#perhaps there was a time before the giants served the fell god?

[eyestrain-addict]

The Blind Swordsman isn't a nightfolk or a numen

So I was under the assumption the Blind Swordsman was someone who lived in one the eternal cities. The cities are connected the rivers, siofra and ainsel are names/references to fairies, it made sense.

But in my new playthrough I found an area I had never seen before. Highroad cave. This is where you get the blue dancer charm but despite knowing about this charm and it's description, I didn't actually know where you got it (my bad lol). It's dropped by a golem in a cave with a bunch of dead kaiden enemies. But more importantly, it's the ruins of the unnamed civilization that came before the eternal cities. And where is this cave? At the mouth of the limgrave river.

My brain is still putting together the pieces of this ancient civilization, but its clear they were relatives (if not themselves) of giants and trolls. All the Greek esc ruins you see around the map are theirs. The tomb type blocks you parkour down are their's. I believe that the Blind Swordsman was one of these people and not someone from nokron or nokstella. Biggest reason is because in the lake of rot, all the ruins match the unnamed culture.

If anyone wants to contribute to this theory or write about what they've found about the ancient not-quite-giants-not-quite-trolls feel free to add to this post. The only named places connected to them are "Uhl palace ruins" and "Uld palace ruins" which are aligned on the map. Also given the wandering mausoleums match the eternal cities architecture but are connected to uld ruins suggests they did live long enough to collaborate with the Night Folk? Also connected are the worshippers but idk how exactly or why.

Moral of the story? All threads in the tapestry of lore questions lead back to Miquella.

[strawurberries]

Oh my god! Berry I had an idea and I had to come running to you with it cause I thought you'd enjoy it too (and cause your writings awesome) but,

A Soulmate AU where you can hear the other person's thoughts?

With Vash, Wolfwood and nai please! (Separate obviously cause I honestly think having all three as soulmates would just be too much xD)

Whether headcannons or a little scenario thingy I leave up to you 😁

Hope you have an awesome day! - 🍰anon

Soulmate Head cannons

Summary: Head cannons with little drabbles about Soulmates <3

Authors Note: I'm sorry this took so long! Finals are finally over so I can focus on writing :) I hope you all enjoy!! Also I wouldn't mind having all three as soul mates. . . but ya know 😂

Warnings: Self-hate, mild sexual themes, angst, cursing, mentions of religion and murder.

Vash didn’t know what an ocean looked like—deep, painfully blue, and so cooling yet full of dangers unimaginable—but he assumed it had to be something similar to the sight before him: sand dunes rose and fell like the chest of some great giant, tumbling across the horizon without thought or remorse. Compared to the vastness of sand before him, he was nothing but a speck of dust—smaller than the grains of sand that covered this desolate, prison-like planet. Part of him was comforted by that fact, knowing that in the grand scheme of things he would be nothing but a passing memory—no one out there to judge him, hurt him, or even see him. Yet he also hated the loneliness of it all. Looking out and seeing no life but himself, it only served to remind him what he was. 

Vash the Stampede:

“Shit!”

He paused, feet sinking into the dry sand below. A semi-cool wind hit the back of his neck. “Hello?” his voice echoed out into the world around—hello. . . hello. . . . . hello. Nothing responded and he adjusted the strap over his shoulder. He must really be losing it now. He had suffered from heat stroke before, had experienced delusions, and been near deaths’ door due to the pounding suns above, so, unfortunately, he knew what might be happening.

He stood still for a moment, longer. . . nothing. Okay, perhaps this was a one time delusion and he’ll be fine.

“How the hell am I going to get out of this alive?!”

He whirled around, looking for any sign of life—the person of whom the disembodied voice belonged to. After a moment he confirmed his suspicions. There was no one around. He groaned and covered his face, thinking to himself: “the heat must be getting to me. . .”

“What?”

He blinked, “What?”

“Who are you?”

“Who are you?” he yelled out into the vastness of the desert. No one responded. “What the hell?”

“Great! I’m getting shot at and I’m hallucinating!”

“What is happening right now?!”

“You tell me! You’re the voice in my head!”

“No, you’re the one in my head!”

The first time you two met—and by that, I mean: the first time you two heard each other—was a mess. You were busy running for your life, and he was wandering through the emptiness of a sandy sea. Both of you, due to different reasons, thought you were going insane. You thought the adrenaline of the situation finally made you snap, and that this run-in with danger took the last bit of your sanity. Vash, on the other hand, swore the heat was out to kill him again and he ignored you for the most part—no use in talking to a delusion. It was only after you both reached safety and had a night's rest, that you both came to realize this was something more than hallucinations.

“Uh. . . so. . . are you real?” Vash thought to himself as he washed his face in the sink, the morning sun starting to make the hotel room feel like an oven.

“Of course I am! . . . are you?”

From then on you two talked a lot, and bonded immensely considering the other’s deepest, darkest and most intimate parts are on display. 

Vash tried desperately to keep the fact that he’s a plant and an outlaw a secret, but simply thinking about how he wanted to not think about it, made him think about it. And, therefore, you heard it all within the first five minutes of knowing him.

“You’re Vash the Stampede! The humanoid typhoon?!”

“Uh. . . no?” He thought about how stupid of a lie that is.

“I can hear your thoughts, Vash! You can’t lie!”

“Aw man I forgot!”

Really, Vash was terrified at first. Having someone able to hear his thoughts? It meant his act, his silly persona, was useless. He was laid bare in front of a person he didn’t know, had never seen, and wasn’t even sure if they were 100% real. No matter what lie he constructed, the truth would be sitting somewhere in his thoughts; easy to access, and even easier to talk about considering there was no way to ignore each other.

“Vash?”

He didn’t want to talk today. A mother had been killed, he had been shot in the shoulder, and ran out of town faster than he had ever known was possible. Sitting by himself in a crude rock formation, miles from any town with the moons shining down on him with pity. He wanted to be alone—to wallow, and think, and cry, and grieve for what was lost and what could never be.

“Vash, I know you're throwing a pity party right now.”

He wiped some tears from his eyes, watching the stars. 

“Vash, Vash, Vash, Vash, Vash, Vash—come on! I know you're hurting, but it wasn’t your fault. Nothing is. The whole space ship thing? Not your fault. Your brother? He’s his own person, you can’t control his actions—his decisions aren’t on you. The deaths? Inevitable, Vash. Everyone dies someday.”

“But they died because I was there!” He hated showing this side—the pain, the anger, the grief. He didn’t deserve to feel this way. His life, the wandering and suffering, was his punishment for failing to save the people he loved. He didn’t deserve comfort.

“When I finally meet you, I’m going to slap you upside the head before giving you the biggest hug you’ve ever felt.”

He blinked. “Eh?”.

After the rocky start, the weird emotional trauma bonding, and the insecurities—Vash fell hard. Having someone who could peer into his very soul? It, despite feeling so terrifying at first, made him feel so understood and. . . safe. This person has seen the very worst of him, the bottom of the barrel, and yet they chose to keep on talking to him. And, of course, normally Vash would take those emotions to the grave. He doesn’t deserve love. Whoever loves him, whoever he loves, will end up dead. But those thoughts, quite literally, are destroyed the moment they are given tangible sound. 

“I love you too, so I need you to stop thinking that I shouldn’t. Even if you keep running away—” despite the fact that he so desperately wants to meet you he’s terrified you’ll get hurt, and runs away the moment you're in a hundred mile vicinity—“I’ll still love you. And one day I’ll find you Vash. I promise that.”

He sobbed for about an hour straight after that.

He really does want to meet you, it’s the truth, but he needs to confront his fears before he can enjoy your love without guilt. 

Wolfwood:

Wolfwood couldn’t fall asleep. The lull of the bus hadn’t hit him yet, the rocking and groaning metal not a lullaby but a shrieking reminder of how far away from civilization he is. Usually he’d be passed out by now, cigarette limply hanging between his lips, but he had opted to twiddle with it between his fingers. The smoke curled around his palm, lazily rising up into the musty air of the bus. No matter how long he closed his eyes for, how many sheep he counted, or how he positioned himself, he couldn’t reach the comforting arms of sleep. Eventually he gave up, annoyed that everyone else on the bus—excluding the driver himself, thank god—had managed to peacefully drift away into their dreams.

“I’m tired. . .”

He blinked and chuckled quietly, “you and me sister.” He turned away from the window, taking a small drag of his cigarette as he turned to see who had spoken. A lady across the aisle looked at him, tilting her head. He gave a small wave and she turned away quickly. 

“Rude,” he thought for a moment before sighing. Maybe he should try to go to sleep again.

“Hello?”

He blinked and looked around. Surely someone must be sleep-talking. Right? “Wish I could be sleeping,” he looked around once more, eyes lingering on the lady across the aisle who was now starting to doze off. “This sucks.”

“Okay, I’m hallucinating now. God damn it. I knew that I shouldn’t have eaten that sandwich.”

He turned around, looking behind him, and then back to the front where the bus driver was humming a song to himself. “What. . .?” Pure confusion was all he felt. Earlier he had spent several hours in the sun, but the heat couldn’t have gotten to him this bad. . . right? Right?

“Oh God, please make this food poisoning death quick. I’m not into pain.”

Sleep deprivation must really be getting to him. This is going to be a long ride.

Chaos. Absolute chaos. 

Part of Wolfwood thought for a moment he might be getting possessed—he tossed that idea aside quickly but he did consider it for a moment before shaking his head. The other option, he thought, would have to be that the stress of trying to find the Humanoid Typhoon finally caught up to him, and he’s in the middle of a psychotic break. But he remembered hearing that you can’t be aware that you’re in psychosis so. . . where does that leave him?

“Has God really forsaken me this time?” he grumbled, stumbling off the bus and waiting for someone to toss the Punisher down to him.

“I hope not!” came the voice again, “I already have bad luck. If god hates me then I’m really a goner.”

Both of you came to the conclusion fairly quickly that there was no demon or god involved, nor were either of you dying or having a breakdown. Wolfwood, unlike Vash, accepted the situation a lot faster. He was confused and apprehensive at first, after all, no one likes showcases their true, intimate selfs—but he got over it fairly quickly. If this was what fate had given him, he would accept it. After all, it didn’t seem to be too horrible. What’s the matter with appreciating the good things in life?

When he gets bored he’d just stare off into space and annoy you—doesn’t matter what you're doing, or what he’s supposed to be doing. He’ll call your name over and over and over, or start preaching until you tell him to shut up. Sometimes, though, he will start talking about the dirtiest, strangest things you’ve ever heard of until your interest is piqued or until he can hear a reaction from you. Either way, no matter what method he chooses, you’ll eventually be talking to him.

“Here’s another quote, ‘Give your burdens to the lord. And he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall. Psalm 55:22’. You know, personally, I’ve always thought that bible verse—”

“Please shut up. I will literally kill you.”

“I’d like to see you try, Doll.”

His favorite pastime is annoying you, making you flustered, or straight up saying the most out of pocket shit you can ever imagine. And, the funny thing is, you always know what he’s trying to do yet he still manages to get a reaction. It doesn’t matter if he spends several minutes brainstorming before saying what he wants, and it doesn’t matter if you try and prepare yourself, he is a master at being a cocky, loveable bastard.

He does hate when you manage to get him to talk deeper about himself, when you bring in the comfort and philosophical talk. Deep down he knows this life isn’t something he wants to partake in, he doesn’t want to go down the path that has been chosen for him, but what other option does he have? 

“You don’t have to kill.”

“How am I supposed to survive if I don’t? This world is built on blood, and one person trying to make it better isn’t going to do shit.”

“Well, I actually think it’s two people trying to make it better. Can’t say I’ve ever killed anyone.”

He was slightly salty when he got that response. 

He didn’t fall first here, but he most certainly fell harder. His heart is a little petrified, and he often lets people in, but only deep enough to where they feel accepted yet can’t glance at anything too important. It’s like if he invited you over to his home, showed you the kitchen and living room, but kept every other door locked and closed. Yet you had the key and essentially broke every lock in one go. He still doesn’t know if he hates or loves it.

He also desperately wants to meet you but, like Vash, he’s terrified you’d get hurt. But his love and desire outweigh his nervousness and, besides, he’ll protect you with everything he has. If he must die for you, so be it. So, the moment he is sure of himself he asks where you are. And, of course, you knew this was coming, and he knew you knew, and you knew he knew you knew. Make sense?

“Do you want to meet in person?” he thought about how much he wanted to see them, feel them, hear them with his ears not with. . . his mind? He wasn’t really sure how this whole thing worked.

“Of course! How could I deny you when you’re practically begging?!”

“Begging? You haven’t seen me beg yet. . . and now that I think about it, I haven’t seen you beg either. That must be a pretty sight, huh?”

Bastard. He’s a bastard.

Million Knives:

Knives were pissed. No matter how loud he played the piano, or how many plants he surrounded himself with, he could not get that annoying little song out of his head. A solemn, lonesome hum that echoed through his mind like nothing he had ever heard—and it infuriated him beyond anything he had ever known. At first he had assumed it was the sound of the pipes, the mechanical building breathing with man-made life, but once he found himself in the desert, alone, he knew that wasn’t the case. It crossed his mind for a moment, a moment, that he might be having some mental issues but he quickly tossed that idea out the window. He could never have any problems like that, never. 

He brushed his fingers along the piano keys, thinking of problems past and future, thinking of what is to come and how he should deal with it all. His own thoughts, he noticed, almost drowned out the humming; that was, until, a voice blew through his troubled mind. 

“Woah, you’re a plant?”

He whirled around, ready to mame and kill whoever had managed to infiltrate his base. . . but no one was there. “Come on out now!” he seethed, “and I’ll make your death painless.”

No response but the clacking of gears and the hiss of steam.

“Audacious human,” he spit out in his mind, already thinking of different ways to kill whoever dared to address him. He began to stalk the room, eyes snapping from one corner to the next. “They can’t hide long. I’ll find them.”

“Why are you so violent? Geez. . . well, I mean I guess it makes sense but don’t you get tired of being angry all the time?” The voice trailed off and began humming that infuriating tune. A vague thought that wasn’t his came to the forefront of his mind, wondering if it was worth eating the stale bread or if he should—wait no, not him because this isn’t his thoughts—they should wait until they get paid tomorrow to eat.

He ignored the mundane thoughts and confronted the voice in his head, “you’re the one who’s been singing that idiotic song?!”

“Wow, you’re rude too. Who would’ve guessed?”

The conversation devolved very quickly after that.

To be honest, you’d be found very, very quickly. Unlike Vash, Knives won’t avoid you; and unlike Wolfwood, he won’t wait until the time is right—he’ll rush off into the desert and hunt you down in less than a week. Finding a stranger is surprisingly easy when you have infinite access to their thoughts. At first he was angry and only wanted to find you so he could cut your head off, but soon—despite his hatred for admitting this—he found you interesting.

“I’m coming to kill you, and you’re not worried at all?”

“I’ll die someday, and besides, I think I’m starting to charm you.”

“I will rip you apart.”

“Sounds sexy.”

You infuriate him on so many levels he doesn’t even know where to start. 

Actually, he does know where to start. You peer into his mind and learn everything about him and oh my god that pisses him off because now a human—a mere human!—knows everything about him: his trauma, his fears, his past, his brother. And he has now way to stop you from learning about him. Out of pure spite, though, he tries his best to learn nothing about you. . . but that plan fails quickly.

“I’m going to kill myself!” you cry out in your mind, rage edging at the tone of your words.

“Please don’t, it’ll take the joy out of me torturing you.” 

“I’m already being tortured! My boss sucks! Ugh! I’m going to kill him!”

He has a tiny, second-long urge to say he’ll kill the man for you before he literally gags with disgust. He had never been so glad someone was distracted because if you had focused on his intentions in that moment you would have teased him until he showed up on your doorstep and killed you. 

Over the course of the couple days he spent tracking you, he unwillingly came to be invested in your life and found a small amount of joy when he debated with you. 

“Humanity sucks, yes, but we can be good!”

“It doesn’t matter if you can or can’t. What matters is what you’ve done, and what you’re doing. Your potential means nothing when compared to the damage you’ve done.”

“. . . damn it why are you smart. Also, I didn’t do anything! I was just born!”

“That’s a sin in itself.”

“Okay, well, gotta call you out on that one. Being born is not a sin, also, what are you? A preacher? Jesus Christ!”

“Don’t use his name in vain.”

“What?”

After he gets over his initial repulsion and hatred he finds the look into human life interesting. You’re pitiful, weak, and disgusting yet you still push on. Why? Why? Why?

“Why not?’

“It’s useless.”

“So?”

“So. . .?”

“I got you, the great Knives, tongue tied? Wow, I can die happily now.”

Overall, it takes a while for him to fall for you. At first it’s purely rage, and then it’s curiosity, and then. . . maybe he’d call it interest. He wouldn’t fall first and he wouldn't fall that hard, but he’d still appreciate you in some capacity. 

[briar-ffxiv]

FFXIV Write #03 - Tempest

FFXIV Write 2024 Master Post

Prompt #3 - Tempest

Note: This is my little take on Bardam's Mettle and Briar (as the Warrior of Light) taming his yol.

With a shriek of fury, the giant cloudkin lashed out with a massive wing. Briar threw himself backwards, rolling to cushion the fall and twisting to his feet. A gathering of aether formed a shield, protecting the slim half-Elezen from the massive blast of wind the yol threw in his direction. Panting, Briar twisted his hands, gathering the aether and sending it back at the bird.

The yol gave a pained, frustrated cry as the spell slammed into its broad chest, wings flailing to keep from tumbling to the ground. With another shriek, the giant eagle-like bird spread its wings and flapped hard. In a few moments, it had retreated, lost in the stormy clouds above.

Briar held his ground, green eyes darting, looking for a sign of attack. The bird had risen above to swoop down, claws extended several times in the drawn-out battle. After several long heartbeats though, the yol did not reappear.

The half-Elezen stood slowly, moving to pick up the bow that had been knocked sailing when one of his dodges was not quite quick enough. He slung it across his back, still watching the sky warily. He stared when he saw a brief flash of wings as the bird circled the peak slowly. Biting his lip, Briar withdrew the carved bone whistle he'd been given. After a moment, he blew it, sounding a sharp clear note that echoed off the granite. An answering call came from the yol and the bird folded its wings, heading down again but slower than before.

In mere moments, the yol flared its wings and sank its talons into the ground. Settled, the bird flared its crest up, tilting its head to study Briar with keen, grey eyes. Taking a shaky breath, Briar walked forward, reaching a hand and slowly resting it on the yol's shoulder. When the bird just studied him more closely, he smoothed his scarred palm over the sleek feathers. Breathing out slowly, he met the bird's gaze, sucking in a breath as he felt the shift of aether and the sense of a presence solidify.

"Not it," he murmured aloud to the bird. "She."

She was beautiful. The yol was a mixture of greys with touches of purple and silver, like one of the massive Steppe-born storms given form and feather. Even her beak and talons were pale grey turning to black at the tips. Briar could sense a fierce, strong spirit within. She was not cowed nor even 'tamed' by their duel, but she was willing to listen for now. Briar had no doubt she was too proud a creature to serve, but she would aid if she was treated well.

"No less than you deserve," the Shroudborn whispered, lifting his other hand to scratch her jaw gently as the yol lowered her head to watch him more intently. "You are no one's pet and you need a name that shows it."

Cirina had explained the importance of name, the power of names to those of the Steppes. To truly claim their yol, a warrior must name them and the yol must accept.

A flash of lightning and a crack of thunder had both Briar and the yol looking. The half-Elezen huffed a soft laugh as the first cooling drops of rain fell, easing the exhaustion that made his muscles burn. A storm could be a blessing or a danger, depending on the circumstances. The thought made Briar smile as it seemed perhaps a sign of the gods here.

"Tempest," Briar said quietly, looking at the yol. "You are Tempest."

And his smile widened as Tempest flared her wings and her cry rang off the granite mountains, declaring her name to all that could hear.

[l-in-the-light]

Chapter 1129 commentary

Oh boy, I can't believe we're already leaving the Lego Land. Let's start from the end this time, shall we?

He looks so happy! Is he seeing a fairytale-like world? Many people speculate Elbaf will feel like a fairytale world because it spells backwards Fable :D I don't personally picture that myself, but I definitely wouldn't be opposed to it!

Japanese native speakers noticed the "ah" reaction from Luffy there, which usually means Luffy saw something or someone he recognized. I don't think Luffy ever saw Elbaf before. But he might have seen Kid Pirates (if they're trapped in this prison as well, after their defeat) or Hajrudin (why Hajrudin? Because of our sun god person, ofc :D). Or Law. Because why the fuck not and it's his birth month ffs, it's the time for him to reappear finally!!

In comparison this is how Luffy usually looks like when he visits new places (those are from Water 7 and Skypiea mostly). It's more a :O than :D

Meanwhile slight blush and big smile is how Luffy often reacts, feeling all happy, when seeing someone he knows and likes! That expression looks the closest to the one from the end of the chapter 1129, which might mean something or it might mean nothing, but I thought I would share my thoughts anyway.

The more they say it's gonna be Elbaf, the less I believe them. But the hype for Elbaf is unreal, if it ends up not being Elbaf I'm not sure how fandom will take it at this point lol. I will be still fine. I don't want another long arc without Law.

Seems someone is slipping off his character. Now we can fully see how all of this is just a roleplaying bit.

Which puts the comments of all those tiny giants into completely new perspective. They're all in on this, the sun god is the game master, and they're the challengers (well, sorta).

Despite playing along they clearly want to get out of there, so perhaps they're not willing participants in this D&D roleplaying ;) they probably had no choice.

He's reeeeally into that. He would make a great (if slightly too immersed) game master.

Someone has a slight god syndrome here... which makes me wonder... we know in One Piece world there were beings even more gigantic than the Giants - the Ancient Giants like Oars. To them, the world must have felt the same way it does to our sun god here: like a doll house. I always wondered how they might have felt about other races in the world. Normal humans probably looked like polly pocket sized toys. Were the Ancient Giants once the enemies of humankind? If that's the case, how did humankind win against them and set itself free, I wonder?

Careful there, we're almost breaking the 4th wall again, haha.

Someone got so immersed his first thought was "wait, I didn't make this" haha. I wonder if it means he could have made a thunder clouds himself as well, even if just some fake ones :D

Now it's time to reveal who our sun god is. Apparently it's Rodo, a giant who is part of Hajrudin's pirate crew of giants, which joined the grand fleet of our Strawhats. Rodo seems to have been against the idea and doesn't like to serve "tiny humans". But this is curious, because Hajrudin and his crew used to work under Buggy for his delivery business. Perhaps Rodo isn't the smartest and fell for Buggy's visual trick to appear bigger than he actually is ;)

And this is our culprit. Tekking already figured it out before this chapter even came out and I'm amused to no end that the high heels turned out to be the key evidence :D

Another mystery sort of solved. They got carried by a crow pet of Rodo here (wherever "here" is) and apparently they went through sleeping mist belt, whatever that is (there are other belts besides the calm belts?!). I know it sounds like an ass-pull and it sort of is, but I guess it wouldn't be called a "belt" for no reason, right? So this is a new puzzle piece for the worldbuilding, even if it sounds like a poor excuse instead lol.

Rodo's reaction to "but the giant warrior pirates were guiding them" sounds a bit like "so they shouldn't arrive here". It really doesn't sound like they're on Elbaf, but they're probably at least somewhat close to it? Rodo did know what Dorry and Broggy were up to, at the very least.

Despite not agreeing with Hajrudin's decision, he knows all of Strawhats names and calls them with a cutesy honorific, which kinda proves he is a fan of them and heard quite a lot about them as well, lol. Rodo is kinda a funny guy, ngl. Btw the "taso" honorific is apparently one of otaku lingo trends in Japan nowadays. Old guys call young characters by "tan" instead of "chan" (those of you who read Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles are probably well acquainted with the "tan", thanks to "Kuro-tan". I had no idea though that Fye used old guy's way of addressing him lol).

It's based on a silly thing really, "n" and "so" look almost the same in hiragana and sometimes Japanese mispronounce things on purpose because they think it's funny. That's how "tan" became "taso". There's nothing more to it, just a nerdy linguistic joke. That reminds me that no matter how internationally popular One Piece has became, it always stays Japanese at heart and is mainly targeted at Japanese audience.

There's also the fact that Rodo apparently also speaks like a samurai, but kinda clumsily, like he forgets about doing it sometimes. He seems to like samurai culture, he also carries a katana sword. So Rodo is not only a D&D nerd, he's apparently also an otaku. And this gets dangerously close to representing Japanese fandom of One Piece. Rodo might as well be a representation of an otaku kidnapping Strawhats and playing with them like figurines heh. A fake sun god, definitely :D

I gotta say I'm amused that his sorcerer's staff is just a wired net, meant to help him catch those that run away lol. We also learn that this place is a detention center for the giants! So the people in the Lego diorama are indeed giants despite being small. My bet is still on them having been shrinked somehow to fit in there!

"That way is another dead end", says Rodo curiously enough, so maybe Strawhats didn't manage to break out to freedom by destroying that wall, after all?

We saw that the corridor before had many other doors arranged alongside it. If it's a detention center, then it's possible there are other "prisons" behind each door, maybe each with different theme? One is a Lego fantasy castle, maybe there are some sci-fi realms as well, for example?

And this is how the whole room looks like. Makes me again think back to the Ancient Giants and the huge gates leading to Enies Lobby, Impel Down and Marineford. Could that place have been the ancient detention center, if we go by this analogy? Or perhaps an ancient temple, if we go by how Rodo called this room?

It somehow reminds me of the picture from Enel's side story. Especially that snake that looks like it's folded up like a paper fan. In Enel's story that picture below the three moon people looks like a bunch of folded up snakes as well. Btw do you know that it's speculated to be the appearance of Pluton? :D a bunch of huge snakes that will fill up a battle ship of some kind.

The creatures on the right on the wall represents Poseidon (Neptunians), and the sun like object on the top of the wall is Uranus, with 16 swirly beams coming out of it (we see only half of them, more or less), and is powered up by Mother Flame or something akin to that (the flame-like thing in the centre).

We finally know how the Ear God rabbit looked like! RIP XD

Luffy seems to like this little diorama. Apparently Japanese readers think that Luffy is a bit of a nerd himself, he likes robots, he went really bonkers over Sanji's germa suit (on their way to Wano), in One Piece Red we see him build a tower mound with stones so he likes to "build stuff". He also doesn't like to destroy other people's things, especially those that look cool. In Egghead he informed Shaka that he wasn't the one who broke the headphones, kinda expecting to be accused to be the reason why they're malfunctioning. Luffy might seem like he doesn't care if he destroys things, but if he thinks something is cool, he would want it to stay intact :) I'm sure Rodo will appreciate the fact that Luffy finds his Lego city so cool :D

Someone wanted the adventure to last a bit longer. Can't blame you Luffy, I also wouldn't want to leave the Lego city!

One mystery solved! Apparently Luffy can now control Gear 4 to such an extent that it doesn't exhaust him and that it only extends to his hand or leg, instead of covering his full body like before. He learned from his mistakes, so now it doesn't eat up his whole haki! Law would be proud of him :)

Back to Uncanny Valley. Nami tossing away a map? I know it's not much of a treasure, but I don't remember Nami ever throwing anything she found like that before. It's kinda confusing to me.

Something I might have missed from previous chapter. Someone pointed out that Zoro's sense of direction is so bad that even if he followed a noise he would still not arrive at correct destination. They might have a point, lol. We should never underestimate how bad Zoro's sense of direction is.

Seeing how we're already three chapters in and there's no progress on the mystery behind some oddities in Strawhats behaviours, I have to revise my theory a little. I think trolls impersonating them seems to be less likely now, but the inconsistencies remain a fact. Which is interesting, what might have caused them?

Zoro's case is particularly curious, because his lack of sense of direction is a real life disorder. It's called developmental topographical disorientation and it can affect people even in environment they're familiar with, like around their home or neighborhood. They can get lost despite walking the same path every day! Some studies even point out it can be genetically passed down in families, which might explain why Zoro has it; it got passed down in his family ever since Ryuuma, who was infamous for getting lost easily too.

If Zoro suddenly gained some resemblance of a sense of direction then whatever caused the inconsistencies in Strawhats behaviour must work on genetical level. Maybe it's also a consequence of drinking the Green Fairy. It has "green" in it's name, and so far all sus green substances we saw in One Piece have one thing in common: lineage factors! Think of SAD liquid that was green, the liquid in which the clones in Germa's lab were kept in, and the green blood of Seraphims which Vegapunk explained to us contained DNA of current devil fruit users. It's not impossible that Green Fairy somehow also has "lineage factors" that temporarily affect behaviour of anyone who drinks it. It might not have to be only about hallucinations. I have no idea why that would be included in the alcohol, but I already speculated it might be some equivalement of "gift from gods". It could also explain why Giants shared it with the Strawhats, I doubt they drink hallucinatory drinks on a daily basis, without any special occasion. But since they saw Luffy in the form of Sun God Nika, that could potentially call for a celebraton in their eyes.

Rodo calls himself Taiyoushin which means sun god (as opposed to taiyou no kami, Nika's title). Amaterasu is also called taiyoushin in Japanese. One of her attributes was yata no kagami mirror (later became one of three sacred regalia of shinto), and Rodo's shield in the picture above kinda resembles it visually. Interesting!

We also have to finally adress the animal skull Rodo is wearing. We saw it actually quite a number of times before! In Drum Island's castle and in Long Arms Tribe's place on the walls, on top of the houses and ships of Elbaf, and on the head of one of the God Knights. We still don't have any sort of answer for it, but it's worth noting that this theme is ongoing for quite some time now. I guess it's not the time yet to give us any answers. For now all I can tell is this: in One Piece's universe there was once a sun god that looked like a demon wearing an animal skull. Was it a true sun god or yet another fake, who knows?

Last but not least, seems some people are disappointed with the identity of the sun god (Rodo from Giants Pirates). I can't say I can relate to that. Yes, I also wanted it to be something bigger than this, a proper threat, a true horror Strawhats would have to face. But also like, it was only three chapters long, I would lie if I said it was super hyped in that direction. On the contrary, the chapters constantly played with our expectiations and used twists at every corner, so the answer to the mystery being something not really that sinister is quite fitting in that context. I also think the ride was entertaining, I don't remember when was the last time I had so much fun just trying to figure out things and paying extra attention to smallest details! Also, Rodo is kinda easy to like, even though feeding humans to beasts is definitely still, well, quite sinister.

But who knows, maybe the Uncanny Valley adventure isn't over yet, there might be still few more chapters of that :D though Redon's hints for this week's chapter suggest otherwise. But I'm aware they're also often just pure crap.

But he did hint about bounties going up. Newspapers hitting the press finally? Strawhats posters hanging around somewhere?? Ugh I'm having way too many thoughts about this! I hate those teasers, why do I even check them up?!

If you're curious where I got some of the ideas and inspirations for things I wrote in this post, I leave you with a link to a youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77Lpu0q1W4g It's a good channel btw, it's always helpful to get a Japanese native speaker's perspective on things :)

[indirecticn]

ROBIN HOOD AU HC:

Asgard never left Midgard and kept a heavy presence there beyond the age of the vikings.

As such, most of the monarchies served by Asgard's pleasure. Skirmishes between nations were considered only when they began to truly encompass a global footprint. Such things were then brought under the eye of Asgard who would ultimately back a ruler or.. be the reason an empire fell.

Most historical things that happened still did but maybe SLIGHTLY different and could always be traced back to influences by Asgard. Please note that it was likely the gross ass n/zis thought they would be favored and were VERY VERY WRONG and Asgard entered the war with America which ended it all VERY quickly.

Asgardians and Vanir are considered a higher class of being and thus are often in roles of higher regard even when said roles are on Midgard proper.

After the second world war the grip on the world got tighter as Odin was tired of these global wars. The division between classes became pretty noticeable, with those heavily supportive of Asgard gaining the most favor and aiding in keeping certain Vanir and Asgardian politicians in power by the means of popular opinion.

(Aka "i should KEEP running this country, your majesty, the people LOVE me" and it's like, but do they really? or is it that money talks??? hmmmm.)

In the 60's a movement began called The People of the Realm Eternal, headed up by mortals and mortal mutants in particular. This movement aimed to give the power back to the mortals and supported the full withdrawal of Asgard from Midgard. It began peaceful but there are various little cells that are more violent and have caused issues.

The division between mutants and non-mutants was not nearly as big a thing in this world, but it's still mildly there.. only non-mutant asgardian supporters tend to be those that dislike the mutants, and a lot of it has to do with asgard not liking any midgardians that are powerful enough to take on asgard born warriors or even asgard's finest noble lines that have blood-lines tied all the way back to celestials.

Loki questioned the status quo way more than Thor, however did so privately out of fear of what his father would think and because he already seemed to be falling into thor's shadow, thus his rep as the trickster/god of lies, ect, was already tarnishing him bit by bit.

He did not let the Jotun in on Thor's coronation day, but rather this seemed to be done by a group of mutants intent on bringing down Asgard from the inside. However, when he went to the treasure room to stop them with his father he accidentally touched the casket of ancient winters in an attempt to wrest it away from a giant. it was then his true form was revealed.

His anger and fear brought about the truth, that he thought the PotRE were more right than not to ask for Asgard to leave midgard, given that midgard was the largest realm under their "rule" and had so many intricate cultures and kingdoms that it didn't need a single ruler to keep peace, and that all asgard was doing was keeping the more corrupt asgardians and vanir in power because odin was too blind to see it.

He learned the truth of his own parentage and thought it possible he was not abandoned but perhaps had been stolen outright, to be used as a bargaining piece in talks with Jotuns at a later time.

Before he could be exiled properly (and powers stripped) he was saved from such a fate by one of the mutants who had helped the Jotuns get into the realm... Nightcrawler. The mutant teleported Loki away and the prince was introduced to a galactic arm of The People of the Realm Eternal.

Loki eventually took up an offer to join them and was soon leading his own three-man crew that did jobs that interrupted Asgard supply lines and took it upon themselves to redistribute stolen wealth of the upper class.

The crew consists of Loki Laufeyson (a prince either which way it's looked at but he never uses the title), Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler, Valkyrie, and Remy LeBeau aka Gambit.

[awritingcaitlin]

🎶Find the Word Game🎶

Tagged by @legiomiam again! Thank you!!!!

My words are unkempt, dirt, rain, sky, and word

THOUGH I DON'T HAVE UNKEMPT IN ANY OF MY WIPS SOMEHOW?!?!?!?

Tagging: @legiomiam, @juls-writes, @tananaphone, @mjjune, @baroquesse

Your words: step, look, broken, warm, song

Snippets are from: Relic of the Gods aka ViolinHeist

🧱DIRT (DIRTY)🧱

Lelia stepped out into the rest of South Town Berthingtonn.

South Town looked a lot more run-down than the Inner City, generally because wood didn’t last as long as stone and steel. Sure, the buildings may have been built more recently – as in, they were built in the wake of the war between Berthingtonn and Eswaisil sixty years ago – but because they were mostly wood, they fell into disrepair much faster than the stone and steel buildings of the Inner City.

Technically, South Town had a lot of brick too, and some buildings had stone and concrete. Honestly, South Town had a wonderful charm that Lelia had come to love. It was dirty and smelled like fish all the time, but the markets were crowded with genuine people and there was always something lively to do. People seemed to breathe here in a way that wasn’t possible in the constant bustle of Inner Berthingtonn life.

In the past month, Lelia had drifted from bar to meetinghouse to outdoor courtyard finding places to perform. There were taverns run by Seamus Finn and Adelus, and bars belonging to neither of the two. The Goddess Fraiye had a meeting house with open performance times, plus there were plenty of places along the road that she could stop and play at.

This all of course, contributed to Lelia’s thoughts that perhaps she was dedicating herself to the wrong god now that she had switched jobs.

.

🌧RAIN🌧

The ice broken, the two of them were able to make idle chitchat as they walked. They discussed the lack of rain recently, which Lelia commented how she recognized they needed the rain but wasn’t missing the increased humidity either.

“Also have you noticed there’s less bread served with things lately?”

Em snorted. “It’s because we’re getting close to the quarterly grain shipment from Thadenopolis, and South Town is legitimately running out of bread.”

Lelia blinked a few times before going, “Oh.”

“It happens every few months like clockwork. Honestly, you just get used to it and don’t really notice it.”

.

☀SKY☀

It was warm.

As a mage, Lelia could see the shimmery opalescent shield that protected Berthingtonn from every threat on the planet but was still capable of letting rain and sunshine through. She could only see the shield if she really tried to look, the rest of the time it just blended in with the sky. But when she wanted to see it, she could.

The difference between Inner Berthingtonn and South Town was that part of the shield was anchored to the Wall around Inner Town, sitting atop it like a giant dome. Outside the Wall, there was a mushroom cap that extended to the Outer Towns of Berthingtonn, South Town, North Town, Outer East Docs, and technically some far-reaching docks and piers to the West.

Though, the West was also a weird case because the Wall did not extend all the way into the Crater Sea, so the shield was the wall in a way, at least through there. Lelia remembered looking at it once and wondering what kind of magical engineering had to go into that to make it work. Neither of her parents could provide an answer.

Until a month ago, Lelia hadn’t left the Wall at all.

.

🎶WORD🎶

Requests started pouring in for some duet-type songs. Some of which Lelia already recognized, some of which she hadn’t heard of, but she was starting to figure a lot of them out. Loony Benny  looked at her, waiting for her to make a move or pick a song.

Lelia started the opening bars of ‘Wings Over the Sea’, which was a shanty that had almost the same tune as a skipping-rope song she’d learned as a kid on the playground. Sometimes the key was a little different, but on a violin, key changes didn’t matter much if they were in fifths. The words were definitely different, but she didn’t need to know the words so long as she played the notes. That’s what the audience was for.

Loony Benny’s grin only widened as he joined in with the counterpart. The crowd eagerly began singing.

Lelia drunk up every second of it. Her fingers flew across the fingerboard, hitting even the highest notes with ease. She let the music move her whole body. Loony Benny stomped a booted foot on the ground, keeping the beat.

One song led to the next and Lelia found herself working through shanties, traveling songs, mining songs – many with such raunchy lyrics that would make her family back home cringe. But they weren’t here now, and Lelia wouldn’t care if they were. This was the life she’d chosen.

[pastballads]

"Everything in Teyvat has to do with the gods." How he loathes that truth. "From how the nations operate down to the currency humanity uses and the Visions that grant people control over the elements, everything can be traced back to the Archons. They often involve themselves in the lives of man, trivial though it may be."

Nosy indeed. The mirthless musician lamented his poor choice in pursuing more for his meal if being paired with her for a spell was the cost. Silence reigned supreme as he steeled himself mentally, knowing full well how to deliver this practiced speech.

"... disease claimed my parents mere months after my birth, forcing my brother's hand into becoming my caretaker. He raised me until I was five, ceasing his duties once he vanished from Mondstadt without a trace during a horrid storm that lasted three days, around the same window of time Springvale's hunters went searching for a man named Draff. With my caretaker gone, it fell upon the people of Springvale to raise me. They taught me how to survive by hunting and gathering, considering their duties done once I knew everything necessary to keep going."

He marched onward into the dense wood, stepping up his pace so they may reach his roost before their meat burns. She'd probably give him an earful over a trivial issue such as that.

"Not even seven, I was surviving in these woods alone. I taught myself how to play the family lyre, both as a way to honor them and earn the Mora to feed myself. After suffering alone for so long, I turned to the Seven for aid, groveling at statues with offerings, praying by my bed for them to lessen my struggles… muttered prayer eventually fermented into bitter resentment, frothing until it overflowed one night."

"A young boy, screaming hateful blasphemy at the giant statue of Bartatos in the dead of night, at the church's doorstep... I only stopped as I ran from arrest by Ordo Favonius due to disturbing the peace. As I ran, I realized that those serving as extensions to the will of the Archons or upholding their laws could be to blame for my misfortune, as could the Archons themselves."

His cabin came into view soon enough. Having been built in a small clearing, it was easy enough to see through the tree line. Perhaps calling it a cabin was generous, however.

Moss grew wildly across its surfaces, grass and mushrooms sprouted from the decayed leaves on the roof, flowers grew untamed from years of unhampered growth, and the wood was stained black from neglect under these damp conditions. Off to the side, two graves marked with carved wood. Were it not for his admission, he wouldn't blame her if she believed it was an abandoned shack.

"In the days following, I began hearing the malevolent whispers of spirits. Few wound me like those twisted shades masquerading as my brother. They haunt me still." He lingers before the door, wrestling with his pockets for the keys. His sole companion out in this wilderness, a lone crimson fox, pokes its head out from a hole dug beneath the foundation. Whether it was mere curiosity or coming out to greet them... that was for the fox to decide.

"Though I have found minuscule glimmers of golden hope through honing my skills, people believe my talents came from divine blessing instead of exhaustive work. Mondstadt weaves tales about me with few sticking by the truth. As far as I'm concerned, the gods abandoned me when I needed them the most, punished me when I damned them, and left me to fester in my misery. Not a day goes by where I wake up wishing for nothing more than passing in my sleep."

His reaction left plenty to be desired. The short and sweet of it was a prominent disinterest that left him feeling mostly unimpressed with her performance. Was it meant to impress though? Perhaps. Sirin loses that boasting know-it-all smirk the moment she realizes that her singular captive audience already seemed bored with her display. Even if boredom wasn't the right word to describe it, it would have come off as insulting if he hadn't already displayed similar traits before.

He makes very little effort to belittle her powers, however. Perhaps that is the one saving grace that saves him from justifiable retribution. Sirin as a very egotistic little goddess, and when she found that her existence was being critiqued by those of zero faith, it's hard not to feel insulted.

But there is little malice in her eyes. No - what she feels right now isn't a resentment for this man, but rather, curiosity. He doesn't think similarly to most that thrive on this planet do. His faith in gods feels far more strained than others. A very intriguing difference from your usual Teyvat human.

" You're quite unique for a human, aren't you? " As if everything he said had gone in one ear and out the other, she doesn't immediately respond to his previous statements. " Any other human would have had a complete opposite reaction to my power- but you on the other hand.. To call you unimpressed would be an understatement. You seem familiar with this in a sense. " Familiar enough not to be brought down to one's knees begging for mercy and forgiveness at the prospect of insulting the gods.

" I could very well raze this entire forest to the ground in burning hellfire, taking away every last thing you may love about this world. I won't, but I could, and yet you treat me no different than a egotistic little teenager, " (which she was), " Were I not so fascinated by this difference between you and most humans I've come across, I'd be rightly offended. "

" Before, you had me curious of the way you treated me before. Now, You've got my intrigue. Do you have a history with the divine of this world? Call me nosy, but when a human subverts my expectations like that, you can't blame me for being so interested. "

She makes no further attempts to whimsify him with any of her other powers (of which there were plenty), and instead offers to float beside him casually as she and he spoke.

[wendy130]

hm… maybe a giant naga!techno finding and nomming a tiny avian!tommy, perhaps? — 🎲

//Listen. I like adding a littol angst. :)

//This is a combo of this ask & another one I got.

//Also, it's been more than a month since I've written something so, uh, oops? Might be a little fast-paced?

// ~3,417 words

// Heavily unedited

----

Run.

Runrunrunrunrun-

Tommy heaved as he flew through the forest, his wings beating against the air faster than he's ever flown, his sole thought being about how to get the fuck out of this forest. He knew he had stayed in one place for too long, and yet, he clung to the idea that he would be safe from his pursuers.

He should have known that even a protected forest couldn't stop them- of course they would find a way to go after him. He was eternally bound to them, against his will till death do him part.

Hell. Maybe even past death.

(He shuddered at the thought of being enslaved for... forever.)

And yet he had gotten comfortable- making his own home and making friends with the surrounding critters. He had loosened up, became weak from the lack of their presence.

Stupid. Stupid, he was so fucking stupid.

A loud, petrified scream ripped from his throat as an arrow passed him and tore him out of his thoughts, the projectile barely just nicking his disarrayed feathers. Fuck. His breath caught in his throat as he felt his weakened wings seize up, every muscle freezing up, and he fell.

A paralytic arrow.

Fuck- fuck, no, no, no-

He desperately tried to make his wings move as he floated down like a feather.

(For once in his life, Tommy was both relieved and not for being an avian; his biology saving him from death and yet doing the opposite at the same time.)

Primes, he was so screwed. He couldn't move, stuck floating down to the floor and ready to be served to his enemy on a silver platter. He'd have to go back to his imprisonment, and there would be no chance for him to ever escape.

His breath hitched at the sound of rustling as he dropped to the ground a few minutes later, and he squeezed his eyes shut with bated breath, unable to even instinctively curl up on himself.

As he waited for the sound of shrill laughter, his eyes shot open as he heard a low hiss instead, and he almost cried in relief at the familiar sound.

"T-Tec..Techno?" he croaked out, craning his eyes to look at the corners of his vision to get a glimpse at the dull, red scales that covered the naga's lower half.

"Tommy?" a low rumble replied as he saw the pink-haired man come into view.

Gods, he might actually cry in relief.

Wait.

Techno was here.

Which meant if they were to find him right now, Techno would be fucked. Techno, who is good. Techno who's always been there to help and protect.

His breath hitched again. He needed to get both of them out of here.

"H..hey big man," he strained out a smile (that came out more like a grimace), "care to help a little? I'm, ah, a bit paralyzed at the moment."

"What happened?" Techno asked, sounding almost worried. He internally scoffed at that; Techno couldn't ever sound worried with his monotonous voice- no less be worried over him.

"Woah, what's that I hear? You better be careful, else I'm going to start thinking you care, Technoblade," he tried cracking a joke, which must have not landed well, seeing that the naga let out a strangled, choked noise as they reached down and picked him up.

"Tommy. What ha-"

"Horrible weather we're having here, innit?" he cut in nervously, "we should probably leave before-"

"Tommy."

"-before it starts pouring rain on us, eh? Don't w-wanna soak that long hair of yours-"

"Tommy."

He winced.

"Yeah?"

"What happened."

"Got in a fight with a raccoon. We should go find it, and maybe you could-"

"How are you paralyzed?" the naga asked with a tight voice, ignoring his rambling attempts to make them move.

He gulped shakily, "uh... I... touched a plant that left me paralyzed?"

"I saw you floating down."

So they didn't see the arrow that almost hit him. He almost sighed in relief.

"Y...yeah well, it was one of the tree leaves."

"Tommy please," the pinkette stressed, "what really happened?"

He nervously bit his lip, averting his gaze from the red, piercing naga's eyes.

Logically, he knew he could trust the naga with anything. Time and time again, they've proven to be trustworthy- enough for him to call them a friend. He's spent enough time with the pinkette to consider them a friend.

Which is why he said, "we need to move," instead.

He doesn't need to burden his friend with the knowledge that he's being hunted down- doesn't need to burden them with being associated with him.

"Tomm-"

"Techno please," he insisted, "I-I'll tell you later- I just, we need to go."

Techno stares at him for a moment longer, and he's worried that the naga might just keep arguing with him.

".......Fine," he stressfully breathes as the naga starts to slither away.

"Faster."

"Primes, why do I have to go-"

"Techno."

The naga shoots him a look that's both worried and annoyed, but they speed up considerably anyways.

"Gods, it's almost like you're worried about being caught by a damned hunter," the naga snorts, and Tommy's breath stops for a moment at how right they are.

Because he's been hunted down all his life for being different than everyone else, and he's never truly realized that until he wasn't. Until he was able to get the taste of being safe. The feeling was so intoxicating that he was blinded to the signs of being hunted down again. (And yet, he yearns for the ignorance it brings still.)

Clearly, he's been silent for too long, and the naga's red gaze flickers down at him in concern. He must have somehow communicated something through his expression because the naga's eyes widen as if they've realized something, "holy shit, you're-"

His heart stops, but he scowls, "Shut up."

"Tommy-"

"Shut up." The naga's jaw shuts with an audible click. Primes, there's no use hiding it anymore, "keep moving. T-the paralysis should wear off any moment, a-and I'll be able to leave, okay? You don't have to worry about being an accomplice."

"That's not-"

"It's okay," he cuts them off, "I- they won't know that you help if you leave right away. I've been doing this for a wh-"

"Tommy," the naga firmly speaks, making him shut up, "that's- I'm not going to let you go run off," what? "I ca-"

The naga is cut off at the sound of another voice, and Tommy pales.

"Well. Long time no see, Technoblade."

A quiet, anxious keen threatens to warble out of his throat as the naga turns to face the voice.

"Dream." Techno curtly greets.

Tommy feels like he's going to throw up.

"Y...you know each.. each other?" he meekly whimpered out.

Techno looks down at him with a distraught look, their mouth opened slightly as if words were supposed to come out of it.

Dream beats the naga to it, replacing the pinkette's mute words with their own, "yeah, I've known him for a while. We're close acquaintances, really. Quite lucky that he was able to find you, isn't it, Tommy?"

By Primes. Techno knew Dream. They were- Primes, he was played like a fucking fiddle, wasn't he? Techno was helping Dream, weren't they? Of course they were- how else would they be able to find him right after the arrow was shot?

He gulps, staring at Techno in betrayal and yet hoping that it was a lie all the same. (Because, how could Techno- who is good- know Dream- the bad? How could his friend know hi- his owner without also being bad?)

His face drained of colour as the naga made no noise to refute the hunter's words.

Gods.

He only knew how to find ways to make himself hurt, didn't he?

Someone he thought he could trust, and yet here he was, regretting his choices.

He blinked away tears as he thought of the 'good' times they had together.

("TOMMY!" Techno hollered from the ground, holding their now mud-filled hair away from them. Tommy cackled loudly as he fluttered in the sky, just out of the naga's reach, "I'm going to strangle you-"

"Good luck," he shouted with a grin, tauntingly flipping the naga off, "you can't even reach me, bitch."

"I don't need fucking reach when I have vengeance," the naga snarled, making a grab for him and failing to catch him. His heart raced a little in panic at the grab, but he pushed it aside with another laugh.

"You missed~" he taunted, lazily circling them with a smirk. Hissing loudly, Techno gave him the most murderous look ever- that would terrify the fuck out of anyone without a death wish. Thankfully, Tommy had a death wish.

"Tommy, do you know how long this is going to take to clean out?" the naga cried out, already trying to wring out some of the mud.

"Oh quit your bitching," he laughed, "it already takes you hours to clean it anyway, what's a few more?"

Maybe taunting a pissed-off naga wasn't the smartest idea, but he couldn't care less, especially with how rewarding it was to see the usually stoic man completely in ruins. Though... maybe he should have waited a little longer to throw another taunt at them, because a second later, he screamed as the naga launched themselves off of the ground, grabbing him from the air.

They both fell to the ground with a thump, Tommy thankfully shielded by Techno's chest as they fell.

"What the fuck-?" Tommy screeched, flailing around in the grip, "you're insane!"

Techno grumbled slightly, getting up with a wince as they loosened their grip on him, "yeah, yeah, fuck off, you hair-ruining gremlin child. You're so helping me with getting this gunk out," they spoke, completely brushing off the fact that they somehow launched themselves from the ground.

Tommy sputtered, unable to come up with a reply.)

(Tommy yawned slightly as he rested against Techno's snake tail, curling his wings around himself to preserve heat. After a day of hanging out with the naga, he was surely tired out. Especially after having to help clean up another one of his pranks.

Clearly hearing his yawn, the naga dropped a hand next to his curled-up position, and he crawled onto the slightly warmer palm, sprawling out on the squishy surface as he was lifted up into the air.

"Tired?" Techno asked, already knowing the answer. Tommy chirped out an incoherent noise alongside a whine, and that was all Techno needed to cup the kid close to his chest.

"Bitch," he mumbled out. Techno snorted. "I don't... need yer fuckin' stupid.. warmth."

"Sure, sure, you don't," Techno agreed with a hum, "and yet here it is anyway."

Tommy huffed but said nothing, choosing to snuggle into the warmth- only because it was there. Not because of anything else.

"Pompous.. piece of shit," he scowled, closing his eyes as he clung to the naga's shirt, "bet you'd wear those poet shirts all day if given the chance."

"Maybe I would," Techno drawled, "and you'd wear the same damned shirt every day if you could."

Tommy barely mustered up the energy to hit the pinkette's chest, the motion coming out like a light slap instead. The naga snickered and brought a finger to his back, gently rubbing circled onto his back.

He practically melted into the touch, keening softly at the massage as the finger drifted over to delicately scratch his wings. He let out a whine of annoyance as he became a puddle against the naga's chest, crooning quietly at the pleasing feeling. A low, rolling purr, was the only response to his whine besides the amused chuff.

He hoped Techno knew how much of a bitch they were being as he drifted to a peaceful sleep.)

"Y.....you knew all along?" he whispered; Techno's eyes widen.

"Wha- knew what?" they shakily whispered back, furrowing their eyebrows.

Tommy doesn't know if Techno is faking being confused. It doesn't make sense if he was but he doesn't know a lot of things at the moment, seeing that Techno knew Dream. Which had to mean something.

"Techno," the hunter cuts back into the conversation before Tommy can form words, "mind giving back what's rightfully mine?"

Tommy warbles fearfully, unable to even crane his neck to look at the green bastard, and Techno sharply breathes in, glancing over at them.

He shuts his eyes and waits.

He waits for the naga to slither over to Dream, waits for his paralyzed body to be handed off, waits for the tight grip of his owner's hands to wrap around him.

....And he waits.

Peering an eye open, he sees Techno staring down at him with an unreadable expression. Typical of the man really, and yet now he's terrified of that. Because now, he doesn't know what they're thinking or, more likely, planning.

"Techno?" Dream's expecting voice calls out, breaking the naga out of their trance-like state.

"Dream," Techno speaks slowly, "I don't think I'll be doing that."

Tommy's breath hitches. What?

"What?" Dream echoes his thoughts.

What did Techno mean by-?

Techno looks up at Dream, "you heard me."

Well, now he's just confused.

"Techno, surel-"

"You heard me," the naga repeats in a firmer voice, holding Tommy in an equally firm grip as they bring him to their chest, "don't make me repeat myself again."

"Wh- you think I'm just going to leave? Techno, you- I've been chasing after that rascal," Tommy whimpers, "for so long-"

"Dream," Techno's voice is filled with a rumbling power as he speaks, "do not argue with this."

Tommy would have shuddered if he could; Techno was talking back to Dream like it was nothing- like he wasn't afraid of the masked man's wrath.

(He shudders at the phantom pains that crawl under his skin.)

Dream does not speak for a minute and that makes him undoubtedly anxious as he waits for something.

"Techno," he freezes at the chilling tone as he hears the shing of an unsheathing weapon, "I can't do that."

Techno merely tilts his head as if the weapon was nothing to be concerned about, "unfortunate. I was hoping we could keep this civil."

Why isn't Techno just handing him over? It would be so much easier for the naga. A-And what does he mean by keeping it civil?

"We can keep this civil if you just give me the kid."

He whimpers again as the naga's piercing gaze lands back on him, something different in that red gaze of theirs, and his breath stutters as... he's raised closer to Techno's face...?

"Well, that's going to be a bit hard, 'cause you're going to need to pry him from my cold, dead body," the naga drawls, and there's clearly something Dream knows that he doesn't because they shout,

"Don't you dare-"

"Too late," they wryly grin, and Tommy's heart drops as he watches the naga's mouth open with him right in front of it.

Why-?

"T-Techno?" he squeaked, "Techno what ar-" he shrieks as he's stuffed headfirst into the mouth.

What the fuck.

He doesn't even get a chance to think as he's thrown into the mouth, and a soaking wet tongue attacks him. Everything is moving too fast and it feels like he's watching everything at 2x speed. He pressures his limbs to move but they're still limp like a toy doll, unable to do anything as the tongue pushes him around.

What was Techno doing? He- surely he wouldn't just- why?

He feels like his thoughts are going to melt out of his brain, but he can't focus on them when he's currently in a mouth, being nudged to the back of the wet cavern.

"Techno-" he shrieks, feeling his surroundings tilt up as he slides closer to the throat, "pleas-" He doesn't get to finish his plea, feeling his surroundings squish around him and pull. With a scream, he's dragged into the naga's throat- and Primes, this might be an even worse death than anything else.

The crushing feeling lasts longer than he wants, even though it's only been a few seconds because it kneads at his powerless form, pushing against his skin and feathers uncomfortably. Faintly, he can feel something drip down his face, and he can't discern if it's saliva or his tears- hell, why does it matter either way?

Tommy sharply breaths in as the tight feeling around his body disappears, and he drops into a slightly larger area- only for it to shrink closer to him like some sickening hug.

"TECHNO!" he screams, tears definitely streaming down his face now, "LET ME OUT!"

He screeches as his surroundings shudder around him, and a low purr starts up. His eyes drip tears with terror at the sound that was once comforting, it now only serving to make his heart clench.

He's nothing more than a snack now, isn't he?

Techno has already moved on, ignoring his shouts as they converse with Dream. He's clearly forgotten, like any snack.

From inside the stomach, it's a one-way conversation, and he's only able to hear the rumbling voice that echos around him. He doesn't listen in though, his breaths taking up too much sound that it blocks out anything else.

Gods, he's dead now.

Not by Dream, but by Techno.

Slowly, his vision blots out into blackness as hysteria wins his mind over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

...

.....

When Tommy passed out, he really didn't expect to wake up.

No less, outside the stomach and curled up against a chest.

So, no one can fault him for shrieking and fluttering around like a dying fish, shoving himself away from the body and onto the hard ground.

He barely processes the fact that he can move, too focused on getting away from the thing that's moving to pick him up again.

"N-NO-!" he shouts, flinching and raising a hand to protect himself, "f-fuck off- fuck off-!"

"Tommy-"

He screeches again, flapping his wings uncoordinatedly, "stay away- stay away-"

"Tommy, please! Yo- you're okay," the th... the.. naga stumbles out, and he pauses, taking in his surroundings. He's... he's home.

He's with Techno.

Techno who has never... pleaded or stumbled over their words.

Warily, he stares up at them, and... he blinks at the anxious look on the man's face.

"T....Techno?" he mumbles out, "what...?"

Was it a dream? A nightmare? He shouldn't be alive right now.

"Hey, you here with me now?" Tommy mutely nods, and Techno sighs, looking a little more relaxed, "alright. Good. You... yeah. Are you okay?"

"W...what happened?" he asks back without answering. The naga grimaces.

"You- uh," they bit their lip, and he suddenly realizes that Techno has bandages over him.

"What happened to you?" he blurts out, his mind completely frazzled.

Techno's grimace worsens, "Dream."

He feels the blood in his face drain away.

It wasn't a nightmare.

"How am I-"

"Alive?" Techno cuts in before Tommy can start rambling out more questions, "yeah, uh, it's... a naga thing. I'm sorry, I didn't tell you before."

He feels like he's still dreaming. If there is one thing he knows- knew- about Techno, it was that Techno does not apologize.

"What?" he whispers out numbly.

"I have two stomachs," Techno starts to ramble, "one with acids and one without. Y...you were in the one without it."

"Oh." He doesn't know how to respond.

"Yeah." Neither does Techno, it seems.

Thankfully (or maybe not), his first coping mechanism is humor and deflection.

"You... you gave me a right scare there, Technoblade," he manages to mumble out, "a real, right scare. T-thought I was really a goner there."

"Sorry?"

He blinks again, unable to process the naga's apology, "it- never mind. I- it.. It's fine now bec- because," he pauses, voice quietening, "D-Dre- he's gone now, right?"

Techno nods, "he's gone now. I, uh, couldn't kill him because he escaped, but... he won't be able to come back here now."

Tommy's too tired to figure out what Techno means by Dream not being able to come back, so he slumps against the floor like a puddle.

"Thank Primes."

They sit in silence for a moment, and for once, he allows it to be quiet, content with dealing with the aftermath later.

[zevlors-tail]

A/N: This was an emergency request from forever ago, and I’m SO SORRY it took so long to finish! Tumblr also deleted the original ask, so I don’t have it anymore, but it was for a poly tododeku x chubby reader who gained weight during quarantine. I hope this was what you wanted, and again, I’m so sorry it took so long! I also don’t have a title for this RIP.

Pairing: Poly TodoDeku x Chubby Reader

Words: 4k

Warnings: Insecurities about weight gain, weight gain, cursing, reader weighing themselves with a scale if that’s a trigger for you.

You yawned as you stretched, your eyelids still heavy with sleep. It was currently nine in the morning and both of your partners had already snuck out of bed to go to work for the day. You envied them a little, seeing as they got to leave the house often while you were cooped up inside all of the time no thanks to quarantine. Of course, you still worried for their health- although most hero agencies were taking preventative measures during the ongoing pandemic, there was still the chance that one (or god forbid, both) of them could come into contact with the very virus that quarantine sought to combat. You tried not to think about that idea too much, instead focusing on a smaller annoyance: the fact that your job wasn’t deemed essential enough to stay open during this time.

Sure, you were working from home, but the way things were now there was hardly anything for you to do anyways, and most nights you were finished with your tasks early. This gave you plenty of free time, which in reality would have been much more enjoyable if you were able to actually leave the house, but no. You were stuck at home instead, boredom and restlessness rotting your brain of anything useful. You’d done everything you could think of to occupy yourself; you cleaned your kitchen, washed your clothes, folded all the laundry. Hell, you even started dusting the mantle in the living room for god’s sake. But you could only clean so much, and even with two of Japan’s top pro heroes tracking in dirt and grime each night from work, the house was usually spotless by 5pm. The only things you had left to occupy yourself at that point were video games, movies, and food.

Oh…and of course, overthinking.

Perhaps that was how you’d ended up where you were now, your legs carrying you out of bed and to the bathroom mirror to see if your current suspicions were true. About a month ago, you had noticed that one of your favorite shirts (newly found and washed, since you’d finally made it through all that pesky laundry) wasn’t fitting quite right. You didn’t think much of it at the time, passing it off as drying it for a bit too long or using too high of a heat setting. But a week later, you had the same problem occur with a pair of newer pants, and suddenly you felt self conscious. You tried to to push the feeling to the back of your mind, to stay positive and not worry about it, but it was always there. No matter how much you smiled, no matter how many times you told yourself it didn’t matter, the last thing on your mind every night was the fearful thought that you might have gained weight recently.

You’d never been slim; you had been curvy for as long as you could remember, but even from a young age you learned to be confident in yourself and your body. You always had a strong sense of self, always told yourself that your weight did not equal your worth. You knew better, and it showed. People looked up to you and admired you for that. You never cared how much you weighed; you just let your bubbly personality shine through like a midsummer’s day ray of sun. You practically glowed when you were with your friends, the sparkly smile on your face never once faltering as you laughed with them and helped them pick out new outfits they liked during mall outings. So…why should now be any different?

As you stared at yourself in the mirror, you felt anxiety start to creep up your spine, winding tightly around your throat like a constricting snake before pooling in your stomach, as heavy as a stone. Your lungs tightened and you hardly felt like you were getting any air as you looked yourself over. It was hard to tell just from your reflection…but it did seem like you had gained weight. Well, there was only one way to know for sure.

Your eyes caught the gleam of the metal scale in the corner of the room, the square shaped object intimidating you just by lying there on the floor. It was a perfectly normal thing to keep on hand in a perfectly normal household, even more so when you were in a relationship with two pro heroes who worked out and kept track of their weight on a weekly basis. Regardless, nothing about using the scale felt normal to you. You only weighed yourself at the doctor’s office, and that was it. But you wanted to know- no, you had to. It was bothering you too much not to.

Everything about this felt foreign to you. The way the scale came to life suddenly as you stepped on it, the way it took it’s time to recalibrate as you stepped back off, and the way it set itself to “zero” when it finally booted up...all of it. It felt odd when you finally pressed all of your weight to it, awkwardly waiting for the flashing numbers on the tiny digital screen to settle. And when they did, you couldn’t help but frown. You remembered a ballpark number from your last doctor’s visit, and you were nowhere near that number anymore.

You had definitely gained weight since quarantine started.

Not wanting to stand there any longer than necessary, you hopped off the scale holding back tears and tossed your clothes to the floor, opting for a shower. That would make you feel better, and then maybe you would just forget about it. You weren’t going to let this bring you down. At least, that’s what you told yourself.

Lunch gave you more anxiety later on and only served as a reminder about your weight gain. But you ate anyways, because you were hungry and you knew you deserved to regardless of your weight. Still, the anxious feelings remained for the rest of the night. You only forgot about it when Izuku and Shouto returned from work minutes apart from each other, their smiles and hugs effectively chasing away any self doubts or worries that you harbored. After all, it was hard to feel anxious when you were wrapped up in a giant group hug, kisses and “I missed you’s!” being given and received all at once. The night ended on a good note, and in the end you fell asleep feeling safe and secure while nestled in between the two most beloved people in your life.

Morning came too soon, and with it, the familiar sensation of dread that you were trying not to grow accustomed to at this point, especially after yesterday. Today’s a new day, you told yourself. I can do this. You noticed that both men were once again up and at ‘em, already at work by the time you woke which left you alone in the spacious bed to your own devices. You, however, happened to have the day off, so you made a beeline for the kitchen to get breakfast before reclining on the couch, T.V. turned on for background noise while you surfed the web on your laptop. After you were finished eating, you cleaned up your dishes and took out the trash, and it was only as you were headed to the bathroom to shower afterwards that you caught sight of the sticky note on the mirror. It was in Shouto’s handwriting, short and sweet and to the point all at the same time.

Half day at work today. Be back at noon. Love you both. Shouto.

Upon closer inspection there was more writing underneath that, a little messier but still legible with a shaded in little heart drawn underneath it all.

Late shift tonight, don’t wait up for me. -Izuku <3

You smiled at the note before taking a seat on the edge of your bathtub to turn on the shower. You felt a bit of reprieve from your heavy feelings, but it was short lived as a sporadic thought crossed your mind in an attempt to seemingly ruin the rest of your day. You weren’t sure where it came from or why it was there, only that it was taking up space in your mind, and you couldn’t help yourself as you glanced to the corner of the room where the scale was supposed to be. Even though you already knew what numbers it was going to display, that didn’t stop you from wandering over and weighing yourself once more. Or, you would have, if the scale had been there. Oddly enough, it seemed to be missing. You looked around the floor for it feeling silly- all of this just to weight yourself even when you knew the outcome already? But you continued looking for it anyway. Just to make sure, you told yourself.

You found it in the cupboard under the sink, pushed all the way back to the right corner of the bottom shelf where it would be hard to spot. You didn’t think to question how it got there or who might have put it there. The only thing on your mind was confirming the digital numbers you’d discovered yesterday, so that was exactly what you did. You laid the scale on the floor before weighing yourself, and you felt…disappointed. Seeing the numbers on the screen spelled it out clearly for you, and suddenly you were spiraling again, worry settling deep into your soul as everything started to really sink in. What if other people could tell that you gained weight? What if they were judging you for it? What would they say? What would the boys think? Oh god, your boyfriends. Could they see it too? Did they pity you so much that they kept it to themselves but knew the whole time? And if they did know…how did they think about you now? Did they think you were disgusting? Did they still love you? Maybe they knew but didn’t say anything because they didn’t want to hurt your feelings?

Your thoughts spiraled out of control as you stripped down, clothes haphazardly landing wherever you tossed them. You practically entered the shower like a zombie, the boiling hot water doing little to calm your mind and ease the worries eating away at you. By the time you had lathered your hair in conditioner and started on body wash while the former was setting in, you’d been in the shower for quite some time, at least for a half hour, and the sound of the front door opening and shutting did nothing to phase you as you rinsed off the suds. Shouto’s muffled voice carried down the hallway and into the bathroom where you were as he kicked off his shoes at the front door.

“I’m home!”

It didn’t take you long to finish up after that, and soon you were drying the water off with your favorite fluffy towel and getting dressed in an old pair of comfort clothes. Since there was no need to pretend to act professional today, why not dress comfortably instead? You weren’t feeling very high maintenance today anyways.

“Hey babe.” There was a knock on the bathroom door just as you were finishing up getting dressed and tugging your shirt over your chest. You reached out a foot to swing the door open since both your hands were full, and Shouto peered in to greet you with a kiss to the cheek before nuzzling his face into yours. But you were too anxious and preoccupied to do anything other than let him love on you as hot steam filtered out through the now open door. “What would you like for dinner tonight?”

You shrugged your shoulders, “Hm, not sure. I don’t feel like making any decisions at the moment, so whatever you want is probably fine.” You finally toweled off your hair before fixing it up the way you wanted, then exited the bathroom with your partner in tow. You missed the way his gaze flitted to the corner briefly before he followed you out into the hallway.

“Are you sure?” he asked you, head tilting to the side in question.

“Yep, go ahead and pick. I don’t care either way.”

Something in your tone made him stand back for bit and watch with crossed arms as you wandered around the house with seemingly no objective. You weren’t really sure what you were doing; you didn’t really have the energy to be your happy go lucky self like usual, and so you hardly could pay attention to Shouto and shower him with your love like you normally did when he came home from work. Not to mention, you already had breakfast and watched TV, so now you just weren’t sure what to do. You felt like you were just going through the motions, in a daze like a zombie who couldn’t focus. Maybe that’s why you didn’t notice him come up behind you and place a hand on your shoulder, effectively scaring you out of your trance while you stood aimlessly by the couch.

“Are you alright? You seem a little off today.” He gently pulled you down to the couch with him, arms open for you to lay in while you cuddled up to his warm side.

“Huh? Oh, yeah! I’m just thinking a lot, sorry. Did you figure out what you wanted for dinner?”

Snap out of it, Y/N.

He gave you a skeptical look but said nothing more, letting the subject drop at that. “Well, I was thinking maybe we could order some take out and watch a movie at home. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to spend some one on one time with you. I missed you. And Izuku too…”

“I missed you too.” You let him envelope you in a tight hug, some of the stress and fogginess melting away immediately. You were thankful he only had a half day today; it was entirely possible that you might have just sat at home on the couch all day zoning out until one of the boys came home. “Oh,” you added as an afterthought, “make sure you click no contact delivery and tip well. I know you do already, but it’s especially important now.”

A small smile formed as he kissed the top of your head. “Anyone who’s willing to bring food to my love is going to get tipped extremely well. And if we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic, I would tell them thank you in person for providing for my sweet.”

“And if they aren’t willing to deliver?” you challenged.

“Then I would still tip them and say thank you, because they make their living off of that. Life is hard enough without me adding even more stress to their day, isn’t it?”

“You’re a kind person, Shouto. I love you.”

The rest of the night passed by fast, food arriving earlier than you thought it would and Shouto picking one of your favorite movies to watch as the two of you snuggled up under a comfy blanket on the couch. You fell asleep on his chest, his heartbeat lulling you off while you pressed your cheek into the crook of his neck for warmth. It was easy to feel relaxed and comfortable like that, his arms wrapped around you creating a sense of security and safety that you adored.

You were a bit confused when you woke up in bed instead of on the couch the next morning. The last thing you remembered had been the steady rise and fall of your lover’s chest; taking in your surroundings, you realized you were now laying against your usual pillow and just about swaddled in the covers. Whoever had moved you last night had taken care to make sure you were comfortable and cozy while you slept.

“Mornin, sleepyhead,” someone murmured behind you. A hand found itself against your stomach, fingers splayed to lovingly rub against your midriff as Izuku curled around you from behind. You pressed up against him for warmth before turning to face him, and when your eyes met you could see the weariness from his night shift reflected in his gaze. The word exhausted was practically written across his forehead.

“Did you sleep at all?”

“A couple hours. Work was…tiring.”

You absentmindedly brought a hand to his face, your thumb stroking over his cheek before you ruffled his hair affectionately. He let out a heavy sigh as you doted on him, eyes closing in bliss. “You okay?”

He seemed to enjoy your touch for a moment longer before reaching up to take your hand in his much larger one, eyes fluttering back open as he pressed a kiss to your open palm and made a soft noise of content. “Mm, I’m more worried about you.”

Normally his actions would leave butterflies in your stomach and make your heart beat a little bit faster. Normally, you would appreciate the concern. But you would be lying if you said you weren’t confused- What was there to be worried about? It wasn’t like anything was obviously wrong; the three of you had been doing well recently with no major arguments and no qualms with each other or your living situation. The biggest problem you had was getting the boys to pick up after themselves when it came to laundry, but that was easily solved with one stern look and an apologetic smile as they rushed to clean up their mess. So it wasn’t about your relationship in general, but about you specifically. Was there something you had done, something you had said? You wracked your brain for a reason to cause your partners concern but could find none.

Shouto walked into the room just then, pulling your attention away from Izuku briefly as he made his way over to you. He slipped into the bed on your other side, the mattress dipping under his weight and squeaking as he nuzzled up against you. With you sandwiched in between the two of them, Izuku sought to continue his conversation with you.

“You do know the scale keeps track of numbers, don’t you, love?”

It took you a minute, but you were sure both boys could tell the moment that it clicked in your mind. The sheer amount of horror you felt was enough to steal your breath away, your eyes going wide as you realized what he was trying to say. They knew. They both knew, and you were terrified of what they would say. This was the last thing you wanted to deal with this morning, the one thing you didn’t want them to find out. You weren’t sure how to react other than to try and hide your face into the pillow, so that’s exactly what you tried to do. But shoving your face into the pillow couldn’t stop the tears even if you wanted it to, and soon you were furiously trying to wipe your cheeks dry as you stammered out something, anything to explain yourself.

“Normally this wouldn’t bother me! I’m s-sorry, I don’t know why it’s gotten to me like this…”

“Y/N, listen to us. Please?” Todoroki’s voice seemed to calm you a bit, the deep baritone sound grounding you as you nodded to let them know you would listen. “Izuku mentioned to me two days ago that the weights on the scale were different. I didn’t think much of it at first, but then when I came home yesterday, the scale was back out after I had put it away, which means you were the one who got it out, right?”

“Y-Yeah…so?”

“That means the different weight must be yours.” Izuku booped your nose with his finger lightly, a gentle smile gracing his lips as you stared up at him. “Sho said you’ve been acting strange lately, and I’ve seen it too. You just haven’t seemed like yourself, baby. Especially for the past couple of days…” Had you really been acting different? Come to think of it, you might have been a little more anxious and stressed than usual about your weight, and those feelings had seeped into your every day activities, slowing you down and making you feel sluggish and out of sorts. “You know we love you no matter what, right?”

You nodded once again but remained silent, too upset and relieved at the same time to say anything.

“It doesn’t matter how much weight you gain. We’ll still love you the same, and nothing could ever change that. Besides, quarantine has affected all three of us. You’re not alone in this.” Shouto rested his chin on your head as he spoke, a single arm draped over you and Izuku.

“I gained weight too since the start of all of this,” Deku admitted with a sheepish look. “It’s nothing to be ashamed about, though! It just means Shouto makes really good food. And you still love me, right?”

“Of course I do. I love you regardless of that.” You were quick to respond, the words leaving your mouth before you could stop them.

“See? We feel the same way. You didn’t even notice I’d gained weight until I said something, right?”

You hated to admit it, but he was right. To be truthful, you hadn’t noticed, and you hadn’t cared. Izuku was still your love no matter what he weighed, and you were much too captivated with his luscious green curls half the time to pay attention to something trivial like that unless he brought attention to it like he had done now.

“It’s okay to feel upset about it. We’re here for you no matter what, and you can always come to us with anything that’s bothering you. But something like this won’t change how we feel about you, and it never will. We just want you to feel good about yourself and love yourself. And if it makes you feel better…you saw how much of that pizza I had last night, right? I ate over half of the whole thing. I’m sure I’ve gained weight too.” Shouto laughed a little.

“You’re our whole world, Y/N. You deserve everything good that we can provide you and you’re worthy of all of the love we can smother you in.”

As if to prove his point, both boys gave you a bone crushing hug and rubbed their faces against you. Somehow, some way, they always managed to chase away your troubles and make you feel wanted and needed.

“Thank you both,” you managed to squeak out.

“We love you, Y/N.” Shouto pulled away from the two of you and sat up, a hand running along your side in a comforting way. “Do you have a preference on breakfast?”

“Bacon and eggs,” came the immediate reply from a smirking Izuku.

“That’s too bad, because I wasn’t asking you!” The other boy just laughed.

“Bacon and eggs are fine. But can we make pancakes too? With maple syrup and blueberries!” you added.

Izuku’s head shot up at the mention of pancakes, eyes so bright and excited you almost couldn’t tell he was sleep deprived. Almost. “I second that!”

“Alright, alright. Pancakes it is. But you,” Shouto turned to you, “stay here in bed and relax with Izuku. Make sure he rests his eyes a bit, please. I’ll bring the two of you breakfast in bed.” He cupped your face in his hands and brought you in for a tender kiss, and you felt every little bit of care and concern he put behind it. He gave Izuku the same treatment before standing to leave, his eyes locked on the two of you still laying in bed. “I better not hear either of you get up while I’m busy, or else.”

“What if I have to use the bathroom?” Your teasing words earned you an eye roll and a smirk.

“You know what I mean. Be good.” And just like that, he was on his way to the kitchen.

Beside you, Izuku snuck up on you while you were turned away from him, his strong arms wrapping around your torso and pulling you close while he started to press kisses against your neck.

“Izuku…” you whined.

“What?"

“What are you doing?”

“Showing you how much I love you.”

You felt the return of butterflies in your stomach as your heart raced. Izuku crawled over you and straddled your waist, lips still attached to your neck but slowly working their way down.

“This isn’t resting, you know.”

“I don’t care."

[theultimatefanficwriter]

A Perfect Dish-Teruteru Hanamura x Reader

Requested by _i_am_kork_ on Wattpad!

Trigger warning: Angst, suicidal reader, attempted suicide

Slight NSFW language. It is a Teruteru fic, after all.

"I had a feeling I'd find you here. Sweets do tend to be in the kitchen."

"Ah!" You jumped at the voice, flinging the frosting you had been piping onto the cake you were working on up. You turned to the doorway and saw it was Teruteru. You relaxed and gave him a soft smile. "Oh, hi Teruteru." You greeted. "You surprised me."

"I do apologize, mon cherie." The chef apologized with a chuckle as he entered the kitchen of the old building. He looked at your face and smirked. "You have something...all over your face."

You blinked before reaching your hand up and touching your face. When you brought it back down, white frosting was on your hand. Your eyes widened and you rushed to grab a towel.

Teruteru laughed behind you. "If I had known you were into such things, I would have offered for you to be covered in my homemade white frosting, if you know what I mean~."

You felt your face heat up as you wiped the frosting off your face. "T-Teruteru!" You exclaimed, looking over to your friend as you made your way back to where your baked goods were.

Unlike most of the others, you were pretty close to Teruteru. Sure, his perverted attitude was a bit off putting, but it didn't really bother you as much as it did the others. Plus, with you being the Ultimate Baker, the two of you were able to talk about your similar talents and get on a relatively similar wavelength.

"Ooo, what luck that I get to be placed in such a cramped and steamy place with a sweet little thing such as yourself~" The short boy flirted, winking at you as he walked over to the stove.

You felt your blush darken. "Teru, if you don't stop that, I won't get these cakes done in time for the party." You told him.

The Ultimate raised a brow. "Oh? And why would that be? Perhaps because you and I would be busy making something sweet of our own?"

You let out a surprised squeak and dropped the spatula you were holding. "W-what?! No! T-that's not what I was implying at all!" You hurriedly said. You picked up the spatula with a sigh. "Just, please stop with the flirting and pervy comments at least until we're done in here, Teruteru? You know I fluster easy, and you wouldn't want to serve lackluster dishes, right?"

The boy gave you a smile and a soft chuckle. "Oh, alright, since you asked so nicely. And you do have a point. If we got distracted our dishes wouldn't be on par with our titles, and that would be the greatest shame of our lives."

You giggled. "I dunno if it would be the greatest shame." You replied as you piped stars onto the rather large cake you had just finished frosting. "This is just a party on some random island we were somehow taken to."

"It doesn't matter the occasion!" Teruteru rebutted as he began placing ingredients in a pot. "If anything I serve is ever anything other than exquisite, I would be ashamed to call myself the Ultimate Chef!"  

You smiled to yourself, as you began working on making some fruit tarts. You wouldn't admit it out loud, but you may have had a small crush on the plump chef. He really was a nice guy when you got to know him.

As you both did your separate work, you glanced over to him. "Hey, Teruteru?"

He looked over his shoulder at you, a flirty grin on his face. "Yes, sugar?~"

You giggled softly and rolled your eyes. Your smile fell as you asked him you continued. "I...I know you keep saying you don't believe it, but..." You noticed Teruteru's smile dropped as well, already knowing what you were talking about before you even finished speaking. "...this whole situation we're in...it's not normal. We don't even know how we got here, and we're being told by a....a walking talking teddy bear that to leave we need to...to murder?!" You stopped what you were doing, placing all of your baking supplies down as you stared down at the counter. "I...I wish I were as brave as you, Teruteru."

You didn't see it, but Teruteru's eyes widened at that. He turned completely around to look at you. "Brave?" He repeated. "You think I'm brave?"

"Well, yeah." You replied, placing your right arm on your left and glancing over at him. "You're keeping such a positive and carefree attitude despite what's going on. You're able to deny it completely like it's nothing. Only someone with a lot of bravery can do that."

The chef was quiet for a while, looking down at the floor. He wasn't sure what to say to that.

"I can't do that." You continued quietly. "I'm not brave. I don't have that kind of confidence. I don't even know if I could pretend to be happy like you."

Teruteru narrowed his eyes. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Your eyes widened as you realized what you had said. "Uh, n-nothing! D-don't worry about it!" You replied, hastily returning to your baked goods.

The short man watched you for a little while longer, before finally returning to his own tasks.

The two of you continued your respective work in and uncomfortable silence for a while. That silence was broken by faint laughter. You both stopped working and turned your heads to the door.

"What the heck is that?" You asked, furrowing your brow and glancing over at Teruteru.

"I haven't a clue." He responded, putting the utensils in his hands down. "Stay here. I'll go see." You nodded as he left the kitchen, and you soon went back to baking, albeit worrying for Teruteru.

~~~

Your friend was gone for a long time. You had just finished your second batch of chocolate cream puffs and a tiramisu when the kitchen doors open. You looked over and let out a relieved breath when you saw Terteru. "Oh thank goodness!" You breathed out, rushing over to him. "I was getting really worr-" You cut yourself off when you saw his face. He was sweating, and he kept fidgeting with his hands. "...Teruteru?"

"Hmm? O-oh, were you worried about me? Aw, t-that's so sweet of you, angel cake." Even his flirtations seemed off, even when he brushed his hair back with his comb like he usually did.

You furrowed your brow. "Teru, what happened?" You asked him. "What was the laughing?"

"Hmm? Oh, t-that? Oh, it was nothing. Nothing at all!" He rushed past you back to his station, and you watch him. Something was definitely wrong with him, but you couldn't tell what. With a sigh you walked to your side of the kitchen and continued to make your baked goods.

~~~

Hours later, it was time for the party. After being frisked by Byakuya, you made your way back to the kitchen. As you opened the kitchen door you noticed Teruteru by the meat on the bone. You tilted your head. "Teru?" You called.

Your friend jumped and whirled around to face you. "Y/N!" He exclaimed. "W-what are you doing here?!"

"I need to deliver my sweets periodically to the main room." You reminded him, walking towards him. "What were you doing?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" The boy rushed out, pushing you away from him and towards the other side of the kitchen. "Everything's perfectly fine! As fine as a perfectly cooked beef wellington!"

You let out a surprised yelp at that. As Teruteru hurried back over to his station, you frowned. You didn't know what was wrong with him, and you were concerned. Teruteru was usually so calm. Nothing ever seemed to bother him, like you had told him earlier. You let out a sigh and walked over to where Teruteru was to grab a plate of sweets you had placed there.

Suddenly the lights went out.

You let out a surprised scream, and without thinking, you leapt at the closest thing to you.

"H-huh? Y-Y/N?!" You heard Teruteru's voice from right next to you. "I-I mean, of course I don't mind having you in my arms, but shouldn't we try to find out what happened with the lights?"

You bit your lip. "U-um, yes, b-but..." You swallowed. God, you were being such a bother. And now you were about to bug your friend with something as stupid as this.

"But, what?" Teruteru prompted, having not moved from your arms.

You didn't answer for a moment. "...I'm...really scared of the dark." You murmured. Great, now you were being a giant inconvenience.

Teruteru didn't answer for a moment, and that just justified your thoughts. Suddenly he began shuffling the two of you over. He let go of you and you heard him fumbling for something. Suddenly a faint light appeared. The chef's face was illuminated by the flame from the portable stove, and you could see him smiling softly at you. "There. Is that better?" He asked you.

You felt your heart do a small flip. He really did that for you? You nodded. "Y-yes. Thank you, Teruteru. I'm sorry to be such a bother."

"No no no! It's not a bother at all, cutie pie!" He assured you. "I don't want you being scared." You noticed his flirtatious smirk flickering in the flame. "Though you can still press your body against mine for comfort if you want~"

You giggled, already feeling a bit better. It was uncanny how Teruteru could do that to you when others would get grossed or creeped out from him.

Just as sudden as they turned off, the lights turned back on.

When they did, you noticed Teruteru's smirk turned into a horrified expression.

You didn't have time to ask him about it before you were interrupted.

Ding dong bing bong! A body has been discovered!

You and Teruteru glanced at each other before dashing over to the dining hall. When you arrived, you stopped dead. There, under the table, laid Byakuya Togami, the leader who had promised to keep you all safe. Dead.

You turned to look at Teruteru to see if he could offer some comfort, but he was staring at...Nagito? Your friend's gaze at the boy was a mix of horror and anger. "T...Teruteru?" You called out quietly, hesitantly reaching out your hand.

The chef continued to look at Nagito for a few more moments before turning to you. "S-sorry, sugar cube. I'm just...shocked is all."

You nodded, looking down at the ground. "I-I am too. I was afraid this would happen but...I was hoping it never would." You glanced over at Byakuya for a moment before flinching your gaze away. "And...and for it to be Byakuya..." You felt tears in your eyes.

Teruteru frowned at that. "Y/N-"

"Hey, Teruteru, do you mind if I talk to you for a moment?" You both turned at the voice, and you saw Nagito approaching.

You noticed Teruteru stiffened slightly. "U-uh, right now? Shouldn't we focus on the investigation?"

"This won't take long." The lucky student assured him.

Teruteru bit his lip, before sighing. "Fine." Nagito nodded and led your friend out of the dining hall.

You furrowed your brow. You didn't know what was going on, but you were getting really suspicious. You walked out of the hall, trying to be quiet. As you looked around, trying to find where they could've gone, you heard muffled voices coming from the office area. As you followed them, you could hear what they were saying. You stopped outside the office door.

"...disappointing, Teruteru. I expected you to use your hope to try to overcome this despair." That was Nagito's voice. What...what is he talking about?

"What does that even mean?! You keep saying that!" Teruteru's voice let out an exasperated sigh. "I was going to stop you, but then Y/N got scared of the dark! I couldn't leave her there!"

"Ah, I see. So Y/N is your hope."

"My...hope? What?"

"She's the one that brings you hope! The one you care for and would do anything to protect!" You heard that same laugh you had earlier that day. "Ah, it's so beautiful. You'd even throw away the chance to go home for her!"

"..." You didn't hear Teruteru for a while. "...I would've gone home if I had killed you, wouldn't I have?" He finally said. "If I had left her there and continued with the plan, you'd be dead, and I'd be home with Momma."

Your eyes widened. He...he had been planning on killing Nagito?! And you were the only thing that kept him from doing that? ...Did he resent you for that? Tears began slowly falling from your eyes. Of course he does. You can't do anything right. You stopped him from killing but that's not what he wanted. You fucked up. Just like you always do. You turned around and ran away, sprinting out of the old building.

"You would have." Nagito answered Teruteru, a deranged grin on his face. "But you would never throw away Y/N, your true hope, would you?"

The chef looked down at the floor. "...No. I wouldn't." He responded. "She...means a lot to me. Of course I want to know what happened to Momma and the diner, but Y/N is...she's important. I'm...really glad she was there to stop me." He glared up at Nagito. "I'm also glad you're the blackened. We're going to be rid of you soon. Especially since I know about it and can just tell everyone."

Nagito sighed and frowned. "I was hoping you wouldn't do something like that. It wouldn't be two hopes clashing at that point. It would just be you telling the answer." The hope obsessed student suddenly brightened. "Unless...you do this to ensure Y/N goes unharmed, thus protecting your hope! Ah, then that's fine!"

Teruteru scoffed and turned to the exit. "You're completely crazy. Just leave me and Y/N alone." Without giving Nagito the chance to respond, he left the office. He returned to the dining hall expecting to find you there and frowned when he didn't see you. He began asking around, but nobody knew where you had gone. Starting to become worried, Teruteru made his way out of the building and began to search the island.

~~~

You stood at the beach, the waves lapping at your feet. You looked out onto the ocean, your tears falling slowly and adding to the endless water below. You knew this might be a bit drastic of an action to take after what you heard, but honestly that had just been the final straw. You hadn't been very stable even before coming to this island, and after being told you were in a killing game, the thought of taking the easy way out repeatedly returned to your mind. And now that you were sure Teruteru, the only person on this island you had any semblance of trust in despised you, you no longer had any reason to continue. You would just be in the way of everyone. Like you always were.

You took one final deep breath before you closed your eyes and began to walk into the dark waters before you. You shivered slightly as the cold water hit your skin, but you paid no mind, simply continuing your journey further into the depths. Eventually the ocean covered your mouth, and then your nose. Soon after, you felt your ears be filled as well. You continued to walk along the bottom of the sea as you waited for your breath to finally run out, and for you to join Byakuya in death.

Suddenly you heard splashing behind you. You paid it no mind, assuming it to be a wave hitting the shore. But as you felt yourself begin to grow dizzy, you felt two arms hook underneath your own and begin to frantically pull you backwards. You barely had any time to react before your head breached the surface, and you inhaled a large gulp of air. You felt your side make contact with the soft sand of the beach as you continued to gasp frantically, your eyes now wide open and searching the air in front of you to see who it was that had torn your escape from you.

"W-what in the hell do ya think ya were doin'?!" A voice with an accent you weren't familiar with graced your ears. Whoever it was, they spoke quickly, and seemed to have a kind of country drawl that made it almost impossible to interpret what was being said.

You turned your head towards the voice, and there standing worriedly above you, was Teruteru. His face was filled with distress as he pulled at his usually perfectly combed hair. "T...Teruteru?" You murmured, squinting at the boy.

"O-of course is' me! Who e-else wouldidbe?" The plump boy responded, the strange accent leaving his mouth. "More importantly, wha were ya doin'?!" He repeated himself, his voice going up an octave and squeaking.

You didn't want to answer that question. You looked away from the chef and picked at your arm. "...I didn't want to get in the way anymore." You whispered.

Teruteru's eye furrowed. "Huh? Get in tha way? Whadda you talking about?" He asked, his accent slowly going away as he forced himself to calm down.  

"All I ever do is get in the way." You murmured, your voice so soft Teruteru had to lean in closer in order to hear you. "I...I'm just a burden." Tears appeared in the corners of your eyes, so you shut them in a futile attempt to stop them from falling. "I-I have no friends because I just always get in the way..."

The short boy's eyes widened. "Wh-what are you talking about, Y/N?! Everyone on this island is your friend!" He exclaimed and slowly reached his hand out before placing it on your shoulder hesitantly. "I...I'm your friend."

You shook your head at him. "You deserve better friends then me, Teruteru." You finally looked up at him. "...I overheard your conversation with Nagito. I...I ruined your plans..."

The chef stared at you in shock for a while. "You...you heard that?"

You nodded. "Yeah...You were planning on killing Nagito, but because of my stupid fear of the dark, I ruined it." You gripped your arms and looked down at the sand. "...Nagito killed Byakuya, didn't he? And you were going to stop him." The tears you had tried so desperately to prevent began to fall. "Byakuya would still be alive if I wasn't so...so useless."

Teruteru didn't respond for a while, surprise written all over his face. He finally snapped out of it and shook his head. "No no no no! Y-Y/N, you aren't useless! A-and I'm not mad at you for stopping me! The exact opposite, actually!" He placed both hands on your shoulders, smiling softly at you. "You stopped me from doing something stupid. Even if I was trying to protect everyone, I would've been a murderer myself. I'm grateful you were there. I...I'm grateful of you in general."

You slowly looked up to him, your eyes wide in confusion. "Wh...huh? You aren't....upset? But...you could've gone home to your mom...you could've escaped."

"Yes, I'm worried about my momma." Your friend confirmed. "But I would never want to sacrifice you to do that." The shorter boy's face flushed lightly, and he used one of his hands to rub the back of his neck. "You...you're the first person to treat me with any respect, to give me a chance. You...mean a lot to me, Y/N."

You stared at Teruteru in disbelief. Your mind couldn't seem to process this information. He...didn't hate you or think you were annoying? "You...do you mean that?"

The plump boy nodded, his face tinted a bright pink. "Yeah...You're an incredible person, Y/N. You're even better then a five star filet!" You giggled softly at that as Teruteru continued, a small smile on his face as you seemed to relax. "You're completely out of my league, like if a home chef tried to cook a perfect lobster." He frowned and looked to you, worry in his eyes. "I...had no idea you didn't realize how perfect you were."

You felt your heart do a flip. "You...think I'm...perfect?" You asked softly, your voice a whisper as you looked up at the boy. When he nodded sheepishly, you smiled and began to stand. Teruteru rushed to your side to assist you. Once you were standing, you looked down at your friend for only a moment before pulling him into a tight hug.

"Ah! Y-Y/N?!" The plump chef exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"Thank you..." You whispered, your head buried in his shoulder. "That...means more than you know, Teruteru. I care about you a lot...I didn't mean to worry you. I didn't think you even cared about me...I'm sorry..."

As you spoke, Teruteru softened in your embrace. As you murmured your apology, the shorter boy was returning the hug, holding onto you tightly and comfortingly. "No, no. You don't have to apologize, Y/N. It's alright." He pulled away from the hug in order to look into your eyes, a loving smile on his face. "Just...don't ever do something like this again, alright? I can't bare to lose you."

You wiped at your face and nodded, returning the smile. "I-I promise. I won't worry you ever again."

Teruteru looked pleased at that, and he took your hands gently in his. "Good. Thank you." As the two of you stood, the cook's face turned a light red. "Um...Y-Y/N?" You tilted your head, waiting for him to continue. He bit his lip. "Uh...I-I was wondering...Could I...can I maybe...Is it alright if..." He sighed before rushing out the rest of his sentence. "Can I please kiss you?!"

You looked surprised at the request, but it didn't take long for you to smile wide and nod. "Of course. I...I'd like that a lot, Teru~"

Your friend beamed at that and reached a hand up to your face in order to bring it down to his level. After a moment of gazing into your eyes, he finally leaned forward and connected his lips to yours in a soft and sweet kiss.

Your eyes fluttered closed as you hummed happily into the embrace. After not nearly long enough for your liking, he pulled away, his face now as red as his scarf. "That...was amazing, Teruteru." You murmured.

"Y-you really think so?" The chef stammered, fidgeting with his hands. "That...was actually my first kiss."

That information surprised you slightly. You had expected Teruteru to be more experienced. But it didn't deter you from planting a kiss on his forehead. "Well I thought it was perfect." You assured him.

The small man smiled so wide you were worried his jaw would break. The smile soon turned into a smirk as he looked up at you. "Well, of course it was! And ya know...we could go and do another first if you wanted~" He purred.

You felt yourself blush slightly, and you laughed knowing Teruteru's normally confident self had returned. You opened your mouth to respond, but before you could, you were interrupted.

Ding dong bing bong! It's time for the class trial! Everyone meet at Monokuma Rock!

You both frowned at this. "Oh, right...The trial." Teruteru murmured. "We should...probably get going."

You nodded and turned to leave the beach. You paused for a moment and looked to Teruteru before extending your hand.

The chef grinned and happily accepted it, placing his hand in your own. Content, the two of you made your way to put a quick end to Byakuya's murder trial.

You had...plans for later, after all.

[jiminrings]

hi hannah! i may have a request 🥺 i've been watching too much tiktok and this two made me want some jungkook skater au 😳 like the reader saw him and went like love at first sight so she purposely buys a skate and goes everyday to the skatepark and start learning just to impress that hot tattooed skater that kinda looks like a bad boy but he's actually a softie. ♡

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSm5Huop/

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSm55usm/

late skate

pairing: jungkook x y/n

wordcount: 7k

glimpse: jungkook would rather wash down his grip tape than spend another hour seeing you land on yOUR ass, a smitten y/n and love at first sight, and tae almost losing his bearings (in all aspects) <3 // gif is from pinterest :D

note: thank you so much for the request babie!!! also i’m sorry since i’ve done this a month late hee-hee bUT but it’s here now!!! fun fact: i used to skate but one time i fell on my ass so hard doing an ollie that i quit ( ˙-˙ )

there is nothing

there is absolutely nothing you hate more than walking home alone and at-

wait u need to shudder

night

times like these make you both angry and scared because fIRST of all

you’re angry because if oNLY (you’re still hoping that u win the lottery soon) you were born to wealth and ease (if you see park jimin one more time in a billboard you’re about to lose it), you wouldn’t have to worry!! or even work for that matter!!!!

you could have a car by now!!!

but you don’t have a car and you’re still saving up for that because you have to keep up with your bills and this nice and decent apartment that you’re living in right now

well if you’re being honest, you are splitting it with yoongi and that cuts back your expenses significantly but that’s besides the point

which is why you’re being extra thrifty!! save up all the money that you could so you could by yourself a car amongst other financial decisions and nOT be scared shitless when walking home

you’re working at the animal shelter most of the time and it’s very fulfilling because of cOURSE!! your job is to care for animals and give them a better chance at everything :D

the pay is more than decent but it’s not the highest sO what you do on your spare time is pick up any job you could!!

and the income that you need is more and more than decent because taking care of chimmy is not an easy feat

chimmy, your alaskan malamute!!! he’s the first puppy you’ve properly taken care of in the shelter and you’ve fallen head over heels for him

he kept bumping into the wall when he scrambles after you call for him but eH you love the clumsy giant still!!

so much so that you file your adoption form for him and run over to mr. kim’s office hurriedly :D

your boss seokjin’s pretty sweet after all but at the same time he’s intimidating!! too sweet and intimidating at the same time that when he approves your form without much question, you almost kiss his cheek

...

.... hehe

jin beat you to it and instead he gave you a side-hug with a very strict warning to take care of chimmy and provide everything that he needs

he eats 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓂𝒾𝓊𝓂 dog food and you could only assume the amount that he needs because of how he towers

the treats?? one time yoongi got overly-excited to take a picture of him and accidentally left the bag on the ground, and when he came back?? chimmy’s managed to inhale all of them

thankfully he’s only loyal to one (1) toy and it’s to this brown angry... entity..? with one tooth that yoongi’s made by himself

but he constantly has to replace the stuffing because chimmy nOTICES when it’s flat and unstuffed from his own doings

hehehe the grooming.....

you thank your lucky stars that jin gives you a discount to have chimmy groomed!! 

one time you were about to have a breakdown because a $100 grooming session simply didn’t click well with your ongoing budget and you decided to do it yourself :D

spoiler alert: chimmy kept barking at you when you held up the mirror to his face because wOOF did you just... d-did you give him bangs.... how was that possible....

and then sECOND of all is that well.,.,.,

you’re scared and that’s it

there is every possible reason for you to be scared :D

you get off from work at 5!! but now it’s quarter to 8 and you totally should’ve booked an uber but it completely slipped your mind

normally, you wouldn’t walk home alone though because chimmy comes with you to the shelter, and then he serves as a therapy dog of sorts to help ease and calm down the new rescues!!

he even has his own little ID oh my god :’)

but he doesn’t come in everyday and well you remember,.,.

no actually, yoongi REMINDS you that today is his day-off at work and explictly implied that he’d very much love to cuddle with a giant alaskan malamute as he gets his well-deserved rest

and yoongs has been the reason to why you don’t unravel every single day and you owe him for your life so yea okay you can have chimmy whenever you need this giant pillow of support <3

but no

no 

you don’t have chimmy with you and you don’t have anyone to bark and be willing to growl n intimidate any creepy dudes you could possibly encounter on this twenty-minute walk home

the extra coffee you’ve drank at 6 in lieu of dinner does not help at ALL

what if you just... run

that way you get home faster and you won’t have to be that antsy!!!

ok maybe just a light jog would do

you wanna go home so badly and take a shower and be sandwiched between your warm sheets and sleep all the way

you miss chimmy and yoongi and you just hOPE that he’d already cooked dinner and you won’t have processed food again for the third time in a week

and after dinner maybE you could treat yourself to online shopping because yoongs has also been pestering you to let yourself indulge once in a while

your thoughts are jumbled once panicked and it reminds you that yes you should definitely get a car and you know what??? you probably should-

wait fUCK

...

....

oh

wait

hold on a second

did you just manage to narrowly dodge what seems to be a skateboard in mid-air??????

“taehyung, you dumbass!!”

said taehyung is jumping down and crouching to pick up the deck at your feet and squeaks an “oop sorry ‘bout that!!” before going back and

well...

mr. “taehyung, you dumbass!!” is who you presume to be the speaker,, because well no one eLSE is in this skatepark at 9 in the evening,,,, is standing RIGHT underneath the light and is right at your line of sight

it’s as if the clouds are opening up and chimmy’s barking could be heard and everything you deem perfect is ringing right in your ears because god.... holy shit.....

he looks and probably feels like a warm-sized bed that smells of baby powder and fresh linen

he has a hoodie on with the sleeves scrunched up and you tHANK yourself that you’ve saved up enough to get lasik eye surgery because those tattoos...,.,. you r positive that they would be your demise

mr. TYD has a loose bucket hat on yet you could still see his features clearly and you aren’t lying when you say he is perhaps the most breathtaking thing you’d ever seen

even more breathtaking than seeing chimmy in the laundry room and having fished for your one good perfect bra in his mouth

oh

huh

you’re pretty sure this is what love at first sight must feel like

suddenly, you aren’t anxious at all and you’re instantly gravitating towards the ramp without much complaint

there’s a bench conveniently placed in which you could see him but he won’t see you

you find yourself sticking around and smiling when you see him goofing around in all good fun

hopefully you don’t look like a cREEP because you swear you aren’t!!!! and hopefully they don’t notice you either and find out then and there that you’re here in a skatepark withOut a skateboard,,, just sitting,,, to see him

this may not be your best idea yet lmao yes you’re gonna admit that

but it’s probably the first and last time that you’re ever gonna see him so might as well watch him for awhile!! that’s all!!!!

ok wait

this is definitely a bad idea because yoongi calls you and you forgOt to put it on silent and it’s his voice that greets you very rudely as soon as you pick up

“y/n where the FUCK are you???”

oh lmao it’s quarter to 10 already

“jeez, i’m coming home!! calm down!!”

“yeah tell that to chimmy who’s been worried sick with me and won’t stop hOWLING!!!”

you’re scrambling to gather your duffel and sneak oNE last look at him and ur practically pouting as you say goodbye to him under your breath 

:((

“... aw, you worry about me?”

you resume back to jogging on your way home and this time for rEAL

you’re gonna miss him

he’s like one of the random dudes you see in the mall that are sO breathtaking and you know you’re never gonna see them again

you didn’t even manage to catch his name :((

but whoever he is, he feels a little more different than a dude in a mall because this time, you feel like you’re gonna cRY at the thought of it

little did you know that jungkook could see you all this time and he’s sad to see you go 

:D

chimmy is the first to leap at you as soon as you come through the door

and if you didn’t anticipate the giant, then you’d probably be toppled over by now

yoongi finds it weird that there’s this lingering gentle smile on your face

well he shouldn’t be so shOcked because he sees you talking to yourself when you’re watching documentaries and cooking

(( he always checks if there’s a camera hidden somewhere in the kitchen and you were vlogging or something but nO!!! ))

it’s like you’re a third-grader again that goes fERAL at just the thought of their crush

you hope mr. tyd has already eaten breakfast and hasn’t had any injuries with his skateboarding

you’re trying to rationalize with yourself that it’s just a stOOpid and pathetic crush to harbor in less than a day and stop thinking about him

the universe must seem to hate aND love you at the same time because well would you look at tHAT

it’s 5 in the afternoon and you have chimmy beside you and you’re walking home

and that’s practically your routine ever since you’ve gotten this job

it would only differ if a situation like last night happens or when you’re too tired to walk home oR when it’s raining

but right now it’s your normal workday, and you’re walking home, and it’s sunny, aND THIS IS THE SECOND TIME YOU’VE SEEN HIM

this is also the first time that you’ve seen him in such a situation that you didn’t expect :O

the fact that you’ve mayhaps watched kimi no nawa last night with yoongi and perhaps 98 times before that, does not help at all

“you uh, y-you wanna go for a run on the grass, chim??”

there’s this mini field besides the skatepark and chimmy happily jUMPS at the mention of grass :D

aha oh well :D would you look at that :D your dog wants to go run on the grass that’s a couple feet away from the skatepark :D who are you to stop him anyways?? :D

chimmy’s more than happy to comply with your wish and vice versa because he’s having the time of his life clearly

he’s your pawman and the perfect variable so you wouldn’t seem like a third-grader with a helpless crush on anOther third-grader

it seems that hE’S more excited than you though because chimmy runs to the ramp instead of the grass!!!

and in the process he goes UP to greet a guy like he does with you whenever you come home!!! it’s harmless pouncing per se

but it’s not entirely harmless because it feels like chimmy knows EXACTLY what’s in your mind and what he’s doing

“chimmy!!!”

.....

...... of course

chimmy has to of cOurse pounce on him

jungkook wasn’t surely expecting a giant and overly-friendly alaskan malamute to pounce on him right when he was about to drop-in

it’s a pleasant surprise either because it’s-

wait

oh my god

is this yOU?????

listen.,.

jungkook was in the skatepark last night with taehyung and they took advantage of it because they were the only ones there!!

tae surely wasn’t kidding when he said that he was a novice because holy sHIT how was it possible that he sent a skateboard flying mid-air after a failed trick??

kook flinches when he follows it in his line of sight and notices that there’s someone down there who might be literally dECKED out of tae’s stupidity

he’s about to yell for this passer-by to dodge and-

time seems to move quicker because you’re already stopping yourself and flinching in place and then looking up

you’re rIGHT underneath this street lamp and jungkook sighs a breath of relief when he realized that you weren’t hit

but at the same time he’s gasping again because wow

t-that’s uhm-

okay

wHEW he has never felt this pressure in his chest ever since he joined a quizbee in 8th grade

would it be-

ok nevermind

WOULD IT BE TOO FORWARD FOR HIM TO SAY THAT HE HAS A CRUSH ON YOU ALREADY

you’re really beautiful??? and frankly he has to look away for a second because you’re tOO beautiful that he doesn’t know what to do with himself

that’s it u are under arrest for being too pretty >:(

jungkook’s flustered because there’s just these types of people that put a knot on his chest unknowingly and he doesn’t know how to act normally

you are the equivalent of him not being able to look at the screen because the kdrama was that good and he feels unworthy to even watch it

it’s goosebumps all over his skin and he’d be lying when he says his cheeks are not heating up at aLL

“taehyung, you dumbass!!”

his first instinct is to scold taehyung because what iF he ended up hurting you with his skateboard, hmm?? and tHEN what

he expected you to leave after that close-call and if everyone must know, jungkook has an incredible talent at being able to scope out things in his peripheral vision

he could look straight ahead and be able to see what you were also doing at the side

he doesn’t know if that’s a talent or uH everyone has it but whatever he can do that!!!

and you were clearly still there and in fact, even sIT down on the bench

he could see you smiling and giggling and a ginormous part of him assumes that it’s because of him

he prays to god that it’s NOT the guy who almost decked you with a skateboard ://

jungkook was acting weird and he kept smiling and laughing mORE than necessary and taehyung can see right through him

“bro all i did was walk towards you wtf are you laughing,,.,”

“AHAHAHAHAHAHHA tae you’re so silly XD”

alrighty then,, maybe jungkook just binge-ate his vitamin gummies which is why he keeps beaming for an unknown reason

koo was so grumpy literally just before he had his skateboard flying and now he’s ???? weird

jungkook was ultimately sad to see you get up and he knows he’s probably never gonna see you again ok alright time to mope

but this

this

he’s beyond surprised to see that said owner of giant dog happens to be yOU!! of all the people!!!!

it’s you!

“i’m so so sorry about him!! he’s just excited to make friends with everyone and i don’t have the sLIGHTEST clue why he came to you!!”

you pointedly look at chimmy and he has the audacity to howl before looking away

it hasn’t dawned on you that you’re talking and apologizing to him but it certainly did on jungkook which is why he’s charmingly laughing already

“no, no. it’s okay, i don’t mind!! his name’s chimmy, then?”

you’re blinking profusely because yes.. right.. HE is talking to you

“yeah, uh, correct!! his name’s chimmy :)”

“that’s cute. anyways, i’m jungkook :)”

aha :D

koo would like to think that he is smooth

and yes you agree

you immediately shake his hand tOO eagerly with a smile on your face as you’re trying to take this all in

“i’m y/n :)”

jungkook’s hand is bigger than yours and your hand fits sNUGLY right into his hold

he has some tattoos on his hands and there’s some peaking from underneath his hoodie

but even with ur lasik vision you cAN’T focus because omg are you seriously holding jungkook’s hand.,.,

jungkook as in THEE jungkook that you’ve immediately clocked and crushed on last night in an instant

your lil moment of just holding each other’s hands is interrupted when taehyung pops out of nOwhere

(( actually he’s been there for the past two minutes and he kept switching between cooing and laughing ))

“yO i’m taehyung!!! you must be y/n, i didn’t nick you last night, did i?”

he takes it upon himself to hug you right then and there

well he’s warm and he passes the internal vibe check yoongi’s hotwired into your brain so you reciprocate!! you like hugs anyway and taehyung’s just like chimmy but in human form

jungkook practically squawks and stammers in his place because w-why.. w-what...... no

chimmy bARKS at taehyung and koo is tempted to do the same too because no man you simply do nOt hug my crush that you know absolutely nothing about

“he’s asking for you.”

kook points to chimmy who’s obviously pouncing on you to come run with him

you excuse yourself so you could go satisfy the giant and jungkook felt like his heart was gonna fall out of his aSS

tae wiggles his eyebrows and has his lips pursed and it’s the shit-eating grin that he immediately flips off as soon as he sees it

“what was that all about?”

you are convinced

you are 100% convinced

your head is fully-set into the game and in no way are you gonna back out

“min yoongi!!”

ah there it is

yoongi’s having the time of his life playing fetch with chimmy! what could possibly be any more important in this world than that

“what did i do now?”

you only call out his full name when a) you’re agitated and when b) he’s ignoring you and you’ve had enough of it

he really doesn’t recall giving you the cold shoulder recently

and he certainly didn’t agitated you when all he’s done is play with chimmy and sleep!!!

“please click this for me pls. click. please. pls click.”

aH yoongi should’ve brought his glasses instead of leaving them on the couch

you’re holding out your laptop to him with your arms outstretched and he has to come really close to decipher and-

... huh

“a skateboard?”

pardon him but he’s really lost on this one ok

he is as lost as he was when walmart decided to completely rearrange the whole store

“... and what do you need a skateboard for? y/n when i said that you should get yourself a four-wheeler, i didn’t mean a skateboard-”

in what part does a skateboard look like an SUV

whY are you like this

“it’s for uh... it’s for fun purposes!!”

you’re trying not to raise any more questions in yoongi’s mind but his head is miles miles away now lol

???? you hate trying new things though ???

one time you traded in your beef ramen for pork ramen because the first one was out of stock and throughout the whole meal you kept thinking how much you regretted it

and besides, skateboarding would be the last thing you’d get into!!!

yoongi distinctly remembers that you’d rather choke on chewing gum rather than get your knees scraped

why was that?? because when your knees get scraped, walking and doing everything else?? impossible 

nice try sherlock but the moment you do so much as to not stand up straight?? sIT down?? yeah your knees would give out 

what has got to be something so special that you’d wanna get into skateboarding and risk yourself into getting your knees scraped??

....

....

omg is that what he thinks it is

“... it’s a crush, isn’t it?”

the way you instantly shut him down and practically have to beg him just to press the check out button.,..

aha 

yeah yoongi’s gotten his answer alright :D

whatever this is

or whatever that’s going on

you’re sure that you’ve never felt this content for a long time

you now bring a change of clothes so you wouldn’t go skating in your uniform because that just honestly sucks

you may be too tired to walk to the skatepark which is why sometimes you’d book a ride, but no you’re never tOO tired to skate and see jungkook :D

it’s frustrating enough as it is

yoongi used to skate and that’s the reason why you’ve found this shortcut in the first place because this was where the park was!! you’d always think at the back of your head on wHY was yoongi struggling!!!

smh that’s so easy yoongs </3

joke’s on you now though because trying to balance on the board in the first place scared you shitless because hOW were you supposed to do this??

you can ride a bike and that has tWO wheels and this has fOUR bearings!!! how come you can’t balance yourself??

even managing to stand up on the board without panicking for more than ten seconds AND managing to shift from left to right even if it’s albeit shaky at first, took you a wHOLE evening

but you’re so proud of yourself and so is jungkook :D

jungkook finds it the highlight of his night when you’d hold onto him

yes he knOws you have it under control now and you barely hold onto him for support

“just so you won’t fall, that’s all.”

he always evades your eyes when you go look up at him dreamily like that because how could he not???

you’ve covered the basics of pushing yourself then simultaneously riding the skateboard!!

you do that for one WHOLE week and both jungkook and tae (and yoongi) think it’s time that you do something else besides skate in one straight line and occasionally to a left and a right

ok you’re kind of scared shitless because you already fell a couple of times but y’know what?? it’s time!!

society has progressed past the need of you skating in a straight path

the society NEEDS you to do tricks now

.....

........

confession time:

dear diary the kickflip is simply not kicking the board in an attempt to flip it by itself. it is not. it is not as easy as it sounds. it is the bane of my existence

it’s evident that you’re stalling out of your way with this one but you just need oNE success and that’s it!!! one win to woo jungkook from his feet and then you’d stop

tae has already shut you up too because you keep talking about how your day went when you already is set four times before that

and it must’ve been a lucky first time because you absolutely nAIL it on the first try!!!

you honestly thought you’d land square on your ass and see bruises on it later in the shower but N-O!! you’ve done it perfectly and-

jungkook’s not looking

he didn’t see your feat!!

or maybe he didn’t see it because he chosE not to!!!

OR

maybe doing a kickflip is nothing impressive and it’s obvious that he’s a pro at this compared to you who’s even more of a novice that makes taehyung look like a god

you can’t have that :((

ok ok hOW can you impress jungkook

there must be something you could do to impress him!!

omg

that’s it

this is practically perfect!!

you’re gonna do your first drop-in at a pipe that is nowhere gOOD for a beginner like you :D

one, two, th-

“easy, doll.”

jungkook materializes out of nowhere and you expected him to be skating at the far end!! not mere inches away from your face holding your hANDS

this is the first time you’ve seen jungkook actually this close and you just have this urge to kiss his cheek

he has you whipped for him and he hasn’t even done anything to you!!!

“not the best idea to go down an eight-foot tall half-pipe for your first time, hm?”

he scrunches his nose at your absurd thoughts because absolutely wHY would you do that??

how could you fall in love with him even mORE

“do the two-feet tall one first. go have taehyung teach you.”

the grin in your face goes as fast as it came

no offense to taehyung but he’s not the one your head-over-heels for :((

practically everyone knows about your crush on jungkook BESIDES jungkook himself

you’re tapping tae on the shoulder to come and teach you while you just watch kook shred it at the other side of the park by himself

it’s okay!! progress is progress and you’re gonna get far with jungkook!!

going to the skatepark right after work is now your new routine

sometimes you even come with yoongi when he’s free and he takes all his time to gloat on how you used to make fun of him when he was skating avidly back then

that gives you a grand total of three (3) people teaching you how to skate and giving you pointers

jungkook also now holds conversation from time to time :D

he’d ask you how your day went and you’d have to pretend that you didn’t wait for him to ask so you’re not spilling detail after detail

he now does this thing of pinching your cHEEK when you get something right 

your heart after doing an ollie goes bEEP when he pinches your cheek and tells you eagerly that you did such a good job

yoongi’s laid off his teasing for you and jungkook but god he can’t deny that he gets these weird vibes from him

eh it’s probably nothing

today you’re especially excited because it was an outfit that you just bought and you feel gREAT in it!!!

tbh your day was the absolute worst but jungkook is always a great pick-me-up to whatever day you could have :)

a tennis skirt with shorts already built underneath is the greatest save of ur life

it’s a little on the more expensive side because it IS a name-brand and those don’t come cheap but it’s ok :D it’s gonna be worth it :D it better be :D

oh uhm

jungkook seems different today.... ?

you were used to him looking intimidating and mad even if he wasn’t, but this time it just felt emphasized even more

taehyung’s here but he’s not the only one!!! there’s two guys with jungkook on the other side of the ramp

“those are his friends, i guess?? i don’t know, he hasn’t introduced them to me.”

so you’re nOT the only one who’s lost

jungkook will probably come around later and you could all hang out again :))

chimmy happily chuffs at your side and that just gives taehyung the most wonderful idea he’s ever had this day

“hEY which one of us do you think could out-skate chimmy???”

jungkook is utterly and without a doubt stressed 

he knew that hoseok and namjoon would come over, but he didn’t expect that they’d visit him while he was in the park!!!!

and he already knows what they’re here for and that just makes him grimace :((

“why don’t you want to go pro?”

koo’s ears feel like bleeding when hobi asks him that for the nth time

god it’s always just the sAME question!! he could practically sniff the air on what they’re gonna say next

“jungkook, i think we all know that you’re more than qualified to be a pro!! look at you!!”

it’s the same conversation over and over again

the next things they’d say are that he’s a natural and he’s wasting all his talent doing this thing cASUALLY

he’s not the next tony hawk or anything like that!!! he’s not gonna book a sponsorship and a collaboration with vans!!! but hobi and joon kEEP insisting that he’s that good

“hyung, i think we’ve already talked about this-...”

“yes and you refusE to listen!! why can’t you just accept the fact that you have a much better future in this??”

jungkook’s currently a freelance graphic designer which means he works from home and he’s in charge of his oWN schedule

but it doesn’t necessarily mean that every single day he gets a new commission or anything grand like that

he’s gonna be honest and say that yES he has thought of being a pro skater!! but he’s trying to be as rational as possible about it

because not every competition would be a win and not competitions don’t happen as frequent as a typical job is!!

and what iF jungkook gets injured?? something of an injury that would lay him off from skating 

and being unable to skate??? = he basically gets nOTHING

he feels pressures because hobi and joon are pro skaters already!! and that gives them all the more reason to make jungkook into one

not to flex but uh they’re both quite already kNOWN

and jungkook hasn’t even started his pro career but he’s already known!!! both by his skills and the fact that he’s friends with these two champions

“i literally do not care if you beat me!! just come take the leap and be a pRO already, jungkook!!! it’s a loss as it is that you still consider yourself an amateur.”

their words, not his 

ok uhm what if

what if jungkook opens a skate clinic?? he can do what he loves and in the same time, earn money!!

... yeah

okay! 

that could work!! and if he feels extra prepared, then yeah maybe he’d be a pro

or would a skate clinic be useless if he isn’t a pro by then???

oh my god

jungkook’s so frustrated with all this sudden bombarding and it makes him want to tug at his hair

as much as he loves his hyungs, sometimes they just can’t seem to know when to back oFF and realize that their nudging is more like shoving

“do something productive and worth your time, jungkook. stop babysitting.”

namjoon says with an edge and that tames jungkook

what makes it worse was what they were implying in the first place

hoseok doesn’t make it discreet to look at taehyung and you

“tae, tae, look!! i’m doing it, i’m doing it!!”

you’re saying over your shoulder because omg you’re getting the lead and chimmy’s slowed down for some reason

well actually taehyung’s took it upon himself to stop behind you

“guys?”

you get an immediate answer when you feel someone effectively hALT you still and you almost fall on your ass just by the sheer strength of someone holding you up

jungkook’s holding you down and his hands are quite heAVy on your arms

there’s this unexplainable look on his face but you’re positive that it’s not one of happiness

“you should probably stop doing whatever it is that you’re doing.”

oh

to be honest you’re unsure of how to react

but the way that jungkook looks like he’s mad at you and retreats back to those two guys with a scoff in his step -- 

it’s enough

it’s truly enough for you to reevaluate every decision you’ve ever made

maybe it’s simply not just a bad day for you and a case of overthinking thigs,, and it’s perhaps the fact that he want you to stop

stop whatever that is happening

you probably must be frozen in place because chimmy bounds and pounces at you

you probably must’ve looked like an utter fool,, skating in a tennis skirt and trying to outrace a damn dog in a fucking skatepark,, right in front of jungkook and his friends

“y/n, you uh, y’okay?”

tae’s worried because there’s an instant shift to your mood and he could only assume what you were feeling

tears prick at the back of your eyes and that’s the signal for you to gather your things in a flash because the last thing you’d want is to cRY in front of him

“y-yeah! i’m gonna go home, tae. chimmy’s looking for yoongi.”

the dog in question tilts his head because w hat now,,,.,., wha t,.,. he is???

you learned that dogs could smell emotions and that makes you even sadder

chimmy was behaved the whole time; didn’t even try straying you around when he keeps seeing umbrellas on the street even if he loves them

you’re okay

:)

you should be okay

....

there’s something definitely off

yoongi’s cleaned everything and did his share of chores

the tv is still mounted and the microwave’s clean!!

chimmy didn’t have a toilet accident because if he did, he would’ve already picked it up

there’s definitely something off with yOU

because first of all, why are you here???

“not coming to the park?”

if he can recall correctly, no matter how knackered you were after work, you’d still go to the skatepark!!

... not unless you were injured??

nah because if you were injured then you’d be whining to him now

“nope :)”

you’re lying on the couch where he usually lies nowadays because you weren’t around!!

and you’re drinking from your mug that he’s claimed as his mug

and chimmy’s squished in between the tiny gap of you and the far edge of the couch

“and why?”

he’s always had answers for everything but his mind’s bLANK for this

“wanna spend time with you guys :)”

oh

okay

that’s gotta be the answer, right???

this is definitely weird

for starters, it’s already 11 PM and jungkook’s still in the skatepark and he’s not even skating anymore

he’s just waiting

weird... you aren’t here.......

aH it’s nothing :D you’re probably just tired and didn’t want to go skate

oh and.. you’re not here the next day

or the next

or the nEXT

jungkook spends almost the entirety of his time in the park

he goes there at 3 in the afternoon and comes home at 11 in the evening

no big deal

half of the time is just spent him actually skating and the other is figuring out wHERE you are

uh maybe you’ve started to take ubers now every time you come home??

you’re not walking home anymore and the car would pass by the skatepark and jungkook wouldn’t have a single clue where you are

it’s also this time that it dawns on him that he has no means whatsoever to contact you

he didn’t ask for your number and didn’t exchange socials so he could only gUESS

he can’t come over to your apartment either because he hasn’t walked you home and therefore he wouldn’t know your address

holy shit he’s so dumb and jungkook misses you a lot

like a whole whole lot

he misses you holding onto his shoulders for support and misses your excited grin whenever you nail a trick and had a perfect run

there’s nothing that jungkook could dO besides wait

and miss you so much

and mope

kook doesn’t want to give up and miss a day because what iF you pass by when he’s not there???

he can’t have that and he wON’t have that

he’s just so antsy and he hasn’t had his fix of chimmy bounding towards him and the malamute intentionally pouncing on him whenever he’d drop-in so he could lose his balance

he just needs to see you and your duffel bag and the precious yet beat-up wristwatch you have and-

WAIT

THAT’S YOU!!!

jungkook’s brought his perfume the past few days because he wouldn’t want to be aND smell sweaty when he sees you again

he’s wearing a shirt this time and nOT a hoodie and it’s actually a nice shirt!! the pale orange makes his tattoos pop

he’s also wearing a watch so he could look business-ish and composed and he kinda hATES watches because uhhhh you ever heard of a phone, buddy??

you’re walking striaght and paying no mind at all and to your surrounding and-

there’s suddenly this cRASH in front of you and it makes you recall in response because that came out of nowhere

... and this feels oddly familiar

only this time though, it’s intentional and it’s jungkook who literally tHREW his skateboard down on the spot in front of you

“y/n? wow, what a coincidence!”

you didn’t expect to see jungkook as soOn as you anticipated that he wouldn’t be here

he laughs nervously and he tries not to overanalyze the fact that your face is blank

:|

“yup. totally.”

you’re avoiding his gaze and meanwhile he’s searching desperately for yours 

what is he feeling and why is it hurt and longing at the same time

“can i walk you home?”

the words tumble out of his mouth before he could even ponder over them longer

“i uh, i rEALLY can’t believe i never asked to walk you home!! or even ask for your number!!! but uHhhh it’s late at night and to be honest i don’t have your number and i just need to know that you’re safe and-”

he stops his rambling right there because he realizes that he’s a stuttering nervous mess

you’re a bit speechless because normally you’re the chatty one but this one.,.,,. this one’s a pleasant surprise

“yeah, yeah. okay :)”

he can’t believe either that you agreed to it but he’s immediately gathering himself and swoops your duffel for him to hold

he’s not gonna entertain a single complaint <3

it’s not exactly the most tensioned silence ever but it’s definitely nOT comfortable

“why didn’t you come to the park?”

okay well sHIT you didn’t expect him to be this straightforward

wait no 

you shouldn’t be surprised!! after all, he probably did mean what he said the last time you’ve seen him

what are u gonna say now

well you coulD say that you’re busy and he’d probably fall for it!!

or reiterate the truth that he’s implied and say it with a straight face

“oh. i started intentionally falling on my ass because i missed you,” jungkook spills out of nowhere while waiting for your answer and he now realizes that might’ve been a little awkward

after all he dID admit that he missed you

ahem

“did i uhm... did i say something?”

he rephrases his question and he knows that this was the more appropriate one

your coping mechanism is to kick on the ground as if there were leaves and there are absolutely nO leaves <3

“jungkook, you told me to stop.”

he blinks rapidly at that as he tries to digest your words

he’s trying to backtrack as much as possible and it wasn’t that!!

he simply doesn’t wanna see you hurt

“i can’t explain it but holy shiT i can’t see you hurt!! a-and i know that being hurt in skating is normal but for sOME reason i can’t stand it when i see you in pain o-or-...”

jungkook just can’t explaiN what he feels

“i just -- i just don’t gEt why you’d want to be hurt?? whY are you doing this to yourself??”

you find him ridiculous and this whole situation is just rIDICULOUS

“jesus christ jungkook i did it to try and impress a guy!!”

that earns you a snort and you immediately go defensive

he seems irked and his eyes are just beGGING to be rolled

“who?? taehyung?? the guy who would’ve wiped you out if he did end up hitting you on the head with the deck just a little harder??”

“what? taehyung???” you’re so confused and jungkook hates it even more, “yeah, taehyung!!”

“i like you, jungkook!”

o-oh

uhm

a.....ha

“me?”

he points to himself to which you eagerly nod your head to

“can you excuse me for one second?”

he barely gives you the time to respond because he’s already walking away and biting his arm

he’s actually sCREAMING

you throw your head back because omg did the two of you just basically admit that you liked each other

jungkook jogs back to where you stand a presses a hefty kISS right on your cheek

he’s on too much of a high that he holds your hand and practically drags you along with him because he’s almost skIPPING from how happy he is

“okay. good. nice. very good!!!” he could now sigh in relief because whEW that robbed him off his breath

“because i fell for you when i first saw you.”

jungkook basically has nO filter now and it’s adorable because god he’s just so soft and you now know what’s going and this wouldn’t be just whatever

“huh. imagine if yOU fell for me too at the same time,,,, that would make me piss my pants.”

he cackles because wow he dO be funny :D

he’s turning to look at you to gauge at your reaction and the waY that you’re holding your eye contact with him is all-telling for your answer

oh my god

jungkook is wrapped around your pinky :’)

[fuchsiagrasshopper]

Contending the Flame VIII

Author’s Note: Here’s the newest chapter, as promised as my early Christmas gift to you guys! It’s the longest thus far, and my personal favorite (I feel like I say that all the time) so I’ll let you guys be the judge. Enjoy and happy holidays!

Masterlist

Pairing: Ivar x Reader Word Count: 4176 Warnings: Language, sexual themes, master/servant dynamic

Ivar now knew the identity of the spy in the camp. She had presented herself to him when he was alone, under the guise that she wanted to be with him. It had come as a relief that she was not sent to kill him, at least not yet. Her name was Freydis, and she was beautiful, a deceptive beauty that he would have fallen for had he not already been made aware of her treachery. But he had to keep her close enough to not become suspicious, and so he played into her duplicitous act, even as he was wrought with anger and guilt to do it. Her kisses and gentle caresses were like being held in the cold clutches of Rán. Ubbe and Hvitserk now knew her identity as well, so they had eyes on her when he couldn't. She was clever and had yet to make a slip up on who she was sent by.

His time was also divided between Ólaug, and the Bishop, Heahmund. Their time in York was coming to an end, with some of the warriors choosing to stay behind during the winter. Ivar intended to return to Kattegat to have his revenge on Lagertha, but he had not decided on what to do with the pair of Christians. He wanted to keep his nun close, but not if it put you in danger. 

During the day you remained with Audhild and the other healers, but when the sun went down, Ivar ordered you back to his side. It was under the pretense that he needed you to continue to tend to his wound, but he could have asked for any healer to do that. He still wanted you near. Your longing for happiness was all Ivar could think about, but he knew little in the ways of bringing light back into another's life. After spending so much time miserable and alone, he was ill-equipped to breathe joy into someone else.

The splashing of water brought him out of his thoughts and into the dark hallway he was lurking in. He had sought you out for a different purpose tonight. The Bishop thought he could demonstrate his piety by refusing to eat, but Ivar refused to lose such a valuable fighter so soon after acquiring him. You would be able to make Heahmund see reason, that no rational good could come from his fasting. Audhild had sent you away to bathe, and that is where he found you, through a crack in the wall. 

It was wrong. Ivar knew it the moment he spied you naked and did not immediately look away. He couldn’t. You were becoming something of an obsession to him, occupying his thoughts whenever he had a quiet moment alone. He would conjure up delightful and terrifying ideas of a future with you, none of which were at all plausible. The days without you served only to nurture his fondness, and now he was brought back down to a familiar habit, watching but not taking what he wanted.

Your actions weren't tantalizing, you simply washed like the many times you had done so before. Maybe it was the way you went about it, unaware that you were being watched that was desirable to Ivar. If you were his, then what he stumbled across was just a domestic moment of quiet bliss. He could walk up to you, and you wouldn't cover up and hide. You would welcome him with a smile, and he would lean down to kiss your neck, catching a bead of water on his lips that had collected there.

Ivar moaned quietly. That was far from reality, and he knew your reaction if he intruded upon you now. You would shriek and struggle to conceal yourself from his lecherous gaze, and he would be left feeling hateful at you and himself. A part of himself was rife with disgust that he should be attracted to you at all. You were a weak Christian with a false god, and with none of the qualities of a strong Viking woman of Kattegat. Not that he was entirely set on wedding a shieldmaiden either. His mother had never been a fighter, yet she had ensnared Ragnar with her beauty and wisdom. Ivar enjoyed his conversations with you, and he felt your face was pleasing enough. As you bathed, you had discarded your headscarf, and your hair was beginning to grow back. You could be beautiful. 

He found his thoughts tiring, and with sudden energy, he rapped his hand on the door to the bathing room. You startled in the tub, splashing water onto the floor.

"Yes?" You called, face cautious while still unaware of Ivar's presence. You had ducked down into the water and were peeking over the rim as if expecting an intruder to burst forth through the door.

"I require your assistance with something," Ivar answered. "Hurry up. A thrall does not have the luxury to bathe all day."

You frowned in frustration, and Ivar laughed to himself. He knew you wouldn't do so if you knew he could see, but he often caught your irritation when you thought he wasn't paying attention. 

As you stood out of the water, Ivar engaged in your naked form one last time before you slid into a brown slip dress that was ill-fitting. He would hold onto the memory of this moment, and return to it in private when he was allowed to be engrossed with thoughts of you, and not of war and betrayal.

When you came through the door, you breathed out a gasp at finding him so close. It was only to catch a scent of the petals on your skin that had surrounded you in the water, and when he had his fill, he pivoted back to allow you to join him in the hallway.

"What needs tending to, is it your wound?" You asked while rolling the sleeves of your dress up into cuffs.

"No, it is a matter of a stubborn one of your kind. A Bishop."

"I'm not sure I understand. I've never known any Bishop."

"I don't need you to be familiar with him, I need you to make him see reason. He has refused any meal we offer him, and nothing short of forcing food down his throat seems to be an answer. But I assume you'd rather I come to a different resolution."

Your eyes fluttered, and you held your arms around yourself as if chilled. "I suppose I can try to speak to him. But I don't understand why you have a Bishop here."

"He is a strong warrior, and I would like to shift his allegiance to our side," Ivar explained as he started forward.

You shuffled quickly after him, and Ivar was taken aback as you placed a hand on his arm. "Is this man Bishop Heahmund?"

Forgetting for a moment the warmth of your touch through his sleeve, he found your reaction curious. "I thought you didn't know any Bishop?"

"I don't know him personally, but most of the Church knows of this man. That he wields a sword, and goes to war with the grace of God," You said, sounding out of breath and with a fresh flush coming to your face. "How did he come to be here?"

"I captured him," Ivar boasted, if only because he didn't care for how flustered you had grown at the mere mention of Heahmund. "It seems the grace of your God has left him."

You pulled back your hand, and your eyes fell. "I'll see to it that He hasn't."

Ivar's face hardened as he started towards the courtyard where the Bishop was being kept. He hadn't meant to offer you insult, he'd only been wary of the admiration you seemed to hold for Heahmund. When he first spotted the Bishop battling through the mud and rain, Ivar had been mesmerized. Here was a man, a Christian, who fought with the might of a thousand giants. He was everything Ivar would never be, a fate he wanted for his own but could not have.

He swore to the Gods that he would never dwell on matters he could not change. If Floki were here to witness his self-pity, he would have him carving runes into wood with his fingernails. His old teacher never did entertain the idea that Ivar was lesser for being born boneless. Most days he had moved on from the notion as well, but it seemed the appearance of Heahmund had brought forth these feelings of inadequacy.

They passed by the two guards charged with watching over the Bishop, and Ivar instructed one of them to find a hot meal to return with. Heahmund was where he remained the last time Ivar had been around. Chained to a post spiked in the center of the courtyard, still as the dead with his chin tugged down to his chest. Ivar gave a few brusque taps with his crutch on the Bishop's leg to warrant his attention. 

"I've brought a friend. She worries for you."

Heahmund glanced up with curiosity as you took a step forward. You were not a familiar face to him, but you did not hesitate as you knelt in the soft ground at his side. The first hand you reached out and brushed back his dark hair. Ivar felt his bones ache at such a tender gesture.

"Who are you," Heahmund murmured, his eyes heavy as he watched you.

You hesitated a moment, as if not sure how to answer. "I am Sister Mary Catharine. I have come because God still has work for you on this earth. Do not throw away your life so irrationally."

The Bishop took your hand into his own and he began to speak in a tongue Ivar could not comprehend. His eyes grew impassioned, and you appeared to grasp onto his words, leaning closer to the man than Ivar was comfortable with. Whatever the mysterious language was, you spoke it as well, though not with as much confidence as Heahmund. Sometimes one of you would look towards Ivar before continuing to prattle. The situation before him left him bereft of assurance. Perhaps he was mistaken in bringing you here.

The guard he had sent to fetch food had returned, and Ivar had him placing the meal down at the Bishop's feet. He had hoped it would disrupt your secret discussion, but instead, you reached for the cup of water and brought it to Heahmund's lips.

"Enough," Ivar barked, taking a threatening lunge forward that had you scurrying back. The cup fell from your grasp and landed at the Bishop's feet. "I did not bring you here to be his nursemaid. His hands are not bound so tightly that he cannot feed himself." 

You bowed your head, and Ivar knew he had frightened you when you refused to meet his gaze. "My apologies, it was not my place to presume. I should return to Audhild. She did not grant me this much time to be away."

He wanted to snap back that he had not dismissed you yet, but you were no longer his thrall. It wouldn't have done any good to have you distance yourself further from him, so Ivar gave you a curt nod and told his men to let you pass. When he looked back at Heahmund, he was studying him with rapt attention. 

"Heathen," The Bishop started.

"Christian," Ivar returned in kind. 

"Be kind to her. She is a tender angel of mercy."

Ivar felt curious. He agreed with the assertion that you were merciful, but he wasn't sure about the rest. "What's an angel?"

"They are the heavenly protectors that watch over us and guide us. In the presence of our glorious Lord, they stand, and serve Him."

Ivar rolled his eyes with a snicker. He should have expected such a long-winded answer from Heahmund by now. "And what was that language you spoke just now?"

"Latin, it is the language of the Church and all holy scripture."

"What were you saying?"

Heahmund appeared to contemplate whether or not to reveal what had been spoken between you. Ivar knew whatever it was, he had been at the center of it.

"I told the Sister that you are a repugnant creature whose path will lead to sin and damnation. Should you seek penance now and forgo your wicked ways, you may yet save your soul. Renounce your false gods, and accept the one true Lord as your savior."

Ivar began to laugh at the absurdity of Heahmund, and the guards joined him. "Your God be damned, Bishop. My soul is not fated for your boring heaven. We come into this world bloody, and I have plans to leave it just the same. I'll keep to my wicked ways, as you say."

Heahmund did not appear fazed by such a response and had probably anticipated it. He returned to the meal that had been brought to him and began to eat, but not before uttering a prayer and cross gesture first. He was resilient, and Ivar admired the trait as something he had in himself. The goal had been to get the Bishop to eat, and with that rectified, he turned to leave. 

With his crutch clunking beside him with each heavy step, Ivar made his way back inside. He was surprised to see you had not gone far. You had remained back in the hallway, a fretful look on your face. When you spotted him coming towards you, you righted yourself against the wall and brought your hands down to your sides.

"Did he eat?"

Ivar grunted. Of course, you were worried about Heahmund. "Yes. It seemed all he needed was a pretty face. In this, all men are the same."

You grew quiet and pink, the desired reaction he had hoped for. "I don't know about that," You mumbled eventually. 

"Oh but it's true. He called you an angel."

"The Bishop exaggerates."

Ivar was glad to see such flattery had not swayed you, as you lost your previous flush from his insinuating of your beauty. 

"Tell me about your angels. Are they like our Valkyries?" From your confused look Ivar knew he would have to elaborate. "They are the women that guide dead warriors from the battlefield into Valhalla."

"Angels are our messengers to God, though I suppose they do offer guidance. But our angels do not conform to gender in a way that we would understand, and they've always appeared as men to us mortals."

Ivar snorted as he imagined these strange creatures. "What's between their legs then, if they aren't like us, mortal men?"

A peal of laughter bubbled up from your throat that you couldn't contain, and Ivar delighted in the knowledge that he had caused it. You'd never looked so free.

"I don't know. I've never contemplated such things before," You said as your giggles settled.

“He also thinks that my soul is damned, and I’m sure he is concerned I’m going to take you with me,” Ivar said, and not entirely put off by the idea of tainting your pure Christian values.

“If you live your life dedicated to the ways of your gods, then I’m certain your soul is safe. Perhaps it isn’t in our God’s power to decide.”

“I thought you believed my gods to be false.”

You hummed quietly as you appeared in thought. “I don’t think it is fair for me to say what is the one true God. I do not understand the ways of your people any more than you do mine, and I still think it isn't up for men to decide when to take another's life. Perhaps whatever God is, he reaches us differently in our hearts."

"Does it bother you that your Bishop slays men on the battlefield?" 

"I haven't thought of it before. Mostly I just knew of Bishop Heahmund from the stories of chatty nuns," You replied while scratching at the scarf on your head. "I suppose I don't like it, but what he does in the field of battle is between him and God. He'll have to appeal for clemency when his judgement day comes upon him."

"And what about me?" Ivar asked, stepping into your space. You skirted back until he crowded you up against the wall. He could feel your small puffs of air against his cheek, and your eyes were blown wide like a cat's. "Should I be asking for forgiveness for the things I've done?"

You swallowed thickly. "But it would all be a lie. You do not seek forgiveness in your heart."

You were right of course, his heart was not set on forgiveness. It was pounding in his chest at having you so near. Balancing his crutch under his arm, he was able to please his one hand up against the wall and lean in close.

"You seem to know more about me every day," He said, letting his voice go soft as he dragged his knuckles down your left cheek. The bruise around your eye had faded to yellow and was no longer swollen. What a shame it was that he had not been given the chance to learn who had hurt you. "We will leave this place soon, and you'll see my home. Have you ever been outside of England?"

"No, I've never seen the ocean," You said, letting out a shudder each time he grazed your flesh with his.

"I'll take you there." His movements stopped, and his gaze settled on your parted lips. They looked soft, and suddenly they had become a priority to discover.  "Let me kiss you."

His request managed to bring back that fire in your eyes as you squared your shoulders. "No."

Ivar frowned, but he wasn't annoyed by your refusal. He had anticipated it. "Why not?"

"My vow to remain celibate has not been tainted, and I won't break it for anyone."

"I only asked for a kiss, not to hump you in a dark corridor," He teased while bringing his lips to your ear. "It will be our secret, your God doesn't have to know."

"But God sees all," You squeaked as he pulled on your earlobe with his teeth. "Stop that."

His frustration with you was mounting, and he concluded that he had been incensed with your nature towards Heahmund, how readily helpful you had been. When Freydis had kissed him, he had been pulled in by her intoxicating confidence while also left disappointed that it had only been an act. He had kissed her back with the bleak acceptance that only slaves sent by his brothers or spies sent by his enemies had been the only taste of women he had known. 

You were different. With you, Ivar felt as tall as he should have been without the braces. Like an unbred mare, you knew nothing about being taken by a male. Though he had little experience in the matters of lying with a woman, you weren't aware of it, and he could cover his inexperience in what he hoped came off as self-assured caresses. 

"What are you afraid of?" He asked while pulling away enough to read your expression. 

You swallowed thickly around whatever if it was you wanted to keep down, but the words refused to dissipate, and you wore a vulnerability that Ivar had seen when he spoke with you on his bed.

"I refuse to enter into a life of wanton sin. My mother's world was promiscuous and shameful, and all too short. A body used up by the outrageous and cruel needs of men. I won't let that become my fate."

You blinked away your sorrow while Ivar could only look on and listen in displeasure. The Saxons had such bizarre views on fucking with too many rules. Their God seemed to punish them for needful things, and he couldn't fathom such a notion when his gods encouraged sex and love. It was another barrier keeping him from getting closer to you.

"Your beliefs are a hindrance," He groused while stepping back from you enough to make you calm.

"To what? What do you want from me, Ivar?"

What did he want from you? Everything, yet also something indescribable. Your eyes were focused on him without hesitation as if you had pulled all of the self-confidence out of him and into you. Ivar could feel himself falter as he sputtered with a pink flush up to his ears, struggling to answer. He felt more like a boy than the leader of the heathen army. Reduced to silence by a slave, he couldn't let that stand. Gathering up what spirit he could muster, and with a hint of mischief in his eyes, he leaned in close.

"Aren't you ever curious about what it's like?"

"W-what do you mean?" You stuttered as he dragged a finger down your neck to your collarbone.

"To lie with a man. To have his weight on top of yours, becoming one as he takes your body."

"No. I do not have such thoughts," You said, and it was a thinly veiled lie. Your eyes were looking every which way but straight, and there was a blush to your skin.

"I don't believe you," Ivar said, so close to you that your lips could almost touch. "You have wondered about these things. And after the stories of those chatty nuns, I'm certain it was of thoughts of your Bishop that you were tempted with."

Your refusal to answer was everything. Ivar was living in this fog of lust he had created. He was infuriated by your attraction to Heahmund, but he was also satisfied that he had whittled you down back into his skittish nun. He had you. With thoughts of little else on his mind, he charged forward to land a kiss on your unsuspecting lips.

It was a clumsy endeavor. His aim had been poor, with his nose cracking into yours. Your mouth had been agape when he connected, and your tooth had cut into his lip, unleashing a pool of blood that lingered between the kiss. The taste of copper mixed with you made Ivar groan, and his heart was racing like he was charging into battle. 

As if waiting on the edge of a cliff, you were there, and you joined him in the plunge as you tentatively moved your lips against his. You did not kiss like Freydis or Margrethe, because you had none of their skill or experience. You were like him, with none of the practice but all of the passion, and for Ivar, it was enough. He could have lived in that dark corridor forever, with your tongue gently dancing with his and sharing his blood and air, but his stomach began to burn and he wanted more. His hand started to paw at you, and when he made a grope at your soft breast, you let him know that was the end of it. You did not scratch and push at his chest to try and separate you. Your method was more effective, as you went for his weakness: his legs.

Ivar let out a sharp cry as you squeezed his thigh, immediately causing him to reel back. Your back was sucked up against the wall, and you panted hard as he sent you a harsh glare. Your mouth was stained red and swollen, and the collar of your dress was askew. It was a devastating beauty that he had created.

"I'm sorry," You breathed out, and before Ivar could stretch out his hand, you bolted.

He wanted to scream, not because of what you'd done, but because you had gotten away. When you had gone for his leg, it had been only with enough pressure to get him to let go. You hadn't meant to hurt him, and Ivar was oddly consoled by that. He admired your quick thinking to go for a weakness. It reassured him that you could keep yourself safe if he wasn't there. He was certain now that he was in love with you, and in his mind, you were already his. That was just the way of it.

He stood in the darkness, collecting his breath while summoning calm thoughts. His cock was half stiff in his trousers, delighted by the blood and pain you had incited within him. If kissing you was a battle, then fucking you would be an entire war, and Ivar was already forming plans in his mind to signal for your next encounter. You would not be able to spurn him so easily. 

Ivar teetered back to his room, wearily acknowledging that he would find no rest. It would be of thoughts of you that would torture him to daybreak, and with no true name to escape past his lips as he took himself in hand. He would have to focus on other things soon enough, but that night all that plagued him was your surrender. 

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[mekatrio]

anyways here are my big brain majora's mask ideas:

- an interpretation can be that hyrule is a "heaven" aka the less sensical world opposed to termina's grounded system. in granny's story of the four giants the imp (skull kid) is banished to the heavens. thats when we meet him in ocarina of time.. at some point he returns to termina with majora's mask in hand. though the period that happens gets confusing when considering whether it was skull kid or not who helped reap destruction on ikana

- this can also kinda imply that for some undisclosed reason the deku child beneath the clock tower was trying to reach heaven/hyrule. icarus flying too close to the sun? some people have also said the stone tower is a representation of the tower of babel

- also following the kingdoms of termina in clockwise order, we get mountain, canyon, swamp, ocean. adulthood, death, youth, young adult. an elegy, awakening, celebration of life, a lullaby.

- how long its been since ikana has been in ruin is also a point of interest.. or how long ikana has been around too. it definitely seems ancient, but why is it the only one in such a bad state compared to the rest? or is this how all the other kingdoms wouldve ended up like but it was link who stopped it?

- the four giants were sealed in the evil bodies(odolwa, goht, etc) so likewise the fierce deity may have been sealed in the moon itself..(or majora itself?) majora's incarnation is 'activated' in the 1st phase of the final fight through the 4 remains mask, so perhaps the fierce deity was activated by collecting all the mask scattered around termina

- the plausible connection between the 4 giants and the giant's mask also exists. did ikana precede the four giants? was the mask similar to what made the 4 giants become giants? (if they were possibly not giants to begin with) or did ikana exist after the four worlds were established and they sought after the powers of gods?

- the garo ninjas are interesting.. what does leaving behind an empty shell mean? we can see when we leave empty zora deku and goron shells, we leave behind a representation of the actual bodies we are borrowing their forms from.. so what does link's empty shell represent? the disregardment of all emotions amd experiences to serve one purpose perhaps

- also the inside of the moon.. is it majora's emulation of the skull kid and the giant's story? the kid with majora's mask is left behind as everyone else leaves. i always interpret the lunar children as a symbolization of the giants, who end up becoming trapped by those masks they wear. is the child with majora's mask embodying skull kids loneliness? or is this its own loneliness? i also wondered if this was a representation of termina's world before it split into four?

- i think the masked salesman is a representation of a metaphysical concept the same way the fierce deity is. the fierce deity embodies the buddhist idea of a kishin, then maybe the masked salesman represented a spiritual passage between worlds? maybe masks are indicative of what u are able to bring with you with your next 'incarnation', in both a religious and a song of time sense. btw the children on the moon asks u to be a masked salesman, is there anything up w that?

- also ive always thought that the game representation's of goron, deku, and zora link with the green cloth and all that were just for players and to make it less obvious and jarring that u are quite literally inhabiting a deceased person's body throughout the game. after all various times people will refer to u as the deceased person whose body u are inhabiting, the elegy of emptiness leaves behind statues reflecting the deceased person and not how u actually look in game, and no one points our ur weird green garb.. except for the beavers. which contradicts this entire idea its soo ordjbfsjcnsk

- also if we take ocarina of time's lost woods lore into accounts.. maybe link was about to become 'lost' / turn into a stalfos/skull kid/ fucking DIE, but fell into termina and was reminded of the strengths of life instead. maybe his narrowly avoided fate is the terrible fate the masks salesman is referring to?

[starkrogerrs]

The Darkest Touch

@oluka possessed me in spirit and wrote this. it’s 4450 words of literal p*rn. enjoy.

[Explicit content warning]

Steve shuddered as a sudden, frigid wind blew up the hill. He drew his arms closer around himself, taking in a deep breath. He felt disconnected from any life; he couldn’t see anything for miles around him— all vision blanketed by a thick fog. Another draft of wind made his eyes water. Atleast, he blamed the wind for it.

He’d put on a brave face for his crying mother, as he said his goodbyes — a final acceptance of a fate that was handed to him by the great Oracle himself. Now, he didn’t feel as valiant.

“The virgin is destined for no mortal lover. His future husband awaits him on the top of the largest hill. He is a monster whom neither gods nor men can resist." 

The oracle’s words still rang as clear as day in Steve’s ears.

He gazed into the distance as the sky darkened. Maybe the demon would not be coming, he thought to himself and his heart soared. Maybe the oracle was wrong. 

Steve could hardly bear the thought of having to give up all of his freedom — to becoming a prisoner to a monster, of all things. 

A dull ache burned in his chest and he let out a sob. He felt a torrent of emotions — fear, anticipation and worst of all, hot, burning anger. His only crime had been that his allure rivalled the gods’; something he had no control over and yet was being punished for. Steve let out a growl and punched the slab of granite beside him as the world grew blurry from his tears. 

Before long, the sky turned obsidian and Steve felt his eyes grow heavy. He leaned against the cool stone, feeling the exhaustion take over and fell asleep.

  *

  When he woke up, Steve was no longer on the hill. His body sunk into the silken mattress as he blinked his eyes open. The room was stunning — marble furnished and glistening in the sunlight that poured in through the high windows. 

Was this the lair of the beast he was to wed?

It certainly didn’t look like one. The chamber itself was thrice as big as Steve’s own home.

He marveled in awe as he slid out of the giant bed and walked outside which led into a courtyard of sorts. The capitals of the giant columns were intricate, glinting scarlet and golden as Steve gazed on, mesmerized. The walls were adorned with carvings and paintings representing fables and stories he’d heard as a child.

“All that you see is yours,” a voice called suddenly and Steve startled. He looked all around him, but could not spot the source.

“Who are you?” he called, fear seizing him. Would he finally see the monster himself?

“I am yours as well,” said the voice. It seemed to be coming from all around him. 

“Feel free to explore as you like, retire to your room when you please and dine to your heart’s content.”

“But-”

“My, and by extension now your, helpers, will be happy to serve you.”

“A feast has been laid out for you in the adjoining hall, my lord,” came another voice which Steve assumed was the aforementioned helper's. Again, he could not see anybody.

Steve was still reeling from what had just happened as the invisible attendant guided him to the hall. There, true to what the monster had said, lay a feast fit for the gods. A long table stood in the middle, covered with several mouth-watering delicacies and the sweetest wines. As he took his seat, invisible performers burst into a song; filling his ears with a sweet symphony.

Steve felt strangely content as he settled into the bath laid out for him. While he was on the hill, he had expected the worst. Instead, he found himself at a retreat fit for a god. Perhaps this was preparation for when he would see the demon himself. The thought diminished his spirits, a little.

He spent hours staring at the sculptures that stood in the garden, and then moved to exploring the palace; the marble feeling colder and colder under his feet as night settled in. 

Stars began their ascent into the sky and Steve had yet to see his husband. 

An attendant guided him towards a room then, which Steve found strange. He asked the voice why he was there, but no reply came. He was all alone in the hauntingly cold quarters. This room was just as big as Steve's, but it was not made for light. It was shrouded in darkness, save for the little that poured in through the open door, where Steve stood. 

Steve wandered in cautiously as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. A single, large, canopied-bed stood in the middle of the room, if there was other furniture, Steve could not see it.

Goosebumps erupted on his arms as he felt sudden movement behind him and just as he  turned, the door shut. It sealed all the light behind it, throwing the room into pitch blackness. 

Steve rushed to the door, scrambling for the handle and pushed. But the door refused to budge. 

"You wish to leave?"

Steve startled for the second time that day. His heart began to pound inside his chest. This was it, he would finally meet his fate. 

"Don't be afraid, Steve," the voice called, and for the first time Steve noticed how cool and honey-like it was. 

"I can't see you," Steve said, rather foolishly.

The voice sighed. Steve heard dull footsteps followed by something scraping against the floor. 

"There isn't a mortal prettier than you," the voice noted and Steve flushed in spite of himself. 

"I wish I could say the same about you," Steve said and knew that his words were scathing. 

The voice only laughed. "Trust me, gorgeous. It is in your best interest that you don't see me."

There was a sudden draft and Steve felt something brush against him. What grotesque monster was he facing that he wasn’t to lay eyes on him? 

"And why is that?" Steve breathed, knowing that the monster — his fated consort — was standing very close. He backed himself further up against the door, wishing it would open.  

The creature ignored him. 

"Undress for me," he ordered and Steve froze, his grip on the handle tightening. 

"Steve."

The tone made it clear that he didn't really have a choice except to listen. He willed himself to stay calm as he slowly unclasped his chiton, letting it pool around his belt, leaving his chest bare. 

He heard the creature's breathing deepen, and Steve felt his skin prickle. 

"All off," the voice commanded urgently, and Steve felt his knees give out a little under him. 

He tugged at the belt, letting the chiton slip from his skin and down to the floor, leaving him nude and stripped in front of the monster. 

"So beautiful," the creature said, voice laced with lust. Steve felt his heart race at the compliment but his mind felt conflicted. He was talking to a monster who would do as he pleased with him. 

"I'm going to touch you now," he said gently, and Steve found it inexplicably hard to move away. It was as if he had no will of his own. As the creature moved closer, he could feel his hot, deep breaths fanning his neck. 

Steve waited with bated breath, for the touch. What would his skin feel like? 

He shuddered when warm skin touched his unclad hip. The creature’s fingers were calloused enough to drive Steve's thoughts into dirty waters; his touch, light, as if waiting for Steve's permission and Steve gulped. 

His heart raced as the demon’s hand trailed upwards to his collarbone coming to rest on his jaw. He could feel his breath on his lips, smelling like warm flour and Steve's heart gave a tiny leap. He felt a pair of lips brush against his own, arousal thrumming low in his stomach; the lips pressed harder, and Steve gave in easy, way too easily. 

He groaned as the kiss deepened, his destined husband's hands roaming over his skin in a frenzy. He seemed eager, and as aroused as Steve was which only fueled him further. He felt like he was burning and cold all at once under a lover's touch.

Steve let his own hand reach outwards, coming to rest on smooth,  warm skin and the creature stiffened against his lips.

There was a sudden flutter, followed by a gust of wind and Steve opened his eyes to find the creature gone, leaving the door swinging in his wake. 

  *

  Steve spent the entirety of next day in his chamber mostly, recalling events from last night. 

His husband hadn't felt inhuman, even though the oracle had said he was; His lips — soft as silk, hands — calloused but gentle felt all too human. 

How easily Steve had let go of himself, letting his mind succumb to promises of pleasure. And yet, he found himself wondering where the night would've taken them if he hadn't touched him... 

Was he not to touch him? How was he to make love to his husband if he was not allowed to touch him, to feel their skins against each other as they moved in passion? 

"The lord has asked you to wait for him in the dark chamber as before, sire," called an invisible servant and Steve shook himself out of his thoughts. 

The sun had long set and the moon shone brightly, dimming only when an occasional cloud passed over. Sliding off the alcove, he padded towards the room half reluctantly.  

He seated himself on the bed this time, it's unparalleled softness laxing. He wished he could snuggle into it and wake up to find that this was all but a dream. And yet, he was conflicted with his own mind — the creature’s kiss alone had swept him off his feet.

Suddenly, the door shut although Steve had not seen anyone come in.

"You seem to have missed me, beloved," the demon said, in a brazen tone. 

Steve said nothing as the man drew closer, his warm breath announcing his proximity. 

"I've surely missed you," came a whisper right next to his ear then and his heart jumped, and he felt something wet lick the shell of his ear. 

Steve felt an arousal pump through him as he slipped out of his tunic wordlessly, baring himself once more to his invisible lover. His mind seemed to slowly shut off around the creature, as if intoxicated by his seductive charm.

Then he was being kissed again, impossibly heated this time. Steve felt himself growing erect already, as the man's tongue flicked across his lips and then invaded his mouth. 

Steve was still squeamish, but the attention to his mouth set his blood on fire. In spite of what had happened last time, Steve reached for the demon again and felt the firmness of his chest, heartbeat throbbing under his fingers. To his surprise, the creature didn't pull away. Instead, closed the distance between them until their chests were pressed together. Steve felt brave, as they continued to nibble each other, sliding his hand down his side, curiosity getting the better of him. His hand curved down the man's bare behind, right down to his thick thighs. Steve tried to picture the man in his head — lean and shapely muscles that fit perfectly into him. 

The demon pressed even closer, and Steve gasped as he felt the warm press of his sprung cock against his stomach. He took a shaky breath, as his fated partner moved to his jaw, sucking hard. His moans seemed to only entice him further. 

Nothing about his future husband seemed abnormal to him and yet the oracle had said he was a monster. He was truly puzzled.

Steve ran his hands back up the man's ass, squeezing as he went, enjoying the groans that spilled against the crook of his neck. His hands trailed up his back, brushing against something very soft, as if extending from his back — but the creature seized his wrist suddenly, and pulled away. 

“Hands off,” he murmured, in between pants and Steve forced a gulp. 

Gathering both of his hands, he pinned them against the headboard and Steve felt his cock twitch at the sheer force. 

Out of nowhere, he felt something soft and satin-like wrap around his fists and tie them together before they were slammed against the headboard, right above his head. 

Steve yanked hard, but the satin restraints seemed to tie him firmly to the bedpost. 

"You paint a pretty picture," the creature observed, and Steve felt his body shiver under his gaze. He felt embarrassed and hot, spread out so obscenely before him.

The creature lowered himself onto Steve again, and Steve arched against him, relishing in the warmth that his body provided. His lips sucked at Steve's collarbone, moving lower and lower and Steve felt his entire body grow feverish. 

He groaned slow and long as the creature licked down the length of this cock, at a pace that felt like the world was standing. Body tightening as the demon pulled away again, Steve whimpered. 

Cold enveloped Steve once more. He whined, needing the creature’s touch. Not before long, he felt a knee wrench his legs apart and pull him lower. His hands stretched against the restraints now, body splayed on the silken sheets as he waited for the creature — man— to have his way with him. 

Steve gasped loudly when he felt a finger push inside him suddenly. Slowly at first, the man pulled and pushed, before working in another finger and picking up pace all in one breath and Steve felt like he was going to explode. 

Every push lifted him higher and higher, as his body throbbed for release. 

"Please," he whimpered, tugging at the darned restraints that wouldn't budge. He was so painfully close. 

"My pleasure," came the deep, hoarse reply and with a last, maddening push Steve came all over himself, moaning a string of curses. 

"Good boy," the man teased and Steve felt himself flush, although he could barely make sense of anything around him. He felt dizzy still, and blood continued to roar in his ears. 

He had hardly recovered from the ecstasy of the last orgasm before he was being turned and pried open again. 

"Not done with you yet, darling. Open up."

Steve found himself eagerly obeying the command, despite the fact that his arms had started to hurt above his head. The man pulled Steve's thighs open, draping his legs over Steve's and pressed his length between his hips from behind teasing the hole.

Steve hissed as the man filled him, his walls expanding to take him whole. Deep in his gut something throbbed, and he wriggled against his hips, urging him to move. 

He gasped as the man started his pace, pulling out right until the tip and slamming into him again with inhuman force. His fingers dug into Steve's skin as he drove into him, moving faster and Steve squeezed his eyes shut, moans beginning to fall from his lips. 

“Faster,” he begged, feeling his walls stretch with each thrust. The violent pleasure built up, as his pace quickened to indescribable speeds. 

Each deep jab of his cock felt more violent, and Steve felt himself edging closer to climax once again. 

He bucked his hips, as pleasure finally burst forth and he was lost in its surges. His husband pulled him close then, thick arms enveloping him and thrust hard as the bed shook under them.

Steve was beginning to feel light headed, his grip from reality loosening. Just then his lover stilled, grunting hard as his warm seed filled Steve. He felt sweaty and exhausted, but his body thrummed warmly as the man held him close. They fell into the bedding, panting in unison as his lover's erratic trusts came to a still. 

"Perfect," Steve heard him whisper and his heart soared with pride. 

With a start Steve realised that his fear was long gone, replaced instead with bold curiosity. 

"Who are you?" he breathed, attempting to turn but failing. 

Steve felt a set of lips press against his shoulder in a chaste kiss. 

"All in good time, sweetheart," came the reply and Steve felt his heart flutter. “All in good time.”

Steve couldn’t find the strength to argue.

"What do I call you then?"

"Whatever you wish to. I ask only one thing, that you be here, ready and waiting for me, everyday. Understood?"

Steve found himself nodding at his future husband's words. 

"Understood."

"Good," he said and Steve felt his eyes droop, the exhaustion catching up. He didn't even realise that his hands were no longer tied when sleep finally claimed him. 

  *

  In the morning, as expected, his husband was nowhere to be found. Steve had woken up to find himself bare between the tangled sheets, cheeks flushing as he remembered the events that had transpired last night. 

As it were, he felt ashamed to have fallen prey to his husband's allure again. The mere thought of seeing him again filled him with passionate desire and it angered him deeply that he was so weak for him, despite the fact that he was here against his will. 

Steve decided to explore the palace more, later that evening, and found himself on a veranda overlooking the gardens. A shallow pool stood in the middle of it, it's shimmering waters calling to Steve. Slipping off his toga he waded in, finding it to be surprisingly warm — a welcome relief for sore muscles. All the while, his eyes searched for his lover, feeling alarmed when anything in the shadows moved. But no one approached him. 

As the sun dipped lower and the water grew colder, Steve's heart began to thump with excitement. He decided not to leave the veranda, hoping that his husband would seek him out and be forced to be in the open.

Steve was enjoying the hot water against his skin, when a familiar voice called to him.

"Steve.”

"My lord," Steve called back, mockery evident in his voice. 

"Come to me," the voice called again, echoing through the corner shadows. His voice reverberated all around Steve and he felt himself harden at his silken tone, much to his embarrassment. 

"Why don't you come to me?" he called back, feeling a chill blossom over his being. 

"Don't make me make you, Steve."

The voice seemed annoyed and Steve would be lying if he said he didn’t like it. He didn't budge, however, pressing himself against the wall of the pool. 

Suddenly, his eyes went dark — a cloth had descended over his eyes and was tied back. He reached for the blindfold, terrified, but his arms were being pulled and tied behind him too. 

"You're stubborn, aren't you? Do I have to teach you to obey?" 

Steve said nothing, trying to make out just where his husband was standing. 

"Get out of the water," he commanded from somewhere above him. Having no other choice, Steve climbed out, trying his hardest to not slip right back in. 

"On your knees and bend over," he said hoarsely, as if overcome by the sight before him. 

Steve did as he was told, again, falling to the cool marble floor. His erection was throbbing now, the cool wind of the night doing little to help his case. 

Steve gasped sharply as something wet — his lover's tongue — swept over his hole. One flick and Steve was already gone. A split second later the tongue had pushed in and Steve screamed something incoherent. He felt his husband grip his thighs, wrenching them apart and pushing in further. 

Steve bucked against his mouth, trying to get close to what he now desperately wanted. But as quickly as it had come, the tongue was gone, leaving Steve open, bare and tingling all over. 

"P-please," he gasped, wiggling his ass — needing his touch, something, only to be greeted by the cold, cold breeze.

He couldn't even touch himself — but just then, crack — he shuddered, bucking as his husband's hand struck his butt cheek. 

He whimpered, feeling the slap ripple through his very core. He was blinded, pain ebbing through his lower body, knees feeling numb and yet, all he could think was how his lover’s tongue had felt.

"You failed to do the thing I asked." Steve didn’t detect any annoyance in his voice but believed him to be serious. He was still on fire and god, he needed him bad.

"Please," he begged, "I'm s-sorry."

"Louder, sweetheart. I can't hear you," his husband said. 

"I'm sorry," Steve croaked, feeling his voice thicken with want. "I need you. I'll be good."

There was deafening silence for a moment, punctuated by the man’s deep breaths.

"Walk in front of me."

The man led him to what Steve believed was the dark chamber. Before he knew it, Steve was being pushed onto the silken bed in no time. He was feeling ravenous, needing his lover's lips on him. 

His hands were still tied, eyes blindfolded — although it wasn't necessary since he couldn't see him either way. 

His fear was once again turning into thrumming desire, the ache between his legs pulsing. 

"Why did you disobey me?" the man asked suddenly, sounding pained and Steve found that his heart did not like this one bit. 

"I wished to see you, m-my Lord. I don't care what you look like—" Steve began, earnestly. 

"Do you doubt my love for you? Haven't I given you everything you've asked?"

Steve found it hard to argue with him at that, but he burned to know who his lover was. "But—"

"If you saw me you would either despise me or love me. I would rather not risk it. "

Steve said nothing, blinking in the dark. Whatever he said, only made him more questions erupt in his mind. His destined husband seemed anything but a monster, and yet his refusal to reveal himself terrified Steve. What exactly was he hiding? 

Sprawled on the bed, he felt his husband lower himself onto him again and he was forced to push his thoughts aside. And then the man was kissing him, hands fondling every dip and peak of Steve's body. His hands moved to grip Steve's ass, kneading and twisting until he was a squirming mess beneath him. 

"Steve," the voice said against his lips, feverish and frantic. He seemed to be in a different mood today, his tone sounding less demanding than usual. 

Still, Steve waited, breathing heavily, ready to do whatever he was asked. 

"I'm going to need you to suck me. Can you do that?" 

His tone was firm but calculated and Steve felt his heart tighten with anticipation. He remembered how his lover's cock had felt against his stomach and inside him. He wondered what it looked like, mouth watering at the mere thought. 

Steve nodded, and he rose, crawling over him. And then, Steve felt the tip of the shaft against his lips. Wetting his lips, Steve pressed a firm kiss against the side, determined to do his best. 

He opened his lips then, and the man pushed in, grunting. He could make out its girth and vague shape as he slowly took him in, savoring the salty taste. 

His husband hissed as Steve began to hollow out his cheeks, licking the underside as he went. He began to move against his mouth as Steve blew and sucked at his length, hips twitching erratically. 

His husband moaned a string of curses as Steve wrapped his tongue around him and sucked hard and fast. Steve bobbed his head up and down the shaft, building up the friction that elicited grunts from his lover. With a shout the man came, his warm cum coating Steve's throat. And he took everything he had to give, gulping hard.

The man pulled out then, moving to kiss Steve again, hand trailing towards his own cock. Steve gasped as he took his erect cock in his palm, stroking him as he kissed him deeply. 

Several climaxes later, Steve found himself drifting, feeling more worn out than he had ever before. His destined husband, however, proved to be insatiable — waking him up in between intervals throughout the night and pleasuring him in ways he had never even heard. 

  *

  Several days passed, as Steve grew more and impossibly intimate with his husband. 

For a while it was perfect, Steve felt the happiest and found that he was falling for his to-be-husband. 

Still, doubts lingered in the back of his head. How could he wed someone he would, perhaps, never see? In his heart, Steve knew he loved him, knew that even if his husband happened to be the most grotesque he would love him. 

Then, why, it finally dawned, did it matter if he did see him? 

That night, Steve found himself being ravaged by his lover again— his hands behind his back, mouth agape with pleasure and eyes squeezed shut. 

He was pushed over the edge again, and three times after that, until they both collapsed into each other— in a heap of tangled limbs. 

His husband had long removed his restraints, one arm draped across Steve’s form as he slept on. But Steve was wide awake, heart beating wildly against his chest. If he could ever chance a look upon his future husband, it was now. 

He hadn’t a minute to waste and ran as fast as he could to his room and back, bringing a lit candle into the dark room.

When the flame finally cast its amber light onto his lover’s sleeping form, his body froze. For, instead of a monstrous demon, his husband was the most ethereal being Steve had ever seen. He was lean and muscly — bronze skin and refined features. Perfect, dark curls fell atop his head, long eyelashes resting gently against his cheekbones. Giant, white-feathered wings sprung from his back, that seemed to shimmer gold and scarlet in the dim candle light.

He knew at once who he was, not a man either, as he had thought, but a god. The son of Aphrodite and a mortal man — Tony, himself. He was so drawn to his allure, despite the fact that he had not been poisoned by one of his mechanical arrows. The longer he gazed at his form the more impossible he found it to resist him.

He drew closer, mesmerised, and in his daze, tripped over his feet. A drop of wax from the candle went plummeting down and landed on his lover’s— the god’s— sleeping face.

His eyes snapped open at once, and Steve staggered back— fearing for his life, once again.

[callboxkat]

Those Long, Lonely Nights (part 6/6)

Author’s note: This is a retelling of the story These Deep Dark Woods, but from Roman’s perspective. I recommend reading that story first, but this can also stand alone.

Summary: Roman, a knight, insists on accompanying his best friend Logan, a potion maker, when he decides to head into the notoriously dangerous woods bordering their home to find some rare herbs and minerals for his apothecary. They find much more than they bargained for when they encounter Remus, a bloodthirsty giant. Logince. Angst with a happy ending.

Fic Warnings: food mention, blood, injuries, death mention, killing mention, gun mention, mild body horror (it’s Remus), disturbing imagery (it’s Remus), character death, temporary/believed character death, kidnapping, guilt, attempted self sacrifice, talk of giants, vampires and other monsters. Very unsympathetic villain Remus.

Word Count: 2174

Part 1 

Writing Masterpost!

...

Early morning daylight filled the room, and Valerie was back, setting up her supplies on the side table. She glanced over as Roman yawned, blinking sleep from his eyes.

“I did ask you to fetch someone if he woke up,” she scolded gently.

Roman realized he was still sitting on Logan’s bed, leaning against the headboard, Logan’s hand held in both of his.

Logan was asleep, his face turned slightly towards Roman.

Roman felt his face heat up. “...it was late,” he justified, watching as Valerie started to check Logan over. “He seemed a little scared, so I just....”

“It’s okay. I did ask you to keep him calm,” Valerie said. She put the back of her hand on Logan’s cheek, then felt his pulse, giving a little nod to herself. She then moved on to check the bandages on Logan’s head. “How are you feeling this morning?” she asked as she worked.

Roman smiled. “Much improved, thanks to you.”

“That’s good to hear. You didn’t hurt your ankle too much when you decided to migrate over here, did you?”

Roman huffed indignantly, pouting. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t left his bed at all since he’d been here. And he was keeping his worse-off foot elevated, like she’d told him to. He’d put it up on the bed and everything. “I did not.”

Valerie looked amused. “Okay, I believe you. Would you mind moving back over to your own bed? I need to check on those ribs of yours, and there’s not quite enough space here.”

Roman looked reluctantly at Logan, then sighed, and nodded. He very gently placed Logan’s hand on the blanket and allowed Valerie to help him back to his own bed.

She was about halfway through reapplying the salve on his torso when there was a groan from the neighboring bed. Roman’s head snapped up immediately. Valerie also paused, glancing over.

Logan’s eyes were open. He looked drowsy, still, but rather than the bleary, nervous disorientation of the night before, now his eyes were sharp and focused—if still understandably confused. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment, then turned his head, looking around.

Roman gasped, then grinned, trying to hide how worried he’d been. “Does my favorite nerd stir? You’re finally back in the land of the living!”

Logan’s eyes found Roman. He frowned and opened his mouth to speak, only to break off into a coughing fit. Valerie quickly set down the salve she’d been applying and fetched a glass of water. Roman watched as she brought it over to him, trying to ignore the acrobatics his heart was performing.

“Careful now,” she said. “Have some water.”

She helped Logan to drink. Logan seemed to be trying to help hold the glass, but it was obvious that he was still feeling weak and exhausted.

“Better?” Valerie asked once he had drunk a fair amount.

Logan nodded slightly, closing his eyes as he did so. “Thank you,” he said, his voice still rough.

“No problem at all,” the doctor assured him. She glanced him up and down, assessing. “Can you tell me your name?”

“Logan.”

“And where are we, Logan?”

He opened his eyes again and glanced around. “It appears to be a hospital, although… I’m afraid I can’t be more specific.”

“Yes, you are in the hospital,” Valerie confirmed. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Logan swallowed, his gaze growing a bit glassy. “The… the giant,” he whispered.

“Yes, Sir Roman here has told me about that. I’m sorry about what happened, but you’re safe now.” She glanced towards Roman, who looked at her meaningfully. Logan seemed pretty lucid—surely he was well enough to talk?

Valerie seemed to debate for a fraction of a second, but thankfully, she kept her promise. “Alright, everything looks good. I’ll… leave you two alone for a moment, then, unless you need something?”

“No, thank you, doctor,” Logan said. “I will be fine for a moment.”

“Alright, then. I’ll be back to check on you later.”

“Wait,” Logan said suddenly, reaching out as if to stop her. “My apothecary, my clients….”

“There are other apothecaries,” Roman said soothingly. “They’ll be fine until you’re better.”

“Yes, yes, but… some of my clients, they have told me they have difficulty being served elsewhere.”

Valerie hesitated. “Which clients?”

“Vampires,” Logan said.

Oh, Roman thought. He suddenly felt a bit guilty, thinking about his and Logan’s exchange only a few days before. He should have guessed that vampires might have difficulty finding what they needed. And of course Logan would care about that, even while lying in a hospital bed himself.

“Valerie, if you would not mind… I know it is a lot to ask… but there are only seven of them.”

Valerie tapped her fingernails on her clipboard. “I can put a sign on the door,” she said. “I can tell them to come to me. I’ll take care of it.”

Logan relaxed. “Thank you.”

Valerie nodded, gathered up her things, then left the room. Roman waited until she was sure he’d heard her footsteps leave the neighboring room, then carefully got up from his own bed and limped back over to Logan’s. Logan reached towards him, and Roman helped him to sit up, pushing pillows behind him and then letting him lean back against them. Roman sat down on the edge of the bed again, which Logan didn’t seem to mind, if he even noticed.

Logan’s eyes had locked onto his injured leg, splinted and heavily bandaged. A part of Roman wished he had adjusted the covers to hide it, but he supposed it wasn’t as if Logan didn’t know what had happened.

“They say you’ll probably need a cane,” Roman admitted. As if it would somehow make it better, he added, “We’ll get you a nice, stylish one. People will think it’s just part of your whole apothecary vibe.” Logan liked to look professional—surely that would be a plus. Right?

Mercifully, Logan changed the subject. “How long have I been asleep?”

“A couple of days. Ever since the giant….” Roman shuddered at the memory. “Anyway. You’ve got a concussion—twinsies—and you lost a lot of blood. But Valerie says that you shouldn’t have any kind of permanent damage, other than the limp. And for now, you get to take some killer pain meds. I’m almost jealous.”

Logan took a moment to mull that over. He looked Roman over, his gaze lingering on his bruised face, his cracked ribs, and his sprained ankle. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“What? Why are you sorry?”

“You’re hurt because of me,” Logan pointed out. “It was my plan to go into the woods. My plan to fetch those supplies, even knowing the risks—”

“You didn’t know about that giant.”

Logan did not seem reassured. “I knew about the monsters in the woods. I knew that the sentries and the walls and the enchantments were there for a reason. I knew that it was dangerous.”

“Logan.”

“You could have died, because of me—”

Roman held up a hand to stop him. “But I didn’t. I am very much still alive.”

Logan sighed. He picked at the blanket lying across his lap. “And the giant, then, it’s…?”

“Dead,” Roman assured. “As dead as we would have been if you didn’t distract him so we could get out of there. As dead as you would have been if I hadn’t—gods, Logan, why did you want me to leave you behind? Did you really think I’d ever do something like that to you? You’re my—” he cut himself off, the tips of his ears reddening. He wasn’t even sure what he’d been about to say, but… he knew it wasn’t something he could just… say.

Logan watched him for a moment. Then, cautiously, he spoke. “Roman, you asked the doctor for a moment alone with me. May I ask why?”

Roman fell silent, before looking back up at Logan; and he met those wide, earnest, deep blue eyes. His heart was beating very fast. He swallowed.

No more wasted time.

“Because… we need to talk.”

For a long moment, Logan simply stared at him. Roman couldn’t feel his fingers.

Then, the apothecarist looked down, and considered. “Perhaps…” Logan said slowly, “Perhaps we do.”

Okay, maybe Roman was reading into this too much, but that… that sounded like Logan might feel the same way. Was he reading into this too much?

…Roman might faint.

Logan looked a little concerned, now. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine!” Roman quickly assured him, his voice possibly a little higher than normal. He wished there was an inconspicuous way he could fan himself, but there was not.

“Are you sure?”

“Yep! Mm-hm!”

“Okay.” Logan waited. Roman might have imagined it, but he may have also looked a bit nervous.

Finally, Roman determined that he was in fact not going to faint like some kind of romantic disaster—at least, not yet. He took a few deep breaths, to steady himself. He cleared his throat. Still, his voice shook when he began to speak—although it grew firmer as he continued. “So… so, Logan, there’s something that I’ve really wanted to tell you for a… a very long time. And… to be honest, I never really intended to. I suppose I was afraid. But after everything that’s happened, everything we went through, thinking that you had… that I might have lost you… I just need you to know. I hope that’s okay.”

Logan blinked.

He knew that the words were not coming across as coherently or poetically as he had imagined, over and over through the years, but the words were coming. And now he just had to say it. Roman took a shaky breath, and then let out a little helpless laugh. “Logan, I’ve been in love with you for years.”

“Oh,” Logan said softly.

Roman swallowed. “Yeah.”

“If I might ask… how long have you felt this way?”

“…Since I was still in training. To be a knight.”

He could feel Logan doing the math on that. Knew that he knew that that was practically when they had very first met. The apothecarist was silent for a long moment.

“I remember…” Roman said, wanting to fill the silence, “one of the other recruits had cut me during a practice fight, and they had me come to you for a poultice. To—to make sure it didn’t get infected. You’d barely finished your apprenticeship, but everyone said you were the best.”

“You were very clumsy at the start,” Logan remembered. “You kept getting injured, and needing to return. You were very lucky only to receive trivial wounds.”

Roman bit his lip. Logan looked at him funny.

“…I’ve been practicing with a sword pretty much since I could walk,” Roman confessed.

Logan stared at him. “So….”

“I wanted to see you. You were just… I wanted to keep seeing you, but you were always so professional back then, turning me down whenever I asked if you wanted to hang out away from the apothecary.”

“I see.”

Roman knew he was bright red. “So, I, uh, kept having little mishaps. Or just kind of wandering over there. And then… eventually, I guess I wore you down, and you agreed to go to the library with me.”

“I needed a tome on the applications of helenium,” Logan recalled quietly. “I went with you because I was already going there.”

“I know,” Roman said simply. Then he gave Logan a weak smile. “And it worked, didn’t it? We were friends after that.”

Acquaintances, he recalled Logan saying. Close acquaintances, he had eventually allowed. But it was true. They were friends. Logan did not correct him, he noticed.

“I never wanted to pressure you,” Roman continued. “I never wanted to make you do anything that you didn’t want to do, and I never wanted to make you uncomfortable. But… it’s true. I’ve—I’ve loved you for a long time.” He looked down at the blankets, finding it difficult to meet Logan’s eyes. “So—so, I just wanted to know… if you might feel the same way. It’s okay if you don’t! And It’s okay if you don’t—if you don’t love me; but if you’d like to, I don’t know, try this out… I would just really like to give it a chance.”

Logan didn’t answer right away. Roman’s heart was pounding. Long seconds ticked by, each one dragging on like hours.

“I think,” the apothecarist said finally, hesitantly reaching out and taking Roman’s hand, “That I would like that as well.”

Roman’s mouth fell open, and he jerked back, staring at Logan. Logan just looked at him, real and alive. Tears welled in Roman’s eyes, and he took Logan’s hand in both of his own. He blinked the tears away so he could search Logan’s face. A few rolled down his cheeks. He didn’t care. “Really?” he croaked, scarcely believing he might have heard correctly.

Logan nodded, and then he smiled. “Really.”

Now with a post-story illustration 

[jeremy-ken-anderson]

Venting

The Warrior of Light is often forced by the writing to be stoic rather than throwing her weight around or complaining of her lot. And that stoicism is an important part of the character! If WoL indulged too often in scenes like I write here she’d cease to be the character as we know her and indeed might not be considered a bastion of light or even a good person. But sometimes I indulge in picturing if she just went off on someone when they’re being a complete tool.

Emperor Varis zos Galvus raised his hand, clutching at the air as if gripping the nations of the Alliance members seated across from him. “Only then shall we be free!”

Laughter interrupted him, ringing through the tent. It was a high laugh, and pretty, and it came from the technically lowest-ranking person in the entire room. Though perhaps the better term would be, “the person beyond ranking.”

She caught herself, looking about embarrassed as if this were a family gathering and she’d laughed at the blessing of the food rather than a diplomatic meeting on the cusp of war. The laugh was still in her voice as she apologized. “I’m sorry. Sultana. Lord Hien, Lady Seedseer. I know. I just.” She giggled again. Harrumphed herself to attempt seriousness. But by the time she was speaking again she was smiling. “It’s just that everyone here - me, all of you, even Varis - everyone” she waved her hands about “thought the problem we would have between the Alliance and the Empire was going to be a matter of Varis’ immense ambition.”

She looked the Emperor in the eye. “And then he lays out his entire plan and we learn that all our problems stem from his cowardice, his fundamental lack of drive and ambition.”

There was a deathly silence in the room. The Emperor was used to many accusations but this was not one he’d encountered before and he knew enough of statecraft to know that spending a moment to work out a response would serve far better than sputtering some half-formed retort.

“Have you ever successfully killed an ascian? I bet you’ve tried; Garlean nobles try to kill anyone who’s rude to you and the ascians are always rude sooner or later. So you tried killing them and it didn’t take and you, what, you gave up? This plan you propose is their plan. It’s what they want. You propose ‘freedom’ in the form of serving your ascian masters. That’s got to be the most pathetic thing I’ve ever heard.”

“You will show the Emperor due respect!” Varis’ hot-headed gunblade-wielding bodyguard began to shout, already unsheathing her weapon as she approached the table. She got as far as “You will sho-” before a cannonball of concentrated wind magic struck her full in the chest. The magic burst directly upward and with shockingly little noise - just a quick shrrrip - she flew through the top of the tent.

“I was still talking,” The Warrior of Light growled at the empty space, as the other bodyguard shouted “Sister!” at the hole in the ceiling. “What made me laugh, really, was that you decided to fight a war because you couldn’t imagine truly killing an ascian, but you’re willing to fight someone who’s already succeeded at it. I have killed, and killed, and killed, Emperor. When they sent me monsters, I killed monsters. When they sent me elementals, I killed elementals. When they sent me dragons, I killed dragons. When they sent me gods, I killed gods. When they sent me ascians, I killed ascians. At one point multiple ascians attempted to form together into a giant super-ascian and I killed that.

Now you propose to send me armies.”

Varis’ bodyguard fell through the ceiling of the tent with a crash. Garlean body armor being a technical marvel, she still lived, but she struggled to stand, groaning in pain.

“I’m sorry Admiral. I know you were hoping I’d be a...calming influence, at these proceedings.

The truth, Varis, is that your best shot at freedom is to leave me be. We’ve seen no evidence that new ascians are coming into being, so if I keep killing them at the present pace it stands to reason we’ll simply run out and then we’ll all be free of them. But that doesn’t bring you personal satisfaction, personal glory. So send armies.”

The Warrior of Light shrugged.

“I can kill armies.”