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on-a-lucky-tide · 7 days ago

Note

Nik being strong enough to pick Price up when he's in a bad mood and just put him on the bench of his workshop.

Price is in air jail and now at the perfect height for when Nik tugs the zipper of his flight suit down to reveal that fluffy chest, those burly arms, that glorious belly and happy trail that leads to the weapon between his legs.

Honestly I don't think John could work those cargo pants off fast enough, maybe Nik forgoes that entirely and cuts a neat hole right in the crotch and rips to get at his prize.

Price is walking (Maybe a little bow-legged) out of there a hell of a lot happier than when he walked in.

The lads chip in for a nice takeaway for Nik for helping them out (Dealing with Price's shitty mood)

Nik uses his dick as a captain tamer.

cw: anal sex, mild brat taming, a little rough.

John’s temper was nothing new. Nik had experienced it in its various permutations through the years. It was like a hurricane; loud, destructive, and indiscriminate in the damage it caused, taking out friends and foes alike. But it eventually ran out of wind; surviving it was simply a case of moving out of its way until the inevitable conclusion. And, just like a storm, it wasn’t personal, but a natural byproduct of all the pressures and stresses weighing on John’s shoulders. He was only human.

Sometimes, however, the bad mood would fail to wear itself out and John would become more cantankerous as time wore on and his frustration built. If he was particularly tired, stressed, his body wound tight, feeding his brain a continuous flow of cortisol and catecholamines, then his grizzly mood was liable to last for days. A dark cloud hanging over the base and Task Force, suffocating.

It was day three this time and Nik’s patience had worn out. It was time to give the feral bastard what he needed. The lieutenant called it ‘a good seeing to’ and the sergeants, while not quite brave enough to say it to John’s face, said he was always a bit more human after he’d been stuffed with cock. Nik had worked out it was the act of having control stripped out of his hands, his mind emptied of all but pleasure, and his body flooded with endorphins from an orgasm. It stopped the spiral in its tracks. Even if it was only a reprieve to simply clear his head, it was often enough to give him the breathing room he needed to resolve the problem. He would deny it, of course, but John surrendered every time.

Nik finished the maintenance he’d been performing on the Black Hawk’s main rotary engine and washed his hands clean in the workshop sink, careful to remove the grease and grime from his cuticles. It was late. Most of the base had either retired to the barracks, gone home to their local residences, or headed out to the pub, but John was still here, huffing and growling over the laptop on the nearby workbench. “I can’t fuckin’ believe they’re takin’ Simon for another trainin’ seminar, puts him out for three fuckin’ days—“

Nik had invited him in to discuss some intel, citing his need to continue maintenance to stay on schedule as the reason for the location and, ever diligent, John had arrived on time with his laptop in tow, unknowingly sliding right into Nik's trap. Nik turned off the taps and returned briefly to his heli to dip into his duffle bag for the lube before he approached John at the bench. He slid his hands around John’s waist just as he closed his mouth over the soft skin beneath the hinge of his jaw, sucking a mark into soft skin.

“Ah, fuck, Nik—“ John went rigid in Nik’s hands, almost knocking the laptop off the workbench as he span to face him. “You randy bloody bastard, ‘ve got work t’ finish."

Those fierce blue eyes, the stern set of John's face, they would have struck quivering fear into the heart of many a man. But all Nik saw was the stress, the tension, the bone deep exhaustion, all locked up tight behind a safety valve that needed a practiced hand to release it. “Nyet, you are done for the evening.”

“Oh fuckin’ reall—“

He didn’t finish. Nik leaned forward and swept the laptop to the side, before grabbing John’s narrow hips and lifting effortlessly him onto the bench. He shoved his way between John’s knees, not letting him clam up, the expanse of one big hand staying at the base of John’s back to keep him from wriggling away.

John wrestled with him, fists bunching in his flight suit and shoving against his chest, their first kiss more teeth than tongue or lips. But as the heat of Nik's body enveloped him, their crotches pulled flush, chests together, John stopped thrashing in Nik's arms. Nik took it as the first defeat, drawing back to nuzzle John's beard.

"Lemme up, ya muppet."

"Nyet " Nik straightened a little, creating a gap between them even if he remained between John's legs.

"Nik," John growled his warning, but it was a hollow threat.

“You will do as you are told, captain. Good boys get rewards.”

Nik knew the low rumble of his voice, the manhandling, it stirred something primal and receptive in the back of John’s mind. He watched those bright baby blues widen before they dropped to Nik’s hand, following it like a hawk tracking a mouse as Nik grasped the zipper of his flight suit and tugged it down, deliberate in the glacial pace of its progress.

John’s mouth dropped open as curls of black chest hair emerged between parting metal teeth, Nik’s dusky nipples peaking in the cool air, and John’s greedy hands slid across the heat of newly revealed skin, following the firm contours of his tits. Nik leaned forward to kiss John’s neck again, encouraging his touch, and this time his captain relaxed, his legs spreading a little further apart as his hips tilted. He was begging to be fucked. Nik would take John here as planned, and then he would take him to his bed to exhaust him into complete surrender.

Nik tugged his flight suit open to its fullest extent, his cock arching up in readiness where he hadn't bothered with underwear knowing his intentions with John that evening. He popped a few of John's shirt buttons to kiss the furry perk of his pecs, smiling against John's skin as he squirmed, opening his belt and fly with practiced ease. "Oh, fuck, Nik, no, not here..."

"Da, here," Nik replied, listening to John's tone, his body, rather than his words; the way he gasped so desperately and arched into Nik's heat screamed please, please, please. He didn't resist when Nik slid his arms beneath his thighs and grasped his waistband, lifting his arse for a moment to yank his Carhartts and boxers down his thighs.

John hissed as his flushed skin settled back on the cold surface of the workbench, eager for the return of Nik's palms around the upper curve of his cheeks and the dip of his tailbone. John had an exquisite arse; firm, muscular and round. Perfect for bouncing on a cock. Nik kneaded the top of it as he nipped along the edge of John's jaw to his ear lobe, relishing the powerful body writhing enthusiastically in his arms. Who was Nik trying to kid? John was perfect in every way, even with his penchant for sulking.

Nik earned his first needy moan when he let the tip of his cock kiss the tight furl of John's hole, the slightest pressure rubbing his wet slit against the fluttering muscle in an insistent tease. He nuzzled John's beard as he fished the lube out of his pocket and flicked the lid off with his thumb. John's hands pushed beneath the fabric of his flight suit to grip his shoulders, one looping behind Nik's neck to play in the curls at the nape of his neck. John flinched when Nik squeezed the lube onto his balls, the tube clattering on the workbench when it was cast aside. "Bastard..."

Nik smirked, smoothing warm fingers gently down the seam of John's sac to his taint, circling, teasing his rim with little tugs at the opening. When the first finger dipped inside, Nik swallowed John's groan with a kiss, tongue licking into his mouth when it fell open in a shock of pleasure. John didn't need much coaxing, his body opening eagerly around one and then two probing fingers. Nik crooked them up, John's cock flicking as Nik's fingertips rubbed over his prostate. John panted, his head falling back, the filthy noise of Nik's fingers squelching into his hole accented by his soft whimpers. Blunt fingernails dug into Nik's skin as John clung to him, his leaking cock fully hard against the unblemished milky softness of his inner thigh.

"Ah, ah, Nik... Mm, fuck... Ah..."

"Da, solnyshko. Just a little more and I will give you what you need."

Nik could make John come like this, but his balls ached and there was only one place he wanted to empty them; to watch John unspool on his cock was a privilege he deserved. He pulled his fingers out slowly, his thumb tugging down at John's slick, puffy hole as he smeared lube and precum over his crown and down his shaft, tongue between his teeth as he groaned at the sweet anticipation of what awaited. He was so hard, cock throbbing in his grip, balls already tight, and he took a moment to steady himself before sliding his arms beneath John's thighs again, John's booted feet dangling either side of his back, his trousers bunch just shy of his knees.

His fingers pressed into the flesh of John's hips to keep him still as he ground the tip of his cock over the slick skin of John's taint, lower lip between his teeth as John shivered in his grasp, hips tilting again, urging, begging with his body. Nik's tip notched against his hole and Nik held him firm as he thrust inside, John's body gaping wide around the flare of his crown and thick shaft. John quaked in his arms, thighs trembling, his soft, tortured noises nursing a primal delight deep inside Nik's chest.

Nik kept going, sinking into John's body, inch by aching inch, even as it bore down around him in desperation.

"Fuck, Nik, Nik!"

"Da, my love. Surrender to me as you yearn to..."

It wasn't simply the act of sex. Penetration itself was not surrender and John had ridden Nik's cock from above many times, in complete control as Nik ceded, leaning back into the pillows with his eyes closed. But this act, of letting the tension and frustration melt from his body, of giving in to the pleasure of sex with a man who knew how to pluck every string, of finally letting his mind empty and his muscles relax. That was surrender.

Nik pressed deeper, achingly slow, clutching heat struggling with the girth and length. Every time John's channel fluttered, pulsing between relaxing and gripping, Nik seized more ground. John's eyes rolled back as Nik nestled in his guts and finally bottomed out with a satisfied groan, John's stretched hole pressed against the dark curls of his pubic hair. Nik kissed trembling, spit slick lips, rocking gently, staying deep as he hollowed out his place in John's body. "Mm, detka. You are so tight. Relax, breathe..."

"Nik, ah, fuck, Nik. I'so much, hng."

"Ssh, I know, but you are... mm, taking me so well. All you have to do is let go."

Nik didn't give him any choice. He drew out until John's body sucked on his tip, clenching around it in greedy throbs, before he thrust his full length back in. John bit out a soft, startled cry, back arching as his nails bit into Nik's shoulders. Nik leaned into his lover's neck, the downy curls of his chest hair pressing to the warm swells of his firm chest as he clutched his hips tight to pull them into his cock. The next thrust was just as firm, just as demanding, shaking the table on which John sat.

Nik picked up a bruising pace, forcing John's body into submission with each deep thrust, wet skin slapping wetly as the table rattled under the force of Nik's hips pounding against John's arse. John clung to him, unable to find purchase anywhere but Nik's shoulders as he was fucked hard, Nik's palms providing a softer cushion for him to be pressed into, keeping him from being shoved away so that he was made to take every thrust to the hilt at an angle that sent relentless curls of pleasure arcing up the length of his body.

John shook apart so beautifully, his first orgasm was dry, triggered purely by the insistent, relentless drag of Nik's cock over his prostate. Nik felt the first tremors of it and leaned in to coach him through with whispered encouragement, "da, John, such a good boy, let it happen..."

John's body milked him in tight pulses and Nik watched in awe as John's pleasure unspooled through him, his limbs shaking, broad chest heaving in rattling breaths through loud, high-pitched whines, completely overwhelmed at the full body experience of coming on Nik's cock. It was like a molten heat that burned away the last of the tension and left him pliant and open in Nik's arms.

John's hole relaxed, sloppy with lube and wells of precum, the perfect sheath for Nik's cock, still sucking hungrily on Nik's length every time he withdrew before slamming back inside. Nik chased his high, growling into John's neck, nipping at his hammering pulse to taste the sweat on his skin. His climax crept up his spine, a vine of tension pulling him tight, and he nipped John's ear. "Touch yourself, detka."

John grabbed his cock obediently, pumping down its slick length in furious jerks that matched Nik's pace, his moans reaching a crescendo as he was trapped between two pleasure centres. Nik felt John tighten again, another orgasm, and it teased him over into his own. His hips jerked, stuttering against John's arse, as his cock pulsed its first load deep in John's body. John followed him over the brink, the flood of heat inside him making his eyes roll back as his cock painted his hand and shirt in thick ropes of cum as he was filled with it.

Nik's vision greyed, the force of his own pleasure leaving him breathless as his cock twitched in John's channel. He hadn't realised how pent up he'd been, his balls offering a seemingly endless breeding. He panted hot breaths against John's skin, the tip of his nose resting in the bristles of his beard, lips placing soft, fleeting kisses as his body finally finished. When he finally gathered enough coordination to draw out, the filthy noise of his cock withdrawing made him growl with pleasure, his seed welling at John's hole to drip down the curve of his arse to the floor.

When he lowered John's feet, his legs shook, and he lifted him off the table by the hips. "Go to your room. When I get there, I expect to find you naked in bed," Nik said.

John might have argued if he hadn't been completely spaced, his eyes soft in post-orgasmic bliss. Nik helped him right his belt and trousers and then watched him hobble out of the workshop. Once his captain had disappeared from sight, Nik turned his attention to tidying his tools, a little jelly-legged as he strolled about his workshop.

Nik would find John showered and snoozing, naked and warm beneath his blankets, about an hour later. He washed himself, removing the grime and sweat of the workshop, and slipped in beside him to rub his back and shoulders. John roused slowly, content to let Nik ease his aches, legs spreading when those strong fingers slid between them for a second round, his hole buttery soft, eager for Nik's touch. He was impossible to resist.

#captain john price #cod nikolai #nikprice #spicy

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rubycast · 4 months ago

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AU: Jobs

Another AU I made a year or two ago. The idea is the sextuplets have jobs, but they're not exactly where they want to be in those jobs. They all still live at home as well.

Oso: Ballerina. Does shows at a local theater in town with a ballerina group that comes to town every summer. He’s really good and they offer to take him on tour with them, but he doesn’t want to leave his family behind so he refuses (though he lies and says he’s too lazy to travel or something). His dream is to one day perform in Paris, France in front of a large crowd, though he doesn’t tell anyone this. The rest of the year he’s a NEET. Had Iyami as his agent once when he was younger. He performed in different towns, but ended up missing his family and was thinking of going home when he found Iyami trying to run off with the money they earned from the shows. Iyami wanted to take the money and go to France alone. Luckily the family was able to stop Iyami, but they lost the money in the struggle in a hijinks way. He can still remember the feeling of loneliness without his brothers by his side to this day, which is why he doesn’t want to leave them and go on tour.

Kara: A model! Well, actually, a hand model. His dream is to become a full-body model. He doesn’t even have to be on the cover or centerfold. He just wants to show off his whole body. Chibita takes pity on him and has him model for flyers for his oden shop (though he has to keep reminding Kara to keep it tame and not to ham). Has gotten scammed more than once by “talent agencies” that promise to make him a full body model. Each time they run off with his money he promises to be more careful from then on, but then falls for the next one.

Choro: Works at a business office (the one his dad got for him in that one ep). His dream is to own his own business like his father did in the kun series. He hasn’t gone to business school (since he can’t afford it and doesn’t have any talents to get scholarships), so right now his plan is to work hard and get promoted until he becomes CEO of the business. What he doesn’t realize is that his supervisors don’t plan on giving him any promotions. They want to keep him where he is and force him to do their work for them, so they can take the credit. Despite all the work he does, and always attending drinking parties after work, he has no work friends. Everyone is annoyed with him and his know-it-all attitude and is only nice to him when they have work that needs done.

Whenever he gets drunk he rants about how he’s going to quit and start his own business, but never goes through with it. He’s afraid of it failing, like his father’s business did. One of the ones that has a steady income and can keep it.

Ichi: Runs a non-profit cat adoption center. Raised up money to rent a building to turn it into an adoption center. The problem is Ichi’s standards are higher than most, so adopting is nearly impossible and they don’t earn a lot of money. The only reason his business hasn’t gone under is cause his brothers help him run a charity, benefit thing whenever the center needs money. He also sometimes get an anonymous donation. The only other employee he has is his old highschool friend (and secret crush), Yana. Yana also helps put money into the center so it doesn’t go under. Ichi gets annoyed when Choro tries to give him business advice.

Jyushi: A baseball player! Kinda. He’s on a baseball team, but he never gets to play. When he first joined he got a little too excited and went nuts (like in the last ep of season 1). He’s calmed down since then, but none of his teammates or coach trusts him and have him as a benchwarmer. They have him do more manual tasks, like cleaning the uniforms, polishing bats, and things a baseball player shouldn’t be expected to do. He doesn’t complain, though he wishes they would at least let him play in one game. His teammates find him annoying, but they can’t trade him off (for whatever reason). He gets paid the most out of the brothers (he gets extra for doing the manual labor), but none of them realize this since he sends half of his paycheck to Ichi as an anonymous donor, or to Homuyra in the form of gifts (he tried money once and she sent it back). Does travel to other cities for games, but makes sure to call home everyday and talk to his brothers for hours when he can.

Todo: Part time streamer/part time worker at a clothing store. He wants to become a popular streamer, but so far he’s just got a little following. He’s the streamer that either talks about his day, complains about a coworker or customer, or reacts to videos. He sometimes gets donations on his streams, but the one he gets the most from is from a fan named “FluffyMixer.” (It’s Atsushi. Fluffy is the name of his cat. Todo doesn’t know it’s Atsushi and often talks to him about his “favorite fan that donates a lot to him” while Atsushi smirks and listens). He's wanting to get sponsorships.

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randomfoggytiger · 4 months ago

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"Every Day It's Like Halloween"

Fictober, Day 1

Thanks for @thescullyphile for the prompt: Our stalwart heroes, Mulder and Scully, transported via X-File circumstance, through time to Ye Olde Yeares. What shall our chevaliers find? Perhaps a Monster calles, or they Witnesse the Stone Henge? 'Tis for thine mind to puzzle.

It didn't quite go that direction; but I gotta follow the Muse. ;)))

*-*-*-*-*

Mulder wouldn’t be surprised if his pupils were blown.

Flat on his back, he tried to focus on his breathing as the sky tilted and twirled inconsistently. There were voices blending in surprise or panic around him-- blending being the operative word, he couldn’t make out what they were saying-- and someone’s shadow was dipping over his head. Another second and he expected Scully to come into view.

“Mulder!” And there she was, brows pinched, eyes alarmed. A sprig of fake green poked him in the eye as the contraption holding her tiny knot of hair lost its hold and fell to pieces. She was, he noted vaguely, a vision in luminous layers of pearl and silver gauze. She smelt like smoke, and salt, and roasted pig flesh.

Oh, he remembered. Ren Faire.

*-*-*-*-*

The case had sounded promising: California visitors disappearing behind the polyester and plastic reconstruction of Medieval times. Skinner, he'd decided, likely wouldn't comment on yet another trip to the West Coast, having turned an increasingly blind eye to their largely fruitless missions and sun tans and deepening smile lines.

“He seems,” Scully concluded, trying to tame a grin, unsuccessfully, “happy.”

“Hm,” Mulder nodded, engrossed with Scully’s battle. “He's definitely more… engaged with our reports lately.”

“Well, stripper video game assassins are probably… intriguing, on some level.” She still held a grudge against Jade Afterglow’s double. He caught her stealing away with his thinnest pair of sunglasses, once, to recreate the stare down in her bathroom mirror. She caught him conspicuously packing those sunglasses, twice, for this trip. (He’d made sure she’d noticed.)

“It'll give him something to say to the premiere reporters.”

Scully tried to hide her curiosity there, as well, looking up to read his face carefully. “That’s still a few weeks away.”

He shrugged, mildly amused at the prospect of their boss preening and strutting around Wayne Federman like a Hollywood would-be. “Jealous you’ll have to share the honor of screentime with Skinman?”

“Once was enough-- Bill’s never gotten over the humiliation.” There was that smile again, in spite of her annoyance at L.A.’s tendency to tape everything. Charlie’s “You and Mulder created job opportunities for werewolves” helped make her older brother’s bluster bearable…that, and the fact both silently agreed to add the tape to Mulder’s collection.

Passing over a few tempting quips, he settled on, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

*-*-*-*-*

"Quite a bit," Scully reminded him, later.

The disappearances had taken a dramatic turn by the time Mulder submitted their travel request: a senator’s daughter had vanished; and the local authorities were suddenly as interested in the case as their pensions required. Skinner took their paperwork and theory seriously-- too seriously, they concluded-- roping them into an undercover operation. Vendors and attendees raucously greeted and laughed and sang in the sunshine while Mulder and Scully sweated through layers of cheaply bought performance clothes, she supplying water on the hour and he buying cloths to wipe the sweat off her arms and neck.

As far afield as Mulder floated, he came hurrying back.

“Don’t split up, Agents,” the top-down had warned, “they found one of the bodies this morning. A real gruesome way to go. Pattern suggests the killer targets red-haired guests.” And while the suggestion was improbable, given their methods, neither wanted to take any chances.

*-*-*-*-*

Scully wandered off to relieve herself before Mulder clocked a duck-and-dodge attempt. Someone-- male, above-average height, broad shoulders, shaved head-- was popping from one outlier tent to another, long poker in hand, occasionally twisting behind the flaps to avoid detection. He notified the team just as the man charged, closing in on Scully with sickening speed.

“Scullay!” The ground flew past and the scenery blurred, partner and pursuant becoming his only focus.

“Mul--” she managed to yell, briefly, before whipping out her gun and ordering,” Stop! FBI!”

The suspect did; but Mulder watched as his shoulders straightened, knew the last yard was going to be recklessly crossed, regardless. “FBI-- hands in the air!” he echoed, racing onto the scene, weapon raised.

There was an explosion of movement so disorienting that he had to piece the events together afterwards. The assailant was leaping at him, the poker was above his head, Scully was yelling, shots were fired, the team was swarming around, and darkness was swiftly descending.

*-*-*-*-*

When he woke, the sun was still punishing, the scenery still blurred, and Scully still his only focus.

“Mulder, are you all right? Don’t move,” she discouraged, holding his head steady with one hand while her other fingers prodded around for injury.

“Did he get me?” His question was answered, swiftly and abruptly, when she landed on the sorest part of his skull. “Ow.”

“Sorry. We’re going to have to get that x-rayed, I think. Paramedics should be here, soon.”

Her eyes were too sorrowful, too regretful. He chanced a smile and a friendly poke to her leg. “This time, you ditched me.”

Scully snorted, as he hoped she would. “No one expects to be followed to the bathroom, Mulder.” Squinting at their surroundings, she added, “Or to the woods, in this case.”

“You don’t have historic luck when it comes to bathrooms, though, Scully.”

“Liver eating mutants and elegies aside, Mulder,” she huffed, massaging the ache radiating across his forehead, “I don’t seem to have much luck hanging around you at all.”

“Mm,” he agreed, fighting sleep. “Won’t Skinner be pleased?”

*-*-*-*-*

Time stretched on lazily after Ronald Ferris was led away in handcuffs; and still, the paramedics did not come. His partner was turning snappish, glaring at nosy busybodies and pushing the officers to call in the ambulance if they had to. The moment called for, Mulder muzzily concluded, a distraction.

"Y'know, Scully." He let the statement hang, knowing it wouldn't be long until his partner bit.

"What, Mulder?"

"This is our first ren faire together."

"No," she insisted, inflexibly argumentative, "it is not."

"No? How do you figure?"

She sighed, looked down at him with that smile, and squeezed her eyes shut. "Mulder, I know what--"

"We're here, Scully. What other proof do you need?"

"Fine." Sitting back more comfortably, face relaxing, she let her protests drop. "This isn't our first ren faire because we weren't properly dressed. We didn't bob for apples, or...." Blowing through her lips, she tried to recall the events of that morning. "We didn't eat leg of lamb, or try roasted beef, or wash down vendor desserts with seasonal drinks, or. Or participate in the games. We didn't get to compete against each other. You didn't battle someone else for my honor."

Mulder made a little noise, looked upward where he presumed his bump was; and watched Scully's eyes soften.

"Well," she amended, "you did participate a little. It probably wouldn't count, though."

"It feels like it counts."

Nodding, Scully clutched his hand with her free one, rubbed his thumb tenderly with her own. "Then it counts to me."

*-*-*-*-*

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

Tagging @today-in-fic and @xffictober24.

#txf #“Every Day Is Like Halloween”#randomfoggytiger's fic #xf fanfic #Fictober #Day 1 #2024 #here's my first entry!#might only do one a week who knows?#ren faire #xfiles #x-files #the x files #fic #mine

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rudystopit · 5 months ago

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v. Live Together In Unity│M.O'Hara

↳Pinterest

Summary: Exhausted and sick from late nights helping Father O'Hara, you struggle with nightmares about a Beast and a worsening cold. Despite feeling ill, you push through your duties in the library and at the abbey. Lyla encourages you to rest, and a heartfelt conversation with Father O'Hara in the kitchen reveals shared personal stories

Pairing: Priest!Vampire!Miguel O'Hara/Nun!reader

Warnings: none. it's actually a tame chapter.

word count: 4,005

masterlist

{cross posted on AO3}

𝔓𝔰𝔞𝔩𝔪𝔰 133:1 ℌ𝔬𝔴 𝔤𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔭𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔦𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔊𝔬𝔡’𝔰 𝔭𝔢𝔬𝔭𝔩𝔢 𝔩𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔤𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔦𝔫 𝔲𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔶!

Your eyes were heavy as you readied yourself for bed. You stared at your open window and let yourself fall to your pillow. Your eyes burned holes into the wall under the windowsill. It had been a few weeks since you started helping Father O'Hara with the spring exhibit. The long nights ruined your sleep schedule. You were exhausted by the time you got to bed, but your mind ran with the thought of the Beast. The attacks started back up a few days ago. Every year since you've been at the convent, during the spring and fall the bear attacks become vicious. The locals who came to pray talked about how gruesome deaths were. They didn't understand why the attacks became frequent during this time. They said the attacks had been happening for many years. A couple of the older patrons say it's been about ten years since the attacks began to happen. They reasoned it was a bear coming out of hibernation and being hungry then doing the same to prepare for winter.

You had been plagued with nightmares. It doesn't help that you've been reading about the catholic rituals before the religion became more organized. The attack was just the cherry on top. Once you finally fell asleep, it was the same scene on repeat.

You were standing in the woods. Moonlight filtered through the trees. Your sight is less than stellar. You hear twigs snapping to your left. You swing your body to the sound. You back away slowly. You muster up any will in you to not panic. You steady your breathing to not show the Beast you were afraid. Deep down inside, you want to run.

A twig snaps behind you. You flip around in hopes you will see your stalker. Another twig alerts you. You back away slowly, once again, trying to maintain distance from the Beast. A hazy shape creeps out from behind a tree. Your heart sinks as the red eyes concentrate on you. You step back, trying not to break its gaze. You want nothing more than to get out of this alive. Your gut tells you if you break its inspection of you, you will lose.

One more step, you whisper. One more. And as if on cue, you trip. The beast starts towards you. You hurry to the tree behind you, never taking your eyes off the Beast. Your back firmly against the tree as the Beast lunges at you. You close your eyes. Cinnamon and pine fill your scenes. You yell out, "Father O'Hara," hoping he will come save you.

You never get to the end of the dream. You always wake up panicked. Your breathing is rapid, and you let your head fall into your hands. You sniffled and noticed your forehead was warm. You turn to look out the window. It opened with the currents flowing in the wind. You groaned and flopped back down into your pillow.

You rub your eyes and begin to feel a headache forming. You decide that if it comes to it, you'd ask Abbess Drew for a day of rest. You got dressed slowly and tried not to think about the dream or the mucus forming in your sinuses. In your dazed state, you forgo the pins to hold up your habit and decide the thicker socks would be the best bet for today. You shivered as you opened the door. Lyla stood waiting for you.

"You look awful?" she nudges you, "are you feeling okay?" you groaned and tried to keep up with her. "Didn't sleep well? Is Father O'Hara keeping you too late? You know Abbess Drew can tell him to quit keeping you out late," she says as she rounds the corner to the common area. "Hey, I think you forgot something this morning," You look up at her. She comes up to you and tucks some loose hair back into your habit. She pulls out some extra pins and fixes it for you.

"Thanks, I might have caught something. I left the window open last night. I guess that's what I get for staying up reading over old books for Father O'Hara, "You sniffled. She smiles and opens the door to the dining room.

"The night is still cold. You might want to add closing the window to your nightly routine," she laughs. The two of you walked to the food line. She makes you tea as you look for anything that wouldn't make you want to hurl in the moment. She hands you the mug and tells you to sit while she "scrounges" up something good. "Helps to be friends with the sisters on kitchen duty," and with that, she leaves you.

You stare out the window and hope that today will be a warmer day. You watch the birds fly around and watch the bees collect pollen from the flowers in the window bed. You sigh and take a sip from the mug. The delightful taste of the tea fills your mouth, and the steam fills your nose. The warm liquid goes down your throat, and you close your eyes at the relief you feel.

Lyla comes up with two plates and giggles at the sight she sees. "I see you like my cure for the cold," she sets a bowl of yogurt and bananas in front of you. "There's also some ginger and honey in it. I heard all those things are good for when you've got a cold," she begins to chow down on some eggs. You take the spoon and scoop up a bite.

"Do you think someone here would have ibuprofen or something? I feel super achy," you asked.

"Doubt it, I'm pretty sure people here think that's of the devil," she says in between bites. "I'd ask Father Parker. I bet he gets a ton of headaches during the long priest meetings," she laughs.

"I'll try," you said, taking another sip from the mug. You hear footsteps come up to the table. You don't look up and instead place the cup down and stare at the tea inside.

"Oh hey, Sister Gia," Lyla says.

"Hey," she waves. "Um, sister, would you be able to help me this morning? One of the Fathers returned pretty much a whole bookshelf worth of books last night as I was locking up. And you've been in the library longer than I have. You know the setup a lot better than me. You'd probably be able to get this done in about an hour."

You look up at her. You were surprised she was talking to you; on top of that, you had no idea that Sister Scott's name was Gia. "Uh, sure, I'll go to the library after chapel,'' she bowed and left. You turned back to Lyla. She just kept eating away. "She's never talked to me. I'm pretty sure she doesn't even know my name."

"Sorry to break it to you, but I'm pretty sure none of the sisters know your name," she smiled. "I didn't even know your name till I talked to you,"

"Yeah," you took another sip. You rolled your shoulders to get the pain out of your back. You looked down in disgust as the pain just got worse. "I hope the chapel isn't going to be cold," you remark. Lyla looks at you with so much concern.

"Maybe you should take the day off," she places her hand on yours. "I can go tell Abbess Drew you're not feeling well. She'll understand."

"No, I already agreed to help Sister Scott, and Father O'Hara is expecting me to help him," you said as you stood to take your bowl to the bin. Lyla followed you. You dropped the bowl into the bin and headed to the chapel with Lyla. She kept asking if you think it would be a good idea to work today. You reminded her that it does not work if it is for the Lord in your best Abbess Drew impression. She giggled as you two found seats.

You waited for the Abbess to start. The other girls flowed into the pews, and a slight chill filled the old room. You scooched closer to Lyla to keep warm. You shivered into her. You quickly wiped your nose as Abbess Drew stood at the front. She begins the prayer, and then, as soon as she begins the proper prayer, you grab Lyla's leg. She shoots you a look. Your eyes go wide as you try to hold in a sneeze. You couldn't hold it as well as you thought you could, and you sneezed in the quiet chapel. Abbess Drew looks up and smiles. "God Bless you," her smooth voice rang out. You sink into the pew as people giggle. Lyla stifles her laugh and nudges you not to be embarrassed.

After morning prayers, you head up to the library to begin helping Sister Scott. You walk into piles upon piles on the counters and tables surrounding it. You find Sister Scott filling out some donated books into the filing system. You walked over to her, and she pointed at the pile on the table. "Those are the returned ones. Once I get all these files, I'll help you put them away," she mumbles. You nod, pick up arms full and begin working. You walked to one of the shelves and set down the pile to rearrange the books to make room for the new ones.

You try to blink away the headache. You look down and sniffle; the pounding just continues. You roll your shoulders and pick up the books. You robotically place one at a time into their homes on the shelves. After about 20 minutes of sluggishly moving books, you finish that pile. You return and pick up another pile, and repeat the process over and over and over, each time your headache gets worse. The pain in your shoulders continues down your back. About thirty minutes in, Sister Scott helps you. She grabs the more philosophical books and goes to the other end of the row of shelves. You two work in silence for a while. You didn't mind; the headache didn't mind the quiet. You really don't remember doing most of the work. The fever that was brewing made it hard to concentrate on anything other than keep your eyes open. There were some moments you could have sworn you fell asleep while putting books away.

"Are you alright? I noticed you looked kind of..." you stared at her, not entirely processing what she was saying. Her pause ended with an "eh" sound accompanied by a disgusted look and gesturing to you.

"I fell asleep with the window open, and I'm suffering the consequences," You said, desperately trying to keep your nose from running. She nods and looks back to the shelves. You turned just to look at the shelf. Not making any movement to put books away. You stared at a title, The History of Vampires within the Church. You chuckled at the thought of a vampire pope as Sister Scott looked at you.

After about 30 sneezes, a box of tissues, and hours of a splitting headache, you headed back to the information desk to see Sister Scott looking over the "check-out" logs. You looked over her shoulder to see her cross-checking what you had put away with the books that were still out in the Fathers' offices.

"Well, that looks like all of it. Thank you," Sister Scott says while checking over the logs. "Do you know when you'll be assigned back here?" she looks up at you.

"I don't know," you answered honestly, "Father O'Hara said the exhibit was for spring, but the pace we're going at, it should be on Christmas, not Easter," you smiled at her. A faint grin creeps onto her face.

"Well, I hope it turns out well, and the library isn't the same without you," she turns back to the log. "Have a nice afternoon."

You smiled at her and began to walk to the door. "Wait, can you bring this to Abbess Drew?" You looked down at the piece of paper. You shook your head.

The hallways seem colder today. You reasoned it was fever creeping up. Your eyes felt heavy as you shuffled to the Abbess' office. People looked at you and whispered, mostly saying, 'Poor thing.' You would smile at the townspeople while on your journey. You stood in front of the old oak door with the Abbess' name on a nameplate. You make three quick raps on the door.

The door opens to the Abbess confused, and then it shifts to concern. "Sister," worry is woven through your words. "You look awful. Come in, what do you need?" You handed her the paper that Sister Scott gave you. "you worked... in the library? While being this sick?"

"I'm not that sick," you sniffled after, proving Abbess's point.

"you need to take the day off and recover," she says, folding her arms. Her genuine concern was touching, but you couldn't. You had to help Father O'Hara with the project.

"I will be fine, and I appreciate the concern, but I simply can't. Father O'Hara is expecting my help, and I must be of his assistance," your voice only came above a whisper.

Abbess Drew sighed and took your hand into hers, "Sister, I'm envious of your dedication, but your health is a priority. Father O'Hara will understand if you take a day off."

You shook your head, unwavering. "The Project is supposed to be a month in, and by my personal experience, we are nowhere close to where we need to be. We don't even have the artifacts we're using. He hasn't sent me to pick up anything. I need to be there whether or not I'm sick."

The Abbess looked down in thought. She blinked a few times, and her eyebrows narrowed. She looked up at you, giving a reluctant smile. "Very well then. If you believe you can handle it, you may continue your duties. But please promise me you'll take some rest. Your health is precious, and we can't afford to have you falling seriously ill." Her hand rests on yours.

You nodded with gratitude and bowed to her. "Thank you for understanding."

After your chat with the Abbess, you walked over to the bathhouse. The dust is all over you, and you wish the warm water would help with your illness. Once you get to the house, the steam hits your face. You close your eyes and take a deep breath. You head over to the bench and remove your clothes sluggishly. You dip your feet into the warm water. You finally get fully in and let the water take you. The steam filled your nose, and the pressure on your chest began to loosen weakly. You relaxed into the water, and you felt as if the cold just melted off of you. You sit up with hesitation and grab the shampoo. A small dollop sits in the palm of your hand. You looked at the little peak—the light tint of purple and the smell of the lilac. You inched your hand closer to your head, trying not to let any part of your body leave the water. You managed and began to lather the floral scent into your hair.

The door swings open, and it's Lyla. "I saw you walk in the Abbess' office. What happened? Are you actually taking the day off?" She comes and sits at the edge of the bath.

"No, I gave her a note from Sister Scott," you said, turning away from her.

"You're too headstrong," she laughed. "I don't think it's a good idea."

"I need to continue helping him. We're behind. It's like he doesn't work when I'm around." You quickly dip under the water to rinse the shampoo out of your hair.

"You walk to his office after lunch, right?" she asked.

"Yes. Well, sometimes. Some days, he tells me to come before dinner." You wipe the water off your face.

"What do you have to do till then?" you look at her. She's sitting criss-crossed at the edge, looking down at you.

"Prayer, I guess. I don't need to go to confession," you looked at her, confused.

"Then I suggest you go to sleep." her stern took you back. "I'll come get you before lunch." she leans closer. "I can't have my one friend getting deathly ill." she smiles.

"Alright, I will go to my room and sleep. But I'm holding you to come and wake me up," you point at her.

She laughs, "I will, and if you need me beforehand, you know where to find me."

⋆༺♱༻⋆ ⋆༺♱༻⋆ ⋆༺♱༻⋆ ⋆༺♱༻⋆ ⋆༺♱༻⋆ ⋆༺♱༻⋆ ⋆༺♱༻⋆ ⋆༺♱༻⋆

After your bath, you find yourself lying in your bed. The head disappeared, but the ache in your shoulders hadn't stopped torturing you. You tossed around, trying to find a position that relieved the pain, but to no luck. You lay on your side, looking out the window. The cursed window. The window that got you into this mess. You scoffed at it and turned to the other side. You stared at your rosary hanging on your door. A sense of peace filled you as your eyes drifted closed.

the woods. You sighed and looked around for your foe. You see the hazy figure cross the clearing. You stare into its eyes once again. It creeps around the tree, low to the ground. It stalked you more like a wild cat than the usual bear. You hear it breaking the twigs as it inches closer to you. You waited for it to make its first move. It stopped two feet in front of you. You were in a standoff with the shadow. Its red eyes are watching you carefully. You found something familiar about the apparition. But tonight you're not going to figure out why. You bolted around the tree. You knew the Beast was behind you. You heard the twigs snapping as you zigzagged through the trees. This time you didn't look behind you. you kept your eyes forward and you were determined to either live this time or see what happens after it catches you. The trees became scarce as you ran. Then you noticed the cliff. You slide to a stop as the Beast catches up. You took one last look at the beast's eyes before it tackled you down into the ravine.

You shoot up as someone bangs on your door. "Come in, Lyla!" You squeaky yelled through the door. She whips the door open and sees you sat up in bed with a sheen of sweat. "Lunch?" you asked.

"Hour after," she smiled and sat in the chair next to your desk. You glared at her and got up. "I asked the Sisters in the kitchen if they could make you some soup. They're making it right now."

"Thank you," She helped pin the veil in place. "I wish we had cough syrup. I could use some," You said as she fixed your hair.

"I know. You should ask one of your fathers to get to some,"

"My fathers?" you asked, looking up at her.

"Father Parker and Father O'Hara?" she answered but it sounded more like a question.

"How are they mine?" you stood up to leave.

"They talk about you," she answered as if what she said would freak someone out.

"How do you know?" you linked an arm with her as the two of you walked to the kitchen.

"The fathers forget the community chapel has at least three sisters working there. They just talk about whatever while they wait for patrons to come." she cheerfully says. "the other day they were talking about you. I think Father Parker asked how the project was and Father O'Hara said something about how it's nice to have you around."

She pushed the door open and on the counter, there was a bowl of soup waiting for you. You walked over to the bowl and took a sniff or as much as could smell. With a sigh and rushed prayer, you dug into the wonderful bowl of soup. "Thank you. I needed this," you smiled at Lyla. She puts a hand on your shoulder and leaves to do her afternoon duties. You sat in silence and ate your soup.

"Oh, Hello, Sister," a voice rang out behind you. You quickly looked over your shoulder and gave a small wave then went back to your soup. Father O'Hara walked up to the counter and sat next to you. "How's you..." he looks into the bowl, "soup?"

"Delicious," you answered.

"Isn't it a bit warm to be serving soup?" He asked.

"Especially made for me. I woke up with a cold," you smiled. "It tastes just like it did when I was a kid," you scooped another spoonful into your mouth. "I think there's more in the fridge."

"I'm good. I remember when I was sick my mother would make red onion and honey cough syrup for me. My abuela swore by it and my mother still does to this day and tells me to make it when I'm sick," He smiles while looking off into the distance.

"Do you miss them?" it slipped out when you looked at him.

He turns to you and solemnly says, "Every day."

The two of you fall into a comfortable silence as you finish your meal. Father O'Hara just started at the dishes lined up next to the sink. You stood up and brought your bowl to the sink and began to wash it. He stood up and started putting the other dishes away so your bowl would have a place to dry.

"What do you miss most from your past?" He asked as he stacked the dishes.

"Chocolate," You answered quietly. You knew it was a bad answer, most people would say family or traveling, but you did miss chocolate. The abbey had a quiet ban on it before you came and you didn't realize how much you missed a good smooth chocolate. "What about you?"

"Dancing," He answered as he put away the plates on the shelf. "I miss putting on music and dancing while I did my tasks," He smiled to himself. "What was your life like before joining?"

"Well, I was going to go to college. I applied and everything, but the night before I was supposed to move in, I left. I traveled here and walked right up the old abbess and that night I started to convert. I didn't realize how hard it would be to live this lifestyle but five years later, I wouldn't give it up for the world." You had finished washing your bowl a while ago, now you were just leaning against the counter, watching him put away the dishes. "What about you?" You hesitated, the last time you mentioned his past his whole personality shifted.

"I had finished my degree in genetics, I was going to start my first job after getting my PhD and there was an accident and I went looking for Preston, uh Father Parker, and the church took me in."

"So, you did work in labs!" Your voice gave out halfway through and he chuckled at your voice.

"Yes, but not like the labs you're thinking of. I was good at what I did but I didn't love it, especially after the accident," He stood next to you as he talked. "I knew Preston was joining the church, which was a big surprise to me. But I flew here, looking for him. He brought me to the abbey and after about a year living here I decided I should probably become a priest and earn my keep." he let his head fall to look at you when he finished. He gave you a small smile and tapped your upper back. "We should get to work before Abbess Drew finds us lounging around the kitchen."

#fanfic #fanfiction #smut #across the spiderverse #into the spider verse #miguel ohara #miguel spiderman #spiderman 2099 #miguel x reader #atsv miguel #miguel spiderverse #miguel o'hara #miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o'hara x you #miguel o'hara fanfiction #miguel o'hara smut #miguel o'hara fic

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bumblebeehug · 5 months ago

Text

New Years Kiss

Summary: Lucy and Natsu being nostalgic for 60% of the story with only 40% actually being about the New Years. Notes: My first real yapper-fic! Ao3 - FF.net

***

It was the most festive time of the year in Fiore. The old year was getting left behind and everyone looked forward to all the adventures the coming year would have for them. The Fairy Tail guild was certainly no exception.

It had been a few years since the war against the Alvarez Empire. While the economy still was unstable in the continent, people had slowly been able to build up their normal life again. Just this autumn Magnolia could hold their harvest festival again after too many years on standstill, and the market had finally reopened up for locals and visitors. Team Natsu was back from the 100 years quest since a year back, and the days were passing slowly and uneventfully - not that anyone minded, even the rowdiest wizards found blissfulness in the calmer weekdays.

The mages and wizards in Fairy Tail took their missions one at a time. Most were still tame jobs about rebuilding and helping non-magical beings, while the tougher jobs had toned down. To the town’s surprise, the famous Team Natsu was not complaining either. Of course, they did not know about the sabbatical year they had been forced to take, but they were indeed thriving in the newfound peace that blessed their hometown.

Yes, you heard that right. Guild master Makarov Dreyar had made the group take a year off to heal and get a chance to live a normal civilised life before running off into danger again. Normally Natsu would protest greatly, and do not get it wrong, he did in the beginning, but soon the Fairy Tail guild was faced with great grief. Makarov passed away after years of stress, magical impact and a weak body. He was praised across the continent for his courageous soul and fatherly instinct, and even though everyone in the guild mourned, they agreed that he had lived a worthy and long life, and that he would live on in their hearts. This occasion made it hard for Team Natsu to not follow his last order, and they finally caved in to the home vacation.

This year was indeed a bittersweet year. While Makarov’s death brought devastation to the guild, it also brought them together. They cried together, laughed about fond memories together and loved together. And so the year came to an end. Naturally they would hold a big party for the guild to get together and celebrate what the next year would bring, because whatever they would be faced with, they were in it together.

The same line of thought went through Lucy’s, Levy’s and Juvia’s heads when they heard that the dress code to the party would be formal. Now, Lucy wouldn’t say there was anyone special she wanted to impress with her dress, but as a woman who grew up in a wealthy family she couldn’t bring herself to go against the party invitation’s order. Of course she would do her best to make herself presentable in the crowd.

Now, Levy and Juvia could actually admit that they wanted to impress a certain someone. There was no shame in it for them - Levy had twins with Fairy Tail’s own iron dragon slayer Gajeel Redfox. She even had another baby brewing in her belly right now! So yes, she was in an official relationship with Gajeel, and she found no shame in wanting to dress up for the occasion. Even if it usually was quite the hassle to make yourself presentable when raising toddlers, she still wanted to put in the effort to pamper herself once in a while.

Juvia has never been shy when it comes to confessing her love to Gray Fullbuster, but after the 100 years quest they had obviously developed into something more. Lucy knew from before that Gray had a certain eye for the water mage, and she knew that their encounter with Tartaros and Spriggan 12 had affected them deeply, so seeing them happy and content together was pure bliss according to the celestial mage. There had also been quite the reduction of flooding in the guild hall - something that was appreciated by everyone, including the new master.

The new master post had once again been assigned to Erza. No one in Fairy Tail even batted an eye when it came to it, aside from Macao who still wanted to redeem himself from those seven years when half the guild were on Tenrou Island. While Erza still had some difficulties with the paperwork, everyone had trust in her ability to defend and lead the guild no matter the situation. Recent unofficial guild activities with Crime Sorcière had also made her mood a lot better, Lucy was always ahead with the gossip - don’t mind that she heard this from Mira Jane.

Now, when it came to the New Years party, Lucy, Levy and Juvia had decided to come to Lucy’s place to get themselves ready. The most ideal place would have been one of the dorms at Fairy Hills since no boys were allowed, but Levy had since long moved in with Gajeel and Juvia and Gray had recently moved together. None of them had the guts to interfere with Erza’s planning, and Cana would most likely try to get them drunk before even leaving her dorm, so Lucy’s place it was. Lucy had taken time off earlier just to specifically tell Natsu to not come there while they were getting ready - she wanted them to be comfortable to change, plus they wanted to chat without a dragon slayer’s hearing in the way. To their surprise, Natsu actually agreed to it, saying something about finding that rental place for suits before they closed.

So, they had the place from lunch to the time they wanted to leave. Lucy gave them alcohol-free drinks due to Levy’s pregnancy, but also since she knew that Juvia had a growing foetus inside her belly. Juvia didn’t know this though, and Lucy was not going to be the one who took away her joy of learning it by herself - you see, Wendy made Lucy keep it a secret that she had smelled and sensed a child brewing in Juvia's stomach for almost 3 weeks now - Juvia wasn’t gonna keep it a secret the second she knew about it, and Wendy wanted her to have the joy of discovering it herself. Lucy kept her word and hadn’t told anyone, not even Natsu, Levy or Happy, and certainly not Gray. And because of this unknown child, Lucy was gonna have to tell Mira not to give her any alcohol tonight.

Levy, who still was insecure about her once again growing postpartum belly and didn’t want anything tight, had decided on a dress that would be on the shorter side, one that would reach just below her behind.The dress was sewn in an A-line format, one of her favourite forms on dresses. After doing her makeup and throwing a cute and neat headband on, she would be done - but not after Lucy had convinced her to wear a few jewellery pieces of course.

Juvia wanted to keep her modest style in her dress, while also of course showing off a little bit of skin - just enough for her Gray-sama to notice. She had chosen a dark blue, long dress that fit tight on her body. On her left side there was a slit, much resembling the skirt she wore daily. That way her Fairy Tail emblem would show through, which she of course had much pride in. The dress had long sleeves and a surprisingly low cut around her neck. She had chosen that cut to show off the necklace she got from Gray - yes, it was in fact his usual cross. That necklace was almost as important to him as Natsu’s scarf was important to Natsu, so there was no wonder Juvia wanted to show it off. She decided to put her blue locks in a bun and accompany the necklace with more silver jewellery.

Lucy however was stumped. She had no idea what to wear. Her favourite colour was blue, but she usually wore a bright blue that wasn’t really fit for new years eve. She liked the colour pink, but again, it wasn’t really working with the theme. Juvia and Levy wore dark blue and black, so she couldn’t work with that either. She ended up glancing at a red tight dress that Virgo presented from the Celestial world - it was daring, but not in a way that would be too much of a disaster. She ended up trying it on. The silhouette of the skirt was similar to Juvia's - long with a high slit that reached almost up to her hip. She would have to rule out panties if she chose this dress - a risky move when alcohol and her guild mates were involved. The upper body had a classic heart shape cut. Simple, but never a bad choice. What made this dress so special however wasn’t just the daring colour - it was the shimmering glitter in the fabric that made her buy it. To her it resembled the stars, while also fitting in with the glamorous theme of new years. She decided to just wear black heels and some gold jewelry to it, and also got Cancer to fix her hair in a half up-do and curling the ends. Her earrings and her rings had red stones that matched the dress perfectly, and with some eyeliner, mascara and more pampering of her face, she had her look.

Now, these three weren’t the best at keeping track on time. Levy had taken ages to decide on which shoes she was going to wear, and Juvia kept going back and forth on deciding her hair style - Cancer even popped up once to share his opinion which finally made it stick. Lucy couldn’t help but worry that Natsu would storm in and ruin their dresses by throwing in a sack of dead fish through her window. Still though, the girls were weary of sweating in the small apartment so they couldn’t close it.

Well, they came 30 minutes late. As three much proper ladies they didn’t want to be too hasty on their way to the newly decorated guild since the risk of dirtying their clothes would be too big. When they finally arrived they immediately got split up - Levy rushed off to her kids and Juvia was escorted away by Gray. Lucy just made her way to the bar to chat with Wendy and Carla who were sipping on one milkshake each.

“Mira! Could I get a glass of champagne please?” Lucy really wanted to have some fun tonight, but she also had to remember to at least make it to 12am. While she waited for her drink she took a look around.

The guild was of course making a big deal out of the party - it was a celebration where they could get away with drinking and having fun while also being dressed up all fancy and nice. The girls liked it more than the boys, but it was truly a pleasure to everyone. Fairy Tail might not be the guild that was best cut out for a ball in the castle, but having their own little fancy party was always nice.

Evergreen, Gray and Juvia were the stars when it came to decorating the place. Ever used her fairy magic to lit up the place as if small fireflies and stars were floating above them. Lucy couldn’t help but admire them - they truly replicated the heavens perfectly. She could even point out multiple constellations. Evergreen had also combined her powers with Gray and made the most beautiful fairy lights surrounding the edges of the walls. With this being the only source of light, the guildhall became just as magical as you could imagine it being in a book. Juvia had chipped in by managing to get Gray to agree to do a moving ice sculpture with water falling. That way it could be used for decoration and refill at the same time - if anyone got thirsty on water that is. The sculpture was quite abstract, but the flickering lights made Lucy interpret it as the feeling of bittersweetness - there were soft lines and harsh lines combined and the warm light gave the originally cool sculpture a highly impressive format.

Continuing her gaze across the guildhall her eyes stuck on Gajeel and Levy. Their children were born two years ago, and everyone in the guild is starstruck. Everyone wants for it to be their turn to hold one of the twins for a few minutes, and despite it being two entire years since they were born, everyone still gushes over them as if they were the most valuable diamonds in the whole universe. Levy and Gajeel insist that they are, of course.

As Lucy’s eyes continue over the guild hall they find Erza who is standing in the corner of the guild hall. Lucy knows that the death of Makarov was hard on Erza. She had already seen him almost die once, and when he took his final breath she was with him. Despite her hard armour and fierce look in her eyes, Lucy knew that her heart is soft and vulnerable. In some incredible way though, Erza had been leading the guild in an uttermost professional way. She was incredibly diplomatic and had good relations with the other guild masters. Everyone knew better than to underestimate the woman who could slay 100 monsters without barely batting an eye. Lucy could only admire the woman Erza had become. And what a woman she became! Moving on to more of the gossip Lucy had heard of, apparently Erza had invited Jellal into Fairy Tail some time during the 100 year quest. She was still unsure if Jellal was a member or not at the moment, but that part wasn’t really important to her. What was important was the fact that Erza had a happier aura, and after asking Natsu about it he had confirmed that they do in fact meet up occasionally.

Not far away from Erza sat Bisca, Alzach and Azuka at a table. Azuka had grown like a vine during their time away from the guild - Lucy would always be sad that she missed the upbringing of the cheery girl, and she couldnät believe that it was already time for her to start school. Not many people had received much of an education, but with Anna-sensei’s school not too far off, young people could finally be taught world history and much else that easily went by when growing up as an orphan. Too many guildmates had difficulties reading and writing, and it was frankly sad and according to Lucy unfair that she would receive education only because her family was rich, and not anyone else.

Continuing the line of thought, her eyes wandered over to Romeo. Romeo had finally grown into a boy who could take on solo missions - even if he still tries to group up with others in order to get the higher paying rewards. Lucy had recently learnt that Romeo actually had a lot of fire accidents in his room at home, considering he’s a fire mage after all. He really doesn’t want to burden his father with extra bills, so the jobs he takes are really in order to make up for that. Lucy let out a slight sight. Romeo’s growth from the Tenrou incident was heartbreaking. She had seen him so recently as a young boy who worried when his father didn’t come home from his missions. After the missed seven years, plus the year after the war against Tartarus, she had missed out on more than half of his life. Romeo was a boy who had to grow up too quickly, and there is nothing Lucy could do to change that.

Evergreen and Elfman enter Lucy’s field of sight, and they immediately bring a smile to her face. Lucy could basically be writing a gossip magazine, because here she knew even more secrets. According to a little blue bird, Elfman has plans on proposing to Evergreen in March. Lucy knew better than to spread the word to Mira though, she would probably get three heart attacks, do a flip and then pass out. At least in her mind, because the poker face that woman carried was impressive. Lucy did actually accidentally tell Freed about the upcoming proposal, and his poker face was not as good. He freaked out at first, muttering about babies and godfathers and uncles, but when he calmed down Lucy could tell that he was genuinely happy for Evergreen. The Thunder Legion had an admirable bond.

Lucy’s absent mind suddenly got abruptly disturbed.

“Oi Lucy!” The fire dragon slayer made his way up to her, flashing a big grin on his face. Lucy had been too lost in thoughts to notice that Mira already had come with her drink.

She carefully watched his figure while he made his way over to her. Natsu was dressed for the occasion in a black tuxedo, and he sported a normal white dress shirt underneath. It wasn’t buttoned all the way up, and the red tie he tried to put on hung around his neck like a scarf. Talking about the scarf, today he didn't seem to be wearing it. He was already ordering a drink of his own after eyeing Lucy’s champagne.

Lucy could only sigh with a slight smile on her lips.

“Come on Natsu, it’s a special occasion! Can’t you at least use all the buttons?” She didn’t even greet him properly, but they had only been away from each other for a couple of hours. Instead she stood up to button his shirt and properly tie the tie. It would be such a waste to not make sure he wore the tuxedo properly when he finally wore one.

“Meh, you know I’m not good at this stuff!” He just grinned at her concentrating, slightly pouting face.

The relationship between Natsu and Lucy was unusual. Not for them, but probably for everyone else who saw how they acted around each other. Since the 100 year quest Natsu had basically moved in with Lucy. Of course nothing official, but it was an unspoken rule that they always hang around each other. When they leave the guild, they make sure the other comes with them, and when they arrive at the guild all the members expect to see them both there. At home they share Lucy’s bed more often than Lucy would like to admit, and they eat meals and do chores with shared responsibility. Lucy knew that they’ve been through a lot of hardships, and she knew that they calmed each other with their presence. All the wars and near-death experiences gave them their share of emotional scars, so instead of acting insensitive Lucy had slowly accepted the way Natsu made his way into her everyday life. It could easily pass as a neverending sleepover with the way they mostly just hung out and had fun all the time. Though Happy probably missed his fishing lake that was so close to his and Natsu’s house.

Natsu and Lucy have grown closer in more ways than emotionally though. In many aspects they’ve craved more physical contact than previously. Natsu seems to use almost any excuse to lift or carry away Lucy somewhere, even if it ends up with her smacking his head and dragging them both back to the guild. He also tends to use his motion sickness as an excuse to be close to her, and that’s something that everyone always lets slide since they feel bad for him.

Lucy actually does the more coupley touching though - the most prominent one being holding hands. She wasn’t sure exactly how she gathered the courage, but somewhere along the way she had found out that she got away with holding Natsu’s hand almost whenever she wanted. At first she tried it when they were about 200m away from her apartment - in the worst case scenario she could just lock him out and hide in embarrassment, and in the best case scenario he allowed it and she could live on happily. While she was mid-sentence of something unimportant she softly slipped her hand into his, making it easy for him to pull away but also clearly showing that she indeed meant to hold hands. By doing this she even got the pleasure of him freezing up for a second before confirming the hand-holding by giving her a soft smile and squeeze. From that moment it was rather easy to continue that habit. She held his hand when going to the market, when she was reading books in her room and when they just chatted at the tables in the guild.

Holding hands wasn’t her only speciality though. More often than not she actually allowed herself to occasionally hug him from the back, interlock her arm with his and even something as simple as just sitting close enough for their shoulders and knees to touch.

If the guild saw these kinds of actions two years ago they would have flipped out, teasing them day in and day out about their relationship, but somehow they had found themselves maturing during the years of babies and official romantical partners.

Natsu had even found the habit of holding Lucy around her waist or around her shoulders. When they were alone in her apartment it wasn't even too uncommon for him to cop a feel at her ass once in a while. It usually ended up with her squealing and giving him a half-hearted scowl about how he “should stop doing that!”, even if they just laughed it off afterwards.

But indeed, some may still say that their relationship lacked a little. Lacked in confession and kisses. But given the non-stop danger and/or other dramatic events, those moments hadn’t really come through. The confession has always been postponed to a later date, when they didn’t have to worry about their or other’s lives.

But back to the party. While Lucy was, according to Natsu, strangling him, he finally got a chance to look at her outfit. The red sparkling dress hugged her curves perfectly in his opinion, enhancing her beautiful figure. The lights in the room lit up her hair in the most beautiful way, and he couldn’t help but smile at the sight. His best friend was absolutely beautiful. He also couldn’t help noticing the slit that went up almost above her hip, and the milky soft skin showing through. He also couldn’t help touching her there, running his fingertips along the exposed skin. He could hear Lucy gasp and her heartbeat speed up, but she didn’t scold him.

“You look beautiful.” Lucy could swear that the colour of her cheeks was rivalling her dress. First he touches her bare skin on her hip and then he compliments her? She met his eyes and gave him a sheepish smile back.

“You too.” She wasn’t lying either. Natsu looked like a hot body-guard in that suit with his muscles straining against the fabric everytime he moved. Of course Mira saw all this, as she just came with Lucy’s drink.

“Oh my, you two are looking good!” She complimented. Lucy thanked her for both the drink and the compliment, and Natsu was delighted to receive his glass of whiskey.

The pair chatted for a bit while finishing their drinks, enjoying some smalltalk. The guild was less rowdy than usual and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Cana came up once and challenged Natsu to a drinking contest, and since he knew he rarely got drunk he was up for the challenge. Lucy wasn’t too worried either since she figured out a while back that his natural heat usually burnt away the alcohol before it got into his system.

Still, to their surprise Cana actually lost, making Natsu lift Lucy up in a hug to celebrate. Some of that alcohol had definitely gotten to his brain, but Lucy couldn’t complain - she wasn’t exactly completely sober herself.

And finally some dance music started playing. To everyone’s fortune Gajeel hadn’t been assigned DJ, and with some genuinely good music Lucy pulled Natsu to the dance floor. Both having liquor in their systems, started dancing as if they were 17 again, jumping around to the upbeat songs and singing along to lyrics they didn’t know. The rest of the guild joined their happy-go-lucky dances and everyone was having the most fun this year.

Natsu was enchanted by Lucy’s moves. Well, he would never admit that of course, but the way she moved her body made him dizzy in a very good way. Evergreen must have done something to her fairy lights, because right now it looked as if stardust was snowing on Lucy, making her dress glimmer with every tiny movement. Natsu felt the need to compliment her again, but the music was loud and Lucy didn’t seem to be paying any attention to him right now. Her golden locks went sailing in the air around her as she bopped her head along with the beat. If she had looked like an angel before, she probably looked like a Goddess right now. Right now, Natsu could only let himself get catched in the moment, allowing his body to dance away all worries that had been weighing on his shoulders.

Then, as time went by and the clock got closer and closer to midnight, slower songs started playing through the speakers. Lucy, feeling hot and sweaty from all the dancing, decided to take a breather outside for a few minutes. There was still an hour until midnight, so she didn’t feel so rushed. Soon enough Natsu found her and joined her on the balcony. The air felt chilly and he couldn’t imagine that dress being very warm.

“Ya tired?” He grinned. Lucy turned her head slightly, inviting him to get closer.

“Not really, just taking a few breaths. You can join the others if you want to, I’ll be back in a minute.” The loud music and the multiple shots she had taken on the dance floor had been messing with her head, but being outside seemed to clear her mind a little.

“Nah, I’ll pass. They’re all too coupley in there. Even Erza is acting all secretive. It’s boring without you there.” This time it was Lucy’s turn to smile.

“Well, you’re welcome to stay.” The air was silent when Natsu carefully grabbed her right hand. Lucy was already sobering up and couldn’t help but blush from Natsu’s move. She would like to blame his chummy behaviour on the liquor, but she knew very well that it had been out of his system for a good while now. She didn’t complain though, and decided to lean her heavy head against Natsu’s safe and warm shoulder. When Natsu looked around he almost immediately noticed the stars that were shining brightly in the night sky above them. A soft smile graced his lips. Even if Evergreen’s magic was beautiful, nothing could compare to the real thing.

“Lucy, look up”

Lucy opened her eyes and tilted her face upwards to face the sky. While the stars weren't as visible as they were back when they fought the dragon cry, they still looked amazing. She could immediately point out a number of collestations.

“They’re beautiful…” Natsu could only agree. He didn’t usually care for such trivial things as the stars in the night sky, but whenever Lucy was near they seemed to shine ten times brighter.

They stood there for another five minutes before they decided to head back in. Inside the Guild there were still a few people slow dancing, however several of them had sat down to chat and sober up before the clock hit 12. Lucy made her way over to Levy, Gajeel, Max and Warren who were all making funny faces at the twins, trying to make them laugh. Natsu followed her eagerly. The birth of those kids had struck him hard, and he had grown fond of them from the very beginning. Gajeel usually didn’t like having Natsu around his children though, mainly due to being a worrisome father but also since Natsu was known for his irresponsible tendencies. Gajeel would never admit that Natsu was surprisingly careful around youngsters, and he would definitely never admit that he even felt a bit comfortable with them in Natsu’s care. Never ever.

“Hey Levy-chan! How’s it going?” Lucy had found her way up to the crowded area. Levy let out a groan.

“They’re not gonna ever fall asleep until they’re 15 years old. Oh well, at least they’re having fun I guess.” Levy’s lips turned upwards slightly, even if her eyes were screaming that she needed either a 3 month break, 5 cups of coffee or 8 shots of Mira’s strongest vodka - all options that were out of mind, given her pregnancy.

Lucy and Levy took this chance to stay and chat for a while, even if Natsu and Gajeel were having a hard time to not get into a brawl. With the occasional glances from Lucy and Levy they still managed to keep their mouths shut though.

While Levy and Lucy tried to calm the children down with hope to maybe also lull them to sleep, Natsu couldn’t help himself to ask Gajeel a question that had been bugging him for a while.

“Oi, metal head. Why is marriage such a big deal?” Gajeel fought the strong urge to face palm himself. Or Natsu, whatever came first.

“Are you serious? I knew you were dense, but that skull is so thick that I’m surprised your brain has room in there.” He quickly glanced at his wife and her best friend, hoping Lucy didn’t hear the stupidity Natsu was spitting out.

“Just answer the question dumbass,” growled Natsu, his temper really taking a toll. He wanted to hear a genuine answer, not insults.

Gajeel took his time before answering. The fire mage probably didn’t want to hear about the traditional use of marriage, he knew about that too well after Lucy’s many encounters with her father’s acquaintances. But there was something that he could say that Natsu actually might understand. He cleared his throat.

“Well, it’s because I love her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her.” A slight blush hid behind his grumpy face. He may be high on the list of Fairy Tail’s strongest wizards, but even Gajeel would feel a little embarrassed to confess his love to someone - even if he already had done it to the person in question multiple times. But Natsu’s answer shocked him.

“Is that it?”

“What do you mean ‘is that it’? It’s pretty big of a deal if you ask me.” Natsu was quiet for a minute before he answered.

“Well, I’ve already done all that basically.” Gajeel couldn’t believe his ears. If they already had confessed and almost proposed, how were they still not together?

“WHAT?”

Natsu looked away with a grumpy pout. His guild mates doubted him too much in his opinion. “Maybe not exactly said I love her or anything, but I told her we’d be together forever.”

“When??” Gajeel was almost scared to ask, knowing that whatever Natsu would answer with would not be the ideal situation.

“The day we went on the hundred years quest.”

“That was ages ago? Literally two years ago! How long have you been secretly dating?”

“We’re not dating. We’re just normal.”

“You’re telling me you haven’t even KISSED?”

“We were close to that day, but she seemed nervous so I didn’t. The time before that she made me kiss Happy and I didn’t wanna risk anything.” Natsu’s forehead had a sheen of sweat. That kiss with Happy must have been traumatising. Gajeel could somehow understand him, knowing that he would never want to kiss Panther Lily on the lips.

“Then do it tonight,” Gajeel came up with. It was a great idea in his opinion, as long as the dense fire dragon slayer would follow his reasoning.

“Why tonight?” He could have predicted that question.

“Because everyone kisses someone on New Years. It’s common knowledge. I’m gonna kiss Levy. Ice pants is going to kiss Juvia. Even Erza has someone tonight. Just play it off as a normal New Years Kiss, then you’ll see how she reacts. If she seems to like it, then great! You can confess and finally put the guild out of our misery. And if she doesn’t like it, well, then you were only following tradition.”

Natsu couldn’t believe his ears. Gajeel came with good advice for once? Who was this man and what had he made with the Gajeel Redfox he thought he knew? But he was right, imposter or not.

“I… I might just do that. Thanks ugly! Never thought the day would come when you actually were useful!” That was the last straw for Gajeel. No one insulted a Redfox after being given the best advice of the century.

You don’t need to be a genius to figure out that they started fighting after that. But there were still 45 minutes to midnight, and a few guild mates must have been longing for a friendly brawl because they soon joined in on the fighting, relying on Wendy as their healing source if they got hurt too bad.

Lucy and Levy could only sigh as they watched their friends throw light punches randomly in the air in hope that someone might get hit. The two had never been the ones to take part in these fights, so as the years went by they had found the noise easy to lock out. Right now though, Lucy could feel a headache creeping up on her, so she decided to pull away Levy and the twins to the infirmary in hope of finding some magical cure for headache.

“What’s the matter Lu?” They had already closed the doors behind them.

“Nothing really, it’s just that I can feel a headache on its way and I was hoping for some magical cure, or at least some aspirin. The kids might be able to sleep in here too.”

“Hey, I haven’t been drinking in quite some time, but I’m pretty sure the aspirin won’t have an effect. The only instant cure is more drinking” Levy was joking at the last part, but there was some truth in it.

“I might just do that to be honest… Are you staying here or do you want to come with me?”

Levy looked at the stirring children. “I might try to get them to sleep before midnight, you go ahead though!”

“Alright.”

When Lucy stepped outside she was almost immediately met with Wendy doing her healing magic on Natsu.

“What’s going on?”

“Gray joined in and Natsu said something he didn’t like so he got punched in the face,” Wendy smiled, letting out a slight giggle.

“You’ve never cared about a punch or two in your face before, what’s the occasion?” Lucy teased, nudging Natsu’s shoulder slightly.

A slight blush appeared on Natsu’s cheeks as he remembered what he and Gajeel were talking about. However he was sober now so there was no way he was going to reveal his plan to Lucy yet.

“Well it’s new years, that counts for something ya know,” he defended himself. But it was true what Lucy was saying - suddenly caring about his appearance wasn’t very much like him. Lucy just giggled.

“Well I want another drink! Come join me when you’re all healed up!”

Wendy smiled at her. “Don’t worry, I’m done here so you can go together.” Lucy could swear that the wind dragon slayer blinked at her, but without her magic lighting up the space, she couldn’t really see clearly.

With 15 minutes left until midnight they met Lisanna at the bar.

“Give me something sweet but strong, would you?”

“And I’ll have a beer.”

“I’ll be right up,” Lisanna said with a smile before she disappeared under the bar.

“So you’re drinking tonight, huh?” Natsu commented. Back in the day things easily got a bit awkward when alcohol was involved, especially since the girls usually drank until they were blacked out, but at an event like this he knew he could trust her to drink moderately. None of them were reckless teenagers any longer after all.

“Well I started getting a headache, so I’m going for the instant cure: more drinking.” Lucy had a glimmer in her eye as she said it.

“Smart move,” he grinned.

“Well, you can’t expect any less from Fairy Tail’s brain. Levy gave me the tip.”

“Huh… That’s weird… I’d call you Fairy Tail’s brain. Aren’t you the one who solves all our problems during missions?” Natsu had a mischevious glimt in his eye.

“Only during Team Natsu missions. You can call me Team Natsu’s brain, but you know Levy still holds the big title.” Lucy giggled.

Lisanna politely interrupted by delivering their orders. The conversation died down as they started sipping on their drinks, but started up again when Natsu scrunched his nose.

“Jellal’s here,” he revealed.

“Really? I thought Erza was looking giddy, now I understand why.” Lucy smiled. Natsu huffed at her.

“I still haven’t forgiven him completely though.” Lucy understood that he was referring to that time when he was brain washed in the Tower of Heaven.

“That’s understandable. Jellal hasn’t forgiven himself either, but I think they deserve to be happy after all this time. No one but themselves can understand what they’ve been through, so I hope they find peace with each other.” Lucy looked out over the crowd with kindness in her eyes.

Natsu really liked this about her. She never held grudges, and she always looked at things from different perspectives. Her analytic skills were also sharp, and with her author title she always found the right words to say.

“I guess that’s right. ‘S just that Erza’s been through things that Jellal can’t relate to, and I don’t know if I can trust him to protect her. Erza’s a lot more fragile than she allows herself to show.”

“That’s true. I’m not going to lie, I also feel that way sometimes. But I believe in Erza’s judgement. She knows Jellal better than anyone. It’s like how I’m still with you after all the things we’ve experienced with each other. Any sane person would tell me to run away and live peacefully instead of tagging along on your dangerous and crazy adventures, but since they don’t know how I personally feel about it, they don’t really have the whole picture, you know? I believe it’s like that for Erza and Jellal too.” Natsu nodded.

“I think so too.” What else could he do but agree when she said such great things? Sometimes he wanted to write it down and show the whole world, because a great mind like that can’t be hidden from the world.

After finishing their drinks Natsu realised that there was only 3 minutes to midnight. A slow, romantic song was playing through the sound lacrimas, so Natsu stood up and reached out his arm.

“May I have this dance?” Lucy giggled.

“Why, of course.”

She gracefully locked arms with the fire mage who now led her out on the dance floor. The room was filling up with mages who wanted to have the year’s last dance with someone special, and Natsu and Lucy were no exception of that. As Lucy looked up she was met with a wholesome sight. Natsu Dragneel was shyly placing his right hand on Lucy’s waist, just over the part of the dress where her slit ended, and his left hand carefully grabbed her right. His concentrated face that he made when positioning his feet correctly looked so silly that Lucy had to laugh. She took the left hand off it’s spot on his shoulder, and flicked him between the eyes.

“You’re concentrating too much. Try to relax a little.” Lucy’s eyes were soft and kind as she gave him the biggest grin she could imagine. When she felt Natsu’s shoulders soften she slowly took a small step back, and then another, and suddenly, without Natsu even noticing, they were slowly moving across the dance floor.

Lucy was captured by those onyx eyes of his. The lighting made it look like the entire universe was hiding within them, and her heart had never felt so filled before. Her eyes wandered over to his nose, his cute nose that got freckles in the summer. And then she looked at his pink hair, the mane that never failed to make her smile when she saw it in a crowd. The hair that she knew was softer than any conditioner could make hers, and his bangs that were slightly damaged from heat. And then those lips. The lips that always said whatever they wanted, that always made her laugh and that always managed to carry that amazing smile of his. Oh how she loved this man. Natsu Dragneel. Her Natsu.

Natsu was looking at an angel. Brown, soft eyes that told held secrets that the human world could never understand, but that still were open and welcoming. He could look at those eyes forever and never tire of it. Her soft golden hair confirmed that yes, she was an angel. She was a star, plucked right off of the starry night sky, shining of confidence and love for humans. Her perky nose that crooked a little to the left and her soft cheeks that always bubbled up with laughter whenever he and Happy did something stupid. And that lovely smile, the one he thought of whenever he felt like giving up. Nothing could end this moment between them, not even when Natsu accidentally stepped on her toes - she just laughed and urged him to keep going.

“10!”

Oh crap. Natsu had been so focused on dancing that he had almost forgotten about the task he was meant to do when the clock strikes 12.

“9!”

Could time go a little bit slower? Natsu really wanted more time to prepare himself.

“8!”

Lucy had stopped moving, and was now counting down with everybody, resting both her hands on Natsu’s shoulders. Natsu brought his empty hand to her face. He was really going to do this.

“7!”

What if she pulled away? Slapped him? Started crying? Maybe this was a bad idea after all…

“6!”

Lucy noticed Natsu’s shallow breathing. She could honestly predict something was up with him - usually he bottomed a beer at New Years, not standing around touching her face and running his fingers along her waist.

“5!”

Natsu felt Lucy’s hands slightly massaging his shoulders. They were tenser than he thought they were.

“4!”

This was just ridiculous. How could the famous fire dragon slayer Natsu Dragneel, who defeated endless of enemies, be so nervous at a moment like this? Lucy was his best friend - even if she didn’t like the kiss they would stay friends! He felt stupid for doubting their friendship, even though it was just for a split second.

“3!”

It was now. The next number would be 2 and then he would kiss her. Were his lips dry? Did he have bad breath? It was only going to be a 5 second kiss, so why did he worry so much?

Lucy had figured it out. She honestly did know from before that Levy and Juvia were going to kiss Gajeel and Gray at midnight, and truth to be told - she was increadibly envious of them. It wouldn’t surprise her if Levy had told Gajeel to give Natsu a push tonight - but that didn’t really matter. What she noticed right now was how hard he was preparing for this, constantly licking his lips and looking her up and down between her eyes and her mouth. It was sweet, according to Lucy. But if she knew Natsu well enough, she knew that he was planning to kiss her as the clock was 1 second away from midnight. So she did the only logical thing she could think of.

“2!”

Bringing her hands up from his shoulders to his neck, she carefully closed her eyes and pulled him in. To say this moment was magical was an understatement. Their lips slowly molded together, Natsu tasting slightly of beer. He stood still for a moment before he too closed her in and pulled her as close as he possibly could. Somewhere in the background the crowd was cheering, but that didn’t matter right now. All that exsists is Natsu and Lucy. Lucy and Natsu. Their lips and hands caressing the untouched parts of their faces, Natsu’s hand pulling her closer in the waist, grabbing her slightly in the soft parts above her hips.

Soon enough though, ameteurs like these had to stop to breathe. While panting softly in each other’s air, they slowly opened their eyes. Lucy giggled. Natsu giggled too. Soon they broke out in a silly laughter, filling the air with sickening sweet merriment. Lucy grabbed his arm to stabilisise herself before knocking her head into his chest. Natsu couldn’t stop his arms from pulling her in to a tight hug, still chuckling slightly. They were so, so happy right now.

“Oh my god I love you…” Lucy breathed out, knowing only a dragon slayer could make out those words in a noisy room like this. Natsu pulled her in closer, ducking in his head as he whispered back.

“I love you so much more.” He even gave her a peck on her head to emphasise, but Lucy didn’t doubt him at all. The safe feeling she felt in these arms made her almost feel like he had scared away all doubt to ever exist inside of her. He made her so complete.

But of course they couldn’t keep standing in the middle of the dance floor just hugging each other - the other guild mates wanted to party all night, and Lucy couldn’t say she didn’t want to be a part of that. Today was a day of celebrating after all. So she grabbed his hand, still being tender.

“Let’s go for another drink.” Her smile was the happiest in the world and Natsu could almost not believe that he was the cause of that smile. So he followed her lead, like he had done so many times before. The start of this year had been amazing, and he could feel it in his soul that the rest of it would be just as giving with Lucy by his side.

#bumblebeehug writes #fairy tail #lucy heartfilia #natsu dragneel #nalu #fairy tail nalu #fanfic #fanfiction #nalu fanfiction #nalu fanfic #nalu fairy tail #natsu x lucy #fairy tail fanfiction #fairy tail fanfic #ft fanfiction

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karlachismylife · 4 months ago

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hi! I must say, i really love your queen of the clan series! I been reading a lot of COD related stuff and I just found it by chance, i have two questions, are you perhaps planning to write something similar in the future? Like the poly and hibrid stuff, and if none had asked, what was ghost's reaction the next morning after remembering that reader caught him and called him a pervert?

~🐰❄️

Okay tonight is oficially hyena procrastinating time (poor poor abandoned other four oneshots...)!

HIIII THANK YOU PRECIOUS I am so, so honoured that among all the BEAUTIFUL works on this site (god knows I have like 40+ tabs open with stuff yet to read and even more already read with nothing but excitement, fuck people are so talented on this site) you liked mine!! Grateful for the savannah breeze that brought it to you hehe <3

Oh you're hitting what I've been thinking around for the last few days huh... the answer is yes, absolutely. First of all, there is already a spinoff/au of an au brewing in my mind for the hyena au where reader (another, not the Queen) gets to be with Valeria for I am WEAK for that woman. I am also thinking more classic jaguar!Valeria as a separate thing. But if you're loyal to 141 boys, fear not, polyamory is like the sole reason for my existence so I will have more poly fics. In fact, I already have one more idea (no shapeshifter stuff there tho) + I'm sure as hell I will get more. Also, I have accepted my furry fate so yeah, why the hell not have more shapeshifter/hybrid aus? The only real "problem" with them would be that I don't really want to be repetitive, especially since I'm seeing (and absolutely enjoying them all lol) several dog shapeshifter!au's here and some other "classic" animal choices, but there's like a whole animal kingdom to choose from. Also monster!au's are hella fun and can be somewhat in the same au family. If you have some less common animal/monster ideas for anyone in COD, really, and would like to see me do them - send them in!

Now that I'm done yapping about what isn't done yet, the second question. Well, as you've seen in the part 3,5 Ghost had definitely quite a distraction in the morning, and I believe they did have duties to attend after Price was done with him (and the other two muppets who exhausted their poor Lieutenant through the night), but I think he got over the embarassement quickly and was actually trotting around like an unapologetically smug bastard. Earning so much huffing and whining from Soap, oh my god, Johnny cannot believe Simon would just go behind his back and score such a jackpot of their (future) Queen's scent on his hide! Ghost is just too damn self-confident to actually be flustered about being called a pervert. Like yeah, he is, what are you gonna do about it? You're his queen, he's allowed (and expected) to be freaky around you. And he didn't even steal a single peek at you actually watering local plants, that's some self-restraint, mind you.

He's a total menace, but only because there isn't a strong female hand to tame him yet :)

P.S. Honestly I started thinking about what other animal shapeshifters/hybrids I could write about but somehow ended up thinking about plant spirits, like driads and shit. Price as a good ol' broad oak spirit, Soap as Scots pine cuz duh, Ghost as an yew tree with the way life and death are intertwined in his destiny a little too tightly, and Gaz as a walnut tree (among many other things symbolizes intelligence, also walnut people can kinda be nasty and we all know how hard Kyle's words can burn).

Sedate me pls or something idk

#juju's replies #hyena 141 au #also yeah i think it's time to start tagging you guys #so #🐰❄️ anon #hyena!ghost

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whataboutsimple · 4 months ago

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Hello again! I’m here to ask more questions and collect ideas for fanfiction

So, Lukas. Where’d you find Dewey? Was he hard to tame? Any shenanigans from the little guy?

Elegaard, do you own/are you interested in owning pets? Also, other than Olivia, have you ever had an assistant?

Jack/Nurm! How’d you meet?

(And Nurm, are any of the stories Jack tells actually true?)

And finally, Radar!! My favorite guy How did you become Jesse’s intern?

Sorry for so many questions!! Please feel free to split this into multiple parts.

//Start of the recording//

Lukas tapped his hands on the knees — "Ah, well- you see, I never really tamed him? To be honest, I was just wandering around jungles and decided to fish. It was quite fun! But, uh- creeper approached me from the back so I did what any normal person would do - run. I forgot my fishing rod there, so after five minutes or so I've got back and saw little oceletos eating my fish."

Lukas scratched the back of his head — "I'm not sure why he didn't run away, but I think he just connected the blocks, understanding that I'm kind of a source of the food? It's like.. I went home and he was following me, but everytime I tried to, like, touch him, he hissed, so I dropped the attempts. First few days he just kind of was there, randomly approaching me if I had fish- than he once appeared in the house and never left."

Lukas shrugged — "He's pretty grumpy from time to time and I need lots of bandages to cover little scratches he does, but other than that he's cute little guy."

Frame changes to Ellegaard sitting on the couch.

"Owning a pet would be a great waste of resources and time, which both I can't afford." — she adjusted her work-glasses — "As for Olivia, no, I've never had an assistant before. It was as much of a waste as a pet, it's easier to be productive when no noisy people are around you, especially after the fiasco with Old Order-" — she suddenly closed her mouth, looking down — "However, having Olivia around is nice change of things.. she's a good and smart girl. I believe she has a great future, with the right guidance of course."

Frame changes to Jask almost laying in the couch, hands behind the back.

"Ah! That's quite an interesting story! You see, both me and Sammy were friends before we met Vos or Nurm. And they were friends before they met us as well! So, it was a very hot day.. we just got back from raiding a desert temple, clenching onto our dear lives after we've met those cadavers. No water, no food, only endless sand.. that's, until we approached a small village! It was like an oasis, out tired bodies moving purely on enthusiasm from finding life! Some villagers met us, brought to their cleric and helped to gain back the strength. The next day we were ready to move, so youn' cartographer made us a map! But.. it's a desert, so it was hard reading it. The head of the village decided to let the cartographer show us the way, and their local adventurerer said he's going with him. That's how we all met! Ah, good ol' days.."

Frame changes to Nurm sitting on the couch. He made some villager noises.

(..dang it-)

The screen glitches, before showing Nurm and Gabriel sitting on the couch. Nurm makes some villagers noises again.

Gabriel turns to the camera — "He says most of it is true, even though Jack loves to embellish his stories."

Nurm makes noises again.

"Most of their adventures were just wandering from temple to temple making maps."

Yet again, villager noises.

"But some of them were as exciting as Jack tells. Though no one really called him the nicknames he spells."

Frame changes to Radar, nervously tapping his fingers.

"Hm.. actually- I've applied to this job mostly to piss off Stella.. I didn't expect to be recruited. Before that I was living in Champion City, only because my parents were there, so it only made sense for me to be too. However I've never actually owned Stella anything, so when she broke my last nerve, I moved to BeaconTown. That was the time Jesse was trying to find themselves a helper, cause ruling the whole town was becoming a bit too hard, and being emotional, I send an application. And actually got hired. Fantastical. I didn't even knew what type of a person Jesse were before this, but after.." — he sighted with a smile — "I think it was the best decision I ever made."

//End or the recording//

Don't worry, both me and our director Dimple Totallynotsimple love the questions! Feel free to ask more!

#mcsm #minecraft story mode #mcsm lukas #mcsm ellegaard #mcsm olivia #mcsm jack #mcsm sammy #mcsm nurm #mcsm vos #mcsm gabriel #mcsm radar #simpletalks #mcsm characte ask #mcsm ask

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daisiesonafield-blog · 2 years ago

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Louis Tomlinson is sequestered in the executive boardroom of a swanky hotel in suburban London, and is treating it the way a pupil might a classroom when the teacher’s popped out. He’s leaning back on his chair, feet up on a radiator, hands clasped behind his head and a cigarette on the go. “All right?” he says, grinning impishly.

Despite huge global success with One Direction (70 million albums sold), which prompted a fanaticism that made Beatlemania look tame, he seems remarkably unaffected and far more normal than one might expect from someone with 35.8 million Twitter followers. He’s a 31-year-old so unassumingly bloke-next-door that the bloke next door wouldn’t look twice.

“I’ve always had a problem with ‘ego’,” he says, “and I’ve always been worried about being one of those people in the public eye who just loses all sense of reality, and becomes an arsehole.” As if by way of explanation, he adds: “I’m from Doncaster.”

And so while his former 1D bandmate Harry Styles, a superstar, floats through life like the fashion world’s favourite clothes horse, Tomlinson kits himself out in JD Sports: Kappa T-shirt, black sweatpants, Adidas socks, scuffed trainers. When he tells you he often frequents his local pub unmolested, you believe him.

“If someone does come up after an hour to ask for a selfie, I won’t say no and I won’t run away,” he says, “’specially if I’m three pints deep!”

Of the five members of 1D, Tomlinson has had the slowest start to a solo career. There are compelling reasons for this — family tragedy for one — but he’s also had to figure out who he is without the band around him. “With this job,” he says, “there’s so much room for overthinking, you know? Someone from the record label will tell you they like your stuff, but you find yourself thinking: yeah, but do they? It’s the fans that help you really believe in yourself.”

In the band, Zayn Malik had the best voice and Styles had the best everything else. While the other three — Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Niall Horan — were hardly driftwood, each has nevertheless had to dig deep to carve out a solo persona that would compel beyond the bubble.

“I do miss the boys,” he says, “and I do definitely miss being one of the five, but I like doing my own thing too. It was time.”

It’s a bright winter’s day, and the man in sports casual is enjoying special dispensation here in the hotel: permission to light up. Had this been denied, there might well have been a problem, for Tomlinson chain-smokes with the wild abandon of Mad Men’s Don Draper.

After the release of his second solo album, Faith in the Future, in November, he adds another necessary notch in the belt of any self-respecting pop star next month: the documentary. All of Those Voices is a routine behind-the-scenes look at 21st-century celebrity but stands out for the multiple crises of confidence Tomlinson feels any time he’s not on stage.

“This is a confidence game for anyone,” he says earnestly, “and there’s been plenty of moments of vulnerability throughout the entire process.” An overriding concern of the documentary is not just whether people would be interested in him, but whether they’d take him, someone discovered on a TV talent show, seriously.

When Styles won his Grammy awards this month — he collected two and won four Brits — he used his acceptance speech to say that “this doesn’t happen to people like me very often”. This was swiftly ridiculed across social media because of course white men tend to win quite a lot. But what he likely meant was that it doesn’t happen to the product of manufactured boy bands, many of whom have the use-by date of a pint of milk.

“Only Harry knows what he means there, it’s hard to speculate,” Tomlinson says, “but we all came from relatively humble beginnings, and now we are where we are.”

But while Styles is a once-in-a-generation talent and knows it, his erstwhile bandmates — and this one in particular — need convincing.

Louis Tomlinson comes from a big family — his mother, Johannah Deakin, married twice and had seven children — and was a hopeful child actor before in 2010 auditioning for The X Factor. This is where 1D were created, “masterminded” by Louis Walsh. Deakin, who had Tomlinson when she was 19, was his biggest fan and they’d always been close. When, for example, Tomlinson lost his virginity, it was she he told first, not his friends.

In 2016, a year after One Direction split, she died from leukaemia, aged 42. Two years later, his 18-year-old sister, Félicité, who’d been struggling to get over her mother’s death, accidentally overdosed on cocaine, painkillers and an anxiety drug. The combined loss hit him hard. Aside from the single he wrote about his mother’s passing, 2020’s Two of Us, his mourning has been largely private.

He squints through a veil of cigarette smoke. “Some of the things that have happened recently have been quite drastic, yeah, but then so much in my life seems to have been pretty extreme, one way or the other.” In 2016, at the age of 25, a brief relationship with a Californian stylist, Briana Jungwirth, resulted in a son. “There’ve been challenging times, definitely. It’s funny, but I couldn’t even tell you how many years ago my mum passed, I just blank it out. But for the first 18 months, I’d take any form of bad luck personally. I’d feel every tiny thing. But now I genuinely feel I’ve come out the other side. I feel more empathy for everything and everyone these days.”

After his 2020 debut album, Walls, failed to set the world alight, Tomlinson called time on his relationship with Simon Cowell. “It was mostly amicable,” he says, nodding. “Simon always had my best interests at heart, and I liked him. He had his faults of course, like all of us, but it was always inevitable I’d have to go off and do my own thing.”

His new record, then, was a leap into the unknown and he elected to write not with professional songwriters but rather fellow creative artists: Theo Hutchcraft from the band Hurts, Joe Cross from the Courteeners and the singer-songwriter James Vincent McMorrow. “And that was a big difference, huge. These are people who live and breathe music. It’s the first time I felt really comfortable doing my own stuff, you know?”

Previously he’d been encouraged to sing like a nice young pop star should, without regional inflection. “When I was in the band,” he says, “working with professional songwriters whose entire aim was to write the hit single, they’d tell me that singing in my natural accent wasn’t commercial. Sorry, but what a shit idea! Who wants to sound like everybody else? I dumbed down a little bit in the band, because you do, but I’ve learnt who I am now.”

The album, which has its inspiration firmly in early Noughties indie, sounds more Kaiser Chiefs than One Direction. A risk, then. But when it came out, it debuted at No 1. While this did wonders for his confidence, it’s clear from the documentary that he still needs people — a support group — around him. He actively courts the friendship of his touring band, not necessarily a given among solo pop stars, and he seems almost always sociable. It’s when he’s not up for group activity that people worry. There’s a revealing moment in the documentary of him having just appeared on James Corden’s US talk show. Backstage Corden, an old friend, pleads with him not to go quiet on him afterwards. “You vanish, you change your number, no one knows [where you are],” he says.

Until recently Tomlinson lived in London with his long-term girlfriend, the model Eleanor Calder, but recent reports suggest they’ve split up and he’s dating another model, Sofie Nyvang. Life, clearly, is complicated. Perhaps that’s why he smokes so much. He says, though, that he feels finally relieved of the myriad pressures that once clung to being a pop star whose fanbase was predominantly teenage. Such as?

“Well, being a role model for one. I never wanted that. I always had to worry whether it was OK if, say, I was seen here or if I could get away with smoking a joint there, before concluding: hmm, probably not. But I never wanted to be the perfect pop star, especially in the climate of Instagram. I don’t want to put an artificial world out there. I think it’s important that people see your scars, your flaws.”

It’s never easy growing up in public and Tomlinson had no choice. “When One Direction split up,” he says, “I was mortified, I was absolutely gutted. I was a bit bitter, I suppose because it just felt like another loss to me. But I’ve a better understanding of things now, and there’s not as much anger. It is what it is.

“Getting back together at some point is hard to imagine right now,” he continues, “but I’d be surprised if we lived out our lives and didn’t have a moment where we had a reunion, or whatever you want to call it. I’d be up for that.”

When I ask what it’s like watching Styles’s ascendance into the biggest star of his generation — something that might delay such a reunion — he blows out a long plume of smoke.

“Well, it’s not a surprise is it? We were always aware that Harry fit that mould, and it’s been an amazing thing to watch. Envy? At the start maybe, when I was trying to find my feet, but it’s never healthy to cross-reference your own success with others is it? These days I’m learning to elevate myself in those moments when I have to. I didn’t know how to do that before, but now? Now I know I f***ing can.” All of Those Voices is in cinemas from March 22, allofthosevoices.com

-Full article. Feb 23 2023. Link here. Free link here.

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crossroadsdimension · 5 months ago

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FFXIVWrite 2024 Day 10

Prompt 10 - Stable

(FFXIVWrite 2024 Masterpost)

Just like any established settlement in Eorzea, Revenant’s Toll had stables available for the chocobo of travelers, be they adventurers or merchants.

At least, chocobos were the mounts the stables were intended to hold.

“Where, exactly, did you say you find this again?” The hyur stablehand gave Cross the impression he was blinking rapidly under his chocobo mask.

“Another primal offering.”

The fiery, four-legged mount behind her snorted and nosed the back of Cross’ robe, looking for more treats. How a fire-aspected horse “blessed” in Ifrit’s name could be so sweet Cross had yet to discern, but much like her other recent acquisitions, she had a feeling she had plenty of time to find out.

“Where are the beast tribes getting these horses?” the stablehand groaned. “They sure as hells aren’t native. Must’ve been…brought in from the Far East or something.” He sighed heavily and shook his head. “Well, regardless, we only have so much room in the stables, Miss Sylvan, and I regret to inform you that we cannot reserve any more stables under your name.”

“The horse isn’t mine, it’s a former offering,” Cross said. “Can’t we just — can’t we keep it here until we find an adventurer who is more capable of caring for it? Or one of the other ones? Cloudstreak is more than enough for me at the moment, and I can’t pay for all of them on an adventurer’s salary!”

The wind horse in the back of the stables that started this whole mess whinnied loudly. It was immediately answered by its fiery-maned counterpart standing directly behind Cross. The call was taken up a moment later by the earth-maned, horse and the water-maned one that had appeared after the sahagins’ second attempt at calling Leviathan from the sea.

“I doubt that any adventurer would find them as tame as you currently find them,” the stablehand replied simply. “They are all ornery at best around us, and barely behave at all. It would be better if you—”

“I say, that is quite the collection of aspected equines!”

Cross turned her head at the new voice, blinking in surprise at the ginger-haired, goggle-wearing man standing at the entrance to the Toll’s stables.

“It reminds me of a legend or two I learned about some years back.” The man strode into the stables. The awe-filled grin didn’t leave his face as he walked right up to the fiery horse standing with Cross. He put his hand in the pouch at his side and pulled out two sugar cubes, which the stablehand immediately balked at. “I knew there was a good reason to follow my instincts about these today.”

“Minstrel, why do you—”

The fiery horse snorted and immediately snatched the cubes off the minstrel’s open palm with a snap of its teeth.

Cross blinked at the man as he started petting the fiery horse. “I’m sorry, but…who are you?”

“Oh! Beg pardons.” The red-haired man turned his head to look at Cross while still keeping an eye on the horse. “I am merely a wandering minstrel, but most know me as Yoshi-san. It’s not my full name, mind you, and while the last syllable is an honorific used in the Far East, it has stuck with me long enough that most consider it a part of my name more than anything else.” He chuckled. “And you would be the woman of the hour, the Warrior of Light and slayer of primals, Cross Sylvan, correct?”

That level of recognition made a faint blush settle on Cross’ cheeks out of embarrassment. “I am…still getting used to all the titles, but yes, that is who I am.”

“Excellent. If anyone could tame these beautiful steeds, it would be you.” Yoshi-san gave the horse one last pet, then turned his attention to the stablehand. “I have a solution for this equine problem, if I may — and a curiosity of my own, to be completely frank. Tis said that these elementally-aspected horses come in a set, you see, and can summon another powerful steed that has taken to hiding here, rather than roam the Far East where another turned the locals away from strong, long-lived beasts with a similar appearance.”

“There’s more?” the stablehand asked, alarmed.

Cross blinked, then sighed and tilted her head back to look at the rocky ceiling of the stables. “I am being tasked with another quest, am I?”

“Not so much ‘tasked’ as being asked to complete that which you unknowingly started,” Yoshi-san replied. “I believe there are more horses such as these being given to primals as offerings. If you were to find them and bring them together with their brethren, I believe we will be able to summon the auspice I have spoken of.”

“I should hope you don’t intend to let them all stay here until then!” the stablehand yelped. “We have barely enough room as it is!”

“Not to worry, not to worry! I know a place that can house Cross’ growing equine collection with no difficulty.” Yoshi-san pet the fiery horse again. “It has been some time since we have spoken, but I am certain that Godbert Manderville would be able to find space for them in the Golden Saucer.”

The stress that had been starting to leave Cross’ shoulders came back almost immediately. “Manderville?”

“Why yes, they—ah.” Yoshi-san blinked, then pulled his goggles up off his eyes. “Ah, you have met them?”

“I met his son.” Cross groaned and pinched her nose. “I’m not certain if leaving the horses with them is a wise idea….”

“No, it will be fine, Miss Sylvan!” Yoshi-san quickly waved his hands in reassurance. “The Mandervilles can pay for their care, and while it would mean they might end up on display as part of the Gold Saucer’s attractions, at the very least, they would be kept out of harm’s way and out of your budget, would it not?”

“That may be, but I’m still not certain if it’s a good idea. These horses are blessed by primals to a certain degree.”

“I do not have many other options, unless you wish to set them free across the countryside?”

The stablehand yelped. “L-let’s not do that, please!”

The way Cross’ jaw set at the idea said she didn’t like the sound of it, either. “And you are certain that the Gold Saucer can handle these horses?”

“Oh, absolutely!” Yoshi-san nodded. “Godbert Manderville is a very responsible man, I assure you.”

“When he is not running in naught but his smallclothes and a goldsmith’s hammer?”

“He is responsible whether or not he is wearing clothing, Miss Sylvan!”

Something about the minstrel’s words didn’t give Cross that much confidence in the idea, but she didn’t exactly have much choice. It was either follow Yoshi-san’s suggestion, or let the horses run free and cause who knew what kinds of havoc. She sighed heavily. “Very well. I just hope you do not make me come to regret this.”

“I assure you that you will not,” Yoshi-san said. He turned to the stablehand. “Will you at least give them another day or two in the stables here while I make the arrangements?”

The stablehand gave the impression of blinking behind his mask again. After a moment, he nodded slowly.

“Excellent. In that case, I shall leave you to it.” Yoshi-san gave them both a wave, then walked out of the stables with confidence.

Cross stared after him, then turned to look at the stablehand. “Has he always been like this?”

“So far as I am aware,” the stablehand replied with a helpless shrug. “The man has always been eccentric, but looking for groups of aetherially-aspected mounts is a first. I simply hope you both know what you are doing.”

“You and me both,” Cross sighed in agreement.

#ffxivwrite2024 #ffxivwrite #ffxiv #cross' fanfiction #cross sylvan #miqo'te warrior of light #miqo'te oc #warrior of light oc #the wandering minstrel #(yes I have him a name and yes I am aware that is not Yoshi-P's full name)#(do I care for a prompt-a-day snippet? Not right now! Perhaps when I post this to AO3 later I'll edit things....)

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nogacheloveka-blog · 1 year ago

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The Bad Sanses somehow ended up in the Backrooms. №4

<-Switch to Russian ver.

next 5

prev 3

This is the translation of the another post from Russian to English. I understand English, but it is very difficult for me to write in English, so I asked chat GPT to help me. I have corrected some parts, but there still may be mistakes.

Hooray, my little obsession is still with me. And Killer is still my little bun that inspires me, appearing in the picture=)

The group wandered around IKEA for quite a long time. A couple of days for sure. They even met the local inhabitants - leather frights, people made of leather, bloodless, with 1 hp. They managed to earn only 1 EXP for them, apparently they are so pathetic. They pounced in the dark with a terrible muttering, but the rest of the time they were quite peacefully wandering around. Killer and Dust cut them out of boredom. Nevertheless, the Frights (that's what they decided to call these creatures) attacked more purposefully than the suddenly appearing Hounds. By the way, there was a note about them in the notebook:

Hounds They say they hatch in the Hive, like all the other creatures. I heard someone killed them and tried to eat them when the Almond Water ran out. Desperate guys. - Maintain direct eye contact with the Hounds if they approach you - Run away if you hear growling Prohibitions: - Run away from the Hounds if they have already seen you - Try to tame them

Well, Dust had to add something:

HP: 10-50 EXP: 10 Items: nothing. but they don't turn to dust. *not the most pathetic thing we've met. They die fast enough not to worry about them, but they attack suddenly.

Cross, like Nightmare, only resorted to attacking when the Frights got too close. Error acted the same way, considering it beneath his dignity to "scuffle" and moved around the top shelves with the help of threads.

Horror tried not to get involved in battles, letting others deal with the nuisances. He's not a fan of killing for fun. Although at some point during the "light time" he saw how these monsters were preparing food for the cafeteria and after that he looked with shame at the cheerful killers.

In the spaces of the trading halls, there were occasionally puddles of blood, but no one except the Frights. Perhaps some strangers passed by, but unfortunately (or fortunately?) no one except the monsters was visible.

Once again, moving to the exit points from the location, the group ended up in a strange room of screaming pink color. Fortunately, there was information about this place in the notebook.

Kitty's Room. Pink, with cats. Safe. Only Kitty herself is a creature. Black and scary, but safe. Don't touch her and she won't touch you. There's food in the kitchen - you can take as much as you need, Kitty won't mind. She'll just watch. She'll bring you back if you give her a trinket. You can sleep as much as you want. DON'T FORGET TO TAKE A TOY FROM THE GUYS. I don't want to end up in that horrible red corridor again.

Unfortunately, the group doesn't have any cute things to give Kitty and Error thought of tying something for her. He depicts a grumpy old man, but secretly he's glad to immerse himself in his hobby again. It's a pity that instead of Undenovelle - Cross is afraid of every movement Kitty.

Nightmare belongs to Jokublog Killer belongs to RahafWabas Dust belongs to Ask-DustTale Horror belongs to Sour-Apple-Studios Error belongs to CrayonQueen Cross belongs to JakeiArtwork

#bad sanses #cross sans #dust sans #error sans #horror sans #killer sans #nightmare sans #the backrooms #au #undertale au #bad guys in backrooms #bad sans gang #art

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sicparvismorrigan · 1 year ago

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Friendly Fire - Prologue

Ellie Thibodeaux holds arguably the worst job in Bridgehead City. She’s not a cook. She’s not even a cleaner. She’s the resident RDA psychiatrist, and her next assignment is helping the formerly deceased Project Phoenix come to terms with being brought back to life as an entirely different species.

Enter Colonel Miles Quaritch, the most reluctant, and most challenging patient she’s ever had the displeasure of treating.

James Cameron’s Avatar - The Way of Water (2022)

Recombinant Quaritch x ofc (currently professional/platonic, enemies/annoyances to friends, could be more) & Quaritch x Paz Socorro

Warnings: currently none

Tagging: If you want tagged for this series let me know! It is gonna be a longread, we all know how I LOVE a longread

Read on Ao3

| Chapter 1

Prologue

Dead man walking!

That was what the RDA soldiers had yelled in her direction as she stepped off the Valkyrie onto Pandoran soil late last year.

She tried to walk proudly into the buildings of Bridgehead City, with her head held high and her back straight. It was easier in the lower gravity. Intimidation might work on greenhorns, but it wasn’t going to work on her.

She’d already been through more in her life than any of them would ever know.

“This better than Earth.” Ellie struggled to convince herself as she got used to breathing with an exopack for the first time. “It has to be.”

A second chance. A second life. Wasn’t that a saying amongst the natives? That you were born twice?

Ellie dug that. She’d take all the chances she could get.

Six years of cryosleep for this. She was guaranteed Paradise, back on Earth when she signed on with the RDA. Instead, all she ever saw of Pandora was infrastructure, concrete and steel.

None of the greenery, impossible colours and bioluminescence her orientation literature had promised. It was too dangerous, apparently. The local tribes were still referred to as hostiles. The RDA had tried, and failed, to tame Pandora.

Her world was brown, grey and that disgusting khaki green she had grown to hate. Same colour as the food she was served in the canteen every damn day.

Bridgehead was plenty hostile as it was.

She didn’t fit with the two main factions in Bridgehead. Not a soldier, neither a scientist.

A goddamn shrink. That was what everyone called her. Intellectuals and hired thugs alike. They didn’t think she was useful, or necessary. She didn’t study the native wildlife or know how to handle a gun. She didn’t speak Na’vi. Practically useless in survival situations.

“Tibbs!”

General Ardmore caught her attention after breakfast. Ellie didn’t like the older woman much, she was a textbook narcissist, but fortunately she wasn’t paid her generous annual salary to like people. That would cost you extra.

“Guess who woke up yesterday?”

Ellie silently stared at the name on the file in Ardmore’s hand. She’d heard the stories, which by now seemed more like legends passed down through the generations of human settlers. This particular soldier, and future patient of hers, was the one member of Project Phoenix she was least looking forward to meeting.

He had quite the reputation. Even from beyond the figurative grave.

“That’s right, sweetheart-“ Ardmore grinned widely at the pained expression on her face. “Colonel Miles Quaritch, back from the dead.”

***

Thanks for reading!

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delafiseaseses · 2 years ago

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I Speculate on Boone's Birthplace for quite some time

So, I can't help but wonder things sometimes. And one that came into my head was about Boone. Where's he from? Well, click read more if ya dare, this is gonna be a long 'un even by my standards.

"New Californian" would be the obvious answer, I know. Like, half the base game's companions are from California (every other Human and Lilly are from New California, though only Cass is NCR)

And he even says this when asked 'What can you tell me about New Vegas?' "It's NCR land, for the most part. We tamed it, now we're settling it. Lot of people complain about it, but they forget what it was like before we showed up. It's a lot of territory to secure. Too much, even for a big army like the NCR's." the 'we' there seems to make it pretty clear, right? It also helps that one of his endings only identifies New Vegas as '... the city where he'd met his wife.'

And yet, when Manny talks about Carla he says this "See, I grew up in North Vegas. Me and my cousins. We were some bad seeds. Got in with a gang. I loved it. Then something happened, and I couldn't handle it anymore. So, I enlisted. Earned my future. Brought down my best friend to share that future with me." which is curious. They were friends pre-NCR Army days.

Then, back up in that quote I glossed over a thing he said 'they forget what it was like before we showed up.' and... he wouldn't know what the Mojave was like before the NCR if he was from the NCR. Could the use of 'we' around the NCR be more because he's a naturalised New Californian who's identity is strongly wrapped up with the NCR army? The 'we' was 'the NCR' generally rather than 'we' to mean 'Californians' and him specifically? The syntax accepts both readings.

It is entirely possible that Boone was born in Vegas pre-House, possibly from North Vegas like Manny is, though without the Khan ties. Some sources say Boone is 26, I don't generally trust out of game sources, but it'd make sense for him to be in his mid-late 20s, I think.

So, that'd mean Craig Boone he grew up in pre-NCR Vegas in the mid-2250s, the NCR arrives 7 years ago in 2274 and he joins at about 19-20, he becomes a First Recon Sniper decently fast (he is a real good shot so it makes sense), ends up involved in the Bitter Springs Massacre (which some sources I don't entirely trust say was in 2278 - 3 years ago), then met, retired with to Novac and... ahem lost Carla in a year.

So, in this timeline all Boone's adult life would've been in the NCR Army. So it'd make sense for him to see them as his people rather than any locals. Especially considering that Vegas has almost certainly changed a lot in in those 7 years the NCRs been about. Like, Manny grew up in North Vegas, we have no idea what North Vegas was like back then, Crandon's North Vegas Square was founded 'a few years' ago, House's Strip was established around that time too. Vegas is not whatever it was when Manny was young. And, if Boone is also from Vegas, neither is it what he grew up in.

Of course, it is also equally possible that Boone is a New Californian and when Manny says he "Brought down my best friend to share that future with me." he means the Novac retirement with his First Recon best friend. One thing you notice when you look too hard at the timeline of New Vegas is that it... isn't perfect. Like, there's in-game conflicting information, never mind the out-of-game stuff.

With that said you may be wondering "Why the Hell do you even care if Boone is a Californian or a... (quick search) New Vegan?" well, as I said at the start, there's no actual point. I just like to speculate about things and Boone is unique as he is the only basegame companion where there is this kinda speculation potential:

Veronica explicitly calls herself 'A girl from California', Lilly's Vault 17 had to have been somewhere within The Master's reach which limits it to somewhere in California, Cass is undeniably Californian (we even know her Dad), Rex is from Denver, Raul is from Hidalgo Ranch (which I'm gonna say is probably in Hidalgo, at the very least it's close enough to Mexico City to see it get destroyed but far enough away to not be decimated) and ED-E is from Adams Air Force Base in the Capital Wasteland.

[Edit, forgot to include Arcade, Arcade was either born at Camp Navarro or the Enclave Oil Rig, possibly during Fallout 2 given his age]

Some of those are also vague, but even the vaguest of the other companions has at least a state (and ED-E gets the 'most specific' prize).

So, all of this leads to an 'I don't know', as it always would. I personally think Boone is from New Vegas, but there's plenty of arguments against that. Hell, Boone could be from bloomin'... Madison, Wisconsin if ya want him to be. You could even imagine a story for that. Young Craig Boone and his family left New Madison southeast and travelled until they hit the Pacific. Boone knows what the pre-NCR Mojave looked like because they stopped there, he met Manny at the time and it was a Hell of a funny coincidence when they both ended up in First Recon.

Well, I think I've indulged in my Fallout New Vegas idle thoughts enough for one day. Where is Craig Boone from? Fallout New Vegas.

#fallout #new vegas #fallout new vegas #ncr #craig boone #I ain't gonna tag #the 8 million things #I mentioned here

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loominggaia · 3 months ago

Text

Folkvaran History

HISTORY

Primal Age

Folkvar’s territory was first inhabited by Silverskin dworfs, Woodland gnolls, and Ibias fauns. Scattered populations of Patchback centaurs, Mountain hogmen, and Oprezka goblins were quick to migrate over within the first few centuries, drawn to more abundant resources on Noalen’s eastern coast.

The dworfs largely kept to themselves up in the Shrieking Mountains, having little contact with the other peoples who squabbled below. There were many conflicts in these early times as different tribes fought over real estate. Nomadic gnoll clans seemed to dominate for quite some time, successfully raiding and pillaging the stationary tribes around them. This is referred to as the “Golden Age of Gnolls”, when this now-extinct species was at its most powerful.

1st Age

By the start of the 1st Age, gnolls became the most populous species in the region. They were largely war-like and lived nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyles. The fauns developed offensive spells specifically to defend themselves against the gnolls, but it simply wasn’t enough, as the gnolls liked to use filth to their advantage, and fauns were particularly susceptible to the plagues they spread. As time went on, many fauns were forced to assimilate into local goblin and centaur tribes for protection, or else be driven to extinction.

Gnolls were known to raid faunish and goblin tribes frequently, but did not fair as well against centaurs or hogmen. These heavyweight gaians could defend themselves more easily, but even they struggled at times due to the gnolls’ sheer numbers and dirty tactics.

Some say that Folkvar Kingdom has been at war long before the conflict with Evangeline, for these earliest ancestors were spilling each other’s blood since the day Gaia breathed life into them. Its violent history is how it earned the title “The Warrior Kingdom”.

2nd Age

Around the start of the 2nd Age is when the Silverskin dworfs began venturing down from their mountains in large numbers, seeking more favorable climates to settle. They found temperate forests that were rich with the timber and farmland they sought, but these forests were also crawling with hostile gnoll and hogmen clans.

Gnolls still dominated the woodland regions at this time, and their numbers were only climbing. The beast-like heads of the gnolls and hogmen made it very difficult for them to communicate with other species, so it was rare for them to form alliances outside their own kind. Needless to say, the dworfs did not receive a warm welcome. The nomadic beast-headed raiders prevented them from colonizing Noalen’s eastern forests for a long time.

Back in their motherland, however, the dworfs were quickly advancing. They developed clever ways of surviving their cold, mountainous region by tunneling right through the rock and living mostly underground. They used their engineering prowess to develop complex ventilation systems and other devices, making them the most technologically-advanced culture on Gaia at the time.

The dworfs would attempt to colonize the forests again towards the end of the age, this time with more advanced weapons and equipment to deal with hostiles. Even with their fancy new crossbows, gunpowder muskets, and metal armors, they were outnumbered and overpowered by the stone age natives. All the dworf’s advancement came at a heavy cost, and they were starting to run out of resources like food and timber in their homeland. The pressure was on to conquer these forests or die trying.

In the meantime, they started trading with the Balbastrans (proto-Evangelites) to the southwest.

3rd Age

In the 3rd Age, Balbastrans increased contact with the Silverskin dworfs. Balbastran humans assimilated particularly well into dworfen culture, bringing with them the concept of beast-taming. In return, they adopted some of the dworf’s new steam-based technologies such as trains. These great advancements led to the founding of Evangeline Kingdom.

Initially, Evangeline's territories stretched from Noalen’s western coast to the eastern edge of the Blue Valley. Colonizing the eastern forests proved difficult, as they were still populated by hostile gnolls and hogmen, as well as established stationary tribes of fauns, centaurs, and others.

Evangeline succeeded, however, using a combination of violence and diplomacy. The kingdom was able to assimilate many of the established tribes, and together with their combined resources and technology, they were able to finally start pushing back against the beast-headed raiders. Gnolls quickly began losing control of the region, but the hogmen would remain a threat to Evangeline until the end of the 4th Age.

4th Age

The kingdom experienced a huge cultural revolution around the year 4200, when its leadership decided to combine Evangeline law with Lindist doctrine. Things had been heading this direction for centuries before this, however, as Evangelites were getting fed-up with hostile tribes of hogmen and other species terrorizing their remote towns.

The Full Moon Genocides also took place around this time, a period when the kingdom was ravaged by the novel lycanthropy disease. The High King took advantage of the peoples’ fear, anger, and desperation, and used it to install a heavy-handed theocracy.

Fae and gaians were declared lesser beings by Lindist leaders, and Evangelite law decreed that they should only exist in the kingdom as slaves. This caused many fae and gaians to flee the kingdom, but those who could not escape were enslaved, beginning an oppressive new era for Evangeline.

The kingdom also began a genocidal campaign against hogmen around this time, but it did not successfully drive them to extinction until the very end of the 4th Age–about 800 years later. In less than a century, Evangeline’s whole culture shifted into something unrecognizable. The kingdom had become a haven for male commoners and a nightmare for everyone else.

But this oppression was a boon for the upper classes, who were reaping big profits from Evangeline’s growing trade industry. Thanks to slave labor, food production became very cheap and could be sold to foreign markets. Zareen Empire was their biggest customer, and this is still true today.

The religious revolution caused much civil unrest among the lower classes, however. Things came to a head around the year 4500 when a civil war broke out between those who supported the revolution and those who opposed it. Most of the opposers lived in Evangeline’s neglected northern and eastern territories, and as a result, the kingdom split in two. The revolution-opposing territories banded together to make their voices heard, and they became known as Folkvar Kingdom. In Volkaspek, this name roughly translates to “Kingdom for the People”.

The Folkvarans demanded freedom of religion, equal rights for all peoples, and abolishment of slavery, and would not pay taxes to Evangeline until their demands were met. Evangeline refused and the two sides went to war. This war is still raging today–2,000 years later–with neither side gaining or losing much ground since it began.

Folkvar quickly formed an alliance with Etios Nation, which automatically put them at war with Matuzu Kingdom. While Folkvar usually fights Evangeline by land, most of its battles with Matuzu occur at sea.

5th Age

Folkvar Kingdom spent most of the 5th Age establishing supply lines and trade routes with foreign powers, all while defending itself from constant assaults by Evangeline and Matuzu. It experienced a large population boom after the Gold River War displaced many Morites in the south, a lot of whom fled to Folkvar Kingdom to become citizens. This proved helpful in the wars.

High King Gultopp came into power near the end of the 5th Age, and he still holds the throne today. Folkvar Kingdom has always welcomed immigrants with open arms, as it has struggled with population stability since its beginnings, but King Gultopp took this policy even further. He passed a law that grants anyone instant citizenship, so long as they or someone in their immediate family serves at least five years in the Folkvaran military. The military saw a sizeable boost in recruitment since then, though Gultopp has been criticized for pampering soldiers while ignoring the needs of civilians.

6th Age

King Gultopp continues to hold the throne, focusing his campaign on military recruitment and promoting immigration to feed his barracks. At the start of the 6th Age, he secretly began working with an Evangelite spy named Azura to destabilize Evangeline Kingdom. He did this by hiring mercenaries to steal Evangelite slaves and escort them back to his kingdom, where they were forced to join his military in exchange for freedom. Princess Azura provides him with valuable intel to pull this off successfully. The scheme is called “Operation Chaincutter”, and it has steadily been gaining traction over the years.

In the year 6007, Kelvingyard was damaged by an earthquake, leading to the escape of thousands of Evangelite slaves. Most of them ended up fleeing to Folkvar and joining its military. This event was a painful blow to Evangeline’s economy, and Folkvar took full advantage of their weakness by launching strategic attacks.

King Gultopp realizes he is growing old and will likely not see the fall of Evangeline Kingdom in his lifetime. However, he is considering passing his crown to his daughter Blomi, who has promised him that she will finish what he started. He entrusts her to keep working with Azura to take over Evangeline Kingdom, and in return, Azura promises to help end the Etios-Matuzu war peacefully.

Gultopp may be known as a warmonger, but he truly hopes his grandchildren will see his kingdom at peace for the first time in its history.