#putting her in childish cutesy skins

[dlartistanon]

You grew, but some things never change

[11queensupreme11]

Ok so I scrolled back enough to see what the ao3 person said and urm oh boy…

The first part that miffed me was calling Percy childish 💀

Like she’s a teen what do you expect out of her, rational and poised composure ? Also Og Percy was an absolute boyflop himself ! Like bro would’ve gone along and acted like a cute uwu baby if it meant he would live to see another day ! Another thing I disliked was the Girlboss comment, like you can absolutely girlboss to the sun and back and still be flopping to hell and back along the way. Her perception of girl boss is probably some tough tomboy who acts like piper from the sounds of it ngl.

Also Percy is in an alternate universe with Volatile ass gods as they lovingly pointed out 😊

And so if you’re in an unknown place with very unstable and dangerous folks that can and will be more then happy to zap you, if it means swallowing your pride and acting like a kid then you will do it ! Like that place isn’t screaming gorgeous gorgeous stable folks.

Percy knew he could handle the Pjo gods to some extent but there are obviously more powerfull ! Like they’re not playing around anyone can see that.

ALSO FRACTIONS ARE A PAIN IN THE ASS !!

Like if you were off fighting monsters math is gonna be the last of your worries and not everyone is a math wizz like you 🤨 go one drop some fractions let me see em since you’re so smart.

And last but not least IM ( fully ) North African so I have very much the right and pleasure of telling you that us African folks can tan like hell ! I’m pasty but if you put me in the sun for long enough I’ll look like Percy and Adriana. Because believe it or not people come in different shades and the sun can and will darken our skin tone !

Also Percy isn’t Greek from her dads godly side while her mom has the African decent so yeah no wonder she’s tanned she’s got other lineage 🤨 most demigods usually get simple traits from their folks like eye color, hair or something that just smiller. And it was stated gods don’t got the dna so it’s mostly from the mortal parents

Also fan art is FANart ! See the FAN part ? People who like the fanfic are gonna draw it how they see it fit if you don’t like it then don’t look at it simple. We’re not all in some little gc conniving about the skin tone and all of us draw it how we see fit.

Getting pressed and over a skin tone sounds like a them Issue, they’re half Greek so they should know that there are Greek that are Afro-greek ! Like is the math not mathing ?? If you’re half of a nationality shouldn’t you be aware that other people can be too ?

Anways that comment felt very dumb ( and I hope I didn’t come off as too mean but I do stand my point that it was stupid as hell )

Im glad you keep doing what your doing Queenie and don’t listen to idiots like that 😕

percy's a goofball and a girlflop, but her cringy ✨uwu daddy✨ act is literally just that... an act she's putting on in order to survive 💀 she got inspired by the FLs of the isekai manhwas where they get evil daddies and gotta act cutesy to be spared from death, that's really just it 😭😭

and yes, it was a very dumb (and lowkey racist tbh) comment. so far, they haven't replied back and i don't think they will 😌

[vaninakan]

Confecti OCs!!

Yes, yes, yes! I've mentioned before that I have Confecti OCs and here they finally are!!

I'll be doing them in the order you get the respective confectis they're based off of in game

This little ankle biter is Marsh. He's a tiny cutesy fella who never grew up because he literally can't (being based off of those dry marshmallows you would find in Swiss Miss packets). He wears a bunch of soft and heavy clothing to make himself look softer and fluffier than he actually is. Being the youngest of his gang, his personality can be something of a wildcard being a mischievous prankster with a penchant for sugar and getting many sugar rushes resulting in the breaking of a couple of people's windows. Much of his origin is unknown, but what is known about him is that due to the way his body is, he never grew up (both physically and mentally) and is also something of an immortal squeaky toy. You can throw him, squeeze him, and explode him all you want, he will always come back like nothing ever happened to him. Because of his wild and childish tendencies, he particularly gets on some people's nerves and only those willing to put up with his antics consider him a friend.

Oh boy, where to begin with Choco? First off, I find it funny that the first two members of this group of OCs are so polar opposite of eachother that it comes off jarringly comical. Going from the cutesy-est one to the edgiest one.

Anyways, as for Choco himself, he's a bit complicated. Having something of a rough past with a mom that doesn't want to accept him as a son, a close father who died due to unfortunate circumstances, and having an abusive friend within a gang of criminals. Cliché edgy boy backstory, I know. Because of his rough childhood, he doesn't come off as the friendliest person, more often than not giving backhanded remarks to those he doesn't tolerate at most. He doesn't get along well with Marsh, he talks back at Gumball when she asks him to do favors like not breaking his arm so many times a week, really the only people he's remotely friendly to are Simon, his dad, and his crush Auge (who he's down horrendous for). He's also much more quiet and reserved in contrast to Marsh's more loud and out there enthusiasm, usually playing fighting games on his console or writing out his deepest feelings in his personal journal. His main weapon in combat is a baseball bat with nails hammered into it but later resorts to just using his fists thanks to his growing bond with Auge.

Next is S'mon (or Simon, it's pronounced the same either way lol) who's a s'more based confecti based off the s'moreknights seen in game. He's got a thick layer of hot tamale skin within him and a bloodsauce chamber which allows him to breathe fire despite the circumstances of being a marshmallow. He is one of the largest characters of his friend group (That wasn't always the case, at some point he was just as tiny as Marsh) which was caused by high amounts of stress he experienced during his time in the military which awakened his bloodsauce chamber (based off the way marshmallows puff up in microwaves). Despite his imposing size he's actually a big softie and is generally very docile to others, also being a big nerd for stuff like DnD and medieval games. Despite these positive traits, he's also easy to stress out due to having bad anxiety and a bit of self consciousness which he also got from his time in military. Go easy on him, he's doing he's best. (Fun fact: Both him and Choco are tied as my favorite OCs of this group and he was designed by my beloved @conflictedbeing <333 )

And then there's Gummy. The largest confecti member of this group and longtime close friend of Gumball’s. She normally communicates in more animalistic speech with barks, whimpers and growls but on occasion can start speaking in a comically deep voice when she feels like it. She’s very lazy by nature and spends much of her time loafing around and eating to her heart’s content but every now and then goes out with Gumball for walks. Despite her carefree personality, her stomach is filled with a powerful acid that can digest almost anything (including bones.)

Lastly, here's Gumball. A robot confecti and the oldest member of her crew, Gumball was created by an old, friendly engineer who gave her collective gumball confectis a home in the form of a humanoid gumball machine. Eversince his passing, she has been keeping his workshop afloat alongside her childhood friend Gummy in his honor. This home would later evolve into my confecti OCs main home, so you have Gumball to thank for that. As a robot, she possesses high intelligence and knowledge on many different subjects thanks to each gumball inside of her head acting as a neuron of AI knowledge. If she were to lose any of her gum neurons, her memory of the subject that gum piece specializes in will become fuzzy. Outside of being a smart AI, she's the main housekeeper of her friend group and tries to keep all conflict as minimal as possible. She also has a deep fascination for the biology of different toppins and confectis and how they function within the world's ecosystem.

And that's all of them, if you have any questions about any of them, feel free to ask (preferably these questions should be sfw, nothing too explicit.)

And once again, huge thanks to @conflictedbeing for Simon's design

[dudeandduchess]

Kyo ruining his own birthday cake by eating all of the sugar in the house before you *ahem* his wife can use it in a cake

Oh my god, bby. The giggle that came out of me was inhuman. 😂

Also, ✨🔥🎉🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SWEET BABY KYŌ!!!🎂🎉🔥✨ More fics will be up within the week, hopefully. Some of them will be smutty. 👀

___

Kyōjurō x F!S/O: Sweeter than Sugar (Fluff, Modern AU, SFW Scenario)

Note: I’ve been getting a lot of requests to add the kids in, so they’ll be mentioned here.

***

“I know I just bought it last week,” (Y/n) muttered under her breath; eyebrows furrowed in mild frustration, as she rummaged through the cupboards in the kitchen. No matter how hard she looked however, she couldn’t find the bag of sugar that she had gotten specifically to make her husband’s birthday cake.

Frustrated couldn’t even begin to cover just how she felt, as she already had the other ingredients pre-measured out on the counter. All that was missing was two cups of sugar, but she couldn’t— for the life of her— figure out just where she had put it.

“Kyō?” The young woman called aloud, finally getting up on her feet after having gotten down on all fours earlier.

“Yes, love of my life?” His cutesy nickname was sweet, and it almost made her want to giggle, but it was dampened by the reminder that she only had until six to get Kyōjurō’s cake ready for his birthday dinner.

Instead of yelling her reply though, (Y/n) marched out of the kitchen and made a beeline for the living room; where she had last left her husband with a bowl of popcorn.

The sight that greeted her, however, had her inhaling sharply as she pursed her lips tightly— if only to hold back the laughter that threatened to bubble free from her lips.

Because, right there, sprawled out on the couch was her husband… only, he was tilting the bowl up to his mouth, while his tongue kept darting out to make the popcorn stick to the tip of it.

“Why are you eating your popcorn like a lizard?” (Y/n) asked, with disbelief and a little bit of humor coloring her tone as she quirked and eyebrow at him.

Kyōjurō merely grinned at his wife, not even bothering to put the bowl down as he answered, “Ran told me about it. She thought that she was such a genius… and I think she might be.”

“Kyō…” (Y/n) couldn’t help it, she began laughing at her husband’s antics— especially when it had been fueled by their youngest child’s whims all along.

“See, clean hands, baby.” The blond raised his hands up slightly, even going as far as to wiggle his fingers; making his wife laugh even more, since he looked so childish doing it.

However, when her laughter died down, she couldn’t help but sigh contentedly and let her grin taper down into a pleased smile— one that had Kyōjurō mirroring her expression just as softly.

And, slowly, he got up from the couch and set the bowl on the coffee table, before turning back to his wife and opening his arms for her. “The birthday boy wants a hug.”

Only a heartless wench would have been able to refuse him, when he looked that adorable.

So, without dwelling on it, (Y/n) crossed the room and let Kyōjurō envelop her in a tight hug; giggling and shyly turning her face away from him when he began to loudly kiss her right cheek.

All the kissing noises, and all of the flustered laughter coloring the otherwise silent house.

Had the kids been there instead of with Senjurō though, (Y/n) was sure that they already would have put her in a dog pile of hugs. They took so much after Kyō so much, after all… if their hair and eyes weren’t already enough of a giveaway.

“What did you want, baby?” Kyōjurō asked after a minute of just cuddling up with his wife, gently nudging his nose against the apple of her cheek, while he let his lips continuously brush against her skin.

If (Y/n) were to be honest, she would say that she had to have a minute to think— as he was making it so hard to focus, so she could remember why she went to him in the first place. But she refused to give him even more of a leverage, so she wracked hard through her brain and eventually breathed out, “The sugar. Uh… we’re out of sugar. Did you eat it?”

The blond’s eyes widened at that, but he quickly composed himself and hugged his wife tighter; with one hand making its way up to cup her cheek and turn it, all so he could press his lips to hers.

“Have I told you how pretty you look, sweetheart?”

(Y/n) wasn’t buying it, however. “Only ten times since your dad and Senjurō picked up the kids.”

“I’m being ho-”

“Kyōjurō,” (Y/n) drawled out, while pulling herself out of his grasp and quirking an eyebrow at him. It was the equivalent of her crossing her arms and tapping her foot when she was lecturing the kids— and it was making the blond panic.

Since he couldn’t tell her that he had eaten it with the kids; all because they goaded him into eating it throughout the week. Add in the fact that he had picked up some Kool-Aid from the grocery store a few days ago and poured in a lot of the sugar, even when his wife had told him to use it sparingly.

He didn’t even know how to react— much like a deer in headlights. So, he did the only thing he could think of…

Kyōjurō cupped his wife’s cheeks with both hands and pulled her in for a heated kiss. “Let’s have another baby.”

And to his surprise, that had his wife blinking rapidly— as if to clear her thoughts, while a flustered grin made its way up onto her face. They had been considering having one last baby before, and that just cemented their plan into becoming a reality.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah… yes. Very.” It had been a last-ditch effort to get out of trouble, but the more that he thought about it, the more that he realized that he really wanted it to happen. Especially if it would finally give him the chance to have a child that captured just how lovely his wife was.

His life sure turned out sweetly; much sweeter than the bag of sugar that he and the kids had totally obliterated in the past week.

[me4gumi-moved]

kaeya can unclasp your bra with one hand.

pairing: kaeya x f!reader

genre and warnings: modern au, cutesy fluffy relationship stuff in the beginning but nsfw under the cut, too many pet names, unedited

note:

i’ve never been too good at writing smut :D i rushed it at the end because i was super tired and didn’t feel like writing anymore. probably gonna post this again later in the day if it doesn’t get any traction.

lying on top of your boyfriend, you were drifting in and out of dreamland, the sound of his heartbeat and the feeling of his rough fingers sliding up and down your back underneath your shirt — his shirt — lulling you to sleep. your hand lightly gripped his hoodie, almost as if you were afraid he’d disappear if you let go. his other hand took yours in his and brought it up to his lips, peppering kisses along your knuckles. “go to sleep, love. i’ll still be here when you wake up.”

a whine left your throat when you shook your head into his chest; you were like a petulant child when their mother told them it was bedtime. “don’t wanna.” you mumbled. kaeya’s chest rumbled as she chuckled at your somewhat childish behavior. you always did get a little stubborn when you were sleepy. how cute. you weakly slapped his shoulder, “s’not funny, yaya.”

“snot funny? i think it’s a little gross myself but to each their own.” your boyfriend lightly tickled the back of your neck, making you cringe. you audibly whined, clearly already frustrated with his teasing. it usually took a little while longer but you were tired yet refusing sleep at the same time, thus making you cranky. kaeya kissed the top of your head, “okay, baby, i’ll stop...for now.”

as much as you tried to stay awake, the soothing motions of his hand running up and down your back made it harder and harder to keep your eyes open. just as you were about to welcome the sweet embrace of sleep, you heard a snap and felt the pressure of your bra on your chest release, instantly waking you up. you shot up in kaeya’s lap and reached to your back, feeling the clasp of your bra undone. “did you just unclasp my bra?”

kaeya sat up with you and rest his hands on your bare thighs, massaging the muscles, a knowing smirk on his face. “with one hand, sweetheart.” his hot breath fanned against your ear as nibbled on the sensitive spot behind it. heat began to pool in your belly as he trailed wet kisses down your neck and along your throat. 

he put his hands back under your — his — shirt and moved your bra straps down your shoulders and with a little bit of maneuvering on your part, he managed to pull your bra off of you and throw it in some random direction. “yaya...” you hid your face in the safety of his neck, whimpering when he rolled one of your nipples in between his forefinger and thumb. your skin felt like it was on fire where ever kaeya touched you and it added to the growing heat between your legs.

kaeya flipped the two of you over and sat up on his knees, looking at your already debauched state. he leaned forward and pressed his lips against yours, cupping your face in his hand. you’d think it was an innocent kiss if not for his erection consistently grinding into your core. when you tried to catch your breath, kaeya used this as an opportunity into your eagerly awaiting mouth. he tongue intertwined with yours and he swallowed your moans. when he pulled away, both of your lips were swollen and wet with spit. kaeya began trailing kisses down your neck once more, but nipped and sucked a lot more this time around, leaving marks in his wake. little whines and whimpers left your mouth as he attacked some of the more sensitive spots along your throat. 

you moved to take your shirt off but your boyfriend stopped you, “keep it on for me; i like seeing you in my clothes.” you felt your cheeks heat up at the comment but slowly nodded your head, heeding his request. his warm hands ran down your torso, stopping to knead your breast for a moment, before stopping at your panties. he met your eyes for a second, non-verbally asking you permission. 

“please.” you whimpered. 

he flashed you another one of his smirks, “your wish is my command.” the blue haired man slipped your panties off and threw them into the same unknown corner as your bra -- you made a mental note to tell him to pick them up later. he ran his fingers through your wet folds and dipped them inside of your for a second, groaning when he saw the drool of your cunt coating his fingers. “my pretty baby is always so wet for her yaya, such a good girl for me.” he praised. 

faster than you could process, kaeya dove between your legs and licked a long stripe up from your perineum to your clit. he sucked the sensitive nub into his mouth and swirled his tongue around it as his arms kept you in place. your hands flew to his hair and pulled, using the long strands to ground yourself. you arch your back as shots of pleasure go up your spine. not a spot is missed as his tongue swirls around the bundle of nerves.

you arch your back with a cry as he easily slides to fingers inside of you, crooking them against that spot inside of you that he knows so well. “kaeya!” you squeal, already feeling like you’re about to lose yourself to the pleasure he gives you. “right there, please, right there, pleasepleaseplease-“ he immediately pulls way just as yours about to cum all over his fingers. tears of frustration prick at your eyes, threatening to spill over, “why’d you stop? i was so close!”

“not so shy now are you, angel?” kaeya purrs, a teasing lilt to his voice. he moves his face back up to yours and captures you once more in a kiss. you could taste yourself on his lips. he pulled back to throw off his shirt and shimmy out of his pants. at the sight of his engorged member you reached forward, wanting to make him feel good too. but before you could his caught you wrists in his hands, “just let me take care of you, okay baby? can you do that for me?” you let out a soft ‘kay and moved your hands to rest on his shoulders.

kaeya ruts his hips forward, slicking his cock with the wetness gathered in your folds, both of you moaning at the contact. after deciding himself lubed up enough, he sheathed himself inside you with one swift roll of his hips. when his hips meet yours, he swoops down and swallows the sweet cry that left your lips. you whimper as he fucks you in earnest.

the way he was fucking you had you mind going blank, unable to form proper sentences, left a babbling mess. your insides turns to mush as your boyfriend pounded his thick cock into you. fat tears dribbled down your cheeks, “‘m close, yaya! ‘m gonna cum!”

“go ahead. let go for me, sweetheart.” his words were all you needed to see white, trembling and crying as your orgasm wracks through you. you hardly register the feeling of warmth spreading through your nether regions before kaeya collapsed on top of you, holding himself up just enough so he doesn’t crush you.

when you come back down from your high, he’s peppering kisses along your face and whispering sweet nothings. you give him a peck on his lips and give him a dazed smile. “ah, there she is.” he grins, rubbing his thumb over you cheekbone. “you feeling okay, baby? anything hurt?”

you shake your head, “‘m fine. just sleepy.” you yawned, further proving how tired you were.

“okay, take your nap. i’ll clean us up.” kaeya chuckled and kissed your forehead.

as he got to work cleaning you up, you finally fell asleep.

[avrablake]

Happy Blorbsday Avra! So right back at you - what are your favourite picrews? What is it you like about them best? I never figured out Artbreeder either btw, but maybe the other one is worth a try 👀

And also how are you doing, writing/reading wise? :D

@writingonesdreams

Artflow is a lot of fun. I spend way too much time trying to get my OCs just right, but it's not frustrating or super complicated like Artbreeder. It's more like Wombo. You put in a description and the ai generates a portrait. If you are on desktop you can hit the "reflow" button to adjust the results.

I'm especially happy with how Nix and Mel turned out once I adjusted them:

Here's some of my favorite picrews:

Thea's Picrew: This one is a lot of fun to play with. I has a lot of neat hair options and pretty backgrounds.

Nix's Picrew: I like that it has lots of complexion options. A lot of picrews don't have medium skin tones. It has a lot of great hair options and I can give him a scar.

Gram's Picrew: This picrew is so perfect for Gram. Most picrews are great for young, thin characters. Gram is in his 30s and a big muscular guy. This one just fits him so well. I think it captures his personality well too.

Kai's Picrew: I love this picrew and use it a lot, but I wish it had more skin tones.

Kaori's Picrew: I think this one captures her looks and personality the best. A lot of picrews are more cutesy, but Kaori is not cutesy.

Mel's Picrew: I like this picrew a lot. It's simple but it can be both really cute or really pretty. Again it's cute but not childish so I think it fits Mel. It has a lot of great hair and clothing options.

Ambriel's picrew: I think this picrew is really pretty. I love the hair and eye options. I wish there were more clothing options

Karliel (her sister): I've done this one for Ambriel too of course but since Ambriel prefers casual clothes this one really highlights her sister better. It has lots of neat hair color and eye color options, fun backgrounds, sparkles, wings. It's just a lot of fun to play with

-

As for writing, I have been trying to get back into the habit of writing every day—or at least most days. It helps me to have a set time of day dedicated to it. I'm still trying not to push myself to the point of burnout though.

I've been working on a scene that gives the first real hint at what's going on with Thea's abilities in the story. I don't want to come right out and say "Hey look everyone! This is what's going on!" I want readers to realize "Oh hey, I think this might be going on." I can't seem to get it quite right. I think I need to focus more on the dialogue between her and Kai and less on her inner thoughts, which is always a struggle for me. I am overly fond of internal character monologues.

[mydisasteracademia]

Random LOV Headcanons

• Repeating something from my book “Did My Time”, due to the damage to Dabi’s body, he needs to use eyedrops multiple times a day. The amount depends on whether or not he uses his Quirk a lot; if he uses it more, he’ll need to practically drown his eyes with special medicated eyedrops to help with the dry-eye.

Adding onto this, due to his body’s natural affinity for the cold, he prefers cold things more than hot, because he has a worse reaction to hot/spicy things compared to other people (just like his mother). Yes, this means I HC him to absolutely never get brain freeze. The others are always jealous of him whenever he chugs a Slurpee in one go.

His burnt, scarred skin is extremely sensitive, especially to scents and scented lotions. He’s found that ointment works to keep things moist, but that also means he needs to be constantly re-applying it every time it dries, given that his Quirk is constantly drying out his skin to the point of damage. Every time his staples tug, even a little, it’s really painful and he’s prone to bleeding.

He does have a bit of a protective instinct, but only over those he deems weaker than him (and let’s be honest, he already has a lot of trouble with his own self-image, so that list might be shorter than you’d think). Definitely has an ‘irritated older sibling to hyperactive younger sibling’ relationship with Toga once they start to get closer. Gets unnecessarily competitive with others he considers stronger than himself, even if he himself doesn’t immediately realize what he’s doing.

Due to his Quirk being dangerous to himself, he can smell off, and he gets very touchy about it. Having grown up in a wealthy family, he can get very insecure at his bedraggled appearance and smell. He literally smells like burnt flesh all the time, and it lingers on his own body and his clothing. Due to this, he always hits up a laundromat to wash his clothes a few times a week, using money he’s picked off of wealthier victims of his. Really lays on the cologne to mask his natural corpse smell (and usually ends up smelling like pine trees, smoke, and something vaguely rotting).

Dabi is incredibly touch-starved, given that most people look at him and recoil in horror. He’s more like a cat, though. If you give him too much attention, he gets annoyed, but if he happens to rest his arm on your head or shoulder, that’s his way of subtly asking for positive attention. Depending on who’s doing it, he won’t immediately shove someone away if they decide to hug him. He’s a bit iffy with touch, and the fear of accidentally hurting someone he’s close to with his own Quirk messes with his head a lot. He can be a bit of an attention whore, given his fucked-up childhood, and when he gets praise it can put him in a good mood for a while. He really internalizes negative attention and can brood about not being good enough for a long time though. Won’t admit it, but he lives for headpats. Please give him headpats. He deserves headpats. Just watch out for the hair dye.

• Shigaraki’s Quirk does affect his body, though not by quickly decaying him like he does other things. Instead it’s more of a ‘slow-burn’ decay, and his constant itching is one side-effect of that. Since his body is constantly breaking down (his scratching gets rid of a lot of dead skin on the surface), his skin is incredibly sensitive and he can’t use most face/skin products because it damages him even more and he reacts horribly to it. So far he hasn’t found a brand that can help with his marred skin. Adding to this, he can’t stand spicy foods because it aggravates his decaying body.

Since his body is in a constant state of death and dying, this means he can smell off on even good days. It could be described as musty or ‘stale’, and since he’s extremely sensitive to scents and lotions/creams, he can’t exactly just use any old cologne to mask it.

Sometimes his throat gets super dry and he chokes on debris from his own mouth and throat. He needs to constantly hydrate to keep things from getting a bit too dusty. This means he prefers wet/moist foods over dry, and if he eats anything dry he’ll have a drink to go with it. At Kurogiri’s insistence, he always has a few bottles of water in his room at a time so he doesn’t have to get up in the night to go to a working sink for a drink.

This boy is so touch-starved. Whenever someone of the League hugs him, he acts huffy about it, but he doesn’t shove them off (unless it’s Dabi giving him a noogie, then he threatens death, much to the taller one’s amusement). He secretly craves touching other people. He’s terrified of accidentally dusting someone he cares about again (his family’s deaths haunt his dreams more nights than not), but if someone hugs him he just kind of melts into it. Someone please hug this boy. He needs headpats and positive reinforcement.

• Spinner absolutely loves sunning himself on rocks during summer. Whenever the weather is hot and it’s sunny, if he has a day off you’ll find him chilling outside on a rock just soaking up the sun.

Adding onto this, he really loves humid, hot weather. While the rest of the League (especially Dabi) is suffering, he’s just vibing with the weather.

And he sheds. Usually a few times a year, but it’s not uncommon to see large swaths of translucent white patches left behind. This can annoy the League, but to his credit, Spinner tries to keep it on the down-low. More than once he’s tried inconspicuously rubbing his arm or cheek against Shigaraki to try and help get the dead skin off. (He gets really irritated, but it helps with the itching a bit, so he doesn’t really complain unless he’s trying to concentrate on something.)

• Compress will casually swipe up random items that the League leaves around and later might give them back depending on what it is. The other members can get varying levels of annoyed at this, but they don’t get too beat up about it considering Compress’s Quirk and personality. (This is how Toga lost her favorite lip gloss. She didn’t stop pouting for a week until Twice bought her another one.)

When he gets anxious or bored, he often resorts to simple hand tricks to keep himself entertained: fiddling around with his marbles, practicing simple card tricks, or practicing magic.

• Toga loves horror. Almost any horror. Especially guro. During movie nights with the League, as long as the movie has some form of mutilation and/or blood, she’s giving it her full attention. Adding to this, she really loves anything written by Junji Ito and has read Tomie about twenty times. Despite this, she has a soft spot for cutesy things and her aesthetic is Gurokawa. She definitely has a Gloomy Bear plush or two.

She definitely has a fondness for beauty products, given that she’s still just a normal girl despite her Quirk. This fact can make her really insecure, and she’s prone to depressive episodes just like anyone else in the League where she does herself up real pretty just to try and feel more ‘in tune’ with her femininity and less like the monster her parents saw her as. Magne helped with this a lot in the past, but now that she’s gone she relies more on the others to help cheer her up.

She is not above forcing the other League members into spa days. Shigaraki is the only one who doesn’t have to get a facial, though she does insist on painting his nails and doing his hair.

• Kurogiri’s mist/fog can get blown away quicker than he can create more, but only by a very strong wind. It’s hilarious. Shigaraki can’t stop teasing him for it.

Is not above using his Quirk to forcefully separate two squabbling parties, especially in the bar hideout.

When he’s bored, he does bar tricks, much to Toga’s delight.

Since quite a few League members are under drinking age, he always makes sure to have sparkling cider on hand.

He carries snacks and a first-aid kit every time the League goes out on a mission -- especially when it’s Shigaraki heading out. He really does care for the man and will be the first to hand him ointment whenever his skin gets really crumbly or damaged.

Has come to reluctantly see the League as people he worries for. That’s the closest to “hm yes these are my children now I must protect” that you’ll get.

He misses Magne for how sensible she could be. He appreciates Compress’s overall chill vibe and his being the voice of reason among their little group of mass murderers.

• Kurogiri and Magne were the League’s parental figures. You can’t fight me on this. (Kurogiri reluctantly, Magne enthusiastically.) Compress was more like the outgoing uncle that has a sense of humor nobody can really understand at first and was definitely a theater major in college.

• Shigaraki and Dabi love chicken nuggets. Every time someone brings home fast food, you can bet your ass they’ll have ordered like a fifty-piece chicken nugget meal from wherever sells that. Constantly have to deal with each other trying to swipe the other’s nuggets when they finish their own.

• Twice loves Vine compilations and can recite a worrying number of them from memory. He gets a kick out of the “A Bagel, Two Bagels” one for how much he relates to it.

• Before she died, Magne loved when Toga begged her to help her with makeup. It helped with her dysphoria when Toga would doll her up.

She loved window-shopping and imagining herself wearing some of the stylish clothes in shop windows.

Despite her cruel persona towards her enemies, Magne had a soft spot for elegant-cute things, kinda like Toga but a little less bloody.

• Muscular always challenges the other League members to arm-wrestling when he’s around. He always wins. The others have learnt not to accept his challenges, lest they want bruises/sprains.

• Mustard is very childish in his tastes. He loves chicken nuggets and mac n’ cheese. Provokes people by pulling his lower eyelid down and sticking his tongue at them. I can definitely imagine him muttering “Eat my shorts” or “Don’t have a cow, man” whenever another member is angry about something.

• In this household we pretend that Moonfish does not exist.

• If the League had Switches, you bet your ass they play Animal Crossing on them.

Toga would go for a ‘Aika Village’ aesthetic, all gloomy and creepy but with an undeniably cute element to it. Definitely wears pastels and gothic-themed clothing.

Shigaraki models his after his favorite RPG and hunts down NPCs that fit the personalities of the various characters. His favorite characters tend to be dogs. Will not hesitate to kick out any animal who fails his ‘vibe check’. Surprisingly, this game can calm him down almost as well as an RPG. Joycon drift is the bane of his existence.

Compress uses only the most glamorous, expensive items on his island. Outright refuses to use dirt paths. Uses only Snooty villagers.

Dabi wants his island to look the best and is uncharacteristically stern about how his island looks. Everything is very neat and streamlined (and he has an outdoor gym near his player’s home). Will physically fight anyone who tries to ruin it by littering or messing around on it. He has a rivalry with Compress about whose island looks the best.

Spinner doesn’t really care about how his island looks. He just wants to max out his encyclopedias. Shigaraki once caught him up at 3 AM because he was trying to catch a spider crab.

Kurogiri doesn’t play it that often, so his island is fairly undeveloped. Doesn’t really care about it, considering his responsibilities to the League overpower a video game.

Muscular doesn’t care about it at all and doesn’t play.

Mustard made his island look like something out of Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley; a town area, a forest, and even a beach.

[yardsards]

ugh. remembered this one shitty thing from when i was like 15ish.

older dude (like. in his 30s probably) at church asked my father if he could date me. my father was all politely like “no, sorry, she’s 15″, not pointing out how creepy the whole thing was.

and i was NOT easy to mistake for an adult. most people actually usually assumed i was way YOUNGER than my actual age bc i’m babyfaced and small and didn’t wear makeup and had a super childish/cutesy and deliberately nonsexual fashion sense

i didn’t hear this conversation. we all went downstairs for the church potluck. my father let the dude SIT AT THE SAME TABLE as our family.

my father didn’t tell me about what happened until i got home.

he told it like it was a joke. my mother laughed. my sister (who was usually an okay person, but she was young and i think the environment brought out the worst in her) laughed. my skin crawled. i cried. they teased me for crying.

every sunday, they’d make jokes about it. they jokingly called the old man my boyfriend. “are you putting that bow in your hair to impress your boyfriend?” they asked. i considered taking the bow out, but didn’t want to give them satisfaction.

walking to our pews, they’d whisper. “do you think he’s checking you out?” “ha, i bet he’s got a boner.” they’d point him out to me, “there’s your man.” i would visibly scowl. i avoided him at all costs.

eventually he stopped going to church without a word. my father scolded me, only half joking. “you were so rude to him, poor guy, i bet you made him stop going to church, now how is he gonna find jesus?”

what the fuck.

[stones-x-bones]

All Buttered Up || Mina and Bex

TIMING: Valentine’s Day PARTIES: @drowningisinevitable and @inbextween SUMMARY: Mina and Bex accidentally go to a movie together on Valentine’s Day, and accidentally see the one queer film playing. Bex freaks out, Mina freaks out, and a special guest makes an appearance. CONTENT: Domestic abuse (brief), Child abuse mention, Implied homophobia

Bex couldn’t lie to herself-- she was extremely excited to see Mina again. They’d talked a lot online (Bex had even stayed up late at night replying to her messages, hidden under her blankets like a teenager) and had agreed to go see a movie together. Something simple and fun, that friends-- just friends-- could go and do together. Because that’s all this was! Really! Bex was in desperate need-- want?-- of friends, and her and Mina just got along really well. And, not to mention there was that whole cockatrice, angry bird thing. Shared trauma bonded people or something, right? Whatever the excuse, Bex was excited to see Mina again, and even more excited to spend time with her. 

They’d agreed to meet at the actual theater itself, and as Bex looked around, she noticed a lot of people holding hands. Her cheeks flushed a little and she had to look away every time she accidentally made eye contact with someone, clear her throat, and shuffle awkwardly. She smoothed down the front of her dress-- and she’d made sure to bring her bigger purse this time, the one with the leather strap, just in case-- and took another look around, eager, though she knew she’d gotten there early. Her parents hadn’t asked where she’d been going, but she’d told them she was going out with Frank anyway, and their silent nods of approval still lingered awkwardly under her skin. She glanced down to check her phone, and when she looked back up, she saw a familiar patch of brunette hair heading towards her. Brightening immediately, Bex put her phone away and waved excitedly. “Mina! Hey!” Bounced over, a grin on her face. “You made it!” She reached out, as if to hug her, but paused, wondering if that was an okay thing, and just held out her hand instead. “Ready to pick out which movie? I didn’t look at the board yet so it would be a surprise for both of us!”

Most of the time, Mina wasn’t sure what she wanted. Or, worse, the things that she wanted were out of reach, things that weren’t even possibilities. She can’t remember being taught to want, just to do as she was told and feel comfortable in the fact that she didn’t have to think, just do (sometimes she couldn’t even do that right). Going to the movies with Bex, though? That was something that Mina wanted, that she was excited about. She was used to nervous energy. All she had was nervous energy. She frequently had to work off nervous energy, espeacially recently, so that she didn’t end up doing anything reckless or foolish. But this was good nervous energy, and she held onto it the entire way to the theater, and even more when Bex walked up to her. “Hey! Of course I did!” She was a bit confused by Bex’s hand (was this a thing people did with friends? Handshakes?), but she shook it and laughed. “Wait, no, you pick out the movie. I told you, I have no idea what good movies actually are. But, if you pick one, I’ll buy tickets. Does that sound fair?” Does it sound like a deal? No. Bad. No deals. Don’t make deals with cute girls that you want to be your friend.

“No, no,” Bex said, waggling a finger. She took Mina’s hand in hers-- platonically of course-- and led them towards the ticket booths. “We pick together! Cause neither of us know much about movies. I say we go based off titles.” She grinned widely as she opened the doors and the two walked in, the lights inside much brighter than it was out. Bex blinked to ease into the bright fluorescents before glancing around again and noticing, again, how many people were holding hands, standing so close to each other. It reminded her that she was still holding Mina’s hand and she hastily let go, clasping her purse with both. “Um-- anyway! What looks good? WE’ve got…” she squinted to see the list, “Wonder Woman, I Still Believe, Onward, News World, and….The World To Come! Which one d’you think sounds the best?” Eyes sparkling when she looked back at Mina. Aside from Wonder Woman, Bex herself had no idea what any of those movies were about, really. But she didn’t really care-- as long a she was having a good time with a friend, what did it matter? “How about this-- you help me pick a movie, and you can pay for the snacks. Dea-- Oh,” she clapped a hand gently over her mouth, “sorry! Sorry. I didn’t mean to. You said no deals, sorry.”  

Mina allowed Bex to drag her away with very little protest. “Okay, okay!” She could do that. She could help pick a movie off of what title sounded interesting. Except… None of them sounded particularly interesting? She’d really never watched that many movies. She’d listened to musicals, and even watched a few of those, but tvs in hotel rooms and occasionally the cheap apartment building were usually reserved for the news, or they were left off altogether. Movies watching was never a big thing for her. Which was why she was looking forward to this! Partly! “Ah,” she looked at the list of movies in genuine confusion. How did people do this? “Okay, I can do that.” She smiled at Bex, pleased that the other girl remembered her thoughts on deals. “This isn’t a bad deal, so it would have been okay, but I’m glad you remembered.” She looked at the list once more before just looking at the times that seemed to be quickest. “The last one? The World to Come? That seems alright.” 

Bex nodded along with what Mina was saying, smiling. “Yeah! I think of all of them, based on title alone, that one probably sounds the most fun,” she agreed, nodding. “Okay, wait here!” And she stepped away for a moment, pulling out her wallet and card. “Two for The World To Come, please!” she said, already handing her card over. The woman behind the glass leaned sideways to look past her at Mina and gave a little cutesy sigh and grin. “Awww, cute!” was all she said, before declaring the price and handing Bex the two tickets. “Have fun!” she waved and Bex thought it slightly strange, but decided to not think too hard on it. “Here we are!” she said, handing one ticket over to Mina. “Ready to go get snacks?”

Not really knowing what to do while she waited for Bex to get the tickets, Mina rocked back on her heels a bit. There was a part of her that felt like she shouldn’t be doing this, especially not while she was still feeling the effects of the mushrooms. But a bigger part of her (the happy, content part that was usually so small) couldn’t be bothered to worry. When the woman at the booth looked over at her, grinning, Mina tilted her head and grinned back. That was the proper response, right? She thought so, at least. And, her teeth were sharp, so it was a nice smile. The one she gave Bex was much nicer, though, when the other girl brought back her ticket. She almost said thank you before she thought better of it. “Right, yes! You said popcorn, right? I feel like that’s a must, at this point.”

“Oh, popcorn is definitely a must,” Bex said with an over-exaggerated nod. Beaming, she ushered Mina into the lobby where the concessions were and the smell of stale candy and old popcorn and new popcorn filled her nose. She hadn’t been to a public theater since she’d last gone while living on campus at Penn State. She wondered if Mina had ever been to a movie theater before, or if this was her first time. “But I’ve heard you definitely need a sweet snack to off balance the butteryness of the popcorn. I”m much more of a fruity than sweet kind of person, but I could go for whatever you think looks good! Can’t say I’ve had a lot of candy in my life.” Her parents had seen candy as childish and insignificant, even when Bex had been a child and all she’d wanted was to go trick-or-treating like all the other kids. Clearing her throat, she stood next to Mina in line and examined their options. “What do you think? I’ve heard skittles are good.”

“Right, popcorn, got it,” Mina said with complete seriousness. Definitely a must, then. She could do that. It was really bright and loud in when they got into the theater, pairs of people walking and chatting together not unlike she and Bex were doing. “Sweets? Ah, I never ate that many sweets, either.” Deirdre was constantly trying to get her to eat pie, which was good, certainly, and Mina couldn’t lie and say that she didn’t like sweets, but she just didn’t eat them much. They were treats for things like birthdays or successful hunts… Mostly birthdays, really. But Mina smiled brightly. “Skittles it is, then. I’m quite fond of fruity flavors, too.” She ordered and paid, and, while waiting, turned to Bex. “I don’t suppose the lady at the ticket booth mentioned what the movie was about? Or are we just going into it blind? Not that I have a problem with that! It kind of makes it a bit fun, actually.”

“Perfect!” Bex chirped, idling next to Mina in line as they shuffled up, ordered, and waited to the side for their popcorn bag. Bex clutched her purse tight with both hands, glancing around a moment, taking note of all the seemingly coupled up people. Her eyes fell on one pair, two women, leaning into each other, arms loose but secure around the other, as they headed towards the theater entrance. She snapped back to look at Mina. “Um, nope! She didn’t! I think it’s more exciting not knowing, don’t you?” The man behind the counter came back over and handed them their popcorn indifferently, and Bex took the bag gratefully. “Wow, that’s so much popcorn…” she muttered, staring at it. “I hope we like it, huh?” She teased, giving a toothy smile. For whatever reason, she felt a little nervous. She wanted to make sure Mina was having fun, that she liked this, too, that she wanted to be here as well. “Are you ready to go in? I think we’ve got a few minutes, but maybe we can get nice seats if we go early!”

“Perfect,” Mina echoed, smiling. She took the bag of skittles as well, glad to have something to occupy her hands with. “I think you’re right, with the not knowing. I mean, I usually don’t like surprises, but usually because they aren’t very fun for me!” Late night hunts, being dropped off in deserted areas and having to find her way to a water source, impromptu training sessions. None of that was particularly fun, not really. “This seems like a nice surprise!” She looked at the bag of popcorn and cringed just a bit. She’d never specified how much she wanted, did she? “It’s… quite a lot of popcorn. If it’s not good then we’re in trouble,” she teased. There were some benefits to walking into that faerie ring, even if she was a bit out of it sometimes and had to watch what she said, what she did. She felt lighter, happier, more confident. She could understand, just a bit, why other Fae did this so often. Even if part of her felt very, very wrong. She smiled at Bex and started walking towards their theater. “Works for me! You pick where to sit.”

There was just something so relaxing about being around Mina. Maybe it was because Bex knew she was capable and felt comfortable around her, but she never felt like she’d ever had to hide part of herself with Mina, even when they’d first started talking. Even though it was public, she’d never felt the need to lie or hide or pretend. Mina was just...Mina. And she was nice and she didn’t mind Bex’s nine million questions and she had the same, excitable-- and anxious-- energy as her and it felt, well, nice, to not feel so alone, so different. She hooked her arm into Mina’s as she led them in, ignoring the fact that every other person around them was also doing the same. The theater was relatively empty, too, which was great! They got pick of wherever they wanted to sit, but Bex being Bex, still led Mina up to the very back in the middle where no one else could really see them. Settled into her seat before looking back over at her. “I’m glad you agreed to come see a movie with me,” she said, setting the popcorn between the two of them, “hopefully nothing weird happens this time. I’d like to just spend some chill time with you.” And she hoped she hadn’t just jinxed it by saying that.

It was easy for Mina to allow Bex to lead her into the theater, up the stairs. The very few times that she’d been to a musical, an in person event, the back had been referred to as the nosebleeds, the cheap seats where it was harder to see the performers on stage. However, looking at the large screen, Mina didn’t think that was going to be the case. Plus, she enjoyed the relative quiet, the lack of people. She hadn’t realized that she was getting a bit nervous until she had the moment to process that she no longer was. She gave Bex a bright smile, allowing herself to relax and enjoy the moment. “I’m glad I did, too. I can’t really think of anyone else I’d rather be hanging out with, right now.” She put the skittles bag beside the popcorn and bent down to adjust the socks of her boots. Her hand grazed the knife handle that was carefully hidden away. “Nothing’s going to happen. I’m quite sure of it.” And, if something did, she was far more prepared this time. As the lights dimmed, she impulsively gave Bex’s hand a squeeze before turning towards the screen. “I’d like that a lot, too.”

Bex felt, for some reason, butterflies in her stomach when Mina agreed. Even more so when she squeezed her hand and Bex felt a sudden flush rise in her cheeks, thanking everyone she could think of that the lights were dimmed and Mina couldn’t see her. “Well, with you here and my purse, I’m sure if something does happen, we can take care of it,” she grinned, grabbing a handful of popcorn and plopping a few pieces in her mouth. “Oh, that’s good!” she said, in a more hushed voice as the pre-trailers ads started to play on the screen. “You gotta try the popcorn before the movie starts so you can tell me what you think!” Her eyes hovered back to the screen when an ad about chocolates popped up on the screen, reminding her that it was Valentine’s Day soon. She couldn’t remember the exact date for today, but it was soon, right? She’d lost track of time this week, what with everything else that had been going on. Her cheeks grew hot again but she ignored it her best and leaned closer to Mina. “What do you think?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Mina said. She settled a bit in her seat and grabbed a bit of popcorn. “But nothing’s going to happen.” She ate the first piece a bit cautiously. It was just corn with butter on it. Really, what else could it taste like? Mina’s diet was mostly pescitarian, with a heavy emphasis on the pesce, so she didn’t really eat corn, had never really liked it. However, it was a movie staple, right? And, after the first curious bite, maybe she was a pescetarian with a bit more popcorn added in. Because popcorn? Popcorn was good. “I think it’s good that the bag is big,” she told Bex quietly as she grabbed a bit more. She looked over, not quite realizing how close Bex had gotten. “I think that this is great. Tha--” Mina bit her lip, looking down before looking back up. “I appreciate you asking me to do this with you.”

Another smile gripped Bex at Mina’s words, somehow more excited she liked the popcorn than herself. But it made sense, right? To want your friends to enjoy the things you did, too. To want your friends to be happy, too. Finally, the lights fully dimmed and the trailers booted up, a typical array of family movies, action films, and superhero films set to come out soon. But once the movie started, Bex realized it was going to be vastly different than she’d realized. For one, it was a period drama. For two, well-- she wasn’t just imagining the chemistry between the two main women, right? She had just taken another bite of popcorn when it happened. They kissed on screen and Bex instantly choked, sitting up straight in her seat. Oh, this was bad. This was really bad. She couldn’t be seen here! What if someone she knew had seen her here? After her coughing fit, in which several people shushed her, Bex sank into her chair, as if trying to hide, nearly forgetting MIna beside her. And then it suddenly clicked in her head, all the people holding hands, the woman behind the ticket counter, the advertisement for heart-shaped boxes of chocolates and flowers-- today was Valentine’s Day. Bex shot up from her seat. “I-- I have to-- I’ll be right back,” she squeaked out before stumbling towards the exit.

Mina had tried paying attention to the trailers, taking interest to see if there was something that she might like to see if Bex would want to watch later on. Then the movie started, and, for her first time at a movie, this one wasn’t so bad. She’d never been to big on history, so she didn’t really know too much about the period it was set in, or whether things were accurate or not, but the score was pretty, the popcorn was good, and, well, the actors were all quite nice to look at. When Bex started choking, though, she got concerned. “Hey, are you--” but her words were cut off by the people shushing, and Mina glared at them a bit before settling in her seat again, a bit huffily. She watched as Bex left, a bit worried. “Oh. Okay?” She grabbed a bit of popcorn and shoved it in her mouth, trying to pay attention to what was going on in the movie. But she couldn’t. Her leg bounced rapidly against the floor, and the minutes that Bex was away seemed to drag a bit before Mina decided to get up and head after her. She walked out of the room and looked around outside. “Ah, Bex?” she called out, looking around for the other girl and trying not to panic.

This was bad, so bad. Bex felt her arms vibrating, and by the time she made it to the bathroom to splash water on her face, she was sure she’d left a few miserable cracks in plastic poster coverings along her way. How could she have let this happen? Had anyone seen her? The panic was setting in deeper, making her chest feel heavy and she scrambled for her phone, but-- nothing. No new messages, no posts on Facebook or Instagram or anything. Heaving with breath, she pressed her back against the wall and slid down to a sit, just outside the bathroom, putting her face in her hands and running them through her hair. Maybe she should just leave. That was probably for the best, right? She could tell Mina she got sick or something. It would hurt and she even already felt a pang of guilt at the thought, but she had a reputation to think of. She already done enough damage to her family name, she didn’t need to let this be part of that, too. Even if she tried to explain, it was just a movie, with just a friend-- a thought that made Bex feel even more guilty-- they’d never guy it. She had to get out of there, now.

Pulling herself up from the ground, she put her phone back in her purse, ready to bolt, when she heard Mina’s voice, calling out for her. Shit. Awkwardly, she shuffled around, trying to hide behind someone to escape without being noticed, but as she turned, she ran straight into someone, and-- “Odelia?” said the voice, and Bex blinked, looking up into the face of her supposed to be boyfriend. Her heart fell into the pit of her stomach. “What are you doing here?” And for some reason, her only thought was, I hope Mina doesn’t see this. 

Spotting Bex was pretty easy when Mina actually looked for her, but she wasn’t quite expecting to spot Bex with someone else. For a moment, or maybe a bit longer than a moment, it kind of killed all the feel good feelings bouncing around in her head. She didn’t know what she was feeling, actually. Something a bit odd in the pit of her stomach over the familiarity that the guy had with Bex, something that made her stop in her tracks instead of walking over to the other girl. Was… that why Bex wanted to go to the movies? To meet up with someone else? But that would be ridiculous, really, because if that was what she wanted, she wouldn’t have needed to ask Mina to come. Unless this was some sort of trick, which was likely. There had been a few people her age, before she’d come to White Crest, children of hunters that had pretended to be her friend only to turn it around on her. Because who could be friends with a Fae? Especially when they were raised to hate them? But Bex wasn’t like that, right? But then why had she walked out, and why was she talking to some guy that seemed incredibly familiar with her, calling her by another name? And why did Mina care? That was what startled her the most, the fact that she cared, and quite a bit. Enough to stand there at the edge of the theater door, probably looking like a fool who didn’t know how to move.

“Hey,” came Frank’s voice again, startling Bex, “did you hear me? I asked what you were doing here. I thought you said you didn’t feel good?” But Bex was just frozen, staring up at him, as his hands gripped her arms, holding her in place. Blankly, her eyes fell to Mina off in the distance behind Frank. She had seen them, had seen Bex. What must she think? She didn’t know. She had no idea. She didn’t know what to do anymore, didn’t know what to say. Frank’s eye line followed Bex’s and his gaze came to rest on Mina. “Do you know her?” he asked, raising a brow. Then, he paused, as realization set in. “Wait-- are you here with her?” And the bite to his voice made her flinch. Bex screwed her eyes shut. “No!” she said quickly, but instantly regretted it as her stomach seemed to drop out of her body completely. “I mean-- it’s not like that!” she said, waving her hands at him. His grip tightened a little more. “Why did you lie?” he asked, growing angrier. Bex was small under his gaze despite nearly being the same height as him. She felt her legs turning to jelly. “I--” she started, but stopped. She didn’t know why she had lied to him. He had asked her to go see a movie with him and she’d just forgotten somehow, or last track of time, or just pretended it hadn’t happened. “Frank, stop, you’re making a scene. C-can’t we just go discuss this outside?” She whimpered quietly, trying, and failing, to not look at Mina. 

Mina couldn’t quite pick up the conversation, but she did shrink a bit as the guy looked at her, trying to make herself small. She wished she could just leave, then, because clearly she wasn’t wanted. She also wished that she could step forward, just a bit, because Bex looked panicked and Mina didn’t like that, she didn’t like that at all. The guy grabbed Bex, and that little voice in Mina’s head that had gotten so loud since the faerie ring was even louder for her to just kill him hurt him shove his face in the snow and drown him he deserves it and no. Nope. Absolutely not. This boy was probably a human, definitely a person, and absolutely not someone that she could hurt. But she hated the way he gripped Bex, and she couldn’t stop herself from walking over, putting her hand on his arm. “Hey,” she said, surprised by how cold and calm her voice was. “You shouldn’t put your hands on people like that.”

“Frank, please, can we just--” Bex started, but she was cut off when she saw Mina heading towards them. She tugged on his arms. “Can we please just go somewhere else?” But Frank saw her coming over, too, and something in him had changed. His grip had tightened on her enough to keep her from pulling from his grip, but his eyes were deadset on Mina approaching them. He didn’t move when she put a hand on him, instead furrowing his brow. “Frank, please you’re hurting me,” she begged quietly, looking over at Mina next to them now. “Mina, no, I-- it’s okay, he’s-- he’s my--” But Frank interrupted her abruptly and Bex even flinched at the harshness of his voice. “I’m her boyfriend,” he snapped loudly, “who the hell are you?” Bex had never seen him like this before, but then again, Bex had never really seen Frank before. They met at a soiree both their parents had dragged them to and mutually agreed to pretend to date to get their parents off their backs, and everything in between then and now had been for show. Except last time they’d met up and he’d told her he had real feelings for her and she’d left in a daze, vibrating from head to toe. “Mina, please, just go,” she begged quietly. “I’m fine, really.” But Frank wasn’t, as his arm tightened and turned a deep shade of red, right where Mina’s hand was making contact with his skin.

Boyfriend. Ah. Okay. Well, that… didn’t explain anything at all, actually. Mina didn’t even know that Bex had a boyfriend. And why would that matter, anyway? Why was he so defensive? Why did Min feel guilty? “I’m-- Really, there’s no need to be--” She looked at Bex, concerned and more than just a little hurt, but she’d almost gone before she felt actual, physical pain where her hand had touched the boy’s arm, causing her to jerk away. He burned. He burned her with his skin, and there was a sinking feeling in her stomach as she realized that this was a warden, and he had no idea who she was, that she had been raised to be like him. She put her hand behind her wrist, feeling the way the flesh was already starting to burn and change. It had been quite some time since a warden had turned their iron flesh against her, and it hurt. What was worse was the lack of control, control that she’d been so proud of because of the faerie ring, all just washing away because of the iron’s effects. She was grateful that her sleeves were long, but she kept her hand firmly behind her back as she backed away from Bex and this Frank and whatever was going on. “I’m-- Right. I’ll just--” Please don’t follow me please don’t hurt me please don’t make me hurt you.

Mina was backing away, she was leaving, and everything in Bex ached to tell her to stay, even though she’d just told her to leave. She wanted her to stay. She wanted to go back into the movie theater with her and dissolve into the darkness and eat popcorn with her. But she just couldn’t. There were more important things at stake than what Bex wanted. And so she didn’t call after her. She let her walk away, and her stomach churned and her heart sank and she already felt tears in her eyes.

But Frank wasn’t going to let her just walk away. His grip had released on Bex and he whirled on her. “Stay here,” he hissed, before turning to follow Mina out at a quick pace. And she should’ve-- she really should’ve just stayed there and listened like a good little girl-- but she couldn’t. “Frank!” she called out after a moment, giving chase. The door swung shut in front of her and she struggled to open it, bursting into the alley behind the theater, the cold air hitting her hard and making her realize she’d forgotten her jacket inside. “Frank?” she called out, but didn’t see him right away. “Mina?” Then she heard it, the rustling, the low voices. When she rounded the corner, Frank was close enough to Mina to reach out and grab her. “What the hell did you do to her, creature?” he snarled.

“Please, please, please, please,” Mina muttered as she walked outside, her hand cradled to her chest as she tried to will away the webbing as sharp claws. It… somewhat worked, though her skin was burned, the palm an angry red and blistered. She needed to leave. Leave and never get out of the water and just fade away into obscurity until all of this was forgotten and fine. She could do that. She was going to do that, until she was jerked back, brought face to face with Bex’s warden boyfriend. Fates. If Deirdre’s Fates were real, were a thing, then Mina didn’t seem to have fate on her side. Ever. She pulled away from him as much as she could, but she wasn’t particularly scared. Not at the moment, not with just the two of them there in that alley. “I didn’t do anything,” she said, her teeth gritted. Without Bex, without witnesses, how could she be scared? He was a child, and she’d spent her entire life being raised by hunters. He was not on par with her, not even with his iron skin. She had just as much warden training as he had, likely more. She panicked, though, seeing Bex behind him, and hid her hand again. “I-- Please. Let’s not, okay?” she begged the boy. She didn’t want to fight him. Not here. Not now.

“Frank!” Bex called out, dashing over to the two of them and wrenching his hands from Mina. She shoved him back. “Stop it!” she shouted, and the surprise was evident on his face, so startled that she’d done that he’d barely had time to react before she was putting herself between Mina and him. “She didn’t do anything! I asked her to come with me!” She really needed to just shut up now. She needed to stop talking. If she stopped talking, she could beg for his forgiveness later and tell him she’d make it up to him and he’d never have to mention this to her parents at all and everything would be fine. But she didn’t do any of that. “She’s my friend, that’s it.” And even Bex felt the lie catching in her throat. Even Frank understood it. His eyes turned sharp on her, before flitting to Mina, as if he were debating what to do next. She hoped he would just walk away, that he wouldn’t make such a big thing out of this. That maybe he’d have some sort of understanding. His next words proved her wrong.

“You know what? Fuck it,” he spat, backing away, adjusting his jacket sleeves. “I’m done defending your bullshit, Odelia. If you wanna be “friends” with trash like that, be my guest.” His glare made Bex’s stomach churn again-- she hadn’t known he was so hateful like this. She’d thought maybe he was different. He’d been so nice to her, made her laugh, talked to her about political topics she’d never thought someone else would agree with her on-- and yet there was this anger inside of him, and it was all directed at Mina. Because of her. He held a hand up, though, and pointed angrily at Mina. “This isn’t over, though,” he said, and Bex shoved against him again. “Just stop it, Frank! Go back inside!” 

A part of Mina (a very large, ever-growing, very dangerous part) wanted to drag the warden back, show him that she wasn’t something to be trifled with. That he could go back and tell all of his little warden friends that he’d been beaten by a Fae, that Fae who was Eric Fitzroy’s pseudo-warden failure of a daughter. Let them try and laugh at her, hurt her, after that. But she didn’t, couldn’t. All because she was so scared to risk exposing herself in front of Bex, the idea of it causing a pit to form in her stomach worse than any lie she’d ever told. She met his gaze at his harsh words, though, and raised her chin defiantly, even though she was hurt and afraid. I’m not afraid of you, she wished she could tell him. I’m afraid of what she would think of me. And, really, wasn’t that worse? Mina didn’t even understand why, not really. She looked at Bex, unable to keep the hurt out of her eyes before she looked away. “You didn’t have to do that. You shouldn’t have done that.”

Bex didn’t know what to do anymore, in the silent aftermath of whatever had just happened. She realized with a cold dread that she had a lot of cleaning up to do now. With Frank, with Mina, with probably her parents. But she didn’t have the energy for it anymore. She rubbed the tears from her eyes, not looking at Mina. “He’s not usually like--” she started, cutting herself off before finishing the sentence, even if they both knew what the last word was. She hated how much like her mother she’d sounded, giving excuses for someone who clearly had issues beyond her repair. She swallowed hard. There was an anger building inside of her, but she didn’t know who it was directed at. If it was Frank or Mina or herself. Or even someone else, someone she didn’t quite know who yet. She looked down at her wrist and saw bruising already forming on her pale skin. It reminded her of the deep red Frank’s skin had turned before Mina had jerked away. “I should…” she started, but still couldn’t finish her sentence, standing silently in the cold of the alley.

“It’s okay,” Mina said quickly, swallowing back bile. She tried to grin, but it was more of a grimace. “I get why he didn’t like me, I assure you. It wasn’t you.” He was right not to like her. That’s what he was raised to do. Just as she was raised to, well, fight every instinct she’d ever had, just like she was doing right now. She glared at the marks on Bex’s wrist, glared against the pain in her own hand, hated the way she felt. The muscles in her jaw felt tight and, for the first time since she walked into the faerie ring, she was having to fight off shifting. She missed the happier energy that had washed over her. “You left your jacket,” Mina said, realizing just how cold it was. She’d never really taken hers off in the theater, always comforted by extra layers, but she took it off, then, offering it to Bex with her good hand, not quite looking at the other girl as she did. “Here. I’m sorry. About what happened. And about whatever went wrong with the movie, too.” She didn’t really get that part, but she was sure it had something to do with her. Of course it did.

Bex knew what she needed to do. She needed to go back inside and find Frank and her jacket and tell him she was sorry and that she didn’t mean anything by this and that she would be better. Because that’s what everyone wanted her to do, that would make her the good little daughter who was worried about public perception and that would make her the good little daughter that wanted a normal life. But Bex didn’t want any of that, and she was so tired of pretending she did. Shakily, she reached out and took the jacket, wrapping it around her shoulders as she began to shiver. She didn’t know what to say anymore, but she grabbed Mina’s hand and stepped forward, leaning into her. Buried her head in Mina’s shoulder, because she just needed to not feel so alone for a moment, just a tiny moment. She hoped it wouldn’t make Mina feel too uncomfortable, because she didn’t want to move once she got there. “I just wanna go home,” she mumbled into the quiet alleyway. 

The jacket had been a kindness that Mina hadn’t really expected Bex to take. This was honestly the time when she expected Bex to run off, and then Mina would leave and maybe go somewhere and attempt to rediscover the calm and relaxation that she’d managed to find over the last few weeks. But, instead, Bex grabbed her hand, and Mina’s heart skipped a bit, and that was really rather silly, wasn’t it? That her heart would do that over something that could barely be described as a hug. She let her free hand, still burned a bit and uncomfortable, wrap around Bex’s back, patting hesitantly, and this felt nice. It felt okay. She really couldn’t help that it felt okay. “Alright,” she said out loud, her voice barely above a whisper, but Bex was close enough that Mina figured she could hear it. “Alright, you can go home.” But she didn’t make any move to leave, and neither did Bex, and she had to wonder, really, what exactly home was supposed to be, and if it was really somewhere that someone could go back to in the first place.

[officialaquamarine]

Ghost Marriage Event Card

R Miette: A Flowergirl Forever

(sprite edit with assets from: LLSIF, FEF, and Twst)

--

Out of all the outfits Miette had been forced to wear over the years, this one was definitely one of the better ones. Sure, some of the colors clashed a little, but it was cutesy without being overly childish. And it was purple. If only Eliza was in charge of coordinating outfits for her. Perhaps it was the desire to keep the dress pristine that made Miette use the makeup sponge Vil had handed her to dab away her tears, even though she knew she looked like an idiot.

“You don’t have to fix my makeup,” Miette said for what felt like the fortieth time that day.

“You made an attempt. You failed. It’s my job to show you how to properly do it.” Vil replied. Grabbing a chair with his free hand, he sat beside her and placed the huge, rhinestone-studded box on his vanity. “For once, I’m glad a brand sent me every shade of their foundation. You need better makeup.”

“I have good makeup, I just -”

“You just save it for your job, I know. But you need to use it up before it expires.”

“I… I guess.” She looked away from him, glancing at all the foundation bottles in the box.

“... What, no quip that if it costs over five hundred madol, it doesn’t expire?”

Miette just sniffled. Vil sighed and grabbed a packet of makeup wipes.

“Take it off.” She took the wipes and started wiping off the long trails of inky black eyeliner that went down her cheeks. “You must be feeling really bad if you’re not fighting with me.”

“I’m sorry,” she replied instinctively.

“Ugh, stop apologizing. You know I hate it when you apologize for things that aren’t your fault.” He grabbed a bottle and brush and started smearing different shades onto her face. There was a slight pause. “When you shade match for real, where do you test to get the best match?”

“Your chest.”

“Good. You remembered.” A pause. “At least your dress looks good.”

“Eliza’s good at picking outfits.”

“‘Eliza?’ You’re on first-name terms? Okay, this should work,” he muttered to himself. He grabbed a makeup remover wipe and started taking off what he’d put on her. 

“Why? Is that a bad thing?” she demanded, eyes narrowing.

“Calm down, Miette. It was just a question.” His own eyes narrowed. He shoved the foundation and the brush into her hands. “Do you remember what I told you about putting foundation on?”

“You need to buff it in with little circles.”

“Good girl.” Miette turned to the huge mirror and started putting foundation on the brush. Vil clicked his tongue and plopped another glass bottle and a sponge in front of her.

“Primer.”

“Right…” Primer’s a scam, she thought, but nonetheless went with it. 

“So why were you crying? Don’t you usually relegate your breakdowns to your dorm room? What made you so upset that you broke down in a classroom?” Oh Vil. As if he couldn’t get more blunt. Miette slumped and Vil’s eyes bore holes into her. 

“I don’t want anything to do with this. I just want to go back to my dorm room. I don’t want to be a flower girl.” She put down the sponge and grabbed the foundation brush. “I’m too old to be a flower girl. I’m sixteen, not six.”

“But you look adorable in your dress,” he said.

“I don’t care about wearing cute clothes. I don’t want anything to do with weddings.” Vil stood up and started rifling through the huge pile of PR boxes next to his vanity.

“Keep talking,” he said.

“I know Eliza’s not really going to marry Idia and I just feel bad for her. I’m ready to contour.” Vil leaned over, placing a palette in front of her that still had the plastic wrapping on it.

“You can keep this. It’s too dark for me. Why do you feel bad for her? It’s not okay that she came in here and just decided to marry Idia and kidnapped him.”

“Oh no, that’s super bad. I just…” This was getting somewhere sensitive. She fell silent, tearing the packaging open on the contour palette and getting to work. Vil, arms full of more products, sat back down beside her and started putting them all on the vanity. 

“Just tell me what’s wrong, Miette. I can’t help you if I don’t know why you’re upset,” he told her. 

“It’s hard to talk about…” She started blending her contour, the sponge bouncing against her skin aggressively.

“You’re doing it too hard.” The sponge was snatched out of her hands. He grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him. He was much more gentle on her face. Vil didn’t look angry, but she could see the traces of exasperation on his face.

“I know I’m going to end up like Eliza, spending my afterlife looking for a partner instead of resting or being reincarnated,” she admitted.

“What?! Why on earth would you think that?”

“I’m never going to be able to get married while I’m alive. My job won’t allow it and even if I found love after I quit, it’s once an idol, always an idol. I can’t subject my partner to the limelight and I don’t want to face the backlash.” Vil remained silent. He put the contour palette down and grabbed what looked like a vintage frosted glass bowl full of blush in the shape of rose petals.

“I know how you feel -”

“No, you don’t -”

“Let me finish. I understand how you feel. You have such a following that any partner you have would be under immediate scrutiny and they’d have to adjust to a very different lifestyle under the public eye. I also worry about that.”

“It’s not the same. You’re an influencer. You’re in charge of your image. You’re marketing yourself as perfection. I’m not in charge of my image. My company markets me as a potential girlfriend. Everyone feels like they own me because my company forces me to keep up that fantasy. If I ever got a partner, it would be a nightmare. Fanboys are terrifying,” she said. Again, Vil was silent, poker-faced while he put on Miette’s makeup. 

“I suppose you’re right, it’s different contexts. But our respective partners would still be under the same scrutiny. Close your eyes.” She obeyed and a moment later, something wet was going on her eyelids. “I don’t understand why you’re insisting that I don’t get you or that I can’t help you. Haven’t I helped you before? Ever since you got here, you’ve been acting like a lone wolf.” His words stung. 

“I thought you helped me at that photoshoot because you were worried I was going to delay it, not that you cared about me or my feelings,” she admitted.

“Are you kidding me?!” he spat at her. “If I didn’t care about your feelings, I would’ve let you had a breakdown on set. If I didn’t care about you, I would’ve let that designer put you in that skimpy bikini. You were uncomfortable and you’re underaged, of course I threw a fit and made them give you something else to wear.” He scoffed. “I can’t believe you thought me risking my reputation was for my own sake. That makes no sense.” 

“I’ve only worked with you a handful of times, Vil. How was I supposed to know?”

“Uh, because it was obvious. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.” A pause, and then he squeezed her shoulder. “I wouldn’t call us friends either, but I care about you.” Miette swallowed hard, that awful aching feeling that came with tears creeping up her throat. “Do you like natural or unnatural highlighters?”

“Natural,” she croaked out. There was a pause and then a moment later, a brush was gliding across her cheeks.

“I really don’t think you should let some disgusting middle-aged men dictate your life. If you want to get married, you should. Let those idiots burn hundreds of thousands of madol worth of merchandise that they already spent the money on and you got royalties on.” He had a point, but even if she could handle it, would it still be okay to subject her partner to harsh scrutiny? Not to mention no matter her age, marriage most likely meant a death sentence for her career.

And yet…

Vil didn’t have to take her back to his dorm room. He didn’t have to fix her makeup. He didn’t have to try and talk things through with her. But he did. He was trying to make her feel better, to take care of her. 

“Thank you, Vil,” she said quietly. She opened her eyes just a smidge. The smallest smile graced his lips.

“I’m done with your eyes, you can open them. I just need to set it.” He shook a canister hard and sprayed it all over her face. “And you’re welcome.” He stood up and Miette followed suit after shoving her gifts into the large pockets of her flower girl dress. Maybe some day she and Vil would be like this again, but she’d be in a bridal gown. His arm rested over her shoulders as they walked to his door. If she knew him better, she would’ve hugged him. “I’m not going to fix your makeup again, so you’re on your own next time.”

“I know.” He squeezed her shoulder.

“Now go show the world how well I did your makeup.” She laughed and leaned into him slightly. 

“Okay, can do.” Sure, they weren’t friends, but perhaps this was just the first step of friendship.

[yellow-pigeons]

[Slight NSFW] Rainy evenings and unfired bullets - A WillNemi One-Shot.

It was just another one of those evenings where one’s mind wandered off way too far than anticipated. He straight up despised it, having to deal with vivid flashbacks and bitterness bubbling up within him until it was close to spilling. A wave of coolness washed over his shoulders, making them tense in discomfort. The window was left open, dark curtains slightly waving in the night gusts of gentle, yet rather chilly wind. Dispatch was probably abandoned at such late hour, yet it left him with a ponder. 

She wasn’t present, still.

The more he let his thoughts infiltrate his cool exterior, it began getting worse.

More and more clouding.

Why, why did he have to be this way?

Why couldn’t he push the boulder over the edge and move on? This wasn’t something his narcissistic self has deserved in this restless afterlife. This is punishment, this is a way to redemption. Not to have a new, ‘better’ state of existence.

Sliding the cold muff past his parted lips, his finger slightly flinched as it made contact with the smoothness of the iron trigger. This could’ve ended this way. Quickly, not so painfully. Sliding into blissful oblivion like none of this has ever happened.

“Good evening.”

A voice murmurs against the back of his head, easily finding the mark that was usually hidden well by its owner. Two slim arms wrap around, pulling him into an inverted embrace he had not felt in a long while.

She knows.

Of course she does.

A bitter smirk appears on his lips, as he grips the pistol tighter, it now sliding on the underside of his chin. She doesn’t move, giving small caresses to his shoulders and pec, face pressed against his head, warm exhales of air warming up his scalp.

“Move away, or it will hurt us both.”

“You won’t escape that easily, dove. A bullet will do as much as nothing to me or you.”

She murmurs, lips curling in a grin as she presses a kiss to the old scar on the back of his head. Sly and straightforward as always. So typical for Noemi to act this way in private.

“It’s funny how you think death will get you out of here, William. Considering the fact that we are death, you won’t run away from yourself that easily.”

She chuckles, hands traveling to his own ones and petting them in a strangely familiar way. He feels himself get slightly uncomfortable from foreign touch, but lets go of the gun eventually, letting her hands take its place. Still coated in black gloves, they feel even more frail than usual.

“Noemi Haruda. Where have you been.”

He asks stiffly, thin fingers slipping under the damp fabric of her gloves and feeling the skin underneath them. The other reaper hums silently, as if expecting the question to come eventually.

“Do pardon my lateness, Mr. Spears, however I found myself correcting some overdue reports that you have forgotten to check. Shame on you, what a disgraceful act that was, especially from such precise man as yourself.”

Her hands slip out of the grip, now bare and one sliding to cup his cheek, thumb pacing over his high cheekbone. She feels him stiffen in a sudden wave of dreadful realization, before grabbing her wrists and moving forward, in the range of his sight. There she stood, the grim reaper he grew to admire as much as The Legendary One. Not one day passed without a thought of how could someone like her ever take interest in him. She considered the thought amusing, yet he was persistent in the belief of not being worthy.

“Impossible. I have checked them twice. You are fully aware of my distaste towards lying.” 

A growl slips past his lips as she laughs, kicking his chair away from the desk ever so slightly, foot clad in black nylons easily maneuvering the wheeled furniture element.

“My my, you sure are quite a stick in the mud. Have you missed me that much?”

Calmly, she takes her seat on his lap, almost taking some kind of sadistic pleasure in his discomfort. She knows he tries to remain cool, but his behavior resembles that of an abashed teenager. William allows his hands to lay on the armrests of the black, leather coated chair, giving a glare of disapproval to his mate.

“You’re shameless.”

“How can I not be when you’re mine? You said it yourself.”

She frowns slightly, jabbing a finger at his chest, as if with a grievance to the ravenet. The almost childish pout makes him huff and move said digit away from himself.

“Will you tell me where have you been? It’s past midnight, and your shift seems to end at eight.”

He pries, not once breaking eye contact. Has she been in the human realm again? Or maybe hung out with that disgrace of a grim reaper, Sutcliff? Whatever she was doing it was unacceptable. They agreed to see one another after her shift.

“Come now, William. I was out for a walk and happened to stumble across a new tea shop. Humans these days really try to improve their game.”

The bluenette replies swiftly, fingers meticulously loosening the man’s tie and sliding it down the side of his chest. How unlikely of him to be so curious of her being late once in a blue moon. Interesting.

“Now that I am here though, and you had a small break from my lovely self...”

She trails off, leaning down to press herself against him, as he lets out a huff.

How utterly inappropriate.

For a headquarters member and him.

“Noemi. This is... improper.”

“I know. That’s why it’s fun.”

With that, the woman slowly leans toward him, pressing a gentle kiss on his cheek, Spears allowing his hands to wander up and caress her back, fingers threading through her hair.

She was impossible. Demanding attention from him whenever they were alone, doing all those cutesy things he could never expect of her cold exterior to do. Haruda was... so similar and yet so different from him it drove William insane.

Though... it drew him in. It was fascinating how a reaper with her past could be so... human.

“Oh? A sudden change of mood I see?”

She notes, taking his hand and presses her face into the crease of the palm, returning the slight smile he noticed to slip onto his lips.

He exhales slowly, looking at her with a certain... fondness in his gaze. How unfamiliar of him to be doing that, yet she seems to be happy. It makes his cheeks get warmer, as she holds in a giggle.

“You’re much better being you, Will. What a rare, blissful sight...”

Noemi murmurs, exhaling slightly as his thumb moves over her lower lip, feeling the soft, rosy skin on his own.

Ha, is he always going to be so dense?

Apparently not, as she soon feels his own lips crash against hers, connecting them in a fluid, skilled motion. At first she jolts a little, but as soon as his hands cup the back of her head, messing up her locks, she relaxes with a small grunt, smiling weakly against the kiss.

He controls himself, perfectly as always. Minds every little touch, caress and kiss. It’s flattering, but also interesting at the same time. He puts dedication and care into her as much as into his work, maybe a bit less, but that doesn’t seem to really bother the not-so-cold-hearted Italian.

His hands smooth out the folds on her vest, soon enough popping the buttons open one by one as he keeps her distracted. The other doesn’t give up so easily though, taking his hands and holding them in her own.

“Well well well. Aren’t you prudish, Spears? To touch your boss this way? Maybe I should assign you some overtime for violating my personal space?”

She utters, the vile smirk not leaving her face as he smirks back at her, pulling her closer by the hand. Garments begin to fall on the floor, until none of them is left with any other upper clothing items. It’s funny how easily she manages to submit to him, even though she was the one starting the whole teasing game.

Looking up, her face lights up with a smile at the redness flushing the brunet’s cheeks. Soon, she lays her head back down on his chest, sighing at the pleasant feeling of being skin to skin with him. Noticing her sudden slump-down he rises an eyebrow, fingers tracing circles on her back.

“Are you not feeling like it anymore?”

“It’s not that, really. I feel like this, just this only makes me so much happier. I struggle to find the magic behind it.”

He sulks for a moment, then lets out a barely audible snort, shaking his head at her words. Rain begins to increase outside, thumping against the curtains and other windows in his study in a silent melody. It’s soothing, but also sort of melancholic, wistful even, making both reapers glance over at the opened window for a while and sigh cheerlessly.

“I’ve always been wondering, why are you so harsh on anyone you meet? I understand the fact that you cannot trust anyone but…It was heartbreaking to see you shout on that poor rookie for dropping the papers.”

William grunts in distaste of her question, shrugging.

“I could say the same about you. Not once were you caught snarling either at your underlings or colleagues. You’re not a saint either, dove.”

This time she is the one to laugh, letting out a dry chuckle, resting her cheek on his bare shoulder, dreamily taking in the scent of rainwater and cologne. Of course he didn’t take an umbrella. So typical of the overly methodical numskull.

She knows well what he means by that. Kindness was never one of her virtues, but at least she made a step towards befriending his underlings, like the redhead or blond rookie. William never seemed to have a care in how were they doing, or if they needed someone to talk to. Naturally, she did not allow them to walk all over her, since it was within their ability range, however she did provide some advice and all that, as much as her schedule allowed that.

He notices her odd silence after a long while, yet does not disturb her thoughts, sinking in his own ones for a short while. It’s been quite a while since they have spent some quality personal time together. Obviously, both needed some time for their own after long shifts and overtime nearly every month, but… Spears feels himself get…

Lonely.

As amusing as it may sound, and as much as he tries to hide it, when he is alone the unnerving feeling of having nobody to talk to during dinner has sometimes gotten far beyond bitter. For nearly half a century he has been working his ass off, harvesting souls in the field and later on spending long nights in his office on the third floor, surrounded by stacks of papers and his own thoughts.

But then she came. Not really noticed by others, or just considered another cog in the machine, but for him, she seemed different than them. She wasn’t throwing herself on anyone, she didn’t make lewd comments about him like Sutcliff did. She respected him as a person and wasn’t willing to interfere in his routine more than it was absolutely necessary.

Something pushed him to lend her a hand in learning their language, since he saw how helpless but also proud she was, to the very point of not wanting to ask anyone for help. Miss Haruda somehow reminded him of himself when he was a young Shinigami just like her. Their relationship was bittersweet for all these years, after “the Phantom Killer” but… ever since the ship has sunk, they weren’t the same.

He was grateful, up to this very day.

She gave him something no one was ever able to show him. Through sharp quarrels, that often turned physical, her dense, as much as his, brain and unwillingness to accept things that were wrong in her opinion they managed to machete a path for them both to walk down on. He still sometimes feels bad for hurting her, despite the many times she had told him to just forget about it.

Even though she showed him that this afterlife can be better if he just looked on it from another perspective, he managed to mar and trample her just like those awful meat sacks did to them in the past.

If it wasn’t for the responsibility that he lacked a few decades ago, they would be in a much different setting. Obviously it was her fault too. She was bossy, selfish and thought she could treat him like an underling both at home and in the office, which completely didn’t appeal to him. She still is bossy, and still tries to mock him a little, but this and that are two separate kinds of behavior.

“William.”

He snaps out immediately, turning his chartreuse gaze towards her, rising his both eyebrows in a questioning manner. Has he lost track of time?

“I was asking if you had taken the umbrella on your way home, since your hair is still a bit damp.”

The female notes with a sigh, shaking her head at his instantaneous confusion.

“Not really, I felt like a walk in the rain would be a soother for all that’s been going on in the realm for the past few weeks.”

The ravenet replies slowly, draping his suit jacket over her bare back. She snuggles a bit closer, fingers gently grazing over the nape of his neck in gratitude. A flinch crosses her body as she feels his fingertips slide down on her abdomen, tracing an oblique scar near her hip bone.

Noemi carefully places her hand over his, the previous calm expression being soon replaced with a deep frown.

“You’re doing it again.”

She mutters, moving his hand back onto her cheek, looking up at him in worry. He frowns back, brows drawn together like he usually does when he’s frustrated, the cute (in her opinion) wrinkle presenting itself on his forehead.

“I apologize; I feel myself grow restless when seeing it.”

“I know, but it is just a scar. Proof that ‘we’ have went through much and survived.”

He smiles bitterly, caressing her cheek with a huff.

“I don’t understand you.”

“Hmm? What is so perplexing about little old me?”

She brightens up a little, giving him the playful jab yet again, however this time, he just pets her head, looking away with a blank expression.

“You forgave me, even though I have wronged you so many times. You saw good in me even though I display so much negativity every day. Why?”

“Excuse my words, but you’re an idiot. That is why I decided to forgive you. And because I was as much of an idiot, thinking I could throw and boss you around without asking how you felt about it. None of us knew how to step into a healthy relation, and mistakes were made. But I decided to forgive you, because you didn’t treat me like most men treat females. You were not pushy, or did not try to hoax and use me like some toy.”

She smiles weakly, feeling his grip tighten around her, wrinkling the black suit jacket. It would be very uncommon of him to try and hit on someone, especially his superior, but he managed to find the courage and talk to her out of the working hours, go to a higher-up’s party and have a chat with her. No one asked him to, yet he did.

“I’m not trying to make you feel too special but… it did surprise me when you weren’t trying to ask me out, or flirt with me. Obviously that was far away from what I wanted you to do, yet from the many interactions I had with fellow colleagues back in my country, you did surprise me with your courtesy and simple respect. You know well I value that a lot.”

The ravenet nods, looking down at her for a bit before getting lost in his own thoughts once more.

“Will I ever be able to repay your thoughtfulness, Noemi?”

Such question out of the blue makes her raise an eyebrow at him, before chuckling lightheartedly, giving him a light pat on the pec.

“I don’t think so, but company may somehow lower your chance of getting us both in hell after that.”

She snorts, shuffling upwards and resting her forehead against his, a slight smile dancing upon her lips, making dimples appear on the cheeks. Spears cannot help to simper as well, as rain continues to pour, slowly but surely managing to wet their carpet and floor for good.

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

Well, to be honest with you I had a four-year break from writing any kind of fanfiction except for roleplay, and I sorta like this one here?

I felt like this would be just some short, stress relief drabble and I think it is(?) you tell me, I won’t be grading myself hahah-

Anyways, I know that William is a tad OOC, and that it doesn’t almost fit in the timeline I put Noemi’s story in, but I think I meant to describe just one of those tough talks between the two of them once things between them have finally settled down.

Please let me know how did I do~

[hyunnielix]

Worried Sick

Peter comes over as Pepper is worried about your health due to the coma Tony is in since the battle.

Pairing: Y/N x Peter Parker

Warnings: ENDGAME SPOILERS? angst, fluff, cutesy morgan and peter uwu, AU! (Tony is in a coma) I’m getting back into writing so this is obviously far from perfect. UNEDITED.

Word Count: 1.2k

Requested: Yes (Here)

It had been weeks since the final battle, the decimation had been reversed but not without a few losses along the way. Everyone was still mourning the loss of Nat, especially Clint. It was hard, to say the least, the emotional trauma was more than disheartening.

Tony had slipped into a coma after utilizing the infinity stones in a desperate attempt to save everyone, you would’ve stayed at the hospital for weeks if it wasn’t for Pepper’s stubbornness.

You were the adopted daughter of Tony, Morgan’s big sister and Peter Parkers lover. The bond between this makeshift family made you feel at ease for once in your life. You used to live in fear, living in the sketchy street corners of New York at age thirteen orphaned from an even younger age.

He took you in as he saw potential in you from your time on the streets, promising you the best education and protection on the earth. You lived in the compound with the remaining Avengers for the rest of the long five years until he returned.

You’d been bedridden for days without eating, the appetite you usually had vanished, and you were beginning to look pale and almost sicky due to the lack of vitamin D from being curled up in your room in complete and utter darkness.

“Y/N,” a soft knock at the door caused you to sigh as your eyelids fluttered open, letting them adjust to the light.

“Honey, you need to have a shower.” Pepper prompted, it was like she was walking on eggshells around you as she opened the door wider allowing more light in. 

You were too tired to argue so you just nodded in response, trying not to let out a whimper as the dull ache in your chest was still there. She smiled reassuringly before exiting your room quickly, leaving you to get ready. 

“Peter, Y/N needs you to come over, Is that okay?” Pepper held the phone up to her ear, leaning on the now closed door while biting her fingernail anxiously. She was worried about you.

“Of course, Mrs Stark.” Peter’s somewhat optimistic voice rang through the phone.

“Just call me Pepper kid,” She corrected causing him to profusely apologize before hanging up. 

After overhearing the conversation, you finally decided to get up and have a shower while struggling in the process. You threw on one of peters comfortable but oversized sweaters before attempting to dry your soaking hair. 

Your overthinking unfortunately got the best of you, you felt your throat constricting as you began to breathe faster feeling almost lightheaded as your eyes began to well with tears. Unable to keep your body upright you let your legs collapse, leaving your body on the ground you let out loud sobs that you’d been holding in for days. 

“Y/N?” a distinguishable voice muttered, it almost sounded as heartbroken as you. You felt his hands clasp around your wrists as he knelt down, causing you to look up at him. His chocolate brown eyes still somewhat held a sparkle and his hair was fluffier than ever.

You smiled softly and your chin trembled before he pulled your body towards him, pressing his chest to yours and running his fingers through your soft hair to try and calm you down. His hugs were the most comforting thing in the world. 

“It’s going to be okay.” He whispered, trying to keep his voice from cracking with emotion to stay strong for you. You began to cry harder, soaking his stupid science pun tee-shirt he had on.

“He’s going to be fine,” Peter reassured you, whispering softly as he held you.

“But what if he isn’t, I don’t want to lose him again, I’ve already lost you before,” You explained, hiccupping while pulling away from him. You brought your sweater paws up to your eyes to wipe away the excess tears that were still rolling down your flushed cheeks. 

“You won’t lose me again, I promise.” He assured you, cupping your jaw so he was holding your face in his hands.

Placing your hands on his you nodded as he leant forward, placing a kiss on the crown of your head causing you to let out a stuttered sigh. Your erratic breathing became normal and your crying stopped altogether. 

He could tell you were emotionally drained and more than exhausted, the bags underneath your eyes were a dead giveaway yet he didn’t understand how you could still look so perfect like this.

“Peter, I love you.” Your voice cracked cutely as you brushed your fingers across his hands, staring at him almost terrified of rejection.  His eyes widened in shock as he heard those words leave your lips.

“I l-love you too.” He stuttered, a blush rising to his cheeks as his lips upturned into a giddy smile that made your heart melt. 

He placed one hand on your lower back signalling for you to kick your legs out from under you letting him scoop you up in his arms. 

He carried you back to your room as you nuzzled your face into his neck. Multitasking holding you and closing your bedroom door at the same time. 

You detached your arms from him as he put you on the bed, moving over to the furthermost side you turned onto your side, admiring him.

“Cuddles?” You asked in a soft pleading tone, holding your arms out to him as chuckles left his lips. 

“You’re too cute,” he admitted shaking his head in disbelief before gripping the hem of his shirt and pulling it over his head. 

Crawling into the bed next to you his hand brushed against the exposed skin of your waist as the sweater had ridden up making it easier for him to pull you close.

“Is that my sweater?” He questioned furrowing his brows as he looked down at you. Attempting to hide your blush you rested your head under his chin while intertwining your legs with him.

“Y/N! Y/N! Y/N!” a childish voice repeated constantly, waking you up quite abruptly. 

Your eyes flutter open to see Peter yawning, the both of you must’ve fallen asleep. Blinking a few times to let your eyes adjust to the light as your blinds had been pulled up a bit. You felt a weight at the end of your bed.

“Morgan?” You yawned, scrunching your nose before watching your little sister crawl onto the bed. 

“I love you three thousand!” She gushed and blew you a kiss as she scrambled to lie down comfortably on her stomach near your legs. 

“Hey what about me?” Peter asked, acting hurt and offended as he brought his hand to his chest for dramatic effect. 

“I love you four thousand!” Morgan exclaimed giving him a cheeky grin, your mouth dropped open as Peter started giggling at your betrayed reaction. 

“Come here you little munchkin,” You ordered reaching out to grab Morgan before bringing her between the both of you and Peter.

Her giggles filled the room as the both of you started to tickle her sides.

You missed moments like this. 

[fmdminaharchive]

001: lipstick title tracks

wordcounter: 1,659

run devil run: when she first sees the skin-tight outfits, minah is a little taken aback. she’s nervous enough for her debut as it is. minah isn’t a naturally alluring person, always on the more reserved side herself, something she has to completely cast aside to suit the image of lipstick. but, luckily, run devil run feel like safe enough baby steps for minah. she gets to ease a little into what bc has in store still for her.

flashback: if run devil run was the kiddie pool, flashback is the deep end. or so minah feels at least. the song itself is nice of course, she has plenty of lines too, but it’s hard to focus on that when there seem to be much more pressing matters. flashback is everything but subtle about how sexy it is and minah has never been someone effortlessly sexy, not in her own eyes. most of the promotions, she spends worrying, about the way she looks, the way she acts, about everything but her since.

get out: it’s the first lipstick song that comes completely natural to her. it’s much less sexy and much more empowering than their previous songs. to minah, it feels like the first opportunity she has to really showcase her voice. maybe because of the strong chorus parts or maybe, because for the first time, she feels like people actually listen.

hoot: minah likes hoot, a lot. there is something very classy about the retro vibe of the song, even if she thinks there isn’t much classy about the shorts they’re wearing.  hoot, if anything, makes her realize that maybe, she’s not too terrible at the whole alluring thing, it’s not all about flashing her body or being sexy, it’s about the way she carries herself. this era, minah might not grow much as a vocalist, but she does as a performer.

dolls: dolls is a damn bop, that’s it, that’s all there is to say. the song is great, minah loves the brassy vibe and again, the slightly retro vibe allows minah to really shine. even years later, dolls remains one of her favorite lipstick tracks. 

first love: if there is one thing minah learns, it’s that pole dancing is incredibly damn hard. she’s always been more of a vocalist than a dancer so the routine for first love is one that takes her an incredible amount of effort. there is a certain charm of course, to both the song and the choreography. but for minah, it was just not it, she much rather focus on singing.

confused: their budget this era? non-existent. which minah thinks is a damn shame. confused was a nice song, one with a more sensual undertone which she was slowly growing into at the time. unfortunately, all people remember from it is how incredibly cheap it was. and that damn couch, of course.

miniskirt: if confused was slightly sensual, miniskirt was confused but on steroids. it, however also was a huge commercial success for lipstick, the biggest on they had met so far, which left little room for minah to complain. it’s a song lipstick still frequently performs, much to minah’s disregard. if you ask her, miniskirt is a bit too tasteless, a bit too out there. 

mr mr:  mr mr was, again, a huge commercial success for lipstick, a song that was covered by many younger girl groups too. and minah likes it for the most part, the styling, the choreo and so on. her only complaint, the electronic, sometimes noisy instrumental. it’s definitely not a style of music minah prefers. if only they could have toned it down a little, she’d probably have enjoyed it some more too.

short hair: if anything, the era was a little forgettable to minah, which, in context of the songs it was release in between, was probably a good thing. it’s still on the almost tastelessly sexy side to minah’s taste, but the pastel coloring at least allows the illusion of something a little more cutesy. it’s not a particularly good song or anything, no one pretends it is, and so it’s easily forgotten again.

like a cat: a song minah would immediately put on the same pile as miniskirt. cheap, heavily sexualized, bordering on uncomfortable and of course, a huge hit. it’s a song she’d forget as soon as possible if she could, but unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be an option. you know what they say, sex sells.

drama: the first song in a long time minah actually found herself enjoying again. falling more in the vein of previous releases like hoot and dolls, classy over sexy with a nostalgic touch. she likes drama, and well, it’s not like the competition was tough. she’s even willing to forgive those leather harnesses for it, even if their only function was to draw more attention to their boobs.

catch me if you can: noise, just like mr mr had been, a harsh electronic undertone that minah just can’t ever grow accustomed to. the prechorus is nice, she’ll give the song that, the only parts of it that lend for some decent vocal work too, but the rest of it is pure and utter garbage. on top of that, she’s no fan of the choreo either, she’s not a dancer okay.

heart attack: minah knows she asked for more vocally challenging songs but this... this was not what she meant. most of the chorus of heart attack has a pitch that’s near impossible to reach and truly, not very pleasant on the ears. but it’s a little milder than some of their other releases at least, minah will give it that.

hurt locker: a summer bop, it’s not the kind of song minah expects herself to like but it has an energetic punch to it. and yet again, it is much better than a lot of the music they’ve released in the past. minah is no difficult woman, she takes her wins where she can.

good luck: a summer bop 2.0, and really, in retrospect, hurt locker kinda falters in comparison. good luck is a great song, it’s fun and it perfectly captures the summery vibe. for all of that, minah is even willing to forgive the fact the choreo is a little overexaggerated.

party: of course, after two hits of summer songs, it’s to be expected lipstick has a miss. party falls flat in minah’s opinion, especially next to hurt locker and good luck. where she normally finds herself irritated by lipstick’s oversexualized image, this feels immature really and the vocals are little challenging either.

lionheart: the better single on the album. with a classy 20′s concept, it fastly becomes one of minah’s favorite songs, a true breath of fresh air after releasing nothing but songs that left a lot to be desired. it’s sweet, it’s elegant, and it’s perfect for minah.

excuse me: if you told minah she was gonna do a sexy sherlock holmes concept and she’d like it, she probably would have laughed in your face. but excuse me proved her wrong. it feels as like bc knows how to bait her with a retro aesthetic and some nice vocals and well... who is minah to complain.

bing bing: it’s a good song, it’s nice, it has an elegant vibe still, nothing for minah to complain about, especially not with the hand lipstick has been dealt before. but compared to excuse me, it just doesn’t live up. maybe, had the songs been spread out over different albums, minah would have named it one of her top picks.

holiday: remember when minah called party childish? well holiday multiplies that in tenfold. the styling, the song in itself, everything about it. in late 2017, minah can’t help but feel like she’s getting too old for stuff like this.

all night: the better single on holiday night, anyone with taste would say so, minah included. it’s not one of her all-time faves, but she does appreciate it for what it is. also, she’s a sucker for that disco beat it has to it.

bingle bangle: again, minah is really getting too damn old for this. okay, sure, it’s not as bad as party or holiday, and maybe it’s just her, maybe minah has always been a few years beyond her age. but bingle bangle, it just wasn’t for her. she really, really, misses the time where she enjoyed their summer concepts. why did their first comeback without goeun have to be such a weak one?

gun:  those vocals. oh damn. those vocals. gun era didn’t come to play, and minah is here for it. she takes on a large part of the vocals, this time actually interesting ones and never before has she been as determined to prove she is in fact worthy of lipstick’s unofficial new main vocal title. it’s rather on the sexy side, but by now, minah has gained experience, she hasn’t been promoting all these years for nothing.

lil’ touch: minah isn’t gonna lie, the choreo for this one is tough. but it’s so, so worth it. maybe it’s the years of experience, but finally, minah accepts that she can’t keep complaining about dancing, it’s part of the job after all. most of all, lil’ touch assures her lipstick will be just fine.

glue:  after all the dust settles, it’s almost like bc remembers what they had in mind when they started with lipstick. or that’s what minah feels like at least when they release glue. it feels like a song that they could have released around their debut era, or around the time of miniskirt and like a cat. she’s not a fan of it, but well, what can she do other than hope their next comebacks will be better. 

the best of the best...:  dolls, drama, lionheart, excuse me & gun.

...and the worst of the worst:  miniskirt, catch me if you can, party, holiday & bingle bangle.

[vvhippoorwill]

❝ don’t forget your scarf, it’s cold out. ❞

His fingers had already brushed the handle, but a moment away from stepping out of her hotel room when she stopped him ever so sweetly, turning him back around on her very doorstep.He hadn’t worn a scarf when he’d come. She knew it as well as he did; there was no merit in pointing out such a thing, so he remained silent in his pause, tasting the lingering sweetness of her voice in the air, simultaneously at its most and least innocent.It was a tone he’d since become well acquainted with, her unique brand of chastising and teasing, soft and smooth as the purr of a cat that knew full well it had already won. 

( Down underneath the milk and honey, there might be actual concern for him and his well-being. But she covered it well, and he turned every blind eye, and it was hard to tell whether things were this way for her sake or his. They were professionals, after all, they had to benefit from this odd relationship; though perhaps not in the most obvious ways. In fact, the ways might be so obscure that not even the two themselves, though rightfully confident in their observational skills, really knew what kept the other around.What they stood to gain, and what they stood to lose.For whom the ties were a comfort and for whom a cause of distress; who would feel the sting of them being cut, who would truly bleed, and who would be wielding the blade. )

Deep within the milk and honey, there might be actual concern for him and his well-being. Or there might be a single drop of poison. He’d certainly never know.

Neither did he know in which category the current situation fell. Or even on which side of the spectrum, if there was such a thing.It was certainly not his scarf she was holding, nimble fingers unfolding the fabric from the perfect rectangle it had been to spill over her palms and arms in display.It was not even another go at a semblance of winter spirit, it was simply… pink.

A plaid of soft pastel pink and mottled gray, colours he had never before seen woven together. It appeared to him as the scarf embodiment of the kaomoji she liked to send him; another cutesy way of teasing and playfulness, half her own genuine enjoyment and half angled to get some sort of reaction from him, while never being anything other than perfectly harmless.( If anything, that was the most worrying part. )

He merely watched for a moment, eyes wandering from the soft lines of the fabric to the soft lines of her face, the soft movements of her fingers. Soft pink squares to soft pink arches to soft pink rectangles.The likeness was so strong it made him wonder if she had picked her lipstick and nail polish with purpose; if she had planned for all of this long before he entered her room today. At the same time he was sure he’d seen her wear the same shade several times before; it seemed to be one of her favorites in the way it casually complimented her light skin and hair.

Reaching out to accept the scarf from her hands, he felt some of the threads and fuzz catch on the rough skin of his own as he wrapped it around his neck loosely, letting her evaluate whether the result satisfied her expectations or not.She couldn’t have expected him to reject wearing it; between the two of them it was her who had a way with appearances, whereas he cared little.So maybe it was the other way around, by putting on the scarf he was subtly matching her look now. And even on opposite ends of the globe he may chose to wear the scarf, if he kept it, at the same time she painted her lips; neither of them would know.Maybe that was the true intention.

“Do you want to go get coffee, then, before I leave?”There was little doubt she had simply waited for him to ask. She’d been dressed to go out before he had even come in. Watching her smile brighten for a moment before turning away to gather her bag and coat, he glances down to tug at the acrylic, shifting it up to cover his ears and nose.

A bit childish, wasn’t it? That sort of ‘forget-me-not’.But a scarf was a scarf, and it served a use, therefore it might be justifiable to hold onto it, just for a little while.Plus, she hadn’t been lying. It was really fucking cold out.

[signutai]

Random meme-type thing: what graffiti would your favourite characters scrawl on a bathroom stall, assuming they were going to do so.

Okay so we’re just gonna go with my top ten or so, in no particular order, here:One Shotter - Various anti-military slogans, cute cartoons, or, if he’s feeling especially childish, dicks.Death Gatling - Would not graffiti a bathroom stall. Would violently refuse to graffiti a bathroom stall. Would need to have his hand literally forced in order to graffiti a bathroom stall. That person would get their nose and jaw broken afterwards.Zombieman - Optimistic nihilism. Or just plain, garden-variety nihilism. Depends on his mood.Sekingar - “Call (number) for a good time!” and it’s McCoy’s cell number.Feather - Scratches anime characters into the paint with his claws. They’re unrecognizable.Eyelashes - Would not be caught dead in a public restroom. Disgusting.Needle Star - “Call (number) for a good time!” and it’s One Shotter’s cell number.Kama - The names of boys she likes, surrounded by cutesy flowers and hearts.Twin Tail - No one’s sure she actually has normal human bodily functions. No one’s ever seen her enter or leave a restroom.Darkness Blade - Tries to scratch drawings into the paint a la Feather. Ends up putting his whole sword through the door. What’s he even doing in there. He’s wearing armor.Red Muffler - Furries.Gun Gun - “Call (number) for a good time!” except, like a person who isn’t a complete asshole, it’s his own cell number. Usually also includes, “And free legal advice.”Stinger - Messages of “I love my boyfriend!” so disgustingly sappy and lovey-dovey that it makes homophobes’ skin crawl as soon as they enter the restroom.

[myriadis]

Are You My Forever After? -part 3-

@celxstialclan

Eight years had gone by since the last time Tsukimi gave Takashi a honmei-choco.

As he drove through the streets of Roppongi, Takashi wished Aiko would have never grown into the young woman she was now and remained a little girl forever. At his 36 years of age, he was still the one who kinda babysat her, as well as Tsukimi. Even when both girls were now 20 and could take care of themselves, he still fretted when they were out so late and didn't answer their phones to make sure they were alright. Sometimes Sora teased him saying that he acted like an overprotective father and jealous boyfriend towards Aiko and Tsukimi respectively. But how in the world he wasn't supposed to worry if he had seen them grow so closely?

It wasn't hard to find the girls, since they gave him the address of the nightclub they went. But once he was there, Takashi scowled because he realized that he stood out like a sore thumb among so many young people. Hell, he was still young too but felt so old...

"Takashi, over here!" Aiko waved her hand at her brother to catch his attention. 

Takashi glanced at Tsukimi and Aiko, who were sitting with Shino, Aiko's boyfriend, as well as another man he didn't recognize. Probably he was some guy the girls had just met there. But as soon as Tsukimi saw him, she left her seat and made her way towards him with the enthusiasm he thought she had lost, and Takashi smiled back at her.  

Tsukimi was now like a rose in full bloom, even Snow White was plain in comparison to her. She was bolder but just as charming and outspoken as she had always been. Tsukimi still had a very good friendship with Aiko, and often stopped by at their home to study and exchange clothes, but also to keep an eye on Takashi, whom she still loved dearly. He was so lonely, yet nobody but her seemed to realize it.

Takashi's relationship with Mayuri didn't last long, barely a year. Ironically, she had met her own soulmate and decided her love for him was stronger than the one she had for Takashi. But even after the break-up, Tsukimi kept her distance from him. She actually comforted Takashi and felt sorry for his failed relationship. Back then, Tsukimi had really wanted her beloved to be with someone that could be a better partner for him than herself. But now that she was a woman too, Tsukimi held the hope that Takashi would soon see her as the one who loved him the most.

"How long it's been since you were in a place like this?" she asked him, holding his hand. Hers was soft but very cold "Come on, let's show everyone you're far from being a boring old man." Tsukimi apparently had read his mind, and pulled Takashi towards the dance floor to dance at the rhythm of pop and R&B music.

Although Takashi had never been much into going to nightclubs, preferring more relaxed places like a sports bar, he moved perfectly encompassed to Tsukimi's steps. During that dance, as they held each other's gazes, Takashi was glad to see again in a very long time the gleam of happiness on Tsukimi's eyes. It felt so good to have her this close, that his hand slipped over her shoulders to make her get even closer, but she stumbled and stepped on his foot.

"Sorry, I am getting a little bit tipsy" Tsukimi laughed, leaning on him. "That strawberry daiquiri was stronger than I thought."

"Then that was your last drink tonight, because we're going home." Takashi said, returning to his role as babysitter of the girls.  

Unlike Tsukimi, Aiko didn't protest at all for having to return home earlier than she and Takashi had agreed because Shino was clearly uncomfortable with being there. At least they got to experience how it was like to date in a louder place. On the other hand, Tsukimi kept shooing away the guys that approached her under the excuse that she had already found her soulmate and would only be loyal to him. Of course, sometimes Tsukimi wished Takashi could love her just like Shino loved Aiko. But seeing that he was faring well, and was apparently content with his life gave Tsukimi enough motivation to cope with her unrequited love.

8 years of being close to him, yet he was out of her reach...

As they walked to Takashi's car, Aiko and Shino were ahead of Takashi and Tsukimi, who insisted in walking without support despite being barely able to stand in her two feet on her own. That was until, out of the blue, she ran and jumped over Takashi's back. The unexpected movement almost knocked him over, and he could hear a pair of bones cracking at this.

"Taka-kun, carry me!" Tsukimi asked quite enthusiastically, putting her arms around his neck.

"You're working with monkeys now, big brother?" Aiko cracked while laughing out loud.

"You're too old for that, Tsukimi, and so I am" he sighed, lightly annoyed.

"Don't be a killjoy" Tsukimi rested her head over his shoulder.

"And you act your age." Takashi just couldn't understand why Tsukimi was doing this to both of them.

"Come ooon...." she murmured on his ear and caressed his earlobe with her finger "We both know you enjoy it." this time, Tsukimi didn't sound like she was joking and Takashi blushed slightly. He couldn't deny that feeling her soft chest and her cold skin was starting to turn him on, but Takashi didn't want to admit it.

"...get off me."

Tsukimi pouted, apparently dissatisfied with Takashi's refusal to play along with her shenanigans, but climbed down from his back without more protest. Instead,  she gently held his arm and leaned her head over his shoulder as she closed her eyes.  

"Then if you're not carrying me, may i walk with you like this?" while making this petition, Tsukimi behaved more modestly, but jut as tender. He couldn't say no to her.

Tsukimi earned a lot of teasing at school when her peers found out her possible soulmate was a man much older than herself. Tsukimi herself just knew she wanted to always be by his side, and as she became older, Tsukimi's wish intensified, and flatly demonstrated her attraction to him. Although she was insecure about his lack of name on his wrist. Did that mean Takashi didn't like her back? What was the true meaning behind the branded wrists? Would he someday abandon her again in favor of someone else?

Her grip on his arm tightened. She was very afraid of that happening...

"What's wrong?" Takashi inquired, feeling her clung to him.

"My stomach hurts." she replied, not even looking at him.

Tsukimi wasn't able to keep the act of the cutesy little sister any longer. As Takashi just said, she was already too old for those childish games, but how else she was supposed to remain close to him? She had to do something real quick.

What Tsukimi didn't know was that Takashi was also dealing with very strong and confusing feelings that contradicted his views on the soulmate system. From the moment they met fifteen year ago, Tsukimi occupied a very special place in his heart. Even when she exasperated him sometimes,  Takashi couldn't imagine her not being there, smiling to him and calling him with a warm tone that didn't use with anyone else, or so he believed.

Tsukimi didn't appear to realize either that she was very important to Takashi. He tried for many years to resist the voices of his mind and the urges of his heart compelling him to accept he had been in ove with Tsukimi from the very beginning. It was sick, creepy, unnatural, and shameful to covet for a girl 16 years his junior. But even when he tried to repress those feelings and be with someone more adequate for him, Takashi thought of Tsukimi first thing in the morning, right before falling asleep, and more often than not, he dreamed of her. it was understandable that all this time Takashi wanted to discourage Tsukimi from holding her crush on him.

But as the years went by and Tsukimi became more of a woman, Takashi was confronted with a new feeling: his lust/desire for her. It was now alright and acceptable if he courted Tsukimi, but Takashi felt he couldn't. He spent all their time together rejecting her advances, and regarding her like a sister. and it'd be off-putting if he suddenly changed his treatment o her, perhaps she'd break her promise.

Therefore, Takashi orced himself to act normal while Tsukimi was around. Hopefully, she'd find someone else to love in due time.

After this walk together Takashi and Tsukimi didn't see each other for two weeks because she was too occupied with her part-time job as a model and her fashion studies at Yazawa Geijyutsu Gakuen. But after that, Aiko was able to bring her best friend to her house again, even if it was just to update her on her relationship with Shino.

"And then Moriko licked Shino's  cheek and he had this adorable blush on his face, then he smiled and patted her head. Isn't he sweet?"

"Very much so." Tsukimi said absentmindedly.

“Tsuki, are you even here?” Aiko sighed, mildly irked that her best friend wasn't paying attention to her.  “Sorry, Aiko. It’s just that I can’t take this anymore.” She looked down her wrist and sighed “I love your brother” “I know that.” Aiko sighed too and drank her tea, wondering how long this situation was going to last. Takashi was idling too much and Tsukimi was being indecisive as she had never been in her life. “But I will tell him that for real.” Tsukimi felt her chest was going to burst if she kept silent any longer. But her resolution made Aiko spit her tea.  “Like, right now?!” “Yes! I mean…" Tsukimi's cheeks flushed "I’ve been waiting long enough!” Now she seemed more determined than ever “I am not a little girl but a woman, and I will offer him all of myself if he accepts me as his soulmate!”  "Whoa, well, good luck!“ Sometimes Aiko couldn’t help but to admire Tsukimi’s passionate nature, and this convinced her that Takashi probably needed such a girl to enjoy life more instead of remaining hopelessly single.

Tsukimi decidedly looked for Takashi around the house, and soon found him in the garage. Aiko also decided she didn't want to miss the long-awaited love confession from Tsukimi to her brother. Personally she was very much alright with the idea, knowing Tsukimi’s affection for Takashi was genuine and that she was very loyal, as Aiko herself could attest. Her brother, on the other hand, seemed to be ‘incomplete’, and was at his best whenever Tsukimi was around, no matter how much he tried to deny it. The soulmate mark was a mere hint, but they definitely were meant for each other.

Takashi was waxing his cars and prepping his Mustang when he saw Tsukimi approaching him from behind. He quickly turned around and she froze in the act. Takashi had a especially intense look that made Tsukimi’s heart race, and looked away for a moment. Once again, he had the urge to press himself against her in a tight embrace and claim her lips, but he just clenched his fist.

"What do you want, Tsukimi?” 

“Takashi, will you take me out for some ice cream? Like you used to when I was little.“ Her petition was so simple and her self-conscious expression so cute, that once again, Takashi couldn't say no to her.

 "Sure, is Aiko coming too?” At the mention of her name, a hidden Aiko rolled her eyes and grew increasingly nervous. Why did Takashi have to ruin his own love life like this?! 

The only way out Aiko had was to run back upstairs, accidentally stumbling with some of Takashi’s things, and howl rather pitifully.

“Aaaughh!!!” She then feigned distress and spoke loud enough for Takashi and Tsukimi to hear “Oh no, Moriko is in heat! I must be by her side!"

"Huh? I thought she had been neutered" Takashi mumbled, not quite convinced.

Scratching his head and not minding Aiko’s trouble, Takashi opened the passenger’s seat of his Mustang to let Tsukimi go with him. She had always shown a predilection for the Mustang, and unconsciously he always used that car when he picked Tsukimi and Aiko up when they needed a ride.

As he drove to the ice cream parlor, Takashi recalled fondly the days when he took Aiko and Tsukimi for ice cream after school. Because he wasn't fond of sweets Takashi never bought ice cream for himself, but Tsukimi always shared hers with him.

After he bought her a cone of her favorite flavor: cherry with chocolate fudge flakes, Tsukimi attempted to repeat her childhood habit and offer him some ice cream, but he shook his head to politely decline. Whether she intended to give him an indirect kiss or not, doing that was too much of a temptation, especially after watching her eating it slowly.

Instead of returning home once Tsukimi finished her cone, Takashi drove across the city and took her to the bay with the only purpose of watching the sunset. It wasn't like she had something important to do at the moment, or like her parents were going to ground her for arriving at nightfall. Tsukimi also enjoyed the view and his silent company, leaning her head over his shoulder.  

"It's really beautiful" she murmured and leaned her head over his shoulder.

"Yes..." Takashi didn't even look at her, but Tsukimi perceived a romantic mood in the air, and held his hand.

"Takashi, I have to be honest with you." she pulled apart to look at him "I wasn't in the mood for ice cream. That was an excuse to be alone with you, away from any prying ears."

Unbeknownst to her, Takashi was aware of Tsukimi's intentions yet he kept quiet about it, because he also wanted to be alone with Tsukimi. To confirm He found fulfillment in her sole company. Indeed, being just the two of them was The balm he needed to heal his wounds

"I love you"

The most dreadful word in the world... yet also, the most affectionate one.

Takashi face was red like a tomato, and his mind went blank. For years he had predicted this would happen someday, but that didn't mean he already had a solution. He tried to reassure himself that Tsukimi was joking and instead using him as a practice dummy to confess to another boy instead. But the longing gaze Tsukimi had over him made Takashi realize she was serious and he was the actual recipient of that confession. His lips remained tightly shut while he tried to come up with a reasonable and sensitive answer...

But apparently, Takashi was silent for too long and Tsukimi sighed in resignation. Somehow she had expected this kind of reaction, but deep inside, she hoped he'd accept her feelings and hold her in arms to seal their pact of love. Tsukimi interpreted his prolonged silence as indirect rejection, because he was too nice to outright say he didn't feel the same.

Tsukimi suppressed the tears with mild success, and looked away to pretend she was looking at her watch. At least her suffering finally came to an end. A cab approaching to their left was just what her broken heart needed to make a gracious leave and prevent Takashi from seeing her cry.  

"I gotta go. I have too much homework today."

"I'm giving you a ride, then." he suggested awkwardly.

"No, thanks, I will take a cab. See you, Takashi-niisan." she waved him goodbye and quickly left Takashi behind to get into the taxi and disappear.

It was hard to overcome because Takashi had been and still was her first and only love. But she recalled the wish he expressed five years ago, and Tsukimi made the resolution of attempting to forget about Takashi Kamiya, and keep on living her life to its fullest, removing her search of her soulmate from her list of priorities.

"What's with that band?" Aiko asked as they walked home once Tsukimi ran out of excuses to not stop by the Kamiya’s place. The latter was now wearing a black ribbon on her wrist where her soulmate's name was supposed to be.

"It's a reminder that there are so many boys to pick from, who cares if they're named Reiji or Sōsuke?" Tsukimi replied with a smile. "Actually, today one of my classmates invited me over to a date and I said yes!”

“Wow, didn’t you tell me all the guys at your school were effeminates?” "I didn’t say that! I said that they were too delicate or flamboyant to fit in my tastes. But if I give them a chance, maybe I will have a really good time."

Aiko was a bit confused about Tsukimi’s change of heart. It wasn’t hard to guess that her love confession hadn’t gone as well as she expected, since Takashi returned home alone and deep in thought. It was even more surprising how natural and optimistic Tsukimi behaved, as if she had stopped caring about being Takashi’s partner for life. 

But instead of confronting Tsukimi and Takashi, Aiko resolved to be on the sidelines and wait patiently for the right moment to talk. For the next month, Aiko witnessed Tsukimi date and flirt with one guy after another in quick succession, including Aiko’s classmates, or men they randomly met in the street. She soon filled her smartphone’s memory with pictures and text messages from her conquests, making Aiko wonder if the term “Casanova” could be applied to women. Strangely enough , Tsukimi spoke loudly and grandiosely about her dates when Takashi was around. She was like a teenage girl trying to make her crush jealous and get his attention. 

“I swear, Aiko, Kazuto has the sweetest eyes”

“Yes, you said the same about Fuminori, Mitsuo, Shuichi…” Aiko rolled her eyes and sighed, growing tired of listen to the same story all over again. Who was she trying to fool?

"Well, then he's better looking than all of them together!"

"Huh? Weren't you dating Daisuke?“ Takashi asked, meddling in the conversation.

"I am single, I can get to date as many guys as I want!” She gave him a reproachful look. Takashi understood Tsukimi was still upset and left the girls continue their talk.

Tsukimi snorted when Takashi left the room but once she was alone with Aiko, she sighed. It was true she was angry with Takashi not only because he failed to understand her feelings, but also because her last resort strategy to get over him wasn't working. She hoped that dating a significant amount of men in quick succession was going to make Takashi jealous and distract her, but it was backfiring on her spectacularly. Tsukimi was getting the reputation of being a shameless flirt, Takashi apparently gave a damn about her, and she only had a broken heart.

Tsukimi looked at Aiko as if she wanted to keep the tears from coming out of her eyes. She then clung to her friend as if she was too afraid of letting her go and cried her heart out.

“Why I can’t move on?! He acts like nothing happened between us, it’s not fair!”

“Take it easy, Tsuki” Aiko held her and stroked her head. “You will eventually find a really nice man who will cherish you until the end of time.”

“Who said I am looking for a boyfriend?” Tsukimi inquired as if Aiko had said a cruel joke. "I am okay with dating guys, but I am not willing to fall in love again.” she declared with a sorrowful expression “If I have to go through this pain again, I’d rather not be with anyone else.”

Seeing her friend’s brazen attitude change into a melancholic one made Aiko finally discover something: Tsukimi was unconsciously punishing herself for being stupid to fall in love with a man that didn’t share her sentiment. It was really sad to watch.

…and Takashi, who happened to eavesdrop on them when he brought sliced peaches for them, was quite shocked. He had an epiphany: he loved Tsukimi too. She was too precious to him. He couldn’t bear to be the one who brought upon her so much grief when she only tried to make him feel worthy of being loved. Yet, at the same time, Takashi didn’t think he could say it to Tsukimi or she could end up hating him altogether and accuse him of being a fickle man. 

For three more days, the confession haunted Takashi. He could not think a reason why Tsukimi would love someone like him, someone who didn’t have the same interests as her, someone.. that was too foolish to doubt someone like her could truly want him at all. 

“If I have to go through this pain again, I’d rather not be with anyone else.” Takashi felt remorse when he recalled those words as he drove to work, and was too distraught to notice the car that was coming on his right side. It was too late when a flash of light blinded him, and the next minute, Takashi felt a violent shake and so much pain he couldn’t move, heard alarmed voices, saw the face of Tsukimi saying she loved him and then, it was totally dark.

When Aiko received the news of Takashi's accident, she immediately rushed to tell Tsukimi. At that very moment, Tsukimi felt very apprehensive, as if she could sense Takashi was in danger, it had to be him but hoped she was just paranoid. Nonetheless, when Aiko called and she picked up her phone, Tsukimi felt like she was living a nightmare and rushed to the hospital at once. It took the little calm she had left to not break in tears when the doctors said that Takashi had slipped into a coma, but she did look very distressed. At that very moment, Aiko knew that no matter how hard she tried to forget about her brother, Tsukimi would always love Takashi and only him.

After he was put under careful surveillance for the whole night, the family was allowed to take turns visiting him and looking after him. Tsukimi was the most interested in seeing him open his eyes, and patiently waited while holding his hand. But for a week, there was no change in his condition.

And then, while Tsukimi took a nap next to Takashi after another night of sleepless vigil, his hand twitched and he opened his eyes. While his muscles still ached a bit, he was able to move his head and see the girl who faithfully remained by his side. Takashi knew from that moment onwards, he couldn't let her go. He wanted to have her for himself, hold her close and murmur in her ear how much he loved her. 

Takashi squeezed Tsukimi's hand to wake her up, and once she did, Tsukimi threw herself over him in a hug. She just recalled his delicate state when he groaned in pain, and she frantically called for everyone. Only after the doctor said he was alright and would make a steady recovering, Tsukimi and the Kamiya siblings relaxed just enough to begin making jokes.

"You scared us back then, you know." Sora said, ruffling his hair "But there was someone who panicked more than the three of us together."

"Yeah, Tsuki was so worried about you, that I'm pretty sure she lost a few pounds from all the meals she skipped and sleepless nights taking care of you." Aiko followed along, making Tsukimi blush and want to leave the room, but Haruki held her wrist.

"We know you are a gentleman and want to thank her for it, so we will leave you alone." Haruki pushed Tsukimi closer to Takashi and the siblings gave him a 'don't screw it' look before closing the door after themselves.

It was unusual for Tsukimi to be left speechless as she always had something to say, and Takashi knew it. Probably it wasn't easy to excuse your presence and loving car to someone whom you apparently held a grudge on. Takashi also knew that, and that's why he spoke first.

"I'm actually surprised to see you here, Kimi." he said as kindly as he could. "I honestly believed you didn't want to see me anymore."

"You’re the one I love the most, I told you so!" she promptly said "That’s why I promised I'd always be with you!" her voice trembled and she drew even closer  " I don’t care if you don't love me. Just get better and I will be happy again.“ Tears fell from her eyes "I prefer you to be alive and far from my reach, rather than dead.”

It doesn't have to be like that.“ Takashi reached for her head and kissed her on the lips with a gentle but ardent feelings that stirred both of their hearts. Tsukimi was shocked and she remained still for a few seconds before accepting and reciprocating his kiss. She had been waiting her whole life for this, while Takashi felt his empty existence suddenly was meaningful. "I love you, my beautiful moon." 

"Do you mean it, Takashi?” Tsukimi asked after pulling away.

"You don't have a clue, do you?" he chuckled and cupped her cheek "Everything you do blows me away, just like a typhoon and makes my heart become numb with passion. I can’t fight this anymore."

"Takashi, if you hold yourself back all the time, you will miss a lot of things in this life." Tsukimi put a hand over the one he had on her cheek. "What am I going to do with you?"

After another day of hospital stay, Takashi was discharged on the condition that he remained in bed for at least a month. The whole time Tsukimi stopped by daily after school to help look after him, much to the amusement of his sisters. As much as he disliked not doing anything, Takashi couldn't really complain of having his soulmate close to him.

"Somehow, I always knew you were born to be mine. But I thought you'd be disappointed in me because of my carelessness and my age." he said a month later, while they stargazed in the porch.

"You thought about it too much." Tsukimi had her head over his shoulder and looked at his wrist. Because he didn't have a soulmate mark, Takashi decided to have her name tattooed there. It flattered Tsukimi, it meant he had chosen her as his most beloved person. "I never minded such things as your age. Nobody's perfect dear. Those years of yearning made me stronger, because neither of us was ready for it when we met. Sorry for being so impatient, but will you blame me for my excitement?”

Takashi recalled all the smiles, the laughs, the hand-holding, and the silent moments where Tsukimi did nothing but to wait for him to make up his mind. ‘I am finally here, what are you waiting for? I love you so damn much’, was what her eyes desperately said.  Takashi could tell Tsukimi truly looked forward to hear ‘I love you too’ come from his lips.

“No.” how could he blame her after all they went through? He held her hand, intertwining their fingers and kissed her. He still thought the soulmate system wasn’t reliable, but he did believe Tsukimi and him were meant for each other, and that was enough. “Koishiteru.”