#probably not what I should be doing but ah as the opportunity arises

[independent-fics]

Realizing in “The First David Job” Hardison told Nate he was “halfway home.” He really did like the little family they built. And my heart hurts for him because then he had to blow it up.

[skyrim-forever]

WIP Wednesday

It's another Wednesday people, let's see those wips. Tagged by the always incredible @changelingsandothernonsense (seeing Josh always improves my day <3) and I got tagged @bostoniangirl21 for a WIP whenever <3

Tagging: @dirty-bosmer @theoneandonlysemla @lucien-lachance @thequeenofthewinter @captain-of-silvenar @firefly-factory

@pocket-vvardvark @hircines-hunter @bougainvillea-and-saltwater @umbracirrus

Do I have two chapters I should be working on? Yes. Am I working on a silly little Post-Alduin/Pre-Happy Ending self-induglant fic instead? Absolutely :P Under the cut because suggestive, enjoy! 🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️

“You went swimming often at home, did you?” 

“I did, whenever I was stressed; hence I’ve been in the water every day since returning.” She looks up at him with a soft smile, a memory coming into view. “When I was young I used to tell my father I wanted to grow up and be a mermaid.” He laughs. 

“A mermaid? Well, that’s quite the ambition.” 

“Oh I had a plan and everything, asked Father to find a wizard who could do it. I didn’t know how magic worked at the time so I thought wizards could do anything. And Father had a guy for everything, ergo he had a guy who could turn me into a mermaid.”

“Ah yes, there must be some type of alteration spell that could do that.” He leans down to kiss her, she notes that this is the first kiss he’s initiated this evening. Though appreciated of how gentle he’s being, so very grateful for him; how badly she wants more than just a kiss. “That’s very amusing of you.” He chuckles. “You’re certainly beautiful enough, I’m sure if I saw you out at sea I’d be easily fooled.”

“You would, would you?” An opportunity seems to be arising. “Do you think I could convince you to jump overboard? Plunge yourself into the sea to be with me?” She pulls him down, their lips meeting again. Carefully, she nibbles on the corner which only succeeds in making him break the kiss. 

His pupils are wide, glossy-eyed but he still shows concern. 

“Theodora, are you sure you want this? I am far from against it but I do not want you forcing yourself on my behalf. Last thing I want is to rush, forget myself and hurt you.” 

“I love your concern, Ondolemar; it’s what is making me want to. Knowing you’ll be so tender and slow.” Eyes are lidded for the next sentence. "I have beaten back the World-Eater, no mere mortal can hurt in a way that matters. Certainly not the likes of him." She grabs the front of his tunic. "And besides, I'd have to force myself not to want you, and as we know that is futile effort." The change in expression indicates he gives credence to her answer. 

“Is that so?” Another kiss, deeper and it makes her head spin. Yes. Despite the urge to sit back further, nearly laying down and pulling him on top of her, she doesn’t. He has a question to answer. 

“I believe I asked you a question.” 

“Hmm.” He steals another quick peck. “You did, you wanted to know if I’d throw myself overboard, so captivated by you by you I lose all sense of reason. 

“Yes.” She hums. 

“Well, you’ve bewitched me across the province, tempted me into closets while both of us are surrounded by our superior officers; it would seem I abandoned reason long ago. I think a better question is what I wouldn’t do for you?” He looks off into the distance. “To that which I do not know.” He turns back to her, barely hearing what he says as she’s so distracted by how the fire makes him glow. “So yes, you could probably get me to drown myself if you looked at me the right way.”

Between the warmth of the fire and his equally burning gaze, Theodora feels unbearably hot. Her eyes slowly move from him to the water. The light from Masser and Secunda makes the lake look so inviting, the summer breeze still warm despite the night. If he’d throw himself overboard then perhaps… Taking his hand she goes for it. 

“What are you doing?” Her boots are kicked off and then thrown back towards the fire. 

“I’m testing your claim.” 

“Do not tell me you expect me to get in the water with you, it’s likely teeming with slaughterfish.” She rolls her eyes, giggling.

“I’ll have you know they stay much further east in summer.”  

“Ah, so they are found here.” Hmmm, what was that he said? If I looked at him the right way? 

“If you’re too afraid of being an exotic snack to the creatures of Lake Illinata, you can stay here, love.” Tuning away from him, the stale tunic and brown trousers find their way to the ground. Though she normally forgoed smallclothes when home alone, particularly now as she couldn’t even be bothered with the rest of the world; the choice was proving even more fruitful when she turned back around. “But I’m going to cool off.” Fingers fleetingly touch his clothed chest before she enters her beloved lake. 

Facing him, she watches his eyes linger as the water envelopes her. It’s brisk and invigorating, but could be so much more so if she was not alone. 

“It’s lovely in here, Ondolemar.” Laying on her back, Theodora continues taunting him. “Why don’t you come join me?” Slipping beneath she submerges herself, finding so much peace in the quiet below. Popping back up, hair flipping overhead, she looks at him the right way. That much is evident as he removes his own clothes, casting them aside to wade through the water. As he approaches, the wanting expression creates quite the contrast with his words. 

“So this will be how I die.”

[duskspring]

Chapter 1

Summary: When the opportunity arises for Terzo to avenge himself after years of waiting, of course he takes it. Amy is the absolute perfect person to accomplish this with, but he might have a harder time staying on track than expected.

Content (18+): Terzo being a scheming petty bitch, handjob, slightly sub!Terzo

Word count: ~4k words

[Read it on AO3]

There were many things Terzo felt The Clergy never gave him credit for. Yes, he could get a bit overindulgent, if there even was such a thing, he slacked off on his duties from time to time and he was absolutely guilty of not blindly following all of their wishes and orders. But he fully believed he had just as many, if not more, strong characteristics. He was very observant when it came to certain things. He, for example, always kept a close eye on Cardinal Copia’s interactions with Siblings of Sin. He’d been doing that for years.

Something The Clergy definitely did ascribe to him, however, was his pettiness. It was the feeling that rushed to the forefront of his mind when he first noticed the shift in the cardinal’s behavior. Though it was subtle, his mood seemed improved. He strutted the halls more calm and collected than Terzo had seen him in years, as opposed to always being stressed out over some paperwork or whatever else he filled his days with. And wouldn’t you know it, the change correlated perfectly with him getting a new assistant. But it wasn’t just that he was glad to have his workload relieved with the help. No, Papa had witnessed it himself; the little smiles, laughs and redder shade on his cheeks when he spoke to said assistant. Copia was into her, just as Terzo had hoped for. 

Not wanting to waste this chance, he did his research and formulated a plan. The assistant’s name was Amelia, though she went by Amy. She’d been part of the church for many years, having performed most of her studies abroad, only to recently move into the abbey. Terzo had initially considered simply moving her to a position as his own assistant, but decided it would be much easier to torture Copia if he was forced to still be around her all the time. From there, he knew exactly what he would have to do if he truly wanted it all to work out. The set up was simple; visit Copia’s office more and more often during work hours, always making sure to establish eye contact with the lady and ultimately taking whatever chance he got to chat her up and make her feel seen by him. Though on occasion he got to do so outside of the office as well.

One particular afternoon, he saw her walking towards him in the hall carrying a particularly high stack of three cardboard boxes, presumably filled with old documents and files. He didn’t even realize it was her at first, until she tried looking around the pile to see where she was headed.

As she approached, seemingly unaware of his presence, he made no effort to move out of her way, freely allowing her to bump into him. Though she tried to keep her balance, the top two boxes toppled over and onto the floor, manilla folders spreading all over the black and white patterned floor as the woman stumbled down after them.

“Ah, fuck-“ She groaned, trying to recover from the impact of the packet still in her hands knocking into her stomach when she’d hit the ground. Terzo definitely hadn’t intended for her to get hurt, but she spoke again before his mind could settle on feeling guilty, “Papa! Shit, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” She straightened her posture, looking up into his eyes.

“Didn’t feel a thing. But the burden of guilt falls on me. I should have been more present.” He said as kindly as he possibly could before crouching to help her pick everything up again.

Her eyes followed his every move, already caught off guard by his willingness to help her, now anticipating any more surprises. She snapped back to reality a second later, “I appreciate your help, but it’s really not necessary. I know you probably have better shit to do.” She said, starting to collect the rest of the documents herself.

“Nonsense. What kind of a man would I be if I didn’t help a lady in need?”

She scoffed, though not actually upset, “I’m hardly a damsel in distress.” She said as she carelessly shoved handfuls of paper back into the boxes for her to sort out later.

Terzo appreciated how bold she seemed to be around him, not bothering to filter herself more than she, presumably, did usually. Most people wouldn’t dare considering his status, but although she tried being more polite, there were certain comments or words she couldn’t stop from escaping her mind.

“What the fuck do you even need these for?” He mused, reading a random paragraph of information about a man who’s name barely rang a bell, both wanting to ignite conversation and to quell his curiosity.

“I’m afraid that’s confidential.” She smirked at him, knowing damn well what his response would be.

His brow furrowed in genuine offence, “There is no such thing as confidentiality for me. I’m Papa!”

“Oh, you are? Sorry, the suit and the paint didn’t give it away.” Only now did her grin and tone become obvious to Terzo. She had been as sarcastic as the last few times they briefly exchanged words, he just wasn’t used to it yet.

“You think you’re so funny.” He grumbled, though a smile now graced his face as well. He threw more and more documents into the box next to him, acting as if it was his way to get his frustrations out.

“Maybe just a little.” Amy chuckled at his antics, continuing the clean up as well.

When they were done on the ground he stood back up and offered her a hand, which she took and thanked him for, “I assume these are for Cardinal Copia?” He pointed to the boxes as he walked over to them

“They are. But I can handle-“ She tried stopping him when she noticed him moving to pick them up, but he cut her off before she really could.

“Enough of that,” His voice sounded slightly strained as he put his energy into lifting two of the three boxes up from the floor. They weren’t too heavy, luckily, but still weighted more than he had counted on, “Let me play the gentleman. Just this once.” He winked and smiled at her, trying his hardest to up the flirtation.

She instantly gave up starting an argument, since it would only keep her away from work even longer. She only acknowledged his effort with a silent nod and the two went on their way.

“Pardon me for not asking sooner. How has settling in gone?” He asked, referencing an earlier brief chat they’d had, both to make conversation and out of genuine interest.

“It’s been really great!” She smiled at him brightly, “I have friends now, so that helps. It’s already much better than that stuffy old shack in Germany.”

Terzo laughed in recognition, “Satanas, I remember visiting there once as a teenager. I remember thinking I’d rather go to hell than stay in that devil forsaken dump ever again. I take it that it hasn't improved much.”

“Nein,” A grin slowly spread on Amy’s face, “But when you were a teenager, huh? When was that? The 30s?”

Even though he took her poking fun at him in good faith, he couldn’t help the surprised falter in his steps, “You’ve ought to get a spanking for speaking out of line. Remember who you’re taking that tone with, suora.” It was his turn to smirk, his eyes slightly narrowing with the lustful threat, even if he hadn’t fully meant it.

“You’re right,” Amy’s steps slowed down, turning her body to face him a little more, “My sincerest apologies, your dark excellency. Forgive my foolish disrespect and graciously spare me a second chance. Oh please, Papa, I so beg,” Her tone was sarcastic through and through. She stared directly into his eyes, an overly exaggerated pleading look on her face. Terzo could only chuckle at the woman’s antics, “Am I forgiven?” She asked after he didn’t say anything. She still had a playful smile on her face as she readjusted the box in her hold.

“How could you not be after such a display?” He finally answered as he brought his arms as close to his body as possible. It was the closest he could get to putting a hand on his heart while his hands were occupied.

“Enough of this already. I’m running late.” Amy's smile didn’t falter as she started walking a little quicker, as if she herself hadn’t decided to slow for the sake of a joke.

Terzo made sure to stay by her side, “In all seriousness, I’m very glad to hear that you are settling in well. Remember that if you need anything, anything at all, I’m here for you. I’m sure it gets quite drab being around the cardinal so long each day.” He just couldn’t resist the quick jab. Copia wasn’t a bad person, but Terzo found it much too easy to ridicule him sometimes.

“Don’t talk about him like that, he’s lovely,” She defended her boss, though she stayed in good spirits, “And thank you, Papa.” She added genuinely.

“Call me Terzo.” He said, right as they reached their destination. Just as Amy was about to knock to announce their presence, he simply opened the door with his elbow and walked in without warning.

“Papa.” Copia sounded shocked to see him, and seemed somehow even more shocked when his assistant walked in right after him. Terzo revelled in seeing him mentally search for answers and jump to conclusions.

“You should go easier on the lady, cardinal. She could’ve fallen down a flight of stairs with these.” He unceremoniously plopped the boxes down on top of Copia’s writings on his desk.

“Did something happen?” Copia looked at his assistant around the new blockade, concern clear in his eyes and tone.

“I bumped into Terzo.” She admitted slightly sheepishly as she set the final parcel down next to his desk and made her way back to her own.

“Terz-“ Copia softly repeated, looking at Amy like she had lost her mind, “I think you mean to say Papa.” He corrected her with shock.

The woman’s steps came to a halt. She shot a look over at the man in question, confused as she wondered if she was supposed to still use his title in front of others.

Terzo merely chuckled to break the silence, “That’s quite alright.” The statement made one of Copia’s eyebrows raise slightly, "Either way you’re lucky it was me you bumped into and not my old man,” He added to change the topic, before stepping up to her. He put a hand on her waist like it was the most casual thing in the world for them and brought his mouth close to her ear, “If it all gets too much, do not be afraid to complain to me.” With a final quick flash of a smile her way he stepped back, leaving the office without further acknowledging Copia’s existence.

Later that week, the benches before the pulpit were filled to their maximum capacity as Terzo stood in front, delivering his weekly sermon.

He always did his best to make it a show. Having grown up with his father and Primo droning on and on, explaining interesting topics in the most mind numbing and repetitive ways possible, he wanted to do it a little differently. He did his best to get everyone engaged. He would crack jokes, make music and directly involve his flock’s experiences.

On that particular day, his eyes were drawn to Amy time and time again. She looked up at him with her full focus, eyes glued to his being as she laughed and smiled along. He made and maintained eye contact where he could, wanting her to know that his attention was on her as well. She was seated close to Copia, who would also undoubtedly notice how often his head turned and stayed in her direction.

After the sermon ended he was quickly forced into an overly long one-sided conversation with Sister Imperator that may have almost killed him out of boredom. He wanted to make his next move already, unable to keep focus on any of her words because of it. When he took a quick glance out into the room, he saw that most people had left already, going back to their usual duties. Luckily for him, however, Amy was still there. Still there and giggling at whatever the cardinal had just said.

“Are you even listening to me?” Imperator snapped her fingers in front of Terzo’s face to draw his attention back to her and it took all his willpower to not shove her away in his frustration.

“I will handle it.” He sneered, honestly having no clue what she had been talking about, “Let me do my job.” He walked off, willing himself to remain composed in a room with still relatively many people, especially Amy, there, “Cardinal,” He slapped the man on the back of the shoulder just a little too harshly under the guise of a greeting, “Don’t you have work to do? Already done with all those “confidential” files?” He air-quoted the word with his hands, just trying to get Copia to leave.

“Not entirely, no. I was just- I’ll go. Amy, if you-“

“Actually, I must borrow your assistant for a moment.”

Copia tensed up just the slightest bit. Terzo wouldn’t have noticed, had he not been on the lookout for reactions exactly like that one, “For what, exactly?”

“I have some more things for you in my office, may as well have her deliver them to you.”

“Even more paperwork?” She questioned, half playful and half baffled that there could possibly be even more paperwork to be done.

“This one’s sharp, isn’t she?” Terzo joked, “Now back to work with you.”

“Of course. Sister, I will see you again soon. Right?” The question was more so aimed at Terzo than her. Copia definitely knew something was off and Papa revelled in the knowledge of what it was.

“At this pace your assistant will need an assistant. You could let her take it slow for a little bit, cardinal.” He finally stated, before putting his hand between Amy’s shoulder blades and leading her out, “This was only your fourth sermon since you joined us, am I correct?”

“It was, yeah. You really shined up there.” She complimented.

“Is that genuine admiration I hear or are you being sarcastic again?” He asked lightheartedly.

”Hey, I can be nice! I meant it.”

“If you think I did well here, you should see me at an actual show. I’ll reserve a good seat for you next time. I’ll blow your fucking mind.”

She slightly cocked her head, eyes narrowing, though not far enough for him to notice as he greeted some siblings who were walking past them. Amy wasn’t blind. She was fully aware of how he had been flirting with her. It took less than a day at the abbey to hear all the stories of his escapades with siblings, “What flattery, Terzo. You’re too kind.” She said semi-sarcastically.

“Not at all,” He began saying as he opened his door, letting her walk in ahead of him, “There’s just something about you.” He mused, letting the door fall shut behind them both.

She had reached the middle of the room when the comment made her turn back to face him, her look skeptical, “How so?”

He sighed. Perhaps it was his own impatience or need to indulge but it felt like the time was right. It was now or never, “I have a confession to make,” He lowered his voice, “Forgive me, suora, I have lied to you. I have nothing for the cardinal here.”

“And yet you’ve asked me to be here.“ Amy stated plainly as he stepped closer to her.

“I longed to be alone with you again, if only for a moment.” Perhaps the idea of him being so into her after their few brief interactions would sound completely unbelievable. Luckily for him, he was Papa. She would likely be too starstruck at the idea of him wanting her to even question it. That’s how it usually went, after all.

“Is that so?” She nearly laughed, though he read it as nervousness.

Terzo breathed out a laugh himself as he put his hand on her cheek, doing whatever he could to get her swept up in the moment, “You’re so special, tesoro. I knew it the moment I laid eyes on you,” He leaned in even closer to her, his mouth now right next to her ear, “I want you.”

“You don’t know me.” Oh, fuck. She was questioning it.

Terzo hesitantly moved back a bit, mind racing at how to salvage the interaction, “Oh… Oh, I see,” He took another few steps away from her, until he leaned against the back of his desk. He kept a close eye on her facial expressions, “There is something between you and the cardinal, isn’t there?”

“Not at all.” Amy sputtered out, genuinely shocked. Yes, she had noticed all the same small signs Terzo had, if not more, but she didn’t want to outright assume Copia’s feelings went deeper than a superficial level. Were there really people who thought there was something between them?

“You don’t have to lie to me. It’s clear I crossed a line. You are with the cardinal, I respect that.”

“No, you don’t.”

Terzo was unsure how to respond to that. She was absolutely right, in this case at least, but he didn’t want to make himself sound bad by admitting to it.

That same small smirk as before crept its way back onto Amy's lips. She certainly hadn’t expected any of this when she’d gotten out of bed that morning. Her feelings on him were definitely mixed, he seemed genuinely kind at times while also being way too cocky for his own good. Perhaps there was something she could do about that, “Did you mean it?” She slowly closed the gap between them as she spoke, until she stood in between his legs. She moved her eyes up to meet his, her hands coming up onto his chest, “Do you really want me?” Her voice was quiet, nearly a whisper, yet her tone was self assured.

Terzo let out a surprised breath. He studied her face for a moment, unsure what he was even looking for, “I meant every word.” It was technically not a complete lie. Regardless of his motivations, he couldn’t deny his own sexual attraction to the woman.

“Good. I love games, Terzo,” She emphasised his name, reminding herself of the fact that he allowed her to say it. That she could act as boldly as she was. She slowly moved one hand up his chest until it rested carefully at the base of his throat, “But I prefer playing by my own rules.”

He was admittedly caught off guard by her taking on such a dominating attitude. Perhaps that’s what attracted Copia to her in the first place. But two could play that game, “You’re not the only one with ‘rules’, tesoro,” He straightened his back, gently removing her hand from his throat, “And you’re forgetting which one of us holds the actual power.”

“Out there maybe. But in here…” Amy chucked. It was different from her usual laugh, but Satanas, what a sexy sound, “In here you are the person who both lied to get me to come with you and then practically begged for my attention. I’m just fulfilling your request. You wanted attention…” Suddenly her free hand was on his crotch, stroking him agonisingly slowly through the fabric of his pants. Terzo’s breath hitched, “Here you have it.”

Papa’s mind raced trying to think of a response. It wasn’t that he had never taken on a submissive role before, but he’d only done so with people who intimately knew him. He didn’t want to be this vulnerable with someone he mostly courted out of pettiness. And yet he could think of no rebuttal. Worse yet, it was impossible for him to stifle the groan that slipped past his lips as she continued the rhythmic movement of her hand against him.

“Do you like the attention, Papa?”

He desperately didn’t want to give in. He didn’t want to let her win the game. But, fuck the way she squeezed his cock made him ache for more. He wordlessly nodded, hoping it would be enough. Instead, her hand stopped moving and let go of him, though it still carefully rested over the area. Terzo whimpered slightly at the loss, closing his eyes and instinctively bucking his hips forward in search of friction.

“Uh-uh, Terzo,” His eyes snapped open again at the mention of his name, “Be a good boy and use your words.”

Something about the prospect of being praised short circuited his mind. He’d undoubtably question his decisions later, but for now his pride be damned, “Yes. Yes, I like your attention.” He said through gritted teeth. 

Her face wore a serene smile, satisfied with how easily he was going along with her. She surprised herself with her actions, impulsively deciding all of her moves and simply hoping it would keep working. She moved her hands up to open his pants, stopping as soon as he let out a whine.

She was about to ask if he was still okay with what was happening, when he beat her to it, “Please.” His voice was pitchy, his hips moving forward again in an attempt to grind into her hands.

With that permission, Amy opened and fished the dick out of his pants in the blink of an eye. While his eyes were screwed shut, hers had their full focus on where her hand stroked him. She’d never really thought of dicks as ‘pretty’ before, but his was undeniably a sight to behold. It appeared long enough to get deep but not so much that it was intimidating. Her hand couldn’t fully wrap around him and her mind soon flooded with ideas of what he would feel like inside of her. Her movements became more enthusiastic than before, determined to break him as much as she was starting to.

Terzo’s breath came out with a sigh, “Si, suora.” His knuckles were turning white underneath his gloves with how tightly he clutched the side of his desk. Sweat started to bead on his temples, smudging his face paint there. Deep black locks of hair fell in front of his face as he tilted his head down to look at her. He looked like a mess. Just how she liked it.

They stood there, so close, staring into each other's eyes, “There’s one thing I need you to do, okay?” She tried her hardest to stay composed, “Can you do that for me?” Her hand squeezed him a little tighter, strokes getting faster.

“Yes! Yes, I’ll do it.” Terzo’s breathing was still incredibly shaky, especially with the added effort he put into humping her hand.

“Good. All you have to do… is be patient. I have a job to do and so do you.” Without another word she removed her grip from him again and made her way to the door in what felt like half a second. Just before she opened it, she looked back at the very taken aback leader of the church, “Until next time.”

The soft thump of the door falling closed snapped Terzo out of his shock. Lucifer’s wrath, he was furious. He wanted to run after her, yell at her, drag her back inside and teach her a lesson. But he couldn’t get himself to move. He had allowed himself to be outplayed so easily, he felt like a complete idiot. And yet, he was excited at the same time. Things may not have gone as expected, but perhaps this meant messing with the cardinal would be even more fun than he had first anticipated.

[Next chapter / My masterlist]

[vinxwatches]

the bad batch season 2

really liked season one, trough probably too much because i headcanon Omega as trans.

Omega is badass now? cool.

Cid is damn manipulative... by having a valid point.

the call for adventure of the season: help people. they are good people, helping when the opportunity arises, seems like they'll be making the step to looking for places to help.

i just realized something i really like in this over clone wars: people can't die. don't get me wrong, it was neat, but it also meant you wouldn't get to know the cast. in this the cast is an actual cast.

oh, that's one fucking cliffhanger, strong opening.

stop being stupid, you can't run on a broken leg... i mean you can, but you shouldn't.

they were hunted by Wilco... the name sound familiar, but my memory for names is ass. also he's dead now, so not that it really matters. i literally caught it on his death grunt.

i do like the message, but i wonder where they'll be going with it.

Crosshair episode? also cody again, probably about to die too.

there's always something neat about a sniper just sniping overly well.

maybe not, maybe cody is able to leave and live. more likely not. the only reasonable way to achieve that is by linking up with Rex or task force 99. and i don't recall him being with Rex in rebels.

well damn, he went awol. hope we'll see him again.

i love a good race, especially layed out well, and it was. good episode

ok i'll admit it my gay hart is losing it over phee, worried she'll turn out to be the villain, or at least not trustworthy.

pre jedi stuff. how will not force users make it trough here. also they're going big with the music.

i was sure it would be a kibar cristal (lightsabre core). oh, it's big.

so i really did recognise him... HOW?!

the message of the show seems to me "people need their people". now this isn't a bad message, but is easily malformed.

ah, so wookies are argonians.

"don't stand where i'm flamethrowing"

i really like where she moved. how she seems to have grown... it's probably going to get her killed isn't it? ep 7 btw.

i love the leitmotifs.

damnit two parter? i need to prepare, not need to watch part two... oh well.

Echo's role is always the most questionable to me, but here they really found a role for him.

fuck he's such a politician. (yes that is obviously an insult)

feels fitting for Echo, the old squad reuniting... yet also we know this isn't where he ends up. after all i watched rebels.

hello purple hair, should i know you already?

and it's given proper weight, nice.

tech is autistic isn't he? because my god can he be almost stereotypically oblivious. damn growth for tech. also yea you'll always lose against water.

oh, this really just is the neurodivergent episode... and i think it's handled pretty well. episode 9. Techs and Omega's conversation around 22 minutes is very good.

nope purple hair is not someone we know, and definitely doesn't have cool feather hair.

ugly and disabled means evil... not a fan.

the workers suffer while and to increase the profit of the company? what a new story, good thing such things never happen in the real world /s. if only the solutions were ever more realistic. revealing the truth never changed anything. but obviously disney doesn't want to tell that.

a broken space dropping out of hyperdrive?

oh shit, they're continuing with what i thought was a dropped plotpoint. but why though? what do they plan to do with this plot now?

Rex? doesn't look like him, but certain talks like him. and i don't just mean same voice. i mean how and what he says. ep 12

oh, is this the deserting episode? they have been building it up.

in case it wasn't obvious enough the empire was evil and a bunch of dicks.

welcome to cold, the cruellest, slowest killer. the cruellest part may be the hope. there's nothing you'll survive better then cold, because while it kills you it also preserves you. you can hope to make it, until the moment you die. and the people who find your body will feel that same hope until your corpse is warmed up. it's a blessing too, for you'll survive it more often then drowning, but the hope is cruel.

damn that ending though.

are they planning to split to group up further? i mean probably the right decision, but not healthy for the series i think. they are making this play too idyllic, like 80% sure it'll either be destroyed or secretly evil. the only reason i'd say maybe not is because they seemed to have put too much afford into the assets to throw it all away. of all the enemies to throw at the it, this is one of the most mundane and with that cool. especially in it's accuracy.

also did they hint at this ship before? i didn't notice it but i'm notoriously bind to this type of ship. or did they introduce it in this episode.

that ship sure looks like the ghost.

"i suggest i you proceed before i come to my senses"

two things i still really like: Wrecker is allowed to be afraid of heights and it's not a flaw. a hinderance and a weakness, sure. but everyone has those. it's not something that's wrong with him that must be changed. Omega is trusted with important tasks and is competent. she's not just a tag along kid, she's an actual member of the team with useful skills like any of them.

there's going to be more then one team working here, that'll be a problem. called it, and called it... fuck. this season won't end in a successful rescue. they better be getting a season 3.

on no. i see the solution, Tech does too. please don't. yet you must. fuck. come on, it's too early in the episode for a mayor character death. right? unless the rest of the episode it to come to terms with the loss. i'm wrong... right? i mean... the start of the episode did set it up, but, like.. no?

this feels like an episode where they all die... but that can't be. they have an unresolved plot. whatsit fuck face needs omege, she needs to be captured and then rescued. that's how those plots go. everyone can't die, not yet at least, the plot demands it... right?

ok... they "salvaged" him. that has to mean he's alive... right? fuck i already know a friend of mine would call out my hopium.

another female clone? the fuck? also how can you be here? do what you do? that just doesn't make sense? trying to improve the system from the inside? that won't work with the empire, and if you were a mole you'd be a shit one. they're really hoping they'll get another season.

[starseedfxofficial]

Bitcoin Blasts Past $100k, Powell Cautious, and France in Turmoil Bitcoin Breaks $100K, Powell Chooses Caution, and Europe Prepares for a Shake-up: A Hidden Forex Opportunity Ah, the sweet thrill of market chaos. As traders, we thrive on it, don't we? Whether it's Powell hinting at cautious moves, Bitcoin smashing through that psychological $100k level like it's no big deal, or the French government losing a no-confidence motion (you thought your trading week was rough!), there's always something cooking in the global markets. But here's where the real magic happens—interpreting the chaos and finding those hidden gems that could be your next strategic edge. Let’s break it down. The Cautious Powell Dance: Why It Matters to You Fed Chair Jerome Powell is doing the rate dance again. He hinted at a cautious approach towards "more neutral rates" as the Fed gauges downside risks. Translation? The Fed isn’t in a rush to push rates up, but they’re also keeping the door open for more movement if the need arises. Traders need to read between the lines here: Powell's cautiousness means there might still be some breathing room for risky assets to flourish in the short term. If you’re holding USD, this could be an opportunity—think of it like buying a pair of sneakers on sale before they’re back in style at full price. Markets react to what they expect the Fed to do, not necessarily what the Fed is doing. The vibe from Powell suggests no hasty decisions, meaning potential stability for now. Keep an eye on the data—the quieter Powell gets, the more he’s watching. Bitcoin Blasts Through $100k: It’s Not All About the Hype Bitcoin hitting $100,000 might have seemed like a distant fantasy a few years ago, but here we are. With US President-elect Trump appointing crypto-backer Paul Atkins to lead the SEC, it’s more than just hype driving this move. It's a hint at mainstream adoption and regulatory support—something that was pure speculation a year ago. If you’re trading Forex, you're probably asking: why should I care about crypto price action? Here’s the deal—Bitcoin's rise is changing risk sentiment globally. And risk sentiment impacts major currency pairs. Just think: if investors are feeling adventurous (like when they see BTC rocketing upward), currencies like the JPY and CHF may lose their safe-haven appeal in favor of more exciting plays. This is a perfect moment to look at some exotic pairs that might benefit from an increase in speculative sentiment. European Shake-ups: France’s No-Confidence Drama Talk about drama! France just lost a no-confidence vote, and Prime Minister Barnier has tendered his resignation. It’s political turbulence like this that gives Forex traders a chance to profit. Political instability can shake up a currency like a snow globe—things might settle back into place, but there’s potential for a beautiful flurry of movement in the interim. Keep an eye on the euro and French government bonds, which are usually reliable indicators for market sentiment in such scenarios. The last time something similar happened, we saw some serious EUR movement. Don’t be surprised if the euro has a rollercoaster day or two. China’s State Media Takes a Stance on Growth Another critical narrative to watch is coming out of China. The Chinese state media has signaled a pivot towards more sustainable consumption growth. Rather than aggressively pursuing headline-grabbing GDP numbers, they seem to be pushing for stability and long-term, consumption-based growth. Why does this matter for Forex traders? Simple—the Aussie dollar (AUD) often feels the ripple effects of Chinese economic shifts. If China focuses more on internal consumption, we may see less of a push for Australian exports, potentially weakening AUD. Watch for updates from the upcoming Central Economic Work Conference—this could be the key to understanding China's next big move. Upcoming Data Highlights Before I leave you to trade another day, here’s what’s cooking on the economic calendar: we’ve got the Swiss Unemployment rate, US Challenger Layoffs, weekly jobless claims, and some big wigs from the BoE, ECB, and Fed taking the mic. OPEC+ is meeting, too—oil traders, you’ll want to keep your alerts handy. Supply data from Spain, France, and the US will also provide some more market-moving tidbits. These events are ripe with potential. The Swiss unemployment numbers could push the CHF, while the OPEC+ meeting is going to be a massive catalyst for the CAD (and oil, naturally). Oh, and those jobless claims? They’re still a leading indicator for understanding where US growth might be headed—it’s like a sneak peek into what Powell might say next. Here’s the bottom line—volatility is your friend. Embrace it, but stay informed. Powell's cautious footwork, Bitcoin's insane rally, France's political circus, and China's growth stance are all opportunities waiting to be seized. Dig deeper, look for the hidden angles, and always remember: smart traders see what others miss. Keep your eye on the prize, trade responsibly, and don’t be afraid to take a contrarian view when the opportunity arises. And if you’re looking for more in-depth analysis or just want to join a community that’s as sharp as you are, you know where to find us at StarseedFX. Happy trading! —————– Image Credits: Cover image at the top is AI-generated   Read the full article

[teyvatdreams]

golden

summary. you knew that associating yourself with a fatui harbinger would come back to bite you, but not in this way. the tartaglia you encounter in the golden house is one you don’t recognize, and you’re determined to bring the one you’ve grown to known back.

word count. 1.4k

collab with @somemothgoingferal!

part two can be found here!

as you walk into the golden house, paimon’s eyes widen at the amount of mora suddenly surrounding her. “woah!” she squeals. “so much mora! this is where all of it is minted, right? surely no one will notice if a few went missing…”

you can’t entertain paimon and lumine at the moment — you can suddenly sense that something is wrong here.

lumine must be able to tell by the expression on your face. “is something wrong?”

“something just feels… off…” you say, furrowing your brows. “there’s no guards.” for something as important as rex lapis’s exuvia, there should be more guards around than usual, however, there were none in sight.

“oh, right… there should definitely be guards protecting the exuvia!” paimon says, as if she could hear your thoughts.

“let’s head in deeper.” you lead the paimon and traveler towards rex lapis’s exuvia when you spot multiple guards on the ground, out cold. “someone knocked them out,” you sigh.

“oh no…” lumine says, worry plastered across her face. “someone was in here? who would do a think like this?” she questions.

“we need to check if the exuvia is okay! come on!” paimon shouts, already floating ahead. you and lumine pick up your pace, running to where the exuvia was being held.

“well, well, well, if it isn’t the traveler and paimon, and their friend they made along the way.” a familiar voice says. you can hear their footsteps growing closer. “who would’ve thought we’d have so many mutual connections?”

“h-huh? who’s there!” paimon suddenly sounds frightened.

“hmm… if you were fatui i’d be more than happy to see you here. you’d probably receive a reward from the tsaritsa herself!” childe says, walking to where you stood. “but you aren’t. you’re nothing but dross. and you’re in my way.” he continues, scowling.

“looks like we were just in time, then.” you reply, stepping in front of lumine and paimon to shield them from the harbinger. “you aren’t getting any closer to that exuvia. not on my watch.” you say firmly.

childe chuckles. “oh, come on!” he teases. “it’s all thanks to you guys that i was able to find this place so easily! there’s no point in trying to stop me now.”

he marvels at the exuvia behind him. “i must say, i’m impressed with everything the qixing has done. if a few things were different, i’m not sure if i’d be standing here right now.”

“so… you were planning to steal the gnosis from inside the exuvia all along?” paimon asks.

childe stands in front of the display of rex lapis, arms crossed. “of course. that’s my job as a fatui harbinger. whatever the tsaritsa wants, she gets. she will get what she desires.” he says.

“i already told you, you aren’t getting a single step closer to that exuvia.” you tell him.

“i’m not asking for your permission,” childe laughs. it’s patronizing. and it makes your blood boil. “and there isn’t anything you can do to stop me.”

your weapon materializes in your hand. you had hoped you would be able to talk it out with childe, but of course, it had come to this. “i won’t let you.”

“ah, have we gotten to my favorite part already?” he grins. “i’m so delighted to be sharing it with such a good friend.”

“hmph… you’re really the type to go looking for trouble!” paimon pouts, crossing her arms. “paimon’s gonna think of a super ugly nickname for you!”

childe simply shrugs. “i guess you could say that. i don’t particularly go around looking for trouble, but if the opportunity arises, who am i to shut it down?” he asks, a bow materializing in his hand. “the greatest pleasure of being a harbinger is when i get to cross my blades with strong opponents like you.” he grins. “and trust me, i know their strengths. but unfortunately for them, i know their weaknesses too.”

“we won’t let what happened in mondstadt ever happen again!” the traveler shouts.

you turn to the traveler, nervousness arising in your chest. “you two should leave. let me deal with him myself.”

paimon and lumine are both shocked. “what?! no way! we aren’t leaving you behind here!” lumine’s sword appears in her hand. she grips it tightly, ready to fight.

“i’ll be fine. but i can’t let you get hurt,” you say softly. “i can’t. liyue needs you.”

“but what about you? i can’t let you get hurt either! you’re just as important to liyue!” she argues.

“i won’t.” you assure her. “i know exactly what childe’s doing… and i’ll defeat him no matter what so the exuvia stays protected. now go. keep the city safe. they’ll need you there to protect it. please. trust me on this.”

hesitantly, lumine lowers her weapon, eyebrows furrowed. she simply nods before making her escape, quickly dashing to the door of the golden house with paimon floating behind her.

“oh, so you do intend to fight me! hmm… i suppose it doesn’t matter, although i was hoping to go to battle with the traveler,” childe says with a sigh. his eyes shift away for just a moment before quickly returning to you. “they are the one who i’ve been after all this time. but don’t worry. you know i won’t kill you. i’m just itching to feel the thrill of battle! it’s not as if either of you could defeat me, anyways…”

“you’re delusional.” you say through gritted teeth. “your ego is awfully big. it might be what gets you hurt.”

“fighting talk, eh? i love it. now let’s see you live up to it.” childe says, laughter echoing through the golden house.

you had never expected to have to battle against someone you considered a good friend — although his status as a fatui harbinger was old news to you, you never imagined it would come to this. but you had no choice but to fight him in the name of rex lapis.

you felt betrayed. and maybe that was your fault for trusting a harbinger, but you truly felt like you could trust him. but here you were, fighting him. and even though it hurt, you had to protect lumine and paimon as much as you could. you almost felt responsible for them in a sense — they had done so much for liyue. you couldn’t let childe take that all away.

he said it himself. childe wasn’t interested in killing you. he was all about the adrenaline. the rush of battle. but he was still putting up a good fight.

“please, childe,” you narrowly dodge one of his attacks. “you don’t have to do this,”

“i do have to do this.” he replies, lowering his bow. “it’s my job. don’t act like you don’t know that already.”

“do you have any idea what’ll happen if you go through with this?” you ask. “everything is going to change after today no matter what, but… i don’t even want to imagine what’ll happen to you.”

“what happens to me doesn’t concern you.” he avoids your gaze and keeps his distance, hands still gripping his bow tight. “and i’ll be fine anyways. why don’t you worry about yourself for once?” he asks, swiftly shooting an arrow in your direction.

you quickly dodge it, falling to the ground with a thud. you pull yourself off the ground just as he dashes towards you, and you quickly jump away. you slash the air next to him not in an attempt to hurt him, just to show him that you would if you had to.

“do you really expect me to let you do this?” you ask. you stood face to face with him, only an arm’s length away. “it isn’t about the gnosis anymore, childe.” you add.

“i’m stealing it regardless. your words have no meaning here.” he replies, completely missing your point. his eyes seem completely glazed over with determination.

“what about teucer?” you question. childe’s jaw clenches at the mention of his younger brother. “your other siblings? your entire family? do you already plan on having me write them back to tell them their brother is—“

“enough!” he shouts. “i said your words are meaningless. i’ve already planned my escape, so why don’t you focus on the fight in front of you?” he pulls the string of his bow back once more, but doesn’t release the arrow.

you stand completely still. maybe playing mind games with him wasn’t right, but it was all that seemed to work against him. you weren’t going to fight him, no matter how much he did. you couldn’t.

slowly, he lowers his bow. he looks angry. and in the blink of an eye, he’s nearly out of the golden house.

“childe!” you shout after him, nervous that he’d run into lumine on the way out. with a swift movement of his hand, he sends a large wave of water towards you, knocking you down.

by the time you pull yourself together, lumine and paimon are by your side. lumine helps you stand up, relieved that you hadn’t been injured.

“what happened? where’s… where’s childe?” paimon asks, looking around.

you sigh. “please check on the gnosis. i still have some business to do with childe.”

[moon3thereal]

Hey, i have a natasha x reader request. So Natasha is a very composed person always know what to do and basically everybody is terrified of the ex-assassin. But when she sees you for the first time she gets so flustered and ends up stuttering over her words, and it doesn’t stop every time she sees you her cheeks will turn red and and don’t know what to do, but it’s worse when you will compliment her or tease her, she will blush so hard when you “accidentally touch her” or throw a suggestive joke at her. The avengers will tease her relentless because of this because she is so lovestruck even in important meetings they will tease her to embarrass her in front of fury. Fluffy ending where reader kisses Nat and a very flustered and happy Nat after.

Title: Forbidden Rendezvous

Pairings: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader

Genre: fluff

Warnings: none but if you find any do lmk

a/n: thank you for the req! I enjoyed writing this one very much and i hope you guys like it <3

1.4k

Natasha Romanoff, the black widow herself, seemingly had a reputation to uphold. She was cold, ruthless, efficient, her instinct uncannily accurate. In short, she was one of the best agents in S.H.I.E.L.D if not the best. The Avenger was also pretty much the most stone-faced, cold-heartedly composed person in the world. She was a force to be reckoned with

That all went to hell when she met you, it was an avengers meeting, to be acquainted with the newest recruit to the Avengers initiative, all the Avengers had been told was that this recruit was a she and that she was one of S.H.I.E.L.D’s most elite agents and was probably here to babysit them and keep them out of trouble.

Which is why Natasha never expected someone like you to walk into the room, back straight, with the same elegant strut she’d found herself using more often than not. There was an air of composure around you, people could take one look at you and know that they shouldn’t mess with you. You had somehow managed to look daintily pretty but if they looked carefully at your posture, ready to attack should a threat arise, highly dangerous.

Once Natasha’s eyes landed on you, she couldn’t seem to tear them away, she was completely fixated on you, all the way from the door to when you took your place in an unoccupied seat with a bright smile on your lips that were painted just the right shade of red. Natasha studied the way a few strands of your hair fell out of your ponytail and curled around your jaw perfectly, framing your face. The way your lips parted to speak, presumably to introduce yourself, the Russian was put in a trance and there was an awkward silence when it was her turn to introduce herself

Clint, who was sitting next to her, raised an eyebrow at the dreamy look on her face and had to nudge her twice before she jumped slightly, startled and glared at him, he gestured to you and Natasha’s expression of indignation morphed to one of embarrassment and back to her original neutrality. You had noticed Natasha’s lingering stare on you, not the stare you’d seen her use on so many interrogatees and victims of her wrath, this stare was softer, almost like she was captivated by you

After a solid five seconds of Natasha pulling herself together, she extended her hand to you with a soft “hi, Natasha Romanoff” and before you had the chance to introduce yourself, she said “I mean, I’m Natasha Romanoff, you’re y/n y/l/n, I didn’t, I know you’re not Natasha Romanoff” The Avengers all had looks of astonishment on her face, she was always composed, even in the worst situations, none of them had ever seen her like this. Damn you Natasha she thought, she had absolutely no idea why her brain was short circuiting like this, it had never happened before

You laughed lightly before extending your own and shaking hers that was slightly sweaty, “hi, nice to meet you” she nodded, evidently flustered. How can someone be this perfect she thought. She’d seen you training in S.H.I.E.L.D quarters a few times but since she spent most of her time in the Avengers compound now, she’d never seen you up close.

After the meeting, which she hadn’t paid attention to anything else but the crease in your brows when you were concentrating, the way you knew how to disagree without offending the other individual, how intelligent you were, within the 2 hours you had joined the Avengers you had already solved a major problem with ease

It had been a month since that day, you were settled in the compound, you had a room to yourself, and you found it pretty comfortable, you’d gone on a few minor missions, nothing serious. You were already enjoying their company and was getting used to the new environment. But you enjoyed Natasha’s company most, from what you know and what you heard, she was supposed to be an extremely dangerous individual, but around you, she was an absolute klutz and also the most adorable person you’ve met.

All the interactions between you too had always ended up in Natasha blushing furiously and you adoring how her cheeks got all rosy and her face would turn the same fiery red of her hair when you casually threw a suggestive comment her way, basically you both being absolutely whipped for each other and refusing to admit it first

You were hacking into a computer system with Tony’s tech when Steve said “there’s no way you can pull that off, I know, I’ve tried” you simply scoffed, your hands flying over the keyboard typing in several coordinates “I’m y/n y/l/n, I can pull off everything” seizing the opportunity to once again fluster the redhead you pointed at her “including your clothes” just like you predicted, her cheeks immediately flushed red and a panicky chuckle fell from her lips

Steve rolled his eyes “see, according to you, I’m a million year old fossil, but still, even I can see that you are completely and irrevocably in love with her” you had successfully hacked into the system and pumped your fists triumphantly, transferring the information into a hard drive “I never said I wasn’t Rogers” you said sending a wink Natasha’s way and ‘accidentally’ brushing her bare arm lightly with yours as you passed by earning yourself a nervous squeak from her

Even in important meetings, Natasha was often caught giving you heart eyes, like this one right now, Fury was staring at her waiting for her to give him a plethora of solutions like she normally would. This time however, she was busy staring at you and were practically making out with you with her eyes. Fury cast his glance around the avengers silently inquiring as to what happened to his best agent. “she’s infatuated with her new girlfriend” tony said

The abrupt voice snapped Natasha out of her thoughts and she sent him her killer glare “I am not” knowing chuckles reverberated around the meeting room, even you let out a soft laugh at her obliviousness. “Did you know that Romanoff let y/n borrow her motorbike?” Clint said in a faux conspiratory voice. The director’s eyebrows shot up “is that so?” one corner of his lips quirked up in a smirk

“So what if it is, its just a bike” Natasha tried to act nonchalant but the flush in her cheeks betrayed her. “Ah look, the adoptive murder daughter has found love” tony said sarcastically “I will cause you pain in ways you can’t even imagine” Natasha gritted out. Taking pity on her, you snapped your fingers “Okay okay, this has been fun, but back to the tesseract?”

After the meeting, and more relentless teasing, resulting in an extremely irritable Natasha, she had pulled you aside into an empty store room “ooh is this our forbidden rendezvous” you wiggled your eyebrows suggestively. Even in the dark, you could swear that Natasha was blushing like she always did even if you so much as looked at her

“no this is me apologizing on behalf of the team and what they said back there, it was disrespectful-” catching your quirked eyebrow and look of amusement indicating that you were in fact not at all offended by the team’s teasing and she was the only one amongst all of them that didn’t know you had feelings for her too. Deciding to be bold for once, she smirked “it could be our forbidden rendezvous though”

You smiled and closed the distance between you. You could feel her breath hitch when she noticed how close you were, how she could tilt her head slightly and her lips would meet yours, how much she wanted to feel your lips on hers. So that’s exactly what she did, when your lips touched, it was just like how they described it in books. It ignited something resembling a thunderstorm in you and you couldn’t acknowledge anything else except how her lips felt perfect against yours. You reached to run a hand through her crimson tresses, and when breathing became a difficulty she pulled away, ruffled and lips parted she smiled showing all her impossibly white teeth

“Who knew you were such a good kisser”

“Who knew you would ever get bold enough to find out”

Taglist: @phoenixofash @michelle-dsn @midgardianweasley @zolvaska @jokertgkk @yeeterthekeeper

[umbrabilis-orchis]

A while back, when the Sumeru character designs had just been leaked, I made a post with all my thoughts about the situation at the time. Since then, Hoyoverse has released a few trailers for Sumeru, and of course there have been a fair amount of other leaks, all of which have given me new information that has led me to update my previous stance. I recommend reading the previous post before this one if you haven't yet, so you understand the points I'm referencing and can get a bit of background on the issues a lot of players took with Sumeru at the time. Now to the revisions.

An edit to point 1: it's becoming clearer and clearer to me that Sumeru is not necessarily based on the Middle East and is instead leaning rather heavily into taking inspiration from India. I think most people (me included) assumed the name Sumeru referred to Sumer, the Mesopotamian civilization, when instead I think it likely refers to Mount Meru (also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru) of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain belief. India is the country with the highest amount of Hindu and Jain practitioners, while China has the highest amount of Buddhists in the world. If Hoyo wants to take inspiration from one of the main religions of their country I don't see how that's a bad thing in and of itself. The issue now arises from taking inspiration from India while not doing a great job representing the people and cultures of that country.

An edit to point 3: My initial opinion still stands, except now that I'm more confident that Sumeru is taking inspiration from a specific country, my criticism is less "why have a formless mix of designs from different cultures" and more "why have a formless design that doesn't draw on the real country it is taking inspiration from". From what I have seen of the designs, none of them have a distinct Indian influence like one would expect of Hoyo's designs. You can clearly tell if a character is from Liyue or Inazuma, for example, because there are motifs in each design that are reminiscent of designs found in the region's real life counterparts. With most of the Sumeru designs we have, I can't look at a character and go ah yes, this one is from Sumeru, which seems like a real shame considering how beautiful a lot of Indian designs can be. It feels like a missed opportunity to me. To be completely honest, the fact that they didn't lean as hard into taking inspiration from real Indian fashion probably contributed a lot to the misreading of Sumeru as a conglomeration of cultures instead of mainly one.

An edit to point 4: It is worth mentioning that there is a wide range of skin tones in India and so it isn't as if Hoyo is slapping a coat of pale skinned paint on an area that doesn't have pale skinned people at all. However... that doesn't mean it's a good choice to make almost all the characters pale. With such a wide variety of skin tones to draw inspiration from, why limit yourself to just one or two? Why not make characters with darker skin tones to add visual interest to a design and to illustrate the diversity of the region? (The answer, of course, is colorism.) I stand by my earlier opinion and hope that with the release of the desert region of Sumeru and eventually Natlan we might get darker skinned characters, but nothing is a given.

In summary, Sumeru is not necessarily a mix of unrelated cultures, and our criticisms of the region should change to reflect that. Now it is more prudent to keep an eye out for a good representation of Indian culture in the region, characters, and story, and to criticize any failings there. Any points I didn't address are points that I felt were fine as is and did not need changing. I still stand by them fully. And finally, a quick disclaimer: I am not from India, and I am definitely not an expert on it or it's cultures. I would encourage you to find and listen to the opinions of Indian Genshin players and see what they have to say about Sumeru and what they would like to see changed or implemented into the game, if anything.

My previous ending statement also applies here: I am not an expert, and it is up to you to do more in depth research on this topic if you so choose. Please think critically about the information you find on this subject and come up with your own conclusions.

[shotowoki]

PAIRING: shouto todoroki x gn!reader WARNINGS: fluff, swearing, kissing, mutual-pinning, implied nsfw, pretty much just fluffy goodness :) WORDCOUNT: 4k

SYNOPSIS: Being roommates out of sheer convenience shouldn't have been a problem. It shouldn't have been as difficult as Shouto had made it out to be. I mean, you two barely spoke, barely found time to be together in one room and barely even came in contact with one another despite living under the same roof. It really should have been a piece of cake. But the feelings Shouto had for you grew larger with every day that passed, complicating things far more than was necessary...

In an empty room, Shouto lay sprawled on his bed. The thought of you conquering his mind as he envisioned you in your entirety.

The lazy slither of moonlight that pierced his curtains left a gentle glow across his face, the sorrow in his eyes highlighted as he pondered over the same thing he did every night. Who were you?

It seemed like a stupid question on the outside, as to those who didn't know you two well, you seemed like good friends. After all, you did live together; it would be harder to know nothing about the other. But, in Shouto's case, he knew near nothing about you. So, every night he lays in his sheets, frustrated with his lack of knowledge, listing all the things he did know. As he balled the covers under him, intertwining his fingers with the cotton, he asked himself one thing: 'who were you?', once more.

There were a few vague things he knew. He knew you worked as an office assistant, finished your work off late at night in the kitchen, took around 45 minutes in the shower, you rarely ate food at home, and brought take out every other evening. Not to mention, you barely left your room and thus leading to this lack of relationship between you two.

But what did this random trivia on you do for him? Nothing. It provided him with zero useful information, nothing to work with, and it most certainly did not quench his curiosity for you.

A heavy exhale parted his lips, and he sunk deeper into his mattress. Maybe this was enough for today. The constant worrying about you wasn't doing him any good, and he knew it. At this point, his curiosity was turning into something more. Before Shouto knew it, his once frustrated wonders had turned to admiration. And this was his current situation, face feeling hot as reality hit him like a train. When did he start to like you, and more specifically, why?

That empty feeling filled him once more; the lack of answers to all these questions had him feeling beyond exhausted. He barely knew you, and yet even moments like these felt like enough. A small rush of nervousness always stopping him in his tracks whenever the sheer thought of you crossed his mind. It felt ridiculous and brought Shouto way too much humiliation. And so, he shook these feelings off. The mystery that was you was far beyond his reach, and it was time he submitted to that fact.

Fluttering his eyelids shut, he put his mind at rest, drifting off into dreamland.

The next day had arrived, Shouto's previously exhausting night already long passing him. A wet towel swung over his head; he exited the bathroom somewhat wet, and ready for a new day.

A cold shower did the job alright, waking him up and helping him forget about the endless thoughts of you that had him up late last evening. All that remained was to fill his stomach up, and he would forget the whole ordeal. Still slightly embarrassed at the realization that he had caught feeling for the stranger that lived in the room opposite his own.

Scrubbing his hair and patting his face dry with the towel on his head, he entered the kitchen. He expected it to be empty like every other regular morning. But instead, Shouto was greeted with arguably the worst and best thing. There you sat at the kitchen island, eyeing a cup of coffee, evidently zoned out.

Shouto stopped in his tracks, and his heart dropped to his stomach. If it was even achievable, the beating of his heart was more rapid than humanly possible and probably more audible than ever. Why were you home? Not that he was complaining, it was just rare to have you home this early in the morning. Did you not have work today? Did something happen? Why are you just sitting there staring at a cup? All these questions sprung up in Shouto's head as he stood dumfounded and nervous.

His cheeks lightly sprinkled in a pink blush; he just stood there awkwardly, not daring to even move an inch. To anyone but himself, he would look pretty composed, but internally he was malfunctioning. He had hoped for a moment like this to arise for a while now. But now that the opportunity had presented itself, he barely knew what to do. It didn't help the fact he was already a flustered mess over the thought of you last night, and now there you sat in front of him.

Taking one deep breath, Shouto resumed his walk to the fridge, waving off the nerves that had built up inside him.

"Good morning, y/n. It's rare to see you home at this time." Shouto attempted to break the silence in his signature monotone voice.

It remained pretty tranquil for a bit. The only noise being that of Shouto making himself breakfast and the sound of you taking a shy sip of your drink.

"Morning. I don't have work today, so I'm home."

Your voice simmered out into the atmosphere, but it remained looping in Shouto's mind. As his back faced you, he felt his ears get hot, and he knew for a fact, he was beet red now. How did just hearing your voice already throwing him off guard?

Shouto gently exhaled, feeling his adrenaline spike through him. He just needed to stay calm. But how could he when he wasn't accustomed to hearing your voice, especially when you spoke so softly? Having a crush on your roommate was most certainly an inconvenience, as Shouto struggled to keep his concentration on making a simple cup of coffee for himself.

"Oh. Did you finally get a day off?" Luckily Shouto's voice came out calm. He'd be damned if he stumbled and made himself look more like a fool than he already had.

Well, he looked like a fool to himself, at least. You barely took notice of the random pauses his whole body made or the way he would occasionally take self-soothing deep breaths. If anything, you wouldn't even know if this type of behavior was unusual for him since you saw him so rarely.

Come to think of it, you don't even have a baseline to work with when judging his overall character. That's partially due to the fact you two have never actually sat down and bonded, which led an idea to spark off in your mind.

"Yeah, it's my first day off in a while." You spoke in a slightly more upbeat tone now, excited for the proposition you were about to make. "So, since I'm home, how about we hang out and get to know each other properly." You smiled his way, tilting your head slightly as you awaited his response.

And just as the suggestion escaped your mouth, Shouto made the unfortunate mistake of turning around, his surprised expression out on display as he was yet to process what you just had said.

"Um, sure." is all Shouto was able to say. His heart thumped out of his chest, and his words knotted up in his throat.

The sudden proposition you offered him had him speechless. All these sudden coincidences being the last thing Shouto expected. Was it all too sudden, perhaps? Either way, he wasn't going to deny the opportunity at hand because who knew when you would be free again. Finally, this was his chance to answer the question that has been keeping up at night. And somewhat address these feelings that had started manifesting.

"Then, I was thinking... maybe we could have a movie night?" You chirped, leaning over the counter in excitement.

"You know, there's this movie my coworkers have been talking about, and I've really been wanting to watch."

For the first time, Shouto got to see you relish in your interests. A cute smile curling the corners of your lips as you spoke, rambling about this so-called movie. He couldn't help but smile at your bubbly nature, getting lost in the expressions you were making that he has never before seen. The way your eyes lit up and your hands waved around as you tried convincing him to watch the movie. Little did you know, you didn't need to convince him of anything, he would agree to watch anything with you. But he wasn't going to burst your joyful bubble now. He wanted to savor this moment, and so he let you speak whatever was on your mind, just burning this moment into his memory.

Dazing at your soft lips as you spoke, he realized how zoned out he had become; your speech becomes just a faint murmur in the back of his mind as all he could think about was how much more beautiful you looked up close.

"Ah, sorry! I completely went on a tangent there. I tend to do that when I get excited. I'm sorry!" You giggled while exaggeratingly facepalming yourself.

And with that, he was once more snapped back into reality. What were you just talking about? Aside from the mention of a movie night, Shouto couldn't remember much else. He couldn't have retained anything that fell from those pretty lips of yours. And down the gutter, his thoughts went once more. The overwhelming flustering feeling washed over him as he realized what ideas exactly he was having right in front of you. He needs to hurry up and respond to you rather than just standing there aimlessly staring at your lips.

"Don't worry about it. You look cute anyways when you're so excited about something." Those words left Shouto so fast he could barely believe he had said them himself. The humiliation already settling itself as he cursed himself for being such a creep.

The sudden affection from your roommate had you stuttering. You have had your eye on him ever since you moved in together. What was there not to like about him? He was good-looking, always left food out for you, and cleaned the apartment before you got back from work. The only issue was you. You were far too shy to admit to these feelings, your one solution being to lock yourself up in your room and avoid him like the plague. Today just so happened to be the exception as you felt a tad bit confident when he nonchalantly (as you perceived it) walked into the kitchen.

Now a compliment of this magnitude was the last thing you expected, and so your insides burnt hot as you shifted in your seat.

"Sorry! I didn't mean for it to come out that way." The concern in his voice was more than evident, the furrowing of his brows in frustration delivering his apology clearly.

"No-no, it fine! Really."

"What I was trying to say was that a movie night sounds great!" Shouto bopped his head down as he managed to completely fuck up this one opportunity that he had. To him, it seemed as though he had ruined everything, but if anything, he had succeeded a lot more than he gave himself credit.

You were still giddy at his subtle compliment, heart racing at the fact he called you cute. CUTE. Failure should have been the last thing on Shouto's mind as if he observed you a little more closely, he would have noticed the satisfactory grin on your face.

"Great! I'll meet you in the living room at 5 pm then." You hoped out of your chair, putting your empty cup away.

You definitely wanted to stay with him longer, but you needed to calm yourself down. The knots in your stomach tightening by the second as you felt flustered by his presence.

"Right."

Gently, you squeezed past him as you exited the kitchen, the cozy heat that radiated from his body sending goosebumps down your skin. Even with a touch so short-lived, you couldn't help but freak out. How would you manage this evening? Only future you will know the answer to that question.

As quickly as you parted ways, the evening arrived just as fast. A golden sunset burst through the living room window and drizzled the atmosphere in sweet honey. A soft breeze floated through as Shouto sat anxiously waiting for you.

His outfit was bland, but it was expected of him. Just a pair of generic grey sweatpants paired with a white tee. As stated previously, his attire was very bland. But it was comfy, to say the least.

Just on time, you finally met him at your designated period. Your heart hammered out your chest, not only from the nervous itch that was being with your crush, but the possibility of this all being awkward. It felt like meeting a stranger, only with an odd sense of familiarity attached. Maybe then calling him a stranger would be a poor analogy. Perhaps it was more like being left alone with that person your friend was trying to introduce you to. Yeah, that's a better parallel for how this all felt right now. However, it all still felt rather exciting.

"Hi! Are you ready?" You giggled as you sunk into the couch, sitting beside him.

"Definitely. What's the movie called again, y/n?" The way your name so easily fell from his lips set off the butterflies in your stomach.

It sounded so pretty coming from him, way prettier than you could have prepared yourself for. Suddenly, you found yourself speechless, mind going blank as you fished for the name of the movie you knew.

"U-um, it seems my mind has gone blank. Give me a second."

Rubbing your arm in an attempt to calm yourself, you let out your signature laugh. The golden hue of the sun stirred the color of his heterochromatic eyes as you glanced back at them, still thinking of the name of the movie you knew just a second ago. Attentively, his eyes examed you, and you managed to catch sight of this glance.

"Don't worry, take your time." With that, his eyes shot back up meeting yours. "Do you happen to be cold? You're rubbing your arm."

That explained his gaze, but it didn't happen to settle the nerves inside you. And in your flustered state, you responded with the first thing that came to mind as you swatted your hand to your side.

"Ah, yeah! It's a bit chilly with the window open in here."

Right on cue, Shouto reached for the blanket on the sofa, wrapping it snuggly over your shoulders. The way his slender fingers brushed against your skin as he positioned the fabric on you made you freeze. You could barely hear yourself think as your heart ran wild, adrenaline surging your veins. His face was so close, so close you could see how his eyelashes softly brushed his cheeks with every blink. Fast, it all happened so fast, and yet the memory replayed in slow motion in your mind. The way he just swept in and then back out.

"There. If it gets too cold I'll close the blind." He smiled at you comfortingly before reaching for the remote.

You couldn't do anything but sit there wide-eyed, your nervousness being unbearable.

"The movie... I can't remember its name." Finally, you admitted defeat, done battling your mind that was clearly not regaining composure any time soon.

"That's fine. I guess we can just watch whatever piques our interest for now. There's always next time."

There's always next time. The implication of another hang-out was soothing. Knowing that this wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity managed to quiet you down slightly as you repositioned yourself to sit more comfortably on the sofa.

"Right!" You beamed in agreement, turning your attention to the tv.

The mindless scrolling through Netflix lasted a while as you made conversation with one another. Talk of how most movies were boring filled your discussions, exchanging laughter here and there too. It all felt so reassuring, and both of you were starting to feel more relaxed. Movie after movie, it felt like you were about to hit a dead end until you eventually landed on something intriguing.

"This one! This one looks good, right?" You explained, pointed to the digital screen that gently lit up your faces.

"Right, it doesn't sound bad."

Shouto was beginning to uncover you and your character a lot better now. Seeing as you got excited about the most random things, but also the way you were so easily caught off guard. It put a soft smile on his face as he just admired you silently.

The movie began to play, the two of you settling down as the noises from the tv exclaimed through the speakers. To say that Shouto was happy was an understatement. Looking back on the evening from just last night to now was a huge shift, and a huge shift in the direction he could have hoped for. It was the start of something he had been wishing for long while now.

Hearing you laugh at the actors on screen, turning to face him as you shared the humours moments with him had him feeling all gooey inside. Lightly, your leg would occasionally brush past his, making him more than eager to pull a move on you. Fuck it, right? Apparently, Shouto couldn’t just have his cake, he wanted to eat it too.

You were far too cute in this moment, nudging on him softly as your laugh radiated through the air. And so, in a moment when his adrenaline spiked and clouded his judgment, he snaked an arm over you shoulder, cradling you into his chest. You gave into his invitation, resting against him.

Not to say you were all calm about the exchange, you were in fact the complete opposite. It was really happening, you were laying in Shouto’s toned arms, his fingers gently gliding up and down your forearm as he sunk down onto the couch. Laying himself down and then you on top of him.

Was Shouto calm about this, then? Definitely not. His hearts rapid beating was audible as you rested your head on his chest. Smiling hazily as you realised he was just as nervous about all this as you.

As he lay under you, you soaked in his touch, the way his toned figure felt as your hands snaked around his waist. And the way his breathing gently cascaded a chilly breeze down your neck, shivers forming along your soft skin. Ever smooth shift and touch his body made against yours was thrilling.

At this point you weren’t even concentrated on the movie, and instead on the boy under you. The movie acting more as background noise to the thing you really wanted to watch. Glancing up at his soft features, the way his plump rosy lips were slightly parted as his eyes shifted across the screen. Oh how you wanted to kiss him in this moment. What was holding you back exactly?

You could lean any minute if you just so pleased.

“Shouto?” You finally spoke up, interrupting the tranquility between you two.

His response was a simple hum, eyes falling to meet yours. The way he held eye contact, smiling at you invitingly was enough to have anyone falling for him. You felt extremely lucky to be even given the chance to be in this position with him.

“Can I?” You started, lifting yourself up slightly.

“Can you?”

He quirked a brow at you as he sat up to meet your movement. Trapped under you as your two legs straddled his lap, you gave him a sheepish smile. A short moment passed without a response, and Shouto smiled at you suspiciously, leaning in to jokingly examine your face.

“What’s on your mind?”

At his unannounced actions you glanced away, but Shouto only pulled your chin to look back at him. A smirk growing on his face before his palm came to cup your cheek; his other hand resting nonchalantly on your thigh.

And like he knew exactly what you were thinking, with a light brush of his thump against you bottom lip, he dipped in for a kiss.

His plump lips meeting yours. Soft, they felt so soft as they moulded perfectly with yours, meting against the other. The tender way his lips hovered for a second as he pulled away, licking his lips and then coming back in. Glazing you in his touch, he began to move again, taking in one of your lips at a time, relishing in your sweet taste. The way his lips massaged yours with every move he made had you pressing yourself into him.

It felt relieving in a way, finally dining the dish you’ve been craving for so long. After all these months you two have lived together, finally you both were holding each other like you have been wanting. Arms wrapped around his neck, fingers weaving throw his hair as you yearned for more.

Your plush tongue came to meet his, intertwining with the other. Happily, he ventured your mouth, taking in every inch of you. Smoothly dragging his tongue to the root of your mouth then pulling himself out, until he came back in once more to suck you back in.

The only think separating you two being the string of spit that drizzled off each other’s tongues as you caught your own breaths between each embrace. Your merciful moans he swallowed, his delicate hands travelling up your spin. They left a cold trail, fireworks erupting your stomach as the adrenaline of this all began seeping in.

You two were getting too carried away, but it just goes to show how bad you wanted one another. Shouto, however, wanted to clear things up before you continued any further.

He pulled away breathily, blinking at you with delight in his eyes.

“Y/n, I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a while now, and i’m sorry if this is sudden. But, I like you.”

That sentence alone had you more flustered than your previous touches and you smiled like a kid with candy.

Was this a dream come true? Maybe it was, which in that case, you definitely didn’t want to wake up. But, lucky for you, this was in fact reality.

“I like you too, silly” You giggled only inches away from his face, and the instant grin that sprawled across his lips was the only confirmation you needed.

Instantly, he engulfed you in a tight hug, his head cradling itself into the crook of you neck.

“Then how about we finish this off in my bedroom now that you’re all mine.” Was the last thing he said, his lips resuming their bidding on the soft skin in your neck.

[mrsgiovanna]

Evanesce (Giorno Giovanna x Ghost!Fem! Reader)

This was quite a specific request from a nonnie mouse🥺 . This is a bit angsty, I hope I was able to do your request justice my sweet, 💖💕❤️🐞

TW: mentions of death, part 5 spoilers

Word count: 2.1k

The gentle, crisp spring breeze softly rustled the leaves of the tree overhead, dislodging a few, which fell about the handsome young man occupying the bench you had sat on daily for the past 6 months. You weren’t upset or anything like that, you were just a creature of habit and that spot provided the best vantage point of your surroundings.

“Excuse me, are you saving this seat for anyone?” The blonde boy briefly looked up at you, shook his head sharply and returned to what he was reading as you took a seat on the other side of the bench, leaving a respectable distance between the two of you. He furrowed his well-defined brows at the page he was currently perusing and finally resigned, snapping his book shut in one swift motion.

“What are you reading? Well were reading…” he scanned your face pensively before answering.

“Catch 22…”

“Ah, Joseph Heller, I’m familiar,”

“Have you read it?

“No… I haven’t got around to it,” you admit shyly.

“you should, it’s quite brilliant actually,”

“Hmm, damned if you do, damned if you don’t… it’s a metaphor for life really, if you think about it,” you knew that feeling all too well, but that was a story for another day. In the time you had spent there you had learned the young man’s name was Giorno Giovanna, and he when he wasn’t a “freelance cab driver” he went to school a few streets away. You both chatted for what felt like a few moments, but in actuality, was the rest of the afternoon. Alerted by the changing colors of the sky as the day had started turning to dusk he had excused himself to make it back to his dorm before dinner. Watching him walk away, you sat there and wondered how different things might have been had you met him earlier.

Giorno was preoccupied with his thoughts too, wondering where you had come from and why he hadn’t seen you before… he had been to that park enough times, and if you frequented it as much as you claimed to have done so, surely he would have come across you before…

“Giorno, a few of us are going to work on the science project in the rec area after dinner, do you want to join?”

“Oh, Lorenzo, thanks for the offer, but I really need to finish this report tonight, sorry,”

“No sweat, catchya later,” the sprightly boy left Giorno to his own devices pondering silently over the events of the day.

Over the next few weeks, Giorno regularly visited the spot in the hopes of running into you, which he did, and slowly you both had learned so much about each other. Favorite foods, music, books, shows… hopes and aspirations… there was never a dull moment when you were around each other, and he had somehow enabled you to find your smile again, while you were certain you had done the same for him. He grew closer to you, connecting on a different level almost… he found himself wanting to spend more time with you than he could afford to, but your company was just too intoxicating. Savoring each smile, laugh and shy sideward glance, you were altogether too lovely, and too unaware of the effect you had on him. As much as you were unaware of his growing affections, so too was he unaware of yours. Falling in love with his wry smile when he teased you over the silly anecdotes you thought up, and the way in which the wind made his lovely, golden hair dance about in the sunshine, your heart both leapt and stung, lamenting the inopportune timing at which you had encountered your possible savior, but still being thankful that you could experience something as pure as this, nonetheless.

As much as you were happy, you remained unfulfilled, having such a specific set of circumstances during which you could interact with Giorno. In the beginning it was much easier, catching him in his quieter moments, but now, those moments barely ever occurred, each time you made a move to get closer to him, your plans were thwarted by his new groups of friends… allies? Watching him rapidly traversing Italy, cheating death at every turn, despite your yearning, you hoped with everything you had that you would not encounter him in your space between the two realms. You weren’t sure what kind of force kept you bound to earth but you knew the reason was because you had yet to truly experience love before your untimely passing. You found it altogether ridiculous and unfair, so many others with regrets much more intense than your own had encountered and passed you as they were finally able to cross over, so why were you still here?

You had wanted to tell him the truth of your semi-existence on so many occasions, but his sweet smile had forced you keep up the pretense, enjoying for once, the feeling of being a teenager with a crush, whether it was something more than that, you were unable to tell. When you hadn’t seen him for a few afternoons, you decided you needed to look for him, remembering where he had gone to school, you saw him in what looked like the throes of a fight near a white haired man, and something that looked nothing like anything you’ve seen before… was it a wraith? A monster? It seemed like the two men also commanded such apparitions, appearing and disappearing, it seemed, according to their will. Suddenly, you felt like the normal one in this scenario, which was rare for you. You knew that what he was going through was bigger than the both of you, and thus began your journey with them, keeping your distance and trying to provide support from your position in the shadows. One by one, you saw his comrades fall, each time grieving with him. When everything was finally over, you resolved to approach him directly, waiting for an opportune moment in between his duties. For now, though, you frequently visited the spot that held so many happy memories for you, knowing what you needed to do.

During his eight-day mission, in his quieter moments, Giorno had found his thoughts drifting back to you. He knew that you probably were there, at the usual spot, looking for him. he wished he could tell you about what he was doing, but the stakes were too high, there was too much to lose and not enough time to work with, so he made up his mind to find you once everything was over, but for now, he was on a mission that he could not back down from. There were moments during which he could have sworn he saw your silhouette from the corner of eye, smelled the pleasant scent he had come to associate you with, but those moments could not be dwelled on with how much was left to do and the unyielding assault from Passione’s elite.

With the battle being won, and his precious allies laid to rest in the manner they deserved, Giorno’s thoughts returned to you once more. Deciding he had avoided the place enough, he went the rendezvous spot, without any of his guards. He was confident in the ability of his stand to protect him from danger, the requiem arrow safely ensconced in his breast pocket if the need arises for him to use it. Seeing you perched under the tree, you cut a forlorn figure.

“(y/n) …”

“Giorno… oh gosh! I didn’t expect to see you here today…” you were taken aback by the sight of him, looking completely different in his black suit, embodying an entirely unapproachable, otherworldly beauty, but somehow the energy he radiated still felt warm and familiar.

“You’re probably wondering where I’ve been all this time… I’ll explain everything,” he intended to take your hand in his, but you flinched, deepening the grimace on his face.

“Cara, I’m sorry, I know you must be upset with me, as you should be, but if you allow me a chance to explain, you would understand, please…”

“It’s okay Gio… I know everything… please, sit down, there’s something I have to tell you,” with confusion replacing his pained grimace, Giorno sat down and looked at you expectantly.

“I know about everything that happened to you Gio, I was right there. The reason I recoiled from your touch, or never took you up on a coffee date is because I no longer exist in this world… my physical body has already perished Giorno,”

“April fools has already passed (y/n) and Halloween is only in October… either way, it’s still a terrible joke, not funny at all,” Giorno tried in vain to conceal his irritation.

“It’s not a joke Giorno, have you ever wondered why the area becomes deserted when we’re interacting? How I can disappear and reappear in the blink of an eye? I’m already dead… I’ll prove it to you,” in an instant, you had disappeared and the people had magically appeared in the distance. With his eyes locked on those, he suddenly saw them vanish again as you appeared.

“I don’t understand… where are we then?”

“This is the dimension I exist in, half way between the two realms. My soul refuses to pass over, being bound by a regret,”

“What regret? If you’ve been with me this entire time, surely you know my ability, and of the other ghost that inhabits the turtle… there must be something we can do,”

The desperation in his voice hurt you, you knew that he meant well, but you couldn’t allow him to live like this, being bound to someone who didn’t really exist. In the time you had observed him fighting for his life and for those around him you realized that regardless of how much you both would try, nothing would materialize from these interactions, so you made the painful decision to not pursue this any further, regardless of how much it may hurt you both.

“Face it Gio, there’s no way that anything can happen here, and hanging on to this is just going to hurt the both of us…”

“Don’t say it…”

“Giorno, this is going to be the last…”

“Please, (y/n), don’t say it. I already know… it’s just like me though… the first girl I fall in love with turns out to be a ghost… yet another one of my bizarre escapades… (y/n) … you’re glowing,”

You looked down at your hands and body, seeing a warm cerise glow taking over your body, you felt odd, -weightless- as if you would float away… and then you realized what Giorno had said to you. He loved you, actually loved you, and this was your moment of ascension. After all these months, finally, you would get your repose.

“I think it’s time, you’ve given me something precious, something I can’t even begin to return. I’m finally able to rest because of you…”

“Falling in love hey? Usually a declaration like this is supposed to awaken the princess, not send her away…” he said dejectedly, knowing well enough from recent events, that a spirit cannot remain longer than intended regardless of how much you willed it to.

Reaching up to try and cup his cheek as your image grew ever fainter, “Giorno, these past few weeks have allowed me to feel things in death that I couldn’t have even imagined when I was alive. You’re the reason I can finally rest, and I’ll always be thankful to you, I know you’ll be happy and will love again, all your dreams will be realized, I love you Gio,”

With a sorrowful smile, he watched you fading away from his sight, a warm gentle breeze swirling the loosened leaves around him, and just like that you were gone. Being unable to speak after what happened, he just sat for a while to gather his thoughts before returning to his life as the don of Passione.

It has been a few years since your final encounter with Giorno just before your ascension. Over the years you still watched him, this time from your vantage point above him as opposed to lurking beside him. Your spirit was at ease as he grew from strength to strength, realizing his dream, with a resolve that only he possessed. You watched as he matured, confidence growing in leaps and bounds… as he fell in love- again- just like you promised he would. She was perfect for him, the ray of sunshine he needed to compliment his golden soul. You smiled knowingly, the young man whose pure feelings granted respite to your soul, would be just fine, and even though it may have felt as if you had faded away on that fateful day, the memories of you will always live on through him, adding gravity to your existence- ironically, his memories of the beautiful ghost who had captivated him, would serve as evidence that you had lived…

[divineinterventiongame]

can you say anything about the types of romance each route will have? excited to see!

-I don’t want to reveal too much, but I can definitely give some hints! (putting under a read more so anyone who wants to go in blind can do so)

Thanks for the fun ask, I had a good time with this one!!

Anubis and Bastet’s routes are probably the closest to slowburn, really built on a foundation of mutual respect. They are both the least “human” of the gods, in that they have the most severe air of gravitas, but behind that stoicism is a charm and charisma that has been developed over thousands of years, so they’re definitely both able to sweet the MC off their feet, should the opportunity arise.

Apollo and Hebe’s routes are lighthearted and fun, as serious or casual as the MC wants. They both wear their hearts on their sleeves, and are free with their affections and emotions. This romance won’t be tumultuous or all-consuming, but is the sort of romance that builds off of mutual synchronicity and beings simply enjoying each other’s company more than anyone else’s. Kind of what I imagine when people talk about spouses or long-term partners being their best friends.

Shamash and Sherida are a bit harder for me to put in a box. I don’t want to say “soul mates” because that’s not really a trope I like (and it’s not applicable here anyway), but I want to portray a vibe of immediate familiarity. A sort of “Ah. There you are; you’re the one I’ve been looking for.” It’s a type of love that, for any ups and downs it might have, regardless of whether it ends or lasts forever, you’d cherish every memory you have. The love to end all loves, if that’s a thing.

Amaterasu and Susano’o are both going to be the ‘immediate attraction as a result of tension.’ Do they like each other because of their differences? In spite of them? It doesn’t matter, all that matters is an undeniable magnetism between the two. It’s going to be passionate, and combative, and maybe a little bit on-again-off-again, but ultimately I like happy endings, so as long as MC sticks with it, there’s going to be an eventual reconciliation of differences and friendship. The hot, passionate, makes-other-people-turn-and-wonder-do-they-even-like-each-other kind of love <3 

Lastly, Baldur and Hel actually have different romances entirely, just because their personalities are so different. Baldur’s route is kind of parallel to a Prince Charming route: kind, chivalrous, considerate, and full of romantic gestures that would absolutely be corny coming from anyone else, but somehow he makes them work. Hel’s will be much more MC-driven, as Hel lacks most of Baldur’s more sociable qualities. She’s standoffish, and quiet, and a touch awkward, but she’s also incredibly generous and kind, and very genuine, so if MC can get her to open up, she’ll make them very happy indeed.

[kazeofthemagun]

What does Kaze's diet actually consist of? Curious minds want to know (and want him to eat better).

Miscellaneous asks

[Hi! I'll answer this and also clarify some additional things since this is a good opportunity to do so. In short, it depends entirely on the period of his life. Most of his early childhood was spent on the streets so he'd steal and eat miscellaneous things, and eat fast. The easiest food to acquire would be common seasonal fruit (with hard shells tiresome to peel by hand, but an orphan needs to do what they can to survive) and bread. Trying to nab mpre expensive things would result in a much higher punishment if caught, which does not mean he did not try, and thankfully he avoided having his fingers removed. All in all, he had to be opportunistic and clever as a thief. That's how he developed survivalist feeding habits like eating anything edible and doing so quickly. During his life with the Wind Warriors he could get food more reliably and eat what he should be eating as a Windarian. Windarian biology is similar to human (duh haha! Ah, Final Fantasy alien races.) but leaning more carnivorous. Kaze finally got to eat meat more consistently, mostly what he and his warbandmates hunted themselves. Also various desert fruit, and Windarian flora contained very high amounts of capsaicin which also means he's impervious to spiciness. Fish was scarce in his diet because Windaria was mostly desert, seafood was extremely expensive. Obviously, he learned how to cook as part of survival training, but he never bothered with seasoning so his cooking is quite bland.]

[After Windaria's fall, during the events of the anime, he ate next to nothing as a result of mental health collapse, and the Magun kept him alive. He was immortal so even if he happened to starve to death he'd be right back up, sometimes running purely on processed Soil energy. During After, when he regained most of his memories, his Spiral magic, and was more or less on the road to recovery, he would mostly eat stuff from the Comodeen's supplies with the rest of the Comodeen crew, and so would Kumo. Not that he ate consistently, though, he still doesn't. Has a habit of running off to do things behind the scenes and all that.]

[In the current post-show verse, he spends most of his time in Wonderland which operates on a singular currency, gil (as well as singular language) which helps greatly with buying supplies. He typically stocks up on dried meat for travels and hunts when he needs to acquire more food. Being immortal and resistant to most poisons helps with consuming random things such as a sector's local edible plantlife. What's edible to the local inhabitants may not be edible to other races, after all.]

[Now some issues arise in the interactions that he ends up going to Outside Worlds (non-Wonderland worlds) which: a) do not have the same currency and b) whose people do not speak the same language so acquiring food becomes a problem. The language barrier is something I shoo away with the explanation that some form of "Common" is widely used, while local currency still needs to be obtained in some way. He and Kumo mostly travel together and me and @shiroi---kumo are in the process of coming up with some logistical headcanons still. What do they eat? How do they get food? They probably get their money + food in exchange for doing monster hunting jobs, but if that's impossible, and nobody has any small work fit for two random dimensional travelers with VERY suspicious weapons, I can also see a particularly desperate Kaze robbing someone of some of their cash simply because he'd rather steal than beg. Cue Kumo's extreme butthurt. Sorry Cloudy, Windy would rather not steal due to a gunmage's pride but if ya gotta revert to old habits, ya gotta. Even immortals cannot go too long without food or their efficiency is going to dwindle due to tiredness, fainting, pain, regen factor slowing down, etc etc.]

[Thanks for the ask! I turned it into a long one huh ^^, don't worry, Aura taught Kumo how to cook good food, and he's gonna make sure Kaze eats better. So will Cid, who took up the role of the Unlimited's doctor. Black Wind, you may be part machine but you're not ENTIRELY one.]

[imaginedhaven]

Rules of Engagement: Chapter Eleven

Link to Masterpost

Holy crap, we’ve cleared 50,000 words of this. Things are really starting to pick up now, so if I had to guess this will probably wind up being... maybe around 75k-80k in total? It still has to be WRITTEN, though, so... lol.

Also, we’re going to start earning that warning in the masterpost for canon-typical violence from here on out. Just so you’re aware.

Enjoy!

~*~*~

“So, let me make certain I have this absolutely clear,” Aedion drawled in a way that immediately set Rowan on edge.

Rather than reply and risk growling rather than speaking, he nodded, the movement tighter and less smooth than he would’ve liked.

“Aelin came here to Rifthold fully intending not only to continue her relationship with the prince, but to apprehend a criminal—not just any criminal, but an assassin—who was originally from Terrasen and moved to Rifthold.”

Rowan gritted his teeth and gave another silent nod.

“She elected to do this for reasons you are aware of, but that she has not told me and that you refuse to tell me.”

Another nod and another clenching of his jaw.

“And so the two of you have been sneaking out at night, which Captain Westfall”—the name came from Aedion’s lips as though it were a curse in and of itself—“condoned, if not outright allowed.”

The captain spoke up then. “Given the information presented to me, I had little other choice.”

“I’m not finished,” Aedion snarled, and the captain fell silent. “While you were sneaking around the slums of Rifthold, you got into more than one brawl, and you destroyed at least one business, which as of now still has yet to recover, if it ever will.”

This time it was harder to stifle the growl, but as Aedion’s expression didn’t change he must have managed it with at least some success.

“And then last night, it all finally comes to a head when Aelin allows herself to be abducted by said assassin. And you allowed all of this to happen.”

Rowan’s grip on his temper, already tenuous due to the nature of the situation, finally slipped enough for him to snarl at the other warrior. “Do not presume to think I made my decisions lightly,” he growled, “or that I have not spent a single moment wishing it could have been myself in her place.”

The shifter—Lysandra—delicately cleared her throat, and Aedion immediately turned his attention toward her. “If we’re done yelling at each other about whose fault it is,” she said pointedly, “then perhaps we can come up with a plan for how to handle the fact that our princess is missing?”

Rowan nodded shortly, and unfurled a roughly-sketched map of the city over his desk. He watched as the captain’s brow furrowed, likely at the idea that a foreign soldier had been able to acquire this much information about his city, but Rowan chose instead to focus on the plan he had been given. “Aelin’s request was that she be given twenty-four hours as a head start,” he began, “and I see the merit in that. If she’s not able to get the information she requires now, this assassin will go to ground and it could be years before we hear of him again.”

“It likely won’t be years,” the captain interrupted, ignoring Rowan’s scowl. “I did some research on my own into the man she’s hunting. He’s too proud to go completely unnoticed for that long.”

“Be that as it may, this is our best opportunity.” Rowan tapped on a building on his map. “She was taken here. Her captors didn’t notice me following them. It appears to be a stronghold of some sort, almost a guild hall for cutthroats and killers. I think it’s unlikely that they would move her from this place.”

“Unlikely but not impossible,” Aedion retorted. “We should keep an eye on the place.”

“Once you’re satisfied with my explanations, I intend to go there myself. If you can promise to adhere to the plan, you may join me.” He had long since given up on keeping the frosty bite from his tone, but he fisted his hand at his side to keep it away from his blades.

“And how can I trust that this is actually her plan?”

It was the mark of a good soldier and guard, to be skeptical of his statements. If this were any other situation, Rowan would even be grateful that Aelin had someone such as this as family and protector. But this was not any other situation, and Rowan carefully called up a hint of the ice that swirled within him in the hope that it would cool his temper before he killed Aedion. “Whatever Aelin did or did not tell you is between you and her, and I refuse to be pulled into that fight. The only thing that matters right now is making certain that she exits that building safely. Are you going to help with that or not?”

Aedion growled, eyes glinting in a way that strongly reminded him that this male was indeed related to Aelin of the Wildfire, but nodded. “When do we leave?”

“As soon as we’re finished here. Captain? Lysandra? Anything to add?”

Captain Westfall cleared his throat. “If I may, I can’t keep Dorian from noticing she’s missing all day long. Do we have a plan for that?”

Rowan frowned thoughtfully, and Aedion and Lysandra glanced at each other. “That’s a terrible idea,” the shifter said as if in response to some unspoken question.

“It’s the best one we have,” Aedion replied. “This entire plan, such as it is, hinges on secrecy. And you had best believe I’ll be having words with Aelin about coming up with better plans later, but right now we’re stuck with the mess she left us in.”

“Have we considered just telling Dorian?”

“No, he’s right,” the captain interjected. “The less Dorian knows about this for now, the better. He’s terrible at keeping secrets like that from his expression; if we tell him everyone will suspect something is amiss.”

Rowan quickly turned his attention to the guardsman, frown deepening. He very much suspected that this was not actually true, and that the prince was far better at keeping secrets than he wanted anyone else to believe. Perhaps the raw magic that lived in his core was less well-controlled than he had believed?

Ah, of course. The magic. It wasn’t public knowledge that the crown prince of Adarlan was burdened with such a strong gift of magic. It was likely the captain was aware of the secret, and didn’t want any upset to risk a flare-up of the young man’s power at an inconvenient time.

Rowan carefully set aside the thought that Aelin’s disappearance would possibly cause an emotional disturbance in the young prince that was severe enough to unleash his magic. Better to think his control was simply a work in progress like Aelin’s rather than wonder how close they could’ve possibly gotten in a few short weeks.

Lysandra sighed, interrupting his thoughts, and when he looked up at her he froze for a moment as Aelin’s face looked back at him.

It wasn’t truly Aelin’s face, though. Lysandra was trying to adopt her usual confident smirk, but the gesture looked stiff and unpracticed. If he looked more closely the color of her eyes was ever so slightly darker as well, and the scattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose was in the wrong pattern. It was deeply unsettling to be looking at this face that both was and was not his carranam, and Rowan quickly looked away. “It should be close enough to fool the prince, for a short time,” he managed.

“So we’re decided, then,” Aedion declared.

“I still hate this plan,” the shifter cautioned.

Captain Westfall scowled as he stood. “It’s the only plan we have. I’ll do what I can to limit your interaction with the prince. I’m assuming you don’t want a guard sent to the building?”

Rowan nodded. “Best not to call attention to our movements. But be ready, in the event that we do not return.” He suspected all would be well, but it never hurt to have a backup plan.

The captain nodded, the motion tight and precise as he would expect from a soldier of the man’s status, and quickly left. “You can get there on your own?” Rowan asked Aedion.

The younger male stared at the map carefully, then nodded. “I can get there.”

“Good,” Rowan said. And then he flew from the room in a flurry of wings and frosty air.

~*~*~

“You take me to such nice places,” Aelin purred as Arobynn led her into another chamber, slightly larger than the previous one. Her arms and legs remained chained, but with slightly more freedom of movement she could carefully roll her shoulders and her ankles in preparation for moving quickly should an opportunity arise.

“Such a valuable player in the game should be treated with exactly the respect she commands,” Arobynn replied smoothly, though Aelin carefully suppressed a shudder at the bite beneath his words. She needed him to keep talking, to give her time to find the truth beneath the layer of lies she knew he would present.

“Well, I do believe the next move is yours. I await it eagerly,” she smirked.

She glanced at his face, focusing on the way his eyes didn’t move at all when he smiled. “I have a proposition for you, my dear.”

Oh, how she wished she could free a single arm. It was all she would need to make him regret the way he was speaking to her, as well as the bargain she believed he was about to suggest. Instead, though, she relaxed into one of the chairs as he sat in the other. “I’m listening.”

“See, we each have something the other wants,” he continued. “I have information I know you seek, and I would very much like you to stop being a pain in my ass.” Again, that undercurrent of rage slipped through his ironclad control, and Aelin hid another smirk. Riling people who claimed to have excellent self-control was a talent she had developed from the moment Aedion had come to their home from across the sea. It seemed this man was no exception.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean,” she replied.

“Ah, so you weren’t aware when you and your… companion… trashed the Vaults that I had a significant investment in the business?”

“One of your hulking brutes didn’t like that I beat him fair and square. I could hardly control what happened next.”

“And the safe being cracked open before you left?”

“Complete coincidence, I assure you.” She was well aware that he would have no proof it had been her who had broken open the safe, and she knew that refusing to admit to what he suspected would only make him more angry. That was good. She needed him angry enough to let information slip.

“I see. Then I presume you don’t want to know how your parents died?” Another biting remark overlaid with false sincerity, velvety smoothness underlaid with sharp fangs and claws.

Aelin went cold, sensation fading from her limbs as she stared at him. “I was there. My parents died of an illness.”

“Ah, yes,” he drawled, kicking his legs up and over the arm of his chair. “An illness no healer could cure, or so I heard. I had left Terrasen by then, of course, but word spreads quickly when rulers fall.”

Aelin bit her tongue to hold in a sharp reply before glancing back over at him, expression carefully uninterested. “And assuming I can believe you’re telling the truth,” she said, “what would you ask in exchange for this information?”

“Why, what could any man want from a lovely princess such as yourself?” he asked, and Aelin once more carefully mastered her own expression to hide any disgust. “You have power, and yet you cannot access it without aid. I have that information and more, and yet I lack the power that would ensure my own safety. I’m certain we can come to some kind of… arrangement.”

“That’s a high price you ask,” she replied. “And you haven’t done nearly enough to prove you’re worth such an arrangement. After all, it is I who would need to convince the lords of Terrasen to accept you. If you can’t convince me…” Aelin deliberately yawned, and cheered internally as Arobynn gritted his teeth, silver eyes alight with anger.

“If knowledge regarding your own parents isn’t enough to convince you,” he snapped, “then what about information regarding your former lover?”

“It’s quite bold of you to assume I did no investigating when I discovered his body,” she retorted.

“Ah, but I would wager you have yet to learn who bid me send him to Orynth in the first place, and who gave the command to cut his life so tragically short.”

The callous admission that he had passed that command along lit a fire in her veins, and she reached for it before recalling that she was bound in iron. The wildfire fizzled, mere sparks that slipped from her fingers. “And what assurance could you give me, that you would tell me and that you have proof?”

Arobynn stood, and Aelin did finally cringe as he slid two fingers under her jaw to tilt her head up. “My dear, do I look like a man who leaves anything to chance? You’ll have your proof once I have our agreement.”

Aelin jerked her head back, freeing herself from his grip. “That’s a shame, for there will be no agreement until you’ve presented your proof.”

Almost immediately, Arobynn’s casual expression melted into steely anger. “What a shame indeed,” he murmured. “Perhaps you would care to enjoy some more of my… hospitality… first.”

As the man stepped away and opened the door, someone else entered the room. Aelin carefully stood as well, but even with a single glance she knew this wasn’t a fight she would win. Not with her limbs and power both bound by the iron chains clamped around her ankles and wrists.

At Arobynn’s nod, the newest arrival to the room gave her a predatory grin and dragged her toward the wall. Her face made contact with the wall as he shoved her against it with a hand between her shoulders, and while she was stunned by the impact he attached her chains to hooks affixed to the wall. “Do let me know if you decide to change your mind,” Arobynn called, and then the door closed behind him as he left.

Aelin heard the sound of a whip cracking, and as if from a distance she heard herself screaming as fire spread along her back.

~*~*~

Lysandra finally relaxed into her role as she sat beside the prince for the evening meal. True to his word, the captain of the guard had kept him busy for most of the day, giving her time to overcome her nerves at having to pretend to be someone like Aelin. Oh, she had acted before. She had played roles for clients and courtiers alike, and she had certainly changed her face many times.

None of them had felt nearly as important as this. Everything was on the line, completely dependent on Dorian believing her performance as his potential future wife.

It’s only for one day, she reminded herself as her fingers twisted around each other. She had complete faith in Aelin’s ability to execute a plan, as well as Aedion and Rowan’s ability to keep her safe. It was up to her, now, to give them the time they needed.

Dorian’s parents seemed to be completely unaware of the swap, and Lysandra had spent enough time listening to Aelin’s tutors to be able to follow the light political conversation that was taking place. Even Dorian was engaging with her just as he would with Aelin, and when he grinned at an offhand remark she awarded herself another point for her acting.

As the meal came to an end, Dorian looked over at her again. “So tell me, did you want me to do something terribly predictable and show you the gardens? Or can we skip that part?”

Lysandra laughed in reply as Dorian grinned. “Perhaps another time. I still have to read several of the books you’ve loaned to me, if I hope to finish them during this visit.”

Dorian stood, then, and turned to face her with an ostentatious bow. “Then I hope you will grant me the honor of allowing me to escort you back to your rooms, Your Highness.”

Lysandra chuckled and shook her head in what she hoped came across as a fond gesture. “You’re impossible,” she accused.

The prince laughed in reply. “I assure you that I am not,” he said. “I am here, after all. Unless you’d care to discuss the philosophy of such a statement, of course.”

“I rather suspect we would be here all night,” Lysandra grinned back as she stood, allowing him to take her arm and lead her away.

It was easy enough to allow Dorian to escort her back to Aelin’s room after the evening meal, though she couldn’t help a moment of surprise when he followed her into the main seating area. He glanced at the book Aelin had left open on her desk, humming thoughtfully as he read a few sentences. “Ah. I thought so,” he muttered.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, mimicking Aelin’s easy grin as she relaxed into a chair halfway across the room.

He turned to her then, and a chill in the air matched the frost in his eyes. “If I invited you to share my bed tonight, shifter, would you demur like the princess you claim to be? Or would you say yes, believing she’s already given into my charms?”

~*~*~

In another situation, or if he were simply an observer and not a participant in this conversation, Dorian might have been amused at the nearly-comical widening of not-Aelin’s eyes. Instead, though, he only felt a cold rage at the deception.

To the shifter’s credit, she immediately dropped the guise of Aelin and returned to her usual appearance. “I told them this was a terrible idea and we should just tell you,” she grumbled. “What tipped you off?”

“A few things,” he replied, “though the most suspicious to me was that this book is open to where Aelin left off last night when I left. She hasn’t read it today.”

The shifter—Lysandra, if he was remembering correctly—nodded. “I didn’t think you would come back here,” she confessed.

Dorian sighed. “Why don’t you start by telling me exactly what it is you’ve all been keeping from me today, and why the captain of my guard appears to be working with you.”

That was the part that was the most shocking to him, if he were being truly honest with himself. He had never once had cause to question Chaol’s loyalty, and he didn’t want to begin now. He only hoped there was a reasonable explanation for why he had been so eager to ensure he spent as much time as possible embroiled in his training and studies.

As he thought about the possibility that his captain and friend was conspiring with these people, as good as he believed Aelin’s intentions to be, he had to take several deep breaths to stop a layer of frost from forming on his hands. His control over his magic was much better than it had been when it had first manifested, but strong emotional responses still riled the power that slept within him. Unless he wanted to entrust his deepest secret to agents of Terrasen, he needed to keep his feelings in check.

The frost finally ebbed, and the shifter began to speak. “Your captain is only involved insofar as to keep you removed from all of this,” she said quietly. “We provided him with enough information to ensure your safety, nothing more.”

“That still leaves a foreign princess, her most loyal soldier, and a blood-sworn of Doranelle in my capital city, with a purpose of which I am not aware, causing an unknown amount of chaos.” Dorian fought back a sigh at the thought of the headache this would no doubt cause for him, and that was if he was fortunate enough to avoid worse fates.

“They’re… dealing with a threat that could bode ill for you and Aelin both.” The woman was clearly trying to decide how much to reveal and how much to hide, and if he wasn’t the person she was trying to deceive in this manner he would have respected it far more.

“What is the nature of the threat?” he asked.

She sighed. “A former crime lord of Terrasen, who left a few short years before her parents died. He’s created a new home for himself in Rifthold, styling himself the King of the Assassins. She’s been attempting to find him for years, to bring an end to a career that’s gone on for far too long already.”

Dorian sighed. “And I presume if I ask you’ll have absolutely no idea why a crown princess of Terrasen is involved in hunting an assassin, and didn’t simply leave it to her warrior cousin.”

“It isn’t my story to tell,” she replied, looking away.

“Of course it’s not,” he grumbled. “Apologies. I believe you when you imply that this wasn’t your idea and that you’re only involved out of necessity. But this puts me in a… delicate situation.” That was an understatement; if word of Aelin’s actions got out it could be disastrous.

“I understand,” she sighed. “Which is why I wanted to tell you what I could.”

Finally, he nodded. “And when do we expect her to return?”

“By morning,” she answered.

“Very well. I will do what I can to keep this quiet and out of the public eye. But I will be asking Aelin about this later.” It was the best he could offer, and by the look on her face she understood completely.

Without another word, Dorian turned on his heel and returned to his office, asking a guard on the way to send Chaol to him. It appeared they had much to discuss.

~*~*~

“I detest this plan,” Aedion hissed in the direction of the hawk on the nearby roof as the sun began to set. “We should be going after her.”

The hawk took flight, circling the square before landing behind a box and turning into Whitethorn in a soft flash of concealed light. “We have to trust that Aelin can get herself free,” the warrior said. “We’re foreign actors in Adarlan’s capital city. If we break into that building without cause, it puts Aelin and her prince both in a difficult situation.”

It was interesting, how a subtle difference in Whitethorn’s tone was able to so clearly indicate that he wouldn’t mind causing a little trouble for the Adarlanian prince. “You don’t like Dorian,” he realized.

The statement earned him a scowl from his Fae companion. “I have no feelings one way or the other about the prince.”

“You realize my senses are better than a human’s, right? I could hear that you don’t like him.”

Whitethorn’s response was the carefully crafted words of someone used to diplomacy. “I have no reason to dislike him. And we’re not talking about this. It’s almost time.”

Finally. He’d hated sitting in this alley waiting for something to happen. “Time for what?”

“If Aelin is going to keep to her schedule, she’s about to make her next move.”

“You think she can get out of there without us?” It wasn’t that Aedion didn’t trust his cousin’s abilities. No, he knew she was a capable fighter and a powerful magic user. But he knew that she would be unlikely to use her magic unless absolutely needed, given the possibility of a tense political situation if she were recognized.

When he turned to face Whitethorn, the other male wore a small but ferocious grin, eyes positively glowing. “It’s not her I’m worried about,” he responded. “Anyone who crosses her on her way out will deserve exactly what she gives them.” And judging from the look on his face, Whitethorn would revel in their suffering.

The house they watched over was quiet, its occupants likely asleep given that their profession meant being out at all hours of the night. Aedion sighed. “I still don’t like this,” he admitted several minutes later.

“Given that I don’t like it either, I could hardly expect you to.” For all his posturing, and for all the strange glee that had come over him when he had spoke of what Aelin would do to those who crossed her, now the warrior was tense, eyes dark with what Aedion suspected was worry.

Even though the Fae beside him was sworn to a queen that was not his own, Aedion realized he wouldn’t rather have anyone else at his side for this particular mission. He had watched Whitethorn and Aelin grow close over the previous weeks, closer than anyone would’ve suspected. He didn’t know much about magic, but he suspected that sharing it as they could was a rare gift. If he could trust anyone to feel the same urgency he did to ensure she got out of this alive and as unharmed as possible, it would be this warrior.

Suddenly Whitethorn’s head tilted and his eyes narrowed, much like Aedion would have expected in the male’s other form. “What is it?” Aedion asked, only for the other male to gesture for his silence.

Soon enough, Aedion could hear it as well. There was shouting coming from inside the house, at least two masculine voices. He couldn’t make out the words, and based on Whitethorn’s expression he couldn’t either, but something had changed. As he watched, the warrior pulled two knives from his boots and twirled them gracefully around his fingers. It was a good choice, and Aedion went for his own knife as well, knowing his sword would be nearly useless in these cramped alleys. “We stay here,” Whitethorn was saying. “Those are male voices. I haven’t heard Aelin yet, which means they haven’t discovered her. We only go in if it’s absolutely necessary. When she leaves, she’ll come this way. If anyone else makes it this far…” The grim smile on his face indicated their fate clearly enough.

Three men burst through the door of the building, exchanging panicked instructions before departing in different directions, and Aedion and Whitethorn crouched behind a cart to conceal their presence. One man ran for the alley they had chosen for their hiding place, and before Aedion could do anything the Fae warrior was already in motion, clutching the man to him in a twisted parody of a lover’s embrace before drawing a blade across his throat. “They’ll notice when this one doesn’t come back,” he whispered as he dragged the man behind their cart. “We don’t have much longer.”

A slim figure stumbled out of the door next, and Aedion grinned. “We don’t need much longer. That’s Aelin.”

She was almost unrecognizable, golden hair turned red with blood and darkened with ash, but there was no mistaking the eyes that met his, pained but determined. Then those eyes shifted away and he knew she had seen Whitethorn standing beside him. From the sharp intake of breath at his left he knew the warrior had seen her as well, and soon he had abandoned all talk of secrecy to cross the small crossing in several quick strides.

Aelin moved, trying to meet him halfway, but her motions were fumbling and clumsy. She said something to the warrior that Aedion couldn’t quite hear, smiling up at him…

And then as he watched, she collapsed into the male’s arms.

Whitethorn quickly lifted her, carrying her into the alley and out of sight. By the time they reached Aedion she was already unconscious, either from pain or from exhaustion. Judging by her face, Aedion suspected it was a combination of both. “Get her out of here and back to the palace,” he said quietly, adjusting his grip on his knife. “I’ll stay here and make sure you’re not followed.”

Green eyes met his, clearly searching for something. Aedion didn’t know what the warrior was looking for, but finally he nodded and adjusted his grip on Aelin.

Before he could get far, though, Aedion called to him again. “Oh, and Whitethorn?”

“Yes?” he replied, expression tight with concern.

“Take care of her.” And then Aedion turned his attention back to the house with a grim smile. He didn’t know what its inhabitants may have done to his cousin, but he had absolutely no problems with delivering justice to any of them foolish enough to come his way.

~*~*~

Tagging:

@ireallyshouldsleeprn @queen-of-glass @fangirlprincess09 @sassys-world @morganofthewildfire @superspiritfestival @perseusannabeth @sis-it-dont-add-up @jlinez @julemmaes @emilyoftheshadows

[komahinasecretexchange]

Title: Untitled

Author: @shippingrevolutionary

For:  [redacted, at their request]

Pairings/Characters: Hajime Hinata & Komaeda Nagito, Chiaki Nanami Rating/Warnings: A bit of drinking involved

Prompt: A drunken night (or any scenario) leads to loose lips of compliments and praise from Hajime.

Author’s notes: Hi! I hope you enjoy, It was a fun write but it was tough. It was a very long time since I last wrote a fanfic. I wanted to write with the other two prompts as well but No good ideas were brewing. x-x

There’s not much of loose lips on this one, and there’s a bit of drama but I hope you like it! :)

Synopsis: Slice of life AU. After six months of avoiding his best friends, Nagito decides to rekindle his friendships when an opportunity arises. Instead of a nice night, he is met with feelings of regret, awkwardness and embarrassing scenarios.

—————-

I was supposed to disappear, so why am I here, now?

Scrolling through my phone, I scan my message log once more. I make sure to double check the details given to me the night before, to know if I’m at the right place.

Hanamura’s Seaside Grill at 7pm tonight.

I can’t wait to finally see you two again.

Please don’t be late, Nagito!

I press the phone’s snooze button and I’m greeted with my haggard reflection displayed on the black screen. I’m wearing a messy head of hair and a pair of dark circled eyes from not getting a wink of sleep last night. I brush through the messy white strands with my fingers making it look at least a little less like a birds nest. Once I’m happy I pocket my phone and look at the signage of the newly built restaurant.

Yep, this is the place. Hanamura’s Seaside grill, and I’m 15 minutes early.

I breathe in deep and let out a sigh.

How long has it been since I’ve seen both of them? 6 months?

I bite my lip as I make my way through the restaurant’s doors.

-

Upon entering the restaurant I immediately see the familiar head of brown hair. A jolt of electric current runs through my body, I’m stunned. I want to turn back at this instant and run back home. I thought I was ready to see him again, but now I’m already regretting coming here.

“Umm, excuse me, sir.” a voice right beside me asks.

“Oh! Uhm… hey…” I say to the petite waitress. She looks at me, confused, like she’s waiting for me to say anything further. “Welcome, to Hanamura’s Seaside grill, a table for how many?” she asks.

And before I could say anything else, Hajime notices I’m here and waves at me with a bright grin on his face. I gulp. “Oh, I’m with him.” I tell the waitress, and I point towards Hajime.

“Okay, sir. Right this way.” She says, leading me to sit right next to my friend.

“Here you guys go,” she hands us the menu. “Today’s special is octopus, It’s very fresh, it was just caught this morning. Please do take your time, I’ll be right back with some water.”

She leaves and my mind screams “Please, take me with you.”

“Hey, Nagito, it’s been a while.” Hajime says, looking up and down at me, probably checking how I am.

“Hey, Hajime.” I smile and catch myself laughing awkwardly.

“It’s been what? 5 months?” “6 months.” I correct him. “Yeah, sorry I haven’t contacted you guys in a while. I’ve been busy.” I laugh nervously.

“Oh, that’s not a problem.” he says and gives me a small smile.

I hope he isn’t upset or mad, but then again, why would he be? I’m just one of his many friends. I’m typically a background character in his life just like how I was in everybody’s during high school. “So how’s Chiaki?” I say, changing the subject of the conversation. This seemed to irritate him because His smile wavered for a few seconds. “I… uh, I haven’t contacted her in a very long time as well. I’m sure you guys made sure to catch up once in a while.” I force a grin.

“Oh, she’s doing great. She’s competing internationally, so she’s been busy as well.”

“Ah, I remember when it all started. She was really good at that video game, It’s no surprise to me. She’s exceptionally talented and filled with hope when it comes to gaming.”

“Ahehe… Yeah,” He laughs nervously. I wonder why, it’s really a mistake coming here… “So anyway, how have you been?”

“Well, I’ve been busy writing,”

“Ah, finally going to publish something?”

“Yeah, I had to move to a new apartment. To start fresh, a new life. Anyway, enough about me. What about you Hajime?”  I smile and wonder how he’s been. I hate to admit it but he’s been on my mind for the past 6 months but I also remind myself, not to get close again. He possibly can’t like me the same way I like him.

“Ah, well, where do I start?”

-

Talking about what’s been happening for the past 6 months has filled me with tension, like I’m waiting for him to say that He’s finally together with Chiaki or something. But by the end of it I was relieved to find out nothing much has changed between them. They’re still pretty good friends. But I also hate that I felt relief. I should be wishing what’s best for them, but here I am having a bit of hope for Hajime and I. It’s silly and wishful thinking.

“So, hey, let’s start ordering.” Hajime declares

I try to talk him out of it so we could wait for Chiaki, but he has his face buried in the menu already. “Hey, so do you want to go for the sharing platters?”

I look at the time on my phone and check if Chiaki sent any messages. Finding nothing, I pocket my phone again.

“Uhm, aren’t we supposed to wait until Chiaki gets here?” I tell him.

He doesn’t look at me, he still has his head behind the menu. Instead, he waves his hand. “It’s okay, at least the food will be ready by the time she gets here.”

I sigh, and instead of insisting that it would be rude to order without her here yet, I look at the dimming sky. Some of the stars have already appeared above the rocking waves, sitting in space. I’d rather be up there with them right now—observing, watching, not having any problems with whirlwinds of feelings.

“Hey, you love Eel, right?”

My attention snaps back to my friend and I’m caught off guard. “Wh-what?”

“Eel,” He says slowly.

“I mean, you remember?”

He flops the menu down on the table and he’s looking at me with a frown and a raised eyebrow.

”Of course, I remember what your favorite food is.” He shakes his head and raises the menu back to his face. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Friends.

That’s all we can ever be.

“Well, I didn’t think you’d remember such an unnecessary detail of someone like me.”

He sets the menu down with another big flop and glares at me. “Nagito, I swear, I thought we’ve already talked about this little problem o—“

I raise my hands and give out a small laugh. “Geez, Hajime, I was only kidding.”

He looks at me for a while and lets out a sigh, his frown turning into a small smile. “It better be just a joke.”

Our waitress for the night comes back over and pours water, filling our glasses. “Are the both of you ready to order?” she asks me with a smile.

“Oh, he’s ordering for us,” I say gesturing towards Hajime.

She looks at him, and Hajime gives her a smile back “Yes, we’d like the house salad, a sashimi plate, the grilled eel platter, an order of shrimp tempura, and three bowls of rice please.”

“Anything else?”

“Oh, and a bottle of shochu, please.”

I feel my eyes widen. Not only was the order huge for three people—not to mention expensive—but why in the world is he ordering alcohol too?

The waitress repeats the order and once Hajime nods, she leaves.

“Hey, Hajime,” I whisper. “What are you ordering alcohol for?”

Hajime shrugs. “I just feel like celebrating tonight. That’s all.”

“Hajime, you only drink when you’re feeling down.”

“Oh wow, I didn’t think you’d remember such an unnecessary detail of someone like me.” He says, mocking me, repeating what I said earlier. I just let out a sigh as a response.

Hajime gives a chuckle and looks at the glass of water in front of me. “It’s nothing, It’s going to be the first time in a long while that we’ll be able to get to see Chiaki again, you know?” he says, then proceeds to look outside the window, avoiding my gaze.

Something’s up. The two times he ever drank was when he was down about not getting into our school’s talent course, and the other time was before the final exams of the final year. He only drinks when he’s anxious or sad, otherwise, he’d be the one lecturing his friends about drinking too much. I wonder though. Why now? Is he that nervous about seeing Chiaki again? Or maybe… he’s probably finally going to confess to her?

With that last thought, a small pain in my chest starts growing rapidly—like a tree branching out from the inside of my chest.

“Oh,” I mutter. “Well, I hope Chiaki gets here soon. Aside from the food getting cold on her, I’m excited to see her again.” I smile, trying to mask what I’m really feeling.

“Yeah, I can’t wait either,” Hajime says, eyes darting from me to the window, probably looking at the stars I was looking at from earlier.

-

I check my phone and it’s already 7pm. No new messages. No missed calls. I try to call for the third time, but it’s no use. I can’t reach her.

“Heeeeeey, Nagi… Gimme one more sip.”

The slurred voice grabs back my attention and my grip onto the almost empty bottle of shochu tightens. “I told you, you’ve had enough to drink, why are you being so careless tonight?”

Hajime stares at the bottle with sleepy eyes, like he didn’t even hear a single word I’ve said. He tries to grab it from me but he slips and almost falls to the floor head first. Good thing I grabbed onto his necktie. “Hajime, what’s wrong with you!?” I say in a loud voice, but not loud enough for the staff to hear… I hope. He looks at me and giggles. “You know, Nagi, you look so cute when you’re mad.”

My cheeks flare up and I mutter a “Just shut up. Do you want me to drop you?” I place the bottle at the corner of the table where he can’t reach it, I stand up, push Hajime into a sitting position, and sit right next to him so he doesn’t fall flat on the floor.

His head nestles onto my shoulder and I can smell the mix of alcohol and the ever so familiar scent of his cologne.

I sigh.

“Mmmm… Nagito.”

I feel my cheeks get hot as I feel his hot breath tickling my neck, him saying my name, not to mention how close we are from each other. I look away and I try my best to brush these weird feelings out. I know better. He likes Chiaki. Not me.

Speaking of Chiaki, I grab my phone again and try to give one more call.

.

.

.

Still no answer.

I wonder. Why can’t I reach her? Was her flight delayed? Perhaps, cancelled? Why hasn’t she tried contacting us? Maybe, they just landed? Did she lose her phone? Is she okay?

I look over at Hajime, who is now breathing deeply and slowly.

“H-hey Hajime, don’t go sleeping on me, now.” I try to shake him with my shoulder but I stop and look at the peace displayed on his face. I feel my cheeks warm up again. I cut my gaze and look at the table. All the food is gone. Hajime ate most of it, that huge amount of food… The expensive food. Expensive…

Oh! The bill! There’s no way I can afford all this! I dig into my pocket to find my wallet, shaking off Hajime’s head in the process. I open the cheap piece of leather and find a total of 2,000 yen, not even close to the total amount we ordered.

What now?

Before I decide to check my wallet’s other compartments, I feel Hajime’s hand on mine.

“Eh?” My mind lags and I feel my face near boiling point.

“Don’t worry Nagi, I got this.” he says with a voice that is still slurred but clearer now.

“Ah,”

He puts the total down, flat on the table and he goes out like a light.

-

Why in the world did you have to drink?  We didn’t even get to see Chiaki, so your drinking was all in vain.

I puff out a deep breath and it forms into a cloud disappearing into the night air. I look up above me, and I see the stars once again, but this time, they’ve all shown up.

“Hmmmmm,”

“Oh, Hajime, you’re awake.”

“Wherer wi?”

“What?” He moves his face away from my back. “I said, where are we?” “I’m taking us home, you couldn’t walk so I’m carrying you. Anyway your house is on the same way as my new apartment.” I say as I shift Hajime from my back to make sure he doesn’t fall off. It’s a good thing we are almost the same height and weight, if he was a few kilograms heavier I wouldn’t be able to carry him at all. “There are no more rides at a time like this since we’re at the rural part of the island.”

“Oh… Sorry…” He says.

He tries to get off me and we almost both fall in the process.

“You can’t walk,” I say. “Why did you have to drink so much, anyway?” He doesn’t answer for a few seconds but then he says, “Chiaki…”

I swallow my saliva and I feel the branches in my chest again. Now it’s more like vines squeezing my heart.

A few more minutes pass and I can feel him just looking to the side. Probably at the ocean.

“Mmm, Hey, Nagito?” He suddenly says.

“Yeah?”

“Where’d you go?”

“What do you mean?”

“Where’d you go?”

I don’t answer. “I haven’t seen you since Chiaki left.”

Silence.

“Aren’t we friends?”

There’s that word again, friends. Just friends.

“Sorry, I’ve been concentrating on writing my first book. I needed the time to be alone.” I lie.

It’s his turn to be silent.

After a few more meters of walking, I feel his grip on my shoulders tighten a bit. “Hey, Nagito, can we watch the ocean for a while?” “Huh, why?” “Maybe we could rest for a bit, until I can walk, at least.”

I comply, not because I’m exhausted, but because of the awkward tension lingering in the air around us. I take the nearest route to the closest sands of the beach, and once we reach the shore I see the blue and green glows of the water. I stand there breathless—although it’s not my first time seeing glowing plankton on the ocean. They are like stars on the waves, but unlike those that are above, these stars are within arms reach.

Hajime gets off my back and he falls into the sand.

“See, what did I tell you?” I say at the drunken Hajime.

“Just shut up, Nagito.” He says and we both stare into each other for a few seconds, then we both laugh.

He sits upright and I sit close to him. We both grow silent while watching the mesmerizing glowing waves.

I wish this moment could last forever. Just Hajime and I, enjoying each other’s company, under the starlit sky surrounded by the glowing waves. God, It sounds like a cliché thing to say, but that’s just the truth.

“Hey, Nagito, do you think Chiaki likes me?” Hajime whispers.

“W-what?” I stutter, caught by surprise.

He looks at me “Do you think Chiaki likes me?” He repeats, but this time I feel like he is staring into my stripped out soul. I dart my eyes to the sand then towards the ocean again, trying my best to conceal whatever I’m feeling on the inside.

“I… I don’t really know.”

“I see,”

He doesn’t say anything for a while so I take a peek at him, and he’s looking above again. I shift my eyes back to the ocean.

“Do you like, Chiaki?” He suddenly says.

We both look at each other at the same time, and I can see his eyes are full of curiosity.

“What makes you say that?”

“Nothing,” he says, averting his gaze.

I continue staring at him, thinking of what he’s been asking me, why he’s acting so strange. Is he worried about me liking Chiaki? is he worried I’m getting in between them? My heart drops.

He looks right back at me and we both are staring at each other again.

“I think we should go… It’s getting late.” I say, standing up and dusting my pants.

“Yeah…” he says, standing up too, but he wobbles as he gets back up on his feet.

This time I support him by putting his arm over my shoulder. “Maybe we should just get to the nearest inn…” I suggest.

He stops to think, but he end up nodding. He follows my lead and doesn’t say another word.

-

“Uh-uhm, of course!” the blushing inn keeper says. “You two are lucky, we only have one room left.” She turns her back towards us to find the keys to the room.

Hajime and I shoot each other a look of confusion. “Here it is! Room 7. Now, both of you enjoy.”

I take the keys and walk over to the rooms with Hajime still right beside me. We reach our room door and I proceed to unlock the door.

“What was that about?” i whisper.

Hajime shrugs.

After unlocking the door, I put my keys back into my pocket and I open the door wide. I stare at the room, stunned. There’s only one queen sized bed in the room.

“Oh, so that’s why,” we both say in unison.

-

What an exhausting and awkward night it’s been. And to top it all off, Hajime and I need to share a bed. Not like the night has been embarrassing enough for me.

This is all Chiaki’s fault…

I shift under the covers trying to fluff my stiff pillow, making sure to be careful not to disturb Hajime. Once I’m comfortable I shut my eyes, expecting the night to finally end.

“You still haven’t answered my question.” Hajime’s voice echoes in the dark room.

“What?” I ask, my eyes wide open again. “Do you like her?”

I don’t answer.

He sighs, Irritated. It takes him a few more seconds before he says the next set of words. “You know, Nagito, I hate to admit it but I’m kind of jealous…”

I blink. “Jealous of what?”

He sits up and sighs again. I turn my head to look at him but he has his back facing me.

“I’m kind of jealous of how you and Chiaki get along…” He says.

My chest tightens again. He’s probably hurting and it’s all because of me. Am I really getting in between them? “Hajime, you don’t have to worry… You don’t have to worry about me anymore.”

This time he turns to look at me. I see him staring angrily at me. His face under the spilling nightlight illuminating through the window.

“What do you mean?”  he asks.

I sigh and sit up so we are shoulder to shoulder. “Look,” I say, staring at the shape of my legs that are under the blankets. “Im just gonna leave the both of you alone. Starting tomorrow.”

He shakes his head. “What!? That’s not it, Nagito. I never want you to leave… I don’t… I don’t get it. Do you really like her?”

I look at him and try my best to read him but the more I analyze the more confused I get. I have to tell him the truth, one way or another. “No, Hajime. I don’t like her like that.” Even if it means confessing to him, and ruining our friendship. “I like someone else…”

He pauses, his eyes going from left to right, like he’s reading. “Someone else? No, you’re lying. I know you like her. That’s why you stopped hanging out with me when she left.”

“No, Hajime. The thing is, I don’t want to get in between you and her and please believe me, I really don’t like her in a romantic kind of way. So go ahead and just confess to her already.”

“What!?” He says, almost shouting. “Confess?” he shakes his head. “I used to like her that way but that was a very long time ago.”

I blink again, stunned. “Well, earlier, you asked me if she likes you.” I say, puzzled. “So, why are you so worried about Chiaki liking you, and why are you so worried about me liking, Chiaki?”

“Im not worried” he whispers, and scratches the back of his neck. “I mean it’s fine if you like her, but the reason why I asked if you think she likes me was to get a reaction out of you. To get a hint if you liked her or not.”

“Oh…” I say, my mind not being able to comprehend what’s going on. Why all the strangeness and the questions then? “Then wha—“ “Nagito I… I don’t know what you would think of me after this but the reason I asked if you liked Chiaki was because…”

I feel my eyes go wide. For some reason, everything clicks and I pray to the heavens it’s not just wishful thinking. Does Hajime like me?

“because I like you, Nagito… more than a best friend. I don’t know… you’re probably disgusted and all but I think you’re cute and you’re such a wonderful person and … .. .… … .… … .. .. .… … . .”

The room is spinning and my brain is going on overdrive. Hajime keeps talking but nothing is registering anymore. All I know is after he said he likes me more than a best friend I just want to jump up and down and kiss him but at the same time I fear that I’d wake up any second now, lying next to him, finding out that this was all just a dream. I blink a few time to make sure I’m awake. And I give myself one big hard slap.

Hajime blinks, horrified. “Uhh… are you okay? Look, I’m sorry if you don’t feel—“

“NO, I LIKE YOU TOO HAJIME.” I shout, ecstatic. “The person that I like… is you.”

“Wha-?” He looks bewildered.

“I-i thought you liked Chiaki too. So I uh… I decided to just leave you guys alone, since 6 months ago.” I look at him, feeling a huge weight of guilt on my back. “I didn’t want to get in the way of the romantic relationship blooming betwee—“ I stop because I feel a thud on my head.

“Ow!, What was that for!?” I scream because he karate chopped my head.

Hajime moves towards me and gives me a tight hug, and of course I hug him back.

We don’t say anything for a while… then laughter starts, him and then me.

“We are idiots, aren’t we.” Hajime says as we both release from the hug.

“Yeah…” I stare into his eyes. “Hey, Hajime. I’m sorry.” I say, giving him smile. “I didn’t really want to leave, it just hurt too much.”

“I understand. I thought you were into her too. I’m sorry too.” he says. “This is my fault, I should have listened to Chiaki.”

“Chiaki?” Before I could ask anything further, he moves closer and I move closer and before we know it, we are both locking lips.

I melt under his warm embrace and the rest of the night goes by in a blur.

-

I wake up to my phone buzzing on the table. I try to wriggle myself loose enough from Hajime’s embrace to reach phone, careful to not wake him. I grab my phone, lean my back against his chest  and smile at last nights events.

I thumb the black screen and check my notifications and it says I have a message from Chiaki.

Oh, Chiaki! She must be wondering where we are.

I take a look at the message and my smile fades. “EH!!!???” I scream.

And Hajime wakes up, startled. “Huh!? What’s wrong?”

We are both sitting away from each other, locking eyes. “Chiaki… You!?”

Hajime gives me a sheepish grin and laughs.

Good morning, guys! I hope things worked out well for the both of you. I’m pretty much confident you guys are together by now, and I hope the both of you are finally happy. This could have been much sooner, but I’m finally glad that Hajime listened and went along my well planned secret “date Nagito" objective, since I know that you, Nagito, is lacking too much in confidence to ask Hajime out and vice versa.  It took way too long for this thing to commence, and to put it bluntly, both of you are to blame. But anyway, Nagito, If Hajime hasn’t told you yet, I’m actually arriving in about a week from today. So by the time I get here, you guys better come to my welcome back home party, so, see you guys soon!

Oh and by the way all our friends know you both are into each other (Except for Soda, he lost the bet and owes me money now.), so please don’t forget to update and celebrate with them.

I’m happy for the both you. <3

[kimmietea]

Double Yikes! Part 1 (Ben Hardy x Reader)

Summary: Ben and Reader go on their date.

Warnings: Dirty thoughts, cursing...sickly sweet touching moments

Continuation of Yikes!

A/N: Wow ok hi everyone! Is this actually happening? Im actually posting this! So i decided to break up Double Yikes into 2 parts. First of all because it has been way too long and i feel awful for making you all wait and 2 because I’m struggling with the end and I'm hoping this will buy me some more time. I don’t bite so please tell me what you all think. Do you hate it? Love it? Want more? Tell me all of it. I love to hear from you. Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list for when part 2 is finished. Ok I think that’s it...oh don’t forget Italics is reader thinking to herself in her head. Alright let’s do this!!

TagList:: @borhapqueen92  @radiob-l-a-hblah  @gwendolyns-stacy @coincidence-ithinknots-blog @mythicmazzellos  @hardforbenhardy @onceuponadetectivedemigod

*********************************************

“Wait wait, read it to me again.” Morgan said stuffing the last bit of her lunch into her mouth. You were both sitting in your office for lunch, talking about Ben and your upcoming date that night, when he texted you as promised a few hours before.

“It says 'Do you mind if I pick you up for our date? I really want to be a perfect gentleman.' Then there are the fingers crossed emoji and in brackets '🤞(please say yes).' You read and flipped the phone around to show her.

"Want to be? Hell he already is."

"I'm so nervous. He still didn't say where or what time. What if I don't get out of work in time to shower? Oh god I'm gonna smell on our first date. What am I gonna wear? If I don't have enough time to shower then I might not have enough time to change. Oh god what if i wear what i'm wearing now. He's gonna look and smell so good. All showered and sexy in whatever he's got on and I'm gonna be this gross, smelly potato still in her clothes from work. Im freaking out!" You were spiraling.

"Alright calm down. One thing at a time. Let's come up with a reply. Do you want him to pick you up?"

"Of course I do." You smiled. "Better chance of a goodnight kiss."

"Or a good morning kiss" She muttered.

"Morgan!" She held her hands up in defense.

“I’m just saying what you’re thinking.”

She’s not wrong

“Oh shut up and help me.”

 Together you came up with a reply and he responded with the time he would be by to pick you up and the dress code, to which he described as 'Fancier than work but not the royal wedding.', because he refused to tell you where you were going, causing you to stress about it for the rest of the day. At least you would have enough time to shower and change.

By the time you left work, you were nothing but a big nervous mess. When you got home you had 2 hours to get ready before Ben would be there. You went straight to the shower making sure every bit of you was clean and any place that needed shaving was taken care of just in case things ended the way Morgan said they would.

You were definitely not the type of girl to sleep with a guy on the first date but there was something about Ben. A pull you just couldn't explain. A need to be close to him but at the same time a need to be far away because you were so nervous you may vomit all over him. Plus this very well could be the last time you see him, him being an actor and his career on the verge of skyrocketing and all. So why not make the most of it if the opportunity arises.

After your shower you spent way too long in the closet trying to pick something to wear. You finally decided on what Morgan called your "Posh Spice Dress". It was a simple black dress that stopped mid thigh, with thin straps.

Hair and makeup came next and you kept things simple. Minimal makeup and a simple, messy sort of bun with a few pieces falling around your face. You received a text from Ben notifying you that he was on his way.  Shoes on, wallet and keys in purse. You snapped a quick picture in the full length mirror and sent it off to Morgan as promised.

The knock at the door made you jump and almost drop your phone.

Jesus that was fast.

You could feel your hands start to sweat and your heart pound as you walked to the door.

Breath you manic, it's just a date. Breath.

You opened the door and the breath you just talked yourself into taking was stolen from you. Ben was dressed in a wonderful black suit and dark green shirt, making his eyes stand out. His hair was tousled just enough so a piece hung over his forehead. He was looking at the floor but when the door opened he looked up. He shook his head to get the stray piece or hair off his forehead but it did nothing but make you weak in the knees.

Fuuuuck! You beautiful bastard. My god, I'm gonna be distracted all night.

The effect he had on you must have shown on your face because his cheeks were a light pink.

"Hey." He smiled.

"Hi." You managed to get out. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to your cheek. You were grateful you were still holding the door otherwise you'd be on the ground.

"Wow you look... absolutely stunning." You looked to the ground to try and hide the furious blush that was now burning your face.

“Oh um these are for you.”  He handed you the small batch of daffodils you hadn't noticed he was holding.

“My favorite. How did you know?” Trusting your knees wouldn't fail you, you moved inside and gestured for him to follow. In the kitchen you found a vase and filled it with water before turning to face him.

“I may have called the office and asked Morgan.” His bottom lip pulled between his teeth. You clenched your legs together and did everything you could not to moan out loud.

How inappropriate would it be if I jumped him right now?

“Sorry. That’s kinda creepy now that I say it out loud.” He laughed.

“No it’s not creepy. It’s thoughtful. They’re beautiful, thank you Ben.” You reassured and touched his arm gratefully. He nodded and when you turned to place the vase on the counter he let his fingers brush where you had touched his arm.

“Ready?” He asked, clearing his throat.

“Yep.” You grabbed your things and headed out the door to Bens car that was waiting in the parking lot of your apartment building. Keeping up his promise of being the perfect gentleman, he walked you to the passenger side and opened the door for you. His hand on your lower back the entire way. Once you were both settled in the car he passed you his phone, spotify was pulled up.

“Alright D.J. do your thing.” He said, pulling out of the lot and onto the street. You laughed and took the phone from him.

Ok do NOT fuck this up!

“Ah the real test.” You scrolled for a little.

“You probably think I'm going to play something Queen.” You saw the smirk on his face but he stayed silent.

Don’t be a cliche bitch.

“While i do love Queen, I'm sure that's all anyone ever plays for you now and I refuse to be that person.” You hummed and scrolled through his playlists. Surprisingly you had a lot of the same taste in music.

Should I pick something funny? Maybe a love song? No, to mushy.

“Oh I got it.” You said before clicking the one you had chosen. ’Thank you’ from Led Zeppelin. Just the right amount of lovey without being obvious. You watched his face as the music started. The smirk faded and a soft smile appeared.

“Why yes boys, she’s not just a pretty face, she’s got great music taste too.” You joked. His face didn’t change. He turned to glance at you before returning his eyes back to the road, smile still in place.

Oh shit. No real reaction.

“So, how’d I do?” You asked. You felt almost nauseous with the butterflies in your stomach. He looked to you again, a look you couldn't place.

"Perfect." He answered in almost a whisper. There was something more to that answer, you could feel it. There was tension in the car. Not a bad one, not a sexual one. Just an energy, an electric charge. This wasn't going to be just a regular date.

I wonder if he can feel that too.

Before either one of you could break the tension your phone chimed with a text message. You took your phone from your purse to see a message from Morgan.

‘YAS you sexy bitch! Get that dickin’ down girl!’ You couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up and out of you.

“What’s so funny?” Ben asked.

Oh shit

You put your phone on silent and put it back in your purse after texting her back a thumbs up and a winking emoji. The mood in the car shifted, it was light, fun and you could breathe normal again.

“Just Morgan being Morgan.”

“Is that the ‘Let me know if you need me to get you out of this awful date and I'll make something up.’ text?” You laughed and shook your head.

Nope, just my best friend wishing me good luck on tryin to sex you up tonight.

“No, actually believe it or not, we didn’t even have that conversation.” You told him truthfully. The thought of coming up with an escape plan in case things went south didn’t even cross your mind. His smile grew.

“Feelin’ pretty good about this date then?” He chuckled, doing his best to joke but you could hear the nerves in his voice. You turned your full attention to him and put your elbow on the middle console, your chin resting in your hand, a warm smile on your lips. He pulled up to a stop light as you answered.

“Very good.” He turned to look at you, his smile still soft, that look in his eyes you couldn’t place was still shining at you. You watched as his eyes moved all across your face, as if he was doing his best to capture every inch of it, commit it to memory so he would never forget.

Oh my god please kiss me.

The mood shifted again and you found it hard to catch your breath.

There is no way he isn’t feeling this. It’s too strong.

He brought his hand up and let the back of his knuckles gently run along the side of your face.

How have I not noticed how full his lips are. I bet they feel amazing.

“Me too.” He whispered.

Oh god I'm in trouble.

The light turned green, the mood shifted again and Ben continued to the restaurant. As if that intense moment hadn’t just happened. All the mood changes were making you dizzy.

The rest of the ride was nice, you chatted about little things, his upcoming projects, how the rest of your work day was. When you pulled into a spot at the restaurant, Ben jumped out and ran around to your side of the car opening the door for you and offering his arm. You grinned at him and looped your arm in his.

Once inside and at your table, a perfect cozy spot in the corner, Ben pulled your chair out for you. You recognized the name of the restaurant, ‘Ember’ . It was the new hot spot. It was only open a few months and already the reservation list was booked up till a year and a half from now.

How did he get us in here? He doesn't seem like one of those actors to use his name or the fact that he’s an actor, to get what he wants.

You stopped looking at your menu to look at him, his eyes were roaming the page.

“I have to say, I’m a little impressed you were able to get us here on such short notice.” He laughed and glanced up at you.

“Don’t be. The head chef, Ryan, is a close mate from back home. I had to beg him for about an hour after I left your office to get us a table.”

Ugh. The cutest.

“That and while i'm in town I owe him 3 nights of babysitting his 4 year old daughter, Olivia, so him and his wife can go out. So yeah not too impressive.”

Jk, that was the cutest. And now I'm picturing Ben with a 4 year old. I am fuckin done for.

“I wouldn’t say that. I find the fact that you called my office to find out my favorite flower, begged your friend for a table at his restaurant and gave up 3 of your nights to babysit all to have dinner with some girl you just met 10 hours ago kinda impressive.” He smiled and set his menu aside.

"Well she's definitely not just some girl." You also put your menu aside, your head tilted sweetly to the side.

"Oh no?"

"No, she's special." Your heart skipped a beat. That same electric feeling from the car was back.

Fuck.

"Well she thinks you're pretty special too." His face went red and he looked down at the table to try and hide it. The waitress approached the table. She was young, early 20s for sure, pretty and clearly recognized Ben. The electric feeling was gone again.

"Hi, I'm Kate. I'll be your server tonight. Can I start you off with a drink?" She said a little too sweetly. She angled herself towards Ben, her back slightly to you. You could already feel yourself getting agitated.

Please do not fuck up my night with this man you little hoe.

Ben ordered a bottle of wine for the two of you after looking to you for the okay which you gave with a smile and nod. Kate leaned into him just so as he ordered an appetizer for you to share. You were not normally a fan of guys who ordered for their dates but something about the way Ben did was incredibly sexy.

"Is that alright my darling?" He asked. His eyes were wide and innocent, a slight blush on his cheeks.

He's so considerate. And completely oblivious.

You could see the annoyed look on Kate's face as he addressed you. You smirked.

"Of course, whatever you want. I trust you." You said and placed your hand on top of his that was resting on the table. His smile grew so wide it took up his entire face.

He's gonna kill me with that smile.

He flipped his hand over in yours so he could hold it properly. He glanced down at them then back up to you, a questioning look on his face. You smiled and squeezed his hand in reassurance. His wide smile was back again.

"I'll go put this in." Kate said, trying to pull his focus.

"Thank you." He replied and held the menus out of her to take. His eyes never leave you. You felt a surge of confidence pull through your whole body. She huffed, took the menus from him.

"Don't we need those to order?" You asked.

"Oh, Ryan said he wanted to make us something special. For us to just order an appetizer and wine and he would take care of the rest."  

Wow VIP treatment. I'm seriously impressed.

Kate rolled her eyes and turned to leave.

"Oh Kate, could we also get some water please?" You smiled at her. You couldn't help that it was a little smug. Before she could answer Ben brought your joint hands up to his lips, placing a kiss to your knuckles before returning them to the table.

Perfect timing you charming bastard.

"Of course." She answered with a fake, forced smile and left. Your eyes returned to Ben. His smile was shining, addictive and contagious. You could feel yours growing to match. The conversation flowed easily. You talked about everything. Gone were any awkward moments. It was like you had known each other for years vs. only a few hours. You both were still shy and nervous at times but were growing more confident and comfortable as dinner went one. After you both had the amazing meal Ryan prepared for you, he came over to the table.

"Well well if it isn't little Jonesy." He laughed and threw his arm around Ben's shoulders, pulled him close and tousled his hair.

"Mate come on. I'm on a bloody date. Stop it." He struggled to get out of his friend's hold. Ryan laughed and placed a big smacking kiss on Ben’s cheek.

“Muah! Missed you mate.”

“Yeah yeah I missed you too. Now get off of me.” He shook him off but he was grinning the entire time. Ryan shoved at his shoulder with a matching grin before turning his attention to you.

"You must be Y/N, It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, offering his hand to shake.

"And you. Thank you so much for that meal. It was amazing. You are very talented" You gushed and met his hand with yours.

"Great taste and extremely beautiful." Ryan said letting your hand go and leaning into Ben's side.

"That she is." Ben answered, his eyes trained on you. Your heart fluttered.

"She's far too good for you Jonesy." Ryan joked.

"Don't I know it." You were sure your face was red and flushed.

Well that couldn't be more untrue. I'm so worried you're going to realise I'm just an average girl and then you'll be gone.

"Alright shove over, let's catch up for a bit." Ryan said grabbing a chair from a nearby table and pulling it up to yours. Ben slid his chair over to make room.

Oh shit, here we go nerves.

He was now sitting next to you rather than across. His arm instinctively draped over the back of your chair.

Okay, okay deep breath. Fuck he smells so good. No more deep breaths.

The boys chatted away, mostly about what they've been up to and Ryan's family. Ryan asked what you did, you told him and explained that was how you and Ben met.

"You know I would love to do a piece on you." You said taking a sip of wine. Having Ryan there had calmed your nerves, took some of the pressure off. You were relaxed and you could tell Ben was too. He leaned back in his chair, arm still draped over the back of yours. You were lent forwards, elbows on the table engaged in the conversation.

"Me?" Ryan laughed surprised.

"Yeah, I think the people would love to learn about the head chef at the new hot spot. I mean only if you're interested that is. You don't have to. Just a thought."

“That sounds good. Jonesy can give you my number, give me a call and we’ll set it up.” You smiled, feeling proud.This was gonna get you some serious points with your boss.

“Alright, I'm going to stop hogging your date and get back to work. Y/N it really was a pleasure meeting you. I look forward to seeing you again.” He said leaning over to place a kiss on your cheek.

“Jonesy I’ll see you soon for babysitting.” He laughed, hugged his friend and whispered to him.

“She seems perfect for you mate, don’t fuck it up.” Ben laughed and kissed his cheek the same way Ryan had upon arriving at the table.

“I’m sending you guys some desert so get comfortable.” He said before leaving. You turned to look at Ben over your shoulder, he was grinning at you.

"What?" You asked, now matching his grin. He brought the hand that was draped over the back of your chair, up to your exposed back and let the tips of his fingers run across the skin. Despite feeling hot all over, you shivered and goosebumps appeared.

"I've never seen him take to someone so fast. Especially someone I'm interested in."

Ok butterflies, calm down.

“I guess that means I'm pretty awesome.” You joked and leaned back in your chair, turned towards him, your knees now touching. His hand moved to the side of your face. He brushed a piece of hair behind your ear and let his finger gently continue over the shell of your ear, down your jaw and across your chin. Your heart was hammering in your chest. His touch was so soft and gentle you couldn't help but lean into him slightly.

Fuck. Me. Up.

“I’d say pretty awesome doesn't even begin to cover it.”

I swear if you don't kiss me right fuckin now i will exploed.

As if he was reading your thoughts he leaned in slowly, giving you the chance to pull away. He was so close now, you could feel his soft, warm breath across your face.

"Here's your desert." Kate, the waitress interrupted and placed a plate of chocolate covered strawberries on the table between you.

God damn it!

She had a satisfied smirk on her face.

Bitch

Ben pulled back, cleared his throat and offered a weak smile to Kate. It took everything in you not to huff and pout like a child not getting the toy they wanted.

"Chef asked me to give you this." Kate said and passed what looked like the check to Ben before leaving again. You watched as his eyes traveled over it and a grin spread across his face.

"Cheeky shit." He laughed and handed it to you. It was a note from Ryan.

Dinner is on me. Not because of you Jonesy, cause your beautiful date. She charmed the pants off me. The wife's gettin lucky tonight! Hope you are too.

A warm blush spread across your cheeks.

"Well that was very sweet of him." You said trying not to focus on the "hope you get lucky" comment.

"He likes to embarrass me." Ben laughed and nudged the plate towards you. "Strawberry?"

You both ate your dessert and continued to chat. You couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to him. Sure you still got nervous and giddy when he smiled at you and your heart would speed up, making your hands sweat but for the most part your nerves had calmed down enough for you to hold a conversation without stumbling over your words and flushing at the smallest up turn of his lips. When you finished Kate returned to the table to remove the plate and ask if you needed anything else.

“Actually may I borrow your pen?” Ben asked. She nodded and handed it to him. A hopeful look on her face. He took the note from Ryan, turned it over. You watched over his shoulder as he wrote:

Thanks for dinner you sexy man. See you soon for babysitting.

And signed it with a heart.

Kate looked disappointed.

Ha!

“Oh me next” You said, getting an idea. You searched your bag for your lipstick. Red lipstick wasn’t really your style but Morgan had convinced you to buy it once and it’s been in your bag ever since. You put it on, making sure to get it in the corners and lay it on thick. You could see Ben watching you out of the corner of your eye. His mouth was parted slightly and his eyes followed your hand as it traveled across your lips. You smirked at him a little as you rubbed your lips together before pressing your lips to the paper, leaving a perfect kiss mark. You wrote a quick thank you next to it.

“He’s gonna love that.” Ben said, his voice deep and a little rough.

Holy hotness batman

He gave Kate her pen back and asked if she would pass the note back to him. She agreed and left with the plate and note. Ben stood and held his hand out to you.

“Ready love?”

Your heart jumped a little.

Fuck I hope i never get used to hearing that

“Ready” You slyly wiped your sweaty hands on your dress before placing your hand in his. He helped you up and intertwined your fingers, pulling you close to his side as you both walked out of the restaurant. The car ride back to your apartment was filled with laughs. Ben was telling you stories about him and Ryan and all the crazy things they used to do, how they met, how Ryan met his wife and when Ryan asked Ben to be Olivia’s godfather.

When he pulled into the parking lot of your building he insisted on walking you to your door. ‘All part of the perfect gentleman package’ he told you. He took your hand again during the elevator ride up to your floor and swung your connected hands slightly as he walked you to your apartment and released it when you stood in front of the door.

Ok, goodnight kiss, let's do this!

"Thank you Ben, I had a really great time." He took a small step forward and placed one hand on your hip, your heart sped up. His hand felt heavy and the heat coming from him being so close spread through your entire body.

"So did I. Thank you for agreeing to go out with me tonight. I never do this kind of thing but I couldn't leave your office without a definite way to see you again." He laughed a little to ease his nerves, his head leaning slightly closer to you.

Oh god ok, breath

"Well I'm very glad you did." You said, much softer than you intended. Ben had his bottom lip trapped between his teeth as his eyes traveled over your face, landing on your lips. He was close and you could feel his breath across your face again, like at the restaurant. His heavy hand still firm on your hip, his thumb now rubbing along soothingly.

Please kiss me

He brought his other hand up to the side of your face, letting the tips of his fingers run over your cheekbone.

Pleeeease kiss me

You took a chance and placed your hand at the nape of his neck, letting your fingers intertwine in his hair. He smiled and licked his lips.

PAH-LEEAS KISS ME DAMN IT!

"Y/N, can I kiss you?" He whispered.

FUCKIN FINALLY!

Too afraid you'd actually say what you were thinking, you nodded. He smiled and leaned in slowly to close the space between you. You instantly felt an electric shock travel through you causing you to move closer towards him and tug on his hair. He moaned into the kiss and slid his hand from your hip to your back, pulling you flush against him.

You sighed at the feeling of him being pressed against you and your lips parted. Ben wasted no time and slid his tongue along yours. You moaned and let your unoccupied hand glide up his torso, feeling his tight muscles under his shirt to rest on his chest. Ben's hand that was near your face moved to join his other on your back.

Your entire body was on fire, your head spinning, either from the intensity of the kiss or the lack of oxygen, you weren't sure. Just when you were about to pull back to see if he wanted to move things inside, he slid one of his hands down to rest on the curve of your ass.

You whined and pushed back into his hand. He moaned and gripped your ass roughly, causing you to involuntarily snap your hips forward into his. He moaned again and finally pulled away. Ben was panting heavily, his lips were swollen and red, his cheeks flushed and warm. You were sure you looked the same.

Alright, say something cool and invite him inside

You opened your mouth to speak but he beat you to it.

"I can't do this." Your heart dropped and you could feel the color drain from your face.

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger but i need to make sure you come back! Don’t hate me!

[guiltysecretpasttime]

Airbender’s Wife (part 2)

Hmm, posting this fanfic before the weekend is over *twiddles thumbs*. Still incomplete though; will add the continuation within the week.

The Airbender’s Wife (part 2)

Note: This is literally a continuation of The Airbender’s Wife, which is an off-shoot of Contentment – which follows the “what if” Lin Beifong and Tenzin had a happy ending/beginning (all posted under the linzin fanfic tag in my tumblr).

Pairing: Legend of Korra: Lin / Tenzin; not canon compliant

------------

Tenzin’s body clock has always been programmed to be on time for morning meditations. No matter how tired he was, he will feel restless and wake up at the same time (getting up is a different thing altogether though).

That day was not an exception.

He stretched his arm to his right, intent on drawing his wife closer for a few more minutes before rising, but instead his hand landed on cool bedsheets. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he got up nimbly and wandered around the house, hoping to catch his wife before she left.

The airbender found Lin standing in the dining room, garbed in a long Earth Kingdom-styled dress, a small face mirror propped in front of her at the sideboard as she attempted to clip a rather stubborn curl of her hair.

“Up early?” He approached her, landing a kiss on her cheek.

“Ba Sing Se day, Tenzin.” She responded, not looking away from the mirror.

“Ah, here, let me.” Taking the clip from her, he easily pinned her hair, tucking it behind her ear. “How about I join you today? I don’t have any council business.” He gave her a hug from behind, squeezing her hips lightly, hinting of a promise that would likely end up with a less than productive day for them both.

“Right,” She brushed him off. “But you’re off to train the Avatar -.”

“Korra, dear.”

Lin rolled her eyes affectionately. “You don’t have council meetings today because you have to train Korra.”

“Then how about I bring Korra to Ba Sing Se?” Tenzin persisted, placing a kiss on her shoulder.

“You also have scheduled meditation with the air acolytes today. And Tenzin, do be serious,” She finally faced her husband. “The girl has barely gotten used to Republic City – you wouldn’t want her presence to cause intrigue in Ba Sing Se. Next, you’ll hear Izumi would be requesting for the Avatar to drop by the Fire Nation.”

“Fine,” The airbending master glumly conceded as Lin pushed him slightly to get around the table to prepare for her trip. “Can’t say I didn’t try though.” 

In general, the airbender disliked being apart from his wife for long periods of time – what more today when she was looking particularly radiant. As much as she did not prefer what she called as business outfits, they suit her well. He also knew that Lin dresses up accordingly as what is expected of a Beifong lady.

Tenzin observed Lin who was in a layered dress of forest and emerald green, with a low v-collar, lined with golden accents. The dress also had slits, which he (as a husband) appreciated on her but (also as a husband) especially minded that other people would likely appreciate it on her as well. His wife insisted on them though (“That is too high, Lin.” “No, it’s not – it’s functional, enough for bending”), explaining that a tight dress would only hinder her bending, and in turn be an obstacle in protecting herself.

Not like there was anything he could do to sway her when she has set her mind to something.

“What,” He pulled her closer to him as she paused as she caught him staring, raising an eyebrow in return. “I can’t help it, are you sure you don’t need a bodyguard to join you?”

“Bodyguard – you? Mr-Violence-is-not-the-answer?” She felt his lips creep from her cheek to the side of her lips. 

“You know what I mean.” Tenzin said seriously as they stood close to each other.

“I’ll be fine,” Lin responded and adjusted her bangles and bracelets. “I’m prepared as always.” The metal bangles and bracelets would function as more than fashion accessories should need arise. She swept the folders and other envelopes into the beaded bag she had on the dining table. “I’ll be back before you know it, I just need to reach the train station in time for the first train to Ba Sing Se.”

“No, you’re not riding the train to Ba Sing Se in that!” Tenzin sputtered, gesturing to her clothes.

“Why? As far as I know, the train stations are pretty safe,” Lin was offended. “I made sure that there were roving guards and security checks. People travel via train daily.”

“Well,” Tenzin conceded. “But not you!” He tugged at his beard in slight agitation, as Lin placed her hands on her hips. “Take Oogi with you.”

“Travel via sky bison -no thanks!”

“For my peace of mind, take him please.” He softly requested and he saw his wife ready to give in with a slight incline of her head. “And, wait a second.” Tenzin hurried to their bedroom as Lin finished packing her bag.

Lin felt the familiar weight of a pendant and the silky ribbon on neck when she straightened up. Her husband gave her neck a small kiss after he fastened the necklace.

“There, everyone will know that Lady Lin Beifong has yet to leave her airhead husband.”

“Tenzin.” Lin said with warning.

“Oh come on, you know what they think of me in the upper ring. I bet some of them have been hoping that you leave me or have had me offed for whatever nefarious reason.”

He was well aware of how, despite being middle-aged, desirable his wife was in all aspects. He might be the prized airbender but in the modern world (or even in the not-so-modern Earth Kingdom), she was definitely worth more with the literal Beifong legacy of wealth, power and social clout, not to mention her own bending skills were far more superior than most, and of course her position in Republic City was nothing to scoff at.  And of course, barring knowledge of any of those, he recognized that his wife posed an attractive (albeit mysterious) figure.

“I think I can handle myself,” She said ironically, as the safety of Republic City’s entire population did rest somewhat on her hands. “Okay fine,” She gave in, seeing her husband not budging, arms crossed. “I’ll take Oogi but only to make it easy for me to travel back and forth.”

“You’re the best,” He gave her a light kiss and strode off to the stables.

-----

“Good morning, Korra.” Lin watched in amusement as the Avatar slowly inched her way to the dining room, rubbing her eyes and rolling up her air acolyte clothing sleeves, mumbling a response.

“Tenzin’s not going to like your outfit, kid.” She raised an eyebrow at the teenager.

“What?”

“Your sleeves.” 

Korra unfolded her sleeves and plopped on the nearest chair as Lin poured her tea.

After taking a sip, Korra became aware of a far-away noise and that it was the Chief of Police sitting in front of her.

“Wow Lin, going somewhere?” 

“Hmm?” Lin absentminded fiddled with her betrothal necklace; she appeared to be waiting for something as she had already finished preparing for the trip. “Ah yes, Ba Sing Se for estate and business matters.”

“Not in your police uniform?”

“No, I don’t think the business people will take me seriously. They’ll probably think I’m my sister’s bodyguard.” She snorted, an action seemingly out of character with the fine clothes she wore. “I have to know how to play the role of Lady Lin.”

Now, it was Korra who snorted and coughed, realizing that this was Lady Lin. The Avatar took the opportunity to inquire, to learn more about her airbending master’s wife.

“What does being Lady Lin Beifong entail?”

“Ah well, I just don’t think I should be called Lady anything. Sounds a bit archaic, if you ask me.” 

“But why are you Lady Lin?”

“My mother is currently Lady Beifong. So I guess my sister and I just follow? And they just haven’t been sure what to call the wife of Master Tenzin I suppose.” The earthbender shrugged gracefully, exhibiting the result of years of being trained in etiquette befitting the Ladies Beifong.

“But still…” Korra’s eyebrows furrowed as she sipped her tea. “What’s in Ba Sing Se?”

“Well,” Lin continued. “It’s the mid-point across Gaoling, Republic City and Zaofu so that’s where my sister and I conduct regular meetings with the board and the executive committees of the Beifong companies and properties.”

The Avatar was about to probe further when there was a commotion outdoors and the Avatar vaguely heard Tenzin talking to an air acolyte about saddling Oogi.

“He’s a bit overprotective, sometimes.” The metalbender stood up, ready to leave.

The presence of the airbender halted their conversation. “You sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yes, dear. I’ll be safe.” 

“See you later.” Tenzin gave her a quick kiss as she passed by him.

Lin slung her bag and nodded to Korra. “Avatar.”

“Chief.” The Avatar gave a small wave.

“Well, let’s get to business.” Tenzin beckoned for his pupil to follow him outdoors.

Korra quickly finished her tea, scalding her tongue. But at least she would be awake.

-----

Unfortunately, there was not much difference from the previous day. Korra was still unable to release a puff of air from her hands and had difficulty getting through the airbending gates. Tenzin was similarly frustrated with himself.

It was at this sad state of things that Lin arrived at early evening.

Korra was lying on the ground trying to airbend when Oogi made a landing and sent dust skittering off.

“You okay there, kid?” Lin checked in on her as she slid off Oogi’s back, several packages in hand.

Korra just made an X with her arms, while having her eyes closed.

The earthbender smiled sympathetically. “It’ll get better.” She stepped over the defeated Avatar-in-training and gave her thanks to the air acolyte who had taken Oogi’s reins to lead him to the stables. “Clean up and dinner will be ready soon. I brough home food from Ba Sing Se, including Water Tribe dishes.” She entered the house, coming across her husband in the living room.

Tenzin eyed the packages that Lin brought home. “Had fun shopping, dear?” 

“Just a bit,” She shrugged as she carefully placed them on the dining table. “Here’s the contract for the renovation; the Zaofu workers will be in Republic City early tomorrow morning.” She tossed him the folder. “I’m assuming you can file this in city hall?”

“Thanks.” He absentminded took the folder. “How is Suyin?”

“Su is Su. She lives in her own world – literally. I had to make her promise to avoid visits to Republic City for the time-being given the increasing clashes between benders and non-benders.” She looked up and knew from his expressions that he was worried. “How was training Korra today?”

“I can’t get through her,” Tenzin disclosed, frustration coloring his tone. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Be kind to yourself,” She began unpacking the food she brought home. “Republic City wasn’t built in a week. You’re both adjusting. These takes time, and you’re a pretty patient man and I know that from experience.”

“I don’t feel patient today,” Tenzin allowed himself to be embraced by his wife, murmuring in a downcast tone. “How about let’s eat quickly and retire early tonight?”

“Unfortunately for you,” She pulled up the newspaper from the sideboard and pointed to an article. “Tonight’s the Pro-bending semi-final qualifiers and you know I can’t miss it.” 

Tenzin groaned in disappointment. “Liiiiin.”

“Tenzin,” She laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ll have dinner before I join the boys.”

-----

“Where are you going?” Korra asked.

“It’s Pro-bending night.” Both adults responded to her, one excited and one sullen.

“You don’t like Pro-bending?” The teenager asked her airbending teacher. “It’s been my dream to watch one of the matches live. Never thought I would be a ferry ride away from the arena!”

“It’s a mockery of the traditions of bending!” He threw up his hands.

“Oh come now, Tenzin,” Lin inclined her head to the grumbling airbender. “It’s no Agni Kai but it’s adequate entertainment.” 

“That’s just it – entertainment.”

Korra looked back and forth at the volley of responses from her hosts.

“Spirits forbid anyone have fun in your vicinity, Airhead.” Lin took it in stride. “Mother did say you were always the serious one.” She tugged lightly at his beard before standing up to take the trays of food and drink outside.

“Can I listen too?” The Water Tribe born Avatar tentatively asked.

Tenzin frowned deeply as he met Lin’s amused face, eyebrow raised in challenge. “Fine, but meditation for you starts 15 minutes earlier tomorrow.”

Letting out a whoop, Korra stood up and took the other tray of drinks and followed Lin outside, where the White Lotus sentries were gathered around the radio.

“Hello, men.” Lin made their presence known as she placed the tray on the wooden table at the station.

“Good evening, Lady Lin, Avatar.” The sentries chorused as they scattered to make space in the half-circle to provide seats and to take the trays from Lin and Korra’s hands (“Call me Korra!”).

The Avatar-in-training watched in amazement as Chief Beifong sat among the White Lotus sentries, comfortable in her Earth Kingdom dress. The lady was laughing in camaraderie and was even exhibiting that she knew them all by name. She chatted with them as they shared the finger food she brought home from Ba Sing Se while waiting for the commentator to finish with all the introductions and recaps. Korra figured it was not their first time to do this.

“How is your daughter, Hung? Did she like the mini pots and pans?”

“Oh yes, Chief, she enjoyed having a mini kitchen set to play with.”

“Lady Lin, my mother sends her regards.”

“Ah yes, Minha, I hope she’s getting used to the South Pole well.”

“Yes and she appreciates the coat you sent her through Lady Kya.”

Korra enjoyed herself immensely, freely laughing and feeling the start of an affinity with the White Lotus sentries. It was a far cry from the feeling of isolation she experienced back in the South Pole. They booed and cheered accordingly as the matches went by. They did not seem to particularly take her Avatar status with a lot of fanfare, which she liked.

She watched the metalbender at the corner of her eye – for all her misgivings, it would seem that the airbender’s wife was not all that bad as literature and media made it seem. The woman was laughing, no condescension in sitting and eating at the same space as the sentries. If it were not for the golden filigree and her attire, Korra would have thought her a part of the team. She was pleased to see that Lady Lin had no airs, which was more than could be said of her own Northern Water Tribe cousins.

“Excuse me, good evening everyone.” Tenzin’s voice cut-through the din. “Just checking if I may now take my wife home?”

The sentries stood up to give a bow, which the airbender returned and waved off.

“But we’re just getting to the good part,” Korra almost whined. She anticipated that she would be told off to go to bed too.

“No, no, it’s fine.” Lin accepted her husband’s hand as he helped her up from her stool. “I’ll go ahead, you all have stay and finish the match.” She motioned to the group. “I trust you’ll be able pack up later and finish your shifts?” At everyone's affirmative, she placed a hand on Korra’s shoulder. “Alright, see you all tomorrow – well, maybe not all: Aki and Sansan, I think you're both off duty tomorrow.”

With that, the group bid the pair good night. 

“Say what you will about those two,” Head sentry Yao, one of the more senior ones in the group, jerked his head towards the couple going back into the house, with the airbender still tightly holding his wife by the waist, tripping with faint laughter trailing behind them. “But they’re definitely a love match.”

“Never seen a more dedicated wife like the Lady Lin,” A dimpled sentry (Aki was his name, if Korra was not mistaken) commented wistfully (“And vice versa on the airbending master as a husband!” Another piped up). “I don’t get it why they get so much flak from the Order and the press.”

“Tradition,” Yao scoffed. The rest of the sentries turning to face him, relying on his experience as fact, being that he had been on Air Temple Island as a junior sentry during the previous avatar’s term. “If anything, they know the Lady would not be held down but they expected Master Tenzin to at least be a bit more pliable. A little bit more steeped into tradition, you know?”

Korra accepted a mini fruit tart that was being passed around the group, as they wait for the advertisements from the radio to finish. There was a lot, given that it was probably the third to the last ad slot. 

“It’s not like Chief Beifong was wasting her time in Republic City,” Han revealed that he used to be part of the Metalbending police department until five years ago when he decided to heed an offer from the Order of the White Lotus. “She had always been fair – very strict – but fair. Highly competent and much more capable than the entire City Council put together in protecting the city (“Shhh, don’t let Councilman Tenzin hear you!” “He meant keeping the city crime stats lower – that can’t be achieved by peacekeeping alone.” “Ah, right right. True.”).”

Into the third round of the last match (the Fire Ferrets were proving to be a well-trained underdog) , they felt the ground trembling.

Korra immediately stood up, tensing. “What on earth is that?” Earth tremors were uncommon in the South Pole, and if any, it did not seem to forecast good fortune. She distinctly noticed the unease among the sentries as they communicated non-verbally with each other. “Should we prepare for something? I can go inside and warn Tenzin!” 

“No!”  The vehement chorus of No’s surprised her.

“Well, okay – no.” She was confused now. “Is there an evacuation plan or is this normal?”

The sentries looked at each other, appearing unsure to Korra.

“Well?” The Avatar-in-training was poised to run into action at the first sign of danger, putting down her cup of water on a nearby tray.

Finally, head sentry Yao cleared his throat. “Don’t worry Avatar, this is very normal.”

Eventually, the floor ceased its apparent movement and there was a collective sigh of relief.

The rest of the sentries cast furtive glances at Korra as she sat back down, unable to fully focus on the game. The sentries, though, were easily engrossed in the match.

The match soon ended (“And the Fire Ferrets wiiiiiin!”) and everyone pitched in to clear the area. Korra hovered awkwardly, still on alert and very wary of the earth tremors.

As the last of the cups and trays were brought away, Yao took pity on the Avatar and wanted to give her peace of mind.

“You sure that was normal?” Korra twisted her hands in slight agitation. “That won’t cause the island to split and sink or something?”

“Yes, Avatar, there is no need to worry about it.” The head sentry accompanied her to the door of the Air Temple residential building.

“I don’t remember the island sitting on any fissure that would cause it,” The young woman wracked her memory for any geological feature near Republic City that could result in an earthquake. Man, she really needed to brush up on her studies. “I don’t think I’ve read about a phenomenon in the text way back.”

“Uh, it wasn’t a fissure,” Yao looked downright uncomfortable now. “And it’s a fairly new, uh, phenomenon; just a couple of years old.”

They have reached the entrance to the house; Korra paused and tilted her head in question. Just then, the ground shook a bit more for a few seconds long then every thing was still. “Tell me I didn’t just imagine that.” 

Two sentries (Ming and Jian?) passed by as part of their rounds. The head sentry nodded at them, “Will the two of you check The Area tomorrow?”

Ming and Jian saluted and Korra was left pondering why “The Area” sounded like it was said with capital letters, as though the White Lotus were talking about a very specific location.

“Better get some rest, Avatar. Good mood or not, Master Tenzin and Lady Lin wouldn’t appreciate it if we,” Yao rubbed the back of his neck as he turned back to the Avatar who was waiting for answers. “Continue to discuss the, eh, aftershocks of their evening exercises.”

Oh Agni, please swallow me into the ground now.

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Welp. Playing with the idea on what the pair looked like to others they interact with on a day-to-day basis for more...~domesticity? Eh 😏 lemme know what you think.

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My related posts:

Prologue (Contentment) 

Airbender’s Wife 1 | 3 | 4