crumples. He and Annie regroup, and the two of them take off running towards the dam, the backpack bouncing on Annie’s back, Marsh tightly holding onto his favorite weapon. Annie now has the short blade to use.

“Okay.” you breathe, because it could be worse.

The village is going to be a slaughter, so you don’t blame them for running towards the dam. They just need to find another place to stay soon, and hope that the careers don’t come towards them for revenge.

“Congrats.” Gloss has got a smile on his face, clapping a hand on your shoulder.

“Thanks, I guess. One more tribute and you get sent home.” you raise your eyebrows at him.

He rolls his eyes, “They’ll have to try really hard to get that to happen.”

“Anything is possible!” you cheer.

The bloodbath lasted about twenty minutes, even if it didn’t feel like it. The main career group has three left; two girls and one boy. Annie and Marsh are still very much alive, taking camp by the dam. The total bloodbath deaths is eight. Districts Eleven and Twelve are gone; Parry, Seeder and Haymitch are going home.

They’re nowhere to be seen, which you can’t really blame them for. Haymitch is the only victor in his district, and Parry won ten years ago so he replaced Chaff when it comes to mentoring. After a long streak of losing, you’re sure that you’d find yourself holed up in the apartment too. Why bother showing up in the betting room if you know your tributes won’t make it past the first day?

Although, District Eleven typically has their tributes last a while longer. But you guess it’s different this year since both of their tributes ran into the cornucopia on the assumption that they’d make it out alive. At this point, no tributes make it out alive unless they’re very good at fighting or they can slip between fingers.

You take a look at the betting board to see that the dead tributes are greyed out since they’re impossible to bet on. Everyone else who’s still alive have had their odds increase slightly. Now that the gamemakers have seen survival and fighting skills come alive, they can determine how the rest of the games are going to go much better.

The girl from One has increased to a 4-1, the other two careers stay the same. Annie has gone from an 8-1 to a 6-1, Marsh stays the same. Killing the career boy has done her good. Your two tributes will have sponsors around the corner in no time. You think that Finnick will be excited to hear this.

On screen, the careers gather what they need and air out of the cornucopia, heading towards the village, as predicted. For a second, there’s a disagreement, as the girl from One wants to head after Annie and Marsh to take care of them before they become a serious problem, but the other two vote against her, so she’s stuck going towards the village.

Annie and Marsh aren’t the only two who went towards the dam, there’s about three to four others who are there too. Still, the majority went straight for the village, which could very well be because it’ll give them cover from any of the elements, but you can’t imagine that there’s any sort of water source. The gamemakers like to keep the sources to a minimum and in one spot to make sure that the tributes come across each other on refills.

With the bloodbath being over, you can breathe. You, Gloss and Wade take a seat on a couch nearby, with you and Gloss being pressed against the arms, and Wade being sat in the middle. You’d say that it’s crowded, Gloss and Wade aren’t the smallest guys to exist, but there’s still enough breathing room between all of you.

You tap your fingers against the arm of the chair, watching as the cameras all split into groups. Annie and Marsh being one, still running into the woods to put as much distance between them and the cornucopia as possible. The second team of tributes being District Seven, as they’re working together this year, heading towards the left, away from the stream of water that Annie and Marsh are unintentionally going to come across.

The other two tributes by the dam are the girl from Eight and the boy from Five, scattered in their own special way, but not shown individually on screen. They’re not as important, it looks like the gamemakers are focusing on alliances at the moment. Next up are the careers, taking their time with making their way down and over the grassy hills. They’re digging through their backpacks and laughing about something.

There’s no alliance in the village at all. After a few more seconds of glimpses of the alliance tributes, it’s switched to individual. From what you’re able to see, the village is pretty big. At least six tributes are scattered inside of houses or making their way as deep inside as possible. As far as the forest goes, two people are wandering around. There’s only one tribute that you can’t decide where they are because of the way she’s cleverly placed herself.

The bloodbath canons begin to go off now, there’s a series of different reactions. Eight deaths in the bloodbath isn’t even that uncommon, the most you’ve probably seen before is twelve. Hell, in your games you think that there were nine total. Typically, the tributes have enough common sense to save themselves right off the bat.

“What do you think the dam’s about?” Gloss suddenly asks.

Your eyes slowly land on him to see that he’s waiting on you and Wade. Wade shrugs his shoulders, not knowing what to say. They don’t know? How can they not know? You thought that the dam was pretty straight forward. Maybe they weren’t standing in front of the tv close enough to see the cracks.

A part of you wants to tell them what your predictions are, but you bite your tongue and shrug too. In the past, mentors have been able to send secret messages to tributes. It happened in your games, it’s happened in others, and you’ve even sent a couple when it was direly needed. So telling them could backfire in your face.

Even if you’re friends with them, sometimes you can’t trust to give others certain information. It’s so risky, knowing that the other mentor can easily pass off the information. Especially during the initial week inside of the Capitol. The tributes are at your fingertips.

It’s why you resort to being mysterious most of the time. While your mentor friends have nothing to hide because they put their plans out in the open from the start—because you all know that it’s no secret that the careers are powerhouses. You rely on the element of surprise to get you through literally everything.

The mentors can’t tell their tributes what your opinion is if you don’t give one. They can’t tell them that you’re sure your tributes are absolutely deadly and pose one of the biggest threats in the arena this year. They have to rely on past experiences to make predictions, but even then, sometimes districts manage to pull surprises out of nowhere.

The clock hits the first hour mark, by then the careers have made it to the village. Already beginning to weave their way in and out of houses. They’re not exactly quiet, so if a tribute hears them coming, they’ll easily be able to hide before the career gets to them.

Well, that’s what you think. However, every time a tribute is shown individually, you see that there’s nothing to hide behind. There’s no doors, and if there are, they’re broken or falling apart from years with no use. It’s like a terrifying game of hide and seek, but there’s hardly hiding. It’s a game of skill and luck now.

Luck that you won’t get found or your house won’t get chosen. That the career will come just close enough but turn their back at the last second when they decide that a place is clear. But it’s skill, testing the careers senses. Seeing if they properly know how to clear an area completely of tributes.

Just like how luck wasn’t on the side of these tributes when their names got chosen, it’s not on their side when it comes to hiding in plain sight, either. One by one, they’re all found.

The first one is the girl from Five, pressed tightly against the wall, holding her breath with tears slowly coming to her eyes. You can practically hear her chanting in her head, “Please don’t find me, please don’t fine me—“

The girl from One rounds the corner, without a single hesitation, she shoves the sword through the other girls’ stomach before the girl can defend herself. The sword pins the girl to the wall, blood spilling out of her stomach. Five has her mouth open in shock, eyes locked on the weapon, fingers fumbling to touch it.

One looks pleased, a smile creeping onto her face. For a moment, you can see Cashmere in her. The blonde hair, the green eyes, they all look the same in District One. All the same form of deadly, and they pull sponsors without even having to try because of their good looks. But everything comes at a price, and Cashmere was no exception.

Five doesn’t have a chance to plead, One pulls out her knife and finishes the job. A canon goes off, another teenager greyed out on the betting board. Nine dead. A sick feeling in your stomach tells you that this is going to be another bloodbath.

The boys work together, taking out the bigger houses since the girl wanted to go it alone. They’ll clear one, making sure to make it known, but stick inside of the house for a second to wait to see if they can hear movement. When they’re absolutely sure there’s none, they move on.

This plan doesn’t work initially, they get passed at least three houses before they hear a noise. Had the boy just waited a couple of seconds more, they wouldn’t have been able to hear his footsteps as he creeped down the loud stairs, giving away his position.

With the Ten boy dead, the District Ten mentors are going home. Which you’re sure is a bummer for them, knowing that they’ve been doing pretty good lately when it comes to victors. They’ve had two in the past ten years, which is a good improvement from the gap that they had before.

In the next house that the boys come across is a girl, the gamemakers give no indication on district. And you’re not sure that it matters because she’s dead within the first minute they search the house. The hiding spot wasn’t that bad, but when there’s two searching, more spots are bound to be discovered.

District Three girl gets greyed out on the board. There’s three people still hiding inside of the village, the boys from Nine, Three and Six. All in different places, and the only one that seems to be the furthest is Six, and you can take a pretty big guess as to why.

His district is power. They’re the main producer for it for everyone, and it wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the gigantic dam that they have. It’s hydroelectricity, the water passes through the dam, turns some gears and it fuels the Capitol and a portion of the other districts. It makes sense that he would be the one that would try and get away as far as possible.

It means that he knows something that the rest of them don’t. However, you have that much figured out. The dam is the danger here, but he must know the mechanics behind it. Why it’s going to fall apart, what event can set it off, how far it’s going to reach when it does. He’s so far away from the dam at this point, miles away from the cornucopia, and he still keeps moving.

It just means that the blast radius of the dam is going to wipe out a large berth of things. Trees, potentially the cornucopia, definitely the houses in the village. And that’s to name a few. There’s no telling what can be uprooted with the force of the water. You’re just curious how anyone will survive it.

Another tribute gets found, it’s the boy from Nine. The careers have regrouped now, all in different forms of bloody. You grit your teeth and try not to gag, remembering the smell of blood, and the feeling of the thickness on your skin. It’s not a pretty feeling, and you can’t shake it, not even all these years later.

The careers agree to stop looking for tributes and start for water instead. Which is a good sign for the two tributes left in the village--potentially three. But as for everyone else in the trees, it’s not as good. You’re sure that Annie and Marsh are far away enough from the stream of water that’s coming out of the dam at the moment, but there’s no way to tell.

Actually, it probably doesn’t even matter that they’re far away from the stream of water, considering that no one knows that it actually exists, except for the mentors. Unless someone went and opened their mouth and gave it away, which you wouldn’t be surprised about. You’re all a bunch of cheats and liars, at this point. There’s no use denying it.

The careers don’t even start to head towards the dam anyway, so that eliminates most of the worry. With the interest in them gone, it’s back to the remaining tributes inside of the arena. It’s been nearly three hours and already half of the competition is gone. When you said that it wouldn’t last more than a week and a half, you weren’t thinking that it would be because of this. You thought it would be the dam.

Everyone loves a good plot twist though, right? Right?

You get up from the couch to stretch your legs, figuring that the worst of the first day is over. It’s one in the afternoon, Annie and Marsh can clearly take care of themselves when it comes to fighting off other tributes. Their main worry at the moment is probably finding water and setting up camp somewhere.

If they were to just head right, towards the stream, they should come upon that shack uphill. It’s risky, staying that close to the dam but they don’t really have much of a choice unless they want to stay the night out in the open. At least with a shack they have shelter and they’re hidden. If someone comes upon it, they’ll have the upper hand.

“Alright, I think I might go back to the Four apartment to eat lunch. Don’t know if I’ll be down here later.” you say, looking at Wade and Gloss.

“And narrowly miss your two best friends?” Gloss asks.

“I have days to see them, I’m not really that worried. Plus, last night was enough to fuel me for the next decade. You’re lucky if I don’t start pretending I don’t know your four altogether.”

“Haha.” Gloss rolls his eyes, but gets to his feet.

He gives you a one-armed hug, you pat his back slightly. Wade isn’t much for physical contact in the first place, so he holds out his hand as a supplement. You slap it, looking at Gloss, “Sorry about your tribute.”

“He was a moron anyway.”

“I’ll see you later then--” you go to turn towards the door but find that you’re face to face with a Capitol woman, dressed in bright blue with accents of black. You have to take a step back so that you’re not breathing the same air as her, giving her a polite smile, “Hello.”

“Are you Annie’s mentor?” she asks.

Three hours in, and Annie’s already going to get a sponsor. It’s probably healing cream for the cuts she endured when fighting the One boy. You have to admit, if she’s completely healed, she’ll be able to move quicker and won’t have to worry about using medical stuff. The blades on the knives and swords are so sharp, especially when they haven’t been used before. Pick your toughest material and it could move through it like cloth.

Your eyes find Annie and Marsh on screen to see that they’re taking a break, going through the stuff in their backpack. Now would be a good time to do it before they get ahead of themselves. You give the Capitol woman a bigger smile, “Yes, are you interested in sponsoring?”

The whole process only takes a few minutes. You and her discuss what exactly she’s looking for, and what the ranges of the healing cream will have. It’s so extremely dirt cheap because it’s the beginning of the games, only three hours in. The longer the games go on, the more prices will be amped up. What could buy you an entire feast on the first day will only get you a loaf of bread later on, maybe not even that.

The woman lets you know that the main reason for deciding to go through with this is because of Annie’s manners on stage. That she can’t believe that Annie is only eighteen and acts like she’s been on this earth for much longer. You have to agree, Annie has her moments where she’s wiser than the rest of you. But it’s mainly because she’s been forced to grow up quicker, thanks to the boarding school.

When it comes to the note, you type in, “Right with you.”

It’s not the best when it comes to hinting at where to go, but you send it and watch it get approved. The first sponsor gift of the Seventieth Hunger Games, and it’s going to your tributes. One last time, you thank the woman and assure her that Annie is very grateful for her compassion.

Now you can’t leave just yet, and have to wait as it slowly comes down to them. You stand by Gloss and Wade, listening to the chiming of the gift. When it comes into earshot of Annie and Marsh, they immediately perk up, searching the trees.

“Found it!” Annie calls, pointing it out while getting to her feet. The cuts don’t even seem to phase her all that much, so it’s partially a waste of money but at least they’ll be able to use it later on if the need arises.

Annie catches the silver gift in her hands, rejoining Marsh as she pops it open. You didn’t really give them any instructions on how to apply it, they’ll have common sense not to use the whole tube, you think. They read over the words to themselves in their head first, before Annie is smiling fondly.

“That’s very sweet.” Annie says, “(Y/n)’s encouraging us as always.”

No, that’s not it. You’re not worried about the misinterpretation, especially not after the knowing look they give each other. Annie folds the paper and places it in her breast pocket, not even reading it out loud for everyone to know. It’s their own choice, and it’s probably a good one at any rate.

Annie has Marsh apply the cream while she tries not to look like she’s in too much pain. You know that it’s not easy having people dig their fingers in your wounds. Fuck, you might have initially blacked out after that bear mutt attack, but you were still half awake. Every single time they went a little too deep or were a little too harsh, you were jolted awake. You’re fairly surprised that you still remember it. It was almost like a fever dream.

Annie and Marsh take a couple more minutes relaxing, but the audio cuts on their part to give the District Seven tributes a chance at the spotlight. It doesn’t mean that you’re not able to see your tributes, though. You’re able to watch them motion and flesh out a plan. It’s good to see that they get along so well, makes for a strong alliance.

Annie motions about heading towards the wall, Marsh’s face begins to harden up. Annie changes to pointing, jabs her thumb in the direction of the cornucopia. Marsh says something, you think you make out the word ‘water’. Annie then holds her arm out to the right, taps the pocket on her chest, and then it seems like they have a plan. They pack up, and head towards the right.

And with that, you go to leave because it’s finally your window. But Cashmere and Enobaria come through the door, bearing a basket and big smiles, “Good afternoon! How’s our tributes doing?”

“Is that food?” you ask, Cashmere hands over the basket, and when you look inside, there’s cold cut sandwiches and flavored bubble water. It really looks like you won’t be leaving here anytime soon.

You all pick your regular back table, that’s perfectly out of earshot of other mentors and Capitol citizens, but you’re still able to see the line odds and the screen with the tributes. They lay out the food, you nibble on your sandwich while Cashmere and Enobaria ask questions and Gloss and Wade give up information.

“Bloodbath knocked out eight tributes.” Wade says, playing with the bubbly water cap, “Which includes Eleven and Twelve.”

“Figures, they’re not very good fighters anyway.” Enobaria says, “Didn’t Eleven have the seventeen year-old girl?”

“She only scored a six so it’s not like she was anything special.” Cashmere has her eyes on Gloss, slowly squinting at him, “What are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding anything.” Gloss makes a face and shrugs. There goes whatever cover he was trying to grasp at.

Cashmere stares at him for a second longer before turning around and looking at the line odds. It doesn’t take long to find, the boy is the first tribute on the left row. She doesn’t even have to look for it. The name is greyed out, of course, Cashmere turns back to Gloss.

“When did Colt die?” she asks.

“The bloodbath.” Gloss says, leaning his head against his hand now, “He went after Annie--(Y/n)’s tribute. He didn’t even stand a chance.”

Cashmere raises her eyebrows, and then looks at you, “Seriously? What happened?”

Conversation launches, you, Gloss and Wade do your best to tell them all the details. Starting from the bloodbath, who’s where in the arena, to the village. They’re not all that surprised to hear that their career pack got an additional four kills, the careers go hunting after the bloodbath to try and get as many as possible. But it’s a shock to know that half the tributes are gone.

After bloodbaths, careers get one--maybe two--kills. And it normally doesn’t happen immediately after the bloodbath, either. It’s sometime during the night because it’s easiest to spot the fires. Hardly ever is there a second slaughter immediately after the first. Because of this, you don’t think that they’re going to have a feast at the cornucopia this year. There won’t be enough tributes to make it worth it.

Annie and Marsh come across water, fill the jugs and put iodine to clean the water. They wander up a little further and find the shack. Just like that, they can call it a day since they’ve already got enough food to last them two days. All they have to do now is set up a plan to keep the food coming.

The careers come across basically a small clear pond. The last time you drank from a pond, you came down with Typhoid fever, really fun times. The Capitol was a bitch for making that dirty water clear to drink from, but the normally ideal water a fucking trick. You are so lucky that the Capitol had the medicine to make sure that the effects weren’t long-term. Otherwise, who knows what you’d be living with right now?

The betting room starts to clear out in the evening because it’s supper time for all of them. You stick around with the pack for a little while longer, remarking that you’re all surprised that Finnick didn’t show up at all, even with all the time he had. Once you’re sure that your tributes can survive the night, you’re bidding goodbyes.

It feels good to walk back to the apartment and to stretch your legs after going between sitting and standing. Sitting at the table already is Elysia, she looks happy to see you, “Welcome back.”

“Feels good to be back up here.” you laugh, tying your hair up, “Have you seen Finnick at all? He didn’t come by at all.”

Elysia shakes her head, “I went to get him for dinner and the rooms empty.”

“Huh,” you let out, sitting at the table.

It's odd, being here with only Elysia again. Makes your stomach churn slightly, actually. No tributes, no Finnick, only you in the betting room… Why do you have a feeling that this isn’t a coincidence?

You said that you’d give Finnick today. The first day isn’t the busiest, it’s the days that follow, when the heat starts to get turned up and the stakes rise. Then the tributes start getting hurt, requiring more to sustain whatever lifestyle they’ve built for themselves. It’s going to be impossible to go to the cornucopia to refill on goods when the entire thing is in a field. What are you going to do? Hide in the grass?

You and Elysia eat dinner, quietly chatting about what you think’s going to happen. In the end, it’s late and you should call it a night. But when you reach your room, hand on the doorknob, something tells you that you shouldn’t go to bed just yet. It’s a gut reaction, you look over towards Finnick’s room. It’s an invasion of privacy.

But there have been plenty of times before where Finnick has come into your space without permission, right? You sigh, kick off your shoes by your door, and then go into Finnick’s room. It’s dark and quiet and smells like perfumed fabric softener. You don’t bother with turning on the lights, Elysia already said that he wasn’t in here.

You make yourself at home, tossing a pillow onto the hammock and using it to support your head and not get your hair stuck in the rope. You stare and watch and wait for a while, playing today over in your head. You don’t think that there’s a single thing you would have done differently. Annie and Marsh were smart to run towards the dam, and Annie knocked out a whole career while she was at it.

However, they also proved that they were a couple to keep an eye on. The girl from One is smart enough to see it like that, to want to go ahead and go after them. On one hand, it’s a good thing that the boys didn’t listen to her. Your tributes are still alive, in a house for the night. But on the other hand, four other tributes died because of it.

But then again, it was only a matter of time. You saw all of their deaths coming, and so did every other mentor in that room. None of you could have known that on the other side of the dam would be a village. What use is it to warn your tributes if they’re just going to be fucked either way?

Oh hey, there’s going to be a cracked dam inside of the arena this year. If you can, I’d probably steer clear of it. The most it seems to provide is a steady stream of water, so at least you have that! Also, I wouldn’t worry much because the dam looked pretty damn small when I got to see it.

What use would that have done? It would have been a fucking culture shock, to think that you’d be ahead of the games for once. Like, “Okay, don’t head toward the dam, use it as a last resort. Worse comes to worse and you can maybe outrun the water.” until you’re face to face with a concrete wall that’s literally a mile taller than you, and the only place to go is a field out in the open and a village that provides the only shelter.

If there was any time to facepalm, it would be now. Hell, even your warning at agility training is going to do fucking nothing. You originally thought that it would come in hand to hop from rock to hill or tree root or something, but that’s going to be hard to do in the grassy field. Yes, let’s hop from grass blade to grass blade.

So fucking stupid, all of this.

You sit there fuming for a little while longer, shaking your head, rolling your eyes and gritting your teeth. You wonder if any of the other mentors have seens something like this before. Wait, that’s stupid. Of course there’s been an arena before this that has been the biggest April fool’s prank of all. Haymitch Abernathy had to live in a hell disguised as a paradise. Yes, you think that might be the worst arena you’ve ever seen. And he had forty-seven other tributes to worry about on top of the killer squirrels.

You snort, but it’s really not all that funny.

The room door opens, you squint just before the lights are flickered on. Finnick stands in the doorway, wearing a white button down shirt and nice black slacks. A part of you wonders where he’s been all night to need to dress as nicely as this. His… job… for the lack of a better word, doesn’t start until after dinner, usually.

And supposedly, he’s been gone all day!

Finnick doesn’t seem to see you at first. You grin to yourself like a child, “Boo.”

He jumps, a startled sound escaping him, it sounds like a yelp. He turns with wide eyes, staring at you. You laugh to yourself, “What the fuck? How long have you been here for?” he presses his hand against his chest, “Gonna give me fucking war flashbacks.”

“Been here since dinner, which was…” you trail off, looking at the time, “About four hours ago, apparently.”

“Don’t you have anything better to do? Like watch the arena?” Finnick slips off his shoes and socks, beginning to unbutton his shirt.

“I did that all day, I actually waited here to tell you that it’s your turn.”

His eyes land on you, “To what?”

“Watch the tributes, sit in the betting room until I relieve you.”

His face twists, “Nice choice of words.”

You roll your eyes, “You owe me this much. I’ll give you a quick rundown about what happened--”

“I already know.”

You throw the pillow at him, “Perfect! You can put your shirt back on and go downstairs!”

He looks at you, “(Y/n), I’m tired.”

“I’ve been up since eight this morning.” you give him a smile, “It’s now nearly midnight. I think you can sit in the betting room for a couple of hours.”

“A couple is two.” Finnick says, “You’re asking me to sit in there for ten.”

“Which is almost half of what I did today! It’s only fair!”

He stares at you. He doesn’t look tired on the outside. In fact, it looks like he just woke up a couple of hours ago. If he were tired, he’d be more sluggish, and you’d know because you’ve been around him for years now. And the last week has shown you what it’s like to actually interact with him when he’s had tough days and nights.

Today is neither of them for him.

“Okay.” Finnick agrees.

“Okay?” you raise your eyebrows, “Sweet. I’ll be up at seven and down there at eight to switch places, then.”

Finnick starts buttoning his shirt back, you give him a cheeky smile, getting off the hammock and heading towards the door. You’re about to leave, but then you stop and turn towards him.

“If I get down there tomorrow morning and you’re nowhere to be seen, you’re not going to like what happens.” there’s no smile, the words are dead cold. Finnick stares at you, fingers frozen in place, “I can promise you that. Goodnight.”

REDAMANCY IS PART 2 OF A TRILOGY //MASTERLIST//

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trashyswitch · 4 years ago

Text

Catch Meeee!

The boys started off watching a movie. Next thing they know, they're floating around the room and having a one-sided tickle fight! There is just no telling where a date night will go.

This prompt was suggested by @thatweirdemonightmere. I hope you enjoy this Prinxiety fic!

Virgil and Roman were sitting on the couch, enjoying an underrated movie together. The movie? Rango! Even though the movie was somewhat dark, it was still a fun western. Virgil enjoyed how dark and unique all the characters looked, while Roman enjoyed the story of identity and the funny jokes within it. One of his favorite characters was probably the singing and playing owl band in between the scenes. He also found the cactus bottle to be a hilarious part and enjoyed the weird and trippy hallucinations. And of course, no one could forget that Johnny Depp voiced Rango and did amazing voicing the role. So, there was that.

“Man...Imagine being forced to live without water.” Virgil told him.

Roman groaned. “I could not IMAGINE. Water is the most underappreciated resource known to MAN.” Roman reacted.

Virgil looked over. “Water is used for everything! It’s used for cooking, it’s used for cleaning, it’s used for hygiene, it’s basically used for living.” Virgil explained.

“Plants, animals, humans, bugs, even bacteria use it! No one would be able to live without water.” Roman added.

“Get this: Logan told me earlier that it’s possible to be allergic to water.” Virgil told him.

Roman sat up and turned to face the emo. “What?!”

“It’s true! I’m not kidding.” Virgil told him.

“Can’t be! We just explained all the things we need water for! How can a person be ‘allergic’ to a liquid that’s constantly used?! How do they stay hydrated?! How to they get clean?! How do they LIVE?!” Roman asked.

Virgil decided to look it up on his phone. “Aquagenic Urticaria, aka Water Allergy, is a rare form of allergy in which hives develop on the skin after contact with water, regardless of temperature.” He read. “People with the Water Allergy are able to drink water, but can have an allergic reaction to bathing/showering, sweating, crying, and rainfall.” Virgil read further.

Roman felt his own arms. “Oh gosh…”

Virgil decided to read further. “A substance dissolved in water enters the skin and causes an immune response.” He read. “So...similar to a peanut allergy.” Virgil added on the side before continuing to read. “The hives are not caused by the water itself, but are rather caused by an allergen hidden within the water. An interaction between water and a substance hidden in/on the skin, creates a toxic material that gives them hives.” Virgil read.

Roman looked at him. “Sooooo...don’t live in Canada, Ireland or the UK. The UK and Ireland constantly create rainfall, and snow is basically frozen water.” Roman suggested.

“Yeah...I’d suggest either living in Las Vegas, Arizona or California due to its little rainfall.” Virgil told Roman, looking at his own phone.

“Alright.” Roman replied.

After a while of just watching the movie, Roman looked over at Virgil with a smile. “Hey Virgil.”

“Hm?” Virgil looked over.

“Wanna know something that’s cooler than water?” Roman asked.

Virgil grew a small smile. “Sure.”

Roman conjured up some water bubbles. The water bubbles started floating around them, while the two boys stayed put on the couch.

Virgil’s eyes widened with wonder as he brought a finger up to one of the water bubbles. Amazingly, the water bubble didn’t pop when his finger touched it! Instead, the water bubble coated his finger in a layer of water.

Virgil looked at his own wet finger and giggled. “It’s floating water!”

“It’s zero gravity water!” Roman explained briefly.

Virgil laughed. “If it’s zero gravity, then why aren’t we floating too?” Virgil asked.

“Do you want to float?” Roman suggested.

“Yes! That would be amazing!” Virgil replied.

“Alright!” Roman snapped his fingers and in no time, the two of them were floating! Their bodies were completely zero gravity, while the surrounding furniture and appliances were still staying on the ground! How this was actually happening, Virgil would never know.

“WHOA! HAHA! I’m FLOATIIING!” Virgil declared excitedly.

“ISN’T THIS COOL?!” Roman yelled excitedly.

“HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS?!” Virgil asked.

“MMMMAGIC! HAHAHA!” Roman joked.

Virgil started swimming and floating himself up to the wall, and pushed himself off to head back to the middle at a quicker speed. “WEEEEEE!” Virgil squealed. As soon as he reached Roman, Virgil tapped his shoulder. “YOU’RE IT!” Virgil immediately pushed himself away.

“WAIT, WHAT?! COME HERE YOU!” Roman reacted, pushing himself off the nearest wall to float to him.

“NO WAY!” Virgil laughed. Roman was about to tag his foot, but Virgil pulled it away quickly. “HA! NICE TRY!” He teased.

“GET BACK HERE!” Roman yelled, pushing off the sofa arm and soaring to Virgil. Roman started to do a zero gravity kartwheel, when his hand touched his head. “YOU’RE IT!”

“NOOOO!” Virgil reacted dramatically. “I CAN’T TURN AROUND!” Virgil complained with a laugh.

Roman laughed. “GOOD!”

“NOT GOOD!” Virgil yelled back.

Virgil grabbed onto the top of the table and pushed off of it, accidentally knocking off a coaster in the process. “I’M COMING FOR YA!” Virgil yelled, reaching his hands out and soaring at him.

Roman turned around and squeaked like a toddler! “OHSHITNO-!” He screamed.

“SUPERMAN!” Virgil declared, before booping his back with his finger. “YOU’RE IT!” Virgil declared. Then, Virgil turned his feet towards the wall using a chair, and bounced off the chair very hard to soar himself across the room in record time! “WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

“YOU SOUND LIKE BAYMAX!” Roman yelled.

Virgil stopped himself against the top of the sofa and smirked. “HAIRY BABY!” Virgil shouted at him.

Roman gasped and took off after him. “YOU FUCKIN’ TAKE THAT BACK!” Roman ordered loudly.

“MAKE ME!” Virgil yelled back.

Roman reached him and pulled Virgil towards him. “I CERTAINLY WILL!” Roman started skittering his fingers onto his ribs and armpits.

“aaAAAHAHA! NOHOHOHO ROHOHOMAHAHAN!” Virgil started laughing, and pulling his legs up to his chest.

“No what? No ‘skittering my fingers inside your super sensitive armpits’? No ‘counting all my ribs till I can’t even count myself’? Perhaps...No ‘tickling me till it’s all I know’?” Roman teased.

“NOOOOHOHOHOHO!” Virgil begged. “NOHOHOHONE OHOHOF THAHAHAT!”

“Okay!” Roman decided. “I’ll tickle your belly then and keep you in a constant stream of giggles!” Roman wrapped his arms around Virgil’s middle and started skittering all 10 of his fingers onto the sides of his belly.

“Uhuhuhuh OHohohohoh! Rohohoho plehehehehease!” Virgil pleaded.

“Please tickle you? But I am tickling you! I’m tickling you a lot!” Roman teased more.

“Hahahahahahaha!” Virgil started to twist himself left and right, which only tickled him even more. “Nahahahahat fahahahahair!” Virgil yelled at him.

“You want this to be fair? Okay. I’ll make it fair.” Roman used his magic to slowly turn the gravity back onto their bodies. It didn’t take long for their bodies to finally touch the ground. The moment this happened, Roman let go of Virgil and opened his arms up. “Tickle me.”

Virgil was still a giggly mess who was getting used to being on the ground again. “Wahahait, whahahat?” Virgil looked up and widened his eyes.

“Tickle me.” Roman told him.

Virgil blushed and stared at him with both confusion and awe.

“You wanted things to be fair, right? So I’m making it fair. Tickle me.” Roman told him.

Virgil shook his head, slowly shrunk himself down and hid his face in his own arms.

“I see...You can’t tickle me right now, cause you’re in a zero gravity lee mood.” Roman teased.

Virgil hid his face more and started to giggle into his arms. “Noooohohohohoho!”

“Looks like I gotta keep tickling!” Roman resumed spidering his fingers all over his belly.

“Wahahait! AAAAHAHAhahahaha! Nuuuuhuhuhuhuhuhu!” Virgil cooed and giggled, arching his back and kicking his feet absolutely everywhere.

“Tickle tickle tickle tickle tickle Virgey! I think the floaty spiders absolutely LOVE YOU!” Roman teased more.

HAHAHAhahahaha! Thehehere ahahare nohohoho flohohoatihing spihihidehehehers!” Virgil yelled back.

“Yes there are! Look!” Roman stopped tickling Virgil and unzipped Virgil’s sweater zipper. Then, he removed his hands and placed them behind his own back while small, black spiders started crawling all over his purple shirt. Virgil took a one second look at his chest, and squealed loudly! There were LITERALLY BLACK SPIDERS CRAWLING ON HIS SHIRT!

“NOHO! NO! COHOHOME OHOHOHON! ROHOHOhoho!” Virgil shrieked!

“Would you like the evil little spiders to stop tickle tickle tickling you?” Roman asked.

“IHIhihihi…” Virgil took a minute to think. Did he really want them to stop? Or was he secretly enjoying them and didn’t want them to stop? He couldn’t tell at this point!

“Too late!” Roman started skittering his fingers all over Virgil and spidered around alongside the black spiders that crawled and skittered on his belly.

Virgil was giggling, snorting and squirming all over the place! And the crazy part? These spiders weren't even capable of being killed! These spiders were from Roman’s imagination! So, they couldn’t be killed! They could only be unconjured by Roman! “ROHOHOHO! IHIHIHI NEHEHEED AHA BREHEHEHEAK!” Virgil begged.

“Are you sure you need a break? Or are you covering up the fact that you still want tickles?” Roman asked.

Virgil snorted and shook his head left and right. Roman was such an evil ler! How dare he exploit the spiders!

“NOHOHOHO MOHOHORE SPIHIHIHIDEHEHERS PLEHEHEASE!” Virgil begged.

Roman hummed in curiosity. “Alright. I suppose I can do that.” The prince replied.

Roman removed his skittering hands and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the spiders disappeared into thin air and all that was left was a plain purple shirt. Virgil’s laughter quickly turned right back into giggles.

Roman watched this man’s giggle fit with a big smile on his face. Roman absolutely adored Virgil’s laugh! It was such a fun laugh to listen to! It was bubbly, it was cutesy, it was somewhat girly and it even had snorts! It was the kind of laugh that you’d want to hear for a very long time. But, due to lung capacity and...you know, breathing...Roman would have to stop eventually so he didn’t end up killing him.

Suddenly, Roman’s thoughts were interrupted by a few fingers grabbing his hand. Roman blinked in surprise and looked at Virgil. The emo was blushing madly as he slowly brought Roman’s hand closer and closer to his stomach. Virgil was telling Roman through his body language, that he secretly wanted some more tickles.

Roman smiled and started tickling his belly with his other hand again. Virgil giggled and let go of the dominant hand while starting to thrash. Finally, Roman started skittering his right hand on more of Virgil’s vulnerable belly.

“Hahahahahahahehehehehe! Yahahahahayyyy!” Virgil cheered.

Roman giggled at that. “Such a desperate little lee! So desperate that you used your actions to ask for more? How adorable!” Roman teased.

“Yeheheheah! Ihihihi cahahan’t sahahay thehe wohohord!” Virgil admitted.

“You can’t say the word? What word? Kerfuffle? Farlek? Dapplequack?” Roman teased.

Virgil started to laugh more and more at the stupid and silly words that he was coming up with. “NOHO NO NO NOHOHOHOHO!” Virgil laughed.

“Dirple, Maybe? Wombat? Dijery-doink?” Roman asked.

“Stahahahahap ihihihit! Thohohohose ahaharen’t ihihit!” Virgil giggled and laughed.

“Oooooh! Is it a word I already know? Like, spider? Snort? Adooorable?” Roman asked.

“Yehehehes! Ihihit’s aha wohohord yohohou knohohow.” Virgil replied.

“Hmmm...Is it another word for sensitive?” Roman asked.

Virgil bit his lip and covered up his mouth.

“OOOOoooh! I know what it is! Tickle! It’s the word tickle! A tickle tickle tickle tickle tickle tickllllle!” Roman teased more and more.

Virgil squawked and uncovered his face to cackle wildly! “NAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAP SAHAHAYIHIHING IHIHIT!” Virgil shouted at him.

“Stop saying tickle? But tickle is my new favorite word! I can tickle here!” Roman tickled his sides. “I can tickle up here!” Roman tickled his abs. “I can tickle right in the middle!” Roman swirled his finger around his belly button. “I can even give a poke!” He poked his belly.

Virgil threw his arms all around himself in a failed attempt to get Roman’s bloody hands away! But it was just no use! He was just wasting his energy on a tactic that doesn’t even work 90% of the time! What’s the point in doing that?!

Finally, Virgil tapped his boyfriend’s lower arm to show that he was tapping out. Roman, happy to give him a break, stopped tickling him and started wiping off all the ghost tickles that could linger. Virgil was still all giggly and couldn’t keep himself together. Once Roman moved his hands away, Virgil curled himself up into a ball and wiggled his feet as he struggled to regain his composure.

“You...doing okay?” Roman asked.

Suddenly, Roman was grabbed and pulled down with him. Roman started giggling into Virgil’s shoulder as he was snuggled and hugged tightly by the flustered emo.

“You are such a cutie. You know that?” Roman told him.

Virgil giggled more and shook his head. “Ahaham nohohot.” Virgil protested.

“You certainly are!” Roman replied.

“Aham not! I’m nahahat cuhuhuhute!” Virgil protested back.

Roman giggled. “You’re super cute. You just don’t see it.” Roman booped his nose with a smirk.

Virgil shook his head and nuzzled into Roman’s chest. “Ahaham not.”

“Am too.” Roman argued back.

“StAAHAP! I’M NOT! CUTE!” Virgil whined like a toddler.

“Oh? So I’m completely wrong then?” Roman asked, sounding playful and offended at once.

Virgil started to giggle more as he nodded.

...Let’s just say that the cuddling didn’t last much longer after that...

#prinxiety ask #fluff #ticklefic #ler!roman #lee!virgil #adorable virgil #roman is a tease

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