#relationship alphabet

[ts4ritsa]

hello!

if you write for her, may I request a fluff alphabet for Mukuro Ikusaba? Have a good day/night

₊˚ପ⊹ fluff alphabet ;

ft. mukuro ikusaba from danganronpa * ˚ ✦

tags / cw: fluff, gn!reader

a | attention: how much attention do they want in the relationship?

- mukuro has been used to not being given the time of day ever since she was a child. therefore, she isn’t the type of girl to expect or demand you to give her certain amounts of your attention

- however, she may find herself wanting to explore the concept more. it’s all pretty new to her, okay!! but she won’t pressure you or anything — she’ll cherish just about any time you spend with her, even if it’s just a moderate amount

b | baby: would they want a family?

- she isn’t certain if she want’s to have a family yet. she’s always been focused on her duties as the ultimate soldier and isn’t sure being a mother is the right path for her. she may be open to the idea in the future, when she’s older

c | cuddle: what are they like when they cuddle with you?

- mukuro isn’t naturally inclined to be affectionate through stuff like cuddling, but if it’s what you like to do, she’ll happily be willing to try and accommodate to your preferences

- when you’re holding each other close, you both can’t help but feel a sense of security. mukuro tends to pull you a bit closer, wanting enjoy being in your presence to the fullest

d | dates: what are dates with them like? what do they like to do?

- calm, low-key and private. she isn’t very keen on doing anything fancy. a simple dinner and movie is enough for her. she just wants to take a break from the draining responsibilities that come with being a soldier and spend quality time with you

e | equal: do they prefer to be more in control or laid-back in the relationship?

- she wants a balanced dynamic in the relationship. she values equality and doesn’t like when things are one-sided. so she wants to share the responsibility of making decisions with you

f | fights: how do they handle fights?

- peacefully and rationally. mukuro wants to understand your feelings and would make compromises to solve conflicts so you both can move forward

- on a rare occasion where she loses her temper, she can be very fierce and stubborn. after all, she has yet to be completely used to expressing her emotions in a healthy way

g | gratitude: how grateful are they to have you? what do they think your relationship is worth in comparison to other things in their life?

- mukuro is incredibly grateful to have you in her life. she may not show it well verbally, but she likes to show you in other ways

- she considers your relationship to be one of the most important things in her life. it’s something she wants to keep, nurture, and take care of. in her eyes, it’s something worth sacrificing for

h | honesty: are they honest with you? how important is honesty to them?

- mukuro is generally honest, but she does have a tendency to hide her true feelings. she’s been used to keeping to herself for a long time, and there are some things she believes you’re better off not knowing

- honesty is important to her but not exactly in the way one would think. she’s alright if you aren’t open about certain things involving your past, but she doesn’t want you to lie about your current well-being. she wants to protect and care for you, and knowing there might be something bothering you and her not being able to help you deeply upsets her

i | insight: how easy is it for them to read your mind and tell how you are feeling?

- pretty easy. she is very perceptive and she is often able to read other people's emotions and thoughts. she is able to notice small changes in behavior and can use this insight to improve her relationships with people. this can come off as being almost mind-reading at times

j | jealousy: what makes them jealous? what are they like when they’re jealous?

- despite the fact she doesn’t mind not always being showered with affection, she may feel jealous if she sees you giving someone else more attention than you give her. it just doesn’t make sense to her

- when she does feel jealous, she tends to not let it show. she may become a bit quiet and reserved, not wanting to let her thoughts consume her and just letting it go away on it’s own

- however, if notices that there is someone who is blatantly after you, she will not hesitate to make herself known to them. she’ll hold your hand or arm with a firm grip in front of them and propose that you two should go somewhere else because she “wants to explore and be familiar with the area” (but really, she simply believes nothing good can come from a place with that person around. she will perceive them as an actual threat)

k | kisses: what are their kisses like? who kissed who first? where do they like to kiss you?

- gentle and tender. you most definitely initiated the first kiss between the two of you, because she wasn’t brave or certain enough if she should do it herself. but she generally prefers it that way — whenever you initiate physical affection

- her favorite place to kiss you is on the lips or cheek, as it feels most right to her. she also enjoys it when you kiss her on those places, but she also has a liking to shoulder and neck kisses, as it makes her feel loved and wanted

l | love language: what’s their favorite love language?

- mukuro wants to show you she loves you through acts of service. she will do simple things for you like bringing you a snack, making sure the place is tidy and comfortable enough, and giving you massages

- she loves it when you spend quality time with her. since she knows that she can’t always be the center of your attention, she deeply holds all the time you spend together close to her heart. whether it be a romantic date or just a small conversation, knowing that there are times where you give her your full undivided attention just make her heart flutter

m | marriage: would they want to get married? if you were to get married, who would take whose last name? what would the marriage be like?

- mukuro doesn’t care about getting married or not. she would not be opposed to the idea as your relationship grows further and if it’s what you really want, she’ll do it without any questions asked

- when you two get married, she would keep her last name. while she does love you, she sees it as an important part of her identity and wants to maintain her individuality

- your marriage is based off mutual trust, respect, and understanding. she’ll aim to create a stable, happy, and supportive relationship, and she’ll encourage you to pursue your dreams and provide comfort and reassurance in your shared home whenever you need it, hoping you’ll do the same in turn

n | nicknames: would they use nicknames on you? do they like when you use nicknames on them?

- mukuro would not use any nicknames or pet names on you because she thinks it’s childish and prefers to call you by your given name

- she doesn’t mind you giving her simple nicknames, but she doesn’t want anything cheesy or cutesy. she might cringe and not take you seriously if you were to unironically use a pet name on her

o | open: how long does it take for them to open up to you for the first time?

- it takes time for mukuro to open up to you due to her past traumas and experiences. however, with patience and understanding, she gradually becomes more comfortable sharing her thoughts and bits of her past

p | pda: thoughts on public displays of affection?

- she is not that keen on public displays of affection. she might hold your hand on a rare occasion where she feels comfortable or feels she needs to, but she generally prefers to keep intimate moments and affectionate gestures for more private settings

q | quality time: what do they like to do when they’re with you? how affectionate are they behind closed doors?

- mukuro likes calm and quiet time where you both can have simple yet meaningful conversations and just enjoy the peace and silence

- she is much more comfortable showing affection through subtle gestures like kisses and hugs behind closed doors. she is attentive to what you have to say and generous with compliments and affirmations. she is not overly touchy but shows love and support in any way she can

r | realize: when did they realize they fell in love with you? why did they fall in love with you?

- she realized she had developed feelings for you when she found herself trying to pretend they didn’t exist. at first, she had just grown a particular liking to you, and didn’t see how much it grew over time. she wouldn’t notice how she started looking forward to seeing you, spending time with you, and thinking about you until she was directly confronted about her feelings by junko or something

- mukuro was in denial for the longest time and even tried to downplay her feelings and gaslight herself into thinking they were never there, but ultimately failed. she also wasn’t sure if she wanted to pursue a romantic relationship or not, given her duties as the ultimate soldier

- but when she saw how much you valued and cared about her, she realized just how much love you had to offer. how could she turn away now?

s | sad: how would they cheer you up when you’re sad?

- mukuro would do her best to be understanding and comforting. she may offer comforting words, small surprises, or just a shoulder to cry on

t | thrill: would they do any new things to spice up your relationship?

- mukuro thinks your guys’ relationship is fine just the way it is, but she won’t mind experimenting and trying new things to liven the relationship up every now and then. together, you both can explore and embrace the thrill of the unknown

u | unwind: how do they like to unwind and relieve stress when with you?

- as stated, she likes to spend quiet time with you. in a situation where she wants to relieve stress, she’d turn to you and ask if you’d let her sleep in your arms. she isn’t sure why but it helps her every single time. she feels put at ease and safe in your arms, and she wouldn’t want to let go of you for a while

v | vouch: how would they vouch for you in any situation you might be in trouble?

- mukuro is a very loyal partner and she would always stand up for you if you were ever in a difficult situation or if someone was being unfair to you. she would make sure to support and speak up on your behalf. she wouldn't hesitate to go to great lengths to protect and defend you

w | wild card: random relationship headcanon!

- her favorite type of date to go on with you is stargazing. she likes the feeling of the cool breeze that comes out at night and enjoys watching the stars. she finds solace and peace in the vastness of the night sky

x | exes: how would they handle situations with your exes? how are they like with their exes?

- mukuro has a very distant and standoffish attitude towards her exes. she might not speak of them highly or even speak of them at all. she would be cordial and polite to them when necessary, but wouldn't want to be involved with them or to associate with them more than she has to

- she would feel uncomfortable and weird if you were in contact with your exes. she would definitely feel protective and possessive of you if your ex was still not over the break up. she generally doesn’t want you to have contact with your exes because she views them as potential threats and will not trust them until they can prove they’re not up to anything

y | yearn: how would they cope when you’re away? what are they like when they reunite with you after being gone for so long?

- she’ll feel a quite sad and lonely when you’re away for a long time. she’ll find herself actually craving your presence and missing your company

- however, she’d try to not let this affect her too much and she would try to remain strong and independent while you’re not there, burying herself in her duties and responsibilities instead

- when you reunite, she would be very happy and eager to see that you’re safe. she would insist on making up for lost time, letting you chose any activities you’d like to do with her, even some things she normally wouldn’t do

z | zzz: what are they like when sleeping with you? what are some habits they have?

- mukuro is a light sleeper and tends to stay alert, but with you by her side, she feels safe and relaxed, allowing her to drift into a peaceful slumber

- she has a tendency to murmur a few random things and snuggle a bit closer to you if she feels unsettled, but that’s all that there is to it!

a/n: omg thank you so much for requesting danganronpa I love you MWAAH!!! and I totally didn’t prioritize this request since it was dr… anyways this took way longer than it should have tbh. send more dr requests my way tho ^^ enjoy!

© ts4ritsa (do not repost w/o credits)

[danses-with-dogmeat]

Hey, hopefully I’m not too late for the 1.5k thing? If I’m not, can you do nickstalkers for Nick Valentine? Your choice on first or last name.

(If not feel free to just ignore this, I know you probably have a lot of asks to attend to)

Yes, absolutely! Ole Nicky always needs some lovin' (no matter what the canon game says), so here you are!

(And you weren't too late when you requested this, but this is one of the last ones I got, so we're getting closer to the end here, folks!) 😊

I hope you love it! <3

N) Nickname. What are the nicknames they have for their s/o? Do they like when their s/o uses nicknames?

Heh, nicknames lol.

ANYWAY

He lets his names for you slip out easily, even before the two of you are officially together. Calling you his 'partner,' and referring to you as 'doll' (gender neutral) are common before the romance really ramps up. After the two of you are official, he likes to use lots of the classic pet names for you, like darling and dear, his better half, dove, beautiful/handsome, honey, an occasional 'knockout' slips in there sometimes too; and he uses them often. No shame from the detective on this front, he uses pet names with you in public just as much as he does in private.

As for him, he really does just appreciate any term of endearment you have for him. (I happen to be partial to Nickerdoodle, myself). But a 'honey' and a 'dear' directed at him just feel so natural, so domestic that they almost transport him back in time to the old Nick's life, to the seemingly easy romance he shared with his Jenny. If you call him anything along the lines of 'handsome,' or 'dreamboat,' he'll be as close as a synth can get to blushing. Nick may not always believe it himself, but he's not going to argue with you on the subject of his attractiveness in your eyes. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," and all that, you know.

I) Insight. How easy is it for them to read their partner? (Mood, thoughts, etc.)

Well, he's a detective, and a damn good one at that. And he cares deeply about you and your state of mind, your health, both mental and physical after all of the horrible things you've been through. So... yeah, he's in a constant state of ensuring you're doing alright, paying close attention to your moods and reactions to certain events, sights, sounds and places. Nick is always the first to suggest you take a break or a breather, the one to remind you to eat and drink, to keep your strength up, even when that's not something he personally needs to worry about. And as far as responding to your changes in mood, the man's a professional. He does this for a living, essentially. When his clients have been through something awful, when their loved ones are on the edge of a breakdown, when they're worried beyond reason, when they haven't slept since their family member disappeared, Nick is there to comfort them, to ground them and make them feel heard. He does it with all the more passion when it comes to you. If you want your space, he's privy to it, but if you need him close, to talk or just to sit with you, he'll be there.

You'll be hard-pressed to find a partner more caring, more attentive, and a partner more skilled with healthy communication than Nick Valentine.

C) Cuddle. Do they like to cuddle and show affection? How?

If you don't initiate it, he tends to be reserved with his physical contact with you. It's not that he doesn't want it, in fact, that couldn't be further from the truth, but... Well, he's not made of the most huggable material on the planet now, is he?

Still though, he tries. With what he has, he does his best. His good hand is always the one to grasp with yours, and he's an avid "arm around your shoulders" kind of partner whenever the two of you re walking side-by-side or seated next to each other. But... the less, ahem, clothes that are involved, the more hesitant he is with you. Your skin is so soft, so easily scratched or bruised by his skeletal hand, by the ruined parts of his skin-like covering that are slowly rusting and peeling away, revealing the sharper bits underneath. Usually when the two of you settle in for the night, and you try curling into him, or wrapping your arms around him, he dresses himself in some softer clothes. Long pajama pants and long-sleeved shirts that are soft to the touch and keep his sharper points off of your skin, and keep the cool touch of his body off of your warmth. Those nights that it works though, when the two of you can be closer than he's ever been with another person, Nick still can't sleep, not really, but he can smile as you snore against him, he can close his eyes and feel more human than he ever dreamed he would.

K) Kiss. What are their kisses like? Who kissed who first?

He's careful with you... but his kisses become simply all-encompassing once they reach their peak. They always start out slow with the buildup, with Nick carefully placing his hands on you, and making sure your own exploring fingers don't get nicked by the exposed metal bits on his face, but soon after, he presses himself fully into you, to the point that it's hard to tell where his lips begin and yours end, if not for the difference in temperature. It's almost hard to breathe as well, given that he doesn't really have that problem, he sometimes fails to consider it as much as he probably should.

He was concerned from the start, and unsure, given that he hasn't had a whole lot of smooches in his synthetic existence, and he hoped like hell that he didn't taste all too bad, what with the metallic materials that made up his mouth. So you have to be the one to initiate the first one, if only because he wants to be absolutely positive that this is something that you really want. Later though, when it becomes more commonplace, when you both are used to it, Nick kisses you often and more openly than he ever thought he would. It's a greeting and a goodbye, an 'I love you' quick as a peck, an 'I missed you' with more gusto than simple words, and an expression of his affection that he becomes all too used to. The others in the Commonwealth may find it odd, this union between the two of you, but the synth couldn't care less; and even if his public kisses get you both to the center of some bigoted attentions, that's never stopped him from living his life before. And, well, he doesn't really see that changin'.

[your-lovely-rose]

Request from Alphabets: Relationship Alphabet

𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦: Boku no hero Academia

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: Shin Nemoto x Reader

⚠ 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: None || NOT EDITED

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: Hey, sorry it took so long and I hope to do more requests with Nemoto in the future (and he didn't come out here too much OOC).

> Shin Nemoto Masterlist

A = Activity  | What is their favorite activity to do with you?

I expect that to be something simple, like walks or general spending time together: watching a movie or staying near each other, you can even do completely different things - your presence is enough for him.

B = Beginnings  | How do they act in the beginning of a relationship?

He'll be hard-faced to you and seem unkind. He won't outright insult you, but sometimes (when he's having a particularly bad day) he might overly criticize you.

He won't trust you because of his belief about others - about how unreliable they are and how they lie all the time. He definitely has a trust issue.

C = Communication  | Are they good communicators? How do they normally talk about their problems or solve issues?

Shin doesn't have a problem with communication - he doesn't stutter, isn't embarrassed talking to someone he likes nor is he afraid to talk. On the contrary, in conversations he is confident.

But he won't go talk to a newly met person about his problems and frustrations. However, if he likes you, you can get what's bothering him.

At first, he'll still be reluctant to say, acting more cold than usual, then, when he lets it out, he'll feel better (but he'll still be little nervous).

D = Drunk  | What are they like when they’re drunk?

He doesn't usually drink enough to get totally drunk, however, if this ever happens he is very talkative and fractious - if you're his victim (you'll be the only one around him then), you'll have to listen his jealousy about Chrono and boss, what has gone wrong, what upsets him or his praise of Overhaul.

But the drunken Shin doesn't just talk about it. You can ask him what he thinks about you or your relationship with him. He will answer you completely honestly without the filter of inhibitions that his brain creates, when he is sober.

He may forget about it later, but if he likes you he will say right away that he is glad he finally told its you.

Even if he forgets this later.

E = Emergency  | How are they in emergency situations? You get hurt, they get hurt, someone is dying, etc…

You/Somebody gest hurt or is dying. | If it's someone close to him, he will panic. At first he's not sure what to do - he wants to help you, but doesn't know where to start. Better let someone else help you.

Him | He wouldn't care so much about himself. You could find him in a pool of blood, limbless or badly bruised, but he wouldn't react as strongly as when someone else is injured. He knows Overhaul will help him, and even if Chisaki doesn't, he would be happy to be able to help him somehow - even if it got him killed.

F = Free Spot  | I’ll give you any headcanon I come up with

[Honestly, I have no idea what I could put in here. I'm sorry...]

G = Gifts  | What kind of gifts do they give? What kind of gifts do they get?

Giving | He'll give you something that you like or will be related to your interests. Giving it may seem indifferent and he didn't spend too much time picking it out, but believe, he did. He won't admit it (I believe he is a tsundere) and he won't show you how much he wants you to like it, but inside he's still worried you won't. When you tell him you like it, he'll be relieved, and when he sees you using his gift (or carrying it around) he'll smile subconsciously.

Getting | He won't feel comfortable with an expensive gift - he will then feel compelled to repay it somehow. He's better off with the little things you might associate with your relationship.

H = Hugs  | How do they show affection/cuddle?

Don't think that he will show you affection at work or in front of other co-workers - the most you can get is praise for a well done job (not always, don't get used to it).

Privately, when no one can see you, he can pat you on the shoulder or head or/and give you a little hug - he's not very emotional.

I = Irritation  | What is something that irritates them? How do they show their irritation?

When something doesn't go his way, when no one obeys his orders, when you ignore or don't listen to him. He then feels undervalued and insulted.

How will he show irritation? You won't see his face through the mask, but you'll hear his voice getting louder and louder. You can also feel a dangerous change in his tone and see how he squeezes the things he holds in his hands.

J = Jackpot  | How would they spend their winnings if they won the lottery?

If Overhaul had asked him to give it to him, he would have done so without hesitation - he'd probably try to help him achieve his goal.

I'm sorry, but you're second to his boss - he was the first person, who was completely honest with him and trusted him despite his quirk. He doesn't love him like you, but deeply respects and admires him.

K = Kryptonite  | What is their ultimate weakness?

Praise. He's not used to being praised, but don't overdo it because he'll think it's fake. If he gets to the point where he uses his quirk on you, and you say you really mean it, he'll melt down. Although he will try not to show it too much, inside he'll be a totally mess.

L = Laughter  | What makes them laugh?

Stupid failures of others, however, which won't affect the success of Overhaul's plan.

If the incompetence of others interferes with the achievement of their (Chisaki) goal, then he will be mad.

M = Morning  | How do they wake up in the morning? Are they a morning person or a morning grouch?

He is very meticulous and ready for anything at any time, so I believe that getting up in the morning won't cause him a problem. In the yakuza, good organization is essential - everyone there works as one organism, so he must be like that.

N = Needy  | When do they feel particularly needy? How do they show it?

After some time you'll sense it - he'll be quieter. He won't comment on your failure or mistake, and his praise (if any) will sound forced, so at frist you might won't notice the difference in his mood.

O = Oasis  | Where is their happy place? Where would they go if they didn’t have anything holding them back?

Before Chisaki, he had no one he could trust, so he would follow him anywhere - even to the other end of Japan. So, this will be his workplace/office.

When you become friends, he might sometimes for the sake of peace (and a break from work stress) show up at your apartment, after he learning that you accept him and don't mind his presence at your place.

It won't be frequent (at the beginning) nor he won't be already inside when you come in, waiting for you, but sometimes he might come after work - don't ask then what happened, just suggest spending time together like a movie or dinner.

But for that to happen, he has to trust you, and that will take a long time. Then he'll become an increasingly frequent guest until finally (you don't know exactly when) he'll be your tenant.

P = Pain  | How do they handle pain? How do they handle when you are in pain?

He'll bear his pain - he won't scream or cry, but yours will bother him. He will try to do everything to help you.

Q = Quote  | What’s a quote that fits them and your relationship?

❝The course of true love (friendship?) never runs smooth.❞ // ❝The quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love.❞

R = Reunion  | How do they celebrate seeing you after a long time of being apart?

I'm sure he'll want to take you somewhere just the two of you. He'll want to hear from you everything that happened while you were away (although I'm sure you texted and called each other on the phone).

S = Stress  | What stresses them out? How do deal with stress and how do they relieve it?

He is irritable - when he is needy or uncertain he is quieter, but when stressed, he'll try to unload it on others. Of course, he won't hit anyone, but his taunts will be more vicious and more frequent.

What could lead him to do so? For example, seeing Chisaki spend more time with Chrono (he feels threatened then). From the moment he met Overhaul, he believes he is the only person Kai is honest with and whom he trusts. Seeing how close he is to Kurono makes him jealous.

If you're close to him, don't make friends with Chrono - spare him that.

T = Terror  | What are they afraid of?

Losing what he has now - that which gives him Shie Hassaikai and the rest of the Eight Bullets members (although he won't mostly show it to them and he doesn't like everyone equally). The yakuza is the only place where people trusted him and who didn't lie to him. It is his home.

U = Unique  | What is a quirk that is unique to them?

Checking how you feel and selfless help with things unrelated to Shie Hassaikai's goals.

Forgot your lunch from home? Have half of his bento. Did you miss the bus or is it very late? He'll give you a ride home.

It'll be so unusual for him that everyone will notice.

Chrono and Tengai won't comment on this, they don't care; Setsuno, Hojo and Tabe will only look at you two surprised each time, but understanding what is going on. The only one to comment on this will probably be Deidoro teasing Shin or Overhaul, being glad to see how he finally get along with his co-worker/assistant.

V = Violence  | Do they fight a lot? Are they a good fighter? What is their fighting style?

As a member of the yakuza, he must fight, but he won't do so at close range - he will keep his distance from the opponent and try to shoot him/them.

Unfortunately, he's not very good at hand-to-hand combat and as a shooter, he's average.

W = Wow  | What do you do that really surprises them? What do you do that they really like?

The first such thing (at the beginning of your relationship, when he is just starting to open up to you) could be an invitation to spend time together, go out to lunch or a small gift - whether on the occasion of some holiday (Valentine's Day, Christmas) or without as a token of gratitude for help at work.

X = —  | Explicit headcanon (for all you degenerates)

He'll use Confession to hear how good he makes you feel. He wants to hear how well he's doing and it'll make him even more aroused.

Y = Yucky  | Is there something that grosses them out so badly that they can’t deal with it?

I don't know what could possibly disgust him, but I'm sure he can't bear all the rude behavior and the insult given to Chisaki - the one person, who was the first to be truly honest with him, which relies on him and makes him feel needed.

Dirt, blood, guts, torture, child abuse, death - doesn't move him, but insulting his boss? It will move him to his core.

If that's you, who insults or makes fun of Chisaki, you'd better run.

Z = ZZZ  | What are their sleeping habits? (Both with and without you)

He doesn't give you a lot of hugs, but you can wake up in the morning with his one arm wrapped around you (although you could have fallen asleep and the one doing the hugging was you).

He had no problem falling asleep, until he got use to sleeping with you - when you aren't there he feels it is strangely empty and cold in the bed. As if something (someone) is missing.

Your presence by his side at night is pleasant and comforting. After getting used to having you next to him it's hard for him to sleep, but he won't admit it.

[bomber-grl]

Sal Fisher Fluff Alphabet!

Pairing(s): Sal Fisher x Gn!Reader

Art Creds (going left to right) ~ @/pinetre3, @/mawny666, (couldn’t find, let me know if you do)

A - Admiration (what do they absolutely adore about you)

It really depends on you tbh

Like if you’re an artist or musician-

If you have any talents or skills really, just something you’re passionate about

Then I definitely see that as something he’d adore about you

Especially if you’re constantly portraying such talents and draw him stuff, crochet him anything or give him some sort of trinket or gift relating to your skill

It’s either that or your constant willingness to help out with the paranormal

There aren’t many people who would and regardless if you do so with a face of bravery or cowardice, he’d still greatly appreciate it and admire you for it

A - Attention (how much attention do they want in the relationship?)

I’d assume about a good amount?? I mean you’re dating each other so it’s only natural 😭

You see eachother everyday too and most likely hang out in either of your apartment rooms/ houses

As much as I see him liking the attention I also think he’d like some solitude

Not that your attention doesn’t have him flustered and all giddy

Just something to consider I suppose

Plus he’d probably like to give you all the attention as you’re the center of his affections

B - Body (what is their favorite part of your body?)

His favorite part of your body would most likely be your hands

Not for their appearance but because of how often you’d comfort him with them

In school and in class you’d show little affections by intertwining your hands together

When that wasn’t possible you’d link pinkies

At home you used your hand to cradle his face when he revealed it to you-

And you often gently played with his hair with your hands

Now, if you told him you liked a body part of his because of the same reason: the acts of affection done through them, then he’d feel happy you felt the same

But if you also added that you thought this specific body part was hot or attractive then he’d definitely get flustered and laugh awkwardly 😭

Don’t even get him to talk after or he’d probably stutter a bit

B - Boo! (do they scare people? How do they act when scaring you/people?)

Honestly Sal probably gave a few people jump scares when he first started attending school

Half because his prosthetic was unexpected and also because I feel like he just has that energy when standing there 🧍

It was totally unintended too 😭

Poor Sal

Overall I don’t really see Sal as a scaring person type

He’d probably join in if you or Larry did but wouldn’t do much but stand by

If it was a bad idea he’d either lightly discourage it or not say anything and watch it happen

If he did manage to scare you for some reason then he’d feel bad

Especially since it was most likely not on purpose and was only cuz you opened the door and weren’t expecting anyone to be on the other side

B - Beauty (what do they admire about their s/o? what do they think is beautiful about them?)

Anything really

As I mentioned before it really depends on you and your personality traits/passions

If you’re particularly kind or often defend others then that’s something Sal would admire about you

As well as if you were unapologetically yourself, especially when around someone like Travis

Now when it comes to how he views your beauty it’s difficult to explain

The only way I can is when you’re looking at your friend and can’t help admire how beautiful they are

Maybe that’s just me 😭😅)

But that’s how he’d see you, there isn’t any particular traits but maybe it’s how you look when your thinking or doing what you love

Maybe how you look when the wind blows through your hair, or even when it’s cold out and your nose is visibly cold

Just little things like that

C - Cuddling (how do they like to cuddle?)

Sal doesn’t have much of a preference more often than not

I mean if you want to be big spoon and him little spoon he’s more than happy to cuddle that why and vice versa

Although I do imagine him liking to cuddle by mutual holding

He liked to be close to you and feels especially safe/warm when you’re really close to eachother this way

It’s nice to cuddle with him too, especially during winter although I do see Sal as one of those people that are cold so even if you’re one of them too-

You’re automatically his new heater

Whether you’re aware of it or not 😭

Sal would probably not be too fond of pda but I think it’s likely he’d huddle with you if it’s the colder months

D - Dates (what does their ideal date with you look like?)

Honestly his ideal date would probably just be the two of you hanging out somewhere, anywhere really

Like you two could just be hanging out in his room, order pizza and get snacks and that would be an ideal date in his mind

As long as he gets to spend time with you, really

If you’d rather do something else like go out shopping, go to an actual restaurant and stuff then he’s more than fine to go along

E - Emotions (how do they express emotion around you?)

Sal is pretty open all around

He’s never been one to shy away from expressing how he feels or be overly self conscious about it

If something is bothering him or just stressing him out he’s likely to communicate that with you

Although he’s pretty open I’d imagine he might not let you know how he’s feeling all the time

Especially if you’re particularly stressed then he wouldn’t want to add onto that stress with something else to worry about: him

Honestly he’d probably realize pretty quickly by being snapped back to reality by you or another factor and realize he should just let you know how he feels

It’s just for the sake of good communication and not ruining your relationship

E - Equal (do they prefer to be more in control or laid-back in the relationship?)

It really depends on you, like many of the other prompts 😭

If you want to be more in control in the relationship then sals more than happy to let you be

Same if you’d want to be laid back

Honestly Sal would probably be more laid back regardless of how you are

As long as you’re both equals and communicate effectively the dynamic you two have isn’t really a concern

F - Future (What are their plans for the future? Do they see themselves getting married, having kids?)

Sal never really thought of marriage, kids or anything of the sort

School wise he only ever thought of graduating, never anything after

When you two start dating and getting closer he might think briefly of marriage but that’s as far as it goes

Anything that happens from then on is not because of his plans but the course of events that just happens to follow

If you two get married that’s something you both ended up deciding is best

F - Forgiving (If they had a fight with their partner(s), how would they apologize? Or would they be petty about it?)

Sal would probably need some space from the whole thing

He isn’t one to get upset or overly angry when arguing, at most it’s just a discussion without any heat

On his part at-least, it depends on you and how you handle it

Especially if you “try” to make him mad, it just makes him feel weirded out and want some space

If you’re upset about something he’ll just want you to communicate that with him

He’ll always listen, as long as you do too

So if he did something that hurt you he’d apologize, he wouldn’t be afraid too and he always will

But he’d appreciate that you do the same when you realize a mistake done on your part

G - Gifts (how do they feel about gift giving? What are their habits when it comes to this?)

Sal is always gifting you little things

Maybe little trinkets he finds or even some cool looking acorns or rocks

Though in his opinion these aren’t even gifts, just something small he does on his part

Gradually his gifts get actual “gifty” in his opinion and he starts giving you things you talk about

Obviously taking note of your likes and interests

If you’re a big gift giver then Sal is one to be appreciative but it might also be uncomfortable for him to accept

Not for any particular reason, just the closer you get and casual it is to gift each other stuff, will he be more accepting

G - Gratitude (how grateful are they to have you? what do they think your relationship is worth in comparison to other things in their life?)

Sal is honestly so grateful and him telling you that he loved you even as friends wasn’t uncommon

He’d always let you know how much you meant to him and still does, though telling you he loved you at the beginning of your relationship obviously meant something more

So he’d fluster and hesitate to say it

Because you’re likely one of his oldest friends since he moved to the apartments in the first place, he’ll likely see you as a huge part of his life

You helped out in more ways than he could’ve asked but I think that comparing what you have to anything else in his life is offensive to him in the sense that the amount he loves things are not on the same level as another

Take what you will from this, maybe it’s his weird way of saying that he loves you

Who knows

G - Gentle (how gentle are they? physically and emotionally)

Sal is literally the gentlest person known to man

He is so kind and attentive that it’s crazy, this of course causes him to somewhat neglect himself and his feelings but that’s a discussion for after this one.

He’ll always be there for you to listen, just make sure to communicate that you’re not in the best mood if you don’t feel like going to a Sal therapy session

Plus, it’s not like it’s all that one sided

We all know how much Sal has through in his life, mixed with the cult, losing his mom, murdering half the apartment residents, and so on so forth in his adult life

Obviously the nightmares that happen depend on what part of his life and your relationship it takes place in, but my point is that you’re there for him just as much as he is there for you

Physically too, at first you would’ve believed him if he told you he was afraid of shattering you

Going purely based off that fact that he acted as though you were glass

Highschool Sal was just that flustered by it and adult Sal isn’t that much different- just faux nonchalant

H - Holding Hands (when/how do they like to hold hands?)

Highschool Sal is filled with immense nervous energy when you try to hold his hand

He isn’t opposed, don’t mistake it for him disliking it, if anything it’s the opposite

He’ll enjoy you trying to hold his hand at any time, even at school

Though depending on your identity and sexuality it might provoke some unseemly comments from the resident closeted gay Travis

Either way, the older you get the more Sal is happy to hold your hand

If you even want to swing your arm and along with that his, he’ll laugh and find it endearing

Might even play along too, you can always hold his hand

That much is obvious

H - Hugs (do they like hugs? how often do they do it, and what are they like?)

Sal loves hugs so much but ,again , the younger he is when you start dating the more stiff and unfamiliar he acts

Not that he always is, just that when these acts of affection are done in a romantic context only does he feel flustered

He will eventually be more comfortable, it inevitable. But, even if he’s more towards the awkward beginning stage of your relationship he’ll always hug you back.

Sal will always be open to hugs, he doesn’t really initiate it often because I don’t think that’s his love language

But he is always more than welcoming to affection that you want to give, so it’s more dependent on you

Whether you hug people often or not, that’s how often he will

Excluding you needing to be comforted and when you say goodbye, he always will hug you no exceptions

His hugs are like hugging a pole when you’re in front of others 😭

He’s not too fond of PDA because he’s hyper aware but when he’s not it’s honestly amazing

Especially since cuddling is mostly mutual holding and its just great

I - Injury (how would they act if you got hurt?)

Sal would be so worried if you were to somehow be harmed and this varies on the state of your injury

Like if it’s just a cut on your hand or something he’ll likely give you a bandaid and do something silly as “kiss it better”

If your injury was more extreme like say a broken bone or an even more grotesque injury- he like anyone, would be concerned (understatement)

He’ll immediately try and help you any way and if this warranted a hospital visit or something then he’d try to be there for you

Because him not being able to do anything for you is inevitable, he would have to stand by and just wait- feeling useless

(Even though doing nothing and letting the professionals is helping you)

I- I love you (how fast would they say ‘i love you’?)

Sal would probably either tell you he loved you immediately or wait for the longest time

Let me explain

During Highschool, Sal is just new to romance and likely as told you that he loved you when you were friends

So, because of a slip up and because of how much affection he held for you, he accidentally slipped up and told you he loved you

You two were probably just chilling in his room hanging out like usual and after that is just pure silence

He slowly looks at you and then what happens next is dependent on how you react

If you tell him you also loved him, with an romantic undertone he’d flush but not argue because believe it or not

He also loves you

Now the next is him waiting a long time, well I lied

There is no world where he’d take a long ass time because he either blurts it out when you’re about to kiss or something, Larry teases him about it and tells you for him (on accident) or something else ensues

Either way if he tried to hold it in he’d probably burst from it

J - Jokes (do they like to joke around with or prank you? how?)

Yes yes and yes

Sal isn’t actively trying to pull pranks or harsh jokes

That’s just not how he is, but he will tease and shoot back a playful insult or two depending on you

If you’re the type to push people when you laugh or are just playful then he’ll always go along with it even if it isn’t how he is

Despite this, he occasionally has the mischievous urge to participate in a harmless prank here and there

Nothing more because that’s just not how he is, I really can’t say anything else

J - Jealousy (what makes them jealous? what are they like when they’re jealous?)

Honestly Sal is not really a jealous guy whatsoever

He’s secure in your relationship and is honestly pretty chill

As long as you tell him you’re only into him and only will be then that’s good enough for him

Honestly it’s sort of unnerving

I guess the only instance I can see it is when he’s new to the relationship, even then you guys were likely friends before so why wouldn’t he trust you?

K - Kisses (what are their kisses like? who kissed who first? where do they like to kiss you?how do they like to kiss you?)

Sal could either be the one to initiate your first kiss or not

Leaning to not just because of his hesitance to any affection done in a romantic context

Again, even then he’ll be more than happy to let you kiss him

He isn’t shy to let you know when or if he gets uncomfortable or if you’ve breached his boundaries

The first time you two kissed was likely back in high school

It was done after you two hung with a crowd of your friends and loved ones and finally got time to spend alone

Likely at a park or even in Sals room

You don’t know what possessed you to but maybe it was the already tension filled air that caused you to silently ask Sal before leaning in and kissing him

He’s honestly flushed from head to toe and just stares (?) at you afterwards because of how much he refuses to even test much less trust his voice

It was shocking to him since this was the few times he didn’t have his mask on (in room) and you probably only kissed his cheek with his mask still on

Sals kisses are usually on your cheek or forehead

It’s mostly because that’s a pretty tame and surface level of affection and most times it’s when you’re sleeping or resting on his lap

When you’re in public you hardly have any chance to actually kiss since he has his mask on, so as weird or silly it may seem he’ll let out a small laugh if you kiss him with it on

Mostly just goes with how you like to kiss too, otherwise small pecks on the lips and other places like your cheeks and forehead are for him.

L - Love (how do they show you they love you? What’s their love language?)

Sals love language is definitely somewhere between quality time, gift giving, and words of affirmation

Highschool was the only way you could actively be near each other and Sal loved having classes with you soley because he got to hang out with you

Even then, you guys often hang out outside of school (the whole paranormal cult thing) and by also just having been living in the apartments at the time

That continues even as adults

Also the reason why you ended up moving in with Sal because he wanted to desperately hang out with you but couldn’t because you were unable to due to jobs, higher education, etc

At least this way you’re able to see each other at the beginning and near the end of the day

Sals gifts and also somewhat can be considered acts of service has always been apparent

Even in high school where he’d love to give you little trinkets (as previously mentioned) and would also be more than happy to help you with things

Literally what is Sal doing if he’s not doing something for you to show you he loves you?

And words of affirmation? He’s always just complimenting you

If you’re into handy things like crocheting, art, any hobbies or skills that you have at all

- Sal is absolutely just complimenting you

Without a care too

It all just comes naturally to Sal so when you tell him how loved you feel by him, he doesn’t really get it but is happy regardless

M - Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Lazy and chatty

You’re likely just lazing around in his bed with him and once you both wake up you just talk about whatever

Obviously how it goes is dependent on what you have to do for the day (any jobs or responsibilities) but because of Sals nightmares you two often start your mornings earlier than others

Even lazing around gets somewhat tiring and you two are just some rats scurrying around the house before dawn that Larry and Neil end up bringing up

All just to tease

N - Nightmare (what is their worst fear?)

None Sal has no bad traits-

self sacrificial when it comes to you

(Willing to elaborate)

O - Obvious (How obvious do they make it that they like you?)

SUPER OBVIOUS

Literally Sal would be blushing and stuttering around you when he likes you

Larry is always pushing Sal to talk to you and is always teasing him in a friendly and playful way

Not exactly in a covert way either

Ashley and Todd probably know too and so when you’re in class working in groups they’d probably also bring it up to you

Yknow- just in case Sals crush isn’t obvious enough

Make the first move please it’s slowly killing them and Sal

P - Pet Names (what do they like to call you?)

Pet names would strike Sal down

The cringe /pos and romantic aspect of it all would be too much

If you want to call him a pet name he’d be fine with it but he’s secretly screaming inside

Even as you two mature in your relationship he’d still be flustered by it but not as much as he was by the beginning

P - Patience (how easily do they get angry?)

He doesn’t get mad whatsoever

The most is getting mildly annoyed or inconvenienced, only when directed towards you

If someone else brings a sensitive topic up or insults you then that’s another thing

Even then he’s eerily calm

Q - Quiet (How are the calm, quiet moments with them?)

The calm, quiet moments with Sal are relaxing

There is no pressure to say anything nor is there any need to

Your presence each other is enough and because of that prolonged silence, usually you two stay that way

He will make sure you’re alright occasionally, depending if you seem thirsty or uncomfortable- just asking if you need anything basically

Otherwise, the need to speak is nonexistent

R - Rhythm (what songs reminds you of them?)

Idk why, don’t ask

Something About You - Eydress & Dent May

Christmas Kids - ROAR

Sweet - Cigarettes after Sex

Pretty Boy - Tv Girl

R - Romance (How romantic are they? What are their go-to ways of being romantic?

Sal isn’t romantic, in his opinion

It’s just how he naturally is towards you, which makes it even better

He’s always willing to do chores for you and gift you stuff

Little ways of showing affection

When he’s trying to actually be romantic he’s pretty nervous about it and his usual way of existence is amplified by like a million

He tries to buy you gifts, set up a fancy dinner, honestly anything that you personally enjoy

He just wants to make sure you feel loved

As long as you do then there’s no need to worry

S - Secrets (how open are they with you?)

He’s really open in the sense that he tells you stuff that he’s ready to share

And doesn’t with the information he’s not ready to

Not that’s he’s purposely hiding things from you

So no, he doesn’t have any secrets, just things about him that takes time for him to open up to you about

S - safe (What makes them feel safe and comfortable around you?)

Just the fact that you’re you

You’re his best friend and significant other

Why wouldn’t he feel comfortable and safe with you? Honestly if anything you’re the one of the few people that he genuinely feels calm around

Just from your presence alone

When he wakes up gasping from a nightmare you’re always there

When he’s feeling a bit on edge when going outside to throw the trash- you’re always there

It’s only natural that he begins to associate safety with you when you’re just always there when he’s feeling not his best

S - Security (how protective are they? how would they protect their s/o?)

He’s pretty protective

Not because he doesn’t think you’re capable of protecting or handling yourself

That’s not the reason at all

You’re his significant other and obviously someone he cares deeply about so it’s only natural he’d worry about you

If you weren’t previously involved with the cult or paranormal then he’d attempt to protect you by separating you from it

We all know it’s in vain

T - Time (how long did it take you to get together?)

Depends on you

It really really does

You two likely got to know each other in highschool and we all know how Sal was back then (romance wise)

So even if his crush on you was painfully obvious, it ultimately depended on you

So it could either be you two getting each other immediately or taking awhile

Have your pick

Please get together asap, it’ll be slowing eating at everyone alive

T - Tend (How do they act when you’re hurt or sick, and vice versa?)

He’d be really attentive

Not the best if he’s still a teen since the only times he can see you is by going to your living space

As an adult he significantly improves and would bring you water, cook, and just be there for anything you need

A bonus is that he thinks your still cute even if you look like shit

When he’s sick he doesn’t expect you to focus a lot on him

I mean Larry probably would drop in and bring him stuff like medicine if you didn’t so it wouldn’t be that serious

But if you’re constantly on top of stuff like doing his chores and keeping track of his personal and like social (school, job) stuff then he feels really happy (for the lack of a better word)

T - Tease (how do they tease you?)

He does it unknowingly

It’d probably be an attempt at flirting but end up just with him teasing you

Not that it’s a bad thing or anything because even then he doesn’t do it with bad intentions

Or with any intentions at all

U - Upset (how do they act when you’re upset?)

He brings it up and asks you about it

If you prefer to be given space then he’d be happy to oblige

The same can be said for if you want to be held or bundled up together in his room

It really depends on you because he’s more than happy to respect your boundaries

U - Ugly (what are some bad habits of theirs?)

Can’t really think of any in particular, let me know if you can

V - Vaunt (what are they proud of? Do they like to show you off?)

Sal is proud of many things but not in a flaunty way

He’s pretty humble about his own accomplishments and the most he’d “flaunt” something he did would be just showing off the fact that he beat Larry’s high score on a game or something

Even then it’s only because of the playful and unserious nature of the situation

When it comes to you he’s not really one to show you off either

He’d be proud of you and everything you do

Especially if you have hobbies and skills that you’re passionate about

He just thinks that because your skill is so obvious, it’s only natural that everyone immediately knows

No point in showing off it it’s a well known fact

V - Vanity (how concerned are they with their looks?)

Sal isn’t too concerned with his looks in the sense that looks are everything and he’s overly cautious of how he looks

He does like to look nice at least and achieves that on the minimum

Overall he doesn’t think about it much besides dressing how he wants to express himself

Otherwise I have nothing else to say

W - Warrior (how do they feel about you fighting? Would they fight for you, beside you, etc?)

Because of the cult and paranormal, fighting becomes essential at one point and no longer a choice

Even if he felt like you shouldn’t fight, it wouldn’t matter once your faced with the horrors you need to overcome

Plus, he trusts you enough and knows that you’re well aware of your capabilities

Sal would both fight for you and beside you

He’ll always be there to protect you and seeing as you’re willing to fight the cult, then you’re also always there to protect him

Even then he’d worry for you, and you him

Which he for some reason is shocked by

W - Wild card (random relationship headcanon!)

Not liking Gizmo is a huge deal breaker

And not liking his friends or willing to be around them to some extent is one too

X - X-Ray (how well are they able to read you?)

He’s able to read you eerily well

He’ll always be able to tell how you’re feeling and especially if you’re upset

Which helps him be his caring self and help you out

The same goes for him, he’s so obvious when he’s upset or feeling a negative emotion

It’s written all over his face and oddly silent self

He’s so oblivious to the fact that its obvious that he’s surprised that you notice 😭

X - XO (How do they show you affection? How much PDA are they willing to show?)

Sal shows you affection in the obvious ways

He hugs you, cuddles you, kisses you, etc etc

He isn’t one to shy away when giving you affection but he does get a bit flustered, that doesn’t deter him either way

When it comes to pda Sal isn’t exactly jumping at the opportunity to be making out 💀

He isn’t one of those people and most certainly doesn’t want to be that overly affectionate couple that’s outright gross

He will hug you and hold your hand but that’s really it

He feels a bit awkward otherwise 😭

When you guys were in highschool you’d hold pinkies rather than hands at most snd occasionally hug in public

Kissing was too much for Sal at the time

Y - Yearn (What do they do when they miss you?)

When Sal is missing you he spends a good amount of time looking at stuff you’ve given him (necklaces, drawings, etc)

If it’s easily accessible then he’d probably chill in your room for a good while before doing something else

Other than that it’s mostly in how he’s feeling

Especially if you’ve built a routine with him then he feels especially sad and misses you

Once you return from a trip or simple outing he’d let you know how he missed you

Z- Zzz (How do they act when they get sleepy? How is it sleeping in the same bed?)

When sals sleeping he can hold out on sleeping for awhile but then it’s lights out 💀

Don’t ask for anything more and he’ll just knock out if he’s especially tired

Most nights he’s not too tired when he decides to go to bed tho so the occurrence isn’t that often

When sleeping in the same bed as Sal he’s honestly a pretty good sleeper

Even in his sleep he’s considerate and you never have problems sharing blankets or space

The only time either of you would ever fall off would be if your own accords (in which Sal probably has)

I mean most times you’re cuddling so there’s no issues there, especially if it’s cold

The only problem is when it’s summer and it gets hot, otherwise sleeping with Sal is enjoyable.

[snidemollusk]

Alphabet soup

[kusanagihaku]

and i will hold onto you

⭢ haku x mc, 9.6k

n is for new year's day. ˖⁺‧₊⟡ alphabet series | ao3 thinking always about this headcanon; also i know graduation is usually in march but like, artistic license, haha…?

The cheers in Tokyo Dome are deafening. 

You watch as families stream down from the corners of the dome to the field, swarming their loved ones in congratulations as graduation caps are knocked to the floor with the force of their hugs. 

There is a vague current of wistfulness in the air, amidst the celebratory cheers, as is common in most graduation ceremonies. As you stand alone looking around at all the families, you wonder how much of that wistfulness is your own. 

It’s been a little over three years, after all, since you’ve entered Darkwick. Three years since the curse was placed on you and consequently broken, three years since you’ve last seen any of your family. Three years since you’ve found a new one, strange as they are, and two years since they’ve left you, one by one, to take on the world outside Darkwick. 

And now it is your turn to leave. 

“Honour roll,” comes a familiar voice, from behind you, and you turn, hand on your cap, to see Leo’s smirk and the camera in his hand. 

Despite yourself, you laugh. “Leo.”

His smirk melts into something gentle, genuine. “Congratulations. Really. You’re free from this hellhole, once and for all.” 

You dip your head at the Vagastrom captain, “Can’t wait for it to be your turn.”  

“One year to go, then,” Sho says, appearing behind Leo. He grins, waving a sunflower stalk at you. “One year without our precious senpai coming to bother Vagastrom.” 

“You better appreciate that one year.” 

“You bet we will,” Leo says, without any real heat, and you share a laugh as Sho presses the sunflower into your hands. 

Its stem is wrapped with a stiff yellow ribbon printed with the name of their house. You rub it between your fingers. “Which poor first year did you torture into doing this for you?”

Leo shrugs. “Bunch of ‘em. Said it was for the seniors, and they jumped at the chance.”

“Uh-huh,” you say, unconvinced, but before you can probe further Sho’s eyes flicker somewhere behind you. 

A smile unfurls across his face, large and mischievous, and he bobs his chin to your left. “Someone’s waiting for you.”  

You turn around, eyebrows furrowed – who is there left in this school who would look for you, Ritsu, Ren? – but then you see him. 

He’s holding a small bouquet of sunflowers and white roses, laced with baby’s breath and bells of Ireland. There are whispers from some of the students around you, a gasp of recognition from a Hotarubi student or two as he steps forward. The purple Darkwick tie, never once worn when he was still a student, is loosely tied around his collar, slanting slightly to the right like he has tugged on it more than once under the dark grey suit he has chosen for the occasion. 

You don’t notice the pinpricks in the corner of your eyes until he blurs into a mess of green and white and grey. “Oh,” you gasp, and he is there instantly, fingers brushing traitorous tears from your cheeks. 

He laughs, palm still cradling your cheek, and even though you knew he was coming, the aw-shucks grin he gives you still puts an all-familiar lump in your throat. 

“Congratulations, princess,” Haku says, soft and warm. “Well done.” 

-

December 29 - Darkwick Academy  Distance left to destination: 464km 

It is eight thirty-four in the morning. 

Haku stands, hands on his hips, in the middle of your dorm room. There are two duffle bags by his feet.

For what amounts to two years of living in the cathedral, you have fairly little belongings. 

You’ve given most of your items away, of course, in preparation for your move cross-country. All that are left are your clothes, stuffed neatly into a nearly-bursting medium-sized suitcase waiting by the door, and the gifts from various ghouls you’ve accumulated over the years. 

“Ready?” Haku asks. He gathers both duffle bags in one hand. In one of them is a notebook, given to you by Zenji before he, too, left. 

You turn to survey the bare room. You wonder, for a moment, who the next person to inhabit the room will be like - what they will be cursed with - before you turn back to face Haku. 

He is glowing, almost, in the morning light. His grey Hotarubi sweatshirt is rumpled, sleeves pushed halfway up his forearms and creased slightly where his overnight backpack is hung on his left shoulder. He looks at you, head cocked to one side, fond, sleep lines from where he slept on your pull-out sofa the night before etched into the soft of his cheek. 

If you haven’t already been planning this road trip for the past two months over text you’d think he came straight out of a dream. 

“Ready,” you say. You pick up your winter coat and his, and sling your backpack over your shoulder. The bouquet he gave you the previous day peeks out from the top. 

Haku nods. He holds the door open for you as you wheel your suitcase over the threshold of the room. The door clicks closed behind the both of you. 

He takes the suitcase from you, then, carrying it easily in one hand down the rickety old staircase. The third step from the bottom creaks beneath his weight like you knew it would. 

It creaks beneath your weight, too. You fish the key to the cathedral door out of your pocket as you reach the first floor. You leave it on the side table leading into the kitchen – the worker cats will retrieve it later today – and head towards the front door. 

You expect something to change, then, some shift in the air that tells you your time in Darkwick is over, but nothing happens as you emerge out into the watery grey sunlight. You wonder why you expected it to. 

Haku’s car is parked, slanted, on the driveway outside the cathedral. The bright yellow permission slip you obtained from Professor Hyde the week before for Haku flaps flimsily in the wind, held back by the wiper on his windshield. 

He unlocks the car, loads your belongings into the trunk. The wind brushes his bangs away from his face. 

It is eight forty-three in the morning. He looks at you, again, patient, understanding, like he always does. 

You exhale. You look back at the cathedral, one last time. 

Then you walk over to where Haku whisks you away from Darkwick, as swiftly and as kindly as he did whisking you in. 

-

December 29 - Hakone, Kanagawa  Distance left to destination: 365km 

It starts snowing a little before Haku pulls into the parking lot. 

Being in Darkwick for most of the year means you’ve forgotten what the weather outside is like, sometimes. The powdery snowfall encases the both of you in silence as you shake out your winter coats and trudge up the stone steps, bowing your heads as you pass under the red torii. 

The shrine is deserted. Whether it is because of the snow or the time of year you’re not really sure; after all, why come out to a shrine a few days before the end of the year when you’re going to visit again on the first day of the new year? 

But it is peaceful and quiet, something you have no complaints about, and before long you’ve made your way up the long stairs and are standing in front of the main hall, heads bowed in respect. 

This is the reason why Haku suggested a road trip instead of taking the Shinkansen down to Kyoto – to bring you to all his favourite shrines around the country on the way down. Your stops, carefully mapped out over Wickchat and Google Maps, are few but meaningful to him, planned out so that you’ll move into your new apartment before Subaru’s first performance of the year at Minamiza Theatre. 

Haku hasn’t told you the reason for any of the stops, but you can more or less guess his reason for this one; as you descend a different set of stone steps, a tall red torii comes into view, half-submerged in water. Snow drifts into the darkness swirling around the feet of the gates, blurring into the red paint before disappearing on contact with the lake. What lies beyond the gate has been shrouded in mist, a white haze obscured by the oncoming snow. 

It looks like some path to the afterlife, almost. Maybe some sort of adventure into the unknown. God knows you’ve had enough adventures to last a lifetime, though. 

You hear Haku exhale. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

You nod. Perhaps it looks like something out of a myth. 

He points, off to the side, at a strangely shaped rock a distance away from the main path. “Remember when you asked about the scar on my knee? Scraped it right there, running away from my grandfather.” 

You huff a laugh at the image of a little Haku, eyes alight with mischief, dancing out of the grasp of adults. “Didn’t manage to run too far, I guess?”

Haku laughs. He retracts his pointer to rub at his ear. “Not at all. Cried all the way back to the shrine before they bandaged me up.” 

You stuff your hands deeper into the pockets of your coat so you will not reach for where his fingertips are turning red with the cold. 

“I haven’t been back here in a while,” Haku continues, softer. His eyes are fixed on somewhere beyond the gates. “Not since he passed away.” 

You watch as his breath clouds in the cold air. You stay silent. 

He glances at you, eventually, small smile tugging on his lips and blinking the snowflakes out of his eyes. “Let’s go?”

After a second of thought you take your hand out of your pocket to loop your arm through his. You feel him shift in surprise, before he presses himself against your warmth. “Yeah.” 

-

December 29 - Shimizu, Shizuoka Distance left to destination: 295km 

It stops snowing a little after Haku pulls out of the parking lot. 

The rest of the car ride to your next stop is filled with idle chatter and green grape gummies that you picked up from the general store on your way out of Darkwick. Haku keeps his eyes on the lightly frosted road as you feed him, lips barely brushing your pointer and your thumb. You keep your eyes on him. 

You just finish telling him about a mission you did with Ritsu before he slows down, turning off the highway into Shimizu. 

“We stopping for lunch?” You seal the pack of gummies. 

He hums. “Sort of. There’s someone I want you to meet.” 

You wince, and finger-comb through your hair. “I’m dressed for a car ride, not for meeting people.” 

Haku sneaks a glance at you. “You’re beautiful, princess, don’t worry.” 

You flush. “That- you-“ 

He laughs, light and warm, as he makes a right turn. “Just as easy to tease, after all this time.” 

“Shut up,” you say, but his offhand compliment has already burrowed its way under your cheeks and heated them up the same way they always did back at Darkwick. Damn him and his smooth tongue. 

You watch as the train stations flash by – Sakurabashi, Kitsunegasaki, Mikadodai – before he slows down next to Kusanagi Station. You glance at him in surprise. Are you heading to the Kusanagi shrine?

Before you can ask, however, he stops next to a nondescript beige building, throwing the car into park. 

“We’re here,” he announces, and laughs again when you peek doubtfully at your reflection in the side-view mirror. “You look fine.” 

He reaches over to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. 

If his fingers linger longer than they should on the shell of your ear, you pretend you do not notice. You pretend your ears do not blush, pretend your breath does not catch. 

You exit the car. 

There is an old, stooped lady by the restaurant counter when Haku slides the rickety wooden door open, back turned to you as she mops down a wooden table with a bright yellow cloth. All you can see is the checkered bandana resting atop a mop of curly white hair, and a faded red apron sash around her waist, wrapped tight around a stout figure. 

“Miyami-san?” Haku calls out. His voice is soft, reverent. 

“Ah?” There is obvious shock as she turns around. A startled delight washes over her face the moment her eyes alight on Haku, and she hobbles over immediately, hands outstretched and eyes waned into teary crescents. 

“Haku, my dear boy,” she cries. She reaches forward to clasp his hands in her own, wrinkled and gentle. “My, my, you’ve grown taller, haven’t you?”

Haku half-laughs. “I haven’t grown since I last came back.” 

The old lady laughs, too. “Perhaps it’s me who has grown smaller. And who’s this?”

“A friend, from Darkwick. I told you about her over the phone, remember?” Haku’s hand is warm on your elbow through your coat. 

The old lady turns to you, peering kindly. “Yes, I do remember…”

You wonder briefly what Haku has said about you, but under the scrutiny of the old lady you hurriedly introduce yourself, bowing. 

She claps, delightedly. “You both must be hungry, coming down from your school. I’ll whip something up for you real quick, shall I?”

“Anything you make will be delicious,” Haku intones, and he shoots her a charming smile that would have turned half of Hotarubi silly. 

It works on her as well, evidently, as she pats his cheek and makes her way to the back of the room. 

“I used to come here all the time to hang out with her grandkids,” Haku says, removing his coat. His eyes follow her as she disappears into the kitchen, humming brightly. “They moved away when I was fifteen, though, but I just… kept coming. She’s more like a grandmother to me than my own grandma.” 

He sweeps his fringe behind his ear, and rolls up the sleeves of his sweatshirt. His earrings brush the line of his jaw. “I stay here, sometimes, when I don’t want to go back to my family.” 

You blink, looking around the restaurant. There are wooden panels lining the room, black ink on rectangle blocks to indicate the menu, but little else by way of decoration. “Here?” 

Haku chuckles. He points to an entrance hidden by an egg-white curtain, tucked quietly into a corner by the back. “She has guest rooms, upstairs. She usually lets them out, but there tends to be no guests, at this time of year.” 

You both agree on taking your overnight bags out from the car while Miyami-san is cooking, if only to save time. Haku stands, as if to help you, but you swat his hand. “Stay here. If she comes out and finds us both missing, how will that look?”

Haku just laughs, sitting back down in acquiescence, and looks up at you, chin in hand. He looks adorable, like this, adoring, and you are suddenly filled with a desperate wish that you could capture this image, forever. “Like we ran off like a couple of hormonal teenagers?”

You flush, and leave him without a response. 

It doesn’t take long for you to gather his backpack and your duffel bag from the car, and as you slide the wooden door closed and toe off your shoes you hear murmuring voices low enough to make you still before the entrance curtain. 

“Are you going to show her the shrine, then?” 

A pause. “They’re going to be too busy preparing things for the New Year’s ceremony.” 

She hums. “That’s true.” 

“Miyami-san–” Haku starts, but she hushes him. 

“I know, I know,” she says. “I won’t tell them you stopped by.” 

Haku laughs, then, something soft and young and grateful. “Thank you. As always.” 

There is a beat of silence, and you prepare to move, but her voice sounds again. “Who is she, to you?”

You hear the grin in Haku’s voice. “Why?”

“You know… you’re of age… it’s about time you bring someone home for me to meet.”

There is a rustle as Haku shifts around in his chair. “She’s one of the strongest people I know,” he says, slowly, “but she hasn’t had much control over her past few years. Now that she’s free of all that, I’d like to leave as much up to her as possible.” 

You tense. Your heart hammers in your chest, tight and painful, as his words trip over themselves, over and over in your brain. Does he mean–

“–she’s also listening around the corner, so I refuse to say anymore.”

You don’t think your cheeks have experienced this much blood-rush in a while. You poke your head out from behind the curtain. “How did you know!” 

“The door isn’t exactly silent,” Haku points out, and the three of you dissolve into laughter. 

There is something light and warm, there, born in the small of the room. It expands, a golden sort of feeling that stretches beyond the four wooden walls and settles, stardust-like, in the space between Haku’s hands and yours; it collapses, cools under your tongue into a memory bright and sweet and precious. 

If you don’t give it a name, you think, perhaps you can continue pretending that being by Haku’s side does not feel like home. 

-

December 30 - Shimizu, Shizuoka Distance left to destination: 295km 

There is a saying – what is a handspan away feels most like a world apart. 

Haku sits, two handspans away. He is looking up at the ceiling, squinting against a lightbulb he changed prior to breakfast. It’s a different colour from the rest, a cool white against the warmth of the other, older bulbs in the restaurant, and it washes him in a faint crisp light. 

“Well, at least it’s not blinking anymore,” Haku says. His elbows rest against the table. 

Miyami-san sighs, forlorn. “I’ll have to write down the model number so I can buy the correct bulb next time. What time are you planning to head out?” 

Haku leans over to you, taps the screen of your new phone you both spent an hour setting up last night. It lights up, displaying a blurry photo of Haku trying to take a selfie with you, overlaid by the time in white. 

“In about twenty minutes? I’ll wash up before we go,” Haku insists, getting to his feet. “You’ve been more than lovely making us breakfast.” 

He sweeps everything up into a pile before she can protest, and disappears, whistling, into the kitchen. 

“Haku’s a good boy,” she sighs, as you watch him go. She stretches, and leans backwards. “Before he left for school he always helped me with all the odd jobs around the house. Changed all my lightbulbs for me, too.” 

You laugh. “Sounds like Haku.” 

She adjusts the strap of her apron. “He’s so smart, too. Made the top of his class whenever he put his mind to it.” 

You suppress a smile. If you didn’t know better you’d think she was a grandmother eager to market her bachelor grandson off to the next available singleton.

“And responsible, too,” she continues. “Good thing he is, what with the shrine business.” 

She peeks at you, and you quickly school your widening smile into something more presentable. “Has he told you about the shrine?” 

You nod. You can hear Haku, more than a few handspans away, soft humming barely audible over the sound of running water in the kitchen. “The Kusanagi shrine.” 

She hums. “He’s going to take over from his family one day. He’s going to be a better leader than his father is.” 

A silence lapses over the both of you. They’re both true statements, you know, and yet there is something nagging at you about the mention of his father. 

“Miyami-san,” you start, carefully. “If I may ask… what’s his family like?” 

“His family?” She turns her head thoughtfully to the curtain that hides the kitchen from the restaurant, and is silent for so long you wonder if you’ve overstepped. 

You are about to mumble a hasty apology when she turns back to you. 

“They expect a lot from him,” she says, softly. “There’s a great many responsibilities that fall your way when you inherit a shrine. His father had to shoulder it, and his father before that, and so on. He may be running away from it now, but eventually it’ll have to be his turn, and I think in the back of their minds they all know it.” 

You want to nod, but it feels like the wrong thing to do. Running away… except he isn’t, not really. Everything Haku did at Darkwick, every skill you’ve seen him practise and every responsibility you’ve seen him manage in Hotarubi, felt like he was building himself to take over the shrine – from his artifact to the research for his missions to all the summer festivals he helped manage. Even now, from what you understand of his work, it seems like what he has chosen to do is in preparation for him to take over. 

“He’s more prepared than they think,” you say. “He works hard, even though he acts like he doesn’t.” 

She looks at you a little more sharply, then. There is a cool appraisal behind her squint, before it melts into something like approval. “He does, doesn’t he.” 

Before you can respond, though, Haku emerges from the kitchen, running a hand through his hair. “Talking about me?”

“You wish,” you say, and are rewarded immediately with the sparkle of his laugh. 

He pauses next to your seat before picking up his backpack. His hand nearly brushes yours. “Ready to head out?” 

You stand. Your hand nearly brushes his, a world apart. “Ready.” 

-

December 30 - Nagakute, Aichi Distance left to destination: 175km 

“Hard disagree – we turn left here – you’re only saying that because my name is Haku.” 

You squint at the alleyway in front of you dubiously. It’s bathed in the last rays of evening, a dying honey from the setting sun that does nothing to ward off the winter chill, and it seems to lead to yet another street that looks oddly similar to the one you’re about to leave. “Are you sure?” 

But Haku is already stepping forward, Google Maps winking into sleep on his phone screen, and so you follow behind. The thrift shop he is searching for is supposed to be a mere ten minute walk from where you left the warmth of the Ghibli Park, but you swear you’ve been wandering around for at least twenty minutes. 

“Anyway, no, it’s because he’s a river spirit–“

Haku glances at you, eyebrow raised. “I’m not a river spirit.” 

“-and he’s supposed to know a lot about the spirit world.” You huff at him, and he laughs in acquiescence. You reach the end of the alleyway; Haku squints against the reflection of sun on his phone and directs you to turn right. 

“And he spent a lot of the movie using that knowledge to protect and save Chihiro, didn’t he?” you continue. You look down at your feet even though the evening light is no longer shining directly into your eyes. The worn grey of the road winks at you as you cross residential street. “Like you did with me.” 

Haku is silent for a beat, before he says, lightly, “I think I’m much more like Howl.” 

You cannot hold back your snort. “Because how he gets all the girls?” 

His responding laugh is startled and bright. “C’mon now, princess. Howl only ever loved Sophie, in the end.” 

He looks at you, brows raised, like there is something you are supposed to understand, but after a moment of expectant silence too laden for you to consider you swallow the whiskey-burn of his eyes and turn away. 

“Is it nearby?” you ask, instead. You push the ice blocks you used to call hands deeper into your coat pockets, and push your gaze back down to the grey asphalt under your feet. 

Haku unlocks his phone in response. “One more block to go. Sorry, you must be tired.” 

You shake your head. 

“We’ll get dinner after this, then crash out,” he decides, anyway. “We had an early start today, and we’ve done a lot.” 

(You stopped earlier in the day at Atsuta Shrine to pay your respects before heading down to Ghibli Park, and briefly heard a guide explain about the great Kusanagi sword supposedly stored in the halls.

“Oh, my Kusanagi sword is great, alright,” Haku snorted under his breath; you smacked him on the shoulder and dragged him, holding back giggles, towards the exit before you got struck down for blasphemy.)

After two more minutes of sleepy residential buildings, you spot the orange signboard of the thrift store, hanging from a black rod above a shuttered flower shop. There is a chalkboard leaned against the side of the flower shop with carefully scrawled yellow letters and arrows directing you to a staircase around the back. Going up the concrete steps leads you to a wooden door with a heavy handle. 

Haku tugs the door open, and gestures for you to go inside. 

The store is swathed in yellow and orange, thanks to the narrow spot-light beams installed on the ceiling. The wooden shelving look old but well-cared for under carefully stacked clothes, a small contrast to the adjacent metal frames sagging with hangers of coats and jackets. There are mirrors gently leaned on the walls at strategic places throughout the store, reflecting the warm light from the ceiling and making the space look bigger than it actually is. 

A man in a beanie looks up from where he is slouched over the cashier, and waves a silent welcome that you both acknowledge. 

“One of my seniors told me this place has a good curation of sweaters,” Haku says, turning to study the racks. He picks up a bomber jacket in olive green, inspects it, then sets it down. “You’ll probably need more winter wear too, now that we don’t get climate control. But we’ll also stop at another place when we get to Kyoto, just so you can get some new clothes to wear around Subaru.” 

You nod, and dutifully turn your attention to the racks, fingers running across the soft fabrics draped neatly on dark metallic hangers. 

You’re looking at a cardigan the colour and texture of dawn clouds when Haku appears again at your elbow. “Look at this one.” 

He holds up a sweater in washed out sage. It’s slightly fluffy, sleeves softly melting into a cream. When you reach out to touch it it’s impossibly softer than it looks. 

“It’s cute,” you say. Its sloped shoulders are wide; you hold the pale green fabric up to his shoulders. “It looks your size, too.” 

Haku hums in agreement. He takes the sweater, gently, from your fingers, and turns it around, lining the edge of its shoulders up with yours. 

“I think it looks cuter on you,” he says. The honey of his eyes sparkle with mirth as he nudges you to face the mirror. “Like you’re stealing your boyfriend’s clothes.” 

You feel a fire climbing up your cheeks immediately, and you glare at Haku, heatless and helpless, as he bites back a laugh. He shifts away, grinning brightly, and leaves you staring in the mirror with the sweater folded between your hands. 

There is barely any evening light left over from golden hour, the last of the sun’s rays having died shortly before you stepped indoors, but the green of Haku’s hair is still dyed a soft copper by the warm lights of the store. He stands, turning glasses frames over in his hands, under a spotlight beam and the drifting strains of jazz, blurred only slightly by the fingerprints in the mirror and the irregular bump of your heart. 

The scene is so mundane it feels almost unreal – this Haku, suspended in glass and glow. His long fingers are not wrapped around his flute or dusty research tomes, but between folded jeans; his movements are slow and languorous, no longer bound by the urgency of missions or threat of curfew. 

You could stare at him like this forever. 

It is suddenly easy, so easy to imagine him elsewhere, you think – sorting through vegetables at a supermarket, folding laundry on the floor of his bedroom, doing anything and everything far and away from the drizzle of Hotarubi. 

This Haku has all the time in the world. 

So do you. So do you. 

You close your eyes and take a deep breath. 

“How does this look?” 

The heat of his vowels slide across the shell of your ear, and you jump slightly, eyes flying open. 

You are vaguely aware of a chunky grey frame, translucent acrylic that slips low on his nose bridge and blobs shadows on his cheeks, but his eyes have locked onto yours in the mirror as he leans down over your shoulder to peer at his reflection, cheek dangerously close to yours, so close that if you just turned, if you just—

It sends your heart crashing, thundering painfully, cruelly, through your throat, a weight and an untethering from the hypnosis of the moment all at once— 

“You look stupid,” you say. Or think you do, anyway. You can barely hear yourself over the thunderous rushing in your ears. “Try– try this one.”

Your fingers scrabble for the closest frame on the shelf next to you, and hold them up to the mirror. 

Haku laughs, a gentle huff that blows by your cheek as he lifts the frame out of your hand, and straightens back up to slip them on. 

It’s gold-rimmed, this time, a thin wire frame that catches the warm spot-lighting of the store and soaks a glow into his skin. The rounded rectangular shape sits well on his cheekbones, faded gold temples disappearing into his messy green hair. 

You blink, and there is a fleeting glimpse of sun-spots and crow’s feet, of salt-and-pepper hair melting into green, of laughter creasing itself into deep-set wrinkles in the corners of his smile. He is looking at you, still, in the way he always has, this old-man-mirror-Haku, and something blooms, choking and sweet, in the hollow of your ribs. 

Something shifts, then.

Eddies of a future you’ve never thought possible sing like the wind through the holes in your heart; they crash into you, a merciless tangle of relief and frustration and hope that steals the breath from your lungs you didn’t realise you were holding since leaving Darkwick. 

The tremble of it’s over and your curse is well and truly over courses through the map of your veins, and winds its way across where your eyes meet Haku’s through the mirror. The words crack themselves in half, split to show you a future so wide and open and yet so certain it threatens to swallow you whole – of you, alive and un-cursed and getting to grow old. Of you-and-Haku, hand-in-hand, getting to growing old together, looking up at the same sky. 

“-what do you think?” Haku is saying. His eyes are crinkled up in something you think might be fondness or affection, or something equally hopeful and terrifying. 

It looks good on you, your mouth moves on its own accord, you should get it, but that is as far as you get before he blurs together in a sear of tears. 

Haku moves immediately, hand on your elbow spinning you around to face him. His eyes search yours in alarm and concern and confusion, but to both your surprise a laugh bubbles out of you, quiet and free. 

You raise a hand to brush his bangs away from his forehead, and he leans into your touch, in spite of his bewilderment. 

“It looks good,” you say again, and you mean it. 

(He buys the glasses, of course, and three sweaters you said you liked. You leave the thrift shop with paper bags in hand, yet somehow feel a lot lighter than you did going in.) 

-

December 31 - Kuwana, Mie Distance left to destination: 99km

The numbers on the dashboard read a glowing ten thirty-eight. 

The highway stretches before the windshield, a wide belt that melts into the distance. It is empty, save for the occasional cargo truck Haku passes, and the glare of the noon sun reflecting off its smooth grey surface is enough to turn every travelling vehicle into a mini-oven despite the season. 

Haku adjusts his grip on the steering wheel. He reaches, slightly, to wind his window down to let some of the cool winter air in, but his fingers pause before they reach the switch. 

He peeks at where you are asleep, head resting on the passenger window and eyelashes brushing the soft of your cheek. He retracts his hand. 

He reaches, instead, with his other hand to the air-conditioning controls, and turns the dial towards “COOL”.

The numbers on the dashboard wink into ten thirty-nine. 

The packet of strawberry gummies on top of the winter coats folded in your lap crinkles slightly, then slides from where your grip has slackened. It has long since been emptied, with you taking turns to tuck the candies between your lips and his, and its lack of weight slips it neatly between your seat and the centre console. 

Ren recommended them, you said, an hour back, holding one up to his lips. They’re good, aren’t they?

Haku smiled, tamped down the familiar knot that swelled with any reminder of the years you spent at Darkwick without him by your side, and nodded. They’re pretty sweet. 

You grinned and tapped the large yellow zero printed atop ruby-red strawberries. No sugar, too! 

No, he thinks, now – perhaps the sugar had been in the brush of your fingertips against his lips. Perhaps it had been in the glitter of your laugh as you listened to him tell you some work story or another, or in the way the sun had bounced off the dashboard and lit you up all over, all soft glow and contentment as you slipped another gummy between the pink of your lips. 

For a moment, he wonders if you will taste like strawberry, if the curve of your smile will be just as sweet as it looks when pressed against his own–

He shakes his head, to clear it. 

Haku is a patient man. Ceremony is in his bones; he is good at waiting his turn, good at calculating consequences, good at following the rules. 

Except for when he isn’t. Except for when he texted you, midway through your last semester, to ask which branches of the Institute has offered you a job in hopes that he can persuade you to take up some position near his own. When he asked you, two months before graduation, to drive down to Kyoto with him instead of taking the train, just so he gets three days with you by his side after so many days apart. 

When he took one look at you, that night on the train from Kisaragi Station, and took your hand and held it all the way to Darkwick. 

Maybe it is selfishness, maybe it is impulsivity. Maybe it is irresponsibility, and maybe it is the reason why, try as he may, they will never deem him ready to take over the shrine, but oh, when he looks at you–

He is a patient man. He will be a patient man. He has waited two long, excruciating years without you, and he will continue to wait, for as long as it’ll take until you’re ready. 

The numbers on the dashboard wink into ten forty-three. 

Haku reaches over, again, to turn the air-conditioning dial further down. 

His gaze brushes against the new air freshener you bought him the day before at the gift shop. It smells of “clean” and “fresh”, whatever that’s supposed to mean, and he can barely catch its scent, but you unwrapped it the moment you got into the car and hung it neatly on the rearview mirror, and he cannot help but feel some fondness for something that brings you joy. Even if it’s just a small piece of cardboard with a white dragon and a girl printed on it. 

He would have chosen a different one, himself. He would have picked the one with Howl and Sophie - someone who learns how strong she really is, and someone who has waited a lifetime to love her. 

You stir in your sleep, shifting slightly so your head is no longer pressed against the passenger window. The numbers on the dashboard wink into ten forty-four. 

Haku takes the next exit off the highway, and wonders if you remember that in the movies, Chihiro saves Haku, too. 

-

December 31 - Uji, Kyoto

Distance left to destination: 21km 

“Haku!” 

The guy that emerges from the shrine’s prayer hall has a smile only one shade dimmer than the sun. He waves energetically at Haku and you, hands padded in red gloves a stark contrast with his navy blue haori, and bounds over to you. 

“Thought you weren’t coming back for another two days!” the man says, beaming. “We’re prepping the omikuji right now, like you told us to.” 

Haku chuckles, hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. “That’s good. I’m not back for work, though, I’m just here to show my friend around.“

The man looks at you curiously, and he looks so oddly familiar you could have sworn you’ve seen him somewhere before. He tilts his head to one side, like he’s working through the same puzzle you are, before it clicks–

“Honour student!” he exclaims, and claps his hands. “Didn’t expect to see you here!” 

Haku laughs, and shifts closer to you. “Darkwick just had their commencement ceremony, so I’m helping her settle into her new apartment soon.” 

Koji – the name comes to you in a flash, a vague impression of a Hotarubi general student floating to the top of your mind from when he helped Haku on a mission once – wiggles his eyebrows. “Will it be near to us?” 

Haku looks at you, thoughtfully. “The Institute put her in Kyoto, near Subaru, but I suppose…” 

Before he can finish the thought, however, a soft holler comes from an open window in the back of the sales hut. “Oi, heartbreaker!” 

A man sticks his head out of a back door. He looks pleased to see Haku, and disappears for a few seconds before emerging from the wooden doors, wrapping himself in a warmer coat. 

He waves a sheath of papers at Haku as he walks over. “We’re more or less ready for tomorrow, but I need you to sign a couple things–“

Haku moves over immediately, head bent over the documents, and leaves you in company of Koji. 

“Heartbreaker?” You murmur, and Koji beams. 

He nods his head, fluffy hair bouncing in his enthusiasm. “That’s Haku! Didn’t he tell you? When he first joined, half the local girls who came up to pray during Lunar New Year instantly fell in love and we had to barricade the shrine and defend ourselves with swords so our Haku wouldn’t get overrun–“ 

“Koji,” the other man says, severely, “stop making things up.” 

Koji pouts, and you have to bite your lip to keep from smiling. “Anyway, he’s built up quite a following among the locals. It’s good for business, though.” 

“I can imagine,” you say, and you can–

Haku, looking out the sales window next to the shrine, chin in hand and head slightly tilted as people come up to buy omamoris. The way the honey of his eyes will crease, slightly, as he smiles at their approach. The soft of his hands as he counts out their change, and wishes them a good day. 

Haku, head bent over a candle box before he reaches in to select an appropriate one. The curl of his long fingers over theirs as he presses the candles into their palm, a blessing, a benediction, conferred with intent. The soothe of his voice as he comforts them, wishes them well, after. 

Haku, this Haku that belongs to the people, whose heart swells with their aches and whose words are carefully chosen to quell them. This Haku, who works for the people by day, and works for them still by night. 

Haku looks up from where he is flipping through documents, pen in hand, and grins as he meets your eyes. “Maybe we should spread word that my heart already belongs to someone else.” 

Your cheeks burn immediately, and you open your mouth to stutter out a reply, but Haku’s senior beats you to the punch. 

“Disgusting,” he mutters fondly, barely louder than Koji’s awww, then flips a page for Haku. “Sign here, then get out of my sight. Word from HQ is that you’re on four concurrent missions in January, so make the best of your break.” 

Haku groans. “Best go pray for my own damn safety, then.” 

His senior rolls up the freshly signed document, then raps him smartly on the head. “No cursing on shrine grounds. Come on, Koji, you’re still not done with the omikujis.” 

Haku grins, rubbing his head where he got tapped, then turns to face you as Koji is dragged, mumbling in protest, back to the hidden back doors. “Shall we?” 

The rest of the shrine is fairly quiet. Sunlight dances through the bare branches as you cross the courtyard and duck around some gates to the main shrine. There are rabbits printed on cream-coloured lanterns attached to the gates, faded slightly by the elements and swaying in the wind. They look like they are dancing in greeting as you pass them. 

The main shrine Haku comes to a stop at is up a set of steep stone stairs. It is covered with wooden slats, painted warm by the noon light. If you didn’t look too closely you’d think the structures inside were glowing by themselves. 

Haku fishes out coins from his pocket, and hands one to you. He leans forward to shake the thick rope after you toss your coin into the wooden offering box, then you both bow and clap twice. 

You have so many things to wish for that you almost don’t know where to start, but the words flow out of your heart faster than you can think, afloat with intent and hope – for Haku to be safe. For Haku to be happy. For all the ghouls you’ve helped and been helped by to be happy and healthy. For all the anomalies they’ll run into to be a little less fatal, for the anomalies themselves to be safely captured and treated well. For all their futures to be a little less perilous, a little more secure. 

For your future to be a little less dangerous, too. For your future to hold warm soup and cosy evenings, for your days to hold laughter and ease and familiarity, for your nights to hold home and sighs and moonlit dances across the kitchen floor with Haku–

Your eyes flutter open, and you bow, quickly. 

Best to not hope for too much. 

You sneak a glance at Haku. His head is still bowed, hands still pressed together. He is washed in the bright of sunlight unshaded by winter’s branches, and in the silent sun-stirred dance of dust motes around him he looks almost like a painting. 

His bracelets shine a radiant translucence as they catch and absorb the sunlight, nearly covering most of a scar underneath. Your heart twinges slightly – you were there when he got injured. 

It was to save you, really, some tiny anomaly or another changing directions and hurtling towards you with a vengeance. If Haku didn’t knock it off its trajectory with the back of his hand… you can’t imagine what would have happened. 

Instead, you’d brought him home to Hotarubi and carefully cleaned his cuts and wounds, and stayed with the soft glow of his smile and the even softer glow of his words, well into the night. He’d murmured gentle reassurances into the quiet of the night, thigh pressed up against yours as you sat side by side and looked out onto the still Hotarubi gardens; yet the feeling of guilt has never gone away, cementing itself into the cracks of all that you owe him. 

I’m sorry, you said, again, for the fiftieth time that night. If it weren’t for me you wouldn’t have gotten injured. 

He had laughed before a ghost of pressure landed against your temple, so soft you think to this day you’d imagined it. Anything for you, princess. Stop worrying about it. 

It sent your heart racing, back then, his words wild fireworks popping in your throat. 

The same way his words send your heart racing, now. 

Maybe we should spread word that my heart already belongs to someone else. 

You exhale. Haku has never hidden his affection for you, not really – whether it was proclaimed in front of a beaming Zenji or murmured into the drizzle of Hotarubi, the flirtatious comments you once believed were just part of his personality or simply lavished onto everyone you eventually realised were only ever directed to you. 

And you understood it, back then, the same way you understand it now. Haku has never been shy about you. How much of it was guilt over bringing you to Darkwick and a burgeoning sense of responsibility for your curse, you will perhaps never know, but this is what you know now, after two years of turning the thought of Haku over and over in your mind: 

That you never agreed to start because you were always afraid of the end. That you perhaps wished he would forget about you after his time at Darkwick, if only to make things easier for him after your transformation into the Kyklos; that you wished to forget about him, too, after his time at Darkwick, if only to avoid the real possibility of Haku finding someone else.   

But now your last page has been ripped out, a future of a curse torn out by your very own hands and shredded into the wind… now that you’re out and free (albeit still working for the Institute) and ready to rewrite your own ending… 

Haku looks up from his hands, and bows. He turns to you, smile fond and sweet, and extends a hand to help you down the steps. “Ready?” 

You take his hand, lace his fingers into your own. The word on your tongue turns into a candle turns into a lantern turns into the sun. “Ready.”

-

December 31 - Uji, Kyoto Distance left to destination: 19km 

You cradle your hot cup of tea in your palms. 

The cold of the bridge railing beneath your elbows seep past your coat and into your bones. The last of the sun’s rays cast a glow on the trees on the opposing shore, turning them into a sea of reddish-gold, but they do little to warm you as you watch the sun sink below the horizon. 

Haku rests, one handspan away, identical cup nestled between his hands. 

“This is my favourite place to watch the sunset,” he says. “You can see the train tracks and the Uji Bridge from here.”

A train rumbles by in the distance as he says it, slicing the scene in half. It takes a few seconds before the sky meets the river again.  

“I think about bringing you here, all the time,” he says, quietly. He shifts the cup to his other hand. “I come here after work sometimes, and stay until the sky is dark and I can see the stars. Then I wonder about whether you’re looking at the same stars, too, in Darkwick.”

You both watch the sun creep steadily downwards, meeting its wavering counterpart in the water. 

Haku exhales. He does not look at you. “I’m glad you’re here.”

His words wrap around you, hushed and gossamer. How much you’ve thought about him, too, looking up at the night skies as you dragged yourself back to the cathedral. 

Whenever you walked out from Hotarubi, shutting your one-person umbrella and looking up at the moon, you’d think of him. 

The way he’d walk you back, shoulder to shoulder as if you were still sharing an umbrella. The way he’d look at you, moonlight tangled into his eyelashes and the arc of his hands, the way he’d smile like the night was a secret only the two of you shared. The way he’d sit you down on the campus stone benches to talk about your missions with other houses, the way he’d reassure you, again and again, that whatever you were doing was enough. That you were enough. 

The memories twist themselves onto your tongue. You do not look at him, either, when you say, “Me too.” 

The last sliver of sun slips away, and then it is gone. 

The conversation turns to seeing Subaru on stage in two days and what flowers you plan to get him, then to your new Institute-funded apartment, a small place buried near a Galaxy Express station, and the furniture you plan to get. 

You wonder out loud how long the Galaxy Express would take to get to Uji if you and Subaru were to come visit, as compared to taking the regular train from Kyoto Station. It’s already a very short distance, you think, but maybe it’d take half the time. 

“It takes sixteen minutes from Kyoto’s HQ,” Haku says. He taps the top of his now-empty cup with a long finger. “Or twenty-two, if you count the time it takes to walk back to my apartment.” 

“Damn, these cats really know how to run a railway line.” 

Haku laughs, quiet and breathless, before he says, “Move in with me, instead.” 

You pause, cup halfway lifted to your lips. You lower your hand. 

“It’s only a slightly longer commute,” he murmurs, “and you won’t have to buy new furniture.” 

He looks at you, eyes full of morning sun. You read in them something that feels a lot like a future. 

You won’t have to spend your nights alone in a drafty old room anymore. We will not have to untangle ourselves at the end of the day, and pretend we do not want to stay. Now that I’ve spent three whole days with you I don’t know how I’ve ever managed without; it feels like I’m never going to be able to go back. 

You exhale. 

This is how it has always been - this is how the two of you are - him building a bridge between you both and reminding you that if you ever want to cross it, if you ever need to cross it, he will always be on the other side, waiting. 

He waits, now. 

For a moment, you think you are brave. 

Ready?

But the moment passes, and the words that have swelled up on your tongue are familiar and terrifying and comforting and too heavy and mean too little and too much, all at once, and you swallow the waves that rise up in your lungs, and you close your eyes, and you pretend you are not in love with him, have not been in love with him since he held your hand in the dark of a train carriage three-odd years ago. 

“Imagine the paperwork,” you say, instead, and Haku leaves it at that. 

-

December 31 - Uji, Kyoto Distance left to destination: 16km 

Haku’s apartment is small, but homey. 

It is much more modern that you expect it to be, and feels infinitely more Haku than any Hotarubi dorm could. The kitchen you step into is tiny but sleek, with just enough space to fit a boiler, a tea set and an induction cooker before ending at a large fridge. The green glow on the microwave tucked onto a shelf a bit higher than eye-level reads eleven forty-two.

He lucked out on the Institute lottery, he tells you, setting his keys in a bowl on the kitchen island and flicking on the kitchen lights – where others only get a studio apartment he at least gets a bedroom attached to the living and dining area. Ghoul perks, perhaps. 

Where you expect a kitchen island is instead a mountain of books, shuffled neatly into piles not unlike what you used to be greeted with in his old dorm, bookmarked full with post-its covered in his chicken-scratch writing. 

You pick out a barely-used blue post-it pad from a pile of neon-yellow ones, and run your thumb over the winking tanuki in the background. “Is this the one I bought for you, back on that shrine mission?”

Haku peeks over your shoulder. His laugh brushes your ear, soft and warm, before moving away to roll your luggage into the living room. “Yeah. I can’t bear to use it much, though. It feels as though I should treasure it.” 

You snort, looking up at him. “I can always buy you another one.”

“I’m not opposed to that.” 

(You’d buy him one set everyday for the rest of his days, if he’d let you.)

Haku tucks your suitcase next to a soft grey sofa set opposite a plain white wall, and sets your duffle bag on a small wooden coffee table in between that looks like it hasn’t been dusted in years. “There are fireworks bound to start in about fifteen minutes. Wanna watch those on the balcony?”

You blink – you’ve almost forgotten that today is New Year’s Eve, what with all the sightseeing you’ve packed in today around Uji. 

Haku tugs the pale blue curtains apart, revealing glass doors to a small balcony overlooking residential neighbourhood. The night is quiet, still, buzz of the city conspicuously absent from the streets despite the celebratory date and even though most households have their lights on and curtains pulled open in anticipation of the fireworks, you don’t hear much beyond the whistling of the wind when you step outside. 

You settle against the railing on his balcony. “It’s so nice, here.” 

Haku joins you. “When everyone’s lights are off, at night, you can see the stars.” 

You tilt your head up. Haku’s apartment is high up enough the street lamps that you do not have to shield your eyes from their orange glow, and as you peer up at the heavens you see constellations slowly starting to take shape. “Wow.” 

Haku shifts, closer. His shoulder is pressed up against yours. “Any New Year’s resolutions yet?” 

You laugh. “Other than learning how to survive outside Darkwick?” 

“That’s enough,” Haku says, softly. “Sometimes surviving is tough enough, on its own.” 

You bite your lip, and look down at the street below. A stray cat dips in and out of the shadows. 

“I’m going to be brave this year,” you tell him. 

I’m going to be brave enough to face what’s coming. I’m going to be brave enough to decide what I’m going to do with my life, instead of obeying missives from a corrupted Academy and existing at their beck and call. I’m going to be brave enough to tell you what I really want to say, to build my own side of the bridge, to finally meet you on the other side. 

Haku tilts his head to look at you, then. He raises a hand from where his arms have been crossed on the railing, long fingers tenderly tucking a stray strand of hair behind your ear.

It sends daylight swirling down your spine, leaves you breathless and August-warm when you catch his gaze. 

“I think you’re already plenty brave,” he says, quietly. 

Before you can respond, however, the street explodes with noise. Windows are pulled open and chanting spills out onto the street, a clamour of three, two, one– 

Tiny lights hang themselves across the sky, a mere flash before tightly packed colours dazzling as the sun explode across its inky canvas. Brilliant reds and blues and yellows and greens burst into bloom over and over again; they paint everything on the street with their glow. The distant booms and whistles of their journey travel through the neighbourhood, wind their way through the festivities and laughter and cheer. 

It is at once so extraordinary and normal, this celebration of the Earth making its way around the sun yet again, that you find yourself giddy, smiling, joyful. You turn to look at Haku, tinted a faint red from the vivid glows in the sky, only to find he is already looking at you, gaze warm, fond. 

You learnt once, on a mission with Jabberwock, that firecrackers and fireworks set off during New Year were as much meant to scare away the bad things as they were to celebrate the good. 

I think you’re already plenty brave. 

In the bright of the night his words soak into your skin. 

Perhaps you are. 

You lean up, and press a small kiss to the corner of his lips. This is me, building my side of the bridge. This is me, ready. “Happy New Year, Haku.” 

His palm catches your cheek as you pull away. The spread of his smile, wide and bright and delighted, sends stardust settling into the hollow of your throat, sets its own fireworks off within the hollow of your ribs, pulls a smile onto your own cheeks. The gold of his eyes shine with something more than the pyrotechnics, something full of devotion, full of beginnings. 

“Happy New Year,” Haku says, and leans in to kiss you again. 

[bugsbia]

Xiao nsfw alphabet too?? Thank u for the meal MWAH 😘

ʚ NSFW Alphabet with Xiao

ʚ BEFORE READING: Kind of gender neutral to a degree, Xiao is pretty gentle

ʚ WARNINGS: Xiao is a bit possessive but not overly so, just don't read if you don't like NSFW

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

He's a bit of a softie beneath that rough outer shell, he'll take care of you. Make sure you're okay and he didn't push you too far, especially since he's quite strong given his nature as an Adeptus and the fact he thinks humans are quite fragile.

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of your body)

Xiao isn't too particular when it comes to bodies, doubt he's ever really had the time or care to think about such a thing. But if you asked him he'd eventually settle on saying your neck is his favourite. He just loves biting you neck or burying his face into the crook of your neck while he fucks you.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically)

Cumming inside you would be something he'd want to do, it's less messy than cumming on your skin and also far more intimate. He also finds the sight of his cum dripping out of you to awfully erotic.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

He's a bit possessive of you, over protective so to speak. He'll try to hide it from you because he doesn't want to come off as overbearing but deep down inside he is very possessive. It's all out of care though, he just can't stand the thought of losing you the way he lost his friends. It'll be more obvious during sex how possessive he is, when he mutters into your neck about how you're his, wrapping his arms around you tightly so you can't escape.

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

Oh he has no experience, human relationships are something he does not understand in the slightest, but he's willing to listen to you and learn how things work. He'll pay extra attention when it comes to learning how to pleasure you, he'll be sure to learn every little sensitive spot that drives you crazy.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying.)

He likes the kind of position where you're close together, maybe where you're sitting on his lap and riding him while he sits with his arms around your waist. It's intimate and close, he can see every reaction on your face and also get close to leave bites down your neck and shoulder. It's perfect really.

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

Xiao is a serious guy all round, he'll rarely be caught acting very silly and that carries on into sex.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes)

He has a fair amount of body hair, shaving and general hair grooming isn't something all too important to him, but he isn't picky about it. So if you show an interest in him doing something new, like shaving or trimming, then he'll do it. Colour of his body hair is just the same black as on his head.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

Not so much romantic but he is intimate, he doesn't really understand human romance and the romantic traditions of our society but he'll be peppering kisses across your skin during sex, leaving hickeys down your neck.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

Masturbation isn't something he cares for most of the time, he'd rather wait for you even if it means he'll be waiting a while, but if push comes to shove and he gets too needy then he'll take care of it himself.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

Biting, he's a biter. His teeth are fairly sharp and he can't deny himself the pleasure of marking your pretty skin. It plays into his possessiveness a bit, since everyone will be able to see the marks on your neck and they'll know not to hurt you.

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

Isolation is something he prefers, he doesn't want to be seen during an intimate moment by anyone but you, so it'll always be secluded places. That doesn't mean he's not adventurous with it though, he isn't opposed to taking you to the most secluded spots of the liyue mountains so you can both be as loud as you want without any worries.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

Anything can get him going if it's with you, just brush your hand against his thigh and he'll start getting turned on. He'll try hide it but if you push his buttons enough he'll just give in.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Xiao cannot be very rough with you, he doesn't want to see you in pain even if it's something you asked for. So he'll say no if you want him to get super rough with you, he'll try compromise with some lighter stuff, but even then he might feel a bit guilty. Biting is about as much as he can do without worrying, maybe some light slapping.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

He probably won't want to admit, but he loves receiving oral, it's super intimate to him since in a way he's at your mercy. Plus, you just look so nice on your knee's for him, so pretty as you make him feel so good. He's careful with it though, he'll never push your head down or even ask for it, he'll just wait for you to bring it up. In regards to giving, he's more than willing. He will GLADLY go down on you any day, he loves making you feel good.

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

He's a bit of a mixed bag, he'll start off slow and sensual just taking his time to adore you and feel every curve of your body, but when he gets close he'll become more animalistic. Rutting into you with desperation as he chases his release, but he'll keep a close eye on your reactions just to make sure he isn't pushing you too far.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

Not a big fan of quickies, he thinks it kind of defeats the purpose of sex since to him it's a very personal and close experience which he wants to spend his time with. He just wants to take his time adoring you and your body.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

He's willing to try new things for the most part since he's so new to this part of human relationships, it doesn't hurt to try new things. Risks though are not his thing, especially when it comes to the risk of being caught. He doesn't want anyone seeing your body and he absolutely will not allow anyone to see or hear the way you look and sound during sex. That's for his eyes only.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

As an Adeptus... he has great stamina, he can go on for quite some time since, it usually depends a bit more on how long you can go on for. Either way you'll be left pleased and satisified.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

He does not know what the fuck a sex toy is, and would probably confused if you showed him one. Would he use them? maybe, MAYBE, if you convince him enough. But he'd never really want to use it on himself, only on you.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Xiao would not be very unfair, he wants to bring you pleasure, he wants to make you feel good. So he won't tease or torment you, at least not a lot. He's a nice lover.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

He is not the loud type, not at all. He's actually almost silent and got embarrassed when groans slipped from his lips for the first time, but you told him how hot it was so tried to loosen up a bit and allow himself to be louder. Still it doesn't come very naturally to him, so quiet groans and stifled moans are what you'll get.

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

He is a bit of a switch, at first he's super dominant and won't want to give you the control out of fear BUT after some time together and a lot of trust being built he will let you take control if you want to.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

Oh his body is gorgeous, slender but meaty in all the right places, nice muscles from all his years of fighting. His dick though is slightly above average, about 6~ inches, give or take. But it's perfect, reaches all the right spots and makes you lose your mind with pleasure.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

His sex drive isn't awfully high, but it is higher than the average person, though he chooses to ignore it. He sucks at expressing his desire to you, so he just waits for you to make a move, unless you're too shy. At some point he'll get too desperate and practically pounce on you because he just cannot wait any longer.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Xiao does not need his sleep as he's mentioned before, and as such will not sleep after sex since it's unnecessary. He will stay with you while you sleep though, making sure you're comfortable and cosy in his arms, and of course he won't let anyone disturb you.

[disaster-theysbian]

Gotta say, I've been out as a lesbian for 3 years and nonbinary for a year and a half. And I've noticed something.

Just because someone *always* gets your name and pronous correct, and angrily calls out anyone who forgets, doesn't necessarily mean they support you.

Conversely, just because someone struggles to remember your name and pronouns, or can't wrap their head around gender neutral/neo pronouns at all, doesn't necessarily mean they DON'T support you.

This is applicable to any situation really not just queer shit. Watch what people do, not just what they say, and you will find your friends. Someone might shower you with compliments and have common interests with you, but what happens when you tell them no? Do they get angry when they are corrected? Do they have kind things to say about other people?

My colleagues wouldn't know a gender-neutral pronoun if one hit them in the face with a dictionary, but they make sure I've had a lunch break and get home safely. They have my back if I have a difficult patient. They defend me against other staff members who like to create drama and bitch about people as if they're still in the school playground. If someone has something to say about me being a big ol' queer, they make it known that discrimination has no place in our unit.

My best friend in the whole entire world forgets my name and pronouns every day. When the organisers of her therapy group changed "men and women" to "people" and "he/she" to "they" in order to be more inclusive, there was outcry. Everything from the "it just doesn't sound right" grammar-policing nonsense to the "f*cking special snowflakes are offended by everything". She came down on them like a ton of bricks. She said if the organisers hadn't told them that it was changing, that they wouldn't have noticed. She told them they obviously haven't loved someone outside of the gender binary and they were missing out. She then told them how she had seen me grow and develop since I came out, and how in awe she was of the person I had become. No, she doesn't understand it at all, but why should that mean that she can't be there for me and appreciate how happy I am to be able to be me? Why should that mean, because you lot don't understand it, that someone with the same issues as the rest of the therapy group feels unsafe and unwelcome and doesn't get their issues resolved? As a result, a few of them changed their minds, INCLUDING HER OWN FATHER, and the rest at least shut the hell up about it.

ON THE FLIP SIDE...

A queer person who used my correct name and pronouns delighted in making me walk on eggshells, inventing reasons to be angry with me, convinced me I was a terrible person and even went as far as to try and turn me against my own therapist. They tried to tell me that my therapist only said I was a good person because she was paid to, and that because they themselves had a psychology degree that they could tell I had all these complexes and needed to work hard to be a good person, and it was unlikely I'd never get there. (I chose to listen to my therapist and stop being friends with this person).

A queer person who used my correct name and pronouns continued to do things that made me uncomfortable when I asked them to stop. Never said in as many words "you're not allowed to hang out with your friends" but conveniently had an emergency every time I had plans, and accused me of being uncaring if I needed my own space. They knew I had difficulty asking for help, but still got angry with me when I asked because I didn't ask "soon enough".

A queer person who used my correct name and pronouns told me they would look after me and they didnt. .

A queer person threatened to misgender me MORE when I corrected them.

I'm just saying, that if you choose to yeet everyone who doesn't get your name and pronouns right... that doesn't necessarily make you safe. We live in a very binary world. As much as we want that to change, it won't if we ignore or shout at the bits we don't like. (Believe me, I've tried).

[qrowscant]

really neat demo !!! super endearing characters !!! fun animations !!! go play the demo for "Our Dirge" by @radiation its like 40 minutes

[hum-tittle]

I want a dating app but instead of finding a romantic partner, you find your arch nemesis/rival.

You can choose if you're wanting something short term like an academic rival or something more like a lifelong nemesis.

You can choose specific skills or interests. Like baking and you guys enter the same baking competitions.

[ts4ritsa]

✧ fluff alphabet prompt …

this page contains the fluff/relationship alphabet prompt I have made and will use when asked to write one!

a | attention: how much attention do they give and would like to receive in the relationship?

b | baby: would they want a family?

c | cuddle: what are they like when they cuddle with you?

d | dates: what are dates with them like? what do they like to do?

e | equal: do they prefer to be more in control or laid-back in the relationship?

f | fights: how do they handle fights?

g | gratitude: how grateful are they to have you? how do they say thank you?

h | honesty: how honest are they with you? how important is honesty to them?

i | insight: how easy is it for them to read your mind and tell how you are feeling?

j | jealousy: what makes them jealous? what are they like when they’re jealous?

k | kisses: what are their kisses like? who kissed who first? where do they like to kiss you?

l | love language: what’s their favorite love language?

m | marriage: would they want to get married? does it cross their mind? what would the marriage be like?

n | nicknames: would they use nicknames on you? do they like when you use nicknames on them?

o | open: how long does it take for them to open up to you for the first time?

p | pda: thoughts on public displays of affection?

q | quality time: what do they like to do when they’re with you? how affectionate are they behind closed doors?

r | realize: when did they realize they fell in love with you? why did they fall in love with you?

s | sad: how would they cheer you up when you’re sad?

t | thrill: would they do any new things to spice up your relationship?

u | unwind: how do they like to unwind and relieve stress when with you?

v | vouch: how would they vouch for you in any situation you might be in trouble?

w | willingness: what lengths are they willing to go in order for the relationship? is it worth sacrificing for in their eyes?

x | exes: how would they handle situations with your exes? how are they like with their exes?

y | yearn: how would they cope when you’re away? what are they like when they reunite with you after being gone for so long?

z | zzz: what are they like when sleeping with you? what are some habits they have?

last updated 8/17/24

© ts4ritsa (do not repost my work w/o credits)

[blueskybehindtheclouds]

am i completely irrational for wanting to learn japanese solely for the opportunity to play the zelda games in their original language?😭

[rorystr]

Do you support Tim and Alex kissing??????

yes, i actually have throughly thought out alex gets redeemed after entry 86 au that goes in depth into what i think their relationship would be and its flaws and fun stuff like that. I did not intend for it to be gay but my friend made a timlex joke and i Realized.

so oops? i mean even if i HATED it id be a hypocrite i mean i have an au where they live in the same house.....so like yknow (i think timlex as a whole is HILARIOUS btw. they hate each other so much but like when does hate turn into homoerotic glaring yknow) ((also sorry for responding to this so late originally i was gonna draw something as an answer but i kept getting lazy and putting it off SO I HOPE THIS SUFFICES...)

[bananahkim]

NEW SEXUALITIES INVENTED BY MY MOM they’re Lay and Gesbian.

[life-spire]

[zinzabee]

saw this meme and I knew what I had to do